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The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway · July 9, 2026 · 1h 1m

Why OpenAI Bought a Podcast — with TBPN’s John Coogan and Jordi Hays

John Coogan, Jordi Hays

Scott Galloway sits down with John Coogan and Jordi Hays, the founders of TBPN, to explore how they turned a daily tech show into one of the fastest-growing media businesses and ultimately OpenAI's first acquisition. They break down why most podcasts get advertising wrong, how a small but deeply engaged audience can be more valuable than massive reach, and why they structured TBPN like a startup rather than a traditional media company. The conversation also covers the AI arms race between OpenAI and Anthropic, and what Mark Zuckerberg's relentless pursuit of the next big thing reveals about the future of tech.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Canon

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A small, influential audience is more valuable than a massive one
Coogan and Hays explain that a devoted niche audience drives more business value than a broad but disengaged listenership.
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Highlights

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Build a media company like a tech startup
TBPN was structured with product, engineering, and growth teams, not just content creators.
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Most podcast advertising is broken
Coogan and Hays argue that the standard podcast ad model fails to convert and undervalues the medium.
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Editorial

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OpenAI vs. Anthropic: the AI rivalry
Galloway, Coogan, and Hays debate which AI lab has the edge and what it means for the industry.
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Zuckerberg's obsession with the next big thing
The group discusses how Mark Zuckerberg's fixation on the next platform shift—from social to metaverse to AI—reflects the tech industry's constant search for growth.
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OpenAI's first acquisition was a podcast network
TBPN became OpenAI's first acquisition, signaling the AI company's interest in media and content distribution.
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