The Best One Yet
🕯️ “Everyone’s watching it” — Conclave’s Pope pop. Uber’s robo-VW-hippie-van taxi. The Great Capitalist Pause.
25 Apr 2025
Since the Pope passed, streaming of “Conclave” is up 3,200%... It’s the power of Shelf IP.Uber & VW just hooked up for robo-hippie-van taxis… It captures Uber’s Switzerland Strategy.Every company’s put their investment plans on ice… We call it the Great Capitalist Pause.Plus, Starbucks bought 200,000 Sharpies… now its new CEO wants a doodle on every cup.$UBER $VWAGY $AMZN $NFLXWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of 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 Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper 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.
Full Episode
Pumped a pod, man. You're keeping the sweater on. You're keeping the sweater on. I'm keeping it on. I got a little bit of, good thing I'm double old spiced. I'm calling it. You're going to heat up by the third story. You're taking that off before the takeaway. I'll take it away. Three, two. This is Nick. This is Jack. It is Friday, the real Friday. April 25th, 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. You know, Jack, before the pod, we were saying these are like the three stories we've ever done that are the best we've ever done. Should we just, should we get right into it? Yeah, absolutely. Let's just hit it. Three stories for today's T-Boy. What do we got, man?
For our first story, since Pope Francis passed away, conclaves has become the number one movie on streaming, with viewership up 3,000% from last week. Because the secret weapon of streaming is shelf IP. For our second story, Uber and Volkswagen just did the awkwardest hot hookup we've ever seen. So hot, so awkward. A robo-hippie van self-driving taxi.
Because Uber's using the Switzerland strategy. And our third and final story is the biggest news in business news right now. What is it? No news at all. Because 2025 has been what Jack and I are calling the Great Capitalist Pause. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Whoa! Oh, what a mix of stories, baby. Love the mix, Jack.
Is it just us, or is there something unusual about your last Starbucks order? I mean, Jack, was that a cartoon kangaroo on your last venti latte, my friend? Not because your barista's side hustling as an art student. No. Cup art is a direct order from the Starbucks CEO. Get this. A key part of Starbucks' new turnaround plan is... Doodling on cups. That's right.
The new CEO, Brian Nickell, thinks doodles on cups bring back the coffeehouse vibe that Starbucks has lost. And he wants them on every cup. It's like flair from the movie Office Space, but we're talking about original works of art. According to the Wall Street Journal, cafe workers across 11,000 North American Starbuckses we're told to add messages to all to-go cups.
It could simply say, have a fun day, scribbled on the side, or it could be the sketch of a dragon eating a leprechaun. Or it could be a tic-tac-toe board. Like we said, art is not meant to be judged. So either way, it is now a Starbucks rule to go full Picasso on those cups. Like a liberal arts degree. Required art courses to graduate that class.
Now, in fact, this ties back to a story we did last year about Starbucks and Sharpies. That's right. 2024, Starbucks bought 200,000 Sharpies for all of its stores. Now we see why. They're putting those 200,000 markers to use. Turning your frappuccino into a Botticelli. Turning your latte into a Monet. Our thought on this, though, don't throw away that cup too soon, Jack. Who knows?
Oh, boy.
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