The Best One Yet - 🚌 “The Tesla of School Buses” — Zum’s $1B e-Schoolbus. Norway’s huuuuge wealth fund. 23&Me’s riches to rags story.

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

Zum just hit a $1.3B valuation for reinventing the school bus: Electric and smart — but since kids are involved, they’re facing some speed bumps.23&Me pioneered the home DNA test, but now they’re close to bankruptcy — because of the “The Macarena Problem”: One-hit-wonder”And the largest stock fund in the world? It’s Norway — Norway’s sovereign wealth fund owns 2% of the world’s stocks (no joke) and just had a record year… thanks to oil and oranges (we’ll explain)$ME $TSLA $UBERSubscribe 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 Thursday, the new Friday. February 1st. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. And we got an extra day on this month, don't we, Jack?

Happy February. It's a leap year. So there's 29 days this year. First story for today's show. What do we got, Jack? For our first story, it's Zoom. Z-U-M. It's the Tesla of school buses, and it just hit a $1.3 billion dollar valuation.

Because the. biggest transportation network in America, it's school buses. For our second story, it's 23 and me. The pioneer of DNA testing has fallen 98% since going public. Jack, what went wrong with 23 and me? We call it the Macarena Problem. The Macarena Problem. And our third and final story is the largest investment fund in the world.

It's the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. And the people of Norway just enjoyed their biggest profit ever. But besties, before we hit that one, Wonderful mix of stories. Wonderful mix of stories. Love the mix today, Jack. Nick, can we talk about the EE Ward moving and storage business? We can talk about the EE Ward moving and storage business.

Today, they're based in North Carolina and Ohio, and they do moving and storage all across the east of the United States. Jack and I jumped in T-boy style, pretty straightforward business model. They're moving and storage as a business. But E.E. Ward's history is not simple at all. Because yeties, this business happens to go back to the 1840s. began in the 1840s with six horses, one wagon, and two strong men. And that's not even the wildest part. Jack, what else we got on these guys? According to the Department of Commerce,

E.E. Ward is America's oldest black-owned business. E.E. Ward is the longest, continuously operated, black-owned company in the country. Because E.E. Ward began in the 1840s 20 years before the Civil War. Oh, and then here's actually the best part about this company. E.E. Ward didn't start in the logistics business, they started in the liberation business. Because this moving company was actually a part of the underground railroad. They used their moving business as a disguise so they could transport slaves north to freedom. Jack, how's that as a founder's story? Here's their founder's story.

A hundred years ago, our first service was emancipation. After the Civil War, when slavery was abolished, they pivoted to moving in storage, which they still do today. And they're still owned and they're still run by that same. Ward family that goes all the way back to the 1800s. E.E. Ward moving in storage, the oldest black-owned business in America. And it was a critical stretch of the legendary and historic Underground Railroad. Yiddies, it's February 1st. Happy Black History Month out there.

Celebrate the wins. Jack, let's hit on 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 known. 50%. That's a fat tip. T-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. For our first story, Zoom Z-U-M, just hit a $1 billion valuation for a smart electric school bus. But this startup can't move fast, and it definitely can't break things. All right, Jack, I'm going to whip out a classic single for you. Tell me the year. The wheels on the bus go round and round. I sing that to Wadder like every other morning, but it was actually written way back in 1937. Funny thing, Jack, school buses haven't changed since then either.

They're still as yellow as a grilled cheese sandwich. Hey, Eddie, you get into a school bus these days, yeah, they still got the bench seating with, like, the torn brown vinyl with some kind of mushroom coming out of it, you know? Those windows are so tough to open. You got to have, like, your whole body. You got to use two hands, both fingers. You need a spotter. It's like, buddy Timmy, you got to help us out. A couple of eighth graders are making out in the back.

What's going on back there? Oh, and by the way, the window, it only goes down three inches. Sorry. But that is why we discovered one startup called Zoom that is trying to reinvent the school bus. With electrification and with technology. Now, these Zoom school buses, they're already on the roads in San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, Seattle, Chicago, Nashville. There's 4,000 schools using this private unicorn company to bring their kids to and from school. Which leads to the news. Zoom just raised 140,000.

million dollars from top venture capital firms to continue growing and they reached a 1.3 billion dollar valuation. And why is venture capital seeing such a big market opportunity in school buses, Jack? Because school buses, think about it. It's the largest transportation system in the country. Sorry, New York City subway. The school buses are bigger. There's more kiddos out there than there are commuters. But yet is here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Zoom is actually two tech transportation companies in one. Zoom is both the Tesla for school buses and the Uber for school buses. First, like Uber, they use a mobile app for parents so you can get real-time GPS tracking of your babies on those school buses. Yeah, so in the morning, you can be like the buses two blocks away. Hey, little Liam, it's time to get out there.

You've got to be on the sidewalk with your backpack. Get out. Get out. The door. I can see it. It's in the app. Get out of the door. Leave the house. You're going to be late. Well, Zoom is also like Uber because it deploys different vehicles for different jobs. If one of the bus routes has 100 kids that need to be picked up, they'll use a school bus. But if the bus route only has 10 kids, they'll use one of their vans. Okay, but it's not just like Uber. Zoom is also like Tesla because the vehicles are covered in cameras. Zoom school buses have front-facing cameras that give the driver a safety score depending on how safely they drove.

If driver Danny rolls through a stop sign, then Zoom docks there. driver's score. Yeah, they're using AI to calculate that. And Zoom is also like Tesla because it wants to end fossil fuels. Their goal is to be fully electric with all their school buses and vans by 2027. Honestly, it sounds like Zoom's founder is Ms. Frizzle from the magic school bus jack. Liam, you're not taking a school bus to school. You're taking a unicorn. But here's the funny thing, Yeties, Zoom hasn't quite reached all of these goals yet. And that is because of our takeaway. on the bus. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Zoom? When a business involves kids, there's going to be speed bumps. Yeties, in many ways, the market opportunity for Zoom feels like Uber.

They're disrupting an old-fashioned and fragmented market of school buses. But disrupting school buses is actually completely different than disrupting taxis. Because when you're disrupting school buses, you cannot move fast and you absolutely cannot break things. Since there's children involved, Bus drivers have to get a commercial driver license, they have to pass a background test, and they have to pass a drug test. And since kids are involved, they can't use independent contractors, they must hire drivers as employees and pay benefits, unlike Uber. These strict requirements for bus drivers is why Zoom is having some growing pains,

like struggling to find enough bus drivers. So besties add it all up, and Zoom just hit a $1.3 billion valuation to disrupt school buses just like Uber disrupted taxis. But unlike Uber, Zoom faces speed bumps. Because when there's kids involved, there's speed bumps. Yeah, there's speed bumps. No moving fast and no breaking things. For our second story, 23 and Me, the DNA testing pioneer. Its stock has dropped 98% since they went public just two years ago. 23 and Me's biggest problem is the Macarena problem. But Jack, in order to tell this story, can we go back to 2017 and can you

tell us Oprah's favorite thing. Oprah's favorite thing in 2017 was the 23 and me DNA test. Oprah was all over that thing. She was loving spin into that too. 23 and me normalized the at-home DNA test. You could find out your ancestry. 99 bucks. Send in your saliva. Boom. You find out your hidden family history and a couple creepy cousins. Yeah, it was like genetic roulette. It is like genetic roulette. That's a good way to put it. Are you 4% Finnish, French, or Fijian? It makes for great cocktail conversation. Nick, aren't you zero to three percent Turkish?

I was going to tell you. I found out it was 2% Turkish. It, like, explains why I love donor kebab so much. Yeah, ever since then, Nick's been like, Zichis just Me? Is it hot as a kebab in here? You can round up when it comes to 23 and me, Jack. You can round up.

But here's the update. 23 and Me has become a riches to rags Silicon Valley story. 23 and Me's valuation has gone from $6 billion at its high to nearly $0 now. Because 23 and Me never profited. They're running out of money now and bankruptcy is possible as soon as this year. Add it all up and the stock of 23 and Me has fallen 98%.

I didn't see that in their DNA. But yet is, the Wall Street Journal did a deep dive on 23 and me. And frankly, the founder of 23 and me, maybe one of the most interesting people we've ever heard of. Her name is Ann Wojcicki. And guess what? She had a Barbie doll made after her. In fact, Anne has one of the most brilliant marketing moves we've ever heard of. and it's called the spit party.

Here's the spit party. She'd invite a bunch of celebrities over to her house and ask them to spit into a 23-and-me tube and then share their DNA results live at the party. And then boom, they're bringing out like the hors d'oeuvres and she goes, ah, Carly Claus, turns out your cousins with Richard Branson. Anne happened to be married to Sergei Bryn, by the way, the co-founder of Google, for about 12 years.

And Anne's sister happened to build and run YouTube for nine years. And she has a Barbie doll, too. Not too shabby Wajiski family. The Wojikiskees are some of the most powerful women in the history of tech. But yet is, when you jump into this Wall Street Journal profile of Anne's company, 23 and Me, it shows that problems are stewing. Like the huge data breach 23 and Me suffered last year. Seven million accounts got hacked over a 23 in May.

It's one thing if a hacker has your DOB. It's another thing they have your DNA. Now Yeti's that major hack, that is one reason why 23 and Me stock has fallen 98. The other reason is our takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at 23 and Me? 23 and Me's fundamental challenge is the same as the macarena. Yeties, Jack and I are looking at the situation, and it appears that 23 and Me is a one-hit wonder company.

Like the song Macarena, they may have a one-hit wonder product. Los Del Rio is the musicians behind the Macarena. And just like Los Del Rio, 23 and Me created more than just one song. For example, 23 Me did buy a telehealth. health company called Lemonade. And 23 and Me sells data on their DNA to pharmaceutical companies to try to develop drugs. And 23 and Me is even working to develop their own drugs that they could sell one day from their own telehealth company. But just like Los Del Rio, none of those new songs of 23 and Me's have been popular. 23 Me's Macarena was their original $99 DNA test that everyone loved.

But that turned out to be a one-hit wonder product, just like the Macarena. For our third and And final story. The biggest stock investment fund on earth. Guess what? It's over in Norway. Norway's sovereign wealth fund just delivered its biggest profit ever. Jack, if we're going to talk about Norway's huge fund, can you tell us the definition of the word fernoyd? I do not know what fernoyd means.

Furnoyd is actually Norwegian for satisfied, as in Norwegians are satisfied fornoyd with their sovereign wealth fund, which is worth 1.6. trillion dollars. Sovereign wealth funds are hard for Americans to understand because we have trillions of national debt. But Norway has 1.6 trillion dollars in national wealth and all that wealth is in their Norwegian wealth fund. They like cross country skiing and they like cross market trading. But Jack, when it comes to Norway's $1.6 trillion fund, can you sprinkle on some context for us over there? Well, Harvard's endowment fund is $50 billion. It's the biggest of all universities. Can you sprinkle on some more context, please? Saudi Arabia has a sovereign wealth fund worth $7,000. $700 billion.

How about a little more context? What do you got, man? Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is a publicly traded stock portfolio worth $800 billion. Yet he's not sure you've been keeping track, but Norway's fund is double the value of Berkshire Hathaway and double the value of Saudi Arabia's fund. And 32 times the value of Harvard University. And how have they been doing the last few years over at the Norwegian fund, Jack? The value has tripled in the past decade. In fact, Yetis, Norway just announced that their national fund had a lot.

its best year ever. It grew 16% in value last year, which means $213 billion in games. That's $42,000 for every Norwegian citizen. Just in the games. It's crazy. Hey, we know what you're wondering here. Why does the petite country of Norway have this massive fund? Why have they had this huge fund since the 1990s? Because low-key, they're actually a huge oil producer. The 13th biggest in the world, and they invest away all their oil profits, like a disciplined Viking financial advisor. And that is why Norway loves two things. They love fjords and they love funds.

And every single Norwegian citizen owns a tiny slice of that sovereign wealth fund. Now yet, he's Jack and I jumped into the numbers T-boy style. Norway has the most transparent financial fund we have ever seen before. If you go to the website, they very clearly say all the assets that are invested in, and they real-time update the value of the whole fund. That's how we found out that Norway, owns 2% of all the stock in all of the companies on planet Earth right now. 2% of all the stock on planet Earth is owned by Norway's sovereign wealth fund.

That's how big it is. Norway owns stock in 8,500 different companies across 70 different countries right now. And they got a pretty risky portfolio. 70% of their money is in stocks. 27% in bonds, 2% in real estate, and 1% in renewable energy assets. And we know what you're wondering. What are the biggest holdings of the Norwegian stock fund? The same as all of our biggest holdings. It's the super six pack of tech stocks.

It's Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and NVIDIA. Norway's chief financial officer Olaf the Snowman approves of those tech companies. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our cross-country skiing buddies over, over in Norway? Norway's sovereign wealth fund shows how great investing is like an orange tree. Yeties, here's how you can think of this Norwegian investment. The $1.6 trillion in this fund, that's the tree. The roots, the branches, that's the core of the fund. The $200 billion in profits this year, that's the fruit. Those are the oranges that grew on the tree over the past year. Now, interestingly, Norway limits how much money they take from their fund to just 3% every year. That's the max.

They use that 3% to fund government services. But no matter how much fruit grows, they'll never take more than 3% for an annual harvest. Now, Norway could take a greater percentage of money out and solve a lot of problems that could be fixed right now in Norway. They could take out $100 billion and just write a check for every Norwegian citizen. But that would be like cutting off a branch. They'd get short-term wood, but long-term less fruit. So Norway's massive fund shows the power of investing is like an orange tree. Norway only takes the fruit. Which are the gains.

They never take the branches. Which is the principle. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways force for the new Friday? Zoom is a startup trying to reinvent the school bus, but they face some speed bumps. Because when kids are involved, there is no moving fast and there is no breaking things. For our second story, it's 23 and Me. It's fallen in valuation from $6 billion to just $350 million. Looks like 23 and me had the Macarena problem, a one-hit wonder product.

And our third and final story is Norway's sovereign wealth fund. They had their best year ever, gaining $213 billion in value. Yeties, the Norwegians never touched the tree. which is the principle of the fund, they just harvest the fruit. They just take the gains. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, according to the IMF, the United States had the best economic growth of the G7 nations last year by far. And next year, we're projected to be number one again, also by far. And second, Mark Zuckerberg and other social media execs got grilled by the U.S. Senate yesterday.

The subject was harmed done to children online. And Zuck actually turned around and apologized to the parents who were standing in the audience. And finally, it's Call Her Daddy. The podcast is no longer exclusive to Spotify. You can now listen after three years anywhere. Spotify's walled garden exclusive strategy is now open to all. Now time for the best fact yet, this one whipped up by Jack and me. Well, framed it as a trivia question. Why do Americans honor Black History Month in February? Because if we're looking at the calendar, MLK Day was in January. Juneteenth is in June. How did February end up with Black History Month? The answer is Frederick Douglass. The 19th century black abolitionist was born in February,

and that is what led to Black History Month this month. The former slave, Frederick Douglas, actually became an advisor to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Yadies, if you have got a Black History Month fact, we want to hear it, and you can send it to us. We can even get your voice on this podcast. Submit your best fact yet in the form that we have linked in this episode description. Oh, we also got a link on our website. Go to t-boypod.com. We want to get your best fact yet. Yetis, you are looking fantastic for the new Friday.

And if you haven't yet, you can click to follow us so you get the best one yet every single day. Nick and I got one more episode before the weekend. It's going to be the best one yet. You're going to feel for a newoid. Nick and I, we'll see you there. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy birthday to Rob Stigler,

who's enjoying the last year of his 30s down in Wilmington, Delaware. Happy birthday to Isaac Alish, who just celebrated an anniversary and a birthday in Nigeria. And Jenna Correyes is moving in with her girlfriend over in the hate down the street in San Francisco. She attended our live show in San Francisco. I think I remember her. I think I remember her too. She was the best yet yet. And Nick Silva and Stephanie Hidalgo met at USC four and a half years ago, and these Trojans just got engaged.

They're partying hard right now down in San Diego. Send us some ring picks and celebrate that win. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway and Nick and I both own stock of Apple. So I ever tell you

when our school bus stopped in the Bronx once and Fat Joe the rapper got on? Why? What? He just got on, waved his hands and he got off

and we didn't even know it happens. Did you know it was Fat Joe the rapper? Oh, we knew it was Fat Joe the rapper.