The Best One Yet - 🤮 “Sickest Day of the Year” — Sick Days are surging. SharkNinja’s online reviews. Telegram’s CEO arrested.

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

Today is the biggest sick day of the year… as sick days overall are surging in America.SharkNinja’s stock has climbed 140% this year… here’s how it’s taken over your kitchen.Telegram’s founder just got charged in France… so we’ll tell you what Telegram actually is.Plus, record-high hotel prices have led to the hottest new fashion trend… the hotel tote bag.$SN $META $SPY—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday, the real Friday, August 30th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This episode is a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. And all are Yeti buddies driving out to Burning Man? Good luck.

Drink some water. Wait, Burning Man's this weekend? It's this weekend. Yeah, remember, if anyone hands you something to eat, you probably shouldn't eat it, honestly. Yeah, if you see something, don't say something, actually. Three stories. for today's show. What do we got on the project? For our first story,

shares of Shark Ninja, the home appliance company, have surged by 140% this year. So Jack and I will tell you how Shark Ninja took over your home from the air friar to the hairdryer. For our second story, the founder of Telegram, the messaging app, was arrested in France

and just got charged with a major crime. So Jack and I will tell you what Telegram actually is, because no one really knows what Telegram actually is. And our third and final story. Today is the biggest day of the year for calling in sick. So we are looking at the psychology of vacation days and sick days. And we're introducing something that we're calling freedom days.

Freedom days. But Yeties, before you hit that wonderful mix of stories. Jack, fantastic mix of stories to go into Labor Day weekend with, man. Labor Day weekend. The last three days of the summer, we hope you so commend. Besties, you're really. a hotel, a motel, or a holiday in. If you are at a hotel, we got some painful news we just read in the Wall Street Journal.

Turns out the number of hotels that average $1,000 a night is at an all-time high. That's right. There's 80 hotels in America where the average room rate is $1,000 a night. And that happens to be four times more than there were pre-pandemic. But Nick and I got your backs. We have a solution to this very expensive hotel problem. And that solution is the hotel tote bag. Because not everyone can stay for $3,000 bucks a night at a hotel. But anyone can buy a $30 tote bag, right, Jack? And get this, the hotel tote bag?

It's actually a hot fashion trend right now. A hotel merch, specifically the simple canvas tote bag. It's trended in these days. I see it on the streets. Vogue magazine calls this resort court. Oh, and you, you want to be resort core. We actually got that one hotel bag at the wife hotel. I thought it was free.

No. I saw a $30 charge of my room as I left. It was a right off, Jack. It was a right off. But yet is the Ritz-Paris Hotel. It is $1,000 a night. However, their tote bag is under $100. The famous Beverly Hills Hotel is $2,000 a night,

but the tote is $200. And now, Jack and I should point out that $300 for a canvas tote bag, that can be pretty expensive. Ridiculously expensive. But it's still cheaper than a $3,000 room night. Besties, nothing says I am cool. I am hot.

I am trendy quite like a hotel tote. Yeah, just as Joey Triviani from France. Good point. Remember he used to wear that Porsche hat and that Porsche jacket? But he didn't actually own a Porsche car. But women thought he had a Porsche car because he had the hat and jacket. Oh, hey, what's the bag? Oh, this is a bag from the Hotel Eden in Rome.

You stayed there? Why else would I have the bag? You didn't stay there. Jack, three stories for today's show. Let's hit it. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. one yet, but the best is an norm.

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, one of the top stocks of this year, it's Shark Ninja. Shark Ninja is taking over kitchens, carpets, and all of your cabinet space. How does Shark Ninja decide what home appliance to create next? How do they do, Jack? They read online reviews. They read the reviews. And now, yet, his funny little story that Jack and I tell each other and made up is that somebody at Shark goes to their CFO and says, you know what, we should acquire Ninja.

Why would we do that? Because then we can call ourselves Shark Ninja. That's the origin story of it. Shark Ninja that Nick and I like to tell. Yet is Shark Ninja. They are based in lovely Nita, Massachusetts. Just outside Boston. And Shark Ninja happens to be the fastest growing brand

in all of home appliances. This $12 billion publicly traded company will blend, vacuum, toast, fry, and roast everything in your apartment. If there is a verb, they will verb that verb. Now, Bessies, you may know shark vacuums, or you

may know Ninja Blenders. Those are two of their top products. But this company, actually makes 34 different types of home appliances. And from airfriars to hairdriers, grills to ice cream makers. They just launched a slushy machine and got a hundred thousand person wait list. Like we said, besties, if it spins, if it blows, if it heats, if it freezes, if it sucks, Shark Ninja, we'll sell it to you for six easy payments of $29.99. No, POD, which is like payment on delivery. What is that, by the way?

Still don't understand cash on demand. I feel like that's a different era. But yet, ladies, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Isn't Shark Ninja's strength actually a major risk? 34 product lines? Yeah, that's a lot. They might be spreading themselves out too thin. Like the great Ron Swanson once said to us, Jack. Don't half-ass two things.

Full-ass one thing. Don't half-ass two things. Full-ass one thing. So our assumption, if you're making 34 items and you're not that big a company like Shark Ninja is, too much quantity might hurt the quality. Well, it turns out, we'd be wrong. Because this company IPOed one year ago. Their stock has tripled since that IPO.

Huge. So Nick and I dove into the financials. We discovered that Shark Ninja has actually gained market share in nearly every category that they operate from toasters to blenders. They do it thanks to heavy spending on research and development. Yeah, it turns out that Shark Ninja drops 6% of their revenue on research. and development to improve their products. That's a much bigger proportional spend than the competition.

And that constant improvement cycle, thanks to research and development, puts them ahead of Instapot, of Kuisnard, and of Maytag. Plus, since they have so many products, Sharknato is basically immune to consumer fats. Yeah, this is a funny thing, Jack, and I noticed that, you know, like after everyone bought an Instapot, Instapot sales just dried up. Remember that, Jack? There was no one else to sell to, so Instapot eventually went banked

Yeah, we covered it on the pod. The bankruptcy of Instapot, a one product company. But for Shark Ninja, after everyone buys a shark toaster, then the company can sell them a Ninja blender. Or the 32 other Shark Ninja products that they happen to make from your kitchen to your bathroom. And then once you bought all 34 products. Yeah. It's probably been like 10 years. You need to replace all those products. If you've got a verb, they're going to sell you that verb. No, they're going to sell you the noun. They're basically selling you the noun for the verb. Good point, good point. fact check. So Jack wants to take away. It's both the noun and a verb. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Shark Ninja. Consumer pain is Shark Ninja's gain.

So Yetis, how does Shark Ninja really decide what to create next? Well, they don't find what you love. They find what you hate. According to the Wall Street Journal, Shark Ninja's product development team scours online reviews and social media posts to find consumer pain points and then develop a solution for them. Okay, so Jack, what was that solution? For example, remember what Shark Ninja did with Dyson vacuum cleaners? I own a Dyson cordless vacuum. It's a great product, but after a while, the little coil in the middle gets wrapped up with hair,

and I have to take scissors to cut all that hair off. Well, Shark Ninja noticed that those were the reviews being left about that vacuum, so they ordered their engineers to create a competitor without the hair clog issue. And the result, Shark NATO now controls 45% of the U.S. stand-up vacuum market. Half of the U.S. vacuum market is this one company Shark Ninja. Shark Ninja doesn't look at what you love. They look at what you hate. And that's the key.

Your consumer pain is their gain. For our second story, the CEO of Telegram was arrested this week creating an international free speech storm. We'll explain what Telegram actually is, what the CEO. has been accused of and the perfect analogy to understand it all. Yeti's telegram. You probably don't use it because your free speech is probably protected. 90% of our listeners are based in the United States. So you have the right to free speech. On the other hand, if you live in Russia or a former Soviet Republic, your speech could get you thrown in prison. That lack of freedom of speech led to the creation of telegram.

Telegram. It's like WhatsApp or IMessage, but its marketing is all about one thing and one thing only. Privacy. If you really don't want anyone else to see what you're about to send, you telegram it. When Jack and I come up with a really good takeaway, we don't want any other podcasters to hear, Jack will telegram it to me over the weekend. I've actually never even downloaded the app. No, that's true. I haven't either. But here's the ironic thing that is WhatsApp and I message are actually more private than telegram. is that's why I've never downloaded the telegram app because IMessage is more private. What's app and IMessage are end-to-end encrypted by default, which means they are basically unhackable. Even if the police asked Apple to show them my IMessage history, Apple wouldn't be able to because

of the end-to-end encryption. Now, Telegram does offer end-to-end encryption, but not by default, and only under certain specific circumstances. But yet, he's, telegram's not really earned reputation, for privacy, that's not the news. The news is their CEO, Pavel Durov. Pavl Durev, because he was just arrested earlier this week by French authorities right after he stepped off his private jet. This man is Russian-born. He's a billionaire, but he fled Russia after Vladimir Putin tried to crack down on the app that he found it. He also, side note, apparently has like a hundred biological children, which he's very proud of. Yeah, apparently does. I'm sure he's a really present father. Yeah, well, now he's being charged by French authorities for complicity in crimes committed on his app, Telegram.

Now, he's been released on bail. He's in Paris, but he's not allowed to leave the country, and he actually has to check in with the police twice a week until his court date. In the meantime, Elon Musk and other conservatives have called his arrest an attack on free speech. Now, we should clarify something about Telegram. Let's sprinkle it on, Jack. It's not just a messaging app. It's a very popular messaging app. app with criminals. It is. Yes, it is. Including child predators. Yeah, because Telegram is not just a one-on-one messaging app. It's also got a group chat feature that child predators and other criminals use as a safe haven. Now, Nick and I aren't lawyers, but we think we found the analogy of the legal question

faced in this case. So, Jack, let's not pass the bar and whip up the takeaway for our buddies over at Telegram. Is Telegram more like a telephone or more like a host? hotel. Now, yet he's interesting observation here, but phones, they're used for criminal activity every day. Like, criminals have been using phones for a hundred years now. But nobody ever arrested the head of AT&T because a robber called his getaway car driver using an AT&T phone line. No, no, no, no, no, they did not. So if Telegram is considered a modern equivalent of a phone, then they're probably not liable for how people use it, even if people use it to commit horrible crimes. But, thanks to Telegram's popular group chat feature, Telegram is also kind of like a hotel room.

And if a hotel becomes a known popular meeting spot for criminals, that hotel probably can be held liable. Yeah, Jack, if a hotel knows that a horrible crime is happening in like Room 7B, they're probably responsible for calling the authorities. But Telegram has a strict policy to never share user information with authorities. And that's why the CEO has been arrested. So now a French judge will have to answer this novel internet question that we just whipped up. Is telegram more like a telephone or is it more like a hotel? Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, if you think everyone is calling in sick today, then you're actually right. They are calling in sick today. America is experiencing a surge in sick days and we have a solution for HR. Now, Eddies, it's Jack and I

hear with you. We know where you're listening from right now. And it ain't your daily commute to work, is it? Because according to the HR data, more Americans call in sick today than any other day of the year. The Friday before Labor Day. You say you're sick, but you really just want a four-day weekend. No, Jack, I'm no doctor, but it ain't flu season. It ain't a COVID surge, and there ain't no allergies out there right now. The situation is that you got invited to Montauk this weekend. Our buddy, Timmy, he's already there. So if you're not at work today, we hope this long weekend is the most epic of the whole summer. I mean, I mean, get well soon. Yeah, get well soon. Yeah. I meant to say get well soon. Cough, cough, cough. I think I have the black lung.

But Labor Day weekend aside, there's actually a wild trend going on with Americans taking more sick days. It turns out today's biggest sick day of the year is just the tip of the really sick iceberg, Jack. So Nick and I popped a couple Advil and jumped into the data from Gusto, the HR platform. Get this, besties, the number of paid sick days taken in America is up 42% in the last five years. Another HR platform says the number of sick days Americans are taking is up 55% in the last five years. Sit down, stand up and take a Tylenol, Jack. But yet here's the ironic twist that got us fascinated about this story. The most likely demographic to call in sick from work is young people.

It turns out people of all ages are taking more sick days. But the younger you are, the more sick days you're taking. It's ironic. Workers under 35 are more likely to take a sick day than workers over 35. Now, Jack, the younger you are, the healthier you are. Right. Like, young people are generally more healthy than old people. Yeah, you're bench pressing a half marathon on your way to the office when you're working

a startup in the meatpacking district. But it's those healthy studs who are calling in sick more often than old folks. Boomer Bob is sucking it up coming into work. NZ Jenny, she's taking a mental health day. Now, part of this is a generational shift. Good point, Jack. Old people may be loyal to their employer in a way that young people don't think is necessary or realistic. And part of this may be a pandemic cultural shift on just being sick.

We learned during the pandemic that coming into the office sick puts others at risk too. But actually, as Jack and I dove into the data further, we discovered it's something bigger. So, Jack, could you please pass a tissue? Wink, wink, and tell us what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are, Colin and sick. It's time to kill the sick day and kill the vacation day and rebrand them both as freedom days. Freedom days. Yeties plot twist in the data. The number of sick days has surged, and yet the number of vacation days is unchanged. So Americans are more comfortable than ever taking sick days, but our position on vacation days hasn't changed. we're actually leaving a lot of vacation days unused. It's probably because the term vacation day

has the stigma of relaxing. So workers, they hesitate to take it when they ask their boss. Yeah, hard-o bosses might think that if you're taking all your vacation days, you're lazy or something. And the term personal day, it kind of sounds like something is wrong and it's a little awkward. So you might be reluctant to take a personal day, too. Which leads to Jack's and my proposal. Merge all the paid time off days into one bucket and rebrand them to something that doesn't have any baggage. We're talking about freedom days. Freedom days. Maybe you're sick in bed or maybe you just popped over to the Bahamas. Your call. It doesn't matter. It's a freedom day. Stop offering 20 vacation days, three personal

days, six, six days, just offer 29 freedom days. Calling them freedom days would encourage employees to take time off, which I think we can all agree Americans need. It's more comfortable for you and it's more comfortable for HR. Oh, and if you're patriotic, you'll take your freedom days. You'll take all. Oh, you better take your freedom days. I think this is a fantastic idea. Love it, Jack. We've got to make this happen. If any CEO renames their paid time off policy to freedom, yes. We'll invite them on to the pod for an interview. Yet he's kill the sick day and kill the vacation day. We're rebranding them as freedom days. Wait, did we just agree to rebrand our company's PTO to Freedom Days? I think last week, Jack, we were enjoying our freedom days.

Oh, you're going retroactive application. I like that. Can you whip up the takeaways for us to head into the three-day weekend? Shark Ninja is a shockingly big player in the market for just about every small home appliance. How they pull it off? They focus on what you hate. Your consumer pain is Shark Ninja's gain. For our second story, Telegram CEO has been charged with complicity in crimes happening on his messaging app. So the big legal question as we see it, is telegram more like a telephone or is it more like a hotel? And our third and final story. Americans are calling in sick to work about 50% more than they did in 2019. And it's led by young people.

Which leads to our proposal. Merge all personal time off into one single category and what should we call it, Jack. Freedom days. We know we're kind of implying that you're not free while you're at work. But let's be honest, you're not. Like you're supposed to show up at nine, leave at five, I don't know. Jack, you just took that at some places we didn't need to go. But yet is this pot's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, happy birthday to our buddy Warren Buffett. The world's most famous investor yet turns 94 today. But Warren got a wildly awesome birthday present. Yeah, his financial firm, Berkshire Hathaway, just hit a $1 trillion valuation. This is the first non-tech company to hit the $1 trillion mark.

Warren, get yourself a dividend as a present. And second, Ford Motor Company just formally ended their DEI program. Ford joins Lowe's Harley-Davidson-Brown Foreman and tractor supply in cutting their diversity, equity, and inclusion plans. DEI and ESG, they're both abbreviations that could make you the target of a consumer boycott. So some companies are actually keeping the substance of the policies, but they're removing the politically hot button label. And finally, Capri's son is about to have its biggest makeover ever. They're getting rid of those silver pouches. Capri's son is doing away with the pouches and they're switching to bottles. instead, Jack. I'm not a fan of this.

I mean, Jack, how are you going to stick the straw in after 30 attempts to a bottle? Mom, I need help. The tinfoils not working. And how are you going to blow the thing back up after you finish it? I mean, Jack, I think lunch just got a little less awesome. Now, time for the best fact yet, which is actually a correction to our fact the other day. The other day, we had a fact that clouds actually weighed 2,000 tons. Yeah, but it turns out on the fact check that, Clouds actually weigh 2,000 pounds as our buddy, David Lees wrote to us.

Yeah, classic unit of measurement mix-up by Nick and May. Now, Jack and I got curious. We jumped in T-boy style, and we discovered there are actually dozen types of clouds out there. Including the cumulus cloud, which are the fluffy and white clouds. The stratus cloud. Which are gray clouds. And the cirrus clouds. Those wispy high altitude clouds that you typically see when you're on an airplane.

What about those, like, really dark, menacing clouds that imply a storm is coming? What are those called? Storm clouds. I'm glad we didn't go all fancy Latin on us. That's actually refreshing. But again, 2,000 pounds, not 2,000 tons. There's a lot of moisture up there, but not that much moisture. But Jack, before we head into a three-day weekend,

I got to read you one more review from the Yetis. You ready for this? This one was written on Apple Podcasts by Gen Xer, loves T-Boy. I have been listening to Jack and Nick. That's it for the past few years now. love their delivery, their personalities, and the stories they bring to the podcast. I always learn something new from their takeaways and find myself repeating the news to friends and colleagues throughout my day. If you know, you know, just sign up for this one and make it part of your

morning routine. This Gen Xer loves T-Boy. Well, I love this Gen Xer. Oh, this is our favorite Gen Xer out of all the Gen Xers, Jack. Thanks for sharing that one to celebrate the wins on Friday. So, Yeties, enjoy your three-day weekend. Jack and I will be back on Tuesday. And remember to H-Y-H-T-B-O-I, that's how we grow the show. Have a fantastic last weekend of the summer? Have you heard the best one yet? It's safe with us. Get well soon.

And before we go, a happy birthday to Beth Hagie down in lovely Columbus, Ohio. And happy birthday to Alexis Noemont in Woodbury, Minnesota, who's celebrating her first 29th birthday by going to the Great Minnesota Get Together. And Donna Patty and Buffy in South Carolina's got a retirement trip. She's going to fulfill her childhood dream in Scotland with her son. son and daughter-in-law by her side. Happy birthday and congratulations Donna. And Joey Hampton from Clarkston, Michigan, is a day one Yeti who has never missed an episode

sat front row at our live show in New York City traveling from Michigan just to see it with a few besties, including JV. This evangelist has brought his wife and tens of tens of friends to start listening to the show. And not only does Joey have the best birthday yet, but he and his wife are welcoming a baby boy Yeti in October, who of course is already listening in utero. Joey, you're a T-boy. We'd never miss your birthday, Joey. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, Nick and a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Berkshire Hathaway and stock of Ford.