Jan 30, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min
TA
Technology
The Aarthi and Sriram Show
Aarthi and Sriram
A show on optimistic conversations with people building and creating new products and technologies, hosted by veteran technologists Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan.
- 20 episodes
- Updated Jan 30, 2025
Episodes20
- TAJan 29, 2025 · 50 min
Ep 94 - 2024 Rewind: AI, Entrepreneurship & Life Lessons
It’s the end of 2024 and we put together the best content of this year in one final year-end episode. We categorized the content into 3 segments - 1. Silicon Valley stories and lessons 2. AI and what’s in store for us for the future 3. Advice and guidance - for being the best version of yourself in 2024. We loved talking to the guests this year and have big plans for 2025. Thank you for joining us in this journey and we hope you enjoy this Wrapped episode!
- TAJan 28, 2025 · 55 min
Ep 93 - From Reading Papers in the Gym to a Billion-Dollar AI Company | Cohere's Untold Story
Aidan Gomez is the CEO and co-founder of Cohere. Aidan was an intern at Google Brain in 2017, when he helped co-author the now-famous “Attention Is All You Need” paper that conceptualized the transformer and eventually kicked off the Generative AI boom. He then left Google in 2021 to start Cohere, an AI startup valued at over $5b, that specializes in building LLMs for enterprise customers. In this conversation, we cover it all - from Aidan's childhood in Canada, his foray into computers and the
- TADec 17, 2024 · 1 hr 23 min
Ep 92 - Mark Pincus on Zynga, Media, Tech, and Democracy
We chatted with Mark Pincus - in his own words, he is the "most unmanageable founder in tech". He was the CEO of the mobile gaming platform, Zynga, and is an outspoken critic of the current state of media and journalism. In this episode, we covered it all - from his take on the US elections, the state of media, the story of Zynga, then the comeback story, him meeting Zuckerberg and investing in Facebook and about the product culture of Zynga. This was great fun for us and I hope you enjoy it too
- TANov 19, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min
Ep 91 - Ishan Mukherjee on launching Rox, and living the American Dream
Aarthi and Sriram talk to Ishan Mukherjee - a multi-time Silicon Valley based startup founder, launching his new AI startup Rox. Coming from a small town in India with working class beginnings, Ishan tells us his story of immigrating to the US, starting and exiting multiple companies, working at companies like Amazon and Apple and essentially, living the immigrant American Dream.
- TANov 3, 2024 · 2 hr 10 min
Ep 89 - Anil Varanasi from Meter on AI and networking hardware, spotting talent early, on China and Cinema
The one where our show becomes the Aarthi, Sriram and Anil show? Sriram and Aarthi are joined by Anil Varanasi, the CEO and co-founder of Meter, the company building networking hardware. In this wide-ranging conversation, Anil shares his fascinating journey from his and his brother’s unconventional upbringing, his ability to find and fund talent early, to building Meter, including stories of sleeping in Chinese factories and why Meter is building AI models. And then, the tables turn and Anil ask
- TAOct 3, 2024 · 1 hr 21 min
Ep 88 - Gokul Rajaram on Founder Mode and building the next Meta and Google
Sriram and Aarthi are joined by Gokul Rajaram who is a Silicon Valley icon. Gokul has done it all - founder, angel investor, executive at the best of the best technology companies such as Facebook and Google, and best of all, a good friend and guide to Aarthi and Sriram during their career inflection points. We covered everything from Paul Graham’s famous essay on Founder Mode, Gokul’s experience working with Mark Zuckerberg and Larry and Sergey, his hot takes on AI startups, and the current fun
- TASep 8, 2024 · 1 hr 3 min
EP 87 - Rio Ferdinand on Life After Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alex Ferguson, Mbappe, Bellingham
Rio Ferdinand is a football legend who spent over a decade playing for Manchester United and was a cornerstone of the England national team. With six Premier League titles, two League Cups, and a UEFA Champions League trophy under his belt, Rio is no stranger to the highs and pressures of elite football. He joined Sriram and Aarthi for a deep dive into the trials and tribulations of a career in competitive sports, the mental and physical demands of playing for one of the world’s most prestigious clubs, and the new wave of young athletes rising to stardom. From his experiences with legends like Sir Alex Ferguson to his thoughts on modern football, Rio shares what it takes to truly be the greatest, not just in sports, but in life. Show Notes: (0:00) Intro (2:03) The English experience during the Euros (3:21) What’s it going to take for England to bring it home (7:19) Jude Bellingham is different (9:23) What separates young prodigies that make it vs. those that don’t (12:01) The all-timers are not normal (15:17) Underdog mentality and fighting for recognition (17:13) Handling the pressure of playing for Man Utd (19:18) Rio rewatches the 2008 UCL Final (21:06) Rio learned this while playing for Sir Alex (21:38) How Sir Alex managed the egos of the best players (28:17) A great team needs experienced players (30:43) Mbappe’s challenge ingraining to Real Madrid (34:06) Parallels between sports and tech (38:06) Tech CEOs and founders are receptive to Rio’s opinions (40:39) Clubs still need to improve how to connect with fans (41:23) Ted Lasso and Rio’s new show (42:10) Ronaldo smashes YouTube records (42:48) Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham are modeling the way for football clubs (48:17) Changing the conversation around mental health in sports (54:52) Rio’s penalty-taking strategies (57:40) How Rio would fix Man Utd (59:33) Biggest lesson from running a restaurant (1:00:47) Rio defends ballet (1:01:59) Meeting a young Drake at Old Trafford Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TASep 2, 2024 · 30 min
EP 86: This Kid Built A Fusion Reactor In His Bedroom Using AI
A math undergraduate from the University of Waterloo, Hudhayfa Nazoordeen, constructed a miniature fusion reactor, known as a fusor, in his bedroom. He completed the project over several weeks, utilizing the Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI assistant from Anthropic, which he provided with relevant data. In a series of tweets, he detailed the entire process of building the reactor from start to finish. Show notes: (00:00) This is an unusual episode (01:20) Welcome HudZah to the show! (01:35) Who is HudZah? (02:35) Using AI tools natively (03:49) Using Claude to build an MVP in one minute - Page Summarizer project as an example (05:12) What is a nuclear fusor? (06:10) Does Hudzah have any prior knowledge to build a nuclear fusor? (07:10) Why build a nuclear fusor in your dorm room? (08:40) Using Claude to build the nuclear fusor (11:18) Week to week progress (13:50) Is building a nuclear fusor safe? 3 ways to die! (16:00) Why use Claude Sonnet? Power of Projects in Claude. (18:50) Trusting your AI model and why is it ok (20:40) Feature requests for Claude (21:45) What’s next in the process to build a fusor? (22:50) How are people reacting? (23:10) Tyler, if you’re watching, please fund Hudzah! (24:40) How are people using AI tools natively? (28:48) Learning from kids Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAAug 28, 2024 · 54 min
EP 85: A16Z's Martin Casado Explains California’s AI Safety Bill SB1047
Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAAug 18, 2024 · 55 min
EP 84: The Mike Maples Interview: How a legendary VC finds the best startups and founders
Sriram and Aarthi are joined by Martin Casado, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss the future of the AI Safety Bill SB 1047. A bill that sets out to regulate AI at the model level, is now slated for a California Assembly vote in August. If passed, one signature from Governor Gavin Newsom could cement it into California law. Show notes: (00:00) Trailer and intro on SB1047 (00:43) Welcome Martin Casado of a16z (2:30) What is SB1047? (4:10) What is the origin of SB1047 bill? (6:14) Should AI be regulated? (10:20) Is AI a paradigm shift? (13:36) Who is funding this bill? ‘Baptists vs bootleggers’ and Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence book being the origin point. (16:35) Scott Wiener’s support of the bill (19:34) Open source benefitting software world and risks to open source due to this bill (22:10) Are large models more dangerous? (24:10) Is there a correlation between size of models and risk associated? (26:45) How would Martin frame any regulations on AI? What’s a better way (28:46) Nancy Pelosi opposes the bill. Some famous researchers are for the bill. Who comprises the two opposing camps and what is the motivation? (33:10) Why does Pelosi oppose the bill? (35:00) Leopold Aschenbrenner and “Situational Awareness” paper (37:20) Non-system people viewing systems - computer systems are not parametric but sigmoidal. (41:30) AI is the ultimate ‘Deus ex machina’ (God in the machine) (44:15) Sriram compares AI regulations to Game of Thrones episode (46:00) Anthropic’s investment in AI safety (48:15) If you’re an AI founder, what can you do about this bill today? (50:00) Why is this bill a personal issue for Martin? Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAJul 24, 2024 · 17 min
EP 83 - Advice For Founders & Start-Ups From Marc Andreesen, Vinod Khosla, Palmer Luckey, and more
A crash course for founders from Marc Andreesen, Vinod Khosla, Stephen Wolfram, Palmer Luckey, and Aravind Srinivas. Show notes: (0:00) Marc Andreessen’s idea maze breakdown (5:29) Vinod Khosla wants you to be internally motivated (6:42) Stephen Wolfram explains how to think (8:47) Palmer Luckey’s three tips for young entrepreneurs (13:02) Aravind Srinivas’ advice for students Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAJul 6, 2024 · 42 min
EP 82 - Kyla Scanlon Explains Gen Z's Money Worries
Kyla Scanlon is an economic commentator who joins Sriram and Aarthi to discuss the disconnect between the economy and consumer sentiment. Kyla is also the author of her brand new book 'In This Economy' which reveals the hidden forces driving key economic outcomes, the most common myths to steer clear of, and the dusty, outdated assumptions that constrain our political imagination, offering a bold new path to building a prosperous society that works for everyone. Show Notes: (0:00) Intro (2:14) How would Kyla fix the U.S. economy? (4:05) Why home ownership might NOT be the best way to build wealth (10:26) Leadership gap left by Steve Jobs at major tech companies (13:11) Why Kyla wrote a book (17:33) What people get wrong about Gen Z (22:55) The difficulties of measuring the economy (27:55) Living in a post-truth society (30:03) The end of monoculture (34:00) Kyla’s video-creation strategy (35:33) Current state of social media platforms (38:44) Kyla’s bold 2024 prediction Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAJun 24, 2024 · 54 min
EP 81 - How Sriram and Aarthi Close Deals
Show Notes: (0:00) Audio issue (0:51) Introduction (3:40) Deals are long-term relationships (6:02) Facebook-WhatsApp acquisition story (12:04) The most important part of deal-making (16:44) Don’t come off as desperate (19:35) Maintaining momentum during a deal (25:53) Know everything about the person you’re dealing with (33:37) How we closed our London home (37:54) Mistakes we often see (44:40) Managing emotions while deal-making (50:19) What to do if the deal falls through Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAJun 8, 2024 · 48 min
EP 80 - How Sriram And Aarthi Hire The Right People
Show notes: (0:00) Intro (0:56) Prioritize hiring yourself (5:37) Always keep looking for talent (8:10) Align incentives with your hire (15:05) How to find the best hires (19:15) How to run a good loop (29:51) Reference checks are underrated (37:25) How to close the hire (45:45) Conclusion Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAMay 22, 2024 · 53 min
EP 79 - The State of AI: GPT-4, Google I/O, Generative AI Startups with Naveen Rao, VP of Generative AI at Databricks
Show notes: (0:00) Naveen’s background (5:32) Where Generative AI is today (8:00) ChatGPT-4o and Google I/O announcements were NOT fundamental shifts (9:38) Has generative AI scaling hit a wall? (16:34) AI pretraining difficulties (22:49) General AI vs. specialized AI (25:55) Biggest opportunities for generative AI startups (29:15) AI hardware landscape (33:23) How open source AI companies can compete with closed models like OpenAI? (38:59) Why Naveen doesn’t use AI in his home (40:22) Is open-sourcing AI dangerous? (43:46) Advice for founders (47:00) Naveen sold to Intel too early (51:09) The pace of AI innovation Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAMay 5, 2024 · 1 hr 2 min
EP 78 - Sriram & Aarthi’s Job Advice, Work-Life Balance, Betting On Yourself
Sriram and Aarthi break down popular audience questions about jobs, work-life balance, and more. Show notes: (0:00) Intro (2:21) Advice for our younger selves (13:20) Betting on yourself (23:19) Benefits of taking more shots (28:59) Work-life balance (33:32) Aarthi’s hot take (35:45) Time to switch jobs? (47:21) Our unpopular opinions Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAApr 28, 2024 · 1 hr 5 min
EP 77 - Why USA’s Skilled Immigration System Is Broken, Zuck’s New Look, WWE WrestleMania 40, Llama 3, More
Sriram and Aarthi respond to your reaction to the immigration episode. Show notes: (0:00) We’re on a billboard (2:38) Our podcast journey (4:39) Response to our skilled immigration episode (11:07) Core issues hindering skilled immigration (23:07) Remembering our immigration process (29:01) Recapping WrestleMania 40 (49:21) Mark Zuckerberg’s personal rebrand (54:00) Meta releases Llama 3 Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 76 - How To Fix Legal Immigration In America EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAMar 17, 2024 · 39 min
EP 75 - The Vivek Ramaswamy Interview: Immigration, TikTok Ban, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson, Social Media Wokeness, More
Entrepreneur and politician Vivek Ramaswamy joins The Sriram and Aarthi Show to discuss lessons from his political campaign, wokeness in social media, the potential TikTok Ban, his views on crypto, how to fix immigration, and more. Show notes: (0:00) Intro (1:25) Lessons from entrepreneurship & campaigning (9:00) Disagreements in debates (12:55) TikTok Ban (20:31) Wokeness in social media (24:20) Vivek's views on crypto (28:30) Podcasting strategy for Vivek's campaign (33:00) Legal and illegal immigration (37:17) Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson (38:12) Vivek signs off in Tamil! — Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
- TAMar 11, 2024 · 50 min
EP 74 - How To Fix Google's WOKE AI Disaster
Sriram and Aarthi talk about Google's Gemini disaster after viral 'woke' photos surface. Show notes: (0:00) Welcome to the new studio! (4:13) Our best AI episodes (10:23) Google Gemini’s launch controversy (17:15) How can Google fix Gemini? (20:55) What Gemini gets right (26:11) The rise of Groq (35:37) NVIDIA and Jenson Huang are on top of the world (42:14) Is Sora going to replace Hollywood? — Other episodes you might enjoy: EP 63 - Lessons From Networking In Silicon Valley EP 61 - The Reality of Raising Kids in the Tech Industry EP 59 - Why We Moved to London, The Elon Musk Book, Should You Get An MBA Follow Sriram: https://www.instagram.com/sriramk/ https://twitter.com/sriramk Follow Aarthi: https://www.instagram.com/aarthir/ https://twitter.com/aarthir Follow the podcast: https://www.instagram.com/aarthiandsriramshow/ https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod