From Tony Hawk to Microsoft Acquisition: The Bobby Kotick Story Kleiner Perkins 2026-09-23 | From Tony Hawk to Microsoft Acquisition: The Bobby Kotick Story
Leading Without Burning Out Kleiner Perkins 2025-10-07 | How Does a CEO of Billions Manage Work-Life Balance?From sunrise surf sessions to unplugged retreats, Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, shares the daily rituals that keep him energized while leading his team across 90 countries.Watch the full episode for more. #podcast #work #life
Snowflakes Sales + Marketing Secret | Chris Degnan and Denise Persson Kleiner Perkins 2025-10-06 | Scaling a business globally comes down to leaders who align teams and drive them forward together.Snowflake serves over 12,000 customers, and early executives Chris Degnan and Denise Persson share how they scaled the company while keeping the unlikely pairing of sales and marketing perfectly aligned through hypergrowth.They join Joubin Mirzadegan to share insights from their new book, Make It Snow, revealing how they built Snowflake’s ‘go-to-market engine’ and fostered a customer-first culture across every function.Guests: Chris Degnan, former CRO and advisor to the CEO at Snowflake, and Denise Persson, CMO at Snowflake.Connect with Chris DegnanLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chris-degnan-524470Connect with Denise PerssonLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/deniseperssonConnect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com00:00 Intro01:32 Make It Snow04:46 Lessons from Snowflake32:05 Demand Generation42:50 Hiring the Right People51:08 Snowflake Culture54:44 Loyalty vs Performance01:10:05 Managing a Growing Team01:13:10 Early Hiring Impact
Life-Changing Tech No One Sees Kleiner Perkins 2025-10-03 | “Hundreds of thousands of people now have a different trajectory in life because we exist.”On Grit, Sebastian Thrun shares the purpose behind building companies like Waymo and Udacity: creating innovations that improve lives and protect people, driven more by impact than recognition or profit.Catch his full conversation with Joubin Mirzadegan. #podcast #business
Automattic CEO’s Unique Sabbatical Policy Kleiner Perkins 2025-10-01 | Most founders panic when key people leave. Matt Mullenweg designed a system where they have to.At Automattic, every employee takes a months-long sabbatical every five years, a policy that might seem risky, but one Matt believes makes the company stronger.Find out how in the full episode with Joubin Mirzadegan. Link in comments.
Summation: Pioneering Decision-Grade Intelligence Kleiner Perkins 2025-10-01 | Executives don’t lack data; they’re drowning in it. What’s missing is the clarity to make decisions.That’s why we’re leading @SummationAI’s $35M Series A with Benchmark.Founded by Ian Wong and RC Carter, Summation is reinventing enterprise performance management with a new category: decision-grade AI. By unifying financial and operational data into one trusted model and deploying AI agents to automate reporting, analysis, and deep dives, the platform delivers boardroom-ready insights in real time.Just as ERP systems defined the ’90s and cloud infrastructure defined the 2010s, we believe AI-native decision infrastructure will define the next era of enterprise technology. Summation is leading the way. To learn more or request a demo, visit www.summation.com.
Big Wins Take Time Kleiner Perkins 2025-10-01 | Big achievements don’t happen overnight. Jay Kreps, co-founder of Confluent, explains why building a company that truly moves the world takes patience and the ability to stay relevant as the world changes.Find out how Confluent continues to make a lasting impact. #podcast #business
MAI: Automating Performance Marketing with AI Agents Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-30 | Performance marketing drives growth, but it’s also one of the most time-consuming parts of building a business.MAI is changing that. Built by ex Google and Instacart engineers, MAI’s AI agents create, monitor, and optimize campaigns 24/7, dynamically adjusting spend in real time and guaranteeing ROAS.Check out Mai: mai.co
The Man Who Builds for the Decade Ahead | Founder of Google X, Waymo, and Udacity Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-29 | What does it take to reinvent entire industries, over and over again?This week on Grit, Sebastian Thrun, the “godfather” of self-driving cars and massive open online courses, reflects on a career pushing the boundaries of technology across mobility, education, and AI.With Joubin Mirzadegan, he shares why he believes autonomous driving could become the biggest lifesaving technology in history, and how a wake-up call led him to found Udacity to truly democratize higher education.Guest: Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Stealth Startup, founder of Google X and UdacityConnect with Sebastian ThrunX: https://x.com/sebastianthrunLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sebastian-thrun-59a0b273Connect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com 00:00:00 Opening00:00:56 Sebastian Thrun00:09:38 Self-Driving Cars00:18:26 The DARPA Grand Challenge00:24:01 The Evolution of Waymo00:37:24 Kitty Hawk00:42:44 Balancing Multiple Projects00:53:37 The Future of Agent AI00:58:00 Building a Resilient Team01:12:12 Grit
The Hidden Pattern in Great Companies Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-27 | Trillion-dollar companies aren’t immune to setbacks. Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress, explains why every great company’s setbacks prove the long view matters most, and how those moments shape better founders.Tune in to the full episode now. #podcast #business
The Hidden Cost of Leadership Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-26 | Think everyone dreams of being a CEO?Jay Kreps, co-founder and CEO of Confluent, admits the truth most won’t: the job isn’t fun for most. Solving high-stakes problems comes with stress that not everyone wants, and the engineer’s path can sometimes look more appealing. Full episode linked in the comments.#podcast #leadership #business
The Holy Grail of No-Code Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-23 | Most people use software at the surface level.No-code was about pulling them closer—drag, drop, and shape it yourself.Now, agentic AI takes it further: you describe what you want, inspect the results, and finally hold the power to reshape the machine.Catch Howie’s full story building Airtable on the latest episode of Kleiner Perkins Grit Podcast. #podcast #ai
How WordPress Became a Web Giant | Automattic Founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-22 | What kind of founder builds a billion-dollar company around something anyone can use for free? Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, joins Joubin Mirzadegan to reflect on two decades of building the platform that now powers over 43% of all websites through cycles of doubt, decline, and reinvention.He also shares how Automattic aligns employees with its mission to democratize publishing and commerce through paid sabbaticals and remote work.Guest: Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and founder and CEO of AutomatticConnect with Matt MullenwegX: https://x.com/photomatt?LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mattmConnect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
The Myth of AI Efficiency Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-19 | AI isn’t a magic shortcut. Jay Kreps, co-founder and CEO of Confluent, explains why even the fastest-growing tech companies still rely on people for critical decisions, and why that won’t change anytime soon.Catch the full episode with Joubin Mirzadegan. #podcast #business #ai #tech
The AI Shopping Agent For The Next Generation Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-18 | Shopping online should be simple. But it isn’t. Prices vary, sizing is inconsistent, and secondhand options are scattered across dozens of sites.Phia is an AI shopping agent that sits in your browser and makes it easier to shop. It surfaces the best prices instantly and is expanding into sizing, reviews, and personalized discovery.Since launch, Phia has already amassed 500,000 users, over 5,000 direct brand partners, and driven tens of millions of dollars in sales.Check out Phia on the App Store: join.phia.com or download the Chrome extension at GoPhia.com.
Sprint Until You Win Customers Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-17 | Before product-market fit, balance is a myth.Airtable’s Howie Liu says startups have only a fleeting window, and patience runs out fast.That’s why in the early days, it’s an all-out sprint. Only once you’ve found fit does the marathon begin.Hear Airtable CEO Howie Liu on Grit. #podcast #business #speed
Finding Hope in the Flames Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-16 | Where's hope when your house's on fire?When Bill McDermott’s house burned down, his mother reframed tragedy as hope.She said, “it’s rebuildable” and taught him that optimism is the only way to face life’s toughest challenges.This is how Bill McDermott built grit. #podcast #business #story
The Central Nervous System for Modern Business | Confluent CEO Jay Kreps Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-15 | The apps and websites we use every day depend on systems most of us never see.Jay Kreps joins Joubin Mirzadegan to share how Confluent became the ‘central nervous system’ for companies like Expedia and eBay, letting them respond to business operations instantly.They also break down why the myth of AI-driven efficiency falls short, and why building truly transformative companies takes far longer than most people expect.Guest: Jay Kreps, Co-Founder & CEO of ConfluentConnect with JayX: https://x.com/jaykrepsLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jaykrepsConnect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.comChapters: (00:00) Trailer(00:57) Introduction(02:28) Joining Anthropic’s board(11:11) Early Confluent lessons & layoffs(21:45) Golden ticket to California(30:27) Competing with AWS(37:54) Surviving waves of change(44:59) Lessons from the military(51:04) Sprint vs. marathon(1:02:41) Parenting, privilege & perspective(1:16:29) Who Confluent is hiring(1:16:57) What "grit" means to Jay(1:17:10) Outro
When Code Isn’t Enough Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-13 | AI can spin up apps in seconds.But without visibility into the data model, workflows stay hidden under the hood.For Howie Liu, co-founder and CEO of Airtable, the real power is giving anyone—not just developers—the ability to inspect, edit, and trust what’s built.#business #podcast #ai
Why I Left My Dream Job Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-10 | After 17 years, Bill McDermott walked away from the dream he once thought defined him.The reason? To embrace change and grow into the leader he knew he could become.Bill McDermott (CEO, ServiceNow) this week on Grit. #podcast #story #business
Why Work Feels Broken Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-09 | At some point, the tools meant to boost productivity became the work itself.Drew Houston reflects on why the office makes flow states nearly impossible, and what it means to design work differently.Catch the full episode now. #productivity #business #podcast
Airtable’s AI Reboot with CEO Howie Liu Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-08 | Can a no-code giant reinvent itself in the AI-native era?This week on Grit, Airtable CEO Howie Liu shares what it means to “refound” a company, how speed comes from tearing up old playbooks, and why conversational AI is reshaping his product—and his company.Guest: Howie Liu, Co-Founder & CEO of AirtableChapters:00:00 Intro01:04 First startup & YC04:06 Salesforce acqui-hire07:31 Life-changing exit at 2211:07 Scaling too fast, layoffs14:04 Sparks vs. coasting growth19:33 Two years to launch24:04 Could AI Build It Faster?27:06 Vibe coding & AI startups36:47 Everyone can build software41:08 Refounding Airtable with AI51:04 Sprint vs. marathon58:15 Cap tables & control01:03:29 Always be hiring01:05:00 What grit meansConnect with HowieX: https://x.com/howietlLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/howieliuConnect with AirtableWebsite: airtable.comX: https://x.com/airtableLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/airtableConnect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
The CEO Who Started Serving Tables Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-06 | Bill McDermott wasn’t born in the boardroom.He started by bussing tables in a tuxedo at an Italian restaurant.As he cleared dishes, he dreamed of one day sitting at those tables.That hunger never left. Hear Bill McDermott (CEO, ServiceNow) on Grit. Link in comments.'#podcast #businessman #story
The Hardest Lesson for First-Time CEOs Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-05 | “No one’s born a great CEO, it is completely trained.”Dropbox founder Drew Houston explains why every first-time CEO has to learn the business side on the job, and why even the best technologists can’t skip that step. #podcast #success
Building Scalable Web Automation Infrastructure | Josh Coyne & Paul Klein IV Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-03 | Kleiner Perkins Partner Josh Coyne sits down with Paul Klein IV, CEO of Browserbase, to discuss the future of web automation infrastructure and developer tooling for AI agents.
Focus on What Matters Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-02 | How do startups keep their energy up?Dan Lee shares how small teams maintain momentum by pairing relentless curiosity with focus, pursuing only the projects that truly create an impact. Full conversation with Joubin Mirzadegan and Leigh Marie Braswell. #podcast #energy #team #focus #business
The ‘Rockstar CEO’ Who Won’t Quit | ServiceNow Chairman & CEO Bill McDermott Kleiner Perkins 2025-09-01 | For Bill McDermott, work has never been just a job.On this Labor Day rerun of Grit, first published Jan 9, 2023, the ServiceNow CEO reflects on what he learned from his earliest jobs and how he carried those lessons from a deli counter in Long Island to the boardroom of an $80B software company.Links:Connect with BillX: https://x.com/billrmcdermottLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/billrmcdermottConnect with JoubinX: twitter.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com00:00 Introduction05:20 How a Teen Took on 7-Eleven — and Won09:37 The Xerox Interview: Outworking Everyone13:54 Why Optimism Makes You a Rock for Others18:04 Turning Work Into a Calling23:20 The Promise to His Father That Drove Him31:21 Living in the Now While Planning Ahead34:49 Walking Away from Xerox: Tough Lessons at Gartner40:42 Sloan Kettering & Father Michael Judge46:29 Chasing Dreams vs. Building ServiceNow52:35 Losing an Eye — and Gaining Courage from Heroes01:02:41 Why He Bookended with the Kennedys01:08:25 Who ServiceNow is hiring01:09:13 What "grit" means to Bill01:09:24 Outro
Inside Harvey with KP Fellows: Founding Lessons and Building AI at Scale Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-29 | Kleiner Perkins partner Ilya Fushman moderates a conversation with Harvey’s leadership team: Gabe Pereyra (Co-founder & President), Siva Gurumurthy (CTO), and Annie Shin (Engineering Manager).Together, they share the story of Harvey’s founding, the early decisions that shaped the company, and how they’re building durable AI products for the legal industry and beyond.
KP Fellows 2025: A Summer of Building, Learning, and Lifelong Connections Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-29 | From working at companies like Harvey, Nooks, and Figma to forging relationships with friends, mentors, and even future cofounders—the KP Fellows Program is where the next generation of founders and builders take shape.This highlight reel captures the best moments from Summer 2025: Fellows at work, community events, and the energy that makes this program one of a kind.Apply Now For The Summer 2026 Fellows Program:jobs.ashbyhq.com/kleinerperkinsfellows/2fb55478-01f4-4a41-ad68-7b7315ed8963?utm_source=PRxQr2m7e3
Garrett Lord on Building Handshake and Shaping the Future of Careers with AI Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-29 | At the 2025 Kleiner Perkins Fellows Founders Summit, Handshake co-founder and CEO Garrett Lord joins KP partner Josh Coyne for a conversation about building, scaling, and reinventing one of the most important career platforms of this generation.Garrett reflects on Handshake’s early days—convincing universities and employers to change entrenched systems—and shares why the company is now betting big on Handshake AI. He opens up about the challenges of scaling a marketplace and an AI business in parallel, how he thinks about leadership and ambition, and what advice he’d give his younger self.
The Work AI Can’t Replace Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-29 | Your job is a basket of tasks. Some are easy for AI while others are deeply human.Dropbox CEO Drew Houston explains why AI may draft your emails, but it won’t replace the relational parts of leadership.Catch the full episode of Grit. #ai #podcast #leadership
Why AI Alone Isn’t Enough to Stay Ahead Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-27 | “The question of value creation today is very different from in the past, because of AI.”Dan Lee, CEO and Co-founder of Nooks, breaks down why small, AI powered teams can generate massive results, yet lasting success still demands differentiation.Tune into the full episode now. #podcast #ai #team
Why Silicon Valley Never Waits Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-27 | In most places, ideas die in conversations. In Silicon Valley, they become prototypes by the end of a casual dinner.Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Grammarly, reflects on a culture where ambition is instinctive and building is the default response to curiosity.Hear his thoughts on the full episode now. #podcast #business
How Dropbox Beat Big Tech in the Cloud Wars | Drew Houston, Dropbox CEO Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-25 | How do you win when your competitors are the biggest companies in the world?This week on Grit, Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston retraces the path from a bus-stop prototype to competing head-on with Google, Apple, and Microsoft.He explains why grit is “learning to run toward discomfort,” and the moments he realized founders keep going “for the love of the game.”Guest: Drew Houston, Co-Founder & CEO of DropboxChapters:00:00 Trailer00:52 Introduction01:35 Towards full autonomy16:20 Coming back to school21:45 Golden ticket to California25:23 No one’s born a CEO28:15 Y Combinator and a co-founder37:53 The craft of being a great CEO53:41 Metabolizing the stress1:10:14 Tactical advices and frameworks1:27:48 Who Dropbox is hiring1:29:35 What “grit” means to Drew1:32:10 OutroLinks:Connect with DrewX: https://x.com/drewhoustonLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drewhoustonConnect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
The Sales Frontier AI Can’t Touch Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-22 | Can AI close a deal for you?Dan Lee explains why AI can handle emails, research, and outreach, but the real advantage in sales still comes from humans talking to prospects.Catch the full episode now. Link in the comments.#ai #podcast #business
YouTube was losing $1B a Year Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-20 | “This is the worst business on the planet.” That’s what Google’s CFO told Shishir Mehrotra in their first meeting, as YouTube bled a billion dollars a year. On Grit, Shishir shares how they rewired the model, cracked monetization, and turned YouTube into an unstoppable force integral to daily life for billions.#podcast #youtube #google #business
Why Taste Alone Isn’t Enough to Build Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-19 | Founders who live in their product don’t need metrics to spot friction. On Grit, Ivan Zhao, co-founder of Notion, shares how he spotted a 100ms lag while typing a page title, just through everyday use.His brain is tuned to the nuances of what he built. That’s product intuition in motion.Tune into the full episode now. #podcast #ai
Building High-Impact Sales Teams | Dan Lee and Nooks Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-18 | Even with AI, sales still comes down to human connection. This week on Grit, Dan Lee shares how Nooks automates busywork like research and dialing for thousands of sales teams, letting reps focus on the conversations that close deals.He also shares his “do more with less” approach, why cold calls still convert, and how to maximize human impact alongside AI.Guests: Dan Lee, CEO and Co-founder of Nooks and Leigh Marie Braswell, Partner at Kleiner PerkinsChapters:00:00 Trailer00:48 Introduction01:31 Deep urge to solve problems09:10 A million whys18:50 Standing out from the noise24:29 Smaller team + AI?31:03 Speed-running the degree41:35 More than a project 46:22 Making something old new again50:16 Build something you’re passionate about53:02 Disagreements produces better ideas57:29 Who Nooks is hiring57:48 What “grit” means to Dan58:28 OutroConnect with Dan Lee: X: https://x.com/_dan_lee_LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dan9leeConnect with Leigh Marie BraswellX: https://x.com/LM_BraswellLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leigh-marie-braswellConnect with Joubin: X: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
Building the AI-Native Inbox Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-16 | What if your inbox could think?That’s the question Shishir Mehrotra brought to a design sprint with Superhuman’s Rahul Vohra. They’re reimagining email with AI at its core, as a thinking partner. It’s the next evolution of productivity, and maybe the future of communication itself.Catch the full episode with Joubin Mirzadegan now.#podcast #ai
The Anti-Interview Approach at Notion Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-14 | “You’re here to find a match, not to judge.” That’s how Ivan Zhao looks at hiring.At Notion, interviews are built to strip away the script and formality, replacing performance with honest conversation. To complete the picture, the team also leans on backchannel references for context no interview could ever provide.#podcast #interview
The Most Unusual Second Act in Tech Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-13 | TripAdvisor was Steve Kaufer’s legacy in tech.His new one? Give Freely, a self-funded browser extension that donates 100% of the displayed percentage to the charity you choose.Find out why he’s betting on this to create more impact than any donation.
Why Building with AI Means Giving Up Control Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-12 | A year and a half ago, Notion tried to build an AI knowledge agent, but it didn’t land, even with all the right features in place.Ivan Zhao, co-founder of Notion, joins Joubin Mirzadegan to unpack why the models weren’t ready, and how building with AI requires timing and relentless experimentation.Tune into the full episode with Joubin Mirzadegan. #podcast #ai
Grammarly x Superhuman: The Future of Workflows | Shishir Mehrotra Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-11 | What if your tools shared context like your team does?This week on Grit, Shishir Mehrotra shares how the Coda and Grammarly collaboration unlocks context as a “superpower,” reflects on his early days at Google and YouTube, and hints at a future where tools anticipate intent and amplify how we work.He also shares how this paves the way for agent-based workflows and AI-native communication, beginning with Superhuman’s email experience.Guest: Shishir Mehrotra, co-founder of Coda and CEO of GrammarlyChapters: 00:00 Trailer01:24 Introduction02:09 Zoo vs safari12:02 A TV ahead of its time21:25 Product decisions31:25 The data behind the algorithm37:26 The AI native productivity suite48:06 Agents are digital humans57:55 Pressure trade-off1:12:50 Insulated from judgment1:25:19 Who Grammarly is hiring1:25:51 What “grit” means to Shishir1:29:30 OutroMentioned in this episode: YouTube, Ray William Johnson, Spotify, Twitch, MTV, Chris Cox, Facebook, TikTok, Google TV, Centrata, Google Chrome, Android, Gmail, Microsoft, Super Bowl, Mosaic, Panasonic, Sony, Susan Wojcicki, Rishi Chandra, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Comcast, LoudCloud (Opsware), Quest Communications, AT&T Southwestern Bell, Salar Kamangar, Patrick Pichette, Eric Schmidt, OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Platforms, Sundar Pichai, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Hamilton, Reid Hoffman, Sam Altman, Tesla, Waymo, Airtable, Notion, Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, Superhuman, Duolingo, Luis von Ahn, Khan Academy, MrBeast, Facebook Messenger, Snap (Snapchat), WhatsApp, Google+, Meta LLaMa, Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, Daniel GrossConnect with Shishir: X: https://x.com/shishirmehrotraLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shishirmehrotraConnect with Joubin: X: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
Notion CEO on Taste, Science, and the Business of Software Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-10 | In this excerpt from Episode 254 of the Kleiner Perkins Grit Podcast, Notion CEO Ivan Zhao compares how leading software teams balance scope, beauty, and utility, and why even the best products face trade-offs.🎧 Full episode: youtu.be/QIIuumT-og4
Motive: The AI Engine Powering the Physical Economy Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-07 | Ilya Fushman and Motive CEO Shoaib Makani talk about Motive's latest funding round, and the company's next chapter of global growth.
The Acquisition That Didn’t Take Over Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-07 | Most founders brace for red tape after a big acquisition.In this episode of Grit, Steve Kaufer, co-founder of Tripadvisor shares how their deal with Expedia gave him more independence than he expected, and why that control convinced him to stay.Tune into the full episode via the link in the comments.#podcast #business
Handshake Cuts Out the Middlemen Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-06 | On Grit, Garrett Lord shares how frustration from PhDs and a tip at a Kleiner Perkins holiday party exposed inefficiencies in the frontier data pipeline, and pushed Handshake to shut off access to third parties and go direct to the labs themselves.Catch the full episode now. #podcast #business
The Travel Platform Google Couldn’t Ignore Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-05 | Steve Kaufer cracked SEO before the travel industry caught on.In this episode of Grit, the Tripadvisor founder explains how structured content, user value, and early SEO instincts helped them dominate search, while other travel tech companies stayed invisible.Catch the full episode with Joubin Mirzadegan now. #podcast #tech #business
How Notion Reimagined Productivity Tools | Ivan Zhao Kleiner Perkins 2025-08-04 | Ivan Zhao joins Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit to break down how the company’s minimalist design became a strategic edge in a world overwhelmed by bloated software. He shares why the AI agent still hasn’t arrived, and how Notion’s modular approach might be the closest thing to making it real.Guest: Ivan Zhao, co-founder and CEO of NotionChapters:00:00 Trailer00:41 Introduction01:23 Burrito kind of person08:04 Care about craft15:09 Deep simplicity 22:45 The culture26:46 Starting with no English30:46 There needs to be more42:37 Refactoring yourself50:28 There's a human in there59:33 Repetitive but fun01:09:27 Starting with somebody01:10:23 Outside Notion01:12:00 Hiring and management01:17:16 Schedule, exercise, reading01:19:30 Tech is never distributed evenly01:26:37 Who Notion is hiring01:27:25 What “grit” means to Ivan01:28:04 OutroMentioned in this episode: Fuzzy Khosrowshahi, Airbnb, Sequoia Capital, Linear, Figma, Apple, Things, Microsoft, BMW, Lumiere, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Rippling, Matt MacInnis, Inkling, Steve Jobs, Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay, Bill Gates, OpenAI ChatGPT, Y Combinator, Andrej Karpathy, Toby Schachman, Simon Last, Spotify, SlackConnect with Ivan ZhaoX: https://x.com/ivanhzhaoLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ivanhzhaoConnect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comLearn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
The Rise of the Expert Economy with Handshake AI Kleiner Perkins 2025-07-31 | Frontier models still miss basic reasoning.Garrett Lord explains why expert feedback is becoming critical infrastructure for AI, and how Handshake’s elaborate network is helping labs build smarter systems.Tune into the full episode now.#podcast #ai
Meet Nooks Kleiner Perkins 2025-07-30 | Nooks is building the AI-powered pipeline engine for modern sales teams—designed to unlock superhuman selling. It handles the busywork so reps can focus on what matters: winning.We spent the day with the team in San Francisco and saw why they’re leading the next generation of go-to-market software. Relentless product focus, real customer insight, and speed at every level.Learn more:nooks.aiThey're hiring:nooks.ai/careers
