Scaling a Founder-First Community | Ruchi Sanghvi & Aditya Agarwal

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

In 2018, Andrew Yang warned that automation would destabilize society by displacing millions of jobs. Eight years later, he says the crisis is no longer hypothetical—"you're already seeing it."Andrew joins his early mentor, SPC General Partner Mark Jacobstein, and Aditya Agarwal to unpack where we go from here: what UBI looks like in practice, why white-collar workers are more exposed than he originally thought, why tech founders should get more involved in politics (but not necessarily run for office), and why his new company Noble Mobile will pay you to spend less time on your phone.Andrew Yang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewyangvfa/Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/Mark Jacobstein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjacobstein/South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyChapters:(00:02:30) - Andrew’s origin story(00:08:56) - His 2018 AI warning(00:12:00) - Spotting trends earlier than other people(00:18:22) - Getting into the political arena rather than sitting on the sidelines(00:21:56) - The #1 most impactful way to change politics right now(00:27:19) - Noble Mobile: less doom scrolling, lower monthly bills(00:34:41) - His updated take on AI job losses and Universal Basic Income(00:39:09) - Human dignity and meaning in an AI world

"I think the mission basically doesn't matter."Waseem Daher, CEO of Pilot (and South Park Commons alum), has a contrarian theory about what actually drives startup success—and it's not passion for the problem you're solving. Waseem joins General Partner Aditya Agarwal to unpack the real patterns behind building companies: why his "thinking time" after Dropbox was torture, why he believes passion is an output rather than an input, and why the conventional wisdom on hiring and delegation is dangerously wrong. Waseem Daher: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher/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:(00:00:37) - Intro(00:02:57) - Why mission doesn't matter(00:12:36) - Waseem’s miserable time after Dropbox(00:16:10) - Testing vs sitting around brainstorming(00:31:38) - The case for micromanagement(00:34:05) - How LLMs are changing company creation and scaling(00:37:42) - The mindset shift that makes startups energizing

What does it feel like to bet your company on AI when everyone's talking about a bubble?Anurag Goel, CEO of Render and former employee #8 at Stripe, joins SPC Partner Jonathan Brebner to share why he's going all-in on AI infrastructure. The SPC alum breaks down the honest debates happening inside his company, why vulnerability builds more trust than the "always confident" founder persona, and how random events (like his wife's grad school decision) led to his early days at Stripe.1. Anurag Goel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuragoel/2. Jonathan Brebner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-brebner/3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply0:00:00 Intro0:00:27 How Anurag joined Stripe0:04:30 Silicon Valley “mythmaking”0:07:15 Can founders be vulnerable?0:09:00 His “Minus One” moment after Stripe0:15:45 Killing “good” ideas0:17:50 How Render unlocks developer productivity0:24:00 The AI bubble

Most things Kunal Shah says, turn into quotes that are shared across a cross-section of worlds — whether that is the startup and tech ecosystem, or simply among people looking to better understand human behaviour. First with FreeCharge and now with CRED, he has truly traversed a journey of what it means to build for as diverse and complex a market, as India.On Minus One, he shares why technology works best when it flows with human insight, why the best builders need to relentlessly keep asking “why?”, and what makes people truly aspire for something.Connect with us here:1. Kunal Shah- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/ 2. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/ 3. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/Timestamps: 00:00 Trailer01:17 Introduction03:47 Philosophy and Sales Shaping Perspectives06:48 Human Motivation and Product Success33:56 Key Traits for Startup Success41:46 Design and Aesthetics Matter47:26 Innovative Marketing55:48 Wealth, Health, and Business Success

This is the story behind all the IPO headlines. In this episode of Minus One, Vidit Aatrey talks to Prateek Mehta about the high-conviction journey of building Meesho — from early uncertainty and brutal trade-offs to cracking scale in one of the hardest consumer markets in the world. We talk about why most startups fail to truly understand India, what Meesho got right (after getting a lot wrong), and the long game required to build something that actually lasts.This is the builder’s story — about patience, lifelong learning, and designing for realities…not fantasies.Connect with us here:1. Prateek Mehta: https://x.com/prateekmehta42.South Park Commons – https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons

If there’s one person to listen to truly grasp the scale and intent of technology and where we’re headed, it’s Kevin Scott.The Microsoft CTO joins Aditya Agarwal to discuss navigating his Minus One days, the partnership with OpenAI, why the most valuable problems to solve are often the ones others ignore, and why building great things has never been easier, cheaper, or faster. Tune in now.Apply to SPC: https://www.southparkcommons.com/applyConnect with us: 1. Kevin Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinscott/ 2. Aditya Agarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/3. South Park Commons: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/ 00:00 Trailer01:34 Navigating Career Transitions and Impact07:35 Challenges and Insights for Entrepreneurs14:43 The Evolution and Future of AI28:42 The Grind of Startup Life34:11 Open Source vs. Closed Source Models46:49 Empowering the Next Generation with AI