Latest Interviews

What Trump’s win means for markets and portfolios

Trump, Christian Mueller-Glissmann, Brian Garrett, Alison Nathan

Following Donald Trump's presidential victory, U.S. stocks, bond yields, and the dollar surged sharply as clients rapidly shifted from underweight to long positions in banks, technology, and energy sectors. Goldman Sachs analysts project a potential S&P 500 rally to 6,100 by mirroring 2016 post-election patterns, while noting that European equities and renewable energy stocks face immediate pressure from tariff fears and policy changes. Although the VIX dropped to historic lows due to suppressed hedging, the firm maintains an equity-overweight strategy with a neutral duration outlook, warning that sustained yield spikes or reflation frustration could eventually trigger market indigestion.

The Winter 2025 application deadline is in less than a week! Apply at ycombinator.com/apply.

Y Combinator is accepting applications for its Winter 2025 batch by November 12th as it transitions to a four-batch annual schedule to capitalize on a unique twenty-year cycle of technological advancement. The program specifically targets early-stage technical teams with co-founders, emphasizing that hesitation is unnecessary given the organization's history of radically altering founders' trajectories even when applications began on a whim. By encouraging ambitious applicants to submit proposals immediately, YC asserts that the selection process offers a risk-free opportunity to fundamentally reshape the future course of their ventures.

Vote! Our election-day special

Jason Palmer, Idris Kahloun, Aaron Braun

The 2024 U.S. presidential election will likely hinge on a razor-thin margin across seven swing states, with Pennsylvania serving as the critical tipping point for either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump to reach the 270 electoral votes required for victory. While economic concerns drive voter sentiment, the outcome faces significant uncertainty due to heightened security threats, potential legal challenges, and a potentially split Congress where control of the House remains volatile. International allies are closely monitoring the result, as the winner's approach to trade, NATO commitments, and geopolitical stability will determine the trajectory of global affairs in the coming years.

How Clearlake Capital’s José E. Feliciano is finding value across private markets

José E. Feliciano, Michael Brandmeier

ClearLake Capital co-founders Jose Feliciano and Big Dog Ibali leverage an $80 billion asset base to execute distressed investments, restructuring, and sector-specific buyouts with a primary focus on technology and industrials. Their strategy targets a "15-year supply" of undervalued tech companies for transformation through their proprietary OPS operational framework, which integrates AI integration and business model pivots to drive recurring revenue and efficiency. Beyond financial returns, the firm actively deploys over $200 million to support underrepresented minority leaders and applies rigorous operational standards to unique assets like Chelsea FC to diversify revenue streams.

Inflated GDP?, Google earnings, How the media lost trust, Rogan/Trump search controversy, Election!

Rogan, Trump, Jason, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks

The All In Holiday Spectacular is a $1 million non-profit event hosted by podcasters David Sacks, Jason Calacanis, and Cameron Freiber at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, featuring VIP bundles purchased by Sacks's firm Athena. The gathering coincides with a comprehensive analysis of Q3 US GDP growth, Google's record-breaking earnings, and the shifting media landscape that favored Donald Trump's long-form podcasting strategy over traditional broadcast formats. Attendees and hosts also debated critical macroeconomic risks, including rising commercial real estate refinancing costs, the sustainability of federal debt, and the systemic implications of algorithmic bias on voter trust.

Turn up the PA: the last in our swing-state series

Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Adam O'Neill, Avantika Chokotty, David Benin

This briefing analyzes three distinct sectors: the 2024 US presidential election's reliance on Pennsylvania's 19 electoral votes amidst deep demographic realignments, the projected growth of the $480 billion global influencer economy driven by high-trust niche creators, and the mainstream integration of the goth subculture fueled by new music releases and high-fashion adoption. Political strategies highlight Kamala Harris's suburban gains against Donald Trump's rural base, while marketing shifts prioritize authentic engagement over follower counts to combat consumer fatigue. Cultural resilience is demonstrated as goth aesthetics expand beyond their niche origins to influence diverse music genres and span over 35 years of generational attendance.

Tax driver: Labour’s budget

Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Archie Hall, Stevie Hertz, Rachel Lloyd

Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a historic UK budget featuring £40 billion in tax increases and record borrowing to fund NHS and public service expansion, a move Conservative leader Rishi Sunak condemned as broken promises. Simultaneously, the North Carolina election faces significant logistical hurdles after Hurricane Hélène damaged infrastructure in key swing counties, complicating early voting operations despite record turnout elsewhere. In cultural news, a viral surge of pickle consumption on social media has driven culinary experimentation, though testing of these trends yielded mixed reviews regarding flavor combinations.

Hot shot: the wider promise of weight-loss jabs

Rosie Bloor, Natasha Loder, Simon Rabinovich, Alice Su

GLP-1 receptor agonists such as Zepbound and Wegovy have demonstrated significant cardiovascular protection independent of weight loss while sparking economic speculation regarding shifts in industries like aviation and insurance. Concurrently, robust US economic indicators including 3% GDP growth and low unemployment starkly contrast with depressed consumer sentiment driven by lingering inflation concerns and political polarization. Meanwhile, a tenfold surge in Chinese migration through the Darién Gap reflects a hybrid of political persecution and economic stagnation, marking the fastest-growing demographic group in the current US border crisis.

The Weekend Intelligence: The Apology

Charlie McCann, Gladstone family, Charlie Gladstone, Tara, John, Terry, Laura Trevelyan, Eric Phillips, Vereen Shepherd, Oswald Kwamena, Roxanne Kwamene, Rory Galloway, Nico Rofast, Jemma Newby

At the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa, Caribbean nations are pressuring the UK to address billions in reparations claims stemming from the transatlantic slave trade, a demand contrasted by British officials who warn of unmanageable historical complexities. Amidst this diplomatic tension, the Gladstone family made a rare public apology in Guyana for Sir John Gladstone's role in enslaving 2,500 people, pledging £100,000 for scholarship programs and engaging in direct reconciliation with the descendants of rebel leader Kwamena. While individual descendants offer moral redress through education funding, international experts and CARICOM nations maintain that the primary financial obligation for compensating the estimated $24 trillion in damages rests with state actors rather than private families.

Left field: a new force in German politics

Sahra Wagenknecht, Rosie Bloor, Tom Nuffel, Caitlin Talbot

In Germany, Sarah Wagenknecht's new party secured 6% of the European vote and won three state elections by merging left-wing economics with right-leaning positions on immigration and Ukraine, though her refusal to support US missile deployments has stalled coalition talks. Simultaneously, Moldova faced intense Russian interference that narrowed its EU membership referendum to a 50.2% margin and forced President Maia Sandu into a runoff after failing to win a first-round majority. Finally, TikTok is accelerating English linguistic evolution by generating roughly 100 neologisms annually and fostering "AlgoSpeak" to bypass content moderation, while introducing distinctive features like the "uptalk" accent.

Dueling Presidential interviews, SpaceX’s big catch, Robotaxis, Uber buying Expedia?, Nuclear NIMBY

Chamath, Jason, Friedberg, David Sacks

In a multi-segment broadcast, the hosts announced the nationwide Target launch of Supergut while dissecting recent political interviews and contrasting Polymarket's Trump victory probability with Nate Silver's toss-up assessment. The conversation shifted to technological breakthroughs, highlighting SpaceX's successful rocket catch and Tesla's unveiling of steering-wheel-free autonomous vehicles, before debating Big Tech's nuclear power investments and the potential Uber- Expedia acquisition. Finally, the panel addressed election integrity concerns, bureaucratic hurdles facing tech innovation, and confirmed the show's continuation regardless of the November 5th election results.

Global Investment Outlook | Asia Summit 2024

Martin Soong, Jeffrey Jaensubhakij, Jenny Lee, Todd Sisitsky

A panel hosted by the head of the American Foundation in London brought together four experts and advisors to discuss fragmented topics ranging from uncertain Asian economic forecasts to the undefined role of AI in business. Participants cited vague numerical figures and generalized concerns about wealth balance and social inclusivity without establishing concrete investment strategies, policy frameworks, or measurable outcomes. The dialogue ultimately failed to provide definitive market trends or implementation plans, concluding with general expressions of gratitude rather than specific forward-looking milestones.

Paradise lost: Hurricane Milton bashes Florida

Rosie Bloor, Oliver Morton, Nick Pelham, Emily Steinmark

Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm driven by warm ocean waters, prompting President Biden to issue evacuation warnings as it caused widespread power outages and structural damage across Florida while experts link its severity to climate change trends. Concurrently, the crisis has injected urgency into the US election cycle amidst political disputes over disaster response, paralleling a resurgence in global Palestinian activism that has shifted cultural perceptions and heightened fears of further Israeli expansion. In the scientific realm, imminent development of a nuclear clock prototype promises to test fundamental physics theories through unprecedented precision, marking a significant leap in measuring time via nuclear transitions rather than current atomic standards.

The Weekend Intelligence: Gaza, after the dust settles (republished)

Zanny Minton Beddoes, Greg Karlstrom, Dana Struhl, Mohamed Mustafa, Shahabil al-Zayim, Moussa Abou-Mazouk, Bassem Naeem, Nick Pelham, Leah, Yael, Yoaz Hendel, Simcha Rothman, Yair Golan, Naftali Bennett, Anwar al-Jundi Abu Subi, Tarnim, Matthew Hollingworth, Ali Shaf

Nine months into the conflict, Gaza faces near-total destruction and a humanitarian catastrophe as competing visions for post-war governance emerge, with the US and Palestinian Authority advocating for a revitalized PA while Israeli factions range from rejecting a political horizon to proposing indefinite military control. Security vacuums are already being filled by armed criminal gangs and Hamas, creating a lawless environment that threatens to collapse into permanent instability without a credible international or Israeli security plan. Experts warn that the absence of political consensus, combined with the logistical failure of aid delivery and the scale of rubble requiring forty million tons of clearance, renders a successful transition vanishingly unlikely.

Ground assault: Israeli forces invade Lebanon

Rosie Bloor, Greg Karlstrom, Noah Snyder, Andrew Palmer

Israel has initiated a targeted ground incursion into southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and facilitate the return of displaced residents, a move supported by the Biden administration only under strict conditions of limited scope. Simultaneously, Japan's political landscape has shifted as Ishiba Shigeru secured the prime ministership through an unprecedented nine-way contest, signaling a pivot toward conservative liberal policies despite facing an unstable coalition. While these geopolitical maneuvers reshape regional stability, separate corporate commentary highlights the detrimental impact of mandatory "sandwich lunches" on workplace efficiency and employee well-being.