1st10 Podcast

What kind of founder decides to build a full radiology practice, an AI research lab, and a software company - all at once?On this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, Boris Epstein sits down with Rustin Rassoli, founder of Epsilon Labs to talk about why solving the U.S. radiology crisis requires breaking the rules of traditional healthcare tech. Rustin recounts his early entrepreneurial experiments, the lessons learned at Atomic VC, and the childhood experiences that exposed him to the failures and bottlenecks inside medical imaging. He details how Epsilon manages a daily throughput of 500+ patients, why existing AI models fail at medical imaging, and what it really takes to build a hybrid org where radiologists, ML researchers, and world-class engineers operate as one unit. Rustin’s unconventional path led him from drop-shipping at age 10, to cold-DMing his way into venture studios, to tackling one of healthcare's most critical problems. And he’s now betting that his integrated 3-in-1 approach might be the only viable path to solving a medical crisis accelerating toward disaster.Inside you’ll find answers to some fascinating questions, such as:Why a "normal" AI startup approach simply cannot solve one of healthcare's fastest-accelerating failures. How a childhood insight inside an imaging center quietly shaped a multi-layered startup strategy years later. What happens when engineers and radiologists attempt to collaborate without speaking the same language. Which single overlooked bottleneck has the potential to determine whether AI can meaningfully affect patient outcomes at scale. Why Rustin believes a tectonic shift is coming for AI startups - and why most won't survive it. Specifically, don’t miss the part where Rustin shares candid views on the current AI bubble. Spoiler alert, he isn’t very happy with Silicon Valley and its ‘throw-cash-at-everything’ VC culture!Chapters00:00 Introductions02:16 An Unexpected Origin Story05:18 Learning the Hard Way in Zero-to-One Land08:31 "Getting the First Job" Might Be the Wrong Goal12:15 The Radiology Crisis Is Impossible to Ignore17:14 What Happens When Demand Explodes and Supply Collapses20:41 Solving This Problem Requires Building a 3-in-123:07 The Strange Dance Between Radiologists and AI Engineers27:52 "Just Make the Model Better" Isn't How AI Works31:46 Medical AI Accuracy & Hidden Technical Battles35:56 Building a Team for an "Impossible" Mission38:47 A Brutal Reality of the AI Talent War41:53 Predictions for 2026 (HINT: The Bubble Must Burst!)Quotes:"I want my tombstone to say, 'This guy solved the radiology shortage and did some other kind of impactful things with medical imaging.'" (16:43) "I think engineers don't fully appreciate how nuanced radiology is and the fact that it's not binary. And a Radiologist A can be very kind of differently opinionated on something than Radiologist B." (28:08) "99% of what's being created today is not very valuable to the world." (39:25) Follow:Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:Music by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

56% more job openings, 3x more applications, but 8 MORE days to fill roles! CEO of Gem.ai shares data that explains why most recruiting careers are about to hit a wall…In this eye-opening conversation, Boris Epstein sits down with Steven Bartel, CEO of Gem.ai, to explore the shocking transformation happening in recruiting right now. From North Korean actors infiltrating hiring processes to AI-generated deepfake interviews, the recruiting landscape has become a battlefield. Steve reveals how recruiters are drowning under 3x more applications while handling 56% more open roles, yet companies refuse to expand recruiting teams. Steve shares exclusive data on how AI is saving companies up to 90% of their application review time and how Gem is embedding AI deeply into recruiting workflows - from sourcing agents to fraud detection - to help recruiters work smarter, not just harder. Tune in to hear them talk about:The Application Apocalypse: Recruiters are experiencing a 3x increase in applications while handling 56% more open roles.The Fraud Arms Race: Fraud in hiring is escalating, with cases of North Korean actors, deepfake interviews, and AI-generated resumes.The Efficiency Revolution: AI is cutting application review time by up to 90% for leading companies.The Human-AI Partnership: Recruiters who embrace AI will outperform those who resist it; AI augments human judgment.The Data-Context Challenge: The future of recruiting AI is about having complete relationship histories and touchpoint data to enable hyper-personalized outreach.Specifically, don't miss Steve's bold prediction on how he expects AI to reshape recruiting over the next few years!Chapters00:00 Highlights from the episode03:45 When Your Interview Is With AI09:08 North Korea's Recruiting Infiltration12:06 The Deepfake Interview Dilemma19:13 Why Recruiters Are Burning Out23:18 Will AI Kill the Recruiting Industry?27:24 FAANG Engineers vs AI Natives - a Recap33:24 The Recruiter's New Role in an AI-First Future41:40 A Bold Prediction About What Comes Next46:29 Solving The Source of Truth ProblemQuotes:"Each recruiter, on average, is dealing with three times the inbound applicants across our customer base. And more than 20% of our customers are getting thousands of applicants for a single role." - Steve Bartel (02:18)"I think some of these folks are using deepfake videos, which are getting surprisingly sophisticated. I've heard this recommendation where companies are going as far as to say 'Hey, can you put your hand in front of your face?'" - Steve Bartel (12:25)"If you talk to most recruiters in the industry, they are working a lot harder than ever before." - Steve Bartel (25:34)"AI is not going to replace recruiters, but recruiters who embrace AI are going to replace the recruiters who don't." - Steve Bartel (43:50)"The hardest part of AI is no longer like the underlying algorithm. [...] The hard part about AI is what data does the AI have actually access to and what kind of context does it have access to..." - Steve Bartel (46:01)Follow:Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f951319c/podcast/rss YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:Gem: https://www.gem.comSteve Bartel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-bartel/Gem’s Benchmarks Report 2025: https://www.gem.com/resource/recruiting-benchmarksMusic by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

On this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, Boris Epstein, founder of 1st10 and former FAANG-level recruiter, reveals a shocking reality behind AI startup hiring practices and why the most talented engineers in tech might be getting left behind. Drawing from his decade of experience recruiting for top tech firms like Robinhood, Instacart, and Stripe, Boris explores why AI founders are wary of FAANG talent, what biases drive this perception, and how engineers can adapt to stay relevant. He contrasts grind culture with lifestyle gigs, zero-to-one building with scale, and passion projects with polished résumés. The episode is a wake-up call for FAANG engineers as well as a cautionary tale for startups dismissing valuable talent too quickly.Tune in to hear Boris explain:The Great Talent Paradox: AI startups systematically avoiding FAANG engineers seems to be creating a disconnect between supply and demand in the hiring market.The Hurdles of Work Culture: The 9-to-5 easy-going lifestyle preferred by FAANG engineers versus the 60-70 hour weeks demanded by AI startups is presenting a major hiring barrier.The HP-Internet Moment: Engineers face a stark choice: be part of the AI future or risk obsolescence if they don't adapt quickly.The Zero-to-One Test: Building something from scratch is the ultimate litmus test for AI startup hiring. Specifically, don't miss the part where Boris reveals how the bias shown by AI startups against FAANG talent could backfire and what FAANG engineers need to do, if (when?) that happens.Chapters00:00 Highlights From The Episode01:23 3 Deadly Biases05:18 A Grand Canyon-Sized Gap12:13 The Power of Passion Projects15:03 HP in 1994, FAANG in 2025?22:05 The Case for FAANG Talent28:21 How to Break Into AI33:27 Startups Don’t Wait, Why Should You?37:52 A Market on Collision Course43:31 Why Both Worlds Must Evolve46:33 Do You Want to Be Part of the Future?Quotes:"The reason [AI Startups] are working very hard is because AI is believed to be by these startups (to be) a completely transformational technology, completely transformational opportunity." - Boris Epstein (07:25)"Get off the FAANG bus, get into the AI startup bus!" - Boris Epstein (17:40)"If I had a dollar and I could only put it into one of the two startups, I’d probably bet on the FAANG startup." - Boris Epstein (23:32)"Your resume isn't showing anybody what you could do for them. Your resume is showing the world what you did in the past." - Boris Epstein (30:53)Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f951319c/podcast/rss YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Connect with usWebsite: www.1st10.comPodcast: www.1st10.com/podcast Twitter www.x.com/1st10engineersLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1st10/YouTube: www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:FAANG companies (Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_TechLangChain (open-source AI framework) - https://www.langchain.com/Music by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

In this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, Boris Epstein sits down with Sara Ali, Senior Director of Corporate Development & Strategy at Yahoo, to dissect the frenzy around AI-driven M&A. From Meta's $14.3 billion partial acquisition of Scale AI to Google's talent-grab deals with Character.AI, Sara breaks down the creative deal structures that are bypassing regulatory scrutiny while commanding unprecedented valuations. With her engineering background and 12+ years in M&A across companies like Robinhood, Google, and Microsoft's M12 venture arm, Sara reveals why traditional revenue multiples no longer apply in AI, how "scarcity multiples" are driving billion-dollar talent acquisitions, and what this means for engineers and founders navigating this chaotic landscape.Tune in to hear them talk about:The Regulatory Loophole Era: Creative deal structures, like non-voting stakes and licensing agreements, are allowing tech giants to acquire AI talent and assets while sidestepping regulatory reviews.Talent Is the New Gold: AI deals today aren't about revenue multiples - they're about "scarcity multiples" i.e., locking in talent and know-how before competitors do.M&A Budget vs HR Budget: Corporate development and HR departments operate with completely different compensation constraints, enabling acquired talent to earn 10-20x what traditionally-hired engineers make.Equity Is NOT Important: Being deemed "key talent" during an acquisition can be more lucrative than initial startup equity. Specifically, don't miss the part where Sara boldly predicts how GPU access might be used as a bargaining chip in future M&A deals.Chapters00:00 Highlights from the episode02:07 Sara's Journey05:15 Yahoo's Quiet Renaissance08:10 Decoding Corporate Development Secrets11:18 Why AI Is Too Big to Miss14:25 The Meta-Scale Play: "Have Your Cake, Eat It Too!"18:18 How Big Tech Skips the Regulators23:30 Winners, Losers, and Others28:25 Scarcity Multiples and Startup Shells31:09 The $100 Million Question38:43 Meta Brakes But M&A Won't Stop41:07 The Early Engineer's Survival Guide47:04 A Playbook For Founder's Playbook50:27 Sara's Bold Prediction about GPUsQuotes:"Meta gets all the benefits of owning Scale.AI but none of the regulatory headache." - Sara Ali (17:25)"No one really knows how the market is going to settle, but everyone knows that they can't just sit around and wait for it. Otherwise, they're going to miss." - Sara Ali (31:31)"While we may have to pay equity for base salary, you could end up getting millions of dollars of an equity grant and an acquired-engineer maybe making 10x, 20x what a regularly-hired engineer might make." - Sara Ali (33:55)"In AI specifically, more than any other space right now, the caliber of your team is crucial." - Sara Ali (48:01)Follow:Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f951319c/podcast/rss YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:Music by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

On this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, Boris Epstein sits down with Daniel Rock - economist, professor at Wharton, and co-founder of Workhelix - to decode the messy reality of AI's impact on jobs, productivity, and enterprise transformation. Daniel brings a unique perspective as both an academic economist studying digital technologies and an entrepreneur building AI solutions for enterprises. The conversation explores why AI adoption might take longer than tech enthusiasts expect, how companies can strategically deploy AI tools, and why the "entry-level jobs apocalypse" might not happen as predicted. Daniel also shares his insights on teaching in the AI era, the challenges of building an AI startup, and his measured predictions for the technology's future impact.Daniel is refreshingly clear-eyed about where we actually are and where we're likely going. Below are some of the standout lessons I took away from our conversation.An entry-level job-pocalypse? Well, no. AI could just as likely augment junior talent as replace it, and in some cases, even increase demand for skilled oversight.A job isn't a task. It's a bundle of interdependent skills, roles, and context - making full automation much harder than people think.Generative AI = the new Excel. Used poorly, it's lazy. Used well, it supercharges creativity, productivity, and learning - especially among students.An Educational Revolution Is Underway. AI is quietly transforming classroom dynamics and assessment criteria in ways that mirror future workplace changes.Real transformation takes time. Like electricity and the internet, AI as a general-purpose tech will only reshape enterprise when paired with new systems, workflows, and retraining.AI Has A Real Risk No One's Talking About. It’s not superintelligence - it's bad actors with superpowers. And it matters a lot more in the near term than you think.Chapters00:00 Key Ideas From the Episode05:32 Confessions of a Multi-Disciplinary Economist08:31 How Students Actually Use AI11:24 Redefining Originality in the GPT Era16:21 A Startup That's Betting Against the Wait-and-See Crowd19:30 Inside the Enterprise AI Mess24:22 Jobs Are Systems, Not Widgets28:12 Reviewers, Not Doers: The Software Engineering Shift32:00 Workhelix: Building in the Eye of the Storm38:42 Predictions from the Pragmatist45:26 Careers @ WorkhelixQuotes"I tend to make everyone a little bit upset when I talk about Artificial Intelligence." - Daniel Rock (02:28)"I'm a little skeptical that the entry-level jobs apocalypse is even going to happen. A job is not, like, an easy thing to just take out." - Daniel Rock (00:00)"My friends, Gene Kim and Steve Yegge, call that 'The Potential Closet of Eldritch Horrors.' I do not envy the talent wars that Meta and OpenAI and Anthropic have to fight in." - Daniel Rock (00:00)"You don't get an A if you're correct anymore! You have to be correct AND original! You'll get a B if you're correct." - Daniel Rock (11:56)"AI will pay off your credit card debt on the technical debt side. So if you start racking up a lot of technical debt, that can be okay because AI will wipe it out to some extent later on!" - Daniel Rock (35:06)Follow:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13UwWOSV1KrJBJgIdt8bJ7Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:Daniel Rock’s website: https://www.danielianrock.com Daniel Rock (Operations, Information and Decisions Department, Wharton School, UPenn): https://oid.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/rockdi/Daniel’s startup, Workhelix: https://www.workhelix.com/ Music by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

Mark Zuckerberg dropping $100 million each on SIXTEEN engineers (and counting) might be a wild strategy that could hand Meta the AI crown.On this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, host Boris Epstein dives into Meta's jaw-dropping AI talent acquisition spree that's sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley. From $100 million sign-on bonuses to billion-dollar offers, Meta is rewriting the rules of tech recruiting. From the $14B Scale AI buy to $100M+ offers for individual engineers, Boris unpacks the strategic genius - and controversy - behind Zuckerberg's pivot to building a "Superintelligence Lab." He explains why this isn't reckless spending but a calculated blend of corporate development and recruiting tactics, designed to leapfrog competition in the AI arms race. Along the way, he dissects the ripple effects across compensation norms, startup hiring, and the tech industry's status quo.Tune in to hear Boris explain how (and why):Meta isn't "just hiring" - it's merging a long-standing "corporate development" strategy with individual recruiting.Zuck's pivot pattern is clear. Mobile-first, Metaverse, and now AI - with "lockdown" focus and willingness to spend massively to catch up or lead.The hires weren't just motivated by massive paychecks. Mark Zuckerberg's compelling vision of "superintelligence for every human in the world" was a solid hook.Meta has forced an industry-wide compensation reset. Meta's strategy is forcing competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic to dramatically increase their own compensation packages to retain talent. Ripple effects will be seen beyond 'Big AI labs' - every competitor is now rethinking pay, retention, and how to raid rivals' best people.Discover why Meta is betting billions on superintelligence, how they're rewriting the rules of recruiting, and what this means for startups, engineers, and the future of AI.Chapters00:00 Key Ideas From The Episode01:19 Why Meta is Dropping $100M Like Pocket Change03:19 When Acquisitions Hit a Wall07:49 Zuck's Lockdown 2.0 Was Worth $14 Billion?13:20 The Math That Makes "Insane" Offers Make Sense17:04 The Hiring Model That Breaks ALL Industry Rules!21:10 Speed Was the Point, Not the Problem.26:53 What Kind of a Smart Guy Rejects a $1B Offer?!32:25 Will The Riches Trickle Down To... You?37:26 AI for Everyone - Or a Dystopian Nightmare?Quotes:"What Meta did in this case - which is, in my opinion, brilliant and landscape-changing - is they brought in individual people after their initial acquisition but for the same acquisition-level proceeds!" - Boris Epstein (16:44)"If Meta is willing to offer $100+ million, they’re equally allowed to ask for any timeline they want." - Boris Epstein (23:28)"I do believe that we'll see quite a meaningful trickle effect... Every single company CEO is taking notice. Every single company Corp Dev group, every single engineer, is taking notice." - Boris Epstein (32:25)Follow:Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Connect with usWebsite: www.1st10.comPodcast: www.1st10.com/podcast Twitter www.x.com/1st10engineersLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1st10/YouTube: www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:“Blink”, by Malcolm Gladwell - https://www.gladwell.com/blink/Open AI’s Head of Recruiting posts about Meta’s “exploding” offers: https://x.com/jquinonero/status/1940926946705395943The Developer Who Got A $1B+ Offer: https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/mark-zuckerberg-mira-murati-meta-thinking-machines-lab-andrew-tulloch-offer-125080601247_1.htmlMusic by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

What if the AI revolution doesn't take all jobs but *just* enough to crash society?On this first episode of the latest season of the 1st10 Podcast, host Boris Epstein is joined by ex-Microsoft, ex-Meta, and ex-OpenAI engineer and founder of the AI-powered podcast app Superphonic, Philip Su for a conversation about AI, jobs, and the future of humanity. Philip lays out why he's building small while the rest of the world races toward scale. He opens up about career pivots, the myth of vibecoding, and the sobering risks that even a 5% disruption from AI could cause. From building Facebook Video Calling to solo-coding his dream podcast app, this is a rare look at tech from someone who's seen every stage of the game but is now sounding the alarm…Tune in to hear them talk about a variety of topics, such as:*Career Pivots Require Self-Awareness: Philip's leap from Microsoft to Facebook (when it was still risky) underscores the importance of recognizing when your skills need reinvention.*Small Teams, Big Impact: With AI tools, a solo developer can now build what once required a team!*Shipping is the real grind: The hardest part of software? Not coding. It's the “business of software”—App Store approvals, signing certs, compliance, etc.Podcasts Are Ripe for Disruption: Superphonic's innovations (like topic-based subscriptions) reveal how overlooked niches can be goldmines for builders.AI is beating us at being human: It does art, music, and writing better than the average person!*The "Faster Faster" Problem: AI's self-improving nature means societal disruptions could happen at an accelerating pace.Specifically, don't miss the part where Philip explains how specialization won't necessarily save you from losing your job to AI but something else will. Listen to the episode to know what that might be!Chapters00:00 Introduction05:23 A Risky Leap: From Microsoft to Facebook13:47 Building a Podcast Player (in 2025!)19:36 Coding Now vs Then (Spoiler: It's Wild!)23:02 Can A Solo Dev Compete With The Big Guys?30:11 Vibe Coding - It's What You've Been Waiting For!32:46 Inside OpenAI: A Glimpse Behind the Curtain38:09 AI Is Not Like Social Media; It's MUCH Bigger!43:30 Why This Time Might Actually Be Different46:02 Winter is Coming -- For ALL White-Collar Workers!Quotes:"Most of software development is not the coding of Tetris. That is hardly the hard part of the problem." - Philip Su (30:11)"We used to think with the Jetsons that the robots would clean our houses while we did art and music and all this stuff. And it turns out that the robots first came for the art and the music, and we're still cleaning our own houses." - Philip Su (39:54)"Winter is coming. That is my warning." - Philip Su (49:03)Connect with usWebsite: www.1st10.comPodcast: www.1st10.com/podcast Twitter www.x.com/1st10engineersLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1st10/YouTube: www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:Music by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

Summary

On this final episode of Season 2 of the 1st10 Podcast, Boris Epstein and Alexis Munger outline a comprehensive Hiring Playbook for founders building early-stage startups. They list seven critical steps to attract and hire top talent, emphasizing the importance of storytelling, leveraging networks, and the founder's active role in recruiting. Through anecdotes, examples, and actionable advice, they explore how founders can craft compelling narratives, identify red flags, and sell their vision to potential hires.

Some key takeaways from this episode:

• Storytelling is King: Without a compelling narrative, even the best opportunities can fall flat.  

• Founders Must Recruit: Founders need to be deeply involved in outreach, even if it means facing a high rejection rate.  

• Sell the Vision: Top candidates are drawn to the mission and the team, not just the salary.

• Go Beyond Technical Skills: Cultural fit, conflict resolution, and collaboration skills are just as important as technical abilities.  

Specifically, don't miss the part where Boris and Alexis compare recruiting to getting married! That one will definitely unlock a whole new perspective about startup recruiting for sure!

Chapters

00:00 Introductions

02:55 Hiring With Stories: Why Narrative Matters

07:32 Hidden Networks: Talent You Already Know

12:07 Founder's Grind: Don't Outsource Recruiting

15:08 Filter for Fit: Know Your Deal-Breakers and Red Flags

23:00 Beyond the Code: Interview for Culture and Conflict

27:22 Sell the Dream: How to Win Over Top Talent

35:44 Art of the Offer: Make It Personal

39:25 Final Thoughts: What Really Moves the Needle?

Quotes

• "I feel like some of the best hires I've ever made where I can see that that person stuck around the company a long time probably didn't look obvious on paper." - Alexis Munger (16:01)

• "If your story sucks but your deal-breakers are high, you're going to be doing a lot of evening-crying." - Boris Epstein (22:05)  

• "Founders and startups do a very poor job of infusing a sense of conflict and tension into the interview process." - Boris Epstein (23:49)  

• "Don't underestimate the emotional aspect of changing jobs and how that plays into a candidate's decision. It's not just money-based!" - Alexis Munger (30:35)  

• "At that point, you're basically asking the candidate to marry you!" - Boris Epstein (35:55)

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Music by Roman Senyk from Pixabay

Producer: Shrikant Joshi

Summary

On this episode of the 1st10 podcast, hosts Boris Epstein and Alexis Munger sit down with Ilya Sukhar, a seasoned entrepreneur, engineer, and venture capitalist. Ilya shares his journey from immigrating to the U.S. as a child to founding Parse, getting acquired by Facebook, and eventually transitioning into venture capital. Ilya shared with us his experiences building and scaling startups and his insights on what makes a successful founder and early-stage company.

Tune in to hear them talk about:

• Advantages of Being a Technical Founder: Technical founders can quickly iterate and build products that meet customer needs.  

• Having Resilience: Founders who can persevere through challenges and build in less-hyped areas often develop stronger companies in the long run.  

• Conflict Resolution In Early Teams: Founders and early-engineers must test how they handle disagreements, as conflict resolution is crucial in the high-pressure environment of a startup.  

• Real-World AI: Ilya is particularly excited about AI applications that impact the physical world, such as smart cameras and healthcare devices, and believes these areas hold immense potential. 

Specifically, don't miss the part where Ilya shared details about his unique, contrarian investment philosophy as a VC and what an AI-powered future might potentially look like!

Chapters:

00:00 Introductions & Icebreakers

05:24 A Soviet Immigrant And His American Dream Come True

09:29 The Addiction: Why Ilya Felt Attracted to Early-Stage Companies

12:33 Building Parse Through Serendipitous Symbiosis

17:26 Importance of Having a High Quality Early-Engineering Team

19:43 Facebook Acquisition and Life At Facebook

25:57 The YC Founder Brand: What Makes Them Unique?  

28:33 Contrarian Investing: Finding Diamonds in the Rough

35:03 Real-World AI and the Future of Tech  

37:26 Ilya's Advice for Founders and Engineers

40:41 Contact Details And Expectations

Quotes:

• "America, despite its faults, is really quite special [...] It's pretty magical to be an American if you want to go start a company." - Ilya Sukhar (05:53)

• "I haven't quite made up my mind whether people learn more from success or from failure.  I think the people that get after it again, after a failure are very motivated in a way that I think is pretty special!" - Ilya Sukhar (17:11)

• "I'm an early-stage person and a lot of why I got into investing is I just want to be involved in multiple projects at that stage." - Ilya Sukhar (30:25)

• "I think a lot of VC is pattern-matching - for good and bad. And, I think if you really look in the sort of long-term lens, the great, great enduring companies are really odd in one fashion or another." - Ilya Sukhar (34:34)

• "I relentlessly recommend referencing! It's just always astonishing to me how little energy some founders put into referencing prospective hires and vice-versa!" - Ilya Sukhar (39:31)

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Producer: Shrikant Joshi

Summary

On this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, hosts Boris Epstein and Alexis Munger sit down with Kevin Liu, Engineering Lead at AngelList and a seasoned builder in the tech industry. Kevin shares his journey from being a fresh computer science graduate during the post-dot-com bust to becoming a key player in high-growth startups like Klout and Nextdoor. He discusses the importance of staying hands-on as a builder, even while transitioning into leadership roles, and how AI is reshaping the engineering landscape.

Here are some key insights that Kevin shared during this conversation:

• Staying Hands-On In Leadership: Maintaining technical skills even as you move into management roles is important. Kevin describes his style as that of a "coach-player", where he continues to code and build alongside his team.  

• Early-Stage Startups Are Rocketships For Early-Careers: Joining a startup early in your career can accelerate your growth and open doors to diverse experiences, from engineering to business strategy.

• AI Can Be A Productivity Booster: AI tools like Cursor have significantly boosted Kevin's productivity, but he cautions that they are most effective when used by skilled engineers who know how to direct them.

• Career Progression Needn't Be Linear: Career growth doesn't always follow a strict upward trajectory. Kevin advocates for following your interests and embracing lateral (or even backward) moves if they align with your passions and skills.

Chapters:

Additionally, don't miss Kevin's reflections on the shifts in the tech industry, from the dot-com bust to the social media boom, and the meteoric rise of AI in recent times.

00:00 Introductions & Icebreakers

06:02 From ColdFusion to AI: A Tech Journey Through the Decades

10:14 Klout, "Influencers", And Lightning-In-A-Bottle

16:20 Joining Nextdoor And The Power of Lateral Moves

25:03 Web 1.0, Web 2.0, And... Web AI?

29:06 Is Kevin Worried About AI Taking His Job?

34:30 Working Through The Startup Ecosystem Food-Chain

37:36 Kevin's Career Wisdom: Your Path Need Not Be A Straight Line

41:12 Kevin's Contact Details & Career Prospects At AngelList

Quotes:

• "When you join a high-growth company in a 'right-place-right-time' thing, as the company grows, you grow. You are forced to grow." - Kevin Liu (14:36)

• "Don't get soft. Whatever that means to you, whatever you need to do to make sure you don't get soft, that's on you." - Kevin Liu (19:40)

• "How can you be there for your people if you cannot empathize with what their day-to-day is? So I think it's a prerequisite to be an engineer before you can manage engineers." - Kevin Liu (23:13)

• "[AI] is a power tool. And if you don't know what you're doing, or if you don't know where you want to place that tool, it's not going to help you." - Kevin Liu (31:49)

• "Your job is to maximize the congruence between how you spend your days and what the company is willing to ask of you!" (40:51)

Connect with us:

Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast 

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcast

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 

Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast 

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f951319c/podcast/rss 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast 

Webpage: https://www.1st10.com/podcast/

Twitter www.x.com/1st10engineers

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1st10/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast 

Links:

Kevin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevliu/

AngelList: https://angel.co

Klout: https://klout.com

Nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com

776: https://776.org

500 Startups Vietnam: https://500.co/vietnam

Ascend Ventures: https://ascend.vc

Music by Roman Senyk from Pixabay

Producer: Shrikant Joshi