Current economic conditions have put thousands of highly qualified candidates in search of new roles. In just a few months, the population of job-seekers will further expand as a wave of fresh graduates – many of whom will be taking on the first serious role of their career – enter the market. The dearth of open roles can be discouraging to any candidate, and those at the beginning of their careers may feel this even more acutely. A bright spot is early-stage startups in need of talent to build ...
Feb 02, 2023•34 min
Audio version of Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna's essay for Forbes "Four Tasks for CEOs in 2023: Leveraging the Downturn." As Chandna puts forth, while economic recessions can mark the end for many otherwise promising companies, they also present opportunities. Businesses that were previously in hyper-growth mode now have time to re-asses and implement tactics they couldn't in busier times. Chandna lays out several strategies to take in this scenario. This essay was read by Greylock's h...
Jan 31, 2023•7 min
The second episode of Fireside Chatbots featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and ChatGPT, the large language model created by OpenAI. This week, Reid and ChatGPT talk about the ways humans and AI can work together to significantly increase productivity, scientific discovery, analytical capabilities, and creativity. As ChatGPT says, "The jobs of the future will likely be a combination of technical and human skills, requiring individuals to be adaptable and able to work with new technol...
Jan 23, 2023•34 min
Figma's VP of Communications Nairi Hourdajian and Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber discuss how startup founders can approach their communications strategy. Whether a startup is looking to recruit talent, acquire customers, establish thought leadership, or just raise general awareness, having a well-structured communications strategy in place is crucial. This conversation is part of Greylock's Brain Trust series. You can find a transcript of the interview here: https://greylock.com/grey...
Jan 18, 2023•37 min
Introducing Fireside Chatbots, a miniseries featuring conversations not only about AI, but with AI. Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman talks with ChatGPT, a large language model created by OpenAI. Hoffman, who serves on OpenAI's board, poses questions to ChatGPT about the massive positive impact he believes AI will all facets of society. For this podcast, we used an AI-generated voice for ChatGPT, powered by the text-to-speech platform of Play.ht. The chat transcripts are exact, word for word...
Jan 12, 2023•47 min
Tome CPO and co-founder Henri Liriani and Katy Amaya of the Greylock talent team discuss the rising importance of founding designers at startups and share best practices for building strong design teams. While past generations of startups could get away with focusing purely on the technical aspects of their product in the initial stages and bring design teams later, today's startups are living in the age following an explosion of consumer apps (and the subsequent push for consumerization of ente...
Jan 10, 2023•32 min
A re-broadcast of our interview with Okta executive vice chairman, COO, and co-founder Frederic Kerrest, who shares stories from his earliest days as an entrepreneur starting a business in the midst of the Great Recession. The challenging experience is why Kerrest wrote Zero to IPO, a collection of some of the best actionable advice from some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs. The book, which was published earlier this year, details his early days at Okta as well as those of other ic...
Jan 03, 2023•55 min
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring the audio version of Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman's essay, "Human Nature in Vices and Virtues: An Adam Smith Approach to Building Internet Ecosystems and Communities," published on the Knight Foundation's website. Hoffman discusses how some of the most popular websites leverage some of humankind's less desirable attributes(e.g. "the 7 deadly sins"), and how entrepreneurs and investors can think about building based on virtuous traits. Essay read b...
Dec 27, 2022•21 min
A compilation of excerpts from 22 of our most popular podcasts of 2022. Greylock's head of editorial Heather Mack walks listeners through through interviews with industry leaders including OpenAI's Sam Altman, Cloudflare's Michelle Zatlyn, Nike's John Donahoe, and more. We're also featuring the top sought-after advice from Greylock's own team of investors such as Reid Hoffman, and tactical guidance from Greylock's talent and marketing specialists. You can read a transcript of this episode (which...
Dec 20, 2022•53 min
Zoox CEO Aicha Evans speaks with Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman to discuss how the "robotaxi" company has made safety permeate into every aspect of the company culture and operations; why they are building for dense urban environments; and her vision for the future of the “people moving business.” Zoox's unique approach to autonomous driving (building all of the hardware and software in-house, from the ground up), means the entire company is oriented around the same mission and priorities...
Dec 13, 2022•44 min
During economic downturns, is it possible (or even wise) for startup entrepreneurs to deploy growth tactics? Will companies be able to secure funding? Should founders even consider starting a business during a bear market? "100%," says Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman. However, the specific ways startups approach high-growth strategies during high-risk economic environments is crucial, and it all depends on the leverage points they have over their competition. Hoffman and his Blitzscaling c...
Dec 06, 2022•25 min
While the short-lived hype of NFTs centered on static jpeg files, there are actually far more use cases that can be deployed for the technology. Omaha-based Pinata has developed a platform that enables web3 app builders to store, manage, and build more functionality into NFTs. Pinata CEO and co-founder Kyle Tut sat down with Greylock general partner Mike Duboe to discuss the company's inception, the current web3 ecosystem, and Pinata's ultimate goal of serving content at scale for NFT projects. ...
Dec 02, 2022•30 min
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman in conversation with his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh. In this episode (originally recorded in May 2022), Hoffman and Yeh discuss strategies for entrepreneurs to navigate crises - whatever that may mean at the given time. Entrepreneurship assumes an innate degree of optimism and perseverance. But even the most determined founders can feel subdued when faced with yet another crisis. That’s why adaptability is a star...
Nov 29, 2022•33 min
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman sharing the speech he gave at the 2022 Commencement of Vanderbilt University. Hoffman discusses several key moments in his personal and professional life, including his initial foray into entrepreneurship, and the role his friends have played. As he says, "The most impactful lessons that shaped my perspective, decisions, and ultimately the actions I took came from friends." You can read the transcript of this speech he...
Nov 22, 2022•18 min
Greylock general partner Saam Motamedi talks with Snorkel AI CEO and co-founder Alex Ratner. As more enterprise organizations have recognized the utility of artificial intelligence technology, there's been a major push to invest in and adopt new AI and ML infrastructure to drive insights and make predictions for businesses. However, many of these solutions lack the mechanism to unlock and operationalize the data needed to train and deploy models for high quality AI projects. That pain point spaw...
Nov 18, 2022•36 min
There are millions of entrepreneurs running small retail businesses in Latin America. While they may differ in the types of products sold or specific customers they target, the challenges they face in everyday operations are common. From low credit card penetration to poor visibility into shipping logistics and pricing, the various difficulties often boil down to a singular issue: lack of data. Brazil-based Inventa has been working to change that. The company’s digital marketplace steps in to fi...
Nov 17, 2022•25 min
Audio version of Greylock investor Seth Rosenberg's essay "Bringing DeFi Lending Mainstream," read by Greylock's head of editorial Heather Mack. Crypto hype and speculation got us into the current chaotic winter. But the core infrastructure remains, and is still ripe for the innovation that will take us into the next crypto summer. There are many real use cases across financial services that can not only usher us into a more secure, inclusive, and efficient financial system, but also return trus...
Nov 15, 2022•19 min
Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha and Steve Stone, the company's newly appointed head of its research department Zero Labs, sat down with MarketWatch reporter (and Greymatter guest host) Jon Swartz to discuss an inescapable fact of business life: Cyber attacks. They happen to pretty much everyone, but whether a company is prepared to recover from it depends on multiple factors, from their level of understanding of the risk to the data protection tools they have at their disposal. Most aren't: A recent surv...
Nov 08, 2022•34 min
While there may be plenty of discussion about the disparity between funding for women-led startups and those led by men, women still receive just 2% of all venture capital funding. And yet, many women are still finding success as entrepreneurs. How? CNBC Senior Media & Technology reporter Julia Boorstin dug into the stories of women entrepreneurs founding, funding, and running companies, and uncovered a variety of smart tactics and approaches. Those stories and the data are shared in her new boo...
Nov 01, 2022•39 min
Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman and Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman discuss the strategy behind the company's data-driven, online marketplace where people can rent or buy clothing. Rent the Runway launched in 2009 with the mission to democratize fashion. Over the years, the company has evolved significantly, keeping up with the many major shifts to the retail and e-commerce industries overall. From the rise of mobile and the increasingly outside influence of social media ...
Oct 25, 2022•51 min
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott joins Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman for a discussion about the impact of AI on cognitive (or knowledge) work. Scott, whose company developed the programming assistant tool GitHub Copilot, advises people building machine learning systems (or entire companies) around AI to maintain a clear sense of responsibility and awareness of the potential negative impacts. In addition to his experience in the conception, development, and adoption of new technology in enterpri...
Oct 18, 2022•33 min
Autonomous driving is among the most exciting applications for artificial intelligence. It is also among the most challenging to actually pull off: from the capital-intensive combination of hardware and software to the complex coordination between multiple stakeholders to ensure safety. What will it take to get it deployed on a large scale? Aurora CEO Chris Urmson and Nuro CEO Jiajun Zhu join Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman for a discussion on the state of autonomous vehicle technology. Th...
Oct 11, 2022•29 min
Shopify president Harley Finkelstein sat down with Greylock general partner Mike Duboe to discuss the company's evolution along with the overall ecommerce landscape; offer advice to entrepreneurs navigating the current market conditions; and lay out his vision for the future. Shopify launched a time when there were few options for entrepreneurs to set up their online stores, sell and market products, and manage their operations. The company struck a chord both with retail entrepreneurs in need o...
Oct 04, 2022•55 min
The more human-like artificial intelligence becomes, the more we understand about how our brains actually work. Through that discovery process, researchers are identifying ways to design artificial intelligence in ways that factor in the safety and morality of their potential impact. Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman interviews Dr. Fei-Fei Li, the co-director of Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered AI, and Mira Murati, the CTO of OpenAI. In this interview, they discuss how technology like...
Sep 27, 2022•33 min
Greylock general partner Saam Motamedi interviews David Luan, who is the co-founder of ML research and product lab Adept, and Percy Liang, who is the associate professor of computer science and statistics at Stanford. In this conversation, they discuss the major developments in working with large scale language models. This interview took place during Greylock’s Intelligent Future event, a day-long summit featuring some of the leading voices in artificial intelligence. You can watch the video fr...
Sep 20, 2022•31 min
Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman interviews OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The AI research and deployment company's primary mission is to develop and promote AI technology that benefits humanity. Founded in 2015, the company has most recently been noted for its generative transformer model GPT - 3, which uses deep learning to produce human-like text, and its image-creation platform DALL-E. This interview took place during Greylock’s Intelligent Future event, a day-long summit featuring experts and ...
Sep 13, 2022•37 min
Greylock general partners Reid Hoffman and Saam Motamedi discuss the current state of artificial intelligence, including the most recent technological advancements; top areas for investment; and the ethical considerations needed to ensure tools are developed safely. This discussion is the kickoff for Greylock's Intelligent Future series featuring conversations with experts, visionaries, and early-stage innovators across the AI ecosystem. Guests of this series include Microsoft CTO, Kevin Scott, ...
Sep 07, 2022•46 min
From developing a repeatable, strategic process and continuously working to identify ways to improve it, founders can take a number of steps to build a culture of recruiting. Sometimes, that means hiring a dedicated talent-sourcing and recruiting team. Greylock talent partner Glen Evans and technical talent recruiter Dwane Hamilton discuss strategies for working with recruiters, including when to bring them on, how to screen for the position, and how founders should maintain an active recruiting...
Aug 30, 2022•23 min
The “talent investor" Entrepreneur First was created with a mission to connect founders no matter where they are in the world, and recruits and backs them at the very earliest stages. By focusing on connecting individuals rather than defined teams, they've gained a unique perspective into what makes good ideas, and how the right co-founder dynamics can bring it into reality. Now, they've gathered some of their main insights into a book: "How to be a Founder: How Entrepreneurs Identify, Fund, and...
Aug 23, 2022•55 min
A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock investor Seth Rosenberg's interview with the co-founders of Espresso Systems, which provides configurable privacy and scalability tools for Web3. The company is operating at a critical time for privacy within Web3. Recently, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a mixer platform that enables cryptocurrency transactions. The regulatory action marks the first time authorities have imposed sanctions on computer protocols (code) rather ...
Aug 18, 2022•41 min
