I saw someone tweet we should build the TBPN for India. As someone who’s followed TBPN from day one, let me be clear: you can’t build TBPN. It’s an N-of-1 product.

This reminds me of when the ‘Derek Guy’ was blowing up on Twitter. People said: “If you want to grow fast today, just do what this menswear guy is doing.” However, the problem is: you’re not him. You didn’t grow up obsessed with men’s fashion since you were a teenager. You didn’t spend a decade watching, learning, critiquing, and fighting with people online. You will never have his deep knowledge of menswear, his biting tone, and years of immersion in fashion.

Yes, you can mimic the TBPN format. You can recreate the delivery. You can copy the lighting, the sound effects, you can even create vibe reels. But you can’t copy the taste of John Coogan and Jordi Hays. You can’t fake their love of startups. Showing up every day to do 3 hour live streams. You can’t manufacture the charisma or the humour or the edge.

Similarly, when the All in podcast was blowing up during the pandemic, a bunch of people tried to replicate the format. Logan Bartlett, Nikita Bier, and Zak Kukoff gave it a shot. They created the 3 Cartoon Avatars podcast. I remember half a dozen other copycats too. Unfortunately, it didn’t land for any of them.

Nikita’s humor, which works brilliantly on Twitter, just didn’t translate to the podcast arena. Their dynamic felt forced. The chemistry wasn’t there. Consequently, the whole thing came off like a weak copy of the All in crew.

Ironically, Logan actually did become a good podcaster — but only after the others left. He leaned into what he’s uniquely good at: his takes as a VC, his ability to ask smart questions, and his access to top tier guests willing to come and share real alpha. That’s when his podcast clicked and it became his thing.

The truth is, just because you’re good at shitposting on Twitter doesn’t mean you’ll be good on a podcast. Every platform amplifies different strengths. Moreover, if you’re just trying to copy a format without knowing what your strengths are, you’ll end up sounding like a knockoff.

It’s a common trap: seeing someone else win and thinking you can just “do that.” However, most formats aren’t plug and play. They’re built around people’s lived experience, tone, chemistry, and voice.

And when that’s missing, the audience feels it instantly.

I would not recommend copying TBPN. It just wouldn’t work.