Podcast Summary: TFTC #669 – Building the Events App That Bitcoin Deserves with Aleks Svetski

Host: Marty Bent
Guest: Aleks (Logan) Svetski (Entrepreneur, Satlantis & Nostr)
Date: October 11, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Marty Bent sits down with Aleks Svetski (Logan), founder of Satlantis and a key builder in the Bitcoin/Nostr space, to explore the journey of building a genuinely useful events application empowered by Bitcoin and the Nostr protocol. The conversation weaves through practical challenges in AI, reflections on digital burnout, shifts in entrepreneurial focus, and what it means to harness open, global protocols to create new markets—rather than replicate existing ones.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. AI as a Tool – Perceptions and Pitfalls

Timestamp: 01:29–07:02

• Logan pushes back on the hyperbole around AI's capabilities, emphasizing its role as a productivity tool—akin to a tractor or a PC—but far from achieving true sentience or general intelligence.
  • “I've always diverged with a lot of the overhype… this is a great tool. It can be used effectively... But does that mean that this is going to end all the jobs and replace all the human beings? No.” (Logan, 03:01)
• The current state of LLMs is described as plateaued, with little fundamental improvement between major model versions.
• Marty discusses the reality of creating with AI-driven content and applications—how it’s “hard work” and not just plug-and-play magic.
  • “It actually does take hard work… you have to literally hand hold them and format things in a certain way.” (Marty, 05:15)

2. AI Business Models & False Economies

Timestamp: 07:02–14:28

• AI services have non-zero marginal costs, unlike traditional software. Monetizing AI tools is difficult due to high backend (inference) costs versus what customers are willing to pay.
  • “The economics don't make any sense whatsoever… in AI, each new user actually costs you.” (Logan, 07:34)
• Discussion on the emerging “oligopoly” in LLMs—most users gravitate toward a few dominant models like ChatGPT and Gemini, leaving little room for open-source or smaller entrants.
  • “I thought there was going to be many, many, many models. But… we’re probably going to end up in a world where we have the FAANG of language models.” (Logan, 09:21)
• Open-source models face both technical and business hurdles competing with closed giants.

3. New Consumer Application Renaissance: AI, Bitcoin, Nostr

Timestamp: 15:23–23:24

• Logan sees new potential for “renaissance” in consumer apps thanks to emerging stacks: AI for productivity, Bitcoin for native payments, and Nostr for user-owned identity/social layers.
  • “Now you have small startups again, can… do payments at scale with Bitcoin... do a social graph at scale with something like Nostr, and can build faster… with AI tools.” (Logan, 18:13)
• He reflects on “censorship resistance” being less of a mainstream draw; the bigger opportunity lies in seamless, portable identity and social graphs.
  • “People talk about the censorship resistance… but… the mind space for censorship resistance is now basically taken up by X, Substack, and Rumble.” (Logan, 17:34)
• The opportunity is in leveraging the protocol (Nostr) to enable new user experiences, not just to build yet another social feed.

4. Events: The Killer Use Case for Nostr + Bitcoin

Timestamp: 23:24–35:25

• Logan recounts Satlantis’s pivot: rather than competing as a new social app, double down on events as the fundamental value proposition.
  • “The biggest uptick of users we had was people RSVPing for events… we’re just going to become the best fucking events app in the world, that has a social layer built in.” (Logan, 28:46)
• Nostr is used under-the-hood to handle social identity and connections; Bitcoin native payments will make global events seamless for hosts and attendees.
  • “Imagine an Eventbrite with just Bitcoin payments—doesn’t exist.” (Logan, 31:29)
• Marty underscores this as a classic “creating a new market”—not replicating, but innovating where old solutions don’t serve globally or at scale.

5. Solving the Cold Start Problem & Network Effects

Timestamp: 45:41–54:59

• Discussion about Andrew Chen’s “Cold Start Problem” and how to bootstrap network effects in new applications.
  • “Come for the tool, stay for the network” (cf. Dropbox, Instagram) as the go-to growth strategy for events.
• The importance of “tool-first” approaches in growing Nostr: give users a reason to join that has immediate value, and the network effect follows.
  • “The unlock that we’re looking at… is, hey, here’s a tool… to host beautiful events, get paid in Bitcoin instantly.” (Logan, 51:36)

6. User Experience, Social Layer, and Real-World Value

Timestamp: 59:00–64:44

• Host and Logan discuss practical features being built: RSVPs, ticketing with sats, curated events and places linked to events, leveraging the social graph for event discovery.
  • “The social graph actually works… not for content purposes, but for… validation purposes.” (Logan, 63:10)
• Events as a gateway use-case that leads to richer real-world connections and utility than content feeds alone.

7. Digital Burnout & Rediscovering ‘Meatspace’

Timestamp: 66:15–76:48

• Both reflect on the exhaustion with perpetual online “culture wars” and why building for real-world experiences (events, places, communities) is more fulfilling.
  • “I want to build an app that gets people to do shit in the real world and get the fuck off your screen… go and do something in the real world.” (Logan, 69:16)
• Actual event activity and physical meetups are rebounding post-COVID, representing a cultural and business opportunity.

8. Building for New Markets, Not Replicating the Old

Timestamp: 76:50–88:27

• Critical lesson: Stop trying to win users over from incumbent platforms in saturated spaces (e.g., social networks)—focus on open, global, untapped markets that uniquely leverage Bitcoin and Nostr.
  • “Should we be replicating businesses that already exist in the web 2.0 world… or… go create new markets? … That’s where the signal is and where the growth comes from.” (Marty, 87:01)
• Satlantis’s goal: become the go-to global Bitcoin-powered events platform, unlocking new possibilities for communities everywhere.
  • “Our goal is… to have all the bitcoin conferences, meetups… on there… If you want to know anything going on in meatspace in bitcoin… want it to be the place to be.” (Logan, 87:49)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “AI is sort of an effort multiplier as a business… But the big leap forward is identity and payments on the stack. Put those into the protocol—now you have a new design space for apps.”

  • – Logan, 18:13

• “We tried to build a social network for nomads. What we ended up giving them was a new problem: another place to post. What people actually needed was a better way to run events with less friction.”

  • – Logan, 35:42

• “There’s almost double the number of events happening now than pre-COVID. There’s been a massive rebound. People are craving meatspace connection.”

  • – Logan, 69:56

• “Get out there and meet people in the real world. Build actual networks again and friendships and communities. That’s what people are craving.”

  • – Logan, 71:55

Conclusion & Takeaways

• The future of startups is not in competing with established social apps but in creating new markets and new kinds of experiences by leveraging the unique advantages of Bitcoin and Nostr.
• Events represent a powerful, underexplored space for global networked communities—especially when powered by native, decentralized payments and user-owned social graphs.
• Emphasizing “real world” connection, straightforward UX, and hiding technical complexity from users will be key to growing adoption.
• Both the technical and cultural conditions are ripe for a “renaissance” in consumer applications, with Satlantis positioned as a pioneering example.

Further Resources

• Satlantis (Events App): For hosting and managing Bitcoin-native events (Bitcoin ticketing launching October 2025)
• Nostr: Open protocol for user-owned identity & open social
• Event hosts & organizers: Try out Satlantis for frictionless event creation and global audience reach.

Episode Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|----------------| | AI Purpose & Overhype | 01:29–07:02 | | AI Economics and Oligopoly | 07:02–14:28 | | The New Consumer Stack (AI, Bitcoin, Nostr) | 15:23–23:24 | | Events as a Killer App | 23:24–35:25 | | Solving the Cold Start Problem | 45:41–54:59 | | Product Features & User Behaviors | 59:00–64:44 | | Digital Burnout & Rediscovering Meatspace | 66:15–76:48 | | Building for New Markets | 76:50–88:27 |

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as both a practical case study and a philosophical roadmap for the next phase of Bitcoin-native, user-empowering application development. It’s essential listening for founders, builders, and anyone interested in where the intersection of Bitcoin, open protocols, and real-world value is headed.