TBPN

Diet TBPN delivers the best of today’s TBPN episode in 30 minutes. TBPN is a live tech talk show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays, streaming weekdays 11–2 PT on X and YouTube, with each episode posted to podcast platforms right after.

Described by The New York Times as “Silicon Valley’s newest obsession,” the show has recently featured Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Mark Cuban, and Satya Nadella.

TBPN is made possible by:
Ramp - https://ramp.com
Public - https://public.com
Cisco - https://www.cisco.com
Console - https://www.console.com
CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com
Figma - https://www.figma.com
MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com
NYSE - https://www.nyse.com
Railway - https://railway.com
Shopify - https://www.shopify.com/

Follow TBPN: 
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https://x.com/tbpn
https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235
https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

(01:58) - China's AI Push Sounds Alarms

(36:37) - Should You Recline Your Airplane Seat?

(42:47) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions

(51:39) - Ferdinand Dabitz, the 25-year-old CEO of Augustus Bank, discusses the company's recent $180 million Series B funding round, which elevated its valuation to $1 billion. He highlights Augustus's mission to "dollarize the world" by modernizing correspondent banking through AI and stablecoin technologies, aiming to provide efficient dollar access globally. Dabitz also emphasizes the strategic importance of dollarization in enhancing U.S. soft power and combating inflation.

(58:53) - Kaiwei Tang, co-founder and CEO of Light Phone, discusses the company's mission to create minimalist mobile devices that help users disconnect from the attention-driven economy of traditional smartphones. He emphasizes the importance of technology serving as a tool without exploiting user attention, highlighting features like calling, texting, and music playback without ads or data tracking. Tang also notes a growing trend among younger generations seeking simpler devices, indicating a shift towards more intentional technology use.

(01:12:30) - Chris Best, founder and CEO of Substack, discusses the proliferation of AI-generated content, or "slop," on the internet and its impact on reader trust. He emphasizes the importance of transparency in content creation, advocating for clear disclosure when AI tools are used to maintain authenticity and value. Best also highlights Substack's commitment to fostering genuine human connections and perspectives, believing that as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, the value of trusted human-authored content will increase.

(01:32:38) - Steven Schwartz is the co-founder and CEO of Whop, a platform that enables creators, developers, and online businesses to sell digital products, software, communities, and memberships. He focuses on building infrastructure for the internet economy, helping entrepreneurs monetize digital businesses through a unified marketplace and payments platform.

(01:54:08) - Katie Roof, editor at Business Insider, discusses her recent appointment and the publication's strategic shift towards more exclusive content under Editor-in-Chief Jamie Heller. She highlights the increasing competition in journalism, emphasizing the importance of original reporting and human skills in an AI-influenced media landscape. Roof also notes the growing public interest in AI and venture capital, underscoring the need for accurate and insightful coverage in these areas.

(02:02:48) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions

(02:10:31) - Zavain Dar, co-founder of Dimension, discusses the firm's recent $800 million fundraise, bringing their total assets under management to $1.65 billion. He highlights Dimension's focus on investing at the intersection of technology and life sciences, supporting companies that integrate computing with biology. Dar also addresses the evolving landscape of biotech, emphasizing the role of AI in drug discovery and the redefinition of disease treatment, while cautioning against the unregulated use of peptides and hormone mimetics.

(02:23:18) - Chad Edwards, co-founder and CEO of CuspAI, a Cambridge-based AI startup, discusses the company's mission to revolutionize materials discovery through generative AI, enabling the rapid development of new materials for applications like semiconductors and climate technologies. He highlights their recent $450 million Series B funding, valuing CuspAI at $2.6 billion, with investors including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Kleiner Perkins, and NEA. Edwards also explains their innovative business model, securing royalties in customer contracts to share in the commercial success of the materials developed using their platform.

TBPN is made possible by:
Ramp - https://ramp.com
Public - https://public.com
Cisco - https://www.cisco.com
Console - https://www.console.com
CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com
Figma - https://www.figma.com
MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com
NYSE - https://www.nyse.com
Railway - https://railway.com
Shopify - https://www.shopify.com
Codex - http://openAI.com/codex

Follow TBPN: 
https://TBPN.com
https://x.com/tbpn
https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235
https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

Diet TBPN delivers the best of today’s TBPN episode in 30 minutes. TBPN is a live tech talk show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays, streaming weekdays 11–2 PT on X and YouTube, with each episode posted to podcast platforms right after.

Described by The New York Times as “Silicon Valley’s newest obsession,” the show has recently featured Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Mark Cuban, and Satya Nadella.

TBPN is made possible by:
Ramp - https://ramp.com
Public - https://public.com
Cisco - https://www.cisco.com
Console - https://www.console.com
CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com
Figma - https://www.figma.com
MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com
NYSE - https://www.nyse.com
Railway - https://railway.com
Shopify - https://www.shopify.com/

Follow TBPN: 
https://TBPN.com
https://x.com/tbpn
https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235
https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

(01:35) - The AI Cold War

(33:40) - Odyssey Rips

(44:19) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions

(55:54) - Tyler Cowen is an American economist, author, and professor at George Mason University, known for his work in cultural economics and as co-author of the blog Marginal Revolution. He discusses the inevitability of open-source AI, emphasizing that attempts to ban it are futile due to its global proliferation, particularly from China. He also highlights the challenges Europe faces in competing with Chinese industries, suggesting that imposing tariffs may not be an effective solution.

(01:31:26) - Danny Yeung, CEO and co-founder of Prenetics, discusses the rapid growth of IM8, a health supplement brand co-founded with David Beckham, achieving $100 million in annual recurring revenue within 11 months and projecting over $200 million in its second year. He attributes this success to a global launch strategy, shipping to 31 countries from day one, and highlights a $1 billion growth commitment from General Catalyst, emphasizing the importance of strong retention cohort data for predictable future revenue.

(01:37:48) - Connor Love, a former U.S. Army Captain with a deployment to Northern Iraq in 2019, has transitioned into venture capital, focusing on frontier technologies such as defense, space, manufacturing, and autonomous systems. In the conversation, he discusses his new role at Andreessen Horowitz, emphasizing the firm's commitment to supporting entrepreneurs in the American dynamism sector, and highlights the significant growth potential in defense and space markets, underscoring the need for substantial manufacturing capabilities to meet future demands.

(01:51:57) - Kahlil Lalji, CEO and co-founder of Natural, discusses the company's $30 million Series A funding led by Forerunner and its mission to build payments infrastructure for agents. He explains that Natural enables agents to store balances, make payments, and perform transfers, with plans to expand capabilities like collecting card information over the phone. Lalji emphasizes the potential for agents to handle a majority of global payment volume in the next decade, positioning Natural to become a comprehensive financial platform encompassing banking, payment processing, and networking services.

(02:00:06) - Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, discusses the platform's significant engagement during the World Cup, noting it generated more brand impressions than major companies like Coca-Cola and Adidas, and even surpassed ChatGPT and Instagram in search volume. He attributes this success to a dynamic, adaptable strategy executed by a lean team, emphasizing rapid response to unfolding events. Additionally, Mansour introduces Kalshi's launch of GPU futures, aiming to establish a forward curve for compute resources, enabling stakeholders to hedge risks and make informed investment decisions in the evolving compute market.

(02:20:12) - Tony Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Sunday Robotics, discusses the company's latest advancements in household robotics, highlighting a 99.1% success rate in folding laundry across 785 autonomous attempts. He introduces the concept of "Large Laundry Models" (LLM), emphasizing the robot's ability to generalize tasks and learn new folding methods from a single demonstration. Zhao also addresses the importance of defining performance metrics in robotics, distinguishing between success rates in controlled environments versus real-world applications.

(02:31:56) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions

TBPN is made possible by:
Ramp - https://ramp.com
Public - https://public.com
Cisco - https://www.cisco.com
Console - https://www.console.com
CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com
Figma - https://www.figma.com
MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com
NYSE - https://www.nyse.com
Railway - https://railway.com
Shopify - https://www.shopify.com
Codex - http://openAI.com/codex

Follow TBPN: 
https://TBPN.com
https://x.com/tbpn
https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235
https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

This is our full interview with Tyler Cowen.
We discussed why he believes banning Chinese open source AI is impossible, the rise of "AI maniacs," why Europe is quietly becoming an AI powerhouse, the future of jobs in an AI economy, why data centers are good for local communities, AI-generated religions, the gambling boom, economic "vibecession," and much more.
TBPN is made possible by:
Ramp - https://ramp.com
Public - https://public.com
Cisco - https://www.cisco.com
Console - https://www.console.com
CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com
Figma - https://www.figma.com
MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com
NYSE - https://www.nyse.com
Railway - https://railway.com
Shopify - https://www.shopify.com/
Codex - http://openAI.com/codex
Sign up for TBPN’s daily newsletter at TBPN.com
Follow TBPN:
https://TBPN.com
https://x.com/tbpn
https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235
https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive