🍣 “Capitalism Roll” — Sushi’s US surge. Oura’s $11B Ring. Oklo’s nuclear Trump speech. +Ben Stiller soda.

0:28This is Nick. childhood teddy bear. 60 % of T-Boy listeners still have that. And 20 % of T-Boy listeners are holding that teddy bear right now, Jack. Dude, I had my childhood blanket until a few years ago. Blanky. And Alex did like a house cleaning, spring cleaning situation. She tossed it. A victim of the move. In fairness of her, that blanket was disgusting. Was it Slammin' Salmon Pink though, Jack? Because you're supposed to be wearing Slammin' Salmon today. All right. But today's pod is the best one yet. Jack, three fantastic stories for today's show. What do we got on the pod? For our first story, it's the fastest growing food in America right now.

1:06It's sushi. Sushi. We're in the middle of an epic sushi surge. So Jack and I will tell you how the gas station sushi conquered the country. For our second story, the most valuable company in America that has zero revenue, it's a nuclear power company called Oclo. After Trump's big speech at the United Nations, Ocklo's nuclear stock went nuclear. And our third and final story, there is one wearable tech product beating all the others, the Oura Ring. Oura is about to hit an$11 billion valuation thanks to two surprise customers. Who are there, Jack? Ladies and lieutenants. Ladies and lieutenants.

1:46But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories, Jack. Love the mix. Odds are right now, you're listening to this pod holding a drink in your hand. Podcasting. It's a multitasking medium. You're driving to work, you're listening to T-Boy, and you're sipping on a double-digit latte. So yesterday, Nick and I were looking at the news and the headline hammer, and we realized there was beverage news bigger than that Stanley mug in your cup holder. I mean, Jack, biggest day of beverage news we've ever sipped on, right, my friend? First, Chick-fil-A, in many places the most popular restaurant chain in the country, is launching a beverage chain.

2:24True story. Chick-fil-A is doing a drink spinoff to rival Starbucks next. It's called Daybright, and there's no details yet on it. Although we do hope they offer a deep fried boba tea, just putting that out there. But it wasn't just Chick-fil-A. Ben Stiller launched a soda brand yesterday. That's right, Ben Stiller, the actor. He created a new soda called the Stillers. The flavors are inspired by the Shirley Temples that he drank as a kid at New York City's comedy clubs. Hey, Ben, you gonna launch an orange mocha frappuccino, or what? And finally, we have a brand spanking new king of beers. Get this, Michelob Ultra just beat Modelo, top selling beer in America.

3:02Hold my Michelob Bud Light. Mick Ultra is the new king of beers. So besties, add it all up and that's the tea, literally. That's the tea. Now, who knew yesterday would be the biggest day for beverage news of the year, Nick? Didn't see it happening, Jack, when I was whipping up the extra pulp orange juice. Either way, these updates are making me thirsty. Why is there pulp in Oregon juice. Jack, let's serve up our three stories.

3:53First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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5:59Nick, did you see Liquid IV teamed up with Ring Pop? I did, Jack. And honestly, it's one of those collabs where you immediately think, how has nobody done this before? I mean, Ring Pop Cherry is already iconic. My sons love Ring Pops, by the way. I give it to them at the beach. it occupies them for about an hour, but now it's a sugar-free liquid IV flavor too. Ah, it's not just a fun flavor. It's still the same liquid IV hydration formula that hydrates faster than water alone, has three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight vitamins and nutrients. I've been throwing one of these in my water before the gym and before bed pretty much every night if I sweated that day.

6:34Way more fun than drinking plain water. Probably for workouts, travel days, hot days. Honestly, anytime you know, you're probably just not drinking enough water. So if you're looking for an excuse to actually stay hydrated, this is a pretty good one. Check out the new Liquid IV sugar-free ring pop cherry at liquidivy.com. For our first story, the fastest growing food in America right now, it's sushi. 50 years after arriving on American shores, we're experiencing a sushi surge. And it's being driven by gas stations and convenience stores. Okay. Well, first of all, Jack, Jack, since you are from a landlocked state, should I whip up a little sushi vocabulary context for you over here?

7:18First sushi I ever had in my life was with you. You called it a hand roll? I don't really know what that is. Jack uses chopsticks, and we were immediately kicked out of the restaurant yetis. First, you've got nigiri, which is sushi with rice. And then you've got sashimi, which is sushi without rice. Then you've got maki, which is a roll of sushi. And then tamaki, which is a hand roll of sushi. And of course, there's the omakase, chef's choice, which I'm taking you on the next time you come to San Francisco, Jack. And it's basically an edible packaging situation with the seaweed, right? I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that yet.

7:50It is 50 years ago. Everything I just said were foreign words for an exotic concept of sushi. Raw fish on rice, and I eat them with chopsticks, not my fingers. Sushi chefs, they were trained demigods, and their craft was serving up a meal too expensive for even a casual date night. But then in 1979, something happened. One invention changed sushi in America forever. Behold, the California Roll. It was basically a gateway product for people like me. A gateway goodie. You know what the Frappuccino did for coffee, the California Roll did for sushi. It gave a niche food, mass market approachable appeal.

8:29And here was the key to the innovation. There was no raw fish inside the California Roll, so you could transport it and put it in a gas station. Yeah, the California Roll. It's pretending to be crab, but it's actually cooked haddock, which is not raw fish. Exactly, Jack. And the other innovation is that they put the seaweed on the inside of the California roll, not the outside. Okay. So not edible packaging. Exactly. So if you weren't comfortable with seaweed, you were comfortable with the rice instead. And yet, despite that approachable innovation, sushi remained a luxury good in America for the next few decades.

9:03Sushi restaurants, they're not offering$5 footlongs or$10 buckets of wasabi. No, they're not. Until the pandemic. COVID caused a surprise sushi spike across the United States. Remember five years ago, you were tired of cooking from home, you were bored with the takeout options, and you got into a fight with your wife over another pizza dinner. The pandemic is when restaurants and diners alike realized sushi is actually very portable. It does well in transit, and it became a top seller on DoorDash and Uber Eats. But here was the key. It wasn't just more demand for sushi during the pandemic. There was also more supply.

9:38Because for the first time ever, luxury sushi restaurants, they did takeout in order to survive. I mean, Jack, what about that Nobu in Beverly Hills? They started sticking their expensive rolls in plastic boxes, a habit that has stuck even since the lockdown. Jack, my favorite restaurant for sushi in Los Angeles, Sugarfish. I know I'm a basic bro for this one, but they hired a creative director from Apple to design a new sushi takeout container for this very reason. And today, that sushi surge has continued. But here's the latest development. It's being driven by gas station sushi. Ah, retail sushi, aka deli sushi.

10:17It's the fastest growing segment in the grocery store, up 7 % to 3 billion bucks last year. Get this, Kroger now sells a million sushi rolls every single day. Even though half of them involve cream cheese, gas stations, theme parks, stadiums, bowling alleys, even high school cafeterias are seeing record sales of sushi. Guess who was the winner of the Princeton Review's best college food the last nine years in a row, Nick? UMass Amherst, apparently. And why is that, Jack? Because they make sushi from scratch for 22 ,000 students. Besties added all up and sushi always tasted good, but it has now evolved into a convenience health food.

10:53The new sushi spot isn't Omikase in the West Village. No, no. It's the 7-Eleven spicy salmon roll that that trucker just snagged. The next time you go to Disney with the kids, Jack, you're going to treat yourself to a Mickey Mouse roll if I know you. Oh, how far I have come. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone consuming sushi? Sushi is a capitalism success story. Call it a capitalism roll. Yeah, it is. Jack and I are actually proud as we research this story because sushi has gotten past economic barriers, transcending them to become democratized. Sushi is increasingly consumed by all income levels, urban and suburban people, from boomers down to gen alpha.

11:35And how has it pulled this off? Well, capitalist innovations. The supply chain has evolved to meet expanding sushi demand. Frozen food storage and frozen food transport allowed sushi to be sold way out at a gas station in Iowa. And now it's done so safely. There are actually way fewer raw fish illnesses in the past decade than there were meat ones. And with all those conditions, five large companies have swooped in and scaled deli sushi from sea to shining sea in a way that Japanese restaurants couldn't do alone. So besties, add it all up, and from California rolls to cold storage to pandemic takeout, sushi is a capitalist success story.

12:13For our second story, in an historic and unprecedented speech at the United Nations, Donald Trump critiqued and lectured world leaders for 57 minutes yesterday. But after all of it, we found the one stock market winner, Oclo Nuclear. It's America's biggest company that has zero revenues. But yet, our story begins in midtown Manhattan yesterday when President Trump spoke on the biggest stage in the world, the United Nations General Assembly. His speech sounded like one of his campaign rallies. He went on for nearly four times his allotted time, and he boasted about himself and his accomplishments and said that migration was ruining Europe.

12:53He also complained about the broken escalator in the United Nations building, which hasn't been fixed in a while, as well as the entire institution of the United Nations itself. But what this business podcast wanted to focus on was his remarks on energy. Right, because his remarks on energy explain why one company with zero revenues has a stock up 1 ,500 % in the last year. In that speech yesterday, Donald Trump doubled down on his belief that climate change is a hoax. Yeah, the president said that he believes coal, the dirtiest mainstream energy source in the world, is, quote, clean and beautiful.

13:30While also calling green energy a, quote, scam. So to sprinkle on some context here, unsurprisingly, those words have tanked clean energy stocks since the president's inauguration. But surprisingly, there's one exception. Oclo. Oclo Nuclear Energy is that stock that's up 1 ,500%. Sam Altman-backed Oclo makes tiny nuclear reactors and markets them to energy-hungry artificial intelligence companies. Here's the differentiator. These nuclear reactors are like architecturally designed. They're like Vanity Fair full-on spreads, right, Jack? There's another differentiator. They're way quicker to build and they're way smaller and way less cost.

14:10They also look like a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. They're very pretty. We covered Oclo on May 31st, 2024 on this podcast. And since then, the stock is up 1 ,200%. But the wildest part about this Oclo nuclear energy company is that they haven't generated a single dollar of revenue. Yet. Yet. Because if they can build their next generation nuclear power plants quickly and at low cost, then the demand for them is already there. Get this. data centers use so much juice these days that their size is being described by their energy consumption. For example, the new data centers announced Monday by OpenAI and NVIDIA, they are a 10 gigawatt data center.

14:51Jack, you translate 10 gigawatts for the energy understandable over here? That's the same amount of electricity used as 8 million American homes. So yet is on Monday, Oclo broke ground on their very first nuclear powerhouse in the state of Idaho. And who was in attendance there, Jack? Two governors, two U.S. senators, one mayor, and the head of the EPA. Which leads to our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Oclo Nuclear Energy? Just as important as energy sustainability is political sustainability. Yetis, nuclear power is the one carbon-free electricity source that MAGA is supportive of.

15:31It's not the first choice of progressives, but even Al Gore is now getting on board with nuclear, given the political realities. So interestingly, unlike wind and solar, which got support under Biden, but got canceled under Trump, nuclear doesn't just have energy sustainability. It now has political sustainability. If Trump builds out a bunch of nuclear power reactors, they probably wouldn't get canceled by a future democratic president. Because this is wild, but nuclear is the one topic that both Donald Trump and Al Gore can both agree on together. Techies who lead the big AI companies, they don't believe that climate change is a hoax like Donald Trump does.

16:09So they're looking for clean energy to power their AI investments. There's only one source that can do that and get political support these days, and that source is nuclear. It's not wind, it's not solar, it's nuclear. Besties, just as important as energy sustainability is political. sustainability. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Walmart Business. Yetis, we cover business trends on our show, and they move faster than you can spell GPU. One minute, it's vibe coding. The next, it's agentic. Tomorrow, it's probably going to be in-person old school again. Yeah, well, while you're managing this to stay ahead, the last thing you need to worry about is supplies for your company.

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17:25It's Walmart built for your business. Sign up for a free Walmart business account today at business.walmart.com. NetSuite. Yeah, these NetSuite is the corporate control panel for business. Has been since 1998. They probably use this on Star Wars. This pre.com software suite though, it remains the market leader. But Nick, what is next? I got no idea, Jack. You tell me what's next. Well, they say every day your business is late for AI, you fall two days behind. I didn't know they said that. Now I'm stressed, Jack. That's an incredibly stressful thing. We're all anxiety maxing. So, Bazzies, if you're feeling like your business is behind, there is NetSuite Next.

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18:31If your revenues are at least in seven figures, go to netsuite.ai. Built for every industry, ready for every boardroom. netsuite.ai. For our third and final story, Aura Ring. The wearable techie ring is about to become an$11 billion business. Aura Ring is thriving because of a lesson that we learned, ironically, from the Lord of the Rings. Yeah, it is. Funny thing Jack and I noticed. The tech industry these days, I think it's the fashion industry, because like every tech gadget right now is something to be worn. AirPods for your ears, you got headsets and glasses for your face, and you got a watch for your wrist.

19:08Everything is wearables, and the new thing is AI wearables. Which are going to be like hidden in your pocket or like attached to your lapel. But here's the shocker, besties. Three out of four fitness trackers sold these days are actually rings. And the top selling wearable tech gadget ring is Aura. Aura Ring, the Fitbit of fingers, the Peloton for your pointer. For 350 bucks, it'll track everything on your body. Basically every body part. And according to Bloomberg, here's the news. Aura Ring is raising 875 million bucks at an 11 billion dollar valuation. Which would make Oura Ring have the same valuation as an actual jewelry company, Cartier.

19:47It's like the Tiffany's of wearable tech. Now, Oura Ring has sold 3 million Oura Rings in the last year, which, Jack, could you sprinkle on some competitive context, please? That's three times more Oura Rings sold last year than Zuckerberg's Meta Ray-Ban glasses. Three times more than the Meta Ray-Bans. If you like it, then you better put a ring on it. But best is even more impressive than the 3 million units sold of these Oura Rings is that that number is up 2x from the year before. And even more impressive than the$350 price they can sell them for is the$6 a month subscription that customers need to pay to get the benefits.

20:22So like without that paid membership, the Oura Ring is just a Scandinavian chic piece of jewelry. And this explains the$11 billion valuation. Venture Capital loves this combination of high price, recurring revenue, and growth. But besties Jack and I were fascinated by a different surprise about Oura Ring. It has two core customers. Right. The first is young women who are buying Oura Rings for period tracking. It's the Oura Ovulator feature. Basically, they can measure your temperature so precisely you know your fertile window when you could or couldn't get pregnant. There's an entire section on the Oura Ring website dedicated to women's health.

20:56Yeah, it's filled with pictures of flowers, dresses, and a whole bunch of babies. But who's Oura Ring's even bigger customer than young women? Here's the shocker. It's the Department of Defense. It's soldiers. because Oura Rings track the vitals for infantry for the United States Army when they're on the battlefield. Apparently, the Oura Ring is also a tool of war. The ring uses artificial intelligence to predict soldiers' battlefield fatigue. So the lieutenants and the generals in charge, they know which soldiers are ready for that mission impossible that they have ahead of them. So add it all up, Jack, and who are Oura Rings' surprise two power users these days?

21:34G.I. Joe and simply Jane. Who's trying to get pregnant. So Jack, what's the precious takeaway for our buddies over at Oura Ring? Oura Ring success ironically reminds us of the Lord of the Rings. Now yetis, when Jack and I were taught marketing, we were told to target one core customer. If you try to be for everyone, you'll actually be for no one. But Oura Ring is successful thanks to a wide range of power users. Which ironically reminded Jack and I of the wide range of characters in the Lord of the Rings books. There is a fellowship made up of hobbits, dwarves, and elves, plus one wise wizard.

22:12In Lord of the Rings, they're all totally different, but they are motivated about the same ring, just like the customers of Aura Ring. Aura's$11 billion valuation proves that you can target a surprisingly diverse customer base. Besties, you don't need one hero user. You can actually have a fellowship of them. Jack, could you all whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? day. The sushi surge is booming in America, and it's driven by convenient grab-and-go sushi sold everywhere. It's a capitalism success story. Supply chain innovation has scaled raw fish from Nobu to 7-Eleven. I thought you were going to say from Nobu to Nebraska.

22:50Jack, I should have said Nobu to Nebraska. For our second story, Oklo Nuclear Power is the most valuable company in the world right now that has zero revenues. Because just as important as energy sustainability is political sustainability. And our third and final story is the Oura Ring. They're reportedly raising VC cash right now at an$11 billion valuation. And their success defies marketing because like the Lord of the Rings, your power users can be a fellowship. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Major League Baseball announced they're gonna automate umpires starting in 2026.

23:29Human umpires will still stand behind the home plate and call balls and strikes. But teams can now challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. And the umpires, if they were wrong, they will be overruled by the robots. As the robots will futurely overrule us all. And for the first time in history, women now outnumber men in a new batch of NASA astronauts. 8 ,000 people applied to become astronauts at NASA this year, but just 10 were accepted. Okay, that is a 0.1 % acceptance rate in order to go into space. And the NASA 2025 class of orbit-bound astronauts includes six women and four men.

24:07And finally, a French fashion house named Lanvin has created a new marketing strategy, inventing colors. Can you say the company's name again? Not possible, Jack. Lanvin hired a color consultant to design a completely new shade of blue for their fashion packaging. Now, to be honest, I'm looking at this blue right now. I was going to say it looks lavender, but there's something different there. You're right. Yetis, we're posting a picture of this new unprecedented blue on Instagram at tboypod. Let us know what you think of it. Now, time for the best fact of the day. This one is actually a correction sent in by a neurosurgeon.

24:46Someone with more education than us. A brain surgeon named Dr. Oren Aronson wanted to issue a correction. We said yesterday that the cerebellum was the part of the brain that memories are formed. The cerebellum is involved with memories, but they are procedural memories. Like learning how to ride a bike or play the piano. It is the amygdala where the brain processes emotional memories. And in our Build-A-Bear story yesterday, we were talking about the emotional memories, weren't we, Nick? Yeah, that wasn't a cerebellum part of the brain. That was your amygdala part of the brain. Basically, the best location for a store, it's in the amygdala.

25:22Or your brain makes memories. Don't forget it. Or amygdala. It's a potato, potato situation. Yetis, you'll look fantastic for Ceviche Wednesday. And the best way you can help grow the show is to tell a buddy today, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. Have you had the best one yet? And then send them a link to this episode. And after you do, Jack's going to whip up a special surprise for you, aren't you, Jack? We need it. We must have the precious. It's a precious show. Share with your buddies. Jack and I will see you tomorrow.

25:55And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti Ibrahim Aziz, turning 28 years old over in Toronto, Maple Leafs, Toronto. And happy birthday to magic man Shane Cohen in Denver, Colorado. And Grandpa Miller is turning 102 years old over in Tucson, Arizona. Congratulations on more than a century, Grandpa. And happy birthday to Daniel Paul, Dan the Man in Boulder, Colorado, This is belated, but your wife is still the best. And Gyrie Natividad in Denton, Texas is celebrating the best birthday yet. And a big shout out to Allison Ellsworth, a T-Boy guest interview alum who is back on Shark Tank tonight to be a shark this time.

26:40Well, perfect timing, Jack, because Yeti Craig Carey from Clifton, Virginia is on Shark Tank tonight pitching his company. You know what his company is? Dad Strength Brewing Company. It feels like these two should meet, Jack. Think Allison is going to invest in some dad strength. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and neither of us owns Acklow. If you do, let us know in the comments. If you're not married, what finger do you put an aura ring on? Or if you are married, what finger do you put it on?

27:16If you propose to her with an Oura ring, then you can see her heartbeat going really, really quickly afterwards. And you can predict the likelihood of a yes or no response. Yeah. I'm going to need an Uber ASAP to get me out of here before she says no. Walmart business. Yetis, we cover business trends on our show, and they move faster than you can spell GPU. One minute it's vibe coding, the next it's agentic. Tomorrow it's probably going to be in-person old school again. Yeah. Well, while you're managing this to stay ahead, the last thing you need to worry about is supplies for your company. Carol, do we have the cogs needed to meet our Q1 sales commitments?

27:50Carol! Outsource that mental load instead to Walmart Business. Walmart Business lets you buy the bulk supplies your business needs. AI tools are there for your digital work. Walmart Business is there for your physical work. Like restock your office inventory with low prices, reliable shipping, and fulfillment. Walmart Business helps simplify your operations so you can focus on building and selling your product. You see Carol in accounting? She'll be relieved that Walmart business is all over it. Eligible organizations can take advantage of tax-free shopping, both in-store and online with Walmart business, saving you more while getting you everything you need.

28:23It's Walmart built for your business. Sign up for a free Walmart business account today at business.walmart.com.