The Best One Yet - 🚕 “We, Robot” — Tesla’s robotaxi day. Othership’s scalable sauna. Home Depot’s undercover boss.

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Tesla’s robotaxi unveil event day is tonight… Elon’s trillion dollar idea? Uber meets Airbnb.Othership created the coldest cold plunge and hottest sauna in America… but can they scale it?Home Depot’s “Undercover Executive” policy... Every corporate worker must work a shift at a store each quarter.Subscribe 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.$TSLA $HD $GOOG—-----------------------------------------------------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. It's Thursday, the new Friday, October 10th. 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. Docs are jumping. The Dow is up 400 points and the S&P 500 just hit an all-time hijack. More importantly, I am a terrible patient of my GI Doc. Oh, yeah. I had a bunch of gluten last night. Every time we're in Los Angeles, markets rise. Every time Jack eats a carb, markets rise. We went to a homemade pasta place called Fleeze last night, or was it Felix? It was called Felix, and the rigatoni was flown out of Jack's mouth all the time. I didn't have dairy, though. So I get partial credit.

Like we said, every time Jack goes gluten-free in Los Angeles, stocks go up. So Jack, three stories for today's pod. What do we got on the show? For our first story, tonight at 7 o'clock Pacific, Tesla finally unveils their robot taxi. So we got a preview of what could be a huge new product or a huge, disappointment and one wild theory. For our second story, it's Other Ship. This is a chain of

spas with the coldest cold plunge and the biggest sauna in America. But Other Ship's real competition isn't gyms and it isn't spas. It's actually Starbucks. And our third and final story is Home Depot's newest HR strategy. This is Wild. Undercover

Executive. Get this. Every Home Depot corporate employee must put on an apron and work a eight-hour shift at a home depot store every single. quarter. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories, Jack, fantastic mix of stories, Jack. The number one question, Nick and I have been getting all week? How are you running a daily show and launch a weekly show? Because Nick and I just launched the best idea yet. Yeah. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And the

business insights that made them go viral. Are you going to keep doing T-Boy Daily while also launching a new weekly show? Well, what's the answer, Jack? Yes, we are. Yeah, we're going to be serving up Both of those, a daily show and a weekly show forever. We're able to host two shows thanks to years of preparation and one key partnership. Jack and I partnered with Wondery to build a pop biz production powerhouse. That's right. Because the best idea yet is powered by a team of a dozen writers, researchers, fact checkers, and producers. And editors and sound mixers and extra sound mixers.

And for six years, Nick and I have been bookmarking stories that are so ripe to go deeper on. And now our research team is doing just that. They're spending weeks and months pouring over history and data and earnings and interviews and information and annual reports. The stories are incredible. Oh, and then the sound effects team adds in a little cinematic sprinkled ankle. And then Jack and I add in our business takeaways with a little bit of razzle-dazzle. Three months of work go into each episode of the best idea yet.

Three months of work to make these episodes sound like Hollywood. And tomorrow, we've got a surprise for you. Because even though episode one launches next week, we're going to give you a sneak peek. That's right. Tomorrow, we're putting the entire first episode of The Best Idea Yet on this feed for you. Our entire first episode of our brand new series is coming to you tomorrow right here. We can't wait for you to hear it. But in the meantime, Jack, we prepared three fantastic stories for today's show.

Let's hit the pod. Yeah, yeah, me! 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 an 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 Our first story

After years, literally of missed promises and delays Tonight is Tesla's big Robotaxi unveil. But no matter what gets announced tonight, there's one Tesla secret nobody's talking about. Jack, I got a date for you. You ready for this? April 2019, I remember where we were. We were recording a podcast of the show in California. True story. About Tesla's robotaxies. Five and a half years ago, Elon said a fleet of one million Tesla robotaxies would be hit in the streets by 2020. The Tesla taxi would be here. a bold promise. Well, Jack, five and a half years later, after that announcement, there are still

no Tesla Robotaxies. But tonight, at 7 o'clock Pacific, Tesla is hosting an event called We Robot. We Robot. Where Elon says he will unveil the new Tesla Robotaxie. According to reports, this could be an entirely new type of car. Oh, total. Like no steering wheel, different wheels, ground up, completely new, a ghost cab like we've never seen before. This could make Uber's irrelevant. They make Waymo Robotaxies look way old. Or on the other hand, this could be nothing at all. It could be another broken promise because Elon over promises and under delivers for the last five years. Yeah, Elon over promises and then he eventually delivers. He has a good track record of eventually delivering, but he's never delivered a robot taxi. You just got to be a little patient

with him sometimes. But no matter what Tesla unveils tonight, there is one theory about Tesla and robotaxies that we jumped into T-boy style and it was too wild not to share. Here's the theory. Tesla already has the biggest robotaxie fleet in the world. They just have to turn them on. Yeties, few know this, but Tesla will not actually let you buy back a leased car at the end of your lease. You know this because you just had your Tesla lease finish up. It just expired and most cars will let you buy them, but Tesla will not let you buy the car. You have to give up your car and lose a new car instead. So even though you wanted your model Y, you had to lease a brand new one. You couldn't keep the one that you'd been driving for three years. And that's the interesting

observation, because some of those use Tesla's, Tesla sells as certified pre-owned Tesla cars. But some of those formerly leased cars, Tesla keeps. And it doesn't talk about them. No. It's unclear where those leased cars are. And those leased cars have sensors. They have LIDAR, they have radar, they have radar, they have all the hardware that will be needed to become a self-driving robotaxie. So theoretically, with one over-the-air software update, those Tesla cars could become robotaxies. If you flip a switch, a warehouse of Tesla's off-lease Tesla's Teslas could theoretically become a Tesla Robotaxy fleet overnight. Plus, if Tesla did this, there'd be a big financial benefit. Interesting detail, Yetis. But instead of a depreciating asset, the accountants of Tesla could

could categorize old-leased cars as an appreciating asset if they became robotaxies. Because they'd be on the road collecting hails, generating profit for the company. Interesting theory, but it's not our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over at Tesla? Tesla's trillion-dollar idea is Uber meets Airbnb. It's Uber-B-N-B. Besties, no one knows what will happen tonight with Tesla's big Robotaxi event. In fact, Tesla's chief information officer, the one in charge of the autonomy division,

pretty critical guy, just quit last week. Awkward. What's going on there? But what we do know is that what Tesla is trying to build is Uber meets Airbnb. Uber meets Airbnb. The ability to monetize your current Tesla by switching it into Robo Taxi mode. All right, hear us out. Like Airbnb, you could use your Tesla car like usual, or you could set it to be bookable by others.

Think about it. A Tesla owner can already hail their car with summon mode. If it's fully self-driving, a paying customer across town could summon your Tesla too. Like Uber, you could download the Tesla app to call a Tesla that's available without a driver. Tesla's app, by the way, is by far the top-rated app in the app store for cars. Also like Uber and also like Airbnb. So no matter what happens tonight, we know what Tesla's $1 trillion master plan is. Tesla's $1 trillion master plan is Uber B&B.

For our second story, the newest cold workout is a wellness spa called OTHER Ship. Coldest Cold Plunge and the hottest sauna in America. It's OtherShip. But it's actually competing with Starbucks. Yeties, there's one neighborhood in New York City, Jack and I love in particular. It's the Flatiron area, because the Flatiron area is basically a startup incubator. It's where all the new startups in New York begin. And the latest one that we noticed is one we had to jump into T-boy style.

By the way, great fast casual restaurants around the Flatiron. Couldn't agree more. But Other Ship is the new chain of immersive saunas and ice baths. Other ship is basically trying to scale the steam room. This location in the Flatiron is 7,000 square feet. How do you describe it, Jeff? It's like Equinox and Soul Cycle had a menager-tois with a Turkish bathhouse. Exactly like that.

It's kind of like if Gwyneth Paltrow went to Finland for vacation and came back and just designed a new bathroom for herself. It's upscale. It's not a mothership. Right. It's the other ship. And other ship provides both guided and unguided sauna and cold plunge sessions for 75 minutes to two hours long. Yeah, you're going to cycle between the heat and the cold and like do breathing exercises that are guided throughout. You're doing candlelit group classes in a sauna, Jack.

Gwedith would feel right at all. It's like Barry's boot camp, but less sprinting, more shivis. Founded in Toronto, Canada, this company has raised $8 million to add four more U.S. locations besides just the flat iron. Yeah, we discovered it cost them $2 million to build out each giant sauna, and they're charging $45 a class, so we ran the numbers and... They could break even on their investment in just one year. Because you can fit 90 human beings in each of their ballroom-sized steam rooms. Yeah, it's like, it's not a steam room, it's a steam ballroom. Now, Besties, other ship is actually using a strategy we've told you.

before that there's a marketing opportunity in the extremes. Because Other Ship is part social club, part Zen retreat, but fully extreme temperatures. Because it is the very first fitness spa we've ever seen that's already got Guinness World Records. Other ship claims they have the coldest cold plunge in the United States. They keep their water as low as 32 degrees. Which is one chemical reaction away from being an ice cube. Yeah. Most ice plunges are full. 40 minimum. They go down to 32 somehow. On the other end of the spectrum, Othership has the largest sauna in America, too. This 180 degree room can hold 90 people. Oh, and they are so mindful, I'm sorry, extremely mindful at Ourship that they have banned technology in the space.

You may not bring your phone, you may not bring your smart watch, all screens stay locked in the lockers. If you even try to sneak a Fitbit in there on your wrist, they will ice you, Jack. They will smear enough vice you. But yet he's here's what Jack and I find interesting. We don't think other ships competition is equinox. We don't think it's planet fitness and we don't even think it's another spa. Other ship's competition is actually Starbucks. So breathe in and breathe out. And wipe the sweat away from your brow. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over? At other ship. The number one void in America is a third place. And that is a business opportunity. Yeties, when Howard Schultz took over Starbucks, he was inspired by Italian coffee shops, which are a third place.

I noticed this in France. Yeah, yeah, you did. Yeah. Cafes in France serve as a third place. They're not home. They're not work. There's third places where you can socialize, spend your time, and the staff is not pushing you to either buy or get out of there. But here's the problem.

As Starbucks expanded, it has lost that third place appeal that it first pioneered. Starbucks is not as nice a place to spend leisure time. anymore. It's about convenience now. You want to get in, get out with your coffee, ASAP. So the way we see, an opportunity has emerged for a business to fill that third place void in America. Clubs like the Soho House and golf country clubs, they're too exclusive to be a real third place. Yeah, and Jack, gyms, they feel too utilitarian to be a real third place. Other ship is creating a new category. Social saunas. A combo of working out and hanging out Simultaneously, it is a new, albeit expensive, third place.

Because a huge opportunity for business is to become America's next third place. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Home Depot has a new corporate dress code. And Jack, it's an orange apron because all corporate employees at Home Depot must now work an eight-hour shift at a Home Depot store every single quarter. And we love it. But first, excuse me, where can I find a tub of spackle? Jack, I'm so glad you asked, because the person who answers that question could be the CEO of Home Depot. Because the big box home improvement store just announced a wild new policy.

Undercover boss for everyone. And yet these Bloomberg News got their hands on an internal memo from the CEO that honestly sounds like a TV script. Starting right now, all corporate employees must work one-eastern, hour shift at a store once per quarter. Get out of the earnings report. Get into customer support. Because Home Depot has 450,000 employees. Most of them work at the retail stores. But the decisions are made at corporate in Atlanta, a new policy, and this new policy is intended to keep the suits grounded. Even senior management has to do this. Yeah. Like Frank from finance has to help out in a store once every three months. The chief marketing officer, the top IT dude,

Carol in accounting. They've all got to go from the spreadsheets to the sheet rock. I love this idea. It's like if Jamie Diamond told all the investment bankers, they had to be ATMs for a day. You know what I mean? No, but if I worked at on this 37th floor of Home Depot's corporate headquarters, I'd be kind of fun for a day. I would love the change of pace. Totally. Going to the suburbs. You don't know where any of the items are, but yeah, if people ask me a question, I'd be like, I don't know. I'm sorry. You're going to go ask my colleague. So as you can tell you, is Jack and I think this idea is brilliant because it connects management with two of the most important stakeholders. Stakeholders are key.

The most important stakeholders is the customers. Totally, totally. Because it's easy for executives to think that customers are just numbers and units and metrics and some spreadsheet. But by being in the store and interacting with customers, that is key to any B to C company. Interacting with the actual human beings who buy the actual product. The next stakeholder, it's the frontline workers. That's who it connects the executives with. This policy is going to help executives empathize with both the challenges and see the opportunities of the associates work. in the stores. The workers are going to feel seen, which might also help keep some unionization

efforts at bay. They're pretty cool if you're like the guy in the paint department to work with the CFO of the company. Again, Jack, the only problem here, though, is the customer experience. Frank from finance has no idea where the paint is. I bet you there's training. I'll teach him. But in the meantime, Jack, what's the takeaway for our orange vested buddies over at Home Depot? Patriotic, but for a company. Yeties, this business policy, it actually reminds us of a government policy, mandatory military or civilian service. 75 countries require service from its citizens in some way, usually when they hit 18 years of age. For example, Israel requires men and women to serve in the military for two to three years.

Germany requires military or civil service as well. Requiring 18-year-olds to contribute alongside their fellow citizens for a year in service to the country, it creates connection. We could all use a little bit of connection right now, couldn't we, man? And what Home Depot is doing, requiring everyone at corporate to provide service to the stores, it feels similar. Yeah, it does, because it could boost company morale, and honestly, any investment in retention is financially worth it. And if you're a company, you want your employees to love the company.

I think this policy could do some of that. Patriotic, but for a company. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Tesla's Robotaxy event is tonight. We'll either be incredibly impressed or unsurprisingly disappointed. Either way, the $1 trillion robotaxy master plan for Tesla is this. Uber meets Airbnb. UberB&B.

For our second story, it's Other Ship. This is a new chain of extreme, mindful sauna and cold plunge spas. Because filling the void of a third place is the number one business opportunity. And our third and final story is Home Depot. They're now requiring all corporate employees to work one retail shift each quarter. Patriotic, but for the company. My company, tis of thee. Sweet earnings of liberty.

But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, two tech companies in America are facing some brutal allegations right now. First, TikTok was sued this week by 14 states for intentionally making their app addictive to kids. And then Roblox was accused by a short-selling hedge fund of being a hedge fund of being a hangout for child predators. Major theme recently, tech companies are not protecting kids. And Roblox stock felt 10%. And second, the U.S. deficit for the fiscal year 2024, it just hit $1.8 trillion dollars. That's its highest in three years. The U.S. debt situation feels out of control,

and neither political party seems intent on reining it in. Kamala Harris' policies would add $8 trillion to the national debt. Trumps would add nearly double that, adding $15 trillion of debt over the next 10 years. And finally, Maven, the women's health and family planning clinic just hit a $1.7 billion valuation. Maven is now the most valuable women's health care company in America, and all their care is provided virtually. Yeah, they're providing family planning, childbirth, postpartum, menopause services. They're really targeting millennial moms right now in particular. Wild stat about their services, their work reduces the number of NICU admissions for newborns by 20 to 28%.

Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Al Rubio from lovely Guadalajara, Mexico. We recently mentioned that Taco Bell was the fastest drive-through chain in America. They will get you that Doritos Locos Taco in 4 minutes and 25 seconds. That's pretty quick. But if you compare that to some chains outside of America, it's actually really slow. Get this, Carnet Garibaldi, located in Al's hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, fulfills orders in 13.5 seconds.

How do they do it? Yeah, and you sit down and then you are fed. No, they must have like very limited choices. Yeah. Like, do you want beef or do you want chicken? That's it. Either way, if you're so hungry, you can't wait four minutes, you head to Carnay Garibaldi in Guadalai.

You're actually supposed to walk in with your mouth open. Wim Hof style. Yeties, you looked fantastic all week. Jack, congratulations on the launch. week in LA. We got, oh, we cannot. Oh, we got to serve up the special episode. Yeah. Episode one. It's going to be exciting. Yeties. Oh, we cannot wait to share with you episode number one of the best idea yet. It'll be right here on the best one yet tomorrow morning for you. And of course, we drop the link in the episode of description for you to subscribe to that new show.

Five stars and ratings will take those as well. Nick and I, we'll see tomorrow. Jack, let's celebrate the wins. Yeah, baby. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Airbnb and ETFs of the S&P 500, and I own stock of Roblox. And before we go, to all of our listeners down in Florida, bearing the brunt of Hurricane Milton right now, we are thinking of you. We can't imagine the week you're going through. And to all our listeners, North Carolina,

who are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. We're thinking of you too. But we've got great things going on in Day No High. Where Dan Keppel and Nubia hops and a couple of Yetis are getting married today, and then they're heading down to Mexico for a fantastic honeymoon. And congratulations to Bassi and Jess. Eno Idom in Cincinnati, Ohio, celebrating 10 years together on vacation and Amalfi. Hedso and Colin Schmetser and Robin Dakota in Herndon, Virginia are celebrating the best

wedding yet. Have a fantastic time, guys. Happy anniversary to Matt and Kat Compton in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And Neil Dubay down in New York City has got the birthday of the year, his best one in years. Happy 29th birthday to Cody Rhodes in Des Moines, Iowa. And Alyssa Reza is turning 25 years old in the... San Francisco and just finished her first half marathon this year. Congratulations, Alyssa. Huge congratulations to Olivia Martinez in Santiago, Chile, who's just finishing a great year of fifth grade.

And Rafael Elmaris in Duluth, Georgia is a one-month-old baby. Parents, Brandon, and Mariana are so proud of your fantastic first month. Happy 53rd birthday to Breyer Chung in Rhododendron, Oregon. And Attic Shack, it turned 18 years old down in Miami, Florida. Happy three. Years to Felicity Enos in Nashville, Tennessee. And Alec Iq Falls turning four years old, celebrating the big birthday over in Boontin, New Jersey. Happy birthday to Andrea Peterson-Waelin in Manhattan Beach, California. And Shannon Miller has got a celebratory birthday hanging out up in Harlem.

Happy birthday to Lucas Goldfuss in Bavaria, Germany. Celebrating in the Mounties, not too shabby, Lucas. We'll see you there. And happy birthday to Natalia Ballin in Bogota, Columbia. Celebrate the wins. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins.