TBOY Newsletter · Monday, July 27, 2026

Congrats to Olivia Rodrigo. The Gen Z singer found love… in a Finance Bro. A Brown-educated, 3-language-speaking, ex-Goldman-banker-turned-PE-associate (whose name sounds like a boutique investment bank). But Olivia’s not the only one looking for that carried interest loophole:

• Lady Gaga is engaged to a VC

• Reese Witherspoon is dating an investment banker

• And Olivia found a debt collateralized commodity equities trading analyst.

Love is patient. Love is blind. Love is a 250-basis-point fee.

Uggs' pivot to dudes is paying off. After decades of women generating 90% of sales, Uggs targeted men with Tom Brady & Post Malone as the feet of the testosterone twist. And it’s working — Sales of Men’s Uggs (#MUggs) are growing 2x as fast as women's, and parent co Deckers Outdoor just posted its 1st-ever $1B quarter because of it.

But bigger news? Christopher Nolan banned Uggs from “The Odyssey.”

• Insider Secret: Hollywood celebs were Uggs on set for comfort between scenes. It’s basically in the boilerplate contract actors sign with studios.

• But New Info: Uggs are banned on all Christopher Nolan productions. The director says Uggs "signal modernity" and pull actors out of character. You can’t be an authentically mournful Ancient Greek queen if you just stepped out of sheepskin fur-lined comfort.

The Takeaway: There are 2 paths to meme management.

The best thing for a brand can be getting banned: Skateboards, Red Bull, Dungeons & Dragons — All banned by various authorities, all saw sales surge as a result. So Uggs’ Odyssey ban is obvious good marketing (they’re too comfortable). But the team now faces two options:

• Embrace the ban, promote it, tell the world our shoes are too comfy for world’s biggest movie.

• Or let the ban market itself, don’t disrupt the authenticity, allow it to grow organically.

What would you do?

Ford’s made 100 million cars. But just dropped its 1st: The "Desert Rising," a hot-pink Bronco that Barbie would show up to Burning Man in… but only 1,000 will ever be made, and each gets its own serial number. It’s a drop:

• Drops are sold in limited quantity, for a limited time, or both.

• Drops released to be rare. Sold to be sold out. Not scaled, they’re scarce.

Ford’s taking inspo from Nike. Because custom, collectible Ford’s were already happening after market, but Ford wasn’t seeing a dime of it.

• Car customization did $60B in sales last year, so Ford’s upstreaming garages and offering something West Coast Customs can’t: a limited warranty.

• And it’s a profit puppy. Because this package costs an extra $13,695 on top of a normal $44,000 Bronco.

Think Pimp My Ride, except Ford keeps all the money. Xzibit would be impressed.

The Takeaway: Forget economies of scale, create economies of scarce.

Ford became the biggest car company in the world 100 years ago by inventing the assembly line. But now every automaker has an assembly line, so Ford's been stuck competing purely on price, which is why Ford profits are lower today than 10 years ago. Now Ford’s hoping people will pay extra for scarcity, so expect more limited edition, only 1k-made Ford’s from their new Custom Garage. When the world’s making assembly lines, you gotta build an art studio.

Nick grew up in NYC, and Jack loves visiting with his kids because Central Park is the ultimate playground. But a WSJ study shows that while the populations of the 38 biggest cities are growing… kids under 5 are down 15% in the last decade. Key reason? The cost of raising kids can break your bank. But the cruel irony: It’s expensive to have kids, but it’s even more expensive to struggle to have kids.

IVF has been the medical miracle to help those 1 outta 8 couples struggling to conceive — But as IVF turns 40 years old, only 14% of those couples who could benefit from it actually do, because of the cost:

• $25K = The average price of 1 round of IVF in America.

• That doesn’t include multiple rounds often needed to harvest eggs (and definitely doesn’t include the emotional pain, the shots, all the heartbreak that can come with it).

But one startup will offer low-cost IVF this fall: $8,995. The American Baby Company raised $4M for its 1st clinic opening this fall in Florida, using AI to slash prices & disrupt the disruptor of healthcare. It’s limited to women under 35 for now.

The Takeaway: This is what we all wish AI were used for.

Healthcare is the 2nd-biggest driver of America's cost-of-living crisis, behind only housing. And AI has the worst branding problem in business.

The American Baby Company isn’t using AI to replace doctors, it’s using AI to streamline an inefficient and bloated medical process.

Medicine needs a price cut, AI needs a brand boost… and ABC could actually accomplish both.

One more thing: We’re whipping up a special TBOY Hotline episode on the best comebacks in business history… and we want to hear yours. So go to www.thebestcomebackyet.com to share a personal comeback story (text or audio message) and we’ll get it on the show, which publishes in August. Here’s a preview Nick and I shared on IG (about the time Nick got cut 🥍).

And while you’re sending one in, enjoy Liquid I.V.’s Sugar-Free Ring Pop® Cherry flavor — because that’s a straight-up comeback nostalgia flavor. And get 20% off your first order at LiquidIV.com with promo code 2026TBOY.