The Startup Podcast

Is the new age of AI agents about to kill niche B2B SaaS businesses? Many first-time founders worry that tools like ChatGPT or custom AI builders will make off-the-shelf SaaS products obsolete, but it could simply herald a new evolution of SaaS.

In this episode, Yaniv is joined by Rob Walling, serial founder, investor, and author of The SaaS Playbook, to break down why B2B SaaS still outperforms other business models and how fou...

Is YouTube quietly becoming the most powerful platform in the world? Announcements made during Made On YouTube 2025 revealed incredibly promising long-term plans, with the media giant seemingly set to dominate video, music, and podcasts with the help of Google’s AI.

Too many entrepreneurs still see YouTube as ‘just’ a video host, missing the bigger picture: it’s a global discovery engine and monetization machine. In this episode...

Are you truly being persistent with your startup, or just being stubborn? In the new age of AI-powered founders and hyper-fast iteration, many entrepreneurs mistake obstinacy for persistence and end up running out of time, money, and morale.

Too often we glorify “hustle” and “grit” without understanding when to adapt, pivot, or quit. The misconception that sheer willpower equals success has caused countless startups to fail, not bec...

With Apple’s iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, AirPods Pro 3, and Apple Watch 11 now unveiled, what does this mean for the future of phones and wearable tech? And does the incredible AI of Google Pixel still blow Siri out of the water?

In this episode, Chris and Yaniv delve into Apple’s newest product lineup and what it reveals about the company’s long-term strategy, particularly in the current AI-driven climate. They also discuss both...

Pre-seed founders want explosive growth early on, but are you following the wrong playbook too soon? These days strategies, acronyms, and well-intended advice are everywhere, but today's guest argues that the path forward is a simple one: talk to customers, run experiments, and embrace rejection as part of the journey.

In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein speaks to guest Ashley Smith (ex-Twilio, Parse, GitLab, GitHub, and now Ge...

Google’s long-running antitrust case has reached its remedy stage, and the outcome was far lighter than many expected. No breakup, no ban on default search deals, just a few constraints on bundling apps and some required data sharing, but it may not be quite as simple as it seems on the surface.

Meanwhile, OpenAI dropped $1.1 billion to acquire Statsig, a product analytics company. What are the details of the deal, and what does...

It seems like startup accelerators are everywhere these days. But what are they? What’s the point of them? And most importantly, is it worth having your startup go through one?

Based on their own experience with YC and startups, Chris and Yaniv talk you through it all.

In this episode, you will:

• Learn what startup accelerators are and how they work.
• Discover the primary benefits of going through a startup accelerator.
• Underst...

Is Apple’s dominance in smartphones starting to crack? Google’s Pixel 10 launch brought AI-first features, polished hardware, and bold marketing, signaling a new era in the iPhone vs. Android rivalry.

For years, the iPhone has been synonymous with polish, hardware quality, and ecosystem lock-in. But with Google’s patient, decade-long investment in the Pixel line, coupled with deep AI integration, the balance may be shifting.

...

What makes a great tech infrastructure startup? And how do the best ones successfully navigate, and stand out from, the overcrowded market?

In this episode, Yaniv is joined by Joseph Ruscio, General Partner at Heavybit and former CTO of Vibrato, to unpack the dos and don'ts of tech infrastructure startups, how open source fuels growth, and why AI is changing the way software is built.

With over 20 years in system software...

Is the AI hype cycle about to burst?

For months, investors and founders have chased sky-high valuations, billion-dollar hires, and promises of superintelligence, but Meta's drastic plans to cut back its AI division seem to indicate a bleak future for LLMs and AI at large.

In this episode, Chris and Yaniv unpack the latest shakeup at Meta, using their knowledge and experience in Silicon Valley to analyze the situation and ...

This new era of AI-driven startups has many founders still believing success is about having the perfect product roadmap. The truth, however, is far more counterintuitive.

In this episode, Yaniv and Chris dive into timeless lessons from Paul Graham’s legendary essay “Startups in 13 Sentences”. Drawing from Graham’s wisdom and their own experiences, they break down why co-founders matter more than ideas, why “launch fast” is the ...

Is AI threatening traditional subscription software models and accelerating competitive turnover? Sam Altman thinks so.

In this episode, Chris and Ray discuss OpenAI’s GPT-5 release, and Altman's prediction that AI will enable a “fast fashion” era of SaaS, where applications can be created, deployed, and discarded in rapid cycles.

You'll also hear them delve into Apple's commitment of $2.5 billion toward US-based ...

Raising money for your startup isn’t just about pitching but navigating egos, timing, and a flood of contradictory feedback.

Why do some founders win over early believers who open every door, while others get stuck in endless “soft nos”? And how do you avoid twisting yourself into a pretzel trying to please every investor you meet?

In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein and Chris Saad dive into the gritty, unfiltered reality of early-stag...

In violation of long-standing internet norms like robots.txt, Cloudflare caught Perplexity AI scraping content from websites that had explicitly opted out.

The situation begs the question: what happens when AI startups prioritize growth over digital consent?

Listen as Chris and Yaniv discuss the repercussions of Cloudflare's "honeypot" traps. They also dig into Wikipedia’s launch of a fast-track deletion policy...

In the startup world, speed is everything.  But too many founders confuse busyness with velocity, mistaking frantic activity for real momentum.

In this episode, Chris and Yaniv are joined by Keith Lucas, former product and engineering leader at Roblox, to unpack what speed actually means—and how to build it into your startup from day one.

They explore why alignment, culture, and cadence matter more than hustle, and how Keith&...

Is GitHub Spark the future of AI software building? 

Startups looking to use “vibe coding” often face janky tools and broken promises. Microsoft's latest IDE, however, has serious potential to be the industry breakthrough that addresses the agonizing issues developers face.

In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein unpack Microsoft’s latest attempt to win back developer mindshare with the launch of GitHub Spark, a c...

AI is changing how we build startups, but how can founders leverage it without their product becoming slop?

Too many early-stage entrepreneurs believe that faster prototyping automatically leads to better products. In reality, rushing to “ship something” can destroy product-market fit before it’s even tested.

In this Q&A episode, Yaniv Bernstein (ex-Google, ex-Airtasker) and Chris Saad (former Head of Product at Uber) ans...

Is Uber’s gamble on RoboTaxis a brilliant move, or the end of its asset-light magic? And what’s really going on inside OpenAI as it races to dominate AI?

Many founders assume hypergrowth companies are perfectly coordinated machines, but the reality is far messier. From billion-dollar GPU costs to chaotic product launches, there’s a lot for entrepreneurs to learn from how these giants operate.

Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein br...

Getting noticed is harder than ever, but Rajiv Ayyangar (CEO, Product Hunt) says most startups fail for a surprisingly simple reason: lack of clarity and velocity.

In this episode of The Startup Podcast, Rajiv explains what separates breakout startups from the thousands that never gain traction. Drawing on insights from hundreds of Product Hunt launches, Rajiv shares how to craft a tagline that resonates, why launching early (an...