This is Nick. This is Jack. And we’ve got a surplus of vacation days available, but a shortage of vacation days taken—Americans are now ½ as likely to vacay as they were 40 years ago (only 1.7% of us are kicking it Cabo-style any given week). So starting next Monday, we’re taking 2 weeks off (the newsletter & podcast). And we hope you can get some time off too. But before we pack our bags and set the OOO, we still have a full week of stories for you.

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe here to get TBOY 3x/week every week.

1) Take Amtrak’s Newest Competitor to the 2028 LA Olympics

Brightline, a high-speed intercity passenger train company, plans to break ground this year on a new train line from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. And with just under five years until the 2028 LA Olympics, Brightline is under more pressure than Phelps in ’08.

Here’s the deal with rail travel (aka the transportation w/o competition) these days:

• The only long-distance passenger train in the US is Amtrak, which has enjoyed a government-permitted monopoly since the 1970s.

• But now Brightline, which has been running between Miami and West Palm Beach, FL, since 2018, just got approved to break ground on Brightline West—the first leg of which will go between Vegas and LA (beyond that is TBD).

• Brightline’s focus? Trips that are too long to drive and too short to fly.

The Takeaway →

Deadlines motivate, finish lines inspire. Brightline’s finish line is 2028—getting people from Vegas to the opening ceremony in LA. With an estimated construction cost of $12B, stakeholders need a deadline that inspires (and expires). Finish by the Olympics? That’d be a win to celebrate.

2) Tar-bucks: Target Is Going All-In On Starbucks Drive Ups

Target is rolling out curbside pickup for Starbucks at 1,700+ (aka nearly all) of its Starbs-in-a-Target locations. It doesn't get more millennial than this.

How it works: You park at a “drive up” (Target’s version of “curbside pickup”) and scroll TikTok while you wait for a barista to do the 100-yard dash with your double-digit latte from Starbucks and diapers from Target. Anything Starbucks or Target offers, delivered to your trunk.

Target’s reasoning? Adding Starbucks to its curbside delivery program didn’t just sell more Frappuccinos…it sold more Target. Target tested the offering at 250 locations. Get this:

• 170M: How many Starbucks drinks were sold in 2022 just at Target

• 20–30%: The increase in Target spending by customers who did the new Starbucks Drive Up

Because when you grab an Americano on the way to work, might as well toss in those AAA batteries you keep forgetting, too.

The Takeaway →

Don’t fight a habit…hug it. Coffee is a daily routine, shopping is a weekly one. By adding Starbucks “drive ups,” Target is going from a weekend destination to a daily pitstop.

3) Exposing the Wild World of College (Over)Spending

The WSJ dove into 20 years of finances from the 50 flagship universities of all 50 states. The findings? University spending is out of control, and you got the tab.

Some nails-on-the-chalkboard stats: 

• The University of Kentucky spent $805K per day on upgrades for more than 10 years (including buying Tempur-pedic mattresses for dorms).

• The University of Oklahoma spent $14M on a monastery in Italy for study abroad programs.

• We can’t forget the football and basketball coaches…in 43 states, they’re the highest paid of all state officials.

• And how does the University of Florida have 160 deans?

Where’s all this money coming from? In the last 20 years, the average student has suffered through a 64% tuition price increase—and there’s your answer. Schools hike tuition to keep up with monster budgets, and the $1.6 trillion student loan crisis continues to spiral.

The Takeaway →

Don’t blame the schools, blame the boards. Someone has to approve the new esports theater with a Jamba Juice food hall. According to a study cited by the WSJ, public university boards of trustees and chancellors approve 98% of cost-increasing plans that are presented to them. Dinner is still on the parents’ dime.

🙏 The death toll in Maui has climbed to 96. Tourists are urged not to visit the island in order to give the aid and recovery effort space.

🫥 Cruise and Waymo, the San Francisco’s 2 self-driving taxis, just got approval to run paid 24/7, fully autonomous driverless car services in the city.

😏 Amazon’s getting naked. You can now get certain packages delivered without a box—i.e. just the basketball with a label slapped on it.

🧑‍⚖️ Sam Bankman-Fried was officially sent to jail. A judge revoked the disgraced crypto founder’s bail for trying to influence witnesses (claaaassic).

🔍 A special counsel has been assigned to investigate President Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s alleged tax evasion and gun charge.

🤖 28% of workers use ChatGPT regularly…but only 22% said their employers explicitly allow it.

🏈 NFL pre-season football kicked off over the weekend. Awesome to see Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest in January, back out there.

🥼 Biotech firm Illumina has been ordered by the FTC to divest cancer diagnostic test maker Grail, which it acquired for $7.1B a few years back.

And one more thing. Our hot vacay plans include a big bowl of Cookie Crisp. Send us the details on how you spent your PTO days this summer…👇

—Nick & Jack