Latest / Best of Business / Kevin Milne: The rise and fall of Allbirds

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Kevin Milne: The rise and fall of Allbirds · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk sed B.
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  Speaker 2: Jack, I'm fifty four years old. I still don't understand
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  Speaker 2: my wife's language. This is something Einstein couldn't even work out,
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  Speaker 2: says mush Jack. I'm on day six hundred and six
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  Speaker 2: on Duelingo for French, says Elizabeth. That is very, very impressive,
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  Speaker 2: and Jack, good morning. You've got it so wrong. My
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  Speaker 2: partner made me a white chocolate in Fijo a cheesecake.
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  Speaker 2: It has to be one of the nicest things I've
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  Speaker 2: ever had. No lo whoa whoa, whoa whoa. Look see
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  Speaker 2: if you Joe and white chocolate go together. I just
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  Speaker 2: think that fijoa and milk chocolate probably don't match quite
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  Speaker 2: as well, So you either want to go white or dark.
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  Speaker 2: And I think when you're adding the cheesecake component that
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  Speaker 2: changes the equation. Once again. I'm very supportive of a
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  Speaker 2: white chocolate in Fijo a cheesecake, extremely supportive. If you
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  Speaker 2: get a recipe, please share it, send it my way.
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  Speaker 2: Ninety two ninety two is the text number eighteen past nine.
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  Speaker 2: Kevin Milner is with us the morning Kelder, Kevin.
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  Speaker 3: Curer, Jack, because I watched the Chase, I now know
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  Speaker 3: that I'm a monoglot, which I love. I love that word.
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  Speaker 3: I'm a monog lot. Monog Yeah, yeah, it's it's not
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  Speaker 3: a very nice word.
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  Speaker 1: Is that.
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  Speaker 3: It's like you wouldn't go around telling people. No, of course,
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  Speaker 3: I just have that you're a monoglot. But for those
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  Speaker 3: who don't watch the Chase, it is somebody who speaks
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  Speaker 3: just the one language as most of us here do.
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  Speaker 2: So I have I think I've talked about him before,
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  Speaker 2: but and one day I swear I'm going to go
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  Speaker 2: and find a bit of time and to do a
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  Speaker 2: bit more research. I've actually got his book, and I've
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: got a book written by his wife. Harold Williams, who
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  Speaker 2: was a New Zealand journalist widely considered one of the
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  Speaker 2: greatest polyglots in history. Which so he's the opposite of
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: a monoglot. He's a polyglot. According to Wikipedia, spoke fifty
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  Speaker 2: eight languages. So yeah, he was a hood at parties.
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  Speaker 2: Needless to say, he wasn't battling through duo lingo.
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  Speaker 3: So there you go.
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  Speaker 2: He's from New Zealand, said Jack.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, sometimes I feel tired listening to here, because I
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  Speaker 3: totally admire all the things that you'll already do, and
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  Speaker 3: now you're looking at learning more languages as though you
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  Speaker 3: didn't have enough to do with your time.
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  Speaker 2: Honestly, Kevin, I've made it sound more impressive than it is.
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  Speaker 2: I do about five minutes a day. I do the
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  Speaker 2: bare minimum to maintain my streak, so it's not not
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  Speaker 2: as good as as I'm making it sound. I just
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  Speaker 2: I wish it could be better. And if I ever
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  Speaker 2: find myself, you know, with a big slab of time
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  Speaker 2: and short of things to do, I reckon going and
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  Speaker 2: really trying to nail a language would be one of
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  Speaker 2: the top things I'd be considering.
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  Speaker 3: Given.
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  Speaker 2: You want to talk about your favorite foot were brand
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  Speaker 2: this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I hope that the former All White and now
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  Speaker 3: former owner of All Birds, Tim Brown writes a book
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  Speaker 3: about the breath taking, rise and fall of All Birds footwear.
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  Speaker 3: I speak as the satisfied casimer who's wearing All Birds
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  Speaker 3: as we speak, and I've got another couple of pairs
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  Speaker 3: in the cupboard. I remember raving about All Birds on
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  Speaker 3: the show about ten years ago after buying my first
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  Speaker 3: woolen pear. The following week, I received a free pair
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  Speaker 3: of All Birds jandles in the post, which I should
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  Speaker 3: have sent back, but it seemed scurtius. Then I switched
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  Speaker 3: to the new Uber sustainable tree run range, and I
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  Speaker 3: bought them in a fresh color every couple of years
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  Speaker 3: after that, All Birds was now selling millions of shoes worldwide.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's sold three million pairs in one year
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  Speaker 3: at one stage, and the sheer value rose to astonishing
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  Speaker 3: four point one billion dollars. About that time, there was
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  Speaker 3: great excitement here at home. We heard Tim Brown was
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  Speaker 3: interested in buying the house for sale next door at
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  Speaker 3: the time, Leonardo DiCaprio was fronting All Birds ads. Certain
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  Speaker 3: members of our family were convinced Leonardo would be spending
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  Speaker 3: his holidays next door to us, But Tim Brown didn't buy.
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  Speaker 3: Then things got started going really wrong. COVID bought supply issues,
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  Speaker 3: The Wall Street Journal declared All Birds were over fashioned,
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  Speaker 3: and Trump's tariffs affected All Birds Vietnam manufacturing operation. All
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  Speaker 3: Birds share value eventually dropped from four point one billion
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  Speaker 3: yuts to thirty nine million, all while the quality of
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  Speaker 3: my All Birds seemed to remain consistently high. So I
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  Speaker 3: want to ask Tim Brown whether he's happy because thirty
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  Speaker 3: nine millions better than nothing, or regretful he didn't allowed
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  Speaker 3: at four point one billion. I'd like to ask him,
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  Speaker 3: given the ruthlessness of global trading, whether he wished he
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  Speaker 3: had structured trading on a smaller scale out of his
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  Speaker 3: flat and Wellington Scuba Street and most important, and Tim
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  Speaker 3: may not actually know the answer to this. Will I
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  Speaker 3: be able to buy a new pair of All Birds
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  Speaker 3: next summer?
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  Speaker 2: I think you will not be able to buy a
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  Speaker 2: new pair of All Birds. I'm no expert on them,
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  Speaker 2: but I reckon it'd be very interesting to watch. There
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  Speaker 2: might be some opportunities for some sales and that kind
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  Speaker 2: of thing. I still have a pair of All Birds
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  Speaker 2: that I've never worn that was a Bird of the
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  Speaker 2: Year special edition the year that the Kia won the
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  Speaker 2: All Birds Bird of the Year. So I thought, well,
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  Speaker 2: now these are a collectorridem. I better hold onto them.
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  Speaker 3: But they are the gray ones red lacers, No, they were.
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  Speaker 2: They were dark green that they were the color of
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  Speaker 2: a Kia, and so they had some of that you know,
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  Speaker 2: you know under the Kia's wings that had that beautiful
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  Speaker 2: kind of color. They've got a bit of that as well.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, but yes, it is a remarkable experience. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure there are a lot of you know, there
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  Speaker 2: are some people out there who feel a bit resentful
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  Speaker 2: towards Tim Brown and feel like, you know, that they
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  Speaker 2: invested in the company and the company's fortunes turned in
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  Speaker 2: a massive way, although obviously his role in the company
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  Speaker 2: has kind of changed over the years. But yeah, it
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  Speaker 2: would be at some point it would be incredible to
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  Speaker 2: you know, hear his reflections and you know, hear him
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  Speaker 2: recall the kind of experience he's had because he has
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  Speaker 2: certainly been been through it. And look, the all words
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  Speaker 2: story might not have not be over yet, as we've
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  Speaker 2: learned this week.
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  Speaker 3: No, no, yeah, that's right.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Hey, thanks Kevin, you we can We will catch
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  Speaker 2: you soon. That is Monoglot Kevin mil with us this morning.
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