The Best One Yet - “Mango is #1 in fruit” — Mission Produce’s fragmentation. Squarespace’s $10B website. Uber’s UK “workers”.

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

Avocado icon Mission Produce jumps into the mango game because “commodities only exist in the minds of the inept.” Squarespace hits a $10B valuation building websites, but the real story here is its “Comp”: Wix. And Uber’s huge switcheroo in London is an unprecedented precedent for the entire Gig Economy.$AVO $WIX $UBERGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewformLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Thursday. The new Friday finally, March 18th. Before we start today's pod, we want to point out that the past year has been tough for everyone, but it's been particularly tough for Asian Americans for a unique reason. Yeah, Jack and I were just talking about this. What we just saw happen in Atlanta, that was the culmination of everything Jack just described. We don't need to say how horrible the hateful attacks were yesterday in Atlanta. Here's what we want to say, we're here for you. Tea Boy is for the Asian American Snackers. This is the best one yet. Jack, what's our first story today? Squarespace helps people and businesses build websites, and now it's worth $10 billion. But the real story here, it's its secret sibling. It's comp, it's comparable. Wix.wix.com, baby.

For our second story, Mission Produce is a pure play avocado stock. Oh, yeah, it is. Not so pure play anymore. They're getting into mangoes. Yeah, a little less pure. Gwok, guac, still extra. Mango salsa. Apparently also extra?

Is that still extra, Jack? For our third and final story, Uber is going to treat its drivers in London like humans. I mean employees. We got an unprecedented switcheroo for the entire gig economy. There is no precedent, maybe. And when we say entire, we mean just Uber, just in the UK, and actually just Uber rides. A little bit of rounding up on this one. But Snackers, before we jump into that, honestly, a wonderful mix of stories today.

We're calling to see if you're interested in refinancing, you're blank. Great news. We're happy to tell you that you're... pre-qualified. But we're concerned to tell you that your extended warranty has expired. So what do I got to do to get you into the zero down, no interest, no penalty, no switching fee credit card? I love what you did there. Now, Snackers, it's not just you. You're not alone. Robocalls? Yeah. They are proliferated. Get these numbers. 4.6 billion robocalls replaced in February, and that's a record, and it's up 15% from January also a record. We did the math. That's a hundred

60 million robocalls every single day in February. Every day. Now, you're probably wondering, all right, I didn't get that many robocalls in July, but now I'm getting them a lot today. What's going on? Kind of a hilarious reason. Nick, what do you keep in a robocall diary over there? I like to track things, and I'm not afraid to track them?

Turns out, call centers were closed last year for big chunks because of the pandemic. Yep. But our sympathies go out to Baden Rouge, the old 225. The capital of Louisiana is also the robocall capital of the world. All right, this is wild. They over in Baton Rouge, they're getting double the national average of robocalls per person per day. Can we help you refinance your jambalaya? Jambalaya.

You just want a vacation and a bignet. Congratulations. But as of last month, we actually have a new robocall capital of the world. Yeah, get this. Area code, 404. If you know, you know, I don't know, actually. If it's not in your contacts, but it's in your area code, here's the quick takeaway. Snackers, I always answer 802 unknown phone calls. Don't do it. It's tempting.

Just don't answer. Instead, hit your three stories. You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way. The snacks about to hear ain't food. It's ear candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so.

We're not recommending any securities. Nope. It's not a research report. or investment advice. Not an offer or sale of a security. Right. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member Fenra slash SIPC. For our first story, Mission Produce, the icon of the king, the queen of avocados, is jumping into the mango business. And we have a great quote about commodities that you should never forget. Okay, first of all, Mission Produce, the first ever pure play avocado stock. Jack, how have they been doing since the IPO back in October? The stock is

I'm 71% since October when Mission Produce IPOed, and we covered it on this podcast. Ipsifacto, that brings their total market cap to $1.5 billion. They're like a tenth of a lift. This company is the ExxonMobil of avocados. They are a vertically integrated company that controls production from seed to guacamole. It's a beautiful thing. They got the farms where they're like picking the avocados. Then the trucks where they're transporting the avocados.

And then, Jack, then they have the lovely refineries. Get this Snackers. There are big warehouses with fresh avocados that need to ripen. Adorable. They need to transform from like a green thing you don't recognize. Metamorphosis. To the dark brown thing you know from your grocery store. Honestly, great wedding location. You go there, you can just poke them. It's a great job. It's a great place. But more importantly, we just learned about the number one most consumed fruit in the world. Full disclosure, Jack. I'm still shook by this. I thought it was banana. Bananas made sense. They come in their own case. Yes. I thought it was apples, which are everywhere.

in the Northeast and come in juice boxes. But the answer, Snackers, it's mangoes. Mangos are the most consumed fruit on Earth. And Mission just happens to have 700 acres of mangoes growing and blooming down in Peru. Which led to this wonderful quote from the CEO when it comes to mangoes. You can't make this up. The wonderful thing about mangoes, the harvest cycle is opposite to avocados. This is like a ski company that just invested in like a canoe company. Yes, now they are a four-season company. Instead of just summer, they got mangoes in the winter. Jack, this feels like the moment where you should mention the quote from business school. I remember this from business school, I'll never forget.

Commodities only exist in the mind of the inept. First of all, the professor who said that to it sounds like an insult. That seems like he was gone. Well, that quote did cost $60,000. So I'm offended by you right now. That's fair. The joke's on us. But this reminds us of the most important part of the mission produce announcement.

They're going to sell these mangoes under the mission brand and sticker. Which is funny because mangoes are a commodity. Just like oil is a commodity. One barrel of oil in Vermont is the same as a barrel of oil in Venezuela. One basket of avocados in Peru is the same as the basket of avocados here in California. And even though mangoes are the same everywhere, Mission plans to slap their sticker on it and then charge extra for their mangoes. Which leads to two questions. First of all, would you pay the extra buck for the Mission mango?

Absolutely not. It's just a mango. You're basically paying that buck for these physical paper sticker material. And then the second question is really a statement, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Mission Produce? Mission can confirm it. Commodities do only exist in the mind of the inapt. Jack and I saw all this. We jumped back into the S-1 IPO paperwork, Jack, page 43 of Mission Produces S-1. People typically pay a premium for fruit that is a specific size and a specific quality. Snackers, you may not focus on the avocado brand because you don't care that much about consistency.

But Taco Bell does. Oh, yeah, they do. And they buy a bunch of avocados. they need a high quality. The grilled stuffed burrito supreme has got to be the same size and cost as the next grilled stuffed Supreme burrito. Quality and size of mangoes, they vary. And Mission has proven that avocados and mangoes, they're not a commodity after all. Okay, so let's say people aren't impressed jack and they want more data here. Can we talk to him about the earnings report? Well, last year, the price of avocados fell by 18%. And yet, Mission's revenue only fell by 12%. And that is because Mission can charge more for avocados thanks to its brand, thanks to its reputation, thanks to that sticker. Commodities only exist in the mind of the inept. For our second story, Uber, they

finally caved and designated drivers, workers deserving benefits. Now there's tons of asterisks, a bunch of adjusted, and this is only happening in the UK. But it's still a huge deal. Okay, we got to whip out the old Websters on this. Independent contractor, that is American English for, you're working for us, but not employed by us. Independent contractor in British English now means this word has been removed from the dictionary on March 16th, 2021. In British English, workers spelled W-O-U-R-K-E-R. Snackers, starting Wednesday, Uber drivers in the United Kingdom will be classified as, quote, unquote, workers. That's big. That's big because it's better than independent contractors,

which was not quite employee status. Workers at Uber, which is the people driving the cars, they're going to get a guaranteed minimum wage. They're going to get five weeks of annual paid vacation. And Uber is going to contribute 3% of whatever they make to their pension. Can you repeat that vacation number for us, Jack? Five weeks, Nick. Must be nice.

Yeah. Well, Uber, the funny thing here is framing this whole decision as like something they chose they made. Which is ironic because the Supreme Court, in the United Kingdom. Also, just happened to mandate this by royal decree. That's how this went down. Now, we know what you're thinking.

Uber, they've got tons of drivers in the UK, 70,000. And the UK makes up 6.4% of their total ride-hailing business. So this sounds like it's going to be a really costly change for Uber the company. Yeah, right now, Uber's paying no wages to drivers. Drivers keep just 70% of a fare. But this is not as costly for Uber as you think, actually. No, it's not. And labor activists, they aren't.

even completely celebrating this huge move. It's because of two big asterisk. Astros, number one, Uber is only going to be paying that minimum wage after the driver has accepted a trip and like headed to pick that person up. Yeah, drivers are like, what's going on here? We want minimum wage any time we've logged in and are accepting rights. Asterisk number two, this excludes Uber eats the food delivery company. Yeah, Uber says delivering steak is different than delivering Steve. So this news actually isn't going to have as big a direct impact on profits as you might have thought. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who aren't as affected over at Uber? The real story here isn't the details. It's the precedent. Uber stock, it fell 4% yesterday

on this news because of the precedent. In November Snackers, you remember, Californians voted yes to Prop 22, which basically was, yes, we want to keep drivers as independent contractors. Okay. A big reason for that, Jack, Uber threatened. Remember when they were like, we're going to leave California if you make us reclassify these drivers as workers? We all got emails that said Uber and Lyft are shutting down tomorrow because, you know, switching them from independent contractors to employees will destroy our business. And remember, we were sending each other the screenshots. It was wild. But now that Uber caved in the United Kingdom and didn't shut down, despite a similar policy as California, then are we going to believe future threats when Uber says they're going to shut down? Yeah, Jack.

If New York threatens to make Uber turn drivers into employees, and then Uber threatens to quit the Big Apple, what do you think is going to happen? New Yorkers probably aren't going to believe Uber's threat. Yeah. And that's why this Uber U.K. News could open the door to more policies to guarantee drivers pay and rights and benefits. It's the precedent, not the details, that knocked Uber's stock. For our third and final story, Squarespace, just hit a whopping $10 billion valuation jack. And a publicly traded comp is adjoing the same trends. Squarespace. Okay, first of all, Jack, I feel like we should share this.

A little insider joke in the podcast co-hosting business, Jack. If Squarespace doesn't sponsor your podcast, are you really a podcast? You can't sit there with us. It's a fair question. Mattress, mattress, mattress. Stackers, Squarespace is a website creation platform for the design and tech challenged. Basically, it's a crutch for anyone who can't speak code. Oh, you want to add a new widget to your website? 1-0-110-1-0-1-0-hash-cash-carrot-carrot. It turns out we're not all fluent in Python-Html with a sided JavaScript.

Squarespace makes it easy. They got drag-and-drop boxes that are pre-coded for you. So you can turn your website into a webstination. Now, if you don't want a drag-and-drop, then you go with the design template off the menu, kind of a sweet green salad situation there. I hate building my own salad at a salad bar. I'd much prefer to let someone else figure out. out what flavors go well together.

Full disclosure, I kind of micromanaged them on the pesto quantity. That's what I happened to do. It's weekly. Now, Squarespace is a sumo stock. If you want to invest in Squarespace, you're straight up missing out because it's private. They haven't IPOed yet. Also kind of shocking, it's 18 years old, Jack. Which is old for a company

like this. But its valuation has cut this, quintupled in just under three years. Growth spur. Yeah. At 18 years. So Jack and I were like, okay, we want to come up with a thesis here on Squarespace and here is our thesis. surging new website demand from pandemic entrepreneurs, that's what's driving Squarespace. You're at home, the whole world has gone digital in the past year, so you see an opportunity

in the pandemic to launch a business. Maybe you've been furloughed, maybe you were laid off, you're watching Netflix, you're wearing sweats, you got some time to whip out the sewing machine. You head over to Delaware and you launch Net Leisureware Incorporated LLC. Yeah, you do. And Net Leisureware Incorporated, you're going to need a website to sell this NetLeasier Where. Jump over to Squarespace. They got a website for you starting at 18 bucks a month. Okay, so that was our thesis when it comes to Squarespace. But there's one problem when you're trying to prove this. We can't prove it. No, we can't. Because this is a sumo company. They don't issue public financial statements and we haven't seen any numbers since 2017. And Squarespace in

particular keeps things extra private. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Squarespace? We're always looking out for a comp. Yeah, we are. Jack and are always looking out for many private companies, they've got to publicly trade a company that's comparable. It's their comp and you got to find it. A comp is like a secret sibling. They look alike. They're in the same industry and they have a similar business model. Okay, so Jack, Squarespace, $10 billion company, 18 years old, private website creating company. Let's go check out Wix, WI, which is a $17 billion company. It's 15 years old, and it's a public version of Squarespace. Okay, so now we can just use Wix as the proxy to get to know Squarespace better because Squarespace is being so hard to get in us. Wix's CEO has just announced

they had the most successful year in company history and the stock has tripled in the past year. So we jumped into the earnings. What's driving the growth? Business is pivoting online during the pandemic. Thanks to this comp from Wix, Nick and I can tweak our thesis about what's going on at Squarespace. Yeah, we were a little off on this one, Jack. So it wasn't just entrepreneurs driving growth for Squarespace. It probably was existing businesses that needed. a website to adapt to the pandemic. Squarespace doesn't tell us about themselves. They don't issue any numbers.

But it's publicly traded comp is the next best thing. Jack, and you'll whip up the takeaways for us over there. Chiquita dominates bananas. Mission dominates avocados. And mangoes can't exist in the minds of the annette. For our second story. Uber drivers are getting paid vacation, paid pension, and a minimum wage in the UK. Okay, so the details don't matter as much as the precedent.

That part's key. For our third and final story, Squarespace has tripled its valuation, but that's all we officially know about their business. So we had to turn to their comp. We had to find the comp to learn more. Now, time for our snack fact of the day. This one sent in by Matt Shapiro from lovely Plymouth, Minnesota. Hey, Nick and Jack.

One of the oldest snacks still eaten is the pretzel. It was first made in Italy during the sixth century by a group of monks who were also bakers. The monks created the pretzels' twisted shape to look like. like arms crossed in prayer. The monk bakers would use pretzels as a little reward for the young church patrons who learn their prayers. Interestingly, the word pretzel comes from the Latin word pretzola, which means little reward. I'll tell you, the Germans really seem to take credit for the pretzel. It's like right there in the airport when you arrive in Munich. They're intense. They're aggressive. The New York City pretzels, though, are the size of your face. The salt's like a granite.

Pretzels apparently Latin-based, a startup should call themselves pretz. These pretzels are making me Thursday. Snackers, Thursday's the new Friday. Celebrate accordingly. And ask your friends for us, H-Y-H-Y-S-D. Help Grow Snacks Daily. Have you had your snacks daily? A little faux abbreviation.

Yeah, that was intense. Have a great one. We'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, congrats to Carmen Chen, who just matched for med school in Connecticut. Happy birthday to Charmaine and Paul, who have this same birthday in San Francisco.

Unprecedented, baby. Unprecedented. baby. And congrats or happy birthday to Ryan Nilsit over in Chad's Ford, Pennsylvania. Happy birthday to Andrea in Santa Barbara. And Jennifer Garcia-Bosio in Philadelphia. And Tim Reynolds in West Hartford, Connecticut. And Sedan El Ovalia in Austin, Texas. And Cosmer Jean-Francois in Asbury Park, New Jersey. And to anyone else who's celebrating anything, something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. The Robin Hood Snacks podcast you just heard reflects the opinions of only the hosts who are

associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a recommendation to buy or sell any security and is not an offer or sale of a security. The podcast is also not a research report and is not intended to serve as the basis of any investment decision. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.