Giant Ideas

"Run Towards Growth" Career Advice From ex-YC COO and Applied Intuition CEO Qasar Younis

Today, we're back for our FINAL episode before a 3 week summer break! We're back the first week of September.Today we're joined by Qasar Younis, co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition and former COO of Y Combinator, to talk about his life lessons & career advice.He speaks about:The rule he got from a Harvard professor: a mediocre person in a high-growth industry beats the best person in a mediocre oneThe most useful advice of his careerOptimising for the people you'll learn from over title and pay (at any cost)The four life-burners problem, and which one he switched offWorking seven days a week since he was 14, and what his routine is on the weekendWhy you can't become Nirvana by copying Kurt CobainThe three eras of Y Combinator, and why the old YC wouldn't work today"We Make Mistakes" — the only post he wrote as COO, and why it mattersBuilding a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

Applied Intuition CEO, Qasar Younis: Why He Raised ~$1B but Never Spent a Dollar

Today, we're joined by Qasar Younis, co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, a physical AI company valued at $15 billion that builds the models and simulation tools behind autonomous vehicles, defence systems, and industrial machines (before this, he was COO of Y Combinator).Tommy Stadlen talks to Qasar about why he thinks physical AI will define the next 25 years, and why Applied's ability to run the same models across cars, drones, and construction equipment is its biggest edge. They also get into how he thinks about fundraising and cap tables, and why he says not all money is equally useful.He speaks about:Why Applied Intuition has never spent a dollar of the ~$1 billion raisedCorporate VCs, multi-stage funds, and why the partner matters more than the firm nameWhy 85% of the global economy is physical (and why that's the real AI opportunity)Neural simulation, and how Applied trains one model to work in a car, a drone, and a tankWhy timing is the hardest thing for founders to get rightWhy he's not worried about self-driving safetyThe billion-machine vision (and why he still drives a 1987 manual Land Cruiser)Enjoy!Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

"I Think of It More as Seduction": CNN Host Fareed Zakaria, on the Art of the Interview

Today, we're back with Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, to talk about his lessons about how to do a great interview.Fareed Zakaria has interviewed people from presidents, dictators, and the Dalai Lama over three decades, live on air. Tommy Stadlen and Cameron McLain talk to Zakaria about the craft behind those conversations: why he treats an interview as seduction rather than confrontation, why Lee Kuan Yew is the most impressive guest he's ever had, and why the Dalai Lama was a tough interview.He speaks about:Why he avoids confrontation and treats interviews as seduction insteadThe Omar Bartov interview, and why he thinks a soft question made the conversation deeper than an accusation would haveWhy he rarely books politicians in power anymore (and regrets it most times he has)Lee Kuan Yew turning a "polyglot population" into a nation with no race riotsWhy the Dalai Lama was his hardest interview What AI leaves for humans once it becomes the better "analytic machine"Why he doubts there will be another CNNBuilding a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

CNN Host, Fareed Zakaria: Is the Post-War World Order Collapsing?

Today, we're joined by Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's flagship foreign affairs show and author of The Post-American World. Cameron McLain and Tommy Stadlen talk to Fareed about what the world could look like in 2040: why he believes the American-led order built in 1945 is dissolving, why he argues liberal democracy's issues are cultural rather than economic, and why he still thinks a coalition of the US, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore and India could keep a rules-based order alive.Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

"We Hire For Default Optimism": Deel Co-founder & CEO, Alex Bouaziz on Arsenal, His Father, and Video Games

Today, we're back with Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, to talk about his life lessons.Alex Bouaziz is the co-founder and CEO of Deel, the global payroll and HR platform he's grown from zero to a $17 billion business in just a few years. Tommy Stadlen talks to Alex about the mindset behind building Deel, from why he calls himself a "wartime CEO" to how a chance encounter on Reddit led to his first hire. Alex opens up about running the business alongside his father, why he thinks his generation's gaming habits made remote-first culture feel normal rather than crazy, and the moment of seeing Deel's logo on Arsenal shirts around London.Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.