Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

Recode Decode: DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and COO Christopher Payne Jan 09, 2019

Show notes

Tony Xu, the CEO and co-founder of DoorDash, and Christopher Payne, the COO, talk with Recode's Kara Swisher about how the delivery company's busy 2018 and why it's starting to think about delivering more than food. In this episode: (01:41) Where DoorDash is now and the delivery business; (05:25) Is Amazon a competitor?; (08:07) Xu and Payne's backgrounds; (11:32) Why DoorDash succeeded where Webvan failed; (15:10) Working with big restaurants and why they don't do it themselves; (21:03) How DoorDash makes money; (25:53) The gig economy and the future of work; (30:48) Where the business could go beyond food delivery; (34:09) Why Xu started DoorDash; (36:08) The current startup environment and the image of tech; (39:31) What does it take to be an entrepreneur now?; (43:05) Raising money from SoftBank's Vision Fund; (44:55) The future of DoorDash and the future of retail stores; (50:51) Trends in shopping and the delivery business

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Recode Decode: Serial Box CEO Molly Barton Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Molly Barton, the CEO and co-founder of serialized reading app Serial Box, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about trying to make a Netflix-style digital platform for books. In this episode: (01:19) Barton's background and the early days of e-books; (06:45) Looking for digital innovation in publishing; (12:38) Combining e-books with audiobooks; (15:48) Why Barton started Serial Box; (20:13) How it works; (26:42) The business side and fundraising; (29:52) How the traditional publishing industry has reacted and what sort of books perform best; (33:52) Copyright and contract writers; (37:07) How well does a successful Serial Box book do?; (40:01) Where does reading go from here?

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Recode Decode: Keith Rabois Jan 05, 2019

Show notes

Khosla Ventures partner Keith Rabois talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the current startup and venture capital landscape, the Trump administration and more. In this episode: (01:18) Rabois's background; (04:28) Becoming a venture capitalist and how Khosla Ventures invests; (09:37) The startup and venture capital landscape; (15:06) Why startup fundraising was unusually hectic in December; (19:15) Investing in healthcare, aerospace and autonomous driving; (26:56) Artificial intelligence; (29:02) Ethical issues in advertising and at Facebook; (36:40) Political advertising and Russian media manipulation; (40:40) The prospect of regulation; (46:32) Saudi Arabia and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi; (50:04) Contrarianism and book recommendations; (53:45) Being conservative and Rabois' friend Peter Thiel; (58:07) What happens to the Trump administration next?; (1:02:16) Who could run against Trump and win?; (1:04:47) Rabois's real estate company Opendoor

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Recode Decode: Why Weight Watchers is now WW Jan 02, 2019

Show notes

WW International CEO Mindy Grossman talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about how her company, formerly known as Weight Watchers, has transitioned into modern "wellness" culture.

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Recode Decode: The ups and downs of Reddit's history Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

Inc. magazine senior writer Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her new book, "We Are the Nerds: The Birth and Tumultuous Life of Reddit, the Internet's Culture Laboratory."

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Recode Decode: How Imgur avoids the ugliness of social media Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

Imgur CEO Alan Schaaf talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about starting the image-sharing site and moderating its content. In this episode: (00:59) Schaaf's background; (03:18) Launching Imgur; (07:56) Imgur's early business plan; (15:34) Where online images are going (and how to pronounce "gif"); (21:37) Famous memes and how entertainment is changing; (30:19) The ugliness of social media; (38:09) Why other social platforms don't moderate their content like Imgur does

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Recode Decode: What's next for Amazon's Alexa? Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

Bret Kinsella, the editor of the voice technology blog Voicebot.ai, talks with Recode’s Rani Molla about the future of virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant. In this episode: (01:02) Kinsella’s background; (05:07) The history of voice tech; (11:19) How many people have smart speakers and what do they do with them?; (14:51) Music and podcasts on smart speakers; (16:51) Smart homes and voice; (20:51) Voice shopping; (24:40) Why brands are all in on voice; (28:04) Positioning products for voice searches; (31:33) Pay to play in search results; (34:11) Amazon’s microwave; (38:30) Other recently announced voice hardware; (43:18) Is this a privacy nightmare waiting to happen?; (45:48) Where will voice tech be in five years?

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Recode Decode: Four magic words for entrepreneurs: ‘Do your fucking job.’ Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

Scott Belsky, a venture partner at Benchmark and the chief product officer at Adobe, talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about his book, "The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture." In this episode: (02:32) Why Belsky came to California and started Behance; (07:14) Bootstrapping, taking investment and selling the company; (10:44) Leaving Adobe to join Benchmark; (14:53) Returning to Adobe; (18:36) Belsky's new book; (21:20) The difference between starting a company and keeping it going; (26:05) Belsky's favorite lessons from the book; (30:37) How he became an early investor in Uber; (33:54) Pinterest and other investments; (38:56) What would Belsky change about the startup world?

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Recode Decode: Why salad chain Sweetgreen thinks like a tech company Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Jonathan Neman, the co-founder of fast food salad chain Sweetgreen, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the company's techie side and the future of restaurants. In this episode: (01:26) How Sweetgreen got started; (04:14) Starting up in Washington, D.C.; (07:28) Why Sweetgreen sees itself as a "food platform"; (10:58) The challenges of food; (18:01) Sweetgreen's competitors and how it sources ingredients; (23:05) Online ordering; (27:21) Delivery and why other restaurants are giving up too much control; (30:12) Customer service vs. logistics; (34:05) "We wanted to make vegetables sexy"; (37:25) Tech companies getting into food; (40:17) Going international and to new cities in the U.S.; (41:29) Challenges and mistakes; (46:08) How Sweetgreen is using the blockchain; (49:07) The future of food and of Sweetgreen Notes from our sponsors:LEGO: In today's show you heard advertising content from The LEGO Store. With LEGO, every gift has a story. Start your story today at https://LEGO.build/Recode-Ship

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Recode Decode: How Peter Jackson’s team made WWI footage look new Dec 15, 2018

Show notes

Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson talks about his new film, a World War I documentary with sound and color called "They Shall Not Grow Old." In this episode: (00:37) Why he made the documentary; (06:21) The technology of WWI filmmaking; (08:33) Jackson's studios in New Zealand; (11:30) Does Jackson consider himself to be a technical person?; (14:39) The colorization of the old footage and addition of audio; (19:22) How the colors of the film were picked; (26:30) Machines, blood and feet; (32:09) The sound design; (37:28) What Jackson wants to achieve with "They Shall Not Grow Old"; (40:01) Where storytelling and filmmaking technology is going

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