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How We Hatched: Will Wilson, Co-Founder of Antithesis
25th June 2024 • The Pair Program • hatch I.T.
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How We Hatched: Will Wilson, Co-Founder of Antithesis

Dive into the entrepreneurial journey of Will Wilson, Co-Founder of Antithesis, in this episode of "How We Hatched."

Host, Tim Winkler, interviews Will about:

  • HIs journey into technology, including his inspiration to start his own company and the mentor who inspired him to take the leap.
  • His career path to becoming the founder of Antithesis, including his time spent at Apple and Google.
  • The problems Antithesis is solving and the impact they’re making in the tech industry.
  • The decision to operate Antithesis in stealth mode for 5 years and the team’s experience transitioning out of stealth mode.
  • The advantages and disadvantages of staying in stealth mode, including access to investors and capital without public exposure.

About Will Wilson: Will Wilson is a former mathematician who switched to software because it seemed easier. He built distributed databases at FoundationDB, Apple, and Google. Along the way, he realized that computers are actually the enemy, and founded Antithesis to put them in their place.

Check out Antithesis: https://antithesis.com/

Sign-Up for the Weekly hatchpad Newsletter: https://www.myhatchpad.com/newsletter/

Transcripts

Tim Winkler:

Welcome to The Pair Program from hatchpad, the podcast that gives you

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a front row seat to candid conversations

with tech leaders from the startup world.

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I'm your host, Tim Winkler, the

creator of hatchpad, and I'm

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your other host, Mike Gruen.

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Join us each episode as we bring

together two guests to dissect topics

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at the intersection of technology,

startups, and career growth.

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Let's jump in.

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So Will, thank you for joining

us on The Pair Program.

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Thanks so much for having me, man.

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Yeah, I appreciate you joining us.

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Uh, this is a, another bonus episode of a.

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Of a mini series that

we call how we hatched.

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Um, you know, today we've got Will

Wilson spending some time with us.

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Will is the.

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CEO and one of the co founders

behind Antithesis, uh, a startup

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that is revolutionizing software

testing and system reliability.

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Uh, Will is also a father of,

uh, four kids with a fifth on the

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way within just a few weeks of,

uh, of, uh, us recording today.

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So I am very excited to lean into

some of those questions on, on how

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you juggle the chaos of production.

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Of building a startup

and raising a family.

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Uh, I'm sure a lot of entrepreneurs

out there could take some notes.

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So again, excited to have you

with us today and, and, uh, thanks

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for joining us on the pod and.

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Let's, um, let's jump in.

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So I always like to start, you know,

these, these episodes off with a

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pretty thought provoking question,

which, uh, would be what did Will

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Wilson have for breakfast this morning?

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Will Wilson: So I actually generally

don't eat breakfast and then, and

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then I eat lunch really early and

everybody here makes fun of me for

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that, you know, sometimes at like

10, 15 AM or 10 30 AM, somebody will

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come ask me like, Hey, isn't it a

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So today was no exception.

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I did, I did not eat breakfast

and then I ate lunch at 11 20 a.

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m.

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Oh, nice.

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Is a perfectly reasonable time.

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Tim Winkler: Yeah.

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You always find folks that are either

like super gung ho breakfast, like, what

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do you mean you don't eat breakfast?

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And then the folks are like,

yeah, I don't eat breakfast.

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And it's just like,

yeah, it is what it is.

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Um, cool.

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Well, um, uh, let's, let's kind of set

the stage for, for our guests here on.

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You know, what we're really going

to, to be dissecting on this episode.

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So Antithesis is a startup that operated

in stealth mode for about five years.

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Um, I'll repeat that for our

listeners, five years in stealth.

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Uh, prior to kind of making the

public, uh, the company known publicly.

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Uh, and this is a topic that

we get a lot of interest from

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our community specifically.

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Uh, so we will be chatting quite

a bit on that self mode journey.

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In addition to, you know, obviously

learning a bit more about the problems

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that you're solving at Antithesis.

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But I did want to mention that early on

for our listeners that are tuning in.

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Um, so on these episodes, you know,

I do like to kind of turn back the

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clock a little bit and initially

just kind of hear a little bit about

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you will, and your journey down that

path into technology, you know, when.

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When was it that you kind of realized

that you had a passion for, for tech?

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Will Wilson: Sure.

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So I, like I screwed around with

computers a lot when I was a kid.

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Um, in high school, I installed

Linux on a laptop and I'm so old

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that this was back in the days where

doing that was very, very hard.

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And I, you know, I actually

learned quite a lot about computers

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just from that experience alone.

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Then when I got to college, I

basically didn't do anything

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related to tech or computers at all.

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I studied pure math and it's, it's,

this is actually kind of funny

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and a little embarrassing maybe.

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Um, so I was in school in like the

mid:

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having this thought that was like,

Hey, this tech stuff seems pretty cool.

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Too bad.

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I'm too late, you know, too, too, too bad.

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Like all the interesting companies

have already been started.

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And you know, like, you know, there's

already Google, there's already Facebook.

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What else is there to do?

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Like, like that's so over, you know, I'm

just going to have to find something else.

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So I didn't really do anything

with computer science or

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tech at all in college.

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And then I graduated and I worked in like.

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Like science, like biology, medical

research, um, did a bunch of different

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things and like had this like very

jarring experience where I realized

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one day that my ability to write like

a really low quality Python script,

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you know, in 45 minutes that would like

automate, you know, some entire large

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task I had to do, or one of my lab

mates had to do was like by far the most

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valuable quality I brought to that job.

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And I was like, huh, like maybe.

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Maybe this computer science thing

has something to it after all.

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And then, you know, I also got very

interested in databases because I saw this

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database query, which took like days and

days to run and, you know, made a small

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tweak to it and it, you know, finished in

five minutes and I was like, that's weird.

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Like how, how did that happen?

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Right.

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Like, and so, you know, I had these,

I had these thoughts that maybe there

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was something cool there after all.

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And then I.

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You know, basically my first kid was

born and I wanted to find a career

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that had better hours and better

pay than than what I was doing.

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And I was on paternity leave.

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And so I just started studying data

structures, algorithms, all that stuff,

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um, using like online classes and so on.

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And.

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You know, found it very intellectually

engaging and very satisfying.

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And I was like, wait a minute, like

this is, this is totally unfair.

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You mean there was this job out

there all along, which is like

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interesting and pays you well, like,

and is like full of nice people and

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like very low barriers to entry.

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And like, you mean I could have

been doing this the whole time.

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Right.

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And then I, I sort of did a career switch

into tech, uh, in my, in my mid to late

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twenties and been here ever since, you

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Tim Winkler: That's so fascinating

when you look back and perspective

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of, you know, all the good big tech

companies have already been built,

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you know, what's left to be built.

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And then, you know, you

fast forward to today.

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It's like AI is just eating the

world, but, but it's so true.

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I think, uh, I think we were

kind of, we're kind of in a

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similar, um, uh, similar age.

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So I can.

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Remember back to those early days

when, when Facebook was, was the thing.

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Um, now, you know, looking at your,

your kind of profile on LinkedIn, just

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kind of studying a little bit about your

journey, um, you know, this computational

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biodynamics, um, company jumps out to me

because it looks like early on you were.

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Kind of drawn into the world of, you

know, serving as an entrepreneur, um,

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expand a little bit into, you know, how

that kind of opportunity was, was formed.

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And, uh, you know, what, what

drove you down that path of wanting

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to do something on your own?

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Will Wilson: Yeah, no.

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So, so that was a very right.

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That was a very, very early job of mine.

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Basically, um, I worked when I was in

high school as an intern at a hospital.

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And, um, became close to one

of the doctors who worked there

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and he had this very good idea.

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It's still a very good idea for a startup.

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Um, and basically I did a gap year

between high school and college

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and, and worked with him on that.

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And then also, um, worked on it

on and off throughout college and

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then for a little while afterwards.

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And, you know, it was very

cool to see that you can just

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like take an idea and start it.

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Start trying to do it.

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Right.

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And that was like a little bit of

a revelation to me at the time.

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And it was like, definitely

a very valuable thing I

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got out of that experience.

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Like the other valuable thing I got out

of that experience was like a little

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bit of an indication of what not to do.

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Like the problem that we had at

that company, I would say the

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fundamental problem and the reason

that it wasn't ultimately successful

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was that, you know, it had a large

number of quote unquote co founders.

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All of whom were working full time as

surgeons or doctors or scientists, you

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know, or professors, you know, and,

and we're mostly dedicated to that.

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And we're kind of like doing

this nights and weekends.

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And it's just very hard to

make anything big and real.

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If at least one person isn't making

it, they're like full time occupation,

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Tim Winkler: right?

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Will Wilson: You know,

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Tim Winkler: just trying to juggle

a couple of things while building.

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Yeah, that's right.

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That's right.

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So that was a gap year through

high school, after high

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school and between college.

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And then, you know, we can kind of do a

quick sprint through, um, call it like

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a two minute drill on your journey,

uh, up to starting the Antithesis.

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And I'll have some, some questions digging

into a few of those key roles, but give

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me the quick kind of like two minutes

on, you know, where you bounced around

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to, because I think it's important to

build some context on, you know, startups

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and then some thing companies and, and

then leading into this current role.

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Will Wilson: Yeah, yeah.

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So it was, it was after, after a

computational biodynamics, after

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a couple of other sort of more

science y roles that I got into tech.

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And the first like really real tech job I

landed was at Foundation Deep, which was,

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you know, hugely influential on me and

on my career trajectory ever since then.

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I mean, not least because like half

the people who work at this company

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now are people who I met there.

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Sure.

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Yeah.

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My, my co founder, Dave Sherer.

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Was, uh, my boss at foundation DB.

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Um, our COO, Nick Levetsoe

was the COO at foundation DB.

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Um, you know, our director of

operations, our director of

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engineering, like all worked there.

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Um, so it's, that's actually really cool.

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You know, that, that I've worked

with all these people for such a long

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time and that we all know each other

and trust each other a great deal.

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But basically, you know, I got to

foundation DB and I saw they're a

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different, beautiful and awesome

side of, of programming, right?

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Like, you know, I'd gotten really into

the theoretical aspect and the, you know,

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algorithmic complexity and data structures

and like, you know, sort of pure CS,

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cause I was coming from a math background

and at foundation DB, like there was

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a lot of the other extreme, right?

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There was a lot of like really

hardcore, low level systems,

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programmers, You know, we were

writing a distributed database, right?

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Like people who like lived and breathed,

you know, system calls and, you

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know, how to communicate with an SSD

in the most efficient possible way.

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And like, you know, stuff, stuff

that earlier on I would have like

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sneered at, but like, you know,

jokes on me because like, this is

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actually like just as beautiful and

worthwhile and like an intricate

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and difficult and like, and cool.

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And, and so I saw that whole side of our

industry and, and was really blown away by

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that and, and very, very, very impressed

by a lot of what those people were doing.

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Um, so the other way that foundation

DB really matters to the subsequent

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trajectory is it gave us, you know,

me and Dave, a lot of the ideas

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that led us to start this company.

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FoundationDB, we're trying to build

a distributed database, which is

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a very hard thing to build, and

a very hard thing to get right.

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And so in order to do that, We

invested in building a really radically

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different approach to software testing.

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Um, and it's in many ways the

precursor or the inspiration to

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the product that we've built here.

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Right?

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So we're trying to take the thing that we

made for FoundationDB to make it possible

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to test that software and to find all

the bugs in it before customers did.

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We're trying to make that

easy for everybody to do here.

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Um, and you know, that was actually

very much influenced also by

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what we saw afterwards, right?

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Like we, we got bought by apple in 2015

and went there and you know, I apple

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is full of like super smart people.

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It's a very, very high talent

density company, but they did not

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have the internal tools that we

had at foundation db and like, that

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was like, clearly evident in how

people operated and made decisions.

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And, you know, at, at Google, which

I left Apple and went to Google and

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I saw much the same thing, you know,

I worked on a team at Google that was

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also building a distributed database.

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a system called Spanner, which was

a very, very impressive team, really

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smart people, tons of really smart

people, but again, lacking in tools,

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which could tell them right away

when they were making a mistake.

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And that just like, that just

makes you have to work in

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such a different way, right?

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Like it means that you're always

worrying, Hey, is, is this code

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that I'm writing going to cause

some huge problem in production?

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Like, you know, how can I, how can

I reason through this correctly?

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How can I like, you know, how

can I have some confidence

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that this is going to be right?

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You know, and, and I, and I

suddenly realized then that my

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experience at FoundationDB had

been really atypical, right?

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Like having this ability to just

like press a button and find out

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if what you'd done was good or not.

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It was like actually not

how most of the industry,

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Tim Winkler: which is wild, you know, to

see that the biggest tech companies in the

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world, you know, weren't adapting to this

kind of philosophy that you all had kind

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of figured out at foundation DB, which is

just, it's gotta be that aha moment that

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that light bulbs going off, like, wow,

there really is something here, you know?

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Will Wilson: Yeah, that's exactly right.

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And you know, my first, my first concern

and actually also Dave's first concern

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was like, There's no free lunch, right?

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Like there's no, there's no hundred

dollar bills lying on sidewalks.

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So if we at our tiny startup,

we're doing this and it was like so

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transformative for us and these like

giant companies aren't doing it.

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Like there must be some reason, right?

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There must be some secret reason why

it's not a good idea or it's impossible.

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Or like, you can't really do this

at a large scale or something.

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Right.

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But you know, but actually what

we've realized, like, there are some

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reasons that, that make it harder.

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And, and a lot of those are things that

we've tried to directly address with

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our product and with our technology.

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But at the end of the day,

like the efficient markets

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hypothesis is just wrong.

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There actually is like, there actually

is stuff out there that would just make

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the world better that nobody's doing.

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And if you think you've spotted it

and like, you kind of rule out all

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the other possibilities, like you, you

may actually have found such a thing.

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Tim Winkler: Yeah.

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The, uh, the blog that you wrote that I

stumbled across that kind of led me down

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to, you know, sending you a note and

wanted to chat with you is, um, uh, titled

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is something, is something bugging you.

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And, um, in that blog, you, you do relate

to You relate to starting a company, you

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know, kind of like telling yourself that

when you reach this pit full of poisonous

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spikes, you'll figure something out.

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Expand on that a little bit for me.

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Cause I think that, you know,

you, you point that out a

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couple of times in the blog.

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I think that's just a fascinating example.

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Will Wilson: Yeah.

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Well, so the, I guess the point I

was trying to make there is that.

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Usually every company is going

to have something about it.

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That's hard, right?

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Like I just said a second ago that

I don't believe in the efficient

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markets hypothesis, but like, maybe I

believe in a slightly weaker version

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of it, which is like, if something is

trivially easy and obviously a good idea,

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somebody will probably have done it.

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So if, if it's a, if it's a really

good idea and nobody's done it

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yet, there's probably something

about it that is challenging.

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Tim Winkler: Right.

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Will Wilson: And so, you know, different

companies have different things about

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them that are challenging, right?

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Some of them.

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Like the product is really hard to build.

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Some of them, the product is easy

to build, but it's hard to sell.

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Like some of them it's easy

to build and easy to sell, but

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hard to find a competitive mode.

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Like.

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You know, it just depends on the area

and on the details of your thing.

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And I think it's very important to know,

or to at least have a guess going in.

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What is the hard part going to be?

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Sure.

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Cause there's probably a hard part and

you should probably have a plan for it.

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Tim Winkler: And we're some of

these, um, kind of alumni from

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foundation DB that they all kind

of got absorbed into Apple as well.

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Did, did, did you all kind of stay

in close connection here as you're

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moving on to Google and so forth?

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Um, I'm always curious on how the.

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That co founder connection, it kind of

stays, uh, relevant even post acquisition.

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Will Wilson: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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We all stayed in touch socially,

even as we sort of diffused through

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a wide variety of companies, like,

you know, I would say about half to

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three quarters of us all joined Apple.

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Some people decided not to, um, you

know, once we got there, some people

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quickly moved to other parts of Apple.

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Some of us like, like me

moved to other companies.

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But, you know, we all stayed pretty close.

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Like, you know, we had all been

working together, um, on this

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startup for like four or five

years by the time we were bought.

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And so we were, we were close.

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Like we had kids the same age, you know,

people, you know, people knew each other.

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It was a, it was a very tight

knit team in a lot of ways.

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And.

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It's been awesome getting

the gang back together

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Tim Winkler: for sure.

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Yeah, it's always, um, you can pinpoint

a lot of times with the, within an

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entrepreneur's journey that, uh, kind

of like a central role that kind of

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stands out as like, you know, that

was like the, the premise to all of,

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all of what's, you know, building

in, in, in your current venture.

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Um, and so, you know, really quick,

like, uh, diving into the, the,

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uh, creation of Antithesis here.

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So you're, you're spending your time

at Google at this point and, you know,

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sounds like you all are kind of in

communication about the idea, uh, you

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know, how does that all kind of come

together and when do you, you kind of make

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the jump to, you know, to, to leave Google

and go head first and do this thing.

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Will Wilson: Yeah, so basically, um,

Dave had already left Apple and was

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getting ready to move back to the

East Coast when I sort of thought, you

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know, there really is a company here.

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Like, you know, I, I was at Google.

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I was like seeing all these frustrations,

seeing frustrations my team was having.

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And I was like, so I started messaging

Dave and I was like, look, man,

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you, you, you've quit your job.

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You need something else to do.

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You know what?

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Like, like let's do this.

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And Dave is like a, is

like a super genius.

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And so I sort of gave him my whole

idea for how this should work and

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how the product should be architected

and what it should do and so on.

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And he sort of thought about it.

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I remember, I still remember this.

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We got lunch and he sort of,

explained to me, back to me

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how the product should work.

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But his version was just

like 10 times better.

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And so I'm like, at that point, I'm

like, okay, Dave, like, I need you, man.

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Like, you know, you need

to, you need to do this.

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:

And he's like, nah, I want

to, I want to take a vacation.

351

:

He moved back to DC and I

stayed in touch with him.

352

:

Um, At one point, I was on a work

trip, uh, for Google in Singapore.

353

:

I was there training a bunch of our

sales guys for Google Cloud, telling them

354

:

about product features in Google Cloud.

355

:

And, um, You know, I remember I was up

in the middle of the night because I

356

:

was totally jet lagged and you know,

there was like nobody who I could talk

357

:

to in Singapore and so I was just like

texting with Dave and being like, look,

358

:

man, like this company is a great idea.

359

:

Here's why it's a great idea.

360

:

And like, you know, that that was

like, actually, we were like in very

361

:

close communication for that week.

362

:

And finally, by the end of it,

he was like, all right, fine.

363

:

Like, I don't actually

want to do a vacation.

364

:

I do want to start

another company, you know?

365

:

And so as soon as, as soon as I had

him on board, like I definitely like

366

:

Dave immediately starts thinking

about how is this going to work?

367

:

What is the right way to build this?

368

:

What is this product going to look like?

369

:

And like, I realized that I did not

want to be having those conversations

370

:

while still employed at another

company, just for any avoidance of

371

:

any kind of, like, question about, you

know, where I was working at the time.

372

:

So basically, I was immediately

like, don't talk to me

373

:

about this until I've quit.

374

:

And, and immediately set about,

you know, leaving Google, um, and

375

:

then moving back to the East coast.

376

:

Cause we decided to

start the company here.

377

:

So from the moment that we decided to do

it until the moment that I moved East,

378

:

not a lot of time, maybe one month.

379

:

Tim Winkler: Wow.

380

:

That's exciting.

381

:

You've been to Singapore since

382

:

Will Wilson: I wish,

383

:

Tim Winkler: I wish I, uh,

the food there is incredible.

384

:

It's where the magic happened.

385

:

Awesome.

386

:

All right.

387

:

So, so now I want to, you know, pivot

into Antithesis here and then we're

388

:

going to go into stealth mode world

for a little bit, but give me the, um,

389

:

yeah, give me kind of like the, the,

the elevator pitch on, on Antithesis.

390

:

Will Wilson: Okay, so if you're a software

engineer, um, you probably know that most

391

:

software engineers spend, I think, stripes

at a survey, and they estimate about half

392

:

their time on testing, debugging, dealing

with production emergencies, and CAs.

393

:

You know, dealing with bugs or

inconsistencies in the libraries or the

394

:

dependencies that your code has, you know,

figuring out triaging issues coming in

395

:

from production and figuring out which

ones are bugs, which ones aren't like.

396

:

By the way, like a lot of non

engineers who are in tech don't

397

:

realize that this is what engineers

spend half their time doing, right?

398

:

In fact, it might be quite a

lot more than half their time.

399

:

Um, they're, they're surprised

when they hear that, but I

400

:

think every engineer knows it.

401

:

So, so now ask yourself, is this your

like favorite half of your day or

402

:

your least favorite half of your day?

403

:

And I think for most people, it's

their least favorite half of the day.

404

:

Okay.

405

:

We're software engineers, right?

406

:

Like, why don't we, why

don't we like automate this?

407

:

Why don't we get rid of this?

408

:

Why don't we have somebody else

like have a computer do this

409

:

part of our jobs if we hate it?

410

:

Like, that's the usual

thing software engineers do.

411

:

Um, well, it turns out it's

actually very, very hard, right?

412

:

Conventional testing, like writing

a test that your software, you

413

:

know, when you do a, it does B.

414

:

isn't very good at preventing you from

running into bugs later in production,

415

:

because you tend to test the paths or the

situations that you thought of, right?

416

:

That's almost definitional.

417

:

But the things that you thought of are

also the things where you probably wrote

418

:

the code correctly in the first place.

419

:

Like the things that lead to actual

problems, the things that cause

420

:

all this wasted time and energy,

are the things you didn't think of.

421

:

They're the unknown unknowns, the

things that happen in the real world

422

:

that you never imagined could happen.

423

:

And so because of that, testing is

like a pretty good way of catching

424

:

regressions in behavior that you,

you know, already made correct.

425

:

It's a really bad way of like forward

looking, ensuring that something works.

426

:

Um, so our approach here is to try

to turn this all on its head and say,

427

:

instead of writing tests, like you're

never going to write another test.

428

:

Instead, what you're going to do is

you're just going to tell us what

429

:

your software is supposed to do.

430

:

You're going to say, you know,

these are the high level properties

431

:

or invariants that it has, right?

432

:

And depending on the kind of

software, this could be really

433

:

different types of things, right?

434

:

Like if it's a database, it might

be like, it should never crash.

435

:

If it says it stored your data, it

should have actually stored your data.

436

:

You know, if it go, it can go through

arbitrarily bad network situations, but

437

:

then if everything quiets down again,

and it's reachable again, after 10

438

:

seconds, it should be back up, right?

439

:

If you're making a website, it

could be totally different stuff.

440

:

It could be like every,

there's no broken links.

441

:

I can get to every page.

442

:

I can complete the checkout flow.

443

:

If you're making a computer game, it could

be like, it's possible to beat the game.

444

:

I can load every asset in the game.

445

:

Right?

446

:

Like, but like in every case,

it's like kind of high level,

447

:

what it's supposed to do.

448

:

And then we, by we I mean

computers, are gonna try to find

449

:

ways of proving you wrong, right?

450

:

We're gonna try to construct test cases

dynamically, like, that take some path

451

:

that you weren't expecting that show

you a way of making your software do

452

:

something that it wasn't supposed to do.

453

:

And this like, this solves a whole

bunch of problems at one fell swoop.

454

:

It solves one really big problem.

455

:

Which is the one I said, right?

456

:

Unknown unknowns.

457

:

Like, you've just said what you

think your software is supposed

458

:

to do, and we're going to find

some way of making it not do that.

459

:

And the way we do that might be really

surprising to you, but it might be really

460

:

important, because it might be something

that you hit in production next week.

461

:

Um, another problem it solves, though,

is like maintainability of tests.

462

:

Because, like, the thing that, one thing

that's bad about testing is, you know,

463

:

Often, your tests depend on very low level

implementation details of your software.

464

:

And that means that every time you change

your software, you, like, break all your

465

:

tests and you have to change those too.

466

:

And this is like a maintenance

burden and a maintenance nightmare.

467

:

And so, but, but the high level,

like, what is your software

468

:

actually supposed to do?

469

:

Like, its specification.

470

:

That changes much more slowly

than its implementation, right?

471

:

And so like expressing these properties,

like it should never crash, it

472

:

should be available after 10 seconds,

whatever, like that tends to not have

473

:

to change with every single commit.

474

:

And so what it means at the end of the day

is that you're spending way, way, way, way

475

:

less time writing tests and maintaining

tests and trying to figure it out.

476

:

Um,

477

:

both of these things like directly attack

major time wastes for, for engineers.

478

:

And then I guess the third thing that's

quite unique about our approach is that

479

:

And, you know, and that's, that's pretty

cool is, um, we've developed a way to

480

:

run any computer system, any collection

of software fully deterministically,

481

:

meaning that, like, no matter what random

weird stuff your software does, like, we

482

:

can make it do it again, always perfect.

483

:

Um, so that's really cool because,

you know, oftentimes people have

484

:

like flaky bugs or flaky tests.

485

:

There's this bug.

486

:

It, you know, it breaks on your

computer, but works on your buddies

487

:

or like even worse than that.

488

:

Like it breaks 1 out of every 1000

times or 1 out of every million times.

489

:

And, you know, that's often

enough that your customers will

490

:

totally hit it all the time.

491

:

And it'll be really hard for

you to track it down though.

492

:

Right?

493

:

Or it like, Or it like,

you know, it breaks.

494

:

And then when you add some

debugging code, it's stopped.

495

:

Like the problem goes away, right?

496

:

Like this kind of stuff, like also sucks

up countless hours of people's time.

497

:

And like, we just completely

eliminate that problem.

498

:

Uh, which is also pretty cool.

499

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

500

:

The, the, uh, future of like, I've

deterministic testing and autonomous

501

:

systems, you know, it sounds like

you guys are, are really, you know,

502

:

tackling those problems head on.

503

:

And I don't.

504

:

You know, I don't hear too much of

a, of other companies kind of like

505

:

probing in on that deterministic

testing piece of things.

506

:

So it's a really interesting concept.

507

:

Um, Just talking generally about

the company, it's at large.

508

:

So when, when, when did you all

formally kind of stand up shop?

509

:

Will Wilson: I think it was 2017, 2018,

510

:

Tim Winkler: one of those years.

511

:

So about six or seven

years old at this point.

512

:

Um, and what's the current

head count of Antithesis?

513

:

We're just

514

:

Will Wilson: about at 50.

515

:

Tim Winkler: Okay.

516

:

Yeah.

517

:

And, um, from a funding perspective, I

guess how, you know, how much funding,

518

:

uh, have you all received at this point?

519

:

Will Wilson: In total, we've

raised, I think, just shy of

520

:

47 million over that period.

521

:

And the, the company has a

headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

522

:

Tim Winkler: Uh, yeah, we're actually in

Tyson's corner, Arlington and you, the

523

:

bulk of your team kind of virtual or is it

524

:

Will Wilson: we're, we're pretty

much all in person, which I guess

525

:

these days weird, weird, it's rare.

526

:

Yeah, it's

527

:

Tim Winkler: cool though.

528

:

I think, uh, getting back to that from

a culture perspective is super key

529

:

and important for early stage startup.

530

:

So kudos, kudos on making that

decision and sticking to it.

531

:

Um, so I want to pivot a little bit more

into, into the stealth mode journey.

532

:

Um, so as we mentioned, you know,

Antithesis, you all remain in stealth

533

:

mode for over five years, which

is unusual, uh, for, for startups.

534

:

Can you dive a little bit deeper

into, you know, what you would say

535

:

were some of those key decisions

and, and what https: otter.

536

:

ai Yeah.

537

:

Totally.

538

:

Will Wilson: So, you know, the first, I

think the first thing just to get out of

539

:

the way is like, we had the opportunity

to stay in stealth for a very long time.

540

:

Many people don't like, and we had that

opportunity because we got really lucky.

541

:

Like basically we had a prior big

success and a lot of investors

542

:

who were excited about Yeah.

543

:

Yep.

544

:

Taking another spin with that team, right?

545

:

And so that meant that we had

access to capital and it meant

546

:

that we had access to investors

without having to make a big splash.

547

:

And that's not an option

that everybody has, right?

548

:

If it's your first company and you're

a kid in the garage or, or, you

549

:

know, or a middle aged person in the

garage, um, you, you, you may need

550

:

to make a big splash in order to

attract the attention of an investor.

551

:

Um, and so then stealth is

sort of off the table for you.

552

:

And that's, you know,

that's just like one way.

553

:

And we were very lucky here is we

had the option of doing that because

554

:

we had existing relationships with

people who wanted to give us money.

555

:

So, so that's what made it possible.

556

:

And then the question is like,

and by the way, it's actually

557

:

not just access to money.

558

:

It's also access to talent, right?

559

:

Because hiring while you're in stealth

is actually super, super challenging.

560

:

But again, like we had, you know,

a previous team that we'd worked

561

:

with very closely for a long time.

562

:

We were all still really

tight, really in touch.

563

:

You know, we had gone on to meet

more people at Apple and Google and

564

:

other places and could bring in a

whole bunch of those people as well.

565

:

And so, you know, between both capital and

talent, we had ways of getting access to

566

:

it without, without coming out of stuff.

567

:

So then the question is like,

why would you still like, even

568

:

if you have the opportunity, why

would you ever want to do that?

569

:

Um, and basically, basically we

knew, like, it's a trajectory

570

:

that's like maybe a little bit more

common for like a hardware company.

571

:

Like the thing about our technology and

our approach, Was that there was just

572

:

an awful lot that we had to do before we

could like, even possibly start working

573

:

with customers like we had to write this

hypervisor, which can take any software

574

:

and run it deterministically took a little

while and that that was, you know, it's

575

:

not like writing a website like that.

576

:

That's hard.

577

:

And then we, then we had to write

the system, which takes that

578

:

thing and intelligently explores

all the possible trajectories

579

:

and paths your code could take.

580

:

And that's also really hard,

you know, and that took a while.

581

:

And then, then we had to write the

thing that like takes all the results

582

:

from that and like visualizes them for

you and like makes it possible for a

583

:

human being to understand what it did.

584

:

And, and that's a whole nother

challenge of a very different kind.

585

:

That's, that's also really hard.

586

:

And we're like, you know, it's going

to take us years to do these things.

587

:

And kind of would like, there's not

a whole, there's not like really an

588

:

MVP that we can just get out there

and have a customer start using.

589

:

We kind of need to get it all working.

590

:

Right?

591

:

And in the meantime, we're looking around

the market and, and this was a time

592

:

when, you know, money was raining from

the skies in terms of tech investment.

593

:

And, and we're like, nobody

else is really doing this.

594

:

Like, do we really want to

go get the whole world super

595

:

excited about this right now?

596

:

Or do we want to try and get a

big technology head start and then

597

:

get the world excited about it?

598

:

And that latter choice

seemed more attractive to us.

599

:

Um, and, you know, I, I think on balance,

it was probably the right choice.

600

:

I think I appreciate now that we're

out of stealth, all of the, all of

601

:

the sort of unseen costs that being

in stealth for a long time has.

602

:

Um, so you, you mentioned challenges.

603

:

There are actually many,

um, one of them is morale.

604

:

I think we never like

had really bad morale.

605

:

Like we never really struggled with

that, but like today we have really,

606

:

really good morale and like significantly

better than, you know, before we came

607

:

out of stealth before we launched.

608

:

And, you know, that's just like the most

natural thing about human beings, right?

609

:

Like, It's like, it's really hard to

work on something day in day out and

610

:

not be allowed to tell anybody about it.

611

:

Right.

612

:

Like, and like, you know, it's

hard for me, it's even harder for

613

:

somebody I hire who's a new grad,

you know, whose mom is probably like,

614

:

why aren't you working at Facebook?

615

:

Why aren't you working at open AI?

616

:

What is the stupid company

I've never heard of, right?

617

:

Like, it's really nice for, for

that person to be able to send an

618

:

article to their mom and be like, no,

look, this company is actually cool.

619

:

It actually exists and

does something right.

620

:

Like You know, not just that kind of

morale either, but like once you're

621

:

out there, once people are reacting

to you, once, you know, once you're

622

:

reacting to them, suddenly people

conceptualize themselves differently.

623

:

Like it's not like our company

is this like hermetic, isolated

624

:

environment and we have like

various struggles and challenges.

625

:

Now it's like us against the world.

626

:

And like, yeah, You know, everybody's

pulling in the same direction and people

627

:

are directly seeing the effects of what

they do out there in the world, right?

628

:

And like some rando on Twitter is

like, Oh, this is such a cool feature.

629

:

Like the guy who wrote that feature

is now going to have a great day.

630

:

Like it just like, it just sort of points

everybody in the same direction and

631

:

catalyzes them in a way that's really,

really hard to do while you're in stealth.

632

:

Um, the other thing, uh, the last

thing I'll mention, and then I'll,

633

:

I'll let you ask a question is, um,

Is like, so much of life is about

634

:

luck, and you can't control luck.

635

:

You can control, like, the

ability to of good and bad luck

636

:

to strike to a certain extent.

637

:

Like, and when you're in stealth, you

just make it really, really hard for

638

:

serendipity of any kind to happen.

639

:

Like, I'll give you an example, you

stumbling across that blog post and

640

:

sending me an email, you know, obviously

there would be no possible way for that

641

:

to happen when we're completely secret.

642

:

Right.

643

:

That was just like, that was good luck.

644

:

That was like a random thing

that the universe through my way.

645

:

But like, it's because I put myself

in the position for that to happen by

646

:

writing a blog post and being out there.

647

:

And it's like the same way with hiring.

648

:

It's the same way with customers.

649

:

It's the same way with like people

randomly sending me an email with like

650

:

a really good idea for like a product

feature or like, Hey, you're an idiot.

651

:

It shouldn't work this way.

652

:

Right.

653

:

Like all of that stuff just like

cannot happen at anywhere near the

654

:

same scale when you're in stealth.

655

:

Right.

656

:

Yeah.

657

:

And that is, I think,

maybe the biggest cost.

658

:

And it's one that's like

totally hidden as well.

659

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah, it's such a fascinating

point because I think a lot of people

660

:

when they think about running stealth,

you know, they're going to think about

661

:

the obvious things like you pointed

out recruiting being a challenge.

662

:

You know, I could tell you firsthand

trying to recruit talent for a

663

:

stealth mode startup is probably

the most difficult thing we've ever

664

:

had to do because you're selling.

665

:

This thing that you can't talk about,

you know, it's like selling something

666

:

that you're, you're so secretive about

is, it's just extremely difficult.

667

:

It's already hard enough to sell

a startup, even if it's publicly

668

:

out there and everything else is.

669

:

Is known, but to keep a lot of those

things behind the curtain, um, makes it,

670

:

you know, 10 times more challenging, but

nobody really talks about the, the morale

671

:

piece to it, you know, the, the thing

that everybody's, you know, going back

672

:

home to their, their family and, you know,

another day on the job, but it's like, I

673

:

can't even look you up, you're, you're,

you guys up on a website, you know, it's

674

:

like, it's, you start to find you almost

like Folks don't even believe like it's,

675

:

it's real, you know, um, and I think that

is, uh, a very interesting perspective

676

:

that I, I have never really heard about

from the internal team, that cultural

677

:

perspective, that team morale perspective

that, um, can really, you know, start

678

:

to weigh on folks if it's one year, but

five years, you know, so, you know, it's

679

:

almost like this, um, Um, you know, all

this bottled up energy that, you know,

680

:

finally just gets to be released when

you, when you all made the decision to,

681

:

to, to, you know, be, be publicly known.

682

:

Um, did you, uh, you know, what was

the strategy and, and were you, you

683

:

know, how, how are those conversations

had, uh, between the team on how we're

684

:

going to do it in this, why this is

now the right time and everything else?

685

:

Will Wilson: Yeah.

686

:

I mean, I think the single biggest reason

that we decided to come out of stealth

687

:

was, um, well, it was really twofold.

688

:

Number one.

689

:

Most of the advantages of being in

stealth were evaporating because

690

:

the world had moved into a much more

challenging fundraising climate.

691

:

Right.

692

:

And so we were suddenly a lot

less worried about a new well

693

:

funded competitor showing up.

694

:

And we're also a lot less worried

about some big tech company

695

:

spinning up a team to do this.

696

:

Like big tech companies are

laying people off right now.

697

:

They're not like funding

super speculative efforts.

698

:

And so like, it just seemed like,

like that reason had gone away.

699

:

And then on the flip side, the opportunity

for us coming out of stealth was much,

700

:

much greater because we had just sort

of finally like finished our product

701

:

and like made it like quite good and

made it quite scalable and made it

702

:

so that the company could take on

a lot of new customers all at once.

703

:

And so we were like,

all right, this is it.

704

:

Like, let's hit go.

705

:

Um, obviously, like, that

wasn't an overnight thing.

706

:

Like, there was a lot that we had to do.

707

:

And like, so much of that work was

incredibly valuable, even if it hadn't,

708

:

like, Even if it hadn't led to us coming

out of stealth, like, like, like one

709

:

of the first and most important things

we had to do was like make a website.

710

:

We had no website.

711

:

That sounds crazy, right?

712

:

But we had no website.

713

:

Okay.

714

:

What's going on the website?

715

:

Well, I guess on the website,

we should tell people what

716

:

it is we do and how it works.

717

:

Okay.

718

:

Well, what is it we do?

719

:

Like, you know, like we

obviously had some idea, right?

720

:

We had some vision of the problem

we're solving and how it cashes

721

:

out, but like we had never.

722

:

Like in a systematic and disciplined

way, sat down and come up with exactly

723

:

how you would explain this to somebody

and like what, you know, and just like

724

:

that exercise of like what would go

on our website actually clarified.

725

:

Many other like strategic questions

and like, what, what, what product

726

:

feature should we be working on?

727

:

Like suddenly it's kind of apparent,

like, because we know what we

728

:

want to put on the website, right?

729

:

And there's just like a lot of

things like that, where the act of

730

:

preparing yourself to present this

to the world forces you to confront

731

:

certain questions that are actually

very important for you to confront.

732

:

Um, So that was, you know, like our

product basically barely had a user

733

:

interface before we came out of stealth.

734

:

Like it was extremely cobbled together.

735

:

And we were sort of like, okay, if we're

going to show this to the world and we're

736

:

going to have a demo on our website, yes,

it should have a user interface, right?

737

:

Like, I guess there should

be something like, okay, like

738

:

maybe we should work on that.

739

:

Right.

740

:

Like it just like, it does

sort of force you to, to think

741

:

about it in a different way.

742

:

And, and, and that's,

and that's really good.

743

:

You know, and then the

other strategic question is

744

:

our, our long term plans are really big.

745

:

Um, but in the short term, we

can't do all that stuff yet.

746

:

And so like, you kind of need to

figure out, like, how am I going

747

:

to define this company right now?

748

:

Like when we come out of stealth, like,

it's like, they're a blank company.

749

:

Like, what is that?

750

:

Like, what do we say that

we are day one, right?

751

:

Right.

752

:

Even with the knowledge that.

753

:

10 years down the line, it

might look very, very different.

754

:

And like that strategic question

is also a really, really

755

:

important one to figure out.

756

:

And, uh, you know, also a thing that we

had to, we had to spend some time on.

757

:

Tim Winkler: Did you guys have,

um, much of a go to market team,

758

:

uh, at this point, or was it

really just primarily tech folks?

759

:

Will Wilson: Yeah, we had a, we had

a small sales team, um, go to market.

760

:

Yeah, we had, we had three

people working on that.

761

:

Wow.

762

:

Um, and they were, I mean, they, they,

they had a very tough job, right?

763

:

Because they were trying to

sell something with no website.

764

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

765

:

Will Wilson: To sophisticated

business buyers.

766

:

Who, you know, would hear about it

and they'd be like, wait a minute.

767

:

This thing is like a scam.

768

:

Like, how could this be possibly be real?

769

:

Right.

770

:

And so that was, that was

very challenging for them.

771

:

And.

772

:

You know, but I actually think

there's some ways in which that,

773

:

like, is like amazing training, right?

774

:

Like, it's like, it's like professional

athletes, like practice with ankle

775

:

weights and like, you know, Roman

gladiators used like heavy wooden swords.

776

:

So when they actually got the

real sword, it'd be way easier.

777

:

You know, Demosthenes, like gave speeches

with a mouthful of marbles, you know,

778

:

like Like, like suddenly, like being able

to send people like product demos and

779

:

websites and stuff and like, you know,

other reference customers, it's just like,

780

:

it's like, Oh, like now it's easy to sell.

781

:

Tim Winkler: Right.

782

:

I mean, even just like sending them

some swag or something, you know, like

783

:

I could see in the background, like,

uh, is this your all, it's kind of like

784

:

your, your mascot is like an anteater.

785

:

Will Wilson: Yeah, this is a mascot.

786

:

These are actually like a couple

of failed mascots, like eventual

787

:

success roundup on the website.

788

:

But these are some like.

789

:

You know, mid journey generated

ones that we decide not to go with.

790

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah, I dig it though.

791

:

But you know, even something as small

as that, you know, just like, yeah,

792

:

that's all part of branding and marketing

and just being able to go out there

793

:

and show like, yeah, here, here it is.

794

:

Here's, here's who we are.

795

:

Um, yeah.

796

:

Having that training, uh, without

any ammunition is, is, uh, yeah,

797

:

it'll harden somebody and, but make

them a better, a better salesperson.

798

:

So I think that's a

fascinating perspective.

799

:

Um, so, so now you guys have,

have been out, you know, publicly

800

:

known, um, for, for how long?

801

:

About three months.

802

:

And have you, you know, what have you

seen as the biggest upside now that, you

803

:

know, the, in these last three months,

has it been from, you know, an uptick

804

:

in, in recruiting has been easier, sales,

you know, what, what is it that you've

805

:

seen, um, as a, as a drastic change?

806

:

Will Wilson: It's, it's been unreal.

807

:

Like, I mean, I would say.

808

:

I would say honestly, the most, most

obvious and apparent thing is just

809

:

like every day I walk in the office

and the energy is so different.

810

:

Everybody is like still riding

that high from coming out of

811

:

stealth, which is pretty cool.

812

:

Tim Winkler: That's cool.

813

:

Will Wilson: Um, and, and people are

really excited and really motivated

814

:

to, to make this thing happen.

815

:

Like yeah, like it has been obviously

completely revolutionary for sales in so

816

:

far as people can now find out about us.

817

:

You know, we have, we have

inbound for the first time ever.

818

:

Right.

819

:

That's, that's pretty cool.

820

:

Um, you know, it's helpful.

821

:

Yes, it's helpful.

822

:

That's right.

823

:

It's been good for recruiting too.

824

:

It's, it's, yeah, it's been, it's

been good for a lot of things.

825

:

Um, you know, like I, I do ask myself

sometimes, like, was it the right

826

:

decision to stay in stealth for so long?

827

:

And I think that like, you know,

hindsight's:

828

:

hard to, it's hard to say for I think

that like, It was the right decision

829

:

to do it for quite a long time.

830

:

I think if I had to do it all over

again, I might've done the launch

831

:

like six months earlier or something,

but, but I think we did actually get a

832

:

lot of strategic benefit out of being

so quiet for such a long time while

833

:

we built this futuristic technology.

834

:

It's just like, you know, if you, if you

listener are thinking of doing that, be

835

:

aware that there are very real costs.

836

:

Yeah.

837

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

838

:

And I think that you make a really

valid point with the, you know, it's

839

:

been a crazy time in the market for

tech, uh, in the last, you know,

840

:

four years since the pandemic, right.

841

:

It's been this kind of roller

coaster of, like you mentioned, you

842

:

know, you know, time and a place

of, of raising, you know, funds.

843

:

Yeah.

844

:

2021.

845

:

I mean, there's no better

time to be raising capital.

846

:

Uh, you fast forward, you know,

a year and a half to two years

847

:

later, and it's pretty savage.

848

:

Um, and so, you know, the, the market

conditions and timing of everything,

849

:

you know, truly, you know, probably, you

know, it sounds like you, you acknowledge

850

:

played a big part in your ability to

let's extend the timeline a little bit.

851

:

We don't have to be so rushed.

852

:

Um, I think that's a very different

argument for somebody that's

853

:

maybe trying to operate right now.

854

:

That's totally, uh, under,

under the gun, but yeah,

855

:

Will Wilson: like interest, like

interest rates being higher just means

856

:

everybody's looking for a faster return.

857

:

That's right.

858

:

Includes investors.

859

:

That includes you, the founder, right?

860

:

That includes everybody.

861

:

Yeah.

862

:

And so, you know, that does mean

that does mean you should be

863

:

looking for opportunities that

can pay off a little quicker.

864

:

That's right.

865

:

Tim Winkler: Um, well that's kind

of a, you know, it's kind of put a

866

:

bow on, on the, uh, the stealth mode

discussion and, um, you know, just

867

:

one, one final question, uh, in terms

of, you know, looking forward towards

868

:

the future, um, you know, what do you

kind of anticipate or see within like

869

:

those areas of deterministic testing

and Autonomous systems evolving, any,

870

:

anything that you're really excited about?

871

:

And obviously this will play into, you

know, what it is that you're building,

872

:

but any, any, uh, hot takes or anything

that you're, you're anticipating?

873

:

Will Wilson: I think the,

everybody seems to be very excited.

874

:

Well, no, a year ago, everybody was

very excited about LLMs writing code.

875

:

I think now we're sort of like maybe

entering the hangover phase where

876

:

people are like, wait a minute,

these things write code really

877

:

fast and it's not all correct.

878

:

And, you know, And also someday

I'm going to have to modify this

879

:

code or read it or understand it.

880

:

And it having been produced

by this machine makes it

881

:

much harder to do all that.

882

:

And so I think that is going

to, but at the same time,

883

:

there's like real value there.

884

:

If you could make good use of

these things, writing code for you.

885

:

And so I think that's just

going to put a lot of pressure

886

:

on testing practices, right?

887

:

Like being able to have any kind

of confidence that this thing that

888

:

chat GPT spat out is gonna like Do

the right thing and not crash your

889

:

computer is like suddenly gonna, it's

going to take on way more salience.

890

:

And so I think for that reason,

it's like a very, very exciting

891

:

time to be in the like software

testing or QA space, which is like

892

:

sort of a funny thing to say, right?

893

:

Like software testing and QA

sounds like the most boring,

894

:

horrible thing ever, right?

895

:

It's like taking out garbage.

896

:

Um, which, which is one reason I like it.

897

:

It's like a reason people don't do it.

898

:

So, so then I get to do it.

899

:

Um, but.

900

:

But yeah, I think, I think it's

like probably the most important

901

:

time to be working on this problem.

902

:

And so I think it's going to be cool.

903

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

904

:

That's a good analogy.

905

:

The dirty jobs analogy.

906

:

Um, but there's a reason that, you know,

garbage men get paid pretty well too.

907

:

Like nobody else wants to do that job.

908

:

Um, Cool.

909

:

All right.

910

:

I think that's a, that's a

good wrap on, on a little bit

911

:

of your journey and the story.

912

:

And I think we'll close with, um,

our five second scramble segment.

913

:

So this is, uh, just a little fun

rapid fire Q and a, we're going

914

:

to bounce a couple of questions

your way and, and yeah, try to

915

:

answer them within five seconds.

916

:

We're not going to air horn

you off or anything like that.

917

:

But, uh, yeah.

918

:

Uh, are you ready to jump into it?

919

:

I'm ready or not.

920

:

All right, uh, explain Antithesis

to me as if I were a five year old.

921

:

Will Wilson: Uh, we use AI

to find problems in software.

922

:

Tim Winkler: What is your favorite

part about the culture at Antithesis?

923

:

No assholes.

924

:

What type of technologist will thrive

925

:

Will Wilson: at Antithesis?

926

:

Somebody who likes working on hard stuff.

927

:

Tim Winkler: What are the, the top tech

roles that you're hiring for today?

928

:

Will Wilson: Oh, everything, man.

929

:

Tim Winkler: We'll, we'll direct

folks to the careers page, which

930

:

is now publicly facing, so.

931

:

That's right.

932

:

That's right.

933

:

Um, what, um, what is a charity

or corporate philanthropy

934

:

that's near and dear to you?

935

:

Corporate philanthropy.

936

:

Will Wilson: Um, I,

that's a good question.

937

:

I mean, do you want like stuff that's

like local in our area or stuff that's

938

:

like something that's maybe just

939

:

Tim Winkler: personal to you, you know,

something that's touched you and, you

940

:

know, over the years or something that,

you know, resonates with you that, uh,

941

:

you know, you, you'd like to donate to.

942

:

Will Wilson: Yeah, sure.

943

:

So I, I mean, I think there's a

lot of really, really good efforts,

944

:

um, to like anti malaria efforts,

like, you know, mosquito nets,

945

:

bed nets, that kind of thing.

946

:

I think that stuff has a huge impact and

is really, really good for the world.

947

:

And I think people should like

totally donate to that kind of stuff.

948

:

I also think it's like really important

to do something that's directly

949

:

involved in your own community

and that's like closer to home.

950

:

And, you know, so there's

like a bunch of churches in D.

951

:

C.

952

:

that have very active homeless

ministries that I've helped out with, and

953

:

there's a lot of homeless people in D.

954

:

C.

955

:

these days, and it's, it's a bit of a

crisis, and so that's, that's a thing

956

:

that, that my family's, uh, done some of.

957

:

Tim Winkler: Cool.

958

:

Yeah.

959

:

We like to highlight some of

those when we post this out.

960

:

So I'll, uh, I'll get you to, to

share, uh, some of the specific boards

961

:

that, uh, we can, we can highlight.

962

:

Um, which of your, your four

children is your favorite?

963

:

I'm just joking.

964

:

It's not a, not an answerable answer.

965

:

Um, describe for me your,

your morning routine,

966

:

Will Wilson: my morning routine.

967

:

I wake up and I

968

:

Usually at least one of my

children is already awake.

969

:

And so I get them dressed,

you know, feed them.

970

:

These days the bigger ones can

feed themselves, that's good.

971

:

Um, you know, I make myself tea or coffee.

972

:

I sadly check up on what's happened

with the company overnight.

973

:

I, um, I usually try to hang out with

my kids in the morning because by

974

:

evening, like I'm tired, they're tired.

975

:

There's still an opportunity for

hanging out, but like, it's a little

976

:

bit, it has just a different character.

977

:

Um, and then once, once

everybody's off to school, I.

978

:

Come to work, or if it's a nice day, like

today, I bike to work, which is very nice.

979

:

Very cool.

980

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

981

:

Yeah.

982

:

It's a nice, nice routine.

983

:

I, I agree with you that the

morning hang with the, with the

984

:

kids is a different experience.

985

:

You're, you're, it's, you're less

burnout, you're not, you know, you're

986

:

kind of a little bit more present.

987

:

So, um, it's good perspective.

988

:

What's the worst fashion trend

that you've ever followed?

989

:

Uh,

990

:

Will Wilson: bell bottoms.

991

:

Tim Winkler: Solid.

992

:

Uh, what is something that you love

to do, but you're really bad at?

993

:

Will Wilson: Ooh, that's a

good, that's a good one, man.

994

:

Uh, sailing.

995

:

Tim Winkler: Oh, nice.

996

:

Will Wilson: Yeah.

997

:

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

998

:

It's not easy.

999

:

Will Wilson: It's not.

:

00:53:23,490 --> 00:53:26,960

And if I, I like to say, if I had

more time, I would be better at it.

:

00:53:27,730 --> 00:53:28,580

I don't have any time.

:

00:53:30,610 --> 00:53:33,240

Tim Winkler: Um, What was

your dream job as a kid?

:

00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:35,840

Will Wilson: I wanted

to be emperor of Mars.

:

00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:38,840

Seems like Elon's gonna beat me to it.

:

00:53:38,930 --> 00:53:40,140

Yeah, I mean, we're not

:

00:53:40,780 --> 00:53:41,599

Tim Winkler: too far off.

:

00:53:42,330 --> 00:53:44,500

Um, and then I'll close with this one.

:

00:53:44,500 --> 00:53:48,040

What, what, uh, who is your

favorite Disney character?

:

00:53:48,589 --> 00:53:51,169

Will Wilson: My favorite is,

man, it's been a long time

:

00:53:51,170 --> 00:53:52,360

since I watched a Disney movie.

:

00:53:55,715 --> 00:53:58,225

Tim Winkler: Well, now they own Star

Wars and all this, all the other fun.

:

00:54:00,435 --> 00:54:02,595

Will Wilson: Trying to think, um,

:

00:54:05,745 --> 00:54:07,575

I liked the beast in beauty and the beast.

:

00:54:09,095 --> 00:54:09,385

Tim Winkler: Yeah.

:

00:54:09,385 --> 00:54:11,884

Sensitive heart, you know, sensitive soul.

:

00:54:11,935 --> 00:54:12,334

That's right.

:

00:54:12,565 --> 00:54:15,145

But it was always, you

know, judged the wrong way.

:

00:54:15,354 --> 00:54:15,824

That's right.

:

00:54:16,185 --> 00:54:17,345

Good, good, good one.

:

00:54:17,365 --> 00:54:18,365

That's a first.

:

00:54:18,365 --> 00:54:21,855

We, we asked that question to most every

guest and never heard the beast before.

:

00:54:21,855 --> 00:54:24,065

So kudos on, on the uniqueness.

:

00:54:24,735 --> 00:54:25,794

Um, cool.

:

00:54:25,795 --> 00:54:28,685

Well, thank, uh, thank you so

much for spending time with us.

:

00:54:28,685 --> 00:54:32,895

Well, we're I'm excited for the

future of what you all are building at

:

00:54:33,165 --> 00:54:37,665

Antipasis and you know, you're you're an

awesome entrepreneur and a good human.

:

00:54:37,865 --> 00:54:41,455

Good luck on the new addition

to the family and uh, we're

:

00:54:41,455 --> 00:54:42,565

uh, we're rooting for you all.

:

00:54:42,575 --> 00:54:44,274

Thanks for, for hanging

out with us on the pod.

:

00:54:44,665 --> 00:54:45,114

Will Wilson: Thanks man.

:

00:54:45,155 --> 00:54:45,934

Thanks so much for having me.

:

00:54:45,934 --> 00:54:47,104

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