🦿 “Self-Running Sneaks” — Nike’s moonshot merch. Carbone’s AI restaurant. The Scariest Stock Chart. +H’ween Biz Costumes

0:28This is Nick. amount of time. Jack, we're actually going to do a duck this year. It's more expensive than a turkey, I think, but I don't know. It's a substitute, economically speaking. It is not a financial trick shot. It's not a substitute, cuisine speaking. No, it is not. But Jack, three fantastic stories for today's T-Boy. Jack, what do we got on the pod? For our first story, Nike's new jacket, it inflates to keep you warm. Their new shoes, they know your mood. Their sneaker system, Nick, Is that real? It's motorized. Besties, Nike went full NASA last week because Nike is now in the moonshot business.

1:06For our second story, Carbone, the high-end restaurant chain, just invested in an AI startup that customizes meals. Oh yeah, you know about targeted ads? Well, get ready for targeted hospitality. And our third and final story. Since it's almost Halloween, we found the scariest chart in America. It clearly shows that while the stock market's booming, the job market is shrinking. Or does it? Nick and I will explain. Either way, it is one freaky chart. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories to kick off the week with. Love the mix, Jack. It's Halloween week.

1:40It's the costume countdown. Oh, four days until Halloween, besties. We know you got a little bit of outfit paralysis. But before you Instacart yourself a wig from Spirit Halloween. Make it two. Nick and I have better ideas for you. Because Jack and I know that you are staring at a mirror right now with no idea what to wear. Which means it's time for our annual Best Business-Themed Halloween Costume Contest. Okay, Jack, grab that boa and tell us what should the Yetis wear this year. What do we got? What do we got? Well, you could go as a labubu dupe. Is it real? Is it fake? We won't know until you unbox me.

2:14Or you could dress up as a Pinterest performative male. A cardigan in one hand, a flat white in the other, baby. How about a sexy Fed chairman? Because nothing is hotter these days than an interest rate cut, man. Or you could be a vampire data center. I want to suck your energy. Or how about, Nick, you just go wearing nothing at all this year? Yeah, Jack and I call that costume Jet 2 Holiday. But, Nick, we always got to cover the couple's costumes. Oh, good point, Jack. Good point. Like, everyone's going to be doing the Coldplay Kiss Cam couple, right? So instead, go as a Strava couple. Spend the whole night lecturing everyone about the half marathon you just ran.

2:52And demanding kudos for it. Or Jack, if you just happened to be super caffeinated, what would really freak people out? A ghost of matcha shortage. Yeah, whatever you do, just don't go as chat GP sexy, Sam. Yeah, everyone's going to want to touch your chips. Those are not for touching. No, they are not. And if you still can't think of a costume after all of this brainstorming, what do you think, man? Just tell everybody it got lost in the trade war. Yetis, this week it is our annual T-Boy Halloween Pop Biz Costume Challenge. We want to hear your best business-themed costume ideas right here in the comments.

3:25So drop them right there in the comments. Jack and I will read all of them. Whatever you wear, remember to cover your assets. If you know, you know. Jack, let's have a first verse.

3:4650 % that's a fat tip t-boy city on your at list if you know you know because we ready to go we can't wait no more so just start the show start the show first a quick word from our sponsor

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5:16And then Jack, we got to make sure each coworker is countersigned, I think. Oh yeah. And then we have to track down each employee and make sure they know their health insurance options. Oh, right. Did everyone know open enrollment ends tomorrow? Nope. No one did. Yetis, we are just podcast hosts. We also run a media company here and full-time employees mean full-time benefits too. Which means roughly 46 ,000 forms, documents, and tasks to process for each team member. Oh boy, if you're a small business, you'll want to outsource all that to Gusto. Gusto is online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses.

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6:21One more time, gusto.com slash tboy. For our first story, Nike just went full skunkworks on us last week, unveiling three crazy new products. The new Nike, it's not an apparel company. It's doing their version of the Apollo program. Yetis, last Thursday, Nike published not one, not two. Three different press releases for three different products. Nike's PR team was running around so much last week, I think they OD'd on Gatorade in the office. Yeah, you're going to need to check that hammy. Besties, the first product Nike unveiled brings the word air to an entirely new level, right Jack? Because it's a winter coat that inflates with air or deflates to regulate the person who's wearing its temperature.

7:12Honestly, it's like a coat designed by a puffer fish. It looks like the Michelin Man or like an airbag just blew up inside your shirt. And apparently the American athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be wearing this blow up coat invented by Nike. The second new product is even crazier. Oh yes, it is. A neuroscience-based footwear product with 22 nodes on the sole of the sneaker. Okay, and what exactly are the nodes in this brain sneaker doing, Jack? I don't exactly know, Nick, but Nike says they send signals up through your body to your brain using like your pressure points to make sure you remain mentally in the zone while you're competing.

7:52Besties, we're talking about a sneaker that acts as your therapist while you're on a run. The third new Nike product from last week is the craziest of all. Project Amplify. Oh boy, what's this one? A battery-powered shoe system with a built-in motor on each foot. Sit down, stand up, and just do it again because this motorized shoe pushes your leg to help you run faster, run further, and do it all with less effort. It's an e-bike, but for sneakers. Yes, well put, Jack. And people wearing regular sneakers are gonna judge you if you wear e-sneakers. Yeah, it's kind of like the Ozempic of the run club in a certain way, Jack.

8:29Kind of like an unfair advantage. Add it all up, besties, and this was like a Steve Jobs iPhone unveil crossed with a Paris Fashion Week runway show, and it all happened at Nike. What is this really, though, Nick? It's five years of pent-up innovation exploding onto Nike's website in one single day. Well put like a poet, Jack, because last year, Nike's five-year CEO stepped down because the company, eh, it lost a step. Well, in the stock market, the company had lost 100 billion steps for 60 % of their stock market value. I know because you gifted me the stock two years ago, Jack, and I'm still waiting for the ROI on that gift.

9:06It was a poorly timed gift. Yeah, you could have tied up the gift for right now. Well, the Wall Street Journal article announcing that CEO's resignation said that Nike's culture of innovation had eroded under his tenure. That was part headline, part diss. It hurt. But launching three crazy new products in one single day? Looks like innovation is back at Nike. Because besties, these products required enormous investments in R &D, research and development. Hoka, Ann, Brooks, they can't match that kind of investment from Nike. In fact, we found out that Nike has spent more money on R &D than all of all birds the shoe company is even worth.

9:42Nike spent almost a billion dollars on R &D in the past 12 months. But best isn't. Here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. This isn't performance gear that Nike is historically known for. This is something deeper. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies up at Nike? Moonshots aren't just for NASA. Yetis, in 1961, President Kennedy said that the United States would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. It was the original moonshot. And Neil Armstrong got to the moon just in time in July of 1969. In 2010, Google launched their very own moonshot factory. It had a bunch of failures, but Waymo came out of that moonshot factory and it's done well.

10:22Waymo was their Neil Armstrong. Yeah, it was, Jack. And recently, Tesla's board rebranded the term moonshot to Marsshot to describe the enormous goals they gave Elon as part of his pay package. Plus, car companies, they've always built concept cars, not to sell these ideas to the public, but to raise ambitions with crazy concepts. Just like President Kennedy raised the ambitions of the United States. Well, Jack and I think Nike is doing the same exact thing here. These e-sneakers that talk to your brain, well, yeah, they may never become real. But even if the people at Nike only get half that far, it's still further than the competition has gone.

10:57Nike's billion-dollar splurge on innovation, it shows that moonshots ain't just for NASA. For our second story, Carbone. It's known for restaurants that are just impossible to get into. But Carbone just invested in AI that will customize your next dinner experience VIP style. Now, Yeti's full disclosure, not proud of this, but even though I'm a restaurant guy, I have not seen the bear. And everyone tells me I got to see the bear. Actually, you tell me the most I got to see the bear. There's one episode you have to watch, and it's the one with the deep dish pizza. A tourist goes to the bear's restaurant on the last night of his trip to Chicago, and he tells the table, oh, I can't believe I never got Chicago deep dish pizza.

11:42I really meant to. Brutal. So the maitre d overhears this conversation and tells the chef. And then the chef sends somebody to go get some Chicago deep dish pizza and get back here as quickly as you can. They bring it back to the restaurant. When he brings it back, the chef zhuzhuz that pizza up, turns it into an incredible looking dish and they bring it out to the table and they go, here you go, sir, that Chicago deep dish pizza that you were looking for. Wow. Okay, first of all, sold on the show. Second, Jack, what that really demonstrates is the obsessive hospitality of a Michelin-starred restaurant.

12:17Bring the guest satisfaction at any cost. And here's the wild part, Yetis. We discovered that that episode is based on a true story. The true story, it happened at 11 Madison, a restaurant in New York City, famous restaurant. Except it was a New York City hot dog, not a Chicago deep dish pizza. Okay, but even wilder than that is that Maggie Tang, a young woman who worked at 11 Madison, the restaurant, heard that story and it inspired this AI startup. Because after she was a line cook at 11 Madison, she went to Wharton School of Business and then launched an AI restaurant company called Magic. And here's the goal of Magic.

12:53AI that gets to know every customer so well, the restaurant can customize their entire dinner experience. So they don't rely on an eavesdropped conversation about the regret before they fly out of Chicago that night. Oh, the hot dog, the hot dog, the pizza hot dog, Jack. Here's the news, Yetis. Magic just landed a$10 million investment from the second biggest luxury restaurant chain on earth, Carbone. And Carbone is about to start using Magic's AI to personalize your dinners in their restaurant. This is wild. Here's what happens. Magic's AI will scour the internet to try to learn things about you before you come to the restaurant.

13:30Like, you know, your reservation history on Rezzy and OpenTable shows that, you know, you're a big fan of Italian food. Magic could learn that you have a trip to Thailand coming up based on your Instagram history and suggest that the chef whip up something spicy to get your taste buds ready for that. Oh, Jack, based on your Instagram pics, it knows that you have children at home and you just didn't bring them out to dinner that night. So Magic might suggest to the restaurant, you give that table a box of cookies to give the kids when they relieve the babysitter. Jack, pause the pod for a sec. It feels like we are on the verge of a new industry here as we are describing this.

14:04Over the last decade, we've all gotten used to targeted ads. Magic is doing targeted hospitality. It's the unstoppable personalization that Jack and I keep talking about. Although we should point out, Jack, there are some risks here with an AI doing this kind of thing. This might give diners the ick. How do they know I have kids? How do they know we're going to Bangkok. Would it kill you just to give me a burger and give me a break, please? But still, the top fancy restaurants in America are all in on this magic app. Momofuku, Cosme, La Bernardin, they're all using magic to make your meals like that episode from The Bear.

14:37So Chiago, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in AI? The key to customer service is anticipation. Yeti, the goal of this software is to make the customer feel so appreciated that But they're loyal. They return and they tell their friends about the place. So the return on investment is that you return to the restaurant. Exactly. In fact, Jack and I follow the legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer, and he has a list of his five A's of customer service that he thinks apply to any industry. We won't do all five, but one of them is anticipation. Know people's needs before even they do. You see, for people, that is hard to do at scale.

15:13Each customer is different, and that's a lot to memorize. But for AI, it doesn't just remember everything about everyone. It analyzes and proactively suggests things. Artificial intelligence could be the secret to anticipating what a customer needs before they even know what they need. Because the key to loyalty is anticipation. 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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17:43For our third and final story, last week, Derek Thompson published the scariest chart in the world. It's not as spooky as it initially looks, but it looks like AI is killing jobs while supercharging the stock market. Now, besties, this podcast is an audio-first platform, but if you do want to see this chart in question created by Derek Thompson, check out our Instagram or check out our YouTube page right now. It's a simple looking chart. For 20 years, it shows that the stock market and the number of job openings, they moved together, mostly up and to the right. Stocks pop, jobs pop. There you go.

18:19But then, three years ago, the two lines began sharply diverging. The stock market began soaring, while the number of job openings began plummeting. That's the chart. Now, Jack, whip out the calendar here. I'm looking at that moment, November of 2022. Sprinkle on some context. What was going on, man? Bob Iger had just returned as the CEO of Disney. FTX was in bankruptcy with Sam Bankman-Fried about to go to trial. Not cool. And Taylor Swift's Ares Tour had just dropped tickets. But also, Jack, I'm looking at one more thing here and are you seeing what I'm seeing? November of 2022 is the same month that OpenAI launched ChatGPT.

18:56Boom. The simple explanation here, Yetis. AI is already replacing human jobs, very bad news for the working class of America. At the same time, this chart shows that AI is supercharging corporate profits. Very good news for the stock-owning class of America. But Jack, let's get more specific about the numbers we're seeing in this scariest chart in the world. The chart shows that since November of 2022, the S &P 500 is up 70%, while the number of job openings is down 30%. But besties, before that does scare you, It's not as simple as that chart would make it look, right, Jack? Right. Conspiracy TikTok doesn't believe in coincidences, does it?

19:38But there are other factors at play in this chart besides AI. If true, huge. An example of this would be like interest rates. That's another factor here. Right. The number of job openings began falling seven months before ChatGPT and the AI revolution began. It started when the Fed began jacking up interest rates. Another variable that could go into this chart is Trump's immigration and tariff policies. That's another big reason that the number of job openings have fallen. Now, besties, nobody questions that AI is the driver of the stock market these days. 75 % of gains in the stock market from the last three years are AI companies.

20:16AI has been like a protein shake for these companies, jacking up profits into a stock market thirst trap. But we are questioning whether AI is already reducing the number of human jobs. They're not doing that yet, according to the data, at least so far. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone looking at the scariest chart in the world? Elon Musk and Bernie Sanders agree on one thing, that AI robots are coming after our jobs. Yetis, fascinatingly, those two men, total polar opposites, actually said the same exact thing last week, that AI and robotics will soon start taking huge numbers of jobs that are currently done by people.

20:56Now, while our data suggests it's not happening yet, Amazon already has plans for it. The New York Times reported last week that Amazon has internal plans to use robots to automate 75 % of their 1 million plus warehouse jobs. We repeat, 750 ,000 jobs now done by humans, Amazon once done by robots. Yetis, AI could be way more disruptive to jobs than the internet was or the outsourcing to China was. Honestly, Jack, we probably need a policy response on the scale of the New Deal to handle this kind of disruption. And yet, the biggest policy question of the 21st century is being pretty much ignored by politicians so far.

21:34So, Bastis, the new inconvenient truth, it's that AI will cause a jobs crisis. At least it's something that both Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk agree on and are talking about. Jack, could you all whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Nike unveiled three cutting-edge products, including what are basically self-running sneakers. Because besties, Nike knows that moonshots ain't just for NASA. For our second story, Magic is AI that informs restaurants about diners before they arrive so that they can be treated special. It makes you feel like you're in the bear, because the key to customer service is anticipation.

22:11And our third and final story, The scariest chart in the world shows that AI is supercharging the stock market while killing jobs. It's not that simple, but it is the one thing that both Bernie and Elon actually agree on. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the hardcore yetis out there will remember that last year we did a story on how bananas were inflation proof. Well, not anymore. Because of tariffs, the bananas we import are 5.4 % pricier than they were in April. And Jack and I know that because of the inflation report. It's the only economic report that is currently being published during this government shutdown.

22:52Overall, inflation is up 3 % compared to last year, which is high but not out of control. So it probably means we get another interest rate cut this week. Yep, that's coming up this week. And second, Rivian, the electric car company, just launched an electric bike. The bike is called also, as in Rivian also sells bikes now. Well, fuck, Jack. $4 ,500. This electric bike could replace a car for some people with, I don't know, reasonable commutes. Okay, but Jack, what do we think the real innovation of the electric bike is? The electric helmet that is sold with it. Because the helmet has headlights and taillights, crucial for a commuter.

23:31And finally, if you had a good weekend, but you can't remember it, you can blame Sam Adams. Because they just launched a new beer that is so alcoholically strong, it's illegal in 15 states. Besties, this beer is 30 % alcohol by volume. That hit like whiskey numbers, man. That's five IPAs of alcohol in one glass of beer. It's like a double wine. Well, it turns out some states have limits on the ABV in beer, so this$240 brewski is breaking those laws. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Kurt Kessler from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Jack Psy from New York City. And it's not just a fact.

24:13This is T-Boy Trivia. It's also a correction because we covered the shocking revelation last week about the NBA basketball player who is still growing. That's right. And who is he, Jack, exactly? Victor Wembenyamas. His height last year was 7 feet 3 inches. This year, he's listed as 7 feet 4 inches. Makes sense because he's only 21. Now, besties, we erred, however, in saying that makes him tied as the tallest player in NBA history. We were wrong. He's tied as the tallest active NBA player. So our T-boy trivia question for you this week. What height is the tallest basketball player in NBA history?

24:51And who is that person? Sorry, who are those people? Because there's two of them. Bonus points if you get the name. Yetis, you look fantastic to kick off the week. Like, Jack, I mean, five days, pop is Halloween costumes. We actually got to get on this right now, man. I know. I feel like we've been warning our entire audience for like a month that Halloween's coming. And you and I like still have to nail this down in the next 48 hours. We haven't heeded our own advice. Oh, man. Yeah. That sexy Erewhon LaBubu costume. It's going to be a hard one to pull off. By the way, I'm crossing off heed on my bingo card.

25:22It's the first time I've said that this year. That's true. Yeah. We were wondering if you would say that word this year. And you know what that means, Jack? Yetis, let us know your Pop Biz Halloween costume. Drop it right here in the comments. Jack and I, we'll see you manana.

25:39And before we go, a shout out to Yetis, Nicole and Raleigh down in Tampa, Florida, who've got the best anniversary yet. Raleigh, still listening, even in the shower. Happy 32nd birthday to Sam Lack in West Hollywood, California, who loves Molly so freaking much. And a happy birthday to Jorge Muniz in Highland, Michigan, celebrating with a vacay in Jamaica, baby. And happy seven-year anniversary to Craig and Jessica Fromer in Stephen City, Virginia. And Wyatt Lowe in San Francisco is joined in RBC and getting to CFPASAP. Congratulations, man. The Canadian banks are really solid banks. Oh, yeah, they're hot right now.

26:16And Jason and Rachel are down in Houston celebrating their second anniversary and their best anniversary. Congratulations to Stephanie Cruz in Woodstock, Georgia, who's on their first new day at that new spanking job. And Jack, shout out to Michael, a Yeti I ran into in San Francisco who runs an AI staffing startup. He's been with the pod for years. Michael, great to meet you, man. And a big shout out to Emory University down in the South who highlighted T-Boy as a top business podcast. Thank you for that publication. We love seeing it, guys. Great to have you with us. And to anyone else who celebrated something today, make it a T-Boy.

26:49Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick on stock at Nike, and we both own ETFs of the S &P 500. Bureau premium non-alcoholic beer. All right, Yeti, it's a little behind the scenes here. Before our New York City live show back in April, Jack and I went sober for two weeks. True story. Couldn't risk getting sick. I didn't want to be groggy. I couldn't afford a hangover. It was New York, baby. Okay, but Jack, celebrating the wins is what we do. And so for our live shows, we crack open something special. So we drank Biro, the premium non-alcoholic beer brand co-founded by Tom Holland. Yeah, I actually first saw it at my grocery store.

27:27Delicious tastes like a celebration, feels fantastic, and looks legit. More on the looks in a sec. And if it's good enough for the actor who played Spider-Man, it's good enough for us. You see, it pairs well with a pickleball game, a profitable earnings report, or with the best podcast. So Yetis, if you want to celebrate the wins with all the taste of a premium lager or IPA, but none of the alcohol. There's no better choice than Bureau. Okay, pause the pod. Did we mention the can is straight up gold? This thing will stand out at every one of your next parties. Trust us, we've done it. Only beer we know that actually upgrades the scene like a promotion.

28:01So, Basties, if there's a win you're celebrating every day, Bureau is the non-alcoholic brew brand you got to bring. So, use code T-Boy for 20 % off your first order at BureauBrewing.com.