Episodes
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Nato Saichek, cofounder and CTO of Longshot Space, joins South Park Commons Partner Jonathan Brebner to explain why rockets won the space race for the wrong reasonsâand why a 15-kilometer space gun may be the most rational path to cheap access to orbit.
Nato traces Longshot's origins from garage experiments with his cofounder Mike Grace, through building the world's largest operational cannon, to a first-principles reimagining of launch economics. He explains why $4 trillion in rocket investment locked civilization into a local optimum, how aerospace-grade hardware can be replicated for $5 in parts, and what it actually feels like to shoulder the weight of a deeply unconventional bet.
Nato Saichek: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natosaichek/ Jonathan Brebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-brebner/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:
(00:00:00) - The 15-Kilometer Space Gun
(00:06:27) - The History of Space Guns and Why the Idea Was Abandoned
(00:09:33) - Why Rockets Arenât the Best Solution
(00:18:39) - The Story of Longshot Space
(00:22:09) - Nato On Leaving His Dream Job
(00:28:25) - Fundraising for an Unconventional Idea
(00:39:36) - The Perks of Having a Cofounder
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Amit Jain, cofounder and CEO of Luma AI, joins South Park Commons Partner Finn Meeks to explain why the most defensible AI companies aren't just building toolsâthey're developing systems that can understand and simulate the world.
Amit traces Luma's path from a free 3D capture app designed to gather training data, through an early bet that video generation was finally viable, to the unified model architecture powering Luma Agents today. He explains why most AI products still break at execution, why foundation labs blur the line between product and research, and why they are the blueprint for the companies of the future.
Amit Jain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gravicle/ Finn Meeks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finn-meeks/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:
(00:00:00) - Apple's LiDAR work seeded Luma's founding vision
(00:05:05) - A free app was secretly a data collection operation
(00:06:49) - H100s made video generation stop feeling impossible
(00:10:00) - Most definitions of "world model" are simply wrong
(00:14:37) - Why unified models beat pure video scaling
(00:20:03) - Luma Agents and the end-to-end creative production loop
(00:23:00) - The knowledge gap no model can close alone
(00:29:34) - Blowing James Cameron's mind in five minutes
(00:31:16) - Why consumer video generation failedâand who it's actually for
(00:35:23) - Product and research aren't two things at a foundation lab
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Episodes manquant?
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Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, joins South Park Commons partner Aditya Agarwal to discuss the cybersecurity crisis currently unfoldingâand why AI is both the threat and the only viable solution.
Nikesh traces his own unlikely journey from Google's Chief Business Officer to leading one of the world's most critical cybersecurity companies with no prior cybersecurity experience, shares what Masayoshi Son taught him about risk, and explains why most founders are too de-risked before they ever start building. He also breaks down why the same AI models writing code today will soon expose decades of hidden vulnerabilities at a scale no IT team is prepared to handle.
Nikesh Arora: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikesh-arora-02894670/ Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/appl
Chapters:(00:02:41) - Big problems vs. fast wins
(00:05:08) - Joining Google
(00:08:28) - Larry Page's product obsession
(00:10:00) - He read every hiring packet himself
(00:13:14) - What Silicon Valley gets wrong about Masa Son
(00:15:45) - Successful founders never wish they took less risk
(00:17:00) - Joining Palo Alto knowing nothing about cybersecurity
(00:19:30) - What incumbents got wrong when ChatGPT launched
(00:22:31) - Security was never built into AI
(00:25:00) - No enterprise knows what's running inside its stack (00:30:27) - AI finds bad code faster than humans ever could
(00:34:27) - The only way to fix the chaos is more AI
(00:37:05) - AI won't just automate workâit raises the floor
(00:39:43) - Foundation models vs. specialized stacks
(00:43:16) - Why communication is 30% of the job at scale
(00:45:00) - What makes a great founder
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Amjad Masad and Haya Odeh, cofounders of Replit, join South Park Commons Partners Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi to share what it really took to build one of AIâs most important platforms, and how itâs now enabling a new wave of million-dollar founders.
Amjad breaks down why traditional ideas like ICP are breaking down in the age of AI, whatâs actually changing under the hood of modern models, and why we may be reaching the limits of prompting. Haya shares the origin of âSeek PainââReplitâs most counterintuitive cultural principleâand how a relentless focus on whatâs not working drives better products, faster learning, and stronger teams.
Amjad Masad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amjadmasad/ Haya Odeh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haya-odeh-b0725928/ Ruchi Sanghvi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsanghvi/ Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyCHAPTERS:
(00:00:00) - Coming to America broke (and building anyway)
(00:04:27) - Early Replit proof points kept the mission alive
(00:07:02) - Cloud vs. local: why security tips the scales
(00:10:09) - Execute daily, predict quarterly
(00:11:35) - The 2023 roadmap Replit just finished executing
(00:16:01) - Agent 4 and the end of context amnesia
(00:22:01) - The death of the ICP
(00:24:47) - What actually changed in AI models December 2024
(00:28:52) - "Seek Pain"âReplit's most counterintuitive cultural value
(00:34:55) - Why consultants are the most mispriced AI-era hire
(00:38:00) - Co-founding with your partnerâthe honest answer
(00:43:25) - Make micro-predictions or get left behind by AI
(00:45:19) - Raising kids in a world you can't predict
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As AI models become more powerful, safety is emerging as one of the defining challenges of our time.
Rahul Patil, CTO at Anthropic, joins SPC Partner Ankit Chowdhary to discuss why they prioritize AI safety above all else, how the company thinks about building reliable and trustworthy AI models, and the tradeoffs between speed, scale, and responsibility in the age of exponential growth. Rahul also shares his journey growing up in Bangalore, how he first fell in love with computer science, and advice for young builders navigating the current tech landscape.
This conversation was recorded on the 17th of February, 2026.
Rahul Patil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-patil-a0944836/
Ankit Chowdhary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankitcc/
South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
CHAPTERS:
(00:00:00) - Introduction + Rahulâs Core Philosophy
(00:01:18) - Early Life: Falling in Love with Computer Science
(00:03:07) - The âMinus Oneâ Mindset: Curiosity Over Competition
(00:05:24) - Chasing Exponential Trends and Scaled Impact
(00:09:22) - Building for Dependability (Not Just Speed)
(00:12:03) - Startup Tradeoffs: Speed vs. Safety (And Why Itâs a False Choice)
(00:18:17) - Why He Joined Anthropic (AI as the Biggest Shift Yet)
(00:29:08) - Scaling Laws, Breakthroughs, and What Builders Should Do Now
(00:42:20) - What Keeps Him Up at Night: The Next 100 Years in 5
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Elad Gil, investor and author of High Growth Handbook, sits down with South Park Commons Partner Aditya Agarwal to challenge some of Silicon Valleyâs favorite startup myths. He talks about why you might not actually need a cofounder, why data alone isnât much of a moat, and how the strongest companies build real defensibility while others quietly fall behind.
Elad also walks us through his approach to exit hygiene, what the Slack vs. Teams battle says about the power of incumbents, and why some of the worst advice in Silicon Valley isnât directed at struggling startups but the ones already winning.
Elad Gil: https://x.com/eladgil Aditya Agarwal: https://x.com/adityaag South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:(00:01:31) - Approaches to starting a company in the age of AI(00:05:03) - The cofounder fallacy (00:06:22) - Winning is the only startup culture that matters(00:08:00) - Why more markets are open right now than ever before(00:10:14) - The oligopoly market (00:21:13) - Product surface area beats data as a real competitive moat(00:24:12) - The failure mode no one discusses: bad advice for working companies(00:32:11) - How many Jensen Huangs are hiding in plain sight right now?(00:40:08) - Pre-scheduling exit conversations as annual board hygiene(00:43:54) - Why micromanagement is actually underrated
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Grant Lee, cofounder and CEO of Gamma, joins South Park Commons General Partner Jonathan Brebner to discuss how his AI storytelling platform is taking on PowerPoint and Google Slides. Grant shares how Gamma survived the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, how they stayed lean while scaling to a $2B valuation, and why he believes âdifferent beats betterâ when competing against entrenched incumbents. He also gets into the role of storytelling in product, hiring, and growthâand why publishing content (and pushing through "cringe valley") might be the most underrated thing a founder can do.
Grant Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantslee/ Jonathan Brebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-brebner/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:02:41) - The Frustration With Slides That Sparked Gamma
(00:04:02) - Reuniting With Co-Founders From Optimizely
(00:08:46) - The Real Competition: Behavior Change
(00:10:37) - The âBet the Companyâ Moment and the SVB Crisis
(00:14:43) - Why Gamma Built a Lean Team and Hires Slowly
(00:17:49) - Why Storytelling Is a Core Founder Skill
(00:20:51) - How Gamma Balances AI Automation With Human Creativity
(00:23:40) - Why Founders Must Survive âCringe Valleyâ
(00:31:17) - Building Gamma for Prosumer and Enterprise Growth
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When Tony Xu cofounded DoorDash 13 years ago, he was rejected by more than 100 investors. Today, itâs a $70B+ behemoth dominating the delivery industry.
Tony joins SPC General Partner Aditya Agarwal to reveal how DoorDash won the delivery war and answer the burning question of whether AI agents pose a threat to his company. He also shares why customer obsession became the companyâs guiding principle, the challenges of digitizing the physical world, and how startups today can build competitive advantages in the age of AI.
Tony Xu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xutony/ Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:00) - Becoming a founder
(00:11:48) - Implementing AI and customer obsession
(00:18:22) - Is AI a threat to DoorDash?
(00:21:29) - Digitizing the physical world
(00:25:31) - Company culture and values
(00:31:33) - Tonyâs unpopular business opinion
(00:37:42) - How to stay curious and motivated
(00:39:31) - Preparing children for the new age
(00:42:47) - Audience Q&A
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In 2018, Andrew Yang warned that automation would destabilize society by displacing millions of jobs. Eight years later, he says the crisis is no longer hypotheticalâ"you're already seeing it."
Andrew joins his early mentor, SPC General Partner Mark Jacobstein, and Aditya Agarwal to unpack where we go from here: what UBI looks like in practice, why white-collar workers are more exposed than he originally thought, why tech founders should get more involved in politics (but not necessarily run for office), and why his new company Noble Mobile will pay you to spend less time on your phone.
Andrew Yang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewyangvfa/Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/Mark Jacobstein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjacobstein/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:
(00:02:30) - Andrewâs origin story
(00:08:56) - His 2018 AI warning
(00:12:00) - Spotting trends earlier than other people
(00:18:22) - Getting into the political arena rather than sitting on the sidelines
(00:21:56) - The #1 most impactful way to change politics right now
(00:27:19) - Noble Mobile: less doom scrolling, lower monthly bills
(00:34:41) - His updated take on AI job losses and Universal Basic Income
(00:39:09) - Human dignity and meaning in an AI world
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"I think the mission basically doesn't matter."
Waseem Daher, CEO of Pilot (and South Park Commons alum), has a contrarian theory about what actually drives startup successâand it's not passion for the problem you're solving.
Waseem joins General Partner Aditya Agarwal to unpack the real patterns behind building companies: why his "thinking time" after Dropbox was torture, why he believes passion is an output rather than an input, and why the conventional wisdom on hiring and delegation is dangerously wrong.
Waseem Daher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher/Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Chapters:
(00:00:37) - Intro
(00:02:57) - Why mission doesn't matter
(00:12:36) - Waseemâs miserable time after Dropbox
(00:16:10) - Testing vs sitting around brainstorming
(00:31:38) - The case for micromanagement
(00:34:05) - How LLMs are changing company creation and scaling
(00:37:42) - The mindset shift that makes startups energizing
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What does it feel like to bet your company on AI when everyone's talking about a bubble?Anurag Goel, CEO of Render and former employee #8 at Stripe, joins SPC Partner Jonathan Brebner to share why he's going all-in on AI infrastructure. The SPC alum breaks down the honest debates happening inside his company, why vulnerability builds more trust than the "always confident" founder persona, and how random events (like his wife's grad school decision) led to his early days at Stripe.1. Anurag Goel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuragoel/2. Jonathan Brebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-brebner/3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply0:00:00 Intro0:00:27 How Anurag joined Stripe0:04:30 Silicon Valley âmythmakingâ0:07:15 Can founders be vulnerable?0:09:00 His âMinus Oneâ moment after Stripe0:15:45 Killing âgoodâ ideas0:17:50 How Render unlocks developer productivity0:24:00 The AI bubble
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Most things Kunal Shah says, turn into quotes that are shared across a cross-section of worlds â whether that is the startup and tech ecosystem, or simply among people looking to better understand human behaviour.
First with FreeCharge and now with CRED, he has truly traversed a journey of what it means to build for as diverse and complex a market, as India.
On Minus One, he shares why technology works best when it flows with human insight, why the best builders need to relentlessly keep asking âwhy?â, and what makes people truly aspire for something.
Connect with us here:
1. Kunal Shah- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/
2. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/
3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
Timestamps:
00:00 Trailer
01:17 Introduction
03:47 Philosophy and Sales Shaping Perspectives
06:48 Human Motivation and Product Success
33:56 Key Traits for Startup Success
41:46 Design and Aesthetics Matter
47:26 Innovative Marketing
55:48 Wealth, Health, and Business Success
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This is the story behind all the IPO headlines.
In this episode of Minus One, Vidit Aatrey talks to Prateek Mehta about the high-conviction journey of building Meesho â from early uncertainty and brutal trade-offs to cracking scale in one of the hardest consumer markets in the world.
We talk about why most startups fail to truly understand India, what Meesho got right (after getting a lot wrong), and the long game required to build something that actually lasts.
This is the builderâs story â about patience, lifelong learning, and designing for realitiesâŠnot fantasies.
Connect with us here:
1. Prateek Mehta: https://x.com/prateekmehta4
2.South Park Commons â https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons
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If thereâs one person to listen to truly grasp the scale and intent of technology and where weâre headed, itâs Kevin Scott.
The Microsoft CTO joins Aditya Agarwal to discuss navigating his Minus One days, the partnership with OpenAI, why the most valuable problems to solve are often the ones others ignore, and why building great things has never been easier, cheaper, or faster. Tune in now.
Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Connect with us:
1. Kevin Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinscott/
2. Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/
3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
00:00 Trailer
01:34 Navigating Career Transitions and Impact
07:35 Challenges and Insights for Entrepreneurs
14:43 The Evolution and Future of AI
28:42 The Grind of Startup Life
34:11 Open Source vs. Closed Source Models
46:49 Empowering the Next Generation with AI
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Having been a key part of building Google and Meta, and helping scale DoorDash and Block, Gokul Rajaram joins Aditya Agarwal to share his principles and patterns for deciding whatâs truly worth building.
Together, they draw on real stories from Silicon Valley and reflect on what it will take to unlock Indiaâs deep tech potential. The investor gives crucial insight into the mindset, the team, and the personal qualities required to build meaningfully in the age of AI.
Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Connect with us:
1. Gokul Rajaram - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokulrajaram1/
2. Aditya Agarwal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/
3. South Park Commons - https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
00:00 Trailer
01:00 Introduction
03:42 The Importance of Passion in Startups
08:27 The Role of Serendipity in Finding a Mission
12:01 User Storytelling vs. User Research
18:24 The Obsession of Great Founders
28:44 The Evolution of AI and Its Impact on Startups
38:23 The Future of AI in the Physical World
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If you want to know what itâs like to be the architect of nations, not just platforms - you ask a man like Nandan Nilekani.
In this episode of Minus One, Nandan breaks down the ideas, effort and intent behind building Aadhaar for 1.4 billion people, his next chapter in using AI to drive social impact across India, and what his vision of the future looks like.
Connect with us here:
â Nandan Nilekani- https://x.com/NandanNilekaniâ Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/â South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/00:00 Trailer
01:36 Introduction
02:12 Curiosity and Conviction: Keys to Success
15:11 AI and India's Future
25:46 The Startup Boom in India
27:03 Challenges and Opportunities in Ease of Business
31:38 AI and Digital Public Infrastructure
40:26 Future of Energy and Final Thoughts
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SPC alum Tuhin Srivastava sits down with Aditya Agarwal to break down how a failed four-year startup, plus early chapters in finance and biotech, shaped the way he is scaling Baseten into one of the fastest-growing AI infrastructure companies today.
His approach is simple: kill what doesnât work, donât scale before youâre ready, and stop pretending you can see past three months in AI.
Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Connect with us here:
1. Tuhin Srivastava- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuhin-srivastava/
2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/
3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
00:00 Trailer
00:56 Introduction
01:28 Insights from Cricket to Startups
03:30 Career Journey: From Finance to Tech
08:16 Navigating the Startup Ecosystem
22:48 Embracing Change and Customer Focus
25:38 Unique Company Philosophies
30:14 Compensation and Team Dynamics
39:29 Cricket Predictions
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Rahul Chari is a leader in Indiaâs tech evolution, from building Flipkartâs foundations, to architecting PhonePeâs planet-scale platform. Simply put, there are very few people in a country of over a billion, who have not used what he built.
In this episode of Minus One, he reflects on forming lasting partnerships, building for the future, and building to last.
Connect with us here:
1. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/
2. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
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After years of operating at scale at companies like Facebook and Dropbox, Ruchi Sanghvi, founding partner of South Park Commons, and Aditya Agarwal, General Partner, turn the mic on each other to revisit the early days that grew this community to over 1,000 founders and technologists.
They reflect on what it takes to build something enduring together, and why the best ideas rarely emerge from comfort.
Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply
Connect with us here:
1. Ruchi Sanghvi- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsanghvi/
2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/
3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
(00:00) Trailer
(01:15) The Journey of Founding SPC
(05:33) The Importance of Constructive Conflict
(15:51) Scaling and Leadership Insights
(28:39) Embracing the Learning Journey
(29:43) The Power of Storytelling in Startups
(33:19) Balancing Optimism and Realism
(49:13) Navigating the Complexities of Markets
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Akshay Kothari has built tools that transform the everyday by making technology feel effortless, like Pulse and Notion.
He joins Aditya Agarwal to share the counterintuitive lessons behind enduring products, why selling can sometimes be the braver choice, and how constraints often spark lasting creativity.
Connect with us here:
1. Akshay Kothari- https://www.linkedin.com/in/akothari/
2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/
3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/
00:00 Trailer
01:02 Welcome to the Minus One Podcast
01:49 Navigating the Early Days of Pulse
06:59 The Silicon Valley Influence and Ambition
21:07 The LinkedIn Journey and Its Impact
22:39 Balancing Patience and Urgency in Silicon Valley
25:25 The Vision and Early Days of Notion
36:46 Personal Reflections and Philosophies
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