The Best One Yet - 🧠 “The CEO enneagram” — Boeing picked the wrong 1. Amtrak’s train surge. Adidas’ Olympic ROI.

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Boeing finally has a new CEO… but we think they should’ve picked a different enneagram. Adidas has already won 13 medals at this Olympics… so we calculated the brand’s Olympic ROI. Amtrak ridership is at an all-time high… the train turned A-to-B into an experience to C.Plus, the newest innovation is Arc'teryx $5,000 pants… that do the walking for you. Podcast that got Nick & Jack into enneagrams: https://apple.co/3WK5MJJ$ADDYY $NKE $AS $BASubscribe to our Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Watch us on YouTube Submit Facts & Shoutouts Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (Nick) & LinkedIn (Jack)About Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. August 1st, 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. But yet is Jack is coming on down to San Francisco next week, and we are going to be recording a whole new episode of T-Boy Hotline, aren't we, man? We have special guests joining us for this T-boy hotline. Yeah, we do. They're basically masters of the millennial workplace. Yeah, they're basically gurus for being the boss. at your office. So, if you've got a tricky situation at work and you don't know what to do, email us at Nick and Jack at T-Boypod.com. Or if you've got a question about how to get promoted, not demoted. Wink, wink, wink. If you know, you know, email us at Nick and Jack at T-boy.

We will answer your workplace questions in the next episode of T-Boy hotline. But in the meantime, Jack, we have got a fantastic show for today. What are the three stories for today's T-boy? For our first stories, Adidas has already won 13 medals this If Adidas were a country, it'd be tied for number seven. Sorry, Italy, so Jack and I will answer the biggest question of all. What's the ROI on the Olympics? For our second story, Boeing, Boeing finally hired a new CEO, the one person who can save this company. So Jack and I are going to analyze this new CEO using the Eniogram.

And our third and final story is Amtrak. Amtrak. Amtrak ridership is at an all-time high. It's the biggest year ever for trains. And it's all because Amtrak turned A to B into an experience to C. Oh. You know, it came to me in the moment. I kind of just ran with it.

You'd be a fantastic kindergarten teacher. Oh, just don't give me an F, Jack. But yet, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mixes stories. I love this mix. Question for you, Nick. Would you spend 50 bucks on a pair of pants? Jack, forget that question.

Would you spend $5,000 on a pair of pants? True question. Because Arcterics just launched a $5,000 pair of pants. Yeah. The most wild pants we've ever seen. And the reason these are $5,000 is because these pants walk for you. They walk for you. Yep.

Get this, Yeties. These $5,000 pants from Arcterics include an exoskeleton that bends at the knee. There's an electric-powered carbon fiber leg brace in these pants. So as you're hiking, it will assist with the steps. And as you're descending, these pants bear some of the burden. These pants are called the Mountain Goat. And they'll make you feel 30% lighter and move 30% faster up and down the hill. Jack, it's kind of like an e-bike, but it's for your hike.

Exactly. Their performance-enhancing pants, literally. They're locomotive legwear, literally. They're self-walking slacks, again, literally. Literally. But yet is, this was Jack's. My big question when we saw these $5,000 pair of pants, what was it, Jack? Why limit these super pants to just the hiking?

trail. Yeah, because Jack and I would toss on these pants all day, every day. Goodbye cackies. I mean, you could wear these speedwalking pants at the office. Jack, you can go meeting to meeting in record time. Or you could wear speed pants on a date. You could carry your lover from drinks to dinner, no sweat, no problem. My Tinder profile. I really like long walks on the beach. Oh yeah, I'm willing to put in the legwork for this relationship. Lift with your legs, not your back. Actually, I'm going to lift with my pants. Either way, These $5,000 pants, they're going to do the walking for you. You talk to talk, but your pants will walk the walk.

Again, literally. Jack, let's in our three 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 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've bred to. Go, we can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story, Adidas is having its best year in years. And right now is Adidas' moment, the Olympics. But we have to ask, what is the actual ROI on the Olympics for an apparel brand like Adidas?

So, Yetis, Jack and I are actually reading this great book. It's this Charles Dickens book. It's called A Tale of Two Sneakers. It's a good buck. Because Nike stock is down 30% this year. Adidas stock is up 30% this year. It's a tale of two sneaker brands because in 2024, Adidas is kicking like David Beckham's left foot. David Beckham's right foot for that matter.

Because the earnings for Adidas just came out yesterday. And what did they look like? Jack, let's try them on. Revenues for this German apparel giant rose by 11% in the second quarter to $6 billion. Yeah, their samba sneakers are surgeon in sales right now. And soccer jerseys in particular hit an all-time high so far this year. Yeah, Adidas, they've sold three million soccer jerseys so far in 2024. They're basically sold out of jerseys right now. The reason?

Because on Adidas's 75th birthday, this is a beautiful year for sports. Yeah, that's what the CEO called it. Because so far this year, we've had the Euro Cup, Copa America, the cricket world cup, and the Olympics, but it's only halfway through the year. Adidas may be 75, but they're running like they're 17 right now. Adidas, they are earning their carbs. At this pace, Adidas should add a fourth stripe. I was going to say the post-easy era.

Yes. The almost post-easy era is pretty good for Adidas. But yet is, here's the thing. If Jack and I were on that earnings call yesterday, there's one question we would have asked that no one else asked. Why didn't you invite us to this earnings call? But then we would have asked the second question, right? We would have asked the second question before.

Are you getting a return on your Olympic marketing spend? Because Yetis, Adidas' shoes are actually worn in four. 41 different Olympic sports right now. The CEO bragged during their earnings call. We've won 13 medals so far. Like 13 athletes have stood on the podium wearing Adidas. Yeah, could you sprinkle on a little more Olympic context for us, please? If Adidas were a country, they'd be tied for number seven in the medal count.

Yeah, Adidas would be beating Canada, would be beating Germany, and would be tied for Italy on the podium right now. Now, we don't know how much Adidas spent on these Olympics. Good point. But in London, in 2012, Adidas spent 200 million. on marketing. And we do know that in these 2024 games, Adidas paid 12 different nations to be the official kit provider. Plus, celebrities like Farrell, they were wearing Adidas at the opening ceremony. Oh, and Adidas rented an entire mansion in Paris to just have people hang out, party, and drink a lot of Gatorade. Again, we don't know how much Adidas spent, but we do know that their logo has been all over the

champ de Lise. The pronunciation, you almost stuck the landing out of Jack. Almost. One second, one second. The judge. just give the pronunciation. Two out of ten. You got a two out of ten. Oh, come on. I'm sorry. It was not possible. But yet is the big question still remains for Jack

and me. What's the ROI on the Olympics? Will you buy Adidas sneakers after watching Noah Liles win in the 100 meter? That's the question. That's the question. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Adidas?

The ROI in the Olympics is small if you're big, but it's big if you're small. We'll explain it in a second. Yet these, three billion people watch the last Olympics. That's almost half the world. And right now, Paris Olympics viewership is a big.

Even your Nona knows Simone Biles' balance beam routine. Everyone's watching this. But if you look at the data, which Jack and I did, sales for Adidas don't actually rise during the Olympic quarters. For Nike, their sales barely inch up during the Olympics.

And the reason for this, it's because Olympic positioning is best for brand awareness. But if the world is already aware of the big brands like Nike and Adidas, you don't need brand awareness. No, you don't. On the other hand, Hoka, on, Skechers, those smaller brands, they need this Olympic moment to introduce themselves to the world. Adidas spends on the Olympics because it must. Yeah. Adidas can't allow Nike to outfit Team Germany. Oh, and Nike does the same thing. Nike doesn't want Adidas to become the Team USA track provider, replacing Nike. Adidas and Nike, they spend on the Olympics because they must. Not because it boosts sales. Bestie's the return on investment of the Olympics. It's small if you're big, but it's big if you're

small. For our second story, Boeing just made its biggest move yet to save Boeing, and here it is. A brand new CEO. But we think he's the wrong guy. We do. And we'll explain why using enneagrams. You know, yet he's just growing up, Jack and I have a lot. always thought Boeing holds a special place in the American economy's heart. Boeing, it's our only airplane company. And the commercial aircraft industry, it's basically a duopoly. It's just America's Boeing and Europe's Airbus. That's it. Boeing is a symbol of the United States that's visible in the skies across the entire world. It's the biggest thing we make. Jack, do you remember that hero stat you shared with me a couple years ago about how many parts are in an American plane? I know that all 50 states

create parts that end up in a Boeing airplane. Because there are 367,000 parts in that single Boeing airplane. Wow. It is truly the product of the United States. So when you look at that yet, is Boeing's reputational collapse the last couple of years? It has been painful for any American to see. It's also been painful for investors to see. It has been. It has been. Because Boeing has now lost $25 billion in the last four years. From their plane crashes to the door that blew off the airplane this year. So on Wednesday, Boeing finally made their big response to their scandals and their crisis. Boeing announced a brand new CEO. Effective next week, Kelly Ortberg is the CEO of Boeing. Now, here's why Jack and I wanted to cover this story. Boeing stock rose 5% yesterday, a rare

liftoff for a stock that has been grounded for five years. And Wall Street is happy about this new CEO because they think he is the guy who can fix Boeing's finances. Kelly Ortberg, this is a mergers and acquisitions guy and M&A guy Jack. For 35 years, he's done M&A deals in the aerospace industry. But yet he's, here's the thing. Jack and I, we got a problem with that. Our problem is that Boeing isn't a finance company. Yeah, Boeing is an airplane company. Yeah, it is not personal, Kelly. We were looking at your LinkedIn. We think you're incredibly impressive. But acting like a finance company is exactly what led to Boeing's quality and safety issues in the first place. Oh, in fact, the outgoing CEO of Boeing, who's been blamed for a lot of Boeing issues, is also a finance guy.

So the new boss looks just like the old boss. And we're going to go full Roger Daltry in the Who right now, Jack. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. What Boeing needs isn't someone to fix the finances. Right. Boeing needs someone to fix the culture. From the C-suite all the way down to the assembly lines, what Boeing needs, what it really needs is a complete corporate company culture turnover.

round. They do not need someone to boost the profit margin right now. They need a pinball wizard. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Boeing? For turnaround CEOs, don't look at resumes. Look at enneagrams. Yenegrams. Jack and I discovered enneagrams a couple years ago. Jack, I remember when you sent it to me. And an eneagram, it's an ancient personality type. And these things are amazing. There are nine different anagrams. Yes, there are. Nine different personality types. that everyone you know perfectly falls into one of the nine types. It's incredible. An enneagram, it's kind of like a Myers-Briggs test, but it's more accurate. It's so much more compelling than a Myers-Briggs. These things are amazing. I'm an aneogram one, which is known as a reformer.

Nick is an anorem three, which is known as an achiever. And honestly, Jack and I use enegrams in how we work every day. We love working with these anygrams and understanding people. It helps us understand each other. If you want to know more about aneograms, I link to the episode of a podcast that Nick and I became evangelized from. Now, what Boeing really needs right now is someone who will change the culture from profit focus to quality focused. What Boeing needs is a statement that the old ways of cutting corners will not be tolerated anymore. What Boeing really needs is an enneagram one, an enneagram type one. A reformer who is principled, idealistic, and demands perfection. And Jack, who's a great example of an aneagram one that could work? Mitt Romney,

would have been perfect for this Boeing CEO job. Oh, that would have made so much sense, and he would have been an Enneagram 1, a reformer of the company. Or an Enneagram 8 could have been a great pick for a CEO as well. An Enneagram 8 is a challenger, someone willing to confront the old guard and shake things up.

That would have worked well too. A U.S. Army General, perhaps, who could come out of retirement and become the Boeing CEO. On the other hand, a 35-year industry vet who specializes in finance doesn't feel like either of those eneagrams.

For turnaround CEOs, don't look at resumes. Look at enneagrams. Look to the anyogram. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, it's the return of the train. Amtrak sales, our surgeon right now to an all-time high. Because Amtrak hasn't changed in 50 years. Yeah.

And that's its biggest strength. All right, Jack, I want to share something with you. You know, when Ma and I were long distance in college and then long distance in business school, we basically depended on the train to see each other a bunch. You had Amtrak connecting both of your cities for both of those parts of your life. I know. Philadelphia, Providence, New York, Penn. Honestly, we kept all the train tickets from all the trains we went to take each to each other. I didn't know you were a scrapbooker.

I was basically a scrapbooker. Molly, Molly, if you're listening right now, your moffs. Jack, I'm going to get the tickets framed. Framebridge, probably. All right, Molly, you can start listening again. Yetis. Amtrak, the train service. It was born in 1970 as most private passenger rail lines were going out of business because of the car. So Congress created Amtrak.

They wanted to make sure railways still existed. They did. But it had to be government-owned and government-funded. Amtrak. It has historically been the butt of transportation jokes because Amtrak, it can be kind of slow. The conductor's like, we've reached a top speed of 48 miles per hour. The seats look like carpet. there's fur on the hamburgers and the bathrooms.

Oh, that is a roller coaster, Jack. Can I confess? One time I clogged the toilet in an Amtrak, you're that guy. There was nothing to fix. But besties, get this. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amtrak is enjoying a renaissance in the railways. Amtrak is having its highest ridership year ever.

24 million passengers so far, that's up 18% from last year. And it's not just Amtrak. Don't forget the private rail startup, right? Light Line, which we've covered a couple times on this show. Brightline has seen their train revenues triple in the last year, and they just hit $100 million in sales. Brightline is all over Florida, from Miami to Orlando already, but they're coming to Los Angeles just in time for the 28 L.A. Olympics.

And now, Thomas, the tank engine, let's pause the pod for a second. Jack and I jumped in T-boy style, and we learned some fascinating things about the Amtrak train. Amtrak's profit puppy is the Northeast Corridor. D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, all the commuters on that line, that's about a third of Amtrak's revenues. The Northeast Corridor is basically like the subway, but for a massive stretch that connects Washington, D.C., to Boston. Well, the Northeast Corridor ridership is now above pre-pandemic levels. But the big jumps in Amtrak ridership are from all the other lines. Ah. They're from the branded train lines. The branded lines, like the surfliner line in

Southern California that goes like Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara with views of the Pacific. Ridership on the surfliner line is up 34% from the same time last year. The Amtrak lines that are designed to evoke emotion, the ones that turned A to B into an experience to C. Like the Empire Builder Line that goes through Glacier National Park. Yeah, ridership on that line is up 48% from last year. Amtrak even added a new line with that government funding from the infrastructure bill, from Minnesota to Chicago.

It's now called the Borealis line, and that line is already crushing ridership expectations. Now, we should point out, train travel is still way smaller than plane travel. Yeah, could you hand us some peanuts and sprinkle on a little context, please? For every one person that takes the train, 20 people fly. Oh, and it's not just that. The majority of Amtrak routes also still lose money. They still exist thanks to taxpayer subsidies. But still, to quote Buffalo Springfield, huge fan of the train, there's something happening. in here. What it is

ain't exactly clear, but I think our takeaway will explain it, Jack. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amtrak? Consistency consistently beats. Now, yet is, trains are facing more competition and

alternatives than ever. There are planes, there are buses, cars, Uber, ferries, you name it. But since the pandemic, those other options have all become less reliable. For example, public transit funding for buses and subways has been cut leading to less service. Highway congestion is at an all-time high as population in cities grow, but the number of lanes

on the highway doesn't. And flying feels like an expensive nightmare. The prices are up. The timeliness is down. So at a time when traveling feels less reliable than ever, with the train, you know what you're getting. Yeah, the train, it's not perfect, but the train is consistent. There's rarely a traffic jam on that railroad jack.

Yes, other trends support trains right now. Yes, yes, yes. Trains are a more sustainable way to travel, and with remote work, you can work on a train really easily these days. But interestingly, the top reason consumers told Wall Street Journal they prefer the train was reliability. Trains are another sign that consistency consistently beats. Chee-choo. Choo-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Yeah, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Adida sales are up, and they're spending big on these a land. But the ROI on the Olympics, it's small if you're big, but it's big if you're small.

Since Adidas is big. Yeah. Their ROI is small. If you know, you know. For our second story, Boeing just named a 35-year industry veteran to be the new CEO, but it feels like a missed opportunity. When hiring a turnaround CEO, don't look at resumes. Look at the anyagram. And our third and final story is Amtrak.

Amtrak is leading a train renaissance in America. Train ridership is at an all-time high right now. And Amtrak is pulling it off because consistency consistently beats. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, meta jumped 5% after announcing earnings. Zuck was so excited he bought another gold chain. Zuck says that his big tech competition is overbuilding

in artificial intelligence by billions of dollars. Although we should point out. that Zuck also built out artificial intelligence a little too much. I think you could say he overbuilt those celebrity AI chatbots because he shut them down less than a year after launching them. That's right. Zuck paid celebrities like Tom Brady millions of dollars for their likeness for AI chatbots that are now going away.

They're dead actually. Can AI die? I think we have to ask chat GPT. And second, the Fed just had its policy announcement yesterday. And the result? No change to interest rates. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell set the stage for the first interest rate cut in years coming this September. Stocks were thrilled. They jumped yesterday, as the Fed implied, inflation is no longer a major concern

and lower borrowing costs are coming very soon. Let's hope they do. Please, please, please. And finally, a highlight of the Olympics yesterday was the triathlon, which happened in the Sen River. It was possible. That's right. After initially postponing the race, they pulled off the triathlon in Paris's river. Unreal. People tried to sabotage this event with poo in the river, but they fail. Yeah, the temperature was 95 degrees. Paris felt like a sauna, and yet, the triathlon was won by a Brit for the men and a French woman for the women. The poo levels in the river were pretty high, but they were below the legal maximum limit. Pee in the water yesterday, poop in the water today. What is going on in Paris? Why am I going there?

Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by Eric D. Down the street in San Francisco. Earlier, we said everyone in the Olympics, when they're swimming, they pee in the pool. Yeah, the swimsuits are hard to take off, so apparently all the Olympics just pee in the pool. Yeah, everyone just accepts it. But that's not the wildest part about the Olympics pool is a check. Get this.

The Parisian Olympics, they screwed up the pools. Yeah. They made them a little too shallow. Yeah, that's a problem because a shallower pool leads to slower swimming. The pools are three feet too shallow. So when the swimmers jump in, the wave bounces off the bottom and backs up and hits them in their belly. That slows down the swimmers, and that is why these Paris Olympics have yet to see a single new world record. It's not possible to make the pools correctly.

Stuck the landing, Jack. Yet is, you look fantastic for the new Friday. And remember, Jack and I, we want to hear your anyagrams, don't we? Like, Jack is a one. I'm three. We're curious what all the Yetis are. We should get a poll going, Jack. That's what we should do.

Comment your anagram on Instagram, Spotify or YouTube right now. We are curious. Are you reformers? Are you accomplishers? What are you guys? And if you got a question about the workplace, email us at Nick and Jack at t-boypod.com

for the next T-boy hotline episode. H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y and Jack and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, a shout-out and birthday to Yeti Lila Dwyer, who is a big little girl down in the great state of Virginia. And congratulations to Jason and Amelia Simmons in Austin, Texas, who just had a new baby named Woodrow. Welcome Woodrow. And we got a batch trip going on, Jack. Danny Cupfer, aka Banana Girl from Brooklyn, New York, is going to have a wonderful weekend. She's kicking off early. Your bridesmaids can't wait to celebrate the best weekend yet with you in Park City, which happens to be where Nick had his bachelor party.

Oh, it is Jack. High West was great. Congratulations to Ben McGurk in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carolina. Promoted to the VP of sales at a healthcare tech company. Ben has got the diagnosis. I gotta say, healthcare and tech, a couple of pretty good parents for an industry. Good place to be. And Brian Kane is turning the Big 50 in lovely shy and Wyoming. Happy birthday, Brian. Happy birthday to Chris Butterworth. Great last name in Leningburg, Massachusetts. He's over in England, but he's from just outside Boston. And of Mall Abu al-Saul-Saude in Katie, Texas. She has got a prestigious character and luxurious upscale taste that is perfect for a birthday.

And a big early birthday shout out to Ben Tarragon on the Upper East Side of New York City. It's his big birthday month and he's celebrating with a couple of J.G. Melon Burgers, Jack. And we're celebrating now because on his actual birthday we're on vacation later this month.

Hashtag, Jack in Paris. Not possible! And Misha definitely just spat out her tea. No, no, she only does it when you do the French accent. Because mine is Butchered. Giscuse, Jack. Kiss guise.

And to anyone else, celebrating something today. Making a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. The wires. They pee in the water today. If someone pukes at the Olympics tomorrow, we're covering it.