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Books, podcasts, articles, and videos that have caught my attention.
Surge AI - Interview with Harry Stebbings
July 21, 2025
$1 billion in revenue, 100 employees, and no outside funding. That is every founder’s dream. Edwin Chen may be running one of the most spectacular yet overlooked companies I have ever encountered. He keeps a low profile for good reason: he discovered a brilliant business model. Listening to Edwin, I found myself nodding along to almost everything he said. As a former founder, it is rare for me to hear someone describe their ethos and agree so completely. His focus on quality, the absence of 1:1s, and a commitment to profitability all resonate with me. I have already shared his podcast with founders who are just starting their journeys.
Ben Eater - How Semiconductors Work
July 18, 2025
Ben Eater has a series of youtube videos that explain, in depth, how semiconductors and transistors work. As I mentioned in my prior post, when I go deep, I really dig in :) His videos start with the basics and go all the way to building an eight bit computer, showing exactly how machines store, process, and output information. Mastering concepts at this small scale makes it easier to grasp how today’s processors, packed with billions of transistors, operate. His videos are not for casual viewing. They require focus and really processing the information. I suggest you start from his oldest youtubes and work your way forward. They are all incredibly rewarding.
Chip War - Chris Miller
July 15, 2025
When understanding any fundamental technology, including AI, I generally go down a deep rabbit hole to understand the foundations of the technology. For me, this meant the transistor level of how GPUs work. Chip War doesn’t go quite that deep, yet it still delivers a thorough overview of the semiconductor industry: Bell Labs’ invention of the transistor, Fairchild and Intel’s early processors, TSMC’s revolutionary foundry model, ASML’s EUV lithography breakthrough, and Nvidia’s ascent. Woven through the narrative are the shifting geopolitical dynamics between the US and China, and Taiwan's precarious position in between them. Overall, it is a riveting read and gives you enough of a history on chip development to better understand the dynamics playing out today.
Andrej Karpathy – Deep Dive into LLMs
July 12, 2025
I have to admit, I’ve watched all of Andrej Karpathy’s YouTube videos, usually immediately when they drop. He explains complex concepts with remarkable simplicity yet extreme depth — these are better than any college course on AI and LLMs. I’m linking to this particular video because it’s essential viewing for anyone interested in AI who wants to truly understand how LLMs work. I suggest exploring his entire YouTube catalog, especially “Let’s Build the GPT Tokenizer,” “Let’s Reproduce GPT‑2,” and the complete makemore series. Note, these aren’t quick watches. I had to focus intently, take notes, and occasionally re‑watch sections. However, they provide an unparalleled education in LLMs.
Sequoia AI Ascent – Jim Fan on Robotics
July 10, 2025
All of the Sequoia AI Ascent videos are incredible. Some are predictably excellent given the lineup (Sam Altman, Mike Krieger, Jeff Dean… the list goes on). However, one lecture embedded itself in the deep recesses of my brain: Jim Fan’s talk on robotics. Until watching this presentation, I hadn’t grasped how the lack of training data would impact robotics, and it got me thinking about the speed at which the industry will take off and what the key bottlenecks will be. It piqued my interest enough that I’m currently writing a detailed memo on the industry, which I’ll share once complete. Watch them all — they’re easy to throw on during a workout and incredibly thought‑provoking.
Acquired Podcast – Epic Systems (MyChart)
July 1, 2025
Like most people, I love the Acquired podcast. So much so that my husband and I made our first night out post‑baby an Acquired episode live taping. I found this episode particularly engaging as it explores the founding and growth of Epic Systems, the electronic medical‑records company behind MyChart. If you’ve ever been part of a large healthcare system, you’ve likely used their platform. What made this story so compelling was founder Judith Faulkner — from her engineering background to her decision to forgo outside capital while maintaining an unwavering focus on quality, she exemplifies the type of CEO I’d want to work for (and be!). I highly recommend this to any founder!
Mustafa Suleyman – The Coming Wave
June 25, 2025
The Coming Wave explores the risks and opportunities that AI presents. Mustafa Suleyman, co‑founder of DeepMind, argues that AI will be transformative across areas like synthetic biology, robotics, quantum computing, and energy. He draws parallels to past technological waves such as the agricultural and industrial revolutions, showing how these created massive economic gains while also bringing broader societal risks. Suleyman advocates for a containment strategy for AI, establishing guardrails to ensure the technology drives economic prosperity without falling into the hands of bad actors. While an interesting read, the book isn’t earth‑shattering — some sections can be dense, though the opening chapters are particularly engaging.