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TBPN · 3 min · Oct 31, 2025
Product drops still work, but launch videos need new formats
Lulu Cheng Meservey says the familiar launch-video style is saturated, not that product drops are over. Distinctive formats can break through, but jokes too close to the product can backfire.
John Coogan, Host · Co-host, TBPN
Co-founded Soylent and Lucy; OpenAI bought his show TBPN in April 2026.
Jordi Hays, Host · Co-host, TBPN
Founded Branded Native; co-founded fintech Capital, which Rho bought.
About this segment
Lulu Cheng Meservey says the familiar launch-video style is saturated, not that product drops are over. Distinctive formats can break through, but jokes too close to the product can backfire.
From “Marc Andreessen & Ilya Sutskever Host TBPN”, Oct 31, 2025. Watch the full episode
Thanks. We'll look at and fix what's off.
“I think you just have to feel like people are not gonna stop announcing things and stop dropping things.”
Takeaways
- Drops aren't dead; the familiar launch-video format is saturated.
- Choose a distinctive format that fits the company.
- Avoid jokes that make the company defend its actual product.
In this episode
Full episode- 2:29:44Venture investors have to keep backing outliers through downturns2:52
- 1:47:16A superintelligence ban lacks a workable definition and reach4:48
- 2:32:27Generalists can spot opportunities experts overlook5:27
- 2:25:10Venture bets need durable growth, not just fast growth4:18
- 3:11:26Superhuman brings AI to users instead of waiting for prompts2:19
- 2:56:18Partiful makes the invitation part of the event5:10
- 2:01:12Dean thinks AI drives roughly 40% of GDP growth3:34
1:26:20Product drops still work, but launch videos need new formats3:03
Transcript
From the transcript TBPN publishes with the episode.
- 1:26:25
Are drops dead as a meta? Do you think? Like, it feels like launch videos and drops are both kinda over.
- 1:26:33
So so I don't think that drops are dead. I think that that specific style of drop with the, like, launch video has been over is completely saturated and overdone. Yeah. I think you just have to feel like people are not gonna stop announcing things and stop dropping things. Just have to find new ways to do it.
- 1:26:52
Well, meant drop in the I meant drop in the context of, like, we made this product with our branding on it kinda thing.
- 1:26:59
I thought Base did a really good job. Did you see Base's drop for their $11,000,000,000 round? It was a newspaper. I I thought that was, like, well executed in the sense that, like, it had a lot of text. It had a lot of content there. Yeah. Tyler has it there. Join the charge. And I just thought, like, yeah, it's like it's not just like a T shirt. It's, like, way way deeper. And I'd I'd say the same thing for the for the launch videos. It's like, we we found a very unique aesthetic yesterday. I'm not gonna share it because I think it would be a good launch video. But there there are there are specific formats where it's immediately identifiable as like, oh, that's that type of video. And if you use that as your launch video, you'll break through, and you'll be the first person to take you know, the like, right now, it's like the default meta is basically like, after Game of Thrones, stick around for the interview with the the actors.
- 1:27:57
Like, that's the aesthetic of most launch videos right now. It's like cinematic, couple minutes, interview with a few people, kind of like mini doc They said we couldn't build enterprise category. No one they said it was impossible. Yeah. That'd be a little commoditized. But, think you have fresh ideas.
- 1:28:12
Said at one point I said at one point that somebody should do a version of it of those sorority dance videos.
- 1:28:19
That's a great one. That's a great idea. That's a great one if you have someone who can do flips or if you just, like, all wear a matching outfit. Like, it has to be a company. It if you're, like, solving cancer doing cancer, that's probably not right. But as long as the joke is not too close to home. The problem with being a slop adjacent company that jokes about slop Sure. Is now it's so obvious that that is very close to what you're doing, and now you have to defend yourself. Yep. Like, what was that car company that was gonna do that rebrand a couple years ago? Jaguar. Was really bad too.
- 1:28:51
Yeah. There was another? There was another one where they joked about a rebrand. I don't even know if it was a joke. They claimed it was a joke because people hated it.
- 1:28:59
What? It's just I don't remember this at all. Claiming after getting a reaction that people don't like something and then saying, it was a joke is is not an effective strategy. I've seen seen that a little bit. The substrate launch was crazy. That was kind of like a Lulu and Gabby master class special.