Why OpenAI Bought a Podcast — with TBPN’s John Coogan and Jordi Hays
Scott Galloway sits down with TBPN creators John Coogan and Jordi Hays to unpack how they turned a daily tech show into one of the fastest-growing businesses in media — and ultimately, OpenAI’s first acquisition. They discuss why most podcasts get advertising wrong, how a small but influential audience can be worth more than mass reach, and why they built TBPN like a startup.
Plus, they debate OpenAI vs. Anthropic and what Mark Zuckerberg’s obsession with the next big thing reveals about the future of tech.
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The Simplest Way To Make $1M In 2026
Get Shaan's 4 money rules that took him from broke to $25M by 30: https://clickhubspot.com/sfmc
Episode 804: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) team up with the TBPN boys John Coogan ( https://x.com/johncoogan ) and Jordi Hays ( https://x.com/jordihays ) to break down the companies that could make you a millionaire as an employee.
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Show Notes:
(0:00) How to make $1,000,000
(5:05) Zuru
(12:47) Varda Space Industries
(19:33) Suno
(28:19) TrueMed
(37:32) HubSpot
(45:13) SemiAnalysis
(52:32) Harvey
(1:00:01) SendCutSent
(1:04:55) Column
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Links:
• ZURU - https://zurutoys.com/
• Varda - https://www.varda.com/
• Suno - https://suno.com/
• TrueMed - https://www.truemed.com/
• HubSpot - https://www.hubspot.com/
• SemiAnalysis - https://semianalysis.com/
• Harvey - https://www.harvey.ai/
• SendCutSend - https://sendcutsend.com/
• Column - https://column.com/
• TBPN - https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive
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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
• Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com
• Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents.
• Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
• I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
—
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/
• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/
• Copy That - https://copythat.com
• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth
• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/
My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /
The AI Industry Is Becoming Like Professional Sports
When it comes to tech startups, you often hear about VCs making a ton of money, or founders experiencing life-changing exits. But something is changing in the world of AI. Now it's the engineers themselves getting pay packages that can be in the 9-figure range. Why is this? Why is it happening? How is it changing the culture of Silicon Valley and business more generally? On this episode, we speak with John Coogan and Jordi Hays, the co-hosts of TBPN, a daily show about technology, which covers the industry in a sports-like manner. We talk about the economics of these transactions, why they make sense, and who are the industry's top superstars.
Read more:Meta Seizes Its Moment to Spend Aggressively in the AI RaceApple Rebound Looks Elusive as AI Woes Draw Investor Scrutiny
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