O Tech Bros, Where Art Thou?

As the Technology Brothers, John Coogan and Jordi Hays have cornered the Silicon Valley media market with their irresistibly insidery podcast.

- JULIA BLACK

Now, writes JULIA BLACK, they're coming for you

It was 4 p.m. on a Thursday, and the Technology Brothers had a gong problem. John Coogan and Jordi Hays had just wrapped a taping of their daily cult-favorite podcast, TBPN (short for Technology Business Programming Network), when they realized their 36-inch gong—which they ring to commemorate the fundraising triumphs of their startup-world guests—was no longer cutting it.

They had already blown through two smaller models. Now the towering ceiling of their new Hollywood soundstage was making even the 36-inch set piece feel diminutive. “The Hadrian gong would be a great sponsorship,” Coogan mused. He was referring to the defense tech manufacturer that had announced a $260 million series C on the show that afternoon. Alas, Hadrian had already run the numbers: TBPN’s dream gong wouldn’t fit in the machines the company uses to fabricate rocket parts. Fortunately their producer, Ben Kohler, had tracked down an 80-inch beauty in Memphis. Coogan leaned in to see his laptop. “Forty thousand dollars?” Coogan said, sounding less appalled than giddy at the figure. (While they have yet to commit to the bigger gong, they have since invested in a life-size bronze horse modeled after Napoléon’s warhorse Marengo.)

In the world of the Technology Brothers, a willingness to spend in service of the bit has become the bit itself. They drive expensive cars, they wear luxury watches, and they react to tech and finance news in an unapologetically celebratory manner. “Let’s give it up for private equity. Let’s give it up for the vice presidents,” they'll say over a slow clap. “Let’s give it up for VCs.”

The year-old show, at first called the Technology Brothers Podcast, is part CNBC Squawk Box, part Joe Rogan, part