Zero Prime Podcast Data Council

In this episode, I sit down with Alex Mashrabov, the visionary CEO of Higgsfield AI. We journey through Alex's impressive career, beginning with his time at Yandex where he witnessed the early implementations of neural networks. We explore what ignited his entrepreneurial spirit and delve into the stark contrasts between the Russian and American educational landscapes.
Our discussion then moves to Alex's experiences in building generative AI products, starting with AI Factory, which focused on innovative face animation technology and strategic planning for mobile devices. We also examine his time at Snap, where he addressed the challenges of balancing scale and cost. Finally, Alex highlights Higgsfield AI's groundbreaking approach to efficiently training text-to-video models. He discusses the common challenges organizations face when scaling models and allocating resources and emphasizes the importance of rapid experimentation in AI development.

Highlights:
[01:07] - Alex discusses his time at Yandex and what gave him the confidence to leave and become a founder
[03:29] - Differences between American and Russian educational systems and how Yandex leveraged these differences for recruitment
[06:57] - Alex describes what he built at AI Factory and his experiences on the Snap team
[10:10] - Alex shares the engineering efficiencies he introduced at Higgsfield AI
[14:03] - Exploring how experimentation influences the AI stack
[15:52] - Alex talks about Higgsfield’s architecture and world models
[21:32] - We delve into Alex's views on copyrighted material, deep fakes, and other ethical challenges of generated video
[26:20] - Alex outlines the long-term vision for Higgsfield AI


👉 👉 Don't forget to join us at Data Council Austin - where hundreds of data geeks, founders & investors join each other in building the future of data.

In this episode, I chat with Jordan Tigani, the dynamic engineer-founder of MotherDuck who previously led Google's BigQuery team and headed up product at SingleStore.  Jordan shares the inspiring origin story of MotherDuck, which emerged from the overlooked analytics' long tail, focusing on serving small users in data analytics. Our conversation delves into thought-provoking topics such as the conundrum of big data, bridging the gap between unstructured AI data and traditional data structures, the impact of scale-up data warehouses on customer decisions and MotherDuck's relationship with the open-source DuckDB. Tune in to uncover more gems from the founding story of one of the hottest data infrastructure startups in the market today.

Highlights:
[00:45] - Jordan shares his “aha” moments working at Google BigQuery that gave him the inspiration to start MotherDuck
[3:14] - Jordan digs into where we’re at in the era of data evolution and whether big data is still an issue
[6:14] - We discuss how data and compute requirements are shifting with the rise of AI & ML
[8:15] - Jordan shares the significance of scale up vs. scale out and how it impacts user experience and the speed of development
[12:52] - We explore MotherDuck’s relationship with the open source project DuckDB and how they work together
[15:45] - Jordan talks about the user progression from DuckDB to MotherDuck
[18:20] - Quantum Round
👉 👉 Don't forget to join us at Data Council Austin - where hundreds of data geeks, founders & investors join each other in building the future of data.

In this episode, Pete speaks with Alvaro Morales, the co-founder and CEO of Orb, who shares his journey from being an engineer to becoming the founder of a flexible billing engine for modern software pricing. 
Alvaro traces his path from Lima, Peru to San Francisco, discussing the rise of startups in his home city as well as his early engineering experiences at Yahoo, Palantir and Asana.  His early days founding Orb were not without challenges, especially when it came to signing up customers and building trust. However, Orb’s customer-centric and collaborative approach helped them build strong relationships and turn early customers into champions. 
Pete and Alvaro also discuss the shift to usage-based pricing in the AI world and how Orb supports customers in implementing these pricing schemes. Listen in for a fantastic conversation!

Highlights:
[00:45] - Alvaro discussed his origins in Lima and what the tech world is like in Peru.
[3:36] - We dig into what Alvaro learned from early engineering internships at Yahoo, Palantir and Asana.
[6:55] - Alvaro shares the key insight that led him to start Orb.
[10:16] - We discuss encouraging flexibility and experimentation of pricing and any downsides it can create.
[12:27] - I ask Alvaro how he worked with design partners and started signing early customers.
[17:42] - We talk about who was involved in their customer-acquisition and relationship building conversations.
[18:20] - Alvaro shares insights into usage-based pricing and how it applies to the AI world.
[22:35] - We discuss the biggest challenges in transitioning from engineer-founder to CEO.



👉 👉 Don't forget to join us at Data Council Austin - where hundreds of data geeks, founders & investors join each other in building the future of data.

In this enlightening episode, I have the privilege of hosting Craig McLuckie, a tech industry veteran who has made significant contributions to the cloud computing industry and is currently the Co-founder & CEO of stacklok. We begin by exploring his journey from Microsoft to Google, where he co-authored Kubernetes, a pivotal project that has shaped the industry.  We also delve into his post-Google venture, Heptio, and the strategic planning that led to its success. Craig offers valuable advice on building and commercializing open source projects, highlighting the importance of understanding the trade-off between reduced activation energy and value extraction. Finally, we discuss stacklok, Craig's latest company focused on enhancing the security and sustainability of open source projects.  This episode is chock full of insights for anyone in the tech industry, especially those interested in cloud computing, open source or GTM strategy.

Highlights:
[1:10] - Understanding the origins of Kubernetes
[2:38] - Exploring distribution and GTM challenges, insights and concerns
[5:49] - How the competition evolved in the Infrastructure-as-a-Service landscape
[7:08] - Diving deeper into startups and GTM strategies based on Craig’s experience at Heptio
[10:47] - Advice to founders building OSS projects who are looking to commercialize
[13:11] - Thoughts on optimal sales/engineering/product teams in seed stage companies
[16:16] - Digging into stacklok, what Craig and his team are building and why
[23:00] - Craig elaborates on his quote “Let’s make infrastructure really boring”
👉 👉 Don't forget to join us at Data Council Austin - where hundreds of data geeks, founders & investors join each other in building the future of data.

In this episode, I chat with Erik Bernhardsson, co-founder and CEO of Modal, about his journey from Spotify engineer to startup CTO to startup founder. Erik takes us back to his early days as a software engineer and shares how his transformative years at Spotify ignited his startup mindset. We discuss the challenges he faced during his transition from engineer to founder, including overcoming self-doubt and stepping into a leadership role. Erik also talks about his experience building open source projects and what he's built so far at Modal, outlining challenges they've encountered and what he's most proud of to-date. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in tech entrepreneurship and personal growth.

Highlights:
[00:40] - Erik shares about his early jobs and how they shaped his career and future desire to be a founder
[2:05] - When Erik realized he wanted to be a founder (or gained the confidence to be one)
[3:55] - Diving into the people management side of building founder confidence
[5:50] - How open source projects can aid in building your technical leadership skills 
[7:55] - Erik shares his thoughts on what can be done with data and how data is key to successful consumer products
[10:15] - Paradigms and pitfalls about the open source world
[13:52] - Digging into Modal, why Erik started Modal and what he’s most proud of so far
[17:30] - Figuring out where the MVP line is in startup engineering
[21:33] - Differentiating yourself with stronger moats
[22:17] - Erik shares the most surprising thing about becoming a CEO
👉 👉 Don't forget to join us at Data Council Austin - where hundreds of data geeks, founders & investors join each other in building the future of data.

In this episode, we chat with Barry McCardel, Co-Founder and CEO of Hex, as he shares how honing his leadership skills in college paved the way for his journey to becoming a founder. Barry discusses building his team with former Palantir colleagues and Hex's emphasis on design from its inception. He shares insights on Hex's rapid feature development, scaling challenges and his vision for the future of data tooling. The episode concludes with Barry's thoughts on emerging trends in data, infrastructure and AI.

Highlights
[0:30]: Barry's introduction via Hex's seed round lead investor.
[01:15]: Barry's journey leading to his role as a founder, shaped by key experiences.
[03:25]: The insights that sparked Barry's creation of Hex.
[04:27]: Why Hex embodies the ultimate product Barry wished for at every career juncture.
[05:47]: Barry's formation of his founding team, reuniting with former Palantir colleagues.
[08:01]: Maintaining a strong focus on design in the early days of Hex and why branding and design is critical.
[13:52]: Unveiling Hex 3.0 with its "magic" features, many powered by LLMs.
[14:24]: Challenges faced while building internet-scale features with LLMs.
[18:17]: Barry's vision for Hex and its future in the industry.



👉 👉 Don't forget to join us at Data Council Austin - where hundreds of data geeks, founders & investors join each other in building the future of data.