Howie Liu - Building Airtable - [Invest Like the Best, EP.375]

My guest today is Howie Liu. Howie is the co-founder and CEO of Airtable, a no-code app platform that allows teams to build on top of their shared data and create productive workflows. The business began in 2013 and now has use cases built out for over 300,000 organizations. As Airtable begins to integrate AI and the latest LLMs into its product, Howie has maintained a focus on an intuitive building experience, allowing anyone to build out their workflow within minutes or hours. We discuss the future of the platform in the era of AI, his perspective on horizontal versus vertical software solutions, and his crucial moments as a leader in building a critical component to the advancement of productivity. Please enjoy this discussion with Howie Liu. 

Listen to Founders Podcast

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:06:49) Exploring Horizontal vs. Vertical Software in the AI Era

(00:11:00) The Future of Customized Applications

(00:15:28) Perspectives on AI's Future and Enterprise Adoption

(00:18:13) The Evolution of LLMs and Their Impact on Software Development

(00:23:33) Harnessing AI for Business Transformation and Innovation

(00:27:28) Reflecting on Airtable's Founding and Evolution

(00:33:23) Airtable's Approach to Customer Engagement and Innovation

(00:39:59) The Impact of AI on Platform Versatility and Market Penetration

(00:46:00) Achieving Product-Market Fit and Initial Monetization

(00:50:23) Scaling Up and Securing the First Unicorn Round

(00:51:52) Rapid Growth and Organizational Scaling Challenges

(00:55:00) Reflecting on Tough Decisions in the Business

(01:02:55) The Role of Capital Allocation in Expanding Airtable

(01:06:55) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Howie