In this conversation, Mat Sherman interviews Simp4Satoshi of Truffle. Topics covered include:

• Discussion of Truffle, a device for local inference tied to humanoid robotics and personal intelligence.
• Insights from a unique upbringing in the Middle East and its impact on a technology journey.
• Future of AI agents surpassing human economies and using cryptocurrency primarily.
• Criticism of Sam Altman and OpenAI, calling him the “Antichrist” of Silicon Valley.
• Critique of Y Combinator and the tech industry’s meritocracy, highlighting self-dealing.
• Emphasis on the need for a catalyst to disrupt the current landscape and foster true innovation.

In this conversation, Mat Sherman and Vidy Thatte discuss the journey of building various products, the challenges faced in startups, and the impact of AI on creativity and storytelling. Vidy shares insights on his experiences with different projects, the evolution of his ideas, and the importance of learning to code in the age of AI. They also explore the future of AI in creative industries and the potential shift in how we perceive characters in storytelling.

Peter Costa is the cofounder of Baltu. Their mission is to empower workers in the modern economy by upskilling the worker, and accelerate the development of a skilled workforce.

Katelyn's Bio

Katelyn is an investor and entrepreneur. Katelyn is the founder and Managing Director of Avalanche VC, an early-stage venture firm investing early in companies enabling decentralization and empowerment, focusing on how people earn, learn, and own.  

She is also a founder and board member of Delivery Associates, the leading public sector advisory firm implementing technology and large-scale reform worldwide. 

Constantly curious, she has invested in and advised funds, companies, and entrepreneurs who are building companies behind trends that are obviously the future. She has lived and worked globally, including in London, San Francisco, Lagos, and Lahore. Katelyn grew up in Minneapolis and now can frequently be found in New York City and Seattle.

Previously, she co-founded and served as the Managing Director of Pearson Ventures (prior PALF), a $65M venture fund that invests in global EdTech companies. At Pearson, Katelyn served on the board of SPARK schools, APEC schools, Avanti, HarukaEDU, and Omega Schools. She also co-founded the Global Schools Forum, a trade organization for private schools in emerging markets. Katelyn also led the strategy and implementation of Pearson’s global efficacy agenda and was on the founding team of the FT125 Club, a division of the Financial Times. 

Katelyn is a member of Duke University's Learning Innovation Advisory Council, helping Duke imagine the future of learning both on-campus and online.

Katelyn started as a consultant at McKinsey in San Francisco, serving technology companies and large financial institutions. She worked on credit market sustainability with the World Economic Forum and presented at the Annual Meeting in Davos in 2011.

Amy Cheetham is a partner at Costanoa Ventures.

Amy's Bio
Before joining Costanoa, I ran North American sales strategy and operations at Zuora, a public enterprise software company. Prior to that, I spent three years investing in growth stage technology companies at Summit Partners, where my investments included Podium, InfoArmor (acq. AllState), and onXmaps. I began my career on Wall Street, working at JP Morgan where I spent time as a technology investment banker and as a cash equities trader focused on biotechnology and financial services.

David Paul is the CEO and a founding member of DWP Capital. For more than seven years, Mr. Paul has been actively engaged in growth equity and venture capital investing, primarily in software and tech-enabled services.

In 2016, he joined Canal Partners (2016-2020), a multi-family office specializing in growth capital opportunities, after working at seed-stage venture fund Tallwave Capital as an Associate (2015-2016). During his five-year tenure at Canal Partners, he was jointly responsible for software investing. In addition, he was one of two lead partners for seven investments, serving on the board of directors of 6 companies. Mr. Paul left Canal Partners in 2020 to focus his time on his other investment interests, including DWP Capital.

David started DWP Capital in January of 2021. This investment vehicle focuses on investing in Seed and early Series A stage companies technology companies.

David received his B.A. from Springfield College in 2009 (Cum Laude) and his MBA from Northeastern University in 2013. He is a Trustee of the Linda Tuero Foundation and a Board Member of Social Venture Partners Phoenix. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife, Stacy.

 Amy Ouzoonian is the cofounder of MoodConnect. MoodConnect's vision is to create healthy, enjoyable work environments where employees and businesses can grow as a team, together.

Chris Bakke is the founder of Laskie. Laskie runs the job search for you. Apply once and get matched with jobs that meet your requirements at companies that want to interview you.

Graham & Walker were two unstoppable leaders that made history, and with us, exponentially more will do the same. In 1963, Katharine Graham was the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. And sixty years before, Madam C.J. Walker went from founder to the first-ever self-made female millionaire. Like our inspirations taught us: underrepresented doesn’t mean unworthy. It just means underestimated. Learn more here --> https://grahamwalker.com/

Leslie Omaña Begert is the cofounder of FabuLingua. FabuLingua is a language learning app for kids that combines the latest advancements in language acquisition sciences to teach your child Spanish or other languages (coming soon!) in a way that is fun, interactive, captivating and inspirational.

Christian Besenbruch is the founder of Deep Render. By developing the next generation of compression technology using AI, we’re here to completely rethink, reshape and revolutionize what’s possible.

Nicole Tj is the founder of Travis.  Travis is the best way for travelers to plan, book and earn through social recommendations. 

Adam Laor is the cofounder of Sinatra. Sinatra is building a platform for the hospitality industry.

Hunter Bjork is the cofounder of ISA. ISA develops new sources of power that enable users to become energy independent.

Andrew Hutton is the founder of Day One. Day One provides you with the connections, education, support, and confidence to supercharge your path forward as an entrepreneur.

Madison Savilow is the founder of Oco. Oco provides low-carbon material solutions to consumer product brands and helps them take steps towards reaching their ambitious, world-saving climate goals.

Yash Kothari is the founder of Kindred Minds. Kindred minds provides live group sessions designed by experts to tackle life’s challenges and live aligned with what matters most.

Carl Palme is the founder of Boundless Robotics (maker of Annaboto). They're on a mission to enable anyone, anywhere to grow at least 5% of their food at home, effortlessly.

Abubakar Sial is the founder of OctiLearn. OctiLearn is an integrated learning ecosystem with personalized learning pathways.

Andrea Orrego is the founder of Atelier. Atelier connects high-quality and planet-conscious makers to design-savvy users who want to create their own interior design projects and we do it all in an interactive design app and marketplace!

Arham Habib is the founder of VO2. VO2 is new fan engagement platform that turns sports teams from observers to stakeholders in their favorite teams and athletes. 

Peter Difilippantonio is the founder of CarLocity. CarLocity is an anonymous car shopping service focused on transforming the car dealership sales experience into an enjoyable buying experience.

Jordan is the founder of CryoCase. The CryoCase is a case that gets colder in the sun instead of hotter. Utilizing the blackbody effect, the CryoCase uses radiative cooling to dissipate heat into the vacuum of space.

Viola Carmona is the founder of Champion Lender. Champion Lender is addressing the loan gap with a two-sided solution. HOME stands for Home Ownership & Mortgage Education; it is a dual-platform, total home buying/refinancing solution that reduces denials in underwriting.

Alex Shapiro is the cofounder and CEO of CanMonkey. CanMonkey is streamlining waste management for your properties. Through their app-enabled network of CanRunner’s. We ensure trash cans are moved to the curb and back promptly on collection day.

Dmitry Kiryukhin is the cofounder of CleverFleet. CleverFleet is an EoR/payroll platform where businesses of all sizes from anywhere in the world can easily onboard remote specialists from Ukraine, pay them and be compliant with local laws.

Jordan Plows is the founder of LightAI. LightAI makes understanding, translating and reviewing code blazingly fast

Kashif Ali is the founder of DAO Helper. DAO Helper is an open platform to create courses for the Web3 community.

Justin Clegg is the founder of Allset. Allset makes it easy for businesses to automate payments, unlock revenue, build an online presence and much more.

More On Justin Clegg (According to LinkedIn)
Justin is an entrepreneurially minded business leader with experience in software as a service. He co-founded three Silicon Valley startups and was selected by The Guardian as a rising star in AI and conversational commerce. Prior to startups Justin led product and marketing efforts for Fortune 500 software companies including Intel, Oracle, and Adobe.

Justin Clegg has studied, lived and operated in a variety of international locations including Singapore, China, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mozambique and New Delhi and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French and conversational Hindi. He has been profiled by VentureBeat, Deseret News and Entrepreneur.com and is a frequent public speaker. In his spare time, Justin enjoys playing indoor soccer, tennis and mountain biking. 

Tyler Tringas is the GP and founder of The Calm Company Fund. He's building an ecosystem of founders and funders of profitable, sustainable, calm businesses.

Mai Shimada is the founder of Isha Health. Isha Health enables online ketamine assisted therapy with a team of licensed clinicians.

Hiring problems? Check out Recruit.so. Thanks for sponsoring this episode.

Johannes Cortez is the cofounder of Gamer Points. Gamer Points is a a platform where you can play your favorite video games and earn crypto by doing so through ads. No NFTs, scholarships, managers, and crypto needed.

Hiring problems? Check out Recruit.so. Thanks for sponsoring this episode.

Jürgen Pretsch is the founder cofounder of Relocate. Relocate is the first independent marketplace for global migration. Navigate the complex web of immigration with a north star and compass.

Thanks to Recruit.so for sponsoring this podcast. If you're having a hard time hiring developers, you need to check out Recruit.so.

Geoffrey See is the founder of POKO. POKO helps you pool capital, deploy capital and manage your communities effortlessly.

Dylan Rose is the cofounder of Evergreen. Their low power device mines cryptocurrency using upcycled hard drives. It's simple to use and  features dApps from the Chia, Bitcoin lightening, and Akash ecosystems.

Collin Tayor is the cofounder and CEO of Revolute Robotics. Revolute builds the ultimate inspection and surveillance tool for confined spaces and complex environments.

Soner is the founder of PONS. PONS`s AI-driven mobile Ultrasound will allow for continuous monitoring of patients no matter where they are, not only on the surface of the skin but also deep inside the body.

George Oni is the founder of Ancillary. Ancillary enables anyone to start, raise & manage a fund to trade stocks, crypto, options & more.

This episode of FTF is sponsored by Recruit.so. With Recruit.so, hire pre-vetted ex-YC engineers in days, not weeks.

Manni Okim is the founder of Locoom. Loocum's cloud-based technology enables healthcare professionals find work they love and healthcare facilities fill vacancies and open shifts easily.

This episode is sponsored by Journey.io. Ditch your memo, Loom, and pitch deck and just use Journey to tell your story instead.

Laila Chima is the cofounder of Winter. Winter helps businesses sell NFTs with a credit card.

This episode of FTF is sponsored by Recruit.so. With Recruit.so, hire pre-vetted ex-YC engineers in days, not weeks.

Setsabile Mkhabela  is the founder of Boast ID. They make it easier for Brands, Creatives and social impact initiatives to gain access to their markets and the necessary tools to sell their items.

This episode is sponsored by Journey.io. Ditch your memo, Loom, and pitch deck and just use Journey to tell your story instead. 

Emmanuel Ndifor is the founder of Skilbi. Skilbi has made it simple for anyone to intentionally connect with students seeking career guidance.

Have a website that doesn't look amazing? Change that by reaching out to Anebi over at Eikon Labs to help make your brand pop and website convert. 

Liam Gerada is the founder of Krepling. Krepling’s platform empowers your brand to sell online and in-person, powering payments for subscriptions, digital products, marketplaces, and everything the world of e-commerce has to offer.

This episode is sponsored by recruit.so. They help you recruit engineers who deliver. 

Kaben Clauson is a cofounder of Pigeon Loans. Pigeon Loans is a private place to create, import, or keep track of loans you make with friends, family & loved ones. 

In this video, I do an analysis on the conversation between Jason Calacanis and Del Johnson that happened on April 2nd, 2022. More context in the the podcast.

Kojo Osei is a partner at Matrix Partners.

A Little More On Kojo (from the Matrix website)

I grew up in Accra, Ghana’s commercial capital known for its bustling street markets. My mother was an entrepreneur who ran a small retail business. She was the first entrepreneur I worked with. From her, I learned that doing what you love leads to persistence and ultimately, success.

In college, I fell in love with math and computer science. I was drawn to programming as a way to turn imagination into reality. I bought in fully to the promise of technology as a tool to solve hard problems. Espresso-fueled late-night coding sessions were common. That and squash round robins were the twin pillars of my college years.

After college, I turned down a corporate job to join a startup called Sirona as the first employee and founding engineer. After building our initial product and early engineering team I took on the challenge of building out a product organization as Head of Product. At Sirona, we built managed cloud infrastructure and machine learning workflows for radiology clinics. Building critical infrastructure and innovating with our users every day was a highlight of my career.

My startup experience at Sirona gave me a deep appreciation for the founder journey and influenced how I approach investing. I look for founders who radically challenge the status quo and have the self-awareness to chart a practical path to their vision.

Zach Roseman is the founder of Draftboard. Draftboard is where companies publicly post what referral bonus they'll pay for a new hire and Scouts (referrers) compete to earn that referral bonus by scouring their networks for the best talent available.

Philo Hermans is the founder of Unlock. With Unlock, Set yourself free from billing and logistics so you can focus on building software instead of packaging, versioning, and distributing products to your customers.

Elizabeth Dell is the founder of Amorus. Amorus makes delicious relationships more private, more engaged and more inspired!

JT Garwood is the cofounder of bttn. bttn helps hospitals, medical offices, dental clinics, home health care, surgery centers, and other healthcare professionals lower their medical supply bills a lot.