Latest Interviews

E141: State of Series A's, VC dry powder, IPO window opens + more with Bill Gurley & Brad Gerstner

Bill Gurley, Brad Gerstner, Calacanis, Friedberg, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, J. Cal

In this All-Star Summer episode, hosts J.C. Calacanis and David Sacks discuss venture capital dynamics and career strategy with guests Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley. The panel analyzes the post-2021 market correction, noting that Series A valuations have returned to 2019 levels while predicting a near-term distress cycle for overvalued late-stage companies. Additionally, the conversation explores investment discipline regarding AI mania, critiques of private market valuation opacity, and the accelerating global risks of climate change alongside historical performance benchmarks.

The future of money: three ways to go cashless

Following a pandemic-driven acceleration in digital adoption, the global payments landscape now revolves around three distinct models: the high-fee credit card ecosystems of the West, China's dominant closed fintech networks, and India's government-backed Unified Payments Interface. While Western banks and processors like Visa and Mastercard leverage interchange fees to fund consumer rewards and protections, China's Ant Financial and Alibaba faced regulatory blockades after their market dominance threatened financial stability. Conversely, India's interoperable UPI system processes one-third of the nation's GDP by enabling direct bank-to-bank transfers and data ownership, effectively creating a nonprofit alternative that prevents single-entity control over financial infrastructure.

CMO Of Netflix: "Work Life Balance" Is BAD Advice! I Lost My Baby & My Husband!

Steven, Bozoma Saint John

Bozema St. John, a marketing executive who previously worked with Apple, Netflix, and Pepsi, leverages a life defined by political displacement, the loss of a daughter, and the death of her husband to advocate for a leadership philosophy rooted in intuition and radical self-prioritization. Her narrative highlights a career breakthrough where she secured a position from Spike Lee by critiquing his script as a junior employee, a moment that established her belief in fostering teams where junior members feel safe challenging strategy. St. John advises aspiring leaders to reject linear paths in favor of listening to their own voices and practicing "selfishness" to ensure long-term fulfillment, arguing that personal clarity is the only way to avoid ending up unsatisfied in one's final days.

50 Founders Share How They Got Their First Customers

Founders validated their personal finance and ag-tech concepts through aggressive outbound strategies and viral inbound channels, generating nearly 1,000 waitlist sign-ups and converting early users into paying customers within days. By leveraging diverse acquisition tactics ranging from door-to-door pitches to Reddit launches, teams achieved significant metrics such as a 50-to-10,000 follower surge and immediate revenue from non-coded solutions. These early adopters now serve as the foundation for a demo day strategy, with founders actively pivoting job offers into sales opportunities and preparing targeted outreach to major industry executives.

Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO) — The hidden pattern behind every AI breakthrough

Dario Amodei

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei projects that models indistinguishable from generally educated humans will emerge within two to three years, constrained primarily by safety regulations rather than compute or data scarcity. This trajectory carries significant risks, including the potential for state-level actors to utilize frontier models for biological attacks, prompting strict security protocols and the creation of a Long-Term Benefit Trust to legally prioritize safety over shareholder interests. To navigate these challenges, Anthropic employs mechanistic interpretability as a verification tool and advocates for international governance structures while preparing for an economic landscape dominated by a few large-scale infrastructure "leviathans."

WARNING: ChatGPT Could Be The Start Of The End! Sam Harris

Sam Harris, Steven

Sam Harris argues that superhuman artificial intelligence presents an inevitable existential threat due to the fundamental inability of humans to align with or comprehend vastly smarter systems. He warns that immediate risks include the collapse of truth through AI-generated misinformation and the displacement of high-status cognitive jobs, necessitating a shift toward Universal Basic Income and a redefinition of human purpose. Consequently, Harris advocates for indefinitely pausing AI development until the alignment problem is solved, prioritizing existential safety over the potential benefits of accelerated technological progress.

Comfort Food, Climate, and the Future of Our Plates

Julia Collins, Nyesha Arrington, Alvin Salehi

The event unites diverse voices from the Chef platform and Planet Forward to explore how technology and regenerative practices are democratizing food entrepreneurship and combating climate change. Speakers detail how data-driven tools lower barriers for underrepresented chefs while AI and regenerative agriculture strategies transform food systems into carbon sinks. Together, these insights advocate for a future where sustainable eating, emotional connection to culinary heritage, and accessible business models empower individuals to reshape the industry from home kitchens to brick-and-mortar success.

The Man Thats Ageing Backwards: “I Was 45, I’m Now 18!” - Bryan Johnson

Bryan Johnson, Steven

Entrepreneur and longevity researcher Brian Johnson has abandoned his $800 million tech exit to pursue a singular mission of indefinite human survival by treating the body as an algorithm-led system. Johnson enforces a rigorous "Blueprint" protocol involving 111 daily supplements, strict caloric limits, and sleep optimization to reverse his biological age, while arguing that aligning humanity's fragmented goals with the "don't die" imperative is essential to prevent collapse from AI misalignment or environmental degradation. This radical shift from traditional decision-making aims to transform the 35 trillion cells of the human body into a unified cooperative unit, creating a foundational template for global survival before artificial intelligence surpasses human governance.

Oppenheimer & the Catastrophe of Communism

Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen

Speakers Ben Thompson and associates draw a historical parallel between the Cold War atomic standoff and the current geopolitical tension over AI, arguing that similar ideological purges and anti-technology movements threaten to decelerate essential innovation. The discussion re-evaluates Cold War figures like Oppenheimer and McCarthy, asserting that the Manhattan Project's success relied on American industrial capacity and that Soviet espionage, rather than the bomb itself, prolonged a more devastating global conflict. Ultimately, the event warns that modern "anti-AI" regulations and cancel culture mirror the flawed moral frameworks of the past, urging a shift toward decentralized market-based solutions to avoid repeating historical errors.

Does Your Startup Need To Be In San Francisco?

Michael Seibel, Dalton Caldwell

Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell debate the necessity of San Francisco city-center living for startup success, with Seibel prioritizing suburban lifestyle benefits while Caldwell emphasizes the density-driven network effects and aspirational environment of the city. Despite their differing personal preferences, both founders reach a consensus that founders aiming for extreme, world-changing impact should locate within the broader Bay Area to access superior capital flows and the "surface area for luck" that remote work cannot replicate. They conclude that while remote operations are feasible, physically embedding oneself in the region's dense ecosystem remains the highest-probability strategy for maximizing odds of extraordinary achievement.

will.i.am Opens Up: Depression, Creativity & ADHD!

will.i.am, Steven

Will.i.am describes his creative superpower as an involuntary biological function rooted in a Boyle Heights upbringing, while outlining his 2008 foundation's mission to equip 15,000 Los Angeles students with robotics skills to compete in an AI-dominated future. He warns that societal structures often set underfunded communities up to fail but envisions generative AI by 2030 democratizing creation to allow individuals to bypass systemic barriers and own their digital identities. Ultimately, Will.i.am advocates for leveraging these technologies to drive humanity toward love and service rather than fear, while transitioning from a hands-on performer to a financier who prioritizes family life.

The biggest bank heist in history (and why you've never heard of it)

Nicolas Pelham, Hussein Kanbar Agha, Jonathan Beckman, Mustafa Kadhimi, Mohammad Soudani, Thea Jahar-Lafda

In August 2022, a systematic theft of $2.5 billion from the Iraqi General Commission for Taxes was exposed, with the central plotter Noor Zahair bypassing official controls to distribute funds to five shell companies. Although Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi's administration initially arrested Zahair as part of a political maneuver against the pro-Iranian Fatah Alliance, the subsequent government collapse led to Zahair's release and the issuance of arrest warrants for the investigators. The operation exemplifies a broader pattern of grand corruption where the majority of the stolen cash remains missing and is allegedly reinvested into Baghdad's construction boom while key figures evade lasting legal consequences.

E139: Recapping Chamath's wedding, VC surplus, unions vs Hollywood, room-temp superconductors & more

Chamath, Friedberg, Jason, Natalie

Recorded in Portofino following Natalie and Chamath Palihapitiya's wedding, the podcast features eclectic guests, a surprise ceremony officiated by J. Cal, and a $1.2 million high-stakes poker pot. The hosts extensively discuss J. Cal's 41-pound weight loss journey using Ozempic and fasting, while arguing that obesity requires compassionate medical treatment comparable to diabetes rather than stigma. Shifting to industry analysis, the conversation critiques Hollywood unions for opposing AI and lacking equity focus, advocates for GLP-1 accessibility to fight the obesity crisis, and advises young professionals against entering venture capital without prior operating experience.

Classroom 2050: Unleashing AI, XR, Gaming

Sal Khan, Romy Drucker, Allison Matthews, Steph, Anarupa

Facing a critical decline in U.S. math and literacy levels exacerbated by the pandemic, educational leaders are deploying generative AI, virtual reality, and gaming platforms to restore student proficiency without replacing educators. Tools like Khanmigo's Socratic AI and Prisms VR have achieved rapid teacher adoption by addressing cognitive gaps and fostering spatial reasoning, while shifting professional development focus from hardware mechanics to instructional design. With immediate execution and mastery-based grading models now prioritized, these innovations aim to scale personalized learning experiences that bridge equity gaps and prepare students for future STEM and problem-solving challenges.

Shocking TRUE Story: “I Lost Both Of My Legs Because Of A Tampon” (Health Warning) - Lauren Wasser

Lauren Wasser, Steven

In October 2012, 24-year-old Lauren Wasser survived Toxic Shock Syndrome, a rare infection caused by a retained tampon that led to septic shock, organ failure, and the subsequent amputation of her right leg and left heel. Following a traumatic recovery marked by depression and a deliberate shift toward activism, she now collaborates with Madeline Masabi to lobby for the "Robin Danielson Act," which seeks federal mandates for safer labeling and ingredient transparency in the feminine hygiene industry. Wasser frames this legislative effort as a critical intersection of patient safety and gender equity, aiming to eliminate preventable deaths while redefining disability through her "Golden Legs" advocacy.