🥾“Method footwear” — Uggs’ Odyssey ban. Ford’s custom drops. 65%-off IVF startup. +Olivia Rodrigo’s Man-In-Finance

0:28This is Nick. today. I mean, three fantastic stories, best we've ever done. Jack, what do we got on the T-boy? For our first story, Ford Motor is taking inspiration from Nike sneakers, a limited edition Bronco drop. Because pimp your ride, pimp your profits. For our second story, on the movie set for The Odyssey, one thing was banned, Uggs. Besties, the Ugg ban is the marketing opportunity of the year. And our third and final story, for Americans with fertility challenges, IVF is an expensive option. $25 ,000 easily goes higher than that. But could AI make IVF 65 % off? One startup thinks so. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

1:06What a mix of stories. Love the mix on today's project. Congratulations to Olivia Rodrigo. The Grammy-winning Gen Z-er has found love. Yes, she has. But he is not another rock star. He is a finance bro. The lucky man's name is Julian Cronenberg, which sounds like a boutique investment bank. So Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. We snooped his LinkedIn resume for you. This man is an applied math major, a Brown University graduate. He's an Olympic field hockey player, speaks three different languages. He's a former Goldman Sachs banker turned PE associate. At a mid-market buyout fund for all those keeping track.

1:43This guy's got managing director potential. Jack, Olivia Rodrigo's next song is going to be like spreadsheet coded after this. She was looking for a man in finance with blue eyes 6 '5". And carried interest. But Nick, Olivia's not the only star looking for that carried interest loophole. A lot of finance bros hooking up with A-listers these days. Lady Gaga is engaged right now to a VC guy. Bad romance, good ROI. Reese Witherspoon is currently dating an iBanker. Her book of the month, it is a banker. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is a 250 basis point fee. Because behind every Academy Award winner is a debt collateralized commodities equities trading analyst.

2:21Jack, what a merger. Let's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in a dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the 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.

2:50Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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5:48For our first story, Uggs just had its best year ever thanks to Muggs. Man, Uggs. But Uggs got banned on the set of The Odyssey, and that puts Uggs in a major marketing pickle. Yetis, exactly one year ago, Jack and I covered the biggest bet in business. At the time, Uggs was pivoting to dudes. To dudes, historically, 90 % of Ugg sales were to women. They were missing half the market out there. So they did a testosterone twist strategy. They hired Post Malone and Tom Brady. Again. Post Malone and his 82 tattoos are now dropping beets and manly Ugg moccasins to a majority male audience. So Uggs was acquired by Decker Corporation 30 years ago, but Uggs were invented 48 years ago by an Australian surfer.

6:32And here's the news. Ugg sales to men are now growing twice as fast as they are to women. And Uggs drove its parent brand to its first ever$1 billion quarter. And Jack, who did the CEO of Decker give all the credit to in that epic earnings report this week? Mugs. Although technically he didn't say mugs. No, no, that's our term. You can run with it, Uggs, though. You can run with it. But we did notice that in the earnings call, he said the word men six times and the word women zero times. Men will literally wear Uggs before going to therapy. Okay, but Vestis, here's the bigger news than Mugs, man Uggs out there right now.

7:06Uggs got banned by Christopher Nolan on the set of The Odyssey. True story. Jack, you're gonna have to sprinkle on some context to this one. Actors and actresses want comfy shoes to slip into between takes on set. That's like a Hollywood understood. Yeah, it's an open secret in Hollywood that if you're on the cast, you demand Uggs in your contract. But it's an equally open secret that director Christopher Nolan forbids Uggs in all of his productions. Forbidden! Goes back to the Batman series we saw in theaters over a decade ago, right Jack? In 2012, Anne Hathaway got reprimanded by Chris for bringing Uggs on set because she didn't know the rule.

7:39So for the Odyssey filming, Anne Hathaway double-checked with director Christopher Nolan's team. And what did they say, Jack? They're still banned. So Christopher Nolan explained to Gayle King on CBS Mornings last week that Uggs are a signal of modernity that take you out of the historical place. Basically, you can't be an authentically mournful ancient Greek queen if you just stepped out of your trailer in Furlain's Comfort. Sheep are in the plot. Sheepskin fleece are not. Yeah, Chris doesn't enforce method acting on set. He does enforce method footwear, though. It wasn't on our 2026 bingo card, but Uggs got banned by Christopher Nolan.

8:13Again, Uggs banned by Christopher Nolan. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Uggs? There are two paths to meme management. Now, Yetis, Jack and I have talked to you about how sometimes the best thing in business is a ban. Skateboards, Red Bull, Dungeon & Dragon, the whoops wristband, all got banned by various authorities But then when consumers discovered why they were banned, sales surged And now Uggs has been banned on the biggest movie set by the world's biggest director And no Uggs on set, they're too comfortable I mean, that is like, that is the best marketing you could get, Jack It's clearly good marketing Which leads to a question that we bet they're debating right now at Uggs They're wondering, uh, do we embrace the ban?

8:54promote it, tell the world that our shoes are just too comfy for the world's biggest movie? Or should we let the band market itself, not disrupt the authenticity and allow it to grow organically? Interestingly, so far, Uggs hasn't said anything. Let us know what you think they should do in the comments. For our second story, Ford is abandoning everything Henry Ford taught them about mass production. Ford is instead taking inspiration from Nike and MTV's Pimp Your Ride, starting with 1 ,000 Ford Broncos. Yetis, get this. Monday morning, Ford drops their first ever car. Ford has made like 100 million cars over the years, but they've only dropped this one car.

9:40Keyword dropped. Jack, take it from here. Drop is a word created by the sneaker industry. It means offering something in limited quantity, limited time, or both. The drop. It's all about exclusive. Dream, collapse, the branded hoodie for the Taylor Swift era store. Drops are released to be rare. They're sold to be sold out. They're not scaled. They're scarce. Now or never, baby. Nike does drops all the time to build buzz for their latest sneaker. We can't buy this Air Force One. We only made six of them. Michael Jordan licked them. Each one is licked by Michael Jordan. We don't say lick on the pod, but now Ford is doing it too.

10:09Well, Mark, it was technically Michael Jordan who licked them. I didn't lick them. Ford just announced Ford Custom Garage to build the kind of thing that you saw on MTV's Pimp My Ride. But instead of Exhibit's Los Angeles garage customizing the car, it's Derek in Detroit with his team doing it at Ford. Or your local dealership will do it. And yesterday, Ford dropped the first product from their new custom garage. Ah, behold the desert rising Bronco. Pink and magenta, desert sunrise inspired. Jack, how would you describe this new car? Well, Barbie would roll up in if she went to Burning Man. Yeah, and that is Ford's first drop.

10:42And here is the key, Yetis. Only 1 ,000 of these Broncos will be made. You see, scarcity is the product, so Ford is giving each of them their own particular serial number. Because scarcity needs proof, and proof is a four-digit serial number. Yes, it is. Now, besties, when Jack and I talk to classic car experts— Which we've done only once ever, by the way. —to tell us that the cars that go up the most in value are the ones in limited quantity. For instance, the Porsche 959, only 292 of those were made in the 80s. Which is why each of those Porsche 959s is worth 2 million bucks. Fiat, it's a cute little car that's cheap and inexpensive.

11:18Unless you find the Fiat Jolly Carjack because they only made 650 of them, and those also go for nearly a million bucks. Last year, we covered Rolls-Royce. They're selling extreme customization for an extreme markup. Get this, Rolls will carve your Zodiac star constellation into the dashboard if you ask them to. And since only one of those cars is made, they cost like a million dollars. So Ford, they're selling something similar to what Rolls is pulling off here. Custom color, rim, and interior combinations and making just 1 ,000 of them each. And now besties, we should point out this is already happening.

11:50You can do customizations elsewhere. Custom garages are huge in this economy. But here is what we find fascinating. The$60 billion spent in North America on last year's car customizations, well, Ford, they weren't getting a dime of that. So Ford's announcement is basically upstreaming those garages, plus including the limited OEM warranty that these aftermarket garages can't. Ford is going to drop a new destination theme drop every single year. They're going full exhibit on that Fiesta. Actually, definitely not a Fiesta. But Jack, just to sprinkle on some context to the numbers, a normal Ford Bronco, what's that going to cost you?

12:24That costs$44 ,000. Okay, but the Desert Rising Custom Bronco? Ooh, that's going to be an extra$13 ,695. I mean, the car basically smashes the cha-ching button for you, man. That$14 ,000, it's pure profit, by the way. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Ford, inspired by Nike? Forget economies of scale. Create economies of scarce. Yetis, cars are the ultimate economies of scale business. Ford, they became number one 100 years ago by inventing the assembly line. But now every car company has an assembly line. So without scale as the differentiator, Ford has been competing on price.

13:00And that's why Ford's profits are down from 10 years ago. The competitive auto industry, it is a battle in prices. Yet he's creating just 1 ,000 of each model. That's not efficient production. But what has efficiency gotten Ford lately? On the other hand, limited edition Broncos, Mustangs, and F-150s, that could efficiently deliver profits even if production is inefficient. Not economies of scale. Ford wants the economies of scarce. Besties, if everyone's building assembly lines, you build an art studio. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Scribe. Yetis, one thing we've noticed is that companies rarely hit a wall because they don't have enough people or budget.

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15:44For our third and final story, the American baby company ABC just raised millions to offer the holy grail of family planning. Low cost IVF. But it wouldn't just save families, it could save AI. But to start by speckling on some context, Jack, you just booked your flights to New York City with the kids in November, I believe. Got it on my calendar right now. I think you set the invite. Annual New York City fall trip right after stick season. There's like a thousand, a thousand playgrounds in Central Park, basically. That's right. We go there because Central Park is one enormous playground where my kids can endlessly play and I can relax.

16:19I mean, I basically, Jack, I learned how to ice skate, how to rollerblade, how to play lacrosse, how to do pickup basketball, fold a pizza, and sell lemonade all Central Park. It's such a gift to the city. But besties, one problem. The Wall Street Journal just published an article entitled, America's big cities are rapidly losing kids. There are some shocking stats about America's 38 largest cities. Get this. While the population overall has grown 2.6 % in the last 10 years, kids under five are down 16%. Porter's Almanac, America's cities are running out of babies. And now Besties, based on our T-boy surveys, that shows that most of you live in America's 38 biggest cities right now.

16:55And some of you city-living dinks simply don't want to have kids for the lifestyle, for the freedom. Others want kids, but you think it's unaffordable because it is. Preschool prices in New York City just hit$30 ,000 a year. But Besties, here's the irony. Having kids is expensive, But struggling to have kids is even more expensive. So Nick and I are going to whip up some maternity math because there is no sticker shock like this. Because if you're not going through this, you should know what people are going through. See, one out of every eight American couples is facing some kind of infertility right now.

17:26You're told to be extremely careful and use protection your whole life. Yeah. But then when you want to have a baby, it can be really hard or even impossible. Now, IVF has emerged as a solution to that challenge that one out of every eight American couples is having right now. In vitro fertilization. It's modern medicine's medical miracle. But of those one out of eight couples that could benefit from IVF, only 14 % actually end up using it. And the reason so few couples pursue IVF, it costs$25 ,000 and it's not covered by insurance. That's the sticker shock. Oh, and there's no guarantee that harvesting eggs in the IVF process is actually going to work in that first cycle you go through.

18:03You may need to do it twice, three times, four times. It could be$100 ,000 and you might not even succeed in the end. And from knowing those who've gone through it, you're experiencing heartbreak the entire time. Because it's not just the price, it's the shots along the way too. Now, just as IVF is about to celebrate its own 40th birthday, the price of IVF in America is at three decade highs. Add it all up and that becomes the clear opportunity for a company like ABC's, the American Baby Company. This is a startup that just raised$4 million to disrupt the IVF by cutting the price of the treatment by 65%.

18:37They're disrupting the process that disrupted healthcare in the first place. $9 ,000 for an IVF cycle. That's their deal. $5 ,000 for an egg pricing. That's their other deal. Amazon prices for mankind's ultimate medical innovation. But there is a catch here, Jack. The mother can't be older than 35, and you have to have regular cycles to be eligible. But ABC's 10-year goal is to help 250 ,000 patients a year with that infertility challenge. By starting with one clinic in Florida, that's why they raised$4 million. And we think this is even bigger than infertility. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at the ABCs?

19:13This is the kind of thing we all wish AI were used for. Now, Yetis, Jack and I covered this story because IVF is a huge topic for our generation and our demographic. And we've spoken with you, Yetis, who have gone through this kind of a thing. But we also covered this story because the startup is using AI for something we all want AI to be used for. You see, AI is the magic sauce that the American Baby Company says makes their low price point possible. They're not using AI to replace doctors. They're using it to streamline the medical process that's full of bloat. And remember, besties, our medical industry is the number two price driver of America's cost-of-living crisis behind only housing.

19:51And remember, yeties, AI has the worst branding in business right now. The vast majority of Americans don't want it happening at all. So for this American Baby Company, the fundraise is so small. It's just$4 million. But the impact could be huge. Low-cost IVF. And we hope that AI results in more breakthroughs like a$9 ,000 IVF cycle. Add it all up, medicine needs a price cut, AI needs a brand boost, and an American baby company could accomplish both. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? Sales to men drove UGG sales to all-time highs last quarter, but Matt Damon can't wear his mugs on the set of The Odyssey.

20:30Oh, it's meme management, baby. Do you step in and amplify it or let it grow organically? Second, Ford did their first ever car drop, a Bronco that Barbie would love to drive into the desert, but it's going to cost her$14 ,000 extra. Yeah, his exhibit would say, yo, dog, forget economies of scale, create economies of scarce. We heard you liked Barbies, we put them on the dashboard. And finally, the American Baby Company raised$4 million to open a clinic doing$9 ,000 IVF. Small fundraise, but huge potential impact for struggling parents and for AI. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

21:05First, the Marvel Avengers are coming back. The trailer for the new film got 503 million views on day number one, second most for a trailer ever. Now, the last two Avengers movies both hit$2 billion at the box office. That was in 2018 and 2019. It was peak franchise. So Disney is taking another huge swing at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though we all got a little bit of franchise fatigue. Yeti's comment, assemble. if you want a full story about this movie tomorrow. And second, AI companies just struck an alliance straight out of Lord of the Rings or maybe out of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

21:38Because NVIDIA, SpaceX, Palantir, DoorDash, even Capital One and about 30 other companies are all joining the Open Secure AI Alliance. Because remember that Houdini AI that we said escaped last week? Well, the tech companies are worried we don't have the ability to stop it again. So this alliance aims to democratize cybersecurity and counter security concerns with open-sourced AI. Well, interestingly, neither Anthropic nor OpenAI signed into the alliance. And finally, would you rather sell your company for$400 million or give it away to a charity? Well, the CEO of Grady White Boats, those fancy fishing boat brand, they're doing the latter.

22:13Grady White Boats is now technically a charity. Specifically, the CEO transferred the assets into a trust so all future profits or sale of the company could be distributed to charity. And if this sounds familiar, the idea was inspired by Patagonia. Founder Yvon Chouinard did the same thing, pioneered the concept. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Clark T in Marin County, California. What do we got, Jack? Robo taxis, they're just like us. They get parking tickets too. Yeah, I actually get a lot of parking tickets. Kind of like how you got two parking tickets last week, Jack. Unbeknownst to me, I was in one hour maximum parking and I stayed there for three hours.

22:48I got two tickets for the same violation. You live and you learn. Well, I guess you just, you park and you learn. But get this, down in Austin, Waymo RoboTaxis have gotten$9 ,325 in parking tickets in just the last year. And in San Francisco,$65 ,000 in Waymo RoboTaxi tickets. As human rules still apply to robot taxis. And unfortunately for Alphabet, this is technically a write-off. Yeah, the Waymo software, not going to show up in court to dispute it, Jack. If I was like the town treasurer, I'd be like, ticket the hell out of these RoboTaxis. I'm going to press the cha-ching button again on this.

23:23This is free revenue from us from big tech. Yetis, you look fantastic for T-Boy Tuesday. Jack, you are glowing. And Olivia and Julian, you guys are a match made in merger and acquisition heaven. Oh, is that the boutique investment bank that's marrying the pop star? Yetis, if you haven't yet, grab tickets to our live show and then tap to follow us so you get the best one yet every single day. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Drop us in the group chat. See you manana.

23:54And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Eddie Jordi Captavia Espatia, a legendary Spaniard enjoying an epic year for Spain, Jack. I mean, they're going for the hat trick. And happy birthday to Manny Supermanish Patel in Orlando, Florida. And Lillian Yang have a lovely birthday down in lovely Los Angeles. Happy birthday to parties in San Francisco. And Daniel Briscoe enjoying the Louisville life down in Kentucky. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to Tony Puno in Manila, the Philippines. And Abdul and Afia have an anniversary up in upstate New York. Congratulations, guys. And Jake Harmon and Christina Marin Casanovos, they met in Thailand.

24:27Happy two-year anniversary, living it up in London. And Casey Bucky's taking the two-day bar exam in North Carolina. You got this, Casey. You got this.

24:39This is Jack. I own stock in Ford and Disney. And I own one share of SpaceX. And Nick owns more than one. Hi all, this is Kim and Penn Holderness from Lifeline. Summer is here, which means it's officially travel season. And when you're out there making plans, you need somewhere reliable to stay. That's why Best Western is such a solid option. This summer, get 1 ,000 bonus points and a chance to win 250 ,000 bonus points. So wherever you're headed, make it count with this limited time offer. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. No additional purchase necessary for sweeps. See bonus points, T's and C's and sweeps rules for details and visit bestwestern.com for complete terms and conditions.