- Hey, do you have a sec?- Mm-hmm.
Uh, so we were talkingabout something
in my managementclass last night.
Did you guys know we're behind
most of the other autocompanies in green tech?
We got a slow start on EVs,thanks to a previous CEO.
Yeah, my grandfatheralways said,
"Electric cars arefor European sissies."
And I know that sounds bad,
but he didn't meanpeople from Europe.
He meant effeminate men.
I'm pretty sure that's worse.
Well, this analyst wastalking to our class about it,
and she says that every timea auto company announces
a green initiative, thestock price shoots up.
- Well...- Yeah.
We do need to boostour stock price.
Have I told you aboutthe sacrifice that I made
- to save your jobs?- You did.
Oh, no, I just didn'tknow if you were there
- when I told everyone, so...- We were all there.
It was pretty selfless, so okay.
Well, yeah. Let's announce it.
What exactly am I announcing?
Say we're investing2 billion into EV
with plans to gocompletely green by,
I don't know, 2040?
And are we actually going green
or just announcing it?
Um, both. We'll putthe press release out
now for the stock bump,and you take all the time
that you need designingyour solar wheels
or an engine thatruns on hot-dog water
or whatever gets you hard.
- Everyone's happy.- Does $2 billion...
Does that sound alittle fake, though,
like Dr. Evil or something?
- Do not.- Well, you could say
like $1.7 billion.
Oh, yeah. No, that's good.
It'll look like wetried to reach 2 billion
but couldn't.
Oh, my God, fine. Do it.
$2 million.
- Billion.- $2 billion.
Zip it.
♪ Bom bombom-bom-bom-bom-bom ♪
♪ Buh buh bom-bom-bombuh bom-bom-bom-bom ♪
Did you see this?
Our stock's alreadyup four points.
- It totally worked.- I saw.
We should do asecond announcement
and see if the pricegoes up even more.
I'm not sure that's a good idea.
The stock priceis up four points.
- I saw.- Let's do a second
announcement. It'llboost the price
- even more.- I said the same thing.
How do we justify asecond press release
on the same dayabout the same thing?
Uh, it's green stuffso, uh, climate change?
Oh, yeah. That's perfect.
- Hmm.- "As the situation
"with climate change evolves,
so must our plans," et cetera.
Uh, make sure that you usethe word "unprecedented."
- Ooh, that's nice.- Sure.
And say we'reinvesting 3.27 billion.
- Oh.- And we'll be green
- by the year...- Uh, 2030.
- Love it.- Okay, anything earlier
than 2035 is gonna sound crazy.
Can we at least say 2034?
- Okay, 2034.- 2033?
Fine, 2034.
Sounds like you're learninga lot in that program.
You know, I was neverinto academics as a kid,
but this stuff is... Isactually really interesting.
Well, I'm very happy for you.
Like in my last class, therewas an example of a company,
- Merlin Enterprises.- Uh-huh.
And Merlin makes widgets.
But one day they decided
that they also wannamake scrunchems, right?
Right, yeah. Well,I gotta go...
It's all made-up.
There is no Merlin Enterprises.
But for the sake ofthe example, I...
John!
Sorry, I gottago deal with this.
John!
We gotta go over some stuff.
He really wanted toget away from you.
Thank you, Dale.
You click Refresh. You'vegot the magic touch.
Okay.
- Oh! Up six cents.- Whoa, hey, hey! Yes.
We're up anotherpoint and a half.
Hey, we gotta do athird announcement.
We have to. The stockmarket is obsessed
with us right now,like so horny.
Right, um, I just got a call
from "The Wall Street Journal."
Good news is, they think
that everything we'resaying is super exciting.
Uh, no doy, "WallStreet Journal."
I was just about to saythat. I was just about to say
- "No doy."- But they're also curious
to know specifically whatwe're doing in terms of,
- you know, going green.- Already?
We just announced this thing.
Well, if we don't givethem any specifics,
it'll seem like we're all talk,
and our stock price'll goback down to where it was,
probably lower, actually.
Cyrus! Get in here!
You know, they wouldn't bedoing this if I was a man.
- Holding you accountable?- Mm-hmm.
You know my officehas a phone, right?
We need to give "TheWall Street Journal"
some specifics on thenew green initiative.
- What do you got so far?- The initiative you asked me
to start thinking aboutroughly three hours ago?
- Not a whole lot.- What have you been doing
- this whole time?- Sorry.
It might take me a whole week
to solve the globalenergy crisis.
What if we investin some green tech,
like the other companieswe're developing?
Yeah, that'd show "Wall Street"
that we're serious at least.
We have an untappedacquisition fund.
- Mm.- And I know about some
promising start-upsin Silicon Valley.
- Great. Make us a list.- Okay.
Looks like we're going shopping!
Cha-ching, a littleretail therapy.
Mama likesto swipe that plastic.
- Mm.- Just give Mama the cash
and Mama will spend it.
Mama buysomething for baby?
Toy for baby?
Um, let's maybe all justsit quietly in our offices
for the rest of the day.
This feels good, guys.We're literally on our way
to help save the planet.
He said while flyingon a private plane,
drinking fromsingle-use plastic.
So we have meetings setup with nine start-ups
that are all working onEV-related technology.
First there's Loband...
I don't need all the details.
This is lotteryticket investing.
You buy ten. You hopeyou get a winner.
Perfect. Great business model.
We should meet withmy buddy Chase.
He's a huge tech guy.
Oh, I... I doubtwe'll have time.
No, seriously.He's a disruptor.
Like imagine a version ofme, but in Silicon Valley.
Hmm.
Um, I should probablyget into these.
Everyone, please beseated for landing.
Well, I hope you allbrought your umbrellas,
'cause we're about to makeit rain on some nerds.
♪ It's coming up,it's coming up ♪
♪ It's dare, uh ♪
We anticipate thatour solar cells
will be able to chargeup to 200% faster
than conventional solar arrays.
So-lar, so good.It's exciting.
How 'bout, uh, 5 million for 5%?
I know what you'rethinking: this looks like
an ordinary electrical resolver.
This one is coil-free.
Just kidding, I have noidea what any of this means.
I want you to forgeteverything you know
about water andglycol-based cooling.
- Done.- I'm ready to make an offer.
I haven't started the pitch yet.
Don't sell past the "yes."
The typical designconsists of primary
and secondary coil windings,but the operative word...
- Design.- Coil.
With silicon anodes, we seehigher lithium absorption,
as silicon can bindfour lithium ions
- per silicon atom.- This is game-changing.
- It's a game changer.- The game has changed.
This'll change the game.
I cannot takemuch more of this.
So many different types of nerd,
each with theirown distinct odor.
Well, our nextmeeting cancelled.
The company dissolved andlaid off its entire workforce.
- Oh, thank God.- Oh, that's perfect.
We can meet Chase. Hiscompany is right around
- here.- Or we could go to
that boba shop that wepassed on the way here.
Oh, I vote for that.
I love me some boba.
- It's so good.- It's nice to chew a drink.
Guys, come on. We'remeeting with every
company Cyrus wanted to.
- I'm just asking for one.- Oh, baby brother is jealous.
Does baby need a toy?
Fine! Forget it.
Uh, message received, okay?
I'm dumb, and everythingI say is stupid.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, Wesley, we'llmeet your friend.
- Seriously?- Yeah.
Yes! You will not regret this.
I personally vouch for this guy.
Mm.
Wesley Payne in the house!
- Oh, there he is.- Sarah, pump up the AC
because this guy comes in hot.
Uh.
- My man.- Yeah.
What in white-boy hell is this?
Uh, Chase Brody, thisis Katherine Hastings...
Katherine the Great, I call her.
That's Sexy Sadie,Jack the Knife,
and Cyrus, um, uh,the Glasses Guy.
Well, thanks forcomin' out here, fam.
Yeah, well, our lastpitch cancelled,
so we have a very short window
for a quick, quickmeet and greet.
- Mm-hmm.- So how do you two
- know each other?- Wesley and I go way back.
I used to cheatoff him in college.
Right.
Oh, you're serious.
Yeah, no. He's gotsome strengths.
All right, well, if youguys wanna follow me,
- I can give you the grand tour.- Oh, great.
We'd love a realquick, short tour.
Mm, so he's lessintelligent than Wesley.
- God help us.- Yeah.
Take a seat. Makeyourselves comfortable.
This is our chief "sand-gineer,"
Dustin Kregg.He's like the Woz
to my Jobs. Hedoes the science.
I do the vision.
Hi...
I, uh, like your tie.
I like yours too.
What is sand?
Tiny rocks?
That stuff we playin at the beach?
Well, what if theactual particles
that we drive by whenwe drive by the beach
could actually bepowering what we drive
when we drive by the beach?
- What is he talking about?- I didn't get any of that.
We've learned how to harnessthe power of the sun,
the wind, and water.
Why not the power of sand?
Wait, he's not actuallypitching a battery made
- of sand, right?- I give you...
- No, he can't be.- The world's first
sand-based battery,the sandtery.
- Oh, my God. I think he is.- For generations...
- Should we leave?- Are you kidding?
I don't wanna missa second of this.
- Guys, shh!- Isn't it time
we built on something new?
Oh, please say"built on sand."
Oh, God, that wouldmake me so happy.
Isn't it time
we built... on sand?
Revolutionizing the world...
Shh. You're being rude.
- Everything okay?- Oh, oh, yeah.
Everything is morethan okay, yeah.
No, this is fantastic.Please keep going.
So here in our lab,our scientists work
to manipulate thechemistry of sand
to hold and transfer electricity
using the principles of physics.
Wow, that sounds very sciencey.
Yes, I think that physics isactually the most sciencey
of all the sciences.
You guys are being soannoying right now.
And so over here issort of the sand area.
There's thousands ofdifferent types of sand.
It can be finicky.
I was trying to askabout their financials.
I'm not totally clearon their business model.
Oh, it's... it's really simple.
We give them money.
They put it in a CaymanIsland bank account.
We never hear from them again.
Yeah, they didn't teachus that one in class yet.
Mm.
Hey, will you stick close by?
That creepy guy keepson staring at me.
Which creepy guy?
Uh, Jack,
the one with the notebook.
He weirds me out.
Don't worry.
I won't let him near you.
- Thanks.- All right, everybody.
I'd like to introduce toyou the future of energy,
the sandtery.
- Oh.- Oh, wow.
Wow, it works.
I told you guys he was a genius.
You never believe me.
I honestly thought this was like
a Theranos-typesituation.
I didn't think it was possible.
How did... how many amp hoursdo you get from this much sand?
Hard to say. This ismore of a conceptual
prototype than anactual working model.
So...
- Yeah.- Okay, uh, Chase.
This may sound like astupid question, I mean...
- No such thing.- Just so I understand...
Sure.
Is this lamp poweredby this sand?
This particular lamp ispowered by AA batteries,
but this is exactly
how an operationalsandtery will look.
- Mm.- Mm-hmm.
Anyway, let's jumpback into our civvies
and chat details.
All right?
Well, that was really something.
Really didn't need togo to a lab for that.
What was the pointof these suits?
I guess they didn'twant us to contaminate
their nice IKEA lamp.
At least when peoplesell you magic beans,
they don't tell youthey haven't cracked
the bean technology yet.
So they haven't figuredout every detail.
- Oh, my God!- Jesus, Jesus!
Wesley, why are younaked under that?
I thought we all were.
Hey, guys. Take a seat.
So now you have seenthe Sandbox revolution.
We here at Sandbox believethat we can no longer afford
to keep our heads in the sand.
Chase, I don't needthe whole pitch.
Truth is, I think yourtechnology is a little,
um, hmm... what is theword that I am looking for?
- Bogus?- What's a nicer way
- of saying that?- Hmm. Uh, spurious?
Spurious. Great, spurious.
The tech is spurious, but youand Wesley are old friends,
so how 'bout we throw you50 grand for, I don't know,
20%, a million percent?
We're all havin' funhere.
- $50,000?- Uh-huh.
Well, um,
thank you for the offer, uh,but we believe our valuation
to be at 5 billion.
I'm sorry.
I might've gottensand in my ears.
Did you say "billion" with a B?
We believe that with our tech,
we should be able to garnera significant share...
What tech? You have no tech.
You have the idea ofbatteries made out of sand,
which is really justa couple letters away
from batteriesmade out of farts.
Well...
thank you for your interest.
Well, thank you so muchfor showing us around.
This has been hilarious,
and I wish you thebest of luck in prison.
So embarrass me infront of my friend...
Was that always your plan or...
Of course not, Wesley.
At least not initially.
Hey, um, can I have your email?
Oh, I would, but Idon't have email.
Oh, I just... this is just...I check the weather on this.
- That's just for my weather.- Oh, okay.
Well, I'm sorry itdidn't work out.
I felt a realconnection with you,
way more than withthe Tesla people.
With the Tes... Tesla.
Huh.
Bet you would've investedif Cyrus had asked you to.
- Cyrus knows things.- It's true. I do.
And this place is super sketchy.
Yeah, I can't believeTesla's looking at them.
How do you know Tesla'slooking at them?
The creepy engineer told me.
Weird, Tesla usually haspretty good instincts
about this stuff.
Tesla?
Hmm.
And that's... that...That's interesting.
Why would Tesla beinterested in them?
Even if they checked them out,
that doesn't mean theythought it was worth anything.
Can you find outwhat the deal is?
You think Chase isgonna tell me anything
after the way you insulted him?
Well, if Tesla'slooking at them,
maybe other companies are too?
I used todate a guy at GM.
I could do some fishing.
Okay, great. Call him.
Does anyone knowsomeone at Ford?
I actually had anon-again, off-again thing
- with a guy there.- Oh. Call them too.
Um, anyone knowanyone at Chrysler?
Throuple that went south.
- Ooh, I'll try him.- How 'bout Volvo?
Not into Swedes, got it.
I know a VC guy Icould check with.
He usually knows ifsomething has buzz.
I can call my hedge-fund friend.
We met in businessschool, not a throuple.
- No need to slut-shame.- I can see if the analyst
who spoke to my classhas heard of 'em.
I could reach out tothe "Journal" reporter.
I'll call them. I needyou to see what else
you can squeeze outof that engineer.
- He's into you, right?- You want me
to whore myselfout to the weirdo?
Flirt with him. I'mnot saying you should
him. I mean,unless there was
- a connection and you're into...- Ew.
Jeff Bezos used tolook like a dork,
and now he's a billionairewith a Jason Statham vibe.
Okay? You could do way worse.
David, how are you?
Why are you calling, Cyrus?
I've just missed you.
I was thinking about thatweek we spent at the beach.
Oh, speaking of beaches,
has GM been talkingto a company called...
Sandbox? No, thatdoesn't ring a bell.
It's probably nothing.I'm just doing
- my due diligence.- Well, I could ask around
- and call you back.- Great, thanks.
I'm 99% sure that they'rescam artists, so...
They're gonna be huge.They got this game-changing
technology, but I need toknow if there's competition.
All right, thanks for the tip.
No, no. I'm notgiving you a tip.
Hey, Dustin.
Dusty Dustin.
No, that's not...
What are you doin' here?
I just felt like Iwanted to see you again,
Big D.
No, it's been way toolong since we talked.
That's what happenswhen you ghost someone.
I didn't ghost. I toldyou I didn't love you
and then ended contact.
When you spoke toour class, you said
we can call you with questions?
Can I ask you about one company?
Sandbox? Is anyoneat the "Journal"
- writing about them?- Why?
Are you guys making a play?
I'm asking you the questions.
You know that's not hownewspapers work, right?
It was kind of hot beforewhen you were talking to me
about Tesla.
What else do youknow about them?
They're an automotiveand energy company
founded in July 2003 inSan Carlos, California,
- but currently headquartered...- Oh, my God, stop.
Stop it. You'reso funny, Dustin.
- He called you too?- Yup.
What is going on with him?
And then he was asking meabout some battery company.
Me too. Sandbox.
What's that about?
- Well, I should go.- Yeah, okay. Bye.
- Hi, I need you to look into...- Hey, have you heard
- of Sandbox?- Called Sandbox.
Wesley, Monica Chessfrom the "Journal."
I'm hearing rumorsabout an auto company
acquiring Sandbox.
- Care to comment?- You mean Tesla?
Tesla? That's interesting.
When you say "there'sa buzz," how much buzz?
Well, I'm hearing alot of... Oh, hold on.
- Hello?- Chucky-Cheese,
checking yourtemperature on Sandbox.
Jesus, they're about to explode.
Tesla and Payne areboth interested?
Those are just theones that I know of.
- Lemme guess, Sandbox?- Hold on.
Hey, Monica, I don'tthink anyone's talking
about anything but them.
Look, the company everyoneis talking about right now,
Sandbox! Buy, buy, buy!
This thing is on fire, people.
It is red-hot!
Apparently they'rethe next Google,
Alphabet, Facebook, Meta.
I know some of thoseare the same companies,
but the point is, theycould've been the answer
to all of our problemsand we missed it.
- Uh, you missed it.- Is it possible
that we're justbuyin' into the hype?
I mean, you were the onethat said they were trying
- to sell us magic beans.- Yeah.
And if I rememberthat story correctly,
they really were magic beans.
, we misread thatsituation completely.
You misread the situation.
Okay, Wesley, you were right.
Happy? You wereright. I was wrong.
You were wrong.Oh, I heard it.
Oh, it's Javier from Nissan.
Everybody's thirstyfor Cyrus today.
Hola, Javi.
Chase, I'd like to apologizefor my lack of tact earlier.
Oh, do you now?
Your vision mayhave been too bold
for me to recognize right away.
So how 'bout 200 millionfor a 5% stake in Sandbox?
200, that's... that's alot of money for, uh...
What did you callus, a bag of farts?
I think it was actuallya battery made of farts.
Once you get to knowher, that's not even
all that insulting. That'slike a four out of ten.
Well, an hour ago, I would'vejumped at that offer,
but since then, wehave had a flood...
Of interest.
Hedge funds, VCs.
Anyway, thanks for comin' back.
It's been...
hilarious.
If you ever hurt her,I will kick your ass.
While the focus has been onoptimization, the issue is,
in fact, uh, sustainability.
I told you Chase was legit.You should've listened to me.
And I already agreed with you.
Do you realize thehealthy boundaries
I let crumble all for nothing?
Dustin held his wrist by my face
for an entire TEDTalk, and it smelled.
- It was a smelly wrist.- Are we sure
this isn't a scam? If...
In my class, we were readingabout irrational exuberance.
It's nota textbook, Jack.
- It says the basic...- We're buds and all...
We're buds and all, but you'reseriously embarrassing yourself
- right now.- Machine learning can...
Guys, this is amazing,everything you're doing
- with sensors.- Uh, you mean AI?
Yeah, whatever. AI.
We're gonna need todiscuss this for a minute.
Sure. Mm-hmm.
We need the room.
Oh! Okay.
Yeah, so we're gonna have to...
Wesley,get Chase on the phone.
- Now?- Uh, yeah.
I am not gonna lose Sandbox,
and I cannot sitthrough another minute
of these nerds and theirstupid, boring pitch.
Sensors this, sensors that.
get laid.
- You got Chase.- Uh, hey, Chase. It's Wesley.
Look, uh, so Katherinewanted to make one last try.
Uh, God. What isit with that bitch?
Hey, Chase. Kat Hastings here.
Uh, look, we'reupping our offer.
5%, $300 million.
And if you want, we'll throwin that cute little blonde
that your engineerlikes so much.
Also, I screwed up.
Just assumed youwere full of crap,
and I should've trustedyou, so I'm sorry.
But we wanna be inbusiness with you,
so if you give us achance, we would really...
Still a pass, Kat.Thanks anyway.
Uh, hold on. Hold on.
Uh, Chase, look, man.
We're tired.
We just spent along day listenin'
to a bunch of dumb,smelly virgins
talking about sensors nonstop.
It's AI.
And yeah, maybe Katherinecame off as kind of a bitch,
but...
If you get to know her,
you'll realize that A, she'salso low-key kind of hot,
and B, she's the bitchyou want on your side
because she sticks by you.
No, it's true, Chase. Idon't know if you know this,
but a couple of months ago,
the board tried to firethis whole group...
M-m-m-my point is,don't go with us
just because of the money.
Go with us because whenthe going gets rough,
we're the ones you wantnext to you in that sandbox.
Yeah, to Sandbox
- and to Wesley...- Oh.
For making it all happen.
In the future, I amgonna listen to you more,
- or, you know, at least try to.- Danke.
Oh, looks like the news leaked.
Our share price is alreadyshooting up pre-market.
- Whoo!- Yes!
Suck it, board.
I'm sendin' our stockthrough the stratosphere.
You... you know the boardwould like that, right?
- Well, yeah.- Hey, guys.
I'm sorry about being sucha downer about everything.
Don't worry about it, Jack.
You know, people makemistakes. You'll learn.
Yeah. It just seemedso crazy to me
that we were gonnagive $300 million
to some guys who said they canmake a battery out of sand.
- Wow.- Mm-hmm.
Hey, guys.
What did we just buy?