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At the Long-Term Stock Exchange, we are dedicated to creating a world where businesses are empowered to achieve lasting impact and long-term prosperity.
To foster meaningful conversations, we curate conversations from an ecosystem of leaders, entrepreneurs, and visionaries.
The Eric Ries Show, a podcast produced by Founder and Chair of LTSE Services, Eric Ries, reflects our mission.
The show features thought-provoking conversations with world-class technologists, thought leaders, executives, and others who are working to create a new ecosystem of organizations committed to growth with purpose.
To foster meaningful conversations, we curate conversations from an ecosystem of leaders, entrepreneurs, and visionaries.
The Eric Ries Show, a podcast produced by Founder and Chair of LTSE Services, Eric Ries, reflects our mission.
The show features thought-provoking conversations with world-class technologists, thought leaders, executives, and others who are working to create a new ecosystem of organizations committed to growth with purpose.
Disclaimer: Information contained in this podcast was obtained in part from publicly available sources (including the Eric Ries Show) and not independently verified. The Long-Term Stock Exchange and its affiliated companies do not make any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information and do not sponsor, approve, or endorse any of the content herein, all of which is presented solely for informational and educational purposes. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy any security, or a recommendation of any security or trading practice.
Some portions of the podcast may have been edited for the purpose of length or clarity.
From the Eric Ries Show:
From Fired CEO to Billion-Dollar Exit: How Lukas Biewald Turned Failure into the Future of AI
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Lukas Biewald has been shaping the future of AI for nearly two decades. In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, we explore how his early passion for the board game Go, his hard-won lessons as a founder, and his focus on alignment and culture helped him build Weights & Biases into a trusted toolmaker in machine learning.
In our conversation, we discuss:
• Lessons Lukas drew from Go about pattern recognition, persistence, and the power of computation
• The hard-won lessons Lukas took from CrowdFlower about timing, focus, and staying in the wrong role too long
• How Lukas created his own unpaid internship at OpenAI to sharpen and expand his technical skills
• The pain point that inspired Lukas and his cofounders to build Weights & Biases
• Practical ways Lukas kept his board aligned
• Why caring deeply about your product and users beats clever hacks and pitch decks every time
• How W&B’s ‘Year in Review’ showed that delight can be a moat in enterprise software
• Why the CoreWeave deal feels fundamentally different for Lukas than the sale of CrowdFlower
• And much more!
—
Where to find Lukas Biewald:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lbiewald/
• X: https://x.com/l2k
• Website: https://lukasbiewald.com/
—
Where to find Eric:
• Newsletter:https://ericries.carrd.co/
• Podcast:https://ericriesshow.com/
—
In This Episode We Cover:
(00:00) Intro
(02:05) How Go shaped Lukas’s view of AI
(08:32) How large language models actually work, and why they still feel mysterious
(12:58) Why AI’s abilities force us to rethink what intelligence means
(14:55) Key lessons from Lukas’s time at CrowdFlower
(23:59) What Lukas gained from teaching AI and interning at OpenAI
(28:28) Weights & Biases initial product
(30:06) How Lukas and his cofounders turned a pain point into a company
(32:18) What Lukas learned about the reality of raising money
(34:30) The non-negotiables in startup building
(37:00) Why genuine care outperforms every other growth strategy
(39:11) How caring about AI research and delighting users created W&B’s moat
(43:47) How a contrarian culture helped W&B preserve its ethos as it scaled
(47:00) The challenges of being a middle manager and how to identify the right bold ideas
(55:07) How Lukas knew W&B had achieved real traction
(56:36) How Lukas built alignment and transparency with his board
(59:05) Why the acquisition of W&B feels less stressful than Lukas’s previous company
(1:03:09) Why Lukas believes skepticism about AI is premature
—
Referenced:
- Weights & Biases: https://wandb.ai/
- AlphaGo: https://deepmind.google/research/projects/alphago/
- GNU Go: https://www.gnu.org/software/gnugo/
- CrowdFlower: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/crowdflower/
- Tensorboard: https://www.tensorflow.org/tensorboard
- Bob McGrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmcgrew/
- Travis Kalanick on X: https://x.com/travisk
- Ben Silbermann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silbermann/
- Steve Wozniak on X: https://x.com/stevewoz
- Inside Vercel: The $3B giant that’s changed coding forever: https://www.ericriesshow.com/inside-vercel-the-3b-giant-thats-changed-coding-forever/
- Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/
- CoreWeave: https://www.coreweave.com/
—
Production and marketing by Pen Name.
Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Show Notes
Lukas Biewald has been shaping the future of AI for nearly two decades. In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, we explore how his early passion for the board game Go, his hard-won lessons as a founder, and his focus on alignment and culture helped him build Weights & Biases into a trusted toolmaker in machine learning.
In our conversation, we discuss:
• Lessons Lukas drew from Go about pattern recognition, persistence, and the power of computation
• The hard-won lessons Lukas took from CrowdFlower about timing, focus, and staying in the wrong role too long
• How Lukas created his own unpaid internship at OpenAI to sharpen and expand his technical skills
• The pain point that inspired Lukas and his cofounders to build Weights & Biases
• Practical ways Lukas kept his board aligned
• Why caring deeply about your product and users beats clever hacks and pitch decks every time
• How W&B’s ‘Year in Review’ showed that delight can be a moat in enterprise software
• Why the CoreWeave deal feels fundamentally different for Lukas than the sale of CrowdFlower
• And much more!
—
Where to find Lukas Biewald:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lbiewald/
• X: https://x.com/l2k
• Website: https://lukasbiewald.com/
—
Where to find Eric:
• Newsletter:https://ericries.carrd.co/
• Podcast:https://ericriesshow.com/
—
In This Episode We Cover:
(00:00) Intro
(02:05) How Go shaped Lukas’s view of AI
(08:32) How large language models actually work, and why they still feel mysterious
(12:58) Why AI’s abilities force us to rethink what intelligence means
(14:55) Key lessons from Lukas’s time at CrowdFlower
(23:59) What Lukas gained from teaching AI and interning at OpenAI
(28:28) Weights & Biases initial product
(30:06) How Lukas and his cofounders turned a pain point into a company
(32:18) What Lukas learned about the reality of raising money
(34:30) The non-negotiables in startup building
(37:00) Why genuine care outperforms every other growth strategy
(39:11) How caring about AI research and delighting users created W&B’s moat
(43:47) How a contrarian culture helped W&B preserve its ethos as it scaled
(47:00) The challenges of being a middle manager and how to identify the right bold ideas
(55:07) How Lukas knew W&B had achieved real traction
(56:36) How Lukas built alignment and transparency with his board
(59:05) Why the acquisition of W&B feels less stressful than Lukas’s previous company
(1:03:09) Why Lukas believes skepticism about AI is premature
—
Referenced:
- Weights & Biases: https://wandb.ai/
- AlphaGo: https://deepmind.google/research/projects/alphago/
- GNU Go: https://www.gnu.org/software/gnugo/
- CrowdFlower: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/crowdflower/
- Tensorboard: https://www.tensorflow.org/tensorboard
- Bob McGrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmcgrew/
- Travis Kalanick on X: https://x.com/travisk
- Ben Silbermann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/silbermann/
- Steve Wozniak on X: https://x.com/stevewoz
- Inside Vercel: The $3B giant that’s changed coding forever: https://www.ericriesshow.com/inside-vercel-the-3b-giant-thats-changed-coding-forever/
- Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/
- CoreWeave: https://www.coreweave.com/
—
Production and marketing by Pen Name.
Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Disclaimer
The information is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice, either on behalf of a particular security or an overall investment strategy. Information about the company is provided by the company, or comes from the companies’ public filings and is not independently verified by LTSE. Neither LTSE nor any of its affiliates makes any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about the financial condition of any company. Statements regarding LTSE-listed companies are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate companies before investing. Advice from a securities professional is strongly advised.
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