Lightcone Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

2024’s Biggest Startup Trends Dec 13, 2024

2024 has been quite a year for AI and startups. As we head into the holidays and the new year, the Lightcone hosts reflect on this year’s biggest startup trends, moments, and breakthroughs.

Vertical AI Agents Could Be 10X Bigger Than SaaS Nov 22, 2024

As AI models continue to rapidly improve and compete with one another, a new business model is coming into view: vertical AI agents.

In this episode of the Lightcone, the hosts consider what effect vertical AI agents will have on incumbent SaaS companies, what use cases make the most sense, and how there could be 300 billion-dollar companies in this category alone.

Why The Next AI Breakthroughs Will Be In Reasoning, Not Scaling Nov 14, 2024

There's an ongoing debate about whether AI scaling laws will hold or hit a wall in the near future. However, what's clear now is today's models already have the power to increase productivity in ways that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago.

In this episode of the Lightcone, we dig into the results of a recent o1 hackathon hosted by YC to find out what can be unlocked when founders leverage a SOTA reasoning model.

The 10 Trillion Parameter AI Model With 300 IQ Nov 01, 2024

Earlier this month, OpenAI raised the largest venture round ever at $6.6 billion. The company’s CFO says AI is now at the point where orders of magnitude matter and the next generation of models will be capital intensive.

In this episode of the Lightcone, the hosts consider what a world with ultra-intelligent models would look like, and what potential unlocks could be made possible.

Now Anyone Can Code: How AI Agents Can Build Your Whole App Oct 18, 2024

With rapid advancements in LLMs, AI can now follow prompts to generate code and build functional custom software. So, how does the tech landscape change when coding becomes accessible to everyone?

In this episode of Lightcone, we sat down with Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit—an AI-powered platform for software development and deployment—to explore how anyone can now tap into the power of coding.

Why Vertical LLM Agents Are The New $1 Billion SaaS Opportunities Oct 04, 2024

As LLMs continue to improve, it's clear that vertical AI agents are key to the next generation of billion-dollar SaaS opportunities.

In this episode of the Lightcone, we sat down with Jake Heller, the co-founder and CEO of Castext— which sold to Thomson Reuters for $650 million in 2023— to discuss what it takes to build a successful vertical AI company.

The Hunt for State of the Art (with Suhail Doshi) Sep 19, 2024

Suhail Doshi, a YC alumni who previously founded Mixpanel and Mighty, has created a state-of-the-art (SOTA) AI image diffusion model with Playground. The app allows you to talk to it like a graphic designer and helps you create imagery and text for a wide variety of use cases. In this episode of Lightcone, Suhail sits down with the hosts to talk about his experience building Playground with his team and what it takes to make a SOTA model.

Try Playground: https://playground.com/design

Read Playground V3 Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.10695

How YC Was Created With Jessica Livingston Sep 06, 2024

Familiar with the lore of Y Combinator? Then you'll know Jessica Livingston — one of the original co-founders who started YC back in 2005. On a recent visit to our SF headquarters, she shared with the Lightcone hosts the stories and decisions of the early days that would form the foundations of YC as we know it today.

Are We In An AI Hype Cycle? Aug 22, 2024

Is the latest excitement around AI just another round of dot-com or crypto-style hype? The Lightcone hosts discuss where AI might be if the hype cycle is real, and what may remain once the buzz wears off.

Apply to YC's first-ever Fall batch at ycombinator.com/apply.

Gmail Creator Paul Buchheit On AGI, Open Source Models, Freedom Aug 09, 2024

It’s the first guest episode of Lightcone! The hosts sit down with Paul Buchheit, one of Google’s earliest employees, the creator of Gmail and current YC Group Partner. (He also came up with Google’s famous tagline “Don’t be evil.”)

This discussion covers a wide range of topics including the future of AGI, the early days of OpenAI and the crucial importance of open source models.

10 People + AI = Billion Dollar Company? Jun 27, 2024

As AI continues to evolve and advance, a line of thinking has emerged that humans will no longer need to learn how to write code in the future. If so, could this mean that a staff of ten or less could create a unicorn? The hosts of Lightcone analyze this prediction and discuss whether it has merit.

Better AI Models, Better Startups Jun 06, 2024

There's been a lot of news lately about the updates to some of the largest foundational AI models. But what does this mean for startups? How will future product releases from the AI giants effect the companies built on top of them? The hosts of Lightcone discuss how founders can take advantage of these developments and avoid being steamrolled by the competition.

Why This Is The Perfect Time To Start A Startup May 17, 2024

Last month, YC hosted Startup School East, a one-day event in Boston for university students. As part of the event, the Lightcone Podcast did their first live stage recording specifically tailored for the students. When you're young and there are seemingly endless directions you could pursue in life, the hosts of the Lightcone Podcast make the case for why right now is the perfect time to start a start up.

Consumer is back, What’s getting funded now, Immaculate vibes Apr 30, 2024

What's happening in startups right now and how can you get ahead of the curve? In this episode of the Lightcone podcast, we dive deep into the major trends we're seeing from the most recent batch of YC using data we've never shared publicly before. This is a glimpse into what might be the most exciting moment to be a startup founder ever. It's time to build.

Inside The Hard Tech Startups Turning Sci-Fi Into Reality Apr 30, 2024

YC has become a surprising force in the hard tech world, funding startups building physical products from satellites to rockets to electric planes. In this episode of Lightcone, we go behind the scenes to explore how YC advises founders on their ambitious startups. We also take a look at a number of YC's hard tech companies and how they got started with little time or money.

How To Build Generative AI Models Like OpenAI's Sora Apr 30, 2024

If you read articles about companies like OpenAI and Anthropic training foundation models, it would be natural to assume that if you don’t have a billion dollars or the resources of a large company, you can’t train your own foundational models. But the opposite is true. In this episode of the Lightcone Podcast, we discuss the strategies to build a foundational model from scratch in less than 3 months with examples of YC companies doing just that. We also get an exclusive look at Open AI's Sora! Read more about the YC AI companies from this episode on our blog: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/building-ai-models

Where Is The REAL Cerebral Valley? Apr 30, 2024

In this episode of the Lightcone Podcast, YC Group Partners chart the evolution of San Francisco as the center of the startup world and how AI has brought everyone back to the city.

They also talk about why YC chose to open our new HQ in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco and share their advice for new founders moving to the city for the first time.

Apple Vision Pro: Startup Platform Of The Future? Apr 30, 2024

In this episode of the Lightcone Podcast, YC Group Partners discuss the launch of the Apple Vision Pro and the potential of this new platform for new startups. This is a deep dive into the technical innovations Apple has made for this product, how this compares to the launch of the iPhone, and advice for founders interested in building in this space.

The Truth About Building AI Startups Today Apr 29, 2024

In the first episode of the Lightcone Podcast, YC Group Partners dig into everything they have learned working with the top founders building AI startups today. They share the ideas that are working particularly well, mistakes to avoid, and take a look at the competitive landscape among the current AI giants.

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