33. TBPN (John Coogan & Jordi Hays) - Inside Tech's Water Cooler

John and Jordi explain why their partnership works: complementary skills (John on technology/content, Jordi on business/deals), constant one-upping of ideas, and treating every day as an opportunity to iterate. They describe their 6:30am daily prep sessions and how they've compounded small improvements over a year.

• •Partnership works because they bring different expertise: John on technical content creation, Jordi on ad sales and business deals
• •Daily iteration mindset: every show is a chance to improve, like a baker adjusting bread recipe daily
• •Morning routine: 6:30am-9:15am debate sessions to sharpen thinking before going live
• •Started with minimal setup (one camera, two mics) and compounded improvements over time
• •First episode had VFX work to remove light stands - attention to detail from day one

Deep dive on why TBPN chose advertising over subscriptions. They explain price discrimination benefits (extracting value from billionaires and college students differently), keeping content free for their 200,000-person core audience, and why venture funds should advertise on great podcasts instead of making their own derivative shows.

• •Advertising enables price discrimination: charge billionaires millions, college students $200/month through different products
• •15 companies finance TBPN so it's free for the entire world - a 'beautiful thing'
• •Work with 'boring' companies that need attention, not ones like OpenAI that get organic coverage
• •Lower ad load than TV: ~5-10 minutes of ads in 180-minute show vs 10 minutes in 30-minute TV segment
• •Predict VCs will eventually advertise on great podcasts instead of making derivative shows no one listens to

John and Jordi explain their decision to remain 'the talent' and not diversify into venture funds, other shows, or side businesses. They discuss how distraction kills media quality and why their audience deserves their full attention every day.

• •Explicitly chose not to build a media platform with multiple shows - just one great show
• •Can run $100M/year business with team of 10 (Rogan/Huberman model) by showing up daily
• •Every distraction (venture fund, other companies) puts you in competition with focused creators
• •Even considered whether newsletter was too much distraction - made it synergistic by using it for show prep
• •Audience doesn't care if you couldn't prep because you were doing VC deals - they deserve the best show

Critique of tech's tendency to copy from within the industry. They explain how they've borrowed from Formula One (sponsorship model), SportsCenter (aesthetics), cinema (lighting/cameras), and fashion (archival references) to create something that feels fresh in tech.

• •Tech is 'too inspired by technology' - everyone copies 'The Blank Company' naming after Browser Company
• •Found maybe one idea from tech to improve show, hundreds from outside tech
• •Borrowed suits, mahogany, Formula One sponsorship model, SportsCenter graphics - none native to tech podcasting
• •Fashion industry excels at this: planning 2026 collections by pulling from Coca-Cola archives or other brands
• •Even killed planned whey protein drop because another company did supplement drop first - won't fast follow

How TBPN became X-native media by treating tweets as love letters to Silicon Valley. They discuss why X is tech's 'dive bar,' the power of printing tweets on paper in suits, and why they'll never go broader than their core 200,000-person tech audience.

• •X is where the 200,000 most important people in tech hang out - it's their Bloomberg terminal
• •Printing viral tweets on paper and reading them in suits was 'highest honor' - max fidelity quote tweet
• •Won't adjust content to go broader (no stock tips, tech reviews, politics) - staying focused on private market tech
• •Success isn't from growth hacks - it's from being bleeding edge commentary (live reaction to tweets during show)
• •Even multistage VCs who claim they don't use Twitter will text you within 5 seconds if you mention their name

How they adapt content for each platform: RSS needs verbal context, YouTube needs opinionated set design, X needs tight clips with subtitles, Instagram needs 1-3 minute vertical content. The medium is the message.

• •Built 'world' (Ultradome studio) for YouTube that doesn't matter for RSS audio listeners
• •RSS product requires describing what they're looking at since listeners can't see
• •X clips need perfect timing, subtitles, and context to feel native
• •Instagram requires tighter 1-3 minute vertical format - same audience, different 'sugar' content
• •Every platform is a full-time job - don't hire one person to 'do social' across all platforms

Framework for viral content: must entertain, inspire, or educate. Virality hates complexity. They discuss why the Technology Brothers launch video worked (TMZ's Succession) and how to make ideas 'slap in one sentence.'

• •Three buckets for marketing: entertain, inspire, or educate - if it doesn't fit, it won't hit
• •Virality hates complexity - if people need context to understand, they'll scroll past
• •Technology Brothers launch video worked because it was 'TMZ's Succession' - shareable, self-aware
• •High-low together: taking it seriously enough to film cinematic video while making fun of themselves
• •Gabe Mischief rule: ideas should 'slap in one sentence and slap harder in three' - start simple

Jordi's philosophy on brand: it's not a logo or website, it's the cumulative feeling you create over time. Great brands happen organically, not from $300k branding agencies. Tech copies from within instead of looking outside.

• •Brand is 'what you make people feel over time' - not a logo or $300k branding package
• •Great brands happen organically, not from expensive agencies - usually built externally with trusted partners
• •Tech's weakness: copying from within the industry instead of borrowing from fashion, sports, media
• •TBPN's KPI: making people laugh repeatedly - brand is average of all feelings created
• •In-house what you do daily (production), outsource artifacts and moments (brand work, ad creative)