🐻‍❄️ “Artificial Santa” — Coca-Cola’s AI holiday ad. Axon’s bipartisan tasers. Beta’s e-airplane IPO. +Line-Waiting Biz

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Best One Yet" – 🐻‍❄️ “Artificial Santa”

Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell
Date: November 5, 2025
Episode Theme:
Exploration of three timely business stories: Coca-Cola’s AI-powered holiday ad, the bipartisan business growth of Axon (maker of Tasers and body cameras), and Beta’s electric airplane IPO. Includes a lighthearted discussion of the paid line-waiting industry and snappy “best fact yet” on Oreo’s mysterious name.

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Main Themes and Purpose

Nick and Jack break down what they call the "top three pop business news stories" that listeners "need to know today", always blending humor, insight, and memorable analogies. This episode highlights:

• How major brands are embracing generative AI in advertising—even as public perception appears wary.
• Why Axon's growth in public safety tech has transcended political divides.
• The strategy making Beta Technologies' electric airplane company a Wall Street darling—even before broader market demand.
• Quirky cultural/business nuggets like professional line-waiting and Oreo trivia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Coca-Cola’s AI Holiday Ad – Are People Actually OK With AI Art?

[06:10–10:56]

• Story: Coca-Cola debuts another AI-generated Christmas commercial, building on a previous year’s ad that provoked media backlash for “AI Santa.”
• Context: While tech media and advertising insiders were vocal in their opposition, Coke’s consumer data showed positive audience reception.
• Evolution: The new ad, featuring classic Christmas critters and a big red Santa (all AI-generated), improves on last year’s sometimes-glitchy visuals (“the wheels on the truck are actually spinning in the same direction this time” – Jack, [08:16]).
• Cost & Efficiency:
  • With AI, only 20 people required and a 1-month turnaround vs the usual 50 people and 1-year timeline ([08:29]–[08:47]).
  • Comparison with Oreo: Mondelez (Oreo’s parent company) announced a $40M investment in AI ad tech, claiming up to 50% reduction in long-term ad costs.
• Takeaway:
  “AI advertising is like French fries. You say you don't want any, but you actually do.” – Jack, [09:44]
  Media negativity toward AI ads is likely rooted in job insecurity, not consumer distaste:
  “The media industry has anti AI bias. AI threatens to replace them and their jobs after all.” – Jack, [10:24]
  Actual survey metrics tell a different story:
  “According to System1, an ad tracker, Coke's AI ads last year scored very highly with the public.” – Nick, [10:34]
  Insight: Headlines suggest AI ads are hated, but consumer research shows most people either like them or simply don’t mind.

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2. Axon: How a Taser Company Became Bipartisan Wall Street Gold

[10:56–14:54]

• Story: Axon (inventor of the Taser, maker of police body/dash cameras) has notched 30 consecutive quarters of 30%+ revenue growth—one of the market’s hottest streaks.
• Political Angle:
  • Historically, the stock gets pops when Republicans win—seen as positive for police funding ([12:27]–[12:34]).
  • But: The growth streak transcends every administration (Obama, Trump, Biden):
    “Ten years ago, when President Obama was president, that's when Axon began its rocket ship growth.” – Nick, [13:22]
• Business Model:
  From stun guns to a broad, software-enabled ecosystem for police:
  “They added body cameras. That's right. And they added software to manage body camera footage.” – Jack, [11:43]
  Their “moonshot”: Cut gun-related deaths between police and the public by 50% in 10 years ([14:22]–[14:29]).
• Takeaway:
  “Axon has taken something very polarizing and made it very unifying.” – Jack, [13:56]
  By targeting an outcome everyone wants—fewer deaths and more accountability—Axon grew even as policing divides America.
  “They found the one message that both sides want. Everyone wants tasers—reduce fatal shootings—and the body cameras improve accountability.” – Nick, [14:38]

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3. Beta Technologies: The 'Gas Station' Play for Electric Airplanes

[14:54–21:39]

• Story: Beta, an electric airplane maker, IPOs at a $7.5B valuation—despite being “pre-revenue.”
• Founder Backstory:
  • Kyle Clark: Harvard hockey player turned Vermont-based aerospace entrepreneur.
  • Noted for seeking a 100-acre personal airstrip ([17:44]–[17:57]).
• Product & Market:
  • eVTOL and electric fixed-wing aircraft; target buyers include UPS, organ transport companies, Air New Zealand ([19:48]–[20:08]).
  • Beta’s competitive angle: Instead of building a flying taxi fleet (like Joby, Archer), Beta sells the planes and builds out proprietary “Charge Cubes”—the refueling network for electric aircraft ([20:13]–[21:04]).
• Strategic Insight:
  “Sell the car but own the gas station too.” – Jack, [20:32]
  • Like Tesla’s Supercharger network (or Apple’s App Store/OS advantage), Beta profits from all electric aircraft—since its Charge Cubes are the dominant recharging infrastructure at airports ([21:11]).
• Notable Tidbit:
  “Beta said the word cubes twice as often as they said the word airplanes in their IPO paperwork.” – Jack, [21:15]
• Overall Takeaway: Even if rivals win sales, Beta’s in the middle of every charge—making it a foundational player in electric aviation’s future.

---

Side Segments & Memorable Moments

The Line-Waiting Business Boom

[01:32–03:15]

• Americans’ willingness to pay for “valuable” wait times gave rise to startups like “Line Dudes.”
• Going rates: $20/hr (Broadway shows), $23/hr for weather, $27/hr at the Supreme Court ([02:11]–[02:46]).
• Double-dipping potential for remote workers:
  “You mean you could wait online and do your job at the same time?” – Jack, [03:00]
• Takeaway:
  “Time is money. Get paid for your time.” – Nick, [03:08]

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Quick Takes / News Updates

[22:17–23:39]

• Bitcoin dipped below $100K, ending its historic “Uptober” streak ([22:21]).
• Yum Brands attempting to sell Pizza Hut, Denny's going private, Starbucks selling its large China business ([22:44]–[23:10]).
• Martha Stewart is republishing her original cookbook after discovering resale demand ([23:10]–[23:34]).

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“Best Fact Yet”: The Mystery of OREO’s Name

[23:52–24:22]

• Fact: No one knows where “Oreo” comes from; not confirmed by Nabisco.
• Theories: Greek (“oreo” = mountain, for early cookie shape), French (“or” = gold, matching original packaging).
• “If someone tells you they do, they're lying to you. Nobody knows.” – Nick, [23:54]

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Notable Quotes by Segment & Timestamp

• On AI advertising sentiment:
  “According to the data...the press suggests we're disgusted by AI generated advertising. The research shows we aren't.”
  – Jack, [10:47]
• On Axon's bipartisan success:
  “Axon found political common ground on a divisive cultural and political topic.”
  – Nick, [22:01]
• On Beta’s charging network:
  “Beta is the first to build the supercharging network of the skies.”
  – Nick, [22:11]
• On modern brand adaptation:
  “The modern depiction of Santa Claus...was invented by Coca Cola’s advertising department.”
  – Jack, [06:47]

---

Useful Timestamps for Navigation

• [01:32] — Rise of the line-waiting industry (“Line Dudes”)
• [06:10] — Coca-Cola’s AI Santa commercial and public reaction
• [08:29] — Cost and speed advantages of AI-generated ads
• [09:44] — Takeaway: People secretly love AI ads
• [10:56] — Axon’s “bipartisan” business growth
• [13:56] — Takeaway: Axon’s unifying strategy
• [14:54] — Beta electric airplane IPO story
• [20:32] — Takeaway: Owning the gas station, not just the car
• [22:17] — News bulletins: Bitcoin, Pizza Hut, Denny’s, Starbucks
• [23:52] — Best Fact Yet: The mystery of the Oreo name

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Tone and Style

Cheerful, quick-witted, full of analogies (“electric maple syrup”, “supercharging network for the skies”), and conversational banter between Nick and Jack. They keep things light but informative—perfect for a fast-moving, business-curious listen.

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For more, check the official podcast feed or episode transcript.

Transcript

[Jack]

This is Nick, this is Jack.

[Nick]

It's Wednesday ceviche Wednesday, November 5th. 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, besties.

[Nick]

The New York mayoral election just drew its highest voter turnout since 2001. Jack, that year, what else was happening?

[Jack]

That's the year that Mike Bloomberg replaced Rudy Giuliani as the mayor of New York City.

[Nick]

Now, Yetis, we don't have the results as of this recording, but we will provide coverage on the economic and business consequences of the elections in tomorrow's pod.

[Jack]

But we do have three fantastic pop business news stories.

[Nick]

I mean, these are so good. Jack, what do we got on the pod?

[Jack]

For our first story, Coca Cola's new holiday commercial. It's got Christmas critters, a big red Santa, but it's all AI the headline.

[Nick]

And the comments say we hate AI Art, but the data says we actually don't.

[Jack]

For our second story on this day after election day, one stock defies politics. It's Axon, the maker of Tasers.

[Nick]

Because Axon figured out how to make a divisive business bipartisan.

[Jack]

And our third and final story is the newest Wall street ipo. It's an electric airplane called Beta Electric Plane. A plane that you plug in.

[Nick]

But Beta's real secret. It's making money on electric airplanes, even if you don't buy one of theirs.

[Jack]

Cha Ching button.

[Nick]

Okay. Oh, yeah. All right.

[Jack]

I got the button right here. All right.

[Nick]

You get the button today. Well, that's the one time you could put. That was satisfying. That was good.

[Jack]

But yetis, before we hit that wonderful.

[Nick]

Mix of stories, Fantastic mix of stor. Love the mix on the podjack.

[Jack]

The odds are, statistically Speaking, with a 99% degree of confidence, you are in line right now.

[Nick]

That's right, besties. You are sitting, standing, waiting somewhere on a line.

[Jack]

Because if something is hard to get, I want to get it.

[Nick]

And you're willing to stand in line to get that thing. The most active thing you can do right now is doing nothing in a line.

[Jack]

Which leads to the newest industry line, waiters.

[Nick]

Yep.

[Jack]

Get this.

[Nick]

At the Rose fashion sample sale last weekend in New York City, There was a three hour line wait, but people.

[Jack]

Were willing to pay 800 for someone else to wait on that line for them.

[Nick]

I think we may need to press the Cha Ching button again, Jack, because that is now a business line waiting.

[Jack]

In fact, a startup called Line Dudes has been hiring professional line standards qualifications.

[Nick]

You need to have Two working legs and a whole lot of patience right now.

[Jack]

Line dudes says that paid line waiting demand is at an all time high.

[Nick]

Waiting on line for a Broadway musical. Boom. They charge you 20 bucks an hour.

[Jack]

Waiting online for that Viral New taco.

[Nick]

23 bucks an hour if it's raining or below freezing. Another $10 an hour upchar.

[Jack]

Even a line waiting business at the Supreme Court when they're in session. Because rulings are read in person first and news agencies want that data first.

[Nick]

That'll be 27 bucks an hour, your honor.

[Jack]

You may return to the bench.

[Nick]

27 bucks, besties. That is nearly double the minimum wage just to wait in line.

[Jack]

And you don't have to do anything. You can watch Netflix if you want.

[Nick]

I mean, in fact, Jack, if you've got a remote job, you could also become one of these professional line waiters.

[Jack]

You mean you could wait online and do your job at the same time?

[Nick]

I'm suggesting the Double dip, Jack.

[Jack]

Yetis, you may have heard that time is money.

[Nick]

Well, never a better time. Get paid for your time. And it's time for us to hit our three stars, Jack. Let's hit it.

[T Boy]

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 the 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 atlas you low you know cuz we read to go. We can't wait no more.

[Nick]

So just start the show.

[T Boy]

Start the show.

[Nick]

First, a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

Framer Yetis.

[Nick]

The first website we ever built. Our MySpace page. Yeah, we were just young enough, right Jack?

[Jack]

Or old enough, Nick. I still remember. You could give your MySpace page a soundtrack. Music started playing when someone visited the webpage.

[Nick]

Blink 182, the official music of young Jack. But besties, if we built a website today, we'd use Framer because they focused on the small things.

[Jack]

Framer already built the fastest way to publish beautiful production ready websites. And it's now redefining how we design for the web.

[Nick]

With the recent launch of Design Pages, a free canvas based design tool. Framer is more than a site builder. It's a true all in one design platform.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

So ready to design, iterate and publish all in one tool. Start creating for [e-mail] design and then use code T Boy for a free month of Framer Pro.

[Jack]

That's framer.com design and use promo code.

[Nick]

T Boy framer.com design promo code T Boy. Rules and restrictions may apply.

[Jack]

I recently got a booking request from somebody who said I'm a 75 year old professor from Michigan. Me and my academic pals are having a ski trip. I love your place.

[Nick]

Lovely. So what'd you say back? Back to the guy?

[Jack]

I responded that I went to the University of Michigan for two graduate degrees. Nick. It turns out he did too. In fact, we worked in the same econ department when I was a TA there.

[Nick]

It's a match made in platform history, Man.

[Jack]

This guy hasn't arrived yet. But I love these personal connections I've made as a host on Airbnb and Besties.

[Nick]

We've told you that your place is probably perfect for someone else to stay at as well.

[Jack]

We haven't told you about the wonderful human interactions you can have as an Airbnb host like mine with this 75 year old PhD who loves the Michigan Wolverines as much as I do.

[Nick]

Yeah, it just feels good knowing that while you're making money, someone else is enjoying your place too. And you got a connection.

[Jack]

Hosting on Airbnb can provide you with another income stream and another source of life satisfaction, whether you're a Wolverine or a Buckeye.

[Nick]

Besties. No joke. Jack's very satisfied.

[Jack]

Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host.

[Nick]

For our first story. Coca Cola and Oreo. They're going all in on AI generated advertising. Coke Christmas commercial. Yeah, that is an AI Santa.

[Jack]

It sounds like everyone hates AI ads, but the data shows we actually don't.

[Nick]

All right, yetis. Signs of the holidays. We're seeing them right now. Mariah Carey's on the radio. You're trading pumpkin spice for candy cane flavors. And Jack, you are wearing a huge vest.

[Jack]

Dude, I just got this this past weekend. Ye. They asked what size. I said as big as it can get.

[Nick]

Bessie, if you're watching on YouTube right now, you may not see Jack, you may only see his vest.

[Jack]

Dude, Hunter green. It's my favorite color.

[Nick]

We had to go widescreen for the video footage for today's show. Now Vessi's. The other sign that it's the holidays is that the big guy in red Santa Claus is out and about in the economy.

[Jack]

Dude, did you know that the modern depiction of Santa Claus wearing a red suit was Invented by Coca Cola.

[Nick]

Yeah, Coca Cola is who got Santa wearing red. That's how he got into it.

[Jack]

I think Santa's like a German thing. But the red velvety suit with the white pom pom, that was 1931. Coca Cola's advertising department.

[Nick]

True story. The strategy? Boost Coca Cola's soda sales in the winter by making the brand more interesting.

[Jack]

And Coca Cola plus Santa is a marriage that stuck.

[Nick]

You got red Santa, you got the red sleigh. Classic holiday. Ah, a classic brand.

[Jack]

But last year there was some Santa drama.

[Nick]

Oh, are you talking about the polar bears?

[Jack]

Eh, they looked a little off.

[Nick]

Yeah.

[Jack]

The soda.

[Nick]

What's going on there? And the truck wheels in the Coca Cola ads, they just weren't turning normally.

[Jack]

Here's the deal. It was Coca Cola's first AI generated Christmas commercial.

[Nick]

It was one year ago, and it faced a ton of backlash for replacing Madison Avenue ad people with large language models in San Francisco.

[Jack]

But here's the shocking news. After having had one full year to think about it, and despite AI Santa gate tearing down the company last year, Coke just ordered up another AI generated holiday commercial.

[Nick]

That's right. The video of Coke's new ad is already on YouTube. It's Hidden TV. This weekend you're going to see it. If you're watching the NFL football, there's.

[Jack]

A bunch of Christmas critters in the snow smiling as a big Coca Cola tractor trailer drives through town.

[Nick]

And according to the Wall Street Journal, more of these AI Coca Cola ads are coming this holiday season.

[Jack]

Now, yes, the AI is better this time. The wheels on the truck are actually spinning in the same direction.

[Nick]

The wheels actually go round and round, round and round.

[Jack]

Now, Coke won't say how much money they're saving by using AI instead of advertising people.

[Nick]

No, they won't, Jack.

[Jack]

But according to the Hollywood Reporter, this commercial took 20 people plus AI software to create. It usually takes 50 people without AI software to do a commercial like this.

[Nick]

And according to pfwtms, people familiar with matter, this took one month to create the Coca Cola ad instead of the one year that it typically does.

[Jack]

But hold my double stuffed Oreo, because the owner of Oreos, which is mondelez, just invested $40 million into their own AI software to replace their advertising department.

[Nick]

Oh, we repeat, Oreo is going to have their own multimillion dollar AI ad technology.

[Jack]

And unlike Coca Cola, Oreo is totally open about the money they're going to save.

[Nick]

Yes, they are.

[Jack]

They say they'll cut their costs long term for advertising by up to 50%.

[Nick]

By using AI that's why Oreo is spending the equivalent of five Super bowl ads on this brand new AI ad technology.

[Jack]

So if you see an Oreo dipped in a glass of milk on TV and the cookie doesn't quemle quite right.

[Nick]

Yeah, the new Oreo AI is, you know, still working out the kinks.

[Jack]

Or as the AI industry says, this is the worst AI you'll ever have.

[Nick]

Why do they always say that? They always say that. That's what the thing is. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in AI?

[Jack]

AI advertising is like French fries. You say you don't want any, but you actually do.

[Nick]

Yet yesterday Jack and I did a whole story about how the American public has broad bipartisan hatred of AI this.

[Jack]

Story shows there's nuance to the issue. We have a different feeling when it comes to AI generated creativity.

[Nick]

You see, if you read all the press about Coca Cola's AI advertising, you'd think it was universally hated.

[Jack]

But if you look at the data, the consumer research from Coca Cola, it turns out that feeling was far from universal. People actually liked it.

[Nick]

It's actually kind of understandable. Like the media, which relies on the ad industry, seems to be more negative on AI marketing than the general public is.

[Jack]

Because the media industry has anti AI bias. AI threatens to replace them and their jobs after all.

[Nick]

But we can't mistake that for how the public feels about AI advertising.

[Jack]

According to System1, an ad tracker, Coke's AI ads last year scored very highly with the public. Jack.

[Nick]

Maybe people didn't know it was AI or they just didn't care. But either way, that Coca Cola AI ad was still loved by most people.

[Jack]

According to the data. Now the press suggests we're disgusted by AI generated advertising. The research shows we aren't.

[Nick]

For our second story, the inventor of the Taser gun just continued their epic 30 quarter streak of 30% revenue growth. That is wild.

[Jack]

Yesterday was election day and Axon may have found the most uniting message of all. Nick, this is such an interesting story.

[Nick]

Oh, this is fascinating and this is a wild story to do after an election. But it really begins back in 1993. That's when two men were sadly killed in a road rage incident.

[Jack]

And that event led to the creation of the Taser gun.

[Nick]

Yeah, because those two guys happen to be friends of Rick Smith, the co founder and CEO of this company, Axon.

[Jack]

So he invented the stun gun called the Taser. The Taser to give police non lethal alternatives to guns.

[Nick]

But then in 2017 Taser changed the company name to Axon. And Jack, why did they do that?

[Jack]

Because they added body cameras. That's right. And they added software to manage body camera footage and software that could easily submit that footage as evidence in the court of law.

[Nick]

Well, perfect timing because yesterday on election day, Axon announced their earnings. And what kind of numbers are we looking at?

[Jack]

This Taser business has one of the wildest streaks on Wall street right now.

[Nick]

Okay, get this, besties. Axon has had 30/4 with an average 30% growth rate in revenue.

[Jack]

30/4 is 7 1/2 years. And 30% revenue growth is really good revenue growth.

[Nick]

Now, besties, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this. Yesterday, like we said, was election day. But on election day of 2024, Axon was the winner of the Trump trade.

[Jack]

The stock of Axon jumped 40% in the days following the 2024 Donald Trump election.

[Nick]

Basically, Exxon got a pro police pop.

[Jack]

The expectation was a surge in funding for police as Republicans swept not just Washington D.C. but the whole nation.

[Nick]

Mo money in the budget, mo money to buy Axon stuff.

[Jack]

But guess what the big growth category of is right now? It's the body cameras.

[Nick]

Yeah, it's the body cameras, not the Tasers.

[Jack]

Axon has sold $287 million worth of body cameras for police officers so far this year.

[Nick]

It turns out judges have been ordering body camera usage in response to Trump's immigration crackdown.

[Jack]

Axon has also expanded to police car dashboard cameras, interrogation room cameras and drone cameras as well.

[Nick]

Okay, but Jack, let's go back to that wild 30 quarter growth streak that Axon is enjoying. Like what's the wild thing about it?

[Jack]

It's not just a Trump thing. It was there for all four of the Biden years too.

[Nick]

Jack, I'll do you one better. Ten years ago, when President Obama was president, that's when Exxon began its rocket ship growth.

[Jack]

The stock has 28x'd in the last 10 years.

[Nick]

I can't believe we didn't invest when we first heard about it. On that bachelor party a decade ago.

[Jack]

Who was it that was telling us we should buy it?

[Nick]

I don't remember. But we owe them. They owe us.

[Jack]

I think 28xing is, I think 2,700% besties.

[Nick]

This is fascinating because a seemingly divisive stock has grown regardless of which party is in power because of our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Axon?

[Jack]

Axon has taken something very polarizing and made it Very unifying.

[Nick]

Yetis Axon could have become an outspoken pro police, rah rah type of arms company, usa, USA kind of thing.

[Jack]

They could have tried to turn America's police into the modern robocops.

[Nick]

Or from a political perspective, they could have taken the opposite approach and been all about police accountability with their body.

[Jack]

Cameras, which as he said, would have been received completely different politically.

[Nick]

Exactly. But instead, Axon found an overlap in the Venn diagram and here was the reduce the number of deaths involving police.

[Jack]

Here's their mission statement, which they actually call a moonshot cut gun related deaths in America between police and the public by 50% within 10 years.

[Nick]

They found the one message that both sides want. Everyone wants tasers. Reduce fatal shootings and the body cameras improve accountability.

[Jack]

Action's real strategy was taking a polarizing issue, policing and making it unifying, reducing deaths.

[Nick]

Now a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

Now a quick break, switching topics to one of our favorite sponsors, vital proteins.

[Nick]

Now, Jack, my mom does not use most of the products we promote. She's not building a website. She's not downloading a stock trading app.

[Jack]

No, she's not.

[Nick]

But she did call me this weekend and here's what she she said. She said, I need to know the promo code for your collagen peptide sponsor because I just bought more of it.

[Jack]

It was vital proteins and their no sugar added collagen peptide products are delicious, especially the new 30 gram protein shake.

[Nick]

Now, I don't know if my mom's into the taste or the health benefits or she's trying to get jacked, but she's got healthy hair, skin, nails and joints right now. Dude, I'd say it's all of them.

[Jack]

So yetis, go to www.vitalproteins.com to learn more and where to buy. Get 20% off your next order by entering promo code T boy at checkout. This show is brought to you by BetterHelp.

[Nick]

Yetis, you know what time of year it is? It ain't engagement season. It's postponement season.

[Jack]

Not like postponing your wedding. We're just talking about postponing a social event.

[Nick]

Yeah, like days getting shorter, airs getting colder. You're taking a rain shift.

[Jack]

Winter is coming. It's the time of the year that people start to get disconnected from friends.

[Nick]

Okay? But then when you do finally meet up with your buddy Timmy and your friends, it's exactly what you needed. And you think, why didn't I do this sooner?

[Jack]

And for us, that's what starting therapy was like. That's right.

[Nick]

Jack and I are in way better control of our feelings. We know ourselves much better today than we did five years ago in our pre therapy era.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

Jack, you can't postpone those numbers this month.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

And our listeners, you, you get 10% off your first [e-mail] TP that's BetterHelp.

[Jack]

H E L P.com T Boy.

[Nick]

For our third and final story, the youngest stock on the stock market. It's Beta Technologies, an electric airplane company that IPO'd just yesterday.

[Jack]

But Beta's real secret is winning money. Even if they lose the deal.

[Nick]

And we'll tell you how they pull it off. But Jack, I noticed when we were researching this story. Do you just wanna ask me the hockey question? You can just ask me.

[Jack]

If a guy plays hockey and he's six foot six, is he the team's enforcer by default?

[Nick]

Well, Jack, having watched. Yeah, Every one of the Mighty Ducks.

[Jack]

Movies, I can tell you.

[Nick]

Yeah, a six foot six hockey player is an enforcer.

[Jack]

The six foot six dude in question is Kyle Clark, a former Harvard hockey player who was drafted into the NHL.

[Nick]

Now like Happy Gilmore. Hockey didn't work out for this guy, Kyle.

[Jack]

Unlike Happy Gilmore, Kyle Clark became an entrepreneur.

[Nick]

Yeah. By returning to his home state of Vermont and building electric airplanes.

[Jack]

Basically the Rivian of the skies.

[Nick]

Perfectly put, Jack.

[Jack]

Now this guy caught my attention in the local newspaper. He caused a local stir in 2022 when he asked the town he lived in if he could build a private airstrip in his 100 acre backyard.

[Nick]

Yeah, like instead of driving to the Burlington Airport where Beta's office and airplane factory is, he wanted to fly his electric airplane in his own backyard.

[Jack]

Which is basically like Bruce Wayne level epicness.

[Nick]

Well, beta IPO'd just yester on the New York Stock Exchange. And Jack, how are we looking?

[Jack]

This pre revenue company is now worth seven and a half billion dollars.

[Nick]

I gotta pause the pod for a sec. Jack, I know we're in San Francisco right now, so there's a lot of pre revenue talk, but why does Wall street think a company with almost zero revenue is worth more than Clorox, more than Whirlpool, and as much as Lyft?

[Jack]

Because this company is not waiting for electric airplane Demand. They're creating it with a network of charge cubes.

[Nick]

Charge cubes? More on that in a sec.

[Jack]

Not ice cubes. Charge cubes.

[Nick]

Jack, let's sprinkle on some product context here.

[Jack]

Beta.

[Nick]

They're selling two electric powered flying machines. What are they?

[Jack]

One is an evtol, which is an electric vertical takeoff and landing machine. It takes off and lands like a helicopter, flies like an airplane.

[Nick]

The other product is an airplane that's simply electric instead of jet fuel.

[Jack]

And it flies as quiet as the.

[Nick]

Clouds you see, without gas. It's a simpler machine. So the competitive advantage is a lower cost flying.

[Jack]

It might be more expensive up front, but it's 74% and 42% cheaper to operate in the long term than a regular plane or helicopter.

[Nick]

But here's what Jack and I find fascinating. The sky is now filled with publicly traded electric airplane companies.

[Jack]

Joby and Archer are competitors to Beta. They're both electric aircraft companies and they're both already on the stock market.

[Nick]

But the difference is that those two companies sell a service. The difference is in the business model.

[Jack]

Joby and Archer are basically air taxi fleets. They fly New Yorkers to the Hamptons to avoid the Long island railroad and traffic.

[Nick]

But on the other hand, Beta's focus isn't on the service, it's on simply selling the product.

[Jack]

Beta is basically Boeing. They don't sell a service, they sell aircraft.

[Nick]

You see, UPS bought some Beta electric planes to ship their cargo.

[Jack]

And some medical companies have pre ordered Beta aircraft so they can quickly transport.

[Nick]

Organs when they need to air New Zealand. They want Betas so they can replace their gas guzzling jets with ones that fly on electric maple syrup.

[Jack]

But none of these aircraft are gonna work without some pretty huge three pronged plug ins.

[Nick]

You gotta charge these things, you gotta charge the aircraft.

[Jack]

Which is why Beta has built charge cubes already at 51 different airports.

[Nick]

Yeah, I don't want to be 30,000ft, Jack when the low battery sign comes on.

[Jack]

No, you don't. No, you don't.

[Nick]

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Beta? Electric airplanes.

[Jack]

Sell the car but own the gas station too.

[Nick]

Yetis, Tesla is the biggest electric charging company in America by far.

[Jack]

Even if people buy a Rivian, a Lucid or a Hyundai electric car, Tesla still makes money on the charging because they're simply the best charging station.

[Nick]

Apple sells a bunch of services and also sells iPhones.

[Jack]

But since Apple also owns the operating system, it makes money even if you use non Apple apps and don't buy Another iPhone.

[Nick]

Similarly to those two, Beta put itself in the position of owning the network with its charging stations.

[Jack]

Like Tesla with the supercharging network. Beta sells charging cubes to charge airplanes at airports.

[Nick]

Basically, the only electric gas station at 51 airports. It's these Beta cubes.

[Jack]

Beta said the word cubes twice as often as they said the word airplanes in their IPO paperwork, which shows how important this charging network is.

[Nick]

You see, besties, Tesla, they've got a charging network. Apple has got its operating system, and Beta has these charging cubes. All very expensive investments, but they pay.

[Jack]

Off because even if you buy the competition's aircraft, you gotta charge them on Beta's charge cubes.

[Nick]

Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for ceviche Wednesday, Coca Cola.

[Jack]

And Oreo are both leaning into AI to generate their Christmas commercial because people.

[Nick]

Don'T mind at all. The headlines make you think we hate AI ads, but the data shows we don't.

[Jack]

For our second story, Accent, the inventor of tasers and body cameras has a wild streak, growing 30% for 30 straight quarters.

[Nick]

Axon found political common ground on a divisive cultural and political topic.

[Jack]

And finally, the newest IPO is Beta, the third E aircraft company with a publicly traded stock.

[Nick]

But Beta is the first to build the supercharging network of the skies.

[Jack]

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

[Nick]

First, can someone please check on Ben the bitcoin? Jack, Ben's price just fell below 100,000 bucks for like a moment yesterday.

[Jack]

Bitcoin is now down 20 from its all time high and fell 10% in just the last seven days.

[Nick]

The wildest part, it was uptober. Bitcoin has historically risen nearly every single October in history.

[Jack]

But this is the first October in seven years that bitcoin actually fell.

[Nick]

And second, a wild day for fast food chains. I mean, Jack, let's whip up the whiteboard over here.

[Jack]

Yum Brands is reportedly trying to sell Pizza Hut after eight straight quarters of declining pizza sales.

[Nick]

And then Denny's, the breakfast chain, is going private. It's no longer going to be a publicly traded stock.

[Jack]

And finally, Starbucks, they sold a majority of their China business, which is 8,000 locations, because selling coffee in China, I guess, is not a Profit.

[Nick]

You buy one product from each of those three companies, you will hit your 2,000 daily calorie limit. And finally, Martha Stewart is having a moment again. After publishing 101 books, she's now republishing her very first book.

[Jack]

How does she manage to stay in the news so consistently?

[Nick]

AI she's just AI at this point, I think, Jack, the fun part. Martha noticed that her original cookbook was reselling on ebay for like 500 bucks each.

[Jack]

So she spoke to her publisher and they said, hey, there's clearly demand. Let's republish this thing.

[Nick]

So now Martha Stewart is reselling her old book to become the Martha Stewart of Gen Z. Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me because we discovered this nugget in our research on the Oreo story.

[Jack]

No one knows why Oreos are called Oreos.

[Nick]

And if someone tells you they do, they're lying to you. Nobody knows.

[Jack]

Nabisco has never confirmed it. Here are the theories. The Greek word for mountain is kind of Oreo. Yeah.

[Nick]

And early Oreo cookie prototypes kind of looked mountain shaped.

[Jack]

Another theory, the French word for gold is Oreo.

[Nick]

Yeah. Like the first packaging in 1912 for this cookie was gold. So maybe it comes from or from French.

[Jack]

If we've got some Sherlock Holmes in our audience, let us know about this mystery.

[Nick]

The Oreo, the branding mystery of corporate America. Yetis, you look fantastic today. And if you are now a new yeti or bestie, Jack and I got a quick favor to ask of you.

[Jack]

Fill out our two minute survey. We'd love to learn more about you and discover how you discovered the best one yet.

[Nick]

We got a link in the show notes. In the meantime, Jack, we got a reservation at little Original Joe's tonight. Not to be confused with Little Joe's or Original Joe's or Joseph's or Josephine's.

[Jack]

Is the Little Original Joe's. It's original inflation happening at every Joe's restaurant.

[Nick]

All right, we gotta hit that reservation, besties. We'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a congratulations to the newest yeti. And we mean literal yeti, Mike Mooney, who is now officially on the T boy team. He just joined today.

[Jack]

The New York Yankees have a general manager, and now so does the best.

[Nick]

One yet, Mike Mooney, the new manager of the best one yet.

[Jack]

Sorry, the Mets have a gm. He's a Mets fan. He's a Mets fan.

[Nick]

We should point that out. And Trevor out in Knoxville just got engaged. Celebrated in Harry Potter world. Let's see the ring pics. Or is it a wand pic? I guess we gotta clarify, Jack.

[Jack]

And happy birthday to Brad Robinson in Honolulu, Hawaii. Your parents are proud of you and no one even asked.

[Nick]

And Chewy Jang down in lovely Los Angeles is the best neighbor yet with the best birthday yet.

[Jack]

Happy Birthday to Vinnie Fong on Long Island, New York who loves himself a.

[Nick]

Self driving car and Tanush Garg just got a job at Microsoft. Celebrate the Winston.

[Jack]

Ouch. Congrats to all the New York City Marathon runners out there including Cindy Lawrence and Greg the Beast from Goldman Sachs.

[Nick]

And Victoria Ritter from Munich, Germany sent us a correction on the pod. Thank you Victoria. Jack, what is the correction?

[Jack]

We said that Peter Thiel was South African. While he did live there as a kid, he was actually born in Deutschland but spent most of his childhood in the United States.

[Nick]

And besties always feel free to send us a correction. We'll get it on the show. Correct for the pie.

[Jack]

This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix. Nick and I both own stock in Apple and we both own some bitcoin.

[Nick]

Bitcoin named Ben.

[Jack]

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.

[Jack]

And before you go, tell us a little bit about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[Nick]

We want to get to know you.