Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Lin Qiao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fireworks AI, the leading specialized intelligence and AI inference platform that last week raised $1.5BN at a whopping $17BN valuation. With just 200 people, the company has hit $1BN in ARR and expects to hit $2BN before the end of the year. Prior to Fireworks, Lin spent several years at Meta including on the founding team of PyTorch.
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
02:00 - Why Starting a Company at 48 Was an Advantage
03:47 - The AI Layer Everyone Is Overlooking
09:49 - Is AGI Really the End Goal?
11:40 - Open Source vs Frontier Models: Who Wins?
14:30 - Are AI Giants Massively Overvalued?
17:48 - Why Open Models Could Beat Closed AI
19:23 - Should We Trust Chinese AI Models?
22:18 - Do AI Startups Need to Build Their Own Models?
26:49 - Will AI Model Breakthroughs Ever Slow Down?
29:03 - Why One Company Should Never Control Intelligence
32:47 - The Secret Behind Cursor's Explosive Growth
37:33 - Is AI Coding Already Yesterday's Biggest Trend?
41:36 - The AI Infrastructure Race Is Just Getting Started
46:32 - How Cheap Will AI Become?
54:07 - Hypergrowth vs Profit: Why Margins Can Wait
59:30 - Can the West Keep Up With China's Infrastructure Speed?
01:01:04 - Why AI Hardware Depreciates Faster Than Ever
01:04:45 - Why AI Will Create More Jobs, Not Fewer
01:08:35 - The Biggest Mistakes AI Founders Are Making
01:16:55 - Why Great Leaders Stay Close to the Work
01:18:44: Quick-Fire Round
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Subscribe on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465
Follow Harry Stebbings on X:
twitter.com/HarryStebbings
Follow Lin Qiao on X:
twitter.com/lqiao
Follow 20VC on Instagram:
instagram.com/20vchq
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Visit our Website:
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Subscribe to our Newsletter:
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#20vc #harrystebbings #ceo #ai #linqiao #fireworksai #ceo #ai #founder
Lin Qiao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fireworks AI, the leading specialized intelligence and AI inference platform that last week raised $1.5BN at a whopping $17BN valuation. With just 200 people, the company has hit $1BN in ARR and expects to hit $2BN before the end of the year. Prior to Fireworks, Lin spent several years at Meta including on the founding team of PyTorch.
-----------------------------------------------
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
02:00 - Why Starting a Company at 48 Was an Advantage
03:47 - The AI Layer Everyone Is Overlooking
09:49 - Is AGI Really the End Goal?
11:40 - Open Source vs Frontier Models: Who Wins?
14:30 - Are AI Giants Massively Overvalued?
17:48 - Why Open Models Could Beat Closed AI
19:23 - Should We Trust Chinese AI Models?
22:18 - Do AI Startups Need to Build Their Own Models?
26:49 - Will AI Model Breakthroughs Ever Slow Down?
29:03 - Why One Company Should Never Control Intelligence
32:47 - The Secret Behind Cursor's Explosive Growth
37:33 - Is AI Coding Already Yesterday's Biggest Trend?
41:36 - The AI Infrastructure Race Is Just Getting Started
46:32 - How Cheap Will AI Become?
54:07 - Hypergrowth vs Profit: Why Margins Can Wait
59:30 - Can the West Keep Up With China's Infrastructure Speed?
01:01:04 - Why AI Hardware Depreciates Faster Than Ever
01:04:45 - Why AI Will Create More Jobs, Not Fewer
01:08:35 - The Biggest Mistakes AI Founders Are Making
01:16:55 - Why Great Leaders Stay Close to the Work
01:18:44: Quick-Fire Round
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465
Follow Harry Stebbings on X:
twitter.com/HarryStebbings
Follow Lin Qiao on X:
twitter.com/lqiao
Follow 20VC on Instagram:
instagram.com/20vchq
Follow 20VC on TikTok:
tiktok.com/@20vc_tok
Visit our Website:
20vc.com
Subscribe to our Newsletter:
thetwentyminutevc.com/contact
-----------------------------------------------
#20vc #harrystebbings #ceo #ai #linqiao #fireworksai #ceo #ai #founder
