🧑‍🎤 “iConcert” — Apple’s 600-seat rock-hall. Horowitz Andreessen University. Zuck’s bot-blocking. +Iced Coffee Interview

0:28This is Nick. Coinbase, Ring, Skype, Twitter, Twitch, DocuSign, Cruise, Carta. Yeah, he's the guy. And he's with us tomorrow night. And you might buy the last ticket if you click the link in the episode description. We can't wait to see you there. It's going to be the best one yet. But in the meantime, Jack, we got three fantastic stories for the funnest place in finance, coolest in capital. For our first story, Apple just built their first concert venue, and it's got more cameras and speakers than Carnegie Hall. But Apple knows that live events aren't actually about live events. For our second story, Andreessen Horwitz, the world's most famous venture capital firm, just launched a university.

1:05Horwitz Andreessen Academy, or as we call it, Dropout Year. And our third and final story, Zuck's AI agents just got blocked by Amazon. So Instagram is going to block Alexa. Oh, we need to talk about bot blocking, don't we, Jack? But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Wonderful mix of stories. Love the mix. Almost time for hair and mix. Did you hand them a printed copy of your resume? Did you send a thank you letter to all the recruiters within 24 hours. And was that thank you note an email or was it handwritten, Jack? And did that thank you note say, hi, Mr. Johnson or dear Mr.

1:36Johnson? Besties, there are so many challenging questions when you're applying for a job, but one question is bigger than any other. Should you bring an iced coffee into your interview? Iced coffee interviews, where do we stand on this, Jack? Okay, summer of 2008, I would not have survived without my daily 40 ounce black iced coffee. Okay, but did you bring it into the interview? I feel like if I walked in with a decaf, half-calf situation, I would have been kicked out. Okay, so the pro iced coffee supporters, they say that bringing it in showcases your personality. Wow, this guy's got a frappuccino.

2:06It highlights your energy. Coolada. It also signals you were organized because you had time to hit up Starbucks on the way to the office. Okay, that's one opinion. But the iced coffee detractors, what do they say, Derek? Well, the first thing they'll mention is the condensation ring on the boss's desk. Then they're going to mention the cracking ice that interrupted the whole interview. And did I hear slurping from your straw? I can't resist it. It's the syrup part. Now, I'm a little biased here, but if I saw someone bringing in iced coffee to an interview, I'd hire that man. Remind me of me. Hire that man.

2:34Darlena Duncan, she's loving this iced coffee interview drama. Because the iced coffee question has gone viral like a bad Zoom interview. Besties, is iced coffee a job hunting asset? Or 40 ounces of rejection? Let us know in the comments. And Jack, read Bill's Let's Hit Our Three Story. 13 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, that's a fat tip. T-Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, cause we ready to go.

3:09We can't wait no more, so just start the show.

3:15Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

3:25Indeed. Oh, we missed the deadline. My recording device is having issues. Our contractor pretended to be sick. I know he's watching the World Cup matches, Jack. Or how about this? Elon just tweeted something at 3 a.m. that completely changes the takeaway on our second story. We gotta re-record the show. Besties, when workplace chaos hits you, you need the right hire. And this is a job for Sponsored Jobs. Indeed, Sponsored Jobs gets you quality candidates when you need them most. We produce a daily episode of this show, 250 episodes a year. Sometimes we need help. we need it fast. So spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes.

3:58Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this T-Boy show will get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this show. Indeed.com slash podcast and mention T-Boy. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Monarch. Yeah, it is. You know my first money lesson? It was where to put our lemonade stand.

4:33I was wondering, it was on the Upper East Side. Do we do it on Lexington Avenue or Park Avenue? Wait a second. New York City has lemonade stands on the sidebar? They didn't. We were pioneers, Jack. Lexington Avenue is more commercial. Park is more residential. So what did we learn, Jack? Families are willing to pay more for lemonade. So you set it up on Park. Yeah, we did it on Park. Besties, no one gives you financial lessons in life. you end up figuring most of it out as you grow up. But we love Monarch because it's like a financial advisor in your pocket. Because every minute it's tracking your savings, spending, investments, and more.

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5:38For our first story, Apple just built its first ever concert hall. 600 seats at the London headquarters. Apple is getting into live experiences, but this theater specializes in not live experiences. Oh, besties. Forget the snubs. The Pit may have won the biggest award, but Apple won the Emmys. Apple beat out HBO, Netflix, Disney, and NBC. 28 Emmy Awards. Half of them coming from Widow's Bed. Bridger Tun, Bridger Knott. 25 % of Apple revenues now are from their services sector. They've got Apple TV. They've got Apple Fitness. They've got iCloud. They've got Apple Music. And although most of those service revenues come from the app tax and the app store, even Scorsese is impressed by Apple's creative arts.

6:20But Apple just announced they're going deeper into the arts. Yeah. From streaming to staging. Would that make me love you, Dan? It's called Apple Music Hall, and it's at their London headquarters inside the Battersea Power State. Apple, it's trying to be Carnegie Hall, literally. And Apple Music Hall opens up on September 28th. Okay, but besties, press pause in the pod, because here's what actually fascinates us about Apple's first concert venue. It's really the world's largest recording studio. To sprinkle on some context, Apple Music Hall, it sits inside an old electricity station right on the Thames River.

6:51Somebody spent a ton of money turning it into a millennial paradise office. Jack and I call this, though, the I stage. Because the 38-foot stage of Apple Music Hall would make Shakespeare jealous. It's got bronze balconies. It's got 600 seats. It's got multiple bars. We'd love to host a live show there. Are they serving appletinis? They're probably serving appletinis. Now, that's what you'd experience if you witness Sir Paul McCartney sell out Apple Hall someday. But what excites the Beatles is actually the 48 speakers and the 16 cameras for live streaming in Apple's iStage Hall. Plus enough lighting to grow sunflowers on the stage.

7:25Plus, plus two mixing studios. We repeat, this theater has 48 speakers and 16 cameras, even though there's only room for 600 people. So like the next time the Spice Girls go on a reunion tour, it would probably begin at Apple's new music hall. But we'd all watch it on TV because the recording would be so damn good. Now we know you're thinking 600 seats. That'll make this more of an intimate space, like picture MTV Unplugged back in the day. Spotify presents. Those tend to be intimate affairs as well. But Apple's new concert hall, according to BBC, has more cameras and speakers than any venue of its size on earth.

7:57And this theater has a unique and important legal term too. The artists walk out owning the recordings, not Apple. Okay, but one sec, Dr. Dre. There is a catch here, isn't there, Jeff? All performances must be live streamed to Apple Music. That's the deal. But as epic as watching Adele belt out some soprano notes at iHall would be, that's not actually the goal of this thing. The goal is for Adele to say, Hello, it's me on your screen. Oh, did I just break our no singing rule? You were very close, Jack. You were very close, but you didn't break it. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Apple's first concert hall?

8:31Apple knows that the most important part of live is the not live. Yeah. They're doing it for the gram. Besties, for decades, recordings of live content, that's been a big part of the music industry. ACDC live CDs, Hamilton the Musical on Disney +, the Ares Tour movie, those were all live recordings, but experienced by most people not live. Live events are epic. That's why we're doing a live tour right now. Ticket sales, they can make a lot of money, but just as important as ticket sales are the revenue you make after the live event. But to make money after the live event, you need really good footage of the live event.

9:04And that's really hard. Like, here's some insider info. We're doing our live show tonight in San Francisco, and we have to record it because we want the whole audience to experience it the next day. And even though we're recording at an epic venue, the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, we have to hire our own film crew. We have to rent our own cameras in order to capture the content. We have to do this at every venue. But Apple's Music Hall understands that unique pain point, and they capture all the content with 16 cameras. It'd be so easy if we did a live show at Apple Music Hall because they have all the cameras and all the speakers and all the microphones already.

9:37Basically, it's the only venue we've ever seen that lets the performer walk out the door with the content of a new album on a hard drive. So what Apple really created here is a giant turnkey recording studio for the live performance. Because Apple really knows what we know too. Just as important as the live part is the not live part. For our second story, Andreessen Horwitz is launching Horwitz Andreessen, an academy where students learn from Sam Altman and Travis Kalanick. It's not a college. It's Silicon Valley's first farm system. All right, Jack, I'm whipping out the whiteboard here. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Travis Kalanick, Daniel Eck.

10:18We forgot The Dropout. Oh, right. Who has a show on Hulu called The Dropout. Yeah, Bessie's Elizabeth Holmes. That's Silicon Valley's dropout list, but it's not just tech founders. Ralph Lauren, Richard Branson, Coco Chanel. Yeah, they've dropped out too. Across industries, the entrepreneurial itch can be more urgent than the midterm exams. So Andreessen Horowitz, the world's most famous VC firm, just invested in a new kind of higher ed where you won't drop out, actually, because it's basically entrepreneurship already. And they've raised 35 mil for an unaccredited two-year college alternative in San Francisco for 16 to 22-year-olds.

10:50And according to the CEO of this academy. Yes, they have a CEO. The curriculum is heavily AI-centric. Like you learn to launch a company, you learn to scale apps, and they also pointed out you also learn to quote-unquote find love. I mean, because the number one question from applicants is, what about the hookups? The party scene, huge. And according to Andreessen Horowitz's press release, courses will be taught by legendary people. Yeah, the PR team name-dropped Jensen Wong, Satya Nadella, Mira Morati, Patrick Collison. They're all going to be teaching. But Silicon Valley has been trying to disrupt the diploma for decades.

11:21It's a move fast and break Harvard situation. To sprinkle on some context, in 2011, Peter Thiel launched the Thiel Fellowship, which pays the most promising students to drop out and launch a company instead. Dylan Field, the founder of Figma, he left Brown his junior year for the Thiel deal. Quit and get cash. Palantir launched a program last year for high school grads called the Meritocracy Fellowship. Same idea, get paid to work at tech companies instead of pledging to a sorority. Also make Draper University, an unaccredited pre-accelerator entrepreneurship school. Founded by Tim Draper, the guy we're interviewing at tonight's live show.

11:54A lot of these Silicon Valley CEOs think you learn more by working and doing among smart people than by studying in a classroom. Now Andreessen, the world's most famous VC, is launching its own all at college, but they have a campus. Although you'll be on a lot of corporate campuses too. Yeah, yeah. Because there's rotational work programs at tech. And Mark Andreessen is going to haze you by withholding dinner until you can finish a math problem. We should point that out. Traditional teaching credit nations are not required for this academy. Because as they say, there's no correlation between having a PhD and being a good teacher.

12:23Man, the founding class is a one-year program. It is free starting next year. But eventually they want a two-year college-like degree with tuition the same price as the elite universities. So students 16 to 22 are now applying to start next fall. Although no athletic scholarship. I think if you say you play sports, you're less likely to get it. Yeah, good luck fencers out there. You're not going to see the Andreessen disruptors versus the teal technologists. No, you're not. But besties, what do we think about this? that it's a minor league for venture capital. Just like the farm system in baseball.

12:52Stanford is already teaming with VCs looking for the next Zuckerberg. And Andreessen wants the talent pipeline even more concentrated. That's why Google, Anthropic, and Vidya, they're all founding partners of this academy as well. They want access to the top 16-year-old talent. Besties, the real goal of Andreessen's Dropout U, it isn't alumni donations, it's alumni equity. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies pledging to Andreessen's Dropout University? There is no correct answer to entrepreneurship. Yetis, there's a long list of founders who quit college to start a company. There's also a long list of founders who finished college or who went to business school or who started a company when they were middle-aged.

13:29One of those paths gets the benefit of speed. If you launch young without kids, you're happy to sleep in a house with any other engineers and bootstrap. The other path, it gets the benefit of wisdom. You launch when you're more educated, bigger network, and more life experience. There's no right formula on how or when to found a company. Some industries require launching and experiencing. other industries that require networking and lessons. It's a reminder that unlike with college exams, there's no one correct answer to entrepreneurship. Class dismissed. We'll see you after the break. Now, a quick word from our sponsor.

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15:05That's Nutrafol.com, spelled N-U-T-R-A-L. F-O-L.com promo code T-Boy. NetSuite. Yeah, it is. You know what no one does anymore? Hand out free quality reading material. Except our buddies over at NetSuite apparently. You'll see what I mean in a second. Yeah, because they know that AI isn't just opening up new business opportunities. It is messing with your whole life right now. AI is making you answer all sorts of questions and make decisions about your work and your life. And all that curiosity is what's behind NetSuite Next, the next generation of the business management suite trusted by over 44 ,000 companies.

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16:09Netsuite.com slash tboy. Netsuite.com slash tboy. For our third and final story, Amazon just blocked Zuck's new AI app from doing your shopping. And Zuck is blocking everyone else's AI apps. Oh, boy. This is a case of bot blocking. It's bot blocking. And it's holding AI back. Yetis, Meta. Ah, Meta. They are the AI company du jour. Metastock is up 33 % in the last 30 days, adding$64 billion to Zuckerberg's network. That's 11 lifts. And Zuck is now hitting Hollywood, kind of. Yeah, kind of because he's the anti-hero in the upcoming sequel to The Social Network called The Social Rackin. That comes out October 8th.

16:50Plus, Zuck's new AI app just hit number one in both the Apple and Google app stores. Muse AI. Zuck is everywhere right now. Yeah, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and now Muse. Every tech company's chatbot has had their time as the big man on campus. Now, we should point out, Meta AI was Meta's AI chatbot, but Muse AI is Meta's AI agent. Chatbots just answer your questions. Agents go on the internet and do things for you. Here's how it's going to look, Bessies. When you download Muse AI, it's going to show you a Teletubby-like character. What's yours name again, Jay? Mine is called Vesper. Vesper sounds kind of cool.

17:22And it'll ask you to connect your Gmail, your Google Calendar, and your Instagram accounts so that their agent rapidly gets to know you. They won't let you call them a him or a her though, right? They're playing kind of ambiguous with these pronouns. You have to call them an it or that. Yeah, they don't want to get too close to this thing. But Nick, after you've linked those accounts, it will take up bits on some meta data center somewhere working on your behalf 24-7, 365. And today, Zuck's expected to announce a new AI, new smart glasses at his Meta Connect event this evening. Oh, and the company Meta, it's approaching a$2 trillion valuation.

17:51But besties, this is what Jack and I find fascinating. Like we said Meta's AI can connect to your Gmail, but it can't connect to your Amazon. Amazon bot blocked it. Bot blocked it. That's the drama this week that coincided with Muse AI's rise in the app store. You see, the app to buy things for you can't actually buy things where you buy things. Here's what happened. Now, Amazon cited their terms and conditions for why they're blocking Muse AI. They have the right to block access to AI agents. Every time you say block, I think bot now. That usually limits how useful Muse can actually be. Like if it can't shop for tissues or tortillas, what's the point?

18:25Online shopping is a huge use case of the internet. Now, an unstated reason that Amazon is bot blocking meta, what is it, Jack? Advertising. Amazon made$68 billion in ads last year. But if those ads are viewed by bots, not humans, then advertisers will stop advertising. Plus, Zuck has plans to take a small cut of transactions, which would further shrink Amazon's margins. But I want to point out that I had a similar experience last week where Zuck wasn't being blocked. He was doing the blocking. Okay, why don't you sprinkle in more content? I asked Claude to periodically check Facebook Marketplace because I need a set of 45-pound downloads.

18:58Wait, wait, wait. Pause the pot. 45 or 25 pounds? No, I have 25. I have 30. I have 35. And I've been maxed out for like three years now. Pretty sure I was spotting you on 25. But look at it. We'll roll with your story, Jack. So Claude tells me I can't check periodically. Facebook blocks the access to other agents to their assets. Claude's like, are you sure you can brand trust 90 pounds together, Jack? There it is. Facebook's happy to let Muse, their AI chatbot, peruse Facebook marketplace. But Facebook will not let AI from other companies check their platforms. I still got some questions about these weights.

19:31But another example, besties. Apple's new Siri AI app that hit your iPhone on September 14th, it can't read Gmail or WhatsApp. Because Google and Meta have no incentive to help Apple's AI. They bot blocked it. Basically, every tech company is blocking bots from other tech companies. Now, Shopify is like the one exception. They announced on Tuesday they will allow Muse AI agents to shop on their platforms. But AI agents won't achieve their potential unless the tech companies can agree to be botnostic. Bot agnostic, for those who are trying to understand what Nick just said. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies lifting 55-pound dumbbells with their AI agents?

20:07We need an interstate commerce clause, but for AI. Yeah, these tech companies blocking bots from other tech companies, that's another collective action problem in AI. There's historical precedent here. Early cell phones couldn't accept text messages from other carriers. Or they wouldn't, I mean. Or how about the Baltimore Fire of 1904? Fire departments from neighboring cities came to help, but their hoses didn't fit the hydrants. You see, the interstate commerce clause, it requires states to now respect the rules and commerce of other states. It creates some harmony across the different jurisdictions.

20:38But this can also be solved without regulation. It just requires the tech companies to agree to one standard. But they better do it soon, Because when AI agents fail to do the thing you tell it to do, we often don't give them a second chance. Get this, 6 out of 10 British consumers stop using an AI shopping agent after it makes one mistake, according to a survey. You're like, I'm sick of this, never trying it again. Sorry, Vesper. So all the tech companies actually have an incentive to unblock each other's bots. Because if they don't, all the billions they spent on these AI bots won't live up to their full potential.

21:08Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Ceviche Wednesday? Apple has built a music hall in London with the most cameras of any venue of its size. Because just as important as the live part is the not live part of live entertainment. For our second story, A16Z is launching Z16A. Horowitz Andreessen, a college-like program for future tech founders. It's draw value, but there's no one answer to the question of becoming an entrepreneur. And our third and final story, Amazon is raining on Zuck's party by blocking Muse AI bots from shopping on Amazon. The tech companies, they got to get botnostic, where AI won't live up to its potential.

21:43But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, hold on to your diesel, because we might be banning diesel exports, something we've never done before. The world's economy runs on diesel, and with prices at an all-time record high, the president and the Republicans who control Congress are supporting a diesel export ban. Short term, this could help U.S. energy prices, but at the expense of the rest of the world and corporate profits. Second, Bitcoin is rising for no apparent reason. Bitcoin, it hath risen 30 % since the summer on hopes that the Clarity Bill would pass through Congress.

22:14But the Clarity Bill did not pass through Congress. What looked like bad news for the crypto industry never materialized. So, Ben, the Bitcoin is at a hibernation, up another 13 % since the Clarity Act failed to pass the Senate. And finally, how do you steal attention from Starbucks at the start of PSL season? Well, Jack, you team up. Duncan and L.L. Bean. They just collabed on their first ever joint tote bag. The most flannel thing New England has ever seen since lobsters were putting it all. It represents a whole new frontier in brand collabs from celebrity to geography. Now time for the best fact yet.

22:48This one whipped up by Jack and me as we were prepping for our SF live show. The oldest car dealership in America, it's in the Bay Area of California. And it's so old, they used to sell horses. True story. Right. Normandin's car dealership was founded in San Jose, California in 1875. This car dealership is 151 years old. But for the first 25 years, they sold Morgans, not Mazdas. Yeah. But when the horseless carriage came along, they started selling that too. Dick's referring to a car. Right, right. Today, 100 % of their business is Chrysler's. 0 % is Clydesdale's. It's the oldest continually operated car dealership in America.

23:24And it'll be used to new horses. Yetis, you look fantastic over there. So Jack, you are glowing before hair and makeup, which is in like 30 minutes. We actually do our own hair and makeup. We do. I do you, you do me. Which maybe now people are noticing. But besties, if you haven't yet, grab your tickets at tboypod.com. And if you're coming to tonight's show, we want to bring you up on stage. Yeah, so fill out the form. We have a link in the episode description. We want your best back yet. And let us know if you want to whip up the takeaways on stage. If you do, we'll get you up there. Jack, I think I missed the spot.

23:56All right, we're over here. I got a little blundish. See you tonight, or we'll see you tomorrow morning. All right, is that a pimple?

24:05And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Eddie Tyler Mayo, the cross-country running trombone playing now 15-year-old in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Happy 60th birthday to Rita Ritchie in McAllister, Oklahoma. And Ward Doggins turning seven, Wake Forest, North Carolina. Happy birthday to Carter T in Greenwich Village, New York. And JC Angare in Mexico City, Mexico. Happy best birthday. Congrats to Anna and Alex, who both got promoted and are going to the show tonight. And a happy fifth wedding anniversary to Hayul and Noreen from Oakland. We'll see you at the live show tonight. You'll get another shout out.

24:36And congrats to Natalie Chan and Kyle Curry in San Francisco expecting their first IBO. Yeah. 34 weeks pregnant, kicking off the third trimester at our live show tonight. The IBO, the initial baby offering, the baby even knows our voices at this point, Jack. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins.

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