The Best One Yet
🏃 “We Met on Strava” — Strava’s $2B run app. Nuclear’s hot streak. Nespresso’s Frappu-pivot.
Wed, 28 May 2025
Strava hit a $2B valuation… because running apps are the new social media.Nuclear stocks just surged 40%… because to quote Mugatu “Nuclear, so hot right now.”Nespresso is pivoting from hot George Clooney… because your 1st coffee is now cold.Plus, the psychological strategy behind Heinz Ketchup’s “57 varieties”...Jack’s Strava: https://strava.app.link/9GCovhIGITb $NSRGY $OKLO $KHCWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Heinz Ketchup 🍅Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly.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 is the valuation of Strava and why is it significant?
This is Nick. This is Jack. It is Wednesday, ceviche Wednesday, May 28th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is the T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, I'm looking at the numbers. Stocks jumped 2% yesterday. The Dow was up 700 points. Here's the news. The U.S. and the European Union are talking a trade deal instead of trade tariffs.
If you want to know why I was in Paris, France over the weekend, it may or may not have been with this. You know, Jack, you know, eating escargot, crushing crepes. Yeah, we were on the diplomatic channels all weekend. Just trying to end the trade war in between espressos and ice cream. But Jack, three stories for today's show. What do we got on the team, boy? For our first story, it's Strava.
The fitness app just hit a $2.2 billion valuation. Because running apps are the new social media. For our second story, nuclear energy stocks surged 40% in the last few days on two executive orders. To quote both Mugatu and Oppenheimer, nuclear so hot right now. And our third and final story is Nespresso. Nespresso is pivoting from hot to cold coffee. But here's the key. Don't yell it. Whisper it.
But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories. No one else is doing that mix yet. Every summer, there is one question that somebody asks at every American barbecue. And no one knows the answer. Why does it say 57 varieties on the Heinz ketchup bottle? I mean, Jack, this is America's top condiment, Heinz ketchup. Why the 57?
Well, Nick and I did a deep dive 45 minute episode on Heinz to find out the answer. Jack, is it the 57th Heinz product? No, it is not. Okay. Is it like WD-40, which is the 40th attempt at the product? Nope. This was not the 57th attempt at ketchup. In fact, all Heinz products say 57 varieties on it. Okay. Does the 57 mean there are 57 ingredients? Nope. Does it take 57 years to make? Nope.
Was Heinz born in 1957? No to all of those guesses. The answer is that Heinz just made it up. Get this, besties. Mr. Hines was once on a train in New York City and saw a billboard ad for a shoe business. The shoe business advertised that they had 21 different styles of shoes. And that is when Mr. Hines realized that specificity sells. It's psychology.
Specific numbers sound deliberate, reliable, trustworthy, magnificent. So Heinz took his lucky number, which is the number five, and his wife's lucky number, which is the number seven, and then just put 57 varieties on the bottles. So there aren't 57 varieties at all. No. It's just they're two lucky numbers. But the FTC couldn't sue him for false advertising because the FTC didn't exist yet.
So the reason the number 57 is on every Heinz ketchup bottle, it's because it's a made up lucky number inspired by a shoe billboard. It's basically an inside joke between the founder and his wife, and they got the last laugh. because the rest of the Heinz story is even wilder. And it involves a family bankruptcy, exploding ketchup bottles, and an intervention by President Teddy Roosevelt.
And that is the latest episode of our weekly show, The Best Idea Yet. Tap the link in the episode description to listen to our TBIY episode on Heinz. But Jack, today's episode of T-Boy is fantastic.
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Chapter 2: Why are running apps becoming the new social media?
Another reason Strava's users are still surging is run clubs. That's right. We did a whole story on Nike last year, missing out on run clubs and local run clubs have hit record high in enrollment. You're not doing happy hour at the bar. You're hitting a 5k after work with 23 random strangers. But the latest reason Strava is growing, what is it, Jack? They're more acquisitive than Napoleon.
That's right. Along with the fundraise news, Strava also announced they're buying a cycling app and a British running app. In the last three years, they've acquired four companies and gobbled up all those user bases. Honestly, side note here, maybe Nike should acquire Strava. That's what Jack and I are thinking.
I like the hot take, although Under Armour, remember a decade ago, they acquired Map My Run and that did not work out. That's true, that's true. But Nike, you know, they could use it. They got $10 billion in cash and right now they're kind of just sitting down. They're not running anywhere, Jack. But that's not our takeaway. This is. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Strava?
The new social networks are hobby networks. Yet is 15 years ago, social media pioneered a new behavior, sharing and connecting with friends online about anything. But the novelty of posting for the whole world to see is gone. Yeah. People are barely doing it these days. Instead, people are socializing on online networks that are activity-based like Strava. It's not just Strava.
Goodreads, the book reading app, has 150 million users too. This is what we should do a story on. One of the fastest growing apps right now is Palm Street, which is a social community for selling and nurturing plants. Plant daddies. Yeah, proud plant daddies right here. Frankly, general post about anything social networks, they are shrinking. The new social networks are activity-based.
They're hobby networks. For our second story, nuclear stocks are going nuclear after two epic executive orders. But the best way to promote nuclear energy in America, it's to ban people from watching Chernobyl on HBO.
Yeah. We'll explain.
We'll explain. But before we explain, Jack, can you please sprinkle on some context now that I have my hazmat suit on? Trump's first 100 days in office were all about oil and all against wind and solar. That's right. President Trump was canceling government-supported wind and solar energy and incentivizing fossil fuels instead.
But something he did Friday could create more clean energy than in the history of America. We may have to just repeat that one, Jack. President Trump may be about to create more clean energy than anyone else in history. Because nuclear is clean energy. The biggest source of carbon-free electricity by far. And President Trump just issued two executive orders on it.
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Chapter 3: What led to the surge in nuclear energy stocks?
It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to, like, get other people to do it.
and the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats. Like, if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie. Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy The Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free on Wondery+.
Get started with your free trial at wondery.com slash plus.
For our third and final story, Nespresso is shifting its entire marketing strategy. Less George Clooney, more The Weeknd. It's treating customers like frogs in a pot of water, but it's freezing the water, not boiling it. All right, Jack, I'm going to read off a list of names here and you tell me what brings them all together. Nespresso, Nescafe, Nestea, Nesquik. What do they have in common? Ness.
Yeah, that's it. They're all brands of Nestle, which is actually the world's biggest food company. And the world's most unoriginal namer of brands. Did you hear they're launching Nesburger? If you can add Ness as a suffix, you may as well put it in a grocery store. Well, in 1986, Nestle invented the world's, and I quote, portioned coffee system.
A portioned coffee system, which has 17 patents for it. Portioned coffee system, by the way, is a sophisticated European way of saying coffee pods. That's right. Nestle basically invented the technology for the coffee pod machine. The goal is to let non-baristas brew an espresso at home at a low price. Pre-ground beans, precisely portioned for one cup espresso.
Keurig did the same thing with K-Cups. But yeah, this Nespresso is bigger than you think. Oh, way bigger. They're doing $7 billion a year in annual revenue, which is more than American Airlines does. Nespresso, they sold 15 billion pods last year. That's enough for two espressos per human being. And now that they're recyclable, Nespresso's guilt has been absolved.
But Nestle's espresso division, aka Nespresso, is an elder millennial. It needs to chase Gen Z. And so we were fascinated with this plan. Despite being the market leader in at-home espressos, Nestle just pulled off the biggest pivot yet to the Nespresso brand. Nespresso is going from hot George Clooney to the cold weekend. Literally.
Yet is in 2015, Nespresso came to the United States with George Clooney in commercials, sipping a steamy mug of brown stuff. Clooney, Lake Como, espresso. It was a vibe. Here's the problem. When Gen Z pictures coffee, it's neither steamy nor brown, nor served in a mug. Get this. Half of Gen Z drinkers first tasted coffee, not as like the hot stuff you grew up with. Yeah. But as iced coffee.
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Chapter 4: What are the key changes from the recent executive orders on nuclear energy?
Yeah.
Or a frappuccino. Or something cold with ice cubes. So George Clooney, who is the two-time world's sexiest man. 1997 and 2006. But people don't want hot anymore. Pro tip from Nespresso, by the way, to brew iced espresso drinks, simply tap twice for ice. Apparently the extra concentrated portion of coffee holds up better as it gets diluted with the melted ice.
But Nespresso's not just telling people to tap twice for ice, are they, Nick? No, they're not, Jack. Instead, they're telling people to tap The Weeknd. Nespresso is the lead sponsor of The Weeknd, the musical artist, and his coming concert tour. And guess what, Yetis? We're seeing the results. What Nespresso's doing with this pivot is working.
Sales grew at Nespresso twice as fast as sales growth at the rest of Nestle last year. to $7 billion. Driven by double-digit growth of Nespresso in the United States. George Clooney, George Hooney. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nespresso? To add new customers and not lose old ones, do it like a frog in a pot of water.
So yetis, the suits over at Nestle Corp in Switzerland know that iced coffee is not a fad. Iced coffee is now 75% of Starbucks sales. The future is iced, but a majority of Nespresso sales are still to older, hot coffee lovers. So to ensure that Nespresso doesn't lose that loving relationship to their George Clooney fans, Nespresso is pivoting subtly.
They're not shouting their transition to cold espressos. they're whispering it. For example, in their latest George Clooney Nespresso ad, George is holding an iced coffee, but honestly, you can barely tell. It's subtle. Frogs who like it cold will like Nespresso more. Frogs who like it hot won't even notice the icing.
So besties, Nespresso is pivoting from hot to cold subtly and slowly, like a frog in a pot of boiling water. But it's getting colder, not hotter. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Savice Wednesday? Strava just announced two new acquisitions the same day they announced a $2.2 billion valuation.
Because hobby networks are the new social networks, which means Jack wants you to follow him on Strava. I really don't. But if you want to stalk my runs, go right ahead. Now you don't want us to follow you, Jack. You just make up your mind over there, man. For a second story, nuclear power stocks are up 35% since Friday on two executive orders to accelerate nuclear.
The reason we stopped making nukes in 1979? The availability heuristic. We fear what we can picture. For our third and final story, Nespresso is pivoting from hot coffee drinks and George Clooney to cold coffee drinks in the weekend. To add new customers and not lose old ones, do it like a frog in a pot of water, subtly and slow. But yetis, this pod's not over yet.
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Chapter 5: How is Heinz ketchup's '57 varieties' a marketing strategy?
And Corporate Bro and Rebecca also have a new baby boy. Congratulations, guys. Corporate baby is already hitting his sales targets. Promoted. And congratulations to Teddy and Lauren Kramer on their baby, beautifully named Eloise, the 10th grandchild in the Kramer fam. We're all very proud. And a happy birthday to Yeti Nicole Lawson, the golden birthday of 28 celebrating down in St. Louis Blues.
Happy birthday to Zekiel Hernandez in Jurupa Valley, the best basketball handler for any fourth grader. And Caleb Myers down in Dallas is flying up for our Chicago show. Caleb, can't wait to see you at the Chicago Live T-Boy. Happy birthday to Kevin Benjamin Pac-Man, who's 50 years old, from San Mateo, and listening to our show for seven years.
Oh, and finally, a fantastic early birthday shout out to Brett Taylor from lovely Rye, New Hampshire. Jack, what does Brett have in store? Your girlfriend is taking you to Boston for a Red Sox game to celebrate your birthday. That's right. You're from just outside Boston, so you're going to celebrate just inside Boston. The hockey way is on the way. This is Jack. Nick owns stock of Nike and Block.
And Nick and I both own a Bitcoin named Ben. If you like the best one yet, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free 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.
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