The Best One Yet – Episode Summary

🐭 “WaltGPT” — Disney’s OpenAI deal. SpaceX’s $1 Trillion IPO. Savannah Bananas Interview. +Waymo backseat baby

Date: December 12, 2025
Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell

Episode Overview

This lively episode of "The Best One Yet" delivers a blend of pop-business news, fresh insights, and engaging interviews, focusing on:

• Disney’s headline-making partnership with OpenAI,
• SpaceX’s record-setting plans for a public offering,
• A candid chat on disruption and failure with the Savannah Bananas' co-founders,
• And a quirky headline involving Waymo’s self-driving cars and the world’s newest “robo-cab baby.”

The tone is playful and light, with the signature witty banter and accessible breakdowns that Nick & Jack fans expect.

Special Segment: Waymo Backseat Baby (00:22–02:41)

• Key Point: A baby was delivered in a Waymo self-driving taxi in San Francisco.
  • Woman in labor, no Uber or Lyft available—so she hailed a Waymo.
  • Waymo’s remote team noticed “unusual activity” in the backseat.
  • Baby Serge was born successfully; mother and child are both healthy.
• Memorable Moment:
  • “Self driving taxi with a self delivering baby.” – Nick (02:05)
  • “Not hands free driving, hands free delivery.” – Jack (02:07)
• Fun Banter: Joking about what will go on the birth certificate ("the corner of California and Golf").

Story #1: Disney & OpenAI’s $1 Billion “WaltGPT” Deal (05:08–08:39)

What Happened?

• Disney is licensing 200 characters (from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, Avatar, and protected props) to OpenAI for use in ChatGPT and Sora videos—starting next year.
• In return, Disney gets $1 billion in OpenAI stock and an option for more.
• All Disney staff will also get access to ChatGPT for productivity.

Details & Context

• Why now? To avoid the fate of music labels with Napster: litigate, but lose innovation.
• Risk: Disney is fiercely protective of its IP but is embracing AI to ride, not fight, the wave.
• Oversight: Disney and OpenAI will form a committee to set content guidelines (e.g., “Hercules holding hands with Jasmine, probably okay. Hercules hooking up with Jasmine, probably not.” – Jack, 07:38).

Notable Quotes

• “Disney protects its characters more than Liam Neeson protects his daughter.” – Jack (07:04)
• “You can win the legal battle but still lose the market war.” – Jack (07:53)
• “[On the Napster analogy] 25 years ago, music labels should have partnered with Napster. So that's what Disney is trying to do today by partnering with OpenAI.” – Jack (08:32)

Takeaway

• Disney is betting on partnership over litigation in a world where AI's genie is out of the bottle.

Story #2: SpaceX’s Record-Shattering IPO & The “T-Shirt Test” (08:39–13:17)

What Happened?

• Elon Musk confirmed SpaceX will IPO as soon as mid/late 2026, aiming for a $1.5 trillion valuation (raise $30 billion).
• Elon would own 42%—potentially making him the world’s first trillionaire.

Deeper Dive

• Surprise: Elon, who hates running public companies (due to SEC scrutiny and regulations), is making a big pivot.
• Why IPO? SpaceX needs huge cash for AI-powered Starlink satellites (space data centers) and to beat competitors.
• Telco Ambitions: Recent filings: “Starlink Mobile”—SpaceX might launch a consumer wireless service.

The T-Shirt Test

• Brand loyalty test: If people wear your company on a T-shirt, it’s a sign of potential for mass-market consumer play.
  • “SpaceX has an entire merch store… We’ve actually seen people walking around in SpaceX merch. They're just fans of the brand.” – Jack (12:42)
  • “Verizon doesn't have a merch store… And I have still yet to see anyone wearing a T-Mobile T-shirt.” – Nick (12:49)

Notable Quotes

• “Being a public company CEO is like Ferris Bueller being forced to sit down and take an SAT exam.” – Jack (10:23)
• “That fashion choice reveals SpaceX is a legit early threat to the established wireless carriers.” – Nick (13:07)

Takeaway

• SpaceX isn’t just about rockets: the brand’s strength (measured by the “t-shirt test”) signals real consumer loyalty—potentially allowing a play in wireless to rival the old guard.

Story #3: Savannah Bananas – Innovation Through Failure (15:20–21:31)

Feature: Mini-Interview with Jesse & Emily Cole (15:39–21:31)

• Background: The Savannah Bananas, famous for “Banana Ball”, disrupted baseball by prioritizing fun and creativity—now selling out stadiums worldwide.
• Focus: Their biggest failures and what they learned from them.

Highlights from Jesse & Emily

• Constant Experimentation:
  • “We have failures all the time. People see the shiny headlines, but it's only because we've had hundreds and hundreds of failures…” – Emily (16:19)
• Example Flops:
  • “Human pinata”—dress a person as a pinata for kids to hit (HR disaster).
  • “Horsehead race”—kids tripped by oversized heads.
  • Morning beer festival: “27 people showed up. They had the time of their lives… but it didn’t connect with people as much as I thought it would.” – Jesse (18:13)
  • Wild ideas pared back: players skydiving into the game, riding bulls into the bullpen.

Formula for Fandom

• Jesse’s 5-Part Formula for Creating Fans:
  1. Eliminate friction (make it easy/enjoyable)
  2. Entertain always
  3. Experiment constantly
  4. Engage deeply (do for one what you wish you could do for many)
  5. Empower action (let teams innovate, have fun)
• Quote:
  • “The greatest creators create things that they would love. If you’re not having fun, good luck. Fun is contagious.” – Jesse (20:55)

Notable Quotes

• “We’re willing to fail every night because we know we're going to learn faster to get better for our fans.” – Jesse (18:54)
• “The crowd must have loved that.” – Jack (17:08)
• “Fun is contagious.” – Jesse (20:55)

Quick Hits: News You Can Use (22:11–24:21)

• Time Person of the Year: AI architects (Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia, Anthropic, Tesla, AMD, etc.)
• Lululemon CEO Change: Calvin McDonald out, criticism from founder for “not cool enough.”
• JetBlue’s First Lounge: Opening in JFK, part of the “lounge obsession” sweeping airlines.
• Military Terminology Correction: Not all service members are “soldiers”—depends on the branch.

Takeaways Recap (21:31–22:11)

1. Disney & OpenAI: “You can win the legal battle, but you can still lose the market war.” (21:39)
2. SpaceX: Massive IPO, T-shirt test proves brand is ready to take on wireless and beyond.
3. Savannah Bananas: Disrupting sports through open experimentation—failures as fast-track to innovation and fan-creation.

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Self driving taxi with a self delivering baby.” – Nick (02:05)
• “Disney protects its characters more than Liam Neeson protects his daughter.” – Jack (07:04)
• “Being a public company CEO is like Ferris Bueller being forced to sit down and take an SAT exam.” – Jack (10:23)
• “We’re willing to fail every night because we know we're going to learn faster to get better for our fans.” – Jesse, Savannah Bananas (18:54)
• “Fun is contagious.” – Jesse, Savannah Bananas (20:55)

Final Tone

The episode is fast-paced, smart, and funny, full of pop-culture analogies and candid reflection—designed to arm you with business news you can share at brunch, all delivered with the best dad jokes in business podcasting. If you missed it, you’re now fully equipped to join the conversation.