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#196May 12, 20211:40:07

#180 with Furqan Rydhan - What it's Like Co-founding a $20B Comp…

About This Episode

Shaan and Sam interview Furqan Rydhan, a technical co-founder of the multibillion-dollar company AppLovin and a prolific entrepreneur. They discuss the evolution of mobile advertising, the mechanics of decentralized finance (DeFi), the direct-to-consumer potential of vertical farming, and Furqan’s new robotics and hardware incubator in San Francisco.

Episode Description

Shaan (@ShaanVP) and Sam (@TheSamParr) are joined by Furqan Rydhan (@FurqanR). Furqan was Shaan's CTO at Bebo and previously co-founded AppLovin -- a $20B+ company that recently went public. Shaan and Furqan host a weekly "Cool Sh!t Hour" between themselves to discuss the coolest innovations Furqan's seeing. We basically took that and made it into a podcast. Furqan talks about mind-control hardware, vertical farming, and a lot of interesting crypto projects. He also talks about what it was like starting a multibillion-dollar company and his mindset around making decisions on what projects to work on. --------- * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas. ---------

Show Notes

  • * (5:33) Background on Furqan and his new venture (f.inc)
  • * (7:48) How AppLovin became a $20B+ company
  • * (24:20) The hardware Furqan is bullish on
  • * (35:33) DeFi and borrowing against crypto
  • * (48:38) The opportunities in vertical farming
  • * (59:59) The power of proximity and serendipitous opportunities
  • * (1:13:40) What are DAOs?

Key Takeaways

1

Look for opportunities to replace expensive, specialized hardware with a combination of cheap commodity sensors and machine learning software.

2

Prioritize speed in decision-making and market testing over perfect engineering to determine if a product is viable as quickly as possible.

3

Use decentralized finance protocols to access permissionless financial services like interest-free loans or higher-yield savings accounts that bypass traditional banking bureaucracy.

Business Ideas Mentioned

Fit Cam TV Plugin

AI & Automation

Shopify for NFT Minting

Creator Tools

Creator Mystery Loot Boxes

Creator Tools

FAANG-to-Startup ISA Fund

Acquisitions

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Quick Stats

Duration1:40:07
Guests1
Ideas Discussed4
Topics5