logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2015
49m 53s

Recode Decode: Y Combinator's Sam Altman

The Verge
About this episode
Kara Swisher talks with Y Combinator president and Reddit board member Sam Altman about the social news site and the challenges of entrepreneurship. Lauren Goode fields questions on the "Internet of Things." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
Up next
Jul 30
The end of the human internet
Hey everyone, this is Nick Statt, senior producer on Decoder. We’re taking a brief publishing break while Nilay is out on vacation. We’ll resume regular programming next week, and we’ve got some great episodes in the works. In the meantime, we wanted to share an episode from the ... Show More
43m 4s
Jul 27
Tariffs didn’t bring manufacturing jobs back to the US
Evan Smith, cofounder and CEO of Altana, was last on the show in early 2025 to talk about how Trump’s first few waves of tariffs were starting to affect global trade. It was a very alarming and also very illuminating chat; Evan and I got into the existential weeds of internationa ... Show More
1h 11m
Jul 23
What Apple’s OpenAI lawsuit is really about
Today, I’m talking with Hayden Field, The Verge’s senior AI reporter, about the major trade secrets lawsuit between Apple and OpenAI, and what this tells us about OpenAI’s future. Hayden has been covering OpenAI for years now, and she also just talked to a bunch of lawyers who sp ... Show More
44m 5s
Recommended Episodes
May 2025
First Time Founders with Ed Elson – The Story of Reddit
Live from YPO’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit, Ed sits down with Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman. They discuss the company’s IPO journey, his unique approach to investor relations, and how Reddit navigates the complex world of content moderation. Learn more about your ad ... Show More
58m 45s
Oct 2020
#119 with Josh Elman - How To Get The Benefits of Entrepreneurship Without Starting a Company
Sam Parr (@theSamParr) and Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) are joined by Josh Elman (@joshelman) on the pod today. Elman is a veteran of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Robinhood to name a few. This guy knows Silicon Valley and growth better than anyone else. In today’s episode you’ll hea ... Show More
54m 57s
Nov 2025
First Time Founders with Ed Elson – This Physicist Is Building AI Droids
Ed speaks with Matan Grinberg, co-founder and CEO of Factory, an AI company focused on bringing autonomy to software engineering. They discuss the long-term future of AI, the role of regulation, and whether or not he’s concerned about an AI bubble. Learn more about your ad choice ... Show More
58m 53s
Jan 2025
ReThinking with Adam Grant: Sam Altman on the future of AI and humanity
Sam Altman is the CEO and cofounder of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. He and Adam discuss AI's advances in creativity and empathy, its ethical challenges, and the role of human oversight. Sam and Adam also discuss strategies for adapting to a changing world and their hopes f ... Show More
40m 15s
Jan 2018
20VC: Sam Altman, Y Combinator President on What Makes Truly Great Leaders, Why We Will See A Compression of Seed Funding & The Future Scaling of YC
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/sama">Sam Altman</a> is the president of <a href="http://www.ycombinator.com/">Y Combinator</a>, the world's most successful accelerator with alumni that includes the likes of Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, Flexport and many more incredible companies. Sa ... Show More
25m 30s
Nov 2022
Need to Know: Elon Musk at Twitter, Bob Iger’s return to Disney, FTX’s bankruptcy, and more, w/Reid & Bob
Reid Hoffman and Bob Safian sit down once more to discuss how today’s hot-button stories are impacting business. The co-hosts address the key trends that all entrepreneurs should be up to speed on, from the travails of Twitter to the triumphant return of Bob Iger. Featuring Pepsi ... Show More
33m 28s
May 2024
In conversation with Sam Altman
(0:00) Welcoming Sam Altman to the show! (2:28) What's next for OpenAI: GPT-5, open-source, reasoning, what an AI-powered iPhone competitor could look like, and more (21:56) How advanced agents will change the way we interface with apps (33:01) Fair use, creator rights, why OpenA ... Show More
1h 43m
Feb 2025
Silicon Valley OG shares crazy stories from Zynga early days + 3 business ideas
Episode 678: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Siqi Chen ( https://x.com/blader ), the founder of Runway.com. — Show Notes:  (0:00) Early days at Zynga  (14:34) Business ideas (52:18) Touchy-feely class (1:07:24) Siqi’s f ... Show More
1h 19m
Mar 2024
First Time Founders with Ed Elson – Could this AI Founder Replace Investment Bankers?
Ed speaks with Gabe Stengel, Co-founder and CEO of Rogo, about the potential for AI to disrupt the banking sector. They also discuss Gabe’s experience pitching his financial services AI company to VCs, the importance of willpower, and how he finds balance between work and his per ... Show More
43m 41s
Dec 2020
#134 - Why the Collectables Market is Booming, Ecommerce 3.0, and "Time Billionaire" Explained
Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) discuss: - Shaan and Sam catch up and talk about the interesting and strange ways that the podcast have affected their lives (3:00) - Sam breaks down interesting writing tools and questions why they are so successful (6:30) - Shaan ... Show More
56m 47s