Best Tony Xu Podcasts (2025)

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Episode 333: Rachel Howzell Hall Thriller Fog and Fury 29:26

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22h ago29:26

29:26

Diverse Voices Book Review host interviewed Rachel Howzell Hall, author of the new thriller FOG AND FURY. Set in northern California, FOG AND FURY features a disgraced former Los Angeles police detective, Alyson "Sonny" Rush, whose first case with her godfather's private detective agency throws her personal life into turmoil. Her life is further co…

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Aravind Srinivas: The Race to Build the AI Browser of the Future 43:12

22h ago43:12

43:12

Aravind Srinivas on June 16, 2025 at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Aravind Srinivas started Perplexity with one goal: to rethink how we search, browse, and interact with information online. In this conversation, he shares the journey from hacking together a natural-language-to-SQL search tool to building a product used by millions around the w…

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Andrew Ng: Building Faster with AI 43:57

2d ago43:57

43:57

Andrew Ng on June 16, 2025 at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Andrew Ng has helped shape some of the most influential movements in modern AI—from online education to deep learning to AI entrepreneurship. In this talk, he shares what he’s learning now: why execution speed matters more than ever, how agentic workflows are changing what startups ca…

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Episode 332: Ivy Pochoda's Novel Ecstasy Tackles Female Oppression and Marital Patriarchy 38:38

8d ago38:38

38:38

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Ivy Pochoda, author of ECSTASY. Based on a Greek tragedy by Euripides, Pochoda explained how she wanted to address difficult truths about female oppression and marital patriarchy. As described on her website, "Ecstasy is a riveting, darkly poetic, one-sitting read about empowerment, desire, an…

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Episode 331: Dana Williams Recounts Impact of Toni Morrison on Black Writers As Editor 39:41

10d ago39:41

39:41

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Dana A. Williams, author of TONI AT RANDOM: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship. In the interview, Dr. Williams discussed Toni Morrison's path to becoming a book editor, some of the Black writers she edited at Random House including Angela Davis and Toni Cade Bambara, and what inspired he…

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François Chollet: The ARC Prize & How We Get to AGI 34:47

11d ago34:47

34:47

François Chollet on June 16, 2025 at AI Startup School in San Francisco. François Chollet is a leading voice in AI. He's the creator of the Keras library, author of Deep Learning with Python, and the founder of the ARC Prize, a global competition aimed at measuring true general intelligence. He's spent years thinking deeply about what intelligence …

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Fei-Fei Li: Spatial Intelligence is the Next Frontier in AI 44:21

13d ago44:21

44:21

A fireside with Dr. Fei-Fei Li on June 16, 2025 at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Dr. Fei-Fei Li is often called the godmother of AI—and for good reason. Before the world had AI as we know it, she was helping build the foundation.In this fireside, she recounts the creation of ImageNet, a project that helped ignite the deep learning revolution b…

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Episode 330: Naomi Xu Elegant Debut Novel Gingko Seaso 37:12

15d ago37:12

37:12

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Naomi Xu Elegant, author of the debut novel GINGKO SEASON. Set in Philadelphia, Elegant examines the friendships and the love life of a neurotic young woman in her 20s. The novel also is a homage to Philadelphia, where the author lived while attending the University of Pennsylvania. In the int…

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Legendary Consumer VC Predicts The Future Of AI Products 35:46

17d ago35:46

35:46

Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures, has backed some of the most iconic consumer brands of the past two decades — from Warby Parker to Chime to Dollar Shave Club. In this conversation with Garry, she shares how great products (not marketing tricks) still win, why AI is unlocking a new kind of emotional relationship between consumers and t…

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Satya Nadella: Microsoft's AI Bets, Hyperscaling, Quantum Computing Breakthroughs 40:29

19d ago40:29

40:29

A fireside with Satya Nadella on June 17, 2025 at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Satya Nadella started at Microsoft in 1992 as an engineer. Three decades later, he’s now Chairman & CEO, navigating the company through one of the most profound technological shifts yet: the rise of AI.In this conversation, he shares how Microsoft is thinking about…

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Episode 329: Peniel Joseph Relates How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution 33:02

21d ago33:02

33:02

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviewed Dr. Peniel Joseph about his new book, FREEDOM SEASON: How 1963 Transformed America’s Civil Rights Revolution. Through a captivating study of leading activists during the Civil Rights movement, Joseph creates an authentic narrative about individuals who endeavored to change a nation and…

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Sam Altman: The Future of OpenAI, ChatGPT's Origins, and Building AI Hardware 42:44

23d ago42:44

42:44

A fireside with Sam Altman at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Sam Altman grew up obsessed with technology, broke into the Stanford mainframe as a kid, and dropped out to start his first company before turning 20.In this conversation, he traces the path from early startup struggles to building OpenAI—sharing what he’s learned about ambition, the …

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Elon Musk: Digital Superintelligence, Multiplanetary Life, How to Be Useful 49:40

23d ago49:40

49:40

A fireside with Elon Musk at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Before rockets and robots, Elon Musk was drilling holes through his office floor to borrow internet. In this candid talk, he walks through the early days of Zip2, the Falcon 1 launches that nearly ended SpaceX, and the “miracle” of Tesla surviving 2008. He shares the thinking that guid…

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Andrej Karpathy: Software Is Changing (Again) 39:31

25d ago39:31

39:31

Andrej Karpathy's keynote at AI Startup School in San Francisco.Drawing on his work at Stanford, OpenAI, and Tesla, Andrej sees a shift underway. Software is changing, again. We’ve entered the era of “Software 3.0,” where natural language becomes the new programming interface and models do the rest.He explores what this shift means for developers, …

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Episode 328: Rickey Fayne's Debut Novel Weaves a Multigeneration Tale from Slave Ship to Contemporary Times 59:28

27d ago59:28

59:28

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Rickey Fayne about his debut novel, THE DEVIL THREE TIMES. Covering eight generations of a Black family in West Tennessee, from the slave ship to contemporary times, Fayne creates a narrative rich with historical context, emotional depth, and Black folklore. In the interview, he talked about h…

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Cursor CEO: Going Beyond Code, Superintelligent AI Agents And Why Taste Still Matters 37:28

1M ago37:28

37:28

Michael Truell, co-founder and CEO of Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, joins Garry to talk about building one of the fastest-growing startups of all time—and why he's betting on a future beyond code. He walks through the early insights that led his team to leave a promising AI-powered CAD project and instead chase a bigger dream: reinventing h…

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Fusion Energy Is Tech's Next Big Unlock 8:07

1M ago8:07

8:07

Fusion may still sound like science fiction— but it might not be for much longer. With AI pushing demand for clean power to new highs, a breakthrough may finally be close. For Decoded, YC General Partner Gustaf Alstromer traces the history of fusion, the physics behind it, and the engineering challenges that stalled it for nearly a century. He also…

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Episode 327: Abigail Leonard Examines the First Year of Parenthood 35:48

1M ago35:48

35:48

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviews international reporter and news producer Abigail Leonard about her new book, “Four Mothers, An Intimate Journey through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries.” With a close examination of the lives of women in Japan, Finland, Kenya and the United States, Leonard writes an insig…

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AI Apps Are Broken — Here's How To Fix Them 30:07

2M ago30:07

30:07

In this episode of The Breakdown, Tom and Dave are joined by fellow YC General Partner Pete Koomen to lay out a new vision for how AI should actually work: not as a chatbot bolted onto legacy software, but as a customizable tool that helps people offload the work they don't want to do. From editable system prompts to agents that act more like colla…

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Episode 326: Twain Scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin Explores Huckleberry Finn’s Character Jim 39:40

2M ago39:40

39:40

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Shelley Fisher Fishkin, author of JIM: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn's Comrade. In the interview she highlights the irony in Twain's portrayal of Jim, contrasting Huck's limited understanding with Twain's deeper critique of society. Fishkin emphasizes the need for teachers to be …

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Episode 325: Jesse Q. Sutanto's Latest Cozy Mystery Featuring Vera Wong 29:34

2M ago29:34

29:34

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of the mystery novel VERA WONG'S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (on a DEAD MAN). This is the second book in the series featuring Vera Wong, a 61-year-old tea shop owner in San Francisco. Vera, based on Sutanto's mother, investigates a murder involving a missing person social media …

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How AI Coding Agents Will Change Your Job 19:11

2M ago19:11

19:11

Coding agents are no longer a distant idea—they're already starting to reshape how we work. YC's Tom Blomfield and David Lieb discuss how AI coding tools are transforming software development, why small, high-agency teams will be able to do what once took armies of engineers, and why there's never been a better time to start something new. They exp…

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Episode 324: Preston Lauterbach Explores Black Musicians Who Made Elvis Presley 39:22

2M ago39:22

39:22

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Preston Lauterbach, author of BEFORE ELVIS: The African American Musicians Who Made the King. In the interview Lauterbach highlighted the influence of African American musicians on Elvis Presley. He noted that Elvis's first hit, "That's All Right," was originally recorded by Arthur Crudup, and…

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Episode 323: Historian Linda Gordon Investigates Social Movements Impact On America 30:36

3M ago30:36

30:36

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviewed New York University Professor Linda Gordon about her new book, SEVEN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA. Professor Gordon writes a captivating account of historical events that have shaped American society. By exploring the transformative nature of individual and collective activism…

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How To Get The Most Out Of Vibe Coding | Startup School 16:39

3M ago16:39

16:39

AI can't yet one-shot an entire product—but with the rise of vibe coding, it's getting close. YC's Tom Blomfield has spent the last month building side projects with tools like Claude Code, Windsurf, and Aqua, seeing just how far you can push modern LLMs. From writing full-stack apps to debugging with a single paste of an error message, AI is becom…

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How Zepto Became India’s Fastest Growing Startup 38:23

3M ago38:23

38:23

Imagine ordering groceries and having them show up at your doorstep in just 10 minutes. That’s the promise of Zepto, the fastest-growing e-commerce company in India. In this episode of How To Build The Future, Garry sits down with Aadit Palicha, the co-founder and CEO of Zepto, to discuss how they got started in a Whatsapp group, what it’s like goi…

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Episode 322: The Northern Ireland U.S. Civil Rights Connection 45:54

3M ago45:54

45:54

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Forest Issac Jones, author of GOOD TROUBLE: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972. Jones discovered the connection between the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland and the Black Civil Rights Movement during a 2021 visit to Belfast. He highlights the …

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Why America Stopped Innovating - And How We Can Start Again 34:12

3M ago34:12

34:12

Not long ago, America led the world in building and innovation. But over the past 50 years, bureaucracy and red tape have made it nearly impossible to get big things done. Still, there’s a growing movement to turn that around — to build faster, smarter, and better than ever before. In this episode of The Main Function, Garry sits down with Atlantic…

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Episode 321: Kimberly Lau Examines the Manifestation of Race in European Fairy Tales 44:55

4M ago44:55

44:55

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Kimberly J. Lau, author of Specters of the Marvelous: Race and the Development of the European Fairy Tale. In stories retold for generations, wondrous worlds and magnificent characters have defined the genre of European fairy tales with little recognition of yet another defining aspect—racism …

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What Founders Can Do To Improve Their Design Game 20:43

4M ago20:43

20:43

In this special episode of Design Review, Aaron sits down with Raphael Schaad, the Head of Calendar at Notion to discuss his leap from designer to founder, why illustration is an important first step when building a new product, and what ultimately makes designers uniquely qualified to start a company today.…

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Episode 320: Fernando Flores's Dystopian Tale Brother Brontë 50:35

4M ago50:35

50:35

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Fernando A. Flores, author of the novel Brother Brontë. Set in Texas in 2038, it is a dark tale of a future where books are burned, the libraries are closed, and your neighbor may turn you in for having books. In the interview, Flores said, "...for those of us who have traveled to the valley b…

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How to Build the Future: Tony Xu 31:32

4M ago31:32

31:32

12 years after starting DoorDash, co-founder & CEO Tony Xu and his employees still do deliveries every year, staying true to their core value: customer obsession. Today, DoorDash is the largest food delivery platform in the US. In this episode of How to Build the Future, Tony explains how their unwavering long-term vision won — helping create a new…

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Episode 319: Keith Clark Highlights the Importance of Black Literary Trail Blazers James Baldwin, Ernest Gaines, and Ann Petry 48:37

4M ago48:37

48:37

Diverse Voices Book Review host interviewed Keith Clark about his books Navigating the Fiction of Ernest J. Gaines: A Roadmap for Readers, The Radical Fiction of Ann Petry, and Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines and August Wilson. Clark is a Professor of English and African and African American Studies at George Mason University. Dive…

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Customer Obsession Made Gusto A $9.6 Billion Company 24:58

4M ago24:58

24:58

Gusto (https://gusto.com) made payroll and HR painless for small businesses, growing into a $9.6B company along the way. Co-founder & CEO Josh Reeves joined YC's Harj Taggar to share how they built a payroll company from scratch and their customer-first approach to product design and culture.

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Episode 318: Lilliam Rivera Novel Explores Darkness in Illusory World of Glamour and Fashion 34:07

4M ago34:07

34:07

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviews Lilliam Rivera about her 2024 novel Tiny Threads, a dark thriller set in Vernon, California, in the fashion world. Rivera discusses the novel's blend of horror, fashion, and personal trauma. She explores the connection between fashion and violence, drawing from her experience as a fashion edito…

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The Future Of Design With Figma's Dylan Field 37:41

4M ago37:41

37:41

Design isn’t just about making things work—it’s about how they work, says Dylan Field, the co-founder & CEO of Figma. As AI transforms tech, he believes a designer's judgment, taste, and agency will matter more than ever. Dylan sat down with YC's Garry Tan to discuss the evolving world of design in the age of AI, the challenging early days at Figma…

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Episode 317: Betsy Leondar-Wright Co-Authors Book That Examines How Inequalities Persist 43:08

4M ago43:08

43:08

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Betsy Leondar-Wright, co-author of Is It Racist? Is It Sexist? Two questions that seem simple on their face, but which invite a host of tangled responses. In this book, Jessi Streib and Betsy Leondar-Wright offer a new way of understanding how inequalities persist by focusing on the individual…

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Episode 316: Brea Baker Investigates Black Land Theft in Book Rooted 32:46

4M ago32:46

32:46

Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviewed Brea Baker about her new book, "Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership." Through a close examination of historical events, Brea explores the significance of land ownership and how generations of black families have been impacted by sy…

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Episode 315: Walter Mosley's Latest Novel Explores a Son's Search for His Father 53:03

5M ago53:03

53:03

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed legendary author Walter Mosley about his latest novel Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right, his third novel featuring New York private detective Joe King Oliver. In the novel, Oliver's 92-year-old grandmother asks him to find his father, her son, after she discovers she has a tumor that coul…

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How To Build The Future: Aravind Srinivas 34:38

5M ago34:38

34:38

YC General Partner David Lieb sits down with Aravind Srinivas, the co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, to discuss his origins in Silicon Valley, what it's like to compete with Google, and what the future of search could look like. Apply to Y Combinator: https://ycombinator.com/apply

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Episode 314: Favorite Novels of 2024 40:53

5M ago40:53

40:53

Diverse Voices Book Review hosts Hopeton Hay and Amanda Moore discuss their favorite novels of 2024 that were featured in author interviews. For Hopeton, his favorite novels were 54 Miles by Leonard Pitts, Jr., Guide Me Home by Attica Locke, and Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat. Amanda's favorite novels were Flores and Miss Paula by Meli…

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Building A Supersonic Plane Company From The Ground Up 13:45

5M ago13:45

13:45

Imagine flying from NY to London in just a few hours. That’s the future that Blake Scholl and his team at Boom Supersonic are working towards. Blake started as a software engineer and pivoted mid-career to aviation. Now, he’s at the forefront of trying to bring back supersonic travel for all of us. In this episode of Hard Tech, YC’s Jared Friedman …

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Episode 313: Alex Segura Thriller Examines Conflict Between Art and Commerce 32:34

5M ago32:34

32:34

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Alex Segura, author of the thriller Alter Ego. In the story, Annie Bustamante, a celebrated filmmaker and comic book artist, gets a chance to work on her favorite superhero, The Lethal Lynx. Despite her excitement, she's wary of the offer, and her suspicions grow when she receives anonymous wa…

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The Right (And Wrong) Way To Spend Money At Your Startup 29:06

5M ago29:06

29:06

Many startups fail because they run out of money. So how should you think about how to spend the money you raise? In this episode of Office Hours, YC General Partners Brad Flora, Pete Koomen, Nicolas Dessaigne, and Gustaf Alströmer discuss how to spend responsibly at each stage of a startup— including advice on when to hire, whether to invest in ma…

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Episode 312: History Professor Joe Trotter Jr. Explores Building the Black City 39:51

5M ago39:51

39:51

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Joe William Trotter, Jr., author of Building The Black City: The Transformation of American Life. Building The Black City explores the history of African Americans in cities across America from the colonial era to recent times. He emphasized the agency of African people in building their own i…

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How To Build The AGI Future: Bob McGrew 30:44

5M ago30:44

30:44

According to OpenAI's former Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, reasoning and test-time compute will unlock more reliable and capable AI agents— and a path to scale to AGI. In this episode of How to Build the Future, YC's @garrytan sits down with Bob to discuss the lessons learned from his time at OpenAI, scaling laws, his advice for startups, and …

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Episode 311: The Damascus Events: An Interview with Eugene Rogan on the 1860 Massacre and the Ottoman Empire 33:34

6M ago33:34

33:34

Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Eugene Rogan, a professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of Oxford and the director of the Middle East Center at St. Anthony's College, Oxford. Rogan discusses his book, The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Making of the Modern Middle East." The conversation touch…

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Nubank ft. David Vélez - An Outsider Upends the Brazilian Banking System 50:04

6M ago50:04

50:04

When Nubank started 10 years ago, a few big banks in Brazil had a stranglehold on the largest economy in Latin America: they controlled nearly all the market share, and imposed some of the highest fees and worst banking terms in the world. David Vélez was an unlikely character to challenge the system: an outsider from Colombia and Costa Rica with a…

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How To Use AI In Your Startup 14:02

6M ago14:02

14:02

AI continues to improve at an exponential pace. So what can you do as a founder to take advantage of it? In this episode of Office Hours, YC Partners discuss what you should consider if you’re thinking about pivoting to or incorporating AI as part of your startup.

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How To Build The Future: Parker Conrad 43:28

6M ago43:28

43:28

In this episode of How to Build the Future, Garry sits down with Parker Conrad, Co-founder & CEO of Rippling, the all-in-one HR, Finance, and IT software company that’s valued at $13.5 billion. Parker is the co-founder of two unicorns and has one of the more dramatic startup journeys in recent years. In this interview, he shares his origin story, t…