The Best One Yet - 🍔 “Supercharge me” — Tesla’s drive-in movie diner. YKK’s zipper monopoly. WNBA’s salary drama.

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

Tesla just opened something completely wild: a drive-in movie theater diner / charging station… run by robots.About ½ of all zippers are made by 1 company: YKK… it’s the most international brand on earth.WNBA All-Stars wore pay-protest t-shirts on the court… so we’re breaking down the salary negotiation.Plus, the untold origin story of the most valuable franchise in history… Pokemon.$TSLA $LEVI $NTDOYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… “Pokemon 🐲Little Monsters That Played Their Cards Right”Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, July 22nd. 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. All right, get this. The S&P, it's at an all-time high. NASDAQ also at an all-time high. What's going on? I think we arrived in Chicago, which is the financial capital of the Midwest. Stocks hit record highs when we land. We already ran into a Yeti. And we just got here. We made a left-off Michigan Ave. Boom, there's a bestie, Tommy.

Thanks for saying hi, man. But Jack, we got three stories for today's tea boy. What do we got on the pod? For our first story, it's Tesla. Tesla just opened a movie theater slash diner slash supercharging station right in Los Angeles. And the burgers for this Tesla diner are served by robots. It's real? It's open today.

And we'll explain. Yes, we shall. For our second story, one company makes half of the world's zippers. It's called YKK and it's the most global. business on Earth. YKK is the mystery brand behind your zipper, so we studied its zipper monopoly. And our third and final story, the WNBA is in the middle of a critical labor contract, and the players protested big this past weekend. So Jack and I whipped up all the numbers to find out if the WNBA is facing a flagrant foul. But yet, he's, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories. Love the mix for a

T-boy Tuesday, Jack. Yesterday we asked you a simple trivia question. What is the most Most Valuable Franchise of All Time. What fictional characters have generated more revenue than any other fictional characters? Actually, you almost all got it wrong. The most valuable fictional franchise of all time is Pokemon. Pokemon is the highest grossing franchise in history. Pikachu is a $100 billion pocket monster. That is more than Star Wars and Harry Potter.

Combine. Holy Bulbosaur. And it wasn't movies. It was TV. It was playing cards. It was a Nintendo video game. But here's what we find fascinating about this. The Pokemon story actually begins with a guy obsessed with bugs. That's right. Pokemon was invented by a Japanese man who loved collecting beetles. And what did he say about bugs? He would say, gotta catch them. Oh. The Wild Tale of Pokemon is the latest episode of our weekly show, the best idea yet.

In fact, Pokemon was also the most requested subject. for us to do for that show. So many of you left comments asking for us to deep dive on Pokemon. So we did it. The link is in today's episode description. After today's T-boy, you got to go check it out. Because you got to catch them all. Literally.

But today's episode, Jack, this is a fantastic one. What do you say we hit the T-Boy? Let's hit it. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best 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, Tesla just opened its first Tesla diner. An electric charging drive-in movie theater? Tesla is completely reinvented. the gas station. And it reminds us of Ted Lassau. Now, yeties, in order for us to tell this tale, let's go back to 2021 when Tesla filed a trademark to enter the restaurant service. Elon got too excited to keep it a secret. So he leaked it and we covered it on our pod four years ago. It's not just a diner. It is a drive-thru movie theater supercharging space-themed diner in the

middle of lovely Los Angeles. We'll explain more what all that means. But in the meantime, I'm looking at Google Maps Jack, this thing is right off Santa Monica Boulevard. And yesterday, suddenly it opened out of nowhere. And the details are even wilder than we expected. It's a drive-in movie theater with a diner and a supercharging station run by robots. That's right. It's run by bots. More on that in a sec. But the design, I mean, the design looks like it's worthy of an architectural digest award right here. The whole design of the experience is a unique mix of both nostalgia and futurism.

It's giving Jetsons. George Jetson drove a model Y, he would go there before picking up his boy Elroy. In the center of this property is a giant building that looks like a spaceship, but they're serving diner food, milkshakes, burgers, French fries, but the servers are humanoid Tesla robots. And then there's the drive-in movie theater on top of the diner. So while you're sitting in the car, eating your food, and charging your car, you can watch a movie on a big screen. Each of the 75 parking spots is a Tesla level three supercharging station. Now, we found that fascinating, but we were also curious about this. The key to Tesla's

drive-thru diner electric vehicle charging station is that it's not just for Tesla, right, Jack? It's open to any electric car. And now we should point out Tesla drivers are going to enjoy the experience just better. Right. Tesla's cars are ridiculously connected. It is truly like an iPhone on wheels. I would order my burger and it would just charge my card automatically without me having to swipe anything. I can order it on my Rivian, but I don't know how I'm going to do that. Now, while I'd be watching The Goonies on the big screen, Jack, the movie would also be playing on the screen in our Tesla as well. Other electric cars will have to just look up at the big screen and then set their radio to a certain FM station to listen to it, just like any other old school drive-in.

Now, Bessies, we mentioned Elon filed a trademark for restaurant services, so here's what the restaurant is going to be serving. Like we mentioned, diner food, old-school diner food, but burgers are going to be served, get this, in cardboard cyber truck boxes. And they're going to be served by Tesla's Optimist Prime humanoid robots who make up the wait staff. And Elon confirmed on Monday he's not just doing one of these for fun. He's building a whole crew of them.

In major cities around the world, as well as at the supercharging sites on long distance routes. Now we know what you're thinking yetties, and what is this Jetsons Charge and Station dinner and a movie situation really going to be? Probably not a big revenue driver. Yeah, for the business, this is an amazing brand play.

It'll give Tesla that Hollywood Junice Croix. Which leads to where je ne se takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Tesla? Tesla is building a diner for the same reason Apple built a Hollywood studio. Yeties, this is a classic brand Halo play. It is intended to enhance Tesla's brand overall angelically. As a result, it could get Tesla buyers to continue buying Tesla's in the future,

or it could win over some Tesla curious to finally pull the trigger and buy a Model 3. But as Jack and I analyzed it further, it really reminds us. of Apple. It reminds us of Apple developing original content for Apple TV Plus. Apple streaming business doesn't make a profit. But Apple streaming service does win Oscars and Emmy Awards, and that elevates Apple's brand. So this Tesla diner is Tesla's Ted Lasso. Yeah, it's their Ted Lasso. It's an expense to delight fans and win recognition and boost the brand positively. I should also point out, Jack, kind of funny that both Apple and Tesla built these brand plays in Los Angeles. Yeah, it's a vanity town.

It's the place to how you look. A stronger brand lets you price a little bit higher and win a tiny percentage more customers. So Tesla is building a diner for the same reason that Apple built a Hollywood studio. For our second story, one company makes half the world's zippers. That's right, Japan's YKK is the most globalized business on Earth.

But this zipper giant secret, it's not making zippers. It's making zipper makers. Now, Jack, why don't you kick us off on this one? Because what were you curious about? So I wanted to see how chat GPT could answer like a consulting interview question. Oh, yeah. So I asked ChatGPT, how many garments in the world have zippers on them?

Okay, what kind of numbers we're talking about. Well, they walk me through the thought process. A hundred billion garments are produced each year and about half have zippers. And a clothing's life cycle is about 10 years before it gets tossed in the trash. I'm following? That means 500 billion garments. in people's closets right now have zippers on them. And half of the world's 500 billion zippers have three letters on them, Jack.

YKKK. YKK, because BESTYSys, this brand makes half of the world's zippers. YKK is the zipper of choice for 40% of the world's apparel brands. We're talking Patagonia to Chanel, to Levi's. One sec. I'm just looking at my J-Crew khakis. I'm not kidding, Jack. Look at this.

I don't want to look at your crotch right now. It's up and it's a YKK zipper. If one side connects the other with interlocking metal teeth, there's a 50-50 chance. It's YKK. Now, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style to the numbers, and this company is doing $6.9 billion in revenue a year on zippers. Just sprinkle on some contacts, leisure. That's about the same as Ferrari.

But why is this zipper giant in the news right now, Nick? Well, Jack, it's because of the trade war. According to a deep dive profile in Bloomberg, YKK has 500 factories in 70 countries. And that makes YKK, the most globalized interconnected company we've ever covered on this show. And the company most vulnerable to tariffs. But yet is this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this zipper giant. YKK doesn't make its money selling zippers.

Founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1934, YKK did not invent the zipper. An American company did. That's right. A U.S. company invented the fastener, which is the zipper. and basically disrupted the button. What YKK did invent years later was a machine to custom cut a zipper down to size. And that's the key. They realized that was the more valuable business.

Not making zippers, leasing zipper finishing machines to apparel companies. For example, let's look at your Levi's jeans. You know, 100% of the zippers on Levi's are YKK zippers. Here's what YKK does with Levi's. They make an enormous bulk amount of zippers. in like a giant wheel that they'll send to the Levi's factory, but then they'll also send Levi's a zipper finishing machine

to customize to each garment. They lease Levi's that machine, because Levi's sometimes needs to make a shorter zipper for like a back pocket or like a longer zipper for some big 501s. And because each customer can adapt the machine to their own zipper needs, the YKK client base exploded. Get this, in 1978, after YKK started leasing these zipper machines, their revenues jumped 5X in just a few years.

And now YKK's machines are in every industry you touch. We're not just talking about khakis, baby. We're talking about saving your life. Medical devices, astronaut suits, even cars. What was the wild stat we discovered about cars, Jack? The average car has 20 YKK fasteners somewhere in that machine. Why do you think your front seat attaches to the chassis? It's YKK zippers.

Without any marketing blitzes, without any ad campaigns, without any Labubu doll collapse. This has just become the zipper company making zipper machines and giant wheels of zip. It's like the invisible infrastructure behind all of our wardrobe, Jack. It's like Wi-Fi for your wardrobe. Nick, as they say, XYZ, examine your zipper because there's a monopoly hidden in your fly. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at YKK zippers? As Zygman Freud once said, our mind is like an iceberg, only aware of the fraction above the water. Yet he is Sigmund Freud, famous psychologist, created the iceberg analogy for how we humans think. Our conscience thought is just a small part.

Right. Most of what's going on in our head is the unconscious feelings, the instincts, and the stuff we can't even articulate. And that's the way Jack and I think about YKK's zipper business. And that's the reason it's so successful. It's the iceberg analogy. Above the water, YKK's name is present on half of the world's zippers. But under the water, what you can't see, that's the real business, the profit puppy, the leasing of zipper machines. They lease zipper machines to nearly half of the world's clothing pans.

And that is why it's a $7 billion business. So to Jack and I, it's a reminder that a great business can be like our minds. The biggest part is the part we can't see. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the WNBA is in the middle of a high-state state. labor negotiation, and the players just wore protest shirts to the All-Star game. They're saying, pay us what you owe us. It's on the shirts. So Nick and I tried to calculate that number. Jack, 24 March, National Championship game, Iowa versus South Carolina, who you have.

That game already happened. South Carolina won, but 19 million people watched that game, according to Niels. 19 million people, two New York City's worth of viewers for women's basketball. 19 million viewers is more than any men's basketball game, pro or college, since 2019. And Jack, why the sudden surge in viewership? To watch Caitlin Clark. Sure. And the eyeballs have followed her into the WNBA, too. You've got new teams in the WNBA, like Toronto and Portland, getting them next season. Thanks to the Kate and Clark effect, you have Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia getting WNB teams after that. There'll be 18 total. Plus, you're getting new fans. Three teams sold out season tickets this year.

No WNBA team had ever done that prior to this season. And now, Basties, we should point out there already were great players in the WNBA. But Caitlin Clark has had a Taylor Swift-like effect on the business. You just can't explain it. This year, viewership in the WNBA is up 23%. Attendance is up 26%. Merch sales are up 40%. Jack, those are Lisa Leslie numbers right there.

The WNBA is the grossiest growth league in all of sports. And yeah, that's more than pickleball and more than F1. And yet, here's the shocker. The minimum salary for WNBA players is just $66,000. And Jack, what is it for their male counterparts over in the NBA? The NBA minimum salary is $1 million, 17 times higher than the WNBA. Besties, that leads us to this weekend's WNBA All-Star game in Indianapolis, where the players warmed up in a very particular t-shirt.

All the players in a United States'am. were a black t-shirt that said, pay us what you owe us. And then dramatically, when the game ended, what did the fans start chanting? Pay them, pay them, pay them. Now, the reason for all this high drama is that the players union

is in the middle of negotiating a critical multi-year labor contract for the players. And the women's number one demand, we want 50% of the league's revenues just like men get in their pro sports. Now, 50% is a really specific number. Because the NFL, MLB, NBA,

NHL, all the major sports leagues, when they make money, half of it goes to the players. It's a revenue share deal. Exactly. But for women's professional basketball, the revenue share is just 9%. So, besties, we know what you're thinking here. Is this a flagrant financial foul happening to the WMBA? Well, despite 9% being much smaller than a 50% revenue share, it's not as discriminatory as it may first seem. We jumped in further to the numbers here, and the WMBA has a much smaller TV deal, smaller ticket sales, and smaller concession revenue than those other sports leagues. But despite having lower revenues, the costs for the WNBA are comparable to the NBA. Right. Both leagues need arenas. Both leagues need staff.

You need a ballboy wiping up the sweat over in the paint jack if you're going to play either game, WNBA or NBA. So lower revenues, but comparable costs, is why the WNBA lost money last season. $50 million, according to the Washington Post. So based on those numbers, it's not ideal for the play. to ask for a raise when their league is currently losing money. The NFL's revenues are so big, owners can pay them half the revenues and still make a profit. But if WNBA team owners paid half the revenue to players,

they'd all be losing even more money. But those women actually have a rebuttal if you value the WNBA, like a startup. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the WNBA? Growth companies require higher multiples, even if they're unprofitable. Yeties, Mark Zuckerberg is paying AI engineers $100 million, despite AI being a huge loss llama for his company, meta. Why? It's because AI has huge growth potential, huge profit potential in the future. So it's okay if they're losing money on it right now.

Well, that same techie framework works right now for the WMBA. Revenues have more than tripled since the last contract five years ago. So owners are telling players, we can't pay $5,000. 50% will lose money if we do. But here's the key. Players can tell owners they're actually in a growth industry. And you can see the proof of that in the team valuations. According to Sportico, the average WNBA team today is worth 180% more than the same time last year. So the women of the WMBA are reframing the negotiation. The WMBA is actually a growth industry.

And growth companies require higher multiples, even if they're unprofitable. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? On Monday, Tesla opened its first Tesla diner, which is also a drive-in movie theater and supercharger station. This is Tesla's TED Lassow moment, an expensive non-core project to boost the brand halo. For our second story, about half the world's clothing companies use YKK's zipper fitting machines.

It's a zipper monopoly, and it reminds us of Freud's iceberg. The genius of YKK's business is hidden. The surface. And our third and final story, as they negotiate a labor contract, WNBA players wore, pay us what you owe us shirts to the All-Star game. Because growth companies require higher multiples, even if they're unprofitable. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, we got an update on Coldplay's kiss cam. That's right. The CEO has officially resigned. Astronomer is the AI company whose CEOs, affair was outed on the Jumbotron at the Coldplay concert. While the CEO is now gone, the scandal could actually be a boom for astronomers' business. Because had you ever heard of astronomer before this scandal?

I thought it was just someone who looked at the stars. Now I know it's a company, Jack. Second, we have one big announcement and one big leak. The announcement is that Starbucks says pumpkin spice lattes will return on August 26th. Second is the leak. Apple's next iPhone will be foldable. Like an iPhone when it's folded up, and an iPad when it's folded open. Although Samsung did do this like seven years ago, adds up Apple. And finally, Snoop Dog just added the biggest asset yet to his investment portfolio. A Welsh soccer club.

That's right, the rapper is now a co-owner of Swansea City, second-tier club located in the UK. Swansea City is actually a rival to Wrexham FC, the Welsh club co-owned by Ryan Reynolds. So Snoop is hoping his off-field ownership gets this club on the field. Now time for the best fact yet. This one, a voicemail left for us from Christian Miles in lovely Princeton, New Jersey. Push and play. Did you know that we do have a good idea of how Latin was pronounced? We can infer this from graffiti around the Roman Empire.

For example, Julie's Caesar or Ulaes Kaiser's famous quote of Veni Vidi Vichi was actually pronounced as Weniwitiwiki. In Latin, a V was a W, Caesar hard, and J was a Y as a couple examples. Thanks and be well or Gratius Wallet. We said Latin was a dead language, so you didn't have to pronounce it. But we forgot about that graffiti that was 2,000 years old on the Coliseum. Which apparently had a phonetic pronunciation written on the stuff. And we have been proven wrong. Grades, Christian. Grades. Oh, and before we go, a quick correction from yesterday's pod when we covered three crypto bills.

The Genius Act, we covered yesterday. That's the one about stable coins. That is law now, because it was signed by the president on Friday. The other two crypto bills only passed by the House are expected to. to get some changes by the Senate. And they might not pass it all. We'll let you know. Yeties, you'll look fantastic for T-Boy Tuesday. Now that you finish the show, we know exactly what you got to catch.

I think that cryptic reference is to Pokemon because we have that awesome episode of the best idea yet. So Yetis, channel your inner Ash Catch-Im and go check out the best idea yet for our full episode that you requested on the Pokemon. A link's in the episode description. And Nick and I will see you tomorrow.

Because the Pokemon are beating Harry Potter. And before we go, a shout out to Yeti Tommy and his wife Tara from Boston, just outside Boston. We just ran into Tommy in Chicago. Tara, you got an incredible husband. We can't wait to see you at our next live show. Happy birthday to Patrick Mehan, who's turning 41 in Bradenton, Florida. And Bavani in lovely D.C. is volunteering and celebrating the best birthday yet. And before we go, I should point out, you know, a happy half birthday to me, Jack.

I noticed you didn't bring a present. Did you bring a present for my birthday because we're hanging out? What do you think? For my half birthday? Oh, man. Oh, you must have brought a half present. Right? Because that would have been half as hard to do.

Oh, you forgot? You always give me such a hard time. Well, since it's my half birthday, I brought you a present. What? Yeah, I got you something. What is this? You just try to make me feel that? Well, remember for your quarter birthday, I promised to get you a yak sweater.

I delivered the yak sweater. Oh, my goodness. That's yack sweater. And a happy half-birthday Tieti's Melody Brian, John Lucie, and Madeline Sigginger keep celebrating. Jack, try on the sweater. Let us know how it feels. I'm going to try on the sweater as your half-birthday.

You can get me on my three-quarter birthday, Jack. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Levi's. Nick and I both own stock in Apple and ETFs of the S&P 500.