The Next Great Thing

In this episode of The Next Great Thing, we sit down with Konstantine Buhler, a Sequoia Capital partner and AI pioneer, to explore the transformative journey of artificial intelligence. From his early days at Stanford to his influential roles in startups and venture capital, Konstantine shares his unique perspective on the evolution of AI, highlighting key milestones such as the deep learning revolution and the impact of groundbreaking algorithms like AlexNet. He explains how AI has already generated trillions of dollars in value by predicting user behaviors and optimizing business processes, long before the advent of ChatGPT. Konstantine also shares his insights on the differences between startup and venture capital worlds, advice for entrepreneurs, and how AI can enhance human creativity and connections. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on real customer needs and using AI as a tool to solve significant problems and discusses Sequoia Capital's pre-seed and seed program, Arc, which leverages decades of experience to help startups with market approach, hiring, scaling, and more. One fascinating point Konstantine makes is about the future of AI. He envisions a world where multiple AI models collaborate and compete, each excelling in different areas, leading to better outcomes for consumers and businesses. Show notes, episodes, and more at thenextgreatthingpodcast.com [https://www.thenextgreatthingpodcast.com/]. For more information on SF AppWorks, visit sfappworks.com [https://www.sfappworks.com/]. Follow Andrew on LinkedIn at @Andrew Greenstein [https://www.linkedin.com/in/greensteinandrew/] Questions? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us here [https://www.sfappworks.com/the-next-great-thing/contact].

Renate Nyborg has been building consumer-focused apps for as long as the App Store has existed. She’s held senior leadership roles at Apple and Headspace. She was the CEO of Tinder, the world’s most popular dating app, at the height of the pandemic. It was during this critical time that Renate saw up close the importance of human connection and the profound negative impacts of loneliness, especially among men and younger people. This experience ultimately inspired her to create Meeno [https://meeno.com/], an app that uses AI to offer personalized advice for any relationship issue – with friends, family, coworkers, roommates, dating, and more. Renate shares her journey in founding Meeno, explaining how she’s developed and tested the app and gathered critical user feedback along the way. She highlights Meeno’s unique approach to delivering bite-sized, expert-validated advice that empowers users to build confidence, communicate better, and improve their relationships. Finally, Renate discusses the challenges of launching an AI startup in the current landscape, emphasizing the importance of staying focused on customer needs and happiness, user experience, and solving genuine problems rather than getting swept up in the AI hype machine. Show notes, episodes, and more at thenextgreatthingpodcast.com [https://www.thenextgreatthingpodcast.com/]. For more information on SF AppWorks, visit sfappworks.com [https://www.sfappworks.com/]. Follow Andrew on LinkedIn at @Andrew Greenstein [https://www.linkedin.com/in/greensteinandrew/] Questions? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us here [https://www.sfappworks.com/the-next-great-thing/contact].

As the planet warms, we're experiencing more frequent and destructive extreme weather. Yet, 85% of the world lacks critical atmospheric data for precise forecasting that could help us better prepare. John Dean and Kai Marshland, Co-Founders of WindBorne Systems [https://windbornesystems.com/], are on a mission to close this gap. Born out of the Stanford Student Space Initiative, WindBorne began as a project to extend the flight duration of conventional weather balloons. Realizing the impact of their technology on climate change, they turned their project into a venture-backed startup serving both private and government partners like NOAA and the U.S. Air Force. John and Kai share how WindBorne deploys a global constellation of autonomous, navigable, AI-powered balloons that fly longer, are more sustainable, and collect more real-time measurements than standard balloons. Their data is fed into powerful AI models to create the world's most accurate forecasts – better than Google DeepMind’s GraphCast – unlocking the potential to improve disaster preparedness and climate resilience worldwide. Show notes, episodes, and more at thenextgreatthingpodcast.com [https://www.thenextgreatthingpodcast.com/]. For more information on SF AppWorks, visit sfappworks.com [https://www.sfappworks.com/]. Follow Andrew on LinkedIn at @Andrew Greenstein [https://www.linkedin.com/in/greensteinandrew/] Questions? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us here [https://www.sfappworks.com/the-next-great-thing/contact].

Technology connects us more than ever. Yet, we feel lonelier than ever. Worldwide, one in four adults (more than a billion people) feel lonely. And 36% of all Americans — including 61% of young adults aged 18-25 — feel “serious loneliness.” It’s gotten so bad that, in 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a health advisory about America’s loneliness epidemic, equating social disconnection to the physical health risks to that of drinking alcohol, obesity, physical inactivity, and even smoking 15 cigarettes a day. In this session from SXSW 2024, Andrew Greenstein, Co-Founder and CEO at SF AppWorks [https://www.sfappworks.com/] and host of ‘The Next Great Thing’ podcast leads a thought-provoking discussion, joined by panelists Leslie Witt, Chief Product and Design officer at Headspace; Kyle Rand, Co-Founder and CEO at Rendever; and Erick Hachenburg, Founder at Tenor, creator of GIF Keyboard. Together, they dive into the paradox of loneliness in our hyper-connected world, explore how the complex relationship between loneliness and technology impacts different cohorts (especially young people and older adults), and offer their vision for a mentally healthy digital future. Background reading: * Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation 2023: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the  Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community [https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf] * Health Risks of Social Isolation and Loneliness [https://www.cdc.gov/emotional-wellbeing/social-connectedness/loneliness.htm] - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention * Technology’s role in the ‘loneliness epidemic’ [https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/11/technology-loneliness-role/] - The Washington Post  * Loneliness or social isolation linked to serious health outcomes, study finds [https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/19/health/loneliness-social-isolation-early-death-risk-wellness/index.html] - CNN * The Global State of Social Connections [https://www.gallup.com/analytics/509675/state-of-social-connections.aspx#jumpAlt1] - Meta-Gallup Show notes, episodes, and more at thenextgreatthingpodcast.com [https://www.thenextgreatthingpodcast.com/]. For more information on SF AppWorks, visit sfappworks.com [https://www.sfappworks.com/]. Follow Andrew on LinkedIn at @Andrew Greenstein [https://www.linkedin.com/in/greensteinandrew/] Questions? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us here [https://www.sfappworks.com/the-next-great-thing/contact].

Arvind Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of generative AI workplace search startup, Glean [https://www.glean.com/], has an impressive, 25-year career in Silicon Valley. It’s safe to say he’s learned a thing or two along the way. He’s held engineering roles at Microsoft and Akamai, spent more than a decade working on Search at Google as a Distinguished Engineer, and started two companies, Rubrik, in 2014, and Glean, in 2019. Arvind joins us to reflect on key takeaways and pivotal moments across his career as he’s moved between engineering and entrepreneurship – and shares lessons he’s learned about himself as a founder, what it takes to scale a startup, and how to build the right team. He also takes us inside Glean’s AI-powered enterprise search platform, built on technology that combines AI models like GPT-4 with a powerful search engine. Finally, Arvind offers his vision for the future of productivity, where everyone – regardless of their role or title – will use a personalized AI assistant to help them be more efficient and productive at work. Show notes, episodes, and more at thenextgreatthingpodcast.com [https://www.thenextgreatthingpodcast.com/]. For more information on SF AppWorks, visit sfappworks.com [https://www.sfappworks.com/]. Follow Andrew on LinkedIn at @Andrew Greenstein [https://www.linkedin.com/in/greensteinandrew/] Questions? Feedback? Guest recommendations? Email us here [https://www.sfappworks.com/the-next-great-thing/contact].