33. TBPN (John Coogan & Jordi Hays) - Inside Tech's Water Cooler
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
John Coogan and Jordi Hays, hosts of TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network), discuss how they've built one of tech's most compelling daily live shows from the ground up. (03:18) Over just one year, they've transformed from a simple two-person podcast called "Technology Brothers" into a three-hour daily livestream that has become a center of gravity for the tech industry. The conversation explores their unique approach to media, their philosophy of taking the work incredibly seriously while not taking themselves seriously, and how they've built a sustainable business through advertising rather than subscriptions. (12:08) They discuss their strategy of borrowing ideas from industries outside tech, their focus on serving 200,000 highly engaged tech insiders rather than going mainstream, and their long-term vision of building a show that can run for decades.
- Main themes include building authentic media in an oversaturated market, the power of daily iteration and high-volume content creation, and creating something genuinely differentiated by pulling inspiration from outside tech rather than copying within the industry
Speakers
John Coogan
John was previously an Entrepreneur in Residence at Founders Fund and built a successful tech YouTube channel. He co-founded both Lucy Nicotine and Soylent, with the latter becoming one of the most iconic CPG companies in tech history. His background spans content creation, product development, and deep technical knowledge, which he brings to TBPN's analysis of technology trends and companies.
Jordi Hays
Jordi is a serial entrepreneur and investor who co-founded Party Round (now Capital) and built Branded Native, a YouTube and podcast advertising network that's still growing today. Through Branded Native, he executed thousands of advertising deals between companies and creators, giving him deep expertise in the business side of media and content monetization. His experience spans both the entertainment and revenue sides of modern media businesses.
Key Takeaways
Media as the Main Thing, Not a Side Project
One of the most crucial decisions TBPN made was treating media as their core business rather than using it to launch something else. (23:58) As Jordi explains, they see too many people approach content as "I make great content that's great enough to justify doing something else." This creates a fundamental problem - you end up competing with people who don't have those "other things" to do and can focus entirely on content. They consciously chose not to diversify into venture funds or other companies, staying "ruthlessly focused on the content itself because that's what our audience deserves." This focus allows them to put every dollar and moment of time back into making better content, creating a sustainable competitive advantage through pure focus and iteration.
Daily Iteration as a Superpower
The daily format gives TBPN an incredible advantage that most content creators don't have - the ability to iterate and improve every single day. (18:22) John compares it to a baker who can adjust temperature, yeast, and flour amounts daily to perfect their bread. "Every single day is an opportunity to make the product better... we end the show every day and we're talking through, okay, this section could have been better. That story could have been different. That interview was really slow." This creates compound improvement over time, where small daily changes add up to dramatic evolution. The challenge is that you can never rest - there's no vacation from news - but the payoff is continuous optimization that competitors doing weekly or monthly content simply cannot match.
Borrow Ideas from Outside Your Industry
TBPN's biggest critique of tech is that "technology is too inspired by technology." (44:58) Instead of copying other tech podcasts or shows, they deliberately pull inspiration from Formula One, SportsCenter, Hollywood films, and other industries. John notes they found "maybe one idea within tech to make the show better this year and hundreds from outside of tech." This strategy helps them avoid the circular references that plague the tech industry, where companies copy the latest trend (like "The [Blank] Company" naming convention) until it becomes an anti-signal. The result is content that feels genuinely fresh and differentiated because they're bringing aesthetics, formats, and approaches that haven't been seen in tech media before.
Advertising Enables Price Discrimination and Audience Growth
Their advertising model allows them to serve both billionaire executives and college students in ways that subscription models cannot. (36:21) As Jordi explains, "If you find a great product where that company can get both of those people as a client and extract literally $1 billion from the multibillionaire who runs a massive company, and then also help the college students start their first company and extract $200 a month... that's only possible with advertising." This creates a beautiful dynamic where roughly 15 companies finance TBPN so it's free for the entire world. They focus on working with "boring" companies that should be focusing on building great products rather than trying to become the next viral brand, creating a sustainable business model that aligns their interests with providing value to their audience.
Build for the Right 200,000 People, Not Everyone
TBPN deliberately makes content for a very specific audience: the 200,000 most important people in tech and business who run companies, invest, or work at crucial tech companies. (55:04) They're not interested in going broader because that would require changing the content in ways that would make it less interesting to them personally. As John notes, "we would never adjust the content to try to get more of those type of people" even when they get feedback from doctors or dentists who love the show. This narrow focus allows them to go deeper on private company analysis, insider discussions, and technical topics that wouldn't work for a general audience. The constraint actually makes their content better and more valuable to their core audience, while the advertising model means they don't lose money by not appealing to everyone.
Statistics & Facts
- TBPN has a 90%+ retention rate during their show, with less than 10% of their three-hour format being advertisements, compared to traditional TV which is roughly 33% ads (22 minutes of content in a 30-minute slot). (38:43)
- John notes that historically on his YouTube channel, only about 20% of guests actually make shows better, with a clear power law where maybe 1 out of 10 guests create amazing content while 8 out of 10 actually make shows slightly worse. (105:09)
- The show targets approximately 200,000 people globally - specifically those who run tech companies, invest, work at major tech companies, or are founders who've gotten into Y Combinator. (55:05)
