How to Give a Killer Keynote (Without Having a Panic Attack)

Oct 10, 2025

45:49

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Episode notes

Conference season is back, and CJ and Kyle are swapping stories from the stage—how to nail a keynote, whether conferences are worth the money, and why your walkout song matters more than you think. From there, they dig into a new a16z report revealing where AI startups are actually spending their dollars, and CJ shares results from his summer survey showing that CFOs talk a big game about measuring AI ROI—but nobody knows how to do it. The crew also unpacks how SaaS companies like Slack are bundling AI into their products and hiking prices, before spiraling into a late-night “potentially reliable” rabbit hole featuring a Soviet pole vaulter, beat-and-raise forecasting, and J. Edgar Hoover. They close with lessons on pricing in the real world (yes, Amsterdam’s architecture is involved) and one experiment CJ tried this week.

Timestamps:

00:00 Preview and Intro

01:28 Walkout Songs & Kicking Off Conference Season

03:39 How To Give a Great Keynote and Not Bore the Room

10:10 Are Conferences Worth the Money

14:21 What AI Companies Are Actually Paying For — The a16z Report

20:08 Summer Survey Results: The Elusive ROI of AI

25:45 Why No One Knows How To Measure ROI on AI

29:03 SaaS Companies Forcing AI — Bundling, Pricing, and Pushback

33:57 A Potentially Reliable Thing I Read at 2 AM

35:00 Soviet Pole Vaulter, Beat-and-Raise Forecasting & Hoover’s Borders

39:20 Pricing in the Real World — Lessons from Amsterdam’s Skinny Houses