TBPN

Latest Episodes:

Meta Drops New Model, Mythos, RoboLamp | Luther Lowe, Dan Primack, Lior Susan, Feross Aboukhadijeh, Qasim Mithani, Jaleh Rezaei, Jeremy Philip Galen Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

(00:44) - Meta Launches Muse Spark
(18:24) - Anthropic's Mythos
(30:19) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(36:12) - Robo-Lamp
(41:13) - Luther Lowe, Head of Public Policy at Y Combinator, discusses the challenges small tech companies face due to the control exerted by major platforms like Apple and Google over app distribution. He highlights the restrictive nature of app stores, likening Apple's App Store to "the worst DMV in the world," and emphasizes the need for policy interventions to curb anti-competitive practices. Lowe also mentions Y Combinator's support for the BASE Act, aimed at preventing self-preferencing by dominant platforms, to foster a more competitive and innovative tech ecosystem.
(58:30) - Dan Primack, a journalist specializing in business and finance, discusses the legal landscape of prediction markets, highlighting a recent New Jersey appeals court decision favoring Kalshi, a prediction market platform. He anticipates the issue may escalate to the Supreme Court, with potential congressional intervention being necessary for significant changes. Primack also notes the bipartisan nature of opposition to such markets, citing concerns from both casino interests and anti-gambling advocates.
(01:20:42) - Lior Susan, founder and Managing Partner of Eclipse Ventures, discusses his firm's focus on investing in physical industries by supporting companies like Cerebras and VulcanForms. He highlights the importance of wafer-scale integration in chip design and the use of multiple lasers in metal part manufacturing to drive innovation and scalability. Additionally, Susan emphasizes the significance of disciplined company-building practices in capital-intensive sectors and expresses optimism about the future of real asset companies in public markets.
(01:33:21) - Feross Aboukhadijeh, founder and CEO of Socket, a developer-first security platform, discusses how Socket rapidly detected a malicious update to the widely-used Axios npm package within six minutes. He explains that Socket's system downloads and analyzes every open-source package across 19 ecosystems, employing static analysis, maintainer behavior analysis, AI, and human researchers to identify supply chain attacks and cybersecurity threats. Aboukhadijeh also details the sophisticated social engineering tactics used by North Korean state actors to compromise the Axios maintainer's account, leading to the publication of poisoned package versions that installed Remote Access Trojans, enabling attackers to remotely control infected devices and exfiltrate sensitive data.
(01:50:24) - Qasim Mithani, co-founder and CEO of DepthFirst, discusses the company's mission to build AI capable of detecting, triaging, and remediating software vulnerabilities at scale. He highlights their recent $80 million Series B funding, raised less than 90 days after a previous round, driven by significant customer traction and the need to enhance research efforts. Mithani also emphasizes the importance of security in the AI era, noting partnerships with major AI labs and the development of in-house models to address complex enterprise environments.
(01:57:57) - Jaleh Rezaei, CEO and co-founder of Mutiny, discusses the company's AI agent that assists businesses like Rippling and Snowflake in creating personalized customer-facing materials to streamline the sales process from initial contact to deal closure. She explains how the agent generates tailored content such as landing pages, battle cards, and ROI proposals, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in customer engagement. Additionally, Rezaei shares the origin of Mutiny's name, emphasizing its mission to challenge traditional go-to-market dependencies, and recounts the story behind their raccoon mascot, Achoo, highlighting the company's culture of authenticity and spontaneity.
(02:05:53) - Jeremy Philip, after 12 years at Meta focusing on trust and safety, left to address AI-powered scams by founding Charlemagne Labs, which developed Agent Charley, an on-device AI agent for real-time threat detection. He discusses the increasing sophistication of phishing attacks, emphasizing that AI enables scammers to craft highly personalized and convincing messages, making traditional phishing indistinguishable from spear phishing. Philip highlights the necessity for proactive, real-time defenses like Agent Charley to protect users from these advanced threats.

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Meta Tokenmaxxing, Intel Joins Terafab, Frontier AI vs. China | Diet TBPN Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

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.

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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

FULL INTERVIEW: Thomas Laffont’s Journey From Hollywood Assistant to Legendary Tech Investor Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

This is our full interview with Thomas Laffont, recorded live on TBPN.

We discuss his upbringing between Paris and New York, his determined path into Hollywood through CAA’s mailroom, and the lessons he carried from entertainment into investing, from spotting Apple early to navigating AI, private markets, and the future of tech.

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https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235
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Tokenmaxxing, SF Street Name Auction, Corporate Retreat Gone Wrong | Riley Walz, Aditya Bandi, Zach Shore, Hongwei Liu, Zak Kukoff, Thomas Laffont Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

(00:45) - Meta Employees Tokenmaxxing
(15:43) - Intel Joins the Terafab Project
(29:59) - Corporate Retreat Gone Wrong
(45:34) - Big Tech Teams up Against China
(53:01) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(01:00:29) - Riley Walz, a 23-year-old software engineer and tech enthusiast, is known for his inventive projects that blend technology with community engagement. In the conversation, he discusses his latest venture in San Francisco's Sunset District, where he and his friends purchased a foreclosed alley for $26,000 and transformed it into a community art project. They paved the alley, invited the public to submit digital artwork through their website, and auctioned the naming rights, with the highest bid reaching $135,000, all while ensuring the alley remains accessible to vehicles.
(01:17:18) - Aditya Bandi, co-founder of Noon, discusses his journey from India to the Bay Area in 2015, where his first startup was acquired by Yahoo. He highlights the challenges designers face with traditional tools that separate design from functionality, leading to inefficiencies. To address this, Noon integrates design directly with a product's codebase, enabling designers to work on both visual and functional aspects simultaneously, streamlining the development process.
(01:29:45) - Zach Shore, President of Hermeus Corporation, discusses the company's recent $350 million funding round, the rapid development and testing of their high-speed aircraft, and the strategic expansion to Los Angeles to leverage local engineering talent. He highlights the advantages of unmanned jets in accelerating R&D cycles and reducing risks, and outlines the progression of their aircraft from initial prototypes to the upcoming Mach 3 platform. Shore also emphasizes Hermeus' focus on defense applications, aiming to provide advanced capabilities to the U.S. Department of Defense before considering commercial markets.
(01:45:32) - Hongwei Liu, CEO and founder of Mappedin, discusses the company's mission to digitize indoor spaces by transforming traditional floor plans into dynamic, interactive maps, enabling users to navigate complex environments like malls, airports, and hospitals. He highlights the challenges of keeping indoor maps up-to-date due to constant changes, emphasizing the importance of providing building owners with tools to manage and publish their own maps. Liu also mentions Mappedin's significant market presence, including partnerships with major venues and events, and announces a recent funding round of $24.5 million to further advance their indoor mapping solutions.
(01:53:14) - Zak Kukoff chairs the Tech and Venture Practice at Lewis-Burke Associates, where he advocates for the policy needs of founders and investors. In the conversation, he discusses the challenges and political dynamics surrounding data centers, including public perception issues, energy consumption concerns, and the impact on local communities. He also highlights the importance of proactive messaging and strategic political engagement to address these challenges and support technological progress.
(02:12:33) - Thomas Laffont is the co-founder of Coatue, a global technology investment firm spanning public and private markets. He focuses on investing in high-growth technology companies and is known for his long-term approach to backing category-defining businesses across software, internet, and AI.

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https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235

https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

The $1B One-Person Company, China’s Pork Crisis, America’s New Weapon | Diet TBPN Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

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.

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

$1B GLP-1 Lessons, New AI Careers, China's 2030 Master Plan | Sam Broner, Jonathan Slotkin, Liz Hoffman, Bret Taylor, Ariyan Kabir, Atif Siddiqi Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

(02:28) - $1B GLP-1 Lessons
(26:57) - China's Pork Problem
(30:39) - America's Best New Weapon
(38:59) - Inside OpenAI & Anthropic's Finances
(44:48) - The New AI Careers
(52:53) - China in the AI Talent Race
(56:33) - China's 2030 Master Plan
(01:06:13) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(01:15:41) - Sam Broner, co-founder of The Better Money Company, discusses raising $10 million to build a stablecoin clearinghouse aimed at facilitating seamless payments between different stablecoins. He explains that, similar to traditional clearinghouses connecting financial institutions, their platform will enable payments companies to handle stablecoin transactions more efficiently. Broner also highlights the impact of the GENIUS Act, which has spurred increased interest from large companies in adopting stablecoins for payments, leading to a surge in requests for stablecoin projects.
(01:32:57) - Jonathan Slotkin, MD, is a practicing neurosurgeon and co-founder of Scrub Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage healthcare investments. In the conversation, he critiques the portrayal of a health tech company in a recent article, emphasizing the need for deeper scrutiny of medical claims and regulatory compliance. He highlights the importance of distinguishing between genuine innovation and unsubstantiated marketing, particularly in the context of telemedicine and peptide therapies.
(01:47:20) - Liz Hoffman, a seasoned journalist and business and finance editor at Semafor, discusses the launch of her new weekly interview show, "Compound Interest," which delves into the inner workings of significant economic sectors through conversations with industry leaders. She highlights recent episodes featuring David Ulevitch from Andreessen Horowitz on defense technology and the CEO of Oura discussing advancements in wearable health devices. Additionally, Hoffman shares insights on the U.S. labor market, emphasizing demographic shifts and the evolving impact of AI on employment trends.
(02:00:44) - Bret Taylor is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur, known for co-creating Google Maps, serving as CTO of Facebook, and co-founding the AI startup Sierra. In the conversation, Taylor discusses Sierra's rapid growth to $100 million in annual recurring revenue within seven quarters, highlighting successful deployments with companies like Nordstrom, which implemented Sierra's AI solutions in just four weeks. He emphasizes the company's focus on accelerating customer success through AI-driven solutions, including the development of Ghostwriter, a product that reimagines the platform around AI to enhance user experience.
(02:20:34) - Ariyan Kabir, co-founder and CEO of GrayMatter Robotics, discusses the critical need to enhance the U.S. industrial base, particularly in shipbuilding, to address significant labor shortages and maintain national security. He announces a partnership with Huntington Ingalls Industries to integrate factory superintelligence into shipbuilding, aiming to automate labor-intensive processes like sanding, grinding, and painting through AI-powered robotic systems. Kabir emphasizes that this collaboration seeks to bridge the gap between increasing demand and limited production capacity by deploying autonomous robots capable of handling diverse manufacturing tasks, thereby improving efficiency and reducing reliance on manual labor.
(02:27:14) - Atif Siddiqi, founder and CEO of Branch, leads a company that provides faster, more flexible payment solutions for hourly and gig workers, partnering with firms like Uber and Instacart. He discusses Branch's growth to over 230 employees, raising over $100 million in equity, and their focus on embedded finance offerings, including a recent integration with Stripe's Connect platform to offer digital wallets and debit cards. Siddiqi highlights the importance of improving workers' cash flow to enhance retention, noting that companies using Branch have seen a 60% increase in worker retention, and announces Branch's new end-to-end tax filing capabilities for 1099 workers.
(02:35:57) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions

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Open AI Acquires TBPN, Artemis II, The AI-Built $1.8B Company | Diet TBPN Apr 02, 2026

Show notes

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

AppLovin - https://axon.ai

Cisco - https://www.cisco.com

Cognition - https://cognition.ai

Console - https://console.com

CrowdStrike - https://crowdstrike.com

ElevenLabs - https://elevenlabs.io

Figma - https://figma.com

Fin - https://fin.ai

Gemini - https://gemini.google.com

Graphite - https://graphite.com

Gusto - https://gusto.com/tbpn

Kalshi - https://kalshi.com

Labelbox - https://labelbox.com

Lambda - https://lambda.ai

Linear - https://linear.app

MongoDB - https://mongodb.com

NYSE - https://nyse.com

Okta - https://www.okta.com

Phantom - https://phantom.com/cash

Plaid - https://plaid.com

Public - https://public.com

Railway - https://railway.com

Restream - https://restream.io

Sentry - https://sentry.io

Shopify - https://shopify.com/tbpn

Turbopuffer - https://turbopuffer.com

Vanta - https://vanta.com

Vibe - https://vibe.co

Follow TBPN:

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https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235

https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

OpenAI Acquires TBPN Apr 02, 2026

Show notes

(00:14) - OpenAI Acquires TBPN
(21:42) - Artemis II Reactions
(30:29) - The One-Man $1B Company
(41:50) - Timeline Reactions
(46:39) - Best Quarter for Big Deals Ever
(54:26) - Private Credit's Evangelist Under Fire
(01:03:47) - Apple at 50
(01:24:48) - Marc Lore, an American entrepreneur and investor, is renowned for founding Diapers.com and Jet.com, both of which were acquired by Amazon and Walmart, respectively. In the conversation, he discusses his journey from investment banking to launching these e-commerce ventures, highlighting his innovative approaches to logistics and customer experience. He also shares insights into his latest venture, Wonder, a food delivery startup aiming to revolutionize the industry by integrating technology and culinary expertise.
(01:54:33) - Adam Meyers, head of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike and host of the Adversary Universe podcast, discusses the recent surge in software supply chain attacks, emphasizing the role of developers in securing their code and the importance of multi-factor authentication to protect against identity-based threats. He highlights the increasing sophistication of adversaries, such as North Korean groups targeting developers to steal cryptocurrencies for funding weapons programs. Meyers also underscores the necessity for organizations to monitor suspicious behaviors at endpoints and during build processes to detect and prevent potential security breaches.
(02:07:16) - Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, has a background in founding and leading technology companies, including Allaire Corporation and Brightcove. In the conversation, he discusses the expansion of Circle's platform beyond its stablecoin USDC, highlighting the development of the ARK operating system and the company's focus on simplifying payments and providing infrastructure for developers. He also emphasizes the growing role of USDC in agent-to-agent economic transactions, noting its dominance in this emerging market and the potential for exponential growth as AI agents increasingly engage in financial activities.
(02:32:05) - Justin Levine, co-founder and CEO of Shepherd, an AI-native insurance company focusing on large-scale industries like construction and renewable energy, discusses the current construction super cycle driven by AI infrastructure, highlighting a $400 billion infrastructure spend this year alone. He explains Shepherd's role in providing insurance solutions to developers and contractors involved in building data centers and energy assets, emphasizing their innovative approach to underwriting and risk management. Levine also details Shepherd's recent $42 million Series B funding led by Intact Private Capital, underscoring the industry's recognition of the transformative impact of AI on underwriting processes.
(02:40:27) - Gaurav Misra, CEO of Mirage, discusses the company's recent $75 million funding round aimed at expanding their AI-driven video editing app, Captions, into new markets, particularly in Asia. He emphasizes their unique approach of combining user-generated media with AI-generated content to create cohesive narratives, catering to small businesses and individuals seeking to market themselves effectively. Misra also highlights plans to broaden the app's use cases beyond simple captioning, focusing on automating various video editing tasks to attract a diverse user base.
(02:49:46) - Philip Johnston, co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, discusses the company's recent $170 million Series A funding at a $1.1 billion valuation, making it the fastest unicorn in Y Combinator history. He outlines plans to build a constellation of 88,000 satellites, aiming to deploy 20 gigawatts of compute capacity in space, and highlights collaborations with Nvidia on space-optimized chips and the development of deployable radiators for thermal management. Johnston also emphasizes the potential of space-based data centers to alleviate terrestrial energy constraints by harnessing continuous solar power.

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/technology-brothers/id1772360235

https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive

Artemis II, Jamie Dimon’s “American Dream,” Snap’s Crucible Moment | Diet TBPN Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

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

AppLovin - https://axon.ai

Cisco - https://www.cisco.com

Cognition - https://cognition.ai

Console - https://console.com

CrowdStrike - https://crowdstrike.com

ElevenLabs - https://elevenlabs.io

Figma - https://figma.com

Fin - https://fin.ai

Gemini - https://gemini.google.com

Graphite - https://graphite.com

Gusto - https://gusto.com/tbpn

Kalshi - https://kalshi.com

Labelbox - https://labelbox.com

Lambda - https://lambda.ai

Linear - https://linear.app

MongoDB - https://mongodb.com

NYSE - https://nyse.com

Okta - https://www.okta.com

Phantom - https://phantom.com/cash

Plaid - https://plaid.com

Public - https://public.com

Railway - https://railway.com

Restream - https://restream.io

Sentry - https://sentry.io

Shopify - https://shopify.com/tbpn

Turbopuffer - https://turbopuffer.com

Vanta - https://vanta.com

Vibe - https://vibe.co

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

FULL INTERVIEW: Apple Exec on How Apple Builds Products That Actually Win Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

This is our full interview with Eddy Cue, recorded live on TBPN.

We discuss his early years at Apple, his admiration for Steve Jobs' innovation, and the challenges of launching the original Apple online store amidst concerns from traditional retail channels.

TBPN.com is made possible by:

Ramp - https://Ramp.com

AppLovin - https://axon.ai

Cisco - https://www.cisco.com

Cognition - https://cognition.ai

Console - https://console.com

CrowdStrike - https://crowdstrike.com

ElevenLabs - https://elevenlabs.io

Figma - https://figma.com

Fin - https://fin.ai

Gemini - https://gemini.google.com

Graphite - https://graphite.com