TBPN: Wednesday’s Diet TBPN – November 13, 2025

Hosts: John Coogan & Jordi Hays
Main Theme:
This episode zeroes in on the evolving dynamics of technology startups, viral marketing in tech, investor strategy, and the latest in AI infrastructure and products. The hosts dissect a controversial YC-backed AI code editor (Chad Ide), discuss the pitfalls of "rage bait" as a product strategy, dive into VC fund performance debates, and break down new developments from major tech companies like Microsoft and Tesla.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Chad Ide & the Rise of “Rage Bait” in Product Design

What happened:

• The crew reviews the viral launch video for Chad Ide (“Brainrot Code Editor”)—an AI coding tool featuring built-in gambling, TikTok, and dating app integrations.
• YC (Y Combinator) promoted Chad Ide, sparking criticism and debate about the tactic of getting attention through outrage (“rage baiting”).

Discussion highlights:

• [01:54] Ben: “I think the video is funny… and I’m sure the founders are smart. For a low budget launch video, I think they did well.”
• [02:06] Ben: “Chad is an AI code editor that allows you to gamble, watch TikTok, and use dating apps while you work on coding tasks… On one hand, it’s funny. On the other hand, what are we doing here and why does this belong on the official YC account?”
• The hosts break down “rage baiting” as a move from fringe marketing to now an actual product differentiator, questioning its long-term value for startups.

Notable quote:

• [04:08] Ben: “Rage baiting, whether at the marketing level or product level, is the most effective way to get people who could be potential investors, customers, or team members to actively prey on your downfall. … Rage baiting is for losers.”

2. Differentiating Marketing Stunts from Product Identity

• [05:04] Ali: “The most important thing in your piece that I liked was this idea that there is rage bait marketing—doing a stunt, doing something a little bit crazy—but then delivering a quality product is separate from making the product itself rage baity.”
• The group discusses how Clad Labs’ (not Chad Labs) actual product may be more than its viral persona, but with limited info available and a sign-up wall, skepticism remains.

Comparison to established companies:

• [06:21] Ali: “If it was April Fool and Michael Truell at Cursor or Scott Wu with Windsurf were like, ‘we’re doing a brain rot version of the IDE,’ everyone would be like, that’s hilarious. OK, now back to using Windsurf and Cursor, right?”

Tension for investors:

• [07:26] Ali: “If that 1% [of a fund’s investments] gets a thousand times more views than your enterprise SaaS portfolio, you’re going to be known as the Slop Fund.”

3. YC’s Institutional Reputation and Selection Pressure

• Low YC acceptance rates mean founders with serious products may feel crowded out by provocative, less substantive entries.
• [08:47] Ben: “If you’re a founder that applied with an idea that you think is world positive, and then you see them announcing this kind of stuff, those founders are going to be even more frustrated.”

4. The Next Generation: Virality or Substance?

• Discussion about young entrepreneurs (like 14-year-old Alby) going viral with impressive YC applications.
• [11:10] Ben: “My default reply to high schoolers hitting me up for VC funding is: Put me on the phone with your parents.”
• Concerns that new founders might interpret viral “rage bait” as a key to breakout success, instead of product quality.
• [11:51] Ben: “I just want to avoid a scenario where … the Shiravs of the world think they need to rage bait in order to break out in this industry. It’s not the reality. You can just build a great product.”

5. Venture Capital Fund Strategy Debate

Ev Randall on 20VC:

• Claims most large funds (A16Z, etc.) can’t realistically promise 5x net returns to LPs any longer due to size constraints and market conditions.
• [13:04] Ev Randall: “I don’t think…they can go to LPs … and say, ‘Hey, this basket of funds…we’re going to get you 5x net on that.’ … it like defies the laws of physics.”

Reactions:

• Humorous jabs from hosts (“10x it again! Raise a $100 billion fund and 10x it!” at [14:38] Ali) and a measured debate about whether the comment is truly controversial.
• Differentiation between “making tons of money” and delivering high fund-level returns.

[16:21] Ben: “Benchmark is feeling, feeling pretty good right now. If you look at their 2020 fund…they have a bunch of multi 10-baggers.”

Social media fallout:

• Tagging and subtweeting escalates drama in VC Twitter, which the hosts aim to avoid.

A16Z perspective:

• [18:02] Ben: “The major appeal of investing in a16z is that you pretty much know you’re going to get in every important company…Not necessarily always super early, but at some point.”

6. AI Data Centers: Microsoft, Fairwater 2, and the Race for Capacity

Dwarkesh & Dylan Patel interview Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) about Fairwater 2, the largest AI data center:

[20:33] Jordy:

• Satya splits AI into two realms: cognitive tools (like Copilot/autocomplete) and “guardian angel” (AGI-like oversight).
• Microsoft’s hyperscaler status means multi-model support and a focus on high-margin users versus Oracle’s single-customer strategy.

Data center build-out discussion:

• Chips and rapid depreciation: Don’t overbuild with soon-to-be-obsolete tech.
• Microsoft keeps options open: Buy capacity from “neo-cloud” providers during supply crunches.

[24:43] Jordy:

• Satya discloses there’s a superintelligence lab within Microsoft, indicating ambitions to train their own large models, potentially competing with OpenAI at every stack layer.

7. Delight Bait vs. Rage Bait & Tech Product Reviews

Robotic companions:

• Brief discussion on a new expressive robot—hosts are intrigued and amused, seeing it as “delight bait” instead of rage bait.
• [26:01] Ali: “I have been delight baited. I have not been rage baited by this.”

Tesla FSD (Full Self-Driving) Hardware 4:

• Readout of Andrej Karpathy’s glowing review of Tesla’s latest hardware, with vastly improved self-driving compared to previous generations.

[27:45] Ben: “Glowing review of Tesla self-driving from the man who basically invented it and started the whole process.”

8. OpenAI Releases GPT-5.1

[27:58] Ben: Briefly notes that OpenAI launched GPT 5.1 (“ChatGPT is officially in its Fiji phase”), now rolling out.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• [02:06] Ben: “Chad is an AI code editor that allows you to gamble, watch TikTok, and use dating apps while you work on coding tasks.”
• [04:08] Ben: “Rage baiting is for losers.”
• [07:26] Ali: “If that 1% gets a thousand times more views…you’re going to be known as the Slop Fund.”
• [11:51] Ben: “You can just build a great product...Let that speak for itself. You can find ways to market it along the way.”
• [13:04] Ev Randall: “I don’t think…they can go to LPs ... and say…we’re going to get you 5x net on that.”
• [16:21] Ben: “Benchmark...have a bunch of multi 10-baggers at this point in that fund. So they’re feeling pretty good…”
• [20:33] Jordy: “Satya as being very non AGI pilled and I think this was a bit of an update.”
• [24:53] Ben: “That’s why I’ve always felt like the dynamic between OpenAI and Microsoft is so interesting, because OpenAI just has massive ambitions in the enterprise… you can imagine them ultimately competing on every layer…”

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:46 – 04:57: Chad Ide “Brainrot” code editor discussion, rage bait and viral stunts
• 05:04 – 07:26: Differentiating marketing from core product; investor reputation impacts
• 07:26 – 09:02: Fund reputation, founder frustrations with YC’s choices
• 09:35 – 11:51: Advice for future founders & on being product-first not rage-first
• 13:04 – 16:21: VC fund performance analysis, returns, and LP expectations
• 20:02 – 25:21: Fairwater 2, Microsoft vs. OpenAI, AI infrastructure strategy
• 26:01 – 27:45: Expressive robots, Tesla FSD review
• 27:45–27:58: OpenAI’s GPT 5.1 announcement

Summary

This episode of TBPN dives deep into how tech startups market and differentiate in an “attention economy,” highlighting the dangers of rage as a product feature. The hosts explore ramifications for investors, discuss generational shifts in founder mentality, break down VC performance squabbles, and analyze current affairs in AI model infrastructure and robotics. The tone is critical yet humorous, with the hosts consistently questioning hype over substance while acknowledging the ever-evolving game of tech entrepreneurship and investment.