The Best One Yet - 🕵️ “Top Secret $$$” — The CIA’s Venture firm. Walmart’s in-house meteorologist. SecondHand clothing’s slump.

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

The CIA has a Venture Capital arm… and it’s one of the top-performing VCs in America.Second-hand clothing sites DePop & Poshmark are struggling… because they over-innovated. Walmart, Ford, and Paramount all hired meteorologists… and it’s a lesson on winning at work.Plus, United Airlines just announced 13 wild flights to beat Delta… Soooo Spring Break in Mongolia?$UAL $DAL $WMTSubscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksListen free anywhere you get your pods starting Oct 15th (or early and ad-free on Wondery+).Episodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, October 14th. 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. Jack, there were so many wins to celebrate.

Should we just get into this T-boy? You want to hit the pod? You want to hit the show? I'm ready to hit the show. What are we got on the show today, Jack? For our first story, the most successful venture capital firm in America may actually be the CIA. Get this. The CIA has invested in 750 startups.

And the returns are so good, I don't think we're allowed to disclose them. For our second story, secondhand retail sites like Poshmark, The Real, and Threatup are all struggling right now. It's a secondhand handbag slump, but Jack and I found a solution. And our third and final story is Walmart. Walmart just hired a meteorologist, and so did Ford, Paramount, and Delta. Yeties, the corporate meteorologist is a lesson for everyone on winning at Woff. But, Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories, fantastic mix of stories, Jack. Nobody is doing this mix.

I love the mix today. Have you done spring break in Mongolia? Vesties, have you done a honeymoon in Ulaan Batar? What about a vacation to Greenland? Remember what the Mighty Ducks taught us. Iceland is green, but Greenland is ice. Yeah, I'm not sure Greenland is a spring break locale, Nick. You don't want to mess that up.

You don't want to mess that up. We'll get this, Yiddies. All those random destinations we just mentioned are part of United Airlines's latest strategy. United is trying to fly where every other airline is financially afraid to fly. That's right. United just announced 13 new flights to the furthest most remote corners on the globe. Like the coolest places that you only saw in an Anthony Bourdain documentary. And they're targeting American tourists. Yeah. Instead of Paris, United wants you flying to Palau. Instead of Italy, United's got you a deal to Dakar. And Jack, why is United trying to divert these passengers to these fresh new spots? Because there is just two

much competition over the typical tourist spots. I mean, Jack, even JetBlue is flying to Europe these days. Fancy. Barcelona had so many American tourists this summer. So many. The locals were squirting us with squirt guns. Literally. And Venice has so many tourists. They set up a toll booth for the tourists. London Bridge had so many visitors. It is falling down. So Yetis, United Airlines is doing a full Carmen San Diego strategy. Where in the world is the 12-hour direct flight? Because there's nothing Gen Z wants more than a destination wedding in the Faroe Islands. And apparently there's nothing Paris wants more than a few fewer Americans. Jack, we're going to need a bigger map.

Yetis, let's have three stories. 15 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 an norm. Jack, you know, they need to practice. 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. Our first story. The most exciting venture capital fund right now, it's the CIA. That's right. Our intelligence agency is celebrating 25 years of investing in startups. Happy 25th birthday, CIAVC.

And it's one of the top performing funds in America. Now, Jack, every time I watch a James Bond movie, Here's what I'm wondering. You ready, ready? How is Q loading up James with, like, laser guns in the headlights of an Aston Martin? Who's paying for this stuff? Is that dental floss that can double as... Don't touch it!

Don't touch it! Just don't touch it. It's going to explode. Did 007 hands anything? Don't touch it yet. All of that is possible thanks to espionage investing. Like in QTel, which is the name, sorry, code name of the venture capital firm controlled by our CIA. The budget is confidential.

but the returns are not. Yeah, this is a VC fund, and interestingly, the CIA's VC fund is the most public part of our spy agency. 25 years ago, Congress gave the CIA permission to invest taxpayer money into startups. Now, not for profit. The goal is actually to help companies that can help America and its allies. And so far, the CIA Venture Capital Fund has invested $1.2 billion into 750 different startups. We're talking 30 investments a year on average check size of $2 million. Now, half of those investments are in companies that make things that would be useful to spy.

Yeah, a wristwatch parachute? What the heck? Here's a Series A fund round. The headquarters of this venture capital firm are just outside of D.C., but they've got offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, Munich, London. We don't know where else. We don't want to know. CIA, it's okay.

We're not asking. We're not asking. I don't want to know. I don't want to know. But if we were entrepreneurs accepting funding right now, it would be an honor to accept that money from the central intelligence. agency. Although, if we lost that money, yeah, I'd be worried for my life. I think they make you disappear, literally. But yeties, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. This is actually

the 25th birthday of the venture capital fund of the CIA. And they use the occasion to share their investing results with the public. After all, we fund these guys through our taxes. Yeah, you paid for this yet. And Jack, what were the results for the VC arm of the CIA? They have a winning percentage that give Sequoia FOMO. Like the Kleiner Perkins of spies, they're Andresen with extra intelligence. They've enjoyed some big exits. Get this.

The CIA invested early in Keyhole, a satellite mapping company, which was acquired by Google, and resulted in Google Earth. That's right. The CIA was in early on Google Earth. They've also had some nice IPOs. They were an early investor in Palantir,

the software intelligence company now worth $100 billion. That's like 24 lifts. Their latest investments have been, in behavioral signals, which is an interesting company. They actually use AI to tell if you're lying. Basically a modern-day polygraph machine. Because remember, these guys are spies.

Although we should point out, while the CIA is secretive, their funds still faces groupthink like a lot of VCs. Just about every deal from the last year is related to AI. Like all the other VCs. Like all the other VCs. Do they tweet about it like the other VCs? Good point, Jack. Again, I think they'd be disappeared.

But the results have still. been really impressive. In the last 10 years, assets under management at the CIA VC have quadrupled. The CIA has been a pretty good steward of taxpayer money. But the returns have been much more than just financial. By the way, Jack, did you hear the conspiracy theory on Reddit about the CIA's venture capital fund? Again, I don't want to know. Apparently, they were behind the we work bankruptcy. What I heard. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the CIA? What of America's best consumer investors is actually the Pentagon. Yiddies, let's zoom out for a moment, from just one agency to the entire Department of Defense.

Because some of the most used and loved consumer products at the last century, guess what? The military was behind it. Now, here we go. The microwave oven. The Jeep 4x4. Duck tape, tape. They were all invented or funded by U.S. military. Jack, let's talk tech.

GPS, touch screens, the internet. All invented or funded by the U.S. military. So yet, he's reviewing the CIA's venture capital portfolio on a 25th birthday. It's a nice reminder of this. Our defense money doesn't just go to M16s. It also gave us the MacBook. So Basties, one of America's best consumer product investors, it's actually the Pentagon. But you didn't hear from us.

This podcast will self-destruct. For our second story, we're looking at Resale Clothing Sites because none of them are making a profit. And the surprising solution for secondhand clothing is to do less. Jack, let's kick off this story by looking at a hero stat. On average, Americans buy 53 new items of clothing every year. Some contacts, Yates. That is four times as much clothing as you bought in the year 2000.

In the year 2000, you bought like 12 new things a year? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you buy 53 new things per year. But yeah, it doesn't make any sense to us because humans, you don't need more clothes today than you did in the year 2K. No, we have the same amount of epidermis we need to cover. Yeah, but you do. However, TikTok, Shian, and Fast Fashion, they have made us go bananas over blouses. That's the difference between how much clothing we buy.

TikTok, Shee in, and Fast Fashion. And the side effect of our huge wardrobes is that our closets literally cannot handle them. that has led to a huge market for resale. This is wild. Last year, $43 billion was spent on secondhand clothes in the United States. Fantastic. So you think secondhand clothing, the industry is surgeon, but Bloomberg just said the opposite. Guess how many of the top seven resale websites are profitable? None of them. The Real, Real, Poshmark, Threadup, Dpop, none of them are making a penny of profit. And that is a major problem, Jack. And the reason why all the leading resale websites are unprofitable? Well, ironically, secondhand clothing can be more costly to sell than new clothing.

Yeties, our closets are full. I found a shirt the other day. I haven't even seen it in six years. Yeah, because it's been in one of those extra tote bags you have too, which is also too much stuff. Right. And that abundance of clothes in America, you'd think a company like Poshmark could get free inventory. We're all just willing to give away our clothes we don't want. So Poshmark, they can sell used pants for $30 that would typically cost $100 if you bought them new. That's the model. That's how everyone wins with secondhand clothes, right? But here's the problem, Maddies.

You'd be forgetting about all the costs in the secondhand business model. Because that pair of pants that you sent to Poshmark, Poshmark had to pay for the shipping. And then once they were received, ThreatUp must inspect and sort and clean and photograph and list those pants on its way. website. And then the Real Real has to pay for returns if he didn't like the pants. Oh yeah, totally. And if the pants never sold at all, then Deepop has to dispose the stuff, which led to a hilarious observation about the secondhand clothing business model. Sometimes one man's trash is really just trash. That shirt with pit stains and a couple of tears, don't send that to Deepop. Nobody wants it. And besties, after you add up all of those costs, the Real Real, they might

have to price those pants at a watch. Hopin 80 dollars used pants. And for 80 bucks, it's not worth the risk. You're just going to buy them new for $100. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our struggling, smelly buddies in the secondhand clothing business? Resale platforms are doing too much. The winners are doing less. Do less.

Yeties, the reason thread up, the real real poshmark created centralized online marketplaces, it was based on this thesis. Identification and quality control and a customer-friendly website, people would buy more secondhand clothes. Now, that concept, that might work for big ticket items like a Tiffany's Ring or a Rolex watch, but it doesn't work for a cheap, $8 cute top. Instead, the winners of resale clothing are eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist. Those basic websites, they're simple middlemen. They let the buyers and the sellers connect on their own with no intervention.

They're basically digital thrift shops. Yeah. They're not handling the shipping or the clean. or the website listing or the photography. So when you analyze this business model, it looks like the key to selling secondhand clothes profitably is to do less. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

For our third and final story, Walmart's busiest worker right now, it's actually their meteorologist. Corporate weathermen. They're a perfect case study in how to get a job. We didn't even know they existed. Now, Jack, we should point out, last week's hurricane, an estimated $75 billion in damages to Florida. We've been reading about Hurricane Milton all weekend.

I'm so thankful my Nana's okay. Oh, yeah, she's good. And I'm thankful that the hurricane wasn't even worse. Well, Yeties, leading up to that hurricane, the most important worker at Walmart was their meteorologist. Walmart, the world's largest retail chain. The guy's selling $2 tube socks. They have a weatherman on staff. Yeah, actually, we linked in him.

He's 32-year-old Tom Bedard. He starts a day at 4 a.m. in the morning, and he's reading a report from the National Weather Service. The Weather Channel has 300 meteorologists. Oh, yeah, classic. Oh, and every local Channel 3 news has Tom Tucker, who's like wearing a raincoat outside. But Walmart hiring a meteorologist, that was a total surprise to us. And he's actually leading an entire logistics operation at that big box store. Speaking of logistics, this does make a lot of.

a lot of sense once you think about it and run the numbers. Because Walmart has 5,000 U.S. locations. If a natural disaster strikes the U.S., a whole bunch of Walmarts are probably affected. Plus, the affected communities need their Walmart right before and right after that natural disaster strikes. They need to get sandbags before, and they need to get recovery kits right after. So this Walmart meteorologist's internal memo is a really big deal. It guides the company's emergency response during natural disaster. Honestly, he should get a shout out in the earnings call. But yet he's, Jack and I got really curious about this story, and we jumped in T-boy style. Because Tom is just one of a new emerging career path we didn't know

existed. Corporate Meteorologists. We just invented the name, actually. We discovered that every big U.S. company with a huge physical footprint, like Walmart, has employees in meteorology. Jack, for example, Ford employs a meteorologist at their car testing sites. Campbell's Soup has meteorologist to predict how weather could affect crop growth. Jack and I even went on some job posting sites and get this, get this. We discovered that Paramount Pictures is hiring a head of weather. Head of weather to lead a team of meteorologists. A movie studio has a team of meteorologists. Jack, one second, we got a low pressure system coming in over the set. We're going to have to finish filming indoors. Oh, there's a beach scene in this rom-com. We got to check with Ron.

In meteorology. Yeah, because humidity's 112%. Yet he's, but the biggest corporate weatherman operation of all is Delta Airlines. Yeah, in fact, Delta employs 28 meteorologists. Jack, some context, please. That is more than the biggest cable news channel, CNN. Half the Delta team is focused on weather at 30,000 feet, and half is focused on weather for takeoff and landing.

If you got a buddy who's at Penn State's meteorology program, they're probably going to end up at some random corporation. She's getting a promotion. So, Jack, what's the take? takeaway for our buddies over in everyone trying to get hired. Your job isn't a role. It's the value. Yeties, the invention of the corporate weatherman, it actually has a bigger lesson for everyone trying to get a job or get promoted. A meteorologist's job is to predict the weather. But the application of that job goes way beyond just news. Ford,

Campbell's Sue, Paramount Pictures, they all hired meteorologists for different uses. One was for driving cars, another was for growing crops, and another was for shooting movies. Similarly, each of those companies we mentioned with a meteorologist, they also have an economist. Ford, Campbell's Soup, and Paramount, they all have economists to predict how economic trends affect their business lines. So the way we see it, meteorologists, they don't just work at a news company, and economists don't just work at a bank. Because your job isn't a role. It's the value you provide. And that value can apply to multiple industries, even surprise ones. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week?

The CIA Venture Capital. In 25 years, our spy agency has invested in 750 startups. And the Pentagon is actually a top investor in consumer products. For our second story, even though secondhand clothes are booming, the real, real, posh mark, and thread up are struggling. Because resale platforms are doing too much. The winners do less. And our third and final story is Walmart.

They've got a meteorologist on staff. It's 63 and sunny, baby. And he played a huge role during the two hurricane responses. Because your job is not a role, your job is the value you provide. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. I'll quote Vince Vaughn, it is earnings season, baby. The Q3 earning season just kicked off.

The banks told us how they did from July to September. Yeah, good calendar move. It's Morgan versus Goldman versus JP, who you got, baby, who you got. We'll cover them on this week's episodes. And second, we just got the inflation report for the month of September. Prices rose 2.4% compared to last year. It's the lowest inflation in more than three years. The one thing keeping prices still up, it's shelter.

Rent and mortgage payments, they rose 4.9%. We've said it before. It's not an inflation problem anymore. It's a housing problem. And finally, over in IKEA, sales fell 4% last quarter, which is IKEA's first sales drop in four years. It's not because you bought fewer flugens sofas. No, no, it's actually because IKEA cut the prices on 2,000 items, including flugensophas, because they were afraid like inflation was going to scare you away. The result was lower overall revenue.

You bought more flugin sofas, but they were 10% off, baby. Flugent stop it. Now, time for the best fact. yet, this one sent in by Sarah over in Chicago doing logistics. Since it's spooky season, this fact is about goosebumps. Jack, let's talk goosebumps. Today, humans

get goosebumps for like random reasons, but like there's nothing actually useful about goosebumps. But according to Charles Darwin, goosebumps used to serve us a purpose. Goose bumps helped humans survive. Our ancestors were hairy, so goosebumps would have fluffed up their hair.

So when humans got scared, they'd get goosebumps. And the goosebumps would make us look bigger. Our hair would puff up, which would scare away oncoming attackers. And when we got cold, our fluffed up hair from the goosebumps, created like an insulating layer. It was like a jacket to keep us warm. Yeah, so, Yiddies, if you get goosebumps today, they're not doing anything.

But if you got boos bumps a thousand years ago, you're alive. You're alive. You survived. Congratulations. Yetties, you look fantastic to kick off the... What is, oh. Oh, is that chocolate milk? Is that chocolate milk?

Rachel is bringing us a happy meal. Oh, yeah, you should narrate what's going on. Let me see that, Ridge. The eddies can't see this. They can't see what's going on. Okay. You're about to end the show, but one of our producers just came in and handed us a happy meal. Should we unbox?

Well, I haven't opened one of these in a long time. Honestly, Jack, you smell the happy meal before you see the happy meal. Wait a minute. They gave me two French fries. Oh, you're not going to believe the toy I got. Oh, my God. Crocs. Crocks, toy.

Are you kidding me? Oh, my God. Look at this little Ronald McDonald mini crock. That's adorable. It's a keychain. Okay. You know what? Okay.

This is what it's all about. Yeah, he's Jack and I. Oh, my God. We got to end the pot to play with our happy meal. The McDonald's Happy Meal is the first episode of the Best Idea Yet. We hope you'll listen to our feed drop on Friday. If you haven't, check out the best idea yet right now. It's our new show and episode number one is the wild untold story of the McDonald's Happy Me.

This is Jack. I own Stocker Crocks. This is Jack. I'm going to eat some chicken nuggets now. One second. We're going to need more ketchup. We've got a link in the episode of description for you to subscribe to the new show. Yeah, let's get these fries. And Jack and I, I'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, congratulations

to Yeti Connerbrook, down, and lovely San Diego, who just got a new job as a weather minute. No, I'm just kidding. But he's got a great new job, too. And happy birthday to Cheryl Duckers. In San Antonio, Texas, your dog loves you. And we do too.

Oh, and to the bestie who yelled out to Jack and me from a bike in Culver City, Los Angeles last week. We saw you. We didn't get to hang out, but thank you for enjoying the show. They almost fell off the bike. Yeah, that's commitment. And a shout out to Julie Ng, a Yeti in Los Angeles, who hooked us up with some fantastic restaurant recommendations. The rigatoni at Felix? Oh, amazing.

Wasn't gluten-free. No. It was amazing. Gluten full and amazing. Oh, and the ramen out of fury. Oh, that was gluten-free. That was great last night. Amazing. We dined well in LA.

Yetis celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick owned stock, and the Real Real and Delta, and I own stock in Ford and Crocs. Oh, they forgot the special sauce, too. For kids. It's adorable. Oh, I got nugs. Cold nugs, but nugs nonetheless.