Podcasts about Venture capital

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome David Clark, CIO at Vencap, who unpacks the realities of venture capital, emphasizing a data-driven approach to understanding returns, the persistent and intensifying “power law” in VC, and why only a small percentage of funds and companies drive outsized results. The discussion covers the challenges of evaluating new managers versus established firms, the nuances of secondary investments, and the critical importance of consistent, top-tier fund performance. Listeners will gain insight into the pitfalls of confirmation bias, the difficulties facing retail investors, and why strategy, transparency, and adaptability are key for long-term VC success. Also don't miss Rebecca Stuart of Sidley as she explains how unprecedented AI-focused acqui-hires function as talent raids that can bypass standard change-of-control protections. She also outlines legal and structural strategies VCs and startups can use like broadened definitions of change of control, retention and vesting design, and coordinated employment/comp practices, to better protect portfolios and key teams. Highlights from this week's conversation include: Welcoming David to the Show and Previewing Today's Episode (0:18) David's Shift From Traditional LP Diligence to Data-Driven Investing (2:48)   How Long Feedback Loops and Unknown Unknowns Shape Venture Outcomes (5:16)   Confirmation Bias, Narratives, and Doing Pre-Meeting Homework on Managers (6:55)   Pattern Recognition and What World-Class Founders Look Like (8:49)   Using Power Laws and Top 1% Companies as the Core LP Filter (10:40)   Why Singles and Doubles Rarely Add Up to Great Venture Funds (13:46)   AI Acqui-Hires, Talent Raids, and Risks to VC Portfolios (17:20)   Deal Structures That Avoid Change of Control and LP Protections (19:04)   Retention Tools, Forfeiture for Competition, and Staggered Vesting Cliffs (20:53)   Democratization of VC, 401(k) Investors, and the Risk of Disappointment (25:22)   Emerging Managers and the Myth of the Middle Class in Venture (30:58)   Venture Secondaries, Premium Pricing, and Why Discounts Can Be Misleading (36:04)   Scope Creep, Platform Expansion, and When LPs Disengage From Big Firms (42:06)   VenCap is one of the longest-running dedicated venture capital fund-of-funds globally, investing in many of the world's leading VC firms for over three decades. The firm's strategy emphasizes long-term consistency, deep relationship networks, and concentrated exposure to top-tier venture capital companies across cycles. Sidley Austin LLP is a premier global law firm with a dedicated Venture Funds practice, advising top venture capital firms, institutional investors, and private equity sponsors on fund formation, investment structuring, and regulatory compliance. With deep expertise across private markets, Sidley provides strategic legal counsel to help funds scale effectively. Learn more at sidley.com. Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies.  The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kapil Surlaker, VP of Engineering, Data and AI Infrastructure at LinkedIn, joins guest host Bhaskar Ghosh for a technical and thoughtful discussion on how AI is reshaping enterprise. Kapil shares how LinkedIn built strong data foundations over more than a decade, and how that foundation enabled generative and agentic AI use cases. He reflects on building Espresso, a distributed database created out of necessity, and explains why he would not build it again today. The conversation explores AI infrastructure, model flexibility, privacy guardrails, and operational responsibility. His message to leaders is clear. Reinvent yourself continuously, or risk becoming irrelevant. In this episode, you'll learn: [04:07] From personalization to hiring agents [08:30] Modern AI infrastructure and model flexibility [14:58] Why LinkedIn built Espresso [23:08] AI can write code but you own the pager [26:33] Data as a success layer [30:06] Privacy, governance, and guardrails in the AI age [37:56] Reinvent or go extinct About Kapil Surlaker Kapil Surlaker is a seasoned technology leader who has worked across distributed systems, large-scale databases, and AI infrastructure. He began his career at Oracle building foundational database technologies before joining LinkedIn during its hypergrowth phase. At LinkedIn, he played a central role in building Espresso, a massively scalable distributed document database, and later led AI and data platform modernization efforts that powered personalization, ads, search, and emerging generative AI use cases. His work spans infrastructure, privacy engineering, governance systems, and enterprise AI transformation. Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode.

Join Prashanth Swaminathan, Co-Founder and CEO of Zynk, for a deep dive into the hidden plumbing of global commerce. After a decade at Morgan Stanley managing billions in structured loans, Prashanth is now tackling one of the most persistent bottlenecks in finance: the inefficiency of correspondent banking. In this episode, we explore how Zynk is building an embedded transaction-level infrastructure that enables instant settlement without the need for traditional pre-funding—liberating capital for global startups and enterprises.

Career regret is more common than most professionals admit. In Bill Gurley's survey, 7 out of 10 people said they would restart their careers if given the chance, revealing widespread dissatisfaction with their chosen paths. After decades of working alongside successful founders, Bill distilled what actually leads to meaningful, energizing work into his book  Running Down a Dream, offering a clear path to designing a career you don't want to escape from. Now on Spotify video! In this episode, Bill reveals how to build your dream job and shares what top professionals do differently to create careers that bring both success and fulfillment. In this episode, Hala and Bill will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:17) The Career Regret Crisis (06:57) Designing Your Own Career Path (12:53) How Curiosity Over Passion Drives Success (22:10) Bill's Journey From Engineering to Venture Capital (28:45) Mastering Career Fundamentals for Growth (41:34) The Power of Mentors and Peers in Career Development (52:10) Dot-Com Crash Lessons and the AI Wave (54:20) Unit Economics and Business Fundamentals (1:06:39) Smart ROI Decisions for Entrepreneurs (1:16:47) Making Tough Calls in Leadership (1:21:34) Traits of Extraordinary Founders Bill Gurley is a renowned Silicon Valley venture capitalist and general partner at Benchmark, known for early, pivotal investments in companies like Uber, Zillow, and Grubhub. With over 20 years at Benchmark, he is recognized as a top tech investor and the author of the influential blog Above the Crowd. In his new book, Running Down a Dream, Bill breaks down the components of balancing joy with success and identifies the key principles of career fulfillment. Sponsored By: Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at⁠ Indeed.com/profiting⁠ Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at⁠ Shopify.com/profiting⁠. Spectrum Business - Keep your business connected seamlessly. Visit ⁠https://spectrum.com/Business⁠ to learn more. Northwest Registered Agent - Build your brand and get your complete business identity at⁠ northwestregisteredagent.com/paidyap⁠ Framer - Publish beautiful and production-ready websites. Go to⁠ Framer.com/profiting⁠ and get 30% off their Framer Pro annual plan. Quo - Run your business communications the smart way. Try Quo for free, plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to⁠ quo.com/profiting⁠ Working Genius - Discover your natural gifts and thrive at work. Go to⁠ workinggenius.com⁠ and get 20% off with code PROFITING Experian - Manage and cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reduce your bills. See ⁠experian.com⁠ for details. Huel -  Get all the daily nutrients you need with Huel. Grab Huel today and get 15% OFF with my code PROFITING at⁠ huel.com/PROFITING⁠.  Resources Mentioned: Bill's Book, Running Down A Dream: ⁠bit.ly/BGDream⁠  Bill's X (Twitter): ⁠x.com/bgurley⁠  Bill's Website: ⁠abovethecrowd.com⁠  Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett: ⁠bit.ly/BB-DYL⁠  One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch: ⁠bit.ly/PL-OUOWS⁠  Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen: ⁠bit.ly/CC-ID⁠  Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey: ⁠bit.ly/MM-GL⁠  Active Deals -⁠ youngandprofiting.com/deals⁠  Key YAP Links Reviews -⁠ ratethispodcast.com/yap⁠ YouTube -⁠ youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting⁠ Newsletter - ⁠youngandprofiting.co/newsletter⁠  LinkedIn -⁠ linkedin.com/in/htaha/⁠ Instagram -⁠ instagram.com/yapwithhala/⁠ Social + Podcast Services:⁠ yapmedia.com⁠ Transcripts -⁠ youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new⁠  Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Marketing, Negotiation, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Growth Mindset, Business Ideas, Growth Hacks, Workplace, Career Podcast

What began as a 14 year old fixing infected computers became Malwarebytes, an 800 person cybersecurity company trusted by millions of customers.On Grit, Marcin Kleczynski joins Joubin Mirzadegan to explore AI driven cyber threats, strategic reinvention, and the discipline of evolving before the market forces you to.“We've exceeded. Now, what do we do to protect individuals against the next wave of threats, which are plentiful?”Guest: Marcin Kleczynski, CEO at MalwarebytesConnect with Marcin KleczynskiX: https://x.com/mkleczynskiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcinkleczynski/Connect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854/Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comFollow on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/kpgritFollow on X:https://x.com/KPGrit​Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: https://www.kleinerperkins.com/

"Strip out the bullsh*t." Brian Garrett reveals the hard-won lessons from 18+ years in venture capital and how he survived his most devastating year yet.Discover why one of LA's most seasoned investors is pivoting away from generalist VC to go all-in on Frontier Tech and the "techno-industrial era."In this episode of Demo Day, we sit down with Brian Garrett, Partner at Crosscut Ventures. Brian has spent nearly two decades at the center of the LA startup ecosystem, but 2025 changed everything. From losing his home in the Palisades fires to navigating profound personal loss, Brian shares a raw, unfiltered look at the resilience required to lead in the world of high-stakes venture capital.We dive deep into the "techno-economic analysis" Crosscut now uses to evaluate seed-stage companies in space, defense, and energy. Brian breaks down the common mistakes founders make when pitching, the difference between confidence and arrogance, and why the "lead investor" brand matters more than ever in today's fundraising landscape. Whether you are a founder raising your first round or an investor looking for the next paradigm shift, this episode offers a masterclass in staying focused on what truly matters.Key Takeaways:The Synthesizer Superpower: How to distill complex ideas into three sentences.Frontier Tech Thesis: Why Crosscut is betting on energy independence and the re-industrialization of America.The "Why Now" Question: What VCs are actually looking for in a defensive fundraising market.Personal Resilience: How to find joy and purpose after a "gut punch" year.

In this episode of The Circuit, Ben Bajarin, Jay Goldberg, and Paul Karazuba discuss the current state of the semiconductor industry, focusing on the impact of tariffs, supply chain challenges, and the shift from copper to fiber in networking. They explore the inflection points driving demand for AI compute and the potential for mergers and acquisitions in the sector. The conversation highlights the complexities of navigating geopolitical tensions and the evolving landscape of technology and infrastructure.

Welcome to The Exited Founder Podcast, a production of Exitwise!This show is built on one simple idea: founders helping founders. Every episode features a successful Exited Founder who has been through the highs, the lows, and the life-changing moment of selling their business, and is now paying it forward by sharing everything they learned along the way.You'll hear first-hand exit stories from founders across dozens of industries, what they wish they did differently during the M&A process, their takes on current trends, and how they're using their experience to help the next generation of business owners navigate their exit strategy and maximize the value of their company.Every guest is an Exited Founder who now works as an M&A advisor with Exitwise, bringing deep industry expertise and real networks to help founders like you get the exit you deserve. Whether you're thinking about selling your business, preparing for an acquisition, or just starting to explore what an exit could look like, this podcast is for you.Meet our incredible experts and explore the Exited Founder Marketplace at exitwise.com/exited-foundersListen wherever you get your podcasts.

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Ed Zimmerman, chair of the Emerging Companies & Venture Capital group at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, about founder breakups. Gary and Ed discuss common causes of founder fallouts, and various options to handle the departing founder's equity. Ed reveals what he believes is the most important thing in a separation agreement. Ed also tells Gary a couple of war stories. Ed ends by giving some advice to legal counsel steering companies through founder breakups.

The following article of the Trade & Investment industry is: “Venture Capital in 2026: A New Turning Point” by Denis Yris, Founder & CEO, WORTEV CAPITAL (AA2306)

OpenClaw's creator makes headlines by joining OpenAI after GitHub fame and a whirlwind of VC and big tech offers, redefining what's possible for independent developers in the AI arms race. Is this the year agentic AI goes mainstream, and are the big players ready for that disruption? OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future | Peter Steinberger OpenAI disbands mission alignment team Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw. - The New York Times Introducing GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute Google's Pixel 10a Launches on March 5 for $499 Google's AI drug discovery spinoff Isomorphic Labs claims major leap beyond AlphaFold 3 Gemini 3 Deep Think: AI model update designed for science Radio host David Greene says Google's NotebookLM tool stole his voice A new way to express yourself: Gemini can now create music Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood GPT-5 outperforms federal judges 100% to 52% in legal reasoning experiment An AI project is creating videos to go with Supreme Court justices' real words I used Claude to negotiate $163,000 off a hospital bill. In a complex healthcare system, AI is giving patients power. Sony Tech Can Identify Original Music in AI-Generated Songs AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li's Startup World Labs Raises $1 Billion Yann v. Yoshua on directed systems Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me An Ars Technica Reporter Blamed A.I. Tools for Fabricating Quotes in a Bizarre A.I. Story Plain Dealer using AI to write reporters' stories Mediahuis trials use of AI agents to carry out 'first-line' news reporting DJI's first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can't trust Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand 'Search Party' Surveillance Beyond Dogs ai;dr I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being Thanks a lot, AI: Hard drives are sold out for the year, says WD Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School peon-ping — Stop babysitting your terminal Hugo Barra makes a to-do agent Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Emily Forlini Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM bitwarden.com/twit preview.modulate.ai spaceship.com/twit

OpenClaw's creator makes headlines by joining OpenAI after GitHub fame and a whirlwind of VC and big tech offers, redefining what's possible for independent developers in the AI arms race. Is this the year agentic AI goes mainstream, and are the big players ready for that disruption? OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future | Peter Steinberger OpenAI disbands mission alignment team Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw. - The New York Times Introducing GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute Google's Pixel 10a Launches on March 5 for $499 Google's AI drug discovery spinoff Isomorphic Labs claims major leap beyond AlphaFold 3 Gemini 3 Deep Think: AI model update designed for science Radio host David Greene says Google's NotebookLM tool stole his voice A new way to express yourself: Gemini can now create music Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood GPT-5 outperforms federal judges 100% to 52% in legal reasoning experiment An AI project is creating videos to go with Supreme Court justices' real words I used Claude to negotiate $163,000 off a hospital bill. In a complex healthcare system, AI is giving patients power. Sony Tech Can Identify Original Music in AI-Generated Songs AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li's Startup World Labs Raises $1 Billion Yann v. Yoshua on directed systems Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me An Ars Technica Reporter Blamed A.I. Tools for Fabricating Quotes in a Bizarre A.I. Story Plain Dealer using AI to write reporters' stories Mediahuis trials use of AI agents to carry out 'first-line' news reporting DJI's first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can't trust Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand 'Search Party' Surveillance Beyond Dogs ai;dr I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being Thanks a lot, AI: Hard drives are sold out for the year, says WD Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School peon-ping — Stop babysitting your terminal Hugo Barra makes a to-do agent Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Emily Forlini Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM bitwarden.com/twit preview.modulate.ai spaceship.com/twit

OpenClaw's creator makes headlines by joining OpenAI after GitHub fame and a whirlwind of VC and big tech offers, redefining what's possible for independent developers in the AI arms race. Is this the year agentic AI goes mainstream, and are the big players ready for that disruption? OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future | Peter Steinberger OpenAI disbands mission alignment team Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw. - The New York Times Introducing GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute Google's Pixel 10a Launches on March 5 for $499 Google's AI drug discovery spinoff Isomorphic Labs claims major leap beyond AlphaFold 3 Gemini 3 Deep Think: AI model update designed for science Radio host David Greene says Google's NotebookLM tool stole his voice A new way to express yourself: Gemini can now create music Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood GPT-5 outperforms federal judges 100% to 52% in legal reasoning experiment An AI project is creating videos to go with Supreme Court justices' real words I used Claude to negotiate $163,000 off a hospital bill. In a complex healthcare system, AI is giving patients power. Sony Tech Can Identify Original Music in AI-Generated Songs AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li's Startup World Labs Raises $1 Billion Yann v. Yoshua on directed systems Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me An Ars Technica Reporter Blamed A.I. Tools for Fabricating Quotes in a Bizarre A.I. Story Plain Dealer using AI to write reporters' stories Mediahuis trials use of AI agents to carry out 'first-line' news reporting DJI's first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can't trust Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand 'Search Party' Surveillance Beyond Dogs ai;dr I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being Thanks a lot, AI: Hard drives are sold out for the year, says WD Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School peon-ping — Stop babysitting your terminal Hugo Barra makes a to-do agent Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Emily Forlini Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM bitwarden.com/twit preview.modulate.ai spaceship.com/twit

OpenClaw's creator makes headlines by joining OpenAI after GitHub fame and a whirlwind of VC and big tech offers, redefining what's possible for independent developers in the AI arms race. Is this the year agentic AI goes mainstream, and are the big players ready for that disruption? OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future | Peter Steinberger OpenAI disbands mission alignment team Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw. - The New York Times Introducing GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute Google's Pixel 10a Launches on March 5 for $499 Google's AI drug discovery spinoff Isomorphic Labs claims major leap beyond AlphaFold 3 Gemini 3 Deep Think: AI model update designed for science Radio host David Greene says Google's NotebookLM tool stole his voice A new way to express yourself: Gemini can now create music Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood GPT-5 outperforms federal judges 100% to 52% in legal reasoning experiment An AI project is creating videos to go with Supreme Court justices' real words I used Claude to negotiate $163,000 off a hospital bill. In a complex healthcare system, AI is giving patients power. Sony Tech Can Identify Original Music in AI-Generated Songs AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li's Startup World Labs Raises $1 Billion Yann v. Yoshua on directed systems Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me An Ars Technica Reporter Blamed A.I. Tools for Fabricating Quotes in a Bizarre A.I. Story Plain Dealer using AI to write reporters' stories Mediahuis trials use of AI agents to carry out 'first-line' news reporting DJI's first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can't trust Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand 'Search Party' Surveillance Beyond Dogs ai;dr I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being Thanks a lot, AI: Hard drives are sold out for the year, says WD Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School peon-ping — Stop babysitting your terminal Hugo Barra makes a to-do agent Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Emily Forlini Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM bitwarden.com/twit preview.modulate.ai spaceship.com/twit

Shahar Goldboim is the Founder and CEO of Boom, an AI-enabled property management platform for short-term rental portfolios built by operators. Shahar is an entrepreneur and builder, and he launched Boom with his two sibblings after identifying real-world operational pain points inside a large South Florida property management company as it scaled. Under his leadership, Boom delivers comprehensive software that simplifies workflows, increases revenue, and reduces costs for property managers.(02:15) - Why Short-Term Rentals Are the Hardest Asset Class(02:44) - Fragmentation and the Review-Driven Revenue Trap(04:13) - The Spark: A Miami Airbnb Experiment(05:30) - From Airbnb Host to Property Manager(07:31) - Software Fragmentation in STR Ops(07:55) - From SaaS to Baas (Business-as-Software)(09:09) - Boom, the AI PMS(12:47) - Enabling Proactive Ops(13:51) - The $12M+ Fundraise(14:47) - Winning Investors with Hospitality & Tech Credibility(16:53) - Feature: Blueprint Vegas 2026(17:46) - STR Market Context and the Vacasa Lesson(21:03) - Replacing Point Solutions(23:47) - ROI, AI Moats, Future of STR Ops(32:06) - Collaboration Superpower: Tony Robbins (Wiki)

OpenClaw's creator makes headlines by joining OpenAI after GitHub fame and a whirlwind of VC and big tech offers, redefining what's possible for independent developers in the AI arms race. Is this the year agentic AI goes mainstream, and are the big players ready for that disruption? OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future | Peter Steinberger OpenAI disbands mission alignment team Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw. - The New York Times Introducing GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute Google's Pixel 10a Launches on March 5 for $499 Google's AI drug discovery spinoff Isomorphic Labs claims major leap beyond AlphaFold 3 Gemini 3 Deep Think: AI model update designed for science Radio host David Greene says Google's NotebookLM tool stole his voice A new way to express yourself: Gemini can now create music Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood GPT-5 outperforms federal judges 100% to 52% in legal reasoning experiment An AI project is creating videos to go with Supreme Court justices' real words I used Claude to negotiate $163,000 off a hospital bill. In a complex healthcare system, AI is giving patients power. Sony Tech Can Identify Original Music in AI-Generated Songs AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li's Startup World Labs Raises $1 Billion Yann v. Yoshua on directed systems Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me An Ars Technica Reporter Blamed A.I. Tools for Fabricating Quotes in a Bizarre A.I. Story Plain Dealer using AI to write reporters' stories Mediahuis trials use of AI agents to carry out 'first-line' news reporting DJI's first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can't trust Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand 'Search Party' Surveillance Beyond Dogs ai;dr I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being Thanks a lot, AI: Hard drives are sold out for the year, says WD Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School peon-ping — Stop babysitting your terminal Hugo Barra makes a to-do agent Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Emily Forlini Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM bitwarden.com/twit preview.modulate.ai spaceship.com/twit

The decision to bootstrap a business or raise venture capital is not just financial. It is physics. You are choosing which system to operate within, which rules will govern your company, and whose incentives will shape your options at every inflection point. Rob Taylor has lived both realities. He spent years building venture-backed companies, raising millions in institutional capital. His brother Chris bootstrapped a company for 20 years and owned nearly 100% at exit. They sold their companies the same year and ended up in roughly the same place financially. The question is what do you optimize for, and the nature of that question is changing daily in the age of AI. Recorded live at Red Fridge Society.The Agenda0:00 Intro + Defining Bootstrap vs. VC 7:23 Is Your Business VC-Backable 11:54 The Ecosystem You Gain with Institutional Capital 15:03 The Ownership Curve 20:36 Control and Governance 26:24 Disruption in the AI Era 32:41 How Fund Size Shapes Investment Behavior 37:43 The Bootstrap-VC Overlap 40:54 Choosing Your Partner 45:14 The Incremental Approach to RaisingGuest LinksRob Taylor: LinkedIn, Silverton PartnersRed Fridge Society -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

The daughter of a hospital administrator, Amy Gleason never considered a career in the public sector – she went straight into healthcare. As an emergency room nurse, she started to see the dangers that unfold when healthcare providers don't have access to the information they need to treat patients. Those experiences drove her towards a tech career in the emerging electronic health records space before a very personal experience altered her professional path yet again.Amy's active and healthy 10-year old daughter began suffering unusual healthcare events, from rashes and headaches to broken bones. Eventually, she couldn't walk. It took more than a year from the start of these symptoms for doctors to diagnose her with a rare autoimmune disease. Even then, it was an accidental diagnosis from a dermatologist conducting a skin biopsy.Amy attributes the delayed diagnosis to siloed data, not unsimilar to the challenges she experienced as a nurse and was working to solve in the EHR space. It motivated her to co-found a company focused on helping patients with chronic diseases access their data to share it with the providers and family members helping to navigate complex care journeys.In 2015, Amy's work earned her an award from the White House for Champions of Change in Precision Medicine – her first foray into the public sector. By 2018, she entered civic service full time with a role at the United States Digital Service, which she describes as “DOGE 1.0.”In this episode of Healthcare is Hard, Amy talked to Keith Figlioli about the work she's doing now as Strategic Advisor to CMS and Administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service, where her main mission is modernizing technology across government agencies for the millions of people who rely on federal services every day. This ranges from modernizing FAFSA and the student loan process, to improving the Visa system ahead of the World Cup, and work on various critical healthcare systems. Some of the topics Amy and Keith discussed in this episode, include:Bold plans for a Digital Health Ecosystem. Launched in July 2025, CMS' Health Tech Ecosystem is a public-private partnership designed as a voluntary, fast-moving alternative to slow rulemaking. Rather than years of regulation, the program uses pledges, working groups, and short development cycles to put interoperability building blocks and real patient-facing use cases in place. The goal is to get usable capabilities into the market in months – not years – let the community iterate, and have baseline use cases live by March 31, 2026 with more advanced capabilities rolling out by July.Carrots and sticks before regulation. Recognizing the limitations of regulation, Amy talked about a new philosophy for incentivizing the market to change behaviors on its own first. “Carrots” include the rural health transformation fund and the recently introduced ACCESS model, a 10-year pilot that, for the first time, lets tech-enabled services bill Medicare directly. “Sticks” include stricter enforcement of information-blocking rules.Replacing the 1970s-era Medicare claims system. Amy discussed plans to replace Medicare's decades-old COBOL-based adjudication platform. While it's a stable platform, it can't support real-time processing, AI, or rapid change. To replace it, CMS is looking to commercial, off-the-shelf solutions that operate at scale so claims processing can be modernized, made real-time, and integrated with new interoperability rails. It's a concrete example of bringing modern engineering and product thinking to government technology.To hear Amy and Keith discuss these topics and more, listen to this episode of Healthcare is Hard: A Podcast for Insiders.

OpenClaw's creator makes headlines by joining OpenAI after GitHub fame and a whirlwind of VC and big tech offers, redefining what's possible for independent developers in the AI arms race. Is this the year agentic AI goes mainstream, and are the big players ready for that disruption? OpenClaw, OpenAI and the future | Peter Steinberger OpenAI disbands mission alignment team Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw. - The New York Times Introducing GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute Google's Pixel 10a Launches on March 5 for $499 Google's AI drug discovery spinoff Isomorphic Labs claims major leap beyond AlphaFold 3 Gemini 3 Deep Think: AI model update designed for science Radio host David Greene says Google's NotebookLM tool stole his voice A new way to express yourself: Gemini can now create music Why an A.I. Video of Tom Cruise Battling Brad Pitt Spooked Hollywood GPT-5 outperforms federal judges 100% to 52% in legal reasoning experiment An AI project is creating videos to go with Supreme Court justices' real words I used Claude to negotiate $163,000 off a hospital bill. In a complex healthcare system, AI is giving patients power. Sony Tech Can Identify Original Music in AI-Generated Songs AI Pioneer Fei-Fei Li's Startup World Labs Raises $1 Billion Yann v. Yoshua on directed systems Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me An Ars Technica Reporter Blamed A.I. Tools for Fabricating Quotes in a Bizarre A.I. Story Plain Dealer using AI to write reporters' stories Mediahuis trials use of AI agents to carry out 'first-line' news reporting DJI's first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can't trust Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand 'Search Party' Surveillance Beyond Dogs ai;dr I hate my AI pet with every fiber of my being Thanks a lot, AI: Hard drives are sold out for the year, says WD Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School peon-ping — Stop babysitting your terminal Hugo Barra makes a to-do agent Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Emily Forlini Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code IM bitwarden.com/twit preview.modulate.ai spaceship.com/twit

In This Episode Guest:Chris Van DusenMarketing & Sales | Private Equity | Corporate StrategyChris Van Dusen is a marketing and growth professional with extensive early-stage and capitalization experience. He is the founder of Parcon Media (now Parcon LLC), former Chief Growth Officer of Balanced Health Botanicals, and a key growth partner behind Surf City Still Works.About Chris Van DusenChris launched Parcon Media and scaled it to $1.5M in top-line revenue in under two years before merging into what is now Parcon LLC. The agency worked with brands including Travis Mathew, Experian, University of California Irvine, University of California Office of the President, and Maglite.As Chief Growth Officer of Balanced Health Botanicals (BHB) in Denver, CO, Chris allocated and deployed a ~$20 million marketing budget to democratize CBD and scale BHB into the largest supplier of hemp-derived CBD globally. His strategy fueled massive DTC and brick-and-mortar growth through 2019 and navigated the shifting COVID-19 landscape in 2020—culminating in a $75M sale to Village Farms (NASDAQ: VFF) in August 2021.Simultaneously, Chris helped scale Surf City Still Works in Orange County, CA. He expanded marketing, retained Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (the largest spirits distributor in the U.S.), raised $3.7M in capital, and moved operations into a 25,000 sq ft manufacturing facility—the first of its kind in Orange County. He also built a world-class advisory board including Bob McKnight (Founder of Quiksilver) and Travis Brasher (Founder of Travis Mathew), leading to a merger with Kimo Sabe, a Los Angeles-based mezcal company.Chris holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the College of William and Mary. He has served on boards including the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) and the Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF). He is a member of Entrepreneur's Organization (EO), Young Executive Council (YEC), a National Board member of Alder, and has previously been a member of PTTOW!. Chris frequently speaks on marketing, growth, product-market fit, and brand building.What you'll learn in this episode:● Why truly understanding your customer is the foundation of scalable growth● How conversion rate optimization can 5X your ROI without increasing ad spend● The difference between lifestyle businesses and venture-scale companies● What venture capital investors actually look for before writing a check● Why focus beats chasing every opportunity● How discipline, grit, and “doing hard things” build elite entrepreneurs● The balance between confidence and coachability in leadershipConnect with Chris Van DusenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrismvandusen/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chrisvandusenYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@officialcvdFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/christophervandusenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismvandusen/ To find out more about Dan Rochon and the CPI Community, you can check these links:Website: No Broke MonthsPodcast: No Broke Months for Salespeople PodcastInstagram: @donrochonxFacebook: Dan RochonLinkedIn: Dan RochonTeach to Sell Preorder: Teach to Sell: Why Top Performers Never Sell – And What They Do Instead

Former Navy SEAL Todd Ehrlich shares his path from intense SEAL training and deployments to corporate security, entrepreneurship, and venture investing in defense tech. The episode covers BUD/S stories, transitions to civilian life, founding businesses (including Kill Cliff), supporting the Navy SEAL Foundation, and practical career advice for veterans. Todd also discusses mentorship, networking, and why combining tenacity with curiosity can lead to success in business and giving back to the military community. _________ Please leave us a review on Apple/Spotify Podcasts: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentors-for-military-podcast/id1072421783 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3w4RiZBxBS8EDy6cuOlbUl #SEAL #NavySEAL #mentors4mil #mentorsformilitary Mentors4mil Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Mentors4mil Patreon Support: https://www.patreon.com/join/Mentors4mil Opening music, "Sad Slow Orchestra" is by Ribhav Agrawal on Pixabay Intro music "Long Way Down" by Silence & Light is used with permission. Show Disclaimer: https://mentorsformilitary.com/disclaimer/

Most climate investment still flows toward mitigation, technologies designed to reduce future emissions. Far less capital is directed toward climate adaptation, despite the fact that many regions are already living with the physical, economic, and social consequences of climate change.This imbalance is especially visible in emerging markets, where climate risk, rapid economic growth, and limited institutional infrastructure collide.In this episode of SRI360, I'm joined by Alina Truhina, Founder and Managing Partner of Radical Fund and Utopia Capital Management. Alina has spent her career building and backing early-stage companies across Southeast Asia and Africa, with a focus on climate adaptation, venture capital, and how businesses actually get built in emerging markets.We discuss why traditional venture capital models often fail in emerging markets, why climate adaptation is harder to measure (but no less urgent) than mitigation, and why supporting founders in these environments requires far more than simply writing a check.Tune in to learn more about:Why climate adaptation remains underfunded compared to mitigationHow measurement and incentives shape where climate capital flowsWhy traditional venture capital models struggle in emerging marketsWhat founders in climate-exposed regions need beyond just fundingHow capital design influences risk, resilience, and long-term outcomesFeatured guest: Alina Truhina, CEO and Managing Partner of The Radical Fund and a Partner at the multi-regional investment platform Utopia Capital Management Listen Next: Conversation with Nick Hurd: How Paying for Outcomes Unlocks Impact Investing ReturnsDiscover More from SRI360°:Explore all episodes of the SRI360° Podcast Sign up for the free weekly email update 

In this episode of The Venture Capital Podcast (VC.fm), hosts Peter Harris and Jon Bradshaw talk with Wally Wang, Founding Managing Partner at Scale Asia Ventures and a Business Insider Seed 100 (2025) investor, about identifying AI winners early — and scaling them across the U.S. and Asia (Japan, Korea, APAC).Wally brings a unique mix of experience as a machine learning scientist (NYU / CMU / Microsoft), a former operator (YC-backed Pebble, acquired by Fitbit), and an enterprise founder who helped grow DataVisor (raised $150M+). Today, he backs AI infrastructure, enterprise AI agents, cybersecurity, developer tools, and robotics, with a strong cross-border thesis that helps founders expand globally and access strategic distribution partners in Asia.We discuss:How to evaluate “real” AI founders vs hypeAI moats: why product-market fit isn't enough anymoreWhat actually creates defensibility in enterprise AI (data, trust, workflows, integrations)Build vs buy in AI: when enterprises DIY vs purchase softwareWhy vertical AI agents are safer than horizontal AI wrappersCross-border expansion strategy: U.S. → Asia vs Asia → U.S.Robotics + physical AI opportunities and Asia's hardware advantageWhy enterprise + government budgets are still under-targetedFollow the PodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/venturecapitalfm/Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcpodcastfmLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/venturecapitalfm/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7BQimY8NJ6cr617lqtRr7N?si=ftylo2qHQiCgmT9dfloD_g&nd=1&dlsi=7b868f1b72094351Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/venture-capital/id1575351789Website: https://www.venturecapital.fm/Follow Jon BradshawLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrbradshaw/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrjonbradshaw/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrjonbradshawFollow Peter HarrisLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharris1Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevcstudentInstagram: https://instagram.com/shodanpeteYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterharris2812

Seth Levine of Foundry joins Nick to discuss A New Era For Venture: Dynamic Capitalism, Finding Alpha in the AI Cycle, Are Bubbles a Feature or a Bug, and Why the Future for America is Still Bright. In this episode we cover: State of Venture Capital and Investment Trends Challenges and Opportunities in Venture Capital Dynamic Capitalism and Its Principles The Role of Government and Market Dynamics The American Dream and Economic Mobility Balancing Values and Politics in Business The Future of Capitalism and American Optimism Guest Links: Seth's LinkedIn Seth's X Foundry's LinkedIn Foundry's Website The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. We're proud to partner with Ramp, the modern finance automation platform. Book a demo and get $150—no strings attached.   Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter.

Most startup advice tells you how to grow, but Brian Lee is here to tell you how to survive. In this episode, the legendary founder of LegalZoom and The Honest Company reveals the "one truth" that separates elite CEOs from those who run out of runway.Whether you're a first-time founder or a seasoned operator, the role of a CEO is often misunderstood. Brian Lee (Managing Partner at BAM Ventures) joins us on Demo Day to strip away the fluff and deliver a masterclass in operational discipline. From his early days building LegalZoom and ShoeDazzle to his current work with Arena Club, Brian has seen the same patterns lead to both billion-dollar exits and total failures.In this episode, we break down "The CEO Playbook," including:The "CE-No" Philosophy: Why your primary job is saying no to good ideas so you can focus on the great ones.The Survival Mandate: Brian's #1 rule for every founder—treat money like gold and never, ever run out.Building Your Inner Circle: Why you must "hire fast and fire faster" to protect the culture of a high-growth startup.Founder Likability: Why being "likable" is actually a strategic superpower for fundraising and leadership.The VC Perspective: What BAM Ventures looks for in the pre-seed and seed stages of consumer tech.Brian also shares deeply personal insights into his transition from operator to venture capitalist, explaining how his time in the trenches allows him to spot "the signal in the noise" better than professional VCs who have never run a company. If you are looking for startup tips, fundraising advice, or a reality check on your founder success metrics, this is the one conversation you cannot afford to miss.

In this episode, Ben and Jay discuss various topics related to the tech industry, focusing on hyperscalers, cloud computing, and the memory market. They analyze the earnings of Nebius and CoreWeave, the implications of heavy asset businesses, and the dynamics of AI and memory. The conversation also covers the performance of Applied Materials and networking companies like Cisco and Arista, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in these sectors.

Ruth Martín, Manager de Relación con Inversores de Crescenta, analiza las características del último producto de la compañía: la empresa lanza su primer Fondo de Inversión Libre para dar acceso a las tres principales estrategias de Private Equity. “Hemos lanzado este nuevo fondo de inversión porque nuestra base de clientes es muy amplía”, afirma el invitado. Además, añade que “los requisitos para invertir en Private Equity es de 10.000 euros, siempre y cuando tenga un patrimonio de 100.000 euros”. ¿Cuál era el objetivo de lanzar este nuevo fondo? La experta explica que “lo que querían dar era una solución con un solo ticket de 10.000 euros, el cliente pudiera tener acceso a las tres estrategias de Private Equity”. ¿Qué características tiene invertir en Private Equity? “Cuando se invierte una persona física, cuando se invierte en fondos de capital riesgo, cada vez que se hacen llamadas de capital tienes que hacer una transferencia”, destaca la Manager de Relación con Inversores de Crescenta. También apunta que “cuando se hacen las distribuciones, se hace otra transferencia al cliente y eso tiene otra tributación”. ¿Qué ventajas tienen este tipo de inversiones en FIL? La entrevistada señala que “si eres persona física, residente fiscal en España, tiene la ventaja de traspasabilidad”. Esto es importante, ya que según ella, “este vehículo lo que permite es cuando hay una llamada de capital se puede traspasar a un fondo de inversión cotizado al propio FIL”. ¿Cómo funciona este tipo de inversiones dependiendo del cliente que invierta? Ruth Martín explica que·hay clientes que tienen una cartera establecida y si tienen determinados sesgos a la hora de invertir prefieren otro tipo de inversión. Dice también que “alguien que tenga que hacer un solo ticket, tiene mucho más sentido invertir en el FIL porque tienes las tres estrategias: Buyout, Growth Capital y Venture Capital.

Most founders pitch the wrong metrics while $200 billion flows into AI startups annually. Vijay Rajendran, author of #1 Amazon bestseller "The Funding Framework" and venture builder at gAI Ventures, breaks down why fundraising feels harder despite abundant capital. He reveals the four-part system that shifts founders from pitching to partnering, why retention metrics will expose vanity user counts, and how inference costs are crushing margins for AI companies that don't understand their unit economics.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rassegna stampa economico-finanziaria del 16 febbraio 2026, strutturata per macro-temi e basata sulle principali testate giornalistiche nazionali.Investimenti e MercatiTestate: Corriere della Sera / Milano Finanza / Il Sole 24 Ore / La Stampa * Venture Capital e AI: Nel 2025 il mercato globale del venture capital ha raggiunto i 512 miliardi di dollari; di questi, circa il 50% (256 miliardi) è stato assorbito da aziende attive nell'intelligenza artificiale. In Unione Europea, gli investimenti in AI hanno rappresentato il 35% del totale, toccando i 23,5 miliardi di euro rispetto ai 17,7 miliardi dell'anno precedente. * Risparmio delle Famiglie Italiane: Il patrimonio finanziario e immobiliare delle famiglie in Italia valeva 11.732 miliardi di euro nel 2024, con un incremento contenuto del 2,8% rispetto al 2023. Tuttavia, tra il 2021 e il 2024, tale ricchezza ha subito una perdita di valore reale del 5% a causa dell'inflazione. Solo il 15,4% dei risparmiatori si affida a gestori professionali. * Mercato Cripto (Bitcoin): Gli ETF statunitensi su Bitcoin hanno registrato deflussi significativi: 7 miliardi di dollari a novembre, 2 miliardi a dicembre e oltre 3 miliardi a gennaio. Il prezzo ha subito un calo del 44,73% dal picco di ottobre. * Dominio del Dollaro: Gli asset in dollari detenuti fuori dagli Stati Uniti ammontano a 70.000 miliardi di dollari e sostengono circa un terzo del debito pubblico di Washington, pari a 38.000 miliardi. Il dollaro rappresenta il 58% delle riserve valutarie mondiali (contro il 20% dell'euro) e gestisce il 50% dei pagamenti internazionali.Industria e AutomotiveTestate: Corriere della Sera / Il Sole 24 Ore / La Stampa * Crisi di Competitività e Bollette: Confindustria attende un decreto per ridurre i costi energetici, alla base del gap di competitività con i partner UE. In discussione la sterilizzazione del differenziale tra il prezzo del gas italiano (PSV) e quello europeo (TTF). * Auto Green: Si stima un "buco" o mancato introito legato alla transizione verso le auto green pari a 65 miliardi di euro in Italia. * Default Imprese: Nei primi nove mesi del 2025, le erogazioni di credito sono cresciute del 13,7%, ma il tasso di default delle società di capitali è salito dal 3,1% di giugno al 3,4% di settembre. Nel settore tessile-abbigliamento, il tasso di default ha raggiunto il 4,8%.Fisco e NormativaTestate: Il Sole 24 Ore / La Repubblica / La Stampa * Evasione IVA: In Italia si stima un tasso di evasione dell'IVA del 15%, con proposte di intensificare i controlli tramite strumenti digitali. * Russia: Pressione Fiscale: Dal 1° gennaio 2026, la Russia ha aumentato l'IVA dal 20% al 22% per finanziare lo sforzo bellico.Banche e CreditoTestate: Corriere della Sera / Il Messaggero * Governance BCE e Fed: Jerome Powell sarà sostituito a maggio da Kevin Warsh alla guida della Fed. Per la successione di Christine Lagarde alla BCE (scadenza 31 ottobre 2027), i principali candidati sono Joachim Nagel (Germania), Klaas Knot (Olanda) e Pablo Hernández de Cos (Spagna). * Unione Bancaria e Capitali: Si propone di attribuire all'ESMA poteri di controllo centralizzati per superare la frammentazione dei 27 mercati finanziari europei, dove ogni anno vengono investiti 300 miliardi di risparmi europei verso Wall Street anziché verso il tessuto produttivo UE.Energia e GeopoliticaTestate: Corriere della Sera / La Repubblica / Il Messaggero * Diversificazione Gas: Le importazioni di gas dalla Russia in UE sono crollate da 150 miliardi di metri cubi (2021) a meno di 52 miliardi (2024), scendendo al 13% del totale. L'Italia ha oggi 5 rigassificatori attivi e il GNL (metà del quale proveniente dagli USA) è diventato la prima fonte di approvvigionamento. * Board of Peace (Gaza): L'Italia parteciperà come osservatore al Board per la ricostruzione di Gaza presieduto da Donald Trump alla Casa Bianca. L'organismo conta 26 Paesi aderenti e 5 osservatori. * Giappone (Abenomics 2.0): La vittoria di Sanae Takaichi (8 febbraio) segna la fine dell'era deflattiva; l'inflazione è sopra il 2% da 45 mesi e i tassi sono stati alzati allo 0,75%. Il debito pubblico giapponese supera i 9.000 miliardi di dollari (oltre il 200% del PIL).Sport BusinessTestate: Corriere della Sera / Il Messaggero * Olimpiadi Milano-Cortina 2026: L'evento prevede ricadute economiche per 5 miliardi e 300 milioni di euro di ricavi aggiuntivi per il PIL italiano e un gettito extra superiore ai 500 milioni di euro. Sono impegnate 36.000 persone, di cui 18.000 volontari. * Record Medaglie: L'Italia ha chiuso l'Olimpiade invernale più vincente della sua storia con 22 medaglie totali.Lavoro e FormazioneTestate: Corriere della Sera / La Repubblica / La Stampa * Impatto dell'IA sull'Occupazione: Studi negli USA indicano che l'IA sta riducendo le assunzioni per i lavoratori Under 25 (calo di 16 punti rispetto ai senior), rimpiazzando le figure junior con "apprendisti artificiali". * Occupazione in Italia: Tra dicembre 2022 e dicembre 2025, gli occupati sono cresciuti di 851.000 unità, ma l'incremento riguarda esclusivamente gli Over 50 (+1,1 milioni), mentre calano i giovani (-136.000 fino a 24 anni). * Pensioni e Contributi: Circa 5 milioni di lavoratori versano contributi senza maturare la pensione perché non raggiungono la soglia minima di 20 anni. Nella gestione separata, solo il 10% dei collaboratori matura un anno pieno di contributi; per il 2026 il minimale è fissato a 18.808 euro.Executive Takeaway (Insight per C-suite) * Maturità dell'AI: Il mercato del Venture Capital segnala che l'AI non è più una scommessa ma il driver principale degli investimenti (50% dei flussi globali), con un impatto immediato sulla produttività USA stimato in +0,5%. * Rischio Geopolitico Finanziario: L'egemonia del dollaro viene utilizzata come "pena di morte finanziaria" (sanzioni Trump contro giudici dell'Aia), accelerando i piani BCE per l'euro digitale e un mercato unico dei capitali per trattenere i 300 miliardi di euro di risparmi che oggi migrano verso gli USA. * Dualismo Demografico del Lavoro: Il mercato del lavoro italiano è spaccato: crescita record per gli Over 50 (effetto rinvio pensioni) e marginalizzazione degli Under 24, la cui occupazione è minacciata sia dal declino demografico che dalla sostituzione tecnologica dell'IA. * Sostenibilità vs Competitività: La revisione del sistema ETS e il "decreto bollette" sono i banchi di prova per l'industria italiana. La sfida è evitare che la decarbonizzazione si traduca in delocalizzazione per i settori energivori. * Previdenza Integrativa Critica: Con un tasso di sostituzione pensionistica che scenderà al 64,8% nel 2060 (rispetto all'81,5% attuale), la consulenza finanziaria deve evolvere da pura gestione di portafoglio a pianificazione previdenziale di lungo periodo per coprire il gap lasciato dallo Stato.

Youth sports brings in more money than the top 3 professional sports in the United States making it venture capital's next frontier for exploitation. What does this mean for youth athletics moving forward?   We'll discuss.   Check out our new bi-weekly series, "The Crisis Papers" here: https://www.patreon.com/bitterlakepresents/shop   Thank you guys again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and everyone of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined,   BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron only programing, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH!   Become a patron now https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents?   Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, (specially YouTube!)   THANKS Y'ALL   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG9WtLyoP9QU8sxuIfxk3egFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/Twitter: @TIRShowOaklandInstagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland   Substack: https://jmylesoftir.substack.com/.../the-money-will-roll...   Read Jason Myles in Current Affairs Magazine here: https://www.currentaffairs.org/.../donald-trump-is-a-pro...   Read Jason Myles in Damage Magazine https://damagemag.com/2023/11/07/the-man-who-sold-the-world/

The speed of innovation has long been the difference between military success and failure. Countries and militaries that rapidly develop, deploy and evolve technology thrive. Those who lag…flounder. America, NATO and the world order are being challenged…and innovated against…at a faster pace than ever before. From the Global SOF Symposium in Athens, Greece, I sat down with Ryan Benitez of NATO DIANA to talk about how innovation, technology, and rapid capability development are shaping the future of defense across the Alliance.As the DIANA's Chief Commercial Officer, Ryan explains her work inside one of NATO's most forward-leaning organizations. DIANA, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, connects startups, researchers, and industry leaders to solve some of the most urgent challenges facing allied militaries. From emerging technologies to dual-use solutions, DIANA is helping NATO move faster, stay adaptable, and maintain an edge in an increasingly competitive global environment.Ryan also shared how her experience in the Navy and Venture Capital informs her approach to modern innovation, why collaboration between nations and private industry is more critical than ever, and how DIANA is empowering new ideas that can redefine readiness, resilience, and operational effectiveness to not only keep pace, but move faster than our enemies.HIGHLIGHTS0:00 Introduction1:37 Welcome to GSOF Europe3:06 Defining NATO DIANA5:25 Companies Supporting NATO9:23 Filling Technological Gaps11:15 Time to Technology13:44 NATO's Leading Innovators14:57 Compelling Countries To Invest16:49 Is NATO behind Adversaries?20:21 Defining Readiness22:17 The Next Battlefield24:40 NATO DIANA FutureQuotes: “We needed to access the emerging technologies that innovators were putting together.”“Does this technology align with a critical capability need that an operator and user has brought to the table?”“Team is everything.”“Interoperability has different scales.”“The flavor of the month is Counter-UAS.”“The Special Operations community has always been early adapters of streamlined acquisition and innovation.”“We've seen the Netherlands do a lot.”“We're keeping a pulse on the market and the demand signal.”“How can we help you with your innovation base?”“We're seeing a lot of lessons learned in Ukraine. The innovation cycle there is weeks.”“The word defense used to not be top of mind. It is now.”“We need to make sure we're acting as a bridge to the emerging technology market.”“Cost is going to become an issue.”“War isn't front and center every day like it is in Europe.”“You're going to start seeing our ability to really rapidly spin up.”Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, host Mark Labriola II sits down with Henry Yoshida, CEO and Co-Founder of Rocket Dollar, to unpack what it really takes to build a durable fintech company in a highly regulated industry.Henry shares his journey from a risk-averse upbringing and a stable career at Merrill Lynch to founding multiple companies—including Rocket Dollar, now part of a platform managing $12B+ in retirement assets. They dive deep into ownership, timing, regret vs. risk, venture capital trade-offs, and why paying attention to “small signals” can unlock massive opportunities.

Send a text In this episode of The Straight Up Start Up, we speak with Omar Sati, Co-Founder of DASH Ventures, about what truly scales startups. From early-stage investing in MENA to today's funding volatility, Omar shares why conviction, fundamentals, and long-term thinking matter more than chasing growth or capital.  في هذه الحلقة من The Straight Up Start Up، نستضيف عمر ساطي، الشريك المؤسس في DASH Ventures، لنحكي عن ما الذي يُنمّي الشركات الناشئة فعلاً. من الاستثمار المبكر في المنطقة إلى تحديات السوق اليوم، يشاركنا عمر لماذا القناعة والأسس الصحيحة أهم من السعي وراء التمويل أو النمو السريع. 

As we approach the end of our season highlighting alumni from the University and the impact that the David Eccles School of Business has had on their lives and careers, we welcome back guest-host Annesley Womble, who talks with Dalton Wright, General Partner at Kickstart, a seed-stage venture capital firm with offices in Salt Lake City and Denver.Dalton shares his unique career journey, which began with his involvement in the University Venture Fund and progressed to significant roles in venture capital, including helping to develop Utah's first seed fund through Kickstart. He also discusses his non-linear career path, which included launching a startup and strategically working in venture capital in Mexico.The University of Utah played a critical role in supporting Kickstart during its early formation, providing guidance and infrastructure as the company navigated the challenges of launching a startup. Kickstart's initial investment meetings were held at the University of Utah Technology Transfer Office, and the University was instrumental in the firm's successful launch. Dalton also helped develop the Campus Founders Fund, a student-run investment fund established after his return to Utah. Today, the fund has invested in more than 30 student startups, including one that now generates several hundred million dollars in annual revenue. This University of Utah initiative has helped launch the careers of many students into the venture capital industry.Dalton emphasizes the importance of embracing change, redefining risk, and maintaining curiosity amid the evolving technological landscape. This episode is filled with insights on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and the value of pursuing passion over a linear career path.Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm.Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts. Episode Quotes:Why the best career opportunities often look uncertain at first[10:31] When Kickstart was launching, I saw that as my opportunity to learn seed-stage venture capital with somebody who was the founder, the entrepreneur in that category. And so I was lucky enough to get the job as the first hire with the fund. We had $4 million under management at the time. This is the 2008 Great Recession. So I can empathize with any cohort of students who's graduating and wondering, like, is the world going to change forever? And will there ever be employment opportunities for me again? You know, nobody wanted to fund our fund. People saw it as like a community service project support entrepreneurs, but nobody was looking at it as these guys are going to go build like a franchise venture capital fund. But, you know, most good things look like that in the beginning. They're not yet exciting, they're not yet successful, and you have to be able to suspend what you see in the present moment and imagine what this thing can become in the future.Getting comfortable with fear and risk can help you explore a non-linear career path[11:57] There's one point right after graduating from college where my peers were all pursuing the linear path, and I'm not in any way saying, "Oh, like, they made the wrong choice," because, like, I mean, so many people have different preferences, values, things that they're trying to optimize for. So I never am trying to, like, say, "But my way is like, let me give someone else advice," because my way was my way, and it might not work for somebody else who even wants the same thing, let alone something entirely different. So I decided very early on that I was going to condition myself to feel comfortable with my fears and feel comfortable with the risks that I was taking. And so I think reframing what a risk is is really important if you want to take the nonlinear path.On why knowing your “why” matters more than money when building a startup[35:16] I've encouraged students to really think about the why behind what they're doing. And if it's to make money, a lot of money, it's like you can use that as a motivator, but there's also a lot of maybe easier ways or better ways, faster ways to have that need met. And so when you're grinding it out and you're not making money as a founder, and all of a sudden it's like, Hey, you can go take the consulting job and immediately have like a nice salary. Or you could potentially go get that, what causes you to say, Why would I ever consider that? And so I think if you know why you're building the thing and it's like truly rooted in the problem that you're trying to solve, the customers that you're serving, the change that you want to make in the world, if it's rooted in that, then you can lean on that through the down times to inspire you through that.Show Links:Dalton Wright | LinkedInProfile | Kickstart FundDavid Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | InstagramUndergraduate Scholars ProgramsRising Business LeadersEccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

Tiffany Yeh, MD is the CEO and Co-Founder of Eztia Materials, a climate-tech venture developing energy-efficient cooling materials to protect people from extreme heat. With a mission to advance hard tech solutions at the climate-health nexus, Tiffany draws on her unique background as a physician, engineer, and public health advocate to build technologies that improve global health in a warming world.(01:13) - Dr. Ye's Background & Inspiration (01:52) - The Heat Challenge(05:20) - Singapore and the Power of Cooling(06:32) - Why Construction Has Been Slow to Adapt (07:22) - The Human Factor(08:14) - HydroVolt Technology(09:29) - Business Model, Distribution & Competition(11:19) - Worker Comfort (15:32) - Hidden Productivity Crisis Brewing(18:18) - Feature: Blueprint: The Future of Real Estate 2026 in Vegas on Sep. 22-24 (19:21) - The Secret Sauce Behind HydroVolt (20:31) - Prototyping & Real-World Applications (21:32) - Measuring Impact & ROI (23:34) - Pitching to VCs & Investors(25:31) - Product Roadmap(29:08) - Collaboration Superpower: Lionel Messi

00:00 Introduction to Boys Club Live 00:44 The viral Vogue clip 03:46 Market Talk 07:13 Shoutout to Octant  11:29 AI Etiquette and Social Contracts 15:19 Gigi Claudid: Training our AI agent 20:49 Norwegian Athlete's Emotional Confession 23:34 Unpacking Relationship Drama 24:44 Messy Olympics: Scandals in Sports 25:32 Partner Shoutout: Anchorage Digital 27:27 Podcast Recommendation: The Rest is History 29:40 Interview with Tatum Hunter: Internet Culture Insights 30:06 Deepfakes and AI Ethics 38:43 Personal Surveillance and Trust Issues 48:52 TikTok's Mental Health Rabbit Hole 52:16 Shill Minute: Best Cookie in Crown Heights 53:08 Introduction to Octant: Innovating Funding Models 54:52 Funding Ethereum: Grants and Sustainability 56:50 Octant V2: Revolutionizing Community Funding 58:43 Sustainable Growth and the Future of Ethereum 01:05:56 The Intersection of Venture Capital and Sustainable Funding 01:11:25 Guest Nick Devor of Barrons on Prediction Markets 01:12:50 Gambling and Insider Trading in Prediction Markets 01:23:01 CFTC Challenges and the Future of Regulation 01:26:11 Free Groceries: A Marketing Strategy 01:29:50 Conclusion and Final Thoughts  

In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Amar Varma, CEO and Co-Founder of Mantle, a revolutionary platform designed to transform the private investing landscape. As a serial entrepreneur with experience as both a General Partner (GP) and Limited Partner (LP), Amar offers a rare, dual perspective on the world of investment. His background spans multiple industries, including mobile, connected vehicles, and now private market infrastructure, where he is tackling one of the most persistent pain points: the fragmented, manual world of LP operations.Amar dives deep into how Mantle is positioned at the intersection of chaos and clarity, automating the heavy lifting to help investors make better decisions without drowning in documents. From global scaling and customer obsession to the parallels between today's AI transformation and past tech waves like mobile, this conversation covers a lot of ground. Whether you're an investor, allocator, or founder, there's something for everyone in this episode.Amar Varma's Early Influences and Entrepreneurial Spirit (00:02:15)Amar shares his journey from growing up in Ottawa to becoming a serial entrepreneur. He talks about his first exposure to tech industries and how a global perspective shaped his career. The experience of being raised in a government and tech hub like Ottawa gave him early access to innovation and a deep curiosity about the world.The Power of Perseverance and Growth Mindset (00:06:16)Growing up with an immigrant background, Amar reflects on the importance of perseverance and a growth mindset in overcoming struggles. His belief in the value of individual and team struggles is evident in his journey as a founder, investor, and parent.The Shift from Founder to Investor (00:13:50)Amar explains the transition from being a founder to taking a break and exploring the world of investing. His time working as an LP and angel investor gave him insights into the challenges faced by investors, especially when trying to scale operations without sufficient data or structure. This led to his founding of Mantle, which solves many of these problems.The Birth of Mantle: Revolutionizing LP Operations (00:25:40)Mantle is designed to automate and streamline the process of managing private market investments. Amar breaks down how Mantle's software works to track investments, capital calls, K-1s, and investor reports. He discusses the challenges of managing unstructured data and how AI-powered features have allowed Mantle to offer LPs and family offices a more seamless experience.The Power Law of Venture Capital (00:15:49)In the world of venture capital, Amar talks about the concept of the power law, how a few investments end up driving the majority of returns. He also discusses the importance of knowing when something is truly working in early-stage investments and how understanding this can lead to better investment decisions.Family Offices and LP Tech Stacks (00:29:00)Amar explains how Mantle is helping family offices and LPs with managing their investments, especially when dealing with the unstructured documents that are common in private markets. He shares how Mantle is creating a single source of truth for private assets, helping LPs track their investments across multiple funds, and how AI is helping improve efficiency in this space.AI-Driven Insights and Workflows (00:32:01)AI plays a major role in Mantle's value proposition, helping automate workflows, track financial data, and ensure accuracy across private market investments. Amar dives into the layers of AI that are stitched into Mantle's platform to help LPs and family offices gain more insight into their portfolios.The Future of Private Market Investments (00:40:00)Amar discusses the ongoing evolution of private market investments and the role technology, particularly AI, will play in shaping the future of LP operations. He also reflects on how private market infrastructure is moving towards a more standardized and efficient process, making data more accessible and reliable.About Amar VarmaAmar Varma is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mantle, a private market infrastructure platform designed to streamline the operations of LPs and family offices. With a background spanning semiconductor design, mobile technology, connected vehicles, and AI, Amar has built multiple successful startups. As an investor and founder, he has gained invaluable insights into the challenges of scaling and managing private market investments.Connect with Amar Varma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amar-varma-8041b9/?originalSubdomain=caVisit the Mantle website: https://withmantle.com/Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

The Cybersecurity VC Report tracks venture capital deal flow is updated daily by the editors at Cybersecurity Ventures: https://cybersecurityventures.com/cybersecurity-venture-capital-vc-deals/ The VC Report is sponsored by Evolution Equity Partners, an international venture capital investor partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs to develop market leading cyber-security and enterprise software companies. https://evolutionequity.com/ In this episode, Steve Morgan, Founder at Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-In-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine, shares his expert opinion on the cybersecurity market and investing climate in our industry.

In this episode of Skin in the Game, Saxon Baum sits down with Brian Hollins, co-founder of Collide Capital, for a wide ranging conversation on venture capital, institutional fundraising, and the mindset required to build a differentiated early-stage firm.Brian's story begins just outside Washington, D.C., where he grew up as the oldest of three brothers in a disciplined and competitive household. His middle brother, Mack Hollins, famously received no college football offers, walked on at UNC, and went on to build a nine-year NFL career that includes a Super Bowl championship. His youngest brother served in the Marines. That foundation of resilience, accountability, and high standards continues to shape Brian's approach to leadership and investing.The conversation traces his path from Stanford, where a culture of ambition and innovation pushes students to think boldly, to Goldman Sachs, where he helped build the Emerging Entrepreneurs Coverage Group. During that time, he learned how to create real value for founders before ever writing a check, including early work supporting companies like Plaid. Those experiences laid the groundwork for how he thinks about venture capital today.Brian also explains why he approached business school intentionally, using it as a strategic platform to build relationships and lay the foundation for launching Collide Capital. The discussion highlights the difference between raising a fund and building a firm, and what it takes to earn long-term institutional LP support.The episode concludes with a look at Collide Capital's investment focus on fintech infrastructure, supply chain and logistics, and the future of Gen Z in the workforce and why the best founders are relentlessly focused on solving one core problem.A thoughtful and candid discussion on building with intention and playing the long game. Tune in to this episode. You don't want to miss this one!

Episode 80: Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Law Quick hit today to discuss California's new Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Law (“California Regulatory Overreach” as I call it), which mandates venture capital firms to collect and report demographic data about the founding teams of the companies they invest in. I outline the requirements, implications, and potential challenges that VCs may face due to this law, and share my concerns about its practicality and the reliability of the data collected.   Key Points From This Episode: Who is subject to this new law?What must Covered Entities do to comply?By when must they do all this?My quick takes on this new law.One piece of advice moving forward. Disclaimer: This show is for informational purposes only. Nothing presented here constitutes legal, investment or tax advice. The guests that join us share their considerable fund-related wisdom, but everything they share here is their personal opinion and for educational purposes only. On this show, they are speaking for themselves, and not for their employer or any affiliated entity. Tokens of Wisdom is produced by Dave Rothschild, partner at Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit https://colefrieman.com/ Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Dave Rothschild - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcrothschild/Cole-Frieman & Mallon LLP - https://colefrieman.com/Music by Joe Ginsberg - https://www.instagram.com/thejoeginsbergFor any questions or comments, email: tow@colefrieman.com

In den USA sind 2025 über 230 Milliarden Dollar in junge Firmen geflossen. In Deutschland bekamen Startups nur 6,5 Milliarden Euro. Wie abgehängt ist Deutschland wirklich? „Die USA sind ganz starker Vorreiter, UK hat aufgeholt und Deutschland ist stark im Hintergrund und muss extrem viel aufholen. Das Investmentvolumen im Venture Capital 2025 ist in den USA 230 Milliarden US-Dollar gewesen. Eine riesen Summe! UK ist kleiner und hat weniger Einwohner als Deutschland. Dort haben wir eine Investitionssumme von 22 Milliarden Euro und in Deutschland sind wir nur bei 6,5 Milliarden Euro. Auch bei den Unicorns gibt es ein starkes Gefälle”, sagt Fabian Fuchs. Der Startup-Gründer und Investor - der selbst in Deutschland, Großbritannien und den USA gelebt und gearbeitet hat - weiter: „Du willst sehr gute Leute für ein Startup, aber gleichzeitig konkurrierst du mit großen Firmen wie Google oder Facebook, die sehr hohe Gehälter zahlen können. Und der Schlüssel dazu, liegt eigentlich in den Anreizen Mitarbeiter-Beteiligungen zu machen. Da sind die USA schon extrem smart. In Deutschland hängen wir komplett hinterher. Es gibt aber Überlegungen, das zu ändern. Ich habe selbst in den USA ein Unternehmen gegründet - das ging innerhalb von einer Stunden. In Deutschland dauert das mehrere Wochen. Stichwort Finanzamt, Steuernummer, IHK, Notar, Bank.” Alle Infos im Interview von Inside Wirtschaft-Chefredakteur Manuel Koch und auf https://inside-wirtschaft.de

Aman Verjee, Founder and General Partner at Practical Venture Capital, shares his view of how venture capital has evolved over the past two decades and why secondary markets now play a critical role in the ecosystem. Drawing from his time at PayPal, eBay, and Sonos, Aman explains how companies today stay private far longer than they used to, what that means for early investors and employees, and how thoughtfully structured secondary transactions can reduce friction and misalignment on the cap table. He also challenges popular narratives around tech bubbles, walking through historical examples to explain why today's AI-driven market looks fundamentally different.In this episode, you'll learn:[01:11] Aman's journey from Wall Street to Practical VC[03:40] What made the early PayPal team exceptional[06:32] Follow the customer, not the original plan[10:44] Why are startups staying private longer today?[11:17] What secondary transactions actually are[18:41] How founders should handle secondary requests[26:11] Are we in a tech bubble today?The nonprofit organization Aman is passionate about: AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization)About Aman VerjeeAman Verjee is the Founder and General Partner of Practical Venture Capital, a secondary-focused fund providing liquidity to early investors in late-stage private companies. Before launching Practical VC, Aman spent over a decade in finance and operations roles at PayPal and eBay, joining PayPal in 2001 before its IPO and witnessing its transformation from a money-beaming mobile app to the dominant payment platform for eBay. Earlier, he worked in investment banking in New York after studying economics at Stanford and constitutional law at Harvard Law School. Aman was recruited to PayPal by Peter Thiel and worked directly for David Sachs during the company's pivotal early years. Now partnering with Dave McClure, he focuses on Series C and D investments in SaaS and FinTech companies with $200M+ in revenue and clear paths to liquidity within 5-7 years. He's also writing a book on the history of financial bubbles and co-hosts the Trading Places podcast, analyzing private company valuations.About Practical Venture CapitalPractical Venture Capital is a secondary-focused venture firm that provides liquidity solutions for early investors, employees, and funds. Operating with a 7-year fund structure instead of the traditional 10-15 years, Practical VC targets 20-40% discounts to last-round valuations in Series C and D companies with $200M+ in revenue and clear paths to exit. The firm specializes in SaaS and FinTech but has made exceptions for exceptional opportunities like SpaceX, now their biggest winner despite violating their typical investment criteria. Founded by Aman Verjee and Dave McClure, Practical VC evaluates roughly 50 companies at any given time, making 5-10 investments annually. The firm also offers SPVs for deals that don't fit their main fund and covers LATAM opportunities through an operating partner in Argentina. Their approach recognizes that modern venture capital requires new liquidity solutions as companies like SpaceX (23 years private), Airbnb (17 years), and Palantir (20 years) redefine what "patient capital" means.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode.

Send a textSometimes, just sometimes, the rules are there to be broken. Because when you dare to break them, miracles and moments of beautiful humanity could be waiting just on the other side.Standing with founders through the messy middle, founder & investor coach Rotem Kazir has witnessed the downturns, the $100M wins, the struggles, and the moments CEOs have had to admit defeat, in order to succeed. She invites us into the vulnerable, scrappy side of the start-up world, where professionalism wears a different guise: fail fast, break the rules, and put the company first.Join us as Rotem shares stories from her 20 year coaching career, and why she's learnt that Unprofessionalism means stepping into your humanity, speaking your truth, and asking your team What's hard?.Find out about:Rotem's experience as a starter coach, and what she gained when she chose to remove professional distanceWhy sharing struggles at the start of meetings creates a culture of honesty, free of professional performanceThe importance of choosing how to show up in meetings, from body language, to facial expressions, and tone of voice.Why building trust requires us to drop the professional mask to foster genuine connectionLinks:LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Can you scale customer support without burning out agents or frustrating customers?Ping Wu shares how Cresta combines AI and human intelligence into a single system that scales sustainably for companies like United Airlines and Porsche.In this episode, Ping also breaks down the three constraints that shape automation in the real world: conversation complexity, infrastructure debt, and customer demographics.Guest: Ping Wu, CEO of CrestaConnect with Ping WuX: https://x.com/ping_wuLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pingwu/Connect with JoubinX: https://x.com/JoubinmirLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854/Email: grit@kleinerperkins.comFollow on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/kpgritFollow on X:https://x.com/KPGrit​Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: https://www.kleinerperkins.com/ 

In this episode, Ben and Jay discuss the significant surge in capital expenditure (CapEx) among major tech companies, dubbed 'CapEx Palooza.' They explore investor sentiment and market reactions to these expenditures, the implications of backlogs and demand in the tech sector, and the future of AI and cloud services. The conversation also delves into the dynamics of CapEx spending among hyperscalers, emerging trends in semiconductor mergers and acquisitions, and the impact of rising memory prices on consumer electronics. Additionally, they highlight the strategic acquisition of Silicon Labs by Texas Instruments and the potential of timing technologies in the market. The episode concludes with an announcement about their upcoming live stream.

AI may feel new to many investors, but Glasswing Ventures founder Rudina Seseri has been betting on it for  more than a decade. In this episode, she breaks down how Glasswing evaluates AI startups, why workflow and productivity are key entry points, and what founders still get wrong. Plus, her unlikely journey from a teenage immigrant to a leading AI investor. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Manuel Grossmann (Amino Collective) spricht über Positionierung im Venture Capital — und warum echte Partnerschaft für Gründer mehr ist als ein Versprechen auf der Website. Du erfährst, weshalb viele Investoren zwar „Early Stage“ sagen, aber spät investieren, wie sich Amino Collective bewusst davon abgrenzt und warum thematische Spezialisierung ein entscheidender Vorteil für Gründer ist. Was du lernst: Warum viele Fonds frühe Investments versprechen, sie aber selten umsetzen. Wie sich spezialisierte Fonds positionieren, um frühere und bessere Entscheidungen zu treffen. Weshalb Flexibilität bei Ownership, Ticketgröße und Rolle entscheidend ist. Wie Gründer Investoren besser einschätzen können, bevor sie Gespräche führen. Warum Venture Capital eine gesellschaftliche Funktion hat – und nicht nur Rendite liefern sollte. l ALLES ZU UNICORN BAKERY: https://stan.store/fabiantausch   Mehr zu Manuel: LinkedIn: ⁠https://de.linkedin.com/in/manuel-grossmann⁠  Website: ⁠https://www.aminocollective.com/⁠  Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/

In this episode of The Venture Capital Podcast (VC.fm), hosts Peter Harris and Jon Bradshaw speak with Roberto Bonanzinga, Founder of InReach Ventures and former Founding Partner at Balderton Capital, about how artificial intelligence is transforming venture capital from the inside out.Roberto explains how InReach Ventures built a proprietary AI and machine learning platform to discover early-stage founders across Europe — often before they raise capital, build pitch decks, or even seek investors. Drawing on decades of experience backing companies like Revolut, Depop, Vivino, and Contentful, he shares why discovery is the biggest bottleneck in early-stage VC and how AI changes that equation.The conversation explores:AI-first venture capital modelsInvesting in founders before ideasEarly-stage startup discovery in EuropeGP-only venture firms and fund designWhy pitch decks don't predict outcomesThe future of junior roles, analysts, and associates in VCHow AI reshapes career paths and investing workflowsThis episode is essential listening for founders, venture capitalists, LPs, and operators interested in AI, early-stage investing, and the future of venture capital.Follow the PodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/venturecapitalfm/Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcpodcastfmLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/venturecapitalfm/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7BQimY8NJ6cr617lqtRr7N?si=ftylo2qHQiCgmT9dfloD_g&nd=1&dlsi=7b868f1b72094351Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/venture-capital/id1575351789Website: https://www.venturecapital.fm/Follow Jon BradshawLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrbradshaw/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrjonbradshaw/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrjonbradshawFollow Peter HarrisLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterharris1Twitter: https://twitter.com/thevcstudentInstagram: https://instagram.com/shodanpeteYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterharris2812