During economic downturns, is it possible (or even wise) for startup entrepreneurs to deploy growth tactics? Will companies be able to secure funding? Should founders even consider starting a business during a bear market? "100%," says Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman. However, the specific ways startups approach high-growth strategies during high-risk economic environments is crucial, and it all depends on the leverage points they have over their competition. Hoffman and his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh discuss how entrepreneurs can assess their position in the market and take action to get them to the next phase of super-charged growth. You can read a transcript from this interview here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/reid-hoffman-bear-market-blitzscaling/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the short-lived hype of NFTs centered on static jpeg files, there are actually far more use cases that can be deployed for the technology. Omaha-based Pinata has developed a platform that enables web3 app builders to store, manage, and build more functionality into NFTs. Pinata CEO and co-founder Kyle Tut sat down with Greylock general partner Mike Duboe to discuss the company's inception, the current web3 ecosystem, and Pinata's ultimate goal of serving content at scale for NFT projects. You can read the transcript from this interview here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/pinata-getting-web3-creative-at-scale/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman in conversation with his Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh. In this episode (originally recorded in May 2022), Hoffman and Yeh discuss strategies for entrepreneurs to navigate crises - whatever that may mean at the given time. Entrepreneurship assumes an innate degree of optimism and perseverance. But even the most determined founders can feel subdued when faced with yet another crisis. That’s why adaptability is a startup’s strongest asset. As recent global events push us into a new era of market volatility and economic uncertainty, companies must be prepared to recalibrate their business to the new reality. Whether that means pausing their hiring plans, tempering their expansion efforts, redirecting resources, or any other number of operational activities, today’s startup leaders should have a set of defensive and offensive tactics they can quickly deploy during times of crisis. You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/crisis-management/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A re-broadcast of our episode featuring Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman sharing the speech he gave at the 2022 Commencement of Vanderbilt University. Hoffman discusses several key moments in his personal and professional life, including his initial foray into entrepreneurship, and the role his friends have played. As he says, "The most impactful lessons that shaped my perspective, decisions, and ultimately the actions I took came from friends." You can read the transcript of this speech here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/reid-hoffman-the-importance-of-friendship/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greylock general partner Saam Motamedi talks with Snorkel AI CEO and co-founder Alex Ratner. As more enterprise organizations have recognized the utility of artificial intelligence technology, there's been a major push to invest in and adopt new AI and ML infrastructure to drive insights and make predictions for businesses. However, many of these solutions lack the mechanism to unlock and operationalize the data needed to train and deploy models for high quality AI projects. That pain point spawned the creation of Snorkel AI, which has developed an end-to-end data-centric machine learning platform for the enterprise.Putting the capabilities to build impactful AI in the hands of more people has been Snorkel's goal since its inception. The company spun out of Stanford's AI Lab in 2019 and has been partnered with Greylock since 2020, and just released a new set of tools that enables enterprise organizations to put foundation models to use. You can read a transcript of this conversation here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/jumpstarting-data-centric-ai/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are millions of entrepreneurs running small retail businesses in Latin America. While they may differ in the types of products sold or specific customers they target, the challenges they face in everyday operations are common. From low credit card penetration to poor visibility into shipping logistics and pricing, the various difficulties often boil down to a singular issue: lack of data. Brazil-based Inventa has been working to change that. The company’s digital marketplace steps in to fill the gaps left by the outdated modes of phone calls, paper catalogs, and in-person trade shows where much of LatAm retail commerce takes place. Greylock general partner and Inventa board member Mike Duboe talks with Inventa CEO and co-founder Marcos Salama about the company's strategy, explosive growth, and vision for the future of commerce in Latin America. You can read a transcript of this conversation here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/inventa-supplying-commerce-connections/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Audio version of Greylock investor Seth Rosenberg's essay "Bringing DeFi Lending Mainstream," read by Greylock's head of editorial Heather Mack. Crypto hype and speculation got us into the current chaotic winter. But the core infrastructure remains, and is still ripe for the innovation that will take us into the next crypto summer. There are many real use cases across financial services that can not only usher us into a more secure, inclusive, and efficient financial system, but also return trust and ownership to those for whom crypto was created in the first place – the users. Rosenberg unpacks the use case of defi lending to illustrate how this can be done. You can read the essay here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/bringing-defi-lending-mainstream/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha and Steve Stone, the company's newly appointed head of its research department Zero Labs, sat down with MarketWatch reporter (and Greymatter guest host) Jon Swartz to discuss an inescapable fact of business life: Cyber attacks. They happen to pretty much everyone, but whether a company is prepared to recover from it depends on multiple factors, from their level of understanding of the risk to the data protection tools they have at their disposal. Most aren't: A recent survey conducted by Zero Labs found 92% of security and IT leaders don't feel confident they could carry on business if they experience a cyber attack. What's more, about a third of organizations surveyed said a cyber attack led to a leadership change, and many reported a misalignment between IT and security teams. Bipul, Steve, and Jon discuss the more findings from the report and outline how companies can protect their organizations. You can read a transcript of this conversation here: https://greylock.com/firm-news/building-cybersecurity-confidence/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While there may be plenty of discussion about the disparity between funding for women-led startups and those led by men, women still receive just 2% of all venture capital funding. And yet, many women are still finding success as entrepreneurs. How? CNBC Senior Media & Technology reporter Julia Boorstin dug into the stories of women entrepreneurs founding, funding, and running companies, and uncovered a variety of smart tactics and approaches. Those stories and the data are shared in her new book, "When Women Lead." Julia spoke with Greylock marketing partner Elisa Schreiber in front of a live, female-majority audience as part of Greylock's Iconversations speaker series. You can watch a video from the interview here: https://youtu.be/7moBNBLIVMA You can read a transcript here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/julia-boorstin-when-women-lead/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman and Greylock general partner Reid Hoffman discuss the strategy behind the company's data-driven, online marketplace where people can rent or buy clothing. Rent the Runway launched in 2009 with the mission to democratize fashion. Over the years, the company has evolved significantly, keeping up with the many major shifts to the retail and e-commerce industries overall. From the rise of mobile and the increasingly outside influence of social media on shopping, to changes in consumer preferences from subscription models or in-person experiences, and, of course the multifaceted impact of the pandemic on shopping, Rent the Runway has continuously adapted. Rent the Runway went public in 2021 and today works with hundreds of designers. You can watch the video of this interview here: https://youtu.be/T06qHdl1sI0 You can read the transcript here: https://greylock.com/greymatter/designed-by-data/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices