TWiST ICYMI! DoorDash Co-Founder, Rory Sutherland returns, AI startups helping solve loneliness and dementia
Hello everybody!
Hope everyone is having a great unofficial start to Summer.
Here are the highlights from last week:
Monday (E1756) - Rory Sutherland joins for an unforgettable conversation covering many topics: modern work trends, Rory vs. ChatGPT, understanding the human brain, and more!
Tuesday (E1757) - Vistim Labs CEO James Hamet explains how his product uses AI to help diagnose dementia earlier, and Jason gives a talk at SALT iConnections New York.
Wednesday (E1758) - Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda discusses how her startup is using AI chatbots to help solve loneliness.
Friday (E1759) - LIVE from Angel Summit: DoorDash Co-Founder Stanley Tang tells his amazing founding story, then Jason moderates a first-time fund managers panel featuring Paige Doherty, Sophia Amoruso, and Kelli Fontaine.
Producer’s Picks:
Jon:
Last week was a lot of fun. We had a fantastic lineup with a wide range of guests, from Rory Sutherland to our panel of first-time fund managers at Angel Summit in Napa.
My favorite piece of content had to be Stanley Tang's fireside chat with Jason, which was recorded live at Angel Summit.
Stanley is one of DoorDash’s three Co-Founders and currently serves as Chief Product Officer.
The fireside chat was about 30 minutes long and absolutely packed with great stories and helpful insights, including:
DoorDash’s founding story (PaloAltoDelivery.com, first order completion, etc)
Some critical takeaways for founders from this talk:
validate your idea by TALKING TO CUSTOMERS (the founders met with dozens of local businesses in Palo Alto and the surrounding area to understand pain points)
build quickly (the team put together their first landing page in 2 hours which featured eight local restaurants)
further validate your idea by getting a product into your customers’ hands
and aim to do this BEFORE you raise money!
It’s an amazing conversation. Don’t miss it! (YouTube | Apple)
Brian:
The most standout episode from last week was E1756, which featured an almost two-hour conversation between Jason and Rory Sutherland.
Rory is a legend in the advertising field and has written several books on the topic of behavioral science and how the human decision-making process works.
What made this episode special was the range of topics they explored, the deep insights, and how every segment seamlessly led into the next!
Topics included:
understanding the impact of video conferencing going mainstream
discussing the profound impact that COVID had on tech adoption in general
exploring the behavioral science behind AI suggestions and how people tend to trust unconventional ideas from AI MORE than that of another humans
contemporary work trends and how the world can function while still prioritizing the workers
Rory is one of the most interesting TWiST guests of all-time! (YouTube | Apple)
Nick:
There was a really important discussion at the 1:01:17 mark of E1758 featuring Jason and Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda.
Eugenia’s startup is building AI chatbot software to help solve loneliness.
It’s a great interview, and Eugenia is an incredibly thoughtful founder.
In the final five minutes, the two discussed how COVID helped somewhat de-stigmatize AI companionship, because almost everybody was alone for an extended period of time.
Specifically, Eugenia pointed out that many people with disabilities or debilitating trauma have to live in some sort of isolation due to their physical or mental conditions.
She also mentioned that many Replika customers, who are seeking AI companionship, are people dealing with these exact conditions.
As someone who was initially a little confused by the idea of AI companionship and romance, it really made it clear to me how beneficial services like Replika could be for the people who truly need them. (YouTube | Apple)
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