The Library of Minds

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An investor told Grant Lee: “This has got to be the worst idea I’ve ever heard.” Then they hung up.

A few years later, Gamma became one of the clearest AI breakouts, built with a tiny team, obsessive craft, and distribution that looked nothing like the standard playbook.

In this episode of The Library of Minds, Grant breaks down how conviction compounds, why the first 30 seconds of onboarding matters more than most founders think, and the real hiring filter they use to avoid expensive mistakes.

🔗 The Library of Minds is brought to you by Delphi. Create a digital version of your mind, scale your thinking, and connect with others interactively.

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Ben Blumenrose joined Facebook as the 5th designer, ready to bring glossy design to a site that looked like a wireframe. Days later, Mark Zuckerberg told him: "You can't just come in here and shit on our style." That moment became the foundation for everything that followed.

In this episode of The Library of Minds, Ben shares the untold stories from Facebook's design team, why he started Designer Fund when everyone thought it was crazy, and how he backed Stripe, Figma, Notion, and Linear before the world caught on. We dig into the hidden strategy behind Facebook's aesthetic, the 3% friendship cost of moving one button, and why "humanity-centered design" matters more than human-centered.

📌 The Library of Minds is brought to you by Delphi - create a digital version of your mind, scale your thinking, and connect with others interactively. Learn more at https://www.delphi.ai/

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When Canva disrupted design and Hinge redefined dating, one investor saw it coming. Nikhil Basu Trivedi has backed the companies that didn't just compete, they created entirely new categories.

In this episode, Nikhil shares the pattern recognition that made him one of Silicon Valley's most prescient investors. We cover why "durability genetics" matter more than vanity metrics, how Farmer's Dog scaled to billions with just 3 SKUs, the power of consumer + enterprise hybrids, and his darkest career moment that led to starting Footwork.

Have your own questions? Continue the conversation with Chris's Delphi:https://www.delphi.ai/chrisslowe" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> ⁠https://www.delphi.ai/chrisslowe

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The CTO of Reddit shares the engineering decisions that led the platform from scrappy startup to the 6th most visited website on the internet.

In this episode of The Library of Minds, we sit down with Chris Slowe, co-founder and CTO of Reddit. We dig into the reality of scaling technical teams, why "hope is not a strategy," and what it really takes to keep the front page of the internet running for two decades.

📌 The Library of Minds is brought to you by Delphi - create a digital version of your mind, scale your thinking, and connect with others interactively. Learn more at https://www.delphi.ai/

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What actually makes a startup succeed in deep tech?

In this episode of The Library of Minds, we sit down with Shahin Farshchi, General Partner at Lux Capital, to unpack how elite investors evaluate founders, risk, and conviction in the hardest categories of technology.

Shahin’s path - from PhD in electrical engineering, to founder, to long-time deep-tech investor -  offers a rare perspective on why most breakthroughs fail to become businesses, and why people matter more than the underlying technology.

📌 The Library of Minds is brought to you by Delphi - create a digital version of your mind, scale your thinking, and connect with others interactively. Learn more at https://www.delphi.ai/

Have your own questions? Continue the conversation with Madhavan's Delphi: ⁠https://www.delphi.ai/minds/madhavansf

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Pricing isn’t a revenue lever - it’s a growth lever. In this episode of The Library of Minds, we sit down with Madhavan Ramanujam, former Simon-Kucher partner, pricing expert, advisor to 30+ unicorns, and author of Monetizing Innovation and Scaling Innovation. We explore the art and science of pricing, when founders should delay monetization, and how pricing models can make or break a company.

📌 The Library of Minds is brought to you by Delphi - create a digital version of your mind, scale your thinking, and connect with others interactively. Learn more at https://www.delphi.ai/

Have your own questions? Continue the conversation with Jason's Delphi: ⁠https://www.delphi.ai/minds/jboehmig

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How does a lawyer hacking together email scripts end up building a $3B+ category-defining company?

In this episode, Jason Boehmig - founder of Ironclad, the contract lifecycle platform used by L’Oréal, Mastercard, and Heineken - breaks down how curiosity, taste, and relentless customer empathy turned a side-project into the CLM category leader.

Have your own questions? Continue the conversation with Delian's Delphi: ⁠https://www.delphi.ai/delian

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Delian Asparouhov, Partner & Village Idiot at Founders Fund, breaks down the Benchmark beef, Varda’s FAA battle, and why most founders focus on the wrong things. This episode dives into power laws, long feedback loops, and the 2–4 decisions that actually matter each year.

Have your own questions? Continue the conversation with Kirsten's Delphi: ⁠https://www.delphi.ai/kirstengreen

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Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures and early backer of Oura Ring, Hims, Dollar Shave Club, and Glossier, joins The Library of Minds to break down the biggest risk in consumer: the “say/do gap.”

Consumers say one thing - but their behavior tells a different story.
Kirsten shares how Forerunner built a $3B consumer fund by spotting these hidden behaviors early, training intuition like a muscle, and backing founders who sense cultural shifts before the data shows it.

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HubSpot Co-Founder Brian Halligan joins The Library of Minds to share how a $20B company was built on culture, not code and why AI is redefining inbound marketing.

From studying The Grateful Dead’s fan-first playbook to creating one of SaaS’s most enduring brands, Brian reveals how great leaders scale values.