Podcasts about general partners

The crew debates whether Saylor's STRC preferred shares are "Luna for suits," unpacks the ETH Labs spin-out and Ethereum Foundation layoffs, breaks down the CME's lawsuit against the CFTC to kill domestic perps, and weighs whether Meta's leaked prediction market Arena is a real threat to Polymarket. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, Saylor's STRC preferred shares, which have broken below their $100 target. Laura argues it's a confidence crisis, Tarun calls it "Luna for suits," and Haseeb pushes back — there's no death spiral, Saylor can just defer dividends and "burn the boat." Then the Ethereum Foundation shakeup: ETH Labs spinning out with seven senior EF members while the EF lays off 20% of its headcount. The back half covers the CME suing the CFTC to block domestic perps — which Haseeb frames as "suing for the right to not compete" — and Meta's leaked prediction market Arena, where Tom reveals this is Meta's third or fourth attempt at prediction markets. Let's get into it. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

Yuval Boger interviews Helmut Katzgraber, general partner at 55North and former quantum leader at AWS. They discuss Helmut's view that the most promising near- to mid-term quantum applications are in quantum simulation for materials, chemicals, and pharma, rather than optimization. They also explore European competitiveness, venture opportunities across the quantum stack, cloud and on-prem deployment models, and the workforce and product skills needed to turn quantum ideas into successful companies.

Investeren in quantumcomputing, volgens Ground State Ventures (GSV) is dat de slimste zet. Investeerders kiezen de laatste jaren namelijk massaal voor AI, maar quantum wordt door Ton van ‘t Noordende, General Partner bij GSV, gezien als het nieuwe goud. Toch zal menigeen de wenkbrauwen hierbij optrekken, want quantum heeft de belofte nog helemaal niet waargemaakt. Waar is dat enorme vertrouwen dan op gebaseerd? Joe van Burik en Ben van der Burg gaan op een exclusieve bijeenkomst voor investeerders bij Ground State Ventures in Amsterdam het gesprek aan met General Partner Ton van ‘t Noordende. Vragen, opmerkingen of suggesties? Mail ons! Op: degrotetechshow@bnr.nl De Grote Tech ShowDe Grote Tech ShowTech verandert onze wereld, in De Grote Tech Show (DGTS) hoor je hoe. Joe van Burik en Ben van der Burg spreken met innovatieleiders en analyseren de techwereld, van AI tot cybersecurity en social media tot quantumcomputers. TechpodcastDe Grote Tech Show (DGTS) is dé techpodcast (en radioshow) voor iedereen die technologie en innovatie echt wil begrijpen. Over AI (of: kunstmatige intelligentie), chips, cloud, cyberveiligheid, social media, quantum en entertainment. Hier hoor je hoe technologie de wereld verandert en wat dat betekent voor bedrijven, investeerders en iedereen in de samenleving. Bij DGTS krijg je de analyses, inzichten en interviews die ertoe doen. Met diepgaande gesprekken en scherpe analyses brengen we de belangrijkste technologische ontwikkelingen in kaart. InnovatiesElke week spreken we kopstukken in de techwereld: ceo's, hoogleraren, ondernemers en investeerders die werken aan de innovaties van morgen. Wat betekenen de nieuwste AI-modellen voor werk en creativiteit? Hoe blijven Europese startups concurreren met het nog altijd machtige Silicon Valley en het ondoorzichtige China? Dit zijn geen oppervlakkige interviews, maar diepgaande gesprekken waarin we de hoofdrolspelers spreken die écht impact maken. De technologische revolutie is in volle gang en beïnvloedt elk aspect van ons leven—van de manier waarop we werken en communiceren tot de geopolitieke machtsverhoudingen. Daarom brengen we niet alleen de technologische kant in beeld, maar ook de economische en maatschappelijke implicaties ervan. Naast de grote innovaties kijken we naar de bedrijven die deze ontwikkelingen vormgeven. Wat is de strategie van big tech-bedrijven zoals Google, Apple, Microsoft en Meta? Hoe verandert de concurrentiestrijd tussen Nvidia, AMD en Intel de chipmarkt? Wat betekenen nieuwe wetten en regels in Europa en de VS voor de toekomst van technologie? AnalysesDaarnaast hoor je bij De Grote Tech Show, exclusief als extra podcast elke week, hoe Joe van Burik en Ben van der Burg de week in tech doornemen. Ze analyseren het laatste nieuws, plaatsen de ontwikkelingen in perspectief en geven scherpe inzichten over wat er écht speelt. Van de doorbraken in AI / kunstmatige intelligentie en de opkomst van nieuwe sociale mediaplatformen tot de impact van geopolitieke spanningen op de halfgeleiderindustrie. Regelmatig schuift een gast uit het netwerk aan om extra expertise te bieden en het debat te verdiepen. Door de combinatie van journalistieke scherpte, technische kennis en een kritische blik ontstaat een programma dat verder gaat dan de headlines en technologie in een bredere context plaatst. AIOf het nu gaat om de risico’s en kansen van AI-technologie of de positie van Europa in de wereldwijde technologische concurrentiestrijd, De Grote Tech Show biedt de achtergrond, de nuance en de inzichten die nodig zijn om deze ontwikkelingen echt te begrijpen. Dit maakt het programma onmisbaar voor professionals in de techsector, beleggers die strategische beslissingen willen nemen en iedereen die wil weten welke innovaties onze toekomst vormgeven. Met de combinatie van exclusieve interviews, deskundige duiding en een kritische kijk op innovatie biedt DGTS een unieke mix van diepgang en actualiteit. Over de makers:Joe van Burik volgt en analyseert de belangrijkste ontwikkelingen in tech, met scherpte, tempo en humor. Je hoort hem dagelijks op BNR Nieuwsradio met het belangrijkste nieuws in de Tech Update en hij presenteert De Grote Tech Show. In het bijzonder volgt Joe al twee decennia de wereld van videogames, waarover hij met bevlogen collega's en gasten praat in de podcast All in the Game. Eerder werkte hij als auto(sport)journalist voor diverse andere media en schreef het boek Formule 1 voor Dummies. Ben van der Burg is techondernemer en voormalig topschaatser. Ben is bezeten door technologie en wordt enthousiast van gadgets, elektrische auto's, goede businessmodellen en de toekomst. Naast De Grote Tech Show is hij ook wekelijks te horen als presentator van De Technoloog. Ook schuift hij regelmatig aan bij Vandaag Inside, Goedemorgen Nederland en andere talkshows, om te praten over het laatste nieuws rond technologie. Rosanne Peters is redacteur van De Grote Tech Show en De Technoloog. Ook is zij te horen in de Tech Update tijdens De Ochtend- en Avondspits. Daniël Mol is redacteur en samensteller van De Grote Tech Show. Hij presenteert zelf bij BNR de Cryptocast en maakt ook De Technoloog. Tevens is hij de vaste vervanger van Ben in De Grote Tech Show; Joe wordt bij afwezigheid vervangen door Iwan Verrips, co-host en eindredacteur van de Ochtendspits met Bas van Werven op BNR Nieuwsradio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The next generation of great founders will be scientists and engineers.That's the argument of ⁠Ramzi Rizk⁠, General Partner at ⁠WIP Capital⁠, a €10 million solo-GP fund backing scientists and engineers at the intersection of bio, neuro and foundational AI.In this episode, ⁠Andreas Munk Holm⁠ speaks with Ramzi about why the biggest opportunities in venture are moving beyond SaaS, how AI is accelerating scientific discovery and why founders with deep technical expertise may have an advantage in building the next generation of category-defining companies.The conversation explores Ramzi's recent visit to the Asilomar neurotechnology conference, Europe's opportunity in deep science, the idea that the natural world is becoming computable and the lessons he's learned from building companies, making more than 60 angel investments and launching WIP Capital.Topics coveredWhy the next generation of founders will be scientists and engineersWhy the alpha is in sci-fi, not SaaSLessons from the Asilomar neurotechnology conferenceEurope's opportunity in deep science and researchWhy the natural world is becoming computableHow AI is accelerating scientific discoveryWhat Ramzi looks for in technical foundersBuilding WIP Capital as a solo GPTimestamps(02:00) Introduction and Ramzi Rizk's background(04:00) Inside the Asilomar neurotechnology conference(09:00) Europe's opportunity in deep science(11:00) Why Ramzi backs scientists and engineers(16:00) What makes a great technical founder(19:00) Commercialising scientific research(23:00) Why the natural world is becoming computable(25:00) Bio, neuro and the next wave of AI innovation(27:00) Why the best investors follow patterns, not sectors(29:00) Building WIP Capital as a solo GP(31:00) Why deep tech may move faster than investors think(33:00) The future Ramzi wants to help buildLearn more about the Love Tomorrow Summit and the programmes EUVC is curating, and secure your tickets ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

The crew breaks down the SpaceX IPO's crypto-like low float dynamics and Hyperliquid's price prediction, debates accredited investor laws and failed tokenized stock allocations, dives into Fable 5's export control shutdown after Amazon flagged a jailbreak to the Treasury Secretary, and argues whether open source AI models will eat frontier pricing. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. Robert is back after a brief hiatus recording his own podcast, The Pop, for Superstate — and the crew wastes no time roasting him for it before diving into the biggest week of news in recent memory. First up: the SpaceX IPO, the largest in history, and why it looks eerily like a crypto token launch — 4.2% float, retail getting cut out, and Hyperliquid perps predicting the first-day pop almost to the dollar. The crew debates TradeXYZ's winner-take-all dominance of HIP3 and why building on top of Hyperliquid might be a terrible startup environment. Then they unpack Elon's financial engineering genius — the Cursor acquisition as all-stock crypto playbook, XAI's pivot from failed AI lab to compute reseller, and why Grok is (unanimously) an embarrassing piece of shit. The conversation shifts to accredited investor laws, SPV dentists, and why every crypto platform failed to deliver SpaceX IPO allocations. From there, Coinbase's massive system update — tokenized stocks, an SEC-registered AI chatbot, combos, and 15-minute markets. Then things get spicy: Robert asks Claude about SBF on air, Sonnet gets it hilariously wrong, and everyone roasts him for not using Opus. The back half is all about Fable 5 — Amazon's jailbreak discovery, Andy Jassy calling Dario (who didn't pick up), and the export controls that shut down the most powerful commercial AI model ever released. Robert drops his most surprising take: "I am EAC, but this is a dry run of pressing the pause button." The episode closes with a heated debate on whether Chinese open source models will eat frontier AI pricing and a bet that may or may not have been agreed upon.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

In this episode, ⁠Adam Torres⁠ interviews ⁠Neil Kayal⁠, Founder & General Partner of Grain Ventures. Neil shares insights from his background in M&A and corporate strategy, discusses how value is often created before companies reach the public markets, and explains how Grain Ventures helps investors evaluate private market opportunities through a disciplined, deal-by-deal approach. Follow Adam on Instagram at ⁠https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/⁠ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: ⁠https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/⁠ Visit our website: ⁠https://missionmatters.com/⁠ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: ⁠https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Neil Kayal, Founder & General Partner of Grain Ventures. Neil shares insights from his background in M&A and corporate strategy, discusses how value is often created before companies reach the public markets, and explains how Grain Ventures helps investors evaluate private market opportunities through a disciplined, deal-by-deal approach. Follow Adam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/ Visit our website: https://missionmatters.com/ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we revisit our conversation with Gary Swart. Gary is a General Partner with Polaris Partners, and until April 2014, he was the CEO of oDesk (now Upwork, NASDAQ: UPWK). Gary is a thought leader in entrepreneurship, on how best to hire and manage teams, and the future of work, including online work.   He is passionate about helping small businesses thrive, fueled by his extensive experience working with startups and small businesses and mentoring entrepreneurs and business school students. Gary has spoken at the Inc. Leadership Conference, The Economist's Ideas Economy panel, South by Southwest, TechCrunch 50, TiECon, GigaOM's Net: Work Conference, and at Harvard Business School, which teaches a case study on oDesk.   His commentary has appeared in a variety of publications, including Forbes, TechCrunch, The Washington Post, and The Next Web. He has also appeared on TV and radio shows, including the BBC, National Public Radio, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Startups Uncensored. Previously, Gary led SMB Sales for the Americas at IBM's Rational Software Product Group, and also served as VP of Worldwide Sales and Operations at Intellibank. Gary holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maryland.

DEMAIN je reçois ⁠⁠⁠Augustin Sayer - entrepreneur ET investisseur.

In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Barbara Bickham, Founder & General Partner of Trailyn VC, as part of the Milken Global Conference Series. Barbara shares insights on investing in overlooked deep tech founders, discusses the evolving AI landscape, and explains how Trailyn VC supports entrepreneurs building innovative solutions in emerging technology sectors. Follow Adam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/ Visit our website: https://missionmatters.com/ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, ⁠Adam Torres⁠ interviews ⁠Barbara Bickham⁠, Founder & General Partner of Trailyn VC, as part of the Milken Global Conference Series. Barbara shares insights on investing in overlooked deep tech founders, discusses the evolving AI landscape, and explains how Trailyn VC supports entrepreneurs building innovative solutions in emerging technology sectors. Follow Adam on Instagram at ⁠https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/⁠ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: ⁠https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/⁠ Visit our website: ⁠https://missionmatters.com/⁠ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: ⁠https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Barner is the founder of Lighthouse Ventures and one of the original members of Rod Khleif's Warrior Group, joining in 2017. After launching her real estate journey through the Rich Dad program, she transitioned from single-family investing to multifamily syndication and has since built a portfolio of 1,168 units across five states, primarily through partnerships with fellow Warriors. Her success in real estate allowed her to put all four of her children through college debt-free while growing her family's net worth more than sixfold. Today, Jennifer is an active General Partner, investor, and coach, helping others achieve financial freedom through multifamily real estate.    Here's some of the topics we covered:   From 30 Doors to 1,200 Units The IRA Real Estate Discovery That Changed Everything 250 Deals Analyzed and Still No Deal The COVID Move That Created a Breakthrough Finding a Hidden Multifamily Gem in Northwest Arkansas Winning the Deal With an Even Lower Offer Scaling Through Partnerships, Capital Raising, and New Markets   If you'd like to apply to the warrior program and do deals with other rockstars in this business: Text crush to 72345 and we'll be speaking soon.   For more about Rod and his real estate investing journey go to www.rodkhleif.com  

Crypto has been walled off from the real economy for years — that's changing.  Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett sit down with Eddy Lazzarin, a16z crypto's newest General Partner, to break down why crypto is entering a completely different phase and what gets built once the rules finally catch up to the technology.  The discussion spans:  - what the CLARITY Act actually does and why it changes the design space for crypto founders  - the difference between a network token and a security, and why it needs to be written into law  - why stablecoins are crypto's first real killer app and how the rest of the economy is reconfiguring around them  - how tokens let builders decouple pricing from growth in a way stocks never could  - why 97.8% of the value created in capitalism leaks out, and what that means for anyone trying to capture any of it  Highlights:  00:00 Intro  01:25 What it means to be a GP  02:00 Consensus vs. non-consensus bets  04:27 Network tokens and the CLARITY Act  09:35 Revenue, value capture, and network-token business models  21:18 Stablecoins as crypto's first killer app  28:52 Engineer-philosopher mindset 39:04 Intellectual influences  52:40 Eddy's path to crypto 1:03:15 The exuberant adoption phase of AI  1:14:38 Being "pro–AI psychosis"  Follow: Eddy Lazzarin: https://twitter.com/eddylazzarin  Sonal Chokshi: https://twitter.com/smc90  Robert Hackett: https://twitter.com/rhackett  Follow a16z crypto:  X: https://twitter.com/a16zcrypto  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/a16zcrypto/posts/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@a16zcrypto  Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/  As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Patrick Van Deven: The Frontier Firm Has a Data Problem In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VanderLinden sits down with Patrick Van Deven to unpack one of the biggest hidden blockers to becoming a true AI-native enterprise: legacy data infrastructure. As organizations rush toward the “Frontier Firm” vision championed by Microsoft — intelligence on tap, human-agent collaboration, and AI-powered workflows — Patrick argues that most regulated industries are still running on fragmented data pipelines built decades ago. Beneath the excitement around agentic AI lies a critical operational reality: data remains horizontally distributed across systems such as SAP, Salesforce, Guidewire, and legacy warehouses, stitched together by opaque code that no one fully understands anymore. Patrick explains why the future of AI in regulated industries depends less on flashy copilots and more on deterministic, governed, audit-ready data transformation. Drawing from his 35 years in enterprise software and his leadership at Volspeed, he outlines how AI is now reshaping data engineering itself — automating the “plumbing” layer while generating the metadata and lineage AI systems need to operate responsibly. Together, Sabine and Patrick explore why re-architecting does not require a dangerous core system replacement, how organizations can solve tractable business problems in months rather than years, and why the next generation of enterprise leaders must bridge business expertise and data intelligence. This conversation is a practical roadmap for any executive navigating AI transformation inside complex, regulated environments.   KEY TAKEAWAYS What stood out most to me in this conversation with Patrick was the reality that the “Frontier Firm” conversation is no longer about experimentation. It is about operational readiness. Every organization I speak to wants intelligence on tap, agentic workflows, and AI-enabled productivity, yet many are still constrained by fragmented legacy systems and undocumented data logic buried deep inside their infrastructure. Patrick made it very clear: if we do not solve the data foundation problem, we simply accelerate complexity and risk. One insight that resonated deeply was the idea that data engineering is entering the same transformation that software engineering experienced with generative AI. The real opportunity is not just automation, but abstraction — enabling smaller teams to solve historically impossible integration problems while creating governed, machine-readable metadata that AI systems can actually trust and consume responsibly. I was also struck by Patrick's perspective on talent. Rather than replacing expertise, AI elevates the importance of subject matter experts who understand the business context behind the data. The future belongs to professionals who can bridge operational understanding with technical fluency and collaborate effectively with AI-enabled systems. Most importantly, this conversation reinforced that becoming a Frontier Firm does not require ripping out every core system overnight. The no-regret move is to start solving tractable, high-value data problems now — especially those tied to governance, lineage, regulatory reporting, and customer intelligence. Organizations that modernize their deterministic data layer today will be the ones capable of building scalable, trustworthy AI tomorrow.   BEST MOMENTS “You can bolt all the AI you want on top of that. It will not make you a frontier firm. It will just make your regulatory problems arrive faster.” — Sabine VanderLinden “AI is coming to data engineering just like it came to software engineering.” — Patrick Van Deven “The board looks at AI at the end of the value chain of data. But how did that data come to be?” — Patrick Van Deven “There is no world where a company would run on one system.” — Patrick Van Deven “Treat the AI agent like an employee. Onboard it, brief it, give it a personality.” — Sabine VanderLinden “The dragon in the basement has finally reached the boardroom.” — Patrick Van Deven “No data lineage. No agent bosses. No governed transformation. No intelligence on tap.” — Sabine VanderLinden “This is a new era for subject matter experts.” — Patrick Van Deven   ABOUT THE GUEST Patrick Van Deven is the CEO of Vaultspeed and a veteran enterprise software leader with more than 35 years of experience in software engineering, predictive analytics, data infrastructure, and venture investing. Patrick began his career as a software engineer, building and selling his first commercial application at just 22 years old. He later spent 15 years at SAS Institute, where he helped build data and predictive analytics applications for enterprise environments. He then transitioned into venture capital as an Operating Partner and General Partner at Fortino Capital, investing in software and AI startups across Europe. In 2025, Patrick stepped back into an operational leadership role as CEO of Vaultspeed, driven by his belief that automating deterministic, governed data transformation is one of the most critical “no-regret moves” organizations can make in the age of AI. Today, Vaultspeed works with major global enterprises, including organizations operating across highly regulated industries such as insurance, banking, and financial services.   ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Mert and Illia autopsy a brutal weekend in crypto: Saylor's $3M test sale that taught him there's no sell button, the Zcash bug Claude found that could've minted unlimited counterfeit ZEC, formal verification as the bulwark against AI attackers, and whether NEAR's agentic commerce vision is real. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week we've got two heavy hitters: NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Helius founder Mert Mumtaz. We kick things off with the weekend market meltdown -- Saylor sold 32 BTC for the first time in four years, STRC is trading below par, and Mert argues the real damage is that Saylor sucks all the air out of the room for actual crypto innovation. Then we get into the biggest story of the week: a critical bug discovered in Zcash's Orchard ZK circuit using Claude Opus 4.8 that could have allowed infinite counterfeit minting inside the shielded pool. Mert walks us through the emergency soft fork, the Ironwood migration, and why formal verification is about to become table stakes. Illia makes the case that AI-powered attackers have a permanent asymmetric advantage and that we need real-time on-chain detection systems to survive. Tom coins the analogy of the episode: we're moving from building boats to building spaceships. We close with Illia's pitch for NEAR's agent commerce vision – $240M in single-day volume, private intents, and the claim that agent-to-agent trustless commerce is already live – while Mert remains a friendly skeptic. Let's get into it.Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly  ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guest ⭐️ Mert, Co-founder & CEO at Helius ⭐️ Illia Polosukhin, Co-founder of NEAR Protocol Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:17 Weekend Crypto Meltdown & Bitcoin Crash 02:52 Saylor, STRC & the DAT Death Spiral Fears 11:51 "No Sell Button" — Saylor's Lesson Learned 13:14 Zcash Bug: 50% Crash Explained 20:30 The Fix: Ironwood Pool & Formal Verification 23:11 AI vs Crypto Security: The Attacker Advantage 27:21 What Is Formal Verification? 30:07 Spaceship-Grade Smart Contract Security 31:36 OPSEC, Oracles & Anomaly Detection 36:08 Cypherpunk Dilemma: Stop the Hack or Not? 38:37 Will DeFi Survive? Long Math 42:49 NEAR's AI Agents & Intents Vision 48:43 Is Agentic Commerce Real? Mert's Skepticism Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to list on the electronic stock market the Nasdaq this Friday and when it does it's expected to be the largest Initial Public Offering or IPO in history. Its valuation is approaching three point one trillion New Zealand dollars (that's trillion with a T) and if that happens it would immediately rank among the world's most valuable listed companies. But it's not without controversy. Paul Brownsey is a General Partner at the Bridge West Venture Fund and Independent Chair of the Mint Asset Management Investment Committee, he chats to Jesse.

In episode 121 of Venture Everywhere, Scott Hartley, a General Partner at Everywhere Ventures, talks with Louise Fritjofsson, co-founder and CEO of Martie — a marketplace creating access through the world of excess by selling surplus and overstocked food and household goods from name brands at a discount. Lou shares how a leftover holiday cookie mix from an earlier startup exposed a broken industry: up to 40% of perfectly consumable products go to landfill because brands have no outlet for their overstock. She discusses Martie's vision to become the household name in liquidation — building a brand where quality, savings, and sustainability all come together.In this episode, you will hear:Sourcing surplus from brands locked out of traditional liquidation channels. Landing partnerships with large retailers to anchor the vendor marketplace. Deploying MATE to screen 6,000 SKUs weekly with a lean buying team. Prioritizing assortment depth and loyalty over membership tiers.Testing mystery boxes and new formats to diversify the customer base.Learn more about Louise Fritjofsson | MartieLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisefritjofsson Website: https://martie.com/ Learn more about Scott Harltey | Everywhere VCLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthartley Website: https://everywhere.vc/

Send us Fan MailI sat down with Victor Cardenas, Co-Founder and CEO of Slash, one of the fastest growing fintechs in America that went from $10M to $300M in annualized revenue in 24 months And just crossed a $1.4 billion valuation after a $100M Series C led by Ribbit Capital, Khosla Ventures and Goodwater Capital. The company powers over $30Bn in annualized payment volume across wires, ACH, stablecoin, and card for over 5,000 businesses. Victor is a Venezuelan immigrant, Stanford dropout, and Thiel Fellow. He started Slash at 19 serving sneaker resellers, lost 60% of his revenue almost overnight, and rebuilt the company into a rocketship by betting on vertical banking. Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today's global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~85,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Looking to escape the 9-to-5 grind and build true wealth? In this episode of the Jake & Gino Podcast, we sit down with Jens Nielsen, who immigrated from Denmark in 1996 and successfully transitioned from a 25+ year IT career to full-time real estate investing and high-performance coaching. Today, Jens is a direct owner or General Partner in over 2,000+ apartment units and 100,000+ square feet of industrial assets valued at over $250M. Discover how Jens started with a single $117,000 fourplex in Albuquerque, ran out of his own money, and used creative financing, joint ventures, and syndication to scale a massive commercial real estate portfolio. He also breaks down his recent pivot into industrial real estate, explaining the massive benefits of Triple Net (NNN) leases and small-bay flex spaces. As a Certified High Performance Coach, Jens also dives deep into the 5 pillars of success (Clarity, Energy, Courage, Productivity, and Influence) and shares how a near-fatal mountain bike crash completely shifted his perspective on taking immediate action in life. If you want to decouple your time from your income, master your entrepreneurial mindset, and learn how to navigate today's shifting real estate market, this episode is a must-watch!

Episode 430 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Phil Beauregard, Managing Partner of Impellent Ventures. I first met Phil back when Boston was going through another massive resurgence of growth following the financial crisis of 2008. It was a special time when local founders and investors banded together to help build and scale the Boston tech ecosystem. It was a movement that is reminiscent of what we are seeing today with the Mass AI Coalition. There was a major buzz in the air back then, and it worked, resulting in the launch of multiple successful companies, including two of Phil's own startups which were both acquired. There is a phrase that Phil commonly uses, which is “why join the Navy when you can be a pirate” and I think it speaks volumes to his mentality and how they deploy capital at Impellent Ventures. They don't just simply follow the herd, especially when it comes to finding elite entrepreneurs. They are entirely location-agnostic and welcome working with exceptional founders who are tackling massive, real-world problems in emerging ecosystems... not just out in Silicon Valley. Impellent Ventures is focused on making seed and pre-seed investments. The firm is led by Phil, David Brown (who previously appeared on Episode 190), and Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought of The Roots, who serves as a General Partner at the firm. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation around building startups outside of San Francisco, and why we are living through the "consumerization of the enterprise" era. * The correlation between smaller fund sizes and investor returns. * Phil's background growing up in New Bedford and studying business at The Wharton School at UPenn, plus how he first caught the entrepreneurial bug and met his co-founder, Matt Grace. * The inside story behind his two exits: Objective Logistics to Carbon Black and Rekindle to HubSpot. * His transition from operator to investor at Impellent Ventures, plus all the details on their unique investment criteria, portfolio company examples, and how Tariq Trotter joined the firm. * His role as an early advisor to multiple successful tech companies, including the critical advice that Toast luckily chose not to take. * How Phil is leveraging AI to build his own Relationship Intelligence System, helping him scale his ability to "pay it forward" to the ecosystem. * Plus, so much more!

Artificial intelligence is changing how knowledge work gets done, and AI agents may be the next major leap. In this episode of Technoventure, Peter High speaks with Arpan Shah, General Partner at Spark Capital, about how AI is reshaping research, investing, software development, and enterprise productivity. Arpan shares how he uses AI agents to accelerate diligence, synthesize information, and expand his own capacity as an investor, while also exploring the future of AI infrastructure, model competition, security, and stablecoins. Key topics include: How AI agents are transforming knowledge work Why AI demand may outpace compute supply for years The evolution of token economics and enterprise AI adoption Security challenges created by increasingly capable AI systems How stablecoins could reshape global financial infrastructure

In this Mission Matters episode, Adam Torres interviews Michael Reid, General Partner of Deep Future. Michael shares his journey from neuroscience research to venture capital, discusses how Deep Future identifies and invests in transformative deep-tech companies, and explains how he has built a global network that creates opportunities, meaningful connections, and positive impact for entrepreneurs, investors, and communities worldwide. Follow Adam on Instagram at ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/⁠⁠ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: ⁠⁠https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/⁠⁠ Visit our website: ⁠⁠https://missionmatters.com/⁠⁠ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Mission Matters episode, ⁠Adam Torres⁠ interviews ⁠Michael Reid⁠, General Partner of Deep Future. Michael shares his journey from neuroscience research to venture capital, discusses how Deep Future identifies and invests in transformative deep-tech companies, and explains how he has built a global network that creates opportunities, meaningful connections, and positive impact for entrepreneurs, investors, and communities worldwide. Follow Adam on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/⁠⁠⁠ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: ⁠⁠⁠https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/⁠⁠⁠ Visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠https://missionmatters.com/⁠⁠⁠ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Lubin makes the bull case for Ethereum amid a sea of bearishness. The panel dissects Saylor selling Bitcoin for the first time in four years, the meaning behind 9 senior EF departures, Justin Drake's Q-Day call (50% by 2032), Manuel Araoz declaring all of DeFi unsafe, the ThorChain hack fallout, the Zama/Overnight Finance USDC freeze saga, and the CFTC greenlighting the first US perpetual futures product. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week Joe Lubin is stepping in to make the bull case for ETH on what he admits is a tough day to be bullish. We open on Strategy's first Bitcoin sale in four years and whether the STRC preferred stock structure is "an algorithmic stablecoin with too many steps," as Tarun puts it. Joe pivots to pitching Ether DATs, then we get into the Ethereum Foundation's brain drain -- nine researchers gone, CROPS as the new mandate, and a mysterious new developer organization taking shape behind the scenes. The episode's meatiest block covers DeFi security: Justin Drake warns Q-Day is 50% likely by 2032, Manuel Araoz says all of DeFi is unsafe, ThorChain's been offline for two weeks post-hack, and the panel debates whether we're entering a rough 12-24 months where attackers outrun defenders. We close on Hyperliquid's all-time highs and the CFTC opening the door to US perps.  Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

In episode 120 of Venture Everywhere, Anna Barber, a General Partner at Everywhere Ventures, talks with Maria Azofra, co-founder and CEO of Sharpei — an AI-native operating system for embedded equipment financing that helps lenders automate and accelerate the loan origination process. Maria shares how building Yakk, a B2B equipment rental marketplace in Spain, exposed a frustrating industry-wide bottleneck: lenders taking 20 to 30 days to approve transactions, losing deals before they could ever close. Sharpei's vision is to become the origination infrastructure for every lender in the US — modernizing a $1.3 trillion industry that still runs on emails, PDFs, and phone calls.In this episode, you will hear:Iterating through multiple business models to find true market pull.Targeting pre-qualification as lending's most overlooked bottleneck.Automating credit file creation from days to hours with AI.Using lenders as the distribution channel to reach merchants at scale.Building leasing infrastructure that captures residual asset value.Learn more about Maria Azofra | SharpeiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariaazofra/enWebsite: https://www.gosharpei.com/Learn more about Anna Barber | Everywhere VCLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annawbarberWebsite: https://everywhere.vc/

In every tech supercycle, investors are good at identifying disruptive technologies, but bad at picking the winners. AI is no different, except for the pace and velocity of growth, investment, and hype. And this time the incumbents are leading the charge. This episode works through how to separate the hype from who actually captures the enterprise value, walking through four layers of the AI investment stack, and which of these layers will exist independently or get absorbed. Joined by Kai Wu of Sparkline Capital, Jerry Neumann, retired VC investor and writer, and David Haber of a16z, we synthesize views and research to explore this very complex topic.Guests:Kai Wu, Founder & CIO, Sparkline Capital Jerry Neumann, retired VC investor and writerDavid Haber, General Partner, a16z⁠Episode SourcesKey Points From This Episode:●[00:00:00]Kai Wu on the current stage of the AI infrastructure buildout and adoption cycle.●[00:04:13]Introduction to investing across the AI stack and the challenge of capturing value from technological revolutions.●[00:11:18]Historical technology cycles, hype cycles, and lessons from past paradigm shifts.●[00:15:57]The “historical autopsy” of technology booms: capital misallocation, demand assumptions, and timing risks.●[00:20:31]Comparing AI infrastructure spending with railroad and fiber-optic buildouts across history.●[00:22:44]The AI prisoner's dilemma and why competition drives aggressive capital expenditures.●[00:25:38]Jerry Neumann on value capture, competition, and why great technologies do not always produce great investments.●[00:27:51]The dot-com fiber buildout, overcapacity, and how later innovators benefited from subsidized infrastructure.●[00:33:48]Why AI may differ from previous cycles due to the dominance of well-capitalized incumbents.●[00:36:44]David Haber on compute demand, data center utilization, and the economics behind current AI investment.●[00:38:33]Vertical integration, competitive advantages, and how major technology companies are positioning for AI leadership.●[00:44:06]Whether application-layer companies can survive alongside powerful infrastructure and model providers.●[00:47:06]David Haber on enterprise AI applications, vertical software opportunities, and context-driven value creation.●[00:49:53]Revenue growth, valuation expectations, and the sustainability of AI business models.●[00:57:00]Open AI growth projections, demand assumptions, and the risks of extrapolating future adoption.●[01:00:05]Aaron's framework for analyzing the AI investment stack and its four primary layers.●[01:06:39]The shipping container analogy and where value ultimately accumulates in transformative technologies.●[01:12:30]Platform companies, hyper scaler investment strategies, and the defensive motivations behind AI spending.●[01:46:13]Final investment principles, frameworks, and key takeaways for evaluating opportunities across the AI ecosystem.

David George, General Partner at a16z, and David Clark, CIO at VenCap, discuss how AI is reshaping venture capital and the technology industry itself. They examine why today's AI companies are scaling faster than any previous generation of startups, and why the eventual outcomes may be significantly larger than most investors currently expect. The conversation covers frontier AI models, coding agents, open source competition, data center constraints, and who ultimately captures value in the AI ecosystem. They also discuss what these shifts mean for venture capital itself, including larger company outcomes, faster value creation, and the growing challenge of identifying durable winners in a market evolving at unprecedented speed.   Resources: Follow David George on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83 Follow David Clark on X: https://x.com/daveclark85 Follow VenCap on X: https://www.vencap.com   Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ethereum's midlife crisis hits the podcast as ex-Bankless and ConsenSys insiders unpack ETH's talent exodus, identity spiral, "Microsoft" future, EF shake-ups, and the Solana contender play-all with spicy takes on airdrops, real dev stats, and blockchain adoption drama. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, it's an Ethereum apostasy spectacular: we're joined by David Hoffman and Max Resnick, who hit the confessional booth to explain why they've left the church of Ethereum.  We kick off with David's viral "ETH is money" post-mortem: why he finally sold, and whether ETH can escape its spot on the yield farm for good. Max jumps in with an OG technologist's view on EF's internal struggles, talent flight, and the move-slow, break-nothing philosophy now gripping Ethereum's core. Is the EF just ossifying—or is it devolving into the "Microsoft of crypto"? From there, the hosts dissect the "second foundation" meme, why Twitter doomers might not matter for the ETH price, and whether Solana has stolen the next generation of devs. Max throws down on Solana's quantum future while the group takes barstool shots at metrics, narratives, and the never-ending "Ethereum is for boomers" debate. Whether you're a ride-or-die Etherean or just here for the schadenfreude, let's get into it. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

Tom Shapiro is the President and Founder of GTIS. In addition, Mr. Shapiro is the Chief Investment Officer responsible for overseeing all investment activity and strategy of the firm. Mr. Shapiro is also Chairman of the General Partner's Investment Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors of Brazil Hospitality Group, one of the largest owners and managers of hotels in Brazil.   Mr. Shapiro's experience in the real estate industry began in 1988. Prior to starting GTIS, Mr. Shapiro was a Senior Managing Director at Tishman Speyer and a member of the firm's Investment and Management Committees. Most recently, Mr. Shapiro was responsible for Tishman Speyer's global equity capital markets and dispositions groups. Previously, Mr. Shapiro ran GTS Properties, an acquisitions joint venture between Tishman Speyer and Goldman Sachs.   Mr. Shapiro serves on the Undergraduate Executive Board and the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Review's Private Sector Advisory Board for The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania from which Mr. Shapiro received a B.S. and graduated magna cum laude.

Christina Quinn, General Partner at SSC Venture Partners, shares practical lessons from investing in first-time founders and supporting Boston College entrepreneurs through venture funding and accelerator programs. She explains how SSC Venture Partners combines community, mentorship, and early-stage capital to help founders navigate the difficult early years of company building. Christina also discusses the qualities she consistently looks for in entrepreneurs, including adaptability, resilience, initiative, and self-awareness. In this episode, you'll learn: [01:59] Christina Quinn's unconventional path into venture capital [05:36] How SSC Venture Partners supports Boston College founders [10:30] Why SSC invests at the true pre-seed stage [15:52] The founder traits Christina values most [18:14] How to tell real founder obsession from startup hype [21:01] The GiveCard story and mission-driven entrepreneurship [26:07] Common reasons founders get rejected [30:06] Advice for founders before pitching investors The nonprofit organization Christina is passionate about: Artists for Humanity About Christina Quinn Christina Quinn is a General Partner at SSC Venture Partners, where she focuses on backing early-stage founders connected to the Boston College ecosystem. Before entering venture capital, Christina built a career in marketing, communications, and private equity, developing expertise in storytelling, fundraising, and brand strategy. She previously worked with emerging venture managers through Coolwater Capital and has become known for her founder-first approach to investing, particularly with first-time entrepreneurs building mission-driven businesses. About SSC Venture Partners SSC Venture Partners is an affinity-based venture capital firm and startup accelerator focused on founders connected to the Boston College ecosystem. Founded originally as a nonprofit accelerator program, SSC has evolved into an early-stage venture platform supporting entrepreneurs through mentorship, community, and pre-seed capital. The firm invests across sectors and emphasizes founder development, resilience, and long-term company building. In addition to its venture fund, SSC operates accelerator programs designed to help first-time founders navigate product development, customer discovery, fundraising, and team building. Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode.

Anshu Jain, co-founder of Outmarket.ai chats with Scott Hartley, GP of Everywhere Ventures.In episode 119 of Venture Everywhere, Scott Hartley, co-founder and General Partner at Everywhere Ventures, talks with Anshu Jain, co-founder and CTO of Outmarket AI — an AI-native platform that helps insurance brokerages grow revenue, reduce errors, and close more policies. Anshu shares how years at IBM Research, Meta, and Ethos Life revealed that insurance agents were drowning in manual data entry, buried exclusions, and uncompared quotes — with zero tools to help them. Outmarket's vision is to become the AI infrastructure layer for insurance distribution, modernizing a chronically underinsured market by giving every agent the intelligence of a team behind them.In this episode, you will hear:Closing America's chronic underinsurance gap with smarter agent toolsCatching policy exclusions and coverage gaps before claims surfaceEvolving pricing from seat-based to usage-based to revenue-shareTurning policy data and agent workflows into proprietary AI advantageLearn more about Anshu Jain | Outmarket AILinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anshujainWebsite: https://outmarket.ai/Learn more about Scott Hartley | Everywhere VCLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthartleyWebsite: https://everywhere.vc/

Send us Fan MailI sat down with Max Levchin, Co-Founder and CEO of Affirm and one of the living legends of tech and fintech. He co-founded PayPal with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, invented anti-fraud technology that's still foundational today, and has spent the last 14 years building Affirm into one of the largest publicly traded fintechs in the world with a mission to replace credit cards with transparent lending. He is one of the most thoughtful and brilliant founders I've spoken with. Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today's global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~85,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

TX Zhuo is General Partner at Fika Ventures, an early-stage venture firm with over $500 million in AUM backing B2B companies across vertical AI, fintech, commerce enablement, and healthcare in North America. Before becoming a VC, TX bootstrapped a company to a successful exit without raising venture capital — an experience that permanently shaped how he evaluates founders and business models today.In this episode, TX breaks down why he believes infrastructure will win this fintech cycle over consumer apps, what separates a venture-scale AI company from an AI feature, and why the best vertical AI companies are ones where ripping out the platform would feel like open heart surgery. He also shares the three mistakes from the last fintech boom that investors and founders still haven't fully absorbed, and what the financial system looks like in ten years when AI agents, real-time settlement, and hyper-personalized products converge.If you're a founder building in fintech or vertical AI, or an investor trying to separate durable businesses from the noise, this one is worth your full attention.⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.comWe talk about -Why infrastructure will win the current fintech cycle over consumer-facing appsWhat separates a venture-scale AI company from an AI featureThe three biggest mistakes from the last fintech boom that investors and founders still haven't fully internalizedHow Fika identifies boring industries ready for a massive software companyWhat the financial system looks like in ten years as AI agents, real-time settlement, and hyper-personalized products convergeLinks:Fika Ventures - https://www.fika.vc/Connect with TX Zhuo - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tianxiangzhuo/Connect with Prashant: https://linkedin.com/in/choubeysahabSubscribe to VC10X newsletter - ⁠https://vc10x.beehiiv.com⁠Subscribe on YouTube - ⁠https://youtube.com/@VC10X ⁠Subscribe on Apple Podcasts - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc10x-investing-venture-capital-asset-management-private/id1632806986⁠Subscribe on Spotify - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7F7KEhXNhTx1bKTBFgzv3k?si=WgQ4ozMiQJ-6nowj6wBgqQ⁠VC10X website - ⁠https://vc10x.comTimestamps:(00:00) - Preview(00:30) - Introduction to the Guest and Episode Topics(02:13) - Tx's Journey: From a Bootstrapped Founder to a VC(03:51) - The Value of Having a VC on Your Side(05:10) - The Importance of "Earned Insights" in Founders(06:17) - Investing in "Boring" Industries with Low Software Penetration(07:22) - What Makes an AI Product a Venture-Scale Business(08:52) - When Embedded FinTech Becomes a Real Business Model(10:01) - The Upsides and Risks of AI in FinTech(12:35) - Why Infrastructure Will Win This FinTech Cycle(14:00) - Key Mistakes from the Last FinTech Boom(16:09) - Which FinTech Categories Will Command Premium Valuations(18:42) - Building Defensibility in Vertical AI Companies(20:30) - Signs That a "Boring" Industry Is Ready for Disruption(22:16) - Sources of Differentiation When AI Commoditizes Intelligence(24:36) - The Future of Finance: AI, Blockchain, and Payments Converge(27:46) - The Secret to Fika Ventures' Success and Fundraising(30:01) - Choosing Between a Great Founder and a Great Market(30:21) - What Tx Would Do Differently if Starting Fika Today(31:53) - Rapid Fire Round Begins(33:33) - Conclusion#VC10X #VentureCapital #Fintech #VerticalAI #FikaVentures #EarlyStageVC #B2BStartups #AIStartups #StartupPodcast #FounderAdvice

Rebecca from Jito Labs joins Haseeb, Tom, and Tarun for a regulation deep-dive covering the CLARITY Act's stablecoin yield compromise and presidential ethics sticking points, CME and ICE's lobbying war against Hyperliquid's RWA perps, the prediction market legal battle heading to the Supreme Court, and whether the SEC's tokenized securities innovation exemption will actually matter. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, joining us is Rebecca Rettig, Chief Legal Officer at Jito Labs, who's here to help the crew make sense of the absolute regulatory tornado tearing through the industry. First up: the CLARITY Act. It just got out of Senate Banking Committee, but the road to passage is anything but smooth. The stablecoin yield fight with banks ended in a "do stuff yield" compromise, but presidential ethics provisions remain the last polarizing hurdle. Rebecca breaks down what actually changes for token founders if it passes — spoiler: not much immediately, since rulemaking alone could take years. Then: CME and ICE have declared war on Hyperliquid, lobbying the Hill to force CFTC registration on the decentralized perps giant. The crew debates who actually wins US regulated perps, whether Hyperliquid's pre-IPO markets represent a genuine threat to investment banking, and Rebecca introduces "on-chain finance" — a distinction the panel immediately roasts her for. Finally: prediction markets are in a legal bloodbath across state courts with a Supreme Court showdown likely by 2027, and the SEC's tokenized securities innovation exemption has Twitter buzzing but Rebecca skeptical. Let's get into it. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

The biggest challenge in ag tech isn't innovation — it's making tools that actually work on the farm. Matthew Hoffman, General Partner and Head of Farms at Reservoir, shares how the company is helping ag tech startups develop tools that solve real farming challenges. By partnering directly with specialty crop producers, including winegrape growers, Reservoir gives companies access to farms, equipment, and real-world feedback to refine technologies before they reach the market. Matthew highlights emerging innovations in autonomous equipment, robotics, machine vision, and farm management technology, and explains why grower involvement is essential to creating solutions that fit the realities of vineyard operations.  Resources:   6/10/2026 REGISTER: Technology Field Day Tailgate 129: The Efficient Vineyard Project 233: The Gap Between Space and Farm: Ground Truthing Satellite Data Models 249: Making it Easier to Use Satellite Data in Agriculture Matthew Hoffman - LinkedIn Reservoir Reservoir - LinkedIn  Support the Podcast:  Make a Donation  Vineyard Team Programs:  Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing 

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Jason Shuman, General Partner at Primary Ventures, New York's largest dedicated seed fund. With a journey that spans from raising money for a nonprofit at eight years old to driving Uber at night while sourcing deals like Latch, Jason's experience offers valuable insights for founders, especially those navigating the challenges of building companies in the AI era.Jason shares his entrepreneurial beginnings, the painful lessons from shutting down his DTC footwear brand Category5, and how that shaped his investing philosophy at Primary. He also discusses why software-only moats are dead, how Primary's 60-person impact team delivers customers (not just capital), and the firm's unique incubation model that backs founders only after the wedge is validated. From vertical AI to hardware-activated agent networks, Jason dives into the key principles he follows in his investing and why he still believes backing great founders beats incubating anything.Whether you're interested in AI, venture capital, or building deep-tech companies, Jason's story provides inspiration and practical wisdom.From Sick Kid to Serial Founder: Jason's Origin Story (01:53)* Growing up outside Boston with a family of entrepreneurs and a mother who was a therapist* Being diagnosed with primary immune deficiency as a child and becoming a spokesperson for the Jeffrey Modell Foundation at age eight* Why a life lived with urgency became the defining trait of his careerBuilding and Winding Down Category5 (05:33)* Launching a direct-to-consumer boat shoe brand while still in college - before Shopify was good and when Facebook ads were cheap* The hard realization that a brand without a visual cue has a ceiling, and why he saw the Allbirds story coming* Hitting his quarter-life crisis at 23, burning out, and what he learned from the processBreaking Into Venture: Sourcing Deals While Driving Uber (11:38)* How Jason made money driving Uber nights while sourcing deals during the day in 2014* Building a bridge between Boston founders and New York VCs - one warm intro at a time* The story of Latch: why a B2B mortise lock for apartment buildings, with near-perfect logo retention and CapEx billing, was the first deal he ever sourcedWorking with Mark Gerson and the Family Office Years (16:17)* Meeting Mark Gerson at a dinner, not knowing who he was, and getting a cold call months later* The lessons in trust, urgency, and delegation he learned running the family office* Backing AI sales enablement, AI accounting, and robotics in 2015 - and why being too early is almost always better than being too lateJoining Primary: The Case for Concentrated Seed (21:14)* Why Jason chose a principal role at a six-person, $190M AUM Primary over a partner title elsewhere* What he saw in founders Ben and Brad that others were missing - the depth of diligence, the buttoned-up fundraising, the point of view* How Primary has scaled from $190M to $1.6B AUM while staying obsessively focused on seedPrimary's Differentiated Model: Impact, Incubation, and the 60-Person Team (25:56)* The three things companies need most - customers, people, and capital - and how the Impact team is built around them* How a VC firm's email address can deliver a 25X higher outbound conversion rate than a startup's own SDRs* The “glass ball” monthly review process: triaging the highest-priority risks across the portfolio before anything breaksWhy Platform Is Broken - and What Primary Does Instead (31:36)* Why most VC platform teams are set up to fail: too few people, too many companies, treated as second-class* Primary's Impact team is run by former C-suite executives from multi-hundred-million-dollar ARR companies* The shift to AI-native operating inside the platform team - and what that means for portfolio companiesVertical AI, Hardware Agents, and Why Software Moats Are Dead (42:09)* Why Jason is spending more time on physical-world businesses than pure software right now* The wedge vs. system of record debate: why jaw-dropping UX and fast customer acquisition beat “10X better” enterprise replacements every time* Hardware-activated agent networks: how cheap cameras, sensors, and downstream automation are eating vertical workflows - and why Flock Safety is the modelWhat Jason Looks for in Founders Today (50:07)* The qualities that define the founders Jason is most excited to back: urgency, learning velocity, customer obsession, and the ability to sell product and equity* Why he would always rather back a great founder than incubate a company himself* Where incubation and inbound sourcing sit in his priorities heading into the new fundAbout Jason ShumanJason Shuman is a General Partner at Primary Ventures, New York's largest dedicated seed fund with over $1.6 billion in AUM. A former founder himself, Jason built Category5, a direct-to-consumer footwear brand, before transitioning to venture capital. At Primary, he leads investments in vertical AI, hardware-enabled systems, and incubation, and has been part of building one of the most differentiated seed platforms in the industry. His portfolio includes companies like Latch, Dandy, and several active incubations. He is known for his operator-first investment approach, his conviction in hardware-activated agent networks, and his belief that software-only moats are no longer enough.Connect with Jason Shuman on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jasonshumanVisit Primary Ventures website: https://www.primary.vc/Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Mickael Roger, co-founder and CEO of PropHero chats with Jenny Fielding, General Partner of Everywhere Ventures.In episode 118 of Venture Everywhere, Jenny Fielding, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Everywhere Ventures, talks with Mickael Roger, co-founder and co-CEO of PropHero, a data-driven real estate investment platform that helps everyday investors identify, buy, and manage high-return properties globally. Mickael shares how a painful personal experience losing money on an investment inspired him to build a company that takes the guesswork out of real estate. He discusses how PropHero uses machine learning across 25 years of data and hundreds of variables to consistently deliver 16% average annual returns across 4,000+ properties, outperforming every major index, by pairing machine learning with the local insight that no dataset can fully replace.In this episode, you will hear:Predicting property performance with 25 years of machine learning data.Managing the full investment lifecycle through a single digital platform.Deploying AI for 24/7 support while keeping humans in high-stakes decisions.Launching PropHero Academy to deepen client investment knowledge.Building a lifetime wealth partnership over a transactional real estate model.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Learn more about Mickael Roger | PropHeroLinkedIn: https://es.linkedin.com/in/mickaelyroger Website: https://www.prophero.com Learn more about Jenny Fielding | Everywhere VCLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyfielding Website: https://everywhere.vc/

Passive investing is not always east. It's harder, more time consuming, and riskier than most people think. It takes evaluating dozens, even hundreds of General Partners and deals to learn the difference between a good and a bad opportunity. There is so much to learn, that often more time is required of Limited Partners than they have to spend. Unfortunately, this elevates the risk of making private Real Estate investments. Alexsey Chernobelskiy is Founder and CEO of GP/LP match, a website where GPs submit investment opportunities and LPs receive deals matching their criteria directly via email within minutes. 

Garry Tan is the president and CEO of Y Combinator, the startup accelerator behind companies like Airbnb, Reddit, Coinbase, and DoorDash. He previously co-founded the financial technology company Posterous, which was acquired by Twitter in 2012, and later founded the venture capital firm Initialized Capital alongside Alexis Ohanian. Before entering venture capital, Tan worked as an engineer at Palantir Technologies, where he helped develop early infrastructure and design systems. Now, he continues to make investment and product decisions as a General Partner, having read more than 6,000 YC applications, while overseeing programs for sourcing, advising, and scaling early-stage startups. ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: AG1 https://DrinkAG1.com/tetra ------ LMNT Electrolytes https://DrinkLMNT.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Squarespace https://Squarespace.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Lectio 365 https://Lectio365.com ------ Sign up to receive Tetragrammaton Transmissions https://www.tetragrammaton.com/join-newsletter

Noah Zingler-Sternig, Founder and General Partner at 5c(c) Capital, joins Double Take to discuss how prediction markets are moving into institutional toolkits — delivering real-time signals, consensus forecasts and more direct ways to hedge event-driven risk.

Send us Fan MailI sat down with Rob Heyvaert, Founder and Managing Partner of Motive Partners, a fintech-focused private equity firm with over $6Bn in AUM, 80 portfolio companies representing over $15 trillion of assets in the wealth management space. Rob is a serial entrepreneur who started his first company at 24, sold it to IBM, and later founded Capco and sold to FIS to hundreds of millions of dollars, before launching Motive in 2016. He is a true fintech builder and it was inspiring to learn from him. We recorded this episode live at Motive's NYC office as part of New York Fintech week.Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today's global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~85,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

In this episode, we speak with Devon Kirk, General Partner at Portage Capital Solutions, the flagship growth strategy within Portage, focused on providing flexible capital solutions to later-stage fintech and financial services companies. Portage is a global investment platform with $6.4 billion in assets under management and more than 25 investment professionals across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. The firm has invested in over 100 companies since inception and invests across stages through Portage Ventures and Portage Capital Solutions. Portage is part of Sagard, a global multi-strategy alternative asset manager with over $46 billion in assets under management. Devon joined the firm in 2022 and co-leads growth equity, structured equity, and special situations investments across financial technology and financial services companies globally, and helps drive the fund's overall strategy. She is based in Toronto. Previously, Devon spent over a decade at CPP Investments, and earlier in her career worked at BMO Harris Nesbitt and Linklaters. Portage Capital Solutions was recognized as a Top Growth Equity Firm of 2025 by GrowthCap. I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

In this episode of Retail War Games, I'm joined by Wayne Wu, General Partner at VMG Partners, for a deep dive into the 20-year evolution of the consumer brand ecosystem. Wayne shares his incredible personal journey—from being the son of an immigrant engineer in Houston to leading one of the most influential investment firms in retail—and explains why "hard work enables you to make your own luck". We discuss the true meaning behind VMG (Velocity Made Good) and how it serves as a nautical metaphor for navigating the "choppy seas" of brand building. Wayne pulls back the curtain on what VMG looks for in a portfolio brand, the shift from digitally native to pragmatic omni-channel strategies, and why the ultimate competitive advantage for any founder is the ability to evolve.

J Scott interviews Anna Kelley in this Next Level CRE Takeover, who breaks down why multifamily has been hit by one of its worst downturns in history, driven by rising interest rates, higher treasury yields, and surging operating costs. She explains that cap rate expansion alone has pushed property values down by 30–40%, while inflation has simultaneously increased expenses such as insurance and taxes, creating a “double squeeze” on investors. They also dive into the broader economic picture, covering inflation risks, tariffs, global conflict, and the growing impact of liquidity constraints on real estate. Anna highlights why debt structure has become the biggest risk factor for investors and warns that a prolonged period of stagflation or recession could reshape the market. Despite the challenges, she emphasizes that disciplined underwriting, long-term debt, and strategic positioning in hard assets can create major opportunities for investors who are prepared. Anna Kelly Current role: President - Greater Purpose Capital LLC Based in: Palmyra, Pennsylvania Where to find them: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-kelley-reimom/ https://www.facebook.com/annakelleyreimom/ J Scott Current role: General Partner of Bar Down Investments LLC, Partner / Co-Founder of ScottBuilt Based in: Sarasota, Florida Where to find them: https://linktr.ee/jscottinvestor https://www.linkedin.com/in/jscottinvestor/ Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit https://m1.com/ for more info.  Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From AI agents as economic actors to quantum threats and prediction market regulation, Ali Yahya of a16z lays out the investment thesis behind a16z crypto's fifth fund. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsor! Coinbase One 20% off first year of annual plan + $50 Bitcoin bonus. Offer valid until May 31. coinbase.com/unchained ======================================================== a16z crypto just closed its fifth crypto fund at $2.2 billion — smaller than its previous fund, but the firm says that's deliberate.  General Partner Ali Yahya argues we are entering a different phase of crypto's development: one where infrastructure is ready, regulatory clarity is arriving, and the competition for real users has begun in earnest.  Two themes sit at the center of a16z's thesis — the collision of crypto and FinTech, and the emergence of AI agents as economic actors. But Yahya's most striking claim may be about blockchains themselves: that performance is no longer a moat, privacy is. And that the chains which get privacy right will accrue stronger network effects than anything the industry has built before.  What does a world of privacy-dominant blockchains do to DeFi composability, to security, to the ability to track hackers? And where does the quantum threat actually stand? Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Laura Shin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host / Unchained Guests: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ali Yahya, General Partner, a16z crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Brisse won back-to-back X Games gold medals as one of the most dangerous urban snowboarders on the planet—jumping off parking garages, rooftops, and rails for a living. But while he was at the peak of his career, he was watching his heroes lose their homes, their wives, and their minds. So he did something different. He started investing. In this episode, Dan breaks down how he went from living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to co-founding Granite Towers—a real estate company that manages nearly $500M across 3,300+ apartment units. We get into how he protects downside in every deal, why multifamily real estate quietly compounds wealth, and what his exact investing criteria looks like today. We also get into hiring on core values, why urgency is a red flag in any investment, and the one piece of advice he's giving his 13-year-old son about building wealth.   Key Takeaways with Dan Brisse (00:00) Intro (02:25) From Gold Medals to $500M AUM (02:41) The Snowboard Lesson That Saves Him Millions (03:40) His Mental Checklist Before a Crazy Jump (06:10) How Risk in Sports Translates to Real Estate (9:15) Why Most Pro Athletes Go Broke (14:19) Why Losing Is the Best Motivator (16:51) The Passive Income Mindset Shift (20:10) From Duplex to Real Estate Empire (24:39) Lessons in Real Estate Investing (35:56) Understanding Cap Rates & NOI (41:43) Criteria for Evaluating Real Estate Deals (49:40) Analyzing Real Estate Submarkets (53:45) What to Look for in a General Partner (58:43) How to Attract A-Players (01:04:47) Business With a Purpose (01:07:12) The #1 Habit Every Pro Athlete Needs (1:08:26) Advice to New Entrepreneurs (1:09:32) Would He Do It All Over Again?   Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5E1FQNZDPWM     Let's Connect: Website | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

Austin Hair is a real estate investor specializing in healthcare site selection, helping brands out-position competitors and scale fast through strategic location decisions. A former professional wakeboarder and American Ninja Warrior finalist, he brings a high-performance mindset and calculated risk-taking to real estate. After a major setback in 2013, Austin rebuilt and now leads as a General Partner of an innovative real estate fund integrating blockchain technology. Featured on NBC and CBS Sports, he also hosts the Helping Healthcare Scale podcast and speaks at major industry events, including the Association of Dental Support Organizations.  Here's some of the topics we covered: From house hacking to cash-flowing short-term rentals What "De Novo" really means and why it's a game changer The medical retail playbook for urgent care and vets The hidden costs that kill deals in healthcare real estate Inside the art and science of site selection Why short-term rentals can outperform traditional investing How to turn a rental into a high-demand profit machine The overlooked step to legally host events on your property    To find out more about partnering or investing in a multifamily deal: Text Partner to 72345 or email Partner@RodKhleif.com    For more about Rod and his real estate investing journey go to www.rodkhleif.com   Please Review and Subscribe  

Is the era of protocol bailouts upon us? The Chopping Block crew and MegaETH's Shuyao Kong debate Defi United's community-funded rescue, the KPI vesting experiment shaking up token launches, whether DeFi yields truly underprice risk, and the first major PolyMarket insider trading bust—all delivered with the usual insider banter you won't hear anywhere else. Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, the squad is joined by MegaETH co-founder Shuyao Kong, fresh off their headline-making KPI-gated token launch. First, we dive into the whirlwind that is Defi United: a who's-who of Ethereum OGs and protocols pledging hundreds of millions to fill bailout holes from the massive KelpDAO hack—voluntarily. Are we witnessing a new age of protocol do-gooder vibes or just kicking the moral hazard can down the road?  Then, we tear into the “are DeFi yields way too low” debate, prodded by Tom Dunleavy's viral thread—should degens really be earning more for taking protocol risk, or are the markets just as weird as they seem? Shuyao gives us an under-the-hood look at MegaETH's radical KPI vesting mechanics, why they made the token vesting play risky pre-TGE, and whether dynamic tokenomics could be the industry's way forward (with plenty of banter about airdrop farming and governance theater along the way).  Finally, we spin through the saga of PolyMarket's big DOJ insider trading bust: is “insider info” a feature or a bug in prediction markets? All that, history lessons, cynicism, and more—let's get into it. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights