The Best One Yet
🚘 “I own a Waymo” — Toyota’s self-driving deal. Domino’s pizza paradox. The Year-Round Horror Economy.
Thu, 01 May 2025
Pizza explains the Trade War… Delivery pizza is tariff-proof, but frozen pizza is recession-proof.Waymo just partnered with Toyota for personal self-driving cars… It’s the new robo-chauffeur.Today is half-way to Halloween… but “horror” has become a year-round industry.Plus, instead of “can 100 men beat 1 gorilla,” we’re asking “can 100 men out-earn 1 gorilla?”$DPZ $YUM $GOOGWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… the Starbucks Frappuccino 🥤Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
This is Nick. This is Jack. It is Thursday, the new Friday, May the 1st, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Yeti's breaking news, Jack's and my children have broken the contract. This morning, Brooks woke up at 5.50 a.m. That's not the deal. No, no, no, that's not the deal.
The deal is we provide food, shelter, and emotional support, and the children in exchange... You give us peace and quiet in the morning. You can't wake up till 7 a.m. That's part of the deal, guys. 5.50, that is unacceptable. So yeah, Nick and I are short on sleep this morning. We don't know what to do about that, but in the meantime... We got three amazing stories for you, Jack.
Three fantastic tea boys for the show. What do we got, buddy? For our first story, the best way for us to explain the trade war to you today is with the pizza paradox. The pizza paradox. If Domino's Pizza is tariff-proof, then why are sales down? For our second story, this one's wild. Waymo just partnered with Toyota to make your personal car a self-driving one.
Because the biggest business rivalry of the next year will be Google versus Tesla. And our third and final story. Today is officially the halfway point to Halloween. And yet Halloween is everywhere already. So Jack and I will tell you the economic reason why horror has become a full year in the street. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Whoa, what a fantastic mix of stories.
Love the mix today, Jack. The number one meme that's dividing the internet right now, what is it, Nick? Jack, it is 100 men versus one gorilla. The whole internet is wondering, can 100 men beat one gorilla in a fight? a lot of debate out there. A lot of guys, like our buddy Timmy, think they can take down a big ape. True story.
I mean, a gorilla can bench press three to four times its weight, Nick. But in the meantime, can we even do one pull-up? Not anymore. But at T-Boy, we want to ask a better question, a business version of the question. And here it is. Can 100 men out-earn one gorilla? Who can earn more money, 100 American men or one gorilla? So Jack and I jumped in T-boy style and we whipped up the numbers for you.
All right, here it is. The average man in the United States earns $60,000 a year. Ipso facto, 100 men would earn $6 million a year. But now let's look at the primate. Zoos estimate that gorillas drive 20% of ticket sales. And the Bronx Zoo in New York City has 20 gorillas. And the Bronx Zoo generates $346 million in annual revenue. So Jack, what's the math on this one?
20% of $356 million divided by 20 gorillas is $3.5 million per gorilla. Add it all up, and 100 men make $6 million, while a single gorilla at a zoo makes $3.5 million. So 100 dudes barely bring home more bread than one gorilla does. It looks like it doesn't even matter if 100 men could beat one gorilla in a fistfight. Humankind is evolved when it comes to earnings potential.
Although it does take 58 of us to out-earn a gorilla. And I still can't do a pull-up. Hey, Internet, we just solved the 100 men versus one gorilla question. And again, we barely won. You're welcome. Let's hit our three stories.
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