Latest Interviews
Showing 1–12 of 12 transcripts.
Clear all filters$40B Fund, 1 Creator: Why Lightspeed Hired Zauey Talks
Zauey, Claire Zau, Josh Machiz, Molly O'Shea
Lightspeed partner Josh formalized a unique arrangement with investor Claire Zhao, allowing her to join the firm while retaining editorial control of her media brand, Zowie Talks, which now reaches over 350,000 followers. Leveraging this platform, Zhao co-hosts the new "Lightwork" initiative to bridge the gap between complex venture insights and mainstream audiences, specifically translating deep tech and AI trends into accessible narratives. This strategy supports Lightspeed's broader goal of building a robust top-of-funnel ecosystem for AI-native services, agent infrastructure, and deep tech investments like Sycamore Labs and Anthropic.
CEOs of Epirus & Galvanick on the Future of Defense & Cybersecurity
Andy Lowery, Joshua Steinman, Molly O'Shea
Epirus and Galvanic founder Joshua Steinman outline a strategic pivot toward countering autonomous drone swarms and industrial cyberattacks by leveraging U.S. dominance in phased array and gallium nitride technologies. Epirus is deploying second-generation Force Field Generators ready for Army testing, while Galvanic deploys AI-driven software to protect critical operational technology infrastructure from pre-positioned state-sponsored malware. Together, these initiatives address a national security imperative by reindustrializing domestic supply chains for high-powered components and automating the detection of physical threats that traditional IT security measures cannot stop.
How Altimeter's $10B AUM Fund Is Investing In Aerospace, Defense, & Hardtech
Erik Kriessmann, Molly O'Shea, Eric Chrisman
Altimeter Partner Eric Chrisman, formerly of Index Ventures, leverages his background in venture human capital to execute a concentrated investment strategy that targets "fewer, better" ideas in defense, aerospace, and automation. The firm recently backed high-conviction portfolio companies like Anduril, K2 Space, and Base by capitalizing on large early-stage checks to build significant ownership stakes in sectors driven by talent density and mission-oriented leadership. By rejecting traditional diversification in favor of massive toehold investments, Altimeter aims to secure outlier returns while navigating a capital market environment that increasingly favors private longevity over immediate IPOs.
Inside the $350M Pelosi Stock Tracker
Autopilot, formerly known as the Nancy Pelosi stock tracker, is a venture-backed fintech platform that has grown to manage $500 million in assets for 2.5 million users before pivoting to a creator economy model allowing influencers to offer tradable portfolios. The company leverages its history of tracking high-performing politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Richard Burr to highlight market timing disparities while advocating for the bipartisan "Pelosi Act" to ban congressional stock trading. Having generated eight-figure revenue without a down month, Autopilot is transitioning from a single-figure focus to a sustainable social investing ecosystem funded by roughly $7 million in venture capital.
Base Power's $200M Series B | Co-Led by Lee Fixel, A16Z, Lightspeed, & Valor Equity Partners
Lee Fixel, Zach Dell, Justin Lopas, Antonio Gracias, Molly
Base Power, founded in 2023 by Zach and Justin, closed a $200 million Series B round led by Addition with new participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Ventures to accelerate its "violent execution" culture and vertical integration strategy. Leveraging an isolated grid launch in Texas and a proprietary utility model that reduces deployment timelines to 2–4 weeks, the company has installed over 1,000 batteries while securing partnerships with builders like Lennar and utilities such as Bandera. Backed by a talent pool drawn from SpaceX and Tesla, Base Power now aims to scale operations to 50–100 daily installations and expand across all 50 states to address surging electricity demand from AI data centers and electrification.
How Writing Led To Investing In Ramp, Scale AI, Replit, Varda | Packy McCormick, Not Boring
Not Bored Capital has successfully grown its Assets Under Management to $50M by pivoting from pure software bets to a "vertically integrated" strategy that combines hardware and software infrastructure. The firm employs a "barbell" portfolio approach heavily weighting toward companies like Base and Earth AI while utilizing deep-dive journalism as its primary due diligence method to evaluate founder expertise. This media-meets-venture model, anchored by the 239,000-strong "Not Boring" newsletter, allows the firm to identify efficiency gains in AI and nuclear sectors while bypassing traditional confirmation bias found in standard accelerator programs.
Molly Alter, Partner (Northzone), $4B AUM | Software for Hardware, EU vs USA, Vertical AI, VC Biases
North Zone partners Molly Alter and colleagues outlined the firm's $4 billion strategy to capitalize on Europe's 12% year-over-year VC growth and its emerging status as a hub for vertical AI and hybrid SaaS. The discussion detailed how the firm leverages cross-regional insights to target capital-efficient startups in sectors ranging from government automation to software-defined hardware, prioritizing founders with extreme intensity and a customer-centric ego. By framing strict European regulations as innovation drivers and maintaining a meritocratic culture focused on long-term returns, the panel argued that the region offers superior risk-adjusted outcomes compared to the hype-driven US market.
John Coogan, EIR at Founders Fund, Founder of Soylent & Lucy
Former Soylent founder John Coogan launched Lucy in 2016 to introduce nicotine replacement products into a market where regulatory barriers now make entry nearly impossible without massive capital. The company successfully achieved profitability by targeting older demographics with a conservative strategy that avoids youth-culture marketing while competing against big tobacco giants like Altria. Coogan also uses this venture to critique the venture capital ecosystem's over-reliance on massive scale-ups, advocating instead for sustainable micro-businesses and practical AI applications.
Founder of Fundera (Nerdwallet) & GroupMe (Skype/Microsoft) Path to VC | Jared Hecht, USV
Venture Partner Jared Hecht joins Union Square Ventures to apply his serial founder experience from exits at GroupMe and Fundera toward backing contrarian startups operating at the edge of large markets. Under USV's collaborative, generalist partnership model, the firm prioritizes deep founder support, honest feedback, and consistent pro-rated follow-on investing to navigate transformative sectors like AI and healthcare. This approach is bolstered by a shifting New York tech landscape where traditional finance alumni are increasingly dominating the founder ecosystem, effectively moving the region's startup culture from the fringe to the epicenter.
Morgan Housel: Understanding Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Other Outliers in Tech
Morgan Housel, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Molly O'Shea
Financial writer Morgan Housel discusses how 90% of outlier success in fields like venture capital and publishing stems from uncontrollable luck rather than replicable strategies, challenging the validity of morning routines and predictive forecasting. He contrasts this by analyzing the post-2020 capital cycle, noting that the transition from zero interest rates to a 5.5% discount environment has forced a return to valuing current cash flows over speculative stories to flush out unsustainable "tourist investors." Drawing on themes from *The Psychology of Money* and *The Same as Ever*, Housel argues that while specific market conditions and technologies evolve, human behavioral constants regarding greed and fear remain the only reliable guide for navigating financial uncertainty.
Get Tesla Big | Chris Power, Hadrian
Chris Power, Hadrian, Molly O'Shea
Hadrian, a US-based manufacturer of precision components for the defense and aerospace sectors, secured a $117 million Series B round led by Andy Grayson and RTX Ventures to finance a new debt-backed capital expenditure strategy and expedite a second factory location. The company leverages its proprietary software and robotics to deliver 10x productivity gains over traditional labor models, aiming to reach full production capacity by Q1 2025 before expanding into a new state by mid-year to meet surging demand from tier-one primes. Founder Chris Power describes the venture as a mission-critical effort to preserve American industrial competitiveness against China, forecasting a high-stakes trajectory toward becoming a $10 billion entity through a "human-in-the-loop" operational model and aggressive global scaling.
Varda's Landing, Peter Thiel, & the Future of El Segundo, Delian Asparouhov, Founders Fund
Peter Thiel, Delian Asparouhov, Molly O'Shea
Delian, a recent father and Founders Fund partner, founded Varda Space Industries to commercialize space manufacturing by deploying a low-cost, Starlink-like re-entry capsule under new FAA regulations. By pivoting exclusively to small-molecule pharmaceuticals and utilizing novel ground-based centrifuge research, the company targets a per-mission cost of $3.5–$4 million while implementing risk-sharing agreements for flight discoveries. Complementing this venture, Delian leverages his operator experience to advocate for decentralizing investing culture and predicting Eastern Europe's economic rise over stagnating Western markets.