Startups

Why Good Companies Go Bad (And How to Stop It)

Why Good Companies Go Bad (And How to Stop It)

Eric Ries, author of "The Lean Startup", discusses his new book, "Incorruptible". He argues that the modern doctrine of shareholder primacy is a value-destroying trap for founders and explains the legal and governance structures—from Public Benefit Corporations to industrial foundations—that can be used to build mission-controlled companies designed to last for generations, using historical examples like Costco and modern case studies like Anthropic.

Paul Graham, Founder of Y Combinator, Live from Stockholm

Paul Graham, Founder of Y Combinator, Live from Stockholm

Paul Graham discusses the strategic importance for startup founders to immerse themselves in Silicon Valley's unique ecosystem and how this temporary migration is the key to fostering a thriving startup hub in Stockholm, potentially making it the "Silicon Valley of Europe".

What Tesla and SpaceX Teach Founders About Building Hardware | a16z

What Tesla and SpaceX Teach Founders About Building Hardware | a16z

Ex-Tesla and SpaceX engineers Chandler Luzsicza and Turner Caldwell share the practical lessons they learned about building complex hardware and how they apply them at their own startups. They cover core principles like decision velocity, strategic vertical integration, managing the critical path without creating new bottlenecks, and using aggressive milestones as a forcing function to reveal true priorities. The discussion also delves into the value of a 'factory mindset,' the importance of a rigorous hiring process, and advice for young engineers.

The most successful AI company you’ve never heard of | Qasar Younis

The most successful AI company you’ve never heard of | Qasar Younis

Qasar Younis, CEO of Applied Intuition, discusses the future of AI, arguing its most significant near-term impact will be in physical industries like farming, mining, and construction. He shares his philosophy on building a company quietly, the importance of early traction, and the core values that drive Applied Intuition, while also offering a nuanced perspective on China's AI capabilities and how to develop leadership taste.

This Startup Built the Infrastructure Powering Voice AI

This Startup Built the Infrastructure Powering Voice AI

In a YC Founder Fireside chat, AssemblyAI founder Dylan Fox discusses his journey from a solo founder in 2017 to leading a major voice AI infrastructure platform. He covers the early challenges, the technological shifts that fueled growth, the development of intelligent, promptable voice models, and the lessons learned in scaling a deep-tech company.

Lessons from Building Open Source Libraries

Lessons from Building Open Source Libraries

Thomas Wolf, co-founder of Hugging Face, discusses his journey from physics to AI, the power of open-source models to accelerate innovation, the practical challenges of productionalizing AI demos, and why the biggest opportunities for founders now lie in the application layer on top of powerful foundation models.