The Best One Yet - 🎁 “Wedding gift mind-reader” — Etsy’s wedding registry. Rivian’s empty tank. Google’s foldable phone.

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

Since 1 out of 3 couples registered for wedding gifts on Bed Bath & Beyond, Etsy is jumping into BB&B’s bankruptcy void. We crunched the numbers on the electric truck company Rivian: It’s only got 2 years of cash left in the tank. And Google just unveiled its first ever foldable phone… but it costs more than a computer… and they won’t call it a phone.$ETSY $RIVN $GOOGWant 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 YoutubeLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, May 11th, and today's pod is the best one yet. It is a T-Bah. I am shaking with excitement over here. I'm getting on the flight pretty soon. Nick is flying to New York. We're going to a wedding together.

We're each other's plus ones this weekend. But should we tell? Let's not tell who the wedding is. Only give it is a surprise. Well, I think we should say. You want to? Our buddy Timmy. Oh!

Our buddy Timmy. Real-life person. He's getting married. Or is he real? First story, what do we got on the show, Jack? Etsy just launched a wedding registry service that our buddy Timmy definitely isn't using. Because Etsy read your mind. For our second story, Rivian, the electric truck and SUV company just lost one and a half billion

in just three months. Because Rivian has a fuel problem, a very particular type of fuel. And our third and final story is Google. Google just unveiled their first foldable phone, and it is so. expensive. But there's one funny thing about this new Google phone. Google won't call it a phone. This foldable phone isn't a phone. We're not supposed to say phone. We're not supposed to say phone. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix. That's the perfect mix for the new Friday. I love this mix. There's an airline you need to know about.

But this airline, Yeties, it is not for humans. This airline doesn't serve water in glasses. It serves water in bowls. This airline doesn't serve your peanuts. They are. Offer you peanut butter. No biscoff cookies. Biscuits, dog biscuits. Yeah, who's a good boy? This plane is for pets. Yeah, yet he's get this.

This is an airplane specifically for pooches. The New York Times reported this story. It's called K-9 Jets, a new private jet company designed for dog travel. Because flying coach can be traumatizing for your cockapoo. Rivers flown coach with me a bunch of times. She's stuck in a bag for six hours under the seat in front of us. pet relief station at the airport. It's not a relief for anybody. Last, he barked twice if you want the

upgrade. Oh, and you're not going to check your Chihuahua either, like a cheap suitcase. That's unhealthy. Uh-uh. You're Rottweiler? That ain't no Ramoa, Jack. So K-9 Airlines has a solution. Let Fido fly first class. And his human could tag along too. A Yeti's Jack and I should sprinkle on a little context here. Yeah, this is going to cost $9,000 to fly a man and man's best friend. We're talking $9,000. to get that Labradoodle from LaGuardia over to London, Jack. Now, Yetis, we've been following the puppy trend since its inception. You know the puppy trend, P-U-P-P-P-Y, people ultimately prioritize puppies.

Yeah. Yeah, they do. But this is a new level, literally. Yeah, because they just took this trend up to like 30,000 feet. Now, Yeties, if you get on this plane, you should know. There's no seatbelts on the K-9 pet jet. But when you sit, you stay. Stay.

Stay. Who does it? Now let's hit our three stars. 15 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 known. 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. For our first story, Etsy is launching their very first wedding registry. Etsy is getting into weddings because you told it to. Yeah, tech companies, they know how to read your mind. But first, Etsy, my most recent purchase on Etsy,

talk to me. An organic macromay toddler swing. The swing was grown in Deborah's backyard. That's how you got it, Jack. Etsy, it's the home of the craft candle that smells like homemade cardamom. Yes, it is. And believe it or not, it was a top pandemic stock. Yeah, Etsy, it quadrupled as you covered your house in mason jars,

and then you put those mason jars inside other mason jars. But in the last couple years, the stock has fallen 60% like every other pandemic stock. Also, you can't keep putting the mason jars into smaller mason jars. You run out of room. You run out of room, Jen. You may have run out of room. But Etsy found some room on its website for a new product. Their newest product at Etsy is an Etsy Wedding Registry. The Etsy Wedding Registry.

If you use the Etsy Wedding Registry, it's going to be less big box, more bespoke craft goods. We're talking products that are not made in China. They're made in Connecticut. For example, you won't find a cuisine art on the Etsy wedding registry. But you will find the handmade wooden cutting board. You can't put a new king-sized mattress on your Etsy wedding registry. But you can find an artisanal duvet hand-stitched out of napkins by Deborah over in Dallas. The stock job 2% yesterday because when it comes to weddings, people are willing to pay.

But yeties, Jack and I found an interesting reason why Etsy is launching at this very moment. Etsy's launching right now because every bankrupt. is someone else's opportunity. Wait, we should point out, Etsy, Etsy's not going bankrupt. Oh, Etsy's doing fine. Etsy's doing great. But Bed Bath and Beyond is bankrupt. And Bed Bath and Beyond has a void that Etsy wants to fill.

Get this, a third of couples we're registering at Bed Bath & Beyond. Up until the very end. Sit down, stand up and say I do again. One out of three couples registered for that KitchenAid cake mixer over an aisle 6 at Bed Bath and Beyond. But Bed Bath & Beyond is shutting down next month, just as peak wedding season is. is beginning. Like, are you kidding? It's June. You can't just shut down bedbath and beyond. What are you talking about? The one-third of the wedding registry market is suddenly anybody's game. One-third of the market is now eligible for Etsy to swoop on it. But again, there's no chance our buddy

Timmy is registering on Etsy. Because he may or may not exist. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Etsy? The search bar is a window into the consumer's soul. Yeti's funny thing Jack and I should mention, Etsy has actually been working on this wedding registry product for months. Because you told it to. Yes, an Etsy user, it turns out, searches for the word wedding every single second. Etsy users have been searching for handmade wedding gifts nine times more in the last three months compared to last year. Etsy didn't need to conduct research or do a focus group to determine whether you wanted an Etsy registry. You told Etsy you wanted a registry when you said.

searched for wedding gifts on Etsy. Because besties, that search bar on a website, it is like truth serum. You reveal what you want. The search bar is a window into your soul. Your soul. Your soul. Your soul. For our second story, Rivian, the electric truck and SUV company just revealed that

they are on pace to go bankrupt in two years. That's why Rivian, Lucid, and every other new electric car company is in survival mode. That sounds scary. But you know what's a lot of fun? That game we played last year. I love that game, Jack. Last year, rivians were so rare. We introduced a game called Rivian Freeze tag.

Like, Rivian Freezing. If you saw Rivian in the wild, like, there's a full one. There's a green one. There you go. Dozens of you sent us picks on social, and we loved every minute. Yeah, rivians, they were like hummingbirds. They were rare. You never saw them.

But as of March, there's a few Rivians out there. Yeah, there are. They're up to 28,000 Rivians sold and roaming our streets now. Not too shabby. I would say in the streets of San Francisco, after Tesla, Rivian is the most popular electric car. And Rivians are actually produced in a town here in the United States called Normal, Illinois. Normal Illinois. That is a lovely name for a town. Unfortunately, Rivian's earnings report was not normal. No, it wasn't, because both the revenues and the number of Rivian sold dipped last quarter compared to the quarter before.

And get this yet is Rivian lost $1.5 billion in just three. months. That is a huge loss for a company producing so few cars as Rivian. Oh, and that's not even the freakyest number. You want to sprinkle on this context, Jack? We crunch the numbers. For every Rivian sold, Rivian lost $150,000 last quarter. Like, they sell a car, it goes off the lot, and then they lose twice as much as the car is worth. Right, because of all the research and development, all the factory building, scaling is expensive. Those were some scary numbers, but there actually was one number that was even scarier than all of those numbers. $12 billion.

That's the number Rivian should be most concerned with. $12 billion. Because $12 billion, that's how much cash Rivian has left in the tank. So if Rivian has $12 billion in cash. Yes, Jack. But it's losing $1.5 billion per quarter. Yes, Jack. Simple math.

Rivian is on pace to run out of money in two years. In two years, Rivian could be out of cash at this pace. That's a scary prospect. So Rivian has to cut costs. while at the same time selling more cars to get to a profit somehow. That's like trying to put your foot on the brake while also pressing the accelerator. That'd be easy, actually. You just put your two feet down.

But it's not a fun. You're not going to make a good noise. That chassis is not making a pretty noise. Now, Tesla was in the same situation in 2017 when the Model 3 was being rolled out. Tesla, six years ago, also had hardly any cash left in the tank. Elon called that time, production hell. Elon was sleeping on the factory floor, brushing his teeth with oil. Tesla got through production hell, but even though Rivian's cars are beautiful, there's no guarantee

they'll get through. But Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Rivian? Rivian and all its rivals are ironically running on empty. Yeties, when Rivian went public back in 2021, nobody worried about running out of cash. It wasn't a thing. Stock markets were so frothy. Rivian could print new stock anytime it wanted and sell that stock to investors to raise new money. And honestly, that's what every upstart.

electric vehicle brand did. Rivian, Lucid, Fisker, they all sold stock and brought in cash that they stuck in the tank. But today, financial markets are completely different. That's why the stocks of those companies are all down by over 90%. Because Wall Street is no longer comfortable buying stock in a money-burning electric car company. So this is it. The $12 billion of cash that Rivian has in the tank, that's it. There's no refilling. Yeties, if Rivian and every other Tesla rival don't start making profits ASAP, then ironically they will run out of gas. For our third and final story, Google just launched the most expensive phone we've ever seen, but don't call it a phone.

Google's new fold thinks that the post phone era is coming soon. Yeties, let's head on down to Mountain View, California. That's where Google had their annual product event known as I-O yesterday. I, oh, I'm still working on the title there. I don't know what it stands for. They should work on the title. That's what they should do. Besides mention AI, like two million times.

The heads of Google and its parent company Alphabet introduced to us a new hardware product. A new product that they call the pixel fold. The pixel fold. This is a foldable version of the pixel smartphone. It's a foldable phone, like clamshell style flips open two screens. What would you say it looks like, Jack? It's kind of like a book.

It's like two Kindles making out. You know, you got two little screens there. On the one hand, it just looks like a normal, thick phone. But then when you open it up, it's basically a tablet you have in front of it. So we know what you're thinking, Yetis, as Jack and I are describing this, sounds like a zucking. Samsung pioneered the foldable screen that enables this phone about four years ago. Yeah, so Google basically zucked Samsung here. They copied Samsung with a foldable phone.

But sometimes a product announcement isn't about what's been said. it's about what wasn't said. Right. And what Google didn't say was the word phone. Yeah, Google would not say phone. They kept on saying fold. Like they described this. They said it was a pixel fold. It was not a pixel phone.

And that was a little confusing. And we turned to Webster's dictionary. Fold is a verb. It's not a noun. Jack, it's like they're trying to make fetch happen with fold. Yeah, Google hopes this is a distinctly new category of hardware. Exactly. What they're thinking is first we got the computer, then we got the last.

laptop, then we got the smartphone, then we got the tablet, and now we'll get the fold. Which is half phone, half tablet. It's a fold. It's like man bear pig. So Jack and I were wondering, if we can't figure out what this is, maybe the price will tell us what this is. Yes, because we told you before that the price can be a signal. Yeah, the price is a signal. It can reveal what the intentions of a product are.

Okay, so this foldable phone. It's not a phone. It's a fault. It's a fault. We got to say. Sorry, this foldable fold is $1,800. We repeat, what are we going to pay rent on this thing? It's like real estate. Hey, Google, can my dad sign as a guarantor so I can buy this thing?

This is a phone or is it fine jewelry? You're going to buy this at Tiffany's? Now, we whipped open to Apple.com and we looked up what's the most expensive iPhone? Well, the most expensive iPhone is the iPhone 14 Pro Max Pro Plus Pro. And that sells for $1,600. But Jack, what is this fold? from Google sell for. $200 bucks more than the most expensive iPhone.

This fold is a $1,800 phone, but call it a fold. Yeah, and it starts at $1,800. To sprinkle on more context here, that's three times more than your average iPhone. That's twice as much as the iPad Pro. That is the same price as a high-end MacBook laptop, baby. This fancy high price tells us that Google doesn't think this is a phone. They think this product is something more than it. the phone. And with this high price, we think that Google thinks that in the future, people don't want a phone.

They want something more. We think that Google thinks that. And we think you'll think that too after this story. That's why we think that Google thinks that. So Jack, what do we think the takeaway is for our buddies over at Google? Everyone is trying to figure out the post phone. Yeah, it is the iPhone. It is a $3 trillion idea. In fact, Apple is still selling over $200 billion worth of iPhones every time. single year. But there is a belief among tech leaders that something will replace the iPhone. Something is going to come after the iPhone. And that something will be a new consumer hardware that kills the iPhone. Samsung and Google think that product is a foldable phone. Zuck thinks that product is a headset. Even Apple is allegedly launching a headset this year, which could replace the iPhone someday.

See, I can look at it. Everyone trying to make this stuff and we're like, maybe it's just the iPhone. Like maybe there is no post phone phone, right man? Maybe there. Maybe there's a The phone is it. The product that we love and want like forever. Maybe it's like the car. Like everyone keeps on trying to do a new car thing, but like we just keep having cars. We've had the car for hundreds of years. Maybe we'll have the smartphone for hundreds of years. But in the meantime, every tech leader is searching for the post phone. Phone. It's not a phone. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Etsy is launching a wedding registry to fill the void from bed, bath, and beyond.

Actually, you guys told it to do this. because the search bar is a window into the consumer's soul. For our second story, Rivian sells beautiful cars, but not out of profit yet, so cash is running out. Rivian and all its electric rivals are ironically running on empty. And our third and final story is Google. They just launched the fold, which is a foldable fold. Right. It's a foldable.

Yeah, it is. It's because every tech company wants to launch the post phone. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Jack and me, because Jack and I, we wanted to whip up a fact for you. Yesterday was the 154th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad. Where did that end? Jack, I know you love saying this word. Promontory point. I think there was a golden nail involved. Big golden spike right in there.

Yeah, that's right. A spike. In 1869, the first railroad to connect the East and West Coast was complete. Instead of months on a wagon, you could cross the country in days on a train. Well, it turns out, the majority of the work. on that epic railroad in 1869 were actually Chinese immigrants. That's right. According to the National Park Service, 11,000 Chinese immigrants built the transcontinental railroad. As you can imagine, these Chinese immigrants were working under pretty brutal conditions in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1869. And yet, those 11,000

Chinese workers finished 2,000 miles of track under budget and ahead of schedule. Not too shabby. Yetis, if you have an Asian-American and Pacific Islander best fact yet, we want to hear it this month. Yates, we want your AAPI Facts at T-Boypod.com. Yetties, you look fantastic for the new Friday. And if you haven't yet, the best way you can help us grow the show is turn to your buddy and ask them, H-Y-H-T-O-Y. Have you had the best one yet? Even if it's your buddy, Timmy, who may or may not exist. And before we go, congratulations to Yeties Doug Klein and Roxy, the Wardenite Bartholomew,

who are driving down the lovely PCH from San Francisco to get married in the Carmel Valley. And Chauncey Mullins is taking the bar exam down in Mississippi. Good luck, Chauncey. And congratulations to Don Juliano, who's getting a new job in Montana. And Ashley, the Protein Snack Queen, just passed 140,000 followers on TikTok.

Happy birthday to Scott Strathman in New Mexico. And Alexis Chambers is turning 29 over in Columbus, Ohio. Happy 31st birthday to Caitlin, Hitler in Cincinnati, Ohio. And Azizzi Williams is sitting in traffic on the 101, but enjoying this pod and enjoying a birthday in Pasadena. Happy birthday to soon-to-be-dad Taylor in Bozeman, Montana. And Roman Ventura is turning 12 over in Las Gatos, California.

And happy birthday to Jeff to sway, who goes by the land dolphin down in Santa Clara, California. Great nickname. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a tea boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple. So I said he's a real person and then you said, or is he? I like how he just negated when I said. Yeah.

Or is it? What is it? What a ridiculous follow-up statement? It's like, yeah, I just said he is.