<p>Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that answers user questions. Founded in 2022 and valued at over $1B, Perplexity recently crossed 10M monthly active users and is growing fast.</p> <p>In this episode, Sandhya Hegde chats with Denis Yarats, co-founder and CTO of Perplexity.</p> <p>Join us as we discuss:</p> <p>00:00 Reactions to Perplexity’s prototype in 2022</p> <p>1:33 How Arvind and Denis started working together</p> <p>4:04 Building a text-to-SQL tool initially</p> <p>6:34 Launch of ChatGPT and pivot to general search</p> <p>9:46 Focusing on user data, and not on the foundation model</p> <p>14:43 Perplexity’s early adopters</p> <p>16:42 Early customer feedback</p> <p>18:44 Perplexity’s core technical competencies</p> <p>22:44 Subscription pricing and future gross margins</p> <p>25:12 Perplexity’s hardware partnerships </p> <p>29:49 Future product vision </p> <p>32:50 Advice for founders in the AI space</p> <p><br><strong>Sandhya Hegde</strong> is a General Partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in modern SaaS companies with a focus on AI. Previously an early executive at Amplitude, Sandhya is a product-led growth (PLG) coach and mentor. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:sandhya@unusual.vc">sandhya@unusual.vc</a>.</p> <p><strong>Denis Yarats</strong> is the CTO and co-founder of Perplexity. </p> <p>Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm designed from the ground up to give a distinct advantage to founders building the next generation of software companies. Unusual has invested in category-defining companies like Webflow, Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, and Harness. Learn more about us at <a href="https://www.unusual.vc/">https://www.unusual.vc/</a>.</p>

Startup Field Guide by Unusual Ventures: The Product Market Fit Podcast

Sandhya Hegde, Unusual Ventures

Perplexity CTO Denis Yarats on AI-powered search

APR 21, 202435 MIN
Startup Field Guide by Unusual Ventures: The Product Market Fit Podcast

Perplexity CTO Denis Yarats on AI-powered search

APR 21, 202435 MIN

Description

<p>Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that answers user questions. Founded in 2022 and valued at over $1B, Perplexity recently crossed 10M monthly active users and is growing fast.</p> <p>In this episode, Sandhya Hegde chats with Denis Yarats, co-founder and CTO of Perplexity.</p> <p>Join us as we discuss:</p> <p>00:00 Reactions to Perplexity’s prototype in 2022</p> <p>1:33 How Arvind and Denis started working together</p> <p>4:04 Building a text-to-SQL tool initially</p> <p>6:34 Launch of ChatGPT and pivot to general search</p> <p>9:46 Focusing on user data, and not on the foundation model</p> <p>14:43 Perplexity’s early adopters</p> <p>16:42 Early customer feedback</p> <p>18:44 Perplexity’s core technical competencies</p> <p>22:44 Subscription pricing and future gross margins</p> <p>25:12 Perplexity’s hardware partnerships </p> <p>29:49 Future product vision </p> <p>32:50 Advice for founders in the AI space</p> <p><br><strong>Sandhya Hegde</strong> is a General Partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in modern SaaS companies with a focus on AI. Previously an early executive at Amplitude, Sandhya is a product-led growth (PLG) coach and mentor. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.</p> <p><strong>Denis Yarats</strong> is the CTO and co-founder of Perplexity. </p> <p>Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm designed from the ground up to give a distinct advantage to founders building the next generation of software companies. Unusual has invested in category-defining companies like Webflow, Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, and Harness. Learn more about us at <a href="https://www.unusual.vc/">https://www.unusual.vc/</a>.</p>