People vs Algorithms New Media Energy
35 snips
Apr 3, 2026 
Emily Sundberg, founder and writer of the Feed Me newsletter who builds personality-driven food and culture projects. They explore how new media wins through earned energy, the nuts and bolts of scaling a creator business with events and merch, and how small apps and vibe coding shape modern media. Fast, candid, and culture-forward.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Troy's Hot Take Machine Prototype
- Troy built a "hot take" app integrating his newsletters, notes, and an LLM to fact-check and challenge submissions.
- He loaded the PVA podcast corpus so the app can generate a PVA-style take, and spent a full day developing it.
Ship Simple Products And Resist Feature Creep
- Avoid overbuilding features; prioritize taste, restraint, and a simple product that people will actually use.
- Troy warns feature creep from abundant AI tools and says engagement matters more than shipping a feature-rich app.
Control Token Costs And Build Community First
- If you build AI tools, prioritize community and cost control because token bills can bankrupt hobby projects quickly.
- Troy spent $500–$600 in tokens building a hot-take app and warns to use open models or solid dev work to cut runtime costs.