The Expert Network Behind Handshake AI’s Model Training w/ Garrett Lord & Mamoon Hamid

Guest: Filip Kaliszan, CEO and co-founder of VerkadaGreat founders try to grow personally at least as fast as their companies do — but sometimes, says Verkada CEO Filip Kaliszan, that’s just not possible. By the time the company had about 200 employees, he says, “the scale of the business and the rate of the growth of the business ... outpaced my rate of learning, or my ability to consult the right people.” But over time, he has worked to fix past errors and earn everyone’s trust: “I can be only as good as the rate at which I fix my mistakes,” Filip says.In this episode, Filip and Joubin discuss “the good old days,” first principle thinking, the business impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bay Area bubble, going public, Aaron Levie, going down rabbit holes, power dynamics, idea validation, Brian Long, Hans Robertson, DIY entrepreneurship, commercial kitchens, cash efficiency, VR headsets, zeitgeist-y platform shifts, Mark Zuckerberg, and John Doerr.In this episode, we cover:(00:50) - Verkada’s office culture (04:37) - The loss of community (10:37) - Not going remote during COVID (16:37) - Palo Alto Networks (22:15) - Does Filip like being CEO? (26:02) - Time management and flow state (29:47) - The problem with huge meetings (31:59) - Fundraising for Verkada (34:02) - Building a “camera company” (37:29) - Zero to one (41:17) - The first 10 people (42:48) - Allocating capital wisely (46:19) - Hiring in-house (51:17) - Biggest screw-ups (54:00) - The feeling of failure (55:05) - Customer therapy (56:39) - Divide and conquer (01:00:47) - The Apple Vision Pro (01:05:05) - Mark Zuckerberg’s response (01:09:25) - Who Verkada is hiring and what “grit” means to Filip Links:Connect with FilipLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

4 Mars 20241h 12min

Guest: Wade Foster, CEO and co-founder of ZapierWhen Wade Foster and his co-founders launched Zapier, he was 24, and doubted himself constantly. He consulted mentors like Paul Graham and Jay Simons, studied entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs, and also took inspiration from an unlikely source: Actor and martial artist Bruce Lee. “[He] had this fighting style, ‘The Way of No Way,’” Wade says. “He would study all the different fighting styles, and he would say, ‘None of them is the best or the worst ... My job was to take the best of each and then discard the rest, and make it my own.’”In this episode, Wade and Joubin discuss fully remote companies, long-term thinking, hyperscaling, product-market fit, broken products, secondary offerings, “delocation packages,” interview questions, mind-breaking growth, doubting yourself, LLMs, hackathons, and adding a sales team (eventually).In this episode, we cover:(01:10) - Living in central Missouri (04:15) - Will Wade do this forever? (10:23) - Startup envy (13:09) - “Do people actually want this?” (18:44) - What Zapier does (20:15) - Taking outside capital (22:43) - Why Zapier is fully remote (28:01) - The pace of hiring (30:35) - Why résumés can be a trap (37:09) - When to promote from within (41:06) - Scaling problems (43:47) - Self-confidence and mentors (47:37) - Reacting to ChatGPT (53:43) - How Zapier’s team uses AI (58:12) - Who Zapier is hiring Links:Connect with WadeTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

26 Feb 202459min

Guest: Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity and Radical Respect: How To Work Together BetterAfter her first management book Radical Candor became a worldwide bestseller, Kim Scott found herself giving talks to all kinds of companies about how they could apply her advice and build a stronger, kinder culture. But then, after one such talk, the CEO — a longtime friend and former coworker — came up to Kim with an asterisk. As a Black woman, she explained, “as soon as I offer anyone even the most compassionate, gentle criticism, I get assigned the ‘angry Black woman’ stereotype.” Kim realized in that moment that her book needed a prequel of sorts, explaining what you need to have before you can create radical candor: “You're not going to care about people who you don't respect,” she says.In this episode, Kim and Joubin discuss regret minimization, Juice Software, Sheryl Sandberg, saying “um,” moments of connection, Dick Costolo, negative truths, James March, snobbery, Charles Ferguson, Shona Brown, Fred Kofman, Christa Quarles, Jason Rosoff, Andy Grove, founders as outliers, Jack Dorsey, Steve Jobs, glows and grows, the Post Ranch Inn, failing your colleagues, sexual harassment, DEI, and intellectual honesty.In this episode, we cover:(01:04) - Loud voices (03:59) - Writing a bestseller (07:48) - Why Kim wrote Radical Candor (14:21) - How to show you care (18:04) - Coaching tech CEOs (21:24) - Ruinous empathy and obnoxious aggression (25:40) - Leaving things unsaid (30:30) - Not an academic (35:21) - Learning from failed startups (38:55) - Performance reviews (42:30) - Why feedback feels risky (49:21) - How to reject feedback (53:11) - Creating space for feedback at home (56:08) - Running and sleeping (59:45) - Radical Respect and Kim’s other books (01:04:27) - The hardest story to share (01:06:44) - Optimism about the future Links:Connect with KimBuy Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your HumanityPre-order Radical Respect: How To Work Together BetterTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

19 Feb 20241h 9min

Guest: Daniela Amodei, President and co-founder of AnthropicWith a reported valuation of as much as $18 billion, Anthropic has the resources to be one of the dominant AI companies in Silicon Valley; however, it was conceived as a public benefit corporation and always tries to strike a balance between hypergrowth and responsibility. Anthropic’s flagship LLM, Claude, must adhere to a “constitution” of values that prioritize the good of humanity. And even though every company wants to “do AI” right now, President Daniela Amodei says some of them should slow down. “I keep coming back to this idea of, ‘How much are you buying the hype?’” she says. “’How grounded are you in the reality of what's actually happening?’ And sometimes in business conversations, we tell a potential customer, ‘We don't think we're right for you.’”In this episode, Daniela and Joubin discuss her brother Dario, staying grounded, hypergrowth startups, Claire Hughes Johnson, mechanistic interpretability, Paul Graham, AI training, what AI companies can learn from social media, Stripe, the pool of venture capital in the Bay Area, leading people, giving feedback to all your coworkers, interview questions, and Sheryl Sandberg.In this episode, we cover:Holidays with the Amodei family (01:15)The tech industry bubble (05:35)Inside the AI hurricane (09:53)Scaling as a superpower (14:39)Complementary abilities (16:39)Claude 2 and constitutional AI (20:05)Making AI trustworthy, safe, and powerful (28:58)Generative AI’s high cost (31:03)Anthropic and OpenAI’s massive responsibility (37:50)The impact of new technology (42:32)Public benefit companies (46:55)Extremely lean go to market (53:36)AI as a business-led industry  (01:00:37)Customer obsession (01:06:58)Where do you want to use your innovation? (01:11:31)Who shouldn’t use AI? (01:14:33)“Everything to everyone” (01:18:15)Working with Daniela (01:22:26)Interviews at Anthropic (01:25:38)Intense performance reviews (01:29:47)Middle managers are underrated (01:35:46)“Tell me about yourself” (01:39:47)Who Anthropic is hiring (01:42:33)Links:Connect with DanielaLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

12 Feb 20241h 46min

Guest: Dev Ittycheria, CEO and President of MongoDBWhen you think about who you were and the decisions you made two, or four, or eight years ago ... how do you feel? Dev Ittycheria, the President and CEO of MongoDB, says he’s embarrassed about certain things he did — and that’s a good thing. “If you’re not [embarrassed], that means you’re not really growing that fast,” he says. He recalled one of his mentors, former BladeLogic chairman Steve Walske, explaining that everyone has an overinflated opinion of themselves, and the great leaders keep the gap between that opinion and reality narrow. One of the hallmarks of such a leader, Dev says, is that they have the intellectually honesty to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, which others perceive.In this episode, Dev and Joubin discuss looking for bad news, chips on your shoulder, Ivy League schools, being an outsider, highly educated parents, “aging out,” Bruce Springsteen, Chief People Officers, Frank Slootman and John McMahon, passive aggression, vulnerability as strength, imposter syndrome, open-source licenses, introverts, and time management.In this episode, we cover:Shlomo Kramer and the “burden of persona” (00:59)Why BladeLogic started in Boston (04:30)The psychological edge (07:08)Dev’s family and education (08:56)“Am I good enough?” (13:11)“Do not squander this opportunity” (16:22)Dev’s wife (19:32)Fear of irrelevance (21:23)Relevance after retirement (26:06)Why CEO is a lonely job (28:14)Trusting your team (31:43)The meaning of life (35:16)Judgment and introspection (38:16)Taking people to the woodshed (40:54)What matters to other people (44:39)Taking risks at MongoDB (51:08)Founder-led businesses (53:26)What type of company is MongoDB? (57:39)Work-life harmony (01:00:20)Who MongoDB is hiring (01:03:17)Links:Connect with DevTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

5 Feb 20241h 5min

Guest: Frank Slootman, CEO and Chairman of Snowflake and author of Amp It UpSnowflake CEO Frank Slootman doesn’t recall a time in his childhood where new achievements were celebrated — because, according to his father, putting everything into your work and “leaving it all on the field” was the only choice. “The problem with it,” Frank says, is that “it becomes a ‘never enough’ dynamic, because when is it enough?” To this day, he comes home on Friday night and asks himself, “Did it mater that I was there? ... If I’m just a passenger on the ship, that’s my nightmare.”In this episode, Frank and Joubin discuss acting with urgency, Shlomo Kramer, negative role models, Elon Musk, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech, aptitudes and weaknesses, ServiceNow, and the life spark of business.In this episode, we cover:Being tough on yourself (00:59)Sailing and inner peace (03:00)Confronting your demons (09:07)Scaling Data Domain (11:15)Judging talent (15:20)That gnawing feeling (18:16)Daring greatly and rejecting pride (21:04)“Did it matter that I was there?” (25:02)How you play the game (27:59)The best version of yourself (29:59)Learning from the best (34:06)Sales as inspiration (37:52)Retirement and Tom Brady (39:09)The fog of war (41:16)Snowflake vs. Data Domain (44:31)Respect for luck (48:48)Who Snowflake is hiring (50:42)Links:Connect with FrankLinkedInBuy Frank’s book, Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating IntensityConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

29 Jan 202453min

Guest: Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo BioworksAlmost everyone in the second generation of biotechnology entrepreneurs, says Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Jason Kelly, works in that field because of one thing: Jurassic Park. The Michael Crichton novel-turned-Steven Spielberg movie captured both the wonder and beauty of bioengineering, and the challenges of bending DNA to your own ends. “You didn’t invent biology,” Jason says. “You need to have humility in the face of it ... because life will find a way. It will do things you don’t expect. It’s not a computer.” In this episode, Jason and Joubin discuss the Wall Street rollercoaster, designer cells, the history of biotech, Herbert Boyer and Genentech, ChatGPT, extinct flowers, Sam Altman and YCombinator, first principles thinking, compounding risk, Patrick Collison, super-voting shares, capital intensive businesses, Pets.com, and why biology is like “freakishly powerful alien technology.”In this episode, we cover:Being private vs. being public (00:58)How bioengineering works (04:27)Jurassic Park (08:51)Biotech breakthroughs (12:15)Why this field is not well-known yet (16:57)“The ChatGPT moment for biotech” (22:05)Meaningful stuff takes forever (26:23)Ginkgo’s first five years (29:02)Why the company went public (36:20)Short sellers, Warren Buffett, and Elon Musk (42:08)Applying AI to DNA engineering (47:57)The long-term future (55:57)Who Ginkgo is hiring (58:39)Links:Connect with JasonTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

22 Jan 202459min

Guest: John McMahon, author of The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CROA hell of a lot of people work in sales. But until recently, says five-time CRO and The Qualified Sales Leader author John McMahon, it was rare for colleges and universities to offer a sales degree. Salespeople had to learn on the job from experienced coaches, and adapt. And their bosses, John explains, had to themselves as agents of transformation. “If somebody’s really smart, they’re going to pick up the knowledge,” he says. “If they have what I call a PHD — persistence, heart, and desire — they’re going to learn the skills ... You’re going to have to do thousands and thousands of repetitions before you’re going to get good.”In this episode, John and Joubin discuss lazy LinkedIn cold calls, Tom Brady’s retirement, being “married to your job,” Carl Eschenbach, crying, sales as a calling, corporate culture vs. coaching culture, adaptable workers, opportunity vs. title, Bob Muglia, transactional leaders, sad rich people, cookie-cutter advice, handshake evaluations, and David Cancel.In this episode, we cover:CRO to CEO? (02:21)Ego and relevance (04:25)Escaping the 90-day grind (06:25)Persistence and physical discipline (09:05)Daily habits and positive energy (14:12)Why John quit BMC (17:09)Poor communication (21:17)Was there another way? (24:37)Identifying sales talent (28:36)Showing that you care (32:58)Sales leaders as hockey coaches (39:46)Firing people (44:25)Interviewing the right type of salesperson (49:14)Snowflake and Chris Degnan (51:22)“What’s the book on you?” (56:03)Managing from a position of power (58:01)The three “whys” (01:00:31)Why John never went VC (01:04:33)Is he really done? (01:07:17)Shlomo Kramer (01:10:20)Having impact (01:13:11)Bad advice (01:16:19)Working with marketing (01:19:32)Sizing people up (01:21:26)Can CEOs give up? (01:26:51)Coaching sales “artists” (01:28:29)What “grit” means to John (01:30:48)Links:Connect with JohnLinkedInBuy The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CROConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

15 Jan 20241h 33min