The Best One Yet - 🦟 “The deadliest animal” — Anti-Mosquito startups surge. Spotify’s secret TikTok feature. BYD’s $11K ultimate electric car.

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

Mosquitos cause 700,000 deaths per year. They’re also just a pain. So startups are rushing to solve the bug bite problem — Because climate change is now an industry. And it’s bigger than you thinkSpotify launched a TikTok-style vertical feed to discover podcasts — Next they should expand it to music. Take back what tiktok tiktook. Music discovery.And BYD is selling a high-quality electric car in China for $11k — And that’s terrifying to US and European carmakers.$SPOT $BYDDY $TSLASubscribe 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 Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, March 26. And today's pod is the best one yet. It is a T-boy, Jack. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, one second. I'm just checking the numbers over here.

The New York show is sold out, baby. That's right. Our New York show is in one month, and we sold out in one week. We're going to get Taylor Swifted over here, man. What are we, Alicia Keys? We ought to upgrade the venue to Madison Square Garden to fit all the eddies in. We got a waitlist going in the episode description.

In the meantime, Jack, I hope we can go to this show. Oh, shoot, I didn't buy a ticket. Wait, did you buy a ticket? I need to know what guy. Jack, what do we got? For our first story, last week, Spotify quietly launched a TikTok-style vertical feed to browse podcasts. Spotify is taken back what TikTok tick-took from them. For our second story, we're covering the wild new car in China, the B-YD-Sigel,

which sells for $11,000. and it's an electric car. Instead of getting America excited, this thing has got our whole country freaking out. And our third and final story, the new investing trend in venture capital is anti-mosquito startups. Because there's big money, those bug bites.

But yet he's, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories for a T-Boy Tuesday check. Over on the court, we're down to 16 teams remaining in the NCAA basketball tournament. And your March Madness bracket is busted. And because it's busted, Nick and I created a new bracket for you. We're excited to announce. Jack and I whipped up a whole new idea, Jack, you've got the honors.

What is our brand new March Madness bracket? It's called the CEO Suite 16. We found the most important companies founded by each remaining school. Jack and I found the top company that each fan base can now boast about. It's not the Sweet 16. It's the CEO Sweet 16. It's not a basketball bracket. It's a business bracket.

Yetis, we have 16 teams left in the men's tournament. So Jack and I whipped up the C-suite Sweet 16. Here are the 16 top companies founded at those 16 schools. Jack, let's kick it off with the University of Alabama. The company founded there was Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales. He's a roll-tied guy. Duke University, the company founded there.

Coinbase. Brian Armstrong went to Duke? No, he didn't. The other guy did. Oh, the other guy. Purdue, however, has the top guy. at Orville Redenbocker. Orville Redenbocker himself. Yeah, the popcorn company was founded at Purdue University.

Down in South Carolina where Clemson is based, they boast about Hooters. Hooters Restaurant chain founded at Clemson. But Nick, what does Elmo have to say about this whole sweepstakes? Sesame Street was founded at the University of Arizona. All right, let's move up to the number one seat. University of Houston. Number one seed in the basketball tournament, not number one seed in technology anymore. Compact computers founded at the University of Houston.

All right, Nick, you're a sweet tooth. You love Iowa State. Iowa State, home of Russell, stover, candies, chocolates, and candles, not too shabby. Now, this last one is, wow, the co-founder of Tesla went to one of the universities still competing in the basketball tournament. The University of Illinois, home of the co-founding of Tesla Motors. Not the co-founder, the other co-founder. But Jack, can you share a favorite one overall? What happened at the University of Connecticut? Bob's Discount Furniture? Yeah, that's a Yukon company. That Bob, Bob's discount, he's a husky. Yet he's to hear the other famous founders and the other companies from the remaining schools head over to our Instagram.

Jack and I are whipping up the complete list of the CEO Suite 16 at T-BoyPod. If you got a team still competing in the tournament, you have a company still competing in the tournament. Because the Sweet 16 is excited. But the CEO Sweet 16 has equity. Jack, we can watch Alabama play Duke. Or we could watch Wikipedia play Coinbase. I prefer the latter. We'll take that matchup.

Jack, let's hit our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. That's it. 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, Spotify, just announced its newest feature Education videos?

Education videos on Spotify. But we want to talk about Spotify's other launch that they didn't announce. Spotify TikTok. Jack, comeback artist of the year. Who do we got, man? Who's getting the Grammy? Spotify. The stock is up 40% so far this year, and it's doubled in the past 12 months.

Spotify's the new Mariah Carey. They got 600 million listeners, not too shabby. And since Spotify found its mojo, They just announced their newest product, educational videos. That's right, Yetis. The audio app Spotify just launched how to DIY videos, and they're testing this in the United Kingdom right now. It's taking up good space in the app.

Like, there's a new tab called courses if you open it up in the UK. And if you do open it up for all our British Yetis out there, if you're over there, open up your Spotify app, click courses and you're going to see a video that's like how to launch a song. And another video, How to Do Graphic Design. It's basically learning anything, right, Jack? Yeah, it's like any creative endeavor. You can watch a horizontal how-to video on the Spotify app.

It's a little confusing. Spotify. I think it's Professor Spotify. That's it. This is like Masterclass meets YouTube meets LinkedIn learning, but it's all on the Spotify app. But hey, Daniel, like, just because you're listening right now, Jack and I think you may have missed a huge opportunity here, don't we, man? Because what's the original learning video that also included music? How did Spotify not partner with?

Schoolhouse Rock. How did that not happen, Jack? Like, I'm just a bill, but for DJing. But we actually think there's a bigger Spotify story here that wasn't announced last week. Yeah, this next thing didn't get announced by Spotify, but they quietly rolled it out and we noticed it. Spotify just launched TikTok, but for podcasts. We call it pod talk. That's what we call. If you're listening to this episode on the Spotify app right now, go to the T-boy page on Spotify. Jump in T-boy style here. Do you notice something different about a lot of? our the best one yet page on Spotify? There's a tiny hidden rectangle

sitting right beneath our 4.8 star rating on the Spotify app. Okay, Jack, actually, I got it up right now. I'm like holding it up to the camera and you can see next to that rating. If you tap that... Okay, I accidentally tapped it. I'm playing our podcast within the podcast, Jack.

If you tap that, you enter into a TikTok-style vertical feed that immediately starts playing. Boom, swipable videos, quickly browsing our episodes, immediately starts playing. This is TikTok but for podcasts. TikTok must be using AI to find what they think is the most interesting part of each episode. So you can very quickly swipe from one episode to the next and get right into the action. What do you and I think was the most interesting and

surprising part about this entire feature? It also, low-key introduces a public follower count. That's right, Yetis. For the first time ever, you can see the follower count of your top favorite podcasts. So on our show, it shows there's 297,000 followers that we have on Spotify. They've got 300,000 Yiddies and besties out there just on Spotify. following us. Thank you, Yeti's and besties. You'll see the Bill Simmons Show has 400,000 followers, the New York Times Daily, has 2 million followers, and Call Her Daddy has 4 million followers on Spotify. But Jack, who is the biggest by far? This is an absurd outlier. Joe Rogan Experience has 15 million followers on Spotify, which beats the number two by almost

four times as many. Okay, but yeties, we digress. We went down a rabbit hole of followers. The bottom line here, Spotify just zucked TikTok. And thank you. If you, if you, you've followed us on Spotify. And if you don't, now's a good time to do so. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at Spotify? Spotify is taking back what TikTok tick-took from them. Music Discovery. The best part about this feature isn't the vanity metric of the number of followers of a podcast.

The best part of this new feature is it helps people discover new podcasts quickly. Well, Jack and I think the natural next step for Spotify is to expand this TikTok-y vertical feed into music. Right now it's just for podcasts, it should also be for music. Why? Because Spotify used to be the home of music discovery. That was the case like four or five years ago. But TikTok stole that with their quick videos that you could swipe and their algorithms. New music trends, they happen first on TikTok, not Spotify. But Spotify has the better music content. It has the better music data. And it actually has the legal permission from the record labels to actually have that music.

Oh, plus Spotify's not at risk of getting banned nationwide. Too soon, Jack. Too soon. So Spotify quietly launched a TikTok-style feed for podcasts last week. We think music should come next. And that is how Spotify can TikTok take back music discovery. For our second story, there is one car company that is just terrifying car executives from Europe to the United States. Everyone is freaking out about this.

It's the BYD Seagull. China's BYD has an $11,000 electric car that can take down Tesla and everybody else too. Yeah, it is earlier this year. Actually, January 3rd, right when Jack and I got back for winter break, Jack and I told you a story about BYD. BYD is China's number one electric car company. First surprise about BYD, Warren Buffett invested in them.

Like 16 years ago, Warren invested in China's electric car company. The bigger surprise about BYD, they sold more electric cars than Tesla last year. BYD is the number one EV seller in the world. The reason BYD has gotten BYD has gotten BWD. Bigger than Tesla, Jack? What is it? It's achieved the trifecta. Cheap cars, high-quality cars, and profitable cars.

Yeties, the average electric vehicle in the United States is going to cost you a whopping $52,000. BYD has a car called the Seagull. It's a four-seater that's about the size of a Chevy Bolt. It costs $11,000. That's it, Jack, I've seen scooters that cost more than this BYD car. BYD's flagship Seagull car, which holds five people, just like a regular car, costs one-fifth the price of a comparable EV in the United States. And yet is that very simple math is terrifying the CEOs of American car companies who are worried

they just can't compete with that kind of a price tag. Even Elon Musk predicted in January that B.D could, and we quote, demolish most car companies globally. Sit down and stand up and put it in neutral. Elon Musk, a man who's not afraid of Mars is afraid of BYD. And here's what you need to know about this new car, the $11,000 Seagull. It's smart. It's savvy and it's subsidized. The three S's that's what you need to know about B-Y-D. First, it's smart.

This is a smart car. Actually, it's not a smart car. It was smartly designed. Because my car that I currently draft, it goes up to 140 miles an hour. Have you ever gone over 80? You can be honest me. You ever gone over any of that thing, Jack? Not in years, to be honest.

Well, the B-Y-D car doesn't go over 80 because it can't go over 80 miles per hour. Which means the motor is like half the size of a typical car. which saves the car a bunch of money and makes them set the price lower. That's why it was a smartly designed car. They didn't waste time and money on resources to make the car go a speed. You're never going to actually go. The second S, this car was built savvy. It was savvy because BYD actually began 30 years ago as a battery company for smartphones.

They were making phones, not chassis back then. They've been doing batteries for 30 years, though. So they own their own mine that sources the materials for the batteries that power the car. BYD is vertically integrated and that keeps their costs low. And finally, this one's key. BYD is subsidized. Ah, BYD is sub. I'm sorry, Jack.

That was President Xi on the phone. He kind of disagrees with us on this one. BYD denies that their cost advantage is due to the support and funding they get from the Chinese government. But yeties, let's be real here for a second. China has a long track record of subsidizing industries so that Western companies can't compete with them. China's government helps keep the prices low. Add it all up, the BYD Segal costs $11,000. It's high quality as an electric car and it's profitable as an electric car.

Because the BYD Segal is smart, it's savvy, and it's also subsidized. And Jack and I would love to test one out except for our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at BYD? This electric car sounds perfect, but you'll probably never be able to punch. Regardless of who becomes president in 2025, tariffs on Chinese cars seem guaranteed. For the past six years, the U.S. has penalized certain Chinese-made products with tariffs if they come into the United States. President Trump started the Chinese tariffs. President Biden kept those Chinese tariffs.

The goal of these Chinese tariffs to protect U.S. jobs because China's government unfairly keeps the prices of those products low. Well, Basties, now that BYD has gotten so big in China and is now the biggest electric car company, in the world, it's expected to start exporting to the United States for the first time very soon. But we don't think you'll be driving a B.YD. Seagull anytime soon. No, we don't. And why is that, Jack? Regardless of who's president in 2025, tariffs on Chinese-made cars seem guaranteed. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, there's a new trend in venture capital funding that Jack and I

want to tell you about. Mosquitoes. Big money is flowing into Ames, and anti-mosquito startups. So we had to look into it. Jack and I had to take a light and attract the mosquitoes so we could take a look at this industry. I don't think mosquitoes are attracted to light. Are you thinking of moths? I don't know what kind of mosquitoes you hang out with Jack,

but mosquitoes I hang out with like being able to see every now and then, man. But Jack, can you please whip out the National Geographic that is near you and tell us what is the deadliest animal on Earth? The hippopotamus. Shockingly, that kills the most people on Earth. Yeah, he kills a person every three days, but that is not the deadliest animal on earth. What is it, man? It's actually not even close.

The real answer is mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, yet is according to the CDC, the smallest animal out there is like the deadliest animal out there. Can I share something with you, Nick? One of the companies we're going to cover in this story has this fact on their website. Half of humans who have ever lived died because of mosquitoes. Yes, the mosquito weighs just two milligrams. and yet it causes 700,000 deaths every year. It's not the bug bite that kills you.

It's the diseases that they spread, like the bubonic plague back in the day and other diseases still today. For 700,000 people a year, it's sad to say, but mosquitoes lead to diseases that are deadly. And that's tragic. But for hundreds of millions of more people, they're just a pain,

especially in the summertime we're about to enter. And yeties, this is bigger than just bites because ticks and bedbugs are also problems that are getting worse too. Mosquitoes, the only animal that causes humans to slap themselves. But yet is all these bug problems. They've created a new market for solutions, a huge market. According to CrunchBase, anti-bug startups have raised $40 million in the last few years.

There's big money in those bug bites. $40 million isn't unicorn cash yet, but this is a noticeable trend we wanted to tell you about. It is the mosquitoes. They started by buzzing, but the mosquito market for cats. killing mosquitoes, it is starting to roar. Now, here's what Nick and I found fascinating about this story. The surprising range of startups in the anti-mosquito space. Because, yeah, these mosquito startups span industries now, from mosquito repellents to mosquito destruction, and there is a lot of technology getting involved.

The most recent fundraise in anti-mosquitoes was just last week. A company called Murphy's Natural raised $17 million for natural mosquito repellent. Basically, this is a millennial branded version of a product. we all already have, bug spray. But the anti-mosquito movement is getting techy too. Like PestShare, this is a platform that just raised millions of dollars. Pest Share, it's basically the task rabbit of pest control. And they've raised money to help you browse top-rated local exterminators.

It's like Yelp, but literally Yelp. Because something just bit your neck? Yeah, because something just bit you. But Nick, this is where the story gets wild. Our buddies over at Diptera have bioengineered a new solution to try to exterminate the mosquito. Okay, Jack, can we start with the wild fact that gives context on why this company exists and the whole business model? The first wild fact is that only female mosquitoes bite. The second wild fact is that female mosquitoes only reproduce once,

and then they never reproduce again. So here's what Diptera is doing. They're flooding local environments with tons of sterile male mosquitoes, male so that they don't bite you and sterile so that they can't reproduce. Basically, fighting mosquitoes with mosquitoes. And by By adding these sterile male mosquitoes to like your hometown, they reduce mosquito populations by 90%. I wish my hometown would start a go fund me to get Deep Terra to come to our town for this summer. That would make everyone's lives way better. I mean, we need more sterile male mosquitoes.

I thought I'd never say those words, Jack, but here I am saying it. So yet, a new market has emerged to battle bugs. It's more mature than you realized, and it leads to our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the... Aren't you indoors? I can't stop them. They're attracted to the light. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the mosquito industry?

Climate change is an industry. And it's way bigger than you think. When you think of industries connected to climate change, you think electric vehicles, you think plant-based meats, you think wind energy. Classics. But Nick, enough warming has happened that we're going to need to adapt no matter what. And each year the world gets warmer,

new products will be created to help us adapt. And we're seeing it with VC money flown in. Well, last year, we covered air conditioners. With record heat across the globe, more buildings are installing AC than ever before. We also covered desalination. With record droughts, we're turning to ocean water to turn into drinking water. And now we're covering mosquitoes. Because with record heat and dampness in the summertime, there's more mosquitoes than ever before.

And he's added all up in air conditioners, desalination, mosquitoes. Climate change isn't just something happening to the world. Climate change is becoming an entire massive industry. That's way bigger than you think. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? Spotify launched a TikTok-style vertical feed to Discover podcasts. Next, Spotify should expand this to music. Take back what TikTok tick-took from Spotify.

Music Discovery. For our second story, BYD's Seagull is an electric car selling for $11,000. It's freaking the U.S. and European carmakers out. Yeah, and it's scaring U.S. presidential candidates too, and that is why you may never drive. And our third and final story, anti-mosquito startups are sprouting up to address the increasing threat from mosquitoes. Because climate change is now an industry, and it's bigger than you think.

But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the first time. After vetoing previous resolutions, the United States abstained yesterday, letting this resolution pass. This is the biggest public rebuke yet to Netanyahu's war strategy, as Palestinians continue to starve and suffer and Israeli hostages remain in captivity with Hamas. Second, the CEO of Boeing, Dave Calhoun, is stepping down at the end of the year. Boeing, they've been making headlines for making headlines this year, beginning with that door that fell off back in January. Boeing desperately needs a change in culture, which often has.

has to start at the top. And finally, it's Adam Newman. We knew that Adam wanted to buy back his old company, we work, and now we know the price, $500 million. That's according to the Wall Street Journal. It would put a dent in his net worth, but he's probably found a lot of financiers to help him make that offer.

Jamie's ready. Now, time for the best fact yet, this one sent in by our buddies celebrating holy over in across the world. The Hindu holiday is celebrated in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and wherever the world's 1.2 billion Hindus live. Now, it actually began yesterday with the last full moon of winter because this holiday celebrates the transition of spring.

But you see holy before you hear holy. And that may be the coolest part about this holiday is that it is literally the most beautiful holiday we have ever seen. Strangers and friends stand in the street to celebrate together, tossing colored flower at one another, and then dancing after everyone's colored like a rainbow. Oh, if you show up in a white t-shirt, you're a little. You are not getting that white t-shirt back. You've got a dyed pink, yellow, and purple t-shirt, Jack.

It's tie-dye with every color of the rainbow. So do all the Yeti celebrate and Holly out there, you look fantastic. But yeties, you are also looking fantastic. Jack, you are looking great too? You haven't itched yourself in a while. Are you just, are you not a mosquito guy? Do they avoid you? They all go to Alex.

I'm standing next to like a human mosquito magnet. So you let your wife get double the mosquito bites while you just kind of sit there. I don't let her. It just, no, it just happens. I'm not telling the mosquitoes go to her. Seems like you're throwing her a little under the bus here. But Yetis, it's also T-Boy Tuesday. So head over to T-Boy Pot on Instagram and check out the Sweet 16 of CEOs.

The CEO of Sweet 16. The top companies that every remaining team in the men's basketball tournament can boast about. San Diego State, we hear your fans of Jack in the Box. If you know, you know. Before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Josh. who's celebrating over in London, England, not too shab. And happy birthday to Wendy Figueroa in West Columbia, Texas. And Sal Ruiz is celebrating a birthday down in Clute, Texas.

And happy birthday to Arvin Parko in Phoenix, Arizona. And Marvin Fields is turning 61 years old in Detroit, Michigan. Have a marvelous day, Marvin. And congratulations to Alessandra and Carolina from San Francisco. Their startup, Oneskin, just got a huge award. OnSkin was just named a fast company most in. innovative company of 2024. Celebrate that win.

This is Jack. Nick and I both on stock of Spotify. So Jack, what's the? Oh, my God. They're everyone. It's on my neck. Oh, my God. There's one. Mosquitoes, they don't, like, crawl all over your body.

They, like, bite you and then they're dead. I can't, I know, but, you know, I kind of had a limited 10 seconds to consolidate a mosquito infestation. You're just sit here for two minutes while the mosquito, like, like buzzes around my head. We need a little Hollywood magic.