Podcast
The Jason Levin Show
Hosted by Jason Levin · EN
Sup nerds. Join me for conversations with the coolest creatives on the internet. Best-selling authors, massive TikTokers, millionaire memelords, gigabrained founders, and brilliant venture capitalists. We talk about strategies and tactics to build digital worlds and content empires.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#89: Shane Levine & Nico Muoio - Vibe Design 101
Jun 1201:00:17Tap to summarizeShane Levine is the founder of product design studio Turbo LabsNico Muoio is the founder of e-commerce optimization agency Bottomless Labs(00:20) Our weird high school entrepreneurship stories(05:30) How Shane made bucks with viral iPod wallpapers(06:40) Why nostalgia design works, and when it doesn’t(08:20) MVPs are dead: you only get one shot now(09:50) How AI tools raised the floor for design(11:20) Dropshipper smell test: even your mom can detect it(17:20) Why ugly landing pages sometimes convert better(19:20) Niko’s high school t-shirt empire and how it scaled(23:20) Our morbid project: HeavenWireless(25:20) Design tips for getting VCs to take you seriously(27:20) “Design is like a hot person”(29:20) The psychology behind people tolerating bad UX for good looks(31:20) The highlighter girl moment: getting obsessive in FigJam and Notion(33:20) Why billionaires don’t care about tools(37:20) Product-led growth by design: making people pay upfront(39:20) How a Gumroad link with old screenshots got 1,000 signups(41:20) Sending pizzas to VCs(43:20) Memes by mail and hyper-personal gifts as biz dev hacks(45:20) Scaling as a chaotic creative: systems, checklists, looms(47:20) What to do when your SOPs are fucked(51:20) Talking to ChatGPT like your dadJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies (https://memelord.tech)Read Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups:https://www.cyberpatterns.xyz/subscribeFollow Jason for cool ideas here: https://twitter.com/iamjasonlevinFollow Shane for design and product content here: https://twitter.com/theShaneLevineFollow Nico for DTC content here: https://twitter.com/NicoMuoioPast guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.#startups #venturecapital #ycombinator #growthhacks #growthhacking #viralmarketing #marketing #marketingpodcast #marketingstrategy #marketingtips #marketinghacks #jasonlevin #techpodcast #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #businesspodcast #indiehacking
Transcribe →#88: Adam Faris — From NBA2K to Content Empire
May 29, 202500:51:18Tap to summarizeI talked to my homie Adam Faris, digital creator and the king of sports content.He started out posting NBA 2K TikTok memes and ended up in unexpected places such as Aston Martin Formula 1 garage and working with Playboy.(00:45) First viral TikTok: NBA 2K bets during COVID(04:12) Why Twitter/X is a broken app with the world’s best network(07:21) Making his first dollar $100 from content(09:28) Getting Chainsmokers follow from memes(14:36) How Adam got access to Vegas F1 Grand Prix and met celebrities(19:04) How creator work leads to absurd adventures(22:16) Adam’s creator bucket list: a Netflix show(25:22) How to create your own internet series(28:17) Why passion matter more than size (that’s what my wife said)(30:23) Don’t just aggregate memes. BE the meme(31:57) Message to companies: let the creators be creative(37:15) Adam’s Playboy gig with the Super Bowl(39:27) Red Bull should sponsor hackathons, not just athletes(41:26) GoPro nostalgia and how they lost their mojo(42:59) Idea: energy drinks for memelords(44:12) Running an agency on top of content empire(46:24) Why self-driven teams make everything better(49:36) Why Timothée Chalamet’s speech hits like crack for us ambitious peopleJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord TechnologiesRead Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason for memes and cool ideas hereFollow Adam for sports content herePast guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, Troy Osinoff and more.
Transcribe →#87: Troy Osinoff — He Sold a Meme App for Millions
Apr 24, 202500:55:11Tap to summarizeI talked to founder, investor, and all-around amazing guy Troy Osinoff. Troy built and sold MakeAGIF at 19, then went on to do other stuff from publishing a book to investing in MrBeast, the Charlotte Hornets, Moonpay, and more(00:41) Building the top #1 GIF site at 19 with(03:07) The janky hack that made MakeAGIF profitable(04:22) Investing in a studio where Kendrick recorded good kid, m.A.A.d city(06:52) Bought a bankrupt shoe factory and made handmade sneakers for Shaq(08:57) My Memelord Coffee launch(14:41) Learned to code by handwriting it at Barnes & Noble(16:20) Getting parents approval by being on Dr.Phil(17:25) Blog goes viral → book deal with Penguin → sells rights to John Krasinski(20:54) Troy’s gut-driven lifestyle manifesto(24:42) The meme rule: “Don’t touch a viral topic unless it’s your lane”(28:48) “Vibe marketing is still bullshit.”(32:50) “Every girl tweets about vibrators. I do it once and it’s a war crime.”(42:17) How Troy accidentally built a Gen Z media army(46:47) Troy's investment philosophy(54:49) Weirdos with WiFi and caffeine are finally winningJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies.Read Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on Twitter.Follow Troy on TwitterSubscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#86: Erica Levin — Our Meme Marriage
Apr 18, 202500:54:35Tap to summarizeMeet the Unhinged Meme Queen and my wife Erica Levin, who left her corporate job and now diving into the tech startup biz(00:17) Leaving the corporate life to creative life(02:52) Getting viral on our wedding day tweet(05:57) Erica getting CENSORED on X (07:52) Explaining what I do to her parents (good luck)(09:42) Planning our wedding with AI like a true startup couple(11:15) Erica’s GLP-1 app and the Ozempic rabbit hole(12:37) What it’s like being married to a memelord?(14:12) Just doing things in New York (chaotic creative mode)(16:15) That time a One Direction guy hit on my wife 🫠(18:52) How I structure my day between building, writing, and yapping (21:02) That time I was a broke data engineer(24:37) How my memes upset her friends(32:42) Papa Levin: the OG newsletter king(36:17) How I became the “Unhinged Husband” on her work Slack(37:37) My business advice to Erica (go silly or go home)(42:12) Why I avoid Hacker News like the plague(43:27) Celebrating your milestones: wins, fails, and firing clients(51:02) Our #1 thing: being able to make ourselves laugh Jason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies.Read Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on Twitter.Follow Erica on TwitterSubscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#85: Varun Rana — From Amazon Engineer to Viral Comedian
Apr 10, 202500:48:25Tap to summarizeVarun Rana is a viral comedian who left his engineering job at Amazon to make sketch comedy online(00:39) Why is it so easy to make fun of tech?(03:51) The algo gives you infinite shots as long as you’re not dumb(07:01) My ‘fuck it, go big’ moment(09:37) getting unsolicited feedback from random internet kids who’ve never built anything(13:23) Explaining to my dad that YouTube is now modern TV channels(16:37) Going insane at work, quitting with $0 plan, and telling your parents after(19:46) Turning your personality into the product(22:58) Using dirty jokes as brand strategy(26:06) The most boring job in tech rebranded as “GTM”(32:30) Startup ideas: Latina cleaners but for your laptop(35:40) Varun’s LinkedIn playbook: make fun of LinkedIn and get Viral(38:52) Long vs short posts: crank it out or let it marinate(42:00) The best bangers are unplanned(45:16) Meme-a-thons, flyers, Grok AI, and a dirty system promptJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies.Read Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on Twitter.Follow Varun on InstagramSubscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#84: Jared Zoneraich — The $5M Prompt Engineer
Mar 27, 202500:48:58Tap to summarizeJared Zoneraich is the founder PromptLayer, the first platform built for prompt engineers(00:45) The secret sauce behind prompting(06:54) “Intelligence is cheap as fuck now”(12:45) Remember when the whole internet dunked on prompt engineering?(18:40) Talking on the phone with your users and being friends with them(22:37) That one time Jared and I built a bot to talk to dead people during my bachelor party(24:14) Building while hackathon teammates hit the strip club(28:25) Founders: please have a hobby(32:50) Real talk: should you throw money at investing or keep building stuff?(36:55) Contrarian hot take: “This is a good time to be a software engineer”(39:27) Go all in on the platform you vibe with. Don’t try to be everywhere(45:09) Balancing between building and yapping to get customers(47:32) You can only get warm intros if you’re hotJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies.Read Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on Twitter.Follow Jared on Twitter.Subscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#83: EXCLUSIVE — The $120K/Mo Faceless Founders
Mar 20, 202500:57:19Tap to summarizeMeet my homies and the mysterious co-founders of Faceless.video: Alex Steinberg and Jacob Seeger(00:30) Who the fuck are these mystery founders making millions?(04:47) The Faceless.video origin story (09:03) Their first users + shoutout to cousin Andrew(13:35) Waking up to angry emails, but kinda loving it?(15:55) Vibes vs. data: who actually won?(20:17) How TikTok ban almost gave Alex a panic attack(23:29) Creativity is your only bottleneck in software(24:37) Teaser for my upcoming TV show (25:35) “You could just build software for the sake of it”(27:28) First time learning about vibe coding(30:34) Becoming the "Avengers of Doing Things"(40:06) Fuck cold plunges. Just make money(44:39) From building a brand to building software(45:04) 99% of startup advice is bullshit(49:15) Why entrepreneurs should always bootstrap first(53:04) Freedom as the goal for founders(55:42) AI can do a lot, but it still can’t be funnyJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord TechnologiesRead Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on TwitterCheck out Faceless VideoFollow Alex on TwitterFollow Jacob on TwitterSubscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#82: David Keyes — Meme Warfare: The New Battlefield
Mar 5, 202500:57:50Tap to summarizeDavid Keyes is the former spokesman to Israel's Prime Minister and pranker of dictators(00:38) What is ‘narrative warfare’ and how do you fight back(02:21) From pranking dictators to advising the Israeli PM(05:07) David’s wildest dictator pranks(09:20) Prepping Netanyahu to dodge media attacks(13:17) How startup founders can hit back at legacy media(17:26) Making the Israeli PM go viral on day one(21:14) Why are terrorists so damn good at PR?(23:21) The viral TOTAL VICTORY campaign and what made it explode(28:26) What David learned from working with Netanyahu firsthand(34:28) Our funeral for legacy media(36:08) Legacy media's death: self-inflicted?(37:28) What’s next for PR agencies now that legacy media is kaput?(40:04) “We need to seize the memes of production” me to @PalmerLuckey(41:25) The secret sauce to making your content go viral everytime(43:58) Measuring who’s winning the narrative war(46:04) Cracking world leaders with humors and jokes(49:46) How to stand out in an ocean of AI-generated slop(51:53) David’s mentors and the lessons they taught him(55:34) I was dead WRONG about memes making millionsJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord TechnologiesRead Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on XFollow David on XSubscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#81: Tyler Denk — Newsletters, Memes, and Dreams
Feb 26, 202500:52:06Tap to summarizeTyler Denk is the CEO and founder beehiiv, the all-in-one newsletter platform for creators.(00:26) Making money with newsletters: is that a thing?(05:16) How my newsletter became the home base for Memelord Technologies(06:14) The Big Desk Energy Costa Rica retreat(11:17) How I got a billionaire to sign up for my software(13:08) How I (almost) raised VC(17:11) Telling stories to get your team hyped(21:40) Dealing with “people problems” in your company(25:10) “Small teams are sexy”(26:45) The hiring domino effect(28:10) Building a company you actually want to work on(31:18) Hot take: You shouldn’t talk to users before launching(34:20) From $3 in his bank account to a job at @morningbrew(38:10) Doing whatever the fuck you gotta do to get what you want(41:35) My superpower: Being seen as an idiot(42:43) How the Memelord Technologies team got assembled(45:30) Building the most cracked team with people all over the worldJason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord TechnologiesRead Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on TwitterFollow Tyler on TwitterSubscribe to Jason on YouTubeSubscribe to Tyler's newsletter Big Desk EnergyPast guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
Transcribe →#80: Molly O'Shea — The Venture Artist
Feb 20, 202500:58:52Tap to summarizeMolly O'Shea is a venture capitalist and founder of Sourcery, a newsletter about top VC deals and startup trends02:51) Why every VC has a podcast(07:10) Why podcasting is a good excuse to meet cracked people(13:30) Internet friendship = best friendship(14:40) Molly's artist-to-VC pipeline(18:50) Learning about what VC does for the first time(22:00) Our high school side hustle stories(24:40) Why good artists shouldn't starve(26:09) The VC trash-talking culture(28:27) Fuck Kanye West(31:30) How to get viral by offending people (correctly)(35:10) "Memes aren't gonna save you if your product sucks"(37:12) "There's $16B value in LinkedIn influencers"(44:12) Molly explains to me wtf a "vertical SaaS" is(46:17) My secret Memelord Mafia workflow (50:41) "The internet is run by autodidacts" Jason Levin is the founder of meme marketing software Memelord Technologies.Read Jason's weekly advice column on organic social media growth for startups.Follow Jason on X.Follow Molly on X.Subscribe to Jason on YouTube.Past guests of The Jason Levin Show include: Eric Jorgenson, Greg Isenberg, Jack Raines, Paul Millerd, Mike Solana, Danny Miranda, Billy Oppenheimer, Jack Rhysider, Ben Wilson, and more.
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