It's important to practice story telling in an interview. And the best way to practice is to do actual interviews at place you don't want to work. It also boosts moral to get offers from these places knowing you have a backup plan.
The problem isn't the ideas. It's the fact that these ideas people want you to validate the idea for them by building out the product. Well then, their idea is basically worthless.
I just listened to the episode and I am not sure I buy their premise why bad managers exists. There are many reason why someone get promoted into a managerial position, but saying it's because they were good at their current job seems simplistic and a broad generalization.
I am also skeptical of their claim about sales numbers and how effective their managerial skills are. Correlation is not causation, and averages is a horrible way to judge if a person will be a good manager.
It's not a bad strategy. It's keeping an eye on Sam Altman's agenda. He is a political animal that few people on HN seem to realize.
What makes him great at his job isn't the typical techie path of becoming great at technical and building a great product. His ability is the ability to influence and gain power through good and bad means.
Today's strategy may be good for employees; tomorrow maybe not. And no, he isn't thinking of what's best for employees. They just happen to be aligned at the moment. He is goal oriented regardless of the means. That's just my ill-informed opinion though.