The Best One Yet - 💀 “RIP Great Resignation” — Quiet Quitting’s reversal. WeWork’s Bankruptcy. Shein’s ultra-fast IPO.

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

WeWork, the company that invented the “hot desk,” has declared bankruptcy — Adam Neumann injured the WeWork, but the real estate market killed it.Shein pioneered ultra-fast fashion and now reportedly wants to IPO at a $90B valuation — To explain Shein’s fashion, we’re going to quote philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.And the Great Resignation is over. Nobody is quitting anymore — Quiet Quitting has become Loud Lingering.$WE Subscribe to our newsletter: 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 Wednesday, Saviche Wednesday, November 8th, and today's pod, today's pod is the best one yet. Why is that, Jack? What's going on, man? Nick, I am feeling your energy right now. We're feeling you right now. We're live from Beverly Hills.

All right, but we're not live. But we are in Beverly Hills. We're recording from Los Angeles. Yeah, we are. You want to tell the Yetis what happened on your flight, by the way? So I fly over here, I pick seat 17A. Which we know would be a window seat. Which you like.

And the map of the airplane. and looks like it's just like any other windows. Classic airline seat. I'm flying United. Uh-huh. And based on their new Wilma, boarding policy, they let me board first. Call him out. What do we got, Jack?

I get to my seat? Yes. No window. Just a big wall. Oh, you're in like the window space, but there's no window outside. I have to creep over two seats to get to my chair, and I don't even get the reward of a view. It's like United was hiding you like Quasimoto in the attic. I feel like I've been defrauded because it wasn't a window seat.

It's the worst of both worlds because you were between. the middle seat and no seat. It's not a window seat if there's no window. It was just a wall yet he hasn't seen sunlight in like 12 hours. Jack, you're looking fantastic though. So great to be in Los Angeles with you. First story, what do we got for the pond? For our first story, We Work, the company that invented the word hot desk,

we work, just declared bankruptcy. Adam Newman injured this unicorn. The real estate market killed this unicorn. For our second story, it's Sheehan. Sheehan. The ultra-fast fashion. company wants to IPO for $90 billion. Yetis, to explain Sheehan's fashion, we're going to use philosopher Frederick Nietzsche.

Friedrich Nietzsche. Exactly what we were thinking. For our third and final story, Yeti's, the Great Recession and Quiet quitting, they're both officially over. There's now a new, awkward problem that big companies are facing, though. No one is quitting. Apparently no one wants to quit. And for some reason, that's a big problem.

It's awkward. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix. Fantastic mix of stories, Jack. Nick and I just stumbled across one of the most powerful software applications we've ever heard. Besties, Jack and I just discovered one of the most innovative tech solutions possible. We found an artificial intelligence that will mute the sound of your potato chip crunching. We repeat, this is an AI that will silence your snacking. Get this, Yeties.

The researchers over at PepsiCo have created Doritos silencing software. Doritos silencing software. software. Like, this is actually a thing. It's called crunch cancellation. Because we've all heard that crunching problem. Oh, we've all faced that crunch problem. There we go. There it is. What is going on? Is this the loudest snack

you've ever heard? It's distracting the whole show. We need to pause the pod over here now. This is excruciating. I can hear it now. How are we going to whip up a takeaway? You're at the movie. You're trying to watch a beautiful scene on the screen and then boom. Somebody's crunching potato chips behind you. You're playing a video game and then boom. You get the

crunch of a Dorino's check. You're on a conference call, and somebody whose camera's not even on, you can hear the crunching of the cool ranch to read. Yetis, let the numbers speak for themselves. 30% of gamers have been distracted by someone crunching on chips. Two-thirds of us say that chip crunching, chip chewing is the loudest of all the snacking sounds. Jack, I'm sorry, but how many Zoom presentations have been ruined by an errant chip crunch? I wish I could mute them, but I can't. Yeties, we have covered the power and potential artificial intelligence on this here.

But this software that you can download on your computer, that mutes out the crunching of chips on anybody? What are you thinking? That may be the greatest feat yet. Besties, a crunch cancellation technology that silence is snacking in real time. Chomp away, Yeties. Chomp away. Jack, let's hit up. Can we hit out three stories?

I can't work like this. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. 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. For our first story, WeWork has just declared bankruptcy. Adam Newman injured the WeWorks unicorn badly. But the office market killed it. All right, Yeties, late Monday night. We're packing up for this trip.

And it's pretty late out there. We don't get late breaking news, but I text Jack, and he text me back because something just happened. WeWork issued a press release late Monday night, and it said this. It said this. Here we go. Here we go. WeWork take strategic action to significantly strengthen its balance sheet and further streamline the real estate footprint. What does that mean?

I don't even—that sounds positive, kind of. Can you give us a translation of that corporate babble? Well, Jack, in order to give you a translation, I should point out, they're missing one key word. The headline was missing the key word. Yeah. Bankruptcy. Like the rest of the press release is all about bankruptcy. Because WeWork is buried in debt that it cannot repay. Yeah, it is five years ago. WeWork was worth $47 billion. It was the coolest, most valuable startup in America. Massa. But today, WeWork is worth $0. Actually, it's worth less than $0. Good point. Good point. We should Because WeWork O's more than it owns right now.

That's why I declared bankruptcy. But Yeties, if Professor J.G. Wentworth has taught Jack and I anything over the last couple decades, it's that bankruptcy isn't the end. It's a new beginning. So here's what comes next with WeWork. Okay, Yeti's, here's what comes first. WeWork is going to continue operations as a judge finalizes this bankruptcy agreement. Yeah, so this week, we work 750 buildings remain open for co-working.

Yeah, kombucha is still on tap, but eventually, some of these locations will probably close. Now let's start talking about who loses money. Yes. Now, Jack, who loses some money on the WeWork bankruptcy? Landlords. Landlords will take some losses because Yeti's WeWork doesn't actually own the buildings that your weworking in. WeWork leases one giant office space from a landlord and then sublets the space out to

individual desks. They throw some succulents in there, too. You know the drill. But now that WeWorks declared bankruptcy, these landlords, They could kick WeWork out for not paying the rent. They could evict WeWork. Right, right. But they're probably going to try to negotiate with WeWork. Maybe at a lower rent, because who else is going to fill that space?

Okay, so Yeti's the landlords are going to lose some money. But Jack, who loses more money on the WeWorks bankruptcy? WeWorks lenders do. Yeah. WeWorks' lenders are going to take bigger losses. Because to lease all those giant office buildings, WeWork had to borrow billions of dollars. And the lenders to WeWork have already forgiven $3 billion in

debt, but now they're going to lose even more. Which leads to the next question, Jack, who loses the most money? Shareholders, yeah. Shareholders are going to take the biggest losses. Because people who own stock, they get paid last in a bankruptcy process, and there's often nothing left for them. Yeah, and WeWork stock, it's trading at it roughly $0 right now. So if you own WeWork stock, whether you're Masa or just Mike who has a brokerage account, you lose everything you put into the company. You're going to get nothing. Although somewhere in Lower Manhattan, Jack,

Adam Newman is trying to buy it all back for $0. Unfortunately, that's probably true. You don't need shoes to buy Wiiwork. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at WeWork? Adam Newman injured WeWork. The post-pandemic office market killed it. Yet he's amazing thing about WeWork, we should point out. There was always a viable business model there.

It's kind of surprising it didn't work. Co-working spaces are great. People pay them money and they let you work there and use the internet. Jack and I have T-Boy recording studios. One on the East Coast, one on the West Coast. Both are in co-working places. And we love them. But Adam Newman got WeWorks off to such a bad start. Yes, he injured the WeWorks Unicorn. The long-term leases that Adam Newman signed when he was CEO. Talked with Jack. They were 10 and 20-year leases and they were horribly overpressed. Yeah, these, those terrible deals still haunt the WeWork company today. four years after Adam left the company.

But the final straw that broke WeWorks back was the office real estate market we're in right now. Exactly. Because office buildings, most cities are still half full because of flexible work from home. With a weak office real estate market, WeWork, they just couldn't make as much money as they hope. That's why Jack and I like to think of it this way yet. He's Adam Newman injured the WeWork unicorn. But the current office market killed it. For our second story, the company that everyone's going to be talking about in 20, 24, it's Shee Inn. Sheehan.

Because Sheehan, the ultra-fast fashion app, wants to IPO next year. All right, Jack, we got to ask the question. Are you familiar with the hall, Yeties? Of course, I am not. It's the fashion verb. That was like basically invented by She-in. You don't shop on She-in, you haul. Yeah, because Sheehan is the Chinese ultra-fast fashion app, isn't it?

If you open up this app, you're going to see a casino of clickable clothing. Okay. Can you describe what happened? Because you opened up the app minutes before the show. I was blasted with like notifications for sales and promo codes. Jack had to stand up, sit down, and stay seated because he was getting nauseous in the Sheehan app. But some people get a big kick out of it. Well, Sheehan happens to be the most followed apparel brand in all of social media. And behind Amazon, it's the second most downloaded shopping app in the United States. What did we see, 35 million followers on Instagram?

Yeah, it's a huge number. It's the biggest number. But here's the news. Sheehan is reportedly targeting an IPO next year in the United States at evaluation of $90 billion. Jack, can we sprinkle on a little numerical context, please? $90 billion is huge in the fashion industry. $90 billion. Sheen would be worth two Lulu lemons.

It'd be worth three Adidas. It would be worth 20 gaps and don't even get us started on the lifts. Sheen is disrupting Zara and H&M, the OG fast fashion company. Classics. If it IPOs at $90 billion, though, It'll be worth more than Zara and H&M. Combined. Eddie Sheehan recently invested in Forever 21.

Yeah, that's Forever 21. And as part of the deal, you can now get Forever 21 tops on Shea. You're getting that cute tops. And Forever 21 on Sheehan. But what Nick and I really want to talk about is the new business model that Sheehan pioneered. Sheehan just pioneered a business model that we call real-time retail. Because Sheehan sells fashion trends while the Trump. trends are happening. All right, Jack, let's go back to Zoolander. Because Zoolander, it taught us a lot about

the fashion industry, right? Like fashion, it works in cycles. There's four cycles, and all of them are blue steel. Exactly. Well, fast fashion, like Zarr and H&M, it doesn't have four cycles. It has 12 cycles. Right. Every month, there's a new line when it comes to fast fashion. But Yeties, throw out everything Jack and I just said when it comes to Sheehan. Because Sheehan's fashion cycles are in real time. It's real time, ultra-fast fashion. It's like calculus. Yeah. You know, like it's a derivative. The limit does not exist. Because Sheehan immediately shares shopping data as you're on the app with the designer and the factory that are making what you buy on the app. So if a Panther polka dot print is going viral as a dress on Monday, picturing it,

Sheehan's not waiting until next month to take action on that data. Oh, yet he's by Sunday. Sheehan's selling Panther Pocodot hoodie. Panther Pocod handbags and a panther poca dot bucket head. It's instantaneous the feedback between what is selling and what Cheyenne goes and makes. Bestie, Sheehan's manufacturing cycle, it isn't quarterly and it isn't monthly. It's minute by minute. It's minutely. Yes, that is an advert.

Is that a chip? Is that a chip? So, Jack, can you put down the chip and tell us what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Sheehan? To quote Friedrich Nietzsche, your greatest enemy is yourself. Yeties, the way Jack and I see it. The greatest threat to Sheehan, it's not H&M, it's not Zara, it's not Dolce, and it is not Gabana. It is Sheean. Because the closer Sheehan gets to an IPO, the more scrutiny Sheean is going to face.

For example, Sheehan was founded in China, so U.S. politicians have security worries about the company. Sheehan has factories in a Chinese region that's associated with forced labor. And artists accuse Sheehan of copying their designs. Sustainability-wise, Sheean is the worst kind of fast fashion. Fast fashion was bad. Ultra fast fashion is way more intense. Now, other ultra-fast fashion shopping apps like Timo are challenging Sheehan in the market. But the closer Sheen gets to an IPO, the more spotlight is getting shine on Sheehan.

That's why, as Friedrich Nietzsche said, Sheehan's greatest threat is Sheein itself. For our third and final story, the great resignation is over. And quiet quitting is officially finished. In fact, the opposite is now happening across America. The opposite. No one is quitting. Not enough people are quitting their jobs right now. It's an interesting story.

It's an awkward situation. Yeties, over the last four years, we've seen the biggest upheaval to employment since the Great Depression. It started with the great resignation in 2020. More people left their jobs by choice than at any time in U.S. history. People took a chance during the pandemic to finally quit that unsatisfying job. We're popping around. People were job hopping, like a frog who can make powerpoints. Anything was possible.

Yeah, you had on your resume, like a bullet point that said switching jobs was an activity. But as the Great Resignation died down, then Quiet Quitting began. Yeah, quiet quitting became the new side of the Great Resignation. You do the bare minimum for as long as possible at work, just enough to not get fired. Turn off your camera for the Zoom calls. Time to hit the sauna. Is it 4 p.m.? I'm already in the sauna.

It's called Health and Wellness. Yeah, it's important to me. But yet he's here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The great resignation and quiet quitting are over, and they've been replaced with something else. Here's the news. The quit rate is something that is tracked across the American economy. Yeah, that was actually news to us. We did not track the quit rate before this podcast, did we, Jack?

The quit rate is the percentage of workers who quit in any given year. And Jack, can we talk about the latest quit rate numbers in America? The quit rate in America is down by a third this year. year compared to last year. In 2022, 3% of workers were quitting their jobs on any given month. This year, only 2% are voluntarily quitting their jobs. Three percent first 2%. You're probably thinking, eh, it's not a big deal. It's only 1%. But 1%'s a huge difference. It's a huge difference. A 1% difference across the whole economy? That means millions of people. Yeah, these millions of people who would have quit their job last year are just not this year.

They're thinking, you know what? Yeah. This analyst trained. program? It's actually pretty good. It's like Cal from accounting. She's actually kind of cool. We got drinks. I'm going to stick with this job. I don't like this job. You know what? I always did like wearing a tie. People are sticking with their jobs this year. And they're sticking with their jobs because of our takeaway. So Jack, what's the

takeaway for all our buddies who are not quitting? Quiet quitting has transformed into loud lingering. Loud lingering. Yet he's over the past couple of years. Basically reality hit for some of us who quick. You appreciated that paycheck and the benefits and all the perks that you used to have at work. Meanwhile, unemployment has ticked up from 3.4% to 3.9%. So you might be a little more nervous about the job now. Oh, Jack, we all remember those tech layoffs from last year, right? Like, how could you forget?

Those are still in the back of your minds. So I can do anything. Career optimism has been replaced by I just want to keep my job right now. And that is why the pendulum of employment has swung from quitting to staying. Quiet quitting has become loud lingering. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? WeWork has now declared bankruptcy, but the co-working spaces will remain open for now. Yet he's Adam Newman injured WeWork. The office real estate market killed WeWork. For our second story, Sheehan, it's reportedly looking to IPO next year at a $90 billion valuation. As philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, the greatest threat to that IPO is itself.

And our third and final story, just a couple years after the Great Resignation, nobody is quitting anymore. Because quiet quitting has become loud lingering. Nobody is quitting. We're staying. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, yesterday was Voting Day Across America. And as of this recording on Tuesday night, here are the two big results that have been called so far.

Ohio voters enshrined the right to abortion into the state. state constitution. And Kentucky reelected their Democratic governor, Andy Bashir. Other results are still rolling in. And second, there is drama over in Sneakerland. Nike is suing new balance over its fly-knit technology. And Nike's also suing Skechers also for its fly-knit technology. Active people over at Nike are the lawyers. That's my fly-knit technology. And finally, Live Nation just announced a record year for concert ticket sales and the year isn't even over. over yet. Maybe you haven't heard about it, but Taylor Swift had a concert tour this year. Apparently, Beyonce's doing something. Yeah, their record tours. Maybe you haven't heard about it yet.

It's the year of the Bay Tech. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one set in by Scott Star from Brooklyn. There are 6,495 different kinds of mammals worldwide. Nearly 7,000 kinds of mammals. Jack, can you whip up a definition of a mammal for us over that? A mammal has hair? Yeah, there we go. It gives live birth to live babies. Except the whales. The whales don't have hair. That's an exception.

We were talking about that before the pot, actually. We wanted to ask, Eddie's, what's the most common type of mammal by far? And the answer, by far, is the bat. Yeah. Don't just call him bat. No, no, no. There are 1,386 different variants of bats. Yeah, bats.

20% of all mammals are bats. So if you say, I think there's a bat in the house. Yeah. What kind? It's like Batman was a double mammal, is what we're saying, Jack. Yeah, he was a human end of bat. Yeah, he's what we were saying is that one out of every five mammals is a bat. And that's all we have to say about that.

Yes, it is. Yes, you look fantastic for Civeche Wednesday. And as always, when Jack and I are traveling together, if you got any restaurant recommendations in like West Hollywood, we would love to hear them, hit us up at Tea Boy Pot. Also, whoever asked us about our hair routine? Yes. If you want to know it, we put the answer in the newsletter today.

We're both wearing hats today, but there is a formidable amount of hair under both our heads right now. We tell you our hair routines in the best newsletter to get. You can subscribe at t-boypod.com slash newsletter. A little moose never killed anyone. Your hair is vibrant right now. It's actually got, it's its own mammal, Jack. My hair is its own mammal right now. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Allison Star in Brooklyn.

She and her husband happened to be a couple of dinkwax. Classic dinkwack. Double income, no kids with a cat. Happy birthday to Nick Jordan, who works for the New York Stock Exchange, and his ticker symbol is NICK. And happy birthday to Arena in New York City. And David Zimbrano is celebrating a birthday in Monterey, Mexico at the Hamptons. And congratulations to Daniel Morales, who's opened up a new Civece restaurant in San Francisco. And he did it on Safece Wednesday.

It's called Pacifico. If you want some raw fish and some corn and some citrus in a delicious. bowl, that's what's what Covece is, right? You're on a roll. You're on a roll. Then go to Pacifica and San Francisco. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a tea boy.

Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both on stock of Lulu Lemon. And we're both mammals. I didn't even know a bat was a mammal. Like a bird? Does it lay eggs? Doesn't it? You know, flies.

The night, soda. That's totally fair. That's totally fair. That's totally fair for it. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's set in by Yeti Scott Star from Brooklyn. We all know what a mammal is. Apparently not.

A mammal is an animal that gives a live birth and has hair. Those are the two definitions of a mammal. Not a bald whale. How much a whale has? Dad.