Same As Ever: 7 rules that HAVEN'T changed about building great startups (w/ Amir Shevat)

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1. 

   S5 · E15 · 21 May 2026 · 39 min

   FEED DROP: Could AI Make Capitalism Better? Henrik Werdelin Is Optimistic (from FAFO with Dan Blumberg)

   This is a bonus feed drop from Dan Blumberg's podcast 'Future Around and Find Out' (FAFO), winner of the 2026 Webby Award for Best Technology Podcast. If you like what you hear, check out FAFO at https://www.futurearound.com/ Original description: Henrik Werdelin is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. He’s founded and incubated several unicorns, most notably BARK, the dog happiness company. Henrik himself is a pretty happy guy — an optimistic guy who likes to ask what could go right? — and on the day we recorded (a few months ago as I was squirreling away interviews for the podcast relaunch),…

2. 

   S5 · E15 · 18 May 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

   The Science of Scaling: Using data to scale your startup perfectly w/ Mark Roberge

   Most founders treat 'scale' like a switch you flip after raising a round: hire 14 reps, 10x the ad spend, and pray. About half scale too early and burn the runway, while the other half scale too late and get caught by a more aggressive competitor. Almost nobody can tell you, in measurable terms, when they're actually ready. In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein is joined by Mark Roberge - founding CRO at HubSpot (where he scaled the company from $0 to $100M ARR), senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, cofounder of Stage 2 Capital, and author of the new book 'The Science of Scaling'. Mark…

3. 

   S5 · E14 · 11 May 2026 · 45 min

   Refounding: Why this $80m founder quit as CEO, and what it says about the future of startups

   In 2026, startups age like milk. Josh Foreman's solution is a radical one - step down as CEO, go back to basics, and refound the whole company. Yaniv Bernstein discusses this decision with Josh, founder and (for now) CEO of InDebted - the AI-native debt resolution business he scaled to an $80M revenue run rate, a Series C raise, and operations across 8 markets. Just days before recording, Josh publicly announced he's hiring a new CEO so he can step back into the business as a hands-on operator and refound the company for the agentic AI era. In this conversation, Josh and Yaniv discuss…

4. 

   S5 · E13 · 4 May 2026 · 38 min

   Adapting your startup to an AI-native world (w/ Marlon Nichols)

   Many AI startups funded in the last 18 months won't last three years - so what makes a business durable today? Yaniv Bernstein is joined by Marlon Nichols, co-founder and managing general partner of MaC Venture Capital - one of the most active seed-stage AI investors in the market, having scaled MaC to over $600M AUM across three funds in just four years. Marlon's portfolio includes Pipe, Stoke Space, Thrive Market, Chef Robotics, and exits like Wonder Dynamics to Autodesk and Gimlet Media to Spotify. In this conversation, Marlon uses his industry experience to explain the biggest threats to…

5. 

   S5 · E12 · 27 Apr 2026 · 29 min

   How the best founders balance fear and hope

   Being a founder has always meant dreaming big while keeping a close eye on potential trip-ups, and in the age of AI, finding and maintaining that balance is more important than ever. Today, Yaniv Bernstein talks about the importance of getting that balance right. Using deep insight and decades of industry experience, he discusses why now is the time for founders to be more ambitious than ever before - while identifying threats to success and keeping a keen, near-paranoid eye on them. In this episode, you will: Understand why ‘paranoid optimism’ has always been the founder superpower, and why…

6. 

   S5 · E10 · 13 Apr 2026 · 48 min

   Surviving the AI SaaSpocalypse: Will AI kill your startup? w/ Scotty Allen

   Will AI kill your startup? For a lot of startups, probably yes. But which ones? And more importantly, how do you make sure yours isn't one of them? Yaniv Bernstein is joined by returning guest Scotty Allen (bootstrapper, founder of The Product Bus, and startup strategist extraordinaire) to reason through one of the most pressing questions of 2026: how do you build a startup to survive the SaaSpocalypse? They discuss why this AI wave is more of a threat to tech startups than Google and Facebook ever were, and why the B2B/B2C distinction has never mattered more. Along the way, Yaniv discusses…

7. 

   S5 · E9 · 6 Apr 2026 · 29 min

   ‘Unlearning’ with Yaniv: Why founders need to rewrite outdated, radioactive mindsets

   You may have spent years (or even decades) building your expertise. But is any of it still relevant? And how much of it is an active detriment to your startup? In this special solo episode, Yaniv Bernstein delivers a no-guest monologue on the most critical skill any founder can develop right now: ‘unlearning’. Drawing on Morgan Housel's ‘Same as Ever’; real-world examples from his own startup, Vera; and frameworks for rebuilding beliefs from the ground up, Yaniv makes the case that obsolete knowledge is as bad as radioactive waste actively distorting your decisions. In this episode, you…

8. 

   S5 · E8 · 30 Mar 2026 · 23 min

   Your co-founder relationship could break your startup! Here's how to fix it

   (This is Part 2 of a conversation with Dr. Matthew Jones about co-founder relationships. You can find Part 1 here: https://www.tsp.show/how-to-identify-red-flags-early-in-your-cofounder-relationship-w-dr-matthew-jones/ ) Co-founder conflict is tough to deal with, but it also has ripple effects through your entire organization. When a tough relationship is left to fester, it can erode your team culture, spike turnover, and eventually turn into a full-blown crisis. Continuing last week's conversation with Yaniv, Dr. Matthew Jones - author of The Cofounder Effect and founder of Cofounder…

9. 

   S5 · E7 · 23 Mar 2026 · 40 min

   How to identify red flags early in your cofounder relationship w/ Dr. Matthew Jones

   Your co-founder relationship is the single most important variable in your startup's success, and one of the most likely things to destroy it. Today, Yaniv Bernstein sits down with Dr. Matthew Jones, author of ‘The Cofounder Effect’ and founder of Cofounder Clarity, to dig into the psychology of co-founder relationships: why they break down and what the warning signs look like. Matt brings a rare combination of clinical depth and startup-world pragmatism to the topic - an essential skillset to help you properly understand common co-founder pitfalls, and how to avoid them. In this episode,…

10. 

    S5 · E6 · 16 Mar 2026 · 42 min

    Why Claude never stops listening to our meetings (w/ Minikai's Keoki Alexander-Chang)

    In a deeply regulated industry such as healthcare, building an AI-native app poses a host of unique challenges, particularly when it comes to navigating customer privacy and industry red tape. How do you create an industry-leading resource and stay on the cutting edge of tech, while managing these constraints? Keoki Alexander-Chang can help you there. He's the founder and CEO of Minikai, a Melbourne-based startup using AI agents to slash the administrative burden on disability and aged care providers. Before launching Minikai, he led Deloitte's Forensic AI lab, so he's been thinking about…