The Best One Yet - 💩 “TP’s wet disruptor” — Dude Wipes’ rise. America’s 1st Crypto Fund. The Biz of Breakups.

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Dude Wipes hit $200M in sales… because they saw an opportunity in 1 stat about toilet paper.Trump is launching America’s 1st crypto fund… but markets hated the details (lost #Bromentum)Sponsored Breakups are the new trend in marketing… because passion points = loyalty points.Plus, we got the details on the latest IBO… Jack’s Initial Baby Offering.$BTC $ETH $PGWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of Sesame Street: The Trojan Horse of TV. Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes 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/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Tuesday, Teen Boy, Tuesday, March 4. And today's pot is the best one yet this is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, my business doula is back in the recording studio. Look at this guy. Oh, over there. I'm back, baby.

It's great to be back. I had an awesome week off. We'll get to more details in a second. Sounds like you got three hours of sleep last night, but we're going to work with it, Jack. Yet he's great to be back on the pod. Three fantastic stories, Jack, what do we got on the show? For our first story, Dude wipes is the fastest growing company in the bathroom.

They're doing $200 million in sales. This wet wipe for men is the disruptor a doo-doo, and it's all thanks to one number. For our second story, the president just announced a national crypto fund. Bitcoin searched 15%. And then Bitcoin fell 15%. We will explain why.

And finally, the next frontier and advertiser, is breakups. We're talking sponsor breakups. Real thing. When an influencer breaks up with her boyfriend, big brands are now picking sides. But yeties, before we get that wonderful mix of stories. What? An amazing mix of stories. I love this mix, Jack. The cutest news on Wall Street right now. What is it, Nick? Oh, the cutest news on Wall Street, Jack. I think you should tell us. It ain't Bitcoin. It's babies. Specifically, Jack's I-B-B-O. The initial baby offering. Because besties last week, Sunday morning, February 23rd, to be precise,

Jack's baby boy was born. Can I be more precise? At 11.11. On February 23rd? Yes. 1111. That's wild. I love those numbers.

I mean, Jack, I've been keeping score here. I'm pretty sure that's your unprecedented third IBO. It is. And it's another baby boy. All right, Jack. Let's get into the financials here. Let's talk numbers. the weight of the new baby. Seven pounds, seven ounces. Another lucky number. Love it.

Height of the new baby. Well, it's actually length and it's 20.25 inches. Okay, valuation of the new baby. This kid is worth at least three lifts. Oh, at least four lifts. And this baby just disrupted his diaper, Jack. I should point out, the mom is healthy. Alex is doing fantastic and so is the baby. We have a healthy third baby boy. However, Jack, your baby's siblings have got some competition now. The word on the street is they've been colluding for more snack food. That's true. They're trying to corner the market for goldfish right now.

But Jack, I still got to ask the big question from the analysts. What name did you choose for this new publicly cuddled kiddo? Our third son is Oakley East Cravici Kramer. Oakley East Kravichi Kramer. I love it. I'm hearing it. I'm absorbing it. It is a very, very on-brand name for you guys.

I call him Mighty Oval. for sure. The big oak tree. And can we talk about the nature theme you guys going on? Because that's the marketing here. Well, we have a son named Wother, another named Brooks, another named Oakley after an oak tree, and a dog named River. I think we call that an investment thesis, Jack. So, Yeties, thanks to all of you who left comments for Jack, Alex, their whole family, and their new baby, Oakley. And thank you all for giving us the time for me to have a paternity week. I had an awesome time with the boys. Alex has been giving her all to all of it, literally. Alex was with the newborn all week,

and I was with the older two boys. We actually went skiing six days in a row. It was pretty fantastic. Every day of the paternity week, not too shabby. Besties, we missed you, and we hope you enjoyed those bonus episodes we dropped over the last few days. And I'm absolutely thrilled to be back,

and I can't believe I get to do this with you, Nick, every day for our work. I get to do it with you, Jack. Besties, we're pumped to be on the mics, And we've got a T-Boy today, Jack, what do you say? We swaddled these three stories. Double swaddle. We got a bassinet to finish.

Jack, let's hit him. 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 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're rare 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, Dude Wipes, the toilet paper alternative for dudes, just past $200 million in sales.

Dude Wipes is beating the bathroom monopoly because of one stinky number we found. Now, Jack, in order for us to tell this business story to the Yeties, let's open up Horters' Almanac week number one Now, what was the first shortage of the pandemic, man? The very first shortage of COVID-19 pandemic was toilet paper. Toilet paper. That was number one. Did shank a guy for a roll of Charmin.

You were stocking up on toilet paper like your body depended on it. Now, that shortage at the beginning of the pandemic was an opportunity for toilet paper alternatives. Yes. Specifically, wipes. Specifically, specifically, dude wipes. Dude wipes. That's the subject of this story. They're basically wet baby wipes, but they're dripping in man branding.

And Jack, can you get a little more specific with the context, please? What else we got on the? If a dry roll of toilet paper is uncomfortable and a bidet is luxurious, dude wipes are somewhere in between. Now, yeties, we should point out that years earlier than the pandemic, the dudes behind dude wipes went on shark tank and got a $300,000 angel deal from Mark Cuban. Because, as they told the sharks that day,

stop wiping your butt with sandpaper. Your butt hates you. So when the pandemic demand surge came, the dudes were operationally ready over at dude wipes. Sales hit $40 million a year in 2020, but now they've blown way past that. They just hit $200 million in annual sales. In fact, singer John Mayer just said he uses two dude wipes at once when he's in the bathroom.

That is so random. I love it. I should point out, it's actually just the finisher. Yeah, good point, yeah. Whereas the founder says, it's for the second to last wipe. But either way, ladies, when you open up your man's dop kit, statistically speaking, you have a high chance that you'll find that your dude is wet wiping. But yet he's Jack and I got curious about this story.

Why has this been the one pandemic habit that survived? We think it's authenticity. Yeah, we do. Because a majority of toilet paper is actually controlled by three brands in America. Scott, Cotonnell, and Charmin. And for those three brands, Jack, how would you describe their marketing? Figurative marketing. Yes.

Like, picture a six-pack of Charmin toilet paper. There's a fluffy cartoon bear hugging the toilet paper on the... package. And why are they using cartoon bears for toilet papermen? Because the bathroom is a private, personal, and dirty space. Brands want to stay clean, cute, and cuddly instead. But we noticed that dude wipes did the opposite. They've leaned into the literal and the uncomfortable, and it's all felt quite authentic. Yeah, for example, the founder of dude wipes, he loves poop hunts. He posts about them on LinkedIn every day. The social media team, they put a poop emoji on every tweet. The dude wipes headquarters has a toilet bowl in every single conference room.

It was a huge boost to the plumbing industry locally. They even pioneered a concept called ass sponsorships, where they would put a dude wipes logo on the butts of boxers when they're in the boxing ring. So dude wipes has embraced the dirty booty. Yes, they have, Jack. Yes, they make marketing jokes that sound like my four-year-old son would love them. But those jokes, they feel authentic.

And that resonates more deeply than a bunch of cuddly teddy bag. bears on a box of Charmin toilet paper. You should point out, though, Dude Wipes has failed in a couple places. Yeah, good point, Jack. There have been limits to the Dude Wipes brand. They tried to expand their brand to deodorant, and that hasn't worked.

Also, Dude Wipes has been sued over their flushability. Are these really plumber approved? The city of Vancouver doesn't think so. But either way, Dude Wipes just blew past $200 million in sales, so we paid attention, and we whipped up a takeaway. So, Jaggle, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Dude Wipes? If a statistic gives you pause, then there might be an opportunity.

Yeti's 80% of toilet paper buyers are women. And that hero stat, that explains the surge in dude wipes. So 80% of toilet paper is purchased by women, which makes sense because they make the majority of household purchasing choices. But 100% of us use toilet paper, right? But dude wipes saw that number 80% and it gave them pause. and they saw an opportunity in that pause. Toilet paper brands market mainly to women because that's who buys them, but what if you try marketing to men instead?

The results, men started to care about toilet paper because a toilet paper brand started speaking to them. And they started making their own toilet paper purchases as a result. What we're saying is that when dudes saw that 80% of toilet paper was purchased by women, they paused and they thought about that number. If a big number like that gives you pause, then it might be hiding an opportunity. For our second story, America is creating its first national crypto fund, and it's wilder than your crypto buddy's Robin Hood account.

But the surprise issue with this crypto reserve, it's linked to our national credit card. We'll explain. But yet he's as promised on the campaign trail, President Trump is setting up a strategic Bitcoin stockpile. Yeah, like a Fort Knox of digital gold. But not exactly, because on Sunday, President Trump announced something much riskier. Trump posted on Sunday, he's creating a working group to create a crypto strategic fund. Now, Bessies, we'll get into the details of that in a second. But the immediate reaction from the markets, what was it, Jack?

Very positive. Yeah, it was. Bitcoin rose 15% and gained some serious bromentum heading into the week. Our buddy Timmy, dad in Miami, said they were popping bottles at the clubs like it was 2021. But on Monday. After a day to digest this post, Bitcoin fell big time. And so did all the other cryptocurrencies. Because of the details.

Yeties, this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. This new crypto fund, it isn't just Bitcoin. In fact, the announcement didn't even mention the word Bitcoin. Instead, Trump's post mentioned three cryptos you may not have even heard of. Those cryptos are XRP, Solana, and ADA. or Ada. Now, these are not meme coins we should point out, but they are obscure, highly volatile cryptocurrencies. These crypto that Trump wants to put in the strategic crypto fund, they're not in the same class as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Bitcoin and Ethereum are seen as potential global stores of

value. Those other three? Simply no. Now, naturally, getting named dropped by President Trump sent the prices of those three surprise cryptocurrencies soaring yesterday. And Trump did clarify in another post that the fund would in fact have Bitcoin and Ethereum as well. But here's the problem, Yetis. Instead of legitimizing crypto, the botched execution of this new fund once again made crypto look less serious. And we saw that in the markets. By Monday evening, Bitcoin lost all of its post announcement pop, falling all the way back down to $86,000. Because after getting the details, even Bitcoin enthusiasts were disappointed about what they were But the bigger issue with this idea has less to do with the current president and has nothing to do with partisan politics at all.

The bigger issue actually has everything to do with our country's fundamental financial situation, no matter what party you belong to. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in crypto? This would be like buying crypto with a credit card. Yet he's last month, President Trump ordered a plan for a United States sovereign wealth fund. crypto fund, he announced on Sunday, faces the same fundamental issue as a sovereign wealth fund would. We simply don't have the money for it. Yeah, like the countries that have sovereign wealth funds and crypto funds, they're the countries with surpluses. Their governments bring in more revenue than they spent.

Norway and Saudi Arabia have the biggest sovereign wealth funds because they have huge oil wealth in that country. On the other hand, if you're in an indebted country like the United States, these ideas are simply not financially responsible. Because you don't have a surplus to buy this stuff with. You'd need to finance it with debt. Now, are there arguments for buying crypto on the idea that it could rise in value in the future? Yeah, totally. That makes sense.

But crypto is a risky asset. And buying crypto with debt is a very risky thing to do. Because you owe people that money in case crypto falls, and you've got to pay interest on that debt while you're buying the stuff. So this Friday, the White House will host their first ever crypto site. summit. We hope they take action to legitimize crypto. Because a plan for the U.S. government to buy crypto using our national credit card, it doesn't. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the next frontier in marketing is romantic breakups.

Influencers, actors, and celebs are ending their relationships and then getting their breakup sponsored. Welcome to the era of sponsored breakup. Yet is the latest season of The Bachelor on ABC. Jack, who we got? Who are the players here? Rachel Kirkconnell was one of the players. And she ended up dating a guy named Matt James. It was an influencer relationship.

You could follow the whole thing on Instagram. It was lovely. It was delightful to watch. But after a trip to Japan, Rachel got broken up with him. It had something to do with her picking a bad restaurant on their big vacation, apparently. But here's the shocking part yet. Rachel didn't get mad and Rachel didn't get even. Instead, Rachel got a brand deal. True story. Yes. There is currently a commercial going around for brawny paper towels

because brawny paper towels cleans up the mess like a messy dinner you selected in Japan. And that brawny ad. It probably went over your dad's head because he doesn't watch reality TV. But it lands with her fans. Yes, it does. It's an inside joke they were happy to be a part of. After that commercial, Team Rachel is now Team Brony and and Bronny has seen a bump in their business. Especially from millennial women. Now, Yeti's Jack and I dove in T-boy style to this story because it reveals an emerging trend in marketing.

The Wall Street Journal did a whole article on it. Sponsored Breakups. Or as we call it, brand breakups. Like, there is actually big corporate money betting on big drama of celebrity breakups. Do you remember Bravo's Summerhouse, Nick? Classic, instant classic. When the engaged co-stars ended up splitting up?

Well, Carl from that show got a deal with goldfish crackers because he ate goldfish crackers on the show. But then his ex, Lindsay, she got an ad deal with cheese hits, which made fun of Carl's goldfish ad. And it's not just your basic food and beverage brands getting involved. Hyundai is doing breakup branding. True. They gave a car to an Instagram star right after a divorce. And Hilton gave a TikTok star a free vacation after her breakup. And then Delta paid for the plane tickets to go to that Hilton location for that same TikTok star.

Nick, the next time a Kardashian sister goes some guy, he's probably getting a car deal. Totally. Sponsored breakups. They're happening. This post-breakup combo trip is brought to you by tequila. Yiddies, if you just got broken up with, here's the game plan, by the way. Post about your beef with your boyfriend on LinkedIn, tag the CMO of Unilever, and show a photo eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Agreed.

Next thing you know, you're getting the Ben and Jerry's flavor named after you. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies watching these branded breakups? Passion points are the key to loyalty points. Yetis, sponsored breakups, they actually involve huge brand risks. Like, you need to be on the right side of that social history. Yeah, your social media team better go deep and figure out who's the right person. Like, you want to choose the victim, not the bad guy or the cheater. Yeah, that's the person, by the way, who fans want to celebrate turning the relationship lemons into

to add money lemonade. So this whole concept is a huge surprise. I mean, big companies like Procter and Gamble, they hate controversy. They tend to avoid sponsoring anything that might get messy. Yet is 80% of toilet paper buyers are women. And that hero stat, that explains the surge in dude wipes. They tend to avoid sponsoring anything that might get messy.

And yet, those relationships are also highly relatable. They are highly personal. Those breakups are what energized fans. Think about that dinner party where someone started spilling the beans on their breakup story. Everyone at the table was fully engaged. So when your friends pick sides in a breakup, it's actually a lot similar to how they pick sides about brand choices. So when Rachel Kirkconnell broke up with Matt James, you had to decide, are you team Rachel or team Matt? Just like are you team Coke or are you team Pepsi.

Brands are doing sponsored breakups because passion points are where you win loyalty points. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for you? T-Boy Tuesday. Dude Wipes is disrupting toilet paper with their irreverent bathroom marketing. By irreverent bathroom marketing, Jack means potty humor. Dude Wives, they saw that 80% of toilet paper is bought by women, so they paused and saw an opportunity. For our second story, Donald Trump ordered the creation of a national crypto fund that includes three lesser-known crypto. But markets hated it because it's like a crypto account but linked to our nation's credit card debt. And our third and final story is a new thing in marketing,

Sponsored breakups. Sponsored breakups. Brands are taking the risk to pick sides because passion points win loyalty points. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the tariffs on Mexico and Canada that got delayed a month? Well, they actually go into effect today.

Stocks fell on the news that there is no room to negotiate a delay this time. The S&P 500 is now actually down so far this year. The president will explain his thinking on tariffing our neighbors in tonight's state of the union address. Second, the Academy Award winner for Best Picture. Maybe you hadn't heard of the movie when everyone was talking about it at the water cooler yesterday. Because Anora, the best picture of this year,

had a budget of only $6 million. That is so tiny. It actually only brought in $30 million at the global box office, and yet it just won Best Picture. That's actually part of a trend. The Academy has been selecting smaller movies, I mean, films for the Best Picture category. Yeah, from 2000 to 2010,

then, six best pictures had a $100 million budgets. But since then, only one best picture has cost more than $100 million. And that, trivia, was Oppenheimer. And finally, six flags just destroyed its most epic roller coaster, the King de Kau. This thing went up almost 500 feet and then dropped directly down. It's like half the height of the Empire State Building. This video online of it being demolished, six flags, get this, they thought it was, wasn't big and scary enough. They're actually building a record-breaking new roller coaster,

although the stock fell because investors are like, we'll believe it when we see it. Like multi-record-breaking, according to the company. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me for T-Boy Tuesday. What do we got, Jack? Get this. Today is Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday. And it's called Fat Tuesday because it takes place before Lent. You basically use up all your indulgence before the 40 days of deprivation in Kemp. Catholicism. But the biggest indulgence of all when it comes to Mardi Gras, it's the beads. Yeah, the beads down in New Orleans, and we got the numbers on the beads. In 2018's Mardi Gras, the city of New Orleans

had a major bead problem after the celebration. In fact, 93,000 of those Mardi Gras beads got pulled out of the storm drains of New Orleans. Correction. 93,000 pounds, Nick. That's how many beads swamp the city of New Orleans today. Which is give or take 100 billion beads. Yides, if you got the best fact yet, send it into us and we'll get your voice on the pod. But besties, before we

go, you look fantastic. And especially you, Jack, you are glowing right now and you performed fantastically on today's show. That was amazing. Thank you very much. If I'm glowing, it's because I'm happy to be back. And I'm just happy to be a father of three. It feels really awesome. Yaddies, can we pause the pod for a second

and just acknowledge what's going on here? Jack's family is three babies now. They just delivered one a week ago. They're having a fun time and they're smiling the whole time doing it. And it's just really fun to watch you guys thriving in this moment, Jack, Nick, spoken like a true pot father. If you know, you know, Jack and I will see you tomorrow. Great to be back. Festies. And before we go, what are the odds? Happy birthday to the legendary Eddie Alex Kravici Kramer, also known as Jack's wonderful wife. Her birthday was yesterday, actually. And she was magnificent in the delivery room. And I actually meant to say, Jack is Alex's wonderful husband.

Keep crushing it, Alex. And a happy birthday, bon anniversary to Coco Flageolet from France living in the Presidio. Happy 29th birthday to Derek Liu in San Francisco, California. And Prusa Patel's turning 30 years old in Canada, Ohio. Her husband actually has a special surprise first. Should we share it here? He's coming to New York this weekend to visit you. He's already packed and he can't wait to see you.

And happy birthday to William Slade, who turned 10 in Geneva, Illinois. And a happy belated to Hudson Harris, who turned eight years old up in lovely Kettibunk, Maine. Happy birthday to Caitlin Reese in Chandler, Arizona, who is crushing it at her new job. Derek Berilski down in Denver is a new dad and just celebrated the best birthday yet. And happy 13th birthday to Sophia Ali in Atlanta, Georgia. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Boor. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock in Robin Hood. We both own some Bitcoin and Ethereum,

and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500. Oh, and I also own stock in Unilever.