The Best One Yet - 🙋‍♀️ “Power Pause” — Millennial Moms-preneurs. KFC vs Dave’s Hot Chicken. Vibe Coding’s AI drama.

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

KFC just fell out of the top 3 chicken chains in America… and Dave’s Hot is bringing the heat.Millennial Moms are leading a female founder boom… and it’s all thanks to “The Power Pause.”Google and OpenAI are battling to win in Vibe-Coding… and we created an app instantly thanks to it.Plus, the untold origin story of… The Michelin Restaurant Guide.$GOOG $YUM $SPYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… “The Michelin Guide ⭐ The Tire Company That Accidentally Conquered Food”Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, July 15th. And today's part is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop-business news stories you need to know today. Bestie is checking the calendars here and check. I believe it is time for our monthly request to auto-download the show. Yes, auto-download. It's great for our numbers. It helps us deliver as much T-boy as possible. So ultimately, it's great for everyone. Yeties, if you're listening on Spotify, just tap the settings button on the show page and select Auto-Denold. download. And if you're listening on Apple, tap the little arrow button on the top right of the show page and select auto download. And in the meantime, we'll give you five seconds to auto download the show while Jack impersonates Adam Newman getting a cookie crisp. Cookie crisp. Yeah, that's exactly what I was hoping for, Jack. There you go. Yeties, thank you for auto downloading the show. Jack, what do you say we hit the pod? What do we got for today's tea boy? For our first story, KFC basically invented fast food fried chicken. but now it's fallen to number four in the category. Dave's Hot Chicken is next to pass KFC because of one strategy we subscribe to make the lawyers uncomfortable.

For our second story, all the big tech drama this week is about one thing, vibe coding. Jack, I think it's vibe coding. So we'll tell you all about what vibe coding is and what it has to do with wind surfing. Again, Jack, I think it's vibe coding. And our third and final story,

We're in the middle of a female founder boom, and it's driven by millennial moms. Because working women having a baby are embracing the power pause. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories. Love the mix of stories, Jack. Yesterday we asked you, T-Boy Trivia, what is the most expensive Michelin-Starred restaurant in the world? A reminder, it costs $2,130 per person. So what city is it in?

Paris, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, or Dubai. Now, Jack, a lot of the Yetis thought Dubai. I think everyone thought Dubai there. I figured Dubai, too, but it's actually Tokyo. That's right. The Ginza Kita Fuku Restaurant of Tokyo has three Michelin Stars and will cost you $2,000. If you want to eat their 12 courses of crab, it costs you over $300,000 per person. But Jack, pause the pod for a second here. There is a bigger story here. Is there not? The Michelin Star. The Michelin Star. That restaurant guide, It happens to be the most famous review system in the world. There are only 151 three-star Michelin restaurants on Earth.

And for the last 100 years, Michelin has maintained its status as a restaurant kingmaker by not changing. Same stars, same standards, same anonymous reviewers sneaking into restaurants and reviewing them without their knowing. Is that a spy? Why is he eating with a hat on? I'm stressed. But few know that the Michelin Restaurant Guide

actually began with two brothers trying to save their family business. Their family's tire business. Or that the Michelin Restaurant Guide helped the Allies win World War II. American soldiers were grateful for a French map that they could understand. Or that when Michelin reviews restaurants in a city, sales of tires there jump. Check the connection between cars and restaurant reviews. It is insane. It is insane.

And it's the latest episode of our weekly show The Best Idea Yet. So, yeties, to learn all about the mysterious business of the Michelin Guide, I tap the link in this episode description for our 45-minute episode. Let's get to the T-Boy. Today's show is fantastic, Jack. Voila, Chef's Kiss. 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. This, 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.

For our first story, KFC has fallen out of the top three chicken chains in America, and it's about to get past again. Because Dave's hot chicken is so hot, you have to sign a waiver to eat there. Seriously, you do. Now, Jack, in order for us to really tell this fried chicken story, can you please share your new electric vehicle charging hack with us? Yeah, we charged in Manchester. is about a 40-minute charge from 9% to 100%, which is pretty good, in my opinion.

Okay, okay, okay. Just enough time to give Wilder a haircut. There was the super cuts in the parking lot with the charger. We got wilder a haircut. It was hilarious. Jack, I hear that's when Supercuts does its best work. And after that, I stopped by my first ever Dave's Hot Chicken right next to Supercuts. And Dave's Hot Chicken is one reason why KFC's Colonel is not smiling these days, figuratively and literally.

In our opinion, the Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel should be frowning. Yes. Because KFC's U.S. sales have fallen for five straight quarters. And you know what, pasties? The newest data is finger choking bad for KFC. KFC is no longer the number one chicken chain in America. In fact, it's fallen to number four. We're talking the Colonel who basically invented fried chicken back in 1930, no longer on top. He's fallen to number four behind Chick-fil-A, Popeye, and Raising Cains. Uh-oh, Jack, why did the chicken cross the road? To not go to KFC apparently. I think the chicken was leaving the KFC's actually. Apparently they're not even cooking them there. But yet he's why is the competition eating KFC's lunch while you are not?

Three reasons. KFC stores are old. The customer service is poor and bones. More on the bones they'll animate. But in the meantime, the real story isn't KFC falling to number four. It's the number five chicken chain that's about to pass them. Dave's Hot Chicken. Founded in 2017 by a comedian and a former Michelin-trained chef in lovely Los Angeles. Dave's Hot Chicken started in an East Hollywood parking lot with a few folding tables and portable friars. Okay, get this. One of the Dave's founders told Guy Raz on how I built this, he didn't even like chicken.

And just five years later, that glorified tailgate barbecue situation, whatever that was. It's named America's fastest growing restaurant chain. That's right, Dave's Hot Chicken is expected to pass $1 billion in revenue later this year. Michael Streahan and Samuel L. Jackson both invested, but the chain recently sold to private equity for about a billion dollars. Now, Jack, could you please sprinkle on some context here like it's 11 herbs and spices, my friend? KFC is almost 100 years old. So yeah, it's still four times bigger than Dave's hot chicken is. But we got to point out that Dave's business is doubling each year, while KFC's business is slipping each year. So if this pace continues, Dave will pass KFC in 2027.

By the way, Jack, before we hit the takeaway, we got to tell the Yeties about the bones, because we promise. promised about the bones. KFC is famous for their bone-in fried chicken. I eat it growing up. But that's one reason why KFC is struggling right now. Consumers have trended towards boneless chicken, and that's all that Dave sells. Boneless Nashville hot chickens. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over in the chicken wars?

Make the lawyers uncomfortable. Okay, yet he's a wild growth hack that's been growing Dave's chicken is that if you want the spiciest chicken sandwich, you must sign their way. waiver. Dave's hottest spice level. You get to choose from like six different spice levels. The hottest one is called Reaper, which for 10 years was the Guinness World Record holder for hottest chili pepper. Jack, you know how much hotter it is than a jalapeno? Like a thousand times. 800 times hotter. You were on target. So to order the Reaper chicken, you must release the restaurant of liability. Yeah, like you can't sue Dave's if you die. It's hilarious. I didn't

order it because I'm a father of three and couldn't take that risk. But I can't. can confirm that the cashier had a bunch of waivers for those who ordered Reaper sauce. And how besties, this is partly a marketing stunt, but it definitely made the Dave's legal team uncomfortable. And that reminded Nick and me that the coolest ideas we've ever had, our lawyers did not like those ideas. Like after we sold our first company to Robin Hood, if we had a good idea and it was probably an edgy idea, we would definitely get an email from legal. Hey Nick and Jack, Love your idea to do that thing, but we're going to have to have a chat about it. Just grabbing some time on your calendar. Just grabbing some time on your calendar.

Yeties, if you're not getting pushback from legal, then you're not pushing your creative boundary. Just remember, Dave's Hot Chicken is beating KFC because they're making the lawyers uncomfortable. For our second story, the biggest drama in tech right now is WinSurf. Open AI failed to buy the company so the co-founder quit and then joined Google. As the AI talent wars rage, we're looking at the most lucrative AI product, vibe coding. Vibe coding. But Jack, let's go back to the month of May when OpenAI, the biggest AI company in the world, offered to buy an AI startup called a windsurf for $3 billion.

Windurf's a great name, you said? Why is that? Because it's already a verb. They don't have to become a verb. Win surfing's already a verb. And Open AI's offer gave the two companies a two-month exclusive period, to hash out the final terms of a deal. Which is pretty standard for an acquisition deal. Well, Nick, last week, that two-month exclusive period ended with no deal.

Awkward. And then just hours later, Google snatched them. That's right. Google didn't buy the company. They just hired the CEO co-founder and a few other key people from Winsurf. So this is not a normal deal. All that Google really wants is the top two AI Dragons who co-founded and CEO Winsurf. They don't care what happens to the company. WinSurf. They just want on a few people. The two top people that Google is getting from

windsurf are AI Wunderkins, who graduated from MIT in 2017. They're just 30 years old, Nick. And they're a part of an elite and rare pool of tech talents that knows how to build AI products. We call them AI dragons. And with Zuckerberg paying $100 million a year to these dragons, like there were NBA players or something, Google's probably paying them $100 million, too. It reminds me of the Yankees in the 90s, Jack. They're just tossing out a million. billions of bucks for some big biceps out there. What's happening right now, Nick, is basically AI companies are buying human brains. Right.

So that they can build artificial brains. Now that is unprecedented, Yetis. So Jack and I had to ask, what were Open AI and Google walking horns with each other about all week long? Vibe coding. Because vibe coding is what windsurf does. Vibe coding. Yeties, what is AI best at? repetitive, time-consuming, and mind-numbing tasks like coding.

Well, WinSurf developed an AI that lets you describe software or a digital feature that you want, and then the AI writes the code to create it. Just like you can say, hey, AI, write me a sci-fi novel, but written like Emily Dickinson was the author. Oh, well, vibe coding is the same concept. You'd say, hey, AI, code me an app that coordinates all my contacts birthdays and then sends them a present. It'd be a nice app. It would be a nice app. Maybe we should vibe code it.

Now, in the past, a human engineer would put on like a noise-canceling headset, grab some Cheetos and some Red Bull and code for hours to develop that app that we just described. Actually, make it a monster. I'm going to be up all night. But now with vibe coding, AI can do all that coding. So vibe coding can save companies a ton of money on labor and engineering costs. But vibe coding also potentially allows new stuff to get coded that otherwise would never have come into existence. Because when you don't have to pay a dozen engineers to develop, a new app, the ROI of new app development becomes a lot nicer.

You could save a lot of money on that ramen, Jack. So what's the takeaway for all our buddies, Vibecodin out there? The latest debate in AI? Will it kill jobs or will it create them? Now, yeties, a couple months ago, Jack and I covered a story about the CEO of Anthropic, who made a dire prediction for all of us. He said that half of white-collar entry-level jobs would be gone. within five years because of artificial intelligence. And you know what?

Many CEOs agree. They've said their companies will have fewer workers in the future because of AI. It's like a corporate O-Zempec. But yesterday, NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang, stepped up to argue the opposite. He said that AI is a net job creator. And Jack, let's look at history. Like, every time jobs get eliminated by tech, workers use the freed up time to pursue new ideas. Well, Jensen says that as white-collar workers save time thanks to AI, they'll create

new products, new services, maybe even entirely new industries with all of their freed up calendars pace. Yeah, like vibe potting. Like we're vibe podcasters right now, I think. So the hottest sector in AI is vibe coding, which will reduce the number of coding jobs. But will AI be a net job killer or net job creator? That is still up for debate. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, no one's talking about it yeties, but we are quietly in the middle of a female founder boom, and it's being driven by millennial moms. Because new moms in their 30s are embracing the power pause. The power pause. Trigger warning, besties. But remember the Zoom calls you had to take during the pandemic? Remember that, Jack? Desperate to find a quiet place in your

apartment. You're wearing pajamas on the bottom. You might go to the bathroom during the Zoom and you hope you turned that camera off. And then Jack, you can hear your boss's toddler refusing to eat their ado slices at lunch, screaming about it at top volume. Well, the shriek of that six-year-old not at school because of the lockdown is why 2020 had a she session. A she session. Yeties, that's when the pandemic forced three times more women than men out of the workforce. And that's also when the percent of women identifying as stay-at-home mothers grew by 60

percent. No, nanny, preschool clothes, and the playdates with future buddy Timmy, those got canceled. So during the pandemic, moms, more than dads, stepped out at one. work so they could step in at home. Now, since then, besties, women have bounced back into the workforce with an Athena level of energy. 2023 and 24, women powered back into the workforce, hitting work percentage rates higher than ever in history in America. Kids are back at school, so she's back to her commute, but there is a fascinating plot twist here. Women aren't going back to their old jobs necessarily. They're launching their own. Here's the news. Millennial moms are driving a

startup moment. Between 2019 and 2023, women started businesses at twice the rate that men did, according to Wells Fargo. We're talking to female founder boom here. You are twice as likely to be getting a pitch deck if you're a venture capitalist from Patricia than you are Paul. Oh, and Nick, there's more data. According to Gusto, 49% of all new business applications last year were from women. the highest percentage in American history. Basically what you're saying, Jack, is we've gone from a she session to a she startup. She is starting up right now. Are you a mama?

A mama. A mama. See the norm. The CEO. But there's one more interesting detail in the data we want to tell you about. Oh, I got to hear this, Jack. What do we got? What do we got?

This new batch of female founders? They're not hiring teams. Many you are solopreneurs. No co-founder, no hires. You're a one-woman business. She's doing it her. and the reason is our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies

part of the female founder, boom? The trend for women in business having a baby is the power pause. Yeties, that's not our term. The power pause is actually a new book by Nehruich about this specific trend within a trend. And it's specifically referring to

millennial moms who've achieved corporate success. They may have a high pressure, high-paying job, they may have an MBA or a law degree. And here's the key. They quit those jobs when they, They're at the pinnacle of their careers to have a baby. That's the pause part. But instead of rushing a return to office while the newborn is at home, they start their own business.

That's the power part. The vision is a balance of flexibility and ambition. Not a stay-at-home mom, but also not a grind-up the ladder over a JP Stanley Sachs. Instead, women doing the power pause are becoming consultants or freelancers who are flexing their marketable skills, but also dictating their own schedules. Basically, millennia women are going from girl boss to her own boss. It's the power pause, and it's the new option for millennial moms having a baby. Capitalize on the business skills that they built, but on their own lifestyle terms with their own LLC.

And just like that, she started expensing the family's internet, cell phone plans, snacks, furniture. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? KFC has fallen to the number four fried chicken company in America by sales. And Dave's hot chicken is right on sale. Dave's hot sauce liability waiver is a reminder that the best ideas make the lawyers uncomfortable. For our second story, Google beat Open AI to get the top AI people at Windsurf, which does vibe coding. Vibe coding. It leads to the latest debate in AI. Will it kill jobs or create them?

Invidius Jensen says create. And our third and final story. Within the female founder boom we're experiencing right now is the power pause. The trend for women in business having a baby is the power pause. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the trade war almanac. Here's the latest on Trump's tariff whiplash. Yesterday, Trump threatened 100% tariffs on any country that buys Russian exports.

President Trump also announced yesterday he's giving Ukraine patriot missiles, a sign that he's turned against Putin in the war in Ukraine. He wants Putin to agree to a ceasefire, and he's threatening him with tariffs and sanctions if he does. Meanwhile, the port of Los Angeles had its busiest June ever, as importers are trying to beat those tariffs. Second, bad bunny, the rapper from Puerto Rico, is about to boost the Puerto Rican economy.

Yeah, by $200 million. This is epic. The hip-hop artist is returning to his home island for a 30-date residency on the island's biggest stadium. An analysts are expecting this to boost the local economy of Puerto Rico by $200 million bucks. New strategy to get out of a recession, just host some government-subsidized rock concerts. Hey, Beyonce, we need you over Newfoundland.

Hey, Taylor, 2023 was amazing. Can you help us with 2026? And if you give you lower rates. And finally, Levi's jeans just confirmed the trend that we saw on Google Search last month. In Levi's latest earnings report, they said they're getting a boost from jort sales. More Americans are jorting it up or just buying jeans and then cutting off the bottoms and getting rid of them. Wall Street confirmed it. Jorts are back. Now, time for the best fact yet this one's sent in by Satoshi and from the blockchain. This weekend, a new person joined the top 10 list of wealthiest people in the world.

Now, we don't know if it's a man or a woman, and we don't know who this person actually is or if they are even alive. Because that person Nick is talking about is Satoshi Nakamoto. That's right, Satoshi, who created Bitcoin on the blockchain in 2008 and authored a white paper all about the cryptocurrency. It's believed that Satoshi mined the first one. million Bitcoin for themselves at the beginning of this whole Bitcoin creation. And that one million Bitcoin is now worth $120 billion. Which puts Satoshi at number eight on the list of world's richest people. Ahead of Bill Gates, Jensen Wang, and Michael Bloomberg. And yes, a new Bitcoin high was reached yesterday, $120,000. Congratulations to Bitcoin Ben. Yettys, you'll look fantastic for

T-Boy Tuesday. Jack, you were looking lovely over there as well. We should tell the besties by the way. During the commercial break, we vibe-coded that birthday app that we mentioned. Isn't that? We already have it. It's already up. Incredible. You can send gifts to your buddies automatically through our new birthday app called Party Pooper. It's already done. Jack and I whipped it up in like 10 seconds. Vibe-coding. Besties, go and enjoy our weekly show the best idea yet. We got an insane episode right now on The Michelin Star. I'm still laughing about this birthday app, dude. The Party Pooper. Perfect. So go enjoy our weekly show. And Jack and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Faradzameh over in Michigan doing

investments in celebrating the best birthday yet. Happy 34th birthday to Renee Bueno in Glendale, Arizona. And Sidney Wong in Orange, the director of finance at the Viv Hotel has got a epic birthday celebration. Congratulations to Emily and Ross Kaye in Austin, Texas for having baby number one. And a thank you to all the lawyers out there for not suing us because of our takeaway about making legal uncomfortable. And finally, a big shout out to Jason Lurio of Manilus, New York, for being the best husband ever and buying flights and tickets to the T-Boy Live show in Chicago. Jason cannot wait to see you guys in that front row. Drop a comment if T-Boy Live is doubling us date night for you next Wednesday. And Jack and I will see tomorrow. This is Jack. I own stock of

Levi. Nick and I both on stock of Spotify and Apple, and we both own some Bitcoin.