🇳🇴 “Viking Victory” — How Norway wins. Budweiser’s revenge. Apple’s video podcasts. +Slytherin’s’ Lunar New Year

0:28This is Nick. Franklin's is in, Saltwick is out, and there's someplace run by an Egyptian dude that's the best barbecue in the state. So tomorrow we'll announce the one workout, one restaurant we're choosing from your recommendations and the Yetis and besties who submitted them. Yeah, we're inviting you to join us. We're bringing a plus one, but Jack, we've got three fantastic stories for today's T-Boy. What do we got on today's show? For our first story, it's Norway. They're number one in the medal count and number one in gold so far, despite having a population of Minnesota. Because Norway's youth sports strategy is actually a business strategy.

1:01For our second story, why is Budweiser stock at a six-year high despite falling alcohol consumption? Because Wall Street thinks Gen Z sobriety is a fad. And our third and final story, Apple is finally cashing in on the category they invented. This category. Video podcasts are coming to Apple, so we'll tell you what took them so long. But yet is before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Hey Siri, what took you so long? The series not going to get a redneck and that's actually part of our story, but happy Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate, which is 2 billion humans. Lunar New Year, largest migration of humans on earth, the biggest spending holiday of the year.

1:41Goodbye year of the snake. 2026 is the year of the horse. Besties, the next 15 days of festivities are for our four-legged Zodiac friend, the horse. But here's the strange thing. Across China, the most popular image to celebrate Lunar New Year is Draco Malfoy. I'm sorry, Jack, that's Draco Malfoy? Yes, Nick, that Draco Malfoy. That's right, the bleach blonde snake tongue Slytherin student from Harry Potter. The evil Nepo baby of the Wizarding World is also a symbol of celebration for the Chinese New Year right now. Get this, Draco Malfoy's face is painted on doors. Kids are dressing up as Draco right now in school.

2:18There are offices in China waving 10-foot banners of Draco's smug face. But why? Why is the official mascot of New Year a horse, but the unofficial one is Draco Malfoy? Well, here's why. It all comes down to one word, and Jack, could you please translate Malfoy for us? Malfoy sounds like Mandarin for fortune and horse. That's right, fortune and horse in Mandarin Chinese. Total coincidence of translation right here. Call it transfiguration. Five points to House Slytherin for luckily being named the Year of the Horse, basically, in Chinese. Oh, Jack, Professor McDonald's upset by this. Snape probably smiling somewhere.

2:56That's how a pure-blood wizard just joined the Chinese Zodiac. So, muggles, happy Lunar New Year out there. Enjoy the Year of the Horse. And Ron, if you're listening, don't take this personally. Hermione will be there to comfort you. Just wait till my father hears about this, Jack. Let's hit our three stories.

3:41First, a quick word from our sponsor.

3:47So yet he's Jack's instituted a new business model for his Airbnb hosting. And Jack, what is it? Here it is. Host equals guest. Yes. I funnel all my revenue from being a host on Airbnb into one bank account and use that same bank account to book travel for myself. And basically it's Jack's host guest bank account for when he hosts and when he's a guest somewhere else. When I lived in the city, Nick, every time my apartment was available on Airbnb, it would get booked like that. I mean, think about how often are you away from home? You got the bridesmaid. You got the shower. You got the bachelorette.

4:18You got the wedding. That's three weekends away just for one wedding right there. Plus, you got to visit your mother. Naturally. Well, that's a lot of potential hosting that you could be doing on Airbnb. Let someone else stay at your place while you're away. Take that host money and spend it when you're a guest somewhere else. Have a business model like me. If you want to travel more, hosting more is a great way to make it happen financially. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Top hats, baseball hats, Von Dutch hats. We wear so many hats on this podcast.

4:47Honestly, 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, 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.

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5:44For our first story, Norway, a country with just under 6 million people, is winning the Olympics. And it turns out Norway's secret to Olympic success is also an economic principle. Ah, Jack, let's whip out the scoreboard. Team USA, Olympics so far, how we looking, my friends? Good numbers on the medals, but some of the biggest names have disappointed. They have. Lindsey got hurt, Ilya fell twice, and Michaela, she is medalist so far. Although today is the slalom and that's her best competition. So pause the pod, watch it after. Italy is number two in the medal rankings, by the way, which would be Italy's best winter Olympic performance ever.

6:21Isn't it wild how much of a home field advantage there is at the Olympics? I think it's technically a home ice advantage, Jack, but yes, that is wild. And yet the hottest country in the coldest Olympics so far is Norway. There's no home field advantage that will get you to beat Norway on the ice. Basically, the Vikings have sacked the podium. What kind of numbers are we looking at, Jack? Speedskating, curling, cross country. They're first in total number of medals and total number of gold medals. Jack, can we talk about Norway's Johan Husflat Klebo, please? I know him better as the King Klebo.

6:56He just won a record ninth gold medal. That's the most of any winter Olympian. Dude, I forgot to mention, great highlight for Team USA, that mother of two who just won a gold medal at the age of 41. Pretty legendary. But still, Jack, this is Norway's third straight Winter Olympics with the most medals. They now have the most total medals in Winter Olympic history. It's the biggest international victory for Norway since the battle of Florvog. Yeah. Oh, you hear that, by the way? That is Thor thundering for the Norwegian bobsled team. But here's the question. How is a country with the population of Minnesota beating the rest of the world?

7:32I'm sorry, Jack. how is a country with a population 2 % of the United States have twice the number of medals? A country that's number 31 in GDP, but number one on the podium. Well, besties, we jumped in T-boy style, and it turns out the origin of Norway's success comes from its biggest defeat. The 1984 Olympics. Norway won just three gold medals. It was considered a national failure. So bad, the country was so upset that they launched an emergency plan involving the Norwegian government. They created what's called the Olympia Toppen, a government organization for the recruitment and training of young athletes, so that this 1984 failure never happens again.

8:12Norway even tapped into their famous oil reserve, which today is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. And they did it to fund what's today$400 million a year into their youth sports programs. Okay, that's impressive, but here's the key. Norway's approach to youth sports is the exact opposite of everything here in America. First, they have team camps. They get their Olympians from across all their sports to spend a lot of time together. For example, last spring, they sent the whole winter Olympic team of Norway over to Spain. Basically, hang out, get 10, and build bonds. That way, when they compete in the games, which they're doing right now, they're competing among their friends who they have great relationships with.

8:53Okay, also impressive. But what Jack and I find fascinating is what Norway does before all of that. What Norway does when the athletes are kids. Because the goal of youth sports in Norway isn't to win, it's to have fun. Get this, in Norway, they're not allowed to keep score in a sport until the kids are 13 years old. You literally can't lose a game until you're a teenager. But here in the United States, I mean, Jack, football, lacrosse, what were we looking at when we were their age? I mean, in Little League, they do have a pledge of allegiance that ends with and win or lose, all that matters is try my best.

9:25But in Norway, there is no win or lose. Jack, in the United States, the focus is often on one sport and that one sport you play is expensive. And then you get cut from the lax team at age nine and you think about it for the rest of your life. Just look at Inside Out 2. The anxiety that causes the kids is huge. On the other hand, in Norway, you try multiple sports. Those sports are affordable and there's no middle-aged nightmare about some rando peewee hockey practice. In America, we treat recess like sports. but they treat sports like recess. And what's the result, Jack? We get burnout, they get gold.

9:59Yeah, I guess Jack, as a backup second string, ready to go high school quarterback. Always ready to go. In D2 College, you'd say, Americans have optimized for college scholarships. Norway's optimized sports for - National success. Our takeaways. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in Norway? It's the invisible hand of joy. Yetis, in economic history, you learn about Adam Smith, The father of modern-day capitalism. You learn about the invisible hand, a phrase he coined that forcing people and companies to compete drives the best economic outcomes. And Jack and I agree, we love that concept of competition.

10:37But Norway highlights the existence of an additional unseen force. The invisible hand of fun. The hand of fun. Norway reveals that fun can drive success too, not just competition. For example, Norway describes its youth sports philosophy as joy for all, that the happiest athletes are motivated to continue on training. Smith would kind of agree. He would say that the end goal of competition and capitalism is happiness, and that money is a means to reaching that happiness. But basically, Norway remixed that formula, that if you pursue happiness in competitive sports, then the success will follow you.

11:11It's the invisible hand of joy. Yes. And Norway's record medal count proves it. For our second story, alcohol consumption is at a six-year low. So why is stock in Budweiser at six-year highs? Here's why, Nick. What if dry January and sobriety wasn't the new lifestyle? What if it was actually just a fad? Besties Jack and I are jumping in T-boy style because Budweiser is back? I'm sorry, what's going on, Jack? Three of the top 10 ads in the Super Bowl this year, according to USA Today, were from AB InBev. That's right, your favorite macro brew, Budweiser had a bald eagle befriend to Clydesdale, and that was top ad number one.

11:52The number five best Super Bowl commercial was Kurt Russell sipping a Megalove Ultra at Apreski. And number 10, you've got Peyton Manning and Post Malone drinking a Bud Light at a wedding. Well, AB InBev owns all three of those brands. Oh, yeah. AB InBev, a name that reflects the dozen beer mega mergers that created it. Actually, AB InBev has a whole segment called Mega Brands. Who's included in that, Jack? Self-proclaimed mega brands include Budweiser, Corona, and Stellar. And this beer glomerate, AB InBev, just reported$7 billion in profits on$60 billion worth of beer sold last year. Not too shabby.

12:25Now, that's half the profit that AB InBev made 10 years ago when it was roasting to Peak Pilsner back in the day. This was still enough to send Bud stock to$80. It is now at its highest level since 2020. It's foaming over the glass. Figuratively. And literally. But besties, here's what Jack and I find shocking. Ever heard of Gen Z sobriety, trading tequila shots for turmeric shots, going from blackouts to biohacks? Jack, I thought alcohol got canceled, man. I thought so too. Everyone is drinking less alcohol right now. Everyone I know, pretty much. So why is an alcohol stock popping off at six-year highs?

13:02The first explainer for why Budweiser stock is up so high is that beer is global. Yeah, it's easy to forget, but alcohol sales in the U.S. are down, but not in the rest of the world. The U.S. is only 19 % of AB InBev's business. In Colombia, for example, they're drinking more AB InBev beer than they ever have before. You want to enjoy a beer? You head down to Bogota. Now, the other explanation here is the stock market rotation that we talked about in yesterday's show. Investors are shifting their portfolio out of tech stocks and into stocks that AI can't hurt, like beer. And also, Jack, there's the defensive play when it comes to this stock strategy.

13:37Beer sales rise during good times. you're celebrating, but they also rise during bad times. That's right. You toast a beer when you get a promotion, but you also crush a can when you get canned. So if we're heading into a recession, a beer stock is not the worst thing to own. Oh, but Jack, I think I know what some yetis are going to point out. What about that Bud Light boycott from a few years ago? Well, Bud Light used to be the number one beer consumed in America. Now it's Michelob Ultra. Right. Which AB InBev also owns. Yeah, so Budweiser's winning either way. It's basically a right pine, left pine situation for our buddies over at ABNBF.

14:11So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Budweiser? Less alcohol is a fad. We're calling it. And the reason we know, less meat was a fad. Besties, back in 2019, Jack and I covered the Beyond Meat IPO. The plant-based meat was the rage. We even bought the stock. Back then, if you weren't vegan, you were definitely vegetarian or reducetarian. Eating less animal meat was millennial chic. You traded out your beef steak for your cauliflower steak. But Beyond Meek's revenue peaked in 2021. The stock is down 99.5 % since then, and we think it's the perfect proxy for this alcohol situation.

14:51After all, people ate less meat for the same reason people are drinking less alcohol, for their health. Jack, we've said it a hundred times. The three industries most vulnerable to fads are the three Fs. Because food is full of fads, eating less meat turns out was a fad. But Nick, food includes beverages too. And that is why we think in a year or two, or maybe three, you're going to be back drinking a little bit more again. We think in a few years, dry January may get a little more wet like it used to be. So here's the theory, besties. Less alcohol is a fad. And Budweiser stock up 50%, that's because Wall Street agrees.

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16:33When I had student debt, I tracked my progress on an Excel spreadsheet I manually updated each month. Oh, I was Jack a spreadsheet jockey because when he was paying off his student debt, Monarch didn't exist yet. Well, one year ago, I proudly killed that spreadsheet I'd been building for 12 years. RIP spreadsheet. Because Monarch is a way better solution. All your financial accounts are linked to Monarch. every credit card, checking account, brokerage account, even our mortgages, lie balances updated in real time. I'm still paying down my mortgage and Monarch gives me the visibility and tools to do it.

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17:34That's 50 % off your first year at monarch.com with code T-boy. For our third and final story, Apple is finally introducing video podcasts to your podcast like this. After 22 years. Oh, how long is it? What we're saying is Apple is now playing catch-up, finally, in the category they invented. Reminds us of Siri. Besties, you probably didn't know that Apple did not invent the term podcast. No, a journalist did when they were writing about this new way to listen to things in the Guardian newspaper back in 2004. Basically, they took the term broadcasting of audio and they merged it with the fact you were listening on an iPod.

18:15And Apple has been benefiting from that coinage of a new term ever since then. But video podcasts actually go back that far too. Yeah, they do. I mean, Jack, you were working at a German bank back when we were living in the East Village and you were doing German video podcasts. You have the old grammar, yeah? On the subway ride home, I tried to sharpen my German by listening to financed German TV and it was actually on Apple Podcasts. Jack and I'd be whipping up dinner together. It'd be like, Mark Schnell, Nick, Mark Schnell. I'm like, all right, he's watching his German pods again. But Apple made one critical technical error when they launched video podcasts 22 years ago.

18:50And here's the error. Unlike Spotify or YouTube, Apple said that video podcasts had to be a separate feed from your audio podcast. And as two podcast hosts, we can tell you, no host wants two separate shows to upload two separate files every day, to have two separate shows to promote. With two separate audiences. It's the same show. Why do you twice? It's just annoying. And the result has been that Apple is the one major podcast platform with no video podcasts until an email we got yesterday. Starting this spring, creators can upload video files instead of just audio files. Ipso facto, video podcasts are coming to Apple.

19:30That is right. And Jack, are we going to be partaking in this whole bold new era of Apple video podcasts? Very, very likely, yes. As long as we can monetize, we will launch video on Apple ASAP. Stay tuned. Besties, what Jack's saying is we're having conversations. We think we can make this happen if we can monetize and make it work. It might be imminent. But besties, pause the pod for a sec because Apple ain't UNICEF. They're not just doing this out of the charity of their own audio hearts, are they, Jack? They're doing it to make money, actually. Exactly. And here's the key. To investors, this will allow Apple to, for the first time, actually make money on podcasts.

20:06You see, Apple invented the podcast category. And when it did, back 20 years ago, it made podcasts free and open from the start. Jack, there are benefits to that, aren't there, man? It's proliferated the medium. 10 million shows have been created because it was free and open from the start. But while Apple made podcasts big, they made no money off of them. Basically, Apple was podcast poor. But now, Apple can start to make profits off podcasts. Because they also announced this week, they're launching an advertising platform that creators can opt into for their video podcasts. And here's the deal.

20:39Apple now can take a cut of every ad brought in through its new video advertising platform. It's the same as YouTube and the same as Spotify. Apple can start making money off video podcasts. But it also is a sign that Apple's playing catch-up after blowing a big lead in an industry named after one of their core products. Why is it taking Apple so long? Well, is it a cost center or a profit center? That determines whether something gets prioritized at a big company like Apple. That's the Shakespearean question. And for Apple, Well, podcasts have long been a cost center. They cost the business money.

21:10But with a video ad sales department, it's now a revenue center. Like that old Buggle song, Video Killed the Podcast Star. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Apple? The Apple toll booth is growing, and advertising is the biggest opportunity by far. By far, besties, T-boy tribute for you. What's the most profitable part of Amazon? Hint, it's not AWS Amazon Web Services. It's advertising. Advertising at Amazon has a huge profit margin and is now an$80 billion a year business. Jack, what about Alphabet? Our buddies over at Google, best stock of 2025, thanks to advertising. OpenAI just launched advertising.

21:52Meta, another trillion dollar company, only does advertising. Same thing, it's all ads. Now, Apple has largely kept their advertising limited, like to the App Store having ads or Apple News having ads. But with Apple's new product pipeline stagnant and with new iPhone upgrades being very incremental, Apple's jumping into the ad swimming pool deeper than ever before. And it all begins with the video pod. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Ceviche Wednesday? Norway is leading both in total medals and gold medals thanks to their youth sports philosophy. The invisible hand of joy, it breeds success too, not just competition.

22:30For our second story, Budweiser stock is at six-year highs thanks to a bunch of reasons. But the biggest bet for Bud's future is that dry January is actually a fad just like plant-based meat. And our third and final story, Apple is finally letting podcast listeners see the hosts without going to YouTube. Yeah, it's us over here. Well, it's all because of video advertising. That will be the newest revenue over at Apple. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Warner Brothers, which had committed itself to Netflix, is giving Paramount another shot at hooking up.

23:02Paramount has seven days to convince WBD's board that their offer is better than Netflix's. And second, word just dropped about Warren Buffett's last move as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. And this one, yeah, it's gonna surprise you. In the fourth quarter of last year, Berkshire Hathaway sold some of their stock in Apple. And Jack, what did he buy after selling Apple stock? The New York Times. We repeat, Warren Buffett, legendary investor, sold Apple stock to buy the gray lady instead. Either brilliant final move or justified his retirement. And finally, Emily Bronte fans swamped movie theaters last weekend, and they were willing to pay, baby.

23:39Because Wuthering Heights was number one at the weekend box office, bringing in$82 million. That's time for the best fact yet. This one, an answer to our T-Boy trivia from yesterday's pod. Jack, what do we got for this one? Of the 12 teams competing in the Winter Men's Hockey Olympics tournament, which one has zero NHL players on the roster? The answer is Italy. Italy. Italy has no NHL players on the roster, but they're in the tournament because they're the host country and they're allowed to have a team in the tournament. Yetis, you're looking fantastic over there. And Jack, you're looking fantastic too.

24:16And the Yetis can actually verify if that's true or not, right? Not yet on Apple. Right. But they can right now on YouTube. Go on YouTube right now and you can let us know if we do look fantastic or not. Search the best one yet or click the link in the episode description and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We got a bunch of great content there. You can leave a comment with your judgment. We can handle it. And Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait.

24:41And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Marley Miranda from lovely Charleston, South Carolina, thriving right now with three under three. She's in her stay-at-home era and she is crushing it as a Charleston mom's ambassador. And a happy 66th birthday to Gene Rubin celebrating in the lovely city of San Antonio. Happy birthday to Derek Borowski, turning 40 with a baby and a new startup. Oh my goodness, this man is doing everything. Oh, and he's celebrating on Hawaii, not too shabby. And M.B. Mark from Duluth, Minnesota is getting the best birthday yet, and Gloria is getting the assist.

25:16Happy birthday to Travis Batman Davis in Bend, Oregon. And David Chad, enjoy that 31st birthday up in Ontario, Canada. Happy birthday to Connor Malloy in Greenwich. And Shayla Canty-Smith has got 20 years of military service. Thank you, Shayla. And a birthday from Georgia. We'll see you at our DC show. Happy birthday to Andrew Chagrin. Turning 12 years old in Chicago, this man came to our last live show. And he's doing logistics even as a teenager. And Aaron and Tatiana, congratulations on the IBO, the initial baby offering. Baby Mila D was born up in Toronto, already a Leafs fan. Big shout out to the Dutchman Thomas Smulders, who just published a book about the European Disney called Forehand Nar 100.

25:59Translation, Jack? I don't know. Do you know? If you don't, I guess you don't know. To anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins.

26:11This is Jack. I own stock in Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, and Nick and I both own stock in Apple and Spotify.

26:49Transcription by CastingWords Visit bill.com slash proven to talk with an expert about automating your business finances and get a$250 gift card as a thank you. That's bill.com slash proven. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details.