Minus One

Amjad Masad and Haya Odeh, cofounders of Replit, join South Park Commons Partners Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi to share what it really took to build one of AI’s most important platforms, and how it’s now enabling a new wave of million-dollar founders.Amjad breaks down why traditional ideas like ICP are breaking down in the age of AI, what’s actually changing under the hood of modern models, and why we may be reaching the limits of prompting. Haya shares the origin of “Seek Pain”—Replit’s most counterintuitive cultural principle—and how a relentless focus on what’s not working drives better products, faster learning, and stronger teams.Amjad Masad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amjadmasad/ Haya Odeh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haya-odeh-b0725928/ Ruchi Sanghvi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsanghvi/ Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyCHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - Coming to America broke (and building anyway)(00:04:27) - Early Replit proof points kept the mission alive(00:07:02) - Cloud vs. local: why security tips the scales(00:10:09) - Execute daily, predict quarterly(00:11:35) - The 2023 roadmap Replit just finished executing(00:16:01) - Agent 4 and the end of context amnesia(00:22:01) - The death of the ICP(00:24:47) - What actually changed in AI models December 2024(00:28:52) - "Seek Pain"—Replit's most counterintuitive cultural value(00:34:55) - Why consultants are the most mispriced AI-era hire(00:38:00) - Co-founding with your partner—the honest answer(00:43:25) - Make micro-predictions or get left behind by AI(00:45:19) - Raising kids in a world you can't predict

As AI models become more powerful, safety is emerging as one of the defining challenges of our time. Rahul Patil, CTO at Anthropic, joins SPC Partner Ankit Chowdhary to discuss why they prioritize AI safety above all else, how the company thinks about building reliable and trustworthy AI models, and the tradeoffs between speed, scale, and responsibility in the age of exponential growth. Rahul also shares his journey growing up in Bangalore, how he first fell in love with computer science, and advice for young builders navigating the current tech landscape. This conversation was recorded on the 17th of February, 2026. Rahul Patil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-patil-a0944836/ Ankit Chowdhary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankitcc/ South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyCHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - Introduction + Rahul’s Core Philosophy(00:01:18) - Early Life: Falling in Love with Computer Science(00:03:07) - The “Minus One” Mindset: Curiosity Over Competition(00:05:24) - Chasing Exponential Trends and Scaled Impact(00:09:22) - Building for Dependability (Not Just Speed)(00:12:03) - Startup Tradeoffs: Speed vs. Safety (And Why It’s a False Choice)(00:18:17) - Why He Joined Anthropic (AI as the Biggest Shift Yet)(00:29:08) - Scaling Laws, Breakthroughs, and What Builders Should Do Now(00:42:20) - What Keeps Him Up at Night: The Next 100 Years in 5

Elad Gil, investor and author of High Growth Handbook, sits down with South Park Commons Partner Aditya Agarwal to challenge some of Silicon Valley’s favorite startup myths. He talks about why you might not actually need a cofounder, why data alone isn’t much of a moat, and how the strongest companies build real defensibility while others quietly fall behind.Elad also walks us through his approach to exit hygiene, what the Slack vs. Teams battle says about the power of incumbents, and why some of the worst advice in Silicon Valley isn’t directed at struggling startups but the ones already winning. Elad Gil: https://x.com/eladgil Aditya Agarwal: https://x.com/adityaag South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyChapters:(00:01:31) - Approaches to starting a company in the age of AI(00:05:03) - The cofounder fallacy (00:06:22) - Winning is the only startup culture that matters(00:08:00) - Why more markets are open right now than ever before(00:10:14) - The oligopoly market (00:21:13) - Product surface area beats data as a real competitive moat(00:24:12) - The failure mode no one discusses: bad advice for working companies(00:32:11) - How many Jensen Huangs are hiding in plain sight right now?(00:40:08) - Pre-scheduling exit conversations as annual board hygiene(00:43:54) - Why micromanagement is actually underrated

Grant Lee, cofounder and CEO of Gamma, joins South Park Commons General Partner Jonathan Brebner to discuss how his AI storytelling platform is taking on PowerPoint and Google Slides. Grant shares how Gamma survived the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, how they stayed lean while scaling to a $2B valuation, and why he believes “different beats better” when competing against entrenched incumbents. He also gets into the role of storytelling in product, hiring, and growth—and why publishing content (and pushing through "cringe valley") might be the most underrated thing a founder can do.Grant Lee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantslee/ Jonathan Brebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-brebner/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyChapters:(00:00:00) - Intro(00:02:41) - The Frustration With Slides That Sparked Gamma(00:04:02) - Reuniting With Co-Founders From Optimizely(00:08:46) - The Real Competition: Behavior Change(00:10:37) - The ‘Bet the Company’ Moment and the SVB Crisis(00:14:43) - Why Gamma Built a Lean Team and Hires Slowly(00:17:49) - Why Storytelling Is a Core Founder Skill(00:20:51) - How Gamma Balances AI Automation With Human Creativity(00:23:40) - Why Founders Must Survive “Cringe Valley”(00:31:17) - Building Gamma for Prosumer and Enterprise Growth

When Tony Xu cofounded DoorDash 13 years ago, he was rejected by more than 100 investors. Today, it’s a $70B+ behemoth dominating the delivery industry. Tony joins SPC General Partner Aditya Agarwal to reveal how DoorDash won the delivery war and answer the burning question of whether AI agents pose a threat to his company. He also shares why customer obsession became the company’s guiding principle, the challenges of digitizing the physical world, and how startups today can build competitive advantages in the age of AI. Tony Xu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xutony/ Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyChapters:(00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:00) - Becoming a founder(00:11:48) - Implementing AI and customer obsession (00:18:22) - Is AI a threat to DoorDash? (00:21:29) - Digitizing the physical world(00:25:31) - Company culture and values (00:31:33) - Tony’s unpopular business opinion (00:37:42) - How to stay curious and motivated (00:39:31) - Preparing children for the new age (00:42:47) - Audience Q&A