4.7 • 9.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2024
⏱️ 52 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Follow our The Best Idea Yet, our 2nd podcast series, to get episodes like this every week:
https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/
Chances are you’ve got a bottle of Sriracha chilling in your fridge right now, but have no idea who invented it — and the spicy story of how he did it. Entrepreneur David Tran fled Vietnam in the late 70s, smuggling gold bars into the US to start his venture - selling hot sauce out of a van. Little did he know his thick, spicy red jalapeño concoction would make him the world’s first hot sauce billionaire… without ever spending a single dollar on advertising (FYI: Kraft dropped $750M on marketing alone in 2023). For over 40 years, David’s stayed laser-focused on making “a rich man’s sauce at a poor man’s price.” But when massive pepper shortages threatened the entire business, he faced a choice more painful than Tabasco on a paper cut. Find out how David puts “Co’s before Pro’s” (customers before profits)...and why Sriracha is the best idea yet.
Spotify Poll:
Best Dish to Spice Up With Sriracha?
Pho, Scrambled Eggs, Fried Rice, Burritos, Pizza, Ice Cream, Sriracha… on Sriracha
GET ON THE POD:
Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts
FOR MORE NICK & JACK:
Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter
Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/
Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/
SOCIALS:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypod
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | This is Nick. This is Jack. And today's pod is the best idea yet. That's right. We got a bonus treat for you right before Thanksgiving. And that bonus treat is the best idea yet. It's our weekly show that we launched what, like a month ago, Jack, we're like six episodes into this thing. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. So besties, here's what Jack and I are thinking. |
0:21.6 | Since you're either traveling, digest in, or stuck in 12 hours of traffic this week, |
0:26.2 | we wanted to keep you company with our latest deep dive series, our latest deep dive episode. |
0:31.5 | And that's a 45-minute deep dive on the wild story behind Saracha hot sauce. |
0:37.1 | And not just Saracha. Also, the incredible refugee who became the first hot sauce billionaire |
0:42.0 | making Saracha. |
0:43.5 | Saracha. |
0:44.2 | David Tran, he's a hero. |
0:46.2 | So, Yetis, tell this Saracha story over the weekend and you will be the most interesting |
0:50.2 | person at the Thanksgiving table. |
0:52.4 | And then, follow the best idea yet. |
0:55.1 | Our separate podcast series to hear stories like this every single week. |
0:59.1 | We drop the link in the episode description so you can follow the show and listen every Tuesday. |
1:03.4 | Don't forget to leave five stars because that's how we grow on the pod platform. |
1:07.0 | So Jack, let's whip it up. |
1:08.3 | Here it is besties. |
1:09.3 | The best idea yet. |
1:11.6 | Saracha. One at his besties. The best idea yet, Saracha. |
1:22.5 | It's 2011. Nick, you and I are roommates living in our shared apartment in the East Village of New York. |
1:28.5 | In a tiny four-bedroom apartment up a four-floor walk-up above the beauty bar where you could literally hear people making drinks at three in the morning. You could even hear the L-Train from that apartment, |
1:33.2 | remember, man? The next Brooklyn-bound L-Train. We'll arrive in four minutes. Okay, but my favorite part |
1:40.5 | about the apartment was every Sunday night, without fail, all four of us would get together and we would |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nick & Jack Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Nick & Jack Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.