Eric Anderson, partner at VC firm Scale, talks about why coding agents changed software forever and why the AI bubble can't be avoided. Eric worked on Spot Instances at AWS and data products at Google before becoming a VC. He explains how companies can still compete against Anthropic and OpenAI by staying laser-focused instead of fighting on every front.

Corey and Eric discuss why AWS didn’t kill all startups even when they launched competing products, why the AI bubble can't be avoided when companies go from $1 billion to $7 billion in revenue in one year, and why the best AI products don't scream “AI” everywhere in their marketing.

Show Highlights:

(02:30) Building Spot Instances at AWS

(07:41) Why Coding Agents Changed Everything

(10:35) Agents Doing Code Review Now

(13:53) Competing with Frontier Labs

(17:05) Why AWS Didn’t Kill All Startups

(19:01) Finding the Right Front to Fight On

(22:20) Why the Bubble Is Inevitable

(23:36) AI Pricing Will Eventually Crash

(26:33) Honeycomb’s AI Done Right

(28:04) Where to Find Eric

Links:
Scale: https://www.scalevp.com/

Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericmand/

Sponsored by:
duckbillhq.com

Chase Douglas, CEO at Archodex, talks about AI security problems and why re:Invent has become a nightmare. Chase helps companies capture every AI interaction so they don't get in trouble with compliance. Corey and Chase discuss Shadow AI, why Corey runs Claude Code in an account called “Superfund,” and how re:Invent put metal spikes on benches so people couldn't sit down. They also talk about why AWS released fewer announcement than before, and why Chase is finally optimistic about AI coding tools after months of frustration.

Show Highlights:

(01:51) What Archodex Does

(07:00) The Superfund Account for AI

(08:19) Shadow AI Problem

(11:41) What Happened at re:Invent

(14:59) Sponsorship Costs at re:Invent

(17:00) Metal Spikes on Benches

(21:39) AWS Releases Declining

(25:24) Why Chase Is Finally Optimistic About AI Coding

(27:13) Code Review Changed with AI

(31:22) Where to Find Chase

Links:
Archodex: https://archodex.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedouglas/

Sponsored by:
duckbillhq.com

Alyss Noland, who works on Cloud Dev Ecosystem at Nvidia, is back on the show to talk about building software with AI when you're not a real developer. Alyss runs a program that gives AI startups access to Nvidia GPUs and uses AI tools herself to build production software at Nvidia. Corey and Alyss discuss using AI to help curate newsletters without actually writing them, why humans still need to check everything, and the weird reality of people developing relationships with chatbots.

Show Highlights:

(01:34) What Alyss Does at Nvidia

(05:44) When AI First Worked for Corey

(07:34) Building Internal Tools vs Using AI

(10:39) Using AI to Help Write Last Week in AWS

(13:43) DGX Cloud Innovation Lab

(17:11) Building Production Software with AI

(20:48) The Future of SEO

(25:24) Using AI as a Writing Assistant

(29:51) closing remarks

Links:

Alyss’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssnoland/

Alyss’s Personal Website: https://dev.to/preciselyalyss

Sponsored by:
duckbillhq.com