The Best One Yet - 🥇🎒 “The #1 school in America” — The Pentagon’s surprise school. DoorDash’s video-gamer strategy. Goldman’s Apple mistake.

Episode Date: October 18, 2023

DoorDash just confirmed that ⅓ of their customers play video games for an hour or more per day — So they changed their entire marketing strategy.Goldman Sachs just admitted its biggest mistake: The Apple Card — Because Goldman got blinded by the brand.And the #1 school system in America? It’s run by the Pentagon — Military children get the best education in the country because it pays teachers double.$GS $AAPL $DASHSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Ceviche Wednesday, October 18th. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. But, Jack, it's not just today's pod that's a T-Boy, is it, man? The T-Boy Pod Instacal is on fire right now. The Instagram situation at T-Boy Pot, can we talk about what's happening here, man? Okay, we got charts.

We got videos. We got infographics. We got polls. We got C-TAs. Going to T-Boy pod on Instagram is like sprinkling like a garlic aoli on this pot. It's an enhancer, you know what I'm talking about? Or saracha, whichever topping you prefer. Syracia Aoli or just regular

syraccia? At T-Boy Paud Yetis, you know what to do. It's like a pesto aole. That's what it is. Jack, first story for today's show. What do we got? DoorDash is dominating in food delivery thanks to one secret ingredient. Video games. Zelda doesn't cook dinner. She orders DoorDash.

For our second story, Goldman Sachs says it made one huge mistake. Oh, yeah. The Apple card. The Apple card just took Goldman. to the bank, literally. For our third and final story, we just learned who runs the best elementary schools in America. Who is it, Jack? The Department of Defense.

That's right, Yetis. We jumped in T-boy style to learn how the Pentagon created the nation's best public school. But, Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. This is just a wild mix. I love this mix, Jack. While we're on the topic of education, can we discuss one of the biggest mistakes in college history? Because it's also one of the funniest mistakes in college history. Yeties, get this.

Freshman Valerie Doe recently applied to go to college from abroad. She was excited for some fun in the sun here in the United States. So here's what she did. She applied to the University of Miami. Beautiful sun, sand, salt water, fun nightlife. Miami. She bought bikini. She bought short.

She bought a whole lot of SPF sunscreen because she was heading down to Miami. But when she arrived, she noticed something was wrong. Turns out she was at the wrong school, wrong city, wrong state. Because this co-ed thought she was going to the University of Miami. But she'd actually applied to Miami University of Ohio. And she accepted that application offer. She went. Jack, can you sprinkle on a little context here for us, please?

The University of Miami is in South Florida. Yes, it is. And to quote our buddy, Will Smith. Party in the city where the heat is on. All night on the beach till the day of dawn, Miami. Miami of Ohio on the other. hand isn't in South Florida. It's in Ohio. It's confusingly in the Miami Valley of Midwest Ohio. So she was thinking beaches and sun. But she got Buckeyes and snow. She expected to hang out by the

beach. But she got dunked in a frozen lake. Now the good news, yuddies, she's actually got a great sense of humor about this mistake. We read more about it. She's happy. She thinks it's funny. Honestly, she's having a great time at Miami of Ohio. She's turning Buckeyes into lemonade. She loves the colder climate of Ohio, actually. Buckeyes, they taste delicious. Oh, and the Midwestern hospitality, it's as wholesome as it gets. We've always said, Jack, nothing hugs like the hug of an Ohioan. I think we said that.

I hope we said that. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are applying to college? When you're filling out an application, don't just read the fine print. You also may want to read the thick print. Yeah, double-check all the print. Come to think of it. We actually highly suggest reading every bit of print. Because you don't want to end up with the wrong Miami.

Jack, let's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea that caused a 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.

For our first story, DoorDash just confirmed that more than half its orders go to video gamers. And what delivered DoorDash, that delicious nugget of information? What did it, Jack? One simple customer survey. Jack, let's travel back in time, man. Freshman year, Wednesday afternoon, after practice, before we did our homework, what were we doing exactly? We would sit down to play one race of Mario Kart and we'd end up playing 25 races.

And then we would order cheese steaks. Yeties, we're going to start with a shocking statistic here. Get this. DoorDash is now two-thirds of the food delivery market. DoorDash is way ahead of number two Uber Eats. And it stocks up 50% this year. And the number one reason why. DoorDash is dominating. What is it, Jack?

Video games. Sorry, video gamers. Good specification because Yeti's video gamers are DoorDash's fastest growing customer segment. DoorDash confirmed this week that 12 million of its customers, a third of the total customer base, play one hour a day of video games. DoorDash, it boomed during the pandemic. Gamers today, they kind of act like they're still in lockdown, don't they, Jack? Gamers don't eat when they're playing video games. They feast. Get these numbers.

Gamers spend 70% more on DoorDash than non-gamers. So Nick and I are going to put together the two numbers that DoorDash gave us this week. All right, Jack, let's whip it up. One third of customers are gamers, and those gamer customers order 70% more than non-gamer customers. Ipsop facto carry the numbers and... More than half of DoorDash orders are delivered to somebody with a controller in their hand. Every minute cooking is a minute losing. It makes sense, Jack.

Yeah, you don't want to miss a second of this College Duty game. Dordash has become Zelda's personal chef. Donkey Kong got those bananas from Dordash. Hey, Ma, the meatloaf. Now, Yeti, this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Back in 2021, Dordash recognized the appeal of food delivery to video game communities. So they pivoted their marketing. DoorDash went all in on Player 1.

DoorDash began sponsoring gaming conferences, gaming battles, gaming events. Yeah, last month in Seattle, Dordash hosted a two-day Fortnite competition. They were handing out free buffalo wings and free t-shirts. And what does free buffalo wings earn? It earns loyalty, Nick. Oh, yes, it does. Jack, can you whip up that example we discovered? The Wall Street Journal found one professional video gamer

who orders five Wendy's Baconators per week with fries from DoorDash. Only from DoorDash. And that's why the number of gamers ordering food for delivery on DoorDash has doubled in the past two years. So, yeah, it is how did DoorDash become the dominant food delivery platform? It's the only platform that catered literally to video gamers. Bob, the meatloaf. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at DoorDash?

If you think you know your customer, you don't know your customer. Funny thing, Yeti's, DoorDash, it's 10 years old. It thought it knew its customer years ago, but you know what? It didn't. As the pandemic growth burst started to slow down, Doordash did a customer survey to learn more about their customer. And Jack, what was the surprise in that customer survey? customer service? Its top three customer groups are number one, gamers, number two sports fans, and number three students. And what was the biggest surprise? Number one gamers was by far the number one customer group.

Well, besties, thanks to that surprising nugget of information about their customers, DoorDash changed the company. They changed the company to market directly to the customer that benefits most, video gamers. So, yeties, if you think you know your customer, you probably don't really know your customer. You might want to run a survey to learn a little more. For our second story, Goldman Sachs just announced profits fell for the eighth straight quarter. The fall of Goldman began with Apple. Well, yet he's back in 2016, great year. Goldman Sachs was really the top Wall Street bank.

Wasn't it, Jack, full stop? Yeah, its spreadsheets were simply shinier. Yeah, they were Goldman. It was like the New York Yankees, right? That's what we were saying before. It's the richest team, the most successful team. but also kind of the most hated team. Jamie.

Even Jamie was pretty jealous at Goldman Sachs, wasn't he, man. That same year, 2016, it's when Goldman made a strategic pivot that turned it from the leader of the pack to the laggard. Yeties, in the last few years, Goldman has expanded from Wall Street to Main Street. By launching a consumer banking business. The crown jewel of that Main Street strategy? What was it, Jack?

The Apple card. Yeah, the Apple card. It was like a celebrity couple. Apple and Goldman Sachs, they got to get to. together for a new credit card. Well, here's the news. That consumer banking push from Goldman Sachs lost $3 billion over the years. So Goldman's trying to end it. Which also leads to the even bigger awkward news. One Goldman Sachs partner said this about Goldman's famous Apple credit card deal. They said we should have never done this effing deal. Tell us how you really feel.

Awkward. But yet he's from the start. Jack and I have been following this situation. And honestly, you could tell who was calling the shots in the Goldman Apple partnership, couldn't you, Jack? Nick and I both have the Apple credit card, and it's completely Apple branded. And it works natively on the iPhone, too. On the other hand, Goldman's logo, it's nowhere to be seen on the Apple credit card that they're doing all the work on. Apple dictated how this card was going to function with Goldman to clean up the financial mess. For example, Apple wanted statements sent out on the first of the month to keep things organized, not on some like random day like most credit card companies do. And the result? On the first day of every month,

Goldman's customer service department got slammed with phone calls. Plus, Goldman Sachs is now dealing with higher credit card losses than they expected because of the Apple card. It's like the partnership between the hammer and the nail. You want to be the hammer. Apple's going to the party. Goldman's cleaning up the party. And guess what?

Goldman's CEO, David Salman, he confessed the problem in an earnings call this week. He said it is a problem. And he said they have a long-term partnership with Apple, so they can't even get out of this thing. Goldman is losing money every year with the Apple credit card deal, but they contractually can't get out of it. Which leads to our contractually obligated takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Goldman? Goldman Sachs got blinded by the brand. Yeties, Goldman's strength historically has been superior intellect, information, and execution.

When Goldman signs a deal, Goldman gets the better end of the deal. When Goldman executes a trade, it gets a better end of the trade. When Goldman underwrites an IPO, it gets clients the highest end of the price range. But funny thing, for Goldman Sachs, the tables have turned with Apple. It seems that Goldman was so eager for the positive association of working with Apple that they let Apple get the better end of the deal. Goldman is known for winning, but Apple is its biggest failure. Goldman got blinded by the light of the Apple brand.

For our third and final story, the number one, school in America? It's run by the Pentagon. America's schools for military families show that money really does talk. Yetis, everyone obsesses over the U.S. News and World Report, don't they, Jack? Or maybe it's just us, Nick.

You got up and up and up and one down, you're up one spot, down a spot, you're moving sideways, 26 to 24. Oh, wait, you've got to filter it by liberal arts schools only. Classic. But Yeties, the most interesting school in America is actually in Fort Moore, Georgia. The school in Fortmore, Georgia isn't a typical public school or private school, and it's not run by a local school board or a charter company either.

No, Yeties, in Fort Moore, Georgia, they've got the top school in the country, and it's run by the Department of Defense. It's run by the Pentagon. Because Yeties, the Pentagon actually runs schools for military families on military bases basically, like everywhere. Wherever the U.S. has a base, in the U.S. or abroad, from Belgium to Bahrain, there's a Pentagon school there. Yeah, Department of Defense Schools.

There's Fort Moore in Georgia or the Okinawa Air Force Base over in Japan. They're all over the country, and they enroll 66,000 students of military families. From pre-K to high school, 66,000 kids right now are taught in Department of Defense schools. That's bigger than the Boston Public School System. And it's bigger than the Seattle Public School System. Now, they're not teaching military strategy. It's a regular school. They're teaching kids ABCs, the Times tables.

Reading, writing, arithmetic with a couple arts and crafts along the way. Finger painting if you behave. So, Yeties, Jack and I saw this article in the New York Times, and we were fascinated. We're just curious about innovation. So we were like, what is going on here? Because the results at these schools are off the charts. Get this. The number one elementary schools for reading and for math nationwide are run by the Department of Defense.

The schools on these military bases perform at twice as high as the national. national average on standardized tests. They're doing twice as good as wherever all of us went to school. In fact, during the pandemic, every school system saw setbacks, right, Jack? Like every school system did. The disruption to the normal school day messed with just about everyone. Except for one school. The Pentagon schools.

In fact, Pentagon run schools actually saw their test results improve during the pandemic. It's like they started doing quantum physics in fifth grade because of the pandemic. Like, how did they pull this off? Well, maybe it's this. bit of information. These Pentagon schools are by far the most diverse schools in the United States. Because military bases are the perfect melting pot of this here, United States. While many school districts are segregated by where people live, not military-based schools. Okay, get these numbers. These Pentagon run schools are 42% white, 24% Hispanic, 10% black, 6% Asian.

Jack, can you sprinkle on some context, please? That's almost exactly reflective of the U.S. population. Like literally almost exactly the same as our population. And these schools, they have the smallest performance gap among races than all the schools. Yeti's added up and one Harvard professor said it like this. If these Department of Defense schools were a state, we'd all be flying there to study them immediately. To see what they're doing right. Because there's something else they're doing right. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in the education system?

Follow the money and the money flows to teachers. Yeties, let's talk numbers here. The Department of Defense has a budget for these schools. $3 billion, which means they're spending $45,000 per student at these Department of Defense schools. That is significantly more spending per pupil than the rest of the United States. The Department of Defense is spending $45,000 per a student, but the average U.S. state is spending $13,000 per student. So where does the bulk of the Pentagon's huge budget for schools go? To teachers.

It's the teachers. Turns out the Pentagon is spending more than twice as much money on teachers than the average school. One teacher in Florida, according to this Times article, makes $31,000 a year. But at a military base in Florida, she's making over $80,000 a year. Now, Yeti's, teacher pay in the U.S. continues to fall more and more behind the private sector. You may have seen this. Some teachers are stuck buying their own school supplies out of pocket to make sure the kids get the education that they deserve. Not at the DoD schools, though. High pay for teachers means lower teacher turnover and higher teacher performance.

Now, Yeties, there are many reasons why the Department of Defense schools are by far the best in America, including diversity. But another key reason, fall to money, and the money flows to teachers. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Thanks to DoorDash's marketing pivot, more than half of all DoorDash orders are for video gamers. Daddy, if you think you know your customer, you don't. You probably got to run a survey. For our second story, Goldman's profits have shrank eight quarters in a row, as its consumer banking efforts have backfired.

With this Apple deal, Goldman got blinded by the brand. And our third and final story. The DOD runs its own school district for 66,000 military children, and it's the best education in the country. When you follow the money, the money flows to teachers. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, we have another awful update in Gaza. 500 more Palestinians or fear dead as a hospital was hit with a missile.

Palestinian authorities blame Israel, but Israel says it was a misfire from a Hamas-aligned group. Either way, the numbers are big and they're sad. And second, President Biden also happens to be visiting Israel today in person. The president of the United States is in a war zone for the second time this year. He was in Ukraine earlier. And finally, Sweet Green is going all in on robots making salads. Your lunch kale could be chuffed by a bot. We interviewed the co-founder of Sweet Green a few months ago about their first

robot restaurant. Now they're adding more. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Davis Philipel from lovely San Francisco or right down the street. Yesterday we mentioned that the 2008 LA Olympics is adding five new sports. LaCross and flag football. Come on down. Congratulations. You're now in the Olympics. But Davis points out five sports that are no longer in the Olympics that used to be. Croquet used to be an Olympic sport, but it's no longer in the Olympics. What is croquet? It's like, it's like, Well, it's actually like horse polo, but without the horses. And a horse polo is no longer in the Olympics either.

That's number two. Neither is motorboat racing, which I never knew was an Olympic sport. Long Island would win that one easily. Get this. The tug of war, it used to be an Olympic sport. That is a bring-back opportunity, Jack. I did a tug-of-war once with 10 adults on both sides. My body was sore for a week.

Oh, you need a massage after that thing. And finally, pigeon racing. The racing of pigeons was once an Olympic sport, but no longer is. Yetis, you look fantastic today. And remember, if you see a buddy, just ask them, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. Have you had the best one yet? If you know, you know. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow.

Can't wait. And before we go, congratulations to legendary Yeti, Joe Neumann, who's got a new job at a sand mine in Minnesota. This man is paid to play in the sand all day. Literally. And happy birthday to Derell Hahn in Strasbourg, Pennsylvania. Dorell, get yourself some birthday cake. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy.

Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both on stock of Apple. Weird. I would love to be inside your head for when you went. If you're lucky, you get to do our, like, fingerpair. And then you're like, if you're well, if you're a good kid. Well-behaved. If you're well-behaved.

It's like there was an incident in your life. You got reframanded, and they're like, it's not because you're lucky. You do the fingerprint because you're a good boy.