The Best One Yet - 🍊 “Pamplemousse Problems” — LaCroix’s minivations. Zigazoo’s kindergarten app. Airplanes’ new bunk beds.

Episode Date: July 1, 2022

If you’re hitting the beach tomorrow with a pack of LaCroixs, know that you’re drinking minivation, not innovation. And if you’re flying today, talk to your seatmate about the latest disruption in the air: Bunk beds. And Zigazoo just hit a $100M valuation to be the social media app for kindergarteners (not a typo).$FIZZ  $AIR $DAL $UAL $SAVEFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn 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. It's Friday, the real Friday, July 1st, and today's pod is the best one yet. T-B-O-I, this is our last pod until T-Boy Tuesday. Yaddies, enjoy your 4th of July, Gorilla Palooza out there. If you miss us, we are doing our weekly live event on Instagram, T-Boy Live, today at 12 o'clock noon Eastern Time. You can ask us about investing, entrepreneurship, or our takeaways from the pod episodes this week. That's right.

At T-Boy Live on Instagram, we're discussing. investing, entrepreneurship, and our takeaways from this week. Jack, before we throw a shrimp on the Barbie, what's our first story? If you're hitting the beach this weekend, you may bring your own 12-pack of LaCroix. LaCroix just said they had their best quarter ever, but did it taste like that? For our third and final story, New Zealand Airlines is replacing cramped economy seats with triple-decker bunk beds. Besties, the future of airlines is retail, not feet-hit. And our third and final story is Zigoo.

Bigazoo just hit a $100 million valuation to be the social media app for kindergartners. If you're happy and you know it, tap to like, tap to like. But before we hit that wonderful mix, man. Do I even need to say it? It's honestly just the best mix before a three-day weekend. Remember the trickiest trademark of them all? Jack, the craziest of the copyrights, shall we reveal it? It's not that Adam Newman tried trademarking the word we.

Yeah, thanks to Yeti Moshi, we now know that that happened. Massa. Or it's not Ferrari trademarking their unique engine purr. Thanks for letting us know, Rodrigo. Or the 600 terms trademarked by the United States Marines. Salute to a Marine named Kate who DM does that. The trickiest trademark is owned by Facebook who owns face. Yeties, your face is Facebook's.

Not your literal face, but the word face to describe your face, that's Facebook's. Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. It's serial number 789-0756 face for use in telecommunication services. That's right. Back in 2010, the United States Patent and Trademark Office allowed Facebook legal protection of the word face. Facebook's already got picks of your face. May as well own the word face. Now, if you want to launch like a face cream startup, go ahead.

You can use the word face in the name of that startup. But if you want to launch a face cream app, your face is going to get sued. Because Facebook owns face. It's the ultimate zucking, and if you see zucking, you say zucking. Now, let's hit our three stories. This is the best one yet. The best one yet is a registered trademark of Nick and Jack Studios. Copyright, 2022, All Rights Reserve.

If this podcast lasts longer than four hours, contact your doctor. Nick and Jack are not using the word face in a telecommunication services application. Please don't suck us. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice.

50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more. So just start the show. Start the show. For our first story, National Beverage Corp. The owner of LaCroix just said it had a record quarter for sparkling water.

The sparkling water is delicious. But was it really their best quarternecks? Okay, hybiscis or limoncello? Are you getting pamplemoose vibes? They got a lemoncello? They do. Not oak. So it's just lemon?

Yes, just lemon. If you're heading to the beach, LeCrois for the boys. This is owned by National Beverage Corp, the only pure play, publicly traded, Seltzer stock. Yeah, Jack,

what's the ticker symbol for LaCroix again? Fizz. Fizz, yeah, $5 billion company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They're worth like half a lift, not too shabby.

Perfect timing to talk about LaCroi because it's Fourth of July weekend. It's like spindrift for your soul. Pample Moose, no party. And National Beverage Corp just announced their quarterly earnings. It was entertaining like a pool part. Okay, first of all, Jack and I have jumped into many a LaCroix earnings, and they happen to be the only earnings report with an American flag at the top. They have a flamboyant CEO who says in every earnings report in all caps that he would bottle patriotism if he could. But funny thing, Jack and I noticed, there are some issues right now

with National Beverage Corp because their stock is up this year. Impressive. But their stock is down over the last five years. Ouch. And the LaCroy beverage maker did just say they had their best ever quarter because sales are up 6%. But we compared last quarter sales to 2018. We did. It's as flat as an Evian bottle. But yet here's what Jack and I find so fascinating about the story. We went back, T-boy style, to every single earnings report that we've covered about National Beverage Corp. We went into five. And there is one word. that they keep mentioning in every single earnings.

We control F this thing. Innovation. They use the word innovation. Like Ohio State uses the word the. Like, for example, just in this past quarter, Jack, what were the new innovations that National Beverage said they whipped up for LaCroix? Beach Plum, Black Raspberry, and Guava, South Palo, three new flavors. But then, Jack, what was the other innovation?

Like the innovation they were really highlighting last quarter? LaCrooy cherry blossom. Cherry blossom. Have you had a cherry blossom? I didn't know that was a flavor. I didn't know they were edible. It's like a perfect. You maybe not a drink?

Now, these innovations, they sound delicious. Okay, full disclosure. Love the guava. But they're just flavors. Hey, national beverage. Where's the can innovation? Where's like a keg-sized LaCroix for the beach part? LaCroix, where is the collaboration innovation?

Like Coca-Cola just did with Jack Daniels. LaCroix, where is the trend-catching innovation? Ready to drink canned cocktails is all the rage. Why isn't LaCroi in any of them? Jack, it feels like we should pop a takeaway. So, Jack, what's the table? takeaway for our buddies over at National Beverage Corp and LaCroix. This is Zoolander Innovation. It's Minivation. It's innovation for ants.

Yeah. Besties, those new flavors, they're not innovations, they're minivations. They're marginal improvements. They're not major advancements in the product. Yeah, Minivations, that's fantastic for engagement. They keep your core customer excited. But innovations, real innovations are crucial for growth. That's what gets new customers into La Croy. It's just like Derek Zoolander said, what is this innovation for ants? The wise Derek Zoolander once hath said. So National Beverage Corp, yeah, their stock soared until 2018, but then the competition to Seltzer came in.

And when competition is fierce, which it is in Seltzer, if you're not innovating, your stock's gonna fall. LaCroix, still delicious, but it's minivating, not innovating. For our second story, Air New Zealand is introducing bunk beds, bunk beds, bunk Bunk beds. Bunk beds to its airplanes. Instead of Fetail, airline should offer us some retail. Okay, Jack, what do you think it is? Like, uh, two out of three Yeties are in an airport line right now about to take off their shoes and laptops. Remove all electronics and move to the back of the line. The other third is removing their shoes to find some change to pay for the gas. I already took off

my belt, man. Well, New Zealand, an island nation, you don't need to watch the Trillian. of Lord of the Rings to know how remote New Zealand is. Flight to and from New Zealand. They take a long time. So New Zealand's airline company, which is majority owned by the government, is adding bunk beds. They're adding bunk beds to the economy section of their flights. It's a new product that they're calling the Sky Nest, which will exist in the sky. They call it the Sky Nest.

We call it the Triple Decker bunk beds. They're like a dibs on top bunk situation, but in row 59. Right. So in the back of the plane, they're going to have. three beds on one side stacked on top of each other and three beds on the other side of the aisle stacked on top of each other with a curtain that you can draw. So you may be in the back of the plane in row 86, but you can still book out a bunk bed for a portion of the flight. It's a six pack of sleepers that the whole, you know, coach section gets to share with each other for the

flag. If so facto, the world's first sleep pods for economy travelers. Now, these Kiwis at Air New Zealand, they know them to market. They do. They do know marketing. Jack. What was the line you This is from the press release. They said it's time to swap out the headrest for some bed rest. Yeah, this is a full-size mattress for spooning or sporking in the sky. Anytime I try to sleep on a headrest in a plane, my like back hurts. You never get over. I mean, the FAA is going to mandate no pillow fights at 30,000 feet. Now, of course, first in business class, they've had like lay down beds for a while, but this is for the economy section.

But what also makes these new bunk beds so wild is that they're the first thing you're going to pay for on an airline that doesn't feel like a fee. Yeties, United Airlines, they have a seat selection fee and a priority boarding fee. Delta, they got a baggage fee, a pet fee and an in-flight Wi-Fi fee. Spirit has a legroom fee, a soda fee, a bathroom fee, and a fee fee fee fee fee fee. Yeah, everything we pay for on an airplane, it feels like it should have been included. Instead, it's a fee. Right. Here's the situation.

Airlines, they know you are a captive audience for four hours and 32 minutes. So they've created a new industry. Feed-tail. Feetail. So that's why Jack and I love the idea of this product from Air New Zealand because it's not fee tail. Jack, what would you call this thing? It's retail. It feels fair to pay extra for three hours in a sleep pod. It feels fair to pay extra to bunk up in a bunk bed that's a triple deck or bunk bed. It's just good retail. It's not fee tail. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the entire airline industry? The longest delay in the airline industry is disruption to the airline. airline industry. Besties, in the 1970s, airlines got disrupted by Southwest and its happy flight attendance and its direct routes. Yeties, in the 1990s, JetBlue reminded us that low-price air travel doesn't have to stink. But honestly, Jack, since then, what have we been seeing? We've been deprived for 20 plus years of any innovation in airline. And that's one reason why just 33% of Americans

have positive views of airlines. That's it. Now, an area that could disrupt air travel for the benefit of consumers and boost that positivity rating? Sleep. Like the health and wellness trend that's brought attention over the last couple years to sleep, that's an opportunity. For airlines. And Air New Zealand is reimagining their airplanes to prioritize sleep. So the way Jack and I see it, the longest delay in the entire industry, it's disruption.

And disruption could finally come to airlines in the form of an economy triple-decker bunk bed. And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. Nick, you got introduced to the Robin Hood app the old-fashioned way, right? Yeah, I did. My girlfriend now wife's older brother, who was that guy who worked in tech and like knew about the next iPhone before Apple did. He told you about the Robin Hood app. You told me about the Robin Hood app. All right. So you signed up because you wanted to buy a stock.

Because like it was hard to figure out how to buy a stock when you're 25 and it's 2014. Yeah, back then you had to find a broker. Call a broker on the phone. Call them pay a commission to that broker. Instead of calling suddenly there's his app, you just swipe and you could buy the stock. Robin Hood's interface felt as easy as ordering an Uber or snagging a sandwich on seamless. And it still is. So if you're not a Robin Hood user yet and you want to get started, you can go to robin hood.com slash T-Boy and you can choose get this a free stock.

That's robinode.com slash TBOY. Certain limitations apply and all investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC member SIPC. Robin Hood, by the way, no longer affiliated with us or the podcast. For our third and final story, Zigazoo, Zigazoo, not a Spice Girls line. A social media app for kids just hit a $100 million valuation. A social media app for kindergartners has a million users, and that's a sign. Okay, Jack, what is this? A new world record. How many times can you say the word safe in three paragraphs?

Zigazoo says it six times on their website's About Us page. Yeah, they do. It's the world's largest. social network for kids. Hence the safety concerns. Ear muffs. Now, the NBA, Serena Williams, and Jimmy Kimmel all just invested pumping up Zigazoo to a $100 million valuation. They have a million users, but it's not just the number of users and the fame of the investors that's impressive. It's the content partners too. Okay, on the content side of the platform, they got Apple, Netflix, Nickelodeon, LeBron James, and Dolly Parton to make content for this kids app. And the

content they're making is to engage children age 3 to 12. So we jumped in T-boy style and set up a fake account. Yes, we did. And at first glance, what Zika-Zu looks like is it's training wheels for TikTok. It's onboarding for Instagram. Funny, to set up an account, it has to be a parent and a kid together. Yes. Because they require you record a video showing that it's not just a rogue kid and it's not just a creepy adult who doesn't have a kid trying to set up an account. Once verified, you can hand off Zigazoo to Little Luna to scroll through videos that happen to focus on one very particular tech need. Engagement.

Engagement. Like, the videos are, have you done tie-dye? What's your favorite beach toy? How many teeth do you have? This app tries to engage Little Luna. The goal is to get her to interact, not just mindlessly scroll like so many of the other social media apps we know. So there's a big button where Luna is going to record her very first selfie counting her teeth.

She happens to have 13 teeth. And then she posts for all the other kids to see that she has more teeth than little John. Now, here's where things kind of pivot a bit for Zigazoo as a social media app because it may be more of a gaming app. Well, it doesn't monetize through ads like every social media app we've ever seen. In fact, the majority of the revenue for Zigazoo, the company actually comes from in-app purchases just like Roblox or Fortnite. So the business model is actually based on NFTs. They have an NFT arm. They generate NFTs and they want babies to buy them and collect, you know, digital things. And you know, like a toddler grabbing a digital picture of a puppy that happens to be Zigazoo's

profit puppy business model. All right. So there's this NFT thing. But when Nick downloaded the app, this is true story. They said you could only buy things if you are a parent. But then to check if I was a parent, it just had me answer the math question. What's three times five, which I said was 15? They figure the kid can't multiply, but a 12-year-old could do that. Right. It's like intelligence-gated. Like if your kid does figure out multiplication tables, then they're going to rack up quite

the bill on your master card. See, math is a lucrative profession. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Zigazoo? The way apps grow up is part nature, part nurture. Yeah, yeties. Guess who else tried building a social media app for? kids recently. Facebook. Yeah, Instagram Kids was basically building this, but they shut it down last year. Congress didn't like it. Parents were nervous. Apparently, even Instagram staffers didn't like it.

Instagram's team said they would nurture the app with rules and policies to protect kids over time. But parents just didn't trust the nature of Instagram kids. It's Facebook ownership killed trust. Yeah, the difference with ZigZoo is in the nature. Like the founding team in their background, the nature, not the The founding team is a husband-and-wife couple who are teachers with three kids. They're not big tech. And they launched Zigazoo during the pandemic to help parents tend to kids. That was the nature. When it comes to social media apps that their kids are going to use, parents want nature,

not just nurture. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the three-day weekend? LaCroix sales just hit a record, but it's barely up from four years ago. Because it's just about minivations, not real innovations. For a second story, starting in talk, 24, Air New Zealand flights will have triple-decker bunk beds. Okay, they haven't said the price to book one of these bunk beds, but this is a long overdue disruption in the air.

For our third and final story, Zigazoo is a leading contender to be the social media app for kids. Because parents, they care more about an app's nature, not its nurture. The wheels on the bus go swipe, swipe, swipe. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one from Sophia Diaz over in lovely San Francisco. Betsy Ross, she designed the revolutionary flag with the 13 stars. It's a classic.

But she didn't design the 50 star flag that we know today. Yeah, it turns out our current U.S. flag was actually a homework assignment. And get this, it got a B minus. Back up to 1959 when Hawaii became the 50th state in the union. Well, 16-year-old Robert Heft designed a new flag for his history class with 50 stars. But he got a B-minus. And he's like, I deserve better. than a B-minus, so he challenged the teacher.

By sending it to President Eisenhower in D.C. Little Robert and his parents fully stitched a full flag beta version prototype. Yeah, so Robert was the first person to create and mail a fully stitched flag to the president, which ended up getting approved and we now use it today. A 16 year. Jack and I, we do a podcast. Yet is, you look fantastic all week. And if you're chatting with someone this weekend about the Hordeaux-O-Zomeneck or Darth Vader's

voice sound or the most expensive whiskey in the world. Ask them. H.Y.H. T.B.O. Jack, what does it stand for? Have you had the best one yet? Jack and I will see you on Tuesday or on today's T-boy Live. Happy Independence Day. Have a great weekend. See you there. And before we go, Chris, Jake, Molly, Jose, Eric, Brian, David, Daniel, Dakota, and Dominic, thank you for sending us picks of Rivian trucks out in the wild. Congratulations to Dominique, Plizi and Stella Kiefer, who got engaged in

Barcelona. And Jack, get this. Jessica Loy is celebrating her 30th birthday by jumping out of an airplane in Key West at the exact same time she was born. Sounds like she's getting reborn. Yeah, Jessica is celebrated in 20 years at the Tennessee Valley Authority over in Chattanooga. And happy birthday to Melissa Van Holstein in Austin, Texas. And Jan Jang, turn in 30, over in Brooklyn. And happy 32nd birthday to Vincente Bonuelas in Illinois. And Dr. Mark Ui Murrah over in Salinas, California, home of John Steinbeck. And happy birthday to Brandon Hongs in the North End of Boston. And Marquis Jones is going to be celebrating his birthday over in Thailand. Happy birthday to Matthias Schilling in San Francisco. And Christoph Holiday over in Detroit.

Happy birthday to Papa Mark Brady in Toronto. And Justin Shulte, turning 30 in Duluth. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix and Roblox, and Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Robin Hood. And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. The first time I tried to buy a stock, I got burned badly. Is this when you wanted to buy a share of Ford?

Because you like the chassis over in Detroit? Yes. I had 200 bucks. So I bought $200 of Ford stock. I didn't get $200 of Ford stock, though. I got $192. Ah, the commission fees. By the time the stock climbed back to $200, I sold it. But again, I didn't get $200. I got $192 again. Another commission fee. The stock rose 8%. But I was down on my investment. Because commission fees made small money investing impossible. So Robin Hood came in and killed commission fees. And commissions are still dead in stock and crypto trading thanks to our sponsor. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet to get started, go to robinhood.com slash t-boy and choose a free stock.

That's Robinhood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply for a list of other fees. View their fee schedule at RBNh.c.co slash fees. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Oh, and by the way, Robin Hood is no longer a fee. affiliated with us or the podcast. And the stocks Jack just said are for illustrated purposes only and are not recommendations. You really had some showmanship at the end there. Yeah, I got, I would have said H.

Y, Tv. But I felt like it would have exploded. You were like really orchestrating things like a mice drum. Justiculating. It's like kind of like the Elaine dance. Yeah.