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What's up, what's up? Austin, Texas. Fifteen years before this song, two friends from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea for a cultural storm. It's the best. Come on. Yeah. Hey. The best is a norm. Come on, Jack. Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fact tip. T boy city on your app. Listen, if you know, you know. Yeah, we ready to go. We can't wait no more so just start the show. If you know, you know. Yeah, we ready to go. Ain't nobody like a tea boy party. Cause a T boy party don't stop. Ain't nobody like a tea boy party. Cause a T boy party don't stop. Yo ain't no party like a teaboy party. Cause a tea boy party don't stop. And yo ain't no party like a teaboy party. Cause a tea party. Yo play, Boys. Hands up. Hands up. Hands up. Hands up. Hands up. Hands up. Hands up, Hands up. What's up, what's up? What's up? What's up? Welcome to the Team Boy party. Don't stop. Welcome out Austin, Texas. This is the Team Boy Experience. Peace. This is Nick, this is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, February 26, and today's live show from Austin is the best one yet. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. It's the IPO tour, our in person offering. And you know what that means. Training has begun. Jack, the first three stories for the show. What have we got on today? For our first story, Waymo is taking over Texas as the capital of Robo tax. But Uber has a new plan. Become the Swiss army army knife of self driving. For our second story, the denim industry is facing its craziest trend crisis since cowboys first put on pants. I'm sorry. Skinny jeans are making a comeback in the Baggy Daddy era. And our third and final story, with all the AI fear freaking everybody out, we have a career solution. Be a mermaid. That's right. The best way to slot proof your job is to be half human, half AI Friend fish, naturally, yes. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stars. I love this live mix. Jack, pull up the Venmo requests. Cancel the custom tank tops. Yeah. True story. This is actually our first time in Austin. Not for a bachelor party. True story. Austin, Texas, the land of the breakfast taco, the venture capital refugee and highly synchronized bridge bats. Austin is also unique in its rejection of La Croix. And they say no thanks to Spindrix in Austin. Instead, they choose a drink so violently fizzy. Topo Chico. Topo Chico. Made in Mexico, but scaled in Austin. Get this. 70% of Topo Chico sales right here in Texas. Never knew water would get so much applause. Austin adopted Toco Chico Mineral Water. Like a techie transplant adopts a Stetson. I'm sorry, Jack. Did that cowboy hat pair well with my Patagonian. And this mineral water has led to the top selling cocktail in the state of Texas. Ranch water. One part Topo Chico, one part tequila, probably. Tito's Ranch Water was actually invented right down the road at Ranch616 in Austin on Sixth street, just off Sixth Street. But here is the news. We are officially running low on Topo Chico. That's right, it's a Topo shortage. According to Coca Cola, Topo Chico is temporarily unavailable in the United States. Technical issues with the mineral wells in Mexico. It's not even going to be back till later this year. So Coca Cola, which bought Topo Chico for $220 million, issued a dire warning this week. It was a thirst trap. Literally. Yes, it was. So pause the pod and get to your local H E B ASAP as possible to snag yourself a CA TO Sales are going up and to the right like Arch Manning's Deep Ball. Topo Chico Ranch Water added to the hoarder's Almanac. Week 309. Austin, you look fantastic. Yes, you do, Jack. Let's hit our three stories and let's keep them weird. Menace AI Yetis. So when are we using AI when we're jumping in T boy style to some research. Why crunch numbers in that earnings report when a bot will do it for you? Don't worry, Jack. Love language is fact checking. So everything gets a double check. Fact check before it makes the pod. You know it. No. AI Slopper out. No. So Jack and I are pumped to tell you about Manus AI the hot new AI agent that does more than just answer your questions. It does tasks for you that you don't want to do to get your work done faster and better. Manus is the most powerful AI agent for people who don't code. We just asked Manus where the CEOs of the 100 most profitable companies went to college. Boom. It created it for us. Or you could ask Manus to launch an e commerce shop for you. Boom. Your Anna Wintour. Manus connects the most advanced LLMs with with a set of tools to deliver real world tasks. Oh, by the way, Manus means hands in Latin because like hands, Manus is pretty darn useful to humans and you can get your hands on Manus AI for free. Visit Manus Im tboy to get started with Manus and some T boy special credits. That's manis im tbly. Hey Fidelity, what's it cost to invest with the Fidelity app? Start with as little as $1 with no account fees or trade commissions on US stock and ETFs. That's music to my ears. I can only talk investing involved risk including risk of loss. Zero Account fees apply to retail brokerage accounts only. Sell order assessment fee not included. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a transaction based service fee of $100. See full list of Fidelity.com commissions Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIP. Yetis can we give it up for Black Lack, the rap duo responsible for our jingo? The artists who could take this show and turn it into a rap. Only Black Lack could do it and they are based right here in Austin, Texas. Yes they are. So cool. Album perform. That duo was actually formed right here at the State Theater. True story. Yeah. And now the vibes in Austin right now are electric. I mean, the glass skyscrapers look like other glass skyscrapers. The food, the live events, the robo taxis. Austin, it's great to be here. But there's no city that makes you question where you currently live. Like Austin, Texas does. I mean, true story. Glen Powell and his chin were born here, moved to Los Angeles and have now returned to Austin. Formula one brought race cars to Austin and soon they're bringing roller coasters to Austin. Yes. Oh, and the weather, Jack. I mean, it's gonna be at least two or three more months before it hits 143 degrees. And the barbecue last night we went to Terry Black's. The food was fire. Jack actually broke some brisket, which is a real term with his aunt and uncle who live here. And they're at the show in the audience right now. And for once I paid the tab for them. Oh but Jack, this is the IPO Tour and everything is bigger in Texas, including this show. Why don't you sprinkle on a little context? Well, the IPO Tour is our in person offering. But if you're listening to the show right now, you should know we're live at the historic State Theater on Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. That's right. If you're only listening to us on the pod, you are not here live. Tomorrow you are going to get the interview with our super, super secret, super cool guests who we're interviewing today live. But if you're here in person, you're gonna get some extra sprinkle, dinkle and razzle dazzle. What is in there? Here's what we got. Okay. Jack and I are doing T Boy insider trivia. We are bringing you up on stage to pay trivia inspired by insider trading, knowledge of the show. We're doing our fourth quarter earnings report followed by investor Q A from you. And you know, I can't even hold it anymore. The spoiler, the guests. It's Stephen and Allison Ellsworth, the co founder, power couple of Poppy based here in Austin. And when we whip up our takeaways, Nick and I are going to need your help. So we're going to ask you to come up on stage. Yes. It's going to be a good one. Oh, oh, oh, we will. But then, Jack, I mean, IPO tour in person offering. It was a loud bell, but I could use one more bell ringing to kick it off. Why don't you take the honors? Because I already have. Would be an honor. Trading has begun. Let's hit our first story, baby. For our first story, Uber's master plan to win the robo taxi industry is to sit shotgun for it to beat Waymo and Tesla, Uber is becoming a Swiss army knife. Yeah, it is. Waymo announced yesterday the Texas trifecta, which is not a dish at Terry Black's, we should point out. No. They launched Robo taxi service in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, bringing the number of Texas cities they're in to four. All right, all right, all right. Jack, can you please tell me why Waymo is so obsessed with Texas? Adventurous young people willing to try things out. Less regulation and no snow. Pretty much ever. No snow. Impressive. But Waymo can't close their doors to their self driving robotaxis. Yeah, they have an arrangement with DoorDash. For 11 bucks a pop, they'll send a dasher to close the door that a customer left. Ajar. It goes to show us that Robo Taxis, the AI that everyone loves, they need some help too. They need some love. Nick and I picked Lyft as one of our big stock picks for 2026. We did. They do the unsexy work that the self driving tech companies don't want to do. But Uber must have heard our prediction, Jack, and said cute kid, because Uber just dropped three huge announcements this week that Lyft simply can't compete with size wise. Number one, Uber acquired spot heroes. You can now snag a garage parking spot through the Uber app number two, Uber is spending $100 million to build autonomous vehicle depots in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Dallas with a whole bunch of charging stations. And Uber announced a brand new division, Uber Autonomous Solutions, that we have way better branding names for. Uas. I'm sure they're referring to it at that at Uber hq. Think of Uber Autonomous Solutions as Uber's department of defense. Yes, against the threat of robo taxis eating their entire business. Now remember to sprinkle on some context. Uber does not make self driving cars. Uber ended their self driving car initiative after a pedestrians killed by their test car in 2018. So Waymo and Tesla racing to 10,000 robocars. That's an existential threat over at Uber. But Nick, running a self driving business isn't just about the self driving car. True. Uber says they're going to do everything but the car. Yeah, the way we see it, Uber is becoming the Swiss army knife of the self driving. So this new division they just announced offers self driving car insurance, self driving customer support, charging for the self driving cars. Yeah, Jack and I on our way back from Terry Black's we spilled a little BBQ sauce in the back seat. It's got to get cleaned up. Uber's new division is going to whip out the wet wipes flight when Volkswagen's fleet of self driving cars launch. Uber is going to connect those cars to people who need a ride on the app. Hey Ford, you need like, I don't know, a million miles of drive data to train your autonomous his vehicles. Uber's got, hey gm, you're self driving Suburban can't navigate past that double parked car. Uber's going to take care of the remote control. Remote assistance is becoming a self driving Swiss army knife that probably even comes with a toothpick. Definitely tweezers. But to use another analogy, Uber is becoming an arms dealer in self driving. They're not competing directly in the self driving tech war. Instead they're providing the technical arms. So Jack, what is the takeaway for our buddies over at Uber? You could throw away your driver's license, but not until the year 2046. So funny thing, besties. This week Uber CEO said that in 20 years platforms will have 9 million drivers that will be replaced by autonomous vehicles. 9 million Uber drivers and Uber employees will be replaced by autonomy. That's what Uber CEO said. Okay, but Jack, 20 years is like a really long time, dude. Few. Yeah, why is it going to take 20 years? Because today Waymo only has 3000 cars on the road and Tesla has A thousand. That's not much compared to 9 million Uber cars. Now look, raise your hand if you've driven in a self driving taxi. There we go. It's for everyone listening. It's everybody self driving cars they can handle like the base level, 7 degrees and sunny. You're in your bathing suit. That's easy for you. Basically your off peak situation. Once it rains or once demand spikes because of an event, humans are going to be needed to jump on the app and handle that UT football game with Willie Nelson at halftime. You're probably going to call an Uber human for that one and not the Waymo circle in the block. Now Lyft CEO who we interviewed last year actually thinks that autonomous cars will never be able to meet the demand spikes of surge moments like a T. Swift concert. So Uber's planning for a hybrid future in 20 years when humans and technology both drive cars. And as a Swiss army knife, whoever wins in self driving cars, Uber believes they can win too. Basti self driving cars are here. But human driven cars aren't going anywhere until 2046. Circle your calendar. For our second story. For the first time ever, the most stylish pair of jeans in your closet is all pairs of jeans. It's the great denim deregulation. Oh, boy. And it shows how fads can actually be fabulous for business. We're gonna connect this one to Willie Nelson by the end of it, but besties first. Before half the tech industry moved to Texas, Jack, who was the first Calhoun, California transplant to end up in Austin, Jeans. We did a whole episode of the Best Idea yet about Levi Strauss. Yes, this man invented jeans during the California gold rush in 1873. But Jack, in Texas, denim has become a lifestyle. Get this. In 1993, Texans bought 32 million pairs of jeans. I'm sorry, hold the cookie Crisp. Jack, can you sprinkle on some context for us, please? That is two pairs of jeans for each and every Texan. It's also 1 out of 20 pairs of jeans sold on Earth were bought by Texans. Now that's 1993 data. We think it's only gotten more extreme. All right, raise your hand if you're wearing jeans right now. Spoiler. One of our guests tonight is wearing two pairs of Dennis messing with the numbers. But right now, yetis, whether you're a Levi's, a Lee, a Carhartt, a Wrangler, a Dickies person, it doesn't even matter. This is the strangest moment yet for the denim industry. Follow us on this, because right now, multiple jean styles are trending at the same time. We are in the anything goes era of jeans. And as someone who does not wear jeans, this is awkward for you. I don't know how I feel about this. So Levi's Stock is up 20% in the last 12 months. And on their latest earnings call, the CEO called this a head to toe opportunity. Jack, can you actually share? Jack and I jumped at D voiced out to like read the whole transcript of the earnings. What did the CEO like actually say? Customers are buying bottoms. New bottoms, new jean styles, but also tops to match the bottoms. Boom. It's a de facto the result, an 11% jean jacket growth. Over at Levi's, we repeat demand for Canadian tuxedos is why Levi's is now worth twice as much as Lyft. But besties, as we open up the closet, this denim disparity is even more dramatic, is it not? It started with the pandemic, the comfort economy. True, the pendulum swung from skinny jeans to wide boyfriend Relaxed jeans. And the story last year that we did right, Jack, like on the baggy daddy look. The baggy daddy, Levi's, most wide jean of all time, was their top seller. Sales rose 15%. But besties to study business. Jack and I also study culture, which is why we spent all last weekend enjoying the latest Vogue magazine prediction, which is skinny jeans will come back in 2026. True story. Skinny jeans. I heard one. Whoa. I'm surprised we didn't hear six woes there. Was that a boo or a whoa? Well, it's two factors. You've got ozempic leading to skinny jeans, and you've got millennial core nostalgia leading to skinny jeans. So I hope you hung onto those madewells. So according to a denim analyst on Wall street, which is a real job, by the way, multiple styles are now trending simultaneously, something the industry has never seen before, which is Jack and I asking the existential question, can the baggy daddy and the skinny mama coexist in one closet? Is this denim nirvana or denim disaster? Now, for consumers, it's. It's confusing jeans. They're like a capitalist Rorschach test. What's your identity? What's your age? It depends what you're putting on. This morning, we also, like, have an answer to our own personal denim dilemma or just reject it. So what's the takeaway? Well, other than never throw out your out of style jeans because they're going to come back, like maybe today, what is the takeaway? What is the takeaway for our bunnies in the jeans industry? To quote Willie Nelson, fads are like cowboys. Some fads ride off, but some ride forever. Now, yetis, have we not warned you about the three Fs of fads? No industry is more vulnerable to fads than food, fitness, and fashion. But there is a flip side to fads that is not a business risk, but a business opportunity. Because if trends are always changing, then as long as you can move fast to adapt to those trends, you can always sell products. In fact, the fashion industry intentionally pushes fads into in order to keep the sales flowing. This isn't technical obsolescence. It's fashion obsolescence. The cowboy hat Jack wore out, that was like a 2023 model. The Cowboy hat I wore on stage was like new 2026. All right, let me tell you what the jeans industry is not doing right now. They don't want to be instapot. Right. Instapot was an absolute sensation. Everybody bought one, but they only bought one. Now instant pot is bankrupt. Yeah. Denim doesn't want to be like a one and done situation. They want the opposite. Yeah, and you'll buy a mom fit today, a baggy fit tomorrow, a skinny jeans next year. Basically, we're calling this denim's deregulated era, and it might cause you to pause and decide what you're going to wear in the morning. But it is also a profit puppy for Levi's, which is selling one of every fit to you right now. Boom. And that is why Levi's Stock is up 20% in the last year despite a trade war. Because. Because as Willie Nelson said, sometimes for a business, fads can ride on forever. Giddy up. Now a quick word from our sponsor, Monarch. When I had student debt, I tracked my progress on an Excel spreadsheet I manually updated each month. Why was Jack a spreadsheet jockey? Cause when he was paying off his student debt, Monarch didn't exist yet. Well, one year ago, I proudly killed that spreadsheet I'd been building for 12 years. RIP spreadsheet. Because Monarch is a way better solution. All your financial accounts are linked to Monarch. Every credit card, checking account, brokerage account, even our mortgages. Live balances updated in real time. I'm still paying down my mortgage, and Monarch gives me the visibility and tools to do it. You can use it to create savings buckets and financial goals in Monarch. Set yourself up for financial success this year. Are you familiar with the Sankey diagram? I had no idea what it was, Jack. Well, once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's brilliant. And Monarch visually shows you what you're spending and we did not make up that term. Your investment investment portfolio. Monarch compares it to the S P500 for you. Set yourself up for financial success in 2026 with Monarch, the all in one tool that makes proactive money management simple all year long. Use code tboy@monarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50 off your first year@monarch.com with code T. Boy. Imagine the merging of trusted intelligence into a unified experience. Imagine collaboration amongst teams and across continents. Imagine an empowered ecosystem designed to deliver actionable insights that inspire growth and sustainability. That's the power of the Connect industrial intelligence platform to help you see further, innovate faster, accomplish more. That's the Connect effect. Learn more@thatstheconnecteffect.com. For our third and final story. Yetis how to slot proof your career and thrive in the era of AI. You must become a mermaid. Here's the key, though. Figure out what's your human half and what's your AI fish half. Honey and Jack, 2026. It has been a year of anxiety for white collar workers. My friends kale collar workers are feeling it in their sweet green bowls every lunch. It's like Pixar needs to make an inside out 3. But instead of for kids, they need to make it for computer programmers. Anxiety. Yeah. It's the SaaS apocalypse. It's the AI Grim Reaper of the stock market. It's the substack sell off that we covered yesterday. Okay, but Jack, pause the pod. Right now, we are in Austin, Texas. We are in Tech Capital 2.0. I know. Terry Black's barbecue last night. Yeah. People were eating cornbread and talking about their AI stress. So besties Jack and I wanted to share our advice, our framework for how to thrive in the AI era. And it's inspired by mythology. Become a mermaid. But instead of half fish, we want you to become half AI. That's how you let AI enhance you. Not eat you. You be a mermaid. Merman. No. And I'll tell you why in a second. Okay? Okay, okay. But here's the key. Don't try to replace your human part with AI. Let AI showcase your human part. All right, Jack, why don't we like whip up an example here? What kind of stuff you thinking, man? So we're like three years into this AI revolution, right? For the last year or two, Nick and I have tried to use AI to help prepare us for our interviews. Yes. In fact, for tonight's interview, we threw in the Transcript from our last interview with Alison. And we asked it to suggest discussion topics for this interview. And what were the results when we did that little test? Bland. Yeah, they weren't good. They were not good. If we had used AI suggestions, the interview would have become essentially, Call it slop. Yeah, it would not have been a good interview. The task that you have at hand, Yetis, is to figure out what is the most human artistic part of you and what is the most human artistic part of your job. For us, it's the content we publish on our podcast. Yes. That's not something AI can do. No, no, no. This is something only you and I can do. You don't replace that with AI, the human artistic part of your job. That's what the AI can't do. So the networking, the recognizing. What is my boss really saying? The presenting the pitch to convince Carol from accounting to approve your application. Keeping someone's attention is important, and that's not AI's job. That's your job to recognize what their priorities are and adapt. Now, I love the mermaid analogy, however silly it comes off. Initially, you want to be like a corporate Ariel, is what we're saying. Like a mermaid. Your human half is way more important than your AI half. Go on, Jack. Your human half is unique. Your AI half, it's just a tail. Every mermaid has the same tail. Yeah. Just like every AI has the same formula and content. Content created by AI. It looks like all the other content created by. So your human half, that is the differentiator of your mermaid work life. Your AI tail, that's just there for the function. And of course, you can't spell mermaid without AI. That's why it's not merman. Nailed it. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our Poseidon buddies under the sea, curious about saving themselves from AI? If you don't like to do it, then don't do it. Let your AI tail swish it instead. Now. Yet, as part of Jack's my Q4 earnings, our accountant asked for a list of our travel and meal expenses. Basically, what were you guys writing off? And why do you go to sweetgreen so much? And that's when I said, shoot, Nick, I forgot to tell you. Our bookkeeper stopped working for us last year, and we never got around to replacing him. All right, so what do we do, Jack? So, instinctively, I opened up QuickBooks, and I'm like, I'm going to have to characterize, you know, hundreds and hundreds of transactions to find the travel and meal expense. Oh, boy. But then I stopped and I said, I can probably do this. So we downloaded CSV of all of our spending activity. I uploaded that into AI I told them I need the travel and meal expenses. Boom. That's the tail. That's the tail. AI did the highly tedious, time consuming task better than we would have. That is the mermaid tail. It saved us a bunch of time, which is the key unlock of artificial intelligence. Saving you time by doing the things you don't want to do. Which meant Jack and I then got to do the human half of the mermaid. We got to create great content and whip up a whole takeaway on the denim industry. So here's our advice to you. When you're about to start doing that task you don't want to do, like classifying those transactions, stop yourself. Let AI do that instead so you can do the stuff you're best at. As Sebastian told us many years ago in the Little Mermaid, Jack under the sea. That's how AI can enhance your human half. Let the mermaid tail swish away. The stuff that you don't want to do anyway. Let the tail do it. So, Nick, I'm not stalling right now, but this is the time to whip up the takeaways. Do the best fact yet. Do some shout outs. What we're saying is this pod's not over yet and we need your help to pull it off. So we are going to ask a few select VIP yetis and besties up to the stage. Is a Lasalle Vaughn in the audience? There he is. Here we go. Is a Kelsey Black. Savannah Westwood in the audience? Yes. There they are. Come on up, guys. We need your help with the takeaways. And the best fact yet. Now, these are legendary yetis who come to us both near and far. What's going on? So Lasalle was our compliance officer at Robinhood and taught us so many lessons that I've never forgotten, I can't even keep track. Lasalle once predicted that if we continue to be successful, we'll get sued someday. And we got sued. We got sued. Who did we get sued by? Ice Cube. True story. Ice Cube the rapper sued us destroying for another pond on our behalf. So, Lasalle and Jack, what are the takeaways for? Thursday, the new Friday, our live show in Austin, Texas. It's the Swiss army knife strategy, and it's all about the year 2040. That's right. Uber is trying to spin the thread of self driving into an opportunity by wingmanning self driving takeaway number two. To quote Willie Nelson, like cowboys, some fads can ride on forever. It's the great denim. Denim deregulation. Great for jeans companies who are serving up a denim buffet. And final takeaway, Lasalle. If you don't like to do it, let your AI Tail swish it. That's how you slop. Proof your career and thrive in the AI Era. Be a mermaid. There we go. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Savannah Westwood of Orlando, Florida, and Kelsey Black from right down the road in Pflugerville, Texas. Can you take it away, Savannah? I'm gonna do the best I can. This is why you do it. The Texas State Capitol in Austin, four blocks north of this theater, was completed in 1888 and is a National Historic Landmark standing 302ft tall, which makes it over 14ft taller than the United States Capitol in D.C. a fact Texans are very proud of. Biggest round of applause tonight, I think for this Texas state capitol right there. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, guys. But before, before we go, just like any show, Jack and I don't want to leave you hanging because there are birthdays, celebrations, bar mitzvahs. We got a bunch to celebrate, right, Jack? Yeah, we do. So let's get into the audience and let's see who's got a shout out for us. Raise your hand if you've got a shout out and a win to celebrate tonight. What's out? Unbelievable. So good to see you, man. All right, we got one right up here. Tonight is our son's third birthday or not third birthday, seventh birthday. Sorry. We also have a three year old, just for context. And we are, we're here instead celebrating her birthday, which is next month because names Matt and Jenny. Matt and Jenny. Let's get a round of applause. Do we have any shout outs over here? Hello. Oh, I got one right here. Jeff. Oh, hi. This is my husband's last day of his 30s. He is turning 40 tomorrow. So we are here celebrating with y'. All. We'll see you at the after party. Oh, Marty. Well, now you have a. Anthony, I think you have a shout out for your lady friend next to you. Yes, my fiance. Whoa. Congratul the ring. My Chalene Epic. Anthony is from Brattleboro, Vermont, the same time I grew up in. Hi, this is Ross from just outside Austin. Outside Austin. We are launching our first IBO initial baby offering in May. Whoa. We got an IBO coming. Your name. Congratulations, guys. Hello, everybody. So last year I got proclaimed by the city of Austin for my blog and my content Creator, Journey, the Nova Latina Day is May 22nd. It's coming up. Celebrate with me. Yes. The city of Austin named May 22 the Nueva Latina day. You're welcome. I got one right here. Jack. Hi, my name is Victoria Aveling. I'm here with my three boys who have been graded since the time they were, I don't know, maybe 2018. And I also just started a new job at IBM as a VP of Sales. What a family. We got one over here. Next. I'm Mallory and I wanted to shout out my brother in law, Leighton Viola for getting me into the tea boy pot. There we go, Anthony. And I got my first Shopify sale just now. First Shopify sale. Full disclosure, Jack and I are shareholders. We got one in the nosebleeds. Nick. I'm Vanessa and I'm here with my friend Courtney Lynn Harris. And this is the last day of her 20s. She's turning 30 tomorrow. Hey, I'm Andy from had a little handyman business run and just hit five years this month. Five year anniversary of the business, baby. Any more final shout outs for the night? Oh, we got last couple. Jack. Hi, I'm Tom and I don't want to jinx it necessarily, but I'm just about to sell my third company, the Hat Trick. Hi, my name is Andres. I'm going to shout out to Alvaro, our friend. This is the first time that I hear you guys. Truly, we are four guys. That is the first time and all thanks to Alvaro and we love the show. Thanks so much, guys. Thank you, Alvara. Thank you so much. Well, Jack, I think that takes us full circle on this journey of the night of the ipo. It appears the T boy stock has hit an all time high thanks to this incredible stack of shareholders. That IPO pop, wow. It's real. You feel it. So yetis Nick and I just want it. Thank everybody for coming out tonight. Thank you to Black Lack for the unbelievable opening of the show. That was live, baby. Live rap jingle. Thank you to the staff here at the state theater. Thank you to Allison and Steven for sharing everything in a couple's interview that I don't think they've ever done before. That was just special to get to be a part of. Thank you, Jack, for everything leading up to this. I mean, what a night. Thank you, man. And the biggest thank you. Well, this is just such a special night when Nick and I get to meet you in person. So the biggest thank you is to everybody who came out tonight and to everybody listening at home. You let Nick and me get to do what we get to do. And it's the best turn of our lives we've ever had. And, Austin, you made it extra special tonight. So for anybody else celebrating something today, make it a T, boy. Celebrate the. If you know, you know, Picture this. A curve in the road, a change in plans. Well, what do you say? With the all new Audi Q3? The answer's always yes. Yes to adventure, yes to escape, yes to performance, yes to comfort, yes to right now. Because saying yes without hesitation, that's real luxury. The all new Audi Q3 made for the yes life.
Podcast: The Best One Yet
Hosts: Nick Martell & Jack Crivici-Kramer
Episode: 🤠 “Austin LIVE Show” — AI Mermaids. Levi’s skinny deregulation. Uber’s Swiss Army Knife. +Topo Chico shortage
Date: February 26, 2026
Location: Live at The State Theater, Austin, TX
Episode Theme:
A fast-paced, pop-biz news roundup with a live Austin audience, focusing on three major stories: Uber’s pivot in the self-driving car landscape, the current chaos and opportunity in the denim industry, and a memorable analogy to help white-collar workers adapt and thrive with AI.
This episode features Nick and Jack performing their signature “best 20 minutes in business news” but in front of a live crowd in Austin, Texas, as part of their IPO Tour. The purpose is to deliver three major business stories—each with sharp, snappy, and cultural takes—plus special Austin flavor. Key themes include the evolution of the robo-taxi race, fashion’s opportunistic chaos, and using creativity to protect your career from AI disruption, all grounded in their signature upbeat banter and audience interaction.
[05:10 – 09:30]
[16:00 – 28:20]
Waymo’s Texas Expansion:
Waymo (Google’s self-driving car offshoot) has added Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, making Texas its robotaxi stronghold, driven by a population open to tech, minimal regulation, and pleasant weather.
Waymo’s Weakness:
Despite the tech, Waymo’s robo-taxis can’t close their own doors. They partner with DoorDash drivers to shut doors left ajar.
Uber's Playbook (Three Major Moves):
Core Analogy & Takeaway:
Uber is becoming an “arms dealer” for the whole self-driving ecosystem—handling insurance, support, and data, rather than making its own cars.
Quote & Commentary:
Segment Highlights:
[28:21 – 38:48]
Backdrop:
Denim’s deep roots in Texas: In 1993, Texans bought 32 million pairs of jeans—1 in 20 pairs sold on earth that year.
Trend Chaos:
In 2026, all styles—skinny, baggy, relaxed, wide-legged—are popular at the same time. “It’s the anything goes era of jeans.”
Why It Matters:
Deeper Business Point:
The fashion industry relies on continual change (fashion obsolescence) for ongoing sales. Multiple simultaneous trends mean more purchases.
Takeaway:
Adaptivity turns the threat of fads into profit. The current “denim deregulation” is a profit puppy for Levi’s and peers.
[38:50 – 49:55]
The Fear:
2026 is the “year of anxiety” for white-collar (and “kale-collar”) workers as AI threatens traditional knowledge work.
The Analogy:
To future-proof your work life, become a mermaid: “half human, half AI.” The trick is to let AI do rote, repetitive tasks (the tail), while you focus on your uniquely human, artistic contributions.
Example:
The hosts used AI to help prepare interviews; it only delivered “bland” conversation starters. The magic comes from the hosts being themselves—using humor, cultural context, and human chemistry.
Practical Advice:
Takeaway:
[49:55 – End]
Live Takeaway Recap w/ Audience Guests [50:00 – 52:15]:
Best Fact Yet [52:15]:
Shared by audience members Savannah Westwood and Kelsey Black:
Shout-outs & On-Stage Celebrations [53:00 – End]:
Crowd-sourced wins: birthdays, a new Shopify sale, business anniversaries, engagement announcements, and even a “first IBO—initial baby offering."
On Topo Chico:
On Uber’s Long-Term Outlook:
On Denim Deregulation:
On Fads & Fashion:
On AI & Careers:
Community Highlight: