Minus One

You Don't Need "Passion" to Build a $1B+ Company | Pilot CEO Waseem Daher

"I think the mission basically doesn't matter."Waseem Daher, CEO of Pilot (and South Park Commons alum), has a contrarian theory about what actually drives startup success—and it's not passion for the problem you're solving. Waseem joins General Partner Aditya Agarwal to unpack the real patterns behind building companies: why his "thinking time" after Dropbox was torture, why he believes passion is an output rather than an input, and why the conventional wisdom on hiring and delegation is dangerously wrong. Waseem Daher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher/Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyChapters:(00:00:37) - Intro(00:02:57) - Why mission doesn't matter(00:12:36) - Waseem’s miserable time after Dropbox(00:16:10) - Testing vs sitting around brainstorming(00:31:38) - The case for micromanagement(00:34:05) - How LLMs are changing company creation and scaling(00:37:42) - The mindset shift that makes startups energizing

Betting an Entire Company on AI, Bubble or Not | Render CEO Anurag Goel

What does it feel like to bet your company on AI when everyone's talking about a bubble?Anurag Goel, CEO of Render and former employee #8 at Stripe, joins SPC Partner Jonathan Brebner to share why he's going all-in on AI infrastructure. The SPC alum breaks down the honest debates happening inside his company, why vulnerability builds more trust than the "always confident" founder persona, and how random events (like his wife's grad school decision) led to his early days at Stripe.1. Anurag Goel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuragoel/2. Jonathan Brebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-brebner/3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply0:00:00 Intro0:00:27 How Anurag joined Stripe0:04:30 Silicon Valley “mythmaking”0:07:15 Can founders be vulnerable?0:09:00 His “Minus One” moment after Stripe0:15:45 Killing “good” ideas0:17:50 How Render unlocks developer productivity0:24:00 The AI bubble

How Asking ‘Why?’ Changes What You Build | Kunal Shah

Most things Kunal Shah says, turn into quotes that are shared across a cross-section of worlds — whether that is the startup and tech ecosystem, or simply among people looking to better understand human behaviour. First with FreeCharge and now with CRED, he has truly traversed a journey of what it means to build for as diverse and complex a market, as India.On Minus One, he shares why technology works best when it flows with human insight, why the best builders need to relentlessly keep asking “why?”, and what makes people truly aspire for something.Connect with us here:1. Kunal Shah- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/ 2. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/ 3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Timestamps: 00:00 Trailer01:17 Introduction03:47 Philosophy and Sales Shaping Perspectives06:48 Human Motivation and Product Success33:56 Key Traits for Startup Success41:46 Design and Aesthetics Matter47:26 Innovative Marketing55:48 Wealth, Health, and Business Success

From -1 to Meesho | Before the IPO | How Vidit Aatrey & Sanjeev Barnwal Built for Bharat

This is the story behind all the IPO headlines. In this episode of Minus One, Vidit Aatrey talks to Prateek Mehta about the high-conviction journey of building Meesho — from early uncertainty and brutal trade-offs to cracking scale in one of the hardest consumer markets in the world. We talk about why most startups fail to truly understand India, what Meesho got right (after getting a lot wrong), and the long game required to build something that actually lasts.This is the builder’s story — about patience, lifelong learning, and designing for realities…not fantasies.Connect with us here:1. Prateek Mehta: https://x.com/prateekmehta42.South Park Commons – https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons

How a $3 Trillion+ Company Thinks About AI | Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott

If there’s one person to listen to truly grasp the scale and intent of technology and where we’re headed, it’s Kevin Scott.The Microsoft CTO joins Aditya Agarwal to discuss navigating his Minus One days, the partnership with OpenAI, why the most valuable problems to solve are often the ones others ignore, and why building great things has never been easier, cheaper, or faster. Tune in now.Apply to SPC membership:https://airtable.com/appxDXHfPCZvb75qk/pagIZspLSFX7QrXcn/formConnect with us: 1. Kevin Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinscott/ 2. Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/ 00:00 Trailer01:34 Navigating Career Transitions and Impact07:35 Challenges and Insights for Entrepreneurs14:43 The Evolution and Future of AI28:42 The Grind of Startup Life34:11 Open Source vs. Closed Source Models46:49 Empowering the Next Generation with AI