GoPro agreed on Tuesday to merge with Starman Optical, a privately held American optical-photonics company, in a deal the hosts put at $285 million. The day before, the YouTube creator Markiplier had disclosed a stake of about 8.5% in the same business.
The stake read as a celebrity picking up a beaten-down consumer brand. The merger announced the next morning means he bought into a company that was already being taken over, and the hosts worked through what that says about how these disclosures get timed.
"But a lot of times, things happen as one piece of a larger deal and the stake gets disclosed at a certain time because it's part of this remaking of the business."
John Coogan and Jordi Hays present TBPN live every weekday. They were broadcasting from CrowdStrike's Fal.Con conference in Las Vegas and worked the day's news between four executive interviews.
I listened to the full segment so you can skip it.
Here are the 7 takeaways that matter.
🎙️ Hosts: John Coogan and Jordi Hays, who present TBPN live on X and YouTube every weekday and were broadcasting from CrowdStrike's Fal.Con conference
📰 Published: 1 September 2026 on YouTube (TBPN)
🔴 YouTube | 🟣 Apple Podcasts | 🔗 Show notes | ⏱️ 10 min
Key Takeaways
A creator's 8.5% stake in GoPro was disclosed one day before the company agreed to be taken over The buyer is a private US optical-photonics manufacturer, not a media business
The hosts blame the iPhone and drones for GoPro's decline, not Chinese competition Best Buy told investors smart glasses are now driving significant in-store sales
MrBeast's novel is reportedly heading for a historic bomb with four-digit preorders The promotion is a $1 million prize for buying it, which one host thinks will work regardless
Apple trades at 33 times next year's earnings while growing earnings half as fast as the market
X account takeovers matter more now that X Money holds real balances
1. X resets and X Money
The hosts came out of the Sentonas interview on the phishing number and went straight to a live example.
They flagged a wave of unsolicited password reset emails. "Speaking of phishing emails, there have been a raft of password reset attempts on x." The source they credited was a post by Nick Carter: "A lot of people getting unsolicited x password reset attempts in their email inbox."
They read out the specific setting to change. "Do the following. Go to x settings, security account access, security, check password reset protection."
Their argument for why it matters now is financial, not reputational. "Don't let people hack into your x account. It's too simply too valuable." The reason: "And this is because x money is rolled out to a lot more people."
A compromised account used to mean a posted scam link. With balances on the platform, one host said, there is money to take
2. Markiplier's 8.5% of GoPro
The first item was the stake. The hosts said the YouTube creator and director Markiplier had acquired about 8.5% of GoPro, the action camera maker they described as having been in the doldrums with a lot of competition from China
The merger landed the next day and changed the story. "So this news comes out yesterday. And just today GoPro has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with privately held Starman Optical in a deal valued at 285,000,000."
One host read the sequence as a single transaction rather than two. "But a lot of times, things happen as one piece of a larger deal and the stake gets disclosed at a certain time because it's part of this remaking of the business."
The buyer is not who they first assumed. "The Starman Optical, the acquirer, is an American company that describes itself as a privately held US optical photonics company focused on developing and domestically manufacturing optical transceivers." Their first reaction had been the opposite: "So when I first saw the news, I assumed it was a Chinese company buying it up."
Two theories on what Markiplier is doing. The cynical one: "But interesting to see, you know, is this Markiplier's way of, like, buying a new merch line?" The other, given that he has made a film heavy on visual effects: "Maybe he wants to grow GoPro into something that's more for filmmakers and cinematic creating."
They rated the move as unusual for a creator. "It's not just another, you know, sparkling water brand or hard seltzer brand from a from an influencer. It's him thinking about business in a very different way."
3. Why GoPro lost the market
Asked whether GoPro can come back, the hosts went through the ways the product stopped working as a consumer purchase.
The footage problem is that nobody else wants to watch it. "GoPro was one of those things where for the average person, you're capturing footage that is only entertaining to you." Then: "No one else is gonna care."
Even the athlete use case favors a different camera. One host said reviewing your own performance works better from a third-person angle than a first-person one, which is what a drone gives you
The money went to drones. "And it felt like the GoPro budget for consumers shifted to drones." Drones that follow and track a surfer do the job GoPro was bought for
The bigger competitor was the phone. "The bigger challenge was just the iPhone." Phones became durable enough to take on a ski run and the image quality caught up, which removed the reason to carry a second camera
Smart glasses are taking the next slice. They named Meta's Oakley glasses and cited a retail data point: "I think Best Buy reported earnings and said that smart glasses are, like, driving significant in store sales for them."
Their explanation for losing to Insta360 and DJI is manufacturing rather than design. Independent reviewers show competitors innovating in ways GoPro has not matched, and the hosts put that down to the manufacturing side of the business
They were sentimental about it anyway. "I still have very positive feelings towards GoPro. They work with so many amazing athletes over the years. They were a pioneer."
4. MrBeast's book as a lottery
The book is out and the promotion is a prize draw. "Now he's turned the book into effectively a lottery." A million dollars goes to somebody who buys it
The co-author is a commercial heavyweight. "So, anyway, he partnered with James Patterson, who is a huge author." The release: "The YouTube Giants collaboration with James Patterson is out Tuesday."
The reported numbers are bad. "Two people close to the project say the most dangerous games is on track to be a historic bomb with preorders numbering in the four digits as of last week." The hosts noted this is bad news for HarperCollins
One host disputed the framing rather than the number. "But why would there be preorders if it hasn't launched the marketing yet?" The contest had only just been posted, and the promotion is what the campaign rests on
His view is that the mechanic will work whatever anyone thinks of it. The line the hosts read out — "read my book and you could win $1,000,000." — is, in his words, something that will work
The hosts then found the arbitrage. If orders stay in four digits, "Hedge funds get involved." — buying books to raise the odds on the million. One of them pointed out that a sweepstake of this kind normally has a free entry route, so the trade would not work anyway
5. Ternus posts on X
Apple's new chief executive joined the timeline on his first day. The hosts treated John Ternus's first post as a moment for the platform as much as for Apple
Their argument was that the platform is now compulsory for executives. One host said that if you take an important position in business, you cannot afford not to be on X
The evidence they gave was who else is there. "But the fact that Jensen's on there, Mark Zuckerberg's on there, like, the AI conversation is truly happening on X, and it's exciting to be a part of it."
They noted his posting register — lower case, and native to the platform rather than corporate
6. Apple at 33x next year
The hosts then read from a Wall Street Journal piece arguing that investors want the new chief executive to be an innovator.
The scale Tim Cook added is the paper's starting point. "The year Cook took over, Apple sold 72,000,000 iPhones." The Journal's figure for this year is 255 million, roughly tripling volumes, alongside annual releases on schedule, restrained capital spending and more than $1 trillion returned to shareholders. It also credits him with multiplying Apple's valuation thirteen times
The paper's argument is that this is no longer what the stock needs. Operational efficiency is not enough; the demand is for new products
The valuation is where the piece turns. "Apple stock trades at 33 times next year's earnings compared with the S and P five hundred's collective multiple of 20 times."
The premium is not being paid for growth. "Apple gets that premium even though its earnings are growing half as fast as the market."
The Journal's explanation for the premium is anxiety about everyone else. "Investors are paying up for Apple because it looks safe at a time of broad anxiety over returns to be had on massive investments in AI."
The warning attached to it is the sharpest line in the segment. "But when the valuation gets stretched, safety isn't safe anymore, and there are negatives that investors may be overlooking." The negative named is that Apple has lost, in the age of AI, the position it held for forty years as the company defining how consumers use devices
One host added a product observation of his own. "He certainly seems like he's stepping back from the Apple Vision Pro sadly, but we'll see we'll see what he does."
7. A $499 AI toothbrush
The last item was a product launch. "Dyson just released a new AI powered toothbrush with integrated 4,000 pixel macro lens camera for $499."
The reaction was flat. "I know a lot of you people have been asking for AI in your toothbrush." One host doubted it was even first: "This can't possibly be the first AI toothbrush."
The camera spec did not survive scrutiny. A second figure of 100,000 pixels was raised on air, and a host corrected the unit rather than the number: "That's not how people measure camera lenses. They'd say megapixels, which I think is a million pixels. So it's actually a point one megapixel lens camera."
They agreed somebody should test it, and one host disclosed a preference for a wooden toothbrush
Bonus Insights
The 60% phishing click-through rate from the Sentonas interview carried straight into the news block, with the hosts reading it back as the number of the day
One host disclosed that he owned a GoPro and never found a use for it, and described himself as a pretty good snowboarder and surfer — a claim another guest had apparently contested earlier
The show signed off by saying it returns to its usual studio the next day, back in Los Angeles
The hosts' bottom line is that consumer hardware brands lose to whatever device people already carry, and that the same logic now sits under Apple's premium multiple: the market is paying 33 times earnings for safety at a moment when the company no longer defines the device.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
GoPro (Agreed to merge with Starman Optical in a deal the hosts put at $285 million, a day after Markiplier's stake was disclosed)
Starman Optical (The acquirer — a privately held US optical-photonics company that manufactures optical transceivers domestically, which the hosts had assumed would turn out to be Chinese)
Markiplier (The YouTube creator and film director whose roughly 8.5% GoPro stake set the story off)
DJI and Insta360 (The competitors the hosts say out-innovated GoPro, which they attribute to manufacturing rather than design)
Meta and Best Buy (Meta's Oakley smart glasses are the next category taking the budget, and Best Buy reported them driving significant in-store sales)
MrBeast and James Patterson (Co-authors of a thriller novel whose promotion is a $1 million prize draw)
HarperCollins (The publisher on the wrong end of preorders reported in the four digits)
X (Both the platform seeing a wave of password reset attempts and, through X Money, the reason the hosts say an account is now worth stealing)
Apple (Trades at 33 times next year's earnings on the Journal's numbers, against 20 times for the index, while growing earnings half as fast)
Dyson (Launched a $499 AI toothbrush with a built-in macro camera, which the hosts could not find a use for)
Books & Resources Mentioned
Can Apple's New CEO Rev Up the Steve Jobs Innovation Engine? (The Wall Street Journal piece the hosts read from at length, which ran in the print edition under a headline about Apple investors wanting an innovator)
GoPro Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Merge With Starman Optical (The merger announcement behind the day's biggest item)
YouTube Star Markiplier Is Now GoPro's Largest Shareholder (Bloomberg's report on the stake, carried in the show's own notes for the day)
Dyson launches $499 toothbrush with built-in camera, AI technology (The Fox Business item behind the closing segment)
John Ternus's first post on X (The post the hosts treated as a moment for the platform)
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