New media often starts as something that “shouldn’t work”

That’s why I love what TBPN is doing. Their content format is something that traditional media would tell you should not work.

It’s two guys in suits, running a 3-hour livestream every weekday, treating Silicon Valley news like it’s the NBA mixed with talk radio.

The co-hosts Jordi Hays and John Coogan are two people who embody the “tech bro” persona. They’re credible tech operators who also don’t take themselves too seriously.

They have crafted a Barstool Sports vibe, but toned down for the Silicon Valley tech community.

Their audience isn’t massive but they’ve truly cornered the tech market. Each day they interview everyone from mid-level tech executives to Sam Altman, and were even officially invited to the Meta campus to interview Mark Zuckerberg.

The insight from Jordi and John is that you don’t always need a massive audience, you need a dedicated audience.

TBPN episodes tend to get thousands or tens of thousands of views, but they dominate the tech zeitgeist, which includes a wealthy, high-value audience for advertisers.

A three-hour daily talk show on tech news and inside jokes might sound dumb to your typical programming executive. But TBPN works.

The New York Times describes TBPN as “SportsCenter meets LinkedIn,” and now TBPN is becoming ESPN for the startup world.

It’s yet another development in the evolution of new media. The next big media brands won’t always come from studios, they’ll come from startups and creators.