EPISODE
Carl Eschenbach & Pat Grady, Jim Cantrell, Tom Hulme
00:01:00 Carl Eschenbach, a seasoned technology executive with over 35 years of experience, has held leadership roles at VMware and Sequoia Capital before becoming co-CEO of Workday in December 2022 and sole CEO in February 2024. In his conversation, he discusses his return to Sequoia Capital, emphasizing the firm's unique position to navigate the massive technological disruptions, particularly in AI, and his personal mission to mentor and support founders during this transformative era.
00:02:00 Jim Cantrell, an American entrepreneur and mechanical engineer, co-founded Phantom Space Corporation in 2019, aiming to revolutionize space transportation through mass production of rockets and satellites. He discusses his extensive experience in the automotive and aerospace industries, including his early involvement with SpaceX, where he accompanied Elon Musk to Russia to purchase rockets, an endeavor that ultimately led to the founding of SpaceX. Cantrell also highlights Phantom Space's development of the Daytona launch vehicle, designed to provide cost-effective and responsive launch services, and emphasizes the importance of vertical integration and mass manufacturing in reducing costs and increasing access to space.
00:03:00 Tom Hulme, Managing Partner and Head of Europe at GV (Google Ventures), discusses the firm's significant focus on AI investments, noting that 80-90% of their current activities involve AI, and emphasizes the importance of technical talent in Europe, highlighting that 35% of the world's AI researchers are based there. He also mentions the emergence of repeat founders and a "PayPal mafia" effect in Europe, citing investments in companies like Snyk and GoCardless. Additionally, Hulme underscores the UK's substantial contributions to AI research, particularly through DeepMind, and discusses the potential of new AI technologies such as world models and reinforcement learning to complement existing large language models.