Challenges and Opportunities in Infrastructure Startups

This week, Chuck and special guest co-host Aaron Francis talk with Guillermo Rauch live from React Miami. From early days at Zeit to founding Vercel and launching Next.js, Guillermo shares stories of scaling infrastructure, creating developer-centric products, and navigating startup challenges. They dive into how AI is transforming the web, why thoughtful product expansion matters, and the frameworks guiding Vercel’s future.

In this episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:54) - Rum review and rating: Fleur de Caña 18
• (04:31) - Every company is now a tech company
• (11:35) - The early days from Zeit to Vercel
• (19:03) - Vercel's approach to cybersecurity
• (23:53) - How Vercel decides what features and products to pursue
• (29:32) - Wins, misses, and wild ideas
• (45:51) - What drives Guillermo today
• (50:00) - Growing up in Argentina
• (52:05) - Boca or River?
• (54:21) - Guillermo’s surprising Laravel take
• (01:02:32) - If not tech, what would Guillermo do instead?
• (01:06:50) - Plugs

Links

• Fleur de Caña 18: https://www.flordecana.com/
• Vercel: https://vercel.com/
• Socket: https://socket.io/
• Next.js: http://nextjs.org/
• Django: https://www.djangoproject.com/
• React: https://react.dev/
• WordPress: https://wordpress.org
• Kubernetes: https://kubernetes.io/
• v0: https://v0.dev/
• Twilio: https://www.twilio.com/
• Docusign: https://www.docusign.com/
• Jeff Bezos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos
• Uber: https://www.uber.com/
• Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/
• Washio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washio_(company)
• The Jetsons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jetsons
• Lars Grammel: https://x.com/lgrammel
• Jared Palmer: https://x.com/jaredpalmer
• AI SDK: https://ai-sdk.dev/
• Pokemon: https://www.pokemon.com/
• Game Boy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy
• Boca Juniors: https://www.bocajuniors.com.ar/
• River Plate: https://www.cariverplate.com.ar/
• Taylor Otwell: https://x.com/taylorotwell
• Laravel: https://laravel.com/
• Codex CLI: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11096431-openai-codex-cli-getting-started
• Waymo: https://waymo.com/
• Node: https://nodejs.org/
• Bun: https://bun.sh/
• Deno: https://deno.com/
• Dax: https://x.com/thdxr/
• Balseiro Institute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balseiro_Institute
• Grand Theft Auto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto
• Call of Duty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty

Connect with Guillermo

• Website: https://rauchg.com/
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/rauchg

Connect with Chuck and Robbie

• Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
• Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd

Subscribe and stay in touch

• Website: https://whiskey.fm
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

Whiskey Web and Whatnot Merch

Enjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.