Databricks' Record Raise, TikTok & the Supreme Court, and all about the Grammarly-Coda Deal | E2063

Jason and Alex kick off the show (0s)

• The discussion starts with a complaint about companies upselling AI features, with a request to include the best features for everyone without extra costs (0s).
• The host, Jason Calacanis, promises to discuss his two favorite products and then move on to other topics (21s).
• The podcast "This Week in Startups" is sponsored by Coda, which empowers startups by bringing words, tables, and teams together to strategize, plan, and track goals effectively (35s).
• Other sponsors include Lemon, which offers vetted remote developers, and Gusto, which provides easy online payroll, benefits, and HR for modern small businesses (53s).
• Jason Calacanis welcomes everyone back to the show and introduces his co-host, Alex Wilhelm (1m16s).
• Alex Wilhelm is doing well and getting into the festive spirit, but is jealous of Jason's ability to snowboard in Tahoe (1m21s).
• Jason Calacanis is in Tahoe and invites Alex to visit, mentioning that he got out for his first day of skiing the previous day (1m38s).
• Jason Calacanis aims to break his record of 40 days of skiing in one year by doing 41 days this year, and hopes that advancements in science and technology will allow him to ski into his 70s or 80s (2m24s).
• Jason Calacanis follows a schedule that allows him to work in the mornings, go skiing for a few hours, and then return to work, which he calls the "CEO program" or "VC program" (2m43s).
• Jason Calacanis takes notes on the ski lift and gets many great ideas while on the mountain, and also finds that taking a break from screens and notifications helps him come up with new ideas (3m5s).

Insights on Databricks' private fundraise and venture capital trends (3m38s)

• Databricks has raised $1 billion in the private markets, with the company's Series J round aiming to raise $10 billion, of which $8.6 billion has been completed to date, leaving $1.4 billion remaining (3m55s).
• The funding is described as non-dilutive financing, which may imply a secondary sale, but the exact details are unclear, and it is being compared to a mezzanine round of financing (4m33s).
• Mezzanine rounds were previously used to bridge the gap between private and public funding, but they have become less common due to the abundance of private capital (5m42s).
• Venture capitalists have become more ambitious, staying involved with companies for longer periods, and some have started managing public equities, as seen in the case of Sequoia's public fund (6m0s).
• This shift in venture capital strategy is attributed to the success of companies like Google, which made more money for investors after going public, leading VCs to reevaluate their approach to investing and exiting companies (6m17s).
• Having enough equity in a company like Uber to be considered for a board position would be a significant opportunity, especially for those who were involved in the company's early stages and had conversations with its founders, Garrett and Travis Kalanick (TK) (7m1s).
• The opportunity set for entrepreneurs has become bigger over the last 20 years, with the number of people having broadband increasing from tens of millions to two or three billion, and the widespread adoption of mobile phones (7m42s).
• The market size has significantly changed, with nearly everyone having a mobile phone and being comfortable with online transactions, even in previously underdeveloped countries, where affordable options like $15 Android phones are now available (7m55s).
• This shift in market size and consumer behavior is contributing to the current funding landscape, where companies are staying private longer and receiving significant investments (8m30s).

Predictions on unlimited free energy, water, and food (8m37s)

• Google's revenue growth is mentioned as an example of rapid expansion, with the company's revenue increasing from $220,000 in 1999 to $19 million in 2000, $86 million in 2001, $348 million in 2002, and $962 million in 2003 (9m6s).
• This growth rate is highlighted as exceptional, with most growth stocks typically defined as having a 15% to 25% year-over-year growth rate (9m18s).
• The rapid growth of companies like Google is attributed to the increasing amount of time people spend with their smartphones, which are described as supercomputers with infinite storage, bandwidth, and network effects (9m31s).

Coda - Empower your startup with Coda’s Team plan for free—get 6 months (9m41s)

• Coda is a collaborative workspace that combines document, spreadsheet, and database apps into one platform, allowing teams to consolidate knowledge and work more efficiently (9m44s).
• The platform is user-friendly, powerful, and has been used to create various applications, including a database to track investments and facilitate introductions between portfolio companies (10m16s).
• Coda empowers startups to strategize, plan, and track goals effectively by building systems of record, and a limited-time offer is available for startups to get six months of the team plan for free by visiting coda.io/twist (11m10s).
• Over the past 25 years, advancements in technology have led to everyone having access to a supercomputer, unlimited free bandwidth, and unlimited free compute and storage, with some limitations on GPUs (11m41s).
• The cost of using AI tools like ChatGPT is expected to follow the same trend line, becoming increasingly affordable and eventually free (12m13s).
• The cost of storage has become negligible, with options like Gmail offering free storage, and people can easily upgrade to paid plans for more storage (12m17s).
• The future of technology holds promise, with the potential for free energy, water, and food, which could be achieved through advancements in solar, batteries, nuclear, and wind power (13m9s).
• This could lead to unlimited free water and produce, as water is a function of energy, and produce can be powered by robots that pick and plant crops (13m34s).
• The future may also bring robots that can tend to fields, plant crops, and bring fresh produce to the table, making life easier and more convenient (13m52s).
• The potential for robots to replace cars and perform various tasks is exciting, and this future is expected to become a reality in our lifetime (14m14s).

The declining costs of cloud computing (14m25s)

• Cloud computing is becoming increasingly cheap, with some predicting that it will eventually become essentially free, although this does not apply to AI computing which requires more powerful and expensive GPUs (14m28s).
• Data storage has also become very cheap, with some predicting that everyone will eventually have basically unlimited free storage (14m31s).
• Databricks, a cloud computing company, has seen significant growth, with over 60% year-over-year growth in Q3 and is expected to cross $3 billion in ARR and reach free cash flow positivity in its current quarter (15m2s).
• Databricks' growth has led to a high price-to-sales ratio of 20, which is relatively high compared to its contemporary Snowflake, which has a lower Enterprise Value to revenue ratio (15m12s).
• Snowflake's Enterprise Value divided by annualized revenue is 14.3x, and its Enterprise Value divided by forward revenue is 11.7, with 28% growth, 67% gross margins, and a 22% free cash flow margin (16m1s).
• Databricks is trading at a 50% higher premium than Snowflake, likely due to its higher growth rate (16m22s).
• A company's growth rate is an important factor in determining its market cap, and investors often look for high growth rates when valuing a company (16m33s).
• For early-stage entrepreneurs, it's essential to focus on sales and growth, as these factors can significantly impact a company's valuation (17m3s).

Evaluating growth rate for startup valuations (17m12s)

• A startup's growth rate is crucial in driving its valuation, and if the growth rate is not high, the valuation will not receive a premium but rather a discount (17m16s).
• The Venture Community looks for startups with a clear path to reaching $100 million or $1 billion in revenue, and if the growth rate is not high enough, it may not see a viable path (17m35s).
• Snowflake had $900 million in product revenue in the last quarter, with a total of around $940 million including consulting, which puts it at a $4 billion annual revenue (17m43s).
• Snowflake is roughly one-third larger than Databricks but is growing less than half as quickly in percentage terms, implying that Databricks may outstrip Snowflake in total revenue scale next year (17m54s).
• Despite Snowflake being one of the fastest-growing and best-performing public companies since its listing, Databricks' growth rate may allow it to surpass Snowflake in revenue (18m6s).
• Snowflake's total revenue is around $4 billion a year, with a market cap of $55.7 billion, while Databricks is valued at $60 billion, despite having lower revenue (18m29s).
• The difference in valuation can be attributed to the difference in growth rates, with Databricks growing at 60% and Snowflake growing at 30% (19m3s).
• Based on the growth rates, Databricks is expected to catch up with and pass Snowflake in revenue in the next year, with Databricks potentially reaching $4.5 billion in revenue if it grows at 50% (19m19s).

Competitive landscape: Databricks vs. Snowflake (19m46s)

• When considering AI today and in the next 5 years, Databricks appears better set up to capitalize on the AI boom, giving it more tailwinds compared to Snowflake (19m46s).
• To assess a company's potential, it's essential to look at its product roadmap and talk to customers, which is part of the job of a capital allocator (20m6s).
• Conducting diligence, even at early stages, involves talking to customers to understand if the founder has the right customers and to have a conversation about the company's direction (20m11s).
• It's crucial for entrepreneurs to choose the right customers, as having the wrong ones can be detrimental to the business, and some entrepreneurs may not receive honest feedback from VCs (20m20s).
• Entrepreneurs often receive positive feedback from VCs, but this may not always be genuine, and it's essential to receive candid feedback to make informed decisions (20m34s).

Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time (20m48s)

• Founders often struggle with doing all their own software development due to the time and cost of finding great talent, which can take 6 months to a year and involves endless interviews and email chains (20m48s).
• Lemon.io offers a solution by providing thousands of on-demand developers who have been vetted to ensure they are results-oriented and super experienced (21m7s).
• The developers on Lemon.io have competitive rates, and the platform handles the integration process, making it easier for founders to find and work with great developers (21m24s).
• Lemon.io only offers handpicked developers with a minimum of 3 years of experience, and they must be in the top 1% of applicants (21m35s).
• If any issues arise, Lemon.io will find a replacement developer as soon as possible, and many Launch Founders have had great experiences working with the platform (21m44s).
• Founders can find their perfect developer or tech team in 48 hours or less by going to Lemon.io and using the promo code "twist" to get 15% off their first 4 weeks of developer time (21m57s).

The strategic importance of selecting the right customers (22m7s)

• Selecting the right customers is crucial for a company's success, and choosing a niche market like nonprofits may not be the best approach as they are often not professionally or efficiently run and may not be willing to pay for services (22m19s).
• Instead of targeting nonprofits, it would be more beneficial to build a financial tool that can be used by anyone, such as a payment platform like Stripe, which can be used by a wide range of customers (22m43s).
• When choosing a beachhead customer, it's essential to pick one with the most money and who is the least discerning in terms of paying for the service (23m2s).
• The example of Uber's early days is given, where the company targeted Lincoln Town Car drivers and people who took Lincoln Town Cars at the airport because they were already spending a significant amount of money on transportation (24m36s).
• These customers were willing to pay a premium for the convenience and ease of use of Uber's service, unlike price-sensitive customers who would complain and ask for refunds (25m4s).
• It's advised to be a "rabid capitalist" and focus on making money first, rather than trying to do nonprofit work from the start, as this can be done later once the company is sustainable and strong (25m37s).
• Creating a nonprofit arm within a successful company can be a more effective way to do good, rather than trying to do it from the start and struggling to get funding (26m2s).
• Signaling to venture capitalists that returns are not a priority can make it difficult to secure funding, and it's essential to understand the implications of targeting a niche market like nonprofits (26m17s).

Venture capital communication and the ghosting phenomenon (26m34s)

• Venture capitalists (VCs) often struggle with communicating their decision not to invest in a startup, as it can be a difficult conversation to have, similar to telling someone they're not interested in dating them due to physical appearance (27m23s).
• A Reddit thread on the Startups Forum highlighted the prevalence of "ghosting" by VCs, where they express interest in a startup and then suddenly stop responding (26m52s).
• The thread showed multiple instances of ghosting experienced by a single founder who pitched to numerous VCs, demonstrating how common the phenomenon is (27m1s).
• VCs often take the approach of saying they have other investments to prioritize, rather than providing detailed feedback on why they're not investing, as it can lead to arguments and additional emails (28m2s).
• There is ongoing debate about whether VCs should provide more detailed feedback to founders on why they're not investing, with some arguing it's helpful and others believing it's not necessary (28m14s).
• Providing detailed feedback can lead to founders arguing with the VCs' decision, making it a less desirable approach for some (28m31s).
• A more common approach is to simply state that the investment isn't a fit or that they have other priorities, without going into specifics (28m40s).

TikTok's ongoing legal challenges (28m43s)

• TikTok is facing ongoing legal challenges, with a significant development being the DC Court of Appeals' denial of an injunction against the law on December 13th (29m1s).
• Following this, TikTok filed a request with the Supreme Court for an emergency injunction, which was denied, but the court has expedited the process to hear the case before January 19th (29m12s).
• The Supreme Court's decision to fast-track the case is unusual, but it is believed to be an attempt to ensure that the current administration defends the law, rather than the incoming administration (29m35s).
• The expedited process will involve opening briefs on December 27th and oral arguments on January 10th, which will be a challenging and intense period for the lawyers involved (30m23s).
• The case is expected to be highly politicized and will have significant implications for the future of TikTok and its ownership (31m6s).
• The outcome of the case will help determine the direction of the company and the role of the Chinese government in its ownership (31m11s).
• There are concerns about the potential risks of TikTok being owned by the Chinese government, with some arguing that it is too powerful for any country to have control over such a tool (31m15s).

Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll (31m25s)

• Gusto is a platform designed to help companies with payroll, benefits, onboarding, and HR, all in one place (31m30s).
• Over 300,000 businesses trust Gusto today, and the platform is capable of growing with a startup as it scales (31m41s).
• Gusto handles state and federal taxes for staff across the country, and also offers the option to set up a 401k plan for the team (31m49s).
• The platform helps with compliance, with three out of four employers stating that Gusto assists them in being government compliant (32m6s).
• Gusto is user-friendly software that allows businesses to focus on building their startup, rather than dealing with administrative tasks (32m10s).
• New users can try Gusto with no hidden fees and receive a discount of three months free by visiting gusto.com/twist (32m23s).

Shashir Mehrotra on the Coda-Grammarly merger (32m33s)

• Shashir Mehrotra, the former CEO of Coda and incoming CEO of Grammarly, discusses the merger between Coda and Grammarly, which was announced recently, and how the two companies are coming together to form one entity (32m34s).
• Mehrotra mentions that he has been a personal user of Grammarly for years and was also an early investor in the company, and he is excited about the merger (35m22s).
• The idea for the merger came from a common investor, General Catalyst, who brought the two companies together and suggested that they were headed in the same direction despite being different products (35m43s).
• Mehrotra and the team from Grammarly sat down and compared their vision memos for the next year, realizing that they were headed to the same spot, and decided that it would be better to work together rather than trying to build each other's approaches (36m4s).
• The joint vision for the two companies is not explicitly stated, but Mehrotra mentions that they are headed in the same direction, and the merger is expected to bring together the strengths of both companies (36m17s).
• Coda is used as a workspace and tool for building workflow products, and Grammarly is used as an editor for writing, and the merger is expected to bring together these two capabilities (33m36s).
• The merger is not seen as a sign of weakness, but rather as a way to consolidate and become more efficient, and Mehrotra is excited about the opportunities that the merger will bring (34m57s).

Vision and applications of the Coda-Grammarly partnership (37m16s)

• Grammarly is building a user-centered AI platform that combines applications and agents, with the goal of creating a magical experience for users (37m16s).
• The platform is centered around the concept of an "AI agent" that works everywhere, without forcing users to change their behavior, and has already integrated with 500,000 applications (37m50s).
• The founders of Grammarly, Max and Alex, describe their platform as an "AI superhighway" that can be built into every other product, with their current agent being just one "car" on that highway (38m5s).
• The conversation also focused on a new product called Koda Brain, which is being built at Koda and utilizes the company's 1700+ integrations to connect to other tools and create a co-pilot for writing (38m32s).
• Koda Brain aims to provide context and information to users, such as details about a customer's previous meetings or conversations, to help them write better (39m4s).
• The platform is designed to be a co-pilot that reads and understands everything the user is doing, and provides thoughtful suggestions and observations (39m18s).
• Grammarly is widely used and loved by many, including kids, but has also been banned in some classrooms due to its perceived advantage over other writing tools (39m50s).
• Grammarly is often used in educational settings, but some teachers prefer students to write without it, then use the tool to walk through corrections and debate each one, teaching students how to use the tool to augment their brain (40m37s).
• The idea of an agent that can do everything with a user and knows more than grammar is an interesting concept, and one way to think about it is to picture a world where the agent is the teacher's agent, with the teacher being part of the process (41m7s).
• Coda Pack is an extension of Coda that allows anyone to make integrations between Coda and other products, and people can build Coda Packs with a particular point of view, such as a chemistry agent that knows everything about chemistry (41m23s).
• Grammarly's core audience is often thought to be students, but the vast majority of its users are actually professionals, including marketers, salespeople, and CEOs, with 40 million daily active users (42m5s).
• Many professionals rely on Grammarly to communicate effectively, with some CEOs crediting the tool with saving them many times when communicating with their board, team, or others (42m23s).

Future of AI agents and Grammarly's role (42m35s)

• Grammarly's approach is divided into two halves: using its platform as a "Super Highway" for the future of AI agents, and developing applications, with the goal of creating a true writing space that feels like home (42m36s).
• Grammarly has mostly been focused on making its magic work everywhere else, but it has lacked a destination that feels like a true writing space, and its editor, although good, does not support iPad and iPhone anymore (42m50s).
• There was a debate inside Grammarly about whether to work everywhere else or to compete in the document space, but the decision was made to be in that market as well (43m19s).
• The vision for Grammarly's future involves a three-phase change in how people think about their tools: the PC phase, the web phase, and the AI phase, where applications work like people and collaborate with users (43m42s).
• The AI phase is characterized by AI-native collaboration surfaces, and Grammarly aims to build a first-class place for users to understand and interact with AI agents (44m25s).
• The plan to achieve this involves building a road map and combining the best features of different tools, with the goal of creating a seamless and intuitive user experience (44m34s).
• The idea is to provide the best possible experience for all users, rather than upselling AI features to a select few, as this can lead to a situation where only a small percentage of users benefit from AI, but all users are required to pay for it (44m53s).

SaaS industry dynamics and AI's role in upselling (45m13s)

• The SaaS industry is experiencing dissonance with top performers needing certain tools, but companies are charging extra for these tools, specifically AI-powered features, with Grammarly and Coda being examples of companies that include AI in their products, while others charge extra for AI-powered features (45m14s).
• Coda's approach is to include AI for everybody, whereas Grammarly's whole product is AI, and the challenge is to bring these approaches together (45m46s).
• The Grammarly-Coda deal was done in stock, with Grammarly valued at around $13 billion and Coda at around $1.3 billion, resulting in a 90% Grammarly stock and 10% Coda stock split (46m24s).
• The valuation numbers are correct, but the actual numbers of the deal cannot be verified, and the decision-making process involved looking to the future and building something new rather than just revaluing companies (46m56s).
• The deal was based on a reasonable split between the two companies, looking to the future and building something new, rather than just looking at past valuations (47m46s).
• Grammarly has been profitable for a long time, and the company is currently in investment mode (48m7s).
• There is a discussion about the role of AI in reducing the need for infrastructure and people to run companies, with some CEOs suggesting that AI agents can replace human employees, but this is not always the case, and hiring the next person can be harder than building AI agents (48m13s).
• The idea is that companies will take less and less in terms of infrastructure and people to run them, but this is not necessarily true, and the next hire can be harder than building AI agents (48m30s).

The impact of AI on job automation and workforce productivity (49m10s)

• The best use of resources is often to automate something using technology rather than hiring a human, and this approach has not always been the case in the past (49m10s).
• Sebastian Thrun's observations include rebuilding software needed to run a business and the impact of hiring, with the latter being a separate observation (49m35s).
• The view is that AI will be a net additive to the world, creating jobs instead of removing them, and up-leveling people by allowing them to focus on higher-level tasks (49m47s).
• The advancement of technology has shifted jobs over the last 100 years, but it has also created new ones, and this trend is expected to continue (50m5s).
• The idea of having AI agents to assist with tasks such as research and writing code is seen as a positive development, allowing people to up-level their work (50m15s).
• The notion that AI will replace applications is considered misguided, and instead, AI should work in a surface with building blocks that users understand (50m37s).
• The concept of user-centric AI emphasizes the importance of AI working with users in a surface they understand, rather than producing something that is not usable (51m10s).
• The ability of AI to generate code or other content is seen as a magic trick, but the real value lies in AI working with users in a way that is understandable and usable (50m57s).
• Young people, referred to as "AI-first people," are using chatbots like ChatGPT as their primary source of information, even before searching on Google (51m42s).
• The Gemini deep research tool is considered to be "scary good" and is available for a fee, with the rack rate being around $20-30 per month (52m4s).
• A venture firm has implemented a function that saves a significant amount of time, with an estimated 100,000 minutes saved per year, calculated by multiplying 20,000 transactions by 5 minutes saved per transaction (52m46s).
• High performers who use AI-first tools like Koda and Grammarly are considered 50 times more valuable to the organization than those who do not, and it is expected that employees will adapt to using these tools to remain valuable (53m12s).
• The future of work is expected to involve automating tasks with existing teams rather than hiring more people, with elite leaders focusing on improving their current team's skills and efficiency (53m49s).
• This approach is compared to the Navy Seals, where every team member has a range of skills, including those typically associated with different roles, making them a highly effective team (54m6s).
• The use of AI-first tools is also expected to reduce the need for middle management, as it can streamline processes and reduce the number of layers within an organization (54m30s).

Team sizes and AI-driven productivity debate (54m40s)

• The idea of using the right tools to increase productivity is acknowledged, with the example of Koda automating around four billion tasks last year, saving time that would have been spent on emails, notifications, and updates. (55m2s)
• The human imagination is considered a key factor in driving productivity, as it allows people to dream up new ideas and projects, rather than just doing the same things with the same amount of people. (55m31s)
• The natural tension between increasing productivity and the desire to start new projects is highlighted, with the example of taking people out of a unit to start a new project and having others pick up the slack through automation. (55m50s)
• The use of technology, such as Zoom and Koda, has made it possible to invest time in new productive things, rather than just stopping at a certain point. (56m23s)
• The concept of AI-driven productivity is discussed, with the idea that productivity produces human imagination, and that neither side of the debate is entirely right. (56m34s)
• The plan for the combined company of Koda and Grammarly is mentioned, which includes weaving the best of both companies together, combining company knowledge, and creating a full productivity suite with hundreds of Agents. (56m52s)
• The concept of "hundreds of Agents" is questioned, with a request for clarification on what it means, how to interact with them, and what the future vision for Agents looks like. (56m59s)

The future interaction with AI agents (57m18s)

• Interacting with AI agents in the future will involve polite and consensual interactions, with users being able to assign tasks and expect the agents to behave in a certain way, similar to how humans interact with each other (57m19s).
• An AI agent is defined as a mix of context, skills, jobs, and instructions, with context referring to the agent's knowledge and skills referring to the tasks it can perform (57m32s).
• The Grammarly agent, for example, has context about grammar and can revise work, answer questions, and provide feedback, while the Gmail pack on Coda knows everything in a user's email and can send emails on their behalf (57m43s).
• The concept of an AI agent is similar to how applications can act like people, with users being able to interact with them in a way that feels natural and intuitive (59m45s).
• Apple's intelligence feature allows users to let the AI study their behavior in specific apps, which can lead to more personalized experiences, but also raises concerns about privacy (59m55s).
• The idea of AI agents is still evolving, and companies like Grammarly are working on developing a deeper understanding of how to create agents that can interact with humans in a more natural way (58m28s).
• The concept of instructions in AI agents refers to the personality and tone of the agent, with users being able to expect a certain level of behavior and interaction from the agent (58m50s).
• The goal of AI agents is to make users feel like they are interacting with a human, with the agent being able to understand and respond to their needs in a way that feels natural and intuitive (59m0s).

Efficiency gains from combining Grammarly and Coda (1h0m40s)

• Grammarly and Coda's combination is seen as a powerful pairing, with Grammarly studying how people work and Coda having people explicitly write apps, making for an awesome combination (1h0m40s).
• Athena, a company with a virtual assistant, is also working on studying and watching people work to back into agents and technology, a business process that many people are onto (1h0m52s).
• The future of business process studying and applications is seen as promising, with Grammarly and Coda being well-positioned (1h1m10s).
• Ambient agents like Grammarly, which follow users everywhere, are part of a broader category of agentic AI that also includes things that require direct prompting and task lists (1h1m16s).
• Agentic AI is not limited to non-chat GPT, but rather includes chat GPT as well, as it acts like a person and provides human-like responses (1h1m36s).
• The appeal of chat GPT lies in its ability to act like a knowledgeable person, having read the entire internet and providing contextually relevant responses (1h1m57s).

The role of ChatGPT and AI in social media (1h2m2s)

• The concept of providing users with ideas on what to write next is a key feature that Grammarly and Coda can build upon, especially for social media purposes (1h2m8s).
• A potential use case for this feature is to help users find and engage with people on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram who are talking about their company or firm (1h2m40s).
• This process can be automated, eliminating the need for a social media manager, and can be integrated into a tool that provides users with a list of people to engage with and suggested responses (1h2m44s).
• The tool can also track engagement and remind team members to interact with those who have already engaged with the company or firm (1h2m49s).
• A social media monitoring app can be built into Grammarly, combining the features of suggesting what to write next with social media engagement (1h3m11s).
• This app can provide users with a list of people to engage with, along with possible responses that can be edited and posted (1h3m23s).
• The social media agent should be built into Grammarly and documented in a single source of truth, such as a Coda database (1h3m35s).
• Building this feature can be a valuable use of time, as many people need help with social media engagement (1h3m43s).

Tailoring AI tools for business needs (1h3m46s)

• Many applications are rigid and cookie-cutter, forcing companies to adapt to their specific design, rather than the other way around (1h4m0s).
• Most companies have unique needs that aren't met by generic software solutions, such as Salesforce, and instead require customized tools (1h4m23s).
• Venture capital firms, in particular, have specific needs that aren't met by traditional CRM systems, and may require custom-built solutions (1h4m32s).
• Building a custom solution can be more cost-effective and efficient than paying for a generic solution that requires significant customization (1h4m50s).
• Using tools like Coda, Notion, and Zapier can help companies build custom solutions quickly and efficiently, without requiring significant coding expertise (1h5m1s).
• The goal of building custom applications is to create a unique perspective on how to do things, rather than following a generic template (1h5m45s).
• Combining custom applications with AI-powered agents can help companies achieve their goals and create a unique strength (1h5m52s).
• Twist 500, a product built on Coda, is an example of a custom-built solution that meets the unique needs of a company (1h6m7s).
• The creator of Twist 500 is a fan of Coda and uses it to build custom solutions, demonstrating the effectiveness of the tool (1h6m15s).

Lessons from mergers and acquisitions in the tech sector (1h6m26s)

• The guest has experience with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) from their time at Google, where they bought many companies, but notes that each deal is unique. (1h6m28s)
• The guest is asked to share lessons learned from the current merger in 3-6 months, as the tech sector may be entering a new M&A moment where companies like theirs may be involved in more deals. (1h6m46s)
• The idea for the current merger is attributed to a General Catalyst partner who recognized the potential for integration and synergy between companies, with the idea that "one plus one equals three." (1h7m16s)
• The guest agrees to return in 3-6 months to discuss the lessons learned from the merger, once they are "out of the weeds." (1h7m35s)
• The conversation highlights the ability to bring breaking news and guests to the show, with the current discussion being about news that happened in the last 48 hours. (1h7m45s)
• The host references a 2014 headline that stated "Acquisitions always suck worse than you think," and looks forward to seeing how that statement may be proven wrong in the current deal. (1h7m58s)

Strategic acquisitions and their importance in the tech industry (1h8m8s)

• Strategic acquisitions play a crucial role in the tech industry, as seen in the examples of YouTube and Instagram deals, where only a few deals are highly successful, while many others do not yield significant results (1h8m9s).
• The acquisition of Instagram by Facebook is cited as a key factor in preventing Facebook's decline, with the prediction that without this acquisition, Facebook would have been in decline for the past three to five years (1h8m26s).
• The significance of Instagram to Facebook is highlighted by the fact that many users no longer actively use Facebook, with the only updates often coming from syndicated Instagram posts (1h8m34s).
• The importance of strategic acquisitions is emphasized by the example of Google and Facebook, which have become modern tech giants, in part, due to their successful acquisitions (1h8m21s).