👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 “Bring a Friend” — Hinge’s double-date. Netflix’s fake K-Pop band. Golf’s profit puppy.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Best One Yet Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell | Release Date: August 8, 2025

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Overview

In this episode of The Best One Yet, hosts Jack Crivici-Kramer and Nick Martell delve into three captivating business stories shaping the pop-biz landscape. From innovative features reviving the dating app industry to the meteoric rise of a fictional K-Pop band, and the surprising profitability within the golf industry, Nick and Jack provide insightful analysis complemented by their signature humor and engaging banter.

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1. Hinge’s Double-Date Feature Revitalizes Dating App Sector Timestamp Highlights: [00:55] – [21:21]

a. Resurgence Amid Decline

Nick and Jack kick off their first story by addressing the downturn in the dating app industry. Despite widespread concerns about declining user engagement and plummeting stock prices, Hinge stands out by reporting an impressive 18% increase in paying users last quarter. Jack quips, “Hinge has revealed the secret to a woman's heart is a double date” ([00:55]).

b. Hinge’s Strategic Focus on Female Users

The hosts emphasize Hinge's strategic focus on enhancing the female user experience. Nick explains, “Hinge is focused on females. The Hinge team put a significant focus on the female experience” ([07:34]). This approach includes features designed to reduce ghosting, such as reminders prompting men to respond to messages, thereby fostering more meaningful interactions.

c. Tinder’s Innovative Double-Date Feature

Building on Hinge’s success, Tinder introduced a double-date feature allowing users to date in pairs. Jack highlights the positive impact of this feature: “Women are three times more likely to send a reaction and four times more likely to match when one of them are using the double date feature” ([08:19]). This innovation has not only boosted user engagement but also contributed to Tinder’s stock jumping by 10% ([07:22]).

d. Market Impact and User Behavior

The narrative concludes with the hosts discussing the broader implications for the dating app market. Nick remarks, “Match kept it spicy by launching a whole bunch of features to revive their business” ([09:37]). The takeaway underscores the importance of continuous innovation and user-centric features in sustaining growth within a competitive industry.

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2. Netflix’s "K-Pop Demon Hunters" Dominates Streaming and Music Charts Timestamp Highlights: [21:21] – [14:35]

a. Unprecedented Success of a Fictional Band

Transitioning to their second story, Jack and Nick explore the phenomenal success of Netflix’s animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters. They reveal that not only is the film the top movie on Netflix, but its fictional K-Pop band’s soundtrack also dominates Spotify’s charts. Jack enthusiastically states, “I'm officially a fanboy” ([10:27]).

b. Cross-Platform Synergy Between Netflix and Spotify

The hosts analyze the synergy between streaming platforms, noting that seven of the top eleven songs on Spotify are from the movie's soundtrack ([10:10]). Nick summarizes the phenomenon: “A fictional band that is the top real band on Spotify” ([10:57]). This cross-platform success highlights the growing trend of media convergence, where content spans multiple channels to maximize reach and engagement.

c. Time Spent as a Critical Metric

A key insight from the discussion is the emphasis on “time spent” as the primary metric driving success. Nick states, “It shows the media metric that matters most. Time spent” ([10:02]). Unlike traditional metrics like box office revenue, Netflix prioritizes how long viewers engage with content, which directly correlates with subscriber retention and satisfaction.

d. Comparison with Traditional Media Metrics

Jack contrasts Netflix's approach with that of traditional Hollywood executives, who focus on vanity metrics such as box office numbers and awards. “Netflix doesn't care about winning Oscars or box office revenues. Those are vanity metrics to these guys” ([13:35]). This shift towards engagement-based metrics is presented as a more accurate reflection of a show's impact and popularity.

e. Global Reach and Cultural Impact

Nick and Jack highlight the global reach of K-Pop Demon Hunters, noting its significant viewership that surpasses traditional theatrical releases when accounting for household viewing. The hosts conclude that Netflix's focus on time spent has positioned the movie as the most-watched globally, emphasizing the importance of understanding and leveraging the right metrics in today's media landscape.

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3. Titleist (Acushnet) Golf Achieves Record Profits Amidst Industry Trends Timestamp Highlights: [21:21] – [20:31]

a. Record Revenue and Market Performance

In their final story, Jack and Nick discuss Titleist, a leading brand under Acushnet, which reported record revenues across its five golf brands. Nick humorously notes, “They own all of them” ([17:08]), referring to brands like Scotty Cameron and FootJoy. The company's stock is nearing all-time highs, reflecting strong market confidence.

b. Pandemic-Driven Growth in Golf Participation

The hosts attribute Acushnet’s success to the sustained boom in golf participation post-pandemic. Jack points out, “Revenue for this golf company today is 2.5 billion a year compared to 1 and a half billion pre-pandemic” ([18:15]). This surge is fueled by a growing number of new golfers, contributing to increased sales of both clubs and balls.

c. Innovative Business Model Similar to Printers

Nick draws a parallel between Acushnet’s business model and that of the traditional printer industry. “The printer is the unprofitable part, and the Printer Inc. is the profitable part. Because the profits are in the balls” ([20:31]). This analogy highlights how Titleist profits more from high-turnover products like golf balls, which are consistently needed by golfers, compared to higher-priced, less frequently purchased golf clubs.

d. Resilience Despite Weather Challenges

Despite a notably rainy summer affecting play in the Northeast, Acushnet maintained solid golf ball sales. Jack attributes this to golfers purchasing essential gear like umbrellas, indirectly supporting golf-related sales. “Golf gear was the fastest growing category for the company by far this year” ([19:28]).

e. Strategic Brand Management

The discussion also touches upon Acushnet's strategic branding choices. The company operates under the name Acushnet instead of directly leveraging its flagship brand, Titleist. Nick suggests, “We think Acushnet should actually be called Titleist because Titleist is their biggest brand in Golf” ([17:35]). This branding strategy allows the company to manage multiple brands effectively while capitalizing on Titleist’s dominant market presence.

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Concluding Insights

Throughout the episode, Jack and Nick emphasize the importance of user-centric strategies and innovative features in driving business success across diverse industries. Whether it's revitalizing dating apps through novel features, leveraging cross-platform content synergy in media, or optimizing business models to maximize profitability, the hosts provide a comprehensive analysis of what’s working in today’s dynamic market landscape.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack: “Hinge has revealed the secret to a woman's heart is a double date.” ([00:55])
• Nick: “It shows the media metric that matters most. Time spent.” ([10:02])
• Jack: “The printer is the unprofitable part, and the Printer Inc. is the profitable part. Because the profits are in the balls.” ([20:31])

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For more insightful analyses and engaging discussions, subscribe to The Best One Yet on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Nick]

This is Nick, this is Jack. It's Friday, the real Friday, August 8th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T Boy.

[Jack]

The top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

[Nick]

Yetis the trade war never been more intense. Ninety countries were just hit with a new tariff effective yesterday morning.

[Jack]

But we said before, it's not a stock market, it's a shrug market.

[Nick]

Shrug market.

[Jack]

Wall street is not concerned with the tariffs. They already shrugged it off. Stock stocks remain near all time highs.

[Nick]

So as usual, Jack and I will keep you updated as always as this develops. But in the meantime, Jack, you've got a concert to go to tonight, don't you, dude?

[Jack]

Mumford and Sons. And the rumor is that Noah Khan is gonna come on stage.

[Nick]

And I hope they bring you up on stage, Jack. Whip up a takeaway up there.

[Jack]

If they bring me on stage, I'm taking my shirt off. You heard it here first.

[Nick]

That's some pop biz, baby. But Jack, we have three fantastic stories for today's show. What do we got on the T boy?

[Jack]

For our first story, one brand is defying the dating app downturn, it's Hinge, where their users jumped 18% last quarter.

[Nick]

Because Hinge found the root to a woman's heart.

[Jack]

The double date for our second story, the number one movie on Netflix right now is also the number one album.

[Nick]

On Spotify, K Pop Demon Hunters. Real title, that's the name.

[Jack]

K Pop Demon Hunters.

[Nick]

It reveals the most important metric in the whole media industry.

[Jack]

For our third and final story, despite a brutal summer of rainy weather, Titleist Golfed just had its best quarter ever.

[Nick]

So Jack and I dove in T boy style on why golf balls are bigger than golf clubs.

[Jack]

But yetis, before we hit that wonderful.

[Nick]

Mix of stories, a fantastic mix of stories to go into a weekend. Love the mix.

[Jack]

The drink of the summer, 2025. Nick and I predicted right before Memorial Day that it would be the margarita.

[Nick]

Ah, the margarita. Because in moments of instability, like right now, consumers crave comfort.

[Jack]

But it turns out we were wrong.

[Nick]

Yeah, we were wrong.

[Jack]

The drink of the summer is actually the spaghetti.

[Nick]

Not spaghetti, it's the spaghetti. Jack and I will explain.

[Jack]

A Spaghette is a bottle of Miller High Life where you pour out a little bit of the beer and replace that space with an Aperol shot and then a squeeze of lemon.

[Nick]

It's basically a cheaper version of an Aperol Spritz. It's a Spritz dupe.

[Jack]

It's also known as a NASCAR Spritz.

[Nick]

Or A hobo Negroni or the trailer park cocktail. It doesn't sound like my kind of drink, but let's roll with it.

[Jack]

Jack. Dude, I've had one. Delicious. It has the same core flavor profile of an Aperol spri. You know, carbonation with a twist of fruit.

[Nick]

But instead of 15 bucks, it's only gonna cost you five.

[Jack]

Because it traded out the fancy Prosecco for the cheapest beer in the bar.

[Nick]

It's a financial trick shot. That's what we find fascinating. 80%.

[Jack]

80% of the taste for 50% of.

[Nick]

The cost, 100% of the satisfaction.

[Jack]

And this summer, sales are surging for this aperol spritz dupe.

[Nick]

Get this. According to square, orders for spaghetti are up 65% from last year.

[Jack]

Since 2022, orders for spaghetti are up a third thousand percent.

[Nick]

Spaghetti, spaghetti, whatever. It actually was invented in Baltimore 10 years ago.

[Jack]

Yeah, Daiquiri's in football. That's what Maryland does. I think it's spaghettes in football because.

[Nick]

In this economy, you sub out the tariffed Italian Prosecco for the unterriffed American beer.

[Jack]

By the way, yetis, I was served my first Spaghett at the after party of our live show, and I didn't pay for it.

[Nick]

I was a witness.

[Jack]

A lovely yeti who flew in from Dallas bought one for me. It was great.

[Nick]

And you know what, besties? We can still taste the savings.

[Jack]

Let's hit our three stories.

[Nick]

One more around she forgets on us. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm they had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet but the best is a norm. Jack, Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. T Boy City on your @ Liz, if you know, you know Cuz we r to go we can't wait no more so just start the show.

[Jack]

Start.

[Nick]

The show Start the show Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

Airbnb.

[Nick]

Yetis. Our show actually started as a side hustle over 10 years ago. It began in secret outside of our bank jobs.

[Jack]

We were worried we'd get fired, so we didn't tell our bosses and we even left our names off the website.

[Nick]

Now, that was our side hustle, a media startup. But there are other side hustles that are a lot less risky than that.

[Jack]

And that have 0% chance of getting you fired. Like being a host on Airbnb.

[Nick]

In this economy, it's a fun and rewarding Way to make money off the thing. You're already paying for your house or your apartment.

[Jack]

I've hosted two previous apartments and my current chalet on Airbnb.

[Nick]

And when no one's using it, why not welcome a family, a couple that just got engaged?

[Jack]

You already have an Airbnb, you just didn't realize it yet.

[Nick]

Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host and now a word from our sponsor, Netsuite.

[Jack]

Tariff and trade policies are dynamic, supply chains squeezed and cash flow tighter than ever.

[Nick]

You need total visibility from global shipments to tariff impacts to real time cash flow. And that's NetSuite by Oracle, your AI powered business management suite. Trusted by over 42,000 businesses, NetSuite brings.

[Jack]

Accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one suite to help you know what's stuck, what it's costing you, and how to pivot for fast.

[Nick]

If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, download the free ebook Navigating Global Trade. Three insights for [e-mail] tboy for our first story, who says dating apps are dead? Your single friend might. But matchstock just jumped 10% on a dating app turnaround led by Hinge.

[Jack]

Hinge has revealed the secret to a woman's heart is a double date.

[Nick]

Ah, Yetis. Tinder Fatigue. Swipe sickness, Bumble burnout.

[Jack]

The macro theme in the dating game. Yeah, Jack, I'm done letting algorithms decide my date.

[Nick]

Even though the dating app industry is tariff proof, dating app stocks, they are down. The users have been lost and profits have been cut.

[Jack]

Just about every dating app stock is down at least 80% from their all time high.

[Nick]

Instead for Gen Z, their meet cutes are IRL again.

[Jack]

Run clubs, book clubs, going clubbing at actual clubs, people are trying to meet other people in person.

[Nick]

Jack, our creative director, Rachel, she met a guy when she got injured at a triathlon meet. Right? I think he was a medic. Yeah. She's the first person to request cpr. No, no, no.

[Jack]

She's the first person to give her insurance number before her phone number.

[Nick]

I think I need mouth to mouth. I'm not sure if you do, but we'll roll with it. Yeties. This has led to such surprising news. Jack and I had to cover it. And the news is from Hinge.

[Jack]

Hinge announced yesterday that the number of paying rose 18% last quarter for their parent company, Match Group.

[Nick]

Tinder actually shrank again, but hinge's revenue jumped 25%. Revenue per a paying user, it's up to $10 a month.

[Jack]

Now the context here. Hinge is the more mature dating app.

[Nick]

It's less hookup, more Apple picking in October with a very nice sweater hookup.

[Jack]

Both Tinder and Hinge are owned by Match and The stock jumped 10% yesterday. Yeah, hinge is crushing it. Those aren't our words. Those are the CEO's words.

[Nick]

The first time we've ever heard crushing it on a corporate earnings call. And we're cool with.

[Jack]

So Nick, what is Hinge doing that Raya, the league and OkCupid aren't?

[Nick]

Well, here's what we discovered. Hinge is focused on females.

[Jack]

As the CEO put it. The Hinge team put a significant focus on the female experience.

[Nick]

For example, Hinges cut down on ghosting with a reminder to get guys to respond to your DMs. Come on guys. Come on man.

[Jack]

Hinges found an interesting balance. They're not explicitly female first like Bumblebee. They're more female influenced when developing new features.

[Nick]

Right. And that female focus, it has also influenced Tinder with their new feature, double dating.

[Jack]

You and another single friend who's on Tinder can become a package deal on the dating app.

[Nick]

Basically, if you want to date us, bring a friend because we are double date only.

[Jack]

And last quarter Tinder launched the double date feature to couple up and the numbers have been fantastic.

[Nick]

Users are in love with it. What are we seeing, Jack?

[Jack]

Women are three times more likely to send a reaction and and four times more likely to match when one of them are using the double date feature.

[Nick]

Women have become the power users. A third of Tinder is now using this double date feature.

[Jack]

26 year old Sarah is sick of swiping on dating apps. Yep, but it becomes a more fun activity if her roommate Ruby gets to team up with her.

[Nick]

So add it all up and Tinder's business model just got saved by a wing woman.

[Jack]

Even if the date is a disaster, Sarah and Ruby can go to another place and laugh about it.

[Nick]

Yeah, and it's probably more fun. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the Dating apps?

[Jack]

Products are like real relationships. You gotta keep em spicy.

[Nick]

Says the guy taking his shirt off at a concert tonight. Yetis, last time we covered dating apps it was in April. Tinder had just tested out a new thing called the Flirtbot.

[Jack]

It's basically an AI chatbot in your DMs to help you improve your pickup lines.

[Nick]

But so far it sounds like that hasn't worked. They haven't mentioned this Flirtbot feature on their earnings call. It Seems like it failed.

[Jack]

But Tinder also launched their double date feature. And that feature has worked.

[Nick]

Yes, it has. And that's a reminder to all of us to a B L E, always be launching everything.

[Jack]

Some features stick, some features stink. You can't predict how people will respond.

[Nick]

But either way, Match kept it spicy by launching a whole bunch of features to revive their business.

[Jack]

And the double dating feature worked, and it helped boost the stock by 10% yesterday.

[Nick]

For our second story, the top movie on Netflix right now is also the top music on Spotify. K Pop Demon Hunters.

[Jack]

The wild success of this cartoon band reveals the number one metric you need to know about. Time spent.

[Nick]

Time spent. Speaking of time spent, Yetis, Jack and I were watching some Netflix over the weekend. We noticed something interesting and we had to dive in T boy style.

[Jack]

The number one album in the world right now is a soundtrack to a Netflix cartoon movie.

[Nick]

And Netflix and Spotify is like a cultural merger we're going through. Jack, let's break it down. Let's break it down.

[Jack]

K Pop Demon Hunters. Yep, the protagonists of this movie are a K Pop girl band, and their music, which is fictional, is fire.

[Nick]

In fact, seven of the top 11 songs in America right now, according to Spotify, are from this K Pop Demon Hunter animated movie.

[Jack]

And those same seven songs are also in Spotify's top 20 globally.

[Nick]

Basically, they're making BTS blush right now.

[Jack]

Now, I've been listening to the music all morning as I researched this story. I'm officially a fanboy.

[Nick]

You going to that concert too, Jack? So wait, let me just add this up for a sec, man. All right, we got a fictional band that is the top real band on Spotify, and it's been in the Netflix top 10 movies for seven weeks now.

[Jack]

Yeah, it's not K Pop.

[Nick]

It's fake pop, but it's real. But yetis, this is what we discovered. This movie that we're talking about right now. It's actually been watched twice as much as the movie theater blockbusters this year.

[Jack]

What the heck is K Pop Demon Hunter?

[Nick]

Okay, we'll explain. K Pop Demon Hunters is an animated movie. It's produced by Sony and it is streamed right now on Netflix.

[Jack]

Here's the plot. There are these demons in Korea that suck the souls out of people, and the only way to defeat them is. Is with music.

[Nick]

For hundreds of years, there's been one K Pop girl band that slays those demons and they do it with singing.

[Jack]

But here's the conflict. This latest evolution of demons, they transformed into a K Pop boy band and.

[Nick]

This K Pop boy band are absolute heartthrobs.

[Jack]

So the people they're trying to victimize are total fanboys, just like me.

[Nick]

Add it all up in the soundtrack. That is number one on Spotify. It's half sung by the K Pop Demon Hunters and half sung by the Demon Boy Band.

[Jack]

Now here's what we found fascinating. This movie is the number one most watched movie in the world this year by 2X.

[Nick]

All right, we got the numbers. The number one box office US movie is Lilo and Stitch, with a billion dollars in revenue.

[Jack]

And if you assume a $6 per ticket global average price, that means it's been watched by 170 million movie theater goers.

[Nick]

Okay, but K Pop Demon Hunter on Netflix, it's been viewed 159 million times. Slightly less than Disney's Lilo and Stitch, but still rising fast.

[Jack]

But Nick, that's not apples to apples, right? Because Netflix isn't watched alone. The average Netflix view includes two people or more.

[Nick]

So, by our math, K Pop Demon Hunters is actually the number one watched movie on earth.

[Jack]

Not just number one. It has twice as many views as the top theatrical blockbuster.

[Nick]

Sit down, stand up and sing it all over again. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at K Pop Demon Hunters?

[Jack]

Netflix understands the metric that matters, but Hollywood doesn't.

[Nick]

Yetis. Yesterday, Jack and I covered Disney's earnings report. We told you about it, but we didn't mention that Disney subscribers have actually stopped growing.

[Jack]

Disney is pretty much topping out at 185 million subscribers. That's a little more than half of Netflix subscribers.

[Nick]

So why is Disney's audience half as big as Netflix's? Well, they're not looking at the right metric over at Disney.

[Jack]

Netflix's hero metric is the same hero metric of TikTok, Instagram, Duolingo, and all the other tech companies. It's time spent.

[Nick]

Netflix doesn't care about winning Oscars or box office revenues. Those are vanity metrics to these guys.

[Jack]

What they care about is how much time their subscribers spend watching Netflix.

[Nick]

Or another way to think about this. A Hollywood executive ain't interested if you watch for two minutes or two hours because both those viewers pay them the same amount.

[Jack]

Old school execs are like, who cares as long as they're paying, I don't care how much time they spend.

[Nick]

But a Netflix exec knows that more time spent is a reflection of more love and that you're more likely to stay subscribed for a longer period of time.

[Jack]

So K Pop Demon Hunter. It's not on the list of top box office movies, but it's number one where it matters.

[Nick]

Time spent. Now a quick word from our sponsor, Audible Yetis. You're looking for a summer getaway right now. How about a rich one? Literally.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

Double sold. Rich Girl Summer. It follows the story of Valerie, a down on her luck event planner posing as a socialite.

[Jack]

And she's piecing together secrets to a mystery while falling in love with an infuriatingly handsome family assistant.

[Nick]

If you're looking for a break from business news, this would be it. Narrated by Philip Desue, the incredible voice of Angelica from Hamilton and her real life husband. It sounds as beautiful as the Hamptons of Canada looks.

[Jack]

So listen to Rich Girl Summer now on audible. Go to audible.com richgirlsommar we are supported by vital proteins.

[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

I threw some into a pancake mix because like, why the heck not?

[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

That's vitalproteins.com, promo code T Boy for 20% off.

[Nick]

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. For our third and final story, Titleist, the number one ball in golf, is now the number one ball on the stock market as well.

[Jack]

Titleist just announced record revenue for its five different golf brands. But their business model is the same as your printer.

[Nick]

Yes, it is. But Jack, I mean, is there any better brand exposure than being the punchline in a joke on Seinfeld? That's a life goal for us right here.

[Jack]

Push and play. I could barely see from the waves crashing down upon me, but I knew something was there. So I reached my hand in, felt around and pulled out the obstruction.

[Nick]

What is that? A title list. Title list Yeti Sometimes Jack and I get frustrated when a corporation misses an opportunity to brand their company to the.

[Jack]

Public, because one publicly traded company owns only golf brands.

[Nick]

They own Titleist. They own Scotty Cameron. They own Pinnacle. They own Footjoy. They own all of them.

[Jack]

But instead of calling themselves Golf Corp. Birdie holdings or 4Play Inc. They called themselves Acushnet.

[Nick]

This is a pure play putter stock. And yet their name is Acushnet now.

[Jack]

I guess it's named after the river in the city where the company was founded, which is in Massachusetts, just outside Boston.

[Nick]

But we think Acushnet should actually be called Titleist because Titleist is their biggest brand in Golf and it's 63% of this company's sales.

[Jack]

If they were called Titleist, Cosmo Kramer would be a shareholder.

[Nick]

Well, this brand. Well, this golf company just had its best quarter in golf history.

[Jack]

Record revenue, record profit. And the stock is sitting close to an all time high.

[Nick]

They just tapped. Tap, tap, tap. Tapped it in. So, besties, here's what Jack and I are thinking like a golfer who just finished 18. How about we count up Acushnet's score for the past five years?

[Jack]

Gladly, Nick. The pandemic created a ton of new American golfers.

[Nick]

Oh, we're talking huge numbers here, right, Jack?

[Jack]

Revenue for this golf company today is 2.5 billion a year compared to 1 and a half billion pre pandemic.

[Nick]

And you know what? You can actually see those new golfers in this company's financial numbers.

[Jack]

Nick and I jumped in t boy style to the 2021 annual report. In that year, golf club sales grew twice as fast as golf ball sales.

[Nick]

Now here's why that's interesting. Usually it's the opposite, because you only need golf clubs every five to 10 years, but you need new golf balls all the fricking time. I go through three sleeps per hole, Jack, and that's a record.

[Jack]

Dude, I love Link's courses. Cause you can always find your ball.

[Nick]

I just take other people's balls. I'll admit it here. Victimless crime.

[Jack]

Now, despite the brutally wet early summer we've had in 2025, Acushnet reported solid golf ball sales in the second quarter.

[Nick]

All of the northeast of this country had almost 25 straight weekends of rain this year.

[Jack]

It was brutal. As a result, I've only played two rounds this year.

[Nick]

But golfers still bought umbrella. But apparently golfers were buying umbrellas.

[Jack]

Actually, Nick, golfers bought golf umbrellas from Acushnet.

[Nick]

Yeah, we see that too. Golf gear was the fastest growing category for the company by far this year.

[Jack]

But this part's interesting if you think about it. There's A direct correlation between the number of golf balls purchased and the amount of golf being played and the number.

[Nick]

Of golf balls bought remains about 40% higher than before the pandemic.

[Jack]

The pandemic. Golf boon has not waned.

[Nick]

So, Jack, Gold jacket, green jacket. What's the takeaway? Jack, for our buddies in the golf.

[Jack]

Industry, even though printers are dead, the printer and ink business model lives on.

[Nick]

Yetis new golf clubs are very expensive. But surprisingly, they also don't make much profit.

[Jack]

Think about it. Golf clubs are costly to make. There's a bunch of different lengths, there's different pitches. You need a left handed and a right handed variation.

[Nick]

Ah, but balls on the other hand, are much more uniform. So the factory can pop out a million of those balls way more efficiently.

[Jack]

That's why golf balls are about 20 percentage points more profitable than golf clubs.

[Nick]

And that's why Titleist is happy to offer you a discount on that nice new set of irons. Because that buyer is a ball buyer.

[Jack]

For the rest of their life. And the balls are where the real profit is made.

[Nick]

Besties. This is the same business model as the printer.

[Jack]

The printer is the unprofitable part.

[Nick]

And the Printer Inc. That's the profitable part. Because the profits are in the balls. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday Match's.

[Jack]

Dating stock rebounded 10% yesterday, thanks in part to Hinge and the double date feature in Tinder products.

[Nick]

They're like real relationships. You gotta keep em spicy.

[Jack]

For our second story, K Pop Demon Hunters is the number one movie and the number one album in the world right now.

[Nick]

And it shows the media metric that matters most. Time spent.

[Jack]

And our third and final story is Acushnet, the pure play golf stock that owns Titleist, just reported record sales of Golf Ball.

[Nick]

Is that a Pro V1? Even though printers are dead, the Printer Inc. Business model, it lives on in golf.

[Jack]

But yetis this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[Nick]

First, OpenAI just launched ChatGPT5, their new and improved version of the flagship chatbot.

[Jack]

Will we notice a difference? Probably not, but techies swear this is a big deal.

[Nick]

Apparently it's gonna use fewer EM dashes and be less sycophantic in its compliments. Not gonna suck up to you as well much.

[Jack]

You know, it'll apparently give quicker answers to.

[Nick]

That's a great description, Jack. And second, the IPO market is hot right now. Firefly, the developer of rockets and other space vehicles, is up on the New York stock exchange.

[Jack]

A $10 billion valuation after the stock opened 50% higher.

[Nick]

Firefly barely makes revenue, but they are developing reusable rockets just like SpaceX.

[Jack]

So it's a proxy to SpaceX. Right, SpaceX. SpaceX, unfortunately continues to be a Sumo stock.

[Nick]

Yeah. And what's a Sumo stock?

[Jack]

Jack, if you want to invest in SpaceX, sadly, you're missing out.

[Nick]

Sumo. Straight up missing out. And finally, remember, we covered breast milk flavored ice cream in the spring on a T Boy episode.

[Jack]

It's from a company, Frida Baby, which makes baby goods. They wanted to raise awareness for their products.

[Nick]

It was a productizement, a product advertisement. Well, that breast milk ice cream launched yesterday and it's already sold out. Although T shirts are available. You can get the merch.

[Jack]

We know what you're wondering. It's flavored like breast milk. It's not real breast milk. Yes, made out of dairy.

[Nick]

Exactly.

[Jack]

But it tastes like breast milk. Apparently.

[Nick]

Now time for the best fact yet, which is actually a correction from yeti's Jack Leonard and Thomas Sexton.

[Jack]

We did a story this week on the New York Post, which calls itself the longest running daily newspaper in America.

[Nick]

And the Post was founded by Alexander Hamilton, but Jack and I were surprised that wasn't mentioned in the musical about Hamilton.

[Jack]

And therein lies the correction.

[Nick]

Hear, hear. The musical does explicitly credit Alexander Hamilton with founding the New York Post. It's true.

[Jack]

It was just mentioned so quickly in the rap lyrics that I somehow missed it. Even though I've seen this play like eight times.

[Nick]

Here's the actual lyric. How does Hamilton, the short tempered protein creator of the Coast Guard, founder of the New York Post.

[Jack]

Okay, I missed it. I'm sorry.

[Nick]

Also, Jack, I got one more correction. This one sent in by Molly Martel, my wife. Oh boy.

[Jack]

Okay, did I say something?

[Nick]

No, I said this week we have all those brands in our closet. Fashion brands. She wanted to clarify. She does own Lululemon and Quince, but she does not own any Suzanne anymore. And she's never owned Viori. She's owned Athleta.

[Jack]

Dude, that's so funny. Alex was annoyed that I didn't mention she's a thread up customer. Dude, every week our closet gets emptier because of her thredup usage.

[Nick]

So, Yetis, we apologize to everyone for Jacks and my corrections. And you all look fantastic this week, by the way. Celebrate the wins and tell a buddy when you're at brunch. H y H T B O Y that's how we grow.

[Jack]

The show have you had the best one yet. It's the best way we grow. The show is you telling friends about it.

[Nick]

If you know, you know. And before we go, a happy birthday to Darren Jackson, a yeti listening on Spotify.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Jonah Faye Hurvitz in.

[Nick]

Brooklyn, New York and Kyle Suko is turning 33 years old down in lovely Los Angeles.

[Jack]

Happy 30th birthday to Du Maine Babcock.

[Nick]

In Los Angeles and a happy birthday to Anna Hayes. The Brooklynite finished her first draft of her first novel.

[Jack]

Happy Birthday to the bioengineer Vedant Rowell in San Francisco and Mark Niles.

[Nick]

The Panther is turning 62 years old from Middlebury and living in London, baby.

[Jack]

Happy 24th birthday to Ally Gentile in Boston, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.

[Nick]

And Adam DeVita, the legendary bestie is turning 30 years old down in lovely Boca Raton, Florida. Thank you Adam.

[Jack]

Happy 35th birthday to Kelvin Liu in Ontario Ranch, California and Wong Fang in.

[Nick]

Irvine, California celebrating the best birthday yet.

[Jack]

Happy 51st to Dan Naughton in Winston Salem, The Dash, North Carolina and to.

[Nick]

Everyone named Kevin today who hasn't heard Yesterday's pod? Go listen to yesterday's pod and to.

[Jack]

Anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T boy.

[Nick]

Celebrate the wins.

[Jack]

This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix, Disney and Bumble and Nick and I both own stock of Spotify. If you like the best one yet, you can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Nick]

Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us a.

[Jack]

Little bit about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey we want to get to know you. I've got 20 minutes to run club Meats and it's time for a quick pre workout snack. Gogo Squeeze Active Fruit Blend to the rescue. Made with select B vitamins to help release energy, it's an easy squeezable pouch made to move with me. The taste so good and made with real fruit. Even better. Whether I'm hitting the trail or meeting my friends on the court, this is my go to on the go snack. Quick, easy, ready when I am. When it's go time, I go with Gogo Squeeze Active. Snag yours on your next door run. Search for Gogo Squeeze on Amazon.