Views Aren’t Everything: How to Build an Audience That Actually Cares
What is it actually like to build in San Francisco in 2026? Chris Raroque, Will Wang, and Micky Shimeles came together with PostHog, Convex, and Founders, Inc. for a full day of conversations, content, and building across San Francisco. The first stop was Hogpatch, PostHog’s coworking space, where the group sat down for a candid conversation about creator-led companies, building an audience, startup life, and navigating the nonstop AI hype cycle. Chris shares how he thinks about growing a YouTube channel without attracting the wrong audience. Will talks about moving to San Francisco, building a company, and why being surrounded by ambitious people changes how you operate. Micky explains how content became a source of leverage, opening doors to jobs, partnerships, products, and relationships. They also discuss why views are not always equal, how founders can use content to recruit and stand out, and why titles, thumbnails, watch time, and topic selection matter just as much as the video itself. This conversation was recorded during the first stop of a three-part day: 11:00 a.m. — Hogpatch, with founders from the YC P26 batch 1:30 p.m. — Convex, for a live M.A.U. podcast recording 3:30 p.m. — Founders, Inc. SF Lab, with founders from the current Canopy batch Featuring: Chris Raroque: https://x.com/raroque Will Wang: https://x.com/iamwilliamwang Micky Shimeles: https://x.com/Rasmic Presented with PostHog, Convex, and Founders, Inc. Learn more about Convex: https://convex.dev Timestamps 00:00 Chris Raroque, Will Wang, and Micky Shimeles arrive at Hogpatch 00:44 Why in-person tech events still matter 01:18 Chris on React Miami and the changing developer conversation 03:13 Will on moving to San Francisco to build 04:32 Chris on growing an educational YouTube channel 05:56 How builders should navigate the AI hype cycle 06:34 Micky on staying authentic while playing the algorithm game 07:55 Will on the downside of viral attention 09:54 Chris explains why not all views are equal 11:43 Should creators treat content like a product? 12:17 Chris’s approach to titles, thumbnails, and click-through rate 14:05 Will on choosing topics people actually care about 15:30 Micky on watch time and thumbnail strategy 16:34 How content creates leverage for builders 17:23 Micky’s unexpected path from job hunting to YouTube 18:10 Why creators need to genuinely enjoy the process 19:30 Will on using content to recruit and stand out 20:14 Chris on building trust and relationships at scale 21:48 Wrapping up the Hogpatch stop