Why these actors and ‘SmartLess' podcast hosts want to help you pay less for cell service
The latest celebrity start-up trend is no longer tequila. It's telecom.
Actors Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman — who host the popular 'SmartLess' podcast — are launching a wireless service as an alternative to pricier unlimited data plans from major carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T.
The decision to start the company, called SmartLess Mobile, came from a simple realization: while industry giants generally push unlimited plans, most people don't actually use that much data. Even if they're glued to their phones.
'Most Americans spend almost 90% of their time under Wi-Fi. Their mobile device very seldom actually uses the actual wireless network,' said SmartLess CEO Paul McAleese, a telecom industry veteran who co-founded the company with the actors.
Research published last year by the consultancy group OpenSignal found that most mobile customers spend between 77% and 88% of their on-screen time connected to a Wi-Fi network.
SmartLess Mobile offers wireless plans starting at $15 per month for 5 gigabytes of high-speed data, going up to $30 monthly for 30 gigabytes. By contrast, starter unlimited plans from the major carriers range from around $35 to $65 per month.
McAleese said he and Arnett started discussing the idea after the actor bought a new phone for his teenage son and was sold an unlimited plan that cost around $70 monthly. (Arnett previously served as a spokesperson for Canadian telecom giant Shaw Communications; McAleese is the company's former president.)
'And (Arnett) goes, 'Geez, it's awfully expensive,'' McAleese said in an interview with CNN. 'And I said, 'Your boy spends almost his entire life under Wi-Fi. He's at home, he's at school … he's never going to be on the network. Why would you buy all that?''
SmartLess Mobile joins a growing slate of celebrity-backed wireless carriers, including Consumer Cellular, with longtime spokesperson Ted Danson, and Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile, which was acquired by T-Mobile in 2023. These providers, known as mobile virtual network operators (or MVNOs), lease access to a major telecom provider's spectrum — SmartLess plans will run on T-Mobile's 5G network — and can often charge lower prices because they don't have to manage the physical infrastructure.
The services have gained popularity as cell phone technology has advanced. Most phones now have digital SIM cards, making it easier for consumers to switch carriers without having to visit a retail store. And the proliferation of Wi-Fi infrastructure everywhere from subways to restaurants means many people have lesser data needs.
If their partner network goes down, MVNOs do risk being the ones customers blame for losing missing service. And limited data plans aren't necessarily for everyone — ride-share drivers and delivery couriers likely use a lot more data than people who work from home or from an office with a Wi-Fi network.
But the primary 'uphill battle for any MVNO is to stand out in the space,' said Jeffrey Moore, principal at wireless industry research firm Wave7, because the industry giants have much more name recognition. Major carriers also entice customers with deals on new phones, which they practically give away for free if consumers join their network.
Smaller carriers 'have to stand out either in terms of offerings or in terms of marketing,' Moore said. That's where celebrity endorsements come in.
SmartLess already has a significant built-in audience; the podcast ranks among the top 20 most popular shows on Apple Podcasts. And Arnett, Hayes and the SmartLess podcast have more than 2 million combined Instagram followers.
'Whether by luck or by design, they also have a brand name that has both 'smart' and 'less' in the name,' McAleese said, 'which, if you're going to be a challenger brand in this day and age, those are two pretty good head starts.'
The team plans to start discussing SmartLess Mobile on the podcast in the coming weeks, he said.
And the SmartLess hosts' involvement in the new carrier goes beyond typical celebrity endorsements, McAleese said. Hayes, Arnett and Bateman had already turned down the opportunity to lend their names to other types of products, and they've been involved in everything from financing to marketing the new company.
'They rely on the category for what is now one of their primary professional pursuits, which is the podcast, this is how people consume their product,' McAleese said. 'These guys are master storytellers, and they have the brand ethos of sort of an honest broker. I think it's just a perfect marriage.'
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Fast Company
29 minutes ago
- Fast Company
‘We're on the cusp of more widespread adoption': Laura Shin on Trump, stablecoins, and the global rise of cryptocurrency
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Yeah, I would say we're probably on the cusp of more widespread adoption. The number-one biggest reason is simply that the Trump administration is really embracing crypto. That has not been true of previous administrations. In fact, the Biden administration was probably, I want to say, actively hostile. I don't know if people will love that term, but that's probably a pretty accurate description. For a long time, there were a lot of entrepreneurs who were cautious about doing things in the U.S. This administration is more, not only open-minded, but even in some regards almost a little bit too embracing of crypto, you could say. I think there's going to be probably a decent number of crypto IPOs this year, but then on top of it, stablecoins are probably the first major application that has really found what the industry likes to call product-market fit. 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Buzz Feed
36 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Small American Business Owners Are Sharing How Tariffs Are Affecting Them
When tariffs on Chinese goods spiked dramatically — peaking at over 100% in some cases before recent reductions — small business owners across America found themselves facing an impossible math problem. From toy designers to computer repair shops, countless entrepreneurs discovered that products they depend on — and that simply aren't made anywhere else — suddenly became prohibitively expensive. When u/toymakerinchina, a manufacturer of indoor playground equipment, asked how US small businesses were handling these dramatic tariff increases, the responses painted a sobering picture of an economy under strain: "Honestly, they're not able to cope. I know two people in separate small businesses in this situation who were running the numbers at 104% yesterday. They're already in a place with not-high margins. They also have to get their product out to distributors and on to end consumers, and there is a markup at each step. 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The US will never make what I need, and other countries making wigs don't come even close to the quality of wigs that China makes, not to mention the trust I have with my years-long suppliers and whatnot. I have no solution because I feel like even if we find loopholes, they can be 'plugged' overnight by the Trump administration. I wish I could include the sum of what my customer pays on tariffs in my pricing separately. That's not going to happen, I know. I will have way fewer customers, lose competitiveness on international markets, and will have to start a second business on the side. I see all this as very pessimistic and feel sorry for all of us affected in the US as well as China." "We're exhausted. We're exhausted from running the numbers, coming up with a barely workable solution, only to have the goal posts moved and that solution obliterated again and again and again. My entire industry is imploding. Yesterday, my company laid off the entire team except for the founder, who is still trying to pivot and find yet another workable solution in hopes he can bring us all back before we find other, more permanent placements." "I have a couple retail stores, and I've received calls from multiple wholesale companies saying many items will get 20% to 50% price increases. This was before China's retaliatory tariff increase. I just won't stock any items that have increased by 50%, other than extreme cases. Any items that I continue to stock will get price increases slower than how much they got increased by tariffs. It's so that customers won't notice the sudden sharp increase in price and leave my business with a sour taste. I will eventually increase it to match the same profit margin in the end, but I will do it slowly, even if it eats away my profit in the short term, to stay competitive. If this tariff war continues, I would assume many retail stores in my industry, maybe even I, won't be able to stay afloat and will go out of business. My hope is that I can outlast the competition while this tariff craze is going on. I just hope I don't have to let go of my employees." "The tariffs pose a huge threat to my business. I have an art business in the US, and I print my artwork on various art and stationery products. All of my stationery is manufactured in either Canada or China. I also print on various specialty papers that are only manufactured outside of the US. I have done some preparation by buying a year's worth of supplies to continue printing some of my own products, but I will have to discontinue many of my items for the foreseeable future. I am a small business and can't afford to buy products at such high markups. If these tariffs last long, I will be forced to close my business. I am already preparing by looking for a part-time job to supplement the loss of income this will be for me. Plus, my customer base is not wealthy people. Even if I had the savings to afford 104% tariffs, my customers would not." "Many of my materials are imported because US manufacturers charge almost 90% more for a similar sheet of material. So now my competitors and I will have to pay more for the product. Then we will mark it up the same percentage. $50 with a 100% markup meant I sold it for $100, and the company earned $50. Now it's $75 per sheet, and I mark it up to $150, and the company makes $75. We're more profitable. Sure, we may lose a few sales here or there because people can no longer afford to buy a sign for their business or housing development, but during COVID when scarcity drove prices up, we never ended up in a worse position, so I doubt we will here since people need our products, just as I'm sure people need your products." Are you a small business owner dealing with the impact of tariffs, or do you have thoughts on how these policies are affecting the economy? Whether you've witnessed these challenges firsthand, have ideas for solutions, or simply want to share your perspective on what this means for American businesses, drop your thoughts in the comments — or anonymous form — below. Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
