Beliefs alone don't scale, and neither do systems alone. Parin Mehta, executive and founder coach (ex-Airbnb, ex-Google), returns to The Generalists to break down why founders burn out when their identity and their company drift apart — and how to fix it.

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In this episode of The Generalists (Thrive series), Parin returns to unpack the psychological side of scaling a company — from the founder/business identity split, to why "nice" isn't the same as "kind," to the safe antagonist role every founder needs but rarely has. Drawing on 500+ hours of coaching founders and executives per year over the past 15 years, plus his own time at Google and Airbnb, Parin gets into what actually breaks founders as they climb from seed to Series A and beyond.

🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1732609164

🔥 Watch Our Other Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_dknB50qM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eitqzpiqUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDZg3mr684

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H24ck-is5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2bxHjUl-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzdzT_L8zAw

We get into:

- Why systems thinking and belief-driven leadership need each other and what happens when they diverge

- The parenting analogy for scaling: why mastering one stage doesn't prepare you for the next

- Nice vs. kind, the reframe that changed how Parin coaches founders

- The "safe antagonist": how to build a relationship where hard questions land without defensiveness

- Asset owner vs. operator — untangling the founder's three identities

- Why delegation fails when founders can't let go of the dopamine hit- Startup envy, gratitude, and why self-help logic breaks down under real pressure

- Using AI coding tools (Codex vs. Claude) as antagonistic collaborators

- Why intuition sometimes beats the data — and the danger of "should"

Host:

Michael Smith Jr.: linkedin.com/in/smittysgp

Guest:

Parin Mehta: linkedin.com/in/parinjmehta

🔗 Links & Resources From This Episode

- Parin's TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qq2foM6QKs

- Parin's Newsletter: https://coachparin.substack.com

Technology isn't enough to win. Gal Elbaz, co-founder and CTO of Oligo Security, breaks down why the technical founder's biggest mistake is confusing a great product with a great business.

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🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: youtube.com/@thegeneralistspodcast

• Spotify: The Generalists on Spotify

• Apple Podcasts: The Generalists on Apple Podcasts

In this episode of The Generalists, Gal takes us inside the journey of scaling a cybersecurity startup from founding team to market leader. He shares the brutal realities of building a security company in production environments, how Log4Shell validated Oligo's runtime security vision, and why solving a problem isn't the same as solving "the" problem.

We get into:

- The CTO's responsibility to look six months ahead of the market

- What Got You Here Won't Get You There: evolving leadership as you scale

- The best interview question Gal uses to separate brilliant talent from the right fit

- How research (like the ShadowRay attack on AI workloads) builds credibility marketing can't buy

- Whether AI really makes developers 10x faster — and where it falls short

- Selling security inside production when everyone calls you crazy

Hosts:

Michael Smith Jr.: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/

Raz Kotler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/

Guest:

Gal Elbaz: http://linkedin.com/in/gal-elbaz

🔗 Links & Resources From This Episode

• Oligo Security: https://www.oligo.security

• ShadowRay Research: https://www.oligo.security/blog/shadowray-attack-ai-workloads-actively-exploited-in-the-wild

• ShadowRay on MITRE ATT&CK: https://attack.mitre.org/campaigns/C0045/

• AirBorne Research: https://www.oligo.security/blog/airborne

• Log4Shell Guidance from CISA: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa21-356a

• Check Point Research: https://research.checkpoint.com

• eBPF: https://ebpf.io

• Wiz: https://www.wiz.io

• MITRE ATT&CK: https://attack.mitre.org

• Black Hat: https://www.blackhat.com

• The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: https://www.huji.ac.il

In this episode of The Generalists, we sit down with Greg Armshaw, Enterprise Commercial Lead at Secret Sauce - the AI platform spun out of Singapore game studio We Are Mighty (formerly Mighty Bear Games). Greg explains how years of building AI-powered creative workflows for game development became an enterprise platform helping brands generate consistent, on-brand marketing at scale.

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The conversation goes beyond AI tools. We explore why consistency is still AI's biggest challenge, why successful AI users need to be opinionated about outcomes, what it takes to build a global AI company from Singapore, and why generalists may become even more valuable in the AI era.

🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1732609164

🔥 Watch Our Other Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_dknB50qM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eitqzpiqUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDZg3mr684

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H24ck-is5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2bxHjUl-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzdzT_L8zAw

What you'll learn:

- How Secret Sauce evolved from Mighty Bear's internal AI workflows

- Why AI-generated content still struggles with brand consistency

- The difference between using ChatGPT and building an AI-native creative platform

- How marketers can produce hundreds of brand assets without growing their teams

- Why enterprise and consumer AI products can share the same core platform

- Lessons from taking an AI startup global from Singapore

- Why the best AI users know exactly what outcome they're aiming for

- How AI is empowering small businesses, from butter brands to pizza restaurants

- Why Greg believes generalists become more valuable, not less, in the AI era

- Singapore's opportunity to become Asia's AI hub

Hosts:

Michael Smith Jr.: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/

Raz Kotler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/

Guest:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregarmshaw/

#AIContent #BrandConsistency #AIforBusiness

Asaf Wiener, Co-Founder & CEO of Mate Security, former product leader at Wiz and Microsoft, and the first Wiz alumnus to found a startup joins The Generalists to discuss why AI is reshaping the security operations center. After 15 years across Israel's elite special forces, Microsoft Defender, and Wiz, Asaf is now building an AI-native SOC platform that just raised a $35M Series A from Insight Partners. He argues that being a late mover with the right architecture is a superpower, and that the metric he uses to earn CISO trust has nothing to do with marketing buzzwords.

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In this episode, Asaf shares why "experience is bullshit" when hiring a founding team, how a Fortune 500 CISO calling at midnight to open a war room validated his product, what competitive drive looks like when it's wrapped in a calm exterior, and why the first 50 people you hire define everything, including whether you survive.

🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1732609164

🔥 Watch Our Other Videos:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_dknB50qM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eitqzpiqUs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDZg3mr684
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H24ck-is5Y
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2bxHjUl-Y
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzdzT_L8zAw

What You'll Learn

• Why hiring for years of industry experience is a mistake and what Asaf screens for instead
• How the "follower strategy" at Wiz taught him that late movers with better architecture can win
• What "agreement rate" means for AI agents in the SOC — and why CISOs won't trust you without it
• Why Asaf quotes Roger Federer on losing 80% of the points you play — and what that has to do with founder resilience
• How leaving Wiz after the Google acquisition fell through became the trigger to start Mate
• Why the first 50 employees are the only culture decision that truly matters
• What imposter syndrome looks like when you're carrying 50 peoples' livelihoods and 30 customers

👤 Hosts

• Michael Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/
• Raz Kotler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/

👤 Guest

• Asaf Wiener: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asafwiener/

📚 Resources

• Mate Security: https://mate.security
• Mate $15.5M Seed Round (Insight Partners): https://www.insightpartners.com/ideas/mate-launches-with-15-5m-seed-to-transform-security-operations/
• Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/
• Microsoft Defender XDR: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-defender-xdr
• Team8: https://team8.vc/
• Insight Partners: https://www.insightpartners.com/
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/
• Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/#enterpriseai #AISecurity #Cybersecurity

Andrew Boyd, GM Asia Pacific at Dataiku and former Microsoft and AWS executive, joins The Generalists to discuss why enterprise AI is entering a new phase. After two years of experimentation, businesses are shifting from building hundreds of AI agents to proving measurable business value.

In this episode, Andrew shares what he’s seeing across enterprises in Asia, why many organizations have far more AI agents than they realize, how governance and data foundations determine success, and why optionality across models may be one of the most important strategic decisions companies make over the next few years.

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🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1732609164

What You’ll Learn

• Why enterprises are shifting from AI experimentation to measurable ROI
• How one company thought it had built 500 agents but had actually built 2,000
• Why giving everyone the ability to build agents can create cost, security, and governance problems
• What separates useful enterprise AI from endless experimentation
• Why governed data and clear access controls must come before agentic workflows
• How Andrew uses AI agents to manage tasks, delegation, Slack, email, and call recordings
• Why companies need model optionality instead of betting everything on one provider
• How AI adoption in Asia differs from the US and Europe
• Why on-premises, open-weight, and Chinese models are gaining traction across Asia
• Why the biggest AI gains may require redesigning workflows instead of automating old processes

👤 Hosts

• Michael Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/
• Raz Kotler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/

👤 Guest

• Andrew Boyd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmboyd/

📚 Resources

• Dataiku: https://www.dataiku.com/
• Dataiku LLM Mesh: https://www.dataiku.com/product/llm-mesh/
• Dataiku AI Governance: https://www.dataiku.com/product/ai-governance/
• Claude: https://www.anthropic.com/claude
• OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/
• DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com/
• Kimi: https://kimi.ai/
• Thinking Machines Lab: https://thinkingmachines.ai/
• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/
• Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/
• AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/
• Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
• Google Cloud: https://cloud.google.com/
• Peloton: https://www.onepeloton.com/
• Doctors Anywhere: https://www.doctorsanywhere.com/
• WhiteCoat: https://www.whitecoat.global/
• Motley Fool Australia: https://www.fool.com.au/
• Gary Lineker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Lineker

#EnterpriseAI #AIStrategy #DigitalTransformation

Andrew Collins, founder and CEO of The Ice Bath Club, joins The Generalists to discuss what it takes to build a category-defining business from Singapore.

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After building and exiting a global sports media company, Andrew decided to start over in an industry he knew almost nothing about. The conversation explores why entrepreneurs need to relearn failure, how to build companies around value instead of money, why timing matters more than perfect planning, and how AI is fundamentally changing how companies should operate.

Andrew also shares why every business should consider building its own operating system, how he's using Claude Code despite having no software engineering background, why community has become his competitive advantage, and how focus, category leadership, and disciplined execution have helped The Ice Bath Club expand rapidly across multiple markets.

If you're building a startup, scaling a company, or trying to understand what AI-native businesses will look like over the next decade, this episode is packed with practical lessons from an entrepreneur building for the long term.

Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1756861150

🔥 Watch Our Other Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_dknB50qM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eitqzpiqUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDZg3mr684

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H24ck-is5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2bxHjUl-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzdzT_L8zAw

What You'll Learn:

• Why building value always comes before chasing revenue.

• How successful founders must relearn entrepreneurship after an exit.

• Why accepting failure makes you move faster.

• How serendipity has shaped Andrew's biggest business decisions.

• Why AI lets every company build its own operating system.

• How Andrew built internal software with Claude Code despite not being a developer.

• Why owning your internal tooling creates long-term enterprise value.

• The importance of category leadership over direct competition.

• How to hire, retain, and reward exceptional talent.

• Why focus and disciplined execution outperform constant opportunity chasing

Links:

• The Ice Bath Club: https://theicebathclub.com

• Blue Ocean Strategy: https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/

• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing/dp/0887306667

• The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Branding/dp/0887309992• Setting the Table (Danny Meyer): https://www.amazon.com/Setting-Table-Transforming-Hospitality-Business/dp/0060742763

• Unreasonable Hospitality: https://www.amazon.com/Unreasonable-Hospitality-Remarkable-Giving-People/dp/0593418573

• The Ride of a Lifetime (Bob Iger): https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Creative-Leadership/dp/0593134109

• Shoe Dog (Phil Knight): https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-NIKE/dp/1501135910

• Daily Provisions: https://www.dailyprovisionsnyc.com/

• Claude Code: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code

• Modern Wisdom Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernWisdomPodcast

#IceBathClub #BlueOceanStrategy #FounderMindset

Owen Kosman, co-founder and CTO of Standard Form, joins The Generalists to talk about building AI-era healthcare software, why physician scheduling is still run on spreadsheets, and why San Francisco remains the center of gravity for ambitious software founders.

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In this episode, Owen shares how growing up in Indonesia, studying in Singapore and Oxford, and building in London shaped the way he thinks about risk, opportunity, and entrepreneurship. The conversation explores why he is building for the US healthcare market, what makes hospital scheduling such a hard technical and trust problem, and why AI tools like Claude Code are changing how small teams build software.

Owen also reflects on San Francisco hacker houses, the culture of giving first, the difference between startup scenes in the US, UK, and Indonesia, and why Indonesian founders need to think clearly about purchasing power, real customer needs, and what kind of businesses actually fit the market.

🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1756861150

What You’ll Learn

• Why San Francisco is still the world’s startup epicenter in the AI era

• How Claude Code enables two founders to build like a much larger team

• Why trust, not just code, is the biggest moat in healthcare AI

• How physician scheduling still relies on Excel inside many hospitals

• The rise of hacker houses and why founders are flocking to them

• Why Owen chose to build for the US instead of Indonesia

• The realities of building a startup as an Indonesian founder abroad

• Why Indonesia’s 300 million population doesn’t automatically create a software market

• Whether AI is changing the need for venture capital and large startup teams

• Owen’s advice for young Indonesian founders on curiosity, ambition, and building globally

👤👤 Hosts

• Michael Smith Jr.: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/

• Raz Kotler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/

👤 Guest

• Owen Kosman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenkosman/

🔗 Resources

• Standard Form: https://www.heystandard.com/

• Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda: https://creativeselection.io/

• The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello: https://www.amazon.com/Way- Love-Meditations-Anthony-Mello/dp/038524939X

• Claude Code: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code

• Cursor: https://cursor.com/

• Corgi: https://www.corgi.insure/

Alex Svanevik, co-founder and CEO of Nansen⁠, joins The Generalists to talk about agentic finance, AI-native companies, autonomous trading agents, crypto infrastructure, and why he believes every asset will eventually move on-chain.

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In this episode, Alex explains how Nansen has evolved from an on-chain analytics platform into a full trading ecosystem powered by AI agents. He shares how the company deployed more than 75 internal AI agents, why every employee now works alongside AI teammates, and what they’ve learned from spending billions of tokens per employee each month.

🔔 Listen and Subscribe

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalists/id1762807842

What You’ll Learn

• Why Nansen deployed more AI agents than employees

• How AI-native companies are changing the way work gets done

• What agentic trading is and why it could reshape investing

• Why Alex believes every asset will eventually move on-chain

• How model routing helps balance cost, speed, and intelligence

• The difference between algorithmic trading bots and inference-based AI agents

• Why retail investors may benefit more from AI than institutions

• The concept of the “experience tax” and how it slows AI adoption

• Why young workers may have an advantage in the AI era

• How to build quality gates that prevent AI-generated slop

• What separates AI-native organizations from companies simply using AI tools

• Why culture matters more than technology during AI transformations

• How Nansen measures AI adoption across the company

• Why remote-first companies may have an advantage in the age of agents

• The emergence of a K-shaped workforce driven by AI

👤 Guest

• Alex Svanevik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asvanevik/

👤👤 Hosts

• Michael Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/

• Raz Kotler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/

📚 Resources

• Nansen: https://www.nansen.ai

• Anthropic Claude: https://www.anthropic.com

• AWS Bedrock: https://aws.amazon.com/bedrock/

• Hyperliquid: https://hyperliquid.xyz

• MoonPay: https://www.moonpay.com

• MetaMask: https://metamask.io

• Phantom: https://phantom.app

• Solana: https://solana.com

• OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/

• Fridtjof Nansen: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fridtjof-Nansen