The Best One Yet - 👻 “My boss is a hologram Jedi ghost” — Chipotle’s brisket effect. WeWork’s hologram-ification. Klarna’s TikTok credit card.

Episode Date: June 11, 2021

WeWork, Google, and Microsoft are all investing in the Second Coming of Zoom: Holograms. Chipotle’s jacking up prices on your burrito bowl, but doing something no one else is: Elevating the Burrito, too. And Klarna hit a $46B valuation because it’s TikTokified the credit card.$GOOGL $ART $AFRM $CMGGot 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 Friday. The real Friday, June 11th. It's kind of a sad Friday. It is a sad Friday. Three straight days of in-person snacks daily potting. We had the sleepover. We ran the reservoir. And we got rejected from the Restoration Hardware Cafe. Not once, but twice. Twice. Apparently there's a wait list. To get on the wait list. That cloud sofa, though. This is not an endorsement of the stock, but it's a fantastic sofa. Every great thing comes to an end with a Long Island wedding, which is the where I'm heading out tomorrow. I'm going back to the cloud sofa. Snackers, this is the best one yet.

Today's pod, the best one yet. Also just a great sofa. Jack, first story, what do we got? Holograms could let you be the keynote speaker without even having to fly to Albuquerque. Okay, Jack, Google, we work. Microsoft, they're all investing in the second coming of the Zoom. For our second story, Chipotle is seeing prices rise. Classic.

The whole economy. But it's doing something different than everyone else. It's raising prices, but get this. It's elevating burritos. I like the synonym. It's a key word. there. Third and final story, Clarna, is the latest buy now, pay later, huge success story with a $46 billion valuation. Yeah, credit cards, they've been TikTokified officially. Snackers, before we hit those three fantastic stories.

It's a wonderful mix of age. There's a new one-year internship. Long internship. We got your back, but it's worth it. We're looking out for jobs for you, Snackers. Here's the internship. You get paid by Airbnb to Airbnb and then complain to Airbnb. 12 lucky individuals and their families can win the chance to get hired as Airbnb's coveted. Live anywhere intern. You throw that on your LinkedIn. Who's going to argue with it? Airbnb is going to pay for you to live in a different Airbnb for one full month for 12 straight months. 12 times 12.

It's 144. This sounds like a Willy Wonka golden ticket deal. But Jack, instead of the chocolate factory, it's a charming beachside a freight condo with of you. An A-frame beachside condo. Yeah, not a thing, but would be a very nice thing. Here's our favorite part of this internship. Airbnb encourages venting. Yes.

They want feedback. That's the point of this internship. Basically unlimited free venting ipso facto is feedback. Now, as someone who's been evicted from an Airbnb. And then have to stay in my sister's place. And I had to stay at Nick's sister's place again. This is another great sleepover. Listen up Airbnb host because I've got some vents.

Yeah, pro tips for the Airbnb host out there. First of all, currig machine plus creamer packets does not equal coffee. What is this dairy product powder thing? I don't know. Dairy requires. refrigeration. Second here, single-use shampoos. What's with the single-use shampoes? Okay, first you have to twist open the lid, then peel off the plastic, and then there's another guard. And when your hands are soapy, oh, no, no, no. You're not at that thing with your teeth. You're in the shower, like,

I got a, oh, I'm just trying to get it off. And then there's one shampoo serving in there, so you have to do it again the next day. And then you get the soap in your teeth. Okay, you're doing this with your teeth. Oh, and thank you for the nice bottle of unchilled chardonnay you left on the coffee table. We don't want to sound too spoiled, but When it's hot because it's been on a hot table, it's less enjoyable shardinette. I'll tell you, I'd rather have a functional fly swatter. Snackers, we used to think that video game tester was the best job ever. Airbnb mooture slash venter is the best job ever.

Let's hit our 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 the hearing food is air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so. You know, 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, holograms, they are technically years away, but the winners we noticed

are investing today. The success Zoom had in 2020. Can't forget it. Holograms could have in 2030. Okay. So Jack and I jumped in snacks out of this. We noticed that back in May, Google announced the little thing called Project Starline.

Project Starline is video chat on Google, but in 3D. I mean, I'm no Obi-1 Canobi, but that definitely sounds like a hollible. It looks like a hologram. Remember when Yoda couldn't attend Jedi Council meetings? It feels like a hologram. But then his little like avatar showed up in Sakasana. It tastes like a hologram. Google is working on holograms to bring it to real life.

I think you're just making up yoga terms now. Is that a Shavasana cousin? What was going on there? It's just a cross-lagged seated post. related to that, the office experts over at WeWork decided they want to bring holograms to 100 of their co-working office spaces. Holograms, they're happening. They're starting in the New York City, L.A. and Miami WeWorks. You're going to be getting a kombucha. Boom, the next thing you know, Larry from accounting is like just hologramed next to you.

Now, WeWork isn't doing too great, so they don't have the money or resources that Google has. So they're partnering with someone to do hologram. That's key. They partner with ARHT Media, which is a tiny publicly traded, company in Canada that apparently has some expertise when it comes to making holograms. Feels a little too small this company to know holograms, but good for them. So we got two examples there. That makes a pattern. But three makes a beautiful trend.

Microsoft is involved too. But they're working on the other side of the same hologram coin. Here's what they're doing over in Seattle at Microsoft. Instead of bring your hologram into the office. They're bringing the office into your living room. Boom. Enter mixed reality, smart glasses called Microsoft Mesh. it's like you're hanging out with Sajia.

You're on the couch, you're wearing sweatpants, you put on smart glasses, and it's like you're in the conference room with Satchaneda. He's right there next to you. Even though you're wearing dirty sweatpants. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the hologram future? Holograms could be the second coming of Zoom. Snackers, according to fantastic reporting by the Wall Street Journal,

this hologram tech, it's technically still years away. But whoever figures it out could experience a boomer, in sales like Zoom did last year. That's because holograms could offer the best of both worlds when it comes to a flexible work-from-home future. Holograms could give you the flexibility to work from home, but the in-office experience for the important meetings so that you can bond with like Harriet. Harriots and sales.

Body language matters. She needs that human connection for her to know how to nail the sales. Now, of course, one casualty of holograms would be you have to dress up for work even if you're staying at home. Again, you'd be wearing sweatpants and you'd be seeing satchez. You don't be wearing sweatpants. Sotcha would see you is the more important. Yeah, exactly.

But there is big value to companies who want to collaborate instead of just zooming all that. And that's why early prototypes are going for $2,500 per hologram beamer. Jack, if some offices are going to beam up your George Lucasie avatar, they're going to need the hardware to create your avatar. Holograms could be the second coming of Zoom, but even more profitable. For our second story, Chipotle is upping prices on. on your burritos. But it's also introducing new ingredients to the burritos. Which made Jack and I realize we've got a whole new strategy here.

The brisket placebo effect. Now snackers. Yesterday around lunchtime, Jack and I went over to Sweet Green a little early, grabbed a couple salads, and noticed the inflation report had just come out. Prices in this country last month were 5% higher than the year before. Which is the fastest prices overall have risen in the past 13 years. Cars are more expensive.

Lumber's more expensive. Soup is up. It's all. price is going up because of inflation, but we notice that Chipotle is the perfect inflation case study to study the case of inflation. Because burritos, yeah, look what's in there. Cheese, rice, beans, delicious, chicken, tomatoes. That is a full basket that economists love to measure for inflation.

Jack, it is a diversity of ingredients you see in no other lunchtime product. It is the perfect inflation case study. And everything in there is more expensive now. even the labor. Because you don't just get a burrito. The burrito is rolled. It is an art, the art of rolling. And Chipotle recently announced.

They are going to increase the average wage per hour of each worker to $15 on average. Because again, that tinfoil doesn't wrap itself. An artist does. You have to pay the baristas. That's right. Let that sink in. Buristas. You heard us correctly, Chipotle.

Run with it. So Chipotle is joining the price rise trend just like everyone else. We just said that prices overall. for all goods in the U.S. seemed to have risen about 5% last month. So, Chipotle is increasing the prices on the Chipotle menu by about 4% on every item. Because, you know, they're not going to let those higher food costs hurt their profits. Okay. First thought, Jack and I adhere. Disappointment in higher burrito prices. But the second thought was a funny thing we noticed about what the CEO said about those price hikes.

The price hikes haven't been hurting sales. That's right. People are buying more expensive burrito bowls at Chipotle. We were curious. We jumped in snack style. and we think the one reason is actually one word. It's two syllables and it's one meat. And it's delicious. Brisket. Brisket snackers.

Since November, Chipotle has been rolling out a new menu item in 64 restaurants. It was brisket. Not just brisket. Also, carne asada, casso blanco, and cilantro, lime, cauliflower rice. All new things all came out this year. There's cost new ingredients. Yeah, I mean, with this brisket check. With a brisket, you need a slow cooker oven to turn that beef into tenderized brisket.

But then, then, there's also a benefit to this new item. You excite customers with an awesome new item that kind of can justify a higher price. So we think Chipotle is actually pulling off something pretty unique here. They're not just increasing the price of every item by 50 cents and then offering you the same thing as before. Because that would anger customers. Instead, they're charging 80 cents for a new thing. Which totally makes sense because you're feeling more value now. It's a better burrito. It's a new thing with more value. It's a better thing. It's brisket. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over Chipotle?

Chipotle has pioneered the brisket placebo effect. Snackers, every other company right now is raising prices because of inflation. We just saw that. Sherwin Williams is raising the price of paint. Yep, Campbell Soup, Jack. They're raising the price of the soups. Chipotle is raising prices too, just like everyone else, but they've introduced new value at the same time. Yeah.

Unlike everyone else. So the result is consumers accepting higher prices in exchange for being like, have you tried this brisket? It's a little more expensive, but it's a great new item. It's delicious brisket. It's the placebo effect, but it's driven by a primal cut of seasoned grizzly beef. The brisket placebo effect, pair the higher price with a new perk. A case study of studying cases.

For our third and final story, Klarna just hit a whopping $46 billion valuation to become Europe's biggest startup. 46 billion. It's a lot. It's a buy now, pay later company. But we think it's kind of something. It's not what you think it is. They might go public this year. Good point. In London. Yeah. And become a publicly traded stuff. Otherwise, though, they're Swedish. And their investors include SoftBank and Snoop Dog and Asap Rocky. Not really a representative. No. Cross section of their

Not going to lie. We cherry picked those ones. I think there's only two rappers and a bunch of financial firms. We apologize to the other BCs. You don't produce as much good music. Snackers, 90 million people. Maybe you have bought something now, but paid through installments later, thanks to Clarnia. When you want like Adidas or some H&M or some Lulu Lemon, everything, but you don't want to pay anything right now. So imagine you're sitting in front of your computer screen. You're about to buy something.

They're like, thanks for putting that in the cart. Would you like to continue shopping or check out now? The ABC Lulu Lemon Pants? I'm Jack Kramer. I have 46 pairs. But I'll check out now. They're fantastic. I don't blame.

I told you. I think that blue looks great on you. All right. So you got the best pants in the world. Do you want to pay now or pay later with Clarnia? I would love to not pay now. I'll pay later with Klarna. And since I'm going to pay later, I'm going to throw in, you know, maybe a couple extra

pairs of the shorts. Snackers, this is the buy now pay later industry. It is. And a firm is doing the same thing. A firm IPOed in January. But this is wild. It's only worth one third of Klarna's valuation. Clarna is huge.

So here's what we're thinking, Snackers. Jack and I are looking at Klarna. And the whole buy now pay later industry, we really think of it as the millennial Gen Z credit card. It's a Visa card, but it's been TikTok. Yeah, it is a millennial Gen Z credit card. That's been TikTokified. With a credit card, you pay interest and fees in exchange to delay your payments to later.

But with Buy Now Pay Later, you pay no interest and no fees, and yet you still get the same delay payment value. This kind of sounds like a guac is always extra. What's the catch here? Interesting. We jumped in further Snack style. Well, credit cards make most of their money on interest when you carry a balance month to month and they make money on late fees.

You didn't pay the card. You're going to have to pay up to Amex. Buy Now Pay Later is different. They make money from the same. seller, not from you. And that's because users actually spend more money when they see, boom, buy now, pay later. Maybe I'll throw more in my shopping cart because I don't have to pay right now. They're also more likely to finish the order. Yeah. Because those little lemon pants, they're like $128. That's a lot of money. You might bail. So mentally, knowing that your payments

for all those Lulu Lemon pants could be spread out over two years, that makes clicking buy a whole lot easier. It's only like $6 per month. Yeah. So Klarna's looking at the situation. and they said, hey, we'll take a small commission from the seller. Lulu Lemon in this case. Instead, because we've nudged the customer to buy your Lulu Lemon stuff. And Lulu Lemon appreciates that. So Clarna has made buying on credit as simple as swiping up on the next TikTok video. But Nick, the TikTokification of taking on more debt through credit.

It's a lot of debt. That could be dangerous. And that's one reason UK regulators are looking at the buy now pay later industry. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over Clorna? Friction elimination has built this entire industry. Snackers, credit cards, they offer huge perks. They buy now, pay later. Just it doesn't offer.

The bonus sign-up reward for the Chase Sapphire card? Oh, yeah, everyone talks about it. That may have paid for your Tulum yoga retreat. Which you brought up at the brunch afterwards. Klarna can't offer anything like that. No, they can't. But Zillennial seemed to prefer Klarna because of the friction it eliminates. That's worth more than the perks of a credit card like Tulum.

With Clarnay, You don't need to fill out an application. No, you don't. You don't need to make sure this is the right credit card with the right points for you. You spend like six weeks doing that. And you don't need to check your monthly statement and remember to make the payment every month. Also, Jack, you spend like literally no time wasting, like inputting a credit card number and then forgetting the expiration date before you try to do a transaction,

but then you forgot the expiration date again. Instead of all that, buy now, pay later is just a button you click at the checkout. And you don't really need to do anything else. No, it defrictionize the credit card value proposition. The payments are made automatic. Friction, eliminate. that is why Klarna is worth almost half of American Express. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the weekend?

Mainstream holograms. There are ways off, but it could be a huge industry of the future. Jack, this could be the second coming of Zoom. Sweat pants, you're working. Chipotle is not just raising prices. They're elevating their food, too. And that makes higher prices more digestible. Clorna makes it easier to click buy.

Because you can pay later. Yeah, it's eliminated friction for credit. It's TikTok-fied credit cards. Now, time for our snack fact of the day. This one sent in by David Crozier, I believe his third jack, from lovely Clive, Iowa. In 1934, a guy named Paul slipped on his sailboat and fell into Long Island Sound.

After climbing back aboard, he noticed that his cocker spaniel, Prince, never slipped. He studied the pup's foot pads and created a similar pattern in rubber soles, then glued them to some old can and the sneakers. Paul's last name was Sperry, and this is how the Sperry shoe brand was founded. All right, Jack, honestly, full disclosure. That's just great storytelling.

Great founding story, too, because you turned an embarrassing moment on the Long Island Sound. Yeah, into a staple of affluent New England fashion. You included the puppy along with it. Snackers, you'll look fantastic today. It's Friday. So remember to celebrate the wins, Jack. What win are we celebrating? Well, he should have named the shoes after the dog. The dog's name Jack was both. shoe. But seriously, we've been rejected twice from Restoration Hardware. What win are we celebrating? Dude, I think we're celebrating the pure raw joy of nailing a takeaway and then standing up and high five. That is just absolutely beautiful. Have a great weekend. And before we go,

congrats to Laura Lynn in San Francisco, who's run 12 half marathons in 12 months, which I think is technically six marathons? You know, Laura, you could just do 12 Airbnbs in 12 months. You nailed it. And Eric and Alexandra at Granaro. Congrats on the wedding in Seattle. We want to see some picks. Happy birthday to Abashak in Amri Star, India. And Deepam Jane over in San Francisco. And Rebecca Burns in Walnut Creek, California.

And Ivan Ray is turned in 24th down in Los Angeles. And Victor from Baltimore, Maryland. And Jorge Soran in lovely Indiana. And Beckham Bee Boy Herden in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Oh, also, Jack, Alicia Lau, just got promoted over in Scotland. Congrats. And Mike Howard, moving to London. Good luck.

Brown wore 20-year workoveriversary over in Washington State. Eduardo Gray just started a new job in impact investing. Very nice, Eduardo. Not too shabby in Minnesota. And Monica and the entire University of Washington Business School, congrats on the graduation. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-B. Celebrate the wins.

This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Airbnb and Nick own stock of Chipotle and Lulu Lemon, and I own stock of restoration hardware. The Robin Hood Snacks podcast you just heard, reflects the opinions of only the host 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. Have you tried this brisket?