The Best One Yet - 🐉 “Pickachu hates AI” — Nintendo’s Pokemon surprise. Quince’s $10B dupe. Rivian’s Valley of Death. +Red Carpet secret

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Nintendo surged 18% in 2 weeks thanks to 30-year old Pokemon… and it hates AI.Quince just hit a valuation twice as good as Skims… thanks to caviar, candles, and caviar?Rivian is taking orders for the R2… which has to disrupt Rivian, and save Rivian.And the Academy Awards have a shocking plan for last night’s Red Carpet… Destroy it.$NTDOY $RIVN $DUPEBuy tickets to The IPO Tour (our In-Person Offering) TODAYNew York, NY (4/8): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000637AE43ED0C2Los Angeles, CA (6/3): SOLD OUTGet your TBOY Yeti Doll gift here: https://tboypod.com/shop/product/economic-support-yeti-doll NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, March 16th. And today's fun is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories, you need to know today. I mean, our voices have recovered from D.C., but our emotions, oh my God, what a show man.

Our live show days are truly a full-body, full-day exercise. I mean, this brings me back to, like, pre-season, Jack. We ended up at the bars until 1 a.m. I mean, the hugging, the amount of hug, my arms are sore. My shoulders are sore. I haven't hugged so many people. So many hugs and so many wonderful conversations with our listeners after the show. Besties, thank you so much for coming and for hanging out for the entire evening.

We were taking selfies and getting to know you for an hour. That was before the after party across the street. And it was all powered by adrenaline and lozenges. Jack, three fantastic stories for our first pod back. What do we got for the T-boy? For our first story, Nintendo stock has surged 20% this month, thanks to a surprise Pokemon. True.

But the real surprise to us, what is it, Nick? It's that Nintendo hates AI. For our second story, Quince, the online fashion company, just hitting $10 billion valuation for selling luxury dupes. But you want to know who Quince really copied? It's actually Costco. And our third and final story, Rivian is going through its scariest moment ever as a company. Oh boy, it's called the Valley of Death in the car industry.

Tesla survived it, but will Vivian. But yet he's, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, we want to make it. such stories to come back to, love the pod mix, Jack. All right, who is the best dressed? Who was the worst dressed? Who had the best speech? Who had the worst speech? Did Leo get snubbed? I mean, what are we thinking, Jack? Everyone's chatting Oscars right now.

Susie owe me 12 bucks for that one. You were wrong on Best Director. But the biggest business drama to us about the Oscars, it wasn't on the red carpet. No, no, it was the red carpet. It was the red carpet, because last night's red carpet has already been destroyed. Get this. For 19 years, one single company has made the famous Red Oscars Carpet. It's called Signature Systems Group based in Dalton, Georgia. Just outside Atlanta. It's actually the biggest order. It comes from the Academy. They'll have one red carpet, please. They'll have the red carpet, please. Yeah, this thing weighs 700 pounds, requires 900 man-hours to install.

Not a carpet, it's a construction project. Oh, and the color, Jack, what's the color precisely? Top secret. They don't want duplicates to be created, so the exact color code is locked up. But the wildest part of this rug ain't Chaparone's red carpet dress, or lack thereof. It's It's actually where the carpet ends up. Because the day after the Academy Awards, the red carpet gets destroyed. No joke. This thing, it is a one-hit rug wonder. It's a one-hit under.

I mean, do they cut it up and auction it off to charity, Jack? Did they try putting it on Facebook Marketplace? No, the red carpet of the Oscars. It is buried like a mafia boss. Hey, Academy, I'm doing a house renovation. Yeah. Like, I'll come pick it up for you and haul it away for free. We'll roll it up.

Will you haul this thing? We'll take care of it for you. Just give us the ring, baby. You can write it off as a donation, too. Have your people call our people will make it happen. Best tragedy? Except the red carpet gets destroyed. She wasn't handed.

Yeah, it's in our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story. Nintendo stock has surged 20% this month because Pokemon is the gift that keeps on shockingly giving, baby.

And because Nintendo is the most contrarian company in all of tech. Wait till you hear what they think of AI. But besties, let's sprinkle on some context. Anthropic, they're getting all the attention these days. Open AIs getting all the shade, and Zuck is just copying whatever Snapstills does. Or TikTok. Whatever they're doing, Zuck's doing to. Whatever they're doing to.

But the most unique and interesting company in tech we think is actually Nintendo, Cheching, hands down. Because... D Dada la do... Dut do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do... Super Mario? Oh, you must have been a Sega Genesis guy. It all sounds like Yoshi to me, Jack.

But 30 years ago, Nintendo took a risk in 96 to launch something called Pocket Monsters, AKA Pokemon. That's right. And those pocket monsters, aka Pokemon, became the most successful franchise of all time. This is a great trivia question. What's the most successful franchise of all time in terms of revenue? It's not Star Wars, not Mickey Mouse, not Harry Potter, not Disney princesses. No, it is Pokemon which has more money than all of those.

Combine. Not combined. But still, you know what we mean. And almost exactly 30 years later, Pokemon continues to bring the American cheddar back to Japan. Because on my birthday, March 5th, just about two weeks ago, Nintendo launched Pokemon Pokopia. Yeah, and you can see where this is going. Let's push play on the trailer for this new video game. In this desolate world, humans and Pokemon have vanished. Oh, a ditto transformed to look like a human and a unique-looking tan growth. They decided to build a new town.

Sounds adorable, sounds cute, and it sounds also like this. Because this game, where you build a town as a character named Ditto, it retails for 70 bucks a pop. And sales have been so good over the last two weeks that one analyst at Morningstar thinks it's going to bring in 15 to 20 million copies. And at 70 bucks each, that's $1.4 billion of sales for Nintendo. For a game that nobody thought would even be a hit. Pokemon demand is so high right now, Amazon. had to raise the price of this game to $80, something they never do. Profits, got to catch them all.

And the game is so viral, it's expected to drive millions of purchases of the Switch 2 gaming console, too. I just squirdled on my catar pie when I heard that. That sounds inappropriate, but it's not. So, to sprinkle on even more context, Pokemon Spokopia, it's like SimCity and that you build a city, right, Jack? But it's much lazier than SimCity, because SimCity requires you build infrastructure, Levy taxes, oversee a whole metropolis like a mayor. But Pokemon's new Pocopia game is more like Animal Crossing. The stakes, they are way lower.

As that little main character, your job is just to create like a harmonious, like, recess area for Charzards to relax and peas with snorlax. It's a cozy life simulation game. And you know what? That is hugely trending right now. But the real reason Pokemon's new game is such a surprise hit is that it's a spin-off game. It's not a Pokemon flagship game. That's right. That's the key business angle here. It's gaming's equivalent of a direct-to-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-a-d-duty movie, right?

Yeah, Pokemon Pocopia didn't get red carpet treatment with all the fancy marketing dollars in the TV commercials. And here's why that's important. It's prove how valuable Nintendo's core IP, its intellectual property really is. Using the Pokemon IP, Nintendo can create sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and sell a bunch of units. It can do it with Mario. It can do it with Zelda. It can do it with Star Fox without even getting off the couch. Now, outside of Nintendo, from Hollywood to video games, we're seeing franchise fatigue out there. You know what we're talking about. Disney's Marvel superheroes, Star Wars, droids.

They ain't grown like they used to, but Nintendo's Pokemon's are. And unlike most of Disney's IP, Nintendo didn't acquire it. Nintendo created it. Nick, I just said Pokemon and pluralized it by adding an S. I'm going to get a bunch of comments, probably that. Pikachu is going to rip us in the comments section.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nintendo? It's Nintendo's cheat code, actually. be the zag to everyone else's zig. Now, Eddie's, Jack and I dove in T-boy style intensely to do research on Nintendo for our deep dive episode on The Best Idea Yet about Super Mario. Translation, we grabbed our Super Nintendo 64 from the attic. We played a bunch of Mario guys. We went through a lot of earnings reports.

Our favorite nugget here from Nintendo is the refusal to lay off people during hard economic times. Here's what Nintendo was thinking. That creativity flourishes only when workers are feeling psychologically safe. It doesn't work if they're feeling they're going to be. going to get laid off. And that strategy is called the Infinite Game. Well, Nintendo also just announced a new AI policy that we think is cut from the same controller. Nintendo is being similarly contrarian with AI as they were being with layoffs. Unlike every American tech company, Nintendo, not into AI. Look at electronic arts. America's biggest video game company. They just sold for the record

amount. And they say that AI is at the very core of their business. But on the other hand, Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda. He says Nintendo, would rather go in a different direction. And not use any generative AI at the company for their games. And that is Nintendo's cheat code, when the rest of the industry zigs, Nintendo Zags, even on AI. And if you're working at a different company and you want to employ this cheat code,

just push up down, left, right, AB, AB, AB, up down, Y, left, joystick. For our second story, Quinn's just hit a $10 billion valuation for selling dupes of every luxury fashion brand. Quince copied its way to the top, thanks to cashmere, candles, but also caviar. And it also brings a lesson about skims. Ah, Quince.

Jack, if you had to sprinkle on some context and describe Quince to us, how would you present it, please? It's the luxury version of Cheyenne. Quince is Timu, but for Cartier. Festi's, the online retailer, Quince actually did $1 billion in revenue last year selling fancy dupes. The strategy? Copy the $300 Reformation dress, but somehow sell it, not for $300. but for $69.99. And Jack, what's the secret sauce to pulling off that level of luxury dupe? Their business model is DTF, direct to factory. They send that new dress directly to you

from their Chinese factory. By cutting out the middlemen, they can reduce cost and ultimately lower price. And the result, Quince has adjoined triple digit growth every single year for seven straight years now. And they announced last week a brand new fundraise that brings them to the 11 digit club in terms of valuation. 10 billion bucks, that is more than lift. Actually, that's more than a lot of things in your wardrobe jack. Quince is now more valuable than The Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, and Victoria's Secret. But there is one fascinating key here, and that is the caviar strategy. Because Quince, a fashion brand, randomly sells you caviar once in a while. And here's the reason why. Selling $40 cashmere sweaters and cheap luxury dupes, that's actually kind of a reputation risk.

No matter how high the quality of the stitching and the quality of the fabric, Quince could become associated with cheapness. So, one strategic movement, made to combat that is the limited luxury drop, which Quince is pioneered. Over the holidays, Quince was selling $3,000 diamond rings. I mean, last year, they also sold a $4,000 gold bar. Right now, Quince is selling $100 tins of the highest grade caviar. They can typically have to pay $300 for. Yeah, we're talking royal Ocetra caviar, which is what my mom is power using right now, Jack.

None of those limited time drops are fashion products, but they all sell out, and there's no updates from the company on when or if they'll ever be restocked. That's exactly the point, because now you associate Quince's brand with caviar, even if they only sell it one month out of the year. It's luxury by association. When you think of Quince, you don't think of the guy on Canal Street opening up a suitcase and offering you fake watches. Definitely not. You think of that night you tried your first caviar because your mom bought you some on Quince. But funny thing, we did say Quince pioneered this, but Jack and I have actually seen the strategy before, have we not, Jack? Costco kind of does this too. Their Kirkland brand also does random caviar drops as well, as well as gold bars that sell out. instantly. And the same point here, they uplevel your impression of Kirkland overall. It's, again,

luxury by association. So it looks like Quince duped Costco's business model while duping fashions products. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Quince? Companies wear clothing, too. Interesting detail, Yetis. Quince is doing $1 billion in revenue, but they're worth $10 billion in valuation. And you know what? We've a very close comp for that. Skimms also recently announced they did $1 billion of revenue last year, but they were valued. not at $10 billion like Quince, Skims is valued at $5 billion. So why is Quince two times more valuable than Kim Kardashian Skims despite having the same sales numbers? It's because Skims is a clothing brand, but Quince is a tech company. That's right.

Last year when we first covered Quince, we noticed that more than half their employees are actually software engineers. If you look at the jobs website right now, the last five positions listed in the U.S. are tech-related. This is a seven-year-old fashion business that only hired their first head of brand just a few weeks ago. Clearly, the investor community considers Quince a tech company, not a fashion company, and their valuation reflects that. And tech is higher growth and has better margins than the apparel industry. So Quince has the long-term profit upside of being a tech company. Skim's profit is limited by it being a clothing company. Besties add it all up and companies wear clothing too. Quince is tech. It's just dressed up like fashion. Now a quick word

from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Rivian just launched their first ever mass market SUV, the R2, their first ever Dinkmobile. And this new model's job? No big deal. Save Rivian.

This car will determine if Rivian's stock goes to zero or goes to 100. Oh, Yeti's South by Southwest going on now in Austin. And Jack, who's the sponsor again? Rivian. It's expensive.

It's outdoorsy chic and it's VC back, like all of South by Southwest. top west. The only car company that pairs well with a Canada goose vest twice. Well, Rivian also just announced the price of their big mass market car, the R2. Ah, the R2, the mid-size SUV, the shape of a sneaker that costs 58,000 bucks delivering this spring. Lower priced versions of this new car roll up next year, starting at as low as $45,000. And we think it's a big deal this launch, because outside of the model Y, there isn't really a sexy, high-selling electric car that's mass market. We actually covered the launch of Rivian's R2 last year. We called it the DinkMobile.

And why is that, Jack? It fits in a Brooklyn garage and it's perfect for a couple living in a city. But this R2, this new mid-sized SUV from Rivian, it's basically half the price of the R1, but offers 80% of the value designed for a dink. And Rivian's goal, this lower priced car, is to disrupt itself. Help Rivian go from an expensive niche company to a mass market electric car company like Tesla. Also trying to disrupt Tesla's model Y, which is Tesla's. version of the Dinkmobile, which also full disclosure, I happen to drive. Oh, by the way, how is Riving getting 80% of the car for half the price? This R2 is shorter, narrower, and simpler. Help us R2. You're our only hope. I wonder, is it supposed to sound like R2D2?

Well, it better save the company, Jack, because Yeties, as Jack and I learn from watching Forrest Gump multiple times, life is all about timing. Very Oscars weekend appropriate of you to go from Star Wars to Forrest Gump in like 10 seconds. It all comes from. full circle, Jack, but timing is really what business all comes down to. And the timing of this launch is bad. Oh, yes, it is for Rivian. We're in the middle of a nationwide affordability crunch, and for the first time, in a long time, there is no tax incentive to buy an electric car. Yeah, the vibes ain't vibing on demand for this kind of stuff. You see, for 13 years, Tesla benefited from government incentives, a $7,500 credit per electric car sold. But after the big beautiful bill

passed last year, this is the first big electric car to launch without that government. government incentive. Oh, plus, Jack, in this economy, kale-collared workers like dinks are cutting back on trips to Cabo. They're probably not going to splurge on a new car. And if they do, maybe not a $58,000 one. Now, maybe spike in oil prices from the war in Iran will boost appeal for an electric vehicle. But here's the kicker, Nick. Rivian is in the middle of construction of a big new factory in Georgia that will 10x the production of Rivian. But, Jack, that factory will only have enough money to be built if enough people buy this R2.

car, which leads to the huge takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Rivian? This R2 will either be Rivian's Model 3 or it will be Rivian's Delorean. Yetis, the CEO of Rivian, R.J. Scouringe, said last week that this car, this R2, it was a make-or-break product. Well, 10 years ago, Tesla had their make-or-break moment. For Tesla, it was the launch of the Model 3, their first mass market car. Yes, their first real affordable electric car.

Elon called that Model 3 launch, manufacturing hell though. He had to sleep on the factory floor just to make it happen. Why would he sleep on the factory floor? Because Tesla was unprofitable. It was running out of money. He needed cars to roll off the assembly line that he could sell as soon as possible. Well, 10 years later, Rivian is now going through the same manufacturing hell. They must succeed with the R2 or they'll run out of money.

And the run out of money scenario, that reminds us of the DeLorean from the 1980s. Yeah, the DeLorean, the car made famous by Back to the Future. That was also a make-or-break product, and you know what? It didn't sell, and the company was bankrupt two years later. Delorean launched one product, the DeLorean, and then the DeLorean was done for. That was it. So the R2, it'll make or break Rivian, and its stock is either going to go to zero or a hundred bucks as a result. Zero, if the R2 doesn't make enough money to build that factory in Georgia, 100 if it does.

This critical new car launch will either be Rivian's Model 3, or it will be Rivian's DeLorean. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Nintendo's stock has scored 18% since launching Pokemon Pocopia two weeks ago. And it all goes back to Nintendo's cheat code. Everyone else is zagging, you got a sick. For our second story, Quince just reported a billion dollars in sales and is valued in the private market at $10 billion.

Quince, it's worth twice as much as skims because it's a tech company wearing fashion clothes. And our third and final story, Rivian has been stuck at 50,000. car sold and lose money for five years. It needs to go mass market. And that's why this R2 is their make or break moment. The stock's going to zero or a hundred, Model 3 or Delorean. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. Universal Studios is extending the theatrical window to seven weeks for films to watch in the theaters. During the pandemic, studios let you rent movies on streaming just three weeks after they premiered in the movie theaters. This is a big deal. Universal is reversing that. They're going back. They're going

back to the five weeks starting now, seven weeks starting next year. Second, an awkward date situation. Bumble and Tinder both announced AI initiatives last week on the same day. Bumble jumped 35% last week on word of an AI matchmaking service they just debuted. And Tinder's using AI to assess potential chemistry with the person that you're swiping on. Finally, David Barr was sued in a class action lawsuit for allegedly understating the calories in their protein bars. That question is the secret protein ingredient that only David controls because they acquired the lab that makes it. So the lawsuit alleges David protein bars are only twice as caloric and twice as fatty as they advertise in the nutrition label. But David stands by their numbers. And it's a story on crisis

management. So if you want us to cover it on the pod, drop it in the comments. Now, time for the best fact yet, which to kick out the week is some T-boy trivia. Jack, what do we got? With the war in Iran, everyone's been focused on the oil market, specifically Brent crude oil, which is the global price of oil. But Jack and I were curious, where does the term Brent crude oil actually come from? So our T-boy trivia for today, is Brent referring to a person who discovered the oil? Brent referring to the name of a place where the oil is. Or is Brent the name of a type of food?

Basically, multiple choice, where does the name Brent come from in Brent crude oil? That's the poll on Spotify. Drop your answers now. We'll give them tomorrow. Yeah, it is. You're looking fantastic to kick off the week. Jack, you're still schvitsen from the live show in D.C. That was a workout, man. Yeties, if you went to that live show, here's our favor request. Send the show to a buddy because that helps us grow up. H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. That's the best way to grow the pod. Also, drop down and give us a five-star rating and review. We love reading them. And if you're watching on YouTube, destroy that subscribe button. Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. If you know, you know. And before we go, some belated birthday shout-outs. A happy. Happy 28th birthday to Yeti Sean Paul Lee in Pedaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Happy birthday to Brian Stewart in Conroe, Texas. And Reim Fayyat is turned 22 years old down in Morrisville, North Carolina. Happy birthday to Jackie Chodo in Hurricane Utah. And Harrison Langford, the Math Olympiad Jujitsu wrestling skiing champion in Salt Lake City, has got the best birthday yet. Happy birthday to Jimmy Gillespie, just outside Salt Lake City. And Hun Fan, down in Houston, Texas. Have a best birthday yet?

Happy 40th birthday to Gary Pentonhoe in Camarillo, California. And Rebecca Sousa also enjoying a 40th down in Rockville, Maryland. And happy birthday to Pat Milo in Weehawk in New Jersey, his last birthday before becoming a father. And Kristen down in Orlando, Florida is the Benson Boone fan who got the whole company on T-Boy and celebrates the birthday today. Thank you so much for that, Kristen. And Heronimo Neri, the future finance bro and soccer legend is turning 10 down in South Miami. Have a fantastic party this week, Aranamo. And happy birthday to Priya Kelly, who's got a new baby coming in North Carolina and is hoping, fingers crossed.

for a girl, although a boy would be epic too. And enjoy that birthday. And Mark Jamalva over in Chicago is doing logistics, took his brother's advice and became a Yeti, and has now got the best birthday yet. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins.

This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon.