Can you really build and launch a startup without writing code (or knowing how to)? As AI tools promise lightning-fast product development, many founders still fall into old traps: over-validating, under-executing, or waiting too long for a technical cofounder. In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein are joined by…
Figma’s S-1 filing is out, and it’s packed with insights for anyone building a SaaS business. With $750M in annual revenue, 450K paying customers, and 132% net revenue retention, Figma’s IPO is shaping up to be a major milestone for product-led growth. In this segment, Chris and Shira break down…
Elon Musk has officially launched the “America Party,” signaling a full pivot into politics. But is this just another billionaire side project, or a strategic move that could reshape tech’s role in US politics? In this clip from The Startup Podcast, Chris Saad and Shira Lazar break down what Musk's…
YouTube is taking a hard stance on AI-generated “slop” content. Channels using mass-produced AI videos may now lose monetization privileges under its updated partner program rules. Chris and Shira unpack the policy, the creator backlash, and the deeper implications for the future of content creation. Is this a necessary guardrail…
Robinhood and SoFi are giving retail investors a new way to “own” pre-IPO shares in giants like SpaceX and OpenAI. But these aren’t traditional shares, but tokenized representations with major legal and structural gray areas. In this clip, Chris and Shira break down how the model works, why it’s controversial,…
Sequoia Capital is facing intense backlash after one of its partners made inflammatory comments on X (formerly Twitter). The incident has ignited a wider conversation about bigotry, values, and accountability in tech leadership. In this clip, Chris and Shira analyze what the scandal reveals about Silicon Valley’s shifting moral compass,…
Is Silicon Valley building the future or just trying to rule it? From Elon Musk’s new political party to retail investors buying fake OpenAI stock, the startup world is getting weirder, faster. In this episode, Chris Saad and Shira Lazar break down a massive week in tech, politics, and startup…
Is Silicon Valley building the future or just trying to rule it? From Elon Musk’s new political party to retail investors buying fake OpenAI stock, the startup world is getting weirder, faster. In this episode, Chris Saad and Shira Lazar break down a massive week in tech, politics, and startup…
Are you sure your startup should be raising venture capital? Most founders assume VC is the goal, but for many it's the wrong fuel entirely. In this episode, we bust that myth wide open. Join hosts Yaniv Bernstein and Chris Saad as they chat with Amir Shevat, General Partner at…
Are you sure your startup should be raising venture capital? Most founders assume VC is the goal, but for many it's the wrong fuel entirely. In this episode, we bust that myth wide open. Join hosts Yaniv Bernstein and Chris Saad as they chat with Amir Shevat, General Partner at…
Grammarly just acquired Superhuman and previously snapped up Coda. But why is a grammar-checking tool buying up email and productivity apps? Chris and Yaniv dig into Grammarly’s big-picture strategy: to transform from a passive browser extension into a full-stack AI productivity suite. Is this a defensive move against LLM commoditization?…
Legendary VC Vinod Khosla believes AI will do 80% of economically useful work within five years—and make human labor obsolete by 2040. In this clip, Chris and Yaniv break down Khosla’s boldest predictions, from AI-powered abundance to the geopolitical risks posed by China’s global AI push. They explore whether this…
Design platform Figma just filed for IPO, two years after its $20B sale to Adobe fell through. In this segment, Chris and Yaniv explore what the move means for Figma, its employees, and the broader tech landscape. They also break down how AI is both an opportunity and a threat…
Cloudflare just revived HTTP status code 402 "Payment Required" to block AI companies from scraping websites for free. In this clip, Chris and Yaniv unpack the impact of this technical but deeply strategic move, which could set the precedent for monetizing internet content in the AI era. They explain why…
Getting bad responses from ChatGPT? It’s probably not the model; it’s your prompt. In this clip, AI educator and entrepreneur Jonathan Mast breaks down the exact 4-step framework he uses to consistently unlock high-quality results from AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Whether you’re a founder, small business owner,…
What happens when the internet starts charging AI to crawl its content? And can legacy tools like Figma or Grammarly survive the AI age, or will they be replaced by smarter, faster upstarts? In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein and Chris Saad break down some of the most important shifts in…
Struggling to get good results from ChatGPT or other AI tools? You’re probably prompting it wrong, and you’re not alone. Many founders assume AI just knows what you mean. Without the right prompt structure, though, even the most powerful LLMs will fail to deliver. In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein is…
Startups in voice tech are growing 50% month-over-month and raising hundreds of millions. After decades of false starts, speech-to-text and AI dictation tools like Whisper, Willow, and Abridge are finally crossing the usability threshold. Yaniv and Chris explore what’s changed: better transcription + smarter LLMs = truly usable voice interfaces.…
Can Silicon Valley really “take over the world”? According to two viral videos – one from Peter Thiel, another from Yaz and Feras – it might already be happening. Not with robots and war, however, but with quiet influence, big money, and addictive products. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv…
Can AI be trained on copyrighted material without permission? Yaniv and Chris break down two explosive legal battles shaking up the AI industry. First, Aardman Animations (of Wallace & Gromit fame) and the BBC threaten legal action over AI scraping, while in the US, Anthropic is facing a lawsuit for…
Is training AI on copyrighted content stealing, or just learning? A major U.S. court just weighed in, and the verdict could rewrite the rules for startups using generative AI. Too many founders assume "training data" is fair game but that blind spot could cost them billions. In this episode, Yaniv…
What’s an AI agent, and why are so many people getting it wrong? In this clip from The Startup Podcast, investor and analyst Jeremiah Owyang breaks down the real definition of AI agents, drawing from interviews with 20+ founders in the space. From autonomous meal planning to email triage to…
Meta just took a 49% stake in Scale AI—at a $30B valuation. But with Scale’s CEO now reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg, is this really just a “strategic investment”? In this segment of The Startup Podcast, Chris and Yaniv unpack what looks like a stealth acquihire. They compare it to…
