The Best One Yet - 💩 “Poo saved the world” — Vaulted’s sewer innovation. Airbnb’s “Icon” houses. Weed’s federal reclassification.

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

Vaulted Deep is removing carbon by burying waste deep underground, and it’s stealing a trick from fracking — Yup, underground Poop could help us fight climate change. Airbnb just unveiled a new class of listings: “Icons”: You can stay at the X-Men Mansion or the house from Up — And Airbnb got the idea from Lego.And some Cannabis stocks doubled Tuesday on word the US government is changing how it classifies marijuana — So we’re taking the moment to compare cannabis legalization to sports betting.Plus Starbucks just unveiled its newest coffee bet: Can Late night Lattes.$WEED $CGC $AMZN $SBUXSubscribe to the best newsletter yet: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, May 2nd, and today's pot. And all the pods we've ever done is the best one yet. It's a T-Bah. We're serving up the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But Jack, before we hit the pod, what is going on over at the Federal Reserve, man? Yesterday, our central bank announced that they were keeping interest rates where they are.

The Fed said interest rates are not going up, they're not going down, they're staying right where they are. It's pretty much where investors expected. so stocks remained flat yesterday. But Jack and I whipped up three stories that you didn't expect. So Jack, three stories for today's show. What do we got, man? For our first story, Airbnb has created the X-Men superhero mansion, and you can Airbnb it.

Airbnb is creating Hollywood fan houses, and they got the idea from Lego. For our second story, cannabis stocks nearly doubled on Tuesday on news that the federal government would chill out a little bit about marijuana. So Jack and I are comparing legalized weed, to legalize sports betting. And our third and final story.

One startup just signed a deal with big tech to stop climate change with their poop. Deep vaulted is storing poo underground and they're using a 70-year-old technology. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. That is a fantastic mix of stories and I can't believe we have a poo story in there, check. I know. It's one of our first.

But yeties, in the last year, Nick and I have covered a lot of different strange Starbucks concoctions. It's like there's the olive oil flavored Starbucks coffee. And in China, they're serving up bacon-flavored coffee. That's right, yaddies. You can now walk into a Starbucks and get an extra virgin olive oil and pork belly venti latte. We'll take nuts. Make it a double, actually.

But yesterday, in Starbucks earnings report, we noticed their next strange coffee bet. Starbucks's next big coffee bet is the late night latte. Starbucks's new focus is late night lattes. Late night lattes. We're talking 11 p.m. Lates. Midnight macchiados. Two in the morning. Where's my Cortado, baby?

According to the Starbucks CEO, overnight coffee is a tremendous untapped opportunity. Yeah, we jumped in T-boy style. Apparently overnight coffee is a $2 billion a year potential business. It makes sense because Katie's clubbing. She needs a frappuccino has some fuel. Banker Bianca, she needs to stay awake while she's crunching on those spreadsheets, Jack. Every time I fly to the West Coast, I'm jet lagged.

I want a coffee at 4 a.m. nobody's open. Jack wakes me up at 4 a.m. and goes, how come the Starbucks isn't open? I'm like, oh, it's 4 am here on the West Coast, man. The real question is, why don't you have a drip coffee machine, Nick? Well, now you've spoiled your birthday gift, Jack. I should have left that on my hotel review. But yet, he's Jack and I, we should point out,

Starbucks stock fell 17% after this late-night latte report. So maybe investors don't like this late-night latte strategy. I mean, Jack, I don't need caffeine. I don't got to be a customer of this thing. Mixed decaf or die. I got a tattoo on it actually right here next to where I was going to put your coffee machine, Jack. Wait. Wait, you have a tattoo about coffee and that's somehow my birthday present?

Yeah, let's not get into the details. So here's what Nick and I think at Starbucks. Why don't you put an espresso martini on the menu for a late-night latte? Decaf espresso martini. Jack, let's hit our three stories. 15 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 a nice.

on 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 our first story thanks to an air b and b marketing stunt you can now sleep in the floating house from pixars up air bm b is taking a trick from legos they're focusing on fashion points. All right, Jack, pretty sure it's already too late to book summer travel. Am I wrong? It's like everything booked on.

Well, if you're trying to go somewhere desirable, yeah, it's fully booked. All right. So yeah, summer travel, it's tough. You got to get on that right now. In the meantime, we noticed that Airbnb just unveiled 11 of the most insane things we have ever seen architecturally ever. Airbnb partnered with Pixar to recreate the house from the movie up. And it's actually floating in the sky and you can actually spend a night there.

like that wonderful old man from the movie. The balloons are just for show, but there's a crane holding up this house and you can book it now on Airbnb. Or you can channel your inner Wolverine and stay at the X-Men Mansion in upstate New York with Professor Xavier. On Airbnb, or you can go full Enzo

and do a night at the Ferrari Museum in Italy. That is yesterday, Airbnb unveiled these 11 wild listings, and they bundled them into a new class of listings called icons. The only thing we hope they don't list is that estate from Saltburn, because that would be scary, man. Honestly, I just wish we were at the offsite where Airbnb came up with this idea. Can you imagine the mood board? It's like, uh, legally blonde too.

Let's turn the sorority house into an Airbnb. I mean, we wish we were there for that. Speaking of Pink, Airbnb actually got this idea from an accidental test last summer. Yeah, Airbnb got this idea accidentally when they did that promotion with Barbie for the Malibu Dreamhouse. Last summer, as the hype for Barbenheimer was growing, Airbnb collabian. with Mattel and unveiled Barbie's Malibu Dreamhouse and listed it on Airbnb. They created Marby's Balibu Dreamhouse. They blasted it with pink and they let you grab your stilettos and stay a night on Airbnb.

No Ken's allowed. I think you said Marby's Balibu Breamhouse, Nick. I'm sorry I'm not enough for you, Jack. But Yeti's Airbnb just scaled that same exact concept to 11 more houses, but with different specific fan bases. For example, Yeti's comedian Kevin Hart is now. the host of an Airbnb house with a speakeasy that comes with a night of personal stand-up. And one of these icon listings is owned by Doja Cat,

who's offering a living room musical studio session if you stay there. Even TikTok or Kavi Lameh is hosting an Airbnb icon listing for a night of video games with the influencer. Nick, it's only 11 listings. Like, there's no way if I go to Airbnb.com right now, I'm going to get one of these listings. That's a fair point. And honestly, the CEO of Airbnb of Riancheski admits this. He says a majority of Airbnb's 150 million users only open the app one or two times a year. So the vast majority of us, 99.9% of us are not going to see even see these places.

But considering that Kevin Hart and Christina Aguilera and the X-Men are all doing one of these icon houses on Airbnb, 150 million people are going to be aware of what's going on. And maybe, just maybe, we'll open the app because of this marketing stunt. Oh, Jack, and maybe those politicians who banned Airbnb in New York City? Maybe they'll rethink it after a night at the Barbie Dreamhouse. But only if they're X-Men fans. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Airbnb? Airbnb is stealing a trick from Legos.

They're using passion points as a profit puppy. Interesting thing Jack and I have been thinking about. Lego isn't simply a plastic brick toy for building things. No, Lego is a platform for fandom. For example, Lego's Star Wars sets, they show the tremendous value of tapping into people's fandom. Get this. Lego Star Wars sets do $2 billion a year in sales. Sit down, stand up, and use the force again. Two billion dollars? Legos is a platform for fandom. Well, Airbnb's icon collection similarly taps into passion points and it does it at scale. And the best part for Airbnb, the icons are coming to them.

Apparently Kevin Hart, the X-Men, and Disney asked Airbnb to do this whole thing to help them stay relevant to fans. Just like My Little Pony, Star Wars, and Spider-Man, asked Legos for their own custom Lego set. So Yetis, Airbnb, it's actually stealing a trip from Legos. It's tapping into passion points. Yetis, let us know in the comments because we think Airbnb leadership is listening. Which fictional movie house do you wish you could rent on Airbnb? Leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube.

For our second story, the White House is reclassifying marijuana from really bad drug to not so bad drug. So we'll tell you everything this means for weeds leak. status. Because potstocks just surged. But Jack, before we kick off the story, because the NHL playoffs are going on and as a hockey fan over here, can we start the story in Canada? Sure, I'm good with that, dude. It's my neighbor to the north. I could just pop up there. Watch that. Slap shot. All right, here we go. What do we got going on in Canada? Yet he's in 2018, Canada legalized recreational use of marijuana nationwide. Cannabis

became as legal as beer or cigarettes up there. But Jack, what's the situation with cannabis in the States, exactly. Even though 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana use and DC has too, cannabis is still illegal on the federal level. Oh, and cannabis isn't just illegal in the United States. It's very illegal on the federal level. Yeah. Outdated laws had marijuana in the same category as heroin. But here's the news yeties. The Biden administration is changing that. They're reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 3 drug. That is a long overdue recognition that Marijuana is not highly addictive, like other Schedule I drugs, and it's not even harmful, basically. But Jack, I got to whip out a surgeon general's warning right now.

Can you please define Schedule 3 drugs for our audience of besties and yet he's out there? Schedule 3 drugs are known to have certain medical benefits while also posing, and I quote, moderate risk of dependence. And that's the new classification that marijuana is heading to in the United States. Which means this week we had the biggest day for weed. Since like Woodstock, 1969. The biggest day for weed since Cheech Met Chong. Jack, the biggest day for weed since 420, 2020, 4.20 p.m.

The biggest day for weed since every fish concert. Okay, I think we made it clear. Clear, Yetis, cannabis stocks nearly doubled yesterday. And it was for two specific reasons. What are they, Jack? One reason was practical. One reason was symbolic. The first reason for this cannabis stock surge, it's practical.

classification would let cannabis companies operating in the United States right off business expenses for tax purposes. Right now, cannabis companies pay really high taxes. Basically, cannabis companies pay a 70% income tax on the money they're bringing it. So, however efficiently your cannabis company operates, making a profit off that pineapple express is nearly impossible with such high income tax rate. Okay, so that was the first big benefit for cannabis stocks. But the second benefit for cannabis stocks was symbolic. This reclassification shifts the national conversation when it comes to cannabis. This reclassification shows momentum that helps at the margins with prosecutors, financial institutions, and investors on figuring out how to handle cannabis, which is like kind of illegal and kind of legal.

Yeah, and we got proof of that shift in the conversation yesterday when Senate Democrats introduced a bill to decriminalize cannabis nationwide. Now, besties, Jack, and I should point out that even though Canopies cannabis stock searched 90% this week, weed is not exactly out of the weeds quite yet, is it, Jack? No. Even with this reclassification, companies still can't sell weed across state lines, and they still can't open conventional bank accounts because the product they're selling is illegal from a federal perspective.

Let's be honest, even despite this reclassification, when you're going through TSA security with a little bit of a fun gummy in your bag, you're sweating, Jack, aren't you? You're really sweating. I wouldn't recommend it. I swear, it's a Twizzler. Kind of a harry bow is this. Jack wants the takeaway for our buddies over in the cannabis industry. Two vices diverged in a wood, cannabis and sports betting.

Yeties, like Jack and I said, at the beginning of 2018, Canada legalized recreational marijuana nationwide. That same year, 2018, America's Supreme Court struck down our ban on sports betting. Sports betting and cannabis, they were both living their... best lives, it appeared that you'd be able to bet on the Cowboys while smoking a blunt. Now, today, you can bet on the Cowboys in just about, you know, every corner of the United States, but be careful with the blunt part. Sports betting has rapidly become normalized while cannabis has been moving ahead at a much slower pace. Much, much slower for cannabis. And what's the key reason why there's this

difference between sports betting and cannabis, Jack? Cannabis is still illegal on the federal level, even after this reclassification news. And because Congress has, hasn't legalized it, its final hurdle, cannabis still has a type of scarlet ladder. No matter how enthusiastically states try to embrace the legalization of cannabis, the federal criminal status is going to always weigh it down. And that is why sports betting and cannabis are legalizing at very different speeds. Or, as our buddy Robert Frost put it, two vices diverged in a wood. Cannabis took a much slower path. Yeah, I think it was something like that. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

For our third and final story, this is wild. Jack and I found a poop unicorn. Vaulted Deep just received a $60 million check from Big Tech to harvest their employees poop. But this poop innovator's greatest invention is not inventing a new invention. How is that for a headline? But by the way, perfect timing because aren't you potty training the pod sun right now? We did a 72-hour blitz potty training over the weekend. Right after the New York City Live show, we were stuck in.

indoors with my naked son for three days watching him, monitoring him, steering him towards that little potty. Yet he's like we said, perfect timing on the potty training because this company Vaultad Deep with a big news headline is basically potty training for all of us. By the way, Wilder's like basically successfully potty training. Mission accomplished. Because what Volta Deep does is store human waste underground to fight climate change. Yeah, the concept is pretty simple. They inject human poop underground into wells to stop carbon from going up into the atmosphere. And the idea is interesting. By keeping human waste trapped below, carbon dioxide from the decomposing process won't warm the air above. And the business model is simple too.

This whole business is simple. They get paid to manage sewers for cities and companies and keep their carbon footprint down. And get this, Alphabet and Meta, those big tech companies, they're currently working with Volta Deep to harness their employees poo. Yeah, so if you're a PM at Facebook, this company's stashing your poo. And according to The Verge, this company already does a shocking amount of business. In fact, if you are living in lovely Los Angeles, odds are this company has processed your poo too. Vaulted Deep handles 20% of L.A.'s sewer sludge. That's right. One out of five bathroom trips in the lovely city of Pasadena is handled by Vaulted Deep.

Vaulted Deep. It's part of a new category of companies we've talked about. Hail Mary startups. Jack and I have told you about the Hail Mary startups that are going after climate change. And the news for Vaulted Deep isn't a fundraise like we typically talk about. It's that they closed a big sale. Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, McKinsey. They founded a group called Frontier Climate to get in on carbon reduction efforts together. And Frontier Climate just signed a big deal with Vaulted Deep to eliminate all of their employees' carbon poo footprints. A $60 million deal. And the reason why they drive. drop $60 million to sign up with this poo company exactly, Jack? This poo company found a way to erase their carbon footprint at half the cost of the competition.

I'm sorry, Jack, sit down, stand up, and keep the seat down. How is this poo company charging clients half the price of every other carbon reduction startup that we've covered on this pot? I think I smell a takeaway. It smells like a takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at vaulted deep? And innovation can be an old evasion. Yet he's shocker.

But the core technology that Volta Deep uses to embrace your waste, it's actually been around for decades. They're using the same technology that the oil and gas industry uses with fracking. Like fracking, hydraulic fracturing, that controversial practice that pulls gas out of the ground but leaves a bunch of dirty, rocky waste. Turns out the father of this company's founder invented a process to get rid of that sludgy waste from fracking by injecting it into the ground. And his son, the CEO of VIII. Vaulted Deep is doing the same exact thing. But instead of cleaning up a fracking mess, he's cleaning up Fred's mess. With both fracking and with human waste, they're injecting solid material underground so that it will never come back up.

Now, Yeti's, every climate change startup has major upfront cost to invent a new technology. But Vaulted Deep has a completely different cost structure because they're reusing old technology. Yeties, this poo processing power player is proof that innovation can also be a new. old evasion. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Airbnb just unveiled 11 icon listings, and they all tap into different corners of pop culture. Airbnb, they took a trick from Legos, turning a passion point into a profit puppy. For our second story, cannabis stocks, they jumped on news of the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule 3 drug.

But in 2018, two vices diverged. Cannabis legalized much more slowly than sports betting. And our third and final story is vaulted deep. They just signed a $60 million deal with big tech. They're number one when it comes to stashing or number two. Their key innovation, using an old innovation. Because an innovation can also be an old evasion. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, Bitcoin dropped another 5% to fall below $60,000 for the first time in two months. Bitcoin is now down 20% from the all-time high they reached last month. Some think it's because of the Fed's interest rate announcement, but like anything with our buddy, Bitcoin, Ben, there's really no clear reason why. Everyone's just guessing, even us. And second, Tesla has fired the entire supercharger team. We're talking 500 people working on their superchargers. It's a big deal because the Tesla supercharger network is by far the biggest charging network in America. And it's honestly key to electrification of all cars in this country.

Jack and I have called this the gas station of the future. but Elon says they need hardcore cost cuts right now. And finally, the latest company to get into betting is Dave and Busters. The adult Chucky Cheeses now allows those adults to gamble. Not on sporting events, but you can now bet at Dave and Busters on SkiBow. Loyalty members can now use the Dave and Busters app to bet on their buddy who's playing air hockey. If you think your team's going to win laser tag, you can pitch $5 on it. I think of David Buster's three vices diverge.

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Karras Myers from lovely Boulder, Colorado. Hey, Yeties and Bessies. This is Karras from Boulder, and I have a little snack fact for you. Last week, Jack asked about the difference between an autobiography and a memoir. While both are historical narratives written by a person about their own life, an autobiography usually spans a person's entire life, while a memoir is focused on a short phase within a person's life and the reflections on that phase.

I think it's like you finish an autobiography and you put a little bit. put it on the shelf, you finish a memoir, and you grab some tissues and you cry for a while. I guess memoirs are kind of a little more emotion-packed because it's probably an intense moment that you decided to write your memoir about. Oh, also, though, choosing the title for the memoir is huge. Like your memoir, Jack, I think it would be titled, I wore two sweaters. Nick is so good at this. Or you'd go with something pop culture.

You'd be like, pour some maple sugar on me, baby. You know what I mean? I think that'd be your memoir. Yeah, it is. You look fantastic today. And if you haven't yet, one of the best ways you can help grow this show is to drop a rating and review on this podcast. Five stars preferred, but we'll read your one star review too. Yides, if you leave a wonderful five-star review, Jack and I will put it in our memoirs.

Yes, we will. Pour some maple sugar on me, baby. Jack and I will see you tomorrow. Before we go, a happy birthday to the legendary woman who definitely should write a memoir, Jennifer, Jack's mom, living up in lovely New England. She's got to write a memoir because she raised four. Boys. I don't know how she did it, but I had a wonderful childhood and it's largely thanks to her. She also should write a memoir because few people have as many amazing takeaways on life as Jennifer

Jacksma. Mom, I can't wait to see you this weekend to celebrate RRL. And congratulations to the entire Chicago booth NBA class at 2019. They are celebrating a five-year reunion at TNDC tonight. Happy birthday to Christian Liktie in Strasbourg, Pennsylvania. This future husband just had a birthday. is eloping to Majorca in a couple weeks with Michelle. Brittany Pachele in Medford, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, has got a birthday and is celebrating the end of Dinkhood. And congratulations to Chang Chen in Shanghai, China,

for getting admitted to one of the most prestigious business schools in the country, Chicago Booth. And Neil Desai in Chicago is an accountant Yeti, who's been listening since 2019. Congratulations on five years with us, Neil. Happy birthday to Marcy Lones in Scottsdale, Arizona. enjoying those 90 plus degree temperatures. It's a dry heat. And Unog in Seattle has got a B-I-G big birthday.

Congratulations, Un-Aug. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Amazon, and Nick and I both on stock of Airbnb and Shopify. And we both own one Bitcoin whose name is Ben. Dude, you are a pro at taking like an attack and bouncing it into humor. It's unbelievable. Not that I attacked you.

In German, they call it Improvacion. No, improvisation. I feel like you made that up, but why are you taking it from here?