In 2020, Airwallex lost nearly half its revenue overnight. Today it's worth $11 billion.

Jack Zhang reflects on the decisions that kept the company alive, raising capital during uncertainty, and leading through its toughest chapter.

This episode is a candid look at why Jack chose to keep building, even when a $1.2 billion acquisition was on the table.

Guest: Jack Zhang, founder and CEO, Airwallex

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AI may change software overnight, but company building still takes time.

Ryan Smith explains why, despite the pace of AI, “the race is going to be way longer than anyone thinks.”

He reflects on Qualtrics surviving multiple market cycles and ultimately being acquired by SAP for $8 billion days before going public.

Guest: Ryan Smith, co-founder Qualtrics

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Great software companies often come from understanding pain points at a very deep level.

On Grit, Aman Narang shares how Toast built trust with 171,000+ restaurant operators by helping restaurants manage everything from payments and online orders to staff scheduling and daily operations.

He also reflects on lessons around product-market fit and scaling a company before it’s fully ready.

Guest: Aman Narang, co-founder and CEO, Toast

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Founder quality becomes more important as startups become easier to build.

Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril and partner at Founders Fund, has spent years backing founders with strong conviction, including most recently at Roadrunner.

He shares why too much capital too early can hurt startups, and why the best companies are built by teams with complementary strengths.

Guest: Trae Stephens, co-founder, Anduril and Partner, Founders Fund

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What does it take to run a company where the business is risk itself?

In conversation with Joubin Mirzadegan, Peter Zaffino shares what the role demands at AIG, including high stakes decisions, constant responsibility, and sacrifice.

This episode looks at his journey as CEO ahead of his transition to Executive Chairman this June.

Leading at a global scale across 200+ countries.

Guest: Peter Zaffino

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In a market that hadn’t changed in decades, Linear didn’t win by being faster. They won by being more thoughtful.

Karri Saarinen helped shape design at Airbnb and Coinbase before building Linear around small teams and high standards.

On Grit, he shares how Linear is building for a new era of software development.

Guest: Karri Saarinen, co-founder and CEO of Linear

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What does security look like when attackers use AI better than you do?

Armadin recently raised $200M to build for the “attacker of the future,” where attacks are autonomous and harder to contain.

On the Kleiner Perkins Grit podcast, Kevin Mandia joins Joubin Mirzadegan to share how he’s thinking about this shift, why cybersecurity has always been a calling, and why customer trust is what ultimately compounds into market leadership.

Guest: Kevin Mandia, Founder and CEO, Armadin

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Emil Michael went from scaling Uber across 600 cities to rewiring the world's largest military.

In the midst of the Pentagon-Silicon Valley debate, the now U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering opens up about what a real partnership demands from both sides.

He also shares how he's built three new entry points for defense tech companies, and why America's military is called the "Department of War" again.

Guest: Emil Michael, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

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