The Slow Hunch podcast

47:21

In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky. Originally conceived as an initiative within Twitter under Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was designed to transform Twitter from a closed platform to an open protocol-based network. Jay initially joined as an external researcher before being selected to lead the project, ultimately negotiating for Bluesky's independence before Elon Musk’s acquisition. Jay believes thoughtful systems design can reshape our online experiences. With Bluesky, she wants to prioritise user choice, portability, and the ability to vote with their feet if the platform makes changes they don't like. This was a conversation about social media’s “adjacent possible” - a potential shift from closed, monolithic platforms toward open, extensible systems that encourage experimentation and innovation at all levels. Hope you enjoy! Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 04:00 Jay’s background: from systems theory to digital rights activism 08:35 Trade-offs in systems design 16:19 The AT Protocol (atproto) 17:19 Bluesky’s origin story 25:26 How Bluesky differs from earlier decentralized social attempts 28:01 Giving users the ability to pick feeds and moderation 30:16 Early days of Bluesky 32:50 Public launch 37:24 Social media’s adjacent possible 46:13 Closing thoughts…

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Fred Wilson & Brad Burnham (Union Square Ventures) 1:15:00

17 days ago1:15:00

1:15:00

In this special episode of the Slow Hunch, I sat down with Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham, founding partners of USV. Since founding USV in 2003, Fred and Brad have backed companies like Twitter, Etsy, Cloudflare, and Coinbase while developing an investment thesis focused on enabling new forms of value creation through open access to networks, capital, and knowledge. Fred and Brad bring decades of investment experience, having seen multiple tech cycles from the early internet to mobile, cloud, crypto, and now AI. What makes their partnership unique is how they've maintained their intellectual curiosity and drive to understand emerging technologies and business models, after 20+ years of working together. I've been lucky enough to have a front-row seat to their approach, and it was really special to have this conversation over multiple mugs of tea in my living room in New York City. In many ways, USV has been their collective slow hunch - an exploration of how emerging tech intersects with the world and how to be part of it. Hope you enjoy this conversation! Chapters: 00:00:00 Cold open 00:10:40 How USV was formed 00:17:16 Fred and Brad on their investment philosophy 00:24:01 Overcoming early challenges 00:27:43 The emergence of web2 00:30:59 The initial promise of social media 00:34:04 Investing in Twitter 00:39:11 The early days of Bitcoin 00:45:55 The risk of market consolidation in AI 00:49:39 Fred and Brad reflect on their mistakes 00:57:18 The Impact of AI 01:07:23 The future of technology 01:09:50 What keeps them going after 30+ years…

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Jake Heller (Co-founder & CEO of Casetext) 1:15:29

7 weeks ago1:15:29

1:15:29

In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Jake Heller, co-founder and CEO of Casetext, a legal tech startup that pioneered the use of large language models in the legal industry. Jake and his co-founders built Casetext over a decade — going through multiple pivots before eventually finding PMF as an AI tool that helped lawyers do better and faster legal research. In 2023, Casetext was acquired by Thomson Reuters for $650 million. In this conversation, Jake recounted how an early relationship with the research team at OpenAI got them access to GPT-4 (before the launch of ChatGPT!) and how they decided to hard pivot over the course of just two weeks. As a former lawyer himself, Jake has a unique take on the challenges of building and selling cutting-edge software in an industry that has traditionally been a late adopter of tech. This was a really fun conversation (you can probably tell because it’s longer than our usual episodes). Hope you enjoy! Chapters 00:00:00 Cold open 00:06:15 How Jake found himself in legal tech 00:10:07 Building Casetext 00:28:41 Getting early access to GPT-4 00:38:21 The AI pivot 00:46:38 Convincing the team 00:57:03 Engineering solutions to improve real-world performance 01:07:06 Jake’s thoughts on the future of the legal industry 01:14:29 Closing thoughts…

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Amir Haleem (Founder of Helium, CEO of Nova Labs) 53:31

9 weeks ago53:31

53:31

I spoke with Amir Haleem , founder of Helium and CEO of Nova Labs , about his journey building the world's largest decentralized wireless networks. Amir started Helium in 2013, with the initial vision to make it easier to connect IoT devices to the internet. After trying the traditional telecom playbook, he realized that combining crypto incentives with community participation could actually be key to scaling a truly global wireless network. In our conversation, we spoke about how Amir came to this realisation, and how he tackled all the challenges that come with building and securing such a network, from dealing with sophisticated attempts to game the system, to managing a decentralized and diverse community of stakeholders. Through Nova Labs and Helium, Amir wants to enable a future where decentralized communities play a major role in building and maintaining the networks that connect us. Hope you enjoy this conversation! Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 05:51 Amir’s thoughts on crypto incentives 11:15 The tradeoffs with community-led building 14:17 The pivot from IoT to wireless networks 25:28 Challenges with establishing “proof of coverage” 28:45 The balance between speed and perfection 42:43 Adapting to industry changes 45:24 Amir’s take on why entrepreneurship is so important 52:18 Amir’s closing reflections…

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Zoe Weinberg (Founder, ex/ante) 53:51

12 weeks ago53:51

53:51

In this episode, I spoke to Zoe Weinberg, founder and managing partner of ex/ante, a venture fund focused on technology that enhances human agency. Zoe actively invests in a growing number of founders committed to empowering users by giving them control over their data and digital identities. Our conversation explored the ever present threat of digital authoritarianism, the product tradeoff between privacy and convenience, the potential of portable digital identities, and how emerging technologies impact democratic values. I hope you find this conversation insightful. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 03:15 Human agency and technology 12:30 Zoe's thoughts on digital authoritarianism and surveillance capitalism 20:18 The product tradeoff between convenience and privacy 25:40 Portable digital identities 30:05 Zoe's take on tech and the state of democracy 36:20 The importance of user agency in emerging tech 40:12 Zoe's journey to founding ex/ante 45:00 Business models that support user agency 50:15 The potential of AI-driven privacy solutions 54:45 Closing reflections The Slow Hunch is produced by the team at Spectral.…

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Dani Grant (CEO of Jam.dev) 58:16

19 weeks ago58:16

58:16

In this episode, I spoke to Dani Grant , CEO of Jam.dev , a tool that reimagines the way software teams communicate about and fix bugs. Dani brings an infectious energy to her work. Before starting Jam, she worked at Cloudflare and was an analyst at USV, where we first crossed paths. For Dani, Jam isn’t just about making software teams more efficient—it’s about unlocking human potential and bringing the future closer, faster. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 03:23 What Dani is building at Jam 05:15 Reflections on her time at Cloudflare 08:11 On the joy of building 09:36 Why bug reporting matters 12:50 On AI and the future of software development 16:04 Why crafting beautiful products is important 19:23 On building trust with AI products 26:21 Building products using decentralized data 30:21 Life growing up in Mountain View 37:26 The power of cold emails 42:44 How learning the flute influenced Dani 48:28 Finding meaning in the startup journey 51:24 The importance of team dynamics 56:04 Nick’s reflections as an investor The Slow Hunch is produced by the team at Spectral.…

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Steven Johnson (Author, Editorial lead at NotebookLM and Google Labs) 55:50

23 weeks ago55:50

55:50

In this episode, I spoke to Steven Johnson - one of my favorite authors and thinkers. Steven has written 14 popular books, including “Where Good Ideas Come From” which inspired the name of this podcast and my blog, The Slow Hunch. Steven has an unmatched ability to stitch together ideas from technology, science, and history to make stories come to life. He has had a significant impact on the way I see the world today. In this conversation, we double clicked on Steven's journey to unlock “networked thought” through the use of tools, and the micro insights that gradually led him to NotebookLM , a tool that he is currently co-creating with the team at Google Labs. Hope you enjoy this conversation! Chapters: 00:00:00 Cold Open 00:01:56 Intro 00:05:14 The origins of NotebookLM 00:08:36 Steven's early interest in technology 00:13:31 The concept of "The Slow Hunch" 00:15:24 The importance of capturing ideas and sparks 00:21:24 How the rise of the internet enabled "networked thought" 00:30:20 When LLMs came into the picture 00:45:25 Building NotebookLM 00:49:32 Steven's view on "Conversational Hypertext" 00:52:27 How AI changes the act of knowledge curation 00:54:48 Closing thoughts The Slow Hunch is produced by the team at Spectral .…

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Muneeb Ali (Co-founder of Stacks) 1:05:45

35 weeks ago1:05:45

1:05:45

In this episode, I spoke to Muneeb Ali, the co-founder of Stacks — a Bitcoin L2 that aims to make BTC more programmable and scalable. At USV, we originally backed Muneeb and his co-founder Ryan Shea back in 2014. Our shared hypothesis was that Bitcoin had the potential to impact more than just finance—it could be a new foundation for the internet itself. Of course, this idea wasn't as obvious back then. In my conversation with Muneeb, we used his personal and professional journey to trace the origins of this idea—starting with his PhD in computer science at Princeton leading up to his fascination with Bitcoin and work on Stacks today. Muneeb offers insights into the technical and cultural challenges of innovating within the Bitcoin ecosystem, and shares his vision of a future where BTC serves as the foundation for the next generation of decentralized applications. Chapters: 00:00:00 Cold open 00:01:35 Muneeb's background in computer science and peer-to-peer systems research 00:06:29 Transitioning from academia to entrepreneurship 00:09:00 The "aha moment" - Bitcoin solving the global state problem 00:11:16 Evolution of Muneeb's vision for Bitcoin 00:15:00 Comparing different approaches to blockchain architecture 00:22:48 The current landscape of blockchain ecosystems 00:26:29 Challenges of building on Bitcoin and navigating community resistance 00:29:43 The Stacks Nakamoto upgrade and its potential impact 00:32:44 Decentralization versus user experience 00:37:38 Future vision for Bitcoin L2s and a decentralized internet ————— The Slow Hunch is produced by the team at Spectral.…

1
Fraser Kelton (GP at Spark Capital, former Head of Product at OpenAI) 50:56

44 weeks ago50:56