Mike Krieger is the Co-founder and former CTO of Instagram and recently joined Anthropic as Chief Product Officer. He joined Aditya to discuss how he's navigated the repeated -1 to 0 phases of his career and how he went from founding one of the biggest social apps of the mobile generation to joining one of the most exciting companies of the AI generation.

Lindsay Kaplan is the Co-founder & Chief Branding Officer at Chief, the world’s largest network of senior women executives. She joined us in person at SPC-NYC to share how her experience leading marketing at Casper and other high growth startups led to the creation of Chief from the ground up—and why maximizing leadership impact for women in the 21st century is a worthwhile investment.

How did Mark Zuckerberg turn Facebook into Meta? Why does he think open source is the future of AI? And how has he maintained a Minus One mindset at his founder-led company? SPC Partners (and early Facebook employees) Ruchi Sanghvi and Aditya Agarwal interviewed Mark at SPC-SF to get the candid answers. Listen for a deep dive into how the early Facebook team operated, how Mark has kept his company at the cutting edge of innovation, and why the most important variable of success is the people you build with.

As the former CEO of Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2018, Lloyd Blankfein was a main character in the most eventful economic period of recent history. Alongside our hosts, he opens up about what it took to steer his ship through choppy waters and how to build a durable culture amidst existential fear. In true Minus One fashion, he also shares his frameworks for how he’s thinking about what’s next for him after Goldman Sachs.

As a two-time Olympic gold medal winning decathlete, Ashton Eaton is one of the few people who ever held a legitimate claim to the title "most athletic person in the world." After retiring from professional athletics, he joined South Park Commons to navigate his career transition. With the 2024 Olympics kicking off, we were honored to have him join us to talk about what it takes to be the best in the world—and what the best in the world do when it's time to figure out what's next.

Mike Schroepfer is the Co-founder of climate tech fund Gigascale Capital and the former CTO of Facebook. He joined SPC in person to share how he went from leading technology at the world's biggest social network to investing in climate tech—and why he thinks tackling climate change is such a massive business opportunity.

Kevin McCarthy, former Republican Congressman from California and Speaker of the US House of Representatives, shares how he unexpectedly found himself at Minus One after reaching the highest congressional office, what it takes to make a career in politics, and why changing incentives is key to reforming the increasingly toxic US political culture.

Few people have thought as much about finding and cultivating talent than Tyler Cowen. The economist, prolific author, and Co-founder of Emergent Ventures (still one person) joined us to share how he thinks about identifying talented individuals at the earliest stages (like, say, -1) and channeling those people toward impactful work.

SPC founder Ruchi interviewed Jessica Lessin live for the story on how she decided to found a media company in the age of AI, journalism's relationship with tech, and a lot more. Jessica is the founder and CEO of The Information, the publication known for original, in-depth reporting about technology and business. In eight years, Lessin has grown The Information into one of the largest subscription journalism communities in the world, attracting an influential audience of business leaders globally. Lessin has covered Silicon Valley and the technology industry for almost two decades and was previously a reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal.

Serial founder and prolific investor Reid Hoffman shares the winding journey that took him from the PayPal mafia to founding LinkedIn to investing in an AI-native future.

SPC alum and Cognition AI Co-founder Scott Wu shares how he went from gold medal winning competitive programmer to founding an AI lab that automates coding, how to know when it's time to move on from an idea, and what AI agents will be capable of in the near future.

Imbue Co-founder and SPC alum Kanjun Qiu shares her journey from Dropbox to becoming a founder, why she thinks play is a key part of human and AI agency, and how community has played a key role in her journey and perspective on AI.

Duolingo Co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn shares his journey from creating CAPTCHA, founding a multi-billion dollar language learning app, and how his company produced their delightfully unhinged mascot.

Scott Belsky, Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer & EVP of Design & Emerging Products (and previous Co-founder at Behance), joined us in NYC. Find out why Scott believes the intersection of design, technology & business converges on some of the most important problems worth solving today.

Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang shares how he navigated the existential angst of early company building to emerge as a leader in AI infrastructure. He shares insights on the brewing US-China AI race and offers provocative opinions on how the next generation of AI companies will need to compete and win.

During his three-decade career in academia, Niall Ferguson has explored the critical inflection points that have shaped the course of history — and the future it continues to inform.

In this conversation, hosted by Aditya Agarwal and Jonathan Brebner, he delves into why we may be living through a civilizational minus one, how history leaves subtle traces of what’s to come, the rise of AI, and much more.

Connect with us here:

1. Niall Ferguson- https://x.com/nfergus

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://x.com/adityaag

3. Jonathan Brebner- https://x.com/JPBrebner

4. South Park Commons- https://x.com/southpkcommons

00:00 Trailer

00:59 Introduction

02:02 Civilizational -1

05:33 Warfare

08:45 Media and history

13:05 Tech doesn't want the past

17:26 Our awesomeness knows no bounds

19:34 Narrativizing your personal history

26:55 Big moves framework

33:22 Institutions

37:15 Artificial general intelligence

39:52 Vision for the future

45:30 Outro

In this episode of Minus One, Vinod Khosla joins Aditya Agarwal to reflect on his four-decade journey shaping Silicon Valley.

They discuss making high-conviction bets, why the team you build becomes the company you build, Khosla’s first investment in OpenAI, and why he is convinced that AGI sits among us now.

Connect with us here:

1. Vinod Khosla- https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-khosla-65387416/
2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/
3. South Park Commons – https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

00:00 Trailer

00:58 Introduction

01:53 Aligned values

07:59 The early conviction

11:29 Did Silicon Valley lost its edge?

14:46 10x better

16:21 Top down or bottoms up

19:45 What does a great investor look like

23:17 What's not going well

25:41 AI and a belief system

38:23 AGI and the future generation

40:46 Reasoning model

46:55 Consequences of success

49:24 Questions and answers

55:57 Outro

In this episode of Minus One, Aditya Agarwal and Jonathan Brebner sit down with Blake Scholl, who went from Groupon product leader to founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic, to discuss his pursuit of reviving supersonic travel.

With a vision to make high-speed air travel accessible to millions, Scholl is working to bring back a capability many believed was lost after the Concorde era.

They explore the key factors in building a legacy company (hint: it’s not funding or technology), Boom’s pivotal challenges—and how he continues to push forward, and the “slacker index”.

Connect with us here:

1. Blake Scholl- https://x.com/bscholl

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://x.com/adityaag

3. Jonathan Brebner- https://x.com/JPBrebner

4. South Park Commons – https://x.com/southpkcommons

00:00 Trailer

01:56 Introduction

05:46 From Amazon to supersonic flight

09:39 Overcoming challenges and fear of failure

16:44 The importance of shorter gratification cycles

23:35 Storytelling in hard tech

25:09 Building a dream team

27:42 Lessons learned in progress

29:52 Building our own jet engines

38:53 Challenging conventional wisdom

44:01 Inspiration and legacy

45:55 Future plans

While he hardly needs an introduction, few leaders have shaped the future of technology quite like Satya Nadella.

He stepped into Microsoft’s top job at a catalytic moment—making bold bets on the cloud, embedding AI into the fabric of computing, all while staying true to Microsoft’s vision of becoming a “software factory.”

In this conversation with Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi, Satya discusses:

• his approach to building early at Microsoft and why we all need to continue “refounding”

• the future of AI and why critical thinking will remain at a premium

• Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, his vision for quantum, and more

Connect with us here:

1. Satya Nadella – https://x.com/satyanadella

2. Ruchi Sanghvi – https://x.com/rsanghvi

3. Aditya Agarwal – https://x.com/adityaag

4. South Park Commons – https://x.com/southpkcommons

00:00 Trailer

00:57 Introduction

02:03 Joining Microsoft

06:39 Culture and relevance

11:21 Winning and not winning

17:37 Making that turnaround happen

22:30 Contrarian leadership belief

23:35 Investments in startups

27:33 Foundation models

31:07 Artificial intelligence

36:32 The future

40:39 Quantum computing

44:53 Multiverse

45:33 The next generation

50:10 Being competitive

52:34 Outro

This episode was produced and distributed by our friends at Atomik Growth: https://atomikgrowth.com/

Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures and 8-time Midas List investor, sees the next wave of breakout brands emerging at the intersection of shifting consumer behavior, novel business models, and technological inflection points.

In this conversation with Ruchi Sanghvi, she unpacks the investment frameworks behind early bets on companies like Warby Parker and Glossier—breaking down structural shifts that fueled their scale. They explore:

• AI’s role in reshaping consumer distribution and brand-building

• the enduring mechanics of advertising and its evolution across platforms

• the biggest misconceptions about early-stage consumer investing

• what defines the next generation of category-defining brands

Connect with us here:

1. Kirsten Green – https://x.com/kirstenagreen

2. Ruchi Sanghvi – https://x.com/rsanghvi

3. South Park Commons – https://x.com/southpkcommons

This episode was produced and distributed by our friends at Atomik Growth: https://atomikgrowth.com/

00:00 Trailer

00:56 Introduction

02:25 Humble beginnings

05:12 Vague misconceptions

07:44 Consumer AI direction

11:43 How to win in consumer AI

18:32 Where is distribution now

22:49 "What caught your attention?"

24:45 The problems and the solution

27:35 Consumer traction and engagement

30:50 Giving venture the finger?

34:06 Counterintuitive Traits of Founders

37:03 Effective channels and connections

39:53 Business of saying no

41:49 Agents

43:04 Search experience

44:09 Education and healthcare economy

46:36 Physical personalization

48:31 Healthcare and social

51:55 Key roles

54:51 Outro

From launching Ola as a ride-hailing startup to expanding into EVs, AI, and now a third shot at food delivery, Bhavish Aggarwal has remained in relentless “founder mode.”

He dives into the mental models that shaped his journey, how he processes failure, and his vision for India’s deep-tech future.

Connect with us here:

1. Bhavish Aggarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavishaggarwal/

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/

4. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

The production and distribution of this episode were managed by our friends at Atomik Growth.

(00:00) Trailer

(00:55) Introduction

(01:55) The chaos of building Ola

(06:36) Rebels start companies

(10:21) Leadership and Indian tech

(16:48) Rationale instinct

(21:30) Intelligence, consciousness, philosophies

(25:40) How Krutrim fits in

(33:13) Founders struggles

(36:33) Indian ethos is still growing

(43:13) Impact in business and personal life

(47:46) Authentic execution, zero BS

(55:33) Outro

Tarun Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy, joins Prateek Mehta, to unpack how Ather lived the “minus one” philosophy. By taking risks, locking in on what they truly wanted to build for the next 10 years, and then proceeding to just doing it - with India’s first smart electric scooter.

Connect with us here:

1. Tarun Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarunsmehta/

2. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

Facebook’s early culture was chaotic, fun, and fueled by a belief that "you can just do things."

Andrew Bosworth, Meta CTO, joins Aditya Agarwal to revisit that foundational energy. He covers the creation of News Feed, the grit behind the pivot to mobile, and how Meta is tackling long-term hardware innovation for the AR/VR future.

Apply to SPC membership -https://airtable.com/appxDXHfPCZvb75qk/pagIZspLSFX7QrXcn/form

Connect with us here:

1. Andrew Bosworth - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-bosworth-8247a01/

2. Aditya Agarwal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons - https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

Balaji Srinivasan, angel investor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Network State, joins Aditya Agarwal on Minus One to challenge prevailing assumptions about global tech and opportunity.

Connect with us here:

1. Balaji Srinivasan- https://x.com/balajis

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

00:00 Trailer

00:59 Introduction

02:07 Building Counsyl

03:40 The science and math

08:45 Founder energy

12:38 Funding opportunities

16:47 Geographical connectivity

23:47 Recentralize tech

26:21 Millionaire migration

33:07 Outside success

39:08 Outro

In this episode of Minus One, host Dylan Itzikowitz sits down with Roblox’s chief blocksmith to trace a minus one to zero prototype that evolved into a full blown digital economy, now serving more than 100M DAUs.

Connect with us here:

1. David Baszucki- https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbaszucki/

2. Dylan Itzikowitz- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanitzikowitz/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

00:00 Trailer

01:06 $275M Fund III

01:56 Two-year "minus one"

05:32 Platform of creation

06:59 More than lifestyle

08:03 Motivation = obsession?

09:09 Investing in growth

10:45 Virality hack

14:44 Building an ecosystem

20:32 Roblox in education

21:30 Building for all ages

22:48 Dress to Impress

24:58 Augmented and virtual reality

27:09 Non-boring AI

30:26 Safety and mental health

33:21 Vibrant economy

34:32 Founders should build

37:05 Q&A

57:32 Outro

What unfolds when those who imagine the future sit across from those building it?

In this special SPC panel, worlds converge. Sci-fi legends Neal Stephenson and Ken Liu join visionary investor Cyan Banister and researcher Joscha Bach to explore how narratives shape reality, how fiction becomes a roadmap, and how builders and dreamers influence each other across time.

Connect with us here:

1. Neal Stephenson- https://x.com/nealstephenson

2. Ken Liu- https://x.com/kyliu99

3. Cyan Banister- https://x.com/cyantist

4. Joscha Bach- https://x.com/Plinz

5. Cristian Cibils Bernardes- https://x.com/life_of_ccb

6. Jonathan Brebner- https://x.com/JPBrebner

7. South Park Commons- https://x.com/southpkcommons

00:00 Trailer

01:03 Introduction

04:25 AI and nuclear tech parallel

10:26 Progress. Disappointing? Significant?

13:31 The present and the future

17:04 Wrong specifics, right methodology

25:13 Satire and reality

33:14 World building

40:19 Parallels and perpendiculars

44:19 Artificial general intelligence

54:02 Searching for something not forward-looking

57:20 Understanding consciousness

1:04:08 Lightning round

1:14:13 Outro

In conversation with Aditya Agarwal, Adam D’Angelo reflects on his early days at Facebook, the founding of Quora, his early conviction in OpenAI, and why he believes the recursive nature of AI is grounded in a first-principles approach.

Connect with us here:

1. Adam D’Angelo- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dangelo/

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons – https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

After building companies that made their mark, Joe Lonsdale launched 8VC to tackle institutional decay, backing ambitious startups and encouraging the next generation to build what’s missing.

Now overseeing $6B+ in assets, he joins Aditya Agarwal to break down where the Valley lost its way, and what real builders must remember.

Connect with us here:

1. Joe Lonsdale- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtlonsdale/

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

00:00 Trailer

00:52 Introduction

01:24 Warrior mindset

07:36 Paving the way

13:38 Early stage eligibility

19:57 Rocket ships are rare

22:52 8VC

26:49 Great founders and discipline

29:43 Cicero Institute

33:04 Hairy messy real-world problems

38:18 Outro

What does it take to build great companies?

Mukesh Bansal, founder of giants like Myntra and Cure.fit, and now building at the frontier of deep tech with Meraki Labs and Nurix, joins Prateek Mehta in a chat at SPC Bangalore. He shares lessons from his early Silicon Valley “startup MBA”, the pivots that defined his journey, and how culture, trust and health have shaped his approach to building generational companies driven by resilient teams.

Connect with us here:

1. Prateek Mehta - https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/

2. South Park Commons - https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

Baiju Bhatt helped millions learn to invest through Robinhood. He’s since taken the leap to aerospace with his new company Aetherflux.

Baiju joins Aditya Agarwal to cover what building from first principles looks like the second time around, the true meaning of the American Dream, and how he aims to make space a functional layer of the global energy system.

Connect with us here:

1. Baiju Bhatt- https://www.linkedin.com/in/bprafulkumar/

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

(00:00) Trailer

(01:10) Introduction

(02:30) Early history

(07:12) Huge courage

(11:54) Extraordinarily driven

(17:31) Making the system work

(24:09) Enamored by space

(29:36) Energy company in space

(35:41) Power scaling

(39:54) Keeping the momentum up

(43:14) Outro

How do brands like PepsiCo and Chanel convert consumer attention into real business growth?

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia and multiple New York Times Bestselling Author, joins Dylan Itzikowitz to share how his agency helps these brands turn culture, AI, and data into measurable impact.

Apply for the SPC Founder Fellowship by August 3rd: https://airtable.com/appxDXHfPCZvb75qk/pagdT5QLZFC3weCJq/form

Connect with us here:

1. Gary Vaynerchuk- https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/

2. Dylan Itzikowitz- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanitzikowitz/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

(00:00) Trailer

(00:50) SPC's Founder Fellowship

(01:35) Introduction

(03:36) Kindness and business

(07:12) AI tech and the human spirit

(11:11) “Google search is dead”

(13:58) Obsessed with today

(14:59) Posting in today’s world

(22:15) AI influencers

(24:01) Nice guys finish first

(26:34) Q&A: Directionally correct

(30:27) Q&A: Preserving humanity

(34:29) Q&A: Consumer mind

(39:17) Q&A: Businesses distribution

(43:19) Q&A: Creator-owned brands

(47:15) Q&A: Crypto

(52:02) Outro

“If there's one lesson I wish I could give my younger self, it's to focus less on the technology and more on the customer need.”

Bret Taylor has helped shape how billions interact with the internet, and now with Sierra, he’s rethinking customer interactions through AI that feels more human.

Apply for the SPC Founder Fellowship by August 3rd: https://airtable.com/appxDXHfPCZvb75qk/pagdT5QLZFC3weCJq/form

Connect with us here:

1. Bret Taylor- https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettaylor/

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

What does it take to build a global ad-tech company from India?

In this episode, Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO of InMobi and Glance, gets candid about his early failures and the grit it took to bet on mobile before India was ready. He’s now reimagining commerce on lock screens through AI-powered platform Glance.

Connect with us here:

1. ​Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/
2. ​South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

Rana Adhikari, winner of the 2019 New Horizons in Physics Breakthrough Prize, joins Aditya Agarwal to discuss his 'minus one' journey as an experimental physicist, the current state of LLMs, and the vision that led to the creation of India’s own LIGO facility.

Connect with us here:

1. Rana Adhikari- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rana-adhikari-26bb73165/

2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/

3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/

00:00 Trailer

01:03 Introduction

01:58 Figuring things out

07:30 Toughest lesson

12:27 Bad mentor

15:33 LIGO and Quantum Science

19:34 Intuition

26:01 LLMs

30:47 Learning the outcome = winning

35:07 Learnings from LIGO

43:43 Black hole myths

47:12 Outro

In this episode of Minus One, Facebook’s second designer, Soleio shares how he helped build the emotional layer of the internet and is now backing tools like Figma and Framer to push it further.

Connect with us here:

1. Soleio
2. Aditya Agarwal
3. South Park Commons

00:00 Trailer

01:00 Introduction

01:41 Early days

07:37 Paradigm shift and the moments

13:45 Undirected expression and exploration

21:45 Greatness has a high bar

25:46 Expressing emotions

32:17 Back to -1

44:10 More founders

47:54 Outro