Greymatter

Greylock general partner Sarah Guo speaks with Aneel Bhusri, the chairman, co-CEO and co-founder of Workday. This interview is part of Greylock’s “Iconversations" series. Bhusri who is also a former managing partner at Greylock, is known for his laser focus on two things: product vision, and the ability to find and retain great people. He and his Workday day co-founder and co-ceo Dave Duffield act...

Audio version of Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna's Forbes column, "Want to Win? Create the Right Early GTM Strategy," read by Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber. Chandna provides guidance to early stage founders in the transition phase where many startups fail: the period after their initial success when they must move to a rigorous go-to-market architecture that enables year-over-...

Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh examine the current development of Web3, focusing on how basic human nature is driving some of the innovation. This discussion was sparked in part by an article by Bloomberg reporter Joshua Brustein, who interviewed Hoffman about his recent essay on his experience as a Web 2.0 entrepreneur and investor. In that essay, H...

Greylock welcomes Mustafa Suleyman as the firm's newest venture partner. Suleyman is known for his pioneering work in the field of artificial intelligence, and joins the firm from Google, where he was Vice President of AI Product Management and AI Policy. Before that he co-founded DeepMind, the world’s leading artificial intelligence company, which was acquired by Google in 2014 for $650M. Greyloc...

On the day of their public market debut, Sonder CEO and founder Francis Davidson talks with Greylock general partner Josh McFarland about the hospitality company's wild journey from a side gig started during college to a modern, tech-enabled, design-forward accommodation platform serving travelers in 35 countries around the world. Davidson recounts the company's swift traction of the first few yea...

In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced nearly every aspect of life online. Suddenly, everything was happening on Zoom. To the everyday consumer, Zoom might have seemed like an overnight success story. But Zoom CEO and founder Eric Yuan, who was founded the company in 2011 as an enterprise service, said they were able to meet the sudden surge in demand thanks to the company's longstanding, unw...

A re-broadcast of Reid Hoffman's discussion with his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh on the pros and cons of two different courses of study: the standard business school MBA, or a degree in philosophy. Hoffman, who holds a philosophy degree from Oxford, shares why he generally views pursuing an MBA as an adverse signal for entrepreneurship. This episode is the second in a two-part series on philo...

A re-broadcast of Reid Hoffman's discussion with his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh on the ways a philosophy degree can impact entrepreneurship. This conversation is the first in a two-part series on the subject. You can read an essay based on this podcast here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/the-philosopher-entrepreneur/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Members of Greylock's investing and specialist teams reflect on the past year, and look forward to the year ahead. They weigh in on the main startup trends, discuss sectors they are planning to spend more time on, and share personal stories about lessons learned, and plans for the coming year. You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/year-in-review/ Learn mor...

Greylock general partner David Thacker talks with Eden Chen, the CEO and co-founder of backend game engine platform Pragma. As live service gaming has become a massive industry, powering that ecosystem has become increasingly complex. Like every other technology sector, there are too few software developers around to keep up with the demands of constant game development and iteration. Pragma was b...

After a brief period of hiring freezes and mass layoffs early in the pandemic, business has come roaring back, and competition for talent is now higher than ever. Demand for highly-skilled employees outstrips supply, and most CEOs and hiring managers say that finding, hiring and retaining great team members is among the top concerns that keep them up at night. Greylock Talent Partner Glen Evans an...

As software and data management systems have evolved, so too have the cybersecurity threats targeting them. How can companies, government agencies, and individuals keep their data secure when risk is at an all-time high? Greylock general partner Asheem Chandna, New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth, and Rubrik CEO and co-founder Bipul Sinha discuss the current world of cybersecurit...

A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky. Chesky joined Greylock partner Reid Hoffman on Greylock's Iconversations speaker series to talk about how he guided Airbnb from an 80% loss within the first two months of the pandemic to a record-breaking IPO by the end of 2020; why Silicon Valley needs to redefine how it measures growth; how Chesky’s design background...

Executive search firm Daversa Partners is working to change the reality of underrepresentation in tech. The firm has focused on increasing overall diverse representation for years, and is now launching a new program called Dreamscape that is dedicated solely to ensuring there is Black leadership on the boards and executive teams of the most important companies and investing firms in technology tod...

Audio version of Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman's essay, "Human Nature in Vices and Virtues: An Adam Smith Approach to Building Internet Ecosystems and Communities," published on the Knight Foundation's website. Hoffman discusses how some of the most popular websites leverage some of humankind's less desirable attributes(e.g. "the 7 deadly sins"), and how entrepreneurs and investors can thi...

On the day of Nextdoor's public debut, Greylock general partner David Sze looks back on his experience working with the social networking startup. Sze knew Nextdoor co-founders Nirav Tolia, Sarah Leary, and Prakash Janakiraman before the company was formed in 2008. While he did not invest in their original concept called Fanbase, Sze was among the first investors after the company’s pivot in 2011...

Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber reads general parter Asheem Chandna's latest column for Forbes. In this column, Chandna discusses the changing dynamics of recruiting, hiring, and retaining talent in one of the most competitive labor markets of our time. You can read this essay at https://www.forbes.com/sites/asheemchandna/2021/10/28/how-to-win-the-startup-war-for-talent/?sh=42ce2ac352b3...

As autonomous driving startup Aurora goes public via SPAC with Reinvent Technology Partners, Greylock general partner and Reinvent investor Reid Hoffman reflects on his experience working with the company as an investor and advisor. Hoffman joined the company's board when he co-led Greylock's Series A investment into Aurora in 2018. You can read the essay here: https://greylock.com/portfolio-news/...

Salesforce President and COO Bret Taylor talks with Greylock general partner Sarah Guo on Greylock's Iconversations series. During this discussion, Bret talks about lessons learned from his career as a product developer, two-time startup founder, and an operations leader within several large tech companies. He also talks about the high-profile acquisitions he has led at Salesforce, and lays out hi...

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has an instinct for disruption. He first cut his teeth at Disney, helped transform Amazon in its early days, and was the founding CEO of Hulu. In aggregate, his experience represents a clear knack for jumping at opportunities to transform media right at the moment when people are receptive to tide-turning change. Kilar spoke with Greylock general partner David Sze as pa...

This episode is the audio version of the essay "Open Source vs Cloud Castles", by Greylock general partner Jerry Chen. In this essay (which is read by Greylock's head of content and editorial Heather Mack), Jerry continues his discussion of strategies startups can explore to compete – and win – against the Big 3 Cloud providers. This essay is part of Greylock's Castles in the Cloud project. You ca...

Steve Bartel and Nick Bushak, co-founders of recruiting platform startup Gem, join Greylock Head of Content & Editorial Heather Mack to discuss how they are solving a crucial pain point in the modern hiring ecosystem: providing a tool to proactively search for and manage relationships with passive talent. Gem, which was launched in 2017, now works with more than 800 customers across multiple indus...

Greylock executive talent partner Holly Rose Faith provides her playbook for recruiting and hiring high-level talent. Faith, who has helped land executive hires for startups such as Roblox, Nextdoor, and Databricks, says it all comes down to having a solid system in place for each step of the process. This episode is part of Greylock's Brain Trust podcast series, which provides candid lessons and...

Greylock has raised $500 million dollars dedicated to seed investing. This is the industry’s largest pool of venture capital dedicated to backing founders at day one. Greylock Head of Editorial Heather Mack reads the audio version of our post announcing the new capital. You can read the post here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A re-broadcast of our episode featuring fintech startup Wisetack. The company, which was incubated at Greylock and launched in 2019, recently raised a $45 million Series B round. Wisetack provides financing platform for in-person services like home or auto repair businesses, enabling them to offer customers the option to buy now and pay later. Greylock general partner and Wisetack board member Jos...