The Best One Yet - 🚁 “Unmanned everything” — Olympics drone’s highlight. Stocks’ Grim Reaper. Save the Allbirds. +Ski Job Bonus

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Gold medal for NBC Olympics? Goes to the drones… which is low-key dominated by China.Tech stocks are 6% off their all-time-highs… but the rest of the world is lapping us.Allbirds is closing all their stores… we think they should embrace the ugly.The new way to get ahead at work? Ski black diamonds…$BIRD $SPY $RCATBuy tickets to The IPO Tour (our In-Person Offering) TODAYAustin, TX (2/25): SOLD OUTArlington, VA (3/11): https://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/shows/341317 New York, NY (4/8): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000637AE43ED0C2Los Angeles, CA (6/3): SOLD OUTGet your TBOY Yeti Doll gift here: https://tboypod.com/shop/product/economic-support-yeti-doll NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, February 17th. 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. All right, Warren Buffett.

We know you're listening. How many times you see Wuthering Heights this weekend, man? What? Pretty sure you didn't go to that rom-com, man. Are you kidding? Or is it not a rom-com. I'm actually not even sure. Heathcliff is absolutely a Berkshire shareholder.

Jack, three fantastic stories for today's pod. And what are we got on the T-Boy? For our first story, an unwanted star of these Winter Olympics is the constant buzzing of the drones. But China just won the gold medal for drones. For our second story, the stock market fell last week, and the NASDAQ is off 6% from its all-time high. But besties, did you realize our stock market is getting laughed internationally? This is the Carmen San Diego trade. And our third and final story, Albirds, sadly announced they're closing all of their Allbird stores.

But Jack and I came up with an idea for their turnaround plan, And it is ugly. Literally. But yet is before we had that wonderful mix of stories. It's ugly on purpose. Don't worry. We'll explain. Jack, love the mix of stories, man.

Nick, I still have snow crusted on my beard. I know. I was skiing that much this weekend. And that's a good vibe. Besties, welcome back from the ski kend, the three-day skiing weekend. Because you either skied down the mountain or you watched Olympians ski down the mountain. You know who you are and you know what you did. Great news if you're a skier.

It turns out the best thing you can do to get promoted right now is to ski. Skiing, wild article from the Wall Street Journal, The Secret Edge of the Office Rockstar Skiar. Now to sprinkle on some context, more companies than ever are doing corporate ski trips right now. You see, with more hybrid work, CFOs are approved off-sites at ski resorts to foster the bonding. Apprae is a right-off. Another round of hot chocolates, make it three!

Which leads to the surprise workplace advantage, being a good skier. Yeah, the coolest dude at the office is the one who knows the backbowls Brack. And the most righteous babe is the one who rips on her blizzards. Busties, they are both now candidates for what Jack and I call the double black bonus. Because there's no better way to impress your boss than take them to get first tracks. Or busting out some backpack bruskees on the gondola. I know you did that, Jack. That's a total me move. Because the reality of getting ahead at work, it's not just your performance. It's also a popularity contest. Now, golf has long been the place where deals get done and

promotions get made. But skiing is the new golf. EAST E's earn your turns. Literally. Oh, let's hit this one. Three that's not our skiers' talk, Nick. I know I went surfing. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm.

They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we'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, if there was a gold medal for videography, it would go to Dutch drone gods, a Dutch startup capturing the insane drone footage at these Olympics. We're looking at the whole drone industry, though, because it spans from military to the Manhattan Bridge.

It's the invisible infrastructure. But besties, who remembers back in 2010 World Cup South Africa. Jack, what did it sound like exactly? I can't hear. That's what it sounds like. A Vuvuzella. Can you turn that down? Can you turn that down, please? Well, this year's Voo Zella was the sound of the drones that were omnipresent and still are at Olympics 2026. Because besties from the Luz to the downhill, drones were recording video every single thing in Italy. Their first person viewed drones, which are remote controlled

by a human who's wearing a headset. It's a lot like a video gamer. Now, Jack, I got to ask, who's controlling these drones? Because I'm pretty sure it's not Mike Toriko and Tara Lipinski. It's former athletes who know the sport well. That's how they can steer and follow the skiers with such crazy precision. They know how to turn and they make the drone turn that way. Yeah, they take Sean White and they put them into drone training for a few months. Like bobsled tracks, those are tight and narrow, but these drones fly alongside the sled like an aggressive bumblebee. It's amazing aerodynamics and physics. But oh do they hum, Jack. Yeah, they're loud and they're kind of a norm.

The buzz you hear on NBC, blame the drones. Side note, you guys got to give the remote control to Snoop Dog. We feel like that would be a lot more fun. But, besties, some of the drones used in these Milan Cortina games are actually made by a company with a wild name. Dutch drone gods. Real name, real company. A private company at that.

And the drones that they make are tiny. The ones used in the Olympics weigh just nine ounces. They're only four inches wide. And yet they go 80 miles per hour. We dove in T-boy style. Dutch drone gods is not a publicly traded stock, They do make other drones that can fly alongside F1 race cars going 217 miles per hour. But the real story here is recognizing that drones aren't just mainstream at this point.

Drones are a key part of our economy. Yeah, the way Jack and I think of it, drones are not part of our invisible infrastructure. Drones are handling delivery. They're handling farming. They're helping drug cartels. True story. All these businesses all in on drones. And we even saw this last week, right, Jack?

In the headlines. Last week, the airport in Texas closed and nobody knew why. officials thought they saw surveillance drones being used by Mexican drug cartels. Yeah, although it turns out, by the way, it was just a party balloon so everyone's fine and safe. Major false alarm. But other industries being revolutionized by drones, building inspections, that's a huge current opportunity for them. Drones can easily go where humans can't, like the 8th floor or the 87th floor. What about inspecting a bridge, Jack, once you're done with that building?

That used to be a dangerous mission done by a human wearing a safety harness. But now it's done in a snap by a nimble drone recording video of what it sees in real time. The drone market overall is huge and growing. One Chinese company dominates with 70% market share. DJI, yeah, that's right. They're selling seven out of ten drones in the world right now. They market Timo-Prized drones at Tesla quality engineering, and nobody else on the planet can match it. Although, Jack, we should point out here in the United States, zip line, a drone startup just hit a $7 billion valuation last month for basically burrito drone delivery. In Texas right now, you can get a Chipotle via drone.

Guac comes via drone, and yeah, that quack is extra, extra. But most American companies aren't trying to compete with DJI on the hardware. They're focused on the software and using AI to make these drones self-flying, which is kind of scary instead of remote-controlled. And Andrew, a military defense company, they're looking to remove humans from fighter jets and submarines, and they're doing it because of our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies looking up at all those drones?

The reason drones are so disruptive is that they don't need C-Bet. Follow us on this one, Yetis. The F-35 fighter jet costs $100 million. It is the most expensive one-person vehicle, after the Batmobile, that has ever been made in history. But the reason it costs

$100 million, it's not that it can fly almost twice the speed of sound, which it can't. No, no, no, no, no. It's because it can fly it twice the speed of sound while also keeping the pilot safe. If you remove the human, which is what a drone is, then so much of the cost

of that aircraft can come down. Because so much of the cost of developing an F-35 is focused on safety for the pilot. Like, if a crash is acceptable as they are with drones, then the cost can come way down to the point where you can scale that thing. But an F-35 crash is not acceptable. So we had a million safety features and it's worth $100 million. Bastie's add-all-up and the reason drones are so disruptive, they don't need seatbelts. For our second story, AI has become the grim reaper. of the stock markets, slaying one industry after another. American stocks are now down for the year, but the rest of the world is up by a lot. But Yetis, let's kick it off with some trivia. Jack, when did

the NASDAQ last hit an all-time high? When was that man? I just looked it up. It's not since October. Feels like ages ago. Yeah, we're down like 6% since Halloween, basically. And this gets to be some scary stuff, by the way. Now, the reason the tech industry is 6% down in the last 3.5 months, ironically, it's tech. Yeah, it's tech-eating tech. The latest AI models from Open AI and Anthropic are so good they have caused a SaaS apocalypse. Software stocks are down 24% this year, but then finance stocks got hit. That's right, because AI can now file your taxes, manage your money. You gave that puppy the keys to your portfolio. So TurboTax owner, Intuit, is down 38% this year, and Charles Schwab fell 11% last week. Okay, but check, it's not just finance either, even

commercial real estate is down on worries AI-driven layoffs will cut demand for office buildings. Expedia fell 6% on Friday because people are booking trips with AI travel agents instead of Expedia. Disney, Netflix, Spotify, all those media brands, they drop 5 to 8% on Friday on a JP Morgan report that, uh, Jack, why don't you just read the quote from this thing? This is a market that is dominated by AI, both positive and negative, with seemingly every sector taking a turn at being declared obsolete. Like, remember that meme where the Grim Reaper goes like, door to door and it's like, knocking here and knocking there and not. That's the stock market. It's the Grim Reaper meme right now. Claude has slayed like seven industries in the last seven days.

If a company's product requires an internet connection, then that stock is probably down this year. The result? Well, CNBC's calling it a rotation. Yeah, rotation, which sounds like an overly technical term, we're working on something better, and we have an answer in our takeaway. But the rotation that's happening is big money on Wall Street is selling tech stocks and buying the least techie stocks instead. Basically, investors are going from bytes to barrels. Or from computer chips to wood chips. Or like actual potato chips. Like

energy, it's up 21% so far this year. Material and consumer staple stocks, they're up 15% this year. Because fossil fuels, construction, and groceries, relatively safe from Claude Code. Sorry, Jack. Pause the pot. McDonald's stock is up 10% this year because AI, you can't replace a Big Mac,

can you, baby? That should be their new slogan. Yeah, hey, Justin Timberlake, let's get all. that, buddy. So what we're seeing is a vibe shift. Investors are flocking to whatever appears AI-proof, slop-proof, the unslappable stocks. Basically, whatever is not plugged into the internet right now. That's what's up this year and everything else is down. And look, Basties, it's been painful. I mean, Jack's and my Rob-note accounts of like third-degree muscle tears right now. We're invested in stocks that are heavily techie, and just about all of them are down so far this year. Although you have one winner in particular, Jack. You should share that with the Yetis.

Berkshire Hathaway. It's a nice hedge to the teard. tech-dominated stock market. It's the only thing I own that's up this year. Jack, can I share my ShakeShack shares are living their best life right now? Chat Cheap-T can't make a milkshake. That's what we always say. Now, we've been through downturns like this before. Mac and I aren't going to panic sell and we don't think you should either. No. In fact, it could potentially be a buying opportunity, but maybe we should be looking beyond U.S. borders instead, Jack. What do you think? Let's grab our financial passports and head over to our takeaway. Let's stamp it, baby. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone?

looking at the stock market. It's the Carmen San Diego trade. The world is beating our stock market by a lot. Now, yet, as you know, Jack and I hate the Dow, the Dow is dumb, but the S&P 500 is our preferred scoreboard for measuring the stock market. And that index of the 500 biggest stocks in America is up 19% since the start of last year, 2025. We're talking 13 and a half months. 19% gain? That's historically really good for that period of time. Okay, yeah, but Jack, we shouldn't be comparing to history, we should be comparing our stock market to the rest of the world. Okay. Well, the best stock market in the world since 2015 is South Korea, which is up 150% in 13 months. Or Jack, how about the Eurozone, up 47% in the last 13 and a half months?

How about the whole world, Nick? Vanguard created an ETF that tracks the weighted average stock markets of the entire world, and that's up 42% in 13 months, twice as good as the United States. in the same period. Basties, this shows that the United States, historically the number one stock market performer is getting crushed by the rest of the world, coinciding with the moment President Trump took office.

And the reason is related to President Trump. It's mainly the sell America trade. Global investors are selling U.S. stock and buying from other markets instead. So add it all up, here in the States, Americans are selling tech stocks and buying non-tech stocks. But zooming out, the U.S. stock market hugely lags the rest of the world,

and that is the Carmen San Diego. trade. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Allbirds has seen its stock plummet 99% and it's now closing all of its physical stores. It's a sad story, but we have an idea to save the birds, save the all birds. Here it is. Embrace the ugly. You know, Yeties, Jack and I were thinking one day a film will be made about the year 2016 and what are we going to see in the background of that movie, Jack? Millennial Core, iPhone dongles, AirPods, sorry. Headphone wires.

Oh, yeah. Juice cleanses. And a whole bunch of other identifying props. But the main starring character in that movie is going to be wearing Allbirds. The iconic, eco-friendly fashion of post-co-colleges millennials. Hey, Eddie, back in that year, 2016, Jack and I wrote an email newsletter with this subject line. Allbirds is a basic and woke unicorn. Doesn't that bring you back to 2016?

I mean, Jack, basic because every tech person was wearing him, they paired perfectly with that Patagonia fleece. And woke because they were made of wool. and they had saved the planet branding. It's the only fashion choice won by President Obama, Peter Thiel, and your ex-boyfriend. There's a big chunk of the audience that's actually true, that last part. I'm in San Francisco right now, I can tell you, you are legally required to wear all birds if you want to raise venture capital money.

You're not allowed in Andreessen's office without him. Speaking of venture capital, in 2021, they IPOed at $4 billion valuation. Impressive. But since then, the stock's down 99% to just $3 a share. It's $25 million valuation. That's less than a Goldman bonus. Because Allbirds has seen 12 straight quarters of sales shrinkage and annual sales are now half of their peak from back in 2022. Which leads to the sad news. They've closed all their physical stores. Including their iconic New York City store with the human-sized hamster wheel for trowing on shoes.

And yes, we still own a few bears of Allbirds and we were on that hamster wheel. You went in the hamster wheel? I never had the chance. Haddian, I took my dad downtown to go to the hamster wheel, Jack. How many people like fell and injured themselves? It would be pretty embarrassing. I think I signed an NDA so I can't tell you, Jack. But besties, Jack and I have rung this alarm bell before. We've warned you about the three-a-fads, food, fitness, and fashion.

Those are the three industries most at-risk to cycles, taste changes, and just viral bubbles. Basically, quick to get the ick. Well, Allbirds just told Fast Company that they've got a comeback strategy to reach a mass audience with a trendier style. To do it, they're launching a 1970-style, retro shoe. They call it their varsity collection. It's retro, it's smooth. It's nothing like traditional Allbert sneakers. It's giving sketches. If you visit the Allbirds website right now, you'll see a total makeover. Yeah, I mean, it's not just like a brand Botox. Jack, this is a full-on product plastic surgery they're doing. But according to people familiar with the

matter, working at the Nest, which is what we call Allbirds HQ. We love the nest. There's issues that go beyond the sneakers. There's identity issues at Allbirds right now. Because with both co-founder's gone, Allbirds can't decide whether to focus on young people or more middle-aged people. In this conference room, they're focused on 45-year-old dads. In that conference room, they're focused on 25-year-old runners. So, Jack, what are our two thoughts on this situation? First, pick one target customer. You can't do both. And second, don't try to be trendy. No, try to do our takeaway, because Allbirds, we want to see you sore again. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies with the wings over at Allbirds?

Embrace you're ugly. Besties. Funny thing Jack and I have noticed about the shoe industry. The resurgent brands, they're all ugly. No offense. No offense. New Balance. Burk and Stocks.

I mean, I'm a Birkenstocks and Crox guy. The only one I'm offending is myself. But Jack, all those shoes were once deemed ugly, but now their revenues are at all-time highs. For Birkenstocks, new balance, and crocs, there was a stretch where they looked down and out totally off-trend. You wondered if they were going to go out of business. But instead of pivoting to look like everyone, else, these brands double down on their ugly designs. And as us consumers loving nostalgia and pesky in our

tastes, we eventually came around to them again. Even Ano and Tor came around. New Balance caught the dad-shoe trend. Burkinstock caught the comfort trend and Crocs found a customer in millennial parents. And each of those brands used collabs to gain attention without changing what their core product was. All birds shouldn't try to be like someone else. They should double down on themselves. Embrace the ugly. Call it the ugly duckling effect. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the four-day work week? The Winter Olympics are showcasing how technical, speedy, and precise drones have become. They're part of our invisible infrastructure, and the reason they're so disruptive, drones don't need seatbelts.

For our second story, the NASDAQ is down 6% so far this year, as Wall Street is rotating out of tech stocks and into stocks that AI can't touch. Globally, Jack and I call this the Carmen San Diego trade. The rest of the world has twice the gains of America's stock market since last year. And finally, Allbird stock is down 99%. They just close their stores. Now they're pivoting their style. But instead, we think they should pursue the ugly duckling effect. Embrace your ugly. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the celebrity of economic reports. The inflation report for January. Prices rose 2.4% higher than last year, but that's the lowest increase since May of 2025.

Interestingly, tariffs are raising prices. The Fed, is reported that 99% of parriffs are being passed on to us consumers. But tariffs are also slow in the economy, which is deflationary. So inflationary price increases, deflationary economic slowdown equals 2.4% inflation. It's like a quasi-cancel-out situation. And second, Waymo is now paying DoorDash delivery guys to close the doors. You see, when you leave a Waymo, you're supposed to close the door. And if you don't, the vehicle can't go.

Actually, we once tested this. It just kind of barks and honks at you for an extended period of time, and then you feel guilty and you come back and close the door. So Google is hailing DoorDash riders, sorry, DoorDash drivers, to just come on over and close the door, please. That's right. On Reddit, one DoorDash driver said he got $11.25 just to slam shut the door on a Waymo Robo taxi.

And finally, IBM just announced some good news. They are tripling the number of entry-level workers that they hire. They're hiring people. Huge news in the post-college crowd. This is the opposite of the AI trend, Jack. They're hiring humans. At IBM, they admitted that a lot of jobs from three years ago can now be done by AI. But IBM wants young workers to do totally new jobs and help work their way up through IBM, hopeful as a headline.

Now, time for the best fact yet, which, because we're kicking off the week, means T-Boy trivia for T-Boy Tuesday. Jack, what do we got today? For the first time in a decade, NHL hockey players are allowed to play in this Olympics, and they are. So it's like the highest level of hockey in the world going on right now. You can watch it. It's amazing. But of the 12 national teams competing in the Olympics, only one of them has zero NHL players. That's right.

Only one men's team has no NHLers on it. What is that country's team? Jeez, that's a tough question. Okay, here's a hint, Jack. This hockey team, they like to drop the gloves because they like to use their hands. Okay. That's the hint. Drop your answer in the comments, and Jack and I'll whip it up in tomorrow's teapoy.

Yeties, you look fantastic today. Jack, you're glowing from shredding the narfo. Nice powder this weekend, my brand. That's not a skeer's talk, Nick. That's not a skeers talk, Nick. He's Jack now. See you tomorrow. Enjoy the app for you. Drop it on the expense account. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Yeah. And before we go, a happy 50th birthday to John Coppelchak, who is celebrated in Ohio and is always rounding up. Happy first birthday to Nico Mendoza from Worcester who dances to the intro song every day. Just outside Boston and Alexander Rabarbar. Enjoy the best birthday yet up in Toronto. Happy birthday to Alex Crow and OG Snacker over in Eureka. And Mariel, we see you in Vancouver.

Enjoy being a disc jockey with the best birthday yet remix that birthday song. Happy birthday to Airbnb host Darcy Ina in Snow Cal, Washington. And Duke Dykeman has got a 10th birthday in Boonville, Illinois. But watch out. This guy does the ground balls. at the lacrosse field. Congratulations to Sarah Zaccaro, who has a new job in Los Gattis, California. And Amy Irondi, congrats on being a new mom over in Pittsburgh and enjoy the big girls

golf trip this weekend. You guys got this and you earned it. A big shout out to Ansel and Emma. We know you guys at Axton are crushing it with those Zemps for dogs and cats. Help them live longer. Thank you. P-U-P-P-Y. And a happy belated Malentines day to Chase Reynolds and his buddies, if you know.

I thought it was February. I thought it was Val and Dude's Day. We got to do a poll on this. All right, let's throw one on Spotify. This is Jack. I own stock of Berkshire, Hathaway, Disney, Netflix, and Crocs. Nick on stock in Shagg and we both own stock in Spotify and Chippolda.