Grit

#196 CEO & Co-Founder Braze, Bill Magnuson: Principles of Change


Listen Later

Guest: Bill Magnuson, CEO and co-founder of Braze

The deployment of smartphones around the world was more impactful than any other technology to date, says Braze CEO Bill Magnuson — and that has big implications for emerging fields like generative AI. “If we get to the point where they [LLMs] really can be useful, human-like companions ... they will be usable by everyone that has smartphone technology.” In other words, the question is not business opportunity or scale: It’s capability.

In this episode, Bill and Joubin discuss earnings days, Aaron Levie, MIT, customer churn, shower thoughts, technical co-founders, lacking context, AGI, “hands on keyboard,” the T-Mobile G1, app marketing, the 2008 financial crisis, Bob Iger, World War II, Peter Reinhardt, Watershed, and international offices.

Chapters:

  • (00:51) - Morning people
  • (05:09) - What Braze does
  • (06:59) - From CTO to CEO
  • (08:17) - Waking up and commuting
  • (10:49) - Leading vs. engineering
  • (12:35) - Cognizant of believability
  • (19:52) - LLMs and the human brain
  • (25:46) - The AI ceiling
  • (28:43) - The historic deployment of smartphones
  • (37:58) - The benefits of youth
  • (40:18) - Taking the leap
  • (43:35) - Read more sci-fi
  • (46:38) - Survivor bias
  • (48:55) - Big risks at scale
  • (52:30) - Who Braze is hiring around the world
  • (55:32) - What “grit” means to Bill

  • Links:

    Connect with Bill

    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn

    Connect with Joubin

    Learn more about Kleiner Perkins


    This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    GritBy Joubin Mirzadegan

    • 4.9
    • 4.9
    • 4.9
    • 4.9
    • 4.9

    4.9

    183 ratings


    More shows like Grit

    View all
    This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

    This Week in Startups

    1,281 Listeners

    a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

    a16z Podcast

    1,009 Listeners

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

    525 Listeners

    The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors by SaaStr

    The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

    179 Listeners

    Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

    Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

    2,332 Listeners

    All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

    All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

    8,385 Listeners

    Business Breakdowns by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

    Business Breakdowns

    337 Listeners

    The Logan Bartlett Show by by Redpoint Ventures

    The Logan Bartlett Show

    189 Listeners

    Revenue Builders by Force Management

    Revenue Builders

    152 Listeners

    No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups by Conviction

    No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

    106 Listeners

    The Social Radars by Jessica Livingston

    The Social Radars

    94 Listeners

    Crucible Moments by Sequoia Capital

    Crucible Moments

    88 Listeners

    BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

    BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

    423 Listeners

    AI + a16z by a16z

    AI + a16z

    26 Listeners

    Training Data by Sequoia Capital

    Training Data

    31 Listeners