The Best One Yet - 🌯♨️ “Pumpkin Spice Taco” — Starbucks’ Chipotle acquisition. SpaceX’s cell biz. Airbnb killed MidCenturyMod. +NFL Math Whiz

Episode Date: October 12, 2026

Starbucks wants to acquire Chipotle… but it all comes down to beans.SpaceX could be your next cell service provider… Elon has entered the telecom chat.Millennials’ Mid-Century Modern furniture has gone from cool to cringe… But blame Airbnb.Plus, economics’ new math whiz… is a former Pro NFL Linebacker from the Baltimore Ravens.$CMG $SBUX $SPCX $ABNBGrab 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. Welcome back. It is Monday, October 12th. 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. Hey, darling, and Duncan, start whipping out the cul-dez because Jack and I are in Boston this week, baby.

Our IPO tour continues at City Winery this Wednesday night in Beantown. And get this, we literally have only single-digit tickets left. We've got like six tickets left to this show, Jack. So Snaguer is before Matt Damon does. Yeah. You got a link in the episode description. We want to see you this Wednesday. Wow, Matt's fast.

We're down to five tickets right now, Jack. I think Ben Affleck's involved, too, because we're down to four. But we got three fantastic stories for the coolest show in capitalism. Jack, what did we got on today's T-Boy? For our first story, Starbucks explored acquiring Chippoor. Wow. It would be the biggest restaurant merger of all times. Investors think this idea tastes terrible.

But we're giving this crack position a chance. For our second story, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon all fell 10% last week because SpaceX bought $8 billion of Invisible Air. Can you hear me now? Uh, not good. Not good. And our third and final story. Mid-century modern is the favorite interior design aesthetic of all the 11th.

Correction Jack was the favorite. Ooh, because mid-century modern is flipped from cool to cringe. And we think the culprit is Airbnb. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Oh, what a mix of stories. Funest place in finance. Love the mix, Jack. Last month, Sam Altman assigned 10,000 agents to go out and solve a century-old math problem.

and do not come back here until you do. Well, 86 hours and a whole iceberg of AI compute later, that math problem was solved. Well, the latest major math problem wasn't solved by code or clod. It was solved by an offensive lineman. John Urschel was a pro football player for the Baltimore Ravens, but then went Oppenheimer instead. Full Oppenheimer.

This 6'3-3-3-35-pounder protected Joe Flacco for three years on the Baltimore Ravens like a Ti-83 calculator. But then John called an auto. He traded the NFL for MIT. And now he's a published PhD and a professor. And he just published a paper that would make his old NFL coaches extremely confused. Jack, can you whip out the title on this one and sprinkle on some, I don't know, calculus translation? No, I can't translate the calculus.

But the title of the paper is on the growth factor of random matrices. That's right, this NFL has solved a 35-year-old hypothesis by page 7. He's basically right up there with Isaac Newton in terms of Mathematic Elite. The Einstein of Interceptions, Jack, and his decision to leave the NFL where he started two playoff games, it made people call him crazy. But he thought his brain was more suited for a hypotenuse than a helmet. Ah, we're seeing a takeaway here, aren't we, Jack? There's never a perfect time to quit what you're doing and do what you really want to do instead.

But Festi's the next best time is always right after this pot. Let's hit our jingle and then you launch that thing. Jack, let's it on three stars. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. Yeah, but the best is enormous. 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. For our first story. Surprise hookup of the year, Starbucks reportedly explored acquiring Chipotle.

Investors hate the looks of this potential deal, but we see a recipe that could possibly work. All right, Jack, can I whip out the invite list here? You ready for this? Duolipa and Call and Turner. Zendaya and Tom Holland, Taylor Swift and one of the Kelsey brothers. These are the super weddings of this year. And you thought, Yetis, that 2026 already had the biggest celebrity wedding, didn't you? Well, try this one. The Financial Times reported last week that the world's biggest beverage chain, Starbucks, worked with advisors on a proposal to acquire Chipotle.

Sit down, stand up, and grab some more napkins because that would create a $145 billion chain, sprinkle on the context, Jack. That's nearly as big as McDonald's a market cap. Starbucks buying Chipotle for $40 billion would be nearly four times bigger than the biggest restaurant acquisition ever. Burger King acquiring Tim Hortons back in 2014. Just purely Nick from a like, this would be awesome to cover on the pod perspective,

Starbucks acquiring Chipotle would be the hottest food hookup since grilled cheese met tomato soup. I mean, since the Kronaut era, Jack, but coffee and cornitas? More than that in a second. Bankers are salivating about the potential for this deal. I mean, big-ticket deals mean big-ticket fees, Jack. But investors are not. Chipotle stock initially rose 8%, but Starbucks dropped 6% on the news. Wall Street basically thinks the combined company would be worth less than the two separate parts.

Why don't you throw in salt and straw and see if that works? Guys. Our initial take when we read this headline, desperation. Starbucks's turnaround must be struggling if they're considering buying a giant burrito chain. Like we said before, when the going gets tough, the tough get merging. Now, Starbucks said they don't comment on rumors or speculation about the company. But then they said, order for Jack, and we got our lattes and we moved on.

But Bestie's funny detail about this potential deal. It's a little incestuous. It's a little incestuous. Give it a little Game of Thrones, Jack. The CEO of Starbucks, Brian Nicol, was previously the CEO of Chipotle. Yeah. We're a big fanny. two former Chipotle executives helped turn around Starbucks. We loved what he did with our Chipotle stock.

But Starbucks stock is at the exact same price as the first day that Brian Nicol took over. And again, it looks a little thirsty that these three Chipotle alums want their old business back. But Chipotle, on the other hand, it's down 40% since this Menaja Tortilla left Chipotle. So maybe Brian thinks this is the ultimate buy the dip, Caso Blanco Dip. But again, the main issue with this potential acquisition, 1 plus 1 does not equal 3. Investors don't seem to like the deal because there aren't any obvious synergies yet. Nobody wants to order carnitas along with their coffee. Yeah, they could save $700 million a year by merging corporate departments, as one investment bank pointed out, but that doesn't justify such a huge deal.

But Nick and I are going to give this acquisition a chance. We're going to consider the best case scenario. There is a way that this could work. We do see a way, but in order to see this way, Yetis, you can't call the new concept StarPotlai and you can't call it chip bucks. This isn't about merging those two brands and one mega brand. It isn't a brand gelina situation, if you know what we mean. The path to success is not pumpkin-spice tacos. It's not energy guac, and it's not Sephard's DeLanay Lacha.

The guac is always with two pumps of hazelnut. The most valuable potential of this deal is the one that leverages Brian Nichols' other family heritage. Because before he was CEO of Starbucks or Chipotle, Brian Nicco was Taco Bell CEO for four years, and he led Pizza Hut before that. Again, things are getting a little incestuous over here. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for the Lannister? I mean, our buddies over at StarPotlet. Can beans and beans coexist in one kitchen like tacos and pizza did?

We think there's a shot because the closest case study here of this deal is Can Taco Hut Yette's? Up until this year, KFC Taco Bell and Pizza Hut were all owned by one restaurant company, Yum Brands. In some locations, you may have seen their three storefronts all sharing one kitchen, Kentucky Hut. There was one close to where I lived. You'd drive up and it looks like a regular fast food restaurant, but it's got three signs on the building and three different menus inside. Buddy Taco Timmy could dine next to Pizza Pete, who is right next to Chicken Charlie, all enjoying the same dining space.

Some called it triple play. Others called it Can Taco Hut. But as wonderful as that culinary achievement was, it was also limited in its financial potential because all three also compete for your lunch order. Chipotle and Starbucks, though, would be different. If they worked together, could they find a way to operate? in the same kitchen, but at different times of the day? I see what you're saying, Jack.

Because a majority of Starbucks sales happened before noon, but a majority of Chipotle sales happen afternoon. Could they have one space that's a coffee cafe in the AM and a Mexican grill in the PM? The shared kitchen, you see, labor and rent are the big cause at StarPotle's 45,000 locations. So sharing the backspace, that could be huge. So if they can pull off the back kitchen logistics

of a shared coffee house and burrito bar, and that's a big logistical if. Oh, baby. then this mega merger could possibly work. Vesties investors spat out this StarPoTLay deal at first, but with some assembly line innovation, it just could work. Coffee beans in the morning, Pinto beans in the afternoon, all in one kitchen.

For our second story, SpaceX just dropped $8 billion to launch not T-Mobile, T-Global, and the three big wireless companies are in trouble. But for Elon to compete with Verizon AT&T and T-Mobile, he needs towers, not rockets. All right, Jack, I'm going to begin the story of the question here. What is Spectrum? A question straight out of an AP physics textbook. I got a three on AP Physics.

I didn't even bother to take a Jack, but I thought Spectrum was like a villain in like the Daniel Craig James Bond movies. But what is Spectrum exactly? That Spector. A correct answer to the question, what is Spectrum? It's what SpaceX bought $8 billion of on Thursday to try to become the fourth big wireless company in the U.S. You see, Yeti, Spectrum is a radio frequency that can transmit signals to our phones.

Spectrum is considered a natural resource. The government regulates these invisible information highways to the telco companies. And SpaceX just bought the 800 megahertz band, the old fight in 800. Think of the 800 megahertz band like Interstate 800, exactly, but for wireless internet. It's invisible. And Jack, on top of the 20 billion of Spectrum that Elon had already bought, the force is strong with SpaceX. Why is SpaceX buying Spectrum, though?

to use their words, to pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the U.S. Because currently, Basties, SpaceX's satellite connectivity, it requires a physical satellite dish, which needs to point uninterrupted up into space. Because Starlink sends down mid-band spectrum, it can't penetrate hard objects like roofs or trees. But with low-band spectrum that SpaceX just acquired $8 billion of, it can penetrate walls and trees and obstacles and be a useful wireless network. Finally. But Bessie, as you know in the stock market, one investor's great news is another is a brutal news. Well, this is potentially fantastic news for consumers. True.

Who for years, decades even, have been paying $100 a month plus fees to Verizon T-Mobile and AT&T and then still have dead zones on the way home from work every single day. But SpaceX wireless could fill coverage gaps from outer space as long as you got no big trees above your head. They'd use the spectrum for most of the connectivity and then used the satellite dishes to fill the gaps. But this potentially great news for consumers out there is horrible news for the OG incumbents. T-Mobile plunged 13% on the stock market on Friday, and AT&T and Verizon fell 10% each. Because Elon has entered the chat. Although we should point out, Spectrum isn't enough.

No. To use the analogy, SpaceX just bought an information highway, but now they need vehicles to move the information. It needs to fill that signal, which means now Elon is probably going to have to build his first cell tower. J.P. Morgan said as much on Friday. It's estimated that SpaceX needs to spend $100 billion if it wants a nationwide network in terms of cell towers. What do you buy Crown Castle? SBA, American Tower. Cell tower companies are up 6 to 12% on Friday. Now, yeties, this story reveals the enduring and devastating advantage that Elon-led

companies have in the market. Wall Street will give Elon any amount of money. 100 billion bucks? Yeah, I can raise that tomorrow. We just have to DM that Goldman guy. So any industry that Elon decides to enter, you're going to get outspent by Elon. and possibly outsmarted, too. SpaceX thinks they don't need conventional cell towers.

Yeah, what's that wild idea we heard the other day, Jack? They floated the idea of building mini-cell towers on their Starlink satellite dishes and even on the roofs of rolling Tesla cybercabs, which AT&T CEO says is a, quote, not viable idea. Although we should tell the AT&T CEO, it's never a good idea to bet against Elon. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who may be getting cell service from SpaceX? It's a new thing.

Proud infrastructure. Companies that build both the product and the infrastructure. Look, Yetis, this deal is kind of a headscratcher. Like, why does a futuristic space company want to build old-school cell towers down here on Earth? SpaceX's earnings decks shows pictures of rockets, the moon, Mars. Where do phones fall into this? Well, a satellite and terrestrial wireless network, that would actually follow it with trend of Elon companies that we've noticed, products and infrastructure.

Tesla didn't just build electric cars. electric cars and the electric charging network. And his AI business didn't just build large language models. He bought a social media network X to train that large language model. And finally, he's not just build an orbital data center. SpaceX is building the Starship rocket to launch the orbital data centers. You see, Vessi's most companies, they build just one or the other. But building both makes it a moat. So what is SpaceX and what is Tesla? They're companies that build products and infrastructure. Now a quick word from our sponsor. Our third and final story, mid-century modern.

The look was embraced by millennials for economic reasons, but has gone from cool to cringe. And the cause of cringe, we think it's Airbnb. Guilty. But besties, let us know if this name association works for you. Mason jar, handlebar mustache, suspenders and Mumford and Sons banjo so at my wedding. With an after party of Bacon Craft Fear Bacon Bits, Jack. The list of things millennials loved and have become millennial cringe, it keeps on growing. Well, we got one more to add to the list, don't we, Jack?

Mid-century modern. Mid-century modern, yeah. West Elm wood coffee tables with the tapered legs and a peacock blue upholster. You know what we're talking about besties. The iconic interior design look of the 20 teens, driven by 20-somethings at the time. Mid-century modern, it crept into coffee shops first, then walk-up apartments, and then boutique hotels. With the man driven by millennials who just graduated from college and finally had some money to spend. But besties, news alert, according to the Wall Street Journal, Genzi hates our West Elmwood tables.

Mid-century mod is not the look anymore, and we know the culprit. But first, some context. Oh, let's spread on the context, Jack. Mid-century modern, it was actually born in the most optimistic era of America. The middle of the century, right after World War II. Yeah, the new design for new suburban sprawls, convenient lifestyles, and lounging. Mid-century modern was the first furniture for society that made too much stuff. America in the 1950s.

Yeah, there was like 40, 50 years where we just had like a glut of ottomans out there. Well, 50 years later, that style was embraced again by a new generation, us millennials, for our own economic reasons. That's right, because us millennials entered the workforce after the 2008 Great Recession and the beginning of the digital era, which meant that we were financially squeezed. A lot of us entered the workforce with 10% unemployment, and then the next 10 years, it was low growth and high student debt. But Jack, it was also interestingly a time of economic.

optimism, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Smart phones made so many crazy things possible. Every one of your buddies, including Timmy, was working at a startup with zero percent interest rates and unlimited VC funding. Oh, and that VC funding, even if you weren't a founder, you benefited because that DoorDash order was free. DoorDash was paying you to eat that pad tie jack.

Remember the 90-day return policy on Casper mattresses? Summer interns in New York would buy a new Casper mattress and then return it at the end of summer ever paying a dime. And, Desti's, all that mid-century modern furniture, it called back to being hopeful, cheerful, confident like the vibes. And all that old furniture was being sold at a discount as vintage. So Wayfair, Pottery Bar and CB2 and IKEA set their product lines back to the year 1950. That's how millennials embraced mid-century modern.

It became the style spirit animal of millennials. I mean, Jack, you couldn't go to a party in Williamsburg without tripping on a faux Eames lounge chair made by Crane Barrel. Until the pandemic. The pandemic is when taste shifted to cleaner styles. And Gen Z, they had a different preference. So for the last few years, mid-century mod sales have been down. And today's 20-somethings mock the look in the comment section.

But besties, we think there is one other reason for the cool to cringe flip. Airbnb. This is not the start of an ad, by the way. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who care about the trends? Airbnb living rooms is where design goes to die. Look, he's no offense to Airbnb here. I'm a shareholder. Jack's a host. Jack's a power user. And this was an aggressively hot take, but we like it. But when do trends die? Once everyone is doing it, right? And Airbnb is connected to that.

Because on design, professional Airbnb units have a blending effect. They revert to one common style. For full-time Airbnb units, the owners invest in what's affordable, durable, and most importantly, Instagramable to the traveling type. And by the late 2010s, there was so much mid-century modern supply. Airbnb hosts bought it because they knew it worked. So the Airbnb living room, the one with five stars, it's probably got a West Elm Furry Poof, a Jonathan Adler-Odaman, and a Palm Spring-style record player. Right in the living room, besties, which leads to our theory. The abundance of this look on Airbnb made a novel look become an expected one. Airbnb didn't kill mid-century mod. It made it ubiquitous, and ubiquity kills the cool. Jack, could you'll whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week?

Starbucks is reportedly considering buying Chipotle. A deal Wall Street thinks doesn't make any sense. But could coffee beans and pinto beans share the same kitchen? Coffee in the AM. Cornutas in the PM. For our second story, SpaceX now has nationwide spectrum, one of the last gaps to a wireless phone network. Because Elon-led companies build prod for structure.

The product and the needed infrastructure. And our third and final story, Mid-century Modern is the interior design aesthetic of both the greatest generation and of millennials. But it's out. because it's in the living room of so many Airbnbs. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, count them five. We've got a fifth big Hollywood movie now coming out about a tech villain. The Sam Altman movie, the Mark Zuckerberg movie, the Elon documentary, the Elizabeth Holmes documentary. And now, Sam Bankman Free. Netflix just dropped the movie trailer for The Altruis. On November 19th, we get a movie about the biggest crypto fraud of all time. And second, the hottest fashion business right now? It's Canadian.

That's right, Eritia sales are surging these days. The J-Crew of Canada says that revenues rose 43% and profits tripled last quarter. Get this, $11 billion, Buccia is now bigger than our Levi's, urban outfidders, and the gap, not combined. We covered the Red Sox strategy last year. Comment, cute top, if you want another story on Eritzia. And finally, GTA6 Grand Theft Auto launches in just over a month, the most anticipated video game of all time. And finally, GTA 6 Grand Theft Auto launches in just over a month,

the most highly anticipated video game of all time. And the leaks of the gameplay keep on coming. Apparently, you can play in GTA completely naked. Like your avatar is just fully naked. Oh, not just naked, Jack. While you're strolling around without clothes, you can listen to six different radio stations in the fictional world of Leonida.

And you can even listen to Fig podcasts about this pretend world. Now, time for the best fact yet, Which, because it's Monday, means some T-boy trivia. Jack, what do we got? Happy Candy Corn season to all those you celebrate. Which is a small but loud minority, I believe. According to DoorDash, candy corn sales are already up 30% this year compared to last.

But here's our T-Boy trivia. What state is the biggest buyer of candy corn? I don't know the answer. My guess is not Iowa. I think they're offended by the entire concept. Answer is Iowa. Really? Yeah, it's actually Kansas, but Iowa's a close third on this, Jack.

Kansas, Utah, Iowa, Oklahoma. Here is the surprise. The biggest candy corn eaters are in the states that produce the most corn. You see, I thought it would be the opposite. Plus Utah, because they'll eat anything with sugar over there, Jack. Yeties, you look fantastic today. Jack, you are glowing over there. And, oh, we are down.

We got like three tickets left now. It's going to be such a good show. My mom's going to be there. Yes. My little brother, Teddy, is going to be there. First time my family will ever see us on stage. Alex is going to be there. If Jennifer doesn't crowd surf,

at a rock show of business news, Jack, then we can't end until she does. I'm just hoping that my older brothers don't convince my younger brother to heckle me. I think that's what older brothers are for, Jack. So, Besties, grab the final two tickets to our Boston show before John Krasinski does. Jack and I will see in Beantown.

Happy birthday to Legendary Eddie. Luke Rhodes, biggest weekend. He bought a house proposed to his girlfriend, has a kid on the way in Asheville, North Carolina, and he saw an interview we did on how to make a podcast in 2020. And Ashley Deer Kiss is turning 30 years old, and doing tech logistics down in Chicago. Happy birthday to Mo, also in Chicago.

And Robin Seiler, we see your birthday, lovely Hudson, Wisconsin. Happy four-year anniversary to Alicia and Ben in Texas. They're celebrating with spaghetti, Survivor, and authentic Kreuter lique from Aachen, Germany. Yeah, stuck to landing, Jack. And Sam Barber has got a new job in executive search celebrating in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Congrats Sam. And a big shout-out to Brian Beale from New York and California, who sent us a lovely note. Thank you, Brian. And Leah Perez is crushing it in the third grade in San Jose, she's been listening since the kindergarten days. And congrats to our buddy Griff, who just launched a new podcast stories for robots. I listened to the first episode, Nick.

Yeah, I'm into it. Griff was telling us about it last night at dinner. It's a new podcast for kids where he tells classic stories to two silly robots who are very confused about human culture. If you've got kids, search for stories for robots. And then celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix.

Nick on stock of Airbnb. We both on stock at Chipotle, and I own one share of. SpaceX and Nikon's more than one.