Reid Hoffman challenges your thinking on AI, governance, and politics
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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:
Lessons on building a unicorn used by 84% of the Fortune 100 | Emil Eifrem (Neo4j)
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In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I’m joined by Emil Eifrem, Co-Founder and CEO of Neo4j, an open-source graph database. Neo4j enables organizations to unlock the business value of connections, influences, and relationships in data.
In our conversation today, we talk about the following topics:
• The origin story of Neo4j and why they chose open source
• Open source as a means of production vs. distribution
• How open source fosters trust and transparency
• The pros and cons of doing business in the US
• Why Neo4j updated their values and changed their stance on military contracts
• What a Leader’s Guide is and how it keeps companies tied to their mission
• The challenges of implementing AI
• An explanation of RAG information retrieval and how it relates to LLMs
• And more!
—
Brought to you by:
Vanta – Automate compliance, manage risk, and prove trust—continuously. Get $1,000 off.
Gusto – Gusto is an easy payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. Get 3 months free.
Runway – The finance platform you don’t hate. Learn more.
—
Where to find Emil Eifrem:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emileifrem/
—
Where to find Eric:
• Newsletter: https://ericries.carrd.co/
• Podcast: https://ericriesshow.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow
—
In This Episode We Cover:
(00:00) Intro
(01:42) How Eric and Emil got connected
(07:35) The origin story of Neo4j
(13:38) Why Emil went with an open-source model
(20:25) The benefits of being open source as a means of distribution
(25:07) Why Emil has no regrets about going open-source
(26:50) How open source builds trust
(30:33) The difference in doing business in the US vs. Sweden
(35:34) How Neo4j got to product market fit and early struggles
(38:30) Why Neo4j declined the GSA schedule and why it was a mistake
(46:22) Emil’s thoughts on changing his position, reworking values, and recommitting
(51:40) Eric’s advice to avoid mission drift: A leader’s guide, and a two-way review
(1:00:04) The challenge of implementing AI—and the possibility of massive opportunity
(1:09:20) How Neo4j successfully implemented AI
(1:11:55) An explanation of IR (information retrieval) and how it’s relevant to AI
(1:22:44) What gives us trust in the AI system
—
- Neo4j: https://neo4j.com/
- Menlo Ventures: https://menlovc.com/
- Agile: https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101
- Scrum: https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-scrum-module
- Lean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing
- The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/0989200507
- Oracle: https://www.oracle.com/
- Black Art of Java Game Programming: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Art-Java-Game-Programming/dp/1571690433
- Spring: https://spring.io/projects/spring-framework
- PHP: https://www.php.net/
- Real-Time Graph Analysis of Documents Saves Company Over 4 Million Employee Hours Challenge: https://neo4j.com/customer-stories/cisco/
- GSA: https://www.gsa.gov/
- Netflix Culture: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
- Howard Schultz on X: https://x.com/howardschultz
- Reid Hoffman challenges your thinking on AI, governance, and politics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhhzySUqKx0
- RAG: How Retrieval Augmented Generation Systems Work: https://www.willowtreeapps.com/craft/retrieval-augmented-generation#
- Lycos: https://www.lycos.com/
- Excite: https://www.excite.com/
- AltaVista: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltaVista
- PageRank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank
- GraphRAG: https://medium.com/@zilliz_learn/graphrag-explained-enhancing-rag-with-knowledge-graphs-3312065f99e1
- GraphRAG: The Marriage of Knowledge Graphs and RAG: Emil Eifrem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knDDGYHnnSI
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/.
Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Show Notes
In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I’m joined by Emil Eifrem, Co-Founder and CEO of Neo4j, an open-source graph database. Neo4j enables organizations to unlock the business value of connections, influences, and relationships in data.
In our conversation today, we talk about the following topics:
• The origin story of Neo4j and why they chose open source
• Open source as a means of production vs. distribution
• How open source fosters trust and transparency
• The pros and cons of doing business in the US
• Why Neo4j updated their values and changed their stance on military contracts
• What a Leader’s Guide is and how it keeps companies tied to their mission
• The challenges of implementing AI
• An explanation of RAG information retrieval and how it relates to LLMs
• And more!
—
Brought to you by:
Vanta – Automate compliance, manage risk, and prove trust—continuously. Get $1,000 off.
Gusto – Gusto is an easy payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. Get 3 months free.
Runway – The finance platform you don’t hate. Learn more.
—
Where to find Emil Eifrem:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emileifrem/
—
Where to find Eric:
• Newsletter: https://ericries.carrd.co/
• Podcast: https://ericriesshow.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow
—
In This Episode We Cover:
(00:00) Intro
(01:42) How Eric and Emil got connected
(07:35) The origin story of Neo4j
(13:38) Why Emil went with an open-source model
(20:25) The benefits of being open source as a means of distribution
(25:07) Why Emil has no regrets about going open-source
(26:50) How open source builds trust
(30:33) The difference in doing business in the US vs. Sweden
(35:34) How Neo4j got to product market fit and early struggles
(38:30) Why Neo4j declined the GSA schedule and why it was a mistake
(46:22) Emil’s thoughts on changing his position, reworking values, and recommitting
(51:40) Eric’s advice to avoid mission drift: A leader’s guide, and a two-way review
(1:00:04) The challenge of implementing AI—and the possibility of massive opportunity
(1:09:20) How Neo4j successfully implemented AI
(1:11:55) An explanation of IR (information retrieval) and how it’s relevant to AI
(1:22:44) What gives us trust in the AI system
—
- Neo4j: https://neo4j.com/
- Menlo Ventures: https://menlovc.com/
- Agile: https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101
- Scrum: https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-scrum-module
- Lean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing
- The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank/dp/0989200507
- Oracle: https://www.oracle.com/
- Black Art of Java Game Programming: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Art-Java-Game-Programming/dp/1571690433
- Spring: https://spring.io/projects/spring-framework
- PHP: https://www.php.net/
- Real-Time Graph Analysis of Documents Saves Company Over 4 Million Employee Hours Challenge: https://neo4j.com/customer-stories/cisco/
- GSA: https://www.gsa.gov/
- Netflix Culture: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture
- Howard Schultz on X: https://x.com/howardschultz
- Reid Hoffman challenges your thinking on AI, governance, and politics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhhzySUqKx0
- RAG: How Retrieval Augmented Generation Systems Work: https://www.willowtreeapps.com/craft/retrieval-augmented-generation#
- Lycos: https://www.lycos.com/
- Excite: https://www.excite.com/
- AltaVista: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltaVista
- PageRank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank
- GraphRAG: https://medium.com/@zilliz_learn/graphrag-explained-enhancing-rag-with-knowledge-graphs-3312065f99e1
- GraphRAG: The Marriage of Knowledge Graphs and RAG: Emil Eifrem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knDDGYHnnSI
—
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/.
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.
Curated Conversations
