Is GPT-5 a real risk for SaaS founders, or just the beginning of a new chapter?

In this Hot Take Tuesday, Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn dig into GPT-5’s mixed reviews, signs of stress in the A.I. bubble, and how Windsurf’s $2.4B exit left early employees with nothing. They also unpack why returning a VC fund is such a rare (and big) deal.

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Topics we cover:

(3:12) – TinySeed returns Fund One
(9:40) – GPT-5: Upgrade or letdown?
(19:19) – Are we in an AI bubble?
(24:09) – The Windsurf debacle: $2.4B exit, $0 for early employees
(31:06) – The bigger problem: Are startups forgetting to share the upside?
(40:05) – Lifestyle vs. Ambitious Bootstrapping

Links from the Show:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

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Episode 792 | Hot Take Tuesday: GPT-5 Struggles, the A.I. Bubble, and the Windsurf Debacle

Startups For the Rest of Us

Episode 792 | Hot Take Tuesday: GPT-5 Struggles, the A.I. Bubble, and the Windsurf Debacle