👵🏽🥡 “Silver Swipers” — DoorDash’s grannie growth. Softbank’s Nvidia ghosting. Italy’s Tortellini tariff. +McRib Bitcoin

0:28This is Nick. You don't remember that. I mean, take a lot of photos. Take a lot of photos. Well, yesterday we covered her company, One Skin, the co-founder, Alessandra. Shut up. She was at our live show two years ago. Yeah. No way. Yeah. And she said one day we'd cover her and boom, we covered her big company on the pod. How wild is that? We were just talking about those PhD founders of that skincare company. I know, from Brazil. Well, insane. Congratulations on all the success, Alessandra. Like we like to say, there's a Yeti or a Bestie at every company. And if you're building something out there, one day we hope to cover your company too.

1:01Jack, let's hit today's pod. What do we got for the three fantastic stories? For our first story, SoftBank. The famous WeWork loving venture capital firm just sold its entire$6 billion stake in NVIDIA. Because SoftBank is ditching one AI lover to hook up with another. For our second story, in the ranking of fastest growing brands, DoorDash is number one right now. Yes, it is. But it's thanks to your Nana. That's right, senior citizens are driving a DoorDash surge, but DoorDash doesn't even realize it. And our third and final story. The next time you hit the grocery store, there may be no Italian pasta in aisle six.

1:40That's right, because Italian pasta's about to get hit with the biggest tariff of all, 107%. So we gotta talk about the tortellini tax. Que pensi de questo? Tortellini. Tortellivi. But yet is before we had that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories. Love the mix today, Jack. The McRib. Yes. The questionable meat has been on and off the McDonald's menu since 1981. Farewell tours, dramatic returns, and guess what? The McRib just came back this week. But did you know that this pork sandwich comes with pickles, onions, and financial returns? Because there's no better economic indicator than if the McRib is on the McD's menu.

2:21We covered this story the last time McRib was on the menu. We did, we did. A Wall Street analyst named Nick Maggiuli ran the numbers on this correlation. Jack, why don't you sprinkle on a bit of the saucy context? Since 1981, on days that McRib is not on the menu at McDonald's, the S &P 500 only rises by 0.3 % on average. But on days that McRib is on the menu, stocks rise 0.9 % on average. That's some drive-through diligence and some wild conclusions. Because that difference of just 0.6 % is only the daily returns, right, Jack? If we annualize that difference, stocks would rise 19 percentage points more per year if the McRib was permanently on the menu.

3:06Voila, and we call that the McRib effect. So if you're looking for a buy signal, well, yesterday the McRib hit the menu again. Yes, it did, and we linked to that report in the show notes and on Instagram. If you want to boost the economy, just get Jamie Dimon to order a million McRibs. Hey, Goldman Sachs, time to make Ronald your new CEO. But plot twist. Apparently, this correlation crosses financial assets. That's right, because crypto bros are now drooling over the McRib too. Because McRib is a Bitcoin booster and history proves it. The last time McRib was on the menu was the first time Bitcoin passed$100 ,000.

3:40In fact, a McDonald's senior marketing director just tweeted about this McRib-to correlation. So, Yeti, set it all up and this is not financial advice. But as conspiracy TikTok loves to say, there's no such thing as coincidences. If true, huge. This ain't financial advice. It's financial advice. Your portfolio, you may want some fries with that. Jack, let's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the 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.

4:1650%, 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.

4:28Start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

4:39Monarch. Yeah, he's one lobster roll. No joke. 50 bucks on Nantucket. And why is that a problem, Jack? Because we're going to Nantucket this summer on a joint family T-Boy trip. It's a write-off. It is expensive, but we will travel with peace of mind because our finances are organized in Monarch, despite the lobster rolls. Monarch is the personal finance app that tracks everything. Accounts, investments, savings goals, and spending. Get your first year of Monarch Core for half off, just$50 with promo code T-Boy. Monarch shows visually how much you're spending this month compared to the average month, which is really useful.

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5:42That's 50 % off your first year at monarch.com with code T-Boy. 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 Bureau, the premium non-alcoholic beer brand co-founded by Tom Holland. Yeah, I actually first saw it at my grocery store.

6:15Delicious 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.

6:49So, Basties, if there's a win you're celebrating every day, Bureau is the non-alcoholic brew brand you gotta bring. So, use code T-Boy for 20 % off your first order at BureauBrewing.com. For our first story, the fastest growing brand right now, It's DoorDash, but it's growing fastest among boomers. It's proof that senior citizens are the next big opportunity for tech. We call them silver swipers. Sorry, one sec, Jack. Yeah, did you want rice with that, grandma? Okay, yes, yes, she does. All right, besties. Now, every year, we all drool over the big publication of one particular report. The fastest growing brands report from Morning Consult.

7:29Yeah, Morning Consult. This is basically a popularity contest for marketers, right, Jack? It measures growth in purchase intent from America's biggest brands. And what is purchasing intent exactly, Jack? Basically, how many Americans are buying, considering buying, or engaging with a brand compared to last year. Okay, so you're telling me it's a click measuring contest. That's what it is. Now, interestingly, in the report, it said that people earning over$100 ,000, for them, AI brands are jumping in the rankings. ChatGPT and Google's Gemini are numbers one and two in the fastest growing brands.

8:00But for Americans making under$50 ,000, there are zero AI brands that they're using right now. For people at that income level, they're just trying to save a buck or two with Fruit of the Loom or a discount tire brand. Okay, but here was the one shocking surprise. The fastest growing brand overall is DoorDash, the delivery app. And the bigger surprise is that it's not driven by millennials or Gen Z ordering late night noodles. It's driven by baby boomers. Sit down, stand up, and sit back down again because senior citizens are the fastest growing DoorDash users, apparently. Boomer burritos, old people pad thai, Nana wants an empanada.

8:38So Yeti's Jack and I call this demographic the silver swipers. And old people making DoorDash hauls, they happen for more reasons than you realize. The first reason is independence, right? It's harder to cook as you age and you're less likely to dine out at Dorcia as you age. So delivery apps are the new lifeline for food. Ordering through a phone keeps grandma young. The second reason is high disposable income. Boomers, they're in their retirement era, and they have enormous, historically enormous wealth. Yeah, millennials cut Chipotle out because of the 30 % delivery fee, but grandpa's monthly 401k distribution?

9:13It doesn't mind. It's fee tolerant. And the third reason boomers love DoorDash is the comfort. Interestingly, the biggest DoorDash boomer power users were single boomers. Yeah, it's actually sad to think about, but we're talking about divorced, widowed, living alone boomers, the ability to get their favorite food that was providing emotional support. Their husband or wife used to make spaghetti meatballs. Now they get it through DoorDash. And that's a nice thing to think. Yes, it is. But besties, as Jack and I dove in T-boy style to the data, we did have one outstanding question, right, man? Is DoorDash aware that their fastest growing user is 55 and older?

9:50Because Jack and I checked the last four earnings calls from DoorDash in the last year. And no mention of senior citizens in those, Jack? 10 ,000 boomers are turning 65 years and retiring every day, and they all eat three meals a day. So why haven't we seen like a DoorDash ad on cable TV lately during football games? Or an AARP? Or sponsoring the local bingo event? Or pickleball, whatever? Or Golden Girls? Either way, we want to see it, DoorDash. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies all in tech? Big Tech's blind spot, and its biggest opportunity is silver swipers. Now, Yetis, you've heard of the silver tsunami, the huge economic shift as boomers retire.

10:29And this population of 73 million Americans, they will need functional tech more than anybody else, but they're the least likely to already be using tech. Dinner for grandma, she should be on DoorDash. Shampoo for grandpa, he should be on Instacart. Creative inspiration for old Uncle Carl, he could become a pin dude. He should be been in all day, Jack. In fact, Jack, remember we interviewed the Lyft CEO last week and he said their new service for seniors is like a huge success. Lyft silver. And yet the rest of tech seems to ignore senior citizens. Maybe it's because tech companies don't employ any old people.

11:01It's a blind spot for them. Maybe it's because they assume we're just going to tell our parents what apps are cool and fun to use right now. Which we do, but they shouldn't put all their eggs in that basket. No, no, mom, your password. I need your password for Uber. Either way, this brand data on DoorDash shows tech's biggest blind spot and its biggest opportunity is silver swipers. For our second story, SoftBank just announced their biggest sale ever of the best stock ever. And it reminds us of Barbenheimer. SoftBank sold$5.8 billion of their NVIDIA stock, Which is all of their English stuff.

11:42Because the AI race is simply running out of money. Oh, besties. In case Adam Neumann is listening, Jack, how about we kick off this story with Masa. Masa! Masa Yoshisan is the eccentric billionaire CEO of SoftBank, a Japanese venture capital firm. I'm sorry, Jack. Adam is definitely listening. Well, Masa Yoshisan is known for empowering the rise of WeWork, and he was a supporting character in We Crashed. SoftBank lost a ton of money. on its catastrophic WeWork investment. $14 billion to be exact, about two lifts. But in the last five years, Masayoshi has sipped some spa water from WeWork, dusted off those losses, and moved on.

12:21Yes, he has. And the world's biggest venture capital firm just shockingly announced their latest move. They sold all their NVIDIA. Now, not because SoftBank doesn't like NVIDIA. NVIDIA is the best stock of all time. It's the first company ever worth$5 trillion. No, no, no, no, no. No, SoftBank is selling NVIDIA because they have another lover, in fact. Open AI. And SoftBank can only afford one lover right now. Basically, SoftBank's been dating two people, but can only afford to take one of them out for dinner dates these days. Because AI is such a ridiculously expensive dinner date. Oh yeah. AI, high maintenance.

12:57High maintenance, Jack. Basically, what we're trying to tell you yet is that Sam Altman is the new Adam Neumann. Because he's also an eccentric founder, and Masa is all in on him, baby. In January, Masayoshi San was at the White House with Sam Altman and Larry Ellison announcing a$500 billion data center project. It's huge. It's called Stargate. We covered it on the pod. And payment for that huge data center is due now. So Masa is selling NVIDIA at a huge gain to pay for OpenAI's data centers. It's basically like OpenAI asks for a really nice ring and Masa can only afford the jewelry store if he stops dating NVIDIA.

13:37But Nick, this also leads to a way bigger takeaway. AI is a cash burning bonfire. And Jack, we are running out of wood to keep that fire burning, man. Because besties, Adam Neumann's version of crazy was measured in billions of dollars to build out new office buildings. Okay, but Sam Altman's version of crazy, it's a whole different magnitude. Sam Altman says he has commitments for$1.4 trillion to build out his data center empire. We repeat, trillions of crazy, not billions of crazies. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone looking at AI? To pay for artificial intelligence, finance is going full Barbenheimer.

14:18It's blending all worlds. Yetis, this build out of AI data centers, it is more expensive than any project in American history. The railroads, our interstate highways, electric power lines, none of those have the price tag that AI is having right now. So to pay for all of this, investors are blending every financing type there is out there. We already told you about NVIDIA and OpenAI and their circular financing deal. Basically, I'll give you stock, you give me chips, I'll give you money, give me more chips. Okay, but we haven't even mentioned Oracle's 50-year bonds. They promised to pay back into half a century from now.

14:54We've been covering business news for like 12 years. We've never heard of a 50-year IOU until now. Or Jack, how about OpenAI's CFO, who basically asked the US government to be their co-signer? They're asking to take on that much debt right now. It's all proof that finance is finite. There is a limited number of dollars that can be invested. Well put. Even the deepest pockets, like SoftBank, have to sell NVIDIA to pay for OpenAI. It's a mix of equity, debt, and government subsidies. To build out AI, Wall Street is going full Barbenheimer. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Top hats, baseball hats, Von Dutch hats.

15:34We wear so many hats on this podcast. Honestly, we're not great at all of them. No, we've been avoiding hiring someone to wear those hats instead of us, especially the Von Dutch one, because hiring and training can take forever. Well, I'm proud to say that we are hiring right now at T-Boy, and this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Because sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95 % more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. So besties spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes, less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

16:07And listeners of the show will get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. So just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed-sponsored jobs. Upwork. Yeah, it is. Before we had a podcast, we had a newsletter. And the moment that newsletter began growing, it's not when we came up with the clever subject lines with the emojis. It's when we found the right freelancer.

16:42Freelancer built a referral program that grew our newsletter, which helped launch this podcast, which helped to sell our company, which we eventually spun out and which eventually got us to where we are today. Yeah, that's the story. Having the right expertise at the right time, that can make or break your business. So Upwork is a one-stop platform to find, hire, and pay expert freelancers across web and software development, data and analytics, marketing, business operations, and more. If you need a freelancer, Upwork is where you get it. Thousands of growing businesses already trust Upwork to hire flexible, high-quality freelance talent for everything from one-off projects to ongoing support.

17:12With Business Plus, you can access the top 1 % of talent on Upwork. And with AI-powered shortlisting, you'll get matched with the right freelancer in under six hours. No endless searching required. It's free to sign up and posting a job is easy. So visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com, Upwork.com. For our third and final story, 92 % tariffs are coming specifically for Italian pasta. That pasta is arrabbiata. Whoa, that is not how I would have said that. I leaned into it and that was the correct pronunciation.

17:51I stuck the landing. And yetis, this tortellini tariff is the perfect story to prepare us for the Supreme Court's huge decisions on Trump's trade war. But Jack, first, I'm sorry, man. I got bad news for your Friday fusilli parties. You want to give the trade war update day 215? Italian pasta will soon get priced out of U.S. grocery stores. Why? Well, besties, last year, Prince Pasta Company complained that Italian pasta was cheating. Now, we should point out, Prince is an Italian-American pasta company. Good point. It was founded in Boston's North End by Italian immigrants. But this American company says that 13 Italian-Italian pasta companies are dumping into the U.S.

18:32market right now. Dumping. They're basically selling at ridiculously low prices, and it's hurting the pasta industry. Dumping. These Italian pasta brands are selling at money-losing prices just to hurt the American competition. And the Trump Commerce Department agrees with Prince's complaint. So they just announced that 92 % tariffs on Italian pasta are coming starting in January. Okay, but Jack, plus we got to add on that 15 % tariff on all imports coming from the European Union, right? Add it all up, we're talking a 107 % tax as that fusilli crosses through Border Patrol. Besties, the result, a major uh-oh for the Olive Garden.

19:12Now, with this kind of an import tax, 107%, the$770 million of Italian pasta that we import every year is effectively going to come to an end. Yeah, if you want authentic Italian pasta, you may not be able to find it in aisle six pretty soon. Or if you do find it, it's going to be double the price. Now, what we find fascinating about this story is that the tariffs on Italian pasta are completely different than the rest of the tariffs in this trade war. That's right. President Trump is traumatizing Italian pasta because of anti-dumping laws. And we've actually seen anti-dumping laws before. China dumped furniture into America in the 1990s, and it unfairly wiped out the U.S.

19:52furniture industry. So now we have clear laws, rules, and regulations to prevent unfair dumping, and that was passed by Congress. But the rest of Trump's tariffs, they're much more legally questionable. Which leads to our takeaway, which I'd like served al dente, Jack. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies following the trade war? The Supreme Court will probably cancel some of the tariffs soon. We'll tell you which ones. Yetis, the majority of Trump's tariffs actually fall into two buckets, country-specific and product-specific tariffs. The product-specific tariffs are the ones on steel, aluminum, copper, lumber.

20:27They're all taxed as they enter the United States, regardless of what country they came from. And those depend on a law allowing the president to protect us for national security. And those tariffs, they seem safe. But the country-specific tariffs? The ones Trump announced on Liberation Day? The reciprocal tariffs? President Trump had to declare a national emergency to justify those. And the Supreme Court will probably pretty soon rule against them. The president can't take Congress's power to levy taxes. That'll be their point. In fact, prediction markets give a 68 % chance that the Supreme Court rules that Trump's country-specific tariffs are illegal.

21:04Oh, and then Jack, there's a whole separate question as to whether the Supreme Court will require a refund for those tariffs. And there's only a 26 % chance of that, actually. But still, same idea. So the giant tortellini tariff, it shows there are two types of tariffs in this trade war. Product ones and country ones. At any moment now, the Supreme Court will probably keep product tariffs, but cancel the country ones. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? day. DoorDash is the fastest growing brand in America in terms of new people buying it. And it's driven by silver swipers, the biggest blind spot and the biggest opportunity for tech.

21:42For our second story, SoftBank sold all their NVIDIA stock in October to pay for OpenAI. Because data centers are so expensive, finance is going full Barbenheimer to figure out how to pay for it. And our third and final story, the Commerce Department plans to tariff Italian pasta by 107 % in January for breaking anti-dumping laws. Key word here, laws, because the Supreme Court will probably say soon that the law does not allow Trump's bigger country-specific tariffs. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, awkwardness down in Menlo Park. Zuck's chief AI scientist is reportedly leaving to start his own AI startup.

22:21He's kind of Zuck and Zuck. Reminder, Zuck offered$100 million bonuses to snag his top AI talent. But apparently money can't buy happiness or an AI engineer these days, Jack. Because now the top dog at Zuck's AI team is pulling a Michael Scott. Although he's not launching a Michael Scott paper company, he's launching Michael Scott AI company. And second, MLB, Major League Baseball was rocked this week by a betting scandal and they already are moving to stop it. Two pitchers on the Cleveland Guardians threw wild pitches that were obviously thrown on purpose. I mean, come on, guys, come on, be subtle about it.

22:55Because according to the FBI, they threw those wild pitches because they made bets on the side. So Major League Baseball is restricting the ability to bet on single pitches because it's hurting the integrity of the game. And finally, the Christmas tree is officially up in Rockefeller Center, just in time for me not being there anymore. Yeah, it's a 75-foot tall Norway spruce, the tall-growing symmetrical tree that really is a good fit for the role. They're mostly typically Norway spruces. This tree was grown in upstate New York, though, not Norway. and the family that grew this tree doesn't get paid for it.

23:27The tree is a donation to Rockefeller Center. Okay, but here's the problem. Since Rockefeller Center is owned by Tishman Spire Real Estate Corp., not a nonprofit, this isn't even a tax-deductible donation. They might get brownie points with Santa Claus. Yeah. But honestly, I feel like they should get paid. Could throw a bone or two. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Raj Shankaran from our T-Boy Slack channel, the Pop Biz News Club. We dropped the link in the show notes if you want to join. By the way, Raj is a former Walmart corporate gal. Okay, so here's the deal. Yesterday, we told you about the forced fun over at Target with their new 10-4 strategy.

24:05He got a smile at customers if they come within 10 feet and ask them how their day's going if they come within four. But Raj worked at Walmart back in the day and can tell you that the rule actually started over at Walmart. Not only did the headquarters of Walmart in Arkansas have signs about smiling at customers and how important that is, they also had a big 10-foot-long sticker measuring stick thing on the ground to show you what you're supposed to do based on the distance the customer is. Oh, and if you didn't work in the stores, then they had the sundown rule that if someone emailed you, you had to respond to that email before the sun went down.

24:39But the 10-foot measuring stick sticker thing, it's wild. We posted it on Instagram. It's pretty cringe. Yetis, you look fantastic for a ceviche Wednesday. day, but Jack and I are not saying it's definitely going to happen, but now that the McRib is back on the menu, I think FINRA would interpret that as financial advice, that cha-ching button. I didn't say you had to. I just said cha-ching. Remember to drop down and give us five stars. Help rate and review the show because that grows the pod, and Jack and I will see you tomorrow.

25:13And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti and fifth Kramer brother, Michael Thomas Durkin, the Brattleboro beast of ET. Mike threw the best slash worst knuckleball in wiffleball history. Heard a lot about it. And congrats to the OG snacker, Anthony Capiano in Burlington, Massachusetts. The other Burlington just outside Boston. Is it his birthday? It's his best birthday, Jack. And a big shout out and a worth thinking of you to Joy and Marley and all of our Taipei Yetis. We hope you're staying dry during that typhoon over there. You got this, guys. as we're thinking of you. And to the Sigma Gamma Rose sorority, the 103rd Founders Day is here, and it is your best Founders Day yet.

25:54You guys got this. It's real, and it's fantastic. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins.

26:05This is Jack. I own stock of Instacart. And Nick and I both own stock of Chipotle and ETFs of the S &P 500. And we own some Bitcoin. Bitcoin named Ben. Your team just added its 67th AI tool and also your 67th security blind spot. The good news? The Vanta agent works like a GRC engineer in the background, finding every app your team uses, scoring the risk, and drafting fixes for you. Vanta is the platform used by over 16 ,000 fast-moving companies like Ramp, Cursor, and Harvey, who are shaping the future with AI and staying ahead of AI risk. Get started at Vanta.com.