Well, hello there. Welcome to Link Studio. Come on. >> Thank you for having me. >> Of course. Of course. >> Walk me through. What are we looking at right now? >> This is Link Studio. This is the highest talent density place in the entire planet. We have 100,000 new students that come in every year. They can blue bike to this location. It's perfectly awesome. >> What does a typical Tuesday look like for you? >> Tuesdays. Tuesdays the front of the week is all stacked. It's very busy. board meetings and uh well you can see you can see like Chris Harris big guys running around um so I'll typically do like two or three board meetings on a Tuesday a lot of internal uh meet young upand cominging rising stars interviewing people getting coffee uh >> give me your title in 10 words or less >> my title in 10 words or less uh so I'm the managing director and founder of Blink Ventures uh we're a venture fund here in Cambridge uh and I also teach at MIT and I'm also a serial entrepreneur. >> And what does that actually mean day-to-day? I know you went into it a
[00:01:00] little bit already, but give us more. >> Uh day-to-day, uh it means the big part is actually convincing young upand cominging would be founders to start companies, uh and to uh you know, make it a life-changing experience for themselves. >> Amazing. How many hats are you wearing at once right now? >> Uh I counted nine last I checked. Uh we have um you know the the two companies that I founded that are still operating. So I'm chairman controlling shareholder of those two. Uh we've got the studio. I've got teaching at MIT. >> Wow. >> Which is pretty timeconuming family. Got lots of family. >> And into that where did you grow up? Uh I was born in New Jersey and um my uh my parents uh lived in a apartment that was actually a chicken coupe that was converted into an apartment and uh then my dad got a job offer to basically double his salary and get hardship pay if we moved to Thran in Iran. So I spent
[00:02:01] oh wow >> most of my early childhood in Iran. >> Uh then we got a letter from the embassy one day saying it's uh it's not safe to leave home at the same time every day. So, I think our parents said this is probably a good time to move to London. So, I spent a little time in London growing up, right? >> And then Connecticut for high school and then MIT. >> And what are we looking at here? >> Uh this is uh this is MIT. There's the Charles River. >> Uh this is the great dome right here. Uh this is the fraternity. I was in the white building there. >> Ah >> yes, we >> And you went into a little bit about growing up, but what were you doing before Link specifically? right before >> uh >> I was a three-time founder uh founder co-founder of operating companies. I'm a serial entrepreneur from the day I graduated until until the venture. I don't really think of myself as being an investor. I think of myself being a founder. >> Mhm. And what did getting that outcome teach you that you couldn't have learned any other way? >> Um well, I don't think you can fake stress. I think when you're building a company, you know, you uh you have drama
[00:03:01] and stress that just comes up out of nowhere all the time, >> right? >> Uh so I think uh I I MCed the uh the companywide meeting at Bestark for I think 200 consecutive monthly meetings and as the company got bigger and bigger and bigger, the audience got bigger and bigger and bigger. We ended up, you know, teleresencing it to all our remote offices and everything. And >> I don't think there's any way you can kind of study that in school. You have to live it and experience it to really get into it. This is This is Blitzy, by the way. This company, >> uh, 80 people today, growing to 300 by the end of the year. It's just, it's like a like a beehive of activity. It's awesome. >> Anyone notable to say hi to in Blitzy? >> Uh, Brian's usually over Brian and Sid are usually over there. Uh, my son Jack is here, but he's off in Europe right now, or he's in Florida right now. >> And what's the hardest you've ever worked on something that didn't work out? >> Hardest I've ever worked on something that didn't work out? Well, the the very first thing I did at the MIT AI lab uh was trying to build neural networks on a supercomput, biggest supercomputer in
[00:04:00] the world at the time, the connection machine, which was barely stable, and I only had access to it from midnight to dawn. So, I had to, you know, but I I used it up for years and years and years and uh uh we got the neural nets to work, but trying to get anything intelligent to come out of something that scale at the time was was very very hard, but it was a very good learning experience. >> Did that go into your teaching experience? What did you specifically go on there? >> Uh, so teaching I teaching is just a passion. I absolutely love it. There's so much energy and you know the the students are so incredibly brilliant and they're just a like unvarnished clean sheet of paper and they can go anywhere. So I like to tell them that the ecosystem here in Cambridge you it's the highest talent density in the entire world and it's a unique opportunity especially at MIT where there's all this equipment that you can just have you know and and just don't take it for granted. Also the people the people that you bump into here it's almost impossible to replicate at any other period in your life. And so when
[00:05:02] you're networking you everyone thinks they're going to learn something from the school but they don't. they learn something from all their peers. So, it's all about the people that you meet. So, >> so what's the most common misconception students walk in with then? >> Uh, definitely thinking they're going to learn anything in class. >> I mean, in reality, you know, the rate the technology changes, there's no curriculum that could possibly keep up anyway, >> right? >> So, what ends up happening is you learn everything from your peers and you make your lifelong best friends and your co-founders you meet. So, it's all about the people, but they all think it's going to be about the classes and it's not, >> right? What's a question no student has ever had the courage to ask you? >> You know, actually, can I get someone else to do my work for me? >> Which is absolutely the right thing to do, right? Like a great builder and entrepreneurs like if someone else can do something for you, why would you do it yourself, >> right? >> But they're all taught, no, no, no, it's got to be your own work, >> but it's actually the wrong lesson, right? >> So, they're afraid to ask, but they should. >> What is Link Ventur's core thesis?
[00:06:01] Uh our core thesis is that founders are going to get younger and younger and younger and time to reaching billion-dollar valuations is going to get shorter and shorter. So they're going to need more and more support over time. So we do like the payroll, the accounting, the office space, the food, the all that stuff that we provide and also in the future the compute. They're going to need all of that so they can grow quickly without having all these barriers that slow them down. So we just want to accumulate in the apartment building we bought, which you know well, >> right? Um, so they have a place to live. They don't have to waste two weeks finding a place to live. All that stuff. Want to make it as smooth and fast as possible. >> Awesome. >> This is my office, by the way. I need my podcasting coffee mug and my notes. I didn't clean it up. You didn't tell me you were coming. I would I would have clean. >> Sorry. Sorry. We assume it's always clean, huh? >> This Mike Sailor, my former roommate. former roommate at MIT. Of course.
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At MIT. Yeah. Founder of Micro Strategy. >> Great. We got the MIT signs, banners, and what's that sign in the corner? >> DB2. That's my website. Check it out. db2.ai. This is the neverending pile of swag. There's 30 companies here now. So, we get got logos for everybody. >> Swag on swag. >> Swag on swag. Never ends. Talking about companies, how do you differentiate from firms like A16Z or Sequoia and be honest? >> That's easy. No, we we're we're founding stage. We we take, you know, raw groups of friends and turn them into great companies. They they invest, you know, they like to write hundred $100 million checks. We like to write 1 to10 million checks. So, it's just stage different totally different stage, >> right? What stage do you play in NY? I know you just went into that, but I know I've heard something about a three best friend rule. >> Yeah, that's right. Our ideal team is three people, uh, best friends, all technical, uh, all trustworthy and they
[00:08:01] trust each other because, you know, the only fail failure mode we see in companies is if they disband. >> And so if you get three people that really really love each other, they very rarely will disband, >> right? And what do you have that they don't? >> What do we have as an incubator that they don't? Yes. >> Uh, look around you. They're just three people on the planet. Like, we've got all this. >> And what does a founder need to do to get a meeting with you? People want to know. >> Uh, well, that's easy. If you if you look at the, you know, most recent 10 companies, if you go to any of our partners, Boaz or Fraser or Lisa, and they come to me and say, "These guys could be the next Meror, these guys could be the next Blitzy," I'll meet with them instantaneous. I must be doing that 10 times a week now. >> Amazing. And what kills a deal faster than anything? >> For me, it's uh two people and I say, "Where's the third?" And they say, "We don't have a third." And I'll say, "Well, why not?" And I'll say, "Well,
[00:09:01] there's just two of us." Like, "Well, there should be a third." And if your if your vision is compelling, you should be able to convince somebody that they should be the third. >> Perfect. You guys want to see the holiday? >> You know Star Trek? >> I do. I >> I mentioned the holiday to somebody the other day the other day and they said, "What's a holiday?" Like, man, >> Star Trek. The holiday. You know, >> Star Trek, obviously. >> Yeah. We're building an AI room uh downstairs where the the walls are all covered with monitors and uh you basically you walk in, there's no instructions. You walk in and the AI immediately starts talking to you and you can create a virtual world, you can create songs, you can create code, you can it's basically completely free form. It's just you interacting with AI by voice. >> Oh wow. How long have you guys been working on it? >> Uh we've been working on it since January. You know, the hardware comes together quickly, but the software is not trivial, >> right?
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Uh and we'll keep adding to it. You know, today's launch day for it. May the fourth May the fourth be with you. >> May the fourth be with you. But we'll uh we'll keep adding to it um kind of modularly. So, I don't know what the status is though. I saw it under construction last week. It should be live today. So, >> and how do we just get down here? Is this another part of your office space? >> Yeah, this is the secret back stairway that nobody knows about. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, this is a whole another floor that's part of Link Ventures. >> Yeah. Yeah. This is all expansion room. Tada. >> So, it's all voice driven. >> Welcome to the forge. My name is Ember. Before we begin, what should I call you?
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Uh, why don't you call me Dave? Nice to meet you, Dave. We can compose a song, generate a video, or turn a photo into an artwork. >> Why don't you make a cool uh make a cool video with a space kind of theme to it? >> A space theme sounds cool. What kind of story are you picturing for this video? >> Well, it's a holiday, so how about a Star Trek holiday inside the holiday? >> A holiday within a holiday. Got it. What cinematic style are you leaning towards for this? Uh, make it kind of a Chris Pine recent Star Trek kind of theme. >> So, a modern crisp look. What kind of emotional tone are you hoping for? >> I want relentless enthusiasm. >> Relentless enthusiasm. Got it. What specific setting are you picturing for this holiday scene? >> Uh, outer space. Maybe a galaxy far, far away. >> A distant galaxy. And who are the main
[00:12:02] characters in the story? Uh, how about Alennena, who's a podcast goddess, and uh, how about uh, Captain Kirk interacting over some alien invasion issue? >> Elena and Captain Kirk dealing with an invasion. Interesting. Are there any other details you'd like to add before I make your movie? >> Uh, maybe some phaser fire, some some aliens, uh, and, uh, really good cool deep background music. rolling on your movie. Now, you know, all this talk about space makes me wonder, do you ever just look up at the stars and think about what else is out there? >> That's where it goes into procrastination mode because it knows it's going to take a while. >> In those thoughts, >> there's something peaceful about it. >> Yes, there is. >> What part of it do you find most fascinating? Exactly. It kind of puts
[00:13:00] everything into perspective, doesn't it? All the little things down here feel less important. >> You know what's frustrating about that is if we had enough GPUs >> and we will understand that >> you could do it instantaneous. Like the movie would show up as soon as you finish your sentence. And I cannot wait for that. It's coming very soon. >> When do you think that'll be? >> Um, well, we could do it imminently if we had the hardware in house. So, I'm going to say within 3 months. >> Okay. Quoting you on that. Seems ready. >> Oh, here's panel. >> Okay, what do we got? So, I want to hop into Moonshots with you. For people who don't know, what is
[00:14:00] Moonshots and how did it come together? Uh, Moonshots is a twice a week podcast and uh, Peter and Seem had already started it and then asked me if I wanted to be a guest and so I guested on it and it went really really well. It was a ton of fun. I can't believe how much I learned and then we asked Alex Gross to join originally as a guest and everybody the whole audience fell in love with him instantly. Of course. >> Absolutely. We're one of those >> and so now it is what it is. four four best friends talking about exponential change every well twice a week >> and you say four best friends but how did you actually meet Peter Seem Alex and anybody else who's been on >> well Peter Peter has been um best friend of mine since we were at MIT together so we go back 30 plus years uh See I met through X-P prize uh which is you know exponential change prizes a billion dollars of prizes for exponential change in the world uh and uh so then I knew
[00:15:00] Sem already through that. Uh, and then Alex I met completely separately from Moonshots. We met, you know, one of the greatest things about Kendall Square here is that you can just bump into somebody like Alex, which I I don't know where else on the planet can you do that, you know, just high genius roaming around. So, I met him over at MIT actually, I think, through John Warner or through Mark Cassidy. >> And do you have a favorite Moonshots co-host? You have to pick one. Be honest. >> That's like asking which of your kids you like the most. It's crazy. It's like >> we just want the exclusive here. >> Um I think uh I think I think look if Do you like chocolate chip cookies? >> Yes, obviously. >> Okay. Which what's your favorite ingredient in a chocolate chip cookie? >> The chocolate. >> Okay. Well, you're supposed to say you can't you can't favor. So, >> all right. We'll go back. >> I would say that if if Moonshots is a chocolate chip cookie that I'd say Alex is like the sugar. I'd say Salem is like the chocolate,
[00:16:00] your favorite. >> And I'd say Peter is like the butter, but he wouldn't eat butter. So, he's like a Greek yogurt substitute. >> I like that. >> But it tastes good when everyone's together. >> What's the most surprising conversation you've had on the show? >> Most surprising conversation on the show. Uh, you know what surprised me most is Elon Musk? >> Thank you. >> Is just a big regular guy. because I think everyone's kind of intimidated by the magnitude of these, you know, hyper hyper successful AI stars these days, but then you meet them and they're they're just everyday awesome people. >> Mhm. And what's a topic you've covered on Moonshots that the world still isn't taking seriously enough? >> Well, exponential self-improvement of AI is going to I honestly think that people compare it to the industrial revolution, but it's more like civilization. You know, you have prehistoric humans, then you have current humanity, then you have 2026 and humanity 2.0. I really
[00:17:02] think it's that big of a step change. >> Amazing. And if you were starting over today with everything you know, what would you build and why? >> Uh, starting over today with everything I know. And why? >> You know, what I would This is our podcast studio. Yeah. This is where I almost always shoot it. Uh I think what the world needs right now is to uh to log all AI processes. I would build a company that gathers every GPU's uh logs, every token in, every token out. And I think then the governments of the world could argue for decades over who has access to it, but at least we would have it. >> And I think that, you know, there's a lot of dystopian worry about AI, but it should be very very easy and very straightforward to grab all of the all the log history. So that anyone using it for any evil, nefarious purpose can be discovered through the logs. I would create that company. >> Amazing. Okay, last one for you, Dave.
[00:18:00] If you had one minute with every founder watching this, what would you say? >> Uh, every founder >> Mhm. >> Uh, time is short. That's what I would say. I would say whatever you're doing, do it 10 times faster as fast as you possibly can because the window of opportunity is the best tailwind I've ever seen in my life. But I wouldn't take for granted that it's going to last forever. So, run everywhere you go. >> Amazing. Thank you for your time, Dave. Thanks for having me. >> Hey, happy to give you a tour.