Latest Interviews
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Inside The Life of Silicon Valley's First Athlete Investor | Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson, Chris Lyons, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Michael Ovitz, Dr. Jerry Buss
Magic Johnson outlines the strategic transformation of sports franchises into billion-dollar assets, highlighting how ownership shifts toward equity over endorsements and leveraging high consumer demand alongside mobile streaming trends. He details a diversified investment philosophy that prioritizes cash-flow-positive sectors like healthcare infrastructure and AI, while emphasizing the critical need for athletes to build capital reserves and secure mentorship to navigate complex deal executions. Ultimately, Johnson advocates for a collaborative approach where established figures share knowledge and networks to democratize business access, enabling the next generation of athlete-entrepreneurs to capitalize on emerging markets such as women's sports and the NIL economy.
- a16z48 min
AI Markets: Deep Dive with a16z's David George
A leading investment firm projects the AI product cycle as a decade-long growth engine that is accelerating revenue across all quartiles while driving hyperscalers toward $5 trillion in cumulative CapEx by 2030. This thesis is supported by operational shifts where AI-native companies achieve superior revenue per employee and faster adoption rates, alongside portfolio successes in sectors ranging from legal tech to healthcare that validate high-utility models. Despite concerns regarding supply constraints and changing valuation metrics, the analysis concludes that current market dynamics are underpinned by genuine earnings growth rather than speculative froth, with profitability and successful change management identified as the primary drivers of future market leadership.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Looking Back: A Conversation With Five-Time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady | Global Conference 2018
Tom Brady confirmed his intention to play through the 2018-2019 season and into his mid-40s by attributing his longevity to the TB12 method's focus on pliability and his refusal to accept injury as inevitable. Addressing the Super Bowl LII loss and his relationship with Coach Bill Belichick, he defended the coaching staff's decisions while acknowledging his wife Gisele Bündchen's role in negotiating his retirement timeline based on family well-being. Beyond the field, Brady emphasized a leadership philosophy that prioritizes internal validation and organizational humility, aiming to inspire a broader cultural shift toward proactive health management.
- Y Combinator23 min
OpenClaw Creator: Why 80% Of Apps Will Disappear
Raphael Schaad, Peter Steinberger
Launched in 2025, the open-source OpenClaw project has rapidly accumulated over 160,000 GitHub stars by introducing a local-executing personal AI agent capable of autonomously controlling hardware and synthesizing private data. Creator of the "swarm intelligence" philosophy, the project distinguishes itself through a unique security architecture that isolates user memory in local markdown files and employs a proprietary `soul.md` file to maintain core personality traits against external manipulation. As the technology evolves toward multi-agent negotiations and the obsolescence of traditional applications, OpenClaw positions itself as a value-retention model where specialized bots manage distinct domains while the primary asset remains the user's locally stored data memory.
Inside the $4.5B Startup Building Brain-Inspired Chips for AI
Peter Barrett, Naveen Rao, Konstantine Buhler, Molly O'Shea
Founded by deep tech veteran Naveen Rao and backed by Playground principal Konstantin Buehler, Unconventional AI is raising funds to build a full-stack analog computing platform that leverages silicon's non-linear physics to overcome the energy inefficiencies of current digital systems. The company seeks to automate over 99% of cognitive labor by replacing energy-intensive megawatt-scale data centers with 20-watt biologically inspired architectures, aiming to reach product escape velocity with a projected capital requirement of $1.5 billion. This venture differentiates itself by embracing the stochastic nature of intelligence rather than suppressing it, challenging traditional von Neumann limitations through recurrent dynamical systems that promise computational productivity gains of up to 1,000 times.
- All-In Podcast1h 19m
Epstein Files, Is SaaS Dead?, Moltbook Panic, SpaceX xAI Merger, Trump's Fed Pick
Trump, Brad Gerstner, Kevin Warsh, Jerome Powell, Chamath, Jason, Friedberg, David Sacks
On January 30, the Department of Justice released the Epstein Files Transparency Act documents, prompting J Cal to clarify his limited interactions with Jeffrey Epstein while critics highlight alleged media bias regarding prominent tech figures like Reid Hoffman and Elon Musk. Simultaneously, the market experienced a "Claude Crash" wiping $300 billion from software stocks due to AI disruption fears, though President Trump's nomination of inflation hawk Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve is expected to support rate cuts driven by AI productivity. In the private sector, Elon Musk announced a $1.25 trillion merger of SpaceX and xAI to build space-based data centers, while the "Invest America" Act successfully launched government-backed investment accounts for newborns to democratize capital ownership.
- Milken Institute30 min
Progress with Purpose | Asia Summit 2025
Martin Soong, Hadi Badri, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara
Dubai's leadership identifies organizational inertia as a primary risk, responding with a rapid adaptation strategy that combines three-year plans with daily data-driven adjustments to maintain a high-performance standard. Amidst a fragmented global economy marked by rising nationalism and supply chain reconfiguration, the emirate has secured a 60% year-over-year surge in foreign direct investment by positioning itself as a permanent global hub for talent and capital. This growth is further accelerated by a robust artificial intelligence framework prioritizing small language models and regulatory agility, alongside progressive visa policies that have established the UAE within the top ten globally for AI talent density.
- The Economist10 min
What would Kevin Warsh’s Federal Reserve look like? | The Economist
Kevin Warsh, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Edward Carr, Henry, Zannie, Archie
President Trump has nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh as the next Chair, contingent on the White House removing a Senate blockade led by Senator Tom Tillis regarding the investigation into current Chair Jerome Powell. Warsh's proposed strategy, termed "Warshonomics," seeks to lower interest rates by coupling an anticipated AI-driven productivity surge with balance sheet contraction to offset inflationary risks, despite his historical reputation as a hawk. While experts predict Warsh will implement a slightly more dovish policy yielding one or two rate cuts, his ability to align the FOMC with President Trump's demands remains a significant governance risk complicated by potential political backlash.
- a16z11 min
The Story Behind ElevenLabs | Interview with CEO Mati Staniszewski
Mati Staniszewski, Piotr, Jennifer
Co-founders Jacek (Marty) and Piotr launched Eleven Labs in early 2021 to pioneer the "vocal Turing test" by synthesizing AI that matches human emotion and intonation, a mission that propelled the remote-first startup from a two-person team to over 300 employees in 11 cities. The company operates under a flat, title-free hierarchy driven by "mini-founders" and high autonomy, allowing it to rapidly scale its proprietary research into multimodal products like Voice Design V3 and Studio 3.0. By integrating direct product feedback loops with raw audio training, Eleven Labs aims to establish voice as the primary computer interface that transcends language barriers and delivers genuine emotional connection.
- Y Combinator46 min
We're All Addicted To Claude Code
Industry analysis indicates a decisive shift toward Command Line Interfaces as the primary interaction layer for coding agents, with Anthropic's Cloud Code utilizing subagent models and OpenAI's Codex employing periodic compaction to manage context windows. Senior engineers are increasingly adopting a managerial role to direct autonomous workflows, while top-tier practitioners distinguish themselves by enforcing rigorous testing protocols and minimizing codebase noise to prevent model degradation. This evolution fosters a tension between rapid, bottom-up grassroots adoption driven by speed and enterprise-mandated top-down security controls, fundamentally reshaping software development structures toward smaller teams operating under vast agent armories.
- Goldman Sachs24 min
Inside the Future of Payments: Adyen CEO
Pieter van der Does, Clif Marriott, Cliff Marietta
Founded by the creators of iDeal, Adyen transitioned from a payment intermediary to a direct acquiring system, now processing $900 billion annually through a unified platform that combines online and in-store payments with AI-driven authorization optimization. The company distinguishes itself by rejecting acquisition-heavy growth in favor of a single technology stack and a disciplined culture that prioritizes collective success, allowing it to offer financial services like loans while excluding cryptocurrency due to client demand. Looking forward, Adyen aims to leverage its global infrastructure and banking licenses to bridge physical and digital shopper identities, anticipating a regulatory landscape that must adapt to the speed of artificial intelligence in fraud prevention.
How Anthropic’s $100M Anthology Fund Works | Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures emphasizes investing in founders with authentic long-term conviction and "cult leader" charisma rather than those chasing pre-existing venture capital theses. The firm targets specific opportunities in AI infrastructure, mechanistic interpretability for Goodfire, and industries facing labor shortages where AI solves immediate economic gaps. While noting that massive seed checks risk creating an illusion of success, the discussion highlights a strategic shift toward domain-specific data, economically viable applications, and product-led growth models that prioritize user love over buzzword compliance.
- a16z41 min
How Truemed Is Incentivizing Americans to Invest in Prevention
The speaker identifies a structural U.S. health crisis driven by decades of corporate governance prioritizing shareholder value, which led to the systemic replacement of whole foods with subsidized, inflammatory ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup and soybean oil. This deterioration is exacerbated by inadequate chemical regulation, aggressive ag-chemical lobbying, and a medical paradigm focused on acute disease management rather than preventive lifestyle interventions. As a countermeasure, the discussion highlights TrueMed's model of leveraging tax-advantaged funds for nutrition and fitness tools, while advocating for subsidy reform and metabolic psychiatry to shift the system toward human enhancement and long-term wellness.
- Milken Institute47 min
Future of Global Asset Platforms: Scaling, Strategy, & Stewardship | Middle East & Africa Summit
Nour Amache, Jonathan Goldstein, Dana Settle, David Steinbach, Guy Weldon
Representatives from Bridgepoint Group, Heinz, Greycraft, and Kean International discussed strategies for scaling multi-product platforms while maintaining cultural identity and operational agility in a consolidating market. The panelists highlighted how leveraging AI for data-driven sourcing, vertical integration for deal flow, and decentralized governance models allows firms to navigate structural shifts from beta to alpha generation. Key outcomes included predictions of rising demand for compute infrastructure, a pivot toward private wealth allocation, and the critical role of transparency in sustaining long-term investor relationships amidst macroeconomic uncertainty.
- Goldman Sachs16 min
Poppi Founders: Disrupting the Beverage Industry
Stephen Ellsworth, Vanya Kasanof, Allison
Founders Allison and Steven transformed their apple cider vinegar discovery into Poppy, a modern soda brand that leveraged aggressive marketing tactics like a record-breaking Super Bowl campaign and strategic Amazon launches to bypass traditional industry barriers. Prioritizing long-term brand awareness and cultural agility over immediate sales metrics, the team executed rapid product iterations and viral content strategies that ultimately drove the company toward a two-year acquisition by Pepsi. This sale secured the distribution scale necessary to fulfill the founders' mission of revolutionizing soda consumption, successfully transitioning the brand from a niche startup to a mainstream competitor for the next generation.