Episode Transcript
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Welcome to Innovation Pulse, your quick, no-nonsense update covering the latest in startups and
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entrepreneurship news. Save Superintelligence sees leadership changes with Ilya Sutskever
as CEO to maintain its mission. While AI startup cursor rapidly grows, Grammarly
acquires Superhuman to bolster its AI productivity platform. After this, we'll dive deep into
connecting meaningfully with high-profile individuals through the unique cold outreach
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strategies discussed by growth strategist Yakov Lasker.
Save Superintelligence, an AI startup co-founded by OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever, is making waves
with recent leadership changes and its unique focus. Sutskever has stepped into the CEO
role after Daniel Gross' departure. The startup reportedly valued at $32 billion during an
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April fundraising round, faced acquisition interest from Metta, which was rebuffed by
Sutskever. Save Superintelligence is committed to developing
Safe Superintelligence, leveraging a strong technical team under Sutskever's leadership.
The company's emphasis on safety in AI development distinguishes it from others in the field,
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aiming to ensure that advanced AI systems are aligned with human values and are beneficial
to society. This focus on safety and alignment makes its work both valuable and unique, especially
in a rapidly evolving AI landscape where ethical and safe AI development is paramount. Sutskever's
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vision for the company is to continue as an independent entity, emphasizing the importance
of their mission and the capability of his team to achieve it.
Up next, we're exploring strategies for AI investment success. AI startup cursor is making
waves in the tech industry with its rapid growth and innovative approach to AI code generation.
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Within just a year of its inception, cursor has achieved tens of millions in annual recurring
revenue and hit a valuation exceeding $1 billion. This impressive growth highlights the startup's
ability to capitalize on the current capabilities of AI technology by focusing on AI code generation.
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However, as AI technology evolves and new models emerge, cursor faces the challenge of adapting
its product to remain relevant and competitive. The startup's success hinges on its ability to
anticipate technological shifts and integrate new advancements into its offerings. Cursor's journey
exemplifies the fast-paced nature of AI startups today, where companies must navigate rapid growth
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and technological change while maintaining a competitive edge.
Grammarly is acquiring Superhuman, an AI-native email app, to bolster its vision of an AI
productivity platform where humans and AI collaborate. This move positions email as a
pivotal communication surface for AI agents, enhancing productivity and efficiency in digital
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communication. Superhuman users already experience significant efficiency gains,
responding to 72% more emails hourly after using the app. By integrating Superhuman,
Grammarly aims to expand its AI superhighway, enabling AI agents to handle diverse tasks
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directly where professionals work. This acquisition aligns with Grammarly's strategy
to transform email into a comprehensive workspace for AI agents, offering functionalities like
inbox management, meeting scheduling, content research, and communication drafting.
The acquisition complements Grammarly's recent Coder acquisition, creating a robust platform for
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intelligent task-specific agents across various applications. With professionals spending extensive
time on email, this setup provides a fertile ground for orchestrating multiple AI agents,
enhancing productivity by allowing users to focus on creative and strategic tasks.
Grammarly's approach promises a leap in productivity, reflecting a broader industry
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trend towards a gentic AI in professional environments. And now, pivot our discussion
towards the main entrepreneurship topic. Welcome to Innovation Pulse. I'm Donna,
and today I've got someone with me who's going to completely change how you think about cold
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outreach. Yakov Lasker is a growth strategist who's helped dozens of startups crack the code on
connecting with high-value contacts, and he's been studying this fascinating case of an engineer
who gets 50% response rates from billionaires. Yakov, thanks for joining us.
Thanks for having me, Donna. And yeah, when you first told me about this story, I honestly didn't
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believe it. 50% from billionaires? That's better than most people get from their own industry contacts.
Right? So let's dive right into this, because I think our listeners are going to be as skeptical
as we were initially. Picture this. You're sitting at your laptop, cursor blinking in an empty email,
and you're about to send a message to someone worth $3.3 billion. What are the chances they'll
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actually respond? Oh, I'm guessing like 1%. Maybe 2% if you're lucky? Try 50%. This engineer we're
talking about today gets responses from more than half the billionaires he emails. We're talking
Kalanick from Uber, Eric Lufkovsky from Groupon. Wait, hold up. Are you telling me there's some
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regular person out there who just casually slides into billionaire DMs and they actually respond?
That's exactly what I'm telling you. And the wild part? He's not famous, not rich, not connected.
He just figured out something most of us are doing completely wrong.
Okay, now I'm hooked. Because I've sent cold emails that disappeared into the void so fast,
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I wondered if I'd accidentally deleted them myself. Right? We've all been there. But this guy,
and I love this. He calls it trading Pokemon cards. Pokemon cards? Think about it. When you were a
kid trading cards, what made someone excited to trade with you? It wasn't your smooth talking or
your fancy card sleeve. It was whether you had something they actually wanted. Oh, so if you're
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offering a first edition Charizard for a basic Pikachu, yeah, they're going to respond. But if
you're trying to trade your duplicate Ratata for their holographic Mewtwo. Exactly. You're getting
crickets. And here's the thing that blew my mind. He says the actual trade matters way more than how
you communicate it. Doesn't matter what subject line you use, how long your email is. Whether you
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get a warm introduction, if the trade sucks, you won't get a response. Huh. So we're all obsessing
over email length and perfect subject lines when we should be asking, what do I actually have that
this person wants? Bingo. But here's where it gets interesting. Once you've figured out that
perfect trade, there are four specific things he does in every email that work. And he's got the
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receipts to prove it. Okay, lay it on me. What are these four magic principles? First one is
established competency. And this is where most people completely blow it. Check this out, which
opening line grabs your attention more. Hi, I'm Joe or hi, I'm Andy. I'm a YC founder,
formerly an ML engineer at Uber for self driving cars. Well, obviously the second one. But wait,
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what if you're not a YC founder or an Uber engineer? What if you're just Joe? That's the
beautiful part. Competency isn't just about fancy brands. It's about communicating something
noteworthy and difficult to do. Maybe you built a rocket in 30 days. Maybe you know someone influential.
Maybe you solved a really hard problem. So it's not about being impressive. It's about being
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relevant, impressive. Exactly. It's about signaling that you're the type of person a billionaire
actually works with. Think about it. They get thousands of emails, most of which are spam or
people asking for money. You need to immediately communicate, I'm different, take me seriously.
Okay, that makes sense. What's principle two? Make an ask. But not just any ask. You need to
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nail two things, what you want and what value it adds to their life. Oh, this is where people
probably mess up big time. They focus on what they want, but forget the other person completely.
Yes. And here's his insight that really hit me. Cold email isn't about persuasion. It's a test
of whether you understand what another person truly values. A response is just the byproduct of
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true understanding. That's actually profound. So before you even start typing, you need to become
a detective. Exactly. He'll read their blog posts, watch their interviews, study their projects.
He's trying to figure out what are they working on? What causes do they care about? What problems
are they trying to solve? This is starting to feel less like cold emailing and more like
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relationship building, even before the relationship exists. That's a great way to put it. And speaking
of relationships, principle three is be transparent with your self interests. This one surprised me.
Wait, you're supposed to tell them what you want out of it. Isn't that, I don't know, selfish?
That's what I thought. But his theory is that influential people want to work with people who
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are competent, trustworthy and internally motivated. And being transparent about your intentions
actually signals trustworthiness. Huh. So instead of pretending you're just being altruistic, you're
like, here's what I want. Here's what you get. And here's how this fits into my bigger picture.
Exactly. He shares this example where he's asking for a job, and he explains exactly how that job
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fits into his long term ambitions. It's not just I need a job. It's here's my 10 year plan. And
here's how this role accelerates it. That actually makes the other person feel like they're investing
in something bigger, not just doing you a favor. Right. And then principle four, show extra effort.
This is where he really goes above and beyond. Let me guess, he doesn't just send an email and hope
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for the best? Nope. So he wanted to pitch this idea to Paci McCormick from not boring about
cobuilding a startup incubator. Instead of just emailing the idea, he wrote an entire blog post
called not boring should incubate companies, laying out the strategic benefits. That's
actually kind of brilliant. He's not just talking about the idea. He's demonstrating it.
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And here's the kicker. Even though the idea wasn't the right fit, Paci still got on a call with him
because he appreciated the effort. The guy literally says, even if your value prop misses the mark,
making a real effort goes a long way. So it's like, you're pre proving that you're someone who delivers,
not just someone who talks. Exactly. You're showing you're willing to give more than you take.
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You're serious enough to invest time in bringing your idea to life, not just pitching it. Okay.
So let me see if I've got this right. You research the heck out of someone to understand what they
actually want. You lead with something that proves you're worth their time. You make a clear ask
that benefits them. You're honest about what you want out of it. And you do something extra to prove
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you're serious. That's it. But here's what I love about his approach. He's not trying to give us a
rigid formula. He calls it creative expression. These are principles, not rules, which actually
makes sense because every billionaire is different. Every situation is unique. Exactly. Travis Kalanick
just left Uber and started a venture fund. So our guy positioned himself as a young Uber engineer
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with a unique market insight. With Daphne Caller, who was starting in Citro, he positioned himself
as someone who'd do everything to help her new company succeed. So it's not about having one
perfect email template. It's about understanding these principles and then adapting them to each
specific situation. Right. And thinking about this more broadly, how often do we send emails,
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LinkedIn messages, even text messages without really thinking about the other person's perspective?
Oh, constantly. We're usually just focused on what we need instead of what we can offer.
But here's what's really interesting to me. This isn't just about emailing billionaires.
These principles work for any situation where you're trying to connect with someone who gets a lot of
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requests. Like what? Think about it. Busy executives, popular podcasters, influential bloggers, even
that professor you want to do research with, they're all dealing with the same problem, too many requests,
not enough time. So if you can demonstrate competency, make a clear value proposition,
be transparent about your motivations and show extra effort. You're suddenly standing out from
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everyone else who's just asking for something without offering anything in return. This is
actually making me rethink every professional email I've ever sent. Like how many opportunities have
I missed because I was focused on what I wanted instead of what I could offer. And here's the thing.
This guy used these principles to land jobs at Uber's self-driving car division,
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get into Y Combinator, and secure a position at a stealth hard tech startup.
We're not just talking about getting responses, we're talking about life changing opportunities.
So what's the takeaway for someone listening who's thinking,
okay I'm convinced, but where do I start? I think it starts with shifting your mindset.
Instead of thinking, how can I get this person to help me? Start thinking, how can I help this
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person while also achieving my goals? And actually do the research. Don't just skim their LinkedIn.
Read their blog posts, watch their interviews, understand what they're working on and what they
care about. Yes, and then be brutally honest with yourself about whether you can actually
deliver compelling value. If you can't, then you're not ready to send that email yet.
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But if you can, then lead with your strongest competency signal,
be clear about the mutual benefit, own your motivations, and do something extra to prove
you're serious. The Pokemon card trade has to be good for both sides. And if it is,
you might just be surprised by who responds. You know what, I think I need to go rethink
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some emails I've been putting off sending. Same here, and next time you're staring at that
blinking cursor, remember, you're not just sending an email, you're proposing a trade.
Make it one they can't refuse. Innovation Pulse, we'll catch you next time with another deep dive
into the strategies that actually work. Keep trading those Pokemon cards, everyone.
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And that's a wrap for today's podcast. We explored safe super intelligence as leadership
shift and mission for safe AI, the rapid growth of AI startup cursor,
Grammarly's acquisition of superhuman to boost productivity,
and Yacov Lasker's insights on effective outreach strategies.
Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with your friends and colleagues,
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so they can also stay updated on the latest news and gain powerful insights. Stay tuned for more updates.