The Best One Yet
💸 “$3,600 per Fam” — Tariff Day’s price tag. Tinder’s AI flirt-bot. Nintendo’s Mario Kart Metaverse.
Thu, 03 Apr 2025
It was T-Day: Tariffs, Tesla, & Trump… We got an update on all of ‘em (and why it’ll cost you $3,600/year).Tinder launched a Flirt-bot… Because AI’s most powerful use is training pickup lines (seriously).Nintendo’s Switch 2 is its biggest launch in 8 years… and Mario Kart is getting social.Plus, we found a Skier’s Arbitrage: It’s cheaper to fly to Japan for a weekend of shredding than staying here in the states…$NTDOY $TSLA $SPYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… 📱iPhone: The Device Steve Jobs Didn’t Want to Build. Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstocks sandal to Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.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/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What was the impact of Trump's tariffs announced on T-Day?
And Trump's new taxes, they will cost the average American household nearly $4,000 a year. For our second story, Tinder just launched an AI chatbot to test your pickup lines on, and we call it the Flirtbot. The Flirtbot actually highlights one of the biggest opportunities for AI. AI is a judgment-free zone. But yeah, it is. Let's start with some industry context right now.
The biggest drama with dating apps these days, what is it, Jack? They're stocks. Match and Bumble are both down over 80% from their all-time highs. Everywhere we look, we are seeing stories about Tinder fatigue, and that is hitting the companies. You found love on LinkedIn instead. How'd you two meet? You both ran the same route on Strava. Adorable.
Well, Tinder thinks they found the solution to your Tinder fatigue, and that solution is improving your game. This week, they launched a product called The Game Game, as in a game to practice your game. Now, what is this thing? Well, Tinder's launching an AI persona to test your pickup lines on. So in the Tinder app, you can practice out like, is it hot in here or is it just me? Are you a stock?
Because I'd invest all my time with you. I think you're a long-term hold. Now, Jack and I saw this story. We dove in T-boy style, and we decided to call this a flirt bot. Because it's designed to help you practice your flirting. Yeah, you talk to it in the phone. Like, are you compound interest? Because my feelings are growing exponentially. But here's the key to the flirt bot.
It's not just for practicing pickup lines. It's actually gamified. Are you Wi-Fi? Because I'm starting to feel a strong connection. That's solid, dude. Yeah, now here's what Jack and I mean when we say that this is gamified. You win points as you spit game to this chatbot. And the goal is for the flirtbot to agree to meet you for a first date.
Yeah, because flirtbot grades you on a three-point scale, and they measure your success with flame emoji. And how does it go down? Basically, the AI will reenact a meet-cute scenario. It's going to test you out in a scene from a rom-com movie, like straight out of a Hallmark film. So this chatbot will set the scene like this.
You're at the airport and your luggage gets mixed up at the baggage claim and you and a beautiful woman reach for the same suitcase. Do you ask her where she's from? Do you make a joke about Delta? Do you offer her a ride to the hotel? What do you do? Now, if you make the flirt bot laugh, yeah, you're going to get three flames. That's a win.
But if you make the flirt bot cringe, you're going to get some feedback. Like next time, don't mention your mother in the first interaction. Seriously, Tinder is going to coach you on how to say and not say the right thing. Now, the risk here is that you flirt too much with the flirt bot. The risk is that you spend all day chatting with a flirt bot and no time chatting with actual human beings.
Yeah, so Tinder actually set limits on this thing. They've capped your usage at five game flirts per day. Although the cap is probably just to keep their AI costs under control, if we're being honest. Because this isn't actually Tinder's technology, is it, Jack? No. The whole thing is powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT 4.0 platform. Tinder bought a whole lot of enterprise licenses. Yeah, they did.
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Chapter 2: How much will the trade war cost American households?
Switch 2 basically added a microphone and a camera so that you can chat with friends while playing the games. They turned it into a social network. Yeah, they did. The Switch 2 is going to replace the meetup that previous generations did at the mall. And when you meet up in Nintendo's social network, the game you will be playing is Mario Kart World.
Mario Kart World is the latest edition of Mario Kart. I think it's like the 25th version of Mario Kart. Yeah. But this one is only playable on the Nintendo Switch 2. And it's basically Mario Kart meets Grand Theft Auto. Yeah, it's not really Mario Kart World. It's more like Mario Kart Metaverse. Because if you play this thing in free roam mode, Jack, what does that look like?
It means you can drive off course. Instead of racing, you can just roam across this vast digital universe. Yeah, yeah. You can just like spend three hours out of your day touring Peach's Castle with your buddy Timmy who lives 30 miles away. And that's what you're doing in this game. It reminds me of Grand Theft Auto. You can just roam and mess around.
Take a scenic drive with a bunch of friends riding other go-karts. And take photos together in Nintendo's metaverse. It's even got its own atmosphere. So if you do a race on the Koopa Troopa beach, the time of the day and the weather conditions will change depending on what the actual time of day and weather conditions are.
If it's raining down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where you're playing, it's going to be raining on the Koopa Troopas and the shells and the bananas you're tossing along the course. All right, so social gaming and Mario Kart World, which is basically Metaverse. Still, highest price tag ever, 80 bucks for games, 450 bucks for new hardware.
We're talking a hardware device that competes with the phone in your pocket. It's half the price of an iPhone. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nintendo? Nintendo prioritizes feelings over function, and that's how it's winning. Yetis, here's the reality. We don't need video game consoles anymore.
Sales of PlayStation 5s and Xboxes, they're actually lower than their predecessors were. Because video games are increasingly played off console for free on a basic computer or a basic smartphone. Roblox and Fortnite, they are some of the most popular games of all time with no expensive console necessary. But Nintendo is the exception to this trend. It is.
Because the Switch 1 sold 150 million units, which is more than the Wii and the N64 combined. Oh, Jack, bigger surprise. People have bought 1.4 billion Switch games in an era that other games are free. Now, Nintendo doesn't even have the most powerful processors or the highest budget games to offer. But their characters are the most creative, the most fun, and the most outside the box, literally.
An example of outside the box? Nintendo Wii. That was a risk other game companies were not willing to take. No way they'd do it. So Nintendo, they prioritize feelings over function, and that is why Nintendo is winning the game. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Trump announced tariffs much bigger than expected yesterday.
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Chapter 3: What is Tinder's new AI flirt-bot feature?
Which is why Jack and I are formally announcing. Our quiet bid for TikTok. And finally, more football news. NFL players will play in the 2028 LA Olympics. Yeah, new sport coming to the 2028 games. Flag football. Tag, you're it, Jack. And ever since that was the announcement, the big question has been, will NFL players be allowed to play?
Well, NFL Commissioner Goodell said yesterday, yeah, it's likely to happen. Will Tom Brady come out of retirement? If there's Dogecoin on the line, Jack, yeah, he will probably come out of retirement. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Philip Buster down in lovely Washington, D.C.
Starting on March 31st, Cory Booker spoke on the Senate floor for a record 25 hours and 5 minutes, smashing the record for the longest Phil Buster ever. Okay, whether you're Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter. It's just like a physical feat no matter who did that. So we looked into what he did. Did he eat during those 25 hours, Nick? Yeah, he actually did.
Chapter 4: How is Tinder addressing user fatigue with its new features?
He had protein bars and a banana mid-speech. We should point that out. Everyone's wondering, did he go to the bathroom? He actually didn't because Senate rules say you cannot physically leave. No breaks, no sitting, no leaning if you're going to hold the podium. I assume he didn't drink much water then either because- No, he stopped drinking the day before.
And in terms of prep, he wore compression socks, marathon hydration prior, and a binder full of quotes and stories and snacks to keep him through it. Basically, a filibuster is the political equivalent of an Ironman. Yetis, you look fantastic over there. Jack, I'm looking right now and it looks like flights to Montreal to Tokyo. That's like 900 bucks, man. I think we can pull this off.
It's a write-off. It's a write-off. If we discuss business on the chairlift. Yetis, remember to tap to follow the show and Jack and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Diego Aparicio over in Miami, Florida, a finance bro who loves impressing the clients with the T-boy takeaway.
And happy 25th birthday to Zivan Patel in Atlanta, Georgia, who's spending it over at the BAPS Temple. Congratulations, Julie Rich, down in D.C., celebrating the birthday with crab legs that are taller than her, and that is how you celebrate a birthday. Congratulations to Rob from Durango, Colorado, who's retiring. Kick it back, Rob.
Chapter 5: What are the unique features of the flirt-bot on Tinder?
And Paul and Joni in Hermosa Beach, California, are celebrating the best anniversary yet. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock in Roblox and Amazon, and Nick and I both own ETFs of the S&P 500.