The Best One Yet - ⛹️‍♀️ “Pink Tax Break” — Nike’s Caitlin Clark shoes. Chasin’ Texas record. AI Panic-Maxxing. +Hire-a-Hawk

Episode Date: October 2, 2026

Nike launched the Caitlin 1s, and men are already superfans… “Shrink it and pink it” is over.Ella Langley broke Mariah Carey’s Billboard Hot 100 record… but you’ve never heard the song?Accenture just had its best stock market day ever… no AI-pocalypse in consulting. Yet.A hawk is employee of the month at Ford Motor… $NKE $ACNGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER: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. It's Friday the real Friday. October 2nd. And today's pod is the best one yet this is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Yeah, Eddie's, we did it. We released the last 30 seconds to our Boston live show in less than two weeks. Where are they, Jack? Uh, they're for sale. You can grab them using the link in the episode description. And for me, yeah, this is a home show.

It is. Because Boston is the unofficial capital of New England. Or as Bostonians call it, the official capital of New England. Yet he's, if you don't buy these final tickets, my mom's going to buy them. So you better hurry up. Jennifer, you doing the NAST ticket purchase? I see her. I see her. Grab them.

We got the link in the episode description. Can't wait to see you outside of Fenway. But Jack, we have got three fantastic stories for the brightest pace in business. Well, what do we got on today's T-Boy? For our first story, the Caitlin One by Nike is Caitlin Clark's first signature shoe. But it's trending already with men. Shrink it and pink it, not this shoe. And that strategy could save Nike.

For our second story, remember the panic that AI was. going to put consultants out of business. Yep, Jack, well, one consulting stock proved a wrong by surging 22% yesterday. So we got to talk about panic maxing. Apocalypse, not now. And our third and final story, Ella Langley's choosing Texas just beat Mariah Carey's music record. There's a 50-50 shot you've never even heard this song. And it's the most popular song ever? Question mark. Awkward. Well, we're going to get to the bottom of this. But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Whoa, what a wickickick! going to the weekend with, love it Jack.

Ford Motor Company is bringing a new meeting to the term service animal. Because get this, a non-human is their new employee of the month. True story. One Ford factory in Mexico hired a hawk as a security guard for their factory. We repeat, a bird of prey is the new VIP. Ford's assembly plant in Hermosio, Mexico, produces 300,000 trucks and SUVs per year. But each one of those trucks requires a second paint job these days, and why is that? One paint job before the bird poop, one paint job after the bird poop.

To a huge factory, they got hundreds of pigeons in the rafters, and they're doing their business right on the Ford Broncos. Ford tried sound alarms. They tried bird screens. They did? They tried anti-pigeon visual devices, which I think is the official term for a scarecrow. But they couldn't solve the problem until they hired a hawk. No joke. A local falconer brought a hawk over to Ford's factory in Mexico.

And his Harris Hawk does lock 300 flights over. 1,170 hours on patrol. And guess what? Pigeon activity has fallen by 80% according to the Wall Street Journal. Four out of five pigeons, they're not able to poop anymore in those Broncos.

The pigeon poop problem has been solved. And the hawk? It goes by El Charo. Mexican term for cowboy. That's the translation. And Charo has a rolled R that I cannot pronounce, unfortunately.

They've had to get this guy a bird food bonus soon, Jack. But this hawk isn't the only animal getting promoted by corporate. No, it ain't, Jack. Google rents goats to clear their overgrown lawns on their campus. The Navy trains

dolphins to find underwater mines. And the Dutch police, they use eagles to fight drones these days. Pretty soon, you're probably going to have parrots as customer service representatives. Oh, and you want company loyalty? Well, there's no animal more loyal than a dog. Manager's best friend. Yeah, AI's not taking your job. A peregrine falconist.

Jack, let's get on three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. 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 cause 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 for our first story yesterday katelyn clark dropped her first signature shoot the katelyn ones and it destroys the shrink it and pinkett business

model once and for a while. Shrinking and pink it's out. But besties, story of the last five years, the Nike super slump, they pulled a hammy. A critical error of Nike was prioritizing their direct-to-consumer strategy, which left room on the shelves of Foot Locker for On, for Hoka, and for Brooks. And despite Ben Affleck's best efforts, Nike stock did not do it. Nike is down 76% in the last five years and is currently at a 12-year low. It's down 55% from when Jack bought it for my son as an annual gift. I know, I'm sorry, dude. I did it because I also bought Maxie an adorable pair of toddler Nike's.

Yeah, well, it can't go much further down, Jack. It can't go much further down. I'll tell our three-year-old. Now, look, Nike tried novelty and moonshats with their mind-reading sandals and their Kirkland Costco sneakers, both cool stunts. Collabbing with Costco, couldn't move. We applaud it. But still, investors aren't giving Nike the most improved player award this year.

And to add insult to ankle injury, Nike just announced earnings on Thursday as we were preparing this story and what did we see jack revenues fell 4% during the summer profits fell 2% and after hours Thursday Nike stock fell 5% further down we're gonna need some stim a nice bath and a couple more adville guys but we did notice that Nike stock was up 3% until their earnings report and there's one reason why two words two letters Caitlin Clark cc more on that in the sec jack because kately clark is the biggest brand in women's sports she's the w nba's michael jordan katelynclark she's sinks threes like Reggie dribbles like curry and sells tickets like LeBron. And more than two years after signing an eight-year, $28 million deal with Nike,

she's finally getting her MJ moment. Because for her two-plus seasons in the league, Kailen's worn Nike's on the court, but not her Nikesys on the court until now. Because yesterday, Nike dropped the Caitlin one. That's right. And as with Mike, she's getting her own brand within Nike. Ah, the Caitlin Clark. It features two Nike swooshes, creating a double-C logo that is her very own.

The double C kind of looks like Chanel does with her handbags, but it's for Caitlin Clark and it's on her sneakers. Plus, Nike dropped an 18-piece apparel collection of Caitlin Clark lifestyle gear. Jackets, hoodies, and t-shirts. And the shoes, they kind of look like the Kobe Sixes, I would say, but raised among the Iowa cornstalks. To quote the Schwartz from the movie Spaceballs, Jack, merchandising, merchandising, merchandising, merchandising. Now, the launch color that came out yesterday was Caitlin Blue, and a key feature is the goose bumps across the whole silhouette of the shoe. But besties, there are a few things Jack and I found fascinating with this launch. For instance, Nike launched it first in China last week.

Strange move. Apparently America was priority number two for Nike. And if you're curious, Caitlin is just the 12th WNBA player ever and sixth currently who has her own shoe line. But the biggest surprise wasn't the random China launch strategy or the goosebumps on the shoes. No. It was the first non-Katlin person seen wearing Caitlin's sneakers. That's right, because it wasn't a teammate, it wasn't a friend, and it wasn't a coach.

Who was it, Jack? Travis Scott, the rapper. Oh, and Travis Scott wasn't the only Travis. Travis Kelsey and Jason Kelsey, they also got a launch pair of Caitlin Clark's in the mail. And they unboxed them on their podcast yesterday. They did. Yellow and red color for the Chiefs. Travis called them sturdy.

Yeah. Good analysis, Travis. Yeah, I like what he's putting out there, Jack. Sebastian's, those wears, those dudes, we think that helps explain why Nike stock could go up from here. Because you can't go much further down. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nike? Caitlin Clark's signature shoe will break the shrink it and pink it model forever. Yeties, according to your dad's business book,

to sell a predominantly male product to women, here's the formula. You shrink it and you pink it. You make the men's product smaller and make it pink, and somehow that justifies you raising the price when you sell it to women. Yeah, now the jacket and I've told you this, you're going to see it everywhere. Like we've seen it with razors, with shampoo, with bicycles, even with wrist watches. It's misogynistic, but it's historically the standard. But the Caitlin One is breaking that entire business model.

And the stage for the Caitlin One was set two years ago, when another female basketball shoe started appearing on NBA courts. Are we talking to Sabrina Wands, Jack? Yes, the Sabrina One made for Sabrina Yonescu, was worn by six NBA players, including Jalen Brunson during NBA games. True story, both the Sabrina's and the Kailans. They didn't shrink them and they didn't pink them. Although both are available in pink, we should point out.

Yes, and they're actually sold as Uninian's unisex, so the same shoe is marketed as a women's 11 as a men's 9. We think Travis Scott and the Kelsey brothers are early indicators of the future buyers of this shoe, that this could be the first signature shoe of a woman that has higher sales to men. For our second story, Wall Street said AI would kill consulting. But Accenture's stock, it's church 22% yesterday. If the AI apocalypse was wrong and the SaaSpocalypse was wrong too, are we all just panic-maxing?

I feel panic max, Jack. I feel panic maxed. The SaaS Poccolops. The bank Poclapse. Oh yeah. The snack Poclips. Remember well. The gym Poclips.

I think we're guilty of mentioning all of those terms on this podcast. I'm postpocalypse at this point, Jack. All of those industries are supposed to have been destroyed by AI or OZempic by now. Every white-collar industry was fearing their Poclips now moment caused by a new chat GPT update. Or a new GLP1 prescription. But perhaps none was as afraid as the consulting industry. Ah, like Accenture consulting? Accenture, you know, where our buddies from business school are working right now?

Accenture is Disney, but for strategy decks. But the consulting industry, it tanks, starting in 2024 on an AI-sparked billable hour crisis. Why pay an MBA-trained consultant their $250,000 salary, their flights, and their hotel fees, when an AI will do it for free, whip up the PowerPoints and not charge for the room service at 2 a.m. That was the theory. An investor sold consulting stocks first and asked questions later. And we saw it first with Accenture, the consulting stock, and how did we see it, Jack? Starting in February of 2024, Accenture stock fell 67% over the next 18 months on this AI apocalypse.

And then we saw it in the job market. Because of this panic, consultancy stopped hiring new analysts from college and business school. But pause the pod, Jack. I'm going to have to flip to the next slide in our PowerPoint, because what do you see there? Yesterday, Accenture announced record revenues and record earnings. I'm sorry, Apocalypse Not? Yeah, the stock jumped 22%, the biggest single day increase in Accenture stock history. Hey guys, let's get a pizza party for the Associates on the 14th floor.

Accenture announced that revenues rose 6% and profits rose 41% in the fourth quarter to $1.9 billion. And let's get some cupcakes from the VPs on the 16th floor! It appears that for now, the AI apocalypse is on hold. Consultants may be safe. Yes, that is fantastic, Jack. Although we should point out one ironic detail for from the earnings. One big boost to Accenture right now is helping companies integrate AI into their business. What we're saying, Basties, is this consulting firm is installing the AI agents that could

arguably replace them in the future. And it's also possible that consultants are still in trouble, because their consultancies are using AI instead of people to build those strategy decks. But still, so far, the stock market definitely overreacted. Accenture stock, it's up 73% since July 1st. And it's not just consulting where there was an overreaction caused by AI. No, I mean, Jack, there are a bunch of supposed AI Poccolipses out there that simply look overblown now. Like the SaaSPocelapse. Software as a Service Pocelips. Instead of paying a monthly subscription for software, businesses would just ask their AI to do it. That seems scary, but in ETF, tracking SaaS stocks is up 45% since April, almost back to its pre-pocalypse size.

Now, the latest AI-induced industry panic is for banks, and it came after Meta's News was launched last month. Yeah, you see, the fear was that Zuck's new AI agents would move customer money to higher yielding accounts, which would hurt bank earnings. That is the fear. And candidly, I'm trying to do that right now. I want my money parked where it's going to get 3.7% over night. But that's all just theory. In practice, it's unlikely people will act en masse to do it.

Yeah, I'm doing it. But not everyone's as much of a financial nut job as I am. Add it all up, Apocalypse Not now. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies looking at these stocks that should be down? actually going up. Avoid panic maxing. Yeties never underestimate the standing power of the status quo, because it's not just the AI panic where we're seeing this reversal. A few years ago, the snack and fitness industries tanked with the arrival of GLP1 drugs. But Hershey's chocolate sales have never been higher than in the last 12 months, and Planet Fitness, their membership's

at an all-time high. Now, we should point out, most snack stocks, most fitness stocks, most software as-a-service stocks, and even most consulting stocks are still off of their all-time highs. because the threats that AI and GOP-1s could crush their industries, that's still there. AI has crushed some industries. Online publishing, they've lost half of their online traffic because of AI overviews. That's not a panic. That's reality. But the panics that new technologies want long-established industries, often it's overblown. The panic is partly caused by a media bias for negativity.

Yeah, scary stories drive clicks. But it's also caused by a disconnect between what happens in theory because of a new technology and what happens in practice. Besties never underestimate the staying power. of the status quo. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the most popular song in American history

is one you've never heard. Ella Langley just broke Mariah Carey's record because of the algorithm. Oh, Jack, I'm checking the calendar here, and we're officially 84 days until Christmas, and you know what that means. Oh, shoot, we have to buy matching pajamas for the whole family.

Okay, what is the second thing I mean, so, Jack? Queue all I want for Christmas. is you. Yeties, according to people familiar with the matter, all I want for Christmas is already playing multiple times today at the largest radio station in the state of Utah. Take it easy, Utah. Mariah gets $3 million a year in royalties from that song. She's cashing checks on a 31-year-old song already a month before Halloween.

And besties, that Christmas song is a profit puppy with a record. Because it's got the most weeks as number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list. 22 weeks. Basically each week in December for each of the last six years. All I want for Christmas is you as but number one. Okay, but pause about, pause the pod, pause the pod because someone just hit number 23. Oh no. Mariah was just unseated from her musical throne by Ella Langley's Choose in Texas.

Oh, wait, Jack, pause the pot again, because Choosin Texas just hit a record 24th week as number one Billboard Hot 100. Shabozy, Lil Nas X, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber. They're all now trailing, Choose in Texas. Oh, and Besties, Chooze in Texas is 24 weeks at the top? They were consecutive. Which makes it the song in the summer and the song in the spring, and now the song is the fall. Yes, it does. But Jack, why don't we sprinkle on a little context for all the eddies out there?

Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Ella Langley is bucking like a bronco right now. Yes, she is Jack, because Ella Langley is Gen Z's Carrie Underwood. She's filling Chennai Twain's cowboy boots. And she may be the second coming of Dolly Pardin. Homestooled in Alabama, she started performing in Nashville, but now she's choosing Texas. And by the way, I'm dropping the G because that's in the name of the song, Choosing Texas. And we were just in Austin, so like Jack and I are basically barbecue Texas guys now.

And Ella Langley is catching an economic tailwind, the cowboy economy. Because Western brands are booming right now. We've seen it in every industry. In the last five years, we got Shibuzzi's crossover country rap song, and we got Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album. We got Yellowstone on TV. We got cowboy boot sales at all-time highs. And Louis Vuitton even did their first cowboy collection.

Tech companies moved down to Austin and Dallas just opened their own stock exchange. Add it all up and Western Twang has transcended the South and now a Durango has beaten the diva. But there's one problem here. There is. Which half of you are probably thinking right now. You are. What is Choosin Texas? I've never heard it.

Because if Choosin Texas is so popular a song, why have so many people never even heard it? There are viral videos on social media of people boasting that they've never heard this viral song. It's like confusing, but true. And you know who you are because it's probably half of our listeners right now. And it reflects a modern music phenomenon that is so freaking interesting. Not just that Jack is the best squared answer at a wedding I've ever seen. Did I mention we were just down in Austin? So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who have or have not heard the number one song?

The algorithm made this the biggest hit in history, and it hit it from half of us. Yet he's strange data here. Of the songs that have spent the most time at number one on the charts, three of the top five are from the last three years. Not a single track is from The Beatles, from You Two, from Madonna, or from Michael Jackson. So Jack and I got to ask, why is there such a bias for recency there? Why do newer songs stay number one for so much longer? The reason is a fundamental change in how people discover music.

You see, for decades, radio is how music was discovered, and then MTV, both of which established a monoculture. Monoculture, when pop culture zeitgeist was the same, for all of society. All right, like if a song was number one, not only did everyone know the Britney Spears song, we could all sing a toxic, the Britney Spears song. But today, people discover their new music, first from streaming recommendations, and second, from social media recommendations. And you see, both of those, they're algorithmic. Everyone gets a personalized recommendation. Which means we all watch, listen, and swipe in unique information in media silos. That is why

besties, this choose in Texas phenomenon. It reflects how algorithms have ended monoculture. Songs, news ideas, they get recommended to you, not broadcast to everyone. Which lets one song, headline, or idea reach a mass audience, but also entirely ignore another. What's viral for you hasn't even come across the desk of half of Americans. The algorithm. It's creating super hits that half of us have never even heard. Jack, could you whip up the takeaway for us to go into the weekend? Nike stock is feeling JV right now, but the Caitlin Clark's just launched, and the Kelsey brothers love them. Shrinkin' it and Pinkett is over. These women basketball shoes might

sell more to men. For our second story, Accenture stock had its best day ever, rising 22% and quieting the panic caused by AI. Besties never underestimate the staying power of the status quo. Don't panic, Max. And our third and final story is Ella Langley's Choos' it's Chosen Texas. It's been the number one song for 24 straight weeks, but it hasn't hit the mainstream? That's the Algos. They made Choosing Texas number one, but they hit it from half of us. But Besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, we're getting another sports stock because MSG Madison Square Garden is splitting into two. MSG Knickerbockers Corp will own the New York Knicks.

It will probably be worth about $9 billion. And MSG Rangers Corp will own the Rangers probably be worth $4 billion, but we're catching up to the Knicks, Jack. This feels like the year. This feels like the season. You're not even halfway there, Nick. We actually haven't started yet. But huge opportunities for some cool stock ticker. What do you thinking, Jack?

Puck. Yeah. Dunk. Okay, dunk is good. Hit? I was singing hockey on there. Second. On October 13th, Apple has another product event.

John Turnus is like stimming right now. It's just one month after launching a foldable phone, we're going to be getting a smart device from Apple. It's going to be a smart screen that either builds into your wall or sits on a kitchen countertop and can like turn its neck to move towards the speaker. It's going to recognize people and adjust to whatever person's in the room. And if you ask Siri something, she's going to respond through the screen to help you cook or bake or call somebody.

They're also adding Siri AI to the home pod speaker and to the Apple TV box. Really trying to make fetch happen. And finally, the biggest drama in AI today, it's about teddy bears at Anthropic. Get this. According to a new book by a New York Times reporter, Anthropic CEO keeps a bunch of stuffed animals at the office.

And they keep these squishy toys to represent different human personalities, which they then use to help solve workplace conflicts with the toys. That either sounds really smart or really soft. I can't tell. I don't know, Jack. There's actually a bigger story here. though, on how AI has a new obsession with adorableness. Comment, cute, if you want us to cover it tomorrow.

Now, time for the best fact yet. Now, this one whipped up by Jack and me because we were thinking about it as we were working on that Nike story. The Air Jordan Nike sneaker, the Air Jordan once launched in 1985. Now, back in 1985, that first Air Jordan sneaker, it was mostly black and had a red swoosh when Michael wore it on the court. But guess what? NBA rules at the time required that sneakers worn by players

be mostly white. So Nike told Mikey he would have to pay the fines if he wore these red and black shoes on the court. But Nike told Michael, hey, if you wear these new sneakers, we will pay the fines every time you're on the court. $5,000 per game. It turned out to be the best marketing ever. Because the fact that he was breaking the rules with these sneakers obviously made headlines and pointed out the absurdity of that white sneaker-only rule. The $5,000 fine, throw it under a marketing expense, write it off next quarter. Comment, Oscar. If Nick and I just told that story, better than Matt Damon and Ben Affleck did in the movie air.

Yetis, you look fantastic over there. Jack, you have been glowing all week. Yetis, thanks for choosing the best one yet. Yes, I dropped the G again on choosing there. Oh, and this weekend, when you see a buddy at brunch, remember to drop T-Boy in the group chat. Have a fantastic weekend. Nick and I'll see you Monday. Celebrate the wins.

And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti. Faryl Moss, the Princess of Poppy, celebrating down at Austin, Texas. Happy birthday to Mike Wong from San Francisco. A Yeti going back to the snacks days is turning 38 in SF. And Cheddar Tang, great name, has never missed an episode ever, and is celebrating a birthday down in Vegas. Happy birthday to Brittany Gillow in Fort Myers, Florida, long-time bestie. And Archie Callahan, Northern Virginia, longtime Yeti.

Second shout-out on the show. Happy birthday, bud. Happy birthday to Alexa Marino, from Chicago to Nashville to New York Day, San Francisco. And thanks for taking all our nerds. calls. And Xavier Rouse is turning 12 years old down in Tampa, the best yet yet. Happy 22nd birthday to Anna Schrader in California. And Sophia Aguirre, happy 17th birthday also in California. Happy 31st birthday to Matthias Munoz of Austin, Texas. Turn in 31 and Laura Peters, happy birthday in Pella, Iowa. And happy birthday to Pugia

in Dix Hills, Long Island. And finally, congratulations to Daniel Eugenio, who's got a new podcast, Plano Lovita, a spanned a show with already three episodes. Planning your life in your 20s and beyond. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Ford and Disney. Nick on stock of Nike.