Happy Saturday Besties,

It’s Daylight Saving this weekend... If you mix up the 2 🙋🏻🙋🏼 here’s how it goes: clocks go back, and ya get an extra hour of sleep. It gets lighter earlier in the morning, it gets darker earlier in the afternoon….except in Arizona. (No one knows what time is it is in Arizona…)

• Interesting detail: Originally, Daylight Savings was supposed to happen 1 week earlier (last weekend in October). But this ended up interfering with Halloween. Trick or Treat in darkness was #sketch, so in 1986 it was moved forward by 1 week.

• Grammar point: We just learned it’s “Saving” not “Savings.” In case you want to correct your plural buddy.

HINT: Scroll to the bottom for a hint on Episode 3 of The Best Idea Yet. 

DID YOU KNOW

🍦 1 in 7 McFlurry machines is broken right now…and there’s been nothing Ronald can do about it.

• This is actually insane: Here’s an interactive map (McBroken.com, naturally) that shows which McFlurry machines are down at any moment (32% in New York).

• The strange part is: The site also shows where you can get a Wendy’s Frosty instead. Because it turns out McBroken.com is run in partnership with Wendy’s. Clever rascal.

• The reason 15% are broken? An early internet law that protects companies that make hardware and software - they’ve got exclusive rights to fix their own software. And the 1 company that makes McFlurry machines charges $315 for a 15 minute repair.

• But there’s an update: Last week, the US Copyright Office granted an exemption to that law when it comes to the McFlurry machine. Before only that one company could fix the machines. Now any repairman can. That means less broken McFlurry machines…but we’d still check the map.

(From McFlurry’s government fix story)

GET THIS

🐊 Crocs are getting banned in schools #Crocblocked… because kids are injuring themselves mid-recess freeze tag. Or they distract themselves during class with Jibbitz battles (relatable). So Crocs stock fell 19% after their 3rd quarter earnings showed a sales slowdown.

💭 Reddit stock surged 42% on Wednesday. The reason? They’re getting ROI on their AI (ROAI?). Reddit may be 19 years old, but it’s the best case study we’ve seen on how to successfully get a return on AI investments. Because Reddit is machine-translating all your posts into multiple languages. A subreddit about sourdough originally written in English is getting translated to French, then German… so the number of new Reddit users internationally quadrupled last quarter.

• Fun Fact: “Reddit” was the 6th most Googled word on internet last Quarter.

DEEP DIVE

🤓 Nerds Clusters… so hot right now. Nerds’ candy innovation got front page treatment from both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal this week.

Nerds’ Numbers: Nerds went from $40M → $700M sales in 6 years (18x growth 🤯). But it’s all thanks to 1 spinoff product: Nerds Clusters are now 90% of Nerds total sales (forget the OG split-flavor boxes you grew up with).

How’d they do it? By ignoring the data…..let us explain. In 2018, Nerds was losing to the other non-choco names (like Sour Patch). To get back in the game, Nerds came up with the perfect gummy to crunchy ratio with the Cluster. Before launching the new candy, they tested the product… and focus groups hated it. It’s "like kibble for people". But Nerds’ leaders ignored that, trusted their gut instinct, and went to market… then it went viral. 

It’s got the best takeaway too…

BEST TAKEAWAY

🫄 There’s a brain in your gut.

You’ve been in that meeting where you have a fantastic idea, then Buddy Buzzkill says “but what does the data say?” Data drive decisions across the meeting rooms of Corporate America. But the non-data way is legit too…

Consider this: Your gut is actually a combo of expertise, awareness, and risk-tolerance. Here’s the proof…

• Psych Science magazine points out deep experience informs the gut, but is often overlooked.

• The National Library of Medicine found that medical trainees who used intuition had equal or greater success than those who used quantitative analysis.

• The Harvard Business Review has a list of successful products where data said no, but the maker’s gut said yes (from the sports car to the iPhone 🤯).

(From our Revenge of the Nerds Clusters story)

GOTTA’ KNOW

👀 Big Economic reports: We learned that GDP growth in the 3rd Quarter was strong at 2.8%. And inflation slowed again in September. But the final jobs report pre-election says we barely added any jobs in October, because of the Boeing worker strike and disruptions from the 2 major hurricanes.

🙌 Refund REVENGE: The Dept. of Transportation’s latest rule: If an airline cancels, delays, or significantly changes your flight (3 hours for domestic, 6 hours int’l), they are entitled to refund you automatically. If you cancel, you’ll now get cash within 20 days. Airlines hate this, but we say it’s justice at 30K feet. The Key: This rule shifts the burden of the refund from consumers (who previously had to ask) to airlines (who now have to give).

 🐢 Starbucks is ending its Oleato olive oil coffee. The new CEO, Brian Niccol (ex-Chipotle) is streamlining the menu and eliminating distractions. SBUX just reported Q3 earnings: Sales at its 40k stores fell 9% on average. 😬 And now, the most dominant coffee chain in China, Luckin Coffee, is coming to America to fight your Frapp. FYI…

• Luckin added 8K stores in China in the past 12 months

• That’s 22 stores every single day

• And it’s more than Starbucks added in China in its 25 years there

TELL A BESTIE

The best headlines to bring to the weekend tailgate…

• 🇲🇽 The best bar is hidden under a trap door in Mexico City.

• 🍻 The city of Prague has officially banned Pub Crawls.

• 🌎 Russia fined Google more money than there is on earth.

• 🎤 Apple is making an Oregon Trail musical.

THE BEST IDEA YET

NEW EPISODE: 👣 How Birkenstock’s Arizona became the #1 sandal on earth.

Hint: They were invented by a German cobbler 250 years ago, originally as a medical shoe for injured soldiers, until they came to San Francisco in the Swinging ‘60s. 

Today, Birkenstock is the #3 biggest shoe brand on earth. And Birkenstock’s untold origin story is the latest episode of our new show The Best Idea Yet (pairs perfectly with the weekend).

And one more thing. We know it’s stressful out there with just days before the election. We already voted (it’s such a rush, it never gets old, what a feeling). But if you haven’t yet, here’s the resource to find your polling station. We’ll be with ya all week on the pod.

— Nick & Jack

PS: Enjoy these pics from Halloween’s 2024 👻 #zuckcore