The Best One Yet - 🦶“WeCrashed: Part II” — Adam Neumann’s WeWork offer. 49ers’ Silicon Valley playbook. FTX’s full refund.

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

The 49ers are in the Super Bowl again thanks to one data-driven strategy — But this isn’t a football story, it’s a business story (and it’s inspired by the artist Renoir).WeWork’s ex Adam Neumann just tried to buy-back WeWork — He’s either pulling a Steve Jobs… or he’s pulling a Fyre Fest.And FTX is shockingly planning to refund all its customers all their lost $$$ — And it highlights the beautiful waterfall of bankruptcy.$WE $WMT $BTCSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Ceviche Wednesday, February 7th. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Eddie Stalks, they barely budged yesterday. But Jack and I, we found a wonderful mix of stories. Or as our buddy Amanda Whittam would say, a fantastic mix of stories.

We see you, Amanda. Yeah, we read those reviews. We read every one of them. First story for today's TV boy. What do we got, Jack? For our first story, Adam Newman is officially trying to buy back WeWork. He's planning to rework the WeWork. Adam Newman thinks he's pulling a classic Steve Jobs.

For our second story, how did the San Francisco 49ers make it to the Super Bowl again? They're winning football games with a strategy from business and from art. And our third and final story is about FTX, because this fallen crypto company just announced a shocking update. You're getting a refund and you're getting a refund. And you're getting a refund. That's right. Every FTX customer might get all their money back.

What's like, Jack, I just got a DM. I'm getting a refund. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories today, Jack. It's Wednesday. You might be thinking to yourself, oh my goodness, we're only halfway through the week. It's hump day, midweek, Wednesday. Nick and I just discovered a solution to get over your hump day woes.

And that solution is Fika. Fika. The Swedish practice. that could save your week. FICA, it could be translated from Swedish into a universally observed technology-free mandatory coffee break that you take with your coworkers. Fika, no phones, no faxes, no 4 p.m. meetings

because I got a Fika to get to. Kind of like the British version of tea time, but Sweden does it with coffee, and it is required. It's a mandatory coffee break you have to take with your coworkers in the middle of the afternoon. Yet he's Fika. It combines a Starbucks run with the barbershop chat. Fika, it's caffeinated.

socialization. That's the art of FICA. But Jack, could you sprinkle on some context for us to do some FECA? Here at America, we invented the working at your desk lunch stuck inside your cubicle. FECA is kind of the opposite of that. Your boss, Lumberg, he requires TPS reports. FECA requires team pastry runs. So put down your phone and talk to Phil. And the email grab a muffin.

Fika, it's how Abel writes such amazing songs. FECA, it's how IKEA designed such amazing furniture. And here's the wildest part. FICA isn't just a break for your mind. It's a boom for the company's business. Because get this, Yeti's, FICA affects the bottom line. The Wall Street Journal looked at one company that discovered that FICA resulted in 70% less employee turnover. Apparently colleagues who latte together stay together. Because according to Stockholm School of Economics Professor,

when you disconnect for a short time, your productivity increases for a long time. Sounds like a Jay Shetty podcast, not an Eco. on paper. So yeah it is, if your day is feeling too filled. If your business is feeling a little broken, maybe you schedule some FICA. Set yourself up with a Fika. Go Fika yourself. I wouldn't say it like that.

Something got lost in Swedish translation, Jack. Let's hit our three stories. 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. That's it. 50%.

That's a fat tip. Tea boys 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. For our first story, in a shocking twist, Adam Newman is trying to buy back WeWork, his now bankrupt WeWork company. There's only two ways this could end up. Steve Jobs or FireFest. Before we kick off this story, can we whip out the dictionary? Can you define the term failing up for us. Failing up is when you failed at your last job, but somehow spun it into a promotion and you got a better job after your failure. Now, Yetis, there is no better example of

failing up than Adam Newman. With Adam as the CEO of WeWork, it grew to a $47 billion valuation. Then it all fell apart with a failed IPO back in 2019. Adam got kicked out of the company, and a few years later, WeWork declared bankruptcy just this past November. So yet he's added all up and WeWork today is worth $0. It's actually worth less than that because they have a whole bunch of debt and owe a whole bunch of lease payments. So WeWork is actually worth negative dollars. But Jack, how much money is Adam Newman worth right now?

Remember when Adam got fired? He got paid $700 million to leave the company. Oh, and then Jack, last year, Adam Newman raised $350 million for his... brand new startup. So according to Forbes, Adam Newman, the kind of disgraced founder of WeWork, is worth $2 billion personally. Like we said, Adam Newman failed up. And guess what he wants to do with all his money now? Well, here's the news, besties. The most shocking headline of the year is also like the least shocking headline of the year, Jack. The New York Times scooped it first. Adam Newman is trying to buy back WeWork. Adam Newman's trying to rework the WeWork. Call the baristas, clean out those old

kombucha taps, they're getting the band back together. Adam, you want a double latte? We'll make it a macchiata. Now, fun random fact, Adam Newman has the same lawyer as Elon Musk and Jay-Z. And that lawyer just issued a public letter about Adam's intentions. And Jack, what was in that highly dramatic letter that came out yesterday for all of us to read and see you? In threatening lawyerly language, they said, we work.

You better sell to Adam or we're going to sue you, basically. They even said that Adam has lined up financing capital with third point. a famous hedge fund to help him buy WeWork. Adam plans to combine the WeWork co-working space business with his residential real estate startup. Yet is Jack and I read that whole latter. We looked at this whole situation, and basically our observation was...

Adam's trying to pull at Jesus. Yeah, because Adam Newman, he's famous for having the look at JC and walking around Manhattan barefoot. But now he's trying to resurrect his own reputation and his old company. So, Jacob, Adam pulls off this deal. It's basically WeWorks Easter.

But what does WeWorks think about this? the whole situation, Nick. Well, apparently, Jack, Wework has been ignoring Adam's phone calls. But beggars can't be choosers. If Adam's offer is the best offer, WeWork may have no choice but to go back to her. Which would be the ultimate failing up.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at WeWork? Adam Newman is trying to pull a Steve Jobs. Yeah, and he's back in 1985, Apple's board of directors fired the co-founder Steve Jobs because they simply had different visions. And then, under Apple's new corporate leadership, Apple faltered for several years. So guess what? 11 years later, Apple asked Steve Jobs to come back as CEO.

They even acquired his startup to bring him back as the Apple CEO. And with the original founder and Steve's incredible vision at the helm, Apple became Apple. Now, of course, Adam Newman isn't Steve Jobs. Buddy probably believes he is Steve Jobs. So this could go raw. We could end up with another Hulu movie. Oh, totally. This could end up like Hulu's WeCraft.

We crashed part two. We crashed again. But in Adam's mind, there is a precedent here. He's about to pull off a Steve Jobs. For our second story, how did the San Francisco 49ers get to the Super Bowl? It was by running the opposite offense of every other team. But this isn't a football story. This is a business story.

Let us explain. Funny thing Jack and I have noticed. The biggest winners of Silicon Valley aren't big tech. It isn't AI startups and it's not even venture capital firms. The biggest disruption in Silicon Valley is happening with the sports teams. For example, first, it was the Oakland Athletics. The baseball team used data to build a roster that won 100 games with a tiny payroll. Then it was the Golden State Warriors.

The basketball team used data to shoot way more three-pointers and eventually win a bunch of NBA championships. And now it's the San Francisco 49ers. Silicon Valley's football team is in the Super Bowl again, thanks to their data-driven strategy. Yeties, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. The San Francisco 49ers have the number one passing offense and number one rushing offense in the entire NFL, but it's for one surprise reason. They're closer than any other offense.

Like not emotionally closer. We're talking like physically closer, aren't we, Jack? The players are literally bunched tighter up than other players on other teams. It's like, hey, Joe Montana, give me a little space, please. It turns out the winning strategy for this Super Bowl team was actually pretty simple. It all comes down to where players line up before the play begins. And now, Jack, you are our resident backup division three quarterback in this two-person podcast co-hosting situation. You could have round up for me there, but yeah, that's all true.

Can you help us jump in T-boy style to explain this advantage for this one team? For the last 20 years in both college football and the NFL, team started winning by spreading out the offense. The spread offense. They spread out players as wide as possible to create room to pass. But since Coach Kyle Shanahan took over the 49ers, he started doing the opposite of the spread offense trend. Instead of spreading out the players, he started squishing in the players.

The Wall Street Journal looked at NFL Next Generation data, and they measured the width of each offensive formation for the 49ers. Get this, Yet this, Yeties. The Buffalo Bills are the most spread out team in the entire NFL. From one wide receiver to the opposite wide receiver, the bills are on average 29 yards in width. But when it comes to the 49ers, it's the exact opposite. They have the most squish of any of the teams in the NFL. Their formations are so close.

The average offensive play begins with the 49ers just 19 yards apart. So in the NFL, defenses are used to playing against the spread. They can't handle the 49ers squish. I hope that they call their offense the squish, because they really should. Now, Bessie's Jack and I have said to you before, in business, you want to have a contrarian mindset. The 49ers are doing that. They're ziggin while everyone else has ag. And they're zagging when others are ziggin.

But this isn't an X as an O story. It's a business story. So Jack, grab the whiteboard. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at the 49ers? Make them guess your next trick. Yet he's the great French sculptor Renoir said that wonderful artists aren't predictable. Sun Tzu said in the art of war that great generals are unprecedented. And Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, said, keep them guessing your next trip.

It's the same for business as it is for art and war and football. Your competition doesn't know what you're going to do next, then you have an advantage. Besties, in football, the typical spread offense means you're much more likely to pass. But a squished offense is unpredictable. You're just as likely to pass as you are to run. No one knows what you're going to do next. So the 49ers are in the Super Bowl because their offense is so unpredictable. It works on the field and it works in business.

Keep them guessing your next trick. For our third and final story, in a shocking turn of the FTX bankruptcy story, the victims of FTCS may actually get fully repaid. Because SBF accidentally made one of the best investments ever. You're getting a refund and you're getting to refund and check under your seat because you're getting to refund. Besties, 15 months ago, FTCS declared bankruptcy because of the frauds of Sam Bankman-Fried. millions of people who opened accounts at FTX all lost the money that they'd invested. These customers simply tried to invest in Bitcoin and other crypto by opening an account at FtX. But they didn't lose their money because Bitcoin collapsed.

They lost their money because Sam Bankman-Fried lost their money. He stole their money, he lost their money. Kind of buff, actually. Now, Sam Bankman-Fried is in prison for, give or take like a hundred years. So some moral justice has been served. Moral justice is nice. financial justice would be nicer. Oh, if there's anything Batman taught us, that financial justice, pretty, pretty good.

Did Batman teach us that? Was that Wayne? I think that was what Bruce Wayne said. I could be off on this one, Jack. Well, according to Axios and court documentation, FTX's victims may get all their money back soon. And now, you know, here's the fine print. There is no guarantee yet, but the outcome in which customers get paid back is apparently within reach, according to the lawyers on the case. reason everyone who got screwed by FTX might actually get unscrued is luck. The reason is luck. The reason is luck. Since the FTX bankruptcy, Bitcoin has nearly tripled in price and FTX had a lot of Bitcoin on their balance sheets. So that was luck, but apparently it's not just luck. It's also more luck. Because Sam Bankman

Freed invested some stolen customer money into a bunch of startups a few years ago. And one of those startups that he invested in happen to be a startup called Anthropic. An Anthropic has become the second biggest, most valuable AI startup in America behind OpenAI. That random investment by Sam Bankman-Fried three years ago, it's quadrupled in valuation. That is some luck. And those gains don't go to Sam Bankman-Fried. They go to the victims of the FTX bankruptcy. Jack, this is like, I don't know, imagine if someone stole your money 20 years ago, but then they

invested that money in, like, Google stock. And now you're getting paid back 20 years later from your stolen money, but in the form of Google's incredibly appreciated share price. It's like you're speaking to the robbers and it's like, we're sorry we stole your money, but we did a really good job in the stock market. So here it is. Those robbers are great investors. So here's their gains. Yeah, those robbers, they should be your new financial advisors. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone in crypto?

This is the bankruptcy waterfall and it's beautiful. Yeties in bankruptcy, there's actually a hierarchy to who gets paid back first. Since there's not enough money to go around, a judge divvies out the assets in a very specific order. Customers who deposited their money, they get paid first. Then lenders get paid and then vendors get paid. And then finally, the equity owners of that company that's going through bankruptcy, they get paid last. The people who took the biggest risk by buying stock to own the company, they're at the bottom of the hierarchy.

the bottom of the waterfall. And thanks to the lucky rally of Bitcoin and that one random AI startup, just about every victim of the FTX bankruptcy could get paid back in full. Except for one group, the venture capitalists who took the risk of buying equity in FTX. So it looks like there's enough money to pay back everyone except the owners of FTX. Because the most innocent get paid back first, but the risk takers get paid last. That is the bankruptcy waterfall. it's beautiful.

Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Adam Newman has made a public offer to acquire we work out of bankruptcy. There's precedent here. He could be pulling a Steve Jobs or he could be pulling a fire fest. For our second story, the 49ers are in the Super Bowl with their trend-defying squish offense. To build an advantage, keep them guessing your next move. And our third and final story is FTX's bankruptcy. It may result in all the victims getting paid back in full, It should be amazing, except for the VCs. Are you with me?

I'm keeping you guessing my next move, Jack. In the bankruptcy waterfall, it's a beautiful thing. But yet is this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. I didn't see that coming. First, Toyota, its stock soared 8% to an all-time high on booming sales of hybrids. Like we told you last month, Toyota bet big on hybrids, and that bet is working.

And second, Spotify stock just hit its highest level in over two years after announcing a 15% jump in paid subscribers. And its podcast business may actually be profitable this year. And finally, ESPN, Fox, Warner Brothers, and Discovery are launching a joint sports streaming platform later this year. Sports Plus? They actually haven't announced what it's going to be called. We got some ideas for names. Come to us.

But three competitors are now collaborators, and streaming is looking more like a cable bundle. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Al Rubio from lovely San Antonio, Texas. The word pounds, like a 15-pound dumbbell. P-O-U-N-D. Why is it abbreviated L-B? Why do we have an L even in there? What is going on with pounds? Or the B. What's going on here? The reason is the Romans.

Yeah, the Romans. Because to measure weights, the Romans use the Latin term Libra Pondo when measuring things. So us Americans, we kind of use the Pondo. We called it pound. but we dropped the Libra. Instead, we kept the L from Libra as the abbreviation for pounds, LB. It's confusing. It makes no sense, and we're doing it because that's our Roman Empire. Yetis, you are looking fantastic today. And if you're hanging out doing some FECA with buddies right now,

turn around and ask them, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. It means have you had the best one yet? It's the best way you can help grow the show. Jack, what's the number one rule when you go FICO round? No, Nick, what is it? Keep him guessing your next move. Okay. Yeties, we'll see you tomorrow.

Unless we make a different move. Stop. Okay, Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. We'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a congratulations to Yeti's Bridget Walsh and Brian Hunt, who just got engaged on the waterfront of Williamsburg. We want to hear the whole story of how this thing went down. Let's see some ring picks, guys.

And happy birthday to Georgia Lorraine in Lagos, Nigeria. Celebrate that win, Georgia. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick and I both own stock and Apple and Spotify, and we both own one Bitcoin.