Happy Saturday Besties,

We have 2 things…

1 - WE HAVE A HINT about what our big launch announcement is. Since you opened this newsletter, we’re giving ya a hint. (Btw, it’s the biggest A-B-L-E since the launch of the TBOY podcast).

👇 Scroll to the end for the hint.

2 - WE DROPPED A HOTLINE EP. And we highly recommend you watch it on YouTube — it was a live show in Seattle and there was huuuge ‘TBOY‘ sign that was 4x the size of Lyft. Plus, a special guest, Tori Dunlap (aka The Financial Feminist) joined us to answer the top questions about money.

• In the episode: How to negotiate your salary, our best-performing investment (and worst), and Tori’s easiest Money Trickshots.

👀 Go watch it.  

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DID YOU KNOW

🥂 Champagne is the most difficult beverage to de-alcoholize...

…because you have to maintain its bubbliness. During the alcohol removal process, sparkling wine loses 60% of its flavor. So to make it taste good, winemakers start with the most sugary grape. The wild part is that startup French Bloom (who got an investment from LVMH this week) is selling a bottle that costs $119 — the most expensive NA on the market.

(From our 0% alcohol…for $119 story)

GET THIS

• 👃 Human-scented perfume: the fastest-growing fragrance rn is Pheromones. 

• 🚨 SushiCon: Manhattan’s 4th all-you-can-eat event featured a 400lb tuna.

• 👖 Baggy Jeans are driving an economic boost. They’re so big that when you buy them, you have to buy a matching top (and even matching shoes). $100 pair of new jeans… $700 shopping spree for matching shoes, shirt, and jewelry.

GOTTA’ KNOW

• 👍 About the economy: Had a couple of big wins… 1) Our economy grew by 254K jobs in September (way more than economists expected). 2)The Dockworkers’ strike ended by reaching a short-term deal through January. That means all the ports on the East Coast will reopen (your banana pie recipe is saved).🍌

•  💊 Mega-good/shocking health news: The US obesity trend has reversed. Ever since we’ve been keeping track, the % of American adults who are obese has risen. But in the last 2 years, it’s fallen from 43% to 40% (Read: The Ozempic Effect).

IN STOCK NEWS…

 😎 Toyota loves an electric air-taxi company….and hates “muda”.

• News: Japan’s biggest carmaker will soon own 20% of Joby, an eVTOL company (electric Vertical Takeoff and Land). Toyota’s COO said traffic is bad, so they’re investing in a new way to fly over it.

• Wild stat: Volkswagen has nearly 2X the # of employees as Toyota (380k for Toyota vs. 678k for VW), yet Toyota produces more cars than VW and generates nearly double the profit. On a profit-per-car basis, Toyota is more than 3x more efficient than VW…

• How?: By eliminating Muda. Toyota’s competitive advantage is its dedication to eliminating waste, aka Muda in Japanese. In fact, Toyota published a list of everything it considers waste — And if a line worker sees one of the 7 deadly Mudas in the factory, they speak up.

Toyota… committed to crushing Muda. Destroy the Muda.

(From our Toyota’s e-Air Taxi story)

BEST TAKEAWAY

⚾️ Learn “from the worst.”

Everyone in business wants to “learn from the best,” the successful, the winners out there… but we also like to “learn from the worst” (and the mistakes they’ve made):

• Look at the Winners: When the Houston Astros went from losing to winning — they changed players, management, & strategy. When Abercrombie & Fitch turned its brand around — it changed execs, teams, & the product.

• Look at the Losers: The Chicago White Sox started a turnaround eight years ago, but they only changed up the players. By maintaining the same front office and strategy, they failed — resulting in the worst season in baseball history.

• What we learned: Don’t half-ass your turnaround: Successful turnarounds require 3 changes: A change in the people, the management, and the strategy.

Chicago, ya still got logistics.

(From out Learn from the Worst story)

TELL A BESTIE

The best headlines to bring to the dinner table…

• 🐻 Fat Bear Week: Vote for the Fattest Bear of the Year.

• ⌚︎ Tom Brady is auctioning 27 of his worn watches worth over $5M.

• 🫒 Olive oil prices are hitting all-time-highs, so thieves are stealing the EVOO.

And one more thing. Here’s the hint…

• What do Vietnam, Guatemala, and Pennsylvania have in common?

• What do Michael Jordan, Marilyn Monroe, and the Hamburgler have in common?

• What do WWII, Woodstock, & Y2K have in common?

1 🍟 2 🎮 3 🩴 4 🛞 5 🌶️ 6 👖 7 🛁 8 📸 9 👟 10 🍬………

Reply with your guess of what we’re launching 👇👇

— Nick & Jack (tell us what you think it is)

P.S. ~ For more from our Hotline guest Tori Dunlap ~

• Podcast: Financial Feminist

• Social: @herfirst100k

• Book: Financial Feminist