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I'm Glad I Ignored That Billionaire

2025-08-08 · announcement · Hank, John · 4:50 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, guest or collab

Together with John, Hank recalls a billionaire who told him Good Store's challenge would be convincing people it is good at everything; after a flawed test line of underwear, Good Store partners with MeUndies on a monthly artist-designed Awesome Undies Club whose profit goes to reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A billionaire's verdict on the Good Store pitch: being good is easy, convincing people is hard

  • ★★ Hank says he once got on the phone with a billionaire, which he shouldn't have, since the billionaire wanted favors; his rule of thumb is never to do that. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says the billionaire heard his Good Store pitch and called it a bad idea: why would the people selling his socks be good at selling his coffee? — 00:00:00 · Good Store
  • ★★★ Hank says what differentiates Good Store in the market is that it donates its profit to charity. — 00:00:00 · Good Store
  • ★★ Hank says Good Store also works hard to find great products, from socks to coffee, with the best suppliers and as responsibly as possible. — 00:00:35 · Good Store
  • ★★ Hank told the billionaire it wouldn't be hard to be good at all those things; the billionaire agreed but said convincing people of it would be very hard. — 00:00:35
  • ★★ Hank recounts the billionaire's view that products need not be good, only convince people they are, which is how Pabst Blue Ribbon still exists. (playful) — 00:01:04
  • ★★ Hank says the billionaire expected a marketing challenge, and Good Store does in fact have one. — 00:01:04 · Good Store
  • ★★ Arguing with the billionaire in his head, Hank says they can do anything well, though some things take hard work and finding the right people to work with. — 00:01:04

00:01:32 — The flawed test line of underwear and the lesson to work with experts

  • ★★★ Hank says Good Store worked with its sock makers on a test line of underwear, with many viewers as its guinea pigs. — 00:01:32 · Good Store
  • ★ Hank found underwear very complicated, complex on a molecular level, in the middle of material science. (playful) — 00:01:32
  • ★★ Hank says the test underwear was a pretty good product with a great feel, but it had cut problems and the fit wasn't perfect. — 00:01:32
  • ★ Hank says the test line's boxer briefs were great but its briefs were not. — 00:02:01
  • ★★ Hank says the venture is easy because people will work with Good Store, not because it will be expert in everything; they tried to reinvent a wheel that already existed. — 00:02:01 · Good Store
  • ★★ Hank asked his wife about her favorite underwear, which led him to MeUndies as a partner. — 00:02:01 · Katherine Green

00:02:30 — Good Store x MeUndies: the Awesome Undies Club, banter and a coupon code

  • ★★★ Hank announces that MeUndies is partnering with Good Store: designs by independent artists as in the Awesome Socks Club, on high-quality boxer shorts. — 00:02:30 · Good Store, Awesome Socks Club
  • ★ John says this is his first major step forward in underwear since discovering the boxer brief in 2003. (playful) — 00:02:30
  • ★★★ Hank explains the club: subscribers get a new pair of underwear designed by an independent artist every month from MeUndies and Good Store. — 00:02:59 · Good Store
  • ★ The brothers liken the club to Savage X Fenty, but different: the Newman's Own version of it. (joke) — 00:02:59
  • ★★ John says MeUndies has hundreds of thousands of positive reviews for its underwear, so they are the right partners. — 00:03:43

00:04:12 — Profit to maternal health in Sierra Leone; the Quadragocon edit is coming; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says all the profit goes to reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone and beyond, which he calls pretty special. — 00:04:12 · Good Store, maternal death, Sierra Leone
  • ★★ Hank says the Quadragocon video is coming but not next week (week of 11 August 2025): editing it will likely take even longer than doing it. (hedged) — 00:04:12
  • ★★ Hank says this year's (2025) Quadragocon took place in about eight locations, including a river, a house and the Western Montana Fair. — 00:04:12

In the description and comments

  • ★★★ The description offers the first pair for $12 to viewers who sign up for the Awesome Undies Club with the coupon code FeelsGood, chosen on camera. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Hank recalls getting on the phone with a billionaire who wanted favors — 00:00:00

    “Great rule of thumb, never get on the phone with a billionaire.”

  • Mid-pitch for MeUndies, Hank breaks off to note an object in his hand — 00:02:30

    “I have a pinecone here for some reason.”

  • Asked about briefs, Hank doubles the word — 00:02:59

    “Brief briefs.”

  • After calling the club the charity version of Savage X Fenty, the brothers sort out who is Rihanna and who Paul Newman — 00:02:59

    “I'm totally the Paul Newman of Rihannas more than I am the Rihanna of Paul Newman.”

  • Brainstorming a coupon code on camera, the brothers propose words — 00:03:43

    “Duplodocus. That's very hard to spell.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Awesome Undies Club · Good Store · MeUndies

Also: People: Katherine Green · Paul Newman · Rihanna

Projects: Awesome Socks Club · Quadragocon

Works: Awesome Undies

Organizations: Newman's Own · Savage X Fenty

Concepts: maternal death

Places: Sierra Leone

Events: Western Montana Fair

Products: Pabst Blue Ribbon

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