The Best Idea Yet

The Best Idea Yet

The untold stories behind the products you’re obsessed with and the bold risk-takers who made them go viral. How did Birkenstocks go from a German cobbler’s passion project 250 years ago to a starring role in the Barbie movie? Who created that bottle of Sriracha permanently living in your fridge? Did you know the Air Jordans were initially banned by the NBA, or that Super Mario became the best-selling video game character ever thanks to a strategy called “The Infinite Game?” On Wondery’s new weekly podcast The Best Idea Yet, Nick Martell and Jack Crivici-Kramer (hosts of the award-winning daily pop-business podcast, The Best One Yet [TBOY]) have identified the most viral products of all time and reveal their untold origin stories — plus the bold risk-takers who brought them to life. From the Happy Meal to Levi’s 501 jeans, come for the products you’re obsessed with, stay for the business insights that’ll make you the most interesting person at your next brunch. Follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ now.

Episodes

July 1, 2025 42 mins

In 2008, Lin-Manuel Miranda badly needed a vacation. He’d just won the Tony for his musical “In The Heights,” he’d been going nonstop. So he took a break, bringing a book with him for poolside lounging: the 800-page biography of America’s first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton. But what started as a light beach read soon became an obsession. Lin HAD to bring this man’s incredible life to the stage. Thus began an epic...

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Born in a sweltering Texas drugstore in 1885 - this indescribable, 23 (secret) ingredient concoction broke the first rule of marketing: never sell something you can't explain. Behind this mystery brew was Charles Alderton, a flavor-obsessed pharmacist who sold his recipe and walked away, and a big-footed CEO who turned Dr Pepper's greatest weakness into its ultimate strength by making "different" feel rebellious. From dodg...

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June 23, 2025 5 mins

In Evangelical homes across the United States, sex outside of marriage is a sin against God. So, when Abbi becomes pregnant at 16, her devout parents hide her away at the Liberty Godparent Home, a little-known facility for pregnant teens on the campus of Liberty University. The Home says it helps girls decide what comes next – whether that’s parenting their babies or placing them for adoption. But inside the facility, the ...

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Enzo Ferrari was 10 years old when he fell in love with racing… and soon, he would make it his life’s mission. After almost dying in an infirmary during WWI, Enzo schmoozed his way into the driving world. He built an unstoppable racing team for Alfa Romeo… until he got fired, and had to strike out on his own. But thanks to his grit, stubbornness, and engineering instincts, he created a legendary brand that would rise to th...

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Beanie Babies — the unassuming critters with birthdates and bios — are designed to tug on your heartstrings (and your wallet). But for a moment in the late-90s, they burst out of gift shops and into investment portfolios as America went crazy over Legs the Frog, Pinchers the Lobster, and the rest of the plushie pals.Behind this bean-stuffed market bubble hid a mysterious salesman with a chip on his shoulder named Ty Warner...

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Tommy Bahama (spoiler) wasn’t founded by a man named Thomas with a Caribbean address. Rather, this classic lifestyle brand began with two longtime friends and coworkers at a failing apparel company. Facing unemployment at age 50, they channeled their inner Hemingways to invent a fictional hero of the leisure class: Tommy Bahama, purveyor of roomy, flowered silk shirts—and a series of surprisingly good restaurants. Weatheri...

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When entrepreneur Henry J. Heinz went bankrupt after his first venture, he nearly lost it all—his farmland, his parents' home, and his own reputation. But then, he launched a stunning comeback that changed everything about the meaning of the name “Heinz.” This Master of Tomatoes built a condiment empire on super fresh produce and, by pioneering food safety standards decades before regulations existed. (Hint: it involved un...

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This sexy seltzer started out more than 40 years ago as a Wisconsin brewery’s quiet, nonalcoholic spinoff. Throughout the 80s and early 90s, LaCroix remained the low-key, low-cal fave of Midwestern Little League coaches and soccer moms. But then, LaCroix hit its stride—and its second act, reborn as the trendy choice of Hollywood writers, Instagram influencers, and diet gurus. So, what caused this gobsmacking glow-up? Would...

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When out-of-work coder Jens Rasmussen couldn’t find directions to a cafe in Copenhagen, he wound up changing navigation forever. Alongside his brother Lars (also an out-of-work coder), Jens developed a radical vision—not just for a faster map, but a vibrant, multi-dimensional platform to help plan your entire life. With maxed-out credit cards, these Danish brothers built a prototype that caught Google co-founder Larry Page...

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In a high-end boutique between Hollywood and Beverly Hills, Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor met as fashion-obsessed shopgirls with dreams of entrepreneurship. But they had no obvious path to get there… until Gela became pregnant – with nothing to wear. What came next was a history-making business venture started with only $200 and a pile of smelly used denim. From a successful maternity jeans line, to soft fitted T...

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The cream-topped, dome-lidded Frappuccino is the caffeinated crown jewel of the Starbucks empire. It helped the company break out from regional coffee chain to global lifestyle brand, made cold drinks into 75% of Starbucks’ beverage sales, and created a whole new language of filibuster-length orders (“Can I get a grande vanilla bean frappe, in a venti cup, extra whip on top and a mocha drizzle?”). But the original Frappucc...

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Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were just trying to get work. These two broke illustrators were scraping by on side hustles and instant ramen… until, one fateful night, Kevin drew a doodle to get Peter to laugh: a nunchuck-wielding turtle in a ninja mask. But this one “dumb” drawing would launch the most successful self-published, creator-owned comic in history. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles— crime-fighting reptiles named...

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Lonnie Johnson was already a brilliant Air Force engineer working on cutting edge, planet-saving inventions…when a surprise bathroom discovery (we’ve all been there) sparked an idea that changed water fights forever. This nuclear scientist's side hustle—a game-changing water gun prototype—would go on to reshape backyard battles and launch a billion-dollar toy sensation. But just like Lonnie when beat the odds as a Black st...

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Roscoe Rodda was in the fight of his life. His candy factory was right down the road from Milton Hershey’s—yes, THAT Hershey’s—and he needed to set himself apart. So Roscoe embraced a single holiday to get the competitive confectionery edge: Easter. Chocolate eggs, jellybeans… and a secret treat painstakingly sculpted behind closed doors: a marshmallow chick with inquisitive waxy black eyes. These chicks circulated in obsc...

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Before 2007, mobile phones had tiny keyboards, crappy screens with internet so slow - you could finish a super burrito while waiting for your MySpace profile to load. Then Apple wowed the world with the iPhone: a digital Swiss Army knife that replaced cameras, maps, music players, AND created an entire new app economy. But the wildest part? Steve Jobs didn’t even want to build it…at first. Once Steve finally said ""ye...

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Margaret Rudkin’s family was in crisis. The Great Depression cleaned out their finances, her husband was bedridden after an accident, and her son was suffering from crippling allergies. Things were looking grim… until Margaret invented a revolutionary wheat bread, and built a baked-goods empire named for the tree in her front yard: Pepperidge Farm. A visionary businesswoman, Margaret’s talents extended way beyond the kitch...

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In 1981, a scrappy ex-radio executive named John Lack had a wild vision: “What if there was a 24-hour television channel devoted entirely to music videos?” Back then, music videos weren’t really a thing, just a goofy way for record labels to promote new albums (Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody? Basically a hype video). But Lack saw them as the perfect opportunity to capture a completely untapped demographic…Teens. Record labels l...

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If you currently own a 12-pack of bath tissue, a 150-count bag of laundry pods, and/or a 48-oz jar of cashews, chances are they all have the same label: Kirkland Signature. Costco debuted this private-label brand—aka ‘store brand’—in 1995 and since then, it’s become a sales-driving juggernaut. Kirkland products now account for a quarter of Costco’s total sales, from coffee and batteries to their famous rotisserie chickens ...

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Taco Bell was struggling and needed an idea so bold… so over-the-top… so WEIRD… that it would capture America’s taste buds and Instagram feeds. So when it unveiled the Doritos Locos Tacos (or ""DLT"") in 2012, jaws dropped…then immediately started chomping. The hard-shell taco coated with cheesy Dorito dusting became the biggest fast food hit of the decade, selling over a billion tacos. Even tastier for Taco Bell: the red-...

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Once upon a time, American kids had a problem—OK, two. They were watching way, WAY too much TV and they were falling way, way behind in school. But then a trailblazing producer and her psychologist friend asked a bold question: What if we used the first problem to solve the second? The result: Sesame Street, home of Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie, and a social-media superstar named Elmo. Since Sesame Street’s d...

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