TBPN

Latest Episodes:

Meta Poaches OpenAI Researchers, Murati's Plans to Take on OpenAI, NATO Takeaways | Mike Gallagher, Pippa Lamb, Dan Shipper, Eliano Younes Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

(02:28) - The Social Network 2 Sneak Peak
(06:27) - Meta Poaches OpenAI Researchers
(29:28) - Murati's Plans to Take on OpenAI
(31:18) - Pippa Lamb is a partner at Sweet Capital, an early-stage tech fund established by the founders of King.com following their $5.9 billion sale to Activision Blizzard in 2015. In the conversation, she discusses the recent increase in European defense spending, highlighting the UK's commitment to allocate up to 5% of its GDP to defense by 2035, and the potential opportunities this presents for both established defense companies and emerging startups in the sector.
(01:00:34) - Timeline
(01:10:07) - Dan Shipper, co-founder of Every, a writer-focused media company, discusses the public launch of Quora, an AI-powered email assistant designed to streamline email management by filtering messages, drafting responses, and providing concise summaries. Priced at $15 per month, Quora aims to reduce the time users spend on email by automating routine tasks and prioritizing important communications. Shipper emphasizes the challenges incumbents face in integrating AI into existing platforms and highlights the advantages startups have in leveraging new technologies to innovate user experiences.
(01:23:45) - Eliano Younes, Palantir's Strategic Engagement Lead, discusses the successful relaunch of the company's merchandise store, emphasizing its commitment to American manufacturing and the overwhelming demand that led to rapid sellouts. He highlights the store's evolution, noting the shift to U.S.-made products and plans for unique, limited-edition items. Younes also mentions the significant traffic from international markets like South Korea and the store's role in strengthening the Palantir community.
(01:32:19) - Mike Gallagher, Head of Defense at Palantir Technologies, discusses his transition from military service and Congress to the private sector, emphasizing his commitment to national security and preventing global conflicts. He highlights Palantir's partnership with The Nuclear Company to develop an AI-driven Nuclear Operating System (NOS) aimed at streamlining nuclear reactor construction, reducing costs, and enhancing energy security. Gallagher underscores the strategic importance of this collaboration in maintaining U.S. leadership in nuclear technology amid global competition.

Mamdani Election, Shell in Talks to Acquire Rival BP | David Senra, Yancey Strickler, Joe Weisenthal, Alex Atallah, Michael Moriarty, Nikunj Kothari, Alex Kehr Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

(02:31) - Timeline
(02:35) - Mamdani Timeline Reactions
(41:43) - Shell in Talks to Aquire Rival BP
(55:29) - David Senra is the creator and host of the "Founders" podcast, where he delves into the lives and careers of history's most influential entrepreneurs. Each week, he reads a biography of a notable founder and extracts lessons that listeners can apply to their own ventures. Senra's passion for reading and entrepreneurship has led him to consume over 300 books on the subject, which he discusses in his episodes. In addition to his podcast, Senra has been featured in various interviews and discussions, sharing insights on topics like the importance of storytelling in communication, the value of authenticity in podcasting, and the significance of learning from historical figures. He emphasizes the power of distilling complex concepts into clear ideas and believes in the importance of practice and repetition to enhance clarity of thought and speech. Senra's work has garnered attention for its depth and dedication to understanding the minds of successful entrepreneurs, making his podcast a valuable resource for those interested in business and leadership.
(01:23:29) - Yancey Strickler, co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter, began his career as a music journalist before pioneering the crowdfunding platform that has raised over $4 billion for creative projects. In the conversation, he reflects on Kickstarter's early days, highlighting musician Allison Weiss's 2009 campaign as a pivotal moment that shaped modern crowdfunding practices. Strickler also discusses the evolution of the internet and the creator economy, emphasizing the shift towards creators having greater control over production and distribution, and the challenges and opportunities this presents.
(01:56:00) - Joe Weisenthal is an American journalist and financial expert. He serves as the executive editor of news for Bloomberg's digital brands, co-anchors the television show "What’d You Miss?", and co-hosts the "Odd Lots" podcast. In the conversation, Weisenthal discusses the recent political landscape in New York City, focusing on Zoran Mamdani's mayoral victory, the role of prediction markets in gauging political outcomes, and the potential impact of autonomous vehicles on urban planning.
(02:27:53) - Alex Atallah, co-founder of OpenSea, now leads OpenRouter, a platform that optimizes language model usage by routing traffic to the best GPU hosts based on user preferences. In the conversation, he discusses OpenRouter's role as a control plane for language models, enabling users to access various models with optimal performance and uptime. He also highlights the challenges in the AI landscape, such as the fragmentation of model availability across different cloud providers, and emphasizes OpenRouter's efforts to streamline access to these models.
(02:40:15) - Michael Moriarty, co-founder of Orca, an energy water company, discusses the challenges and successes of launching their product, emphasizing the innovative clear can packaging that differentiates them in the market. He highlights the difficulties faced in manufacturing the clear cans, which took two years and multiple factories to perfect, as well as the viral marketing strategies employed, such as a nine-minute launch video featuring Corbin Bleu listing road signs. Moriarty also touches on their rapid growth since launching on Amazon in March, the ongoing fundraising efforts, and plans for retail expansion in Southern California.
(02:48:22) - Timeline
(02:52:21) - NVIDIA Launches Cloud AI Playground
(02:54:16) - Nikunj Kothari, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor, has spent over a decade building startups across various sectors, including logistics, networking hardware, and real estate. He recently joined FPV Ventures, a generalist venture capital fund co-founded by Wesley Chan and Pegah Ebrahimi, which closed a $525 million fund focusing on diverse industries from biotech to consumer fintech. In the conversation, Kothari discusses the shift of value to the application layer as large AI models stabilize, emphasizing the importance of unique data and efficiency in building impactful AI applications.
(03:10:47) - Alex Kehr, CEO of Superlocal, discusses the development of Superlocal—a personalized map application that automatically logs users' locations to provide tailored recommendations—and its recent acquisition by Foursquare. He explains that Superlocal combines features reminiscent of Google Maps and Foursquare, offering automatic place mapping, check-ins, and persona building based on user preferences. Kehr expresses enthusiasm for the acquisition, noting that it allows Superlocal to continue its operations without the constant concern of financial instability.

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Hims & Hers Stock Drops Over 30%, All-In Launches Ultra Premium Tequila | Crémieux, Clément Delangue, Emmett Shear, Brendan Foody, Sam Schwager, Zach Lloyd, Dara Ladjevardian, Amjad Masad, Angus Muffatti Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

(04:30) - Anthropic Clears Legal Hurdle on AI Data
(11:32) - All-In Launches Ultra Premium Tequila
(30:45) - Timeline
(45:17) - Hims & Hers Stock Drops Over 30%
(56:09) - Ford is Scrambling For Rare-Earth Minerals
(01:03:01) - Fedex Founder Fred Smith Dies at 80
(01:15:37) - Cremieux discusses the expanding applications of GLP-1 medications, highlighting their effectiveness in treating conditions beyond diabetes and weight loss, such as sleep apnea and certain cancers. He expresses concern over the misuse of these drugs, particularly among individuals without medical necessity, and notes the ease of obtaining them through unofficial channels. Additionally, he comments on the implications of the Hims and Novo Nordisk partnership dissolution, suggesting potential issues with drug distribution practices.
(01:32:47) - Clément Delangue, CEO and co-founder of Hugging Face, an open-source AI platform, discusses the company's origins, including the choice of the "Hugging Face" emoji as its name, and its evolution from an AI chatbot to a leading platform with over 10 million AI builders. He highlights the importance of democratizing AI development to prevent the concentration of power among a few organizations, emphasizing the need for open-source collaboration to foster innovation and ethical practices. Delangue also addresses the challenges in AI, such as the scarcity of talent and resources, and advocates for a more decentralized approach to AI development to ensure broader accessibility and mitigate risks associated with monopolization.
(02:04:02) - Emmett Shear, an American entrepreneur and investor, co-founded Justin.tv and its gaming-focused spin-off, Twitch, where he served as CEO until March 2023. In the conversation, Shear discusses his new AI startup, Softmax, which aims to discover principles of alignment and scale them for humanity, focusing on multi-agent reinforcement learning research to understand how agents interact and learn within complex systems.
(02:36:52) - Brendan Foody, CEO of Mercor, discusses the company's rapid growth, noting collaborations with six of the "Mag Seven" tech giants and a 45% month-over-month growth over the past year. He highlights the increasing complexity in AI training, emphasizing the need for professionals like consultants, doctors, and lawyers to evaluate and teach models tasks beyond academic domains. Additionally, he addresses the challenges in AI's ability to perform basic tasks, such as booking flights, underscoring the importance of developing effective evaluation methods to measure and enhance model capabilities.
(02:44:08) - Sam Schwager, co-founder and CEO of Super Dial, a voice AI company specializing in automating phone calls for healthcare, discusses the company's transition from Superbill to Super Dial, focusing on revenue cycle management (RCM) and the automation of outbound calls to health insurance companies. He announces the successful completion of a $15 million Series A funding round led by Signal Fire and elaborates on the company's strategic approach to integrating various technologies, including text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and large language models, to enhance their services. Additionally, he highlights the importance of perfecting workflow and integration, emphasizing the need for domain-specific context to ensure the effectiveness of their voice AI agents in handling repetitive transactions within the healthcare sector.
(02:49:24) - Zach Lloyd, founder and CEO of Warp, discusses the launch of Warp 2.0, an AI-driven development environment that enables developers to prompt a terminal-like interface to run coding agents capable of tasks such as coding and debugging. He envisions a shift in software development workflows where engineers initiate tasks with prompts, allowing multiple agents to handle various development activities simultaneously, thereby enhancing productivity. Lloyd also emphasizes the importance of a competitive landscape among AI model providers to ensure better quality and pricing, expressing a preference for using the best available models, such as those from Anthropic, to deliver optimal user experiences.
(02:58:44) - Dara Ladjevardian, co-founder and CEO of Delphi, discusses the company's recent $16 million Series A funding led by Sequoia, aimed at expanding their digital cloning platform that enables individuals to create interactive digital versions of themselves to scale their expertise. He highlights diverse applications, including coaches scaling client practices, authors making books interactive, and CEOs enhancing internal communication. Ladjevardian also addresses monetization strategies, noting that some users have generated multiple seven-figure revenues, and emphasizes the importance of trust and quality in representing users' data and likeness accurately.
(03:16:12) - Amjad Masad, CEO and co-founder of Replit, discusses the company's journey from its inception as an open-source project in 2011 to achieving significant growth, including reaching $100 million in revenue. He highlights Replit's mission to make programming more accessible, emphasizing the role of AI in democratizing software development and enabling non-developers to build applications. Masad also addresses the competitive hiring landscape in the tech industry, noting Replit's unique approach to team culture and its focus on long-term commitment from employees.
(03:33:56) - Angus Muffatti, an Australian aerospace engineer and co-founder of Agtuary, is dedicated to revolutionizing agricultural land use and risk analytics by integrating AI, remote sensing, and climate data. In the conversation, he discusses his passion for building robots over the past decade, highlighting his development of a small robot as a stepping stone toward larger welding robotics, and emphasizes the importance of high-quality kinematic solvers for improved AI-driven robotic systems.
(03:42:05) - Timeline

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Tesla Robotaxis Go Live, OpenAI Pulls Jony Ive Promotional Materials, Iran Updates | Yacine, Farzad Mesbahi, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Jon Chu, Eric Romo & Thomas Mueller, Derek Thompson, Alex Robinson, Jesse Zhang Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

(01:33) - Live From the backseat of a robotaxi w/ Farzad Mesbahi
(07:58) - Timeline
(10:53) - Telsa rolls out Robotaxis in Texas
(16:30) - Iran launches attacks on U.S. base in Qatar
(20:27) - OpenAI pulls promotional material around Jony Ive
(32:03) - Timeline
(56:38) - Sebastian Siemiatkowski, born in 1981 to Polish immigrants in Sweden, is the co-founder and CEO of Klarna, a leading fintech company known for its "buy now, pay later" services. In the conversation, he discusses his early entrepreneurial influences, including Richard Branson and Ingvar Kamprad, and his journey from working at Burger King to founding Klarna at age 23. He also highlights Klarna's growth to over 100 million users and $100 billion in annual payment volume, the company's strategic expansion into the U.S. market, and the impact of AI on white-collar jobs and business operations.
(01:25:32) - Jon Chu, a Partner at Khosla Ventures with a background in machine learning and engineering leadership, discusses Meta's strategic moves in AI, emphasizing the company's commitment to securing top talent and its willingness to invest heavily to remain competitive. He highlights Meta's strengths as a fast follower and its readiness to take significant bets, noting that even a second-place position in the AI market could yield substantial returns. Chu also touches on Meta's potential to integrate AI across its product suite, from chat applications to ad optimization, underscoring the company's focus on leveraging AI to enhance user engagement and revenue.
(01:51:25) - Tom Mueller, a founding member of SpaceX and the CEO of Impulse Space, discusses the future of humanoid robotics, expressing optimism that their capabilities will advance more rapidly than some predictions suggest. He highlights the potential impact of humanoid robots on manufacturing and space exploration, emphasizing their role in reducing costs and risks associated with human space travel. Mueller also shares his vision for Impulse Space, focusing on enhancing in-space transportation to facilitate access to higher orbits and support missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
(01:51:25) - Eric Romo is the President & Chief Operating Officer at Impulse Space, the in‑space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller. He began his career as one of the earliest propulsion engineering hires at SpaceX and later founded startups in the solar energy and virtual reality sectors. Romo also served as a Director at Facebook Reality Labs. He holds both a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
(02:08:58) - Derek Thompson is an American journalist and author, known for his work as a staff writer at *The Atlantic* and as the host of the podcast *Plain English*. He has authored several books, including the national bestseller *Hit Makers* and the #1 *New York Times* bestseller *Abundance*, co-authored with Ezra Klein. In the conversation, Thompson discusses his decision to leave *The Atlantic* after 17 years to pursue independent ventures, emphasizing his desire for new challenges and the freedom to explore diverse topics. He reflects on the success of his book *Abundance* and the strategic timing of his departure, noting that the book's reception provided a unique opportunity to engage with a broader audience. Thompson also shares insights into the book's promotional strategy, highlighting the effectiveness of television appearances in driving sales and the importance of creating engaging content that sparks public discourse.
(02:43:19) - Alex Robinson, co-founder and CEO of Juniper Square, a leading investment management software company for private markets, discusses the company's recent $130 million Series D funding round and the launch of their AI product, Juni AI. He highlights Juniper Square's growth to approximately 2,500 customers managing around $1 trillion in assets, and addresses challenges faced during market downturns, including necessary layoffs and strategic pivots. Robinson also emphasizes the importance of integrating generative AI with deterministic tools to ensure accuracy in financial reporting, underscoring the company's commitment to innovation and efficiency in fund administration.
(02:52:43) - Jesse Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Decagon, discusses his company's AI-powered customer service agents that handle tasks like booking hotel rooms and managing loyalty points, aiming to enhance efficiency and customer experience. He highlights the advantages of large language models (LLMs) in managing complex customer interactions, moving beyond traditional chatbots to provide nuanced, personalized support. Zhang also emphasizes the evolving role of human agents, who are transitioning to higher-level positions such as managing and overseeing AI agents, rather than handling routine tasks.
(03:00:43) - Yacine Co9z5oe, founder of Dingboard and co-host of the "John and Jordy" podcast, discusses his recent experiences at X (formerly Twitter), where he addressed numerous bugs and observed the company's rapid advancements following its merger with XAI. He shares his plans to enhance Dingboard, a meme creation tool, and introduces the "Ding Bot," a 3D-printed robot designed to tackle everyday annoyances like dandelions on lawns. Additionally, Yacine reflects on his approach to online engagement, emphasizing his commitment to honesty and the balance between fun and stress in his prolific posting habits.

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Weekly Recap | Elon's Starship Explodes, OpenAI's Defense Contract, Nvidia's Robots, We Test Cluely Jun 21, 2025

Show notes

(00:00) - Intro
(00:03) - Elon Musk's Starship Explodes
(02:37) - Meta x Oakley
(03:56) - OpenAI Wins Defense Contract
(04:44) - Meta Puts Ads on WhatsApp
(05:33) - Intern Tests Cluely
(18:44) - Roy Lee (Cluely)
(33:54) - Lakers Sold for $10 Billion
(39:40) - Surge AI Beats Scale AI
(51:24) - Spotify CEO Invests in Drones
(55:41) - Katie Haun (Haun Ventures)
(01:14:47) - Justine Moore (a16z)
(01:39:44) - Nvidia Drops Humanoid Robots
(01:45:09) - George Hotz (comma.ai)

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Cluely Raises $15M from a16z, $45M Modern Hacienda in the Wild | Steven Sinofsky, Anupam Singh, Miles Moen, Alexander Sen, Bryan Kim, Roy Lee, Dave Fontenot Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

(07:13) - $45M Modern Hacienda in the Wild
(18:11) - Timeline
(33:42) - Intern Tests Cluely Live
(01:22:29) - Steven Sinofsky, a former Microsoft executive, led the development of Windows 7 and 8 before joining Andreessen Horowitz as a board partner. In the conversation, he reflects on his career at Microsoft, discusses the impact of antitrust regulations on the company, and shares insights on the evolution of technology, including the rise of AI and its parallels to the internet boom of the 1990s. He also comments on Apple's recent developments, the challenges of recruiting AI talent, and the complexities of regulatory competition among global authorities.
(01:59:48) - Anupam Singh, Vice President of AI and Growth Engineering at Roblox, discusses the company's use of artificial intelligence to enhance user experiences. He highlights the implementation of automated chat filters and real-time text translation to promote inclusivity and safety, as well as the development of coding assistants powered by generative AI to streamline content creation for developers.
(02:30:24) - Miles Moen, CEO of Dash Fuel, a vertical SaaS company specializing in downstream oil and gas logistics, discusses the company's role in optimizing fuel delivery from producers to end consumers like gas stations and airports. He highlights the industry's reliance on outdated, paper-based systems and explains how Dash Fuel aims to modernize these processes by eliminating duplicate data entry and enhancing profit margins through dynamic optimization of fuel sourcing. Moen also addresses the impact of recent Middle East conflicts on fuel price volatility, noting significant overnight price jumps and the industry's cautious approach to potential supply disruptions.
(02:42:26) - Alexander Sen, founder and CEO of Meridian, a next-generation CRM platform for private equity firms, discusses his transition from nearly a decade in private equity at firms like Blackstone, Thoma Bravo, and CVC . He highlights the inefficiencies of outdated CRMs in the industry and explains how Meridian integrates AI to streamline deal sourcing and decision-making processes.
(02:53:04) - Bryan Kim, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz specializing in consumer and AI investments, discusses the firm's recent $15 million investment in Clulee, highlighting the company's strong distribution capabilities, innovative product that enhances user interactions through quick information access, and effective conversion of attention into revenue.
(03:03:54) - Roy Lee, founder of Cluli, discusses the company's recent $15 million fundraising, emphasizing plans to invest heavily in brain-computer interface development and expand their content creation capabilities. He highlights the importance of viral marketing and the potential of desktop assistants, expressing a vision to revolutionize technology and compete with industry leaders. Lee also shares his ambition to significantly impact the world through innovative products and widespread recognition.
(03:20:13) - Dave Fontenot, founder of HF0, a 12-week residency program for repeat founders, shares his journey from creating the world's largest student hackathon, MHacks, to establishing HF0, which combines elements of a monastery and a hackathon to foster deep focus and productivity. He discusses the program's evolution, including its inception in New York, relocation to Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventual establishment in San Francisco, highlighting the program's success in helping founders achieve significant milestones, such as reaching $3 million in annual recurring revenue by demo day. Fontenot emphasizes the importance of subtracting distractions to allow founders to concentrate on building their life's work, underscoring HF0's commitment to providing a supportive, distraction-free environment for technical founders.

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Meta Taps Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross for AI Push, Starship Rocket Explodes | Mike Knoop, David Cahn, Walden Yan, Eoghan McCabe, Jeff Weinstein, Garrett Lord, Tanay Tandon Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

(04:10) - Meta Eyes Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross for AI Push
(37:47) - Lakers Sold to Mark Walter
(43:39) - Surge Hits $1B+ in Capital Without Outside Revenue
(56:20) - Mike Knoop, co-founder of Zapier and CEO of Ndea, discusses the evolving landscape of AI reasoning models, highlighting the trade-offs between accuracy and efficiency among leading systems like OpenAI's o3 and DeepSeek's R1. He emphasizes the importance of considering both cost and performance when evaluating AI models, noting that no single model currently dominates across all metrics. Knoop also underscores the need for innovative approaches, such as program synthesis, to advance toward artificial general intelligence.
(01:20:23) - David Cahn, a Partner at Sequoia Capital, previously served as General Partner and COO of Venture at Coatue Management, where he led investments in companies like Hugging Face and Runway. In the transcript, he discusses the substantial investments in AI talent by major tech companies, emphasizing the human dynamics and strategic decisions driving these developments. He also explores the competitive landscape, the significance of data centers, and the economic implications of AI advancements.
(01:37:55) - Walden Yan, Chief Product Officer and co-founder, discusses the integration of AI models in product development, emphasizing the importance of balancing model intelligence with user experience. He highlights the challenges of managing trade-offs between model responsiveness and accuracy, advocating for systems that abstract model complexity to enhance usability. Yan also addresses the evolving role of AI in software engineering, noting the potential for AI to autonomously perform tasks like coding and debugging, thereby transforming traditional workflows.
(01:57:41) - Eoghan McCabe, co-founder and CEO of Intercom, discusses revitalizing his 15-year-old SaaS business by returning to core fundamentals like customer-centric pricing and simplifying the sales process, leading to a tenfold increase in growth over eight quarters. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining high energy and passion from leadership to prevent stagnation, noting that AI innovations have reinvigorated both him and the company. McCabe also highlights the challenges of scaling a company, stressing the need for agility and the willingness to embrace chaos by empowering young, dynamic individuals in leadership roles.
(02:16:00) - Jeff Weinstein, a product lead at Stripe, discusses the company's initiatives to integrate AI into commerce, emphasizing the development of agentic commerce where AI agents facilitate seamless transactions. He highlights collaborations with companies like Perplexity and IP Camp to enhance e-commerce experiences and mentions the introduction of Stripe's order intents API, enabling agents to execute purchases on behalf of users. Weinstein also addresses the evolving role of payment methods, including stablecoins, in agentic commerce and underscores the importance of permissioned, secure transactions in this new landscape.
(02:32:00) - Garrett Lord, co-founder and CEO of Handshake, discusses the company's evolution from addressing his personal challenges in securing internships at Michigan Tech to becoming the leading early-career network in the U.S., connecting 18 million students and young professionals with a million employers. He highlights Handshake's role in supplying experts to frontier AI labs, emphasizing the demand for specialized data from PhDs and master's students to enhance AI models. Lord also outlines plans to leverage AI in automating recruiting processes and envisions a future where participants can showcase their skills through contributions to AI development, thereby enhancing their professional profiles.
(02:44:44) - Tanay Tandon, CEO of Commure, discusses the merger of Athelas and Commure, highlighting their combined efforts to transform healthcare through AI-powered solutions. He emphasizes the importance of automating administrative tasks to improve efficiency and patient care, and outlines the company's strategy to expand its product offerings and customer base. Tandon also shares his vision for the future of healthcare, aiming to eliminate inefficiencies and enhance the overall patient experience.

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Warner Bros. Discovery Split, Defense Tech Update | David Senra, Katie Haun, Justine Moore, Anish Agarwal, John Lee, Connor Zwick, Trey Holterman, James Cadwallader, Jordan Black, Ayush Sharma Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

(02:20) - Timeline
(27:07) - History of Warner Bros Discovery
(01:14:16) - David Senra, host of the "Founders" podcast, is renowned for his in-depth explorations of entrepreneurial biographies, offering insights into the lives and strategies of history's greatest business leaders. In this conversation, he delves into the career of music industry titan Jimmy Iovine, highlighting Iovine's relentless drive, exceptional talent recognition, and innovative marketing strategies that propelled artists like Dr. Dre and Eminem to global fame. Senra emphasizes Iovine's unwavering commitment to excellence and his ability to harness controversy as a tool for business success.
(01:47:46) - Katie Haun, founder and CEO of Haun Ventures and former federal prosecutor, discusses the recent bipartisan passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S. Senate, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins. She emphasizes the importance of also advancing the market structure bill to provide comprehensive regulatory clarity for the crypto industry, highlighting the need to address questions surrounding securities and commodities classifications. Haun advocates for pursuing both legislative measures simultaneously to foster innovation and protect consumers in the evolving digital asset landscape.
(02:06:49) - Justine Moore, an Investment Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, focuses on AI companies within the consumer sector. In the conversation, she discusses the rapid advancements in AI video models, highlighting the emergence of foundation model companies like VO3 and Cling, as well as multimodal apps such as Crea and Flora, which enable creators to generate videos using various AI models. She also explores the integration of speech and talking avatars in AI-generated videos, noting the development of tools that create talking avatars from images and those that apply lip-syncing to existing videos.
(02:31:39) - Anish Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of Traversal, discusses the development of an AI-powered site reliability engineer to automate troubleshooting in complex software systems. He highlights the limitations of current observability tools, which require manual analysis, and emphasizes the need for AI agents to manage increasing system complexities. Agarwal also notes the challenges in hiring skilled site reliability engineers and the potential of AI to alleviate this shortage.
(02:39:52) - John Lee, CEO of Safire Technology Group, discusses his background in defense contracting and his company's focus on accelerating electrification within the defense sector. He highlights challenges in military electrification, such as supply chain shortages and the need for advanced, interoperable battery systems, and introduces Safire's development of a tactical electric dirt bike designed for military use. Lee also emphasizes the importance of integrating safety into battery design, referencing Safire's patented SAFIRE technology, a shear thickening electrolyte that prevents fires upon impact, enhancing battery safety and performance.
(02:59:39) - Connor Zwick, co-founder of Speak Language Learning Program, discusses the company's mission to create an AI-powered language tutor that offers personalized, on-demand instruction. He shares their strategic focus on the South Korean market, noting the country's significant investment in English education and the prevalence of English learning academies. Zwick also addresses the potential impact of real-time AI translation technologies, expressing confidence that the desire for genuine human connection and the aspiration to learn languages will continue to drive demand for language learning solutions.
(02:59:39) - Trey Holterman, CEO and co-founder of Tennr, a New York-based company specializing in automating healthcare document processing, discusses how Tennr addresses the inefficiencies in patient referrals caused by reliance on e-fax documentation. He explains that over 90% of patient visits originate via e-fax, leading to delays and lost revenue due to incomplete documentation. By automating the processing of these documents, Tennr ensures timely patient contact and complete records, thereby improving patient care and provider revenue.
(03:09:26) - James Cadwallader, co-founder and CEO of Profound, discusses the company's recent $3.5 million seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Nvidia Ventures, and others. He highlights the shift from traditional search to AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, emphasizing the need for brands to manage their visibility in AI-generated responses. Cadwallader also notes that Profound's platform has attracted clients such as MongoDB, Indeed, and DocuSign, underscoring its growing influence in the evolving digital marketing landscape.
(03:17:38) - Ayush Sharma, founder and CEO of Warp, a modern payroll and compliance platform for startups, discusses how Warp automates payroll processes, including tax compliance and employee benefits, to alleviate administrative burdens for founders. He highlights the company's recent $18 million Series A funding led by Sound Ventures, with participation from notable investors like Drew Houston and Kyle Vogt. Sharma emphasizes the importance of building exceptional products in large markets, noting that even in crowded sectors, delivering superior user experiences can drive significant demand.
(03:28:04) - Jordan Black is the CEO of Senra Systems, a company specializing in designing and manufacturing complex wire harnesses for industries like aerospace and defense. In the conversation, he explains that wire harnesses are essential components connecting electrical systems in vehicles and machinery, yet their design and production have remained largely manual and unchanged since the Cold War. To modernize this process, Senra Systems is developing a software tool called Amp to standardize wire harness design and implementing automation to streamline manufacturing, aiming to improve quality and efficiency in the industry.

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Ramp New $16B Valuation, OpenAI Wins $200M U.S. Defense Contract | Saquon Barkley, Eric Glyman, George Hotz, Joseph Torigian, Paul Klein, Ryan Daniels, Alex Kantrowitz Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

(00:30) - Timeline
(14:02) - Eric Glyman is the co-founder and CEO of Ramp, a financial technology company offering corporate charge cards and expense management solutions. In the conversation, he discusses Ramp's rapid growth, highlighting that the company has reached a $16 billion valuation and serves over 40,000 businesses. Glyman emphasizes the integration of AI into Ramp's products to automate tasks like expense reporting and bill payments, aiming to save businesses time and money.
(29:42) - Timeline
(58:31) - George Hotz, also known as "geohot," is an American software engineer and hacker renowned for unlocking the iPhone and reverse-engineering the PlayStation 3. In the conversation, Hotz critiques the use of buzzwords like AGI, emphasizing the need for concrete discussions, and expresses skepticism about the practicality of humanoid robots, advocating instead for simpler, task-specific robotic solutions. He also highlights the challenges in achieving fully autonomous vehicles, noting the current reliance on human intervention in systems like Waymo.
(01:33:44) - Joseph Torigian, an associate professor at American University's School of International Service and a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, specializes in the politics of authoritarian regimes, focusing on elite power struggles and civil-military relations in China and Russia. In his discussion, he explores the life of Xi Zhongxun, father of Xi Jinping, highlighting his unwavering devotion to the Chinese Communist Party despite personal persecutions, and examines the Party's strategies in managing ethnic minorities and its approach to corruption as a means of maintaining control.
(02:00:52) - Paul Klein, co-founder of Browserbase, discusses the company's recent preemptive funding round led by Glenn Solomon from Notable Capital, with participation from CRV and Kleiner Perkins, highlighting the strong board composition. He introduces "Director AI," a tool enabling developers to automate web tasks by generating repeatable scripts for actions like form submissions and data retrieval. Klein also addresses the future of AI-driven web interactions, emphasizing the importance of on-device automation for consumer applications and the role of Browserbase in facilitating B2B use cases through browser-based solutions.
(02:14:35) - Alex Kantrowitz is an independent journalist and founder of Big Technology, a newsletter and podcast focusing on major tech companies. In the conversation, he discusses the evolving roles of journalists and analysts in the tech industry, emphasizing the blurring lines between reporting, analysis, and opinion. He also shares insights on Apple's recent developments in AI, highlighting the challenges of integrating AI into products while maintaining high quality standards.
(02:44:13) - Saquon Barkley, a standout running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, emphasizes the importance of surrounding himself with trustworthy individuals to navigate investment opportunities, acknowledging the challenges athletes face with numerous proposals and limited financial education. He credits his manager's discernment in declining most offers, except those from trusted contacts like Zach Franklin, highlighting the value of building relationships with knowledgeable and successful people to make informed decisions.
(03:00:54) - Ryan Daniels, co-founder of Crosby, discusses his journey from addressing contract inefficiencies to establishing a tech-enabled law firm that integrates AI to expedite contract reviews. He highlights the firm's focus on automating routine legal tasks while maintaining human oversight for complex matters, aiming to enhance efficiency and reduce costs for fast-growing businesses. Daniels also envisions a future where AI agents negotiate contracts on behalf of clients, significantly accelerating the negotiation process.

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Meta Oakleys, Golden Retriever Maxing, Suits in Airports | John Jumper, Christian Garrett, Aaron Frank, Joseph Cass Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

(04:18) - Timeline Reactions
(27:43) - John Jumper, an American computational biologist and senior staff research scientist at DeepMind, is renowned for leading the development of AlphaFold, an AI system that predicts protein structures from amino acid sequences. In the conversation, he discusses how AlphaFold has revolutionized the field by transforming a process that traditionally took years and significant resources into one that can be completed in minutes, thereby accelerating scientific research and applications in drug development and understanding biological processes. He also highlights the challenges faced during AlphaFold's development, including initial misconceptions about the problem's nature and the necessity of adopting a data-driven, supervised learning approach to achieve success.
(01:00:07) - Christian Garrett, a partner at 137 Ventures, discussed the challenges facing $1 to $10 billion horizontal software companies, noting their vulnerability to commoditization and the impact of AI on growth. He emphasized the importance of sustainable competitive advantages and multi-product strategies for long-term success. Garrett also highlighted the trend of high-growth private companies remaining private longer, creating a new category of semi-liquid assets with significant implications for venture capital and liquidity dynamics.
(01:34:06) - Aaron Frank, a Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, co-founded Final, Inc., a credit card company acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2018, which became the foundation for the Apple Card. In the conversation, he discusses the evolution of fintech, highlighting the challenges of building financial products, the impact of stablecoins on the financial system, and the role of AI in enhancing fintech services.
(02:02:50) - Joseph Cass, Senior Director of Market Outreach for EMEA at S&P Global Ratings, discusses his role in engaging with major buy-side investors and how he initiated the "Leaders" podcast to facilitate conversations with senior figures in finance. He shares experiences from interviews with notable financiers like Ken Griffin and Ray Dalio, highlighting their insights and personal stories. Additionally, Cass touches on the evolving focus of investors from ESG considerations to broader sustainability topics.
(02:19:29) - Timeline Reactions

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