Insiders React: OpenClaw and Claude Cowork have changed everything for startups w/ Gary Lo, Open BA

The agentic AI revolution is finally escaping the coding bubble. What does that mean for startup founders? Just 13 days after recording his first conversation with Yaniv, Gary Lo called to re-record. The reason? OpenClaw and Claude Cowork dropped some huge AI agent updates, and it shifted Gary's perspective enough to change the whole conversation. In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein sits down with Gary Lo – founder of OpenBA, one of Australia's most compelling pre-seed AI startups – to unpack why OpenClaw and Claude Cowork news marks a 'Cursor moment' for the rest of the world: the inflection point where AI stops being a productivity tool for tech teams and starts fundamentally reshaping how every industry works. They break down why tool use will make LLMs genuinely transformative, why non-technical business owners are already buying Mac Minis to run AI agents, and what the shift from 'human-first' to 'LLM-first' product design means for how you build and position your startup today. This episode is essential listening for any founder trying to figure out where to place their bets in an agentic world. In this episode, you'll learn: Why OpenClaw and Claude Cowork signal a 'Cursor moment' beyond software engineering How tool use transforms LLM weaknesses into strengths Why the long-promised vision of "everything as an API" is finally becoming real How to think about building for agents vs. humans, and why most current tools aren't optimized for either The "done list" mental model: how agentic coding is collapsing the coordination layers in software workflows Why being "a tool worth calling" – like Supabase – is a smarter bet than competing directly with AI models How Gary is applying LLM-first thinking to OpenBA's roadmap right now Resources mentioned in this episode: OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai/ Claude Cowork (Anthropic's agentic desktop tool): https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-cowork Cursor (AI-native code editor, referenced as the original 'Cursor moment' for coding): https://www.cursor.com Supabase (referenced as an example of a tool that rides the agentic AI wave): https://supabase.com OpenBA (Gary Lo's startup - AI platform for buyer's agents): https://openba.com.au Gary Lo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-lo-engineer/ The Pact Honor the Startup Podcast Pact! If you have listened to TSP and gotten value from it, please: Follow, rate, and review us in your listening app Subscribe to the TSP Mailing List to gain access to exclusive newsletter-only content and early access to information on upcoming episodes: https://thestartuppodcast.beehiiv.com/subscribe Secure your official TSP merchandise at https://shop.tsp.show/ Follow us here on YouTube for full-video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNjm1MTdjysRRV07fSf0yGg Give us a public shout-out on LinkedIn or anywhere you have a social media following Key links This episode of the Startup Podcast is sponsored by.tech domains. Forget weird prefixes and creative misspellings; the availability for.tech domains is simply way better than.com. For a clean name that highlights your tech credentials, get a.tech domain at your favorite registrar. Get your question in for our next Q&A episode: https://forms.gle/NZzgNWVLiFmwvFA2A The Startup Podcast website: https://www.tsp.show/episodes/ Learn more about Chris and Yaniv Work 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/ Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/ Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/ Producer: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthur Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/