Guests: Victor Riparbelli, CEO and co-founder of Synthesia; and Josh Coyne, partner at Kleiner Perkins

When Victor Riparbelli wants to learn something, he’ll start with a YouTube video or a podcast: “I maybe buy the book on Amazon as like the fifth step,” the Synthesia CEO says. His company is trying to change the text-first (or text-only) way information is conveyed at work, making AI avatar-narrated videos to replace documents like customer profiles and HR manuals. Victor says that as the technology improves over many years, it could replace text entirely. “I think for most people, if they had a choice, they would probably prefer to watch video and listen to audio.”

In this episode, Victor, Josh, and Joubin discuss Seedcamp, Annie Case, Rubik’s Cubes, AI video dubbing, Instagram filters, emotive avatars, Ilya Fushman, Atlassian, Grammarly, the Gutenberg Parenthesis, European startups, email responsiveness, acqui-hires, and being “lonely at the top.”

Chapters:

• (01:33) - Loose screws
• (02:45) - How Victor and Josh met
• (04:35) - AI hype cycles
• (06:57) - What Synthesia does
• (08:22) - Copycats and competition
• (14:34) - Winner take all
• (16:38) - Synthesia’s origin story
• (21:36) - Category creation
• (23:41) - The next era of AI video
• (28:51) - The uncanny valley
• (30:07) - Watching videos at work
• (33:17) - Scaling video and audio content
• (37:45) - Emailing with Mark Cuban
• (45:15) - Battle scars
• (48:47) - Customer obsession
• (50:54) - Pressure to succeed
• (54:41) - Deep passion
• (57:16) - Who Synthesia is hiring

• Connect with Victor
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Josh
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Guest: Kat Cole, COO of Athletic Greens

You can’t make smart decisions if you don’t know the truth — the “true truth,” as Athletic Greens COO Kat Cole puts it. “As you get bigger and you have success, innovator’s dilemma, you end up talking to yourself instead of really being rooted in what’s going on.” That’s why she has embraced the anxiety of the unknown, channeling what she doesn’t know about the market into productive questions for her team and her customers. Anxiety can be harmful, she concedes, but “there’s a healthy version of believing you never really know what’s going on, and you never really know the true truth, because things change so quickly.”

In this episode, Kat and Joubin discuss Huberman Lab, ultra-endurance athletes, Chris Ashenden, founder-owned businesses, “fancy jobs,” international trips, unplanned succession, private equity, the Atkins diet, inheriting a bad situation, omni-channel marketing, working with franchisees, fully remote companies, “if not for...,” and why Athletic Greens has only one SKU.

Chapters:

• (01:04) - Podcast superfans
• (06:54) - AG1 and Kat’s professional journey
• (11:14) - Her “Jerry Springer childhood”
• (14:31) - Learning, moving, thriving
• (16:18) - The Hooters business school
• (24:05) - Leaving Hooters and joining Rourke Capital
• (28:46) - Cinnabon’s dark years
• (35:55) - The three questions
• (41:11) - MiniBons
• (45:37) - Anxiety and uncertainty
• (48:40) - The wad of paper story
• (50:26) - Favorite interview questions
• (54:49) - The temptation to do more

• Connect with Kat
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

Guest: Anne Raimondi, COO and Head of Business at Asana

Asana COO Anne Raimondi feels pressure to perform in her job “every day, all the time.” But that pressure doesn’t come from her fellow executives; she imposes it on herself, trying to think carefully about how much each of her decisions will impact her team. “I have a lot of privilege and choice,” Anne says, “of how I spend my time, the resources available to me, and am I doing enough? ... Am I doing the most with the opportunities I have, and making as positive an impact as I can?”

In this episode, Anne and Joubin discuss returning to the office, Scott McNealy, the dotcom bust, Myers-Briggs, Star Trek: The Next Generation, empowering leaders, Blue Nile, Robert, Chatwani, tech leaders with children, Bain Capital, time management, being “in the moment,” Dave Goldberg, Dustin Moskovitz, staying curious, and being prescriptive.

Chapters:

• (01:05) - Hybrid remote policies
• (05:34) - Employees’ emotional journey
• (09:39) - Thoughtful answers and betazoids
• (13:17) - Anne’s immigrant parents
• (14:50) - Regrettable feedback
• (17:46) - Leaders who cast a shadow
• (19:36) - Company-hopping
• (24:14) - Startups and stability
• (28:42) - Pressure to perform
• (31:08) - Insecurity and parenthood
• (37:12) - Allocating your time
• (39:43) - Co-founding One Jackson
• (45:36) - Amanda Kleha
• (47:01) - Great founders
• (52:18) - “It is not glamorous”
• (54:03) - From board to operating at Asana
• (57:10) - Feedback for founders
• (01:00:25) - Recurring meetings
• (01:03:07) - Who Asana is hiring

Links:

• Connect with Anne
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm