🪖“Army’s GeekSquad” — US Military’s Tech Recruits. Converse’s MJ moment. Din Tai Fung’s dumpling empire.
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This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, June 16th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But man, Yetis, there is a lot going on right now. Across the country, you have protests. Outside of the country, there's a new war in the Middle East. And then on Saturday, a state representative from Minnesota and her husband were assassinated.

Yetis, we don't cover all that news on this show. That's not possible for us and it's not what the show is about. But here's the thing. Jack and I live and breathe the news every day to create this podcast. We feel it and we see it just like you do. What we do do is find the best business stories and takeaways that will make you the most interesting person in the room and make each episode the best one.

So, Jack, we got three fantastic stories for today's T-Boy. What's on the show? For our first story, the best player in the NBA Finals is wearing the smallest shoe brand, Converse. And Converse.

And Converse is launching a sneaker dating show, Jack. Whoa, we got to jump into this. For our second story, with war escalating in the Middle East, executives from Meta, Palantir, and OpenAI are joining the U.S. Army Reserves. Literally. Because big tech is the new drill sergeant. And our third and final story, guess what's the most lucrative restaurant chain in America? You're never going to guess it. Hint, they're known for soup dumplings. Okay. Answer, they're called Din Tai Fung. Ding!

They make more money per restaurant than anyone else in the country because of one lucky number. 18. 18. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, what a mix of stories. Love the mix today. Hawaiian shirt day, cupcake birthday day, bring your kid to work day. But of all

All those office traditions, one is the most holy. Summer Fridays. Yeah, baby. The time-honored corporate law that workers may leave their desk three hours early on Friday. Exclusively from June to August, Memorial Day to Labor Day. You can ditch your desk by 12 and you're good. Hit the Hamptons by 2 p.m., you're really good. We think Summer Fridays is a productivity boost. It incentivizes you to work efficiently and get your work done early. But get...

this, besties. New data shows that summer Fridays are going away. They're going extinct. A poll conducted by Monster this month found that just 16% of US workers get summer Fridays. But according to a different survey back in 2019, 55% of American companies got summer Fridays. So pre-pandemic, most workers could leave work early on Friday.

Today, very few can. And Jack, what is the ironic force that is killing summer Fridays? It's work from home any other day. That's right. With flexible work weeks, bosses think there's less need for flexible Fridays. We gained some flexibility Monday through Thursday. We lost some flexibility on Friday. So besties, add it all up. And yeah, we know summer Friday happens to be

the top-rated work perk. So maybe there's a lesson here from Greek mythology to help it go down easier. Like Icarus, the American white-collar worker flew too close to the sun. But the sun didn't burn our wings. No, it didn't. Just made us work till 5 o'clock on summer Fridays. Happy Summer Monday, Eddies. Jack, let's hit our three stars. 15 years before this song Two boys from the Northeast met in a 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 at list. If you know, you know, cause we ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

Monarch money. All right, Jack, can I tell you about my SMH? What is that? It stands for my stupid money habit. You ready for this? I just realized I spent $412 last month on taxis. Nick, that's a car payment. I know. I could have probably just bought another car at this point. Now, Nick only realized how much he spent on Ubers, Lyfts, and Yellow Cabs thanks to Monarch money. Monarch. It isn't just a budgeting app. It is like a personal CFO. Now, I'm using Monarch money too. My favorite

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And it's not just us. Over a million households already use Monarch Money. The Wall Street Journal already named it the best budgeting app of 2025. We're not even halfway through the year. No, we're not. And I think I just spent $10 more on a taxi. So besties, get control of your overall finances with Monarch Money. Even though Nick apparently can't. Use code T-Boy at MonarchMoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year if you go to MonarchMoney.com and use code T-Boy.

This podcast is sponsored by Northwestern Mutual. Yeah, these lots of financial companies want to talk to you, but Northwestern Mutual wants to listen to you. Some companies say they have all the answers, but Northwestern Mutual has better questions. Yeah, the financial pros, they are going to ask you questions about your financial situation that honestly, you never asked yourself. A big one?

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For our first story, the best player in the NBA Finals is wearing Converse sneakers? And Converse just launched a dating show. I'm sorry, pause the pod. What is going on here, Jack? Here's how the inventor of basketball shoes is finally re-entering basketball.

Now, yetis, if you've seen the movie Air about Nike and Michael Jordan, then you know how Converse blew it. In 1984, Converse had Larry Bird, Magic Johnson. They were the number one basketball shoe. Converse controlled the universe. The Converse.

Converse All-Star, aka the Chuck Taylor, aka my go-to shoe for playing pickup on 79th Street, Converse invented the basketball shoe in 1917. But Michael Jordan signed with Nike and the rest is history. In 2003, Nike actually bought

Converse for less than a billion dollars. Well, let's sprinkle on some financial context, Jack. Today, Nike brings in about $50 billion a year in revenue. How are our buddies over at Converse doing? Well, they're only bringing in $2 billion, so 4% of Nike's overall revenue. In fact, Yeti, today, Converse is less a basketball shoe. It's more of a streetwear brand. Yeah, Converse is about rebels, not rebounds. Hey, you don't wear Converse to the court. You wear it to get coffee. But... No.

Not anymore. Because this year's NBA MVP, who is also playing in the NBA Finals, is Shea Gilgis Alexander. And he's a Converse guy. And SGA is a Converse guy. That's right. The biggest surprise of the NBA Finals is that Converse has snagged the spotlight from Nike. But besties, as shocking as that headline was, this is even bigger. Converse just launched a dating show.

It's called Chuck Mates, and yes, it's a dating show. That's right, a blind dating show hosted by Amelia DeMoldenberg, and it's about Converse sneakers, Jack? Here's the deal. Potential daters chat with each other, but they can only see the shoes that they're wearing, and of course, they're all wearing Converse. You wear Chucks, you're gonna get kisses.

Now, I watched one episode. It was okay. The YouTube video got a million views. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all. Love is blind is bigger, but hey, love is also well-dressed in some cases. And it's all part of a Converse nationwide ad campaign called Love Chuck. All right, so Jack, can we lace up for a second, add all this up for the besties out there? Okay.

A nationwide brand campaign, a flashy new dating show. They're on the court in the NBA finals. What's next for Converse? Well, Jack, Converse is finally going to sell a basketball shoe again. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Converse? Converse is doing what Nike did 40 years ago. They're betting it all on one guy.

All right, yetis, we saved the best for last. The real shocker here is that Converse does not sell a single basketball shoe right now. That's right, Converse only does casual street wear. They still sell the Chuck Taylors, but those don't really qualify as basketball shoes anymore. You're gonna break an ankle as soon as you put that thing on, man. But that's all changing now.

Because 10 years ago, Converse's basketball scout, Adrian Steli, met SGA while he was still playing in high school. And Converse decided to go all in on this one player. So this fall, fresh off his MVP season, fans can finally buy the Shea 001 Converse sneaker. Converse's first basketball sneaker in years. So as next season tips off, Converse is taking on Nike, Adidas, and New Balance with one shoe, about.

one dude. Just like Nike went all in on Jordan with a signature Jordan shoe, Converse is going all in on Shea with a signature Shea shoe. That's right, yetis. 40 years after Converse got Nike'd, Nike could get Conversed.

For our second story, as war in the Middle East escalates, we're looking at the U.S. Army's newest surprise recruits. Because on Friday, executives from Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI got promoted as military officers.

But besties, let's start this story with just a random coincidence. And what's that, Jack? Donald Trump and the U.S. Army have the same birthday. Yeah. It's June 14th. One in 1946, the other back in 1775. So in Washington, D.C., they celebrated with a military parade. And that display of military muscle, it came one day after two other major military events. One of them you probably saw, one of them you probably didn't see. First is Israel attacking Iran's nuclear scientists and nuclear facilities.

On Friday, stocks fell and oil prices rose because of it. But the second story is that the U.S. military promoted four officers to the U.S. Army Reserves. They're tech workers, including Andrew Boz Bosworth, the number two at Meta, who answers directly to Mark Zuckerberg.

Yeah, that guy, Boz, who's usually on like a Dell computer typing away on some code, is now an Army reservist. Plus, two other engineers and millionaires from Palantir and OpenAI. They're in the Army. Besties, what Jack and I are saying here is that America's top techies are now in the Army's newest unit.

And it's called Detachment 201. This sounds like the plot of a sitcom. It's like MASH 2.0, basically, Jack. But it's a real story. These tech reservists will only serve 120 hours a year, so they're weekend warriors, literally. Although we should point out, unlike other Army Reserve members, there's no basic training involved if you're coming from the big tech industry.

They don't have to, like, do 10 pull-ups. There's no push-up minimum on these guys. They're there for the brains, not the bicep. That's what the service is for. But Jack, can you please sprinkle on some interesting historical business context for us, please? We saw something similar happen 75 years ago, when during World War II, the United States called on automotive companies to win that war. That's right, besties. Ford, Dodge, and Chevrolet, they retooled their factories during World War II for aircraft...

Instead of making cars. They started making bombers instead of Buicks. And it looks like something similar is happening right now. Today, generals say that the key to modern warfare is AI and drones tech business. So we're recruiting from big tech. And just like in World War II, tech companies are now pivoting their know-how to support national defense. Now we should point out, these new recruits, they're going to be operating independently.

not as part of the tech companies they're working for. So Boz won't be working with Meta when he's helping out the military. And these techies, they also won't be in any combat roles. Instead, they're going to be teaching soldiers how to operate AI-powered attack systems, for example.

or maybe simply review the systems of the military and give advice on how to improve software and operations. Basically, you think of these guys like the Geek Squad, but for the jarheads. That is the best way to sum this up. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our big tech buddies serving in the Army? Tech is following the Palantir path. Ah, the Palantir path.

Yetis, 10 years ago, the tech industry was full of and led by progressive optimists who didn't want to see their tech used by the military. So big tech avoided doing business with the army. And when they did, employees staged boycotts and protests. But there was one exception here, wasn't there, Jack? Palantir. Yeah, Palantir. That was the one company that for 20 years in tech

has enthusiastically supported the U.S. military. You know what, Yetis? Today, Palantir is the most important tech contractor for the entire U.S. military by far. And it's the biggest gainer of America's top 500 stocks so far this year. Palantir is up 84%. So Yetis added up and execs from Meta and OpenAI just joined the inaugural class of U.S. Army Reserves, the Tech Corps. But they're all following Palantir's path.

It's the Palantir path. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. The best one yet is sponsored by BetterHelp. All right, Jack, let me set the scene for you. My birthday dinner, we did a pizza party. I rented out a whole spot called the Dough Room in San Francisco. You mess with the pizza dough while you make it. I know. And then what comes next is the most San Francisco thing ever. Basically, group therapy over dinner. So all three people on my side of the table were in therapy, and all of us were talking about each other's therapy. You know, like one person was saying how their therapist helped them through a

co-worker battle. Another was talking about the future of fatherhood with their therapist. They were stressed about becoming a dad. It's not just San Francisco. Society's views on therapy have changed across the world. True. It's evolved to the point where you had a birthday dinner learning from each other's therapy session. Well, BetterHelp is an easy way to take that leap and find the therapist for you. Because BetterHelp has over 10 years of experience matching people.

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Airbnb. Now, yeah, it is. Jack mentioned his favorite skinny dipping spot. Where was that again? I did. A bunch of people asked me about that. But, Nick, there's nothing better than swimming in Mother Nature with the outfit Mother gave you. I mean, you know what they say. It's not the summer unless you're outside naked at some point and nobody knows it. Now, another way to do that is an outdoor shower. And I should mention...

My place has one of those too. And how is it possible you have an outdoor shower, Jack? Because I'm an Airbnb host. True. Now, I usually spend my Airbnb hosting income on travel for the family, but this time we earmarked it for a home upgrade. Now, Jack, I should point out, I'm no carpenter, but outdoor shower, it ain't cheap. You got the cedar wood install. You got the copper pipes, the French drains. But with the money we're making on Airbnb, it was affordable. We put it in last year. Well played. Yetis, I'm an Airbnb host with my current chalet and with two previous apartments, I'm

I can tell you it's very easy to use. Besties millions don't realize their space could be an Airbnb. You already have an Airbnb. You could be yodeling naked outdoors with fresh shampoo in your hair. In the outdoor shower, paid for by your guests. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host.

For our third and final story, a soup dumpling chain from Taiwan is taking over America, and it's called Din Tai Fung. These 16 family-owned restaurants have more sales than any other restaurant in America. It's all because of one lucky number, and we got that number.

But Jack, before we start this story, we have to point out the best dumplings in the country, where would one find them? Across the street from the apartment you and I had in New York City. It was called Vanessa's Dumpling on East 14th Street, and they sold a dozen dumplings, boiled or grilled, for three bucks. And we'd come home from work at the banks, and basically our buddy Timmy would have spent $12 for about a thousand dumplings that he tossed into our mouths. It was a fun time. The sesame pancakes were fantastic as well.

They burned you, but it was a good burn. But besties, the lines right now are for the first East Coast location of Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese dumpling chain that opened up in New York City one year ago. And this location is huge, 25,000 square feet. It's a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan the size of a Best Buy.

They now have 16 locations in the U.S. so far, and basically, it's like the Disney World of dumplings. This is edible theater right in front of you. Most of the locations are on the West Coast. This is the first East Coast location, but the business actually goes back three generations to Taiwan. It actually started as a cooking oil business before they pivoted to restaurants in 1958. And now they specialize in soup dumplings, the most delicious thing in the world. Hot, hot, hot.

And at the New York City location, they have 34 chefs who make 16,000 soup dumplings every day. But the wildest part about those insane numbers is that there's no machinery involved. This is all completed by hand. Handmade dumplings. More on that in a bit. That's actually key to our story. But here's the shocker, yet is. Din Tai Fung is now number one in America for sales per restaurant worldwide.

By far. They did $411 million in sales last year in the U.S., which turns out to be $27 million per location. All right, Jack, you used to be a waiter at the Olive Garden. I'm sorry, Wine Salesman of the Month at the Olive Garden. Could you...

Please sprinkle on some context for us comparing this restaurant to other American restaurant chains. One Din Tai Fung does the same sales as two Cheesecake Factories, five Benihana's, or six Olive Gardens. All right, Jack, what if we compare Din Tai Fung to fast food chains in America?

Chick-fil-A has the highest fast food sales per restaurant. Din Tai Fung does four times as much. So we did restaurant chains. We did fast food chains. What about, I don't know, Jack, really expensive fancy restaurants, fine dining? No boo. The most expensive sushi restaurant in New York City? No boo.

Nobu does $10 million per location. Din Tai Fung does almost three times that much. In fact, as Jack and I jumped in T-boy style, we could only find 14 restaurants in America with more sales than the average Din Tai Fung. And those 14 restaurants are all one-offs. They're like,

fancy restaurants with Michelin stars. Din Tai Fung has 16 restaurants doing 27 million bucks, baby. It's a combination of high-end and scalable that we've never seen in the restaurant industry. And Din Tai Fung, it is family-owned. They have no franchises, and yet they have multiple locations punching above their weight, making Ronald McDonald choke on a fry. So how does Din Tai Fung, or DTF, if you will,

How are they putting up numbers that will make Wendy's blush? Well, they're doing it with the number 18. Because every Din Tai Fung soup dumpling gets 18 folds. It's a precise process to keep all the soup in there. And it's part of the brand's golden ratio. That one specific number actually reflects their entire corporate strategy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies Fold and Dumplings at Din Tai Fung? There are lucky numbers, and then there are lucrative numbers.

Now, yeah, it is. These 18 pleated folds in a dumpling, that's not just for good luck. It's actually a highly strategic detail driving the chain's success. This is their hero product. And folding the dough 18 times enhances the structural integrity and optimizes the flavor.

optimizes the taste. But it's also a talent strategy because Din Tai Fung requires a 12-week training program to teach the proper 18-fold technique. That's wild. And it also ensures that each employee is committed

admitted to the business. But Jack, it's also a logistic strategy because requiring each dumpling have 18 folds means you get the same size of every dumpling at every location, 21 grams per dumpling. And with every dumpling being 21 grams because of the 18 folds, they can order the exact meat portions and not have any waste. 18, yetis, that is an intentional number. It is an engineered number. Din Tai Fung Soup dumplings, they operate with the precision of SpaceX. There are lucky numbers.

And then there are lucrative numbers. And Din Tai Fung's were pretty lucrative.

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Converse is getting back into basketball this fall, and they just launched a sneaker dating show. Converse, they're doing what Nike did 40 years ago. They're betting it all on one guy. For our second story, the U.S. Army now has a reserve corps of tech executives who put in 120 hours of service a year. But when it comes to tech support in the military, they're all just following the Palantir path.

And our third and final story is Din Tai Fung. DTF has $27 million of sales per location, the most of any chain restaurant in America. And it's all thanks to the number 18. That's not a lucky number. That's a lucrative number.

But yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Meta's AI app has become an awkwardly embarrassing privacy disaster for users, and you got to know about this because it could get weird. All right, so Meta AI is a chatbot that's trying to compete head-on with ChatGPT and Cloud. The difference for Meta AI is their newsfeed. Yeah, it turns out the goal is to open people's eyes on how to use AI by seeing how your friends use it.

But people didn't realize their searches are public. Yeah. So they're asking AI very personal things and it's going on a news feed all their friends can see. You're like sharing your tax info, your draft letters to lovers, confessions, like, oh, I got a thing on my thigh. What is this thing on my, you don't want people to know about the thing on your thigh, man. People are finding out. And,

And second, a follow-up from our Friday story about deportations affecting the economy. President Trump told ICE to pause raids and arrests at farms, hotels, restaurants, and Home Depots because unauthorized immigrants provide key labor in those industries and, as Trump said himself, can't be replaced. So he wants to avoid what we said on Friday. He wants to avoid more deportations, leading to fewer workers, leading to higher prices. He's trying to avoid deportation inflation.

And finally, Mattel, the toy company, announced a partnership with OpenAI to put a brain inside Barbie dolls? What's going on over there, Nick? Okay, okay. So they're using OpenAI's technology. Mattel will bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences with an emphasis on innovation, privacy, and safety, end quote. Let's try to translate that. Please, Jack. Their Hot Wheels are going to be self-driving. Yeah, I think Barbie's going to be able to write the term papers for you, Jack. Ha ha ha.

Now time for the best fact yet. Today it is T-Boy trivia sent in by our buddy Wilder up in Shelburne. The Pixar movie Cars stars Lightning McQueen, a red race car voiced by Owen Wilson. Ka-chow! Nicely said, Nick. Now here's the question. Why is this Lightning McQueen race car the color red? It probably has something to do with this quote. And here's the quote. Ask a child to draw a car and certainly he will draw it red.

In fact, have you noticed the race car emoji is red as well? Interestingly, all the race cars in the world seem to have a red element to them. So here's our trivia. Who famously said this quote? Ask a child to draw a car and certainly he will draw it red. Here's a hint. He built an entire company based on that principle. And the answer is coming up in tomorrow's pod.

Yetis, you look fantastic over there to kick off the summer Mondays. Jack, you're looking great too. Might I suggest maybe we dive in T-boy style and research Din Tai Fung a little bit more? What do you think? Dude, I would love some soup dumplings. I haven't had them since I lived in New York City. I'm sorry, waiter. There's only 17 folds on this dumpling. We're going to need the whole meal to be conked. You just got that waiter fired. Okay. I'm sorry.

You're right. It's 18. It was my mistake. I miscounted. Oh, boy. It's a write-off. It's a write-off, Jack. Yeti's telling Buddy today, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. That's how we grow the show. Have you had the best one yet? And Jack and I will see you tomorrow.

And before we go, a happy birthday to our buddy Dave Reed, the former 14th Street roommate from New Canaan, Connecticut. Happy anniversary to Nick and Molly, who got married seven years ago today. I was there. It was a beautiful ceremony. Oh, Molly looked fantastic. She still looks fantastic. Molly, that was...

So much fun. Didn't you shoot a cannon? We shot a cannon. I promised you we'd have adventure. Man, have the last few years been adventure. Great work. Happy birthday to Wes Yang in Las Vegas, who's also a new dad to baby Kaylee. And Ramsey Gonzalez over in Philly is also looking for a job, so hit him up because he's having the best time.

birthday yet. Happy birthday to Jesse Carrasco in Dana Point, California. Hoping to catch some waves today. And Annabelle Lippincott-Paxoy in San Francisco, but from just outside Boston is celebrating a fantastic birthday. Happy anniversary to Nicholas Isereau and his wife. Third

13 years of marriage together. Jack, their first date was at a museum in Buffalo, New York, and he proposed at the Louvre in Paris. Congratulations to Elizabeth and Michael, who are getting married this week in Charlotte, North Carolina. Can't wait to see the pics. Congrats, guys. And Patrice and Connor just got engaged in Cincinnati. We got a marketing guru and a minor league player for the Cardinals, Jack. That's got to be a cool ring. Happy housewarming to Megan Choi in New York City. And Gerald Zingrath is returning from beach

He actually saw me at the Ferry Building, Jack, during a board meeting in January. And Gerald, you looked fantastic for it. You crushed it. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own ETFs of the S&P 500.

How should I say ka-chow, Jack? Ka-chow! Ka-chow! Thanks for asking. If you like The Best One Yet, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us a little bit about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. We want to get to know you.

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