John Glasgow, founder of AI-native ERP Campfire, discusses his journey from a Google Sheets MVP to displacing NetSuite. He covers the importance of founder-led sales to $1M ARR, using a narrow feature set as a wedge into the market, and how the rise of AI flipped the script on what constitutes a "safe" enterprise software choice.
Colin Griffin and William Rizzo discuss the future of platform engineering, emphasizing the need to move beyond one-size-fits-all frameworks. They explore how different industries like fintech, telco, and automotive require tailored platforms due to unique regulatory and business challenges. The conversation highlights the growing pressure to link platform investments to clear business outcomes and details the infrastructure reckoning caused by large-scale GPU investments for AI, which brings hardware and network orchestration to the forefront.
Experts from a16z forecast three major AI-driven shifts for 2026. Ryan McEntush discusses the rise of the 'electro-industrial stack' and the need for a U.S. ecosystem to power modern industry. Angela Strange explains how financial services are at a tipping point, with AI-native platforms unifying data to unlock massive efficiency gains. Sarah Wang predicts that a 'dynamic agent layer' will overtake traditional systems of record, fundamentally changing enterprise software by directly translating user intent into action.
a16z's David Haber and Plaid CEO Zach Perret chart the dramatic seasons of fintech, from the explosive VC-fueled boom of 2020-2021 to the deep freeze of 2022 and its current resurgence. They explore the transformative forces reshaping the industry today, including AI's dual role as both a primary tool for sophisticated fraud and the ultimate defense against it. The conversation also covers the rise of embedded finance, the renewed importance of deposits, and how incumbents are finally embracing external software, with Plaid's own journey serving as a microcosm of the industry's evolution.
Alex Rampell (a16z) and Varun Krishna (Rocket CEO) discuss the housing affordability crisis, driven by asset inflation and supply constraints. They explore how Rocket Mortgage is evolving into a homeownership company by vertically integrating the entire housing funnel through strategic acquisitions like Redfin, aiming to turn a once-in-a-lifetime transaction into an everyday relationship.
Co-founders Albert Gozzi and Santiago Perez De Rosso of Aleph discuss their journey building an AI-native FP&A platform. They share insights on their first-principles approach of meeting finance teams in spreadsheets, achieving rapid time-to-value, and the early challenges of building a horizontal product. The conversation covers their YC experience, scaling to a $29M Series B, and their vision for the future of finance powered by pragmatic, accuracy-focused AI.