The Best One Yet - 🐝 “Shoulda put a ring on it” — Beyonce’s Adidas drama. Uber’s best day ever. TV’s ultimate disruption.

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

We just got leaked numbers on Beyonce’s Ivy Park apparel line with Adidas — So can Bey sell clothes? Uber just announced its best quarter ever and we’re crediting their success to “The Dara Doctrine.” And we think the most disrupted product in your home is… your TV. So we’re comparing the price of TVs to the innovation of TVs.$ADDYY $UBER $LYFTFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, February 9th. And today's pod is just the best one yet. This is a T-boy. Nick, we are about to have Super Bowl weekend and Valentine's Day weekend in the same weekend. Yet he's Thursday is the new Friday. And February is the new December.

Get those chicken wings and get those roses this weekend. It's a good combo. It's a good combo. Jack, what's our first story for today's pod? Three years ago, Beyonce launched Ivy Park. Park, a clothing line with Adidas. Well, we just got the sales numbers, and they're very interesting sales numbers. For our second story, Uber just announced its best quarter of earnings by far.

And it's all thanks to the Dara Doctrine. And our third and final story, the most disrupted product in your home, it's the television. It's the TV. So Jack and I are going to compare the price of TVs to the innovation of TVs. But Yeties, before we hit that fantastic mix. I love this mix. Beyonce is going to love today's project. We're going to switch up this intro today.

We're going to mix things up because Jack and I plan to do a fun intro about the Super Bowl today, but... But then you kept sending us mispronounced company names. You wouldn't stop. Yeah, you kept DMing us brands that were all saying wrong, and we kind of love that. So we got one more round for you of pronunciation problems. Yeah, we got one more round of articulation aggravations. Nick, ever since I studied abroad and discovered Natel... I've been putting that hazelnut spread on my toast every morning.

Well, Jack, you've been wrong, because you haven't been putting Nutella on your toast. You've been putting Nutella on your toast. Okay, let me try you this one. My first video game console was the Sega Genesis. Jack, that's incorrect. You have not been playing the Sega Genesis. You've been playing the Sega Genesis. You know, I don't have a Samsung phone, right, Nick?

No, you don't, and you shouldn't pronounce it that way either. Because it's actually Samsung phone, not Samsung phone. Valentine's Day is coming up. I did not get my wife Godiva chocolate. No, you did not. Good instincts, Jack. You got her Godiva chocolates, not Godiva chocolates. And this one's wild. Not a single Yeti apparently knows how to say the Athleisure brand we all see on Instagram. What is it, Vori?

Yeah, it's not Vuri, it's not Vauri. It's actually Viori. Viori. Viori. But of course, no one is mistaken how to pronounce Facebook. Everyone knows the correct pronunciation of Facebook. It's pronounced the Facebook. It's pronounced TikTok. Let's hit our three stories.

Let's hit our tree stories. 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 a normal. 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, we just got the leaked numbers from Beyonce's Ivy Park apparel line that she launched. with Adidas. And I'll tell you, if you like it, then you better put some upside on it. That's the takeaway here, Nick. All right, Jack, before we jump to Beyonce's numbers here, can we talk about the record she just said? We're talking a Grammy record thanks to Beyonce this week.

I think she won four more Grammys the other day, which means she has 32 Grammys, Nick. Boom. Are they going to rename these things? They should call them the Yonces. At what point does she just stop making music and just do a different activity instead? Like, I don't know, architecture. I think she's a mom of a few kids. And apparently has a fashion line.

And apparently she has a fashion line. So Beyonce's music career, it's never been better. Renaissance, the new tour, it's selling it. But the Wall Street Journal just got leaked numbers on her fashion career. So getting some formations. Okay, we're talking about the brand known as Ivy Park, vaguely named after one of her children. Ivy Park sells body suits, hoodies, a cute top or two. Basically, athleisure blade.

Well, it's fully owned by Beyonce. But four years ago, Beyonce got what? which she called the Partnership of a Lifetime. A distribution deal with the global apparel giant, Adidas. Edithis. See what I did there? I did. I like what you did there. Adidas.

Adidas. You can draw around on a Porsche. Adidas is trying to replicate the Kanye blueprint, but for Beyonce and without the PR controversy. Here's the news. Today, Ivy Park is launching a new line of clothing. Oh, wait. That's not the news.

The Wall Street Journal reported different news yesterday. Get this Yeties. Four years later, the performance numbers for Beyonce's Ivy Park line with Adidas have leaked. Jack, let's sprinkle on a little context here. Maybe jump in T-Boy style. First, let's look at the Adidas projections for their Beyonce line. According to the leaked information the Wall Street Journal got, Adidas hoped to get $250 million in sales last year and $335 million this year.

Not too shabby. But, Jack, what were the real numbers for the Adidas-Biance line? Sales peaked at $80 million two years ago and fell to $1,000. less than half that last year, just 40 million of sales. Yadis, we're saying that Ivy Park sales are one-tenth of what Adidas's target number was. And according to people familiar with the matter, DFWTMs. Half of the merchandise that has been made for Ivy Park hasn't been sold.

It's in a warehouse somewhere. Like, all my single ladies, all my single ladies, where are all the single ladies? They should be buying my stuff from Ivy Park. But here's the funny thing. Adidas is losing money. Like they lose an estimated $200 million per year on this deal. That part's actually not that funny. But the funny, funny thing that Jack's talking about is that Beyonce makes $20 million

every single year while Adidas loses money. In fact, according to people familiar with the matter, she is guaranteed $20 million a year from Adidas as part of this deal. So Jack and I have said you live by the influencer, you die by the influencer, but this, it just sounds like something else. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy Beyonce, who maybe listening to this? If you like it, then you better put some upside on it. Yeties, don't blame Queen B for this performance.

The problem is the structure of the deal. Beyonce has 300 million followers, but we looked at her Instagram account. She rarely markets Ivy Park to her followers. Honestly, how many posts did you see that Beyonce did about this line? In the last year, one. Well, the reason she doesn't market it, besties, because she has no upside, no incentive, no financial reason to even market the brand. It appears that this deal guarantees her $20 million a year.

No more, no less. It doesn't matter how much Ivy Park sells, so she's not motivated to sell more. Management 101. If you want someone to perform well, they need to have some upside. Management 201. If you want that extra effort, we all need incentives. Management 301, give me some of that equity. Because if you like it, then you better put some upside on it.

For our second story, Uber just had its best quarter in the history of Uber ever. Uber has become a respectable moneymaker thanks to the Dara doctrine. All right, you know what, Yeti's Jack and I, we're just going to jump right into this thing. Uber's earnings sounded like a Rolls-Royce looks. Is that Dara or is that a V8 engine over there? Adam, can we actually toss in a few car noises here? Was mine not good enough, Nick? No, I thought that was great.

I honestly did think that was great. We'll just see how that sounds. I just shook the whole house. I woke up the baby on the third floor. It's very complimentary, and I think you're going to inspire. You're inspiring, Jack. you inspired this. Yetis, sometimes the numbers tell the story.

So here are Uber's numbers from last quarter. Revenue for Uber searched 49% in Uber's fourth quarter from the year before. For the first time, two billion trips occurred on the Uber platform last quarter. For the first time, five million drivers are now on the Uber app. Uber doubled the number of monthly subscribers to Uber one, their premium membership. The odds are, Yetis, you're listening to us in an Uber right now, because get this stat. It's not the odds. But let's just round up on this one, Jack.

What is the stat? This is a great number. Every hour, a million Uber trips happen. Either an Uber ride or an Uber food delivery. Every hour, a million Uber trips happen. Uber even announced they have a brand new profit puppy. Yes, they do. It's called Uber Reserve.

You book your ride in advance because tomorrow morning at 4 a.m. You don't want to worry about getting to the airport. They saw an 11% jump in those. They charge a higher price. That new product is a new profit puppy. Yet he's last year, Nick and I predicted that Uber could be a downturn diva. As recession worries rise, Uber could win. Well, Uber did just say that they have more drivers than ever right now. Because if you're worried about money, you're worried about your job,

you may start side hustling in an Uber Honda. And that bigger driver pool has helped drop the price of the average Uber ride, which has attracted more riders. Jack, I just took an $8 ride from my home to the ferry building. Not bad. That's the cheapest it's been in months. It seems the more uncertain the economy, the more certain Uber's businesses. And that is why Uber is projecting a revenue jump of another 24% this year. Add up all those numbers and Uber stock is this close. This close. To back to its pre-pandemic price.

That's why the CEO just said this was the best quarter they've ever had in the best year they've ever had. It wasn't a Camry of a quarter. No. It was one of those Audi Uber blacks. Or is it pronounced Odie? It's outy. I was a German major. Don't forget it.

I don't let the Yetis forget it. That ain't no Prius. That's a chassis. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Uber? We need to talk about the Dara doctrine. Yet he's the Dara doctrine. Don't move fast and break things. Drive slow and break frequently.

Under its founder, Travis Kallanik, Uber pioneered moving fast and breaking things. But in 2018, when Dara Kosra Shahi took over his CEO, he was described by Ink Magazine as the exact opposite. opposite of the Uber founder. Five years later, has that prediction by Ink Magazine held Trueneck? What do we think, Jack? Yes, and we're calling it the Dara Doctrine. Because Dara is not a startup founder with a disruptive approach.

He's an executive leader with a controlled approach. He exited countries when he had to. He cut products when they weren't making money, and he ended moonshot distractions like the flying car. Uber was one of the first big tech companies to warn of a recession, and one of the first big tech companies to start doing layoffs. Dara Kosra Shahi is so conservative. So conservative.

His wife reportedly told him the other day, he has to up his eccentricity. He's at a tech company. That's a true story. Read it in the New York Times the other day. Yet he's Uber barely survived after the first CEO flamed out and then barely survived the pandemic. And thanks to the Dara doctrine in this economy, Uber is thriving. Drive slow and break frequently.

Now a word about our sponsor, Robin, You know, honestly, your salad, it says so much about you. Nick, you like to blaze your own trail at the salad bar. I'm ordering a salad. I go off menu, man, like a combo of kale and croutons that has never been made before. Me? I'm not reinventing the wheel. I like to go classic.

Sweekerian thinks it's a good combo. Jack's not going to change that. Kind of like investing strategies. Someone to build a custom portfolio of stocks, crypto, and options. Others don't want to reinvent. Just give me the most standard ETF. Whether you're tweaking your one-of-a-kind portfolio every day, or prefer a more hands-off approach, Robin Hood has the tools.

If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robin hood.com slash t-boy to choose your free stock. That's robinood.com slash T-B-O-I. Limitations apply. Stocks offered by Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Crypto offered through Robin Hood crypto. All investments involve risk. By the way, this podcast is not owned or part of Robin Hood, and we are not employees of Robin Hood. For our third and final story, cable TV prices are up, but that doesn't mean you're actually paying. Because the biggest winner of disruption is us.

Jack, the number one theme in the economy of the past year, what are we talking about? Inflation. Prices are up for everything. The eggflation situation, the frittata fiasco. You feel it every morning with breakfast. Yeah, we have to take out a loan to flip an omel. These yolks are a joke. But that is the CPI, the consumer price index, the inflation report that we get every month.

It shows that prices of everything are up like 6% from last year. But yet here's why Jack and I wanted to do this story. We just got a different inflation report. We just checked out the minimum quality of life index from the Ludwig Institute. It's not your typical inflation report, and we thought it was pretty fascinating, so we jumped in T-Boy style. Because it considers value as well as price. So then here was the question Jack and I had. Is it possible that we're all paying more for stuff, but we're actually getting more bang for our buck?

What we're saying is, the cost of living is up. We all agree with that. But the cost of living well, maybe that's not up. Interesting. So, Yeties, the perfect test for this quality of life question, the perfect product to test it with is the TV. Because TV prices are up, but you don't pay for TV anymore like you used to. No, you don't. Jack, let's travel back to 2012.

The average TV cable bundle that our parents were buying got what, five billion channels, five trillion channels? You click the guide button. and you go up instead of down, suddenly you're at Channel 993. I swear, we had a channel totally dedicated to just Chinese cats. It was just pictures of cats in China. It was a whole channel. Well, yeah, it is in 2012, the average American household was paying $746 a year for cable TV. $746 a year.

But, Jack, has that price come down in the last decade? The actual price that the average household pays today for TV is way down. It's down to 277 bucks. The average American spends $23 a month on TV today, down from 62 a month 10 years ago. And the reason for that huge drop in the amount you pay for TV? Streaming. It's streaming. It's really just because of streaming.

Streaming lowered the cost of watching TV and it arguably increased the value too. And that's why 30 million households have cut the cord and stopped paying for cable since 2012. So yes, the price of a cable TV subscription is up, but 30 million. and houses stop paying for it. Instead, you pay a few streamers, you borrow a couple passwords, and you get a better overall experience. You can watch season 12 of anything.

When it comes to TV, we're actually paying less and getting more. Emily and Paris, season five, no more CSI Boise. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are anyone who watches TV? Disruption takes profits from companies

and give savings to consumers. Yeties, there's only one company that truly benefited from the destruction of the cable TV bundle. That was Netflix. Ten years ago, Netflix was worth just $3 billion. Today, it's worth 50 times that.

Basically, every other publicly traded TV network has suffered since then. Even Disney, which is doing pretty good in streaming, has only grown 50% in the stock market in the past decade. Well, besides that one disruptive company, the overwhelming winner of streaming disruption, it's us consumers.

This report we just read shows the average American saves $500 a year on TV. and it's arguably getting a better product for that lower price, thanks to streaming. So the biggest winner of disruption isn't a couple disrupting companies. It's you, Jack, and me. It's us because disruption takes profits from companies and gives savings to consumers. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Beyonce's Ivy Parkline is underperforming for Adidas, but she's getting paid millions anyway.

If you like it, then you better put some upside on it. For our second store at Uber just announced its best earnings ever, to the Darah Doctrine. The Darra Doctrine. Drive slow and break frequently. And our third and final story, inflation reports don't reflect disruption, like in the market for watching TV. Disruption takes profits from companies and give savings to consumers. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Tom Miller from lovely Los Angeles. In the 1640s, New York was New Amsterdam. It was a Dutch colony. And the border of that colony on Manhattan Island was actually a 12-foot John Snow-style wall. They built the wall to protect New Amsterdam, this new growing city, from an attack from the north.

But in 1664, the British ignored that wall and took New Amsterdam by sea and renamed it New York. And then they're like, we don't need this wall. It's preventing us from growing the city. So we're going to take the wall down. Let's replace it with a street instead. And that street that had the wall became a new street that became known as Wall Street. As Wall Street. You knew the ending on that one, didn't you, Yeti? Wall Street in New York City, originally the site of a 1640 Dutch wall. Yetis, you look fantastic today.

But before we go, I know, Jack, you want to give us one more final room. Stuck the landing on that thing. Yeties, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. We'll see you tomorrow. I spent a summer in Detroit, Nick. Do you know me? Jack doesn't have all. arms, P.S. Pistons. If you know, you know.

And before we go, good luck to Yeti Neva Emmy running her first half marathon down in Dallas. And congratulations to Lara Fox, who has a new baby boy, Gabriel, down in Coral Gables, Florida. And David Barry and Chloe Geller enjoy that five-year anniversary up in York, Maine. Have many a lobster. Bon voyage to Kevin Brown, who's vacationing in Japan for the first time. Kevin, go to the Tokyo fish market. You won't regret it. Jack, that's where I got you that hat. driving the forklift. It's a great hat.

And happy birthday to Greg Travers in Brooklyn, New York. And a happy birthday to Ed, the S&L man reader over in London, England. And happy birthday to Konimi Kawamura in Japan. And Maricella Picos from Coyotes, Mexico is celebrating that birthday in Vegas. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Netflix, and Nick and I both own stock of Robin Hood.

Now a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood. Okay, so Jack and I both worked in finance for a while. And we know the six-monitor Bloomberg jockey, with charts, numbers, balances, and more charts. They got coffees in both hands while they're executing some complex trade on a soybean future. Well, we're not trying to impress with our mission control trading center. Just give us an app, please. Robin Hood, with its mobile first and intuitive design, it lets you trade with just a few quick taps on their app. And even if things still don't seem easy, Robin Hood has your back 24-7 with its live and robust

or support. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robin hood.com slash t-boy and choose your free stock. That's robin hood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Limitations apply. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC, all investments involved for us. By the way, this podcast is not owned by or part of Robin Hood, and we are not employees of Robin Hood. That's great. My broom wasn't enough for you? I went all in on that room.