Happy Friday.
We’ll be back in the Ultradome on Monday. In the meantime, the current thing in tech is MAFIA, the new reality show from Founders Fund.
Daily Op-Ed, by TBPN President Dylan Abruscato
Why MAFIA Hits
MAFIA was a hit. Not just because it will make every founder want to raise from FF for a chance to play in a future episode, but because it took a proven TV format (Traitors) and recreated it for a niche audience: Tech Twitter.
The production value was indistinguishable from a TV show, but the cast was made up of people we already follow online. It gave us the chance to experience our favorite X accounts in an entirely new light (the former producer in me particularly loved the mic’d-up green room, which served as the show’s raw confessionals). The founders and VCs of Tech Twitter who usually only appear on our timelines instantly became reality stars.
And the host, Mike Solana, isn’t trying to be someone he’s not. He’s clearly just hosting the game he already loves and has been playing with his friends for years.
In media, that’s the secret sauce. Take a format you know deeply and rebuild it for a community you know intimately.
HQ Trivia was a classic TV game show built for the smartphone era. We all grew up watching and loving Jeopardy, so we knew exactly what questions to write, what jokes to make, and what themed episodes we’d want to play.
Crypto: The Game was Survivor for Crypto Twitter. And it was the game I always wanted to play. As a lifelong Survivor fan who unsuccessfully applies every year, I dreamed of playing an online version with my friends. I’ve never operated with more conviction because I was the target audience. I knew exactly which challenges would excite players, which twists would shock them, and which hidden immunity idols would be the most fun to find.
And TBPN is SportsCenter for Tech Twitter. We already talked about founders and VCs as though they were star athletes (they were, at least in our minds). We just built the show we wanted to watch.
So if you’re thinking about launching a show (or a new media arm), start by asking what show you desperately wish existed. Take a proven format (Late Night, Shark Tank, a talent competition, a cooking show) and rebuild it for a niche community you know better than anyone.
Don’t copy MAFIA. Don’t copy TBPN. Find the format you can’t stop thinking about and build the version you’ve always wanted to see for a niche community on the internet.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Ramp, Shopify, CrowdStrike, MongoDB, NYSE, Public, Console, Railway, Figma, and Cisco.
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