EPISODE
Samir Kaul, Patrick Wendell, Grant LaFontaine
00:01:00 Samir Kaul, a general partner at Khosla Ventures, discusses the firm’s investment in Jeff Dean’s Discovery Loop and its potential to apply AI to scientific research with tangible outcomes. He also shares his views on AI regulation, inflated private-market valuations, venture capital strategy, founder support, and the importance of taking bold risks to generate exceptional returns.
00:02:00 Patrick Wendell discusses his role as Databricks co-founder and VP of Engineering, where he leads AI products and internal AI adoption. He explains how AI coding tools can nearly double engineering capacity while creating rapidly escalating consumption costs, and highlights model switching, intelligent routing, and optimization as key ways to control spending without sacrificing productivity.
00:03:00 Grant Lafontaine discusses Whatnot’s $500 million Series E funding round at a $20 billion valuation and the live-shopping platform’s rapid growth. He explains how authentic, knowledgeable sellers can build substantial businesses with small audiences, while outlining Whatnot’s focus on customer experience, new markets, product categories, and future streaming formats.