The Aarthi and Sriram Show

0:00 Intro3:15 - State of AI at the beginning of 202412:30 - Valuations and fundraising landscape today16:20 - Founder backgrounds for AI startups19:15 - Are AI companies defensible? What moats do they have?26:40 - Impact for large enterprise businesses30 35 - Exit options and M&A35:45 - What problems do they wish founders focused on? And not so much on?42:35 - AI therapy - is it cringe?48:55 - Stanford dropouts and starting AI companies58:35 - Olivia and Justine's favorite AI Tools1:04:00 - Outro Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Chapters:0:00 Intro1:50 Gokul Rajaram on Google and what makes a great CEO14:30 Ishan Mukherjee on the State of LLMs22:23 Mark Pincus on how to come up with good ideas and build great products33:12 Anil Varanasi on how to spot great talent36:18 Rio Ferdinand on Leadership and Young Prodigies41:33 Hudzah on using Claude LLM to build products quickly47:29 Mike Maples on patterns for successful startups56:00 Career and life advice by Aarthi and Sriram1:06:55 Aravind Srinivas on Google’s Larry Page being his favourite entrepreneur1:10:50 Bryan Johnson's 7 simple hacks to live longer Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Chapters:0:00 Introduction to Aidan Gomez, CEO of Cohere2:12 Childhood and growing up in Canada5:50 Getting into computers and internet10:30 Sending cold emails14:20 How to work with Aidan16:40 The AI paper - "Attention is all you need"18:45 Starting Cohere21:10 Why choose enterprise (vs consumer) as a market24:45 AI strategy28:20 Hallucinations in LLM models30:10 Enterprise software and security implications32:05 Deloitte, Accenture and the impact of generative AI36:40 Will LLM scaling laws hit a plateau?38:50 AGI, reasoning and inference for LLM models41:30 Synthetic data - what is it? Why is it interesting?43:25 Looking ahead - what is the Cohere's strategy?46:00 Cohere's capital structure49:15 Enterprise Use Cases52:10 Advice for founders - adaptability54:15 Thank you Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Chapters:0:00 Intro1:30 The big political divide in the US7:50 The new media election19:55 Pre-Zynga: Mark's entrepreneurial origins26:10 Being in the room where it happens30:50 How to choose the right idea to work on34:35 Meeting Mark Zuckerberg and investing in Facebook40:20 Founder Mode43:15 Zynga board and saving the company49:30 Zynga 2.0: The Comeback55:00 Zynga company culture1:01:20 Building product at Zynga1:08:30 How Zynga was Facebook's winning strategy1:14:10 Advice to Founders1:25:15 Outro Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

0:01Intro3:04 Ishan's Story4:43 Inside IIT: India's Most Competitive Universities6:50 How Quiz Championships Shaped a Tech Founder11:45 Moving to the US19:38 Building Kiva - The Early Days24:45 The Amazon Acquisition28:30 Immigration34:55 What is ROX37:00 Where are AI agents lacking/ State of LLMs41:35 Reinventing CRMs43:45 How ROX works48:30 AI's Impact on Traditional Industries53:45 The Launch: ROX Goes Public57:00 Advice to Young Dreamers58:35 The Ultimate Quiz Showdown1:01:30 Outro Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

The year is 2024 and it has been a few days since the remarkable US elections. Trump is now President elect. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (both former guests of our podcast!) are leading DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). What does it all mean for tech, for startups and for skilled immigration? What is the future of journalism and media? Is this election a one of one, or is this the first of many podcast elections? We cover it all here in our solo episode. Chapters 00:01:00:17 – 00:03:21:15: One week after the US elections ⁠00:03:19:26 – 00:14:12:00: DOGE and Elon Musk 00:14:15:21 – 00:22:22:17: Elon, Trump and the new government  00:22:34:07 – 00:27:48:05: The podcast election  00:27:55:07 – 00:33:25:13: Views on journalism - the decline of wired magazine  ⁠00:33:38:03 – 00:47:39:19: Sriram’s view on skilled immigration and country caps  00:47:46:26 – 00:58:35:22: Views on the Trump government  ⁠00:58:50:10 – 01:00:44:26: RFK Jr, FDA and the American food system ⁠01:00:48:27 – The end Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Some helpful linksMeter - https://www.meter.com/Meter command - https://command.meter.com/Link to Tyler’s book on culture - https://www.amazon.com/Praise-Commercial-Culture-Tyler-Cowen/dp/0674001885Sam Hinkie - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hinkie0:00 - Intro3:48 - Anil’s early years and background5:23 - Unconventional parenting9:35 - Anil's journey to entrepreneurship12:30 - Sleeping in factories in China15:22 - China VS U.S.18:30 - Why Networks are so important21:35 - Why networking is still an unsolved problem24:10 - Is hardware too hard?26:11 - What does Meter do?37:17 - How does Meter work?41:08 - Future of enterprise software44:00 - Human interaction with AI models46:30 - Why Meter is building AI models50:50 - Spotting young talent54:00 - Anil's framework to find good talent57:30 - How Anil helped Dwarkesh Patel start his podcast1:02:00 - The “X factor” in Anil’s investments1:02:00 - Raising the ambition bar1:06:55 - Escaping the competitive Indian dynamics1:08:38 - How cinema influences entrepreneurship1:17:25 - Why don't we know how planes fly1:19:20 - Lessons from Sam Hinkie1:21:04 - Kindness as an operating principle1:22:10 - Why hasn’t Anil had a more public brand?1:24:03 - US Immigration1:28:00 - Aarthi, Sriram and Anil show?1:30:44 - Best Indian restaurant in London1:32:50 - Has sneaker culture peaked?1:34:25 - Why don’t wealthy people build monuments anymore?1:38:04 - London’s rich history1:40:30 - Why does Sriram have sriramk.eth?1:42:00 - Should all startups go direct on comms?1:47:07 - Are Aarthi and Sriram “too online”?1:49:10 - Sriram’s Silicon Valley groupchats1:49:46 - Will Aarthi and Sriram move back to India?1:48:12 - Aarthi and Sriram’s failures in tech1:53:55 - Netflix’s 3D and streaming software1:58:18 - Popfly1:59:55 - Microsoft success under Satya2:02:00 - On tech execs2:03:10 - Nonfiction book that Aarthi and Sriram would write2:06:27 - Aarthi and Sriram’s favorite Indian movie before 20002:09:48 - The End Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

0:00 - Intro1:10 - Meet Gokul Rajaram, on the Mount Rushmore of Silicon Valley2:19 - Gokul's relationship with Aarthi and Sriram4:00 - What is Founder Mode? And Zuck's Micromanagement6:33 - Founder Mode Vs Management Mode8:26 - Why Gokul disagrees with Paul Graham10:56 - Learnings from Google’s Larry and Sergey15:58 - What were early days at Google like?18:58 - What makes a great CEO?20: 42 - How to engage with high performing executives25:45 - Why Gokul left Google to launch his own startup28:53 - Chamath's Acquisition offer31:30 - Fundraising advice for founders34:13 - Gokul’s HOT take on AI startups38:10 - The evolving consumer apps landscape40:55 - Career Advice for young people48:00 - When is the right time to start a company?52:17 - Why titles don't matter1:01: 45 - Why Gokul left Facebook to join Square1:06:46 - Regret Minimization Framework1:07:28 - Gokul's Best Bet - Doordash1:13:18 - Doordash’s secret hiring process1:16:11 - Sriram’s favorite interview question1:17:30 - Gokul’s advice for first time founders1:20:10 - Final Thoughts Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Rio Ferdinand is a football legend who spent over a decade playing for Manchester United and was a cornerstone of the England national team. With six Premier League titles, two League Cups, and a UEFA Champions League trophy under his belt, Rio is no stranger to the highs and pressures of elite football. He joined Sriram and Aarthi for a deep dive into the trials and tribulations of a career in competitive sports, the mental and physical demands of playing for one of the world’s most prestigious clubs, and the new wave of young athletes rising to stardom. From his experiences with legends like Sir Alex Ferguson to his thoughts on modern football, Rio shares what it takes to truly be the greatest, not just in sports, but in life.Show Notes: (0:00) Intro(2:03) The English experience during the Euros(3:21) What’s it going to take for England to bring it home(7:19) Jude Bellingham is different (9:23) What separates young prodigies that make it vs. those that don’t(12:01) The all-timers are not normal(15:17) Underdog mentality and fighting for recognition (17:13) Handling the pressure of playing for Man Utd(19:18) Rio rewatches the 2008 UCL Final(21:06) Rio learned this while playing for Sir Alex (21:38) How Sir Alex managed the egos of the best players(28:17) A great team needs experienced players(30:43) Mbappe’s challenge ingraining to Real Madrid (34:06) Parallels between sports and tech(38:06) Tech CEOs and founders are receptive to Rio’s opinions(40:39) Clubs still need to improve how to connect with fans(41:23) Ted Lasso and Rio’s new show(42:10) Ronaldo smashes YouTube records(42:48) Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham are modeling the way for football clubs(48:17) Changing the conversation around mental health in sports(54:52) Rio’s penalty-taking strategies (57:40) How Rio would fix Man Utd (59:33) Biggest lesson from running a restaurant (1:00:47) Rio defends ballet (1:01:59) Meeting a young Drake at Old TraffordOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

A math undergraduate from the University of Waterloo, Hudhayfa Nazoordeen, constructed a miniature fusion reactor, known as a fusor, in his bedroom. He completed the project over several weeks, utilizing the Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI assistant from Anthropic, which he provided with relevant data. In a series of tweets, he detailed the entire process of building the reactor from start to finish.Show notes:(00:00) This is an unusual episode (01:20) Welcome HudZah to the show!(01:35) Who is HudZah? (02:35) Using AI tools natively (03:49) Using Claude to build an MVP in one minute - Page Summarizer project as an example(05:12) What is a nuclear fusor? (06:10) Does Hudzah have any prior knowledge to build a nuclear fusor?(07:10) Why build a nuclear fusor in your dorm room? (08:40) Using Claude to build the nuclear fusor (11:18) Week to week progress (13:50) Is building a nuclear fusor safe? 3 ways to die! (16:00) Why use Claude Sonnet? Power of Projects in Claude. (18:50) Trusting your AI model and why is it ok(20:40) Feature requests for Claude (21:45) What’s next in the process to build a fusor? (22:50) How are people reacting? (23:10) Tyler, if you’re watching, please fund Hudzah!(24:40) How are people using AI tools natively? (28:48) Learning from kidsOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Sriram and Aarthi are joined by Martin Casado, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss the future of the AI Safety Bill SB 1047. A bill that sets out to regulate AI at the model level, is now slated for a California Assembly vote in August. If passed, one signature from Governor Gavin Newsom could cement it into California law.Show notes:(00:00) Trailer and intro on SB1047(00:43) Welcome Martin Casado of a16z(2:30) What is SB1047?(4:10) What is the origin of SB1047 bill?(6:14) Should AI be regulated?(10:20) Is AI a paradigm shift?(13:36) Who is funding this bill? ‘Baptists vs bootleggers’ and Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence book being the origin point.(16:35) Scott Wiener’s support of the bill(19:34) Open source benefitting software world and risks to open source due to this bill(22:10) Are large models more dangerous?(24:10) Is there a correlation between size of models and risk associated?(26:45) How would Martin frame any regulations on AI? What’s a better way(28:46) Nancy Pelosi opposes the bill. Some famous researchers are for the bill. Who comprises the two opposing camps and what is the motivation?(33:10) Why does Pelosi oppose the bill?(35:00) Leopold Aschenbrenner and “Situational Awareness” paper(37:20) Non-system people viewing systems - computer systems are not parametric but sigmoidal.(41:30) AI is the ultimate ‘Deus ex machina’ (God in the machine)(44:15) Sriram compares AI regulations to Game of Thrones episode(46:00) Anthropic’s investment in AI safety(48:15) If you’re an AI founder, what can you do about this bill today?(50:00) Why is this bill a personal issue for Martin?Other episodes you might enjoy:EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

A crash course for founders from Marc Andreesen, Vinod Khosla, Stephen Wolfram, Palmer Luckey, and Aravind Srinivas.Show notes:(0:00) Marc Andreessen’s idea maze breakdown (5:29) Vinod Khosla wants you to be internally motivated(6:42) Stephen Wolfram explains how to think (8:47) Palmer Luckey’s three tips for young entrepreneurs (13:02) Aravind Srinivas’ advice for studentsOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Kyla Scanlon⁠ ⁠is an economic commentator who joins Sriram and Aarthi to discuss the disconnect between the economy and consumer sentiment. Kyla is also the author of her brand new book 'In This Economy' which reveals the hidden forces driving key economic outcomes, the most common myths to steer clear of, and the dusty, outdated assumptions that constrain our political imagination, offering a bold new path to building a prosperous society that works for everyone. Show Notes:(0:00) Intro(2:14) How would Kyla fix the U.S. economy?(4:05) Why home ownership might NOT be the best way to build wealth (10:26) Leadership gap left by Steve Jobs at major tech companies(13:11) Why Kyla wrote a book(17:33) What people get wrong about Gen Z(22:55) The difficulties of measuring the economy (27:55) Living in a post-truth society(30:03) The end of monoculture(34:00) Kyla’s video-creation strategy (35:33) Current state of social media platforms(38:44) Kyla’s bold 2024 predictionOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Show Notes:(0:00) Audio issue (0:51) Introduction (3:40) Deals are long-term relationships(6:02) Facebook-WhatsApp acquisition story(12:04) The most important part of deal-making(16:44) Don’t come off as desperate (19:35) Maintaining momentum during a deal(25:53) Know everything about the person you’re dealing with (33:37) How we closed our London home (37:54) Mistakes we often see (44:40) Managing emotions while deal-making (50:19) What to do if the deal falls throughOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Show notes:(0:00) Intro(0:56) Prioritize hiring yourself(5:37) Always keep looking for talent (8:10) Align incentives with your hire (15:05) How to find the best hires(19:15) How to run a good loop(29:51) Reference checks are underrated(37:25) How to close the hire(45:45) ConclusionOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Show notes:(0:00) Naveen’s background (5:32) Where Generative AI is today (8:00) ChatGPT-4o and Google I/O announcements were NOT fundamental shifts (9:38) Has generative AI scaling hit a wall? (16:34) AI pretraining difficulties (22:49) General AI vs. specialized AI (25:55) Biggest opportunities for generative AI startups (29:15) AI hardware landscape (33:23) How open source AI companies can compete with closed models like OpenAI? (38:59) Why Naveen doesn’t use AI in his home(40:22) Is open-sourcing AI dangerous? (43:46) Advice for founders (47:00) Naveen sold to Intel too early (51:09) The pace of AI innovationOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Sriram and Aarthi break down popular audience questions about jobs, work-life balance, and more.Show notes:(0:00) Intro (2:21) Advice for our younger selves(13:20) Betting on yourself (23:19) Benefits of taking more shots(28:59) Work-life balance(33:32) Aarthi’s hot take(35:45) Time to switch jobs?(47:21) Our unpopular opinionsOther episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Sriram and Aarthi respond to your reaction to the immigration episode.Show notes:(0:00) We’re on a billboard(2:38) Our podcast journey(4:39) Response to our skilled immigration episode(11:07) Core issues hindering skilled immigration(23:07) Remembering our immigration process(29:01) Recapping WrestleMania 40(49:21) Mark Zuckerberg’s personal rebrand(54:00) Meta releases Llama 3Other episodes you might enjoy:EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In AmericaEP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod

Debarghya 'Deedy' Das is an investor and he joins Aarthi and Sriram to break down the hurdles of immigration in America for skilled workers. Show notes:(0:00) Intro(8:08) Immigration routes to the United States (12:52) Cap for Chinese and Indian immigrants (15:30) Aarthi and Sriram’s green card story(17:48) Why should US citizens care about skilled immigration?(22:31) Challenges legal immigrants face(30:16) Aarthi and Sriram’s US citizenship ceremony (32:52) Solving the issue of skilled immigration(40:06) Per-country cap controversy (41:47) Immigrating to Canada or the UK instead of the US(48:43) The politics of immigration(51:52) Overlooked advantages of working for a US-based company (57:07) Options for immigrant founders and non-founders(1:06:48) Changing immigration policies—Other episodes you might enjoy:EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI DisasterEP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon ValleyEP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram:https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/https://twitter.com/sriramkFollow Aarthi:https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/https://twitter.com/aarthirFollow the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod