Podcasts about VC

The Agents #007: Our AI Agent Negotiated a Vendor Renewal, Became a CFO and a Better SDR .. But Does He Have Too Many Guardrails? Episode 7 of The Agents, SaaStr's weekly show on the trials and tribulations of running a company with 21 AI agents, 3 humans, and a dog. This week Jason and Amelia debrief life after SaaStr AI Annual and discover that the agents didn't slow down just because the event ended. 10K is already planning SaaStr 2027, negotiating vendor renewals on his own terms, and somehow became a CFO while nobody was looking. Meanwhile, a guardrail problem quietly broke one of SaaStr's most-used apps for weeks, and the website agent is now outperforming every AISDR in the stack. This week: 14 guardrails pushed the VC pitch deck analyzer into rejecting everything, and the lesson is that over-guardrailing is just as dangerous as under-guardrailing. 10K got hooked up to Bill.com and found 8 years of collections automation that nobody had turned on. The AI VP of Marketing is now also running finance because convergence is real and agents do not care about org charts. And 10K sent a vendor a list of API demands before agreeing to renew, which the vendor did not love. Also: why losing your FDE might make you churn the vendor entirely, why Annie the website agent is writing better outbound than the actual outbound tools, and how 442,000 chats turned into 614 meetings with zero humans in the loop.

Jared Goralnick joins the GrowthReady Podcast with a deceptively simple definition of what it means to be growth ready: manage your energy and get clear on where you're going.Jared Goralnick has spent 15 years building products that help organizations find, develop, and grow talent. He was Head of Product at LinkedIn Recruiter and VP of Product at Upwork, Go1, and Articulate, and previously founded SET Consulting and VC-backed AwayFind. He now leads Your360 AI, using voice AI to make coaching-grade, interview-style 360 feedback accessible beyond the executive level.The conversation goes deep into something most leaders avoid until it's too late, feedback, not the vague “be more strategic” kind, but the kind that actually creates awareness, patterns, and a path forward.Jared shares why the most dangerous feedback problem isn't harsh criticism, it's being in the dark. And he breaks down what it takes to create the “door” for feedback to happen, how to make it useful, and why strengths deserve just as much attention as growth areas.If you're a leader, founder, or high performer who cares about sustainable growth, this episode will help you:Build a practical definition of growth readiness: energy + clarityUnderstand why effective doesn't mean being rightCreate a healthier relationship with feedback (giving and receiving)Turn vague feedback into something specific, usable, and actionableUse technology to support better leadership, without losing the human partConnect with JaredWebsite:  https://your360.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goralnick/ Send us Fan MailSupport the showConnect with Steve MellorStay connected and keep growing with Steve:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachstevemellorBook Steve to speak at your next event → www.stevemellorspeaks.comSupport the GrowthReady Podcast by leaving a 5-star rating → Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growthready-podcast/id1406082163Connect with GrowthReadyJoin the community and keep your growth journey going:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearegrowthready/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/growthreadypodcast/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/growthreadywithcoachstevemellorOfficial Website - https://growthready.com/----This podcast was produced on Riverside and released via ...

In this episode, we sit down with Mark Cuban to uncover the principles behind his success in business. From whether entrepreneurs should drop out of school to the toughest challenges he faced while building his companies, Mark shares the lessons that shaped his career. He explains why curiosity is a competitive advantage, how ego can hold people back, and what separates successful entrepreneurs from everyone else. If you're looking to build a business, advance your career, or think differently about success, this episode is for you.This episode is supported by Sydecar, HEX, Wispr Flow, Granola, Beehiiv, KalshiSydecar: http://Sydecar.io/partner/trailblazersBeehiive: https://www.beehiiv.com (use code “trailblazers30” for 30% OFF)Beehiiv: Use code TRAILBLAZERS30 for 30% off your first 3 months at https://www.beehiiv.com/splash?utm_campaign=trailblazers-2026-Partnership&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=trailblazers&utm_term=podcast-1&stripe_campaign_code=TRAILBLAZERS30*Beehiiv has a major announcement coming July 16 - can't say more, but you won't want to miss it. RSVP here: https://www.beehiiv.com/summer-release-2026Granola: http://granola.ai/trailblazers*Granola is the official notetaker of Trailblazers. Checkout the episode shownotes here: https://notes.granola.ai/t/8dccb81c-ac02-48e1-afb3-b6a7d8ff9160-00b881l8Kalshi: http://Kalshi.com/r/trailblazersWispr Flow: https://ref.wisprflow.ai/trailblazersHEX: http://hex.ai/trailblazers

In episode 122 of Venture Everywhere, Jenny Fielding, Managing Partner at Everywhere Ventures, sits down with Marty Ringlein, co-founder and CEO of Agree, for a founder's-eye recap of New York Tech Week 2026. Marty breaks down his week — from demoing Agree at Intercom to a poker night at Bessemer — and what the energy on the ground said about where New York's tech scene is heading. Together they dig into what had every founder and VC buzzing — agents, commoditization, and whether New York is finally having its moment as the center of the tech universe.In this episode, you will hear:New York Tech Week reaching its inflection point.The best and worst events of the week as a founder on the ground.Agents and commoditization turning once-defensible products into overnight features.Regulated industries as the last viable moat against AI encroachment.The question every founder is now asking: what won't Claude or ChatGPT build?Learn more about Marty Ringlein | AgreeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martymadrid Website: https://agree.com Learn more about Jenny Fielding | Everywhere VCLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyfielding Website: https://everywhere.vc/

Watch on YouTube. Peter Rojas has built new things at almost every scale there is, and he planted the seed for this show years ago in an email to Michael. In this episode, Peter and Michael discuss: How building new products inside a big company differs from a startup, and why you have to invest ahead of traction Why corporate product development is a harder numbers game than a venture portfolio AI, vibe coding, and the Mozilla Pioneers program for widening the top of the funnel Why incumbents keep losing the next technology wave Why coordination breaks down at scale, and the clarity that fixes it About Peter: Peter Rojas co-founded Gizmodo and Engadget, two publications that changed how people understand technology. He has been an operator and investor across AOL, Meta, and BetaWorks, where he was a founder and VC. Today he leads new product development at Mozilla and runs Mozilla Pioneers. 00:00 Cold open 01:46 The email that started the show 03:33 Startup vs building inside a company 06:57 The corporate product numbers game 11:03 Vibe coding and Mozilla Pioneers 15:13 When a trusted brand is the advantage 18:04 Why incumbents lose the next wave 21:58 Meta's metaverse bet vs AI 25:44 If I were running Meta 29:02 Was the VR bet a failure 30:27 Why coordination breaks at scale 35:07 Fear, focus, and the CEO filter 38:56 How Mozilla runs on KPIs 40:30 The founder who hid his idea 46:33 Where to find Peter Resources mentioned: Mozilla Pioneers: https://newproducts.mozilla.org/mozilla-pioneers/ WordPress: https://wordpress.org Lovable: https://lovable.dev Replit: https://replit.com Claude Code: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code Rec Room: https://recroom.com Connect with Peter: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterrojas/ Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514 Building Helm: https://helmapp.ai Subscribe to Between Two COOs: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-coos/id1635533318 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2NjVgGm6mqLPEbJUvHnHEH Newsletter: https://betweentwocoos.com Watch on YouTube.

The CEO of a $4 billion compliance company on how her biggest competitor was faking it, and what that means for AI startup culture.Christina Cacioppo, co-founder and CEO of Vanta, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the scandal that shook the compliance world. Her $4 billion competitor Delve was caught pre-filling compliance reports without doing the actual security work — and customers had no idea. Christina explains how Vanta figured it out, why fake compliance is a better product experience than real compliance, and what happened to Delve's customers after the story broke.The conversation also covers the AI hype cycle and whether it is crypto 2.0, why AI is both the biggest threat and biggest tailwind for security companies, the broken VC equity social contract, and what it really takes to build a $4 billion company without losing sight of the fundamentals.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

 EPISODE DESCRIPTION In this episode, I sit down with Prakash Kamraj, co-founder of DeCharge Network, to explore one of the most overlooked intersections of Web3 and the physical world: EV charging infrastructure. Prakash walks me through how DeCharge is building an Airbnb-style model for EV chargers, where anyone , from a business owner to a crypto community member , can host a charging station and earn passive income from it. We dig into why the B2B market is the real engine of EV growth, how DeCharge keeps the user experience dead simple with a scan-and-pay web app, and why autonomous charging powered by crypto payment rails could be the next massive wave. We also get into the surprising EV adoption stories across India, China, Southeast Asia, Ethiopia, and beyond. Whether you're an EV owner frustrated by fragmented charging apps, a crypto builder looking for real-world use cases, or an investor trying to spot where energy infrastructure is heading, this conversation is packed with sharp thinking and hard-won lessons from the ground up. DISCLAIMERNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT DeCharge Website: https://www.decharge.ioScout App: https://scout.decharge.ioTwitter/X:https://x.com/DeChargeTelegram: https://t.me/dechargecommunityWeb3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:01] Sam introduces Prakash Kamraj and DeCharge Network, framing it as an Airbnb for EV chargers• [01:09] Prakash shares his background , from medical field to engineering, health tech startups, and catching the crypto bug in 2017• [03:36] How deep involvement in the early Solana ecosystem in India shaped Prakash's builder mindset• [05:33] The core problem: not enough EV charging infrastructure globally, with one charger for every 80 vehicles on average• [06:33] Sam shares firsthand observations from Guangzhou , nearly 100% EV adoption on the streets• [09:25] The personal range anxiety story that validated the problem , getting stuck at 9% battery in Denver in winter• [10:30] Why copy-pasting the Helium model doesn't work and why a more nuanced distributed model was needed• [11:00] DeCharge's three-pillar model: community-owned slow chargers, fast charger funding pools, and a software network incentive for charge point operators• [14:15] How the business model works , revenue share with hosts, transparent dashboards, and community-funded infra• [17:01] The user experience: scan a QR code, pay as you go, no app download required• [19:31] Why DeCharge integrates with default local payment apps (UPI, Promptpay, Stripe) instead of forcing new behavior• [23:16] Why India isn't lagging , 70% of EV usage is commercial, driven by food delivery riders and ride-sharing fleets• [25:40] Southeast Asia generates 80% of DeCharge's current network revenue• [27:21] Biggest challenges: avoiding R&D rabbit holes, sticking to first principles, and iterating fast across hardware and software• [29:05] Funding journey: seed round led by Lemniscap, first Asian startup in Colosseum's hackathon ecosystem• [32:06] Contrarian view: autonomous EV charging powered by crypto payment rails is the next major wave• [33:30] Energy is the truest form of currency , especially as AI data centers drive massive power demand• [35:14] The ask: charge point operator partnerships, community members, and VC conversations welcome• [39:19] The Scout app , a community-curated tool to map charger density and identify demand hotspots at scout.decharge.io

(0:00) Intro *Reference to the Boardroom Governance Summit at Limerick Lane Cellars, Healdsburg, California (Aug 26-27, 2026)  (2:12) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel. (2:59) Start of interview.  (4:00) Origin Story of Emily, and Stewardship  (6:15) From Engineer to CEO  (7:14) Companies that she led: Elo Touch Systems (97-00), Capstone Turbine (02-03), Apexon (04-07) and NovaTorque (09-17). (9:50) Changing geopolitics of manufacturing (10:49) First Boards and Public Company Lessons (first board experience in Japan) "The soft skills are the hard part to do." (15:48) On serving in private VC-backed boards. "If you know one board, you know one board. I mean, they are all so different." (22:43) On serving in non-profit boards. "It's one of the best possible ways to get governance experience." (26:20) CEO Mistakes (32:03) Board Succession for leadership and skills. (35:33) Board Evaluations Done Right  (37:41) What Makes Great Directors. *reference to Leading Edge Stewardship, by Linda Riefler and Mayree Clark (Stanford Women on Boards). "Asking the right question, at the right time, in the right way." (39:57) AI and the Boardroom. (46:16) Innovation Versus Oversight. "The goal is informed oversight without operational interference" (49:34) Teaching Governance to Stanford Students  (52:17) Boards need to have a long-term orientation in this short-term world. (52:34) Books that have greatly influenced her life: The Bible Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (2012) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1846) (54:12) Her mentors. "[T]hey told me things I needed to hear in a way that I could hear them because it's easy to get defensive." (55:38) Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.' by Margaret Mead. (56:43) An unusual habit or an absurd thing that she loves.  (57:30) The living person she most admires in governance: Bob Joss. Emily Liggett serves on the boards of Ultra Clean Technology and Materion Corporation. She also serves as Lecturer at Stanford GSB, where she teaches corporate governance and board leadership. You can follow Evan on social media at:X: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Why This Episode MattersSabrina Maniscalco is one of the few people in quantum who has lived the full arc: two decades of academic work on open quantum systems and non-Markovian noise at Palermo, Turku, Edinburgh, and Helsinki, followed by founding Algorithmiq with three of her former researchers after an early Qiskit Camp. That trajectory matters now because Algorithmiq just had a landmark stretch — sole winner of the $2M Wellcome Leap Q4Bio prize for a quantum-enabled cancer drug discovery workflow, an €18M Series B, a global HQ move to Milan, and its Tensor Network Error Mitigation (TEM) function landing in IBM's Qiskit Functions catalog.If you're trying to make sense of where quantum software actually creates value before fault tolerance arrives — and what a credible "trajectory to advantage" looks like when paired with real clients in life sciences — this is a grounded, technically specific conversation with someone building it.EPISODE SPONSORThis episode is brought to you by Outshift, Cisco's incubation engine. The need for computational power is rapidly increasing in every sector. From drug discovery to material innovation to complex financial modeling, classical systems are reaching their absolute limits. It's time for a paradigm shift. The answer is a scalable quantum network, built on open standards and vendor-agnostic architecture. By uniting distributed quantum devices, you unlock limitless computational power.Learn more about the Cisco Universal Quantum Switch at Outshift.com.Go deeper with the blog post The switch that quantum networking has been waiting for.What We Get IntoWhy a background in open quantum systems and non-Markovian noise turned out to be unusually well-suited to running algorithms on noisy near-term hardwareThe actual science behind the Q4Bio winning workflow: simulating excited-state dynamics of a photosensitizer drug already in Phase II clinical trials, on up to 100 qubitsHow quantum-boosted DMRG works — and why it gives you a built-in benchmark against the best classical method via the bond dimensionThe tradeoff Sabrina would and wouldn't make between more qubits and lower noise, and why neutral atoms' slower sampling rates matter for chemistryWhy even fault-tolerant algorithms like quantum phase estimation still depend on getting state initialization and measurement rightAlgorithmiq's two-product structure: the Digital Quantum Interface (hardware-agnostic infrastructure) and the life sciences application frameworkHow methods built for chemistry are now opening doors into optimization and GenAI — and why that direction emerged from the work, not from a strategy deckWhat the move from Helsinki to Milan signals about the European quantum ecosystem and Algorithmiq's commercial scale-upHow an active learning pipeline is already proposing novel drug variants for synthesis in Prof. Sherri McFarland's labResources & LinksGuest & CompanyAlgorithmiq — The company Sabrina co-founded with Guillermo García-Pérez, Matteo Rossi, and Boris Sokolov; quantum software for life sciences and chemistry.Sabrina Maniscalco — University of Helsinki Research Portal — Publication record covering open quantum systems, non-Markovian dynamics, and quantum information.Sabrina Maniscalco — AI for Good Bio — Consolidated bio covering academic roles and advisory positions, including IQOQI Austria and CERN's Quantum Technology Initiative.The Q4Bio WinAlgorithmiq Wins $2M Wellcome Leap Q4Bio Prize — Company announcement detailing the photodynamic therapy workflow.Wellcome Leap — Q4Bio Prize Announcement — Funder's perspective on finalists and criteria.IBM Quantum Blog — Q4Bio Finalists — IBM's account of the workflow and quantum-classical integration.Funding & HQ MoveTech.eu — Algorithmiq's €18M Series B and Milan move — Coverage of Italy's largest quantum VC round to date.Quantum Computing Report — Algorithmiq Relocates to Milan — Strategic context including the Q4Bio win and IBM partnership.EU-Startups coverage — Investor lineup and Italy's National Quantum Strategy framing.Quantum Advantage & ToolingIBM Quantum Blog — The Dawn of Quantum Advantage — Includes Algorithmiq's TEM (Tensor Network Error Mitigation) function in the Qiskit Functions catalog.Algorithmiq & IBM Quantum Advantage Tracker — The heterogeneous materials experiment Algorithmiq and IBM put forward as a community benchmark.Silicon Republic interview with Sabrina — Useful prior context on her philosophy of using quantum to simulate quantum systems.Key Quotes & InsightsOn the foundation of the company's approach: "We learned very early what we thought were the bottlenecks of quantum computers — what you really need to worry about if you want to implement computation at scale." A direct line from Qiskit Camp Vermont to Algorithmiq's product strategy.On Q4Bio, in Sabrina's words: "This molecule is already in Phase II clinical trial. So it's not hydrogen. It's a real molecule." A useful counter to the common critique that quantum chemistry demos still live in toy-model land.On quantum-boosted DMRG (insight): In the worst case, the method matches the best classical technique; in the better case, it outperforms it — and the bond dimension tells you which regime you're in. Built-in benchmarking against the classical baseline.On the hardware tradeoff: Asked whether she'd prefer 100 higher-fidelity qubits or 200 noisier ones, Sabrina's answer is "it depends" — and the explanation about why neutral atoms' lower sampling rates limit chemistry use cases is one of the more concrete things you'll hear on platform tradeoffs.On strategy (insight): New verticals at Algorithmiq are ...

DEMAIN je reçois ⁠⁠⁠Augustin Sayer - entrepreneur ET investisseur.

TJ Joosten is the co-founder of RevFixr, a pricing and monetization consultancy that helps SaaS companies improve pricing, packaging, and revenue growth. Before starting RevFixr, TJ spent a decade building and selling software, helping early-stage companies find customers, refine product-market fit, and navigate pricing decisions from small startup deals to multi-million-dollar enterprise contracts. Today, he works with SaaS founders, private equity firms, and software companies ranging from $1M ARR to $20M+ in revenues. TJ and his team have worked with more than 100 software companies, helping them identify monetization gaps, redesign packaging, move upmarket, and capture more of the value they create without necessarily building new products. In our practical conversation, TJ explains why most founders systematically underprice their software, why private equity firms often see pricing opportunities founders miss. We also discuss what's changing (and not changing) in pricing and packaging with AI and agents this year. He shares savvy advice on usage-based pricing, hybrid pricing models, AI agents, and why founders should continuously test pricing rather than treating it as a fixed decision. Key Takeaways Monetization Gap - Most SaaS companies create more value every year but fail to capture it through pricing and packaging. Pricing Courage - Founders procrastinate price increases while private equity buyers immediately look for pricing opportunities. Hybrid Pricing - Combining fixed fees with usage pricing often increases expansion revenue while reducing buyer risk. Founder Ownership - Pricing works best when one person owns it while sales, product, and finance actively contribute. Constant Testing - Pricing is not fixed; every new quote is an opportunity to validate a better monetization strategy. Quote from TJ Joosten, Co-founder of RevFixr "If you rarely get friction on pricing, it's rarely a barrier to entry and closing sales, then you have a pricing opportunity. If at least 20% of your deals in the negotiating stage don't push back on pricing then you're probably charging way too little. "If let's say 40 % keeps giving you pushback then of course you might want to go down. At that stage they have already invested time so they'll always also be honest about are you simply too expensive and therefore I'm not buying your solution?  "Or is there a different reason? You can just straight up ask someone like why didn't you buy? And if they don't give the reason of price, then you probably don't have a pricing problem." Links Tjitte (TJ) Joosten on LinkedIn RevFixr on LinkedIn RevFixr website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

Venture capital changed the freight tech conversation, but did it actually make the industry better? On this episode of Supply Chain Decoded, Jenni Ruiz sits down with Jennifer Morris, founder of Ship Happens, for a sharp, funny, and refreshingly honest conversation about the messy relationship between logistics, funding, AI, and the stories investors choose to believe. Jenn and Jenni unpack what freight looked like before the pandemic, why supply chain suddenly became the center of the mainstream conversation, and how companies like Flexport helped turn logistics into something venture capital could finally understand, or at least wanted to understand. They also dig into the harder questions: why female founders still receive only a sliver of VC dollars, why “AI” has become one of the industry's most overused shortcuts, and why the next wave of freight tech needs to lead with the problem it solves instead of the buzzwords it can stack. From Convoy lessons and vanity metrics to AI agents, due diligence, and the danger of confusing automation with intelligence, this episode is a clear-eyed look at what happens when outside capital meets an industry built on nuance, volatility, and constant firefighting. And in true Decoded fashion, Jenn closes with one thing supply chain gets wrong: we move too quickly from one fire to the next without asking why the fire keeps starting. -- Disclaimer: All views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Transfix, Inc. or any parent companies or affiliates or the companies with which the participants are affiliated, and may have been previously disseminated by them. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are based upon information considered reliable, but neither Transfix, Inc. nor its affiliates, nor the companies with which such participants are affiliated, warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. All such views and opinions are subject to change.

В епізоді бізнес-подкасту CEO Club говоримо про венчурні інвестиції, стартапи та ключові принципи, які допомагають ухвалювати зважені інвестиційні рішення. Що найбільше мотивує інвестувати — гроші чи інтерес? Які критерії використовувати для оцінювання компанії та їхніх засновників? Чому дисципліна важливіша за емоції, а диверсифікація — ключ до стійкого портфеля?Учасники розмови:— Роман Прокоф'єв, співзасновник Jooble, ангел-інвестор;— Тарас Кириченко, член наглядової ради «Нова пошта», генеральний партнер інвестиційного синдикату TOLOKA.VC.У відео також розкриваються питання:— як формувати інвестиційний портфель: диверсифікація та розумна пропорція активів;— які якості шукають у фаундерах професійні інвестори;— як сприймати втрати та невдалі угоди;— яку частку капіталу варто вкладати у венчурні інвестиції;— чому емоції знижують дохідність та як формувати стратегію інвестування;— навіщо інвестувати в стартапи, якщо є індексні фонди;— ШІ як тренд для інвесторів та підприємців.Відеозапис розмови: https://youtu.be/3r5T-vr1p2kCEO Club — клуб лідерів бізнесуЗ 2011 року об'єднуємо підприємців і СЕО для розвитку, взаємопідтримки та співтворення.Більше про клуб https://ceoclub.com.ua Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CEOClubUkraine Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ceoclubukraine/ Telegram https://t.me/CEOnotes

A VC fell asleep for 30+ minutes during a founder's pitch. The round stillclosed.This week on Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, we traded the VC horror stories founders never forget, debated whether the hottest AI startups are just "reselling tokens," and brought on three founders fresh off funding rounds: Guy Saxelby (Earlytrade, $25M total raised), Adrian Rhaese (EnvioTech, €1M pre-seed) and Ben Waters (LightTable, $22M Series A).Tune in to find out about:✅ Why Patrick calls Lovable, Cursor and Vercel "resellers of tokens" and what that means for their valuations✅ How Earlytrade automates construction payments, with 10% of revenue already running with zero humans✅ The streetlight startup saving cities 80% on energy while mapping how a whole city moves✅ Dustin's no-mercy pushback on what it actually takes to be a "platform for pre-construction"Listen now on Spotify and YouTube. #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction#constructiontech #ai #vcChapters00:00 Intro01:10 VC Horror Stories Founders Never Share07:05 The Weirdest VC Behaviour We've Seen13:01 Why AI Costs Are Eating Your Margins19:15 Will AI Companies Ever IPO?25:49 How to Find Early Product-Market Fit33:24 Expanding Internationally: What Actually Works40:09 Where Construction Tech Innovation Happens45:48 The Growth Playbook for the Next 5 Years56:56 The Hardest Lessons of Entrepreneurship58:11 Why Timing Beats Everything in Business58:19 How Perception Shapes Professional Success59:10 Why Being Eccentric Is a Branding Advantage01:02:07 Where Tech Meets Construction01:04:09 AI That Actually Manages Construction Projects01:10:10 Why Pre-Construction Is Where the Money Is01:16:16 Mastering the Critical Path

How does a modern CEO lead a global, hybrid workforce while staying connected to every employee? I recently sat down with Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of Sovos, a tax and compliance specialist for Fortune 500 companies. Kevin shared practical, clear insights on leadership, growth, and retention. Here are five that stood out:

How do you invest in what's cool before the rest of the world catches on? This week on The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Amber Atherton, Partner at Patron, to explore the rapidly shifting landscape of consumer venture capital.Amber reveals the tactical strategies she uses to keep her pulse on the cultural vanguard, including running multiple TikTok burner accounts and hunting for early micro-trends inside gamer communities and niche digital spaces. They dive deep into her recent thesis on "computational taste," analyzing whether AI models can possess or dictate authentic taste, and why design-native founders are uniquely positioned to win the next wave of tech adoption.The conversation also covers the massive grey-market-to-mainstream pipeline powering the "American Peptide Boom," the business model shift behind ChatGPT's inevitable advertising play, and a transparent breakdown of the psychology of liquidity, including exactly when a founder should (and shouldn't) leverage secondary markets.Subscribe to Carta's weekly Data Minute newsletter: https://carta.com/subscribe/data-newsletter-sign-up/Explore interactive startup and VC data, with Carta's Data Desk: https://carta.com/data-desk/Chapters:00:18 – Intro: Consumer VC and Amber Atherton01:09 – The Truth About Demo Day and Fundraising Reality03:22 – Defining Consumer Investing: Trend Hunting vs. Fundamentals05:09 – TikTok Burner Accounts and Tracking Gen Z Culture09:02 – Computational Taste: Building the Taste Layer of AI09:52 – Can an AI Model Have Genuine, Ephemeral Taste?17:31 – The Squeeze: Where Consumer VC Stands Today19:20 – Gray Market to Mainstream: The American Peptide Boom22:51 – Formats and Vibe Coding: Amber's Writing Process26:51 – "In My Bones": Why Amber Chose Venture Capital Over Being a Founder30:10 – The Repeat Founder Conundrum: Motivation vs. Experience31:09 – The Psychology of Liquidity: When to Take Secondary33:36 – Honesty in the Idea Maze: Knowing When to Pivot or Return Capital34:53 – ChatGPT Launching Ads: The Economics of Attention36:04 – Spicy Question: Do Accelerators Work for Consumer Founders?37:51 – "Peptide Summer": Net-New Brands vs. Incumbents in Wellness39:58 – Outro: Headed to the Skate ParkThis presentation contains general information only and eShares, Inc. dba Carta, Inc. (“Carta”) is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services, and is for informational purposes only.  This presentation is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests. © 2026 eShares, Inc., dba Carta, Inc. All rights reserved.

Watch the show on television by downloading the e360tv channel app to your Roku, LG or AmazonFireTV. You can also see it on YouTube.Devin: What is your superpower?Molly: I take a bet on others and encourage them to be their best selves, that I believe in them, that I trust them.Women entrepreneurs continue to face systemic barriers when accessing capital for their businesses. Despite accounting for nearly half of all new businesses in the U.S., women founders receive only 2% of total venture capital funding. Molly Huyck, Founder and CEO of AeQuitas Invest, realized the dire need for change and has built an innovative solution: a funding platform exclusively for women entrepreneurs.Molly's journey toward launching AeQuitas Invest began at PayPal, where she spent over 20 years building a career informed by innovation and a commitment to creating equal opportunities. Motivated by her global mentorship experience with women entrepreneurs in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation, Molly learned of a staggering $5 trillion gap in global GDP caused by inequities in access to capital for women. This eye-opening realization fueled her passion to address the challenge.“When in looking at other crowdfunding platforms, literally, on average, four out of 66 raises that are going on at any one time are women founders,” Molly explained. “It doesn't make sense to me personally, and it doesn't make sense economically.”AeQuitas Invest is more than a simple platform—it's an ecosystem designed to support women founders beyond funding. Molly and her team take a hands-on approach, creating cohorts of founders to foster collaboration and shared learning. The platform also offers access to marketing, legal, and accounting experts, helping women founders navigate challenges at just the right time.“Women operate differently. Women lead differently,” Molly said. “Studies show they typically have a return of $0.78 per dollar invested in them versus men, who return only $0.31 per dollar. That's why I created AeQuitas Invest—to connect women founders with investors and close the gap.”Currently, the platform has several promising campaigns in its pipeline, including Blockchain Homes, which is already live. By offering regulated crowdfunding opportunities, AeQuitas Invest empowers investors to support women-led businesses and drive meaningful change.Molly's story and AeQuitas Invest demonstrate the power of innovation and collective support to address inequities for women entrepreneurs. This episode highlights how platforms like AeQuitas can be game changers for gender equality in entrepreneurship.tl;dr:Women-led businesses receive just 2% of VC funding, but AeQuitas Invest aims to change that.Founder Molly Huyck built AeQuitas Invest to provide a crowdfunding platform just for women founders.The platform creates a community with hands-on support to help women succeed in fundraising.Molly shares how her personal journey and experience inspired her commitment to gender equality.Today's episode highlights how empowering women entrepreneurs creates meaningful impact for investors and society.How to Develop Empowering Others As a SuperpowerMolly's superpower lies in empowering others, especially women, to rise up and succeed. Reflecting on her journey, she explained, “I take a bet on others and encourage them to be their best selves, that I believe in them, that I trust them.” Molly's approach is rooted in creating opportunities for others to thrive, fostering confidence, and supporting people to achieve their full potential.Molly described hiring an executive chef for the women's sports bar she opened. The candidate had only applied for the sous chef position, doubting her ability to lead. Molly recognized her potential and took a chance on her. With Molly's encouragement, the new chef rose to meet the challenge and excelled in her role. This example perfectly illustrates Molly's commitment to empowering others by believing in their abilities and investing in their growth.Tips for Developing this Superpower:Take chances on others by recognizing their potential, even if they doubt themselves.Offer encouragement and affirmation to help people overcome self-doubt and unlock their confidence.Connect with diverse communities and create inclusive environments that support mutual growth.Build a supportive network of peers who can share experiences and provide feedback.By following Molly's example and advice, you can make empowering others a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!Guest ProfileMolly Huyck (she/her):Founder/CEO, AeQuitas InvestAbout AeQuitas Invest: Aequitas Invest is the only woman founded crowdfunding platform for women entrepreneurs. AQi solves the gap between opportunity and access—where high-potential founders, especially women, struggle to get funded, and everyday investors are excluded from early-stage investing. It connects both sides, enabling founders to raise aligned capital while opening wealth-building opportunities to more people.Website: aequitasinvest.comCompany Facebook Page: facebook.com/AQinvInstagram Handle: @aequitas.investBiographical Information: Molly Huyck is a trailblazer in advancing equity and inclusion. As the visionary founder of Aequitas Invest and SET The Bar (the 8th women's sports bar in the U.S.), Molly has dedicated her career to breaking down systemic barriers and creating opportunities for underrepresented voices in business and sports.Through Aequitas Invest, Molly is revolutionizing access to capital for women entrepreneurs—a critical gap in today's investment landscape. She doesn't just recognize the strategic potential of these companies; she knows how to help the founders bring them to life. Molly combines her deep expertise in technology and operations with an unwavering commitment to equity, ensuring that women founders receive not only funding but also the mentorship and resources to thrive. Her work is changing the narrative around who gets funded and why.With over 30 years of experience in technology, operations, and entrepreneurship, Molly's career is a testament to resilience and innovation. She co-founded and successfully exited a web development and IT services startup, holds a master's degree in technology from Creighton University, and has led diverse teams across technology, operations, and talent acquisition. At every stage, she has embedded inclusion into the DNA of her leadership.LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/molly-huyck-0b90258/Personal Facebook Profile: facebook.com/molly.huyckSupport Our SponsorsOur generous sponsors make our work possible, serving impact investors, social entrepreneurs, community builders and diverse founders. Today's advertisers include Kaylaan, High Desert Gear and Climatize. Learn more about advertising with us here.Max-Impact Members(We're grateful for every one of these community champions who make this work possible.)Brian Christie, Brainsy | Cameron Neil, Lend For Good | Carol Fineagan, Independent Consultant | Hiten Sonpal, RISE Robotics | John Berlet, CORE Tax Deeds, LLC. | Justin Starbird, The Aebli Group | Lory Moore, Lory Moore Law | Marcia Brinton, High Desert Gear | Mark Grimes, Networked Enterprise Development | Matthew Mead, Hempitecture | Michael Pratt, Qnetic | Mike Babbit | Coledger Solutions | Mike Green, Envirosult | Nick Degnan, Unlimit Ventures | Dr. Nicole Paulk, Siren Biotechnology | Paul Lovejoy, Stakeholder Enterprise | Pearl Wright, Global Changemaker | Scott Thorpe, Philanthropist | Sharon Samjitsingh, Health Care Originals | Add Your Name HereUpcoming SuperCrowd Event CalendarIf a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.Join the SuperCrowd Impact League! You can be recognized for making impact investments via Reg CF. See how your activity compares to your peers. It's free. Win valuable prizes. Start now!Devin Thorpe will lead SuperCrowdHour on June 17, 2026, at 12:00 PM Eastern. In this insightful session, “How to Benchmark Your Impact Crowdfunding Portfolio v. the Stock Market,” Devin will explore how impact investors can evaluate the performance of their regulated investment crowdfunding portfolios alongside traditional stock market benchmarks. Drawing on his experience as a former investment banker, impact investor, and crowdfunding advocate, he will break down practical methods for measuring returns, assessing risk, and understanding the broader value created through impact investing. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how private impact investments compare with public market performance, what metrics matter most, and how to build a more informed long-term investment strategy. Whether you're an experienced impact investor or just beginning to build your crowdfunding portfolio, this SuperCrowdHour will provide valuable insights to help you evaluate both financial and social returns with greater confidence and clarity.SuperCrowd26 featuring PurposeBuilt100™: This August 25–27, founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders will gather for a three-day, broadcast-quality global experience focused on disciplined capital formation, regulated investment crowdfunding, and purpose-driven growth. We're bringing together leading voices in impact investing, compliance, digital marketing, and circular economy innovation to deliver practical frameworks, real-world case studies, and actionable strategies. The event culminates in the PurposeBuilt100™ Showcase, recognizing 100 of the fastest-growing purpose-driven companies in the U.S. Register now to secure your seat and get all the details. August 25–27, streaming worldwide.Share the application for the PurposeBuilt100™: Purpose-driven founders deserve recognition. The PurposeBuilt100™ application window is now open—celebrating the fastest-growing companies building profit with purpose. If you know a founder creating real impact and real growth, please share this opportunity. Applications are free and confidential. Explore the program and apply today: PurposeBuilt100.com.Community Event CalendarSuccessful Funding with Karl Dakin, Tuesdays at 10:00 AM ET - Click on Events.On June 18th at 5pm ET, join Tampa Bay Innovation and Menlo Park Patents for the Q2 Pitch Showcase, a live gathering for founders, inventors, investors, and startup supporters. Watch selected entrepreneurs pitch bold ideas, network with the innovation community, and see winners earn valuable prizes, including patent, valuation, and investor-meeting opportunities in St. Petersburg, Florida.Register Now! October 20th and 21st will be the Crowdfunding Professional Association Regulated Investment Crowdfunding Summit for 2026. This is the event of the year for everyone in the crowdfunding ecosystem.If you would like to submit an event for us to share with the 10,000+ changemakers, investors and entrepreneurs who are members of the SuperCrowd, click here.Manage the volume of emails you receive from us by clicking here.We share educational information—not investment advice. Some links may generate compensation. See our full disclosure.We use AI to help us write compelling recaps of each episode. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at www.superpowers4good.com/subscribe

In aerospace, we talk a lot about “the future of flight.” But most of that conversation has been driven by fantasy. Fully electric aircraft that can't fly far enough, and technologies that look good in a render but can't sustain the physics or economics of real aviation.   That's why what Electra Aero is building feels like the first practical revolution in modern air mobility. It's not about escaping airports altogether; it's about rethinking what access to the air actually means.    A platform that combines the short-range flexibility of a helicopter with the efficiency, speed, and safety of a fixed-wing aircraft. A system that can land in 150 feet, carry nine passengers, and fly 1,000 miles…all at a cost per seat mile that rivals a Cessna Caravan.   In other words, not a science experiment, but an aircraft for both the Pentagon and Palm Springs.   When you look at the infrastructure, the capital, and the technology now converging, from turbo generators to hybrid propulsion, it's clear the “inflection point” for advanced air mobility is already here. The question isn't if we'll see it, but when the iceberg breaks the surface and everyone suddenly realizes how much has already been built underneath.   What makes this design different enough for the Department of Defense to back it, and powerful enough to fly missions no existing aircraft can?   In this special replay episode, the CEO of Electra Aero, Mark Allen, joins me to dive into what it takes to turn an experimental prototype into a scalable aircraft production company. We also discuss how hybrid-electric flight could redefine how people and goods move between cities in the next decade.   You'll learn: Why “payload-to-range” is the real metric that will define the winners in advanced air mobility How Electra's hybrid-electric system radically cuts maintenance and lifecycle costs Why vertical takeoff isn't the future, ultra-short takeoff and landing is How runway independence could transform both defense logistics and civilian travel What it takes to fund deep-tech aviation in a VC world built for SaaS Why the next big shift in aerospace will feel like a “ketchup bottle” moment: slow, then all at once How leadership and team “swing” drive complex innovation when the mission is bigger than any one person About the Guest: Marc Allen is the CEO of Electra Aero. At Electra, Marc is leading the charge in developing hybrid-electric Ultra Short aircraft to define the next level of seamless air travel connectivity. Through direct aviation, Electra is bringing air travel closer to where people live, work, and play – without airports, emissions, or noise. ‍Marc joined Electra after a distinguished career at The Boeing Company, where he held several key leadership roles, including Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Development. He led the $5 billion customer finance business before spending nearly a decade on Boeing's Executive Council, where he served as President of Boeing International and oversaw critical enterprise-wide functions. As head of all venture businesses, he led Wisk Aero's restructuring and full acquisition, focusing on the future of autonomous flight and serving as Chairman. Other roles at Boeing included President of the Embraer Partnership, President of Boeing China, and General Counsel of Boeing International. To learn more, go to http://electra.aero/ or connect with Marc on LinkedIn.  About your Host: Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years' experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women's Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association.    Resources: For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/.  To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/.   Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you! 

Rafe Furst is a World Series poker champion, five-time founder, and author of the number one bestselling book on venture capital. He joins host KJ to challenge the VC status quo. Rafe breaks down why the 10-year lockup model is broken, how misaligned incentives are quietly killing early-stage innovation, and why the future of venture capital runs on blockchain. He also shares the story behind The Crypto Company and their newly acquired Frame blockchain, which aims to unify liquidity across fragmented crypto ecosystems. Four Key Takeaways: 3:32 — VCs have quietly abandoned true venture capital by flooding money into later stages. Early-stage investments are treated as lottery tickets rather than genuine bets on founders and their vision. 20:22 — The number one structural flaw in venture capital is not bad founders or bad ideas. It is the total absence of liquidity for a decade or more, which creates misaligned incentives for everyone involved. 21:57 — Liquidity is the magic unlock for early-stage investing. Blockchain technology is the most powerful mechanism to finally deliver that liquidity to founders, investors, and employees alike. 37:47 — AI and blockchain are converging at an exponential pace. Founders who start building on-chain infrastructure now will be positioned to ride the wave rather than get swept away by it. Quote of the Show (38:03):"The way to not get swept away is to get in front of the wave." — Rafe Furst Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Rafe Furst:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafefurst/ Company Website: https://www.thecryptocompany.com/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=disruption+%2F+interuuptionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most outdoor founders think raising money means venture capital. Andrew Luter of Rio Chato Investments spends much of his time talking founders out of taking money and, instead, helps them to see what options they have that may be a better fit. He breaks down why most outdoor businesses are the wrong shape for VC, and why using equity to solve a cash-flow problem is like taking out a splinter with a chainsaw. We cover the funding tools founders overlook, the big wholesale orders that can quietly kill small brands, why coachability beats product and pitch, and the "danger zone" where a brand is too big to be small and too small to be big.Topics covered in the episode:When raising equity is the wrong moveThe REI/big-box order as a working-capital trapUnderused funding: PO financing, revenue-based financing, CDFIs, friends and familyWhy coachability beats product and pitchThe "danger zone": too big to be small, too small to be bigCommunity-first brands as the next wave in outdoorLinksAndrew's SubstackRio Chato InvestmentsHeather Kelly's SubstackConnect with Andrew on LinkedInConnect with Christian on LinkedInRegister for the KORE SummitThe KORE Podcast is a production of the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise. Learn more about KORE and the podcast: https://koreoutdoors.org/podcast  #koreoutdoors #craftgearfromhere

This week on the Sifted Podcast, host John Thornhill is joined by Anu Adebajo, former Atomico partner and, as of February this year, CEO of the Newton Venture Program.Launched in 2020 by VC firm Phoenix Court and London Business School, the educational programme aims to train new generations of VC talent — whether they are experienced investors or simply exploring new career paths.Anu began her career in Sheffield in 2012, where she joined a fund and later went into the British Business Bank. After nearly five years, she moved to the LP side, where she personally deployed over £365m into funds, before moving to Atomico where she led its fund of funds strategy.The pair discuss what LPs want from Europe's VCs now, how far away a Newton Venture's fund might be and the dangers of Europe's re-emerging “boys' club mentality”.Sign up to Sifted's daily newsletter here: https://sifted.eu/newslettersRead John's article about the needs for reinventing VC: https://sifted.eu/articles/vc-needs-to-reinvent-itselfFind out more about Newton Venture Program here: https://newtonprogram.vc/This podcast was brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking.

This Week In Startups is made possible by:NetSuite - Netsuite.com/TWiSTDeel - Deel.com/TWiSTSquarespace - Squarespace.com/TWiSTTwo days before SpaceX launches the largest IPO in history at a flat $135/share, our VC roundtable drops a scorcher: The top 1% of seed deals might actually be underpriced. Plus: the "Sequoia scam" dual-tranche controversy, tokens-for-equity deals, and whether Claude Fable 5 is a true step function.Tomasz Tunguz (Theory Ventures), Michael Downing (Castalia Capital), and Paige Doherty (Behind Genius Ventures) join Alex to go deep on Seed investing, startup economics, AI spend, and the impact of smarter AI on the founder journey.Guest Links:Tomasz Tunguz: https://x.com/ttunguzTheory Ventures: https://theoryvc.com/Michael Downing: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldowning/Castalia Capital: https://castalia.capital/Paige Doherty: https://x.com/paigefinnnBehind Genius Ventures: https://www.behindgeniusventures.comShow Links:Anthropic's IPO announcement: https://www.anthropic.com/news/confidential-draft-s1-secOpenAI's IPO announcement: https://openai.com/index/openai-submits-confidential-s-1/Bending Spoons F-1 filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2004711/000110465926071170/tm2613674-7_f1.htmSpaceX IPO filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026040364/spaceexplorationtechnologib.htmBrendan Foody's post on Sequoia: https://x.com/BrendanFoody/status/2063470286515683759Claude Fable 5: https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-fable-5-mythos-5OpenRouter data on Chinese models: https://openrouter.ai/rankings?view=daySaronic: https://www.saronic.com/MotherDuck: https://motherduck.com/Nox Metals: https://noxmetals.co/Timestamps:0:00 Tomasz Tunguz, Michael Downing & Paige Doherty join2:07 The SpaceX IPO and the IPO window4:22 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!6:30 The new bar: 10x growth (not 3x) to raise a great Series A8:46 Net-new AI budgets9:46 Squarespace: Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to https://www.squarespace.com/twist for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.11:09 How some founders are outgrowing venture capital11:44 The power pendulum swings back to founders12:46 SpaceX vs. OpenAI vs. Anthropic: Which IPO is most enticing?19:53 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.26:07 Tokens-for-equity, GPU-hours-for-equity & the financialization of compute28:35 Founders airing VC dirty laundry (napping VCs included)29:56 Netsuite - The business landscape is very chaotic right now. That's why you need NetSuite, by Oracle. Get the free business guide Demystifying AI at https://Netsuite.com/TWiST36:38 Claude Fable 5 first impressions: pricing, benchmarks & orchestration45:42 Where value accrues: application layer vs. models vs. private data1:00:06 Nationalization of AI labs: Bernie Sanders, Sam Altman & Trump agree?!1:01:25 Portfolio spotlights: Saronic, MotherDuck, and Nox MetalsSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

We welcome Shelly Kapoor Collins, founder of Shatter Fund, powerhouse venture capitalist, and policy advisor, recorded live in a fast-paced, hard-hitting hot seat at the Wellist Wellness Week Miami 2026. Named one of Forbes' “40 Women to Watch Over 40” and a prominent tech advisor to the Obama and Harris administrations, Shelly is on a mission to rewrite the traditional venture capital playbook.In this brief but powerful conversation, Seb and Shelly deconstruct the deep-seated biases of traditional VC funding and explore why "pattern recognition" is broken. From her contrarian investment strategy at the Shatter Fund to why she views energy and intuition as legitimate business data, Shelly delivers a masterclass on finding alpha in untapped markets and tackling society's trillion-dollar bottlenecks.Topics DiscussedRapid-Fire "Smash or Pass" for FoundersUncovering Alpha by Ignoring VC PatternsAccess as the Ultimate Innovation LeverEnergy and Reiki in High-Stakes BusinessThe Trillion-Dollar Mental Health Productivity DrainMoving Beyond the "Female Founder" LabelThe Non-Profit Missing Piece for True SuccessConnect with Shelly on LinkedInConnect with Sebastian on InstagramSebastianNaum.com

 EPISODE DESCRIPTION I sat down with Firas Isa, the founder of Crypto Dispenser, a bootstrapped and profitable company that has been quietly building Bitcoin on-ramp infrastructure since 2017. Firas started with a single Bitcoin ATM, partnered with GreenDot Bank to place cash deposit points across 100,000 retail stores like CVS and Walmart, and has grown to over 100,000 registered users , all without taking a penny of outside investment. In this conversation, we dig into why cash is still the purest way to buy Bitcoin, the brutal reality of getting bank accounts shut down repeatedly, and why Firas believes Bitcoin is the world's most peaceful revolution against currency debasement. If you have ever wondered how to buy Bitcoin without going through a big exchange, or you are a founder trying to understand what it actually takes to survive a decade in the crypto space on a bootstrap budget, this episode is for you. DISCLAIMERNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/ CONNECT Crypto Dispenser Website:https://www.cryptodispensers.com/Crypto Dispenser Twitter/X: https://x.com/cryptodispenserFiras Isa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/firas-isa/Web3 with Sam Kamani Podcast: https://www.web3pod.xyz KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS • [00:01] Sam introduces Firas Isa and Crypto Dispenser , a bootstrapped, profitable Bitcoin on-ramp with 100K+ users• [01:43] Firas explains how Crypto Dispenser started in 2017 with one Bitcoin ATM and has since pivoted to an online platform supporting debit, credit, ACH, wire, and PayPal• [02:32] Firas shares his origin story , studying political science at Loyola University and learning about money printing, the petrodollar, and empire collapse• [05:30] Discussion on the US gold standard, the Federal Reserve, and Voltaire's warning that fiat currency eventually goes to zero• [10:19] How Bitcoin Pop (Bitcoin Point of Payment) works , generating a barcode inside the Crypto Dispenser account and loading cash at CVS, Walmart, or Walgreens• [12:19] Why Crypto Dispenser is non-custodial and why that matters , users own their Bitcoin the same day they buy it• [13:43] Why cash remains the only true way to buy Bitcoin without relying on the traditional banking system• [20:34] The brutal reality of maintaining bank accounts as a crypto startup , banks shutting them down every six to eight months• [23:23] The rise of neo-banks like OneSafe (backed by Coinbase) and how they have helped but still face the same de-risking pattern• [26:13] How Crypto Dispenser differentiates through hands-on customer support against giants like Coinbase and Strike• [30:56] Trends Firas is watching , prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi, and what they say about younger generations seeking financial freedom• [37:46] Firas's vision for the next two to three years , scaling the business, potentially bringing on VC capital, and continuing to grow organically• [39:15] North Star metrics , 100K registered users, approximately 2,000 monthly paying users• [41:45] Firas's ask , give Bitcoin a chance, and reach out if you are a developer or investor who wants to help scale

Andy Chen of Outcast Ventures spent 15 years at Kleiner Perkins and Coatue studying what actually makes startups succeed — and the data surprised him. After analyzing every U.S. IPO and acquisition over $1 billion in the past two decades, Chen found that founders who didn't know each other beforehand built more valuable companies than those who did. He calls the trap the "convenient co-founder penalty." Now he's doing something about it: Catalyst, a co-founder formation program launching this week, brings together pre-vetted, high-caliber talent to find the right match before the company even exists. Chen also discusses the rise of AI-era solo founders, why elite schools don't predict bigger exits, and his own unlikely path — from CIA nuclear weapons analyst to venture capitalist. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most venture-backed cybersecurity companies are doomed from the start. The math is rigged so only 5-10% of startups survive—and they have to return hundreds of millions, or even billions, to satisfy investors. The result? Exploding tools, premature scaling, vaporware, and a cybersecurity industry obsessed with quick exits rather than real defense. In this eye-opening episode, I pull back the curtain on how the VC funding model distorts cybersecurity innovation. You'll discover how an industry designed to fail is fueling massive failures like IronNet's $3 billion valuation crashing in just two years, Lacework's $8 billion valuation shrinking to $200 million, and Cyber Reason's 90% valuation collapse in 12 months. These aren't coincidences—they're the predictable consequences of a broken system that prizes scale over substance.I break down:* The real math behind “unicorn” valuations and their astronomical burn rates* Why premature scaling kills startups before they can build effective security* How VC incentives favor feature bloat, AI washing, and vaporware over genuine innovation* The ugly truth about the flood of tools that make SOCs worse, not better* Proven models like customer-funded R&D — exemplified by Palantir — that produce real, effective security products without sacrificing integrityIf you're a security buyer tired of bloated tools and false promises, or a founder questioning the current VC-driven chaos, this episode is your wake-up call. The industry is at a crossroads: continue chasing mythical “unicorns” or build resilient, purpose-driven solutions that actually defend us against modern threats. The stakes couldn't be higher. Because if we keep funding the same flawed cycle, our cybersecurity defenses will remain weak—and the threat actors will keep winning. But there's hope. Some companies are bucking the trend, proving that profitability and genuine innovation are possible outside the VC model. This is essential listening for security professionals, founders, and investors ready to rethink what really works. Share if you're fed up with the status quo—because the future of cybersecurity depends on it.

On this week's episode of Valley of Depth, we sit down with Ross Fubini, Managing Partner at XYZ Venture Capital, for a conversation about what it actually means to be early in a market nobody believed in. Ross wrote the first check into Anduril in 2016, alongside Founders Fund, before defense tech was a category, before the term sheet wars, and before the word "primes" became a punchline on X. He did it because he'd spent years inside the Palantir network and understood something others couldn't see from the outside: that the company was an unparalleled crucible for entrepreneurial talent, churning out founders who knew how to sell technology to the hardest customer in the world. XYZ has since backed 40+ Palantir alumni across 130+ companies, and the firm now sits at over $1.5B under management. We cover: Why Ross knew Anduril would win from day one and why he still underestimated how big it would get The Palantir thesis: what he saw in that network in 2017 that everyone else missed How the defense tech landscape has gone from "nobody will return your calls" to drunk pirates chasing cash Where the market is overcrowded and where there's significant whitespace How to invest in the SpaceX ecosystem without getting eaten by it What good board work actually looks like when a company is in trouble His case for why the best venture insight is almost always about a market shifting not just a great team • Chapters • 00:00 – Episode Trailer 00:46 – From engineer to investor 04:49 – What Ross saw in Palantir before anyone else was talking about them 06:43 – The founding story and pitch of XYZ 09:42 – How Ross's engineering background informs his investing 14:01 – The market moving around technology 16:14 – What Ross thought would be the outcome of his Anduril investment 17:40 – The truth in the assumption of the US government being a reliable customer in defense tech 23:54 – Anduril vs. other defense tech firms 26:48 – Sectors that Ross is hesitant on 28:35 – Capabilities on Ross's radar 30:02 – SpaceX IPO 33:26 – Investing in an industry with a dominant player 36:19 – How much is Ross focusing on space vs. everything else? 38:42 – Hardest moment Ross has had with a founder 42:10 – How the VC community has evolved since Ross's time at Netscape 44:41 – What does Ross do for fun?   • Show notes • XYZ's' website — https://www.xyz.vc/ Ross's' socials — https://x.com/fubini Mo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislam Payload's socials — https://x.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace Ignition's socials — https://x.com/ignitionnuclear / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/ Tectonic's socials — https://x.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/ Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/   • About us • Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), Decoding Bio (biotech) and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world's hardest technologies. Payload: www.payloadspace.com Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com Ignition: www.ignition-news.com Decoding Bio: www.decodingbio.com

What does it actually take to build a fintech company in Nigeria for five years with almost no visibility, no big splash, and no shortcut — and still come out standing?Babatunde Akin-Moses had a plan. Work for ten years, save money, then start a business. He did not want to be Bill Gates, he knew he was not from that kind of family. He looked at the Nigerian entrepreneurs he admired and every single one of them had worked first. So that was the plan: Shell for NYSC because the pay was good, then KPMG and PWC to learn the kind of rigor that makes you review a document and send it back because the margin was 1.5 when it should have been 1.6. That kind of rigor.But plans move. By the time he had the idea — a credit business for the growing businesses stuck in the middle, too big for microfinance and too small for the banks to care — he had been through enough to know that the business was not just an opportunity. It was a problem he had lived. He tried to start a digital laundry company in 2013 and could not get a business loan. As an employee, the salary loan was easy. As a business owner, the bank was not interested. That gap never left him.Sycamore started as a peer-to-peer lending platform, built because they had no capital and needed to be the middle, not the lender. For two years before their first VC round, they ran on angels, friends, and family. They were closing transactions on Google Forms. And Babatunde, sitting across from a potential investor, was asked if they were raising a SAFE and had to quietly ask what a SAFE was.In this episode he goes deep on all of it, the five years of building without noise while watching louder fintech companies make headlines and then quietly disappear, the regulatory crisis where someone impersonated Sycamore and got them removed from an approved lenders list, the co-founder he nearly lost and the personal sacrifice he almost made to save the business that he has never spoken about publicly until now.He talks about the milestone nobody knows about: building their own internal financial infrastructure before they could even launch the mobile app, in a shoestring budget, in weeks. He talks about being the first digital lender formally approved in Nigeria in 2022. He talks about coming first out of 7,000 competitors at the NSIA Prize for Innovation, which sent him to Silicon Valley for six weeks and landed him on the front page of Punch. He talks about the private note that was oversubscribed, and the Cascador win that brought ₦1.5 billion and a level of public attention he still cannot fully explain.But more than the milestones, this conversation is about the philosophy underneath all of it. How he built trust in fintech — an industry where trust is the whole product — by personalizing the brand, keeping every single promise, and staying long enough for customers who were doing ₦100k transactions to grow into customers doing ₦5 million. How he thinks about servant leadership, about not being able to overcommunicate, about the tension between rewarding exceptional performance and maintaining team cohesion. How he almost never applies for grants or competitions and still keeps winning them.And what he is actually building toward: not small business support, but a platform for growing businesses — the ones with 100 employees who need debt to become the ones with 1,000. The ones who will become the Interswitches and Dangotes of tomorrow if someone will just give them the credit line they need. And eventually, a financial services product that works for Africans wherever they are in the world.

(0:00) Bill Maris joins the Besties! (0:33) Four critical lessons from a career in technology (5:58) Building Google Ventures with data and machine learning (9:51) Why small VC funds beat big ones on average (14:36) OpenAI's valuation problem and the AI price war (19:09) AI's "Atari Stage": what comes next? (25:23) VC's broken incentives and the future of deep tech Thanks to our partners for making this possible! EY - Agentic AI is introducing a new investment discipline. As AI shifts to consumption-based models, EY connects spend to enterprise value. https://www.ey.com/en_us/insights/ai/agentic-ai-token-costs?WT.mc_id=3501318&AA.tsrc=sponsorship NYSE - Thank you to our partner, the New York Stock Exchange - a modern marketplace and exchange for building the future. It all happens at the NYSE. https://www.nyse.com Plaud - Never miss a moment. Plaud, our official wearable AI note-taking partner at All-In Liquidity Summit, captured every insight. https://www.plaud.ai Follow the besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg Follow on X: https://x.com/theallinpod Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg

Who’s got one thumb and is a fun guy? In this episode, Mark and Dan discuss Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 7) #29, which is legacy issue #993. This issue was written by Joe Kelly. The cover features artwork by Mark Bagley and Marte Gracia. The interiors artwork from guest artist Pete Woods, and, of course, letters by VC's Joe Caramagna. This issue was first released on May 20th, 2026. Rick Coste edited this episode. Alex Galucki edited the video version of this podcast. Our artwork is handcrafted by artists Ron Frenz, Nick Cagnetti, and the late Sal Buscema. Our theme songs were produced by Ryland Bojack, Tony Thaxton, and Spider-Maj. Our animated introduction to the show is by Josh Sutton of Panels to Pixels. Watch the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOPCnjzQZNViyEnoOuckaVQ We would also love to see you join our Amazing Spider-Slack community board. If you'd like to join in on our amazing conversations, click this link to get started: https://join.slack.com/t/amazingspider/shared_invite/zt-42tsfhs2-yBaH6KkRmOWiW_8gCf9SmQ This week's Patreon podcasts include a review of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 7) #30, our discussion of the two Spider-Man / Superman comics, and two episodes of the Whatever a Spider Can Diaries, which documents Dan’s process of writing a book about Spider-Man. If you'd like to follow along with our reviews as they are released, please check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/superiorspidertalk Read our B-Title reviews, collecting memories, and more in the Amazing Spider-Talk Substack! http://www.amazingspider.substack.com You can email questions to our show at amazingspidertalk@gmail.com or by clicking here. You can also BUY MARK'S BOOK, 100 Things Spider-Man Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. The post The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 7) #29 / LGY #993 – REVIEW appeared first on Amazing Spider-Talk.

Chris Farmer is the founder and CEO of SignalFire, an early stage venture firm managing over $3 billion. In this episode of Summation, Chris and Auren discuss:why the time to return 1x has stretched to 9+ years and funds are lasting 20 yearsthe engineering hiring boom hiding behind the layoff headlinesthe five functions of a VC firm and the one place data helps the leastwhy almost all conventional career advice is now badYou can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Farmer on X at @chriswfarmer

What happens when a venture capitalist steps out into the front office of a major sports franchise?   In this episode of TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, I sit down with entrepreneur, VC, and the new co-owner and alternate governor of the Portland Trail Blazers, Sheel Tyle. We break down the massive shifts happening at the intersection of global technology, venture capital, and professional sports.  Sheel pulls back the curtain on why an NBA franchise is less like a legacy asset and more like a fast-scaling tech startup. He opens up about the reality of being a local team owner, the "external rate of return" that matters more than profit maximizing, and how a new generation of tech-forward owners are preparing for an AI revolution in basketball.  We also dive deep into what it means to be a first-generation Indian-American sports owner, challenging the traditional immigrant path toward stable careers to take massive risks that can shape a community.  Sheel shares insights on:• The Reality of Local Ownership: Navigating the public eye in Portland alongside his wife, Oregon's Secretary of Health.  • The True ROI of Sports: Why building a civic anchor matters far more than just looking at profit margins.  • The Tech Revolution in the NBA: Lessons learned from fellow owners like Steve Ballmer and Mark Lore on how AI will reshape player analytics and fan experiences.  • Redefining Risk for First-Gen South Asians: Honoring our immigrant parents' hard work by having the courage to make bold, unconventional bets.  • The Mindset of a Champion: Why contentment does not mean stasis, and lessons on the grind from Damian Lillard's 6:30 AM gym sessions.  Whether you're a sports fanatic, an aspiring entrepreneur, or someone navigating your own "quantum leaps" in life, Sheel's framework for mission-driven leadership offers a compelling blueprint.  If you enjoyed this deep dive, please hit that subscribe button, leave a comment, and share this video with someone looking to scale their own vision!   Chapters:00:00 Introduction03:28 Local Ownership in the Portland Community05:22 The True ROI: Purpose Over Profit Maximization07:41 Is the NBA a Startup? Global Expansion & Asia Markets12:53 The Tech-Forward Owner15:09 Solving Massive Challenges: Lessons from CelTel & NALA20:46 Sponsor Break: Travelopod22:24 Data vs. Emotion: Navigating the Noise of Fans and DMs25:19 Embracing Risk as a First-Gen Indian-American Leader32:54 Leadership, Parenting, and Damian Lillard's Work Ethic37:09 Why Contentment Does Not Mean Stasis#SheelTyle #PortlandTrailBlazers #VentureCapital#SouthAsianExcellence #TrustMeIKnowWhatImDoing #NBAShoutouts from this episode: - to the Spurs, the Knicks, and their fans for holding the space until my Lakers are ready to play June basketball again! - to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for stepping up in the T20. - to Nithya Raman for closing the gap as those votes are still being counted.Support the Show: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on Apple or Spotify or wherever you podcast!TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING is proudly brought to you by TRAVELOPOD, with personalized travel support to help you explore the wonders of the world.  Start your next journey at vacation.travelopod.com

Dr. Amber Michelle Hill spent 14 years inside medical research — as a neuroscientist, in the lab, on the preclinical side, and patient-facing — before she discovered the real reason 90% of clinical trials fail. And it has almost nothing to do with the science. In this Inspiring Women conversation, host Laurie McGraw sits down with the founder and CEO of Research Grid (R.grid), the London-based, VC-backed company she built to take the administrative burden out of clinical trials, speed them up, and make them more diverse and representative of the people the medicines are meant to serve. Research Grid didn't start as Research Grid. It grew out of Movement for Hope, a nonprofit Amber founded during her academic years that brought researchers, artists, and patient advocates together to raise awareness for neurological conditions. When COVID shut the events down and investors passed on the idea, she repurposed the technology — and the hard-won community relationships behind it — into two AI products: Inclusive, which automates everything that happens before a trial starts and expands access to underrepresented patients, and Trial Engine, which automates the back office of the trial itself. Today that network spans 99,000+ communities, 400 million members across 157 countries, and 2,000 health indications — all built by hand, over years, with no bought data, while the company stayed stealth for four years before launching in 2023. Amber breaks down why a single medicine takes 10 to 14 years to go from bench to bedside, why $400 million per trial is burned on admin alone, and how women were once excluded from drug testing entirely. Then she gets brutally honest about raising money as a woman of color in a world where less than 2% of funding reaches female founders — including the investor-scoring matrix she built to decide who's even worth her time. And through all of it, she stays an artist: every painting in her home, including the giant acrylic pour behind her, is her own. WHAT WE COVER: - The art-and-science mind behind the company — and why painting quiets her thinking - 14 years as an end-to-end researcher, and how Movement for Hope became Research Grid - Why 90% of clinical trials fail — and why it's an admin problem, not a science one - The hidden cost of research: $400M per trial and 28,000 hours per person on admin - Why 84% of trials still don't reach the people who need them in time - How women were excluded from drug trials, and the fight to diversify research - Building a 400-million-member network the hard way, with no bought data - How AI took a six-month site feasibility process down to minutes - The truth about raising capital when you're "different from the person across the table" - How she scores and filters investors instead of chasing them - Repositioning to seed and landing in the top 1% of seed-stage companies globally - Her golden rule for founders: never assume common sense GUEST: Dr. Amber Michelle Hill, Founder & CEO, Research Grid (R.grid) HOST: Laurie McGraw ABOUT INSPIRING WOMEN: Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw features candid conversations with the women leaders, founders, and changemakers reshaping their industries.

In this episode, we sit down with Stephen Tallon, a Partner at McCann FitzGerald, one of Ireland's leading law firms, where his practice focuses on emerging companies, venture capital, and M&A. Stephen trained in Ireland before spending almost a decade in London at Orrick, a global firm with deep roots in Silicon Valley, where he worked on some of the biggest deals across Europe and the US — including transactions involving Stripe, Revolut, and Salesforce Ventures. He's since returned home to Ireland with his family and joined McCann FitzGerald, which has one of the largest and most experienced emerging company and VC teams in the country, advising founders from pre-seed all the way to exit.In this conversation, we get into the legal side of fundraising that most founders overlook until it's too late. We cover:What investment readiness actually means from a legal standpoint, and what VCs are really evaluating in those first conversationsWhy your cap table could make or break a deal before it even gets startedWhat founders consistently get wrong before and after signing a term sheetThe key terms founders should push back on and which ones are genuinely non-negotiableWhat a Delaware flip actually involves for Irish companies pursuing US investment, and when to do itIf you're an Irish founder thinking about raising investment, this episode is packed with practical, honest advice on how to protect yourself and set your company up for the long run.About Stephen TallonStephen Tallon is a Partner at McCann FitzGerald LLP, where he focuses on emerging companies, venture capital, and M&A. He trained in Ireland before moving to London in 2017 to join Orrick, a global law firm headquartered in San Francisco, where he spent almost a decade advising on landmark transactions across Europe and the US with companies including Stripe, Revolut, Butternut Box, Graphcore, Salesforce Ventures, and Macquarie. Now back in Ireland, Stephen works with founders and investors at every stage, from pre-seed through to exit.About McCann FitzGeraldWith over 640 people across four countries and more than 480 lawyers and legal professionals, McCann FitzGerald LLP is one of Ireland's premier law firms. Operating from offices in Dublin, London, New York, and Brussels, the firm provides expert legal counsel to clients in Ireland and around the world across corporate, banking and financial services, disputes, and real estate. McCann FitzGerald has a long-standing reputation for innovation and excellence, and its emerging company and VC team is one of the largest and most experienced in Ireland.Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com

The AI Tutor That Makes Kids Actually Think | E2298This Week In Startups is made possible by:Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistLinkedIn Jobs https://LinkedIn.com/twistShopify https://shopify.com/twistPlaud https://Plaud.ai/twistToday's show:*Schools teach kids to memorize formulas. AI helps them skip thinking entirely. Brilliant founder Sue Khim joins TWiST to tell us how her new AI tutor, Koji, uses the Socratic Method to help students solve complex problems on their own. Find out why she says “People aren't anti-AI. They're anti-being replaced and anti-slop.”PLUS Jason's take on the VC horror stories going around X… and his own anecdote about the tenacity and passion of legendary investor John Doerr.Guest:Sue Khim on X: https://x.com/suekhimBrilliant: https://brilliant.org/Viral Koji launch video: https://x.com/suekhim/status/2060378988606878147Relevant Links:Viral Greg Isenberg post about VCs: https://x.com/gregisenberg/status/2061794787825479818Travis Kalanick's story: https://x.com/travisk/status/2062224472426365045Matthew Prince's stories: https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2062860530360959273John Doerr on X: https://x.com/johndoerrRoelof Botha on X: https://x.com/roelofbothaMichael Moritz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmoritz/Mohr Davidow Ventures: https://mdv.com/Jason's book “Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups”: https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Invest-Technology-Startups-Timeless-Investor/dp/0062560700Timestamps:0:00 Sue Khim's Alltuition origin story1:41 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!4:10 Brilliant: from launch to product market pull10:46 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist15:08 Pricing against tutors, not apps19:25 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist21:22 Koji demo24:11 Keeping Brilliant local while expanding30:22 Shopify - Turn those What Ifs into sales with the e-commerce platform powering millions of businesses. Sign up for your $1-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/twist40:10 Every founder has a VC horror story44:33 John Doerr went the extra mile to hear JCal's pitch52:55 The LAUNCH investment strategySubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Faith Driven Investor Podcast – Episode 224 Release Date: June 8, 2026 Venture Studio, AI Disruption & the Mandate to Build Beautiful Things John Coleman sits down with Kristian Andersen — co-founder and partner at High Alpha, the Indianapolis-based venture studio and fund — live at the Main Street Summit in Columbia, Missouri. Kristian traces his unlikely path from freelance designer to venture capital pioneer, unpacking how High Alpha's hybrid studio-fund model is navigating the most disruptive era in software history, and why he believes faith calls investors and builders alike to an adventure mandate and a creation mandate. Key Topics: How High Alpha's venture studio model differs from traditional VC — and what 10+ years of iteration taught them about company creation Why seat-based SaaS licensing is dying and what outcome-based, utility, and agentic business models are replacing it The AI disruption hiding in plain sight: companies going from zero to $50M revenue in a single year — and what that means for early-stage investors The enterprise SaaS recession of 2021–2024, the "buying barbell," and why legacy SaaS and AI-native companies are on completely different trajectories Why the biggest untold story in the entrepreneurial journey is what it costs the founder's family — and how High Alpha is addressing it ServiceNow's entry as a Fund 4 LP and what strategic corporate venture capital actually looks like when done right The theology of taste: why Kristian believes truth is beauty, and how the adventure and creation mandates of Scripture shape his work as an investor and builder Notable Quotes: "Operating companies makes us better investors. And conversely, investing makes us better operators because the half-life of experience in this industry is a lot shorter than people think it is." — Kristian Andersen "The currency we trade in are founders and markets. And we want to engineer some radical advantage into those businesses." — Kristian Andersen "I think we serve a God that calls us to adventure. Every good thing that's happened to me in my life has been a function of me saying yes, not saying no." — Kristian Andersen About Kristian Andersen: Kristian Andersen is the co-founder and partner at High Alpha, an Indianapolis-based venture studio that both incubates net-new software companies and invests in high-growth founders. Before High Alpha, he founded StudioScience, a design and innovation consultancy he ran for 15 years before selling to private equity. An active angel investor, Kristian has co-founded multiple software companies and invested in over 40 startups. He is married to Brandy, has six children, and is part of the Praxis community. High Alpha's Fund 4 counts ServiceNow as a strategic LP. About High Alpha: High Alpha is a venture studio and fund based in Indianapolis that combines company creation with venture investing. The firm partners with founders and corporations to ideate and launch enterprise SaaS businesses, then supports them with capital, operations, and shared resources. High Alpha's portfolio companies have included Angi (formerly Angie's List), ExactTarget, and others from the Indianapolis tech ecosystem.

SpaceX is set to go public on June 12, 2026 at a $1.75 trillion valuation, the largest IPO in history. The company is targeting a $75 billion raise at $135 per share. But the S-1 filing reveals a contradiction: Starlink generates billions while the company posts a net loss, driven by the xAI merger and a massive bet on AI compute. This episode breaks down the SpaceX IPO filing. xAI posted a $2.47 billion operating loss in Q1 2026, and Starlink revenue is covering most of it. Then two compute deals changed the math. Anthropic agreed to pay $1.25 billion a month to rent xAI's Colossus 1 data center, and Google signed a $920 million per month deal, both running through 2029. Together that's about $75 billion in contracted future revenue. We cover how SpaceX shifted from running GPUs internally for Grok to operating as an AI cloud infrastructure provider, the multi-class share structure that keeps Elon Musk in control, the possible Tesla merger tying together chips, data centers, and robotics, and the FCC filing for a million-satellite "space cloud." Plus where the $600-700 billion premium above Starlink and launch is actually coming from, and what a generational liquidity event means for employees and VC backers. SpaceX IPO 2026, xAI merger, Starlink revenue, Elon Musk, $1.75 trillion valuation, Google compute deal, Anthropic Colossus, AI infrastructure, orbital computing.

Bài Giảng: Thần Học Về Công ViệcDiễn giả: Jonny ArdavanisDịch và lồng tiếng: Ánh Sáng Nơi Thương TrườngLink video:    • "Theology of Work Pt. 1" - Jonny Ardavanis  Trong bài giảng này, chúng ta sẽ đi sâu vào một chủ đề hiếm khi được đề cập đến nhưng lại vô cùng quan trọng đối với tất cả chúng ta đó là công việc. Từ Sáng Thế Ký đến Chúa Giê-su, chúng ta khám phá ra rằng Đức Chúa Trời trong Kinh Thánh không chỉ là một vị thần xa cách—Ngài là một Đức Chúa Trời làm việc. Ngài tạo dựng, duy trì và cai trị—và Ngài kêu gọi chúng ta cũng làm như vậy.Bài giảng này sẽ đề cập đến:1. Vai trò của Đức Chúa Trời với tư cách là Đấng Tạo Hóa, Đấng Duy Trì và Đấng Tác Động định hình quan điểm của chúng ta về công việc như thế nào.2. Tại sao làm việc không phải là hậu quả của sự sa ngã mà là một phần trong kế hoạch ban đầu của Chúa dành cho nhân loại3. Nguy hiểm của cả sự lười biếng và chứng nghiện công việc trong một nền văn hóa nhầm lẫn giữa nghỉ ngơi và mục đích sống.4. Cuộc sống của Chúa Giê-su như một người thợ mộc và sứ mệnh phục vụ của Ngài phản ánh sự thiêng liêng của công việc như thế nào.5. Ý nghĩa của việc mang hình ảnh của Chúa bằng cách mang lại trật tự, vẻ đẹp và sự trọn vẹn cho thế giới thông qua những việc chúng ta làm là gì?Dù bạn là CEO hay người nội trợ, thợ thủ công hay sinh viên—công việc của bạn đều quan trọng. Bạn được tạo dựng theo hình ảnh của một Đức Chúa Trời luôn làm việc. Và công việc của bạn, được thực hiện bằng đức tin và vì vinh quang của Ngài, là một ơn gọi thiêng liêng.

Michael Walrath, Chairman and CEO of Yext, returns to break down why the market has left a profitable, $400 million mid-cap public software company trading at one times revenue, even with over $100 million in EBITDA. He joins AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman to argue that the so-called SaaS apocalypse has almost no data behind it, that most AI layoffs are really a decade of go-to-market overhiring unwinding, and that boring compounders still out-return the hypergrowth darlings. Topics include how venture capital distorts software valuations, why no one is coming to help the 2021 unicorns stuck in broken cap tables, the great GTM despecialization, and the extend-and-pretend game inside venture funds. Plus, a Quiz Pro Quo on new business creation in the US and a Bulls and Bears debate on the future of mid-cap software and the stickiness of the AI platform. Read Michael's essay, No One's Coming to Help You: https://x.com/michaelpwalrath/status/2051364181237010778 Key Takeaways: - The market has left profitable mid-cap software for dead in favor of AI-native growth stories, and Michael Walrath, Chairman and CEO at Yext, leaned into how strange that is for a business that still prints cash. As he put it, "who's writing our obituary? It's the venture capitalists who are funding high-growth ARR companies," even as those same firms can't say what that ARR really means. - The loudest voices setting software valuations are venture investors, and Michael argued their certainty is out of step with their actual hit rate. He called them "remarkably sure of themselves for guys whose whole business model is being right 5 to 10% of the time," noting that being right much more often than that would mean a VC is playing it too safe. - Michael's answer to the hypergrowth-or-die mindset is that durable value comes from compounding cash flow, not chasing the next high-growth story. Pointing to a century of market history and operators like Berkshire Hathaway and Liberty Media, he said, "if you compound effectively, you will out-return these super high growth stories, unless those super high growth stories eventually become compounders." - A lot of the layoffs being blamed on AI may be a decade of go-to-market overhiring finally unwinding. Michael framed the skeptic's question directly: "is it really AI? Or is this a choice that you're making because you overhired for 10 years." Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency, agreed, pointing out that even inside the most AI-native companies he visits, the fundamental way the business runs has not really changed. Connect with the Hosts & Guests: Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/ Host: Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azaman1/ Guest: Michael Walrath, Chairman & CEO at Yext - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-walrath-b63166/ Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter: https://toplinemedia.substack.com/ Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-podcast Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-slack Chapters:  00:00 Cold Open and Intro 02:33 Dead But We Just Don't Know It 08:47 Narrative Violations and Hype 11:00 VCs Right 10% Of The Time 14:22 Whose Case Are You Making? 19:20 Why Boring Compounders Win 24:55 The SaaS Apocalypse Myth 28:47 Are AI Layoffs Really AI? 36:16 The Great GTM Despecialization 39:55 Quiz Pro Quo 48:54 No One Is Coming To Help You 55:11 Extend And Pretend 1:01:41 Doubling Cash Flow In 5 Years 1:04:17 Bulls and Bears 1:07:30 What's The AI Moat?

Episode 3290 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature story about the VC viewpoint of tunnels during the Vietnam War. The featured story is titled: Unearthing dark history in Vietnam's war tunnels It appeared on the Digital Journal of … Continue reading → The post Episode 3290 – The VC Viewpoint of Tunnels during the Vietnam War first appeared on Vietnam Veteran News.

Rupert Mayer is the founder of IPfolio, a vertical SaaS platform built for corporate intellectual property teams to manage patents, trademarks, renewals, and innovation workflows. Originally from Austria, Rupert stumbled into IP software while helping a patent law firm solve Y2K risks, then moved to Silicon Valley to build a modern cloud-based product on Salesforce for smaller in-house IP teams. IPfolio started as a lightweight alternative to legacy enterprise systems but gradually moved upmarket as customers like Dropbox, Square, GoPro, and Alphabet companies adopted the platform. Built largely on Salesforce with a lean team, the company grew steadily, signed six-figure enterprise contracts, and expanded to roughly 40 employees while serving increasingly complex global enterprises.  After raising a small strategic investment to scale faster, IPfolio grew too quickly and burned through capital chasing larger enterprise deals that took longer to close. Rupert ultimately sold the company in 2019 to a strategic partner, stayed through multiple acquisitions, and helped position IPfolio as the flagship product inside a much larger global company. Today, he is building again—this time in climate tech.  Key Takeaways Go All In - Growing software companies need full-time focus once you know the opportunity is real. Move Upmarket - Lightweight SaaS products often evolve into enterprise systems as big customers reshape the roadmap. Enterprise Leverage - Selling to innovative companies like Google accelerated product maturity and credibility faster than expected. Growth Trap - Hiring ahead of demand after rapid growth can create painful consequences when pipeline assumptions fail. Platform Advantage - Building on Salesforce dramatically reduced enterprise security, compliance, and infrastructure complexity. Quote from Rupert Mayer, Founder of IPfolio "I think the US innovation culture, especially in Silicon Valley, is very different from the business culture in Europe.  I think it's just the willingness to take risks. When I started selling, I was basically now a solo entrepreneur. When I approached big companies to buy IP Folio, the early version, I did not have big names to go out with. I was a nobody. And so I walk into, what was it at the time already, a public company in Silicon Valley. I do my demo and everyone likes the product. And then they ask the dreaded question, well, how big is your company? We're two people plus a developer. And I thought that was it. This public company will never sell from, buy from this no name, more or less solo startup. And they said, wow, that's so cool. This is great. We'd love to buy from you because 15 years ago, this company was basically just three people in the garage and someone trusted them and bought their product." Links Rupert Mayer on LinkedIn IPfolio on LinkedIn IPfolio website Podcast Sponsor – LaunchBay LaunchBay helps B2B software companies automate client onboarding and implementation so customers activate faster and everyone stays aligned. If your onboarding includes data collection, setup steps, approvals, training, or any level of customization, LaunchBay replaces the messy mix of emails, spreadsheets, and meetings with a clear, all-in-one onboarding system. Teams use LaunchBay to onboard clients faster, stay on top of follow-ups automatically, and deliver a smoother experience, without hiring more people or adding more tools. Visit launchbay.com/practical and get 25% off your first 3 months on any LaunchBay plan. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

(0:00) Coatue's Thomas Laffont joins the Besties! (0:30) Public markets are back as AI is dominates the "Unicorn Economy" (5:15) The $4T AI IPO explosion (7:48) The case for SpaceX: Compounding launch monopoly and Starlink (10:38) The 10x Paradox: Why we're seeing unprecedented scaling (15:33) Segmenting AI markets and future impact (18:32) Bestie Q&A: Power Law in AI, future of VC, where revenue is coming from, liquidity explosion Thanks to our partners for making this possible! EY - Agentic AI is introducing a new investment discipline. As AI shifts to consumption-based models, EY connects spend to enterprise value. https://www.ey.com/en_us/insights/ai/agentic-ai-token-costs?WT.mc_id=3501318&AA.tsrc=sponsorship NYSE - Thank you to our partner, the New York Stock Exchange - a modern marketplace and exchange for building the future. It all happens at the NYSE. https://www.nyse.com Plaud - Never miss a moment. Plaud, our official wearable AI note-taking partner at All-In Liquidity Summit, captured every insight. https://www.plaud.ai Apply for Summit 2026: ⁠https://allin.com/events⁠ Follow the besties: ⁠https://x.com/chamath⁠ ⁠https://x.com/Jason⁠ ⁠https://x.com/DavidSacks⁠ ⁠https://x.com/friedberg⁠ Follow on X: ⁠https://x.com/theallinpod⁠ Follow on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod⁠ Follow on TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod⁠ Follow on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod⁠ Intro Music Credit: ⁠https://rb.gy/tppkzl⁠ ⁠https://x.com/yung_spielburg

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.In this episode, I'm joined by three deep tech investors and friends of the show, Nate Williams, Sunil Nagaraj, and Guy Perelmuter, for a roundtable on the state of deep tech and the changing venture landscape. We dig into what deep tech really means today, why it's suddenly attracting so much capital, and how economics, government tailwinds, and AI as a “killer app” have pulled these once niche technologies into the mainstream. We also explore the growing concentration of capital in a handful of hyperscale winners, the tension between consensus vs. non-consensus investing, and what all of this means for emerging managers, LPs, and founders operating at the zero-to-one stage.Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Nate, Sunil, and Guy. If you'd like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listening.Nate Williams is the Founder and Managing Partner of DeepTech seed firm UNION (Union Labs, Union Peak VC funds) and formerly served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at Kleiner Perkins focusing on vertical “Physical AI” opportunities across Climate/Resilience, PropTech, and Mobility. Nate has made over 40 early-stage investments, including Urban Sky, Butlr, Antimatter (acquired by Databricks), Proxy (acquired by Oura), Ruby Robotics (acquired by Intuitive Surgical) and Klue (acquired by Medtronic). Before transitioning to full-time VC, Nate built a track record as a hands-on operator with senior leadership roles across startup, growth, and turnaround stages, culminating in successful exits for 4Home (to Motorola, 2010), Motorola Mobility (to Google, 2012), Motorola Home (to ARRIS, 2013), and August Home (to Assa Abloy, 2017). Earlier in his career, Nate was an Analyst in the Digital Home Group at Intel Corp. Nate holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a Bachelor's degree in Comms from the University of Connecticut.Sunil Nagaraj is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ubiquity Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm investing in “software beyond the screen,” including robotics, AI, industrial automation, and frontier technologies. Prior to founding Ubiquity, Sunil spent over a decade at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he invested in companies across cloud computing, developer tools, and emerging technologies. He is widely recognized for his early conviction in deep tech and infrastructure-driven innovation before it became mainstream in venture capital.Guy Perelmuter is the Founder and Managing Partner of GRIDS Capital, a venture firm focused on deep tech, AI, and advanced industrial technologies. With a background spanning engineering, technology, and investing, Guy has built his career around backing highly technical founders tackling complex global problems. He is known for his insights into the convergence of AI, infrastructure, and industrial transformation, as well as his emphasis on technical depth and long-term value creation in venture investing.Timestamps:Topics in this conversation include:* Definition of Deep Tech by Technical Prowess and Advanced Engineering (2:51)* Hardcore Technology, Difficulty to Build, and Hardware Misconceptions (3:51)* Drivers Of Deep Tech Tailwinds: Maturing Technologies and Government Push (6:12)* Excess Investor Interest After SpaceX and Other Breakout Successes (9:18)* Historical Analogy to Electrification and AI as New Infrastructure Layer (14:43)* Need For Specialized Deep Tech Expertise and New VC Org Structures (19:36)* Schizophrenic Risk-on Behavior and King-making of Consensus Winners (22:08)* Why Normal M and A and IPO Outcomes Still Matter For Smaller Funds (26:53)* Fund Proliferation, New Managers, and What Will Prove Transient (28:49)* Access Capital, Hollywood-ization of Venture, and Coming Bust Risks (33:34)* Consensus Growth Obsession, 10x Expectations, and Metric Distortions (38:02)* How Seed Managers Adapt and Curate Downstream Capital for Portfolios (41:01)* Founder-led Investor Selection and Power Shifting To Specialist Seed GPs (44:53)* Myths About VC Impact, Trend Surfing, and Overstated GP Influence (48:18)* Final Thoughts and Takeaways (53:11)Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Cats are 40% of the pet market, but are somehow still chronically overlooked. Every innovation goes to dogs first. Even your vet's office is built for dogs first. Matt Michaelson, cofounder and CEO of Smalls, and his team have built an incredible cat-first brand precisely because of that blind spot.In this episode, I sit down with Matt to break down:• Why the cat industry is structurally underinvested (which includes VCs simply saying "I don't really like cats")• What "human-grade" actually means for pet food — and the sustainability trade-offs nobody talks about• Ingredient splitting: the regulatory hack that lets pet brands disguise what's actually in the bag• "Wrestling in the mud": a feedback culture where every hire is expected to disagree• Founders Pledge, and why committing 5% early changes the giving conversation laterBig thanks to Matt for coming on the pod and sharing the playbook behind Smalls.⏱️ Chapter Markers:00:00 — Why cats keep getting overlooked01:05 — What is Smalls? Cat-first brand, human-grade nutrition02:09 — What "human-grade" actually means (and the sustainability trade-off)04:26 — Health impact: allergies, ingredient splitting, and the regulatory hack06:31 — Why Matt chose cats: the market psychology nobody's pricing in07:20 — Why every VC and pet brand defaults to dogs first09:21 — From growth marketing to founder: building demand in a commoditized stack11:48 — Emerging channels worth watching (and why DTC is just a channel, not a model)13:17 — AI-native orgs: how the team uses AI without becoming a tech company16:01 — Human-supervised AI teams and what entry-level jobs look like now17:26 — "Wrestling in the mud": the air-grievances feedback culture19:39 — Founders Pledge: committing 5% early changes the whole conversation21:05 — Ingredient transparency: percentages on the label, fixing the labeling game23:32 — MPD's closing thoughts on the cat opportunityLinks:Matt Michaelson: LinkedIn Smalls: Website, LinkedIn, X Interplay: Website, LinkedIn, XMPD: LinkedIn, X

Dan Nathan welcomes Notable Capital partner Jeff Richards to discuss how public-market concentration and multiple expansion in mega-cap tech are influencing private-market valuations. Richards explains Notable's evolution from GGV Capital and its investments across AI and software, then argues that AI adoption is accelerating rapidly, citing publicly reported Anthropic run-rate growth and broad “token path” benefits for infrastructure and select software. He highlights cybersecurity as a key beneficiary as agents increase enterprise risk and could drive continued growth for leaders like CrowdStrike and Palo Alto, while noting stretched valuations and advising patience for pullbacks. The conversation covers Google's equity raise and Berkshire's participation, Microsoft's questions beyond Azure, and why Richards recently bought Meta. They address enterprise “sticker shock” for AI usage, the shift to measuring output, SaaS durability vs. internal builds at startups, talent-driven M&A, rising VC interest in robotics, and potential IPO demand for SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI amid signs of frothy market behavior. —FOLLOW USYouTube: @RiskReversalMediaInstagram: @riskreversalmediaTwitter: @RiskReversalLinkedIn: RiskReversal Media

Fundrise CEO Ben Miller goes Inside the ICE House to discuss democratizing access to private markets and venture capital. He explains how staying private longer has concentrated wealth and why opening these markets to everyday investors is critical. Miller outlines Fundrise's push into venture through its Innovation Fund and its index-like approach to VC investing. He also explores how AI is reshaping investor education, decision-making, and the broader financial system.

In this episode, we sit down with investor and writer Ilona Limonta-Volkova to explore the intersection of VC, storytelling, and innovation in FinTech. Ilona shares her perspective on identifying emerging trends, backing founders, and translating complex financial ideas into compelling narratives. We also dive into her journey across markets and what it takes to think like both an investor and a communicator in a rapidly evolving industry. If you enjoy this episode you can hear more from Ilona on her platforms https://bearandthebull.beehiiv.com/ and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/money-memories/id1522819765.

In this episode, Chris sits down with Josh Zegen, Co-Founder & Managing Principal of Madison Realty Capital, a $25 billion real estate private credit firm he started with his college roommate in 2004. They dig into how he built one of the largest private lenders in the country starting from a desk in his dad's law office - and why he still thinks of himself as a businessman first and a real estate guy second. Josh got into lending almost by accident. Laid off from a VC firm at 26 when the dot-com bubble burst, he took one mortgage deal nobody else would do, saw how fragmented and non-institutional the market was, and built a fund around it before "private credit" meant anything. Chris and Josh go deep on surviving '08, reinventing the business when capital dried up, and how Madison grew into a platform that now lends to other lenders. They discuss: How Josh went from a laid-off VC associate living back home to founding a $25B firm Surviving '09 - including giving up 50% of the company for a $50M anchor that collapsed at the last minute Why he built servicing, asset management, and capital raising in-house instead of outsourcing The $10B back-leverage book that makes Madison the lender to ~100 other private lenders The $720M single loan behind the largest office-to-residential conversion in NYC Where he sees real estate credit headed - and why he stays away from office, data centers, and anything "binary" Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:52) Rate Volatility and a Stalled CRE Investment Market(09:44) What's Getting Done Today: Construction, Conversions, and Recaps(18:49) Founding Madison: Seeing Opportunity in a Fragmented Market(25:19) The GFC: Gating Investors and Going Vertically Integrated(31:26) The $50M REIT Deal That Nearly Ended Madison—And the Door It Opened(44:28) Why Borrowers Now Prefer Private Credit Over Banks(47:17) In-House Loan Servicing as Madison's Competitive Edge(49:06) The Back Leverage Business: Lending to Private Lenders(55:35) Capital Markets Expansion and Staying True to Real Estate(1:05:55) The Pfizer Deal, Lifecycle Lending, and Madison's Road Ahead(1:15:06) Staying Relevant by Constantly Innovating and Looking for Acquisition Opportunities ----- Presented by Airshare: Trusted across the country for fractional ownership, jet cards, charter, and aircraft management, Airshare gives you a smarter way to fly private - over 25 years of experience, operating their own fleet, with the top safety ratings in the industry. Drive up to the FBO, walk on, and go. Go to flyairshare.com to learn more. ----- Sponsored by: Collateral Partners builds institutional-grade investor materials for private credit, private equity, real estate, and family office firms - the kind of marketing collateral that helps you close capital. Learn more at collateral.com/fort. Relay Human Cloud helps you build a highly skilled global team that operates as a true part of your business - not an outsourced vendor. From accounting to operations, Relay's talent works inside your systems and alongside your local team, unlocking 24-hour productivity and significant cost savings. Learn more at https://www.relayhumancloud.com/powers-podcast/ ----- Chris on Social Media: X: https://x.com/fortworthchris Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepowerspodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Visit our website: https://www.powerspod.com/Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO