10 People + AI = Billion Dollar Company?

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - Coming Up 00:51 - What Jensen Huang said about coding 01:38 - Now that computers can code, what does this mean for CS? 03:16 - How good are AI programmers right now? 05:05 - Benchmark Datasets 08:34 - Will AI replace programmers: SWE-bench 11:44 - Good ideas come from the building process 14:50 - The evolution of programming languages 17:52 - The benefits of learning to code, even if computers can do it 18:57 - Will we see more unicorns with 10 people (or fewer)? 22:36 - Patrick Collison: Leadership Transition 23:58 - A startup should be like a sports team, not a family 25:33 - Scaling Challenges 27:23 - Applying engineering problem solving to non-engineering issues 28:55 - What will happen if AI takes on more programming roles? 33:38 - Making better for a real customer 36:58 - The verdict - learn to code! 37:51 - Crafts People 38:07 - Outro

As a consumer, it's hope-inducing. As an entrepreneur, it's distracting.

Summary by Each Current State of AI Programming - AI tools are becoming more reliable for simple tasks. - Advances like the sBench dataset have significantly improved AI programming. - GitHub Copilot and similar tools assist developers but cannot fully replace them yet. Learning to Code - Coding enhances logical thinking and problem-solving skills. - Understanding coding is crucial, even with advanced AI capabilities. Small Teams and Billion-Dollar Companies - AI could enable small teams to build successful companies. - Experienced founders often prefer smaller teams for efficiency and focus. Founders' Evolution - Successful founders transition from engineering to managing teams and processes. - Effective leadership is critical for scaling startups. Role of AI in Enhancing Founders' Capabilities - AI lowers technical barriers, making it easier to start companies. - Founders still need a strong foundation in computer science and engineering. Conclusion AI will ease the process of starting companies, likely leading to more unicorns. Skilled programmers and effective leaders will continue to be essential.

It's not just coding knowledge but the general understanding of computer science as a whole, gives you context that you need to come up with products that makes sense for human problems AND are solvable with computing.

Instagram only had 13 employees when they hit a $1B valuation and that was pre crazy inflation.. you guys should know this. What will be impressive w AI is a billion dollar company w 1 or 2 founders only

Yes! This is the topic I’ve been waiting to hear. Many people are saying the software engineer career will die with AI engineers emerging soon . Others are saying “The end of software” as these software products will become quick and easy to build for everyone so prices will go to zero... We need to talk about this more as I see people discussing this everywhere

I have been a follower of Garry since his beginning on YouTube here. It's incredible that Garry, the CEO, is still part of these videos. That speaks tons about him and YC's current culture! 🙌

It's very important to under what Jensen said. He is NOT saying that there will be no use for Computer Science majors or Programmers in the foreseeable future. He is saying that the end game of the industry is to eliminate "Programming" as we now know it. I don't even think Jensen would proclaim to know when this will be possible. However, that is the end goal, to enable any human the ability to program anything using natural language in the same way anyone can now generate an image on demand.

This was a really insightful brainstorming session, loved it. Yep totally agree that AI would really help in quickly pushing out more ideas and proof of concepts (from 0 to 1), but you'll still need humans and programmers to scale and sustain such startups or companies.

Using AI to code AI.

If it’s so easy to start these companies, what makes you think any lasting value is being created?

This video came at the right time in my life. TL to explain, but thank you

The difference between natural language and programming is primarily that programming requires a VERY SPECIFIC COLLECTION OF TERMS to execute the outcome. Natural language however is far more malleable and generic. Hence you can get away with things being a little not as they seem. With programming, you have to be 100% correct in our outcome. Something LLMs don't do at the moment.

The question is not how to do stuff. The question is what to do. That's where the human intuition will come. There will exist a power law in ideas, which right now isn't there because if we could speed up the building process of any idea, we can quickly see if it's worth the effort or not. AI will bridge that gap

6:19 - Before MNNs (massive neural nets) engineers used hand coded feature extractors, SVMs, statistical modeling, Frequency Domain represntations, Wavelets, etc.

Learning Computer Science is fundamental, like learning language and biology is fundamental for us. We learn english to be able to communicate effectively with one another and biology to understand how we are composed. To create a thought or an idea and pass that to another person, language is used. Computer science, in this particular case, coding, is the direct analog. Other areas in computer science allow us to understand how computers and machines are structured. We will need to understand machines like we understand ourselves. They are after all, mirrors of us but in a different form.

What Garry says between 24:00-25:24 might be the most useful thing you will ever hear in your business life.

so much to learn

Great video.

Great discussion guys, thanks! I think what Jensen meant was that a formal education in computer science or programming is not necessary, but people can always learn the basics, including computational thinking. I teach digital marketing at a college and similarly, I would say that a formal education in digital marketing is no longer necessary (which is partly why I quit teaching in January 2023 after playing with ChatGPT for two weeks).