Can you see in that thing by the way? I can barely see in these things, too.That makes it even better.It makes the pod even better.All right, here we go.Here we go.Three, two.This is Zuck.This is Zuck.
It's Thursday, the new Friday, October 31st, Halloween, 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.Yeah, we said it's Zuck, and we said it's Zuck.
Jack, why don't you set the scene?What's going on, man?Nick and I are dressed up as Zuck.
We're Zucking Zuck's costume for this year's Halloween.
Zuck's everyone else and we zucked his style.Like we're ZuckCorp.Cause you know, every tech CEO these days, they think they're a fashionista.Now let me describe what Nick looks like right now.
He looks like a CEO who stopped trying to make people like him.He's hot Zuck summer.I got triple XL shirt, sleeveless with a gold chain and I'm wearing jeans for you.Cause that's what Zuck would do.All right.
And Jack is wearing like a double triple XL fur coat because you know, as Bezos would do.And I'm also doing the whole podcast from the metaverse.
Do you see this headset I'm wearing?I see what you're doing, Jack.Oh, wait a second.Oh, now I can see. Actually, I still can't see you.
But yetis, costumes aside, Jack, three stories for today's T-Boy.What do we got on the pod?For our first story, the hottest company in tech right now, it's Reddit.Reddit.
The stock soared 40% yesterday because Reddit is using AI better than any other business.They found AI ROI.For our second story, there is one candy you're going to see today, nerd clusters.It's the fastest growing candy in America.
Nerd Clusters are a case study in going with your gut.And our third and final story.In the final week before the election, we just got a bunch of big economic reports.
But the Consumer Confidence Report is both the most confusing and the most interesting. Can I take this jacket off, Nick?
Because I'm really sweaty.
Actually, you can't take the jacket off.We've got to do the whole pod in our Zuckor outfits.Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.Fantastic mix of stories for Halloween, Jack.It's not just Halloween.It's our annual T-Boy costume contest.
Which Yetis and Besties have the best business-themed costume ideas?We got your results.You could go today as Demure Jerry Powell. Or you could go as a sexy Apple Vision Pro.Or a zombie dupe.Zombie dupe.
It's just your zombie costume, but a cheaper one from last year.Just a cheaper one you found on T-Mobile.Now, we asked for your ideas, and we got several super submissions from you this year.
So Jack and I added them all up, and here are the four fantastic Halloween costume finalists. Chris is going to Halloween this year as a Google Doc.A Google Doc.So here's what he did.He wore a Google t-shirt with a Dr. Scrubs and Dr. Stethoscope.
You see what he did there?You better be leaving those comments as suggestions, Chris.And Amanda went as a Kidult Starter Pack.A Star Wars Lego set, ghost energy drink, and Crocs on her feet.30 years old, but playing like she's nine years old.
Betsy is going to Halloween this year as a CrowdStrike Creeper.A CrowdStrike Creeper!She's basically a giant blue screen because your computer got hacked over the summer and basically turned into a blue screen.I think you can petition to Microsoft.
I think they owe you some money, actually.Yeah, they do, Betsy.And finally, Billy is going as a superhero, the Inflation Fighter.A superhero who smashes high-priced products whenever he sees them.Like, if he sees some eggs, he's gonna smash them.
If he sees real estate, boom!If he sees milk, he's smashing that bottle.If you invite Billy the Inflation Fighter over to your apartment, he's gonna get into your fridge and mess with some high-priced groceries.
But who had the best pop business Halloween costume this year?It's actually up to you.Because we're putting it all up to a vote.The poll is open right now.Vote at tboypod on Instagram. Which Yeti has the best business-themed Halloween costume?
It's up to you.Which Bestie has the best costume yet?Is it a Google Doc, a Kidult Starter Pack, a CrowdStrike Creeper, or an Inflation Fighter?Vote at tboypot on Instagram right now.In the meantime, Zuck, let's hit our three stories.Hot Zuck Summer.
Fifteen years before this song Two boys from the northeast met in the dawn They had an idea to cause a cultural storm It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm Jack, Nick, that's it I don't even think they need to practice Fifty percent, that's a fat tip T-Boy City on your at-list If you know, you know, cause we ready to go We can't wait no more, so just start the show
First, a quick word from our sponsor.
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So buckle up and join me for a good laugh all season long.Watch the offensive line on YouTube and listen on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
For our first story, Reddit stock surged 40% yesterday.On Word, they're doubling their social media business.Here's how Reddit is using AI better than any other tech company. Now, Yeti's Meta and Microsoft, they reported earnings yesterday.
Apple and Amazon, they report earnings today.But none of those big tech companies are getting the love of the short king of tech, Reddit.
Reddit, the front page of the internet, the web's water cooler, the digital campfire, Wikipedia's super talkative cousin.Reddit just announced a trifecta of firsts that investors upvoted.
For the first time, Reddit hit 100 million daily users in a quarter.That's a 47% jump from last year.It was also the first time they had a quarterly profit.And it was also the first time their stock surged 40% in a single day of trading, Jack.
Reddit is officially the best IPO of 2024.Reddit stock has tripled from their March IPO price.Sit down, stand up, and upvote again.40% growth in the stock in one day? What a day!
Not too shabby, but yeti's Jack and I had to ask the question you're wondering, too.This company is 19 years old.Jack, 19 years old for a social media company?That's like a boomer social media company.
That's not when your growth spurt typically comes.How did they grow 47% last quarter when they're 19?They're like one year older than MySpace.I think they were born in the same year, man.
Now, Barry Bonds used steroids to hit home runs late in his career.
Reddit?They found their steroid too.And Reddit's steroid of choice is artificial intelligence.Quick context, Yetis.A big part of Reddit's user growth last quarter was click-throughs from Google search.
Fun fact, Reddit was actually the sixth most googled word on the internet in the last three months.Even your mom clicked her way onto some subreddit last quarter.
She sent me a link to a brownie recipe and I was like, wow, mom, I didn't know you were on Reddit.She's like, I did read it.I did read it.But the big reason that people are finding Reddit on Google more and more and more is artificial intelligence.
In fact, as Jack and I jumped in T-Boy style, we discovered that Reddit has found the most lucrative use of AI of any company yet.It's actually doubling their business as we speak.Reddit got an AI ROI.They're getting an ROI.
So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Reddit?AI can eliminate one of the biggest barriers of business, the language barrier. The idea is, Reddit has an ocean of content.
10 million words exist on Reddit completely about advice for making sourdough.But the majority of that content is written and posted in English.So Reddit's market is limited.Until now.
Because this year, Reddit started using AI to machine translate everything on Reddit into every language.So let's say today you're a German searching for, how do I know if sourdough starter is ready?
There is now a whole German subreddit that exists because it was translated from the English one.An entire originally English written baking bread in Bavaria subreddit that has been translated by AI to German.
So Reddit, they're multiplying into multiple languages and the number of new international users quadrupled last quarter as a result.Until today, Reddit has basically been just an American company.
but now they're growing into every other country thanks to AI.20% of the world speaks English, but AI can quickly reach the remaining 80%.This is the most efficient, effective use of AI we have seen so far.
Reddit just eliminated the language barrier. For our second story, the number one candy you're gonna see this Halloween, it's Nerds Clusters.Nerds Clusters are the fastest growing candy in America, thanks to one gutsy decision.
Yeti's get this, something Jack and I have never seen before.But the nerd's candy just got front page pieces in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
I bet you both reporters were really angry when they learned that their coverage was going to be split between the two.
I mean, forget election coverage.It's all about candy coverage these days.The reason both of the papers of record are covering nerds is because nerd sales have been growing like software recently.
In six years, Nerd's revenues have gone from 40 million bucks a year to 700 million bucks a year.Jack, could you sprinkle on some financial context?That's almost 20x growth in just six years.Nerds is the new Nvidia.
Nerds had a Super Bowl ad last year.They're getting another one this year, and they're Kylie Jenner's favorite candy. And they're not even paying her to say that.They just happen to be her favorite candy.But we should clarify.
This is not the box of Nerds you remember from growing up, where the box is divided in two flavors, remember?No, no, no, no, no, no.What we are talking about is the new version of Nerds known as the Nerds Clusters.A Nerds Cluster.
is a dime-sized gummy covered in the tiny tangy nerds that you know.It basically is like eating a cavity.That's what it's like.
Imagine like an almost melted Swedish fish that gets tossed into a bowl of nerds and you spin it around a little bit and then you pull it out.And they get spray painted in 42 different colors. Yetis, get this!
That spin-off version of Nerds was introduced just six years ago, but it's now 90% of Nerd sales.Nerds is basically gone.Nerds Clusters are all you see now.The student has become the teacher.
So Yetis, we gotta ask, how have Nerds Clusters become the fastest growing candy in America?
Well, we read the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal articles, which were, by the way, the longest articles we have ever seen either of those papers produce.And according to that reporting, nerds ignored the data.
Back in 2018, nerds was uncool.They had fallen behind Starburst, Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, so the company was bought by Ferrara, the Italian candy company, for just a tiny bit of money. And then Ferrara scientists pulled off an engineering feat.
They managed to stick hard candies on a gummy and maintain the integrity of the shape.It was a candy innovation, and ultimately they found the ideal ratio of crunchy to smushy that's just really satisfying.
So then they said, okay, we have got something here.Let's think about what consumers want.And Jack, what was the reaction in the test markets?Bad.Consumers didn't like it.It was bad.
According to the Wall Street Journal, every bit of data about these new nerds clusters said it was going to be a dud. Online surveys of the concept also came back negative.In focus groups, people said the nerds cluster was like kibble for people.
It was dehumanizing.They said it looked like fish tank gravel.You can't serve that at a big affair, Jack.But the people in charge of nerds ignored the tests and followed their tastes instead.So they went to market with the nerds clusters.
Even though every data point said that this was going to be a failure of the product, they launched it.Which is the kind of thing that, honestly, it's going to get your whole team fired if it fails, Jack.But it didn't fail.
The Nerds Cluster started going viral.And now, it's the fastest growing candy in America.With $700 million in sales, six times more than the original Nerds candy.
For comparison, that's about a fourth as much sales as number one, which is the Reese's peanut butter cup.And they're probably almost as big as a Lyft.So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Nerds Clusters?
There is a case for going with your gut. Yetis, we've all been in that meeting.The meeting where you wanna do something and you're excited, but then someone says, hey, but what does the data say?
You have a fantastic idea, but some buzzkill in the corner of the conference room asks if I have data to back it up. Data.It drives decisions across the meeting rooms of corporate America for everything.Deservedly so.
But there's another way you can make a decision.It's called going with your gut.Or how about we call it intuitive insight instead?
I like that rephrasing, Jack, because Yeti's guts are actually a combination of expertise, of awareness, and of your risk tolerance.According to Psychological Science Magazine,
It's deep experience that informs gut instincts, but those deep experiences are overlooked.And there's a great example with the National Institute of Health.
Medical trainees using intuition had equal or greater accuracy than simple quantitative analysis.
There's a great study from the National Institute of Health where medical trainees use their intuition instead of following quantitative analysis, and they got equal or better results in the medical field.
And Harvard Business Review has a list of successful products where data said no, you shouldn't launch this, but the leader's gusts said yes.For example, all the data said that sports cards would never sell, but sports cars are now a huge industry.
And the data famously told Steve Jobs that he shouldn't launch the iPod or the iPhone And he launched both anyway.So Yetis, your gut, it's actually a powerful input you gotta listen to.Because your gut is built on experience.
I think what we're saying, Jack, is that there's a brain in your gut.
In early 1607, three ships carrying over 100 English settlers landed on the shores of present-day Virginia, where they established a colony they named Jamestown.But from the start, factions and infighting threatened to tear the colony apart.
Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondry's podcast, American History Tellers.We take you to the events, times, and people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams.In our latest series,
After their arrival, English colonists in Jamestown quickly established a fort, but their pursuit of gold and glory soon put them on a collision course with Virginia's native inhabitants and the powerful Chief of Chiefs Powhatan.
Before long, violence, disease, and starvation would leave the colony teetering on the brink of disaster. Follow American History Tellers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus.Join Wondery Plus and the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.Start your free trial today.
How did Birkenstocks go from a German cobbler's passion project 250 years ago to the Barbie movie today?Who created that bottle of red sriracha with a green top that's permanently living in your fridge?
Did you know that the Air Jordans were initially banned by the NBA?We'll explore all that and more in The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy. This is Nick.This is Jack.
And we've covered over a thousand episodes of pop business news stories on our daily podcast.We've identified the most viral products of all time.And their wild origin stories that you had no idea about.From the Levi's 501 jeans to Legos.
Come for the products you're obsessed with.Stay for the business insights that are going to blow up your group chat.Jack, Nintendo, Super Mario Brothers.Best-selling video game of all time.How'd they do it?Nintendo never fires anyone.
Follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus.For our third and final story, U.S.
consumer confidence just rose in October by the most in three years.But the methodology of the survey says something big about the election.
Yetis, Jack and I have been checking the calendar, and we just got a whole bunch of big econ reports the week before the election.Yesterday, we got the GDP report, and tomorrow, we get the monthly jobs report.
But the other big economic report, it actually comes from the conference board. The conference board, they collect and analyze important data about the US economy.And their signature report?What is it, Jack?The Consumer Confidence Report.
The Consumer Confidence Report.It's kind of like the Fonz of economic reports.How you doing?How you feeling about the economy?How you doing over there?
And in their final report before the election, they showed a surprise jump in economic cheeriness among Americans. Jack, let's jump into the numbers.What was the huge consumer confidence boost?A 9.5-point jump to the highest level all year.
And the outlook for the future?It hit a three-year high.And data-wise, this high consumer confidence, it makes sense.The U.S.economy grew 2.8% in the third quarter, we learned yesterday.
The unemployment rate remains at a historic low, and interest rates are finally coming down. But that's not the end of the story, is it, Jack?No, it's not.
Because the University of Michigan does a similar confidence survey that shows different results.In fact, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Survey shows the opposite of everything we just said.
According to the University of Michigan, consumer confidence fell in April by 13% and has not recovered in the six months since.
So Yetis, Jack and I saw these two opposing forms of data on the same exact topic and we had to figure out what is going on.New analysis explains why University of Michigan's data went dark in April and hasn't recovered.
It's because the University of Michigan switched how they conduct the survey.Get this Yetis, beginning in April, the University of Michigan switched from phone surveys to online surveys.
They asked the same questions, but they did so on the internet, not on the phone. And here's what we found fascinating.It turns out people are more likely to answer negatively in online surveys than in person or phone surveys.
Here's a potential reason why.First, human surveyors, they're actually trained to project positivity during their in-person surveys or on the phone.You're basically supposed to smile on the phone when you're doing the survey.
You're supposed to smile with your voice.Hey, Mr. Thompson, I have a few questions for you.How are you feeling about the economy? Otherwise, Mr. Thompson is hanging up on you, Jack.You gotta start with that smile.
And that positivity coming from the surveyor, it could sway your answer.True.But that wouldn't happen in an online survey.Basically, if Charlie on the phone sounds chipper, you don't want to be a Debbie Downer when you pick up the phone.
That's why Michigan's consumer confidence data has been down since April and hasn't recovered.It's because they switched to online.So Jack, let's add it all up.Consumer confidence is way up by one measure, and yet it is still down by another measure.
Survey says, takeaway moment.So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone in the economy?There's data, and then there's data quality.
Yetis, this story, it shows that two firms reporting the same condition of our economy found different results because of different methodologies.
If you're making a decision based on data, like nerds didn't in our previous story, but a lot of people do, the quality of that data is key, but the quality of data is often overlooked.
And this is one reason why many have lost confidence in political polls since 2016.Methodology changes are warping our measurement of the reality.
So besties, if you've got intel you're making decisions on, the big question is, how are you gathering that intel?Because there's data, and then there's data quality.A cake is only as good as its ingredients.
Jack's skeptical, but the data depends on the methodology.I'm not skeptical of that last point.Good call. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for Halloween Pod?Reddit stock jumped 42% yesterday because AI is helping it double its user base.
AI is breaking down the language barrier, one of the biggest barriers in business.For our second story, it's nerds' clusters.They were invented six years ago and now they're 90% of nerds' sales.
Besties, there's a business case for going with your gut.There's a brain in your gut.And our third and final story is the conference board.They show U.S.consumer confidence improving, but Michigan's data is flat.
It's all because there's data, and then there's data quality.Your cake is only as good as the ingredients.Still skeptical of that analogy.I'm gonna bake you a better analogy, but you know, you gotta go with the analogy you got, Jack, sometimes.
But yetis, this pod's not over yet.
Here's what else you need to know today.
First, Starbucks is ending its Oliotto olive oil coffee.You can't get any more.Oliotto.I nailed the pronunciation.They got more important things to deal with.So the new CEO is streamlining the menu.
Starbucks, they just reported third quarter earnings in sales.At the 40,000 stores, they fell 9% on average.So the new CEO, Brian Nichol, he's eliminating distractions like Oliotto. Yeah, like olive oil.
And second, Volkswagen announced some pretty bad car earnings.Volkswagen's operating margin, it's down to just 2%.They barely make any money when they sell a car.Two cents of profit per dollar sold.
And that's why Volkswagen is moving to close three factories in Germany.The first time ever, Volkswagen's done that.And finally, Apple is making a big media move.They're making a movie about the Oregon Trail.
Apple, they're gonna produce a movie about the OG video game, The Oregon Trail.Not just a movie, a musical about the pioneers in the wagons that had to ford those rivers.Somehow I think Seth Rogen's involved in this.
I think he's going to help you find a bison.You can watch as long as you don't get dysentery.One sec, Jack.Yeah, it's frostbite. Now time for the best fact yet.
This one whipped up by Jack and me because like we said, we did a lot of research on nerds and we actually had more to share with you.Nerds, it's a millennial.The candy was born in 1988, just like Nick and me.Year of the dragon, I love that.
Nerds, you're one of us.Nerds did some research and they discovered that men like to pour food directly into their mouths from the container.Like a bag of chips at the bottom of the bag or like a box of nerds straight into the mouth.
But women prefer to pour food into their hands before they pour it into their mouths.Women are more civilized than men.
Yeah, the takeaway here is that women are smarter than men, and men just pour anything into their mouths without even really thinking about it.Also, full disclosure, Jack,
if you stop by our house in San Francisco, we're going to be serving nerds, clusters, and glow sticks for trick-or-treating today.Nice.Nice combo, right?Nice.We're not a regular apartment.We're a cool apartment.
Yeah.Coolness.How's that sweat t-shirt Zach style.What do you think about it?First of all, this gold chain is leaving a Mark on my neck.
That makes me question if it's real gold.It's a team acquisition.How's that giant fur coat made out of
Hey, check his hat on YouTube, Yetis, if you want to see this.
Yeah, we're wearing Zuckcore.We're going full tech CEO.And Jack, you look fantastic.Oh, by the way, Yetis, you gotta vote on the best business costume yet on Instagram at tboypot.And you gotta drop a link for where you got that sweatshirt, Nick.
Yeah, Jack, I wear this like every weekend.It's called Mon Italy, and I got it in Los Angeles.I'll drop a link in the newsletter.So that others can Zuck our Zucking of Zuck. Is that correct grammar?It's a triple zucking.It's a triple zucking.
So besties vote on the best business costume at tboypod on Instagram.And Nick and I will see you tomorrow.Zuck and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy 27th birthday to Yeti Keswick-Chu over in Toronto, Maple Leafs, Canada.
Happy 50th birthday to Josh Miller in Wabun, Massachusetts, who's partying like a rock star in South Beach right now.And George and Amanda in Highland, Michigan, just got engaged and they did it on George's birthday.
So it's like a quadruple win, Jack.Congratulations, guys.Let's see the ringticks.And happy birthday to Brendan Ang in Melrose, Mass, whose wife and cockapoo Oli say, You're a good boy.He's a good boy.
And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy.Celebrate the wins. If you like the best one yet, you can listen to AdFree right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
Prime members can listen to AdFree on Amazon Music.And before you go, tell us a little bit about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.We want to get to know you.
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