In Depth
First Round
Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
23 snips
Sep 11, 2025 • 1h 9min
Saying yes to everything: How customer obsession built Samsara | Kiren Sekar (CPO)
Kiren Sekar, CPO of Samsara and an early leader at Meraki, shares insightful stories from his journey in tech. He reveals how customer feedback loops shaped their first product and why targeting mid-market was strategic. Kiren discusses the balance between scaling while maintaining a startup mindset and the importance of hiring for intrinsic motivation. The conversation also touches on the transformative role of AI in operational data and how essential partnerships have bolstered their growth in a competitive landscape.
28 snips
Sep 3, 2025 • 1h 12min
Starting an education giant in a “bad market” | ClassDojo’s story | Sam Chaudhary (Co-founder and CEO)
Sam Chaudhary, co-founder and CEO of ClassDojo, dives into the fascinating journey of building a communication platform embraced by millions. He discusses why focusing on consumers—teachers, students, and parents—was pivotal for success. Sam shares insights on growing the platform through word-of-mouth and the importance of a founder's mindset. He emphasizes relentless resourcefulness as key to navigating challenges, highlights the evolution of their products, and explores unique innovations like a safe online space for children.
42 snips
Aug 28, 2025 • 1h 6min
From Chrome extension to $5B platform | Postman’s journey | Abhinav Asthana (Co-founder & CEO)
Abhinav Asthana, Co-founder and CEO of Postman, reflects on his journey from creating a simple Chrome extension to leading a $5B platform for API collaboration. He shares insights on making the leap to Silicon Valley and realizing Postman’s potential. Abhinav discusses the importance of building community and balancing developer needs with effective product design. He also reveals early monetization experiments and the role of feedback in shaping their SaaS model, highlighting how a seamless developer experience can drive innovation.
57 snips
Aug 20, 2025 • 1h 4min
How Canva leveraged unconventional growth levers to grow to $42B | Cameron Adams (Co-founder & CPO)
Cameron Adams, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Canva, shares his journey from Google to launching a $42B design platform. He discusses how Canva turned social media managers into passionate advocates and the lessons of a quiet launch day. Adams also reveals two unconventional growth levers that transformed their strategy and the importance of community feedback in product development. His insights on balancing vision with scrappy execution illustrate the unique path Canva took to resonate with millions of users worldwide.
46 snips
Aug 14, 2025 • 1h 6min
Twitter's former CEO on rebuilding the web for AI | Parag Agrawal (Co-founder and CEO of Parallel)
Parag Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO of Parallel and former Twitter CEO, dives deep into the future of web infrastructure for AI. He discusses lessons learned from his Twitter days and why the web must evolve to serve AI efficiently. Agrawal highlights the importance of accuracy over speed in AI search, along with innovative API design for agent-friendly experiences. He also shares insights on hiring talent, the unique customer needs in tech, and how AI is reshaping roles in engineering. The conversation blends tech strategy with personal growth, offering a fresh perspective on AI's potential.
93 snips
Aug 6, 2025 • 1h 2min
Ignoring Silicon Valley advice to build a $3B fintech unicorn | Immad Akhund (Co-founder and CEO of Mercury)
Immad Akhund, CEO and co-founder of Mercury, a digital banking platform for startups, shares insights from his two-decade journey in entrepreneurship. He discusses the importance of strong product-market fit and the pitfalls of weak iterations. Immad also reveals Mercury's unique culture playbook that encourages intentional hiring and how trust was built during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis with the launch of Mercury Vault. His experiences highlight the need for endurance and transparency in navigating the fintech landscape.
23 snips
Aug 1, 2025 • 1h
Inside the ex-YC partner’s $15B self driving car company | Qasar Younis
Qasar Younis, co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, shares insights from his journey in the tech world. He discusses the undervalued traits of founders and reveals strategies to boost productivity by 1–3 months annually. The conversation dives into co-founder fit, lessons from Y Combinator, and how Applied Intuition developed a multi-product approach early on. Qasar also offers contrarian views on startup culture and the resurgence of domain expertise in tech, all while navigating the complex landscape of autonomous vehicles.
77 snips
Jul 24, 2025 • 1h 10min
What Braintrust got right about product-market fit | Ankur Goyal (Founder and CEO)
Ankur Goyal, Founder and CEO of Braintrust, shares his journey from dropping out of college to leading AI innovations. He discusses early lessons on software quality from MemSQL and the frustration that sparked Braintrust’s creation. Ankur reveals why they strategically delayed their market launch and dives into finding product-market fit in the AI landscape. He emphasizes that great software arises from a sense of 'paranoia,' highlighting the balance between skepticism and optimism in entrepreneurship.
50 snips
Jul 1, 2025 • 55min
How Gusto built a $9.5 billion company by identifying a burning problem
Tomer London, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Gusto, discusses his journey from helping in his father's clothing store to building a $9.5 billion payroll platform. He emphasizes the importance of hiring for humility and embracing customer rejection as a path to innovation. London shares insights on conducting scrappy customer research and why emotional urgency is crucial for product development. He reveals how Gusto evolved from payroll solutions to a multi-product platform, focusing on creating tools that truly resonate with small business owners.
43 snips
Jun 19, 2025 • 1h 41min
How rejecting conventional wisdom grew Sentry to a $3 billion company | David Cramer (Co-founder and CPO)
David Cramer, Co-founder and CPO of Sentry, made his journey from high school dropout to tech entrepreneur, creating an open-source error monitoring tool used by 90,000 companies. He shares how a single code snippet evolved into a $3 billion business. Cramer highlights the underrated power of open source, his obsession with excellence, and the importance of connecting with customers. He also offers insights on rethinking marketing strategies and competitive dynamics in the tech space, emphasizing that challenging conventions can lead to monumental success.
