🩻 “Hospitality Healthcare” — Neko’s viral bodyscanner. Zuck’s AI tax. Le Labo’s city scents. +French Butter Smuggle

0:28This is Nick. until the theater kicks us out, which they politely did, by the way. And I feel like a father right now because I went through the photography the next morning and I posted at tboypod on Instagram, a carousel of photos that I am just ridiculously proud of with you, Nick. Honestly, this is the best photos we've ever taken. Oh, and Jack, do you see what I'm wearing right now? Do you see what this is? Oh yeah. So one fan of the show 3D printed these like epic bling necklaces, which Nick is displaying on YouTube and Apple video right now. Straight up rapper necklaces with T-Boy on them.

0:59I'm wearing it right now. It was such a fun time. Nick and I got to the after party just before the bar closed. It was so much fun hanging out with you. But in the meantime, Yetis, in addition to that live show, we've got three fantastic stories for today's T-Boy. Jack, what do we got in a regular program? For our first story, 25 ,000 people are on the wait list for Neko's body scanner, which was invented by the Spotify founder. Because the coolest club in New York is actually a$7 billion body scanning machine. For our second story, last week, Meta launched a cuddly little AI charm and a new business model.

1:31Because Zuck found his version of Apple's app tax and a new fashion to go with it. And our third and final story, Estee Lauder's hottest brand is La Lavo. If this podcast smelled like La Lavo, you'd be romantically attracted to it. Yes, but La Lavo's most successful scent is the one they threw in the garbage. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories. Love the mix on the Monday back, Jack. Marijuana, Cuban cigars, not FDA-approved Korean skin creams. Besties, those are the top smuggled items into the United States. But there's a new topper of that list. Uh-huh.

2:04French full-fat butter. Not-a-boos-a-boos. French butter has become such a specific status souvenir that American tourists are turning their suitcases into makeshift refrigerators. It's the great butter bootleg. It's a full-fat flight you hope doesn't become messy margarine, Jack. No, Nick, I'm gonna spread on some context right now. Spread it on real smooth. At 82 % fat, French butter is even fatter than Vermont butter. Brands like Le Meunier, Dizani, Bordillier, De Beurette. Apparently, Cabot is not the cream of the crop anymore. No, no, no, no. Those are the Mount Rushmore of butters. And with American travel to Europe at all-time highs, French butter sales are also now at all-time highs.

2:43French butter is selling so fast, it's melting. According to the Journal, some French butter is selling for$20 a stick over in Paris. And one French store now sells three bars of butter every single minute. Because they know their client, don't they, Jack? American tourists. So that store set up vacuum machines to seal your butter before your flight. And here's how you smuggle it home. You freeze the butter the night before in that vacuum-sealed package. And pro tip, you sandwich that frozen butter between two ice packs and then sandwich that between your clothes. Apparently all that insulation keeps it cold for the light of the flight.

3:15But then you got to check your luggage and pray, Jack. Che. Pray that your butter arrives home without caramelizing your entire suitcase. Or the Department of Homeland Security doesn't throw you in jail. So to all the Eddies right now deep-freezing their suitcases at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Bonne chance, mes amis, bonne chance. Here's to hoping your cashmere sweater doesn't forever smell like pancakes. And the new job in our economy, French butter mule. Jack, let's hit the airport for us and our free story. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm.

3:46It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, 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.

4:05Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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5:56For our first story, the hottest club in London has now arrived in New York. It's a healthcare club. Neko is the$7 billion startup whose$499 body scan has a 25 ,000-person wait list just in New York. But Jack, let's start by sprinkling on some linguistic context. Neko is the Japanese word for, I am a little rusty on my Japanese, but cat. I believe it's for cat. Yes, and because cats have nine lives, this aligns with the brand's longevity message. The Neko Health Clinic was co-founded by Spotify's co-founder Daniel Ek, Whose name conveniently rhymes with his brand. Yes, it does. It's a new age AI power preventative health company.

6:36It's been buzzing in London for years, but it will soon be buzzing here. Because Neko just opened in Soho of New York City on September 24th. And next, it's taken its talents down to Miami. Now, why do we say that a health clinic is the hottest club in New York? Because it has a 25 ,000 person wait list after 24 hours, Jack. Neko isn't a new MRI machine. Neko is trying to become your primary care physician. But it's also trying to feel like a spa. because the interior of this body scanning pod, it's giving Swedish massage, Jack. The robe that they give you at Neko, it's not a clinical one-sided scrub that exposes your butt cheeks in the back for some reason.

7:11It's a butter yellow bathrobe that you'd bring to the sauna at the Four Seasons. It's basically a Spotify wrapped for your molds, like an Ikea for your insides. Because the 30-minute body scan followed by a 30-minute consultation, it's supposed to only happen once a year. So it knows your skin, your cardio, your body more than Dr. Dan down the street. At least that's what's in the pitch deck. But besties, when you look at the business model of Neko, here's the real question that they're trying to answer. Can you apply the rules and business model of the hospitality industry to the healthcare industry?

7:41That's the question, because on the customer side, that's what Neko is doing, and not just with the indulgent buttery bathrobes. Neko respects your time. The 60-minute visit starts promptly and includes the results discussed by a clinician before you leave. And Neko also respects your money by actually telling you the price in advance and not surprising you with the big medical bill a few months later. But on the financial side, insurance doesn't cover a Necco body scan. So it's easy to call this a health toy for the rich. Yeah, Jack, we should point out Zuck's an investor in this$499 body scanner.

8:09But I should point out, Nick, that I do have health insurance, and that doesn't mean things are covered. Like, I'm always paying huge out-of-pocket bills, even though it's technically covered by insurance, so. Jack's pockets are constantly being outed, is what we're saying. Now, the remaining question is medical for Necco. Like, does this work? Is this better than a physical exam by a doctor? We'll leave the does the body scanner work question to the PhDs out there. But the question Nick and I will try to answer is the financial question. Right. At$499 per scan, how is this going to generate returns?

8:40How is it going to become a profit puppy? Because they did$22 million in revenue last year, but that's tiny compared to their$7 billion valuation. That's a lot of hype. That's worth one left. So even if Neko scales their spa-style body scanners across the world's global cities, will they ever make a profit? That's our question. Now, it's possible that this is a VC-subsidized experience, artificially low prices that aren't going to last. Club Neko, we bet it's going to be$2 ,000 per scan in two years. Although Neko would probably tell you that their profit recipe is vertical integration. Neko does everything.

9:14They built a body scanner, they do the scan, they interpret the tests with clinicians. They avoid the layers of bureaucracy and middleman and costs that the healthcare industry is famous for. Also, Jack, Neko will tell you the two magical letters that are the key to their profitability. A and I. The 6 ,000 photos that the body scan does of every inch of your body, those 6 ,000 photos aren't processed by a human being. They're processed by AI. And they go deep. Like, they'll pick up the Swedish meatballs in your tummy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the$7 billion body scanner, NECA?

9:46The startups that can change the world are the ones attacking the big blanks. The big blanks. Yetis, last week we interviewed Tim Draper, the venture capitalist at our San Francisco live show. And we bet he would love to invest in NetCo. Because his investment thesis is to target industries where there's a big blank, a big pharma, a big oil, a big bank, or a big healthcare. The big implies that there's an old, slow, and disruptable business behind this generic industry. And based on NetCo's 25 ,000-person waitlist in New York and 350 ,000-person waitlist globally, that's proof that there's demand to disrupt big healthcare.

10:22People badly want a better healthcare experience. Healthcare in America is bloated, it's inefficient, it's expensive. A ton of money for a disruptor to make in this industry. So if it succeeds, Neko could take a slice of an industry that is 18 % of all America's spending. But Jack, that is a big if. It's a huge if. Vested interests, they have resisted change for decades with lobbying and scare tactics anytime a reform bill is presented. So besties, Neko, it's a reminder that the most ambitious startups attack the big blanks. For our second story, Zuck just had his biggest week since diluting Eduardo Saverin's stock for 0.03 % of Facebook.

11:01Because he launched a new AI device, new audio glasses, and a new business model, and a new style of fashion, and almost a new all-time high stock price. But besties, in order for us to tell Zuck's latest story, happy Milan Fashion Week to all those who celebrate out there. Because last week was Meta's biggest product event ever. Yeah. And Zuck wore the newest addition to his makeover wardrobe. A huge t-shirt that says, uh, I train for MMA now, but don't need to wear a tight t-shirt to show it off. It's his attempt to tell you that he's showing you not telling you. Yeah, it's a vibe. But Zuck's new AI wunderkind, the chief AI officer, Alexander Wang, he made the bigger fashion statement last week.

11:42Because this 29-year-old who's paid like$100 million a year to lead Meta's AI. He wore Crocs, he wore cargo pants, and he wore a camo t-shirt that he got at a Santa Cruz secondhand shop. That's right. Zuck's secondhand man hard-launched the new dress code over at Meta. Not suits, not even hoodies, not sandals either. Camo Crocs from a thrift shop. Just thrift. The message here, results don't care what you wear. The other message, if you're a teenage coding wizard, come work for Meta because you'll feel right at home. Zuck is now hiring based on wardrobe riz. But besties, the other funny news Jack and I noticed from Meta Connect last week.

12:17Jack, what was it exactly? A catchphrase from Succession. We're hearing you. We're hearing you. You see, in response to backlash against Zuck's new camera glasses, AKA perv glasses, Meta just unveiled smart glasses without a camera. What these smart glasses lack in watching, though, it makes up for in listening. Because these new camera-free glasses are basically frames with built-in AirPods. So you can listen to music, podcasts, make phone calls, or just say, Hey, Metta, what time is my dinner reservation again? But Metta also boasted that these glasses have six microphones built in, which is making all of us suspicious already.

12:51And it reminds us of the TV show Succession. Hey, Tom Wamsgans, why don't you play that clip? We're gonna go with, we hear you? We hear you? Yeah. You're still worried? We're listening, we hear you. It's the same problem, isn't it? Well, it's maybe less active. Now, besties, for now, these frames will not be always listening. They only activate if you say that phrase, hey, Meta. But Meta also launched a physical AI product called a Muse Charm. It's a peppermint patty-sized device that has one thing in there, your Muse AI agent. Jack and I like to think of this as the first-ever AI Tamagotchi, which only listens, by the way, once you touch the fingerprint sensor.

13:34But given Meta's trust deficit, haters are gonna assume that these audio glasses and this Tamagotchi AI product, it's always listening. It's always selling your data to advertisers. Totally. It's always training AI, probably without your permission, based on your intimate conversations. So add it all up, and by the holiday season, in addition to the new Muse Tamagotchi-like device, Meta will be selling a hundred styles of glasses. But the biggest news wasn't the Tamagotchi, it wasn't the wardrobe, it wasn't these new audio glasses. Jack, it was Meta's new business model, right? And that new business model is why Wall Street analysts are upgrading the stock left and right.

14:09It ain't just the Tamagotchi. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies with the new fashion over at Meta? Zuck has finally found his app tax. Yetis, last week we covered news that Amazon was blocking Meta's AI Muse agent from accessing its e-commerce store. Amazon was bot-blocking Meta because agentic shopping threatens Amazon's$68 billion a year advertising business. But at the Meta Connect event last week, Zuck announced a dozen online retailers who are not blocking their AI Muse agent who shops for you. Walmart, Best Buy, Instacart, Expedia, OpenTable, Sephora, The Gap, American Eagle, Wayfair, they'll all allow Muse to do your shopping for you.

14:48They're not worried about losing ad dollars. Those retailers are interested in gaining sales. Because if Walmart embraces agentic shopping with Meta, but Amazon doesn't, Walmart could eat away at Amazon's market share. And besties, here's why that could be huge for Meta. Because over time, Meta will profit by taking a small fee from transactions, as Zuck put it. We repeat, over time, Meta is going to take a small fee from all its AI transactions. Muse delivers huge sales to Instacart and Walmart in the Gap. They're going to pay for it by giving Meta a small percentage of the sale. This is Meta's version of the app tax.

15:18And remember, besties, Apple makes$7 billion in profit a month in their services division, thanks mostly to their app tax. Now, Zuck has finally found his. It's basically an AI sales tax. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a new school year, which means yet another back-to-school shopping list. Luckily, when you use your Apple Card, you can earn 3 % daily cash back on everything at Apple, including the new iPad Air and the MacBook Pro. Apply for Apple Card today and unlock the tools for a productive school year. Subject credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch.

15:53Terms and more at AppleCard.com. You know what's a fun habit? getting to hang with you guys every day on this show. It's what we do. Another fun habit, listening to audiobooks about habits. Like Atomic Habits, the legendary piece about building habits that better your life, right? And the Atomic Habits audiobook is on Audible. We're excited to collab with Audible because it's how we find our road trip companion. The written word, spoken. So besties, you can create a habit of enjoying audiobooks while you multitask. Which I believe is chapter three of Atomic Habits. That's right, Jack. Wash pots and pans, awkwardly fold those fitted bedsheets, floss your teeth while you're winding down listening on Audible.

16:27If your hands are full while listening to Audible, then you're doing it right. So summer's not over. Replace doom scrolling by listening to an audiobook that a human put all their thought and effort into. Audible, it's stories that speak to you. And new members can start listening with a 30-day free trial at audible.com slash tboy. That's a 30-day free trial at audible.com slash tboy. Take it from a couple guys with a lot of habits who have become your habit. For our third and final story, You smell that? La Labo has become the trendiest fragrance brand with a strategy inspired by Pokemon. And their OG top-smelling scent, it's the one they initially threw away in the trash.

17:06Ah, Yeti's smell-maxing, cologne-crushing, the perfume pop, even Axe Body Spray is having a moment back again. With Gen Z buying fragrances more than any generation before it, it is no surprise that that's the hottest category for Estee Lauder. Now we check the earnings. The fragrance sales for Estee Lauder hit$2.7 billion in the last 12 months. That's up 12 % from the year before. And it's led by La Labo, a brand that Estee Lauder acquired 12 years ago for$60 million. We ran the math on this, by the way. La Labo is now selling perfume for$2 ,000 a liter. I could get a Diet Coke for$1 per liter.

17:40The smallest, tiniest bottle is$113. And not many people want to smell like they just licked a Coke. But La Labo is like Haley Bieber and Bill Nye had a baby raised in a wildflower. Yeah, and her godmother is Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack. Because La Labo has 150 stores that are part chemistry lab and part Chanel runway. Each perfume that you buy, it's actually filled in the store for you in front of your eyes. Because they treat perfume like a Michelin restaurant. They serve it fresh. But besties, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about La Labo. La Labo's most successful scent is the one they initially trashed.

18:12To spritz on some context, La Labo names their products formulaically. The name is the dominant scent plus the number of ingredients in that scent. For example, Rose 31 is mainly rose scented, and it's got 31 ingredients. And 20 years ago, Le Labo launched Santal number 26. Jack, could you please explain what would technically be in that? Santal is the French word for sandalwood, and there's 26 ingredients. But besties, here's the problem. The Le Labo founders, they weren't fans. They thought it was too leathery, too heavy, just too much smell in that scent. So their initial batch was 300 candles.

18:41Instead of tossing them in the trash, though, they gave those candles away to one client, the Gramercy Park Hotel. And then they took the rest of the Santal 26 candles and gave them to the W Magazine editor as a wedding gift. And then these donated candles contribute to Gramercy Park Hotel becoming the coolest place in town. We went for a drink a couple times, and we can attest to it. Travelers became entranced with, what is the smell of those bathrooms? They asked the front desk, and where can I buy this scent? People were just staying in the bathrooms. They wouldn't leave. It smells so good.

19:10I don't know if that's true. That's why our buddy Timmy disappeared for like 30 minutes, Jack. And the W Magazine editor who has gifted these candles? Yeah. She actually melted the wax to put them on her body. She loved them so much, according to an interview with The Cut. We couldn't make this up. Suddenly, those toss-away Santal 26 candles were so in demand, La Labo did a total 180. It became the hero product. It's time to change our minds, the founder said. This is it, man. They modified that Santal 26 to 33 ingredients, then turned it into a room spray and eventually into a perfume. They struck deals with more boutique hotels, with city clubs, with the Equinox gym chain.

19:43Eventually, Santal became 70 % of La Labo's sales. It saved the company. But hold your nose, because that was 15 years ago. Today, La Labo is doing something even wilder. Because besties, today, if you want to smell other La Labo scents, you'll have to get on an airplane. The New York City, the Tokyo, the Seoul, the Miami. La Labo city-specific scents, you can only buy in those cities. There's no e-commerce option. No exceptions. If you want to smell what Berlin Sidra 37 smells like, you must fly to Germany. So 15 years after Santal went from trash to treasure, the city-exclusive scents are Lilabo's new profit puppies.

20:19So Jack, what's the smell of our takeaway for our buddies over at Lilabo? It's the Pokemon strategy. Make them collect them all. Yeah, or yet is another way to describe what Lilabo did? It's the geography strategy. This isn't the first time we've seen a brand use distance to spur demand. Remember the McDonald's Monopoly game? Well, they would spread key pieces on different coasts, so you had to travel to get a winning combo. Winning a free Jeep Wrangler only required two pieces, but those two pieces, half of them were on the East Coast, half were on the West Coast. Or Pokemon Go, they've kept certain characters in specific places, so you had to travel the world to find them on your phone.

20:55Charizard, yeah, he was on Staten Island. Enjoy your ferry ride. And just like Pikachu, Lalabo limits its most in-demand sense to specific cities on Earth. Because Lalabo knows the test of a brand is customers' irrational willingness to travel for it. And in this K-shaped economy, the wealthy are richer than ever. Malabo is convincing those wealthy to fly to buy a candle and it's working. Best use to collect them all, you gotta travel. And because of that, Malabo's sales just hit an all-time high. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Necco is finally opened in New York with a 25 ,000-person wait list.

21:32Body scans once a year for 499 bucks. It's ambitious because it's targeting a big blank. In this case, big healthcare. For our second story, Meta launched thrift office t-shirts, an AI device, audio glasses, and a new AI business model. Apple's got an app tax. Meta wants an AI sales tax. For our third and final story, Estee Lauder's Lolabo has people flying to collect their city-specific candles and perfumes. It's the Pokemon strategy. Make you collect them all. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, USA-China summit. It's in the books. The results?

22:09Not much said, especially on AI, but some really big, nice dinners. As we expected, the trade war truce was extended another two months. But AI was not publicly discussed, although President Trump posted this on Truth Social. I want to leave AI exactly where it is. That is China's position also. The summit, it thawed relations, but no policy updates of substance. And second, Tesla's long-delayed electric semi-truck is finally going into mass production with the company opening its first factory in Nevada. First ever electric 18 wheelers. They go 500 miles on a charge. Perfect timing because diesel is at all time highs and these are the only tractor trailers that don't need it.

22:45And finally, David Beckham's holding company just enjoyed its most profitable quarter ever. Double digit growth for the business. Revenue hit 110 million bucks and David is paying himself a 51 million dollar dividend. Why? Well, he's got 11 brand deals that you saw in World Cup commercials. 11 of them. That's his new profit puppy. If you want a story on David Beckham's left foot, I mean business, comment right foot. Now time for the best fact yet, which because we're kicking off the week means some T-boy trivia. Jack, what do we got? All right. So we just mentioned Zuck. We'll let teenagers walk into the office wearing Crocs as long as they can code better than AI can.

23:21The gibbets policy has not been determined by HR, but we bet it's unlimited. Well, what's the best age to launch a startup? It's actually not 19, which was Zuck's age when he launched Facebook. And it's not 27, either. What Alexander Wang was when he launched his AI company. According to an MIT study, 45 is the best age to launch a startup in America. 45 middle-aged right in the center of your 40s. That is ideal founder time. Perfect combo of youth and experience. Yetis, you're looking fantastic. Jack, you are glowing over there. And do you know what today's three stories actually mean, Jack? One of them in particular?

23:57We can finally figure out what that thing on our thighs is. Oh, I know what that thing on my thigh is. It's scary. Besties, if you know, you know. If you haven't yet, drop down to give us five stars. Those ratings, they help us grow the show. And it's peeling, despite my Aquaphor application. I don't know. Neko, help me. We're going to need a second opinion, Jack. Let's see him tomorrow.

24:20And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti Ibrahim Aziz, who turned 29 in Vancouver. We saw him at our live show. Happy 103rd birthday to Grandpa Miller in Tucson. We've been giving him shout-outs on this pod since he turned 100. Wow, and poor Vitek is all the way over in Mumbai, India. Happy birthday. Happy 30th birthday to Israel Martinez, entering his 30s in the bout. And Mariana Fonseca, the chief customer officer at Walmart Mexico, is living it up in Mexico City with a birthday. Happy birthday to Jacob Brown, doing logistics in Maryland for his 30th. Shane Cohen, the dad to a magician, is celebrating a birthday down in Denver.

24:51Happy 40th birthday to Robin Littlefield, looking fantastic in Portland, Maine. And Carter Meller is happy 14th birthday to the big cat in Pennsylvania. Happy 13th birthday to Ryland Seymour, on the way to school in Cumming, Georgia. And Daniel Silvanus, early birthday shout-out and just got his brother tickets to our San Francisco show. Thanks for both. Happy birthday to Misha Aspusson in Wayland, Mass., just outside Boston. And Jenny Weir is celebrating with a run and an ice cream in Annapolis, Maryland. Happy birthday to Emily Kern and her daughter, Claire Stevie, who was born just two weeks ago.

25:19And Sarah Turpin, a happy birthday to the future mom in Seattle. And a big shout-out to Samantha Gohl in Campbell, California, who took care of their baby so Nikon could attend our live show. And Lola Miller, happy first flight at flight school. And congratulations to Clemanda. Clay and Amanda on their first IBO in Sunrise, Florida.

25:39This is Jack. I'm on stock of Amazon and Lyft. Nick and I both on stock of Spotify and Apple. Hotels.com. Yetis, you know what our live T-boy tour really means? Well, it means a lot of things, but it includes a lot of hugs with Yetis at our post-show party. Yeah, it does really mean that, but it also really, really means a lot of travel. Like we hit seven cities this year. We got another seven to hit next year. And we booked those trips with Hotels.com. It's a funny little insider info. Jack and I, we actually like to book our own work travel. Because we've got preferences. I want a room that's pet friendly.

26:09I actually bring River on my road trips because she helps ease my nerves. True story. You see, Hotels.com lets you filter for that and filter for hotels with nice gyms, breakfast included. Jack is very particular, by the way. Yeah, I'm kind of a diva. So you don't need to open a dozen tabs for getting it all out. Just use Hotels.com. And you can book your work trips faster, set your preferences once, and then results are tailored to your business needs. Like how we need space for an emergency recording studio in the room, just in case. Besties, you can join Hotels.com's free rewards program to book once, win twice.

26:38Get instant discounts and earn rewards for future trips. So book your next business trip at Hotels.com. Book now at Hotels.com. Loyalty members, you gotta be 18 or over. And dogs can't be loyalty members. Yet.