When former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt, somebody from the viewers requested him if HBO’s hit satire Silicon Valley could be revived. Costolo, who was a author for the present, basically answered no (at timestamp 38:17).
Whereas the writers discuss that commonly, he stated, they don’t pursue it as a result of at the moment’s precise Silicon Valley is so weird, it could’t be parodied.
The most recent working example is a brand new firm known as Clad Labs that launched out of Y Combinator this week. Clad’s product is so outside-the-box that individuals thought it was an April Idiot’s joke in November.
However it’s an actual product, founder Richard Wang informed TechCrunch. The product is known as “Chad: the Brainrot IDE.” It’s yet one more vibe coding built-in improvement atmosphere — an IDE is the software program builders use to code — however with a twist. Whereas ready for the AI coding software to complete its activity, the developer can fiddle with their favourite brainrot actions, inside a window of the IDE.
Or, as the corporate’s web site advertises: “Gamble when you code. Watch TikToks. Swipe on Tinder. Play minigames. This isn’t a joke — it’s Chad IDE, and it’s fixing the largest productiveness downside in AI-powered improvement that no one’s speaking about.”
The founders say their IDE will increase productiveness by serving to with “context switching.” Their argument is, by doing all of your brainrot actions inside the IDE itself, as quickly because the AI is completed with the duty, you’ll get proper again to work moderately than be centered in your telephone or browser.
Response on X was mixed. Whereas some folks thought it was a faux satire, others thought it was a very good — or a horrible — thought.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 13-15, 2026
Prefer it or hate it, everybody had an opinion, even Jordi Hays, co-host of the enthusiastically pro-tech podcast TBPN. Hays penned a post on the product known as, “Rage Baiting is for Losers.” In it he stated of Chad IDE: “On one hand it’s humorous. Alternatively, what are we doing right here and why does this belong on the official YC account?”
He argued that merchandise like Chad IDE and Cluely have moved rage bait from a advertising and marketing gimmick to a “product technique” and “it actually shouldn’t be.” He urged YC to begin educating founders that “rage baiting is for losers.”
That is particuarly fascinating recommendation from somebody who, as a founder, had mastered viral advertising and marketing with out rage. Hays and his spouse Sarah based Occasion Spherical, a funding startup that went viral for his or her pleasant advertising and marketing gimmicks like launching NFT versions of top “helpful” VCs. (Occasion Spherical rebranded to Capital and sold to Rho in 2024.)
Wang tells TechCrunch what the haters don’t get about his brainrot IDE is that it wasn’t meant to be rage bait. The founders hope it turns into a genuinely beloved AI vibe coder for consumer-app sort builders. They wish to give these of us a client app-like expertise in an IDE.
Whereas the product is actual, it’s not out there to the general public but.
”We’re at the moment in a closed beta,” Wang stated. Proper now, Chad is trying to construct a “group” of customers who like the thought. Clad Labs hopes to open the product as much as the general public quickly, however for now, customers should get an invitation from somebody already within the beta.
Little question there’s a sure sort of developer who would love Chad. However regardless of the future holds for this product one factor is true: it’s almost unimaginable to parody Silicon Valley nowadays.
