Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity's Race to Build Agentic Search
Aravind Srinivas on June 16, 2025 at AI Startup School in San Francisco.
Aravind Srinivas started Perplexity with one goal: to rethink how we search, browse, and interact with information online. In this conversation, he shares the journey from hacking together a natural-language-to-SQL search tool to building a product used by millions around the world.
He talks about the big bet on the AI-powered browser, why agents—not just chatbots—are the next step, and how speed, accuracy, and focus help a startup compete against giants. Along the way, he reflects on co-founder dynamics, early technica…
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Chapters (15)
0:48
Perplexity's Current Status and Challenges
1:16
The Browser Bet
3:18
Competition and Market Dynamics
4:43
The Importance of Speed and Innovation
5:51
Founding Perplexity: The Early Days
9:18
Product Evolution and User Experience
19:44
Running the Company and Future Outlook
20:15
AI Tools in Software Engineering
20:31
Adoption and Implementation of AI Coding Tools
21:11
Challenges and Benefits of AI in Development
22:35
Brand Value and Competition
23:56
Network Effects and Integrations
27:40
Business Model and Revenue Streams
29:54
Advice for Founders
31:33
Audience Q&A
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