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BREAKING: Google Completes $32B Acquisition of Wiz $6M Seed → $32 Billion Exit First seed investor Gili Raanan (Gili Raanan // Cyberstarts) of Cyberstarts explains how a $6M seed check became the largest cybersecurity exit ever — & what it’s like working with CEO Assaf Rappaport. Cyberstarts stats: -...

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Molly O’Shea

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159,650 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten •via X (Twitter)

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At a $32 Billion Exit.. Wiz "probably sold low" "Wiz just finished its biggest ever quarter in terms of revenues. So you look at how amazing the business is & suddenly $32B does not look like an irrational number. … we probably sold low." In 2018, Gili Raanan (Cyberstarts), Doug Leone (Sequoia), & Shardul Shah (Index) backed Wiz with a $20M seed at a ~$66M post-money valuation. That’s ~485× from seed to exit in ~6 years. Gili Raanan // Cyberstarts doug leone Sequoia Capital Shardul Shah Index Ventures "But whenever I get into a journey with brilliant entrepreneurs you never know where the journey will take you because there are so many elements that dictate how big it becomes. A lot of that is execution internally, but also market timing, luck, competition, and the global economy that may or may not limit the availability of capital to your venture. There are so many things beyond your control when you start the journey. Wiz is definitely an example of a company that almost had perfect execution from day one. I was the seed investor together with Doug Leone from Sequoia & Shardul Shah from Index Ventures, and together we created a syndicate of $20 million that valued the company at around $66 million post. That's how we got into the journey sometime in 2018. I knew the Wiz team from their previous ventures so it was very organic for me to back them. Although many people say today, “Of course it was obvious they would be super successful.” It wasn't obvious at all. Beforehand they were founders of a company called Adallom which was sold for about $300 million, which is nice but definitely not spectacular. So they were similar to many other founders. We made a deal and then I asked them, “Okay so what do you do?” And they had a very different direction than what Wiz does today. The company wasn't even named Wiz. It was called Beyond Security and it was dealing with securing satellite offices. Then we started the sunrise process & figured out that the original idea was an okay idea but it would not get them to real greatness. They shifted to cloud security, a market they knew very well from Microsoft, and I believe that was one of the major advantages they had back in 2019. Back then they were one of the very few teams worldwide that actually knew how to do cloud security right. And then they really perfected product market fit. In the Wiz case all those personas mapped into a single person in real life — the CISO, the Chief Information Security Officer. He had the pain, he had the authority, he could use the product, and he had the budget. And that created the perfect storm for Wiz because it made their sales cycle super fast."

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My dear friend, Vlad Tenev, changed the landscape of investing forever! The rise of the retail investor is largely due to Robinhood's success... and in this new Journey Man, we discuss it all... Enjoy! 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Introducing Vlad Tenev of Robinhood 01:27 - Why Take on Wall Street? 01:54 - Robinhood’s Zero-Fee Origin Story 02:53 - Inspiration from Instagram and Uber 04:24 - Reimagining Trading for Mobile 05:05 - The Challenge of Disrupting Finance 05:42 - Why Everything Is Hard 06:34 - Early Wrong Assumptions 07:42 - Raising Capital with a Small Vision 08:48 - Funding Robinhood on AngelList 09:50 - Early Investors Changed Their Lives 10:38 - The Crypto Explosion Begins 11:07 - Considering a Bitcoin Exchange First 12:17 - Bitcoin’s Early Skepticism and Growth 13:08 - Robinhood Launches Crypto in 2018 14:03 - 2020: Crypto Revenue Surges Overnight 15:04 - The Challenge of Crypto Cyclicality 16:11 - Staffing a Volatile Business 17:10 - Building Robinhood’s Lean Crypto Team 18:46 - Robinhood’s First Crypto Event Coming 19:38 - Where TradFi Meets DeFi 20:34 - Tokenizing Everything 21:09 - Robinhood’s Vision for Crypto + Finance 21:47 - Thoughts on Crypto Options Demand 23:04 - Why Crypto Options Haven’t Taken Off 24:09 - Millennials and the Speculative Economy 25:22 - Democratizing Trading for Everyone 26:08 - Why Buy-and-Hold Doesn’t Work for All 27:15 - Trading vs Investing: A Matter of Wealth 28:01 - Trading as a Skill Anyone Can Build 29:13 - Robinhood’s Role in Onboarding Millions 30:06 - The Fed's Role and Retail Insight 31:03 - The Rise of the Retail Macro Trader 32:17 - Helping Users Succeed with Robinhood Strategies 33:35 - Power of Community and the Hive Mind 34:55 - Will AI Disrupt Community Too? 36:14 - Technological Waves and Investor Opportunity 37:10 - Human Purpose in an AI World 37:52 - Tokenizing Human Connection 38:28 - Creators, Platforms, and Future-Proofing 39:26 - Vlad’s Long-Term View of the Future 40:05 - Financial Services at the Heart of Disruption 41:14 - If AI Replaces Jobs, What Happens to Investing? 42:25 - Entering the Economic Singularity 43:31 - What Happens When AIs Win the Markets? 44:16 - AI's Role in Capital and Markets 45:07 - Will AI Eliminate Human Emotion from Markets? 46:06 - HFT: The Original AI Traders 47:20 - AI and Long-Term Probabilistic Forecasting 48:48 - GPUs, Gaming, and the Origins of AI 50:01 - Nvidia, CUDA, and Wall Street Arms Races 51:04 - Flash Boys and Microwave Trading 51:54 - Will AI Costs Go to Zero? 52:52 - Lower Cost, Higher Usage 53:41 - Robinhood’s UX Won’t Be Just a Chatbox 55:16 - Cortex: AI-Powered Features at Robinhood 56:54 - Tokenization and the Future of Asset Management 57:44 - Crowdsourced, Tokenized Hedge Funds 58:48 - Portability of Tokenized Assets 59:39 - Blockchain as the New Rails of Finance 01:00:09 - The Trump Token and Capital Formation 01:01:00 - Capital Access Unlocks Innovation 01:01:49 - Why Crypto Needs Regulatory Clarity 01:03:17 - From Meme Coins to Real Assets 01:04:17 - Crypto's Path to $100 Trillion? 01:05:15 - The Financial System Will Run on Blockchains 01:06:00 - Platform Layer vs Application Layer Wealth 01:06:29 - AI Raises Money and Launches Tokens 01:07:39 - AIs Creating Software and Capital Formation 01:08:00 - Final Thoughts: A Wild Future Ahead 01:08:20 - When Will Vlad Buy a CryptoPunk? 01:08:51 - Wrapping Up: AI, Crypto, and the Road Ahead
1:09:53

My dear friend, Vlad Tenev, changed the landscape of investing forever! The rise of the retail investor is largely due to Robinhood's success... and in this new Journey Man, we discuss it all... Enjoy! 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Introducing Vlad Tenev of Robinhood 01:27 - Why Take on Wall Street? 01:54 - Robinhood’s Zero-Fee Origin Story 02:53 - Inspiration from Instagram and Uber 04:24 - Reimagining Trading for Mobile 05:05 - The Challenge of Disrupting Finance 05:42 - Why Everything Is Hard 06:34 - Early Wrong Assumptions 07:42 - Raising Capital with a Small Vision 08:48 - Funding Robinhood on AngelList 09:50 - Early Investors Changed Their Lives 10:38 - The Crypto Explosion Begins 11:07 - Considering a Bitcoin Exchange First 12:17 - Bitcoin’s Early Skepticism and Growth 13:08 - Robinhood Launches Crypto in 2018 14:03 - 2020: Crypto Revenue Surges Overnight 15:04 - The Challenge of Crypto Cyclicality 16:11 - Staffing a Volatile Business 17:10 - Building Robinhood’s Lean Crypto Team 18:46 - Robinhood’s First Crypto Event Coming 19:38 - Where TradFi Meets DeFi 20:34 - Tokenizing Everything 21:09 - Robinhood’s Vision for Crypto + Finance 21:47 - Thoughts on Crypto Options Demand 23:04 - Why Crypto Options Haven’t Taken Off 24:09 - Millennials and the Speculative Economy 25:22 - Democratizing Trading for Everyone 26:08 - Why Buy-and-Hold Doesn’t Work for All 27:15 - Trading vs Investing: A Matter of Wealth 28:01 - Trading as a Skill Anyone Can Build 29:13 - Robinhood’s Role in Onboarding Millions 30:06 - The Fed's Role and Retail Insight 31:03 - The Rise of the Retail Macro Trader 32:17 - Helping Users Succeed with Robinhood Strategies 33:35 - Power of Community and the Hive Mind 34:55 - Will AI Disrupt Community Too? 36:14 - Technological Waves and Investor Opportunity 37:10 - Human Purpose in an AI World 37:52 - Tokenizing Human Connection 38:28 - Creators, Platforms, and Future-Proofing 39:26 - Vlad’s Long-Term View of the Future 40:05 - Financial Services at the Heart of Disruption 41:14 - If AI Replaces Jobs, What Happens to Investing? 42:25 - Entering the Economic Singularity 43:31 - What Happens When AIs Win the Markets? 44:16 - AI's Role in Capital and Markets 45:07 - Will AI Eliminate Human Emotion from Markets? 46:06 - HFT: The Original AI Traders 47:20 - AI and Long-Term Probabilistic Forecasting 48:48 - GPUs, Gaming, and the Origins of AI 50:01 - Nvidia, CUDA, and Wall Street Arms Races 51:04 - Flash Boys and Microwave Trading 51:54 - Will AI Costs Go to Zero? 52:52 - Lower Cost, Higher Usage 53:41 - Robinhood’s UX Won’t Be Just a Chatbox 55:16 - Cortex: AI-Powered Features at Robinhood 56:54 - Tokenization and the Future of Asset Management 57:44 - Crowdsourced, Tokenized Hedge Funds 58:48 - Portability of Tokenized Assets 59:39 - Blockchain as the New Rails of Finance 01:00:09 - The Trump Token and Capital Formation 01:01:00 - Capital Access Unlocks Innovation 01:01:49 - Why Crypto Needs Regulatory Clarity 01:03:17 - From Meme Coins to Real Assets 01:04:17 - Crypto's Path to $100 Trillion? 01:05:15 - The Financial System Will Run on Blockchains 01:06:00 - Platform Layer vs Application Layer Wealth 01:06:29 - AI Raises Money and Launches Tokens 01:07:39 - AIs Creating Software and Capital Formation 01:08:00 - Final Thoughts: A Wild Future Ahead 01:08:20 - When Will Vlad Buy a CryptoPunk? 01:08:51 - Wrapping Up: AI, Crypto, and the Road Ahead

Raoul Pal

166,795 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

Netflix pays AI PMs up to $900K/year. How do you become (and succeed) as one? Marily Nika Marily Nika is an AI PM at Google, and was an AI PM at Meta. In today's episode, she breaks it down: How AI PM Roles Differ at Big Tech Companies – 06:56 How Technical an AI PM Needs to Be – 08:08 Data Handling Responsibilities for AI PMs – 13:10 How PMs Can Improve Collaboration with Researchers – 18:06 Interviewing for AI PM Roles at Big Tech Companies – 22:08 The Role of a PhD in AI Product Management – 26:03 Optimizing LinkedIn for Aspiring AI PMs – 31:55 Roadmap to Becoming an AI PM – 37:05 Transitioning into AI Product Management – 40:52 The Process of Boomeranging Back to a Company – 44:00 AI Tools Every PM Should Know – 48:08 What It’s Like to Be an AI PM at Google – 57:46 How to Develop a Strong Product Strategy – 01:01:21 The Evolution of PM Roles in the Age of AI – 01:05:11 How PMs Can Stay Relevant in an AI-Driven World – 01:08:12 Balancing a Side Business with a Full-Time Job – 01:13:42 The Process of Creating a Course – 01:17:12 LinkedIn Tips for Aspiring AI PM Creators – 01:21:21 Lessons from Product Failures – 01:25:27 Paid promotions included
1:27:33

Netflix pays AI PMs up to $900K/year. How do you become (and succeed) as one? Marily Nika Marily Nika is an AI PM at Google, and was an AI PM at Meta. In today's episode, she breaks it down: How AI PM Roles Differ at Big Tech Companies – 06:56 How Technical an AI PM Needs to Be – 08:08 Data Handling Responsibilities for AI PMs – 13:10 How PMs Can Improve Collaboration with Researchers – 18:06 Interviewing for AI PM Roles at Big Tech Companies – 22:08 The Role of a PhD in AI Product Management – 26:03 Optimizing LinkedIn for Aspiring AI PMs – 31:55 Roadmap to Becoming an AI PM – 37:05 Transitioning into AI Product Management – 40:52 The Process of Boomeranging Back to a Company – 44:00 AI Tools Every PM Should Know – 48:08 What It’s Like to Be an AI PM at Google – 57:46 How to Develop a Strong Product Strategy – 01:01:21 The Evolution of PM Roles in the Age of AI – 01:05:11 How PMs Can Stay Relevant in an AI-Driven World – 01:08:12 Balancing a Side Business with a Full-Time Job – 01:13:42 The Process of Creating a Course – 01:17:12 LinkedIn Tips for Aspiring AI PM Creators – 01:21:21 Lessons from Product Failures – 01:25:27 Paid promotions included

Aakash Gupta

42,853 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

BREAKING: deel Hits $1.4B+ ARR Co-founded by CEO Alex Bouaziz (Alex Bouaziz) & CRO Shuo Wang (Shuo Wang), Alex shares their hypergrowth playbook.. Founded in 2019, at only 7 years old: - Deel has scaled to $1.4B+ ARR - Reached a $17.3B valuation - 40K+ customers across 150+ countries - 3+ years of being profitable Deel has rapidly become the #1 platform for hiring & paying employees worldwide. We discuss: • Scaling Deel to $1.4B+ ARR • Serving 40K+ companies across 150+ countries • Deel’s 10+ acquisition M&A strategy • Building a profitable hypergrowth SaaS company • The future of global hiring & distributed teams • How AI agents will transform the workforce Recent Financing: Oct 2025, Deel announced a $300 million Series E funding round, valuing the company at $17.3 billion co-led by Ribbit Capital (Ribbit Capital) as a new investor, alongside long-time partners Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) & Coatue Management (COATUE). This was filmed in London February 12, 2026 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alex Bouaziz, Co-Founder & CEO at Deel (02:05) Working with co-founder & CRO Shuo Wang (03:54) What Deel actually does (05:05) Biggest customers (05:54) $17B valuation and latest funding round (06:35) How Deel approaches fundraising (07:50) Hitting $100M ARR and early growth (09:25) Why raise money if you are already profitable? (10:35) Inside the latest funding round (12:03) Why payroll is a huge global opportunity (14:21) How Deel expanded its product stack (15:21) The challenges of hiring globally (16:18) Running a 7,000 person fully remote company (18:29) Tips for building remote teams (19:50) Why Deel went global from day one (22:47) How AI is changing hiring (25:00) Deel’s moat in an AI world (26:19) A question from Micky Malka (26:57) From airlines to oil and gas: who uses Deel (27:58) M&A strategy and integration playbook (34:33) Biggest mistakes companies make with acquisitions (35:56) How to retain founders after acquisitions (36:34) Deel's new CFO (39:09) What it takes to be IPO ready (40:29) How AI could affect Deel’s future (42:55) The "Dubai founder controversy" (46:00) Leading in a competitive market (50:47) The biggest misconception about Deel (53:27) The right people around you (56:51) The "default optimism" (58:33) What’s next for Deel (01:01:05) The future of autonomous agents (01:03:35) Biggest lessons from Shuo (01:06:34) What makes a great salesperson (01:08:32) Partnering with Arsenal
1:11:39

BREAKING: deel Hits $1.4B+ ARR Co-founded by CEO Alex Bouaziz (Alex Bouaziz) & CRO Shuo Wang (Shuo Wang), Alex shares their hypergrowth playbook.. Founded in 2019, at only 7 years old: - Deel has scaled to $1.4B+ ARR - Reached a $17.3B valuation - 40K+ customers across 150+ countries - 3+ years of being profitable Deel has rapidly become the #1 platform for hiring & paying employees worldwide. We discuss: • Scaling Deel to $1.4B+ ARR • Serving 40K+ companies across 150+ countries • Deel’s 10+ acquisition M&A strategy • Building a profitable hypergrowth SaaS company • The future of global hiring & distributed teams • How AI agents will transform the workforce Recent Financing: Oct 2025, Deel announced a $300 million Series E funding round, valuing the company at $17.3 billion co-led by Ribbit Capital (Ribbit Capital) as a new investor, alongside long-time partners Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) & Coatue Management (COATUE). This was filmed in London February 12, 2026 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alex Bouaziz, Co-Founder & CEO at Deel (02:05) Working with co-founder & CRO Shuo Wang (03:54) What Deel actually does (05:05) Biggest customers (05:54) $17B valuation and latest funding round (06:35) How Deel approaches fundraising (07:50) Hitting $100M ARR and early growth (09:25) Why raise money if you are already profitable? (10:35) Inside the latest funding round (12:03) Why payroll is a huge global opportunity (14:21) How Deel expanded its product stack (15:21) The challenges of hiring globally (16:18) Running a 7,000 person fully remote company (18:29) Tips for building remote teams (19:50) Why Deel went global from day one (22:47) How AI is changing hiring (25:00) Deel’s moat in an AI world (26:19) A question from Micky Malka (26:57) From airlines to oil and gas: who uses Deel (27:58) M&A strategy and integration playbook (34:33) Biggest mistakes companies make with acquisitions (35:56) How to retain founders after acquisitions (36:34) Deel's new CFO (39:09) What it takes to be IPO ready (40:29) How AI could affect Deel’s future (42:55) The "Dubai founder controversy" (46:00) Leading in a competitive market (50:47) The biggest misconception about Deel (53:27) The right people around you (56:51) The "default optimism" (58:33) What’s next for Deel (01:01:05) The future of autonomous agents (01:03:35) Biggest lessons from Shuo (01:06:34) What makes a great salesperson (01:08:32) Partnering with Arsenal

Molly O’Shea

284,164 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

Some personal news - I am launching a podcast HD in HD Podcast to share what would normally be offline conversations with exceptional people online. Have had the great fortune of co-founding BRex which has led to several great relationships with other builders over the years. I find that the best way to learn anything is through conversations with brilliant people. To kick things off, listen in on a thoughtful conversation with Vlad Tenev. Hope you enjoy these off the script conversations. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:00 Decision to stop drinking 00:07:26 Day of the IPO feeling 00:12:37 How Vlad was as a kid 00:19:51 Raising kids 00:24:01 Source of motivation 00:24:48 Getting into Stanford 00:30:05 Time at Stanford 00:33:32 Grad school 00:42:25 First company 00:48:35 Second company 00:53:10 Beginning of Robinhood 00:59:54 Positioning of Robinhood 01:04:04 Being depicted in movies 01:12:06 Trader influencers 01:15:27 Serving active traders 01:20:26 Meeting wife 01:27:13 Downsides & upsides of being a CEO 01:31:30 Minimizing phone addiction 01:35:06 GameStop 01:49:02 Final learnings
1:56:22

Some personal news - I am launching a podcast HD in HD Podcast to share what would normally be offline conversations with exceptional people online. Have had the great fortune of co-founding BRex which has led to several great relationships with other builders over the years. I find that the best way to learn anything is through conversations with brilliant people. To kick things off, listen in on a thoughtful conversation with Vlad Tenev. Hope you enjoy these off the script conversations. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:00 Decision to stop drinking 00:07:26 Day of the IPO feeling 00:12:37 How Vlad was as a kid 00:19:51 Raising kids 00:24:01 Source of motivation 00:24:48 Getting into Stanford 00:30:05 Time at Stanford 00:33:32 Grad school 00:42:25 First company 00:48:35 Second company 00:53:10 Beginning of Robinhood 00:59:54 Positioning of Robinhood 01:04:04 Being depicted in movies 01:12:06 Trader influencers 01:15:27 Serving active traders 01:20:26 Meeting wife 01:27:13 Downsides & upsides of being a CEO 01:31:30 Minimizing phone addiction 01:35:06 GameStop 01:49:02 Final learnings

Henrique Dubugras

27,801 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

Matt Miller left Sequoia Capital last year to start his own fund. Since then he's raised $400m and invested in some of the most exciting companies in the world including Synthesia 🎥, , Lovable, n8n.io, Harvey and many more. He's built an entirely new model around his group of "Legends" - 150 of the top founders, operators and investors from around the world. In Europe @matiii, Victor Riparbelli and Laura Modiano are all members. I sat down with him at the Evantic Capital offices for his FIRST INTERVIEW since leaving Sequoia Capital where we discussed: (00:00) - Introduction (01:02) - The Evantic Model and The Legends (05:02) - Getting access to the hottest deals (10:02) - The Gala, Europe's biggest tech event (15:26) - What investments and why (18:01) - Building a global firm from Europe (20:01) - We need more than one Index (21:31) - Why he's betting on Europe (22:45) - LP rejections and why (24:30) - Transition to Founding Partner (27:18) - Why he left Sequoia (29:48) - Lessons learnt from Sequoia (31:41) - Building Sequoia's presence in Europe (33:15) - Evolution of European Tech (35:00) - What's not going well in European Tech (36:00) - The role of EU–INC (37:14) - Sovereignty in Europe (38:50) - What makes a great founder (40:50) - Quickfire Tonight Matt Miller is hosting some of best of global tech at his new flagship event. If you're going to be there let me know.
46:06

Matt Miller left Sequoia Capital last year to start his own fund. Since then he's raised $400m and invested in some of the most exciting companies in the world including Synthesia 🎥, , Lovable, n8n.io, Harvey and many more. He's built an entirely new model around his group of "Legends" - 150 of the top founders, operators and investors from around the world. In Europe @matiii, Victor Riparbelli and Laura Modiano are all members. I sat down with him at the Evantic Capital offices for his FIRST INTERVIEW since leaving Sequoia Capital where we discussed: (00:00) - Introduction (01:02) - The Evantic Model and The Legends (05:02) - Getting access to the hottest deals (10:02) - The Gala, Europe's biggest tech event (15:26) - What investments and why (18:01) - Building a global firm from Europe (20:01) - We need more than one Index (21:31) - Why he's betting on Europe (22:45) - LP rejections and why (24:30) - Transition to Founding Partner (27:18) - Why he left Sequoia (29:48) - Lessons learnt from Sequoia (31:41) - Building Sequoia's presence in Europe (33:15) - Evolution of European Tech (35:00) - What's not going well in European Tech (36:00) - The role of EU–INC (37:14) - Sovereignty in Europe (38:50) - What makes a great founder (40:50) - Quickfire Tonight Matt Miller is hosting some of best of global tech at his new flagship event. If you're going to be there let me know.

Seb Johnson

25,306 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten

Some of the biggest companies of the next decade won't be software businesses. They'll be services companies like insurance carriers, law firms, and tax practices rebuilt from scratch with AI doing most of the work. In this episode of Startup School, YC Visiting Partner Charlie Warren walks through the playbook for building AI native services companies, covering how to pick a market with the right traits, why variance kills these businesses faster than anything else, and the P&L math that’ll transform your business model. 00:00 — Intro to AI Services Companies 01:01 — Picking the Right Market 02:55 — Markets YC Likes Right Now 03:43 — The Sam Altman Test 04:35 — The Right Founding Team 05:28 — Building the Product 06:19 — Variance Is the Existential Problem 07:08 — The Early Demand Trap 07:53 — How to Price AI Services 08:41 — The P&L Walkthrough 09:33 — AI Operating Leverage 10:27 — Don't Buy Your Way In
11:21

Some of the biggest companies of the next decade won't be software businesses. They'll be services companies like insurance carriers, law firms, and tax practices rebuilt from scratch with AI doing most of the work. In this episode of Startup School, YC Visiting Partner Charlie Warren walks through the playbook for building AI native services companies, covering how to pick a market with the right traits, why variance kills these businesses faster than anything else, and the P&L math that’ll transform your business model. 00:00 — Intro to AI Services Companies 01:01 — Picking the Right Market 02:55 — Markets YC Likes Right Now 03:43 — The Sam Altman Test 04:35 — The Right Founding Team 05:28 — Building the Product 06:19 — Variance Is the Existential Problem 07:08 — The Early Demand Trap 07:53 — How to Price AI Services 08:41 — The P&L Walkthrough 09:33 — AI Operating Leverage 10:27 — Don't Buy Your Way In

Y Combinator

128,759 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

BREAKING: Inside Thrive Capital w/ Partner Philip Clark Investing in OpenAI, Wiz, Cursor, Nudge, Physical Intelligence “Josh always had a line to me when I joined Thrive, which is that the people who win deals are the ones who want to win them most.” In this conversation, Philip breaks down how one of the most concentrated & influential firms (Thrive Capital) in tech evaluates founders, builds conviction, & partners with companies that reshape the world. We dive into: - Seeing an early demo of OpenAI’s GPT-4 before launch - Why Thrive flew into an active war zone to close the Wiz deal - Cursor’s explosive growth from a small pivot to a multi-hundred-million ARR product - How Nudge is engineering the human brain using ultrasound - Why hardware’s barriers are falling & why the biggest companies of the next decade may be physical Highlights (00:00) Who is Philip Clark? How he joined Thrive Capital (02:45) From physics to investing: becoming a technologist–optimist (04:00) How semiconductors led him to Thrive (06:00) Deep dive: Mesh Optical & the data center interconnect opportunity (07:45) Inside Cursor’s explosive growth and why AI is “speed chess” (09:15) How Philip first met Cursor’s founders during a pivot (11:30) Path to partner & Thrive’s “full-stack investor” model (13:45) The Wiz story: flying into an active war zone (17:15) Why Wiz closed six-figure deals in weeks — the rare “fast + big” enterprise combo (19:30) The rise of hardware: sensors, software, & SpaceX-trained talent (21:45) The rise of Nudge and engineering the human brain (26:30) Neuralink & Nudge: read to stimulate (31:15) Why Thrive concentrates instead of “spray and pray” (36:00) Inside OpenAI: seeing GPT-4 before launch (40:45) What comes after SaaS.. & the companies unlocked by AI
57:43

BREAKING: Inside Thrive Capital w/ Partner Philip Clark Investing in OpenAI, Wiz, Cursor, Nudge, Physical Intelligence “Josh always had a line to me when I joined Thrive, which is that the people who win deals are the ones who want to win them most.” In this conversation, Philip breaks down how one of the most concentrated & influential firms (Thrive Capital) in tech evaluates founders, builds conviction, & partners with companies that reshape the world. We dive into: - Seeing an early demo of OpenAI’s GPT-4 before launch - Why Thrive flew into an active war zone to close the Wiz deal - Cursor’s explosive growth from a small pivot to a multi-hundred-million ARR product - How Nudge is engineering the human brain using ultrasound - Why hardware’s barriers are falling & why the biggest companies of the next decade may be physical Highlights (00:00) Who is Philip Clark? How he joined Thrive Capital (02:45) From physics to investing: becoming a technologist–optimist (04:00) How semiconductors led him to Thrive (06:00) Deep dive: Mesh Optical & the data center interconnect opportunity (07:45) Inside Cursor’s explosive growth and why AI is “speed chess” (09:15) How Philip first met Cursor’s founders during a pivot (11:30) Path to partner & Thrive’s “full-stack investor” model (13:45) The Wiz story: flying into an active war zone (17:15) Why Wiz closed six-figure deals in weeks — the rare “fast + big” enterprise combo (19:30) The rise of hardware: sensors, software, & SpaceX-trained talent (21:45) The rise of Nudge and engineering the human brain (26:30) Neuralink & Nudge: read to stimulate (31:15) Why Thrive concentrates instead of “spray and pray” (36:00) Inside OpenAI: seeing GPT-4 before launch (40:45) What comes after SaaS.. & the companies unlocked by AI

Molly O’Shea

362,011 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

BREAKING: DreamWorks, Storytelling, & Building Companies in the AI Era Jeffrey Katzenberg & ChenLi Wang, WndrCo With $2.8B in AUM across Build, Seed, & Venture, wndrco has amassed a portfolio of hot names like: Cursor, Harvey, Figma, Abridge, Granola, Deel, 1Password, Robinhood, Airtable, Writer, Polymarket, Aura, & more.. We cover: - WTF happened in 2025 (?!) - $700 billion of capital investment in 24 months from hyperscalers - Storytelling in the world of AI - WndrCo origins & holding co strategy (expecting to generate ~$400M in free cash flow next year) - Check sizes & structure across strategies - How to BS-check products & startups Highlights: (00:00) Jeffrey Katzenberg & ChenLi Wang (ChenLi W) (01:43) What Actually Changed in AI in 2025 (03:26) When AI Hype Meets Real Productivity (05:01) Is an AI Bubble About to Burst? (05:59) Companies WndrCo Is Most Excited About (09:02) The Origin Story of WndrCo (09:45) Technology as a Storytelling Advantage (12:55) Why Katzenberg Chose Venture as a Third Act (17:12) From Holding Company to Venture Platform (18:56) How WndrCo Decides to Build vs Invest (22:29) Why Longevity Became a New Build Theme (26:33) "Good Storytelling, Bad Outcomes" (29:57) What Actually Differentiates WndrCo as an Investor (35:57) Why Benchmarks Fail in the AI Era (40:16) How WndrCo Invests: Build, Venture, Seed
50:29

BREAKING: DreamWorks, Storytelling, & Building Companies in the AI Era Jeffrey Katzenberg & ChenLi Wang, WndrCo With $2.8B in AUM across Build, Seed, & Venture, wndrco has amassed a portfolio of hot names like: Cursor, Harvey, Figma, Abridge, Granola, Deel, 1Password, Robinhood, Airtable, Writer, Polymarket, Aura, & more.. We cover: - WTF happened in 2025 (?!) - $700 billion of capital investment in 24 months from hyperscalers - Storytelling in the world of AI - WndrCo origins & holding co strategy (expecting to generate ~$400M in free cash flow next year) - Check sizes & structure across strategies - How to BS-check products & startups Highlights: (00:00) Jeffrey Katzenberg & ChenLi Wang (ChenLi W) (01:43) What Actually Changed in AI in 2025 (03:26) When AI Hype Meets Real Productivity (05:01) Is an AI Bubble About to Burst? (05:59) Companies WndrCo Is Most Excited About (09:02) The Origin Story of WndrCo (09:45) Technology as a Storytelling Advantage (12:55) Why Katzenberg Chose Venture as a Third Act (17:12) From Holding Company to Venture Platform (18:56) How WndrCo Decides to Build vs Invest (22:29) Why Longevity Became a New Build Theme (26:33) "Good Storytelling, Bad Outcomes" (29:57) What Actually Differentiates WndrCo as an Investor (35:57) Why Benchmarks Fail in the AI Era (40:16) How WndrCo Invests: Build, Venture, Seed

Molly O’Shea

115,768 Aufrufe • vor 6 Monaten

Brex co-founder and CEO Pedro Franceschi believes most people still underestimate how much AI will change the way companies are built. AI isn't just another tool, it's a new foundation for building products, teams, and companies. In this episode of Lightcone Podcast, Pedro Franceschi explains why we're only months into a platform shift as significant as the invention of electricity, why the CEO needs to be the chief AI officer, and why founders should rethink what's possible when intelligence is available on demand. 01:13 – How Pedro Became AI-Pilled 04:08 – The Electricity Analogy 05:21 – Free the Claw 06:56 – Making AI Safe for Enterprise 10:57 – Why Most Companies Are Behind 13:09 – AI Teammates, Not Chatbots 14:22 – The Case for Tokenmaxxing 18:24 – The Company of One 20:54 – The One Thing AI Can't Replace 28:06 – Building Customer World Models 32:58 – Rebuilding Brex Around AI 39:02 – The CEO Must Be the Chief AI Officer 43:50 – Building Company AGI 51:43 – Why We're Still So Early
54:06

Brex co-founder and CEO Pedro Franceschi believes most people still underestimate how much AI will change the way companies are built. AI isn't just another tool, it's a new foundation for building products, teams, and companies. In this episode of Lightcone Podcast, Pedro Franceschi explains why we're only months into a platform shift as significant as the invention of electricity, why the CEO needs to be the chief AI officer, and why founders should rethink what's possible when intelligence is available on demand. 01:13 – How Pedro Became AI-Pilled 04:08 – The Electricity Analogy 05:21 – Free the Claw 06:56 – Making AI Safe for Enterprise 10:57 – Why Most Companies Are Behind 13:09 – AI Teammates, Not Chatbots 14:22 – The Case for Tokenmaxxing 18:24 – The Company of One 20:54 – The One Thing AI Can't Replace 28:06 – Building Customer World Models 32:58 – Rebuilding Brex Around AI 39:02 – The CEO Must Be the Chief AI Officer 43:50 – Building Company AGI 51:43 – Why We're Still So Early

Y Combinator

197,624 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

Avoca (W23) is building what it calls the AI workforce for the physical economy, starting with home services. In just a few years, the company has grown to eight figures in revenue and recently raised over $125 million at a $1 billion valuation. In this fireside, co-founders Apurva Shrivastava and Tyson Chen sit down with Garry Tan to share how they found product-market fit by helping businesses turn missed calls into revenue. They explain why AI is expanding what software can do, pushing past the 1% of wallet that traditional software captures, and why they see it as one of the biggest opportunities for founders. 01:28 - Finding the Right Market 03:25 - Why AI Is Bigger Than SaaS 06:59 - The AI Job Story Nobody Talks About 11:53 - How the Founders Met 16:59 - The Pivot 21:47 - Customer Love Beats Market Size 25:31 - Building an AI Workforce 29:35 - Why Customer Obsession Wins 34:12 - Growing to Eight Figures 37:22 - The Vision Beyond Home Services 38:54 - Building a Generational Company
39:05

Avoca (W23) is building what it calls the AI workforce for the physical economy, starting with home services. In just a few years, the company has grown to eight figures in revenue and recently raised over $125 million at a $1 billion valuation. In this fireside, co-founders Apurva Shrivastava and Tyson Chen sit down with Garry Tan to share how they found product-market fit by helping businesses turn missed calls into revenue. They explain why AI is expanding what software can do, pushing past the 1% of wallet that traditional software captures, and why they see it as one of the biggest opportunities for founders. 01:28 - Finding the Right Market 03:25 - Why AI Is Bigger Than SaaS 06:59 - The AI Job Story Nobody Talks About 11:53 - How the Founders Met 16:59 - The Pivot 21:47 - Customer Love Beats Market Size 25:31 - Building an AI Workforce 29:35 - Why Customer Obsession Wins 34:12 - Growing to Eight Figures 37:22 - The Vision Beyond Home Services 38:54 - Building a Generational Company

Y Combinator

83,772 Aufrufe • vor 25 Tagen

My conversation with Kate McAndrew (katepmcandrew). Kate McAndrew is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Baukunst, a $100 million pre-seed venture fund that backs founders at the earliest stages of company building. Over the past decade, she has invested in more than 100 pre-seed companies, giving her a front-row seat to what separates exceptional founders from everyone else. In this episode we discuss: - What makes a startup worth investing in - How investors actually evaluate founders - How to spot an exceptional entrepreneur - The secret to building institutions that outlive you - Kate's unconventional path into venture capital - The investing philosophy behind a $100M fund Enjoy! Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:37 Kate’s Biggest Struggle 3:55 How Going To An All-Girls School Impacted Kate's Life 8:38 What Going To An All-Girls School Is Actually Like 11:21 How Kate Thinks About Investing 12:41 What Makes A Great Founder 14:23 How Companies Survive 100+ Years 17:14 Kate’s Unconventional Path To VC 23:15 The Philosophy Of Building A Great Company 27:54 How Kate Got Her First Job In VC 30:04 Kate’s Best Advice For Entrepreneurs 33:29 What Makes A Brand’s Identity 36:49 Why Kate Makes Content 43:30 The Purpose Behind Baukunst 48:04 How Baukunst Operates Internally 52:34 What Kate’s Most Excited To Invest In 54:57 Every VC Hates A Creator Business 58:04 The Value Of Creator Businesses 59:37 Rapid Fire Questions
1:12:17

My conversation with Kate McAndrew (katepmcandrew). Kate McAndrew is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Baukunst, a $100 million pre-seed venture fund that backs founders at the earliest stages of company building. Over the past decade, she has invested in more than 100 pre-seed companies, giving her a front-row seat to what separates exceptional founders from everyone else. In this episode we discuss: - What makes a startup worth investing in - How investors actually evaluate founders - How to spot an exceptional entrepreneur - The secret to building institutions that outlive you - Kate's unconventional path into venture capital - The investing philosophy behind a $100M fund Enjoy! Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:37 Kate’s Biggest Struggle 3:55 How Going To An All-Girls School Impacted Kate's Life 8:38 What Going To An All-Girls School Is Actually Like 11:21 How Kate Thinks About Investing 12:41 What Makes A Great Founder 14:23 How Companies Survive 100+ Years 17:14 Kate’s Unconventional Path To VC 23:15 The Philosophy Of Building A Great Company 27:54 How Kate Got Her First Job In VC 30:04 Kate’s Best Advice For Entrepreneurs 33:29 What Makes A Brand’s Identity 36:49 Why Kate Makes Content 43:30 The Purpose Behind Baukunst 48:04 How Baukunst Operates Internally 52:34 What Kate’s Most Excited To Invest In 54:57 Every VC Hates A Creator Business 58:04 The Value Of Creator Businesses 59:37 Rapid Fire Questions

Erica Wenger

12,689 Aufrufe • vor 16 Tagen

Robbie Bent (Robbie Bent) has an insane founding story and obsession with what he does. Now Othership is iconic but it started in his backyard with a couple of friends wanting to have a fun time with friends without alcohol. Seven years later, he’s got sold-out locations, multiple co-founders (two couples!), and is building what he calls a “social spa” that’s never been done before. He’s also terrified of competition, has mortgaged his house twice to keep the dream alive, and thinks that 90% of entrepreneurship is managing your own fear. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:52 The 20-year vision 05:50 Horse trough to $2M 10:00 Building with 4 co-founders 15:39 The New York crisis 22:10 Why didn't he quit 24:25 What still scares him 27:19 The social spa experiment 31:16 Does fear ever disappear? 34:00 His anxiety toolkit 39:25 Health and clarity 40:21 Competition and abundance 43:08 Product creates community 49:48 From addiction to healing 53:58 How his wife changed him 58:35 Fatherhood evolution 01:02:18 The balance act (work, family, health, friends) 01:07:53 Other cultures and values 01:12:46 Learning from founder stories 01:16:31 Bathhouse inspiration worldwide 01:21:05 Creative retreats and psilocybin 01:23:14 Acceptance Robbie Bent: From Near Death to Building a Multi-Million Dollar Wellness Cult is available across all major platforms!
1:23:21

Robbie Bent (Robbie Bent) has an insane founding story and obsession with what he does. Now Othership is iconic but it started in his backyard with a couple of friends wanting to have a fun time with friends without alcohol. Seven years later, he’s got sold-out locations, multiple co-founders (two couples!), and is building what he calls a “social spa” that’s never been done before. He’s also terrified of competition, has mortgaged his house twice to keep the dream alive, and thinks that 90% of entrepreneurship is managing your own fear. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:52 The 20-year vision 05:50 Horse trough to $2M 10:00 Building with 4 co-founders 15:39 The New York crisis 22:10 Why didn't he quit 24:25 What still scares him 27:19 The social spa experiment 31:16 Does fear ever disappear? 34:00 His anxiety toolkit 39:25 Health and clarity 40:21 Competition and abundance 43:08 Product creates community 49:48 From addiction to healing 53:58 How his wife changed him 58:35 Fatherhood evolution 01:02:18 The balance act (work, family, health, friends) 01:07:53 Other cultures and values 01:12:46 Learning from founder stories 01:16:31 Bathhouse inspiration worldwide 01:21:05 Creative retreats and psilocybin 01:23:14 Acceptance Robbie Bent: From Near Death to Building a Multi-Million Dollar Wellness Cult is available across all major platforms!

luba yudasina

22,761 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat