Greymatter
Greymatter is a weekly podcast that explores how tech startups evolve from ideas to iconic companies. It features interviews with venture capitalists, founders, and tech visionaries discussing topics like AI, marketplaces, cybersecurity, and company-building strategies such as growth, product-market fit, and talent recruitment. Guests share candid stories of success, failure, and adaptation, offering practical insights mixed with entrepreneurial optimism.
Episodes
Greylock Presents: The Intelligent Marketer
The Intelligent Marketer is a new podcast hosted by Greylock partner Mike Duboe and FERMAT CEO Rishabh Jain, about the intersection of AI, marketing, and commerce. In every episode, Mike & Rishabh talk with an expert guest about the future of artificial intelligence in marketing, and how marketers can stay ahead of the curve.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"Ship Pricing as Fast as Product" - CEO Alvaro Morales on Orb's Mission to Revolutionize Billing Infrastructure
Orb is on a mission to revolutionize billing infrastructure.
In this episode of Greymatter, Greylock partner Saam Motamedi chats with Alvaro Morales, CEO and co-founder of Orb, a cutting-edge billing infrastructure platform designed for the next wave of SaaS and AI companies. Orb allows businesses to implement dynamic pricing models such as usage-based and hybrid systems, empowering companies lik
Opal Security's Umaimah Khan on Security-First Identity
Too often, usernames and passwords are the only thing standing between cyber criminals and an organization's data. While it seems obvious, implementing stronger identity controls has historically been a challenge for organizations because the mechanisms that cut off access to threats can also impede employees’ ability to access the systems they need to do their jobs. Opal Security was founded to s
Product-Led AI: Mustafa Suleyman on Defining Intelligence
Guest episode of Product-Led AI, hosted by Greylock partner Seth Rosenberg. In this episode, he speaks with AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman, who has been at the forefront of the technology through several major leaps forward. As the co-founder of DeepMind, Google’s VP of AI Policy and Products, the co-founder of Inflection, and now the CEO of Microsoft AI, he’s seen AI’s evolution into the transforma
Code Smarter, Not Harder
Greylock partner Corinne Riley reads her essay "Code Smarter, Not Harder: Solving the Unknowns to Developing AI Engineers."
Building AI tools for code generation and engineering workflows is one of the most exciting and worthy undertakings by startups today. But there are still many open questions about the technical unlocks that must be solved to make coding tools that work as well as (or better
Reinventing Distributed Commerce with AI
App-tracking rules closed the door on user-tracking and targeted ads, but AI opened up new channels of engagement and personalization that previously weren’t possible. Commerce infrastructure company Fermat ushers businesses into this new era of online retail. CEO and co-founder Rishabh Jain talks with Greylock partner Saam Motamedi about the double impact of ATT and AI on commerce, and how Fermat
Shifting Power Dynamics in AI-Focused Cloud
Audio version of the essay "The Big 4 Era: Shifting Power Dynamics in the AI-Focused Cloud" written by Greylock partners Jason Risch and Jerry Chen (read by Greylock head of editorial Heather Mack).
It’s never been harder to compete with the Big 3 cloud providers. As the AI revolution has shifted NVIDIA into the central power broker of the tech ecosystem, AWS, Azure, and GCP have rushed to build t
Product-Led AI: Adept CEO David Luan on Upleveling Human Work
Guest episode of Product-Led AI, a new podcast series hosted by Greylock partner Seth Rosenberg featuring conversations with leading AI builders.
Adept CEO and co-founder David Luan has been riding the LLM wave since the early days of the modern AI boom: an early OpenAI employee, he led the company’s engineering team before serving as the tech lead for Google Brain’s work on LLMs. He co-founded Ad
Product-Led AI: Reid Hoffman on AI-Powered Networks
Guest episode of Product-Led AI, the new series hosted by Greylock partner Seth Rosenberg where he chats with builders who put the power of AI into products that people love.
This week, AI visionary (and fellow Greylock partner) Reid Hoffman talks with Seth about the main opportunities in the application layer of AI, with an extra deep dive on AI-powered networks and marketplaces. Having been inst
Introducing Product-Led AI
Special guest episode of Product-Led AI, a new podcast hosted by Greylock partner Seth Rosenberg. In this series, he focuses on the central question: How do you make AI useful?
While plenty of money and attention goes to large language models and GPUs, it takes a different skill set to build AI products that change the way we work, learn, and live. We’re seeing this in AI co-pilots, AI-first netwo
Jacob Andreou | From Ports to Transformations
Greylock general partner Jacob Andreou reads his essay on how to build valuable products during moments of technology transitions. Having previously led product and growth for one of the iconic native apps of the mobile era (Snap), Andreou developed a perspective on some of the best (and worst) strategic and tactical decisions companies can make during tech shifts. It starts by asking an important
Jerry Chen and Instabase CEO Anant Bhardwaj | Building a System of Intelligence
Building a defensible system of intelligence at a time when LLMs are becoming commoditized (and when all the classic moats like economies of scale are more important than ever) isn’t easy. But Instabase, which provides an applied AI platform for enterprise organizations to run various operational processes, has managed to accrue a large customer base and recently hit $2 billion valuation. The comp
Jerry Chen | The New New Moats
Greylock general partner Jerry Chen discusses key takeaways from his essay "The New New Moats: Why Systems of Intelligence are Still the Next Defensible Business Model." The essay is a fresh take on his "New Moats" blog from 2017, in which he postulated that startups would be able to build defensible moats using AI. With the explosion of AI activity in recent times, Chen revisited this analysis to
Inflection AI | The AI Friend Zone
As anyone who has experimented with the latest artificial intelligence tools that generate human-like responses to text, every interaction with technology is increasingly becoming a conversation. Beyond pre-programmed responses based on specific key words, interacting with AI trained on large language models is beginning to feel like a natural back and forth dialogue.
"In the future, I think there
Jerry Chen | The New Wave of Cloud Innovation
Greylock general partner Jerry Chen analyzes top trends impacting funding, company creation, product launches, and partnerships throughout the cloud ecosystem for 2022 and the first part of 2023. This analysis is based on data compiled for Greylock's Castles in the Cloud project, which maps the activity of VC-backed startups as well as that of the Big 3 cloud providers AWS, Google, and Microsoft A
Jason Risch | Three Trends in VC-Backed Cloud
Audio version of Greylock investor Jason Risch's essay "Three Trends in VC-Backed Cloud." As part of our Castles in the Cloud project, which maps the activity in the venture capital-funding startup ecosystem with that of the Big 3 Cloud providers, we compile a database of fundraising at the end of each calendar year and identify trends. Although 2022 and the first part of 2023 has been marked by n
CNBC's Julia Boorstin | When Women Lead
Re-broadcast of Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber's interview with CNBC Senior Media & Tech reporter Julia Boorstin. While there may be plenty of discussion about the disparity between funding for women-led startups and those led by men, women still receive just 2% of all venture capital funding. And yet, many women are still finding success as entrepreneurs. How? Boorstin dug into the st
Intelligent Money
Fintech has perhaps the most to gain from artificial intelligence technology. Even slight improvements in forecasting default rates on a loan or cash flows of a business can have a dramatic economic impact. But for the most part, fintech has been left out of the conversation – partly because there is low margin for error in a regulated space. Encouragingly, this is starting to change. Ramp, a fin
The Post-ATT World
Greylock general partner Mike Duboe talks with Treat CEO Matt Osman, Fermat CEO Rishabh Jain, and independent analyst, consultant and investor Eric Seufert about the changing world of commerce performance marketing following the passage of ATT. For years, targeted ads meant the mechanisms to grow an ecommerce brand were relatively simple, accessible, and fast-acting. But the passage of Apple's App
Sam Altman & Reid Hoffman | AI Field Notes
Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman talks with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about their mutual learnings from the AI tools released to date, primarily GPT-4 4, OpenAI's language model that co-wrote Hoffman's recent book “Impromptu." Keeping up with all the AI advancements – and questioning both the pros and cons of their immediate impact – is why Hoffman wrote Impromptu. As he describes, the book is in
Reid Hoffman & Saam Motamedi | AI's Transformative Power
Greylock general partners Saam Motamedi and Reid Hoffman talk with Umi Mehta, who is the Global Head of tech Private Equity and Venture Capital Investing at Morgan Stanley. In this conversation, they discuss the current investing environment in the context of artificial intelligence technology – specifically, its impact on pretty much every industry across enterprise and consumer sectors. AI has e
Greylock Welcomes Jacob Andreou
Greylock welcomes Jacob Andreou as the firm's newest investor. Andreou joins Greylock following 8 years at Snap, where he most recently served as SVP of Growth. There, he ran teams across growth, data science, analytics, and user research, and helped scale the company to more than 360 million daily active users and $4.5 billion in revenue. At Greylock. Andreou is eager to partner with founders bui
Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha | Scaling with Intuition
Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna talks with Rubrik CEO and co-founder Bipul Sinha about a core leadership lesson he's learned: not losing sight of one's own intuition, especially during times of high growth. Today, the data security company works with more than 5,000 customers around the world and across nearly every industry. When Rubrik launched in 2014, its mission to secure the world's
Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI
Audio version of the introduction to Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman’s latest book, entitled “Impromptu: Amplifying Humanity Through AI."
Impromptu was co-written by Hoffman and ChatGPT-4, OpenAI’s latest and most powerful large language model. The book aims to serve as a sort of “travelog” of Hoffman’s experience with GPT-4, as he explores the tool’s strengths and limitations. Through hundr
Introducing Possible: A New Podcast hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger
A special guest episode of Possible, the new podcast hosted by Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger. Possible looks at the future through a decidedly optimistic lens - and what it will take to get there. Each episode features a visionary from a different field, such as media, climate science, criminal justice, and more. Also joining for each episode is ChatGPT-4, OpenAI’s latest l
Adept CEO David Luan and Stanford's Percy Liang | Words into Action
A re-broadcast of Greylock general partner Saam Motamedi's interview with Adept CEO and co-founder David Luan and Stanford computer science and statistics professor Percy Liang. In this conversation (recorded in mid-2022), David and Percy discuss how large language models are paving the way for the next wave of AI. Adept is developing an AI "teammate" tool that is trained to use every software to
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on Decision-Making
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi talks with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman about his strategy for decision-making. Like most companies, Uber has experienced many ups and downs. Getting through each phase (good or bad), depends on how the leadership team responds, says Khosrowshahi. In difficult moments, which he refers to as "war time," it's critical to prioritize speed and quick decision-making.
Instacart's Fidji Simo | Building A Tech-Enabled Food System
Instacart CEO Fidji Simo shares the company's vision for building a tech-enabled food system for all. Simo, who previously spent 10 years at Meta, is accustomed to taking bold bets on transformative tech. She spoke with Greylock general partner David Thacker about joining Instacart in 2021 following a period of significant growth; how she identifies moments in time where new technology can find t
OpenAI's Sam Altman | AI for the Next Era
A re-broadcast of Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman's interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, recorded during Greylock's Intelligent Future summit in August 2022. Founded in 2015, OpenAI has recently released several high-profile products in quick succession: succession: its generative transformer model GPT-3 – which uses deep learning to produce human-like text – its image-creation platform DAL
Stripe's Patrick Collison | Micro Pessimism, Macro Optimism
Navigating uncertain economic conditions is part and parcel of running a business. Yet, throughout challenging times, it’s critical that startups stay committed to continually pushing the possibilities of what technology can deliver, says Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. That means leading with the guiding principle “micro pessimism and macro optimism.” Often, Collison says, this means having a relent
Reid Hoffman and ChatGPT | AI in the Classroom
Of the many transformative possibilities of artificial intelligence, its potential to impact education is among the most exciting. It’s also one of the most contentious. While it could extend the reach of over-worked teachers, offer personalized curriculums, and enhance the learning experience, it could also present many drawbacks: cheating, loss of jobs, and a reliance on technology that impedes
Greylock's Yuliya Mykhaylovska | How to Evaluate and Hire Early Career Candidates
Current economic conditions have put thousands of highly qualified candidates in search of new roles. In just a few months, the population of job-seekers will further expand as a wave of fresh graduates – many of whom will be taking on the first serious role of their career – enter the market. The dearth of open roles can be discouraging to any candidate, and those at the beginning of their career
Asheem Chandna | Leveraging the Downturn
Audio version of Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna's essay for Forbes "Four Tasks for CEOs in 2023: Leveraging the Downturn." As Chandna puts forth, while economic recessions can mark the end for many otherwise promising companies, they also present opportunities. Businesses that were previously in hyper-growth mode now have time to re-asses and implement tactics they couldn't in busier time
Reid Hoffman and ChatGPT | The Human-AI Partnership
The second episode of Fireside Chatbots featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and ChatGPT, the large language model created by OpenAI. This week, Reid and ChatGPT talk about the ways humans and AI can work together to significantly increase productivity, scientific discovery, analytical capabilities, and creativity. As ChatGPT says, "The jobs of the future will likely be a combination of
Figma's Nairi Hourdajian and Greylock's Elisa Schreiber | Startup Storytelling
Figma's VP of Communications Nairi Hourdajian and Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber discuss how startup founders can approach their communications strategy. Whether a startup is looking to recruit talent, acquire customers, establish thought leadership, or just raise general awareness, having a well-structured communications strategy in place is crucial. This conversation is part of Greyl
Reid Hoffman and ChatGPT | Talking AI with AI
Introducing Fireside Chatbots, a miniseries featuring conversations not only about AI, but with AI. Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman talks with ChatGPT, a large language model created by OpenAI. Hoffman, who serves on OpenAI's board, poses questions to ChatGPT about the massive positive impact he believes AI will all facets of society. For this podcast, we used an AI-generated voice for ChatG
Tome's Henri Liriani | Hiring Startup Design Teams
Tome CPO and co-founder Henri Liriani and Katy Amaya of the Greylock talent team discuss the rising importance of founding designers at startups and share best practices for building strong design teams. While past generations of startups could get away with focusing purely on the technical aspects of their product in the initial stages and bring design teams later, today's startups are living in
Okta's Frederic Kerrest | Instructive Experiences
A re-broadcast of our interview with Okta executive vice chairman, COO, and co-founder Frederic Kerrest, who shares stories from his earliest days as an entrepreneur starting a business in the midst of the Great Recession. The challenging experience is why Kerrest wrote Zero to IPO, a collection of some of the best actionable advice from some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs. The book
Reid Hoffman | Investing in Vices & Virtues
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring the audio version of Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman's essay, "Human Nature in Vices and Virtues: An Adam Smith Approach to Building Internet Ecosystems and Communities," published on the Knight Foundation's website. Hoffman discusses how some of the most popular websites leverage some of humankind's less desirable attributes(e.g. "the 7 deadly sins"),
2022 in Review | The Year's Top Insights and Advice for Entrepreneurs
A compilation of excerpts from 22 of our most popular podcasts of 2022. Greylock's head of editorial Heather Mack walks listeners through through interviews with industry leaders including OpenAI's Sam Altman, Cloudflare's Michelle Zatlyn, Nike's John Donahoe, and more. We're also featuring the top sought-after advice from Greylock's own team of investors such as Reid Hoffman, and tactical guidanc
Zoox CEO Aicha Evans | Moving People Forward
Zoox CEO Aicha Evans speaks with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman to discuss how the "robotaxi" company has made safety permeate into every aspect of the company culture and operations; why they are building for dense urban environments; and her vision for the future of the “people moving business.”
Zoox's unique approach to autonomous driving (building all of the hardware and software in-ho
Reid Hoffman | Bear Market Blitzscaling
During economic downturns, is it possible (or even wise) for startup entrepreneurs to deploy growth tactics? Will companies be able to secure funding? Should founders even consider starting a business during a bear market? "100%," says Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman. However, the specific ways startups approach high-growth strategies during high-risk economic environments is crucial, and it
Pinata | Getting Creative at Scale
While the short-lived hype of NFTs centered on static jpeg files, there are actually far more use cases that can be deployed for the technology. Omaha-based Pinata has developed a platform that enables web3 app builders to store, manage, and build more functionality into NFTs. Pinata CEO and co-founder Kyle Tut sat down with Greylock general partner Mike Duboe to discuss the company's inception, t
Reid Hoffman | Crisis Management
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman in conversation with his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh. In this episode (originally recorded in May 2022), Hoffman and Yeh discuss strategies for entrepreneurs to navigate crises - whatever that may mean at the given time.
Entrepreneurship assumes an innate degree of optimism and perseverance. But even the most deter
Reid Hoffman | The Importance of Friendship
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman sharing the speech he gave at the 2022 Commencement of Vanderbilt University. Hoffman discusses several key moments in his personal and professional life, including his initial foray into entrepreneurship, and the role his friends have played. As he says, "The most impactful lessons that shaped my perspective, decisions,
Snorkel AI | Jumpstarting Data-Centric AI
Greylock general partner Saam Motamedi talks with Snorkel AI CEO and co-founder Alex Ratner. As more enterprise organizations have recognized the utility of artificial intelligence technology, there's been a major push to invest in and adopt new AI and ML infrastructure to drive insights and make predictions for businesses. However, many of these solutions lack the mechanism to unlock and operatio
Inventa | Supplying Connections
There are millions of entrepreneurs running small retail businesses in Latin America. While they may differ in the types of products sold or specific customers they target, the challenges they face in everyday operations are common. From low credit card penetration to poor visibility into shipping logistics and pricing, the various difficulties often boil down to a singular issue: lack of data. Br
Seth Rosenberg | Bringing DeFi Lending Mainstream
Audio version of Greylock investor Seth Rosenberg's essay "Bringing DeFi Lending Mainstream," read by Greylock's head of editorial Heather Mack.
Crypto hype and speculation got us into the current chaotic winter. But the core infrastructure remains, and is still ripe for the innovation that will take us into the next crypto summer. There are many real use cases across financial services that can n
Rubrik's Bipul Sinha and Steve Stone | Understanding and Preventing Modern Cyber Attacks
Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha and Steve Stone, the company's newly appointed head of its research department Zero Labs, sat down with MarketWatch reporter (and Greymatter guest host) Jon Swartz to discuss an inescapable fact of business life: Cyber attacks. They happen to pretty much everyone, but whether a company is prepared to recover from it depends on multiple factors, from their level of understand
CNBC's Julia Boorstin | When Women Lead
While there may be plenty of discussion about the disparity between funding for women-led startups and those led by men, women still receive just 2% of all venture capital funding. And yet, many women are still finding success as entrepreneurs. How? CNBC Senior Media & Technology reporter Julia Boorstin dug into the stories of women entrepreneurs founding, funding, and running companies, and uncov
Rent the Runway's Jennifer Hyman | Designed by Data
Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman and Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman discuss the strategy behind the company's data-driven, online marketplace where people can rent or buy clothing. Rent the Runway launched in 2009 with the mission to democratize fashion. Over the years, the company has evolved significantly, keeping up with the many major shifts to the retail and e-commerce
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott | The Impact of AI on Cognitive Work
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott joins Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman for a discussion about the impact of AI on cognitive (or knowledge) work. Scott, whose company developed the programming assistant tool GitHub Copilot, advises people building machine learning systems (or entire companies) around AI to maintain a clear sense of responsibility and awareness of the potential negative impacts.
In
Aurora's Chris Urmson + Nuro's Jiajun Zhu | The Road Ahead for Autonomous Driving
Autonomous driving is among the most exciting applications for artificial intelligence. It is also among the most challenging to actually pull off: from the capital-intensive combination of hardware and software to the complex coordination between multiple stakeholders to ensure safety. What will it take to get it deployed on a large scale? Aurora CEO Chris Urmson and Nuro CEO Jiajun Zhu join Grey
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein | Catalyzing Entrepreneurship
Shopify president Harley Finkelstein sat down with Greylock general partner Mike Duboe to discuss the company's evolution along with the overall ecommerce landscape; offer advice to entrepreneurs navigating the current market conditions; and lay out his vision for the future.
Shopify launched a time when there were few options for entrepreneurs to set up their online stores, sell and market produ
AI's Human Factor | Stanford's Dr. Fei-Fei Li and OpenAI's Mira Murati on AI Safety
The more human-like artificial intelligence becomes, the more we understand about how our brains actually work. Through that discovery process, researchers are identifying ways to design artificial intelligence in ways that factor in the safety and morality of their potential impact. Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman interviews Dr. Fei-Fei Li, the co-director of Stanford's Institute for Human
Words into Action | Progress from Large Language Models to AGI
Greylock general partner Saam Motamedi interviews David Luan, who is the co-founder of ML research and product lab Adept, and Percy Liang, who is the associate professor of computer science and statistics at Stanford. In this conversation, they discuss the major developments in working with large scale language models. This interview took place during Greylock’s Intelligent Future event, a day-lon
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman | AI for the Next Era
Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman interviews OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The AI research and deployment company's primary mission is to develop and promote AI technology that benefits humanity. Founded in 2015, the company has most recently been noted for its generative transformer model GPT - 3, which uses deep learning to produce human-like text, and its image-creation platform DALL-E.
This inter
Reid Hoffman and Saam Motamedi | Introducing the Intelligent Future
Greylock general partners Reid Hoffman and Saam Motamedi discuss the current state of artificial intelligence, including the most recent technological advancements; top areas for investment; and the ethical considerations needed to ensure tools are developed safely. This discussion is the kickoff for Greylock's Intelligent Future series featuring conversations with experts, visionaries, and early-
Greylock Talent Team | Building Your Talent Strategy: When, Why, and How to Bring in a Recruiter
From developing a repeatable, strategic process and continuously working to identify ways to improve it, founders can take a number of steps to build a culture of recruiting. Sometimes, that means hiring a dedicated talent-sourcing and recruiting team. Greylock talent partner Glen Evans and technical talent recruiter Dwane Hamilton discuss strategies for working with recruiters, including when to
Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford | How To Be A Founder
The “talent investor" Entrepreneur First was created with a mission to connect founders no matter where they are in the world, and recruits and backs them at the very earliest stages. By focusing on connecting individuals rather than defined teams, they've gained a unique perspective into what makes good ideas, and how the right co-founder dynamics can bring it into reality. Now, they've gathered
Espresso | Privacy and Scalability for Web3
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock investor Seth Rosenberg's interview with the co-founders of Espresso Systems, which provides configurable privacy and scalability tools for Web3. The company is operating at a critical time for privacy within Web3. Recently, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a mixer platform that enables cryptocurrency transactions. The regulatory
Nike CEO John Donahoe | The Next Play
Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman interviews Nike CEO John Donahoe as part of Greylock's Iconversations speaker series. In the interview, Donahoe discusses the iconic sports retailer's digital transformation in recent years; the lessons learned as a four-time CEO; and his “head coach” mentality to leadership.
You can read a transcript of this interview here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/t
Alchemy | Bringing Web3 to the World
Known as the "AWS of Web3", Alchemy's platform powers most of the top web3 applications around the world. The idea came to founders Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau following their own frustration when building a crypto analytics tool. Seeing that developers around the world needed a toolkit to enable the next wave of innovation, they set out to build Alchemy. Launched in 2020, the company's platform
Maya Frai | Design-Centered Product
Greylock investor Maya Frai outlines her perspective on design-centered products, which she believes is the now overarching driver of innovation in several industries including commerce, social, saas, web3, and more. Based on her experience on product teams at Google, Facebook, and Rent the Runway, Maya believes technology that puts people at the center are often the most successful. You can read
Reid Hoffman | How to Decide
A re-broadcast of our episode focused on one of the most critical (yet often under-analyzed) aspects of entrepreneurship: decision-making. As Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh discuss, there are actually many things entrepreneurs can do to improve their decision-making skills. The central skill is learning how to be quick and decisive, and to adjust yo
Solv CEO Heather Fernandez | Purpose into Action
Solv CEO and co-founder Heather Fernandez talks with Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber about a unique fundraising strategy Solv undertook to add more women investors to the company's cap table. In late 2021, Solv was wrapping up its Series C round when Fernandez was encouraged by longtime investor and friend Kara Norton (Upfront Ventures) to launch a special purpose vehicle (SPV) aimed s
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky | People-First Capitalism
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky. Chesky joined Greylock partner Reid Hoffman on Greylock's Iconversations speaker series to talk about how he guided Airbnb from an 80% loss within the first two months of the pandemic to a record-breaking IPO by the end of 2020; why Silicon Valley needs to redefine how it measures growth; how Chesky’s design background
Reid Hoffman | Talking Politics
A re-broadcast of our episode with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh discussing when, how, and why CEOs should speak publicly about political or social topics.
Once considered strictly off limits to business leaders, speaking out about politics and social issues has become much more common. In fact, it’s now often expected for a CEO to make a statement
Asheem Chandna | Where Does AI Go Next?
Audio version of essay written by Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna for Forbes: "Where Does AI Go Next?"
Chandna and several AI experts weigh in on the potential value and risks as the technology expands.
Essay read by Greylock head of editorial Heather Mack.
You can read the essay on Forbes here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/asheemchandna/2022/05/31/where-does-ai-go-next/
You can also read
Magic Eden | The Community-Centric Marketplace
Greylock general partner Mike Duboe speaks with Zhuoxun Yin (Zedd) and Jack Lu, two of the co-founders of NFT marketplace Magic Eden. The company, which just raised its Series B round, provides a platform for people to discover, collect, and trade NFTs on the Solana ecosystem.
You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://greylock.com/portfolio-news/magic-eden/
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HashiCorp CEO David McJannet | Powering the Multi-Cloud Paradigm
Greylock general partner Jerry Chen speaks with HashiCorp CEO David McJannet about the proliferation of cloud services that requires a multi-cloud approach.
Founded in 2012, HashiCorp is an provider of products that are foundational to mission-critical cloud applications and infrastructure. As such, the company has become an essential partner to numerous organizations ranging from startups to the
Convoy | Transporting Innovation
Convoy CEO and co-founder Dan Lewis discusses the current shipping landscape and how his company is upgrading the long-antiquated trucking industry. Convoy, which has developed a platform that puts drivers, shipping companies, and freight brokers on the grid has allowed all parties to operate more efficiently, resulting in saved costs and time as well as reducing pollution. Founded in 2015, Convoy
Reid Hoffman | Crisis Management
Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh discuss the current crisis and its impact on startups.
Entrepreneurship assumes an innate degree of optimism and perseverance. But even the most determined founders can feel subdued when faced with yet another crisis. That’s why adaptability is a startup’s strongest asset. As recent global events push us into a new era
Reid Hoffman | The Importance of Friendship
In his commencement speech to Vanderbilt University's graduating class of 2022, Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman discusses the impact and importance of friendship. "Not the Hallmark kind – not all sunshine and roses and bunny rabbits," says Hoffman. "I mean real, substantial friendship – that’s sometimes really hard – and that shapes and changes our lives."
In this speech, Hoffman shares some
Jason Risch | The Next Cloud Data Platform
Audio version of Greylock investor Jason Risch's article "The Next Cloud Data Platform."
As part of Greylock's interactive data project Castles in the Cloud, we've analyzed new areas of opportunities for startups. Platforms within the modern data stack pose multiple points of entry for startups to innovate. VCs are already looking for “the next Snowflake” – companies that find success in the shad
Jerry Chen & Jason Risch | VC Funding for the Cloud
Audio version of the latest essay by Greylock investors' Jerry Chen and Jason Risch. As part of our ongoing Castles in the Cloud project, we’ve compiled and analyzed VC funding data into cloud-focused startups in 2021 and Q1 2022. We are mapping the activity in the venture capital-funded startup ecosystem with that of the Big 3 Cloud providers: AWS, Azure, and GCP.
You can read the essay here: htt
David Wadhwani | Finding Opportunity in Crisis
As the saying goes, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." While running a business during times of economic and/or societal crisis is difficult, these moments can also pose opportunities for many companies. David Wadhwani, who is the Chief Business Officer of Digital Media at Adobe and a venture partner at Greylock, outlines his top strategies for staying afloat during times of crises. This episo
Okta's Frederic Kerrest | Instructive Experiences
There are a million different ways things can go wrong when running a startup. Most founders learn the hard way. Frederic Kerrest’s experience was no different. The early days of Okta, which he co-founded with Todd McKinnon in 2009, were rife with challenges. From flawed go-to-market strategies and missed sales targets to struggles with hiring, Kerrest and McKinnon dealt with it all. On top of it
Kenneth Chenault | Venture for Change
How do you advance society as a whole while still making sound business decisions? Kenneth Chenault, the celebrated former chairman and CEO of American Express who is now an investor and board director, says, "If you really are thoughtful, you should be able to have a better economic model by doing good.” Chenault is also the co-founder of OneTen, a coalition of leading executives coming together
Gretel.ai | Making Data Work
In today’s largely cloud-native world, having access to real world data is critical in order for organizations to derive meaning that drives innovation. Yet most organizations are still contending with inadequate tools that enable them to safely share, collaborate, and build with data. What’s more, many businesses lack the engineering resources to develop workarounds in the form of anonymized data
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