Hallway Chat
Episodes
The two types of Agentic Engineering, and their teams
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We return from a break to discuss the effects of an avalanche of app making due to Claude and Codex, including “Camp,” an experiment by Nabeel in ...
Personality, humanism, poke, and raising the ceiling
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why are dentists so into vibe coding? Where's the Steve Jobs of this era? In this episode of Hallway Chat, Fraser and Nabeel discuss the viral AI as...
Be Water, Ubiquity over Ownership
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Hallway Chat, Nabeel and Fraser unpack the emerging power of tool use, reasoning traces, and code execution in modern models. They ...
Building Open World AI w/Andrew Mason
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nabeel and Fraser sit down with Andrew Mason, founder of Descript, for a deep dive into evolution "open world agents" in AI products. The trio uses th...
Making the perfect backpack. Craft in the age of AI.
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Craft in the age of AI. Nabeel and Fraser start with a dive into what makes the Boundary backpack so great. They explore how AI is changing the way we...
AI Severance: One Memory or Many?
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Hallway Chat, Nabeel and Fraser explore the future of AI through the lenses of memory, context, and product design. They debate whe...
State of AI and Games
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nabeel and Fraser debrief on GDC and the opportunities for innovation beyond the conservative approaches in an industry going through a funk. They tou...
Building an Interestingness Leaderboard
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We have evals for AI models, what about AI products? Today, Nabeel and Fraser talk about building computer games through vibe coding, and just when we...
Questions we’re asking of AI startups in 2025.
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Nabeel and Fraser tackle the questions they've been asking internally. What level of improvement would it take to disrupt an incumbent product?...
Granola & The Art of Invisible AI - Christopher Pedregal
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nabeel and Fraser sit down for a round-table discussion with Chris Pedregal, founder and CEO of Granola, an AI note taking app, to discuss Granola’s...
Distilling Lessons from AI in 2024
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What lessons will we take from 2024's AI products into next year? How better to reflect on advancements in the field of AI over this past year than to...
Coaching Up: Should your AI be teaching you how to use it?
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Everywhere you turn, companies have shoved AI features into their products that no one is using. Today, Fraser and Nabeel ask each other—are there a...
Q&A: Is NotebookLM an exception to a rule? When to copy? When are small improvements better than big bets? Will data privacy matter?
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Open format Q&A this week. Fraser and Nabeel explore AI data privacy, the ethics of copying features, and maintaining innovation. They discuss ent...
"Software should be soft" - Meter Command with Anil Varanasi
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join Fraser, Nabeel, and special guest Anil from Meter as they dive into the innovation behind Meter Command. Meter's new interface has been called th...
The New Muse: Hobbyists and AI
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How would you design an AI product differently for a hobbyist vs prosumer vs professional? Using MidJourney as a case study in the passion economy, th...
Making product on the S curve of AI. Plus, Anthropic Artifacts
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fraser and Nabeel start by retcon'ing their earlier "maybe we should stop talking about models" and reflecting on the importance of adapting product s...
Granola, Designing AI for User Agency, and how to compete with $$$
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fraser and Nabeel dive into the evolving landscape of AI note-taking apps, focusing on a new product, Granola. They discuss Granola's unique approach ...
Should we stop talking about models?
12 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is it still worth it to discuss models when discussing startups? Nabeel and Fraser discuss how that may be the wrong question to ask in the current la...
Devin & the Autonomous Engineer Wave. Plus, .Com lessons as a model for today
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the extent of autonomous coding engineer Devin’s ability to generate real, functional applications with little to no help? Nabeel and Fraser...
AI Models. Weighing the chances of commodity vs differentiation.
23 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week is a discussion of the points of differentiation vs commodification in various AI models. Including how these points might change over time,...
Trailer
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is Hallway Chat anyway (00:00) - Introduction and Podcast Naming
Making of Arc Search, and finding your AI product strategy with Josh Miller
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Josh Miller, Founder and CEO of The Browser Co, joins this week. We loved the experience with Arc Search, a new AI-enabled mobile search experience, w...
Stages of Disruption: Adaptation, Evolution, or Revolution? Plus Email AI app Shortwave
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two former founders, now VCs, play with AI products and see where that leads...Fraser and Nabeel discuss the differences between horizontal disruption...
Best of the Voice Note Apps, Three Layers of AI Coding & A Wishlist of Products
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Reviewing voice note transcription apps, from WaveAI to Audiopen and ChatGPT. Then Fraser and Nabeel take stock of various ways AI coding is affecting...
Developments in Prompting, Making Sense of AI Hardware Gadgetpalooza & trying SunoAI music creation
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fraser and Nabeel discuss the onslaught of AI hardware launches, exploring the potential factors behind this shift. They also discuss the importance o...
Building entropically, Gemini, Prompt engineerings revenge, and Superpowered
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nabeel and Fraser briefly discuss Google's new AI model, Gemini, and keeping authenticity in startup pitches. They discuss the perils of trying to sim...
Launch stories of ChatGPT
02 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nabeel gets to ask Fraser for reflections on the development of ChatGPT on the one-year anniversary. They talk about the intersection of product manag...
Three patterns of LLM product development
18 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The conversation kicks off with the surprising news of Sam Altman’s departure from OpenAI. Nabeel and Fraser then discuss the ‘crazy week’ of pr...
My GPTs, and avoiding the OpenAI tidal wave as a founder
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, discussions revolve around the recent OpenAI Dev Day, the Reflect note taking app, and how founders should internalize the "thre...
When do AI startups have advantage over incumbents?
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fraser & Nabeel get things up and running again at Hallway Chat. How AI is changing search engines, comparing Perplexity with Google, and what jus...
Hallway Chat, #32 - Creating a middle class Creator Economy, Apple & service-based software, the PS5 and why we play games
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hey ya'll. In todays show we discuss Apple and service-based software releasing, the PS5 and why we play games, creating a middle class Creator Econom...
Hallway Chat, #31 - Investing during a pandemic (ie 2020 vs 2019), hot takes about remote work
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We are back with a long overdue edition of Hallway Chat. Todays episode, Bijan and Nabeel discuss: investing during a pandemic (ie 2020 vs 2019), how ...
Hallway Chat, #30 - Is VC pattern recognition actually valuable, the challenge of "winner takes all" dogma
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After a one year-ish break, Nabeel and Bijan are back with a shiny new episode! In this pod, we chat about things on our minds lately including, is VC...
Hallway Chat, #29 - Bitcoin, tech morality, startup hard decisions and the iMac Pro
14 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A podcast by Bijan Sabet and Nabeel Hyatt, partners at Spark Capital. Recorded: December 13, 2017: Show summary: Bitcoin Frenzy, Tech company morality...
Hallway Chat, #29 - The VC "Sh*t Show" and consumer apps
16 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Another episode of Hallway Chat. Bijan and Nabeel. Recorded November 16, 2017. Show notes: - iPhone X, including new apps - Musical.ly’s exit and th...
Hallway Chat, #28 - Mastering scale, Google I/O and judging "what's worth making a startup"
19 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
5/19/2017: Hey, we're back with another episode of Hallway Chat. Show notes: Clay Bavor's Virtual & Augmented Realities http://bit.ly/2pNfVra Reid...
Hallway Chat, #27 - Future of work & the moral awakening of Silicon Valley
12 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 2/10/17. Summary: Nabeel and Bijan discuss a few favorite new apps, some thoughts about current American politics & the moral awakening o...
Hallway Chat, #26 - w/Kevin Thau - Apple
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Hi everyone! @nabeel and @bijan are back with a new podcast to kick off the new year. This episode of Hallway Chat, we are joined by our fellow Spark ...
Hallway Chat, #25
19 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Nabeel and Bijan discussed Google I/O 2016 and some thoughts about all the choices developers have to consider in a world with so many different platf...
Hallway Chat, #24 - Cruise, Nest, what it takes to keep innovating
08 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Another episode of Hallway Chat with @nabeel and @bijan Topics: how the Tesla 3 has presold so much, Cruise and navigating the new rush of autonomous ...
Hallway Chat, #23 - with Fred Wilson
04 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A podcast by Bijan Sabet and Nabeel Hyatt, partners at Spark Capital. In todays show, we were joined by special guest and our friend, Fred Wilson. Sho...