💰 “UFO” — SpaceX’s Unique Financial Offering. Allbirds’ fallbirds. Alex Cooper’s Reality Games. +Typos for titans

0:00This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, April 2nd, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Yeti's dropping a quick FYI. Tomorrow is Good Friday. Stock markets closed. There may be separation of church and state, but there's no separation of church and stocks. So Jack and I whipped up a special interview episode for you. Tomorrow we have an interview with the godfather of stablecoins. And if you don't know what a stablecoin is, well, then the godfather will explain it to you. Stablecoins are a big deal.

0:33You should know. Stablecoins. But Jack, three fantastic stories for today's show. Love what we got. What's on the mix? For our first story, Elon Musk's SpaceX just filed to IPO. It will be the biggest public offering in stock market history. But Jack and I call it the UFO because this is truly a unique financial offering. For our second story, Alex Cooper is launching a reality TV competition in a Utah ski town. Because reality TV has become Hollywood's number one profit puppy. And our third and final story, all birds became small birds. True. But now it's fall birds. Truer. All birds sold itself for 99 % off yesterday.

1:12But Jack and I found one lesson that anyone trying to sell anything can take from this fall. It's an inconvenient truth. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Like I said, no one else doing the mix. Love the mix, Jack. There's a strange phenomenon sweeping the business world that was just scooped by the Wall Street Journal. Scooped or scoffed by the Journal, Jack. Because the strange correlation is between your net worth and the amount of typos you make. That's right. It turns out the wealthier you are, the worse you're spelling. Tech titans, bank barons, successful CEOs, they misspell things the most.

1:46Get this, the bigger they are, the bigger the emmer. I mean the error. It's a problem. Exhibit A. When Jack Dorsey laid off like half the company last month, his announcement was all in lowercase. Jack, you see what the CEO of Paramount misspelled? The first name of the CEO of Warner Brothers, the company he acquired. Apparently Jeff Bezos hates apostrophes. He's never even used one. Now look, maybe it's a power move. They got too much profits to worry about proofreading. You know, his notorious B.I.G. taught us mo' money, mo' typos kind of a situation. So there's a correlation, but is there a causation?

2:17Yetis, this ain't financial advice. This is career advice. If you want that promotion, email your boss in all caps. Or instead, email your boss, I love you, instead of thank you. Or instead, email your boss by accident calling him your ex-boss's name. Yeah. Well, that's a high-risk, high-reward play right there. Don't call your boss your ex-boss. Either way, put three comms together, boom, you're getting a promo. 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.

2:49Jack 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.

3:06Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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4:14And use code T-Boy at Monarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50 % off at Monarch.com, code T-Boy. This episode is sponsored by Square, the do everything payments platform for business. Look, Yetis, full disclosure, I'm a brick and mortars guy. I like to find a new coffee shop once a week to prep this pod from, even though I don't like coffee. I'm more of an efficiency guy. I order on my phone for a just-in-time pickup on the way home from work. That's ASAP, besties, from my favorite cafe to Jack's favorite cantina. Square powers that transaction. Square lets business owners track sales, manage inventory, and access reports in real time.

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5:19That's S-Q-U-A-R-E dot com slash G-O slash T-B-O-Y. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today.

5:30For our first story, SpaceX filed confidentially for what will be the biggest, the buzziest, the most ballistic, literally, IPO of all time. So here's what we know already about the new SpaceX stock you'll soon have the chance to buy. As long as you wait until Venus aligns with Jupiter. True story. But besties, when we first saw this news, we were prepping today's pod, and honestly, we thought it was an April Fool's joke. We were honestly also surprised he didn't wait until April 20th to file for the IPO for the 420 jokes. But Elon didn't wait, and it wasn't a joke. SpaceX filed with the SEC to list their shares publicly for the first time, this being an IPO.

6:10Now, we should point out, Elon hates the SEC. He's not a fan. And he hates the rules that come with being a CEO of a publicly traded company. What kind of stuff, Jack? Well, CEOs of publicly traded companies can't say things that are untrue about the company. Yeah. And they can't tweet them either. So, the SEC has naturally sued Elon for both those things. But Elon needs$75 billion, no big deal, to put data centers into space, no big deal. So Elon is plugging his nose and IPO-ing SpaceX this summer. Our guess? He's going to downsize the issuance amount to$69 billion. Why would he do that? For the lols.

6:42But since it's confidential, besties, Jack and I can't jump in T-boy style to the S1 IPO document that bears it all. But when that paperwork does come, it'll be the first S1 ever with a poop emoji, we're pretty sure. Yes, it will. And we'll be covering it when we have it. But we can tell you now that the company SpaceX includes a rocket launch monopoly and a very profitable space internet business. Plus, Jack, it includes an incredibly unprofitable social network and an AI company, X into XAI. And we do know a lot more about SpaceX based on the leaks from PFWTMs, people familiar with the matter, who have been reporting it to financial journalists for the last few years.

7:18We know enough to tell you that this will be the biggest, most important, and most unusual IPO of all time. Because it's literally based on constellations. To sprinkle on some context, the richest man in the world wants his second IPO to be the biggest in Wall Street history. Elon's reportedly trying to sell$75 billion of brand new SpaceX stock on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. And he's going to offer 30 % of the 100 million new SpaceX shares to retail investors. Now, Jack, since you and I spent a few years working on Wall Street, can you sprinkle on some bank and context here, please? When most companies IPO, they offer regular investors 10 % max of the issuance.

7:55They save the rest for the Wall Street insiders. But Elon loves his retail army, so he's hooking them up with three times more than the normal IPO. Jack, let's bring some more context into this thing.

8:05Alex Cooper: $75 billion in stock raised, not the size of the company, just the amount of stock raised. That is an unbelievably large amount for an IPO. It is two and a half times bigger than the previous biggest IPO ever from Saudi Aramco. Get this, bestie. 75, Bill, that would be bigger than all the IPOs in eight of the last 10 years. That is insane. And it helps Elon target a$1.75 trillion valuation for the entire SpaceX company. If Elon succeeds with the IPO at that valuation, then SpaceX would be worth more than Meta. And yet Meta, Zuck's baby, makes 13 times as much revenue and eight times as much profit as SpaceX does.

8:42So why would SpaceX be worth more than Meta when it is dwarfed in both revenue and profitability compared to Meta? Well, because it doesn't matter. SpaceX is shooting for the moon. Literally. Actually, Mars. Right, Jack? There's nothing guaranteed in finance except this, Nick. The stock price of SpaceX will be as intergalactic as the business model. Speaking of which, can we talk about the date proposed for this IPO, please? Elon has publicly said he wants to IPO on June 8th, the day that Venus aligns with Jupiter in the skies. Yeah, that's right, because according to Goldman Sachs' horoscope, you should go public when Mercury is in retrograde.

9:18That's why we're calling SpaceX's IPO a UFO. A unique financial offering. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our Zodiac buddies over at SpaceX? Just like with Tesla, SpaceX will break Wall Street's stock price calculator. So Yetis, who's interested in buying SpaceX stock? Well, the core group is fans and believers of Elon Musk. I am already getting texts from guys I grew up with asking how they can buy SpaceX stock. Nick, these guys have no interest in the stock market, except when it comes to Elon's companies. It's an amazing range. And that's why, just like with Tesla, the stock of SpaceX will be insanely high relative to the actual profits.

9:55Because the true believers, they don't care if Wall Street says it's overvalued. The true believers, they're not just investors, they're fan investors. They're playing a fan premium and giving this thing a fan multiple. They believe that Elon Musk will get them rich because he's done it twice before.

10:09Alex Cooper: That's right. Elon's already rewarded early shareholders of Tesla with enormous riches. And he rewarded those who helped him acquire Twitter with riches too, by giving them SpaceX stock when they merged the two companies. And even if Elon fails, he still manages to spin failures into eventual financial victories. That's why, just like with Tesla, SpaceX's stock will make no sense. SpaceX's IPO is going to break Wall Street's financial calculator. Not fundamentals, but fans. Because faith doesn't require evidence. For our second story, Alex Cooper is launching a reality TV show that pits reality TV shows against other reality TV shows hosted by the Call Her Daddy Daddy.

10:51It's called the Unwell Winter Games, and it proves that the reality TV business model is more profitable than the iPhone. It's unreal. But yetis, follow us on the media math here. Podcasting plus streaming plus reality TV are colliding with YouTube. What's happening, Jack? With no network involved. Because here's the news. Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy launched a new reality TV show this week about reality TV. Yeah, the Unwell Wonder Games premieres on Unwell's YouTube channel next week, April 6th. It's a competition in Park City, Utah with, and I quote, mental and physical challenges for the contestants to win cash prizes.

11:28So it's like real world road world's challenge, but for the 21st century and the abs are probably twice as big. And the cast includes Dakota Mortensen, the guy at the center of the Taylor Frankie Paul bachelorette scandal.

11:39Alex Cooper: That's right. Taylor's bachelorette got canceled. Then her ex ends up getting a show a few days later. Paul Andy Cohen. Yeah. Someone needs an emergency Bravo con. Pronto. To unpack all this. And get Anderson Cooper there too. And if that wasn't enough drama, the cast also includes stars from literally every reality TV show ever. You got Secret Lies of Mormon Wives, Love Island, Dancing with the Stars. Ten more, plus native internet social media personalities, a WWE star, and a real-life scam artist. True, Anna Delvey, the one with the accent, and the Hulu show. Boom, she's in this series. Because therapy is expensive, but watching Mormon Wives imploding is free.

12:19Oh, the only thing we can't find is the Laguna Beach cast and the situation. But besties, Alex Cooper, she's going full Carson Daly here. She's the executive producer and the game maker. She's like the guy in Hunger Games who's assembling the most combustible cast ever to watch it all burn on screen. Alliances may be formed, hookups may be had, blood may be shed, careers will end. But the biggest drama is the business model, because reality TV is going through middle age. Yet here's what we find fascinating about this story. On traditional TV, reality TV has actually fallen. In 2009, American Idol was the undisputed number one show on TV.

12:57Totally. But today, it barely breaks the top 20. On the other hand, in streaming, reality TV has exploded in a way no other genre has. Love Island USA was the number one new original show in 2025. And it wasn't the only one. Mormon Wives smashed Hulu streaming records beating the Kardashians. And five of the top six shows streaming on Peacock right now, I just checked, they're reality shows. That's right. We brought the receipts. So Alex Cooper, the modern-day Howard Stern, Ryan Seacrest love baby, is ordering up all of it. It's reality TV squared. Yeah. People are escaping reality by watching reality TV, which is ironically not real.

13:36It's all scripted. Oh, and by the way, for the streamers on the supply side, reality is Hollywood's very real profit puppy. We've talked about this before. Reality TV has no CGI, no A-list stars, no script writers. They're dramatically lower costs than scripted TV is. But what we haven't told you is the level of those costs. Because according to the Writers Guild of America, the average scripted TV show costs$2 to$3 million to make per an episode. But the average reality TV episode costs$100 grand to make. Jack, did you see what the profit margin is on American Idol? 77%, which is better than Apple's iPhone, the most profitable product of all time.

14:14That's reality TV, and that's a true story. By the way, Summer House scandal? The Kravici Kramer house is Team Sierra, no question. And we won't be commenting any further on that. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in reality TV? Reality TV isn't one episode a week anymore. It's 24-7, 365, and you participate. Yeah, do you know the Summer House scandal going on right now? Like, if you don't know, it's two long-term cast members who cheated on two other long-term cast members with each other. It was confirmed this week in a cryptic Instagram story that disappeared 24 hours later.

14:46So now we're all racing to watch last season's Summer House to search for signs of all that infidelity. Nick, I went back to season eight. I think I saw a messy West wink at Amanda. Did you see what I saw? I think it was a contact lens, but I like where you're going with this. Yetis, the reason reality TV has evolved from 2000's popularity to 2020's obsession. Here it is. It's because TV doesn't end after the 60-minute episode anymore. We follow, we comment, we AMA our favorite stars. Reality stars are now accessible in a way scripted stars never were. So reality TV has found a second life by becoming a social sport that never stops.

15:18As proven by that Instagram story confirming the infidelity that made the world go crazy this week. Basties, nobody is just watching anymore. They're participating. And participation is a much stickier thing than viewership. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

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16:52For our third and final story, all birds. The stock fell 99 % before getting acquired by a financial company you've never heard of. We found one key lesson of the Fall Bird saga that every entrepreneur needs to know. Yetis, we are gathered here today to mourn the financial passing of a close-winged woolen friend that we happen to be standing on. True story, we do. It's Allbirds, the unofficial footwear of Silicon Valley. You can't walk into Andreessen's office to raise money without a pair of the orange rare ones. The VCs come to kick the tires, they're literally kicking the tires on your feet.

17:27Besties, Allbirds is the only fashion that was worn by President Obama, Peter Thiel, and your ex who still works in finance. Allbirds pairs well with a Warby Parker pair of glasses and a Waze suitcase and a Casper mattress. It's part of the millennial uniform. But Jack, the latest, let's dive in T-boy style to the numbers. After IPO-ing five years ago at a$4 billion valuation, the stock fell 99%. And Allbirds just sold for$39 million to American Exchange Group, a company that hoards other clothing companies. American Exchange Group. They own Ed Hardy, Jonathan Adler, Aerosols, and now Allbirds 2.

17:59Basically, a closet of random fashion brands. Oh, by the way, Jack, checking the balance sheet here, Allbirds still has$43 million of shoe inventory. You know what that means? That means the company bought Allbirds for less than their book value. Exactly. So, Yetis, Allbirds, they've gone from disrupting to dodoing. They're not extinct yet, but they're certainly not flying anymore. But now that Allbirds has been sold, we should eulogize what went wrong with a brand we love, and we should learn from it. And we have got some lessons for you. Call this an autopsy. Mistake number one, Allbirds should have embraced their ugly.

18:32Instead of trying to be cool, they should have leaned into being different. As we said a few months ago, New Balance, Birkenstock, Crocs, they all were once ugly, but now their revenues are at all-time highs. And the reason they should have tried not to remain cool is the three Fs of fads. Ah, the three Fs of fads. We've warned you about them. Food, fitness, and fashion. Those are the three industries where what's popular today probably won't be in a few years. Fad industries are quick to get the ick, if you know. Another mistake was being a steak knife that tried to become a Swiss Army knife.

19:01What do we mean by that exactly, Jack? Albers launched socks, jackets, even underwear that, full disclosure, I'm wearing right now, and I think was best in the market. But most people just wanted shoes from Albers. Yeah, most people aren't like me. So Albers should have done the one thing they do really well, shoes be like a steak knife. And according to the Wall Street Journal, towards the end, there was one more big issue that caused the downfall. It was the Charlies, wasn't it, Jack? Charlie is Allbirds' internal name for the target customer they're trying to sell to. But here's the problem.

19:30Some employees thought that Charlie, their target customer, was a 45-year-old dad. While others thought Charlie was a 25-year-old marathon runner. Besties, you can't make a product if you don't know who you're selling to. Is it millennial parents or is it Gen Z athletes? Since they couldn't decide, they ended up selling to neither. Which never works. But the biggest mistake that Allbirds made, which we need to all learn from, is an inconvenient truth. So Jack, before you toss those undies in the wash, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Allbirds? Sustainability, unfortunately, doesn't sell.

20:02Now, Yetis, Jack and I personally search for sustainable products. We care about climate change, and we can afford to spend a little bit more for a product with a smaller carbon footprint. But the data shows that despite what consumers say, when it comes to what they buy, sustainability is like fifth on the priority totem pole. Ironically, that's the inconvenient truth. And now the top four reasons why people buy a product, it's the brand, the price, the comfort, and the convenience. You know what else is low on the priority for consumers? Where the product is made. Like what country? But Bessie, what we are not saying is don't be sustainable.

20:34We are not saying don't produce here in America. What we're saying is that sustainability and Made in USA, that can't lead in your marketing. Because most consumers think things like price, quality, style, convenience, those are way more important than sustainability. And we saw this play out with Allbirds. You know, they printed the carbon footprint sticker on each of their shoes on the heel, which was kind of a cool sustainability feature. And they famously made their products of New Zealand, like, cage-free sheep who hung out with hobbits, another cool sustainability feature. But they focused on that as their competitive advantage.

21:05when consumers really care about style, price, quality, and convenience. It's an inconvenient truth. Sustainability is awesome. Nick and I are personally huge fans and spend our money towards it. But if you want to sell beyond a green niche, don't make your Super Bowl ad about sustainability. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? SpaceX has filed to IPO. It'll be the biggest IPO ever with the most percentage allocated to retail. and it'll happen when Venus lines up with Jupiter. It's a UFO, a unique financial offering, and the stock price will break Wall Street's calculator.

21:42For our second story, Alex Cooper's new show is a reality TV show squared. It's a reality show starring stars from every other reality show. Because reality TV is now 24-7, 365. You don't watch, you participate. And our third and final story, Allbirds made a great shoe, but sales have fallen for 12 straight quarters. So they just sold for 99 % off. The inconvenient truth, sustainability can't be your main marketing point. You can't make a Super Bowl ad about sustainability. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Air Canada's CEO is out after making a statement about the LaGuardia plane crash in English.

22:21Here's the story. The man had five years to learn French. He just didn't prioritize it. And the headquarters of Air Canada are in Quebec, a city that takes language very seriously. And second, Allbirds ain't the only shoe dropping right now. Nike stock fell 15 % yesterday. Nike stock fell to its lowest level since 2015. It is now down 75 % from their all-time highs. The turnaround for Nikely is simply taking longer than investors want right now. And at the all hands, the new CEO, Elliot Hill, said he's tired of talking about fixing the business and wants to focus on inspiration. And finally, the verdict is in.

22:55David Barr is innocent. Last week, we told you about the class action lawsuit alleging that David Barr had twice the calories and six times the fat as advertised. And we sprinkled on the context, explained David Barr's defense that the lawsuit used the wrong calorie measuring method. David just announced the lawsuit got dismissed. Now time for the best fact yet, which to end the week for you is a little bit of T-boy trivia. Jack, what do we got? What are the only two schools to win the men's and women's NCAA Division I college basketball championship in the same year. Hint, it's happened twice.

23:31Hint, the two times were in 2004 and 2014. What the heck, triple hint. It was the same school both times. That's a bit of a giveaway. It was the Yukon Huskies. They won the men and women's March Madness tournaments in both 2004 and 2014. Most impressive thing Connecticut does outside of lobster rolls and accounting. And the Huskies are in the final four on both the men's and women's side this year. Yetis, you looked fantastic today. Jack, you are glowing right now, my friend. Now, when it comes to tomorrow's interview that we're publishing, it's with the CEO of Circle. And honestly, Yetis, before interviewing this guy, I was not 100 % sure what a stablecoin even was.

24:13Stablecoin sounds like an obvious term, but it's not obvious. No one really knows what they do. And the potential benefits of stablecoins, those aren't obvious either. Yeah. But now I know, I'm glad I know, because I think this is a big thing in the future. So besties, check out our interview tomorrow right here with the godfather of the stablecoin. Or as the Germans call it, stablecoin. Happy Passover and Easter to all those who celebrate. Stay stable. And Jack and I will see you on Mañana's Pod.

24:41And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, idly turning 106 years old up in British Columbia. Over a century, baby. And happy birthday to Sarah and San Auden. Twins in Texas with the best birthdays yet. Jeremy Nord, and we see that 37th birthday up in the cracking of Seattle. And happy birthday to Clam Pizza Country in New Haven, Connecticut. Kristen Miova, thanks for getting Zara Larson to perform at the Spring Fling concert. And Matias Martinez is listening to T-Boy every single day down in Santiago, Chile. Matias, muchas gracias. And happy birthday to John Robinson in Hertford, North Carolina.

25:18His wife, Sue, was listening to us first. Just saying. And Daniel Day, enjoy the 23rd up in Alberta, Canada. Celebrating with your bro, Isaac. We see you, Isaac. Happy birthday to Roy Wang, listening to T-Boy on the way to his Barry's birthday class in Toronto. And Emily Mullins is on her way to Kansas City for a 31st birthday cake. Better be chocolate. Better be barbecue. And Enzo Benfanti, enjoy the buffalo up in birthday. You know what I meant. Happy birthday to Isaiah and Isaria Williams, a brother and sister playing soccer, saxophone, and getting the learner's permits in Panama City, Florida.

25:49And Josh and Laura Hadfield, the former backup midi lacrosse player and boss babe with an art degree, are celebrating 12 years of fantastic marriage down in Albuquerque. Congratulations, guys. And congratulations to Angela up in Toronto, who's been listening to T-Boy since 2020 and just got into Stanford GSB. I don't think those two things are unrelated, Ben. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the win.

26:18This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Nick owns stock in Nike.

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27:20Thank you.