The Eric Ries Show

Eric Ries
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The Eric Ries Show

Founder, entrepreneur, and best-selling author of The Lean Startup Eric Ries discusses how to build profitable companies for the long-term benefit of society. Ries talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, executives, and others working to create a new ecosystem of trustworthy organizations with limitless potential for growth and a deep commitment to purpose. Together, they uncover the tools and methods to ensure the next generation of companies are designed to maximize human flourishing for generations.

  1. Longevity Over Hypergrowth: A New Vision for Startups with Sahil Lavingia (Gumroad)

    5 DAYS AGO

    Longevity Over Hypergrowth: A New Vision for Startups with Sahil Lavingia (Gumroad)

    The story of the digital content-sharing platform Gumroad challenges every aspect of the received wisdom about building successful companies. After it almost went under, founder and CEO Sahil Lavingia decided to pare down to the essentials rather than walk away. Then he took his characteristic counter-intuitiveness further and left Silicon Valley for Provo, Utah. Through it all, he never lost sight of what he was trying to do and his joy in building products. Gumroad is now thriving, with $175 million in volume last year, all thanks to Lavingia’s willingness to take a different path to success. Among the many things he’s learned along the way are the value of getting a fresh perspective and the virtue of patience – even when it’s unexciting. Commitment is often overlooked in heady times, but as he told me, “A lot of people are so concerned about catching the next train because it's the last one. They think it's over. But there are many more trains – just make sure you're at the train station. That's the important thing.” He had a lot to say about this, as well as Gumroad’s unique equity and dividend model, which it’s now sharing with other companies.   Other topics we touched on include: His long history of taking unconventional paths How he broke into the startup ecosystem Why building more than one product at a time is better than building a single perfect product How to get into the wild world of AI startups Making difficult business decisions for survival Appreciating the opportunity to continue doing what you love The power of equity and incentivizing for the future And so much more — Brought to you by: Vanta – Automate compliance, manage risk, and prove trust—continuously. Get $1,000 off. Runway – The finance platform you don’t hate. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Sahil Lavingia: • Sahil’s site: https://sahillavingia.com/  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahillavingia  • Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shl.bsky.social  • X: https://x.com/shl • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shlpaints/?hl=en Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (03:15) Singapore and America as the ultimate high-growth startups (04:50) How Sahil first encountered entrepreneurship as a teen graphic designer (07:15) The new meaning of “knowledge work”  (11:10) Sahil’s impressions of American possibility after growing up in Singapore and returning (16:33) Sahil’s history of deviating from the expected path (19:27) Gumroad’s path from a failed funding round in 2015 to profitability in 2023 (24:17) How Sahil broke into the startup ecosystem and his first iPhone app  (27:41) Sahil’s advice for people looking to break into the new rising tide of AI (30:38) On not putting all your eggs in one product basket (32:59) How and why he left Pinterest (34:48) Surfing and treading water as business cycles (41:36) Overnight successes that are really a long time in the making (45:59) How Sahil started Gumroad (49:19) Reconciling getting fired with successfully raising money for a new company (54:26) The failure to build a billion-dollar company (1:03:42) How to prioritize survival (1:06:33) The pivotal decision to leave San Francisco for Provo, Utah (1:08:11) The current state of Gumroad  (1:11:22) How Gumroad is structured to solve some of the classic business problems: equity, ownership, dividends (1:13:53) Incentivizing for the long-term (1:22:12) How Gumroad is helping other compan

    1h 39m
  2. Risks, Rewards, and Building the Unicorn Chip Company Taking on Nvidia | Inside Groq with Jonathan Ross

    7 NOV

    Risks, Rewards, and Building the Unicorn Chip Company Taking on Nvidia | Inside Groq with Jonathan Ross

    The story of Groq, a semiconductor startup that makes chips for AI inference and was recently valued at $2.8 billion, is a classic “overnight success that was years in the making” tale. On this episode, I talk with founder and CEO Jonathan Ross. He began the work that eventually led to Groq as an engineer at Google, where he was a member of the rapid eval team – “the team that comes up with all the crazy ideas at Google X.” For him, the risk involved in leaving to launch Groq in 2016 was far less than the risk of staying in-house and watching the project die. Groq has had many “near-death” experiences in its eight years of existence, all of which Jonathan believes have ultimately put it in a much stronger position to achieve its mission: preserving human agency in the age of AI. Groq is committed to giving everyone access to relatively low-cost generative AI compute, driving the price down even as they continue to increase speed. We talked about how the company culture supports that mission, what it feels like to now be on the same playing field as companies like Nvidia, and Jonathan’s belief that true disruption isn’t just doing things other people can’t do or don’t want to do, but doing things other people don’t believe can be done – even when you show them evidence to the contrary.  Other topics we touched on include: Why the ability to customize on demand makes generative AI different  Managing your own and other people’s fear as a founder The problems of corporate innovation The role of luck in business How he thinks about long-term goals and growth — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Runway – The finance platform you don’t hate. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Jonathan Ross: • X: ⁠https://x.com/JonathanRoss321⁠  • LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-jonathan/⁠ Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (04:24) Jonathan’s involvement with the DeepMind Challenge Match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol (06:06) How Jonathan’s work Google and how it led him to that moment (08:46) Why generative AI isn’t just the next internet or mobile (10:12) The divine move in the DeepMind Challenge Match (11:56) How Jonathan ended up designing chips without the usual background (13:11) GPUs vs. TPUs (14:33) What risk really is (15:11) Groq’s mind-blowing AI demo  (16:23) How Jonathan decided to leave Google and start Groq (17:30) The differences between doing an innovation project at a company and starting a new company (19:03) Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan theory (21:02) Groq’s founding story (24:12) The difference in attitude towards AI now compared to 2016 and how it affected Groq (25:46) The moment the tide turned with LLMs (28:28) The week-over-week jump from 8,000 users to 400,000 users (30:32) How Groq used HBM and what is it (the memory used by GPUs) (32:33) Jonathan’s approach to disruption (35:38) Groq’s initial raise and focus on software (36:13) How struggling to survive made Groq stronger (37:13) Hiring for return on luck (40:07) How Jonathan and Groq think about the long-term (42:25) Founder control issues (45:31) How Groq thinks about maintaining its mission and trustworthiness (49:51) Jonathan’s vision for a capital market that would support companies

    1h 15m
  3. AI’s Human Backbone: The Hidden Hands That Shape The Technology | Wendy Gonzalez (Sama)

    24 OCT

    AI’s Human Backbone: The Hidden Hands That Shape The Technology | Wendy Gonzalez (Sama)

    Wendy Gonzalez is the CEO of Sama, an ethical AI company that provides training and jobs with equitable pay and benefits to those who face the greatest barriers to stable employment. Among the companies it provides AI development data to are Microsoft, Ford, Walmart, Google, and many others. But before its current incarnation, Sama was a very different organization. It began as a non-profit, the brainchild and lifelong passion of its founder, Leila Janah, who sadly passed away in 2020. Her vision was to provide under-served communities in sub-Saharan Africa with opportunities for what she called “dignified work.” She believed this was the fastest and most sustainable way for people to not only gain their financial independence but to spread prosperity in their communities. Wendy and I discussed the advantages of being a company that puts human potential and intelligence first in everything it does from numerous angles. Sama’s example shows beyond a doubt that everything we’ve been taught about how to succeed in business is far from the only way – or even the best way – to thrive. In addition, we touched on: • Why it’s difficult to think long-term as a non-profit • The relationship between human judgment and AI • Why Sama became a B-Corp • The power of putting clear ethical boundaries on the work you accept • Why choosing investors that align with your mission is make-or-break • The future of AI and multi-modal models • And more — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Neo4j – The graph database and analytics leader. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Wendy Gonzalez • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-gonzalez-a319788/ Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (05:17) The importance of our relationship to the people who make the products we use (06:42) The human care that goes into AI development (07:57) Sama’s mission (09:12) How Sama got to its leadership position in the creation of ethical AI (10:31) The focus on valuing human judgment in work (13:50) The Sama origin story (17:13) The informal economy vs. the formal economy (18:36) How Sama’s model helps break the poverty cycle (20:01) Giving human capital a chance to shine (21:30) Why Sama doesn’t pay people for training and the success of that approach (23:44) Leila Janah and her vision for Sama (27:38) How and why Sama converted to a for-profit company with a foundation attached (29:42) Identifying AI as the pivot (31:02) The difficulties of having a long-term plan in the non-profit world (32:49) Why Sama needed to build its own technology and raise the money to do so (36:10) How a non-profit becomes a for-profit (37:29) How Sama split into two entities: a company and a foundation (39:41) Sama’s governance structure including how the foundation is represented in the (43:56) Choosing mission-aligned investors (45:46) How Sama’s success disproves conventional business theory (52:00) Turning a liability into strategy (53:47) How Sama’s mission led it to create real value and be in position for the emergence of AI (58:06) The need for standards and ethical guidelines for the data supply chain (1:01:46) Combating bias and danger through visibility (1:03:57) The case for ethical data as a competitive strategy (1:07:21) Wendy’s thoughts on what the future of AI w

    1h 28m
  4. Mission Over Money: How Sal Khan changed EdTech forever

    10 OCT

    Mission Over Money: How Sal Khan changed EdTech forever

    Sal Khan arrived at the idea for Khan Academy truly organically. While working at a hedge fund, he took time in the evenings to tutor a younger cousin in math over the phone. Soon, a family tutoring network was in place, and from there, it was only a few years before Sal realized that the kind of help he was giving his family could – and should – be made available to everyone for free, across disciplines and geographic locations. Today, Khan Academy has over 170 million users and is available in 50 languages in 190 countries. To fully commit to his vision, he founded Khan Academy as a non-profit, providing advantages that companies focused on making money by any means necessary will never have. As you’ll hear, avoiding what he calls the “very strange” market forces around education has been one of the keys to Khan Academy’s ability to build deep trust and loyalty.  It has also ensured a rare level of adaptability that has been especially important for Khan Academy’s role as a major early adopter of AI. Sal’s experiences with AI and education are widely applicable, as is his belief that we all have a duty to take a hand in shaping AI’s place in our world. Being open to new technology instead of fearing it can help us avoid the dystopian nightmares so many people have predicted are imminent. Equally important is his commitment to balance in all things, including salary and work-life choices not just for himself, but all Khan Academy employees. As he puts it, “Having a life can make you a better leader, thinker, and decision-maker.” His story, which has many chapters yet to come, shows that being a mission-controlled organization is no barrier to success in every sense.  Other topics we touched on include: Having a long-term vision for education Creating value as a non-profit His skepticism about non-profits Why he believes in remote work The early results of Khan Academy’s AI integration The power of knowing what you want your life to stand for — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Neo4j – The graph database and analytics leader. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Sal Khan: • X: @salkhanacademy • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khanacademy/ Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (04:24) Why Sal founded Khan Academy as a non-profit (06:10) How his day job as a hedge fund analyst made him think longer-term (09:26) How turning down venture capital has put Khan Academy in a better position for growth  (11:24) Creating value as a non-profit (12:54) How nonprofits can fill in for government in education and healthcare (13:30) Sal’s skepticism about non-profits (16:01) The social return on investment framework  (18:22) Khan Academy by the numbers (21:19) On making enough money and taking a risk to pursue a dream (22:17) The counter-intuitive hiring benefits of being a non-profit (27:46) Khan Academy as a leader in AI and education (30:05) Khan Academy’s top fears around adopting AI  (32:36) How being trustworthy led to early GPT-4 access (34:04) Khan Academy’s AI experiments and results so far with Khanmigo (36:55) Sal’s hopes for AI and special needs education (38:52) Sal’s new book, Brave New Words (41:51) AI as an amplifier of human intent (43:38) The necessity of using technologies and tools we’re afraid of (44:45) Balancing material

    1h 1m
  5. Contrarian by Design: Wade Foster’s Vision Behind Zapier’s $5B Business

    26 SEPT

    Contrarian by Design: Wade Foster’s Vision Behind Zapier’s $5B Business

    Founded in 2011 in the distinctly non-Silicon Valley location of Columbia, Missouri, software integration company Zapier hit profitability in 2014. Today, the company is valued in the billions, and is poised to keep thriving as AI becomes a normal part of everything we do online. My guest on this episode of The Eric Ries Show is co-founder and CEO Wade Foster, whose ethos from the earliest days on has been: “If you're going to try and build a company, don’t do anything that doesn’t matter.” For Zapier, that has meant staying as close as possible to customers from the start in order to build a product they really want. It’s no wonder their journey to product-market fit was easier than most founders can ever dream of – a story Wade tells in the episode that involves the magic of an early adopter and a lot of hard work.  From that customer delight, the company was able to build a flywheel and growth engine that have kept it steadily growing with minimal outside investment ever since, a path it fully intends to stay on. As Wade told me, they’re “willing to sacrifice a little bit of revenue for the durability of these customers over the long haul.” We also talked about how the company maintains its culture now that it’s expanded to 750 people, all of whom work remotely, and why product and marketing aren’t actually separate functions, especially at the beginning of a company’s life. Other topics we touched on include: Not taking Silicon Valley wisdom at face value How he knew he was meant to be an entrepreneur The fear of being overtaken by a competitor and how to live with it Zapier’s “second founding” Building products with AI in mind Wade’s favorite Zap And much, much more — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Neo4j – The graph database and analytics leader. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Wade Foster: • Wade’s Zapier blog: ⁠https://zapier.com/blog/author/wade-foster/⁠ • X: ⁠https://x.com/wadefoster⁠ • LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/wadefoster/⁠ Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ericries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (00:40) Introducing Wade Foster (06:33) The transition to Silicon Valley and defying received wisdom (09:18) Where the courage to do things differently comes from (14:08) The internship that made him realize he was an entrepreneur (17:07) The value of staying close to customers during product development (18:07) The genesis of Zapier (21:24) How Andrew Warner became Zapier’s first customer (24:43) The company’s ease in finding product-market fit (30:03) The early days of company-building (31:55) How they stayed small and worked with a single million dollar Series A raise.  (32:48) Reaching profitability in two and a half years (34:50) On not buying into the need to burn cash and hire quickly (36:44) The unique power of the company’s distribution engine (39:25) Zapier is a classic Lean Startup story (41:14) How the company discovered its growth engine and validated its growth hypothesis (43:30) How Zapier’s flywheel works (47:46) The problems of over-funding and monetization (49:25) Building and maintaining trust  (1:12:25) Zaper’s “build principles” (1:00:39) The power of story-telling f

    1h 23m
  6. The Oracle Of Silicon Valley Shares How to Create More Value Than You Capture | Tim O’Reilly

    12 SEPT

    The Oracle Of Silicon Valley Shares How to Create More Value Than You Capture | Tim O’Reilly

    What is the relationship between technology and society? What happens to idealism over time? I’m fortunate to have discussed these questions and many more with Tim O’Reilly for this episode of The Eric Ries Show. Tim is the founder of O’Reilly Media, which has provided countless programmers and technologists with foundational information for doing their work well. He’s also been a long-time witness to the changes and growth of tech, and has consistently looked far ahead of other people, perhaps most famously in his book What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us.  Many call Tim the Oracle of Silicon Valley. He thinks of himself more as “a voice in the wilderness” and someone who brings together people with great ideas to build new things. In our conversation, we covered how to build a business with a real ethos, how to gain competitive advantage by doing the right thing, and why thinking beyond the quarter, or even the year, is crucial for survival. As he said, “Companies need to think about the long term, which is: who is going to provide what you are the gatekeeper for if you basically have a relentless acquisition of all the value for yourself?” Ultimately, he believes – and I couldn’t agree more – that “we need to build an economy in which the important things are paid for in self-sustaining ways rather than as charities to be funded out of the goodness of our hearts.” Other topics we touched on include: AI from multiple angles Tech companies as the fulcrum between suppliers and customers The extractive power of ads What it means to see a business as an ecosystem Values as a map of the world And much, much more — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Neo4j – The graph database and analytics leader. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Tim O'Reilly: • O’Reilly Media: https://www.oreilly.com/  • X: https://x.com/timoreilly  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timoreilly • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timo3/ Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ericries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (00:43) Meet Tim O’Reilly (06:25) How Eric and Tim met (08:38) On not getting caught up in trends of the moment (10:44) Tim’s early career and how his thinking evolved (13:10) From open source to Web 2.0 (14:06) Working to make the world a better place (16:11) How idealism is subsumed by the system we work in (18:25) Resisting the lure of profit (19:53) Thinking about companies as members of an ecosystem (21:20) Creating versus capturing value (23:38) Internet aggregators (26:45) Choosing value creation over-extraction as a means of sustainability (30:00) Ads and the lesson of screen placement (32:49) AI and Google (37:13) Values are a map of the world (39:56) How to build a company ethos (42:24) How adpoting values publicly makes them more powerful (47:46) Dune (49:31) Literature’s evolution (50:21) Anthony Trollope’s proto-feminist novel, Can You Forgive Her?  (49:30) George Elliot’s The Mill on the Floss (51:22) The Dune movies (52:39) Turning books into movies (54:23) Tim’s favorite childhood books (58:29) Why doing good is the best path to success (1:02:22) Generative AI, value, and trust (1:12:25) How idealists talk themselves out of it (1:15:53) Lightning Round — Production and marketing by ⁠⁠

    1h 40m
  7. The Art of Pivoting: How TaskRabbit Reimagined the Gig Economy | Stacy Brown-Philpot (Google, TaskRabbit, HP, Nordstroms)

    29 AUG

    The Art of Pivoting: How TaskRabbit Reimagined the Gig Economy | Stacy Brown-Philpot (Google, TaskRabbit, HP, Nordstroms)

    Stacy Brown-Philpot is a unique voice in Silicon Valley. She began her career as a public accountant and worked at Goldman Sachs before landing at Google. She was the COO and then the CEO of TaskRabbit, which she saw through its sale to Ikea. Today, she’s on a number of corporate boards including HP, Nordstrom, StockX, Noom, and Black Girls CODE. She’s also a founding member of the SoftBank Opportunity Fund, which invests in Black, Latinx, and Native American founders. Throughout, she’s been a consistent advocate for building cultures where people can bring all aspects of their rich and varied lives to work. The importance of setting out what you want to be and fully committing to it is the wisdom she’s held her entire life: “My grandmother's always telling me, if you don't stand for something, you fall for anything.” In our conversation, we touched on Google’s rise and its eventual tumble from its “don’t be evil” ethos, what it was like to pioneer the sharing economy at Task Rabbit and the pivots the company went through along the way, and why selling the company to Ikea was dependent on its mission because “they weren't going to buy anything just to buy it. They needed to buy something that they believed in because they're only a part of something that they believe in.”  Stacy’s model of compassionate leadership is inspiring, as is the fun she’s had executing it for the last few decades, even when things were bumpy. She had a lot to say about both, as well as: What “the greater good” really means Going from 50,000 people at Google to 60 at TaskRabbit The value of sharing meals The importance of celebrating things that happen outside of work at the office  Carrying forward a founder's legacy into a new era for the company Fomenting crisis to foster growth How constraints breed creativity Taking the chaff with the wheat, at work, as a parent, and anywhere else The role of the board  DEI — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Neo4j – The graph database and analytics leader. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Stacy Brown-Philpot • X: https://x.com/sbp04  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacyphilpot/ Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ericries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (00:44) Meet Stacy Brown-Philpot (05:11) The heyday of Google’s “don’t be evil” culture  (08:01) Google’s IPO (11:20) Stories from Google’s hyper-growth era (13:44) The shift to backing away from idealism (15:46) How the 2008 downturn changed Google’s DNA (24:13) The difference between cultures at Goldman Sachs and Google (29:43) Mistakes, apologies, and creativity (31:18) Stacy’s transition from Google to TaskRabbit (33:52) “the serendipity of what it means to be building something together” (35:00) Navigating culture change at TaskRabbit (42:31) Pivots at TaskRabbit (46:08) Cutting categories and losing revenue for a longer-term goal (47:35) Inside the TaskRabbit pivot war room (48:59) Stacy’s stories of taking client and customer calls from her couch (57:20) The Ikea acquisition and cultural alignment (1:00:15) Ikea’s foundation ownership model and its “vertically integrated” mission (1:01:27) Stacy’s reflections on her startup experience (1:04:05) Stacy’s view of the board’s role in a company (1:06:07) How she came to be on the board of HP a

    1h 20m
  8. Reid Hoffman challenges your thinking on AI, governance, and politics

    15 AUG

    Reid Hoffman challenges your thinking on AI, governance, and politics

    The latest episode of The Eric Ries Show features my conversation with Reid Hoffman. Executive Vice President of PayPal, co-founder of LinkedIn, and legendary investor at Greylock Partners are just a few of his official roles that have changed our world. He’s also been a mentor to countless founders of iconic companies like Airbnb, Facebook, and OpenAI. He’s an author, a podcast host – both Masters of Scale and his new show, Possible, with Aria Finger – and perhaps most importantly a crucial steward of AI, including co-founding Inflection AI, a Public Benefit Corporation, in 2022. Reid has also long been a voice of moral clarity and a stabilizing influence on the tech ecosystem, supporting people who are working to make the world a better place at every level. He’s a firm believer that “the way that we express ourselves over time is by being citizens of the polis – tribal members.” That includes not just supporting the legal system and democratic process but also building organizations “from the founding and through scaling and ongoing iteration to have a functional and healthy society.” We talked about all of this, as well as AI, from multiple angles – including the story of how he came to broker the first meeting between Sam Altman and Satya Nadella that led to the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership. He also had a lot to say about how AI will work as a meta-tool for all the other tools we use. We are, as he said,” homo techne,” – meaning we evolve through the technology we make. We also broke down his famous saying that “entrepreneurship is like jumping off a cliff and assembling the plane on the way down” and: • The human tendency to form groups • The relationship between doing good for people and profits • AI as a meta-tool • What he looks for in a leader • The necessity of evolving culture • Being willing to take public positions • His thoughts on the economy and the upcoming election — Brought to you by: Mercury – The art of simplified finances. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠. DigitalOcean – The cloud loved by developers and founders alike. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠. Neo4j – The graph database and analytics leader. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠. — Where to find Reid Hoffman: • Reid’s Website: https://www.reidhoffman.org/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reidhoffman/ • X: https://x.com/reidhoffman Where to find Eric: • Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠  • Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠  • X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ericries⁠⁠⁠⁠  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/⁠⁠⁠⁠  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠  — In This Episode We Cover: (01:15) Meet Reid Hoffman (06:01) The three eras of LinkedIn (08:21) The alignment of LinkedIn and Microsoft’s missions (10:39) The power of being mission-driven (18:42) Embedding culture in every function (21:08) The purpose of organizations (23:45) Organizations as tribes for human expression (29:08) Reid’s advice for navigating profit vs. purpose (38:33) The moment Reid realized the AI future is actually now (41:57) Home techne (44:52) AI as meta-tool (47:05) Why Reid co-founded Inflection AI (49:53) The early days of OpenAI (55:41) How Reid introduced Sam Altman and Satya Nadella (58:26) The unusual structure of the Microsoft-OpenAI deal (1:04:42) The importance of aligning governance structure with mission (1:09:56) Making a company trustworthy through accountability  (1:15:59) Inflection’s pivot a unique model (1:19:53) Companies that are doing lean AI right (1:22:52) Reid’s advice for deploying AI effectively  (1:26:21) Being a voice of moral clarity in complicated times  (1:31:26) The economy and what’s at stake in the

    1h 58m
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About

Founder, entrepreneur, and best-selling author of The Lean Startup Eric Ries discusses how to build profitable companies for the long-term benefit of society. Ries talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, executives, and others working to create a new ecosystem of trustworthy organizations with limitless potential for growth and a deep commitment to purpose. Together, they uncover the tools and methods to ensure the next generation of companies are designed to maximize human flourishing for generations.

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  • Creator
    Eric Ries
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Eric Ries
  • Show Website
    The Eric Ries Show

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