The Best One Yet - 🥤 “Vending Machine-Gate” — Poppi vs Olipop. NY’s Texas Stock Exchange. Netflix’s podcast move.

Starting point is 00:00:01 This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday the Real Friday. February 14th, Valentine's Day. And today's party's the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Celebrate the wins.

Starting point is 00:00:16 What a week. But can we talk about that meal last night, man? At hand of the wood? Oh, that was so good. I want two. I wanted three of everything. I got the Tagli Hoteli, which you should have ordered. I had huge regrets after that.

Starting point is 00:00:27 You regret. Any time the restaurant says we have homemade pasta, order the pasta. Honestly, we should have worked on our menu strategy. In all seriousness, Nick, thank you for coming to Vermont. I feel incredibly loved. You were my three-day doula. Give me a great dose of friendship before my third baby's coming. I'm your doula dude, Jack.

Starting point is 00:00:46 I got your back. I'm there. I was ready in case I had to cut an umbilical cord. Nick woke up at 3 a.m. Eastern time to catch a 5 a.m. flight to fly to San Francisco, and now he's recording the pot. Anything for the show, Jack. Anything for you, man.

Starting point is 00:01:01 stories for today's show. What do we got on the pie? For our first story, the biggest drama in business right now is Oli Poppup versus Poppy. It's a prebiotic soda scuffle, and it all comes down to a $25,000 vending machine. For our second story, guess who's about to get their second new stock exchange in the last year? Who is it? Texas is. Texas! The New York Stock Exchange is about to go south by southwest. And our third and final story. The next big podcast platform is reportedly going to be Netflix. Netflix is looking into podcasts because there is nothing hotter than a habit. But yet is before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Fantastic mix of stories. Love the mix, Jack. Nothing says love on Valentine's Day like a bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates. And spending three hours assembling a pine wood sofa together. Because the newest dating platform is actually being launched by IKEA. IKEA is the new Cupid. Get this. In England, IKEA stores are offering first date services

Starting point is 00:02:01 this Valentine's Day. That's right, IKEA partnered with a dating company to pair up singles at IKEA stores. Now, why would IKEA do dating? Here's the reason. People buy mattresses at IKEA. And the person you date is also your bedmate. So IKEA dating isn't matching you based on your personality, your occupation, or your horoscope. No, no, no, no, no. IKEA is matching you based on your mattress preferences. Is a hard mattress gal compatible with a soft mattress guy? Jack, can a cool bed do to love a warm bed, babe? If you sleep with your socks on, your mate better sleep with their socks on too. It's a red flag, Jack. That's a red flag.

Starting point is 00:02:37 Honestly, this does make economic sense, doesn't it, man? Every couple spends a third of their lives in bed together. So, perhaps the key to a long-lasting relationship is actually mattress compatibility. But we haven't even told you the wildest part yet about IKEA dating. Get this. One lucky couple who matches through IKEA mattresses gets a romantic meatball meal in bed. No joke. If you walk into a British IKEA tonight, you may find your future husband or future wife on a mattress dining over meatballs. And then the store makes you a Swedish meatball with gravy that they serve you on the bed in an IKEA showroom. It's a wild first date experience.

Starting point is 00:03:14 So yet is this Valentine's Day, remember the number one rule of love. Round up to king size. Because everyone needs their space, even if you're a love. And if you're a cuddler, but your partner's not a cuddler? I prefer a full jack. I like to be close. I need the love. Let's sit our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. 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.

Starting point is 00:03:41 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, the biggest drama in business right now, it's between two soda startups, Poppy and Olipop.

Starting point is 00:04:17 And this wild soda beef that's happening right now, it reveals the top rule of social media marketing. Ah, Jack, we have been covering the functional beverage trend for a while, but what's going on with prebiotic sodas? Like, what are they exactly? I still find it hard to believe that some bacteria is good for your gut. Yeah, they're very positive bacteria. But this is soda. filled with gut health bacteria. It's basically a Dr. Pepper inspired by yogurt. And like Uber and Lyft, Airbnb and Verbo and Hinge and Tinder, startups that are disrupting industries launch in pairs. So the soda industry is being disrupted by Olipop and Poppy, two prebiotic sodas. The smaller of the two is Poppy. They sell colorful pink cans looking like Skittles

Starting point is 00:05:00 and have $100 million of annual sales. Yeah, maybe you notice that Poppy had a Super Bowl ad this year, starring three top influencers. But they did. did more than just a Super Bowl ad. As part of their Super Bowl promotion, they sent 32 influencers a vending machine. Yeah. A custom poppy soda vending machine. Jack, could you pop open some context for us, please, about influencer marketing? It's common for brands to send influencers gifts. They basically hope that the influencer likes the brand sweatshirt, puts it on, post it on social, and drives the likes. And we call it the Alex Earle effect. Basically, anything she uses becomes so popular that you shoppy, shoppy till you dropy, dropy, and that

Starting point is 00:05:42 it sells out. So Alex Earle receives everything for free at her doorstep, including a poppy 7-foot 900-pound custom vending machine in her apartment. So if Alex Earl craves soda in the middle of the night, she'll go downstairs to her private poppy vending machine, pound a can of poppy, and post to her 4 million Instagram followers. Not to Shabby. Nick, that's what happened. Like, it worked. She did it. She was thirsty. And we got the numerical results.

Starting point is 00:06:16 Poppy vending machine videos got a hundred million views across social media last week. Poppy was popping off pretty good. But that's when the controversy began. Because Yetis, those videos got a lot of angry comments about the extravagance of those poppy vending machines. 20% of the comments were negative. People said that these vending machines were obnoxious. It's out of touch that they sent them in the

Starting point is 00:06:37 first place. In this economy, free vending machines? Why do rich people get free stuff? There was pushback of people peeved at Poppy, which led to the Poppy plot twist. Poppy's rival, Olipop, they hoping to can of Schadenfreude, watching all these negative comments. Honestly, we've never seen something like this before. But some of the meanest comments about Poppy were posted by their rival, Oli Poppe. It's another distrax situation in corporate advertising. Basically, they would comment and say things like, did you know these vending machines cost $25,000, which got people even angrier? They were fanning the anger. One Oli-Pop executive even ripped on Poppy in the comments from their personal handle. Which is awkward too because Oli-pop just hit a $1.8 billion valuation and no one's

Starting point is 00:07:23 even talking about that. Everyone's just talking about Poppy. This is the kind of drama you usually see on Bravo. Real Housewives of functional beverages. But in the meantime, apparently all is fair in love war and Instagram. And we were trying to figure out what's the issue. with both these brands. Well, Poppy probably chose the wrong moment. Like, everyone's crushed by inflation. Don't flaunt these free vending machines for these famous influencers. It's possible the culture has shifted, and this was the peak. But Oli Popp also looks insecure, like ripping on Poppy in the middle of their PR crisis in a kind of petty way. They were kind of punching down. They looked a little thirsty. So Jack wants the takeaway for our buddies over at Poppy. The comments

Starting point is 00:08:03 are the content. So Besties, was it worth it for Poppy to do this campaign? Well, we looked at the numbers, and 100 million views had overwhelming positive comments, and they only spent a million dollars. A million dollars spent to get 100 million views? That is a good return. A Super Bowl ad costs eight times as much for the same number of views. Great comparison, Jack.

Starting point is 00:08:23 But this campaign also got hundreds of million more views because of the drama in the comments. Successful politicians know that attention is all. matters. Oh, they know it right now. And prebiotic soda had all our attention last week because of the controversy. Because of the comments. It's a reminder about a great rule for social media strategy. The comments are the content. The impact of the post is, sure, what you post matters. What people comment on it arguably matters more. In fact, we bet the first place most followers are going right now. It's not to see what you posted. It's to read the comments section. For our second story, the New York Stock Exchange is open.

Starting point is 00:09:05 opening a second shop down in Texas. The bigger story here is the southeast quadrant of the United States, which is taking both population and corporations from the two big blue states. Now, yet, he's America's financial capital. It's always been New York City. But did you know the New York Stock Exchange has a little offshoot over in Chicago? Not anymore. They don't. No, they don't.

Starting point is 00:09:29 The company that owns the New York Stock Exchange is taking their town south, moving their Chicago outpost down to Texas. Yeah, they're still going to have the classic New York one. That's not going anywhere. But the offshoot in Chicago, that's down in Dallas now. I mean, if you're going to have two stock exchanges, it makes sense to have one in a blue state, one in a red state. Yeah, that's the way things are these days.

Starting point is 00:09:49 Now, the New York Stock Exchange says they're doing this because Texas is home to more publicly listed companies than any other state in America. And the NYSC also shouted out Texas's pro-business atmosphere. But Jack, funny timing, considering a story we did last year, what do you think the real reason is for the new New York Stock Exchange South by Southwest? Last year, a startup called the Texas Stock Exchange raised $120 million to open a stock exchange in Dallas. That's right. It's not based on Wall Street. It's based on Y'all Street. And if stock trading is going to happen in Texas, the New York Stock Exchange wants in on it.

Starting point is 00:10:26 So besties, add it all up. And the two new Lone Star Stock Exchanges in less than one year? That's big. They're going to be less Brooks Brothers, more bolo ties. Less sweet green, more sweet brisket. Less Gordon Gecko, more Matthew McConaughey. I knew you had a third one. You did? I didn't. I didn't. I'm glad you did. No, Yeties, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ are our two big stock exchanges. They basically control the markets with a duopoly. It's a duopoly. We've been to both of those exchanges dozens of times. And the only big difference between the two, besides one being in Midtown and one being downtown, is one has a stock Exchange floor. Like a literal floor. The New York Stock Exchange's famous ceremonial floor. Back in the day,

Starting point is 00:11:09 guys who used to play football in college would take jobs as stock traders because it was a physical sport where they would like box out the other guys to get their order in first. It's pretty cool to watch in person, but it is also a relic in an age of digital trading. It's completely not necessary that they have this giant floor today. And that's why NASDAQ launched in 1971 with a fully electronic exchange. Stock trading as a non-contact sport. But down in Texas, both of the new exchanges, both in Dallas, are going to be fully electronic. The only physical section of these stock exchanges, what do you think it's going to be? Is like the party room, basically. Yeah, the party room. What goes down in the party room, Jack? It's a ceremonial room used by CEOs and employees of companies

Starting point is 00:11:52 that are having their big IPO day. Yeah, like instead of ringing the bell at the Texas stock exchange, maybe the CEO will ride like a mechanical bull, Jack. That'd actually be pretty awesome. But yet, he's the real driving reason why a company might choose Texas instead of New York to list their stock. And ain't the salt lick pulled pork, is it, Jack? It's the Texas trio. Lower taxes, business-friendly courts, and less rules and regulations.

Starting point is 00:12:15 So, Jack, what's our takeaway for our buddies down to Texas with the Texas stock exchanges? The two polls of corporate America have lost their magnetism. Yeties, if America were a geological map, then New York City is the financial pole and California is the innovation pole, our east and west poles. But since the pandemic, those two poles have both started showing cracks in their respective dominance. And where is that polarity moving? Well, it's moving to the southeast. The southeast of the United States grew by 3.5 million people during the pandemic. Virtually all net U.S. population growth happened in the southeast. And that is why the new Texas Stock Exchange brags it's in the southeast quadrant of America,

Starting point is 00:12:59 Texas to Florida to North Carolina. It's a big triangle and it's where all the business magnetism is going. But either way, finance firms moved from New York City to Miami and tech oil and car companies have moved from California to Texas. Why is this happening? Oh, big reason is New York and California's high housing costs and high taxes. Yeah, California's more expensive than New York and I thought New York was expensive, man. But, Nick, this isn't just a culture war or political thing.

Starting point is 00:13:25 True, true, true, true. This is a serious business reshuffling of the United States. Yeties, the two polls of corporate America are shifting. And if the big blue states want to attract businesses again, they got to make some changes. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Netflix's next big thing, get this. It's podcasts. Video podcasts are a financial trick shot for Netflix, which wants to be a new.

Starting point is 00:13:55 to punch YouTube in the screen. Now, Yetis, you have been hanging out with us for a while. And you may remember that back in 2023, we said this about Netflix. This was the year that Netflix stopped being Netflix. Yeah, 20203, Netflix's co-founder had said they would never do advertising or live sports. But now, Netflix has both. They also cracked down on password sharing.

Starting point is 00:14:17 They launched video games, and they broadcast Love is Blind live. Yes. With a bunch of technical issues. Yeah. So Netflix, they've been experimenting like a year. young Wes Anderson, and the stock is up 400% in the last two years. Now, Netflix is reportedly courting podcasters to bring podcasts onto Netflix. Podcasts on Netflix. I call it Podflix. Yeah. Nick calls it NetPod. I think Podflix is a better description. We'll throw a poll on Spotify right now.

Starting point is 00:14:44 Now, according to people familiar with the matter, PFWTMs, last year, Netflix chatted with Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy, although she ended up doing a deal with serious exam instead. Still, It's signed they want to get into podcasting. So first, it was Spotify, then it was Amazon, but the next big tech company to get in on podcasts could be Netflix. But this is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Jack, why would Netflix, a completely visual-focused TV long-form company, want in on a version of radio?

Starting point is 00:15:16 First of all, their video podcast. Second of all, video podcasts represent a financial trick shot. Yeah. Because they're more content, but at a cheaper cost than other forms of video. we're saying is that podcasts are high yield media. Every form of content yeties has a different business model with different associated costs and a different payoff. And we've calculated them and we've studied them. Like, why did MTV go all in on reality TV 30 years ago? Because reality TV requires one set, no script writers, and a cheap cast of non-actors. That's a financial trick shot.

Starting point is 00:15:49 And why has Netflix done 350 stand-up comedy specials on their channel? It's just one person at one location with no writers. It's a financial trick shot. And it's the same with podcasting. A one hour episode costs thousands of dollars to produce, not millions of dollars. Now, Jack and I put huge mental work to prepare this podcast every day beginning at 5 a.m. But each episode of Squid Game costs two and a half million dollars. And that's a deal.

Starting point is 00:16:15 Yeah. You know, Squid Game, they use 3,000 gallons of paint on that tug of war set. Jack and I, we have one backdrop. We have a simple backdrop just like every other podcast. We have a microphone that's never broken. And that's our only equipment. So with higher production costs since the writer's strike, Hollywood is looking for content deals.

Starting point is 00:16:34 And podcasts are the financial trick shot. Plus, podcasts have one other major advantage on other types of media. They develop habits. Habits. The podcast is a daily habit like brushing your teeth. And Netflix doesn't have that. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Netflix? Netflix versus YouTube is Ollie versus Frasier.

Starting point is 00:16:55 The Media Fight of the Century. Yeties, the TV used to be dominated by Disney, CBS, NBC, Fox, and now it's dominated by YouTube and Netflix. Did you hear the wild stat this week? The most popular way that people watch YouTube isn't on a phone or on a computer. It's on a television. It's on a television. YouTube put out a whole PR release that Netflix must have freaking hated.

Starting point is 00:17:21 YouTube is the new television. So, just as YouTube has accroached on Netflix, Netflix's territory, viewing on TVs. Now Netflix is encroaching on YouTube's territory with video podcasts. Who's winning? That's neck and neck. YouTube does $32 billion a year in revenue. Netflix, they do $34 billion a year in revenue. Netflix is worth more than all the legacy media networks combined. And YouTube is the fastest growing piece of $2 trillion alphabet. Netflix versus YouTube. It's the media fight of the century. Ding, ding, ding. Smash that subscribe button to learn more.

Starting point is 00:17:56 No, that's not necessary. No, that's good. We have a YouTube show. Let's keep it, Jack. I'll love it. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the Real Friday? Poppy's free vending machine for influencers came off as tone deaf to some. But the controversy drove the campaign success because the comments are the content.

Starting point is 00:18:15 For our second story, the New York Stock Exchange is opening a second shop in Dallas, Texas. Because the two polls of corporate America have lost their magnetism. And our third and final story. Netflix is reportedly looking for video podcasts because it's low-cost content and forms a habit. Netflix versus YouTube is Ali versus Frazier, the media fight, Bing, Ding, Ding of the century. Actually, a media fight of the century is Podflix versus Netpods. Vote today on Spotify, ironically. But yet is this Pod's not over yet? Here's what else you need to know today.

Starting point is 00:18:48 First, RFK Jr. was confirmed by the Senate to lead the health and human services. That means he's in charge of the FDA, the CDC, Medicare, Medicaid, the NIH, and a bunch of other organizations. And this also could have huge impacts on vaccine policy, food, and public health. Second, White Lotus Season 3 debuts this Sunday on HBO. It also launches a dozen collapse this Sunday. In case you missed it, check out our episode from two weeks ago on the White Lotus effect. It's amazing. Basically, whatever location the HBO show is filmed at, enjoys a 20% jump in tourism the following year.

Starting point is 00:19:22 Hawaii got a 20% jump, Sicily got a 20% jump, and already in Thailand, they're seeing a tourist surge. And finally, the duolingo mascot, a cute app-shaped cartoon owl, is dead. It's gone after 14 years. Why would the company kill its very own mascot? Well, their caption went viral too. Here's their caption. Authorities are currently investigating this cause of death, and we are cooperating fully. Yes. To be honest, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson. But what do we know? Now, we can't confront. I'm not confirmed this, but Jack, I did just notice Duolingo stock is at an all-time high since they killed their owl. Coincidence?

Starting point is 00:20:00 There are no coincidences. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Jack's middle school math teacher, Mr. Becker. So, President's Day is this Monday. Yes, it is. It's all about George Washington and A. Blanket, isn't it? Their birthdays are 10 days apart in February, so President's Day splits the difference. You get a day off.

Starting point is 00:20:18 Do you know that George Washington's birth year is mathematically very much? very significant. Jack, whip out the chalkboard and rip out the numbers for us over there. First, what's the square root of nine, Nick? That would be three. What's the square root of four? That would be two. What's the square root of three? It would happen to be George Washington's birth year. You're kidding. 1.732. So Mr. George Washington's birth year is the square root of the number 3. 1.732 is the square out of 3, and 1732 is George Washington's birth year. I've known that ever since middle school, thanks to Mr. Becker. Mr. Becker, you get in a day. Yeties, you look fantastic over there for Valentine's Day. Seriously, you'll look your best.

Starting point is 00:21:06 And remember, if you really want to impress her tonight, make her some scrambled eggs. Yeah, that's like a $30 investment. I mean, Jack, eggs are the new oysters. I actually think they're more expensive than oysters these days. Yetis have a fantastic long weekend. We're dropping a special episode on Monday, and then Nick and I will see you back here Tuesday. So enjoy Monday's special show, and Jack and I will see you after.

Starting point is 00:21:32 And before we go, a happy birthday, a legendary Yeti, Naila Mohamadi, turning one-year-old down in Tracy, California. Get this, on June 2nd, 20203, Naila's mother surprised her husband that she was pregnant via a T-boy podcast shout-out. And now, not only has that pregnancy result in a child, but that child, Naila, is one-year-old.

Starting point is 00:21:55 Congrats, Naila. And Carmen S. Happy 30th birthday over in Tyson's, Virginia. Happy birthday to David Wong in North Augusta, South Carolina. And Jolian Pucci's turned four years old, celebrating in Canton, Ohio. And Vlad, happy birthday down to Menlo Park. Happy birthday to be Chu Ann Lowe in Nanning, China,

Starting point is 00:22:12 who's an entrepreneur with a sleep device called Lumos. And Max John down in Crowley, Louisiana is celebrating with some crawfish. Happy birthday to Carrie Patterson, in Chicago, who's got a new small business. And Don Gulliano in Billings, Montana is celebrated best birthday yet. Happy four-year anniversary to Joy Lewis in Bethlehem, Georgia. And Rick Ramirez was named Realtor to Watch of 2025. He doesn't miss a single one of his daughter's activities, and he's selling houses.

Starting point is 00:22:39 And happy five-year anniversary of their first date to Shannon Cosgrove in San Rafael, California. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Netflix, and Nick and I both on stock of Spotify, in the Airbnb.

The Best One Yet - 🥤 “Vending Machine-Gate” — Poppi vs Olipop. NY’s Texas Stock Exchange. Netflix’s podcast move.

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