1499 - Leaks, with Rich Klein

Dr. Beckett and Rich Klein discuss the leaked private Fanatics 2025 National meeting notes and treat it as an example of how sensitive corporate prep materials can surface, whether accidentally, intentionally, or spitefully. They argue the notes mostly reflect normal corporate meeting preparation, especially for Michael Rubin’s rapid-fire meetings, and emphasize such documents should be collected or shredded rather than trashed. They also say they don’t see anything “horrible” in the leaked content, noting that quantity pricing and giving better terms to bigger customers is standard business practice, including examples from their own experience and comparisons to dealing with large accounts like Walmart. The episode explores hobby implications such as allocation advantages for high-profile or high-overhead partners (e.g., Tom Brady’s Card Vault) and how losing Fanatics allocation can hurt stores and breakers, sometimes forcing them to buy on the secondary market. They describe a local shop (Mason’s) closing after losing allocation and discuss adaptation strategies, especially shifting toward singles (high-end and long-tail) versus modern “breaking room/lounge” stores that emphasize wax. They touch on concerns about behavior that could look monopolistic, but point to competition such as eBay Live’s hiring push, and conclude Fanatics will be fine if it keeps serving customers rather than acting like the only option, ending with advice for future meetings: be mindful of discoverable notes and ‘bring a shredder.’ 00:40 How Corporate Meetings Get Prepped (How Slides Leak) 03:11 Accidental vs Spiteful Leaks + Handling Sensitive Docs 04:50 Rubin’s Team: Over-Preparation? 07:08 Slides Shown: Quantity Pricing & “Best Customer” Deals 08:46 Tom Brady’s Card Vault, Breakers, and the Monopoly Line 11:13 When Allocation Gets Cut: How Shops Can Survive 13:19 Two Divergent Futures for Card Shops