The Best One Yet - 👍 “r/ipo” — Reddit’s IPO surge. The USA sues Apple. Hidden Valley Ranch’s breakfast strategy.

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Reddit, the front page of the internet, just delivered the biggest IPO of the year, and the stock rose 48% on the first day — But Reddit’s community giveth, they can also taketh away.Apple just became the final Big Tech company to get sued by the US government — It’s not being sued for iPhone dominance, it’s being sued for abusing that dominance.And Ranch dressing sales just beat ketchup for the 1st time in US history — Hidden Valley Ranch’s secret ingredient? Merge Research & Development… with Marketing.Plus, Trader Joe’s just jacked up the price of bananas by 21% — Its first banana price increase in 24 years. And we thought bananas defied inflation…$RDDT $CLX $AAPLSubscribe 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 Friday the real Friday, March 22nd, and today's pod. Today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. Happy end of the week, everybody. Nick and I are whipping up the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. I'm sorry. Are you not going to say anything, Jack? What am I supposed to say? What kind of a friend and co-story? It's my one sixth birthday today, and you're not going to say anything. What do you want a participation trophy for the last two months? I would like a friend. one sixth of a participation trophy. I've got five, six of the way there. I'm not going to forget your one-sixth birthday. Jack, you're still looking fantastic. I forgive you. What's our three stories for today's pod? For our first story, it's Reddit. The front page of the internet just went public in the biggest IPO of the year. Reddit, its stock went to the moon yesterday soaring as much as 70% and Jack and I,

we got the story. For our second story, it's ranch dressing. For the first time in American history, dressing is outselling ketchup. And it's all thanks to Hidden Valley Ranch's secret corporate ingredient. And our third and final story is a doozy. It's about Apple. The Department of Justice in 16 states just sued Apple for abusing their iPhone monopoly. Doth Apple have an ecosystem or does Apple have a monopoly? That is thy question.

Happy one sixth birthday. You deserve it after that great intro. Good job, Nick. You're looking 7th, 6 fantastic today, Jeff. But yet he's before you at that one. Wonderful mix of stories on this Friday. Fantastic mix of stories to go into the weekend with Jack. Love the mix.

We have some breaking news before the weekend. Call up Wolf Blitzer because this is about banana prices, baby. Yeties, over last week, we told you about the unique property of bananas that they defy inflation. Banana prices have barely budged in years. Bananas are the only fruit still priced under a dollar a pound. And Jack and I told you how Trader Joe's hasn't changed their banana price since 1999. Until, sadly, now.

Trader Joe's just increased the price of a banana from 19 cents to 23 cents. We repeat, Trader Joe's increased the price of one non-organic banana by 21% from 19 cents to 23 cents. That is bananas, Jack. Now, Trader Joe's hasn't officially confirmed the price change. We should point out. But if true, this is the biggest change to banana since sliced banana bread. Now, we first heard about this alarming news from Yeti's. Mikey Pollock, who saw it with his own two hungry eyes at the Upper West Side Trader Joe's

location. Turns out the 72nd Street, Trader Joe's already jacked those banana prices up 21%. So then we checked Reddit and confirmed what Mikey fears. Employees at Trader Joe's are sharing on Reddit that the rumors are true. News articles are pouring in. Someone tells Shakeda. This is banana madness. The 19 cent Trader Joe's banana era appears to be over. 23 cents is now the new banana price. So besties, this weekend. hug that bushel of bananas you bought for 19 cents each. Yet is this weekend, kiss your banana cream pie while you can still afford it. But Nick, let's not mourn what we lost. Let's celebrate what we had.

And let's politely ask Mr. Trader Joe, not the mess with any more food prices. Still can't believe they discontinued those dark chocolate ornaments. Hey, Mr. Talley, man, tally us in three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. The best one yet, but the best is a known. 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, Reddit stock jumped as much as 70% on its IPO debt. Reddit is still the least valuable social media stock, but they have a secret weapon that nobody else has.

Reddit, it is a social media company. Frankly, Jack and I think it's more like Wikipedia than it is Facebook. Reddit is a community of online communities. It's like Wikipedia, but with a sense of humor. It's Wikipedia, but with some more wit. Reddit's 3 million subreddits are online forums based on a particular subject or a particular interest. When you spend time on Reddit, you feel like it's less like a website and more like a college campus. You can find information about anything on Reddit and a bunch of people just chime in with their thoughts.

But from a business perspective, also. like the nonprofit Wikipedia, Reddit has never made a profit. In 19 years of being a for-profit company technically. Now, yet his Reddit was co-founded back in 2005 by Serena Williams' husband, but they went public just yesterday. It's the first social media IPO in five years since Pinterest did it five years ago. And Jack, how exactly did Reddit do on its first day of trading on the public markets? It went to the moon.

It priced at $34 a share and soared the moment it hit stock markets. Reddit ended the day at $50, which is up 48% in their first day. But yet is Jack and I got to sprinkle on some digital context here, because like Facebook, Reddit is now a publicly traded company, isn't it, Jack? So let's see how Reddit ranks up against the other social media IPOs. We're doing a little market cap comparison. Whip out the whiteboard, what do we got, Jack? Facebook was the first social media company to IPO back in 2012.

They IPOed at a whopping $104 billion valuation. Then Jack Dorsey took Twitter public. in 2013 at an $18 billion valuation. Snapchat went public for $24 billion in 2017, and Pinterest went public for $10 billion in 2019. Which was the most recent social network to go public. Oh, and Twitter a couple years ago, it was worth a whopping $44 billion when Elon took it private in 2022. All right. So, Jack, we're not exactly geometrists here, but pretty sure Reddit is the

smallest of that group, which we just called out. Yes. Reddit's IP on Wednesday. was an official valuation of $6.4 billion, less than all those other companies. Yeah, can you put that in Lyft terms for us? That's actually almost exactly one lift. Reddit is worth the same as Lyft. Reddit's like barely bigger than MySpace, I think, at this point. Hey, come on, come on. It's better than MySpace, man. It's the short king of social media. Can we say that?

Sure, man. I wonder what the Reddit community is going to think about that comments. I don't think they're going to like it. But Yeti's, Reddit's difference isn't just the size. What makes Reddit so fascinating and so powerful is its structure. Unlike all the other social networks, Reddit uniquely does not depend on algorithms. Instead, users decide what's worthy on Reddit, not bots. And users do that by upvoting or downvoting posts. It's a democracy. Code doesn't determine the posts, you see.

Carolina, Craig 227 decides what you see with his upvotes. Now, investors think that that community may limit Reddit's profit potential. But Jack and I, having used Reddit and just, T-Boy style, think that that's also a strength. I don't think the Reddit communities is mad at you anymore, Nick. You just won back the hearts and minds of Reddit. So, Jack, who may or may not be Carolina Craig 227, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Reddit?

The community giveth. The community can also take it the way. Yet is, Reddit used to be a dark place where anonymous trolls would rip on outsiders and, like, make fun of your shirt. Nick, I just checked. Snoo Dingo's 3776 just made a joke about your mom. Sorry, man. Not cool.

But over the last few years, Reddit has matured for Wall Street. And that is really thanks to one big focus. And that focus is moderators. Reddit actually has the best content moderation in all of social media. Because they don't rely on low paid independent contractors. Reddit relies on people who love Reddit. Messies Reddit is such a strong community that people volunteer to become moderators to enforce the rules. and civility and make and keep Reddit a better place.

And they do all that without getting paid. So, unlike other social media companies that go public, Reddit can't just think about investors, right, Jack? Reddit also has to think about their community because the content quality and the whole platform depends on those volunteer moderators. Oh, and we saw what the Reddit community can do when they turn against someone, didn't we, Jack? Wall Street bets three years ago, they took down an entire hedge fund.

Reddit's moderators giveeth, but Reddit's moderators also. take it away. For our second story, Hidden Valley Ranch is experiencing a ranch dress in Renaissance with record ranch sales. We've all got that buddy in college who was a little too in love with ranch dressing. I can still picture it on Timmy's lips. He's going to love this story. Yet he's R&D.

It doesn't stand for research and development. Turns out R&D stands for ranch dressing. Here's the hero stat that we're going to kick off this ranch dressing started with. There was more ranch dressing sold to America last year than ketchup and barbecue sauce. Yet his ranch dressing, it is America's top sauce. We're buying the dip, literally. Ranch dressing isn't as American as apple pie. It's more American than apple pie.

Yet his $1.3 billion a ranch was sold last year, and that passed ketchup for the very first time. And the number one brand, we all know it, Hidden Valley. In Valley Ranch actually is 51% of the entire ranch dressing market check. It's the only ranch dressing we could find. We're like people have tattoos of Hidden Valley's logo. And Hidden Valley did a study. Apparently nearly 100% of Americans between 18 and 40, nearly 100% have dipped a slice of pizza into their ranch dressing before.

At least once, that was the study. But yet is if you're curious about Hidden Valley, the brand actually goes back to 1957, doesn't it, Jack? It was founded as a mail-order salad dressing business by a retired plumber and his spouse over in Santa Barbara, California. in 1972, Hidden Valley Ranch was acquired by Clorox for $8 million. That's right. The same company that makes the bleach makes the ranch dressing.

But besties, according to the Wall Street Journal, Clorox has a new goal for their Hidden Valley brand. They want to double their ranch sales. Here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. For most industries, it's all about the market share. The percent of the category that you own. When when it comes to the food industry, it's all about the tummy share. Much mouth share are they getting? Because today, ranch is only used for two meals a day.

Lunch or dinner? You're not chugging that stuff. Well, maybe you are. But to double sales, Hidden Valley is trying to expand to snacks and to breakfast and to dessert. They're trying to get more tummy share. In snacks, last year, they launched a ranch-flavored popcorn. And dessert last year, Hidden Valley launched a ranch-flavored ice cream. In breakfast?

Hidden Valley hasn't told us what they're going to launch, but they're working on something and I'm kind of afraid of what they're going to launch. Jack, pretty soon, you're not going to put maple syrup on those pancakes, if you know what I mean. Stop it. Don't even put that image of my head. I've seen it and now I can't unsee it. That's the problem.

Speaking of not being able to unsee, the Wall Street report, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hidden Valley is so popular in Oklahoma, it's considered a beverage there. Apparently, you do chug the stuff in the Midwest. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Hidden Valley Ranch? Hidden Valley has created a new corporate department. R&D and M.

Yet is that may be their secret ingredient. Because typically, research and development is one part of a business. But marketing is another part of a business. And it's the opposite part. It's like in a different building from the R&D part. The two are typically totally different. And they compete for the same budget. But Hidden Valley has essentially merged these two departments.

The R&D department acts a lot like the marketing department. Hidden Valley R&D hired supertasters with a tongue density three times higher than the average tongue for advice on how to tweak the flavors. Hidden Valley hosts research events with Ranch fondue fountains to try out new products. They created a fake lip balm for April Fool's Day that was Ranch Dressing Flavor. And that April Fool's joke went so viral that Hidden Valley turned it into a real product that they actually sell now. Ranch lip balm. I just need to say for the record that's gross. Yeah, it is Hidden Valley's changed the meaning of R&D to ranch dressing. Hidden Valley's R&D is so wild, it's become great marketing for the company.

And that's the secret ingredient to their success. Hidden Valley has created a new department. R&D. And M. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the antitrust bomb finally dropped on Apple. This was huge. The Department of Justice just sued Apple, arguing that they're abusing their iPhone dominance.

Jack, how? is this for a movie title, my friend. You ready? You ready? The United States of America versus Apple. That's an actual case in federal court right now. The U.S. Department of Justice and 16 states attorneys general just sued Apple Incorporated. Join the club Apple because meta, Google, and Amazon have all faced similar monumental antitrust lawsuits recently. At this point, Jack, it's basically a badge of honor if you're in Silicon Valley, right? It kind of is. If you're in big tech, you'll lawyer up because the government's eventually going to come after you. But besties, this means a multi-year lawsuit, tons of legal fees and huge distractions for Apple.

So yesterday, Apple stock, which hasn't been doing well recently, fell another 4%. All right, our money, it's on Robert Downey Jr. playing Tim Cook in that movie. What do you think, Jack? I was going to say, Steve Jobs has already been played by a couple of guys. It's Robert's turn. It's Robert's turn. You know, Robert just won an Oscar, by the way. I think he already had his turn. But yet he's, what has Apple done wrong? That's the big. Big question here, isn't it, Jack? Well, Apple allegedly did what Microsoft did 30 years ago. We saw this exact same thing three decades ago with Microsoft,

when Microsoft dominated personal computers in the 90s through their Windows operating system. Back then, Microsoft flexed their dominance in the industry by giving other Microsoft products an unfair advantage. For example, Microsoft let their own Microsoft Internet Explorer function better on a PC than other Internet browsers. And that was a leak. That was anti-competitive, and that would prevent us from enjoying other web browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, which are great. Now, yet, it is interestingly, Apple is allegedly doing the same thing, but they're doing it not with the personal computer, but with your iPhone.

Now, to be clear, the government's not suing Apple because their iPhone dominates in smartphones. They're suing Apple for abusing that iPhone dominance. For example, you can see that when it comes to your eye messages and the color is blue and green. lawsuit alleges that Apple intentionally limits compatibility of the iPhone with Android when it comes to messaging. Yeah, like parents with iPhones won't give their kid Android phones because the green messaging doesn't seem like it works with an iPhone when you're chatting with them. It's incompatible, and it reinforces kind of a never-ending cycle of iPhone dominance. The government literally cited the blue-green iPhone-eye messaging as a reason for this epic lawsuit. Another example they cited

was the Apple Watch. Because Apple requires Apple Watch owners to all. also have an iPhone. Can't use an Apple Watch if you got a Samsung. And according to this lawsuit, Apple intentionally restricts third-party watches from being compatible with the iPhone. Is your Fitbit limited with your iPhone? Well, that is on purpose, allegedly. Because Apple wants you to get an Apple Watch instead. Add it all up. And that is why the biggest lawyer in all the land, Attorney General Merrick Garland, just said this about Apple. Apple has consolidated its iPhone monopoly not by making its products better, but by making other products worse. It's going to be a dramatic scene with Robert.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Apple? There's a fine legal line between ecosystem and monopoly. Yeties and ecosystem. We all know that Apple's products just work better with each other. That is an ecosystem. A Sony headset, I don't care how good it is. It's not going to sync as well with your iPhone as your AirPods do. Apple's ecosystem.

It integrates hardware, software, services. It is so smooth. We love it. That's what you probably love about Apple. Customers love Apple's ecosystem. It's celebrated by business strategists, and it's a big reason that Apple is worth $3 trillion. But here's the big question, Jack and I want to ask. Where do you draw the line between an ecosystem and being monopolistic?

The Department of Justice argues that Apple is being anti-competitive, and that's another reason that they're worth $3 trillion. They're arguing that it's one thing if your AirPods are better headphones than Sonos's version. But it's another thing, if Apple restricts Sonos headphones on purpose by limiting its compatibility, with your iPhone. The way Jack and I see it, this lawsuit, it highlights a fine line in capitalism between an ecosystem and being monopolistic. One is a great business that customers love, the other is illegal. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the Real Friday? Reddit went public yesterday at a $6.4 billion valuation, and the stock jumped 48% on day one. Reddit, it's all about the moderators, who giveth, but who also can takeeth away.

For our second story, it's ranch dressing. It's shockingly America's number one condiment, passing ketchup last year for the first time ever. Hayden Valley Ranch's secret ingredient, it's research and development and marketing. They basically merged them. And our third and final story, Apple has been sued by the United States government

for allegedly abusing their iPhone dominance. Because there's a fine line between an ecosystem and anti-competitiveness. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. Stocks didn't just like jump yesterday. Stocks popped to fresh record highs, like across the board. All three major stock market indexes are at their highest point of all time.

Okay, the Dow, the S&P 500, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ, all three just said a hat trick of records. Speaking of hat-tracks, Major League Baseball, the regular season hasn't even begun, but there's already a scandal brook. Okay, get this. The best player in baseball, Shohay Otani, gave his Japanese translator money to pay off gambling debts. But now Shohei Otani is changing a story, saying that that Japanese translator stole his money, which was millions of dollars, by the way. Yeah, his sports betting is legal, but not for players. And this is a story that is developing. And it doesn't look good.

And finally, DoorDash just launched its first ever drone delivery service, and it's doing it with Wendy's. DoorDash is using Google's flying drones called Wing to deliver Wendy's Baconator from a Wendy's to your front lawn. If you're in Christianburg, Virginia, watch out for falling square. hamburgers. Walmart, by the way, they're also doing drone delivery, also with Google, over in Dallas, Texas. Now, time for the best fact yet. And this is a special one sent in from the Yetis. Earlier this week, we told you that Sam Altman, the co-founder of Open AI, he hates the name of Open AI. Like literally, he hates ChatGPT's name. He said that ChatGPT is just a horrible name. He hates both a name. So we asked you, what would you rename ChatGPT instead of ChatchipT?

And your answers for renaming chat GPT were fantastic. Garrett thinks it should be renamed to Athena because she's the Greek goddess of wisdom. And Jade Chan thinks it should be renamed Chat GDP because AI is shaking up our economy. John Killen Jr. thinks it should be called Skynet. That's the name of the AI in the movie Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger. And Amanda Witt thinks Chat GPT should be renamed the Magic Conk because SpongeBob SquarePants. But Jared. Oh, Jaron.

He thinks chat GPT should be renamed the best chat yet. Yeties, you've looked fantastic all week. Jack, you are glowing over there. Nick, speaking of March Madness, we got 17 inches of snow coming to Vermont this weekend. I am pumped. Are you sure it was snow or is it ranch? You may want to taste that snow, Jack. I really hope it's snow for all of us.

We're all buying a lot of ranch these days. Yetis, the best way you can help grow the show this weekend is turn to your buddy, hand them some ranch, and say, H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. Have you had the best one yet? And then toss that ranch in the trash dam. If you know, you know. And before we go, congratulations and have some fun to Maxine Dummion, who has her Bachelorette weekend right now going on in Denver.

Michelle's flying in. Happy surprise party. And congratulations to Kirby and Chase Edmonds, who just got engaged. in Houston at the same park where they first met. We gave them a shout out when they first met, by the way. We got an invite to the engagement party, but guys, unfortunately, we can't make it down. Have a blast. Congratulations to Chris Ina for his 40th birthday party.

But I think Caitlin Bradley deserves some congrats as well. Because they just flew to Mexico and he proposed to her. They're now engaged. Congratulations, guys. And congrats to Nicole Oberlag, who ran the L.A. Marathon in under three hours. That's incredible. And Jack, we got some birthdays. Happy ninth birthday.

to Frederick Shen, who's on his way to school in Austin, Frederick, make it the best one yet. Happy birthday to Obeyed Hockey in Chicago, Illinois. And Keel and C's got a sweet 16th in Lake Worth, Florida. Happy birthday to Jessica Anthony in Signal Mountain, Tennessee. And happy birthday and thanks for your service. To Army Captain Noah Strong, who's a pilot on an Apache helicopter. We're sending all the T-boy vibes to you out to Germany right now for that 28th birthday. And to everyone celebrating a one-sixth birthday, happy.

I think it's just hot, actually. It's just hot. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon. Nick and I both own stock of Apple, and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500. And while we don't eat ranch, we respect it as a lifestyle choice.

So Jack, what's the takeaway for our... Jack, you want to get like a... Sound? You're trying to pat the ranch? Yeah, we get like a...