Latest Interviews

Off the Clock #5: Leaving 80k with Maria Gutierrez Rojas

Maria Gutierrez Rojas, Matt Rudin, Bella Forestall, Cody Fenwick

Former ADK employee Maria Gutierrez Rojas joins host Matt Rudin and guests Bella Forestall and Cody Fenwick on *Mic Discipline* to analyze the organization's design choices, her departure from the role, and the phenomenon of "Club Club" dynamics. The discussion contrasts ADK's utility-focused web strategy with the team's internal philosophical conflicts, while Rojas details her transition to Open Philanthropy driven by a preference for clear incentives over advocacy work. Throughout the episode, the group examines themes of loneliness, religious influences on moral reasoning, and the tension between Effective Altruism's public posture and individual psychological needs.

Labour-saving: Britain’s probable next leader

Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Matthew Holhouse, Tamara Jilkes-Boer, Carla Subrana-Artus

Following a 2019 landslide victory for the Conservatives, *The Economist* has endorsed Keir Starmer's restructured Labour Party to address weak economic growth through centrist policies and internal reforms. Meanwhile, U.S. schools face a contentious debate over smartphone bans driven by distraction and learning loss, complicated by parental security demands and enforcement challenges. In the financial sector, a 120% surge in art-secured lending since 2019 allows collectors to leverage holdings against rising interest rates, with institutions like Sotheby's leading $700 million asset-backed securities initiatives.

Trump verdict, COVID Cover-up, Crypto Corner, Salesforce drops 20%, AI correction?

Trump, Chamath, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks

In a New York courtroom, a jury convicted Donald Trump of 34 felony counts related to falsified business records, prompting predictions from experts like David Sacks and Jason Calacanis that the verdict will serve as a fundraising catalyst and potentially lead to a gubernatorial pardon. Concurrently, investigators uncovered evidence that the NIH funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, leading the panel to accuse the agency and Anthony Fauci of a systematic cover-up regarding the pandemic's origins. The discussion further analyzed the political impact of Bitcoin's recent halving, noting that crypto advocacy could sway millions of votes, while also highlighting a major market correction in the SaaS sector driven by AI disruption and slowing revenue growth.

To be able to create something different, you have to be somewhat contrarian.

The event posits that the unlikable traits of founders, such as confrontational candor and an innate compulsion to fix broken systems, are essential contrarian mindsets required to disrupt the status quo. While this critical behavior often leads to conflict with authority and creates difficulties as an employee, it serves as a prerequisite for identifying operational failures and driving innovation. Ultimately, the presentation argues that the same dissatisfaction with inefficiency which marks a "shitty employee" is the defining characteristic of a successful founder.

Meta's scorched earth approach to AI, Tesla's future, TikTok bill, FTC bans noncompetes, wealth tax

Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Friedberg

In a panel featuring Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and other industry figures, the group dissected Meta's "scorched earth" open-source AI strategy, Tesla's pivot toward autonomous ride-hailing, and the economic implications of the FTC's non-compete ban. While acknowledging Meta's aggressive move to devalue proprietary models through Llama 3, the speakers warned that heavy capital expenditure on NVIDIA hardware contributed to a recent 16% stock drop despite strong earnings. The discussion further explored the potential market disruption from Tesla's energy and robotics ventures, the legal challenges surrounding TikTok's forced divestiture, and concerns that proposed 2025 capital gains tax hikes could stifle startup innovation and alter the political landscape.

'GenAI at Scale Measuring Enterprise Outcomes in the AI-First World' | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

François Candelon, Yuriy Nevmyvaka, Yannis Daubin, Harry Grieve, Jeremy Harroch, Antoine Courret

Leaders from Morgan Stanley, BCG, Databricks, and emerging tech firms convened to analyze the divergent paths of AI adoption, highlighting that successful enterprise integration depends more on human workflow re-engineering and change management than on technological capabilities. Key insights revealed that while financial services are deploying production-grade models and decentralized compute protocols are lowering costs, the primary barrier remains the lack of mature data platforms and the cultural resistance to blending human creativity with AI efficiency. Ultimately, the panelists agreed that future success will be dictated by navigating strict regulatory landscapes, preserving open-source innovation, and prioritizing sovereign data sovereignty to enable secure, scalable deployment across global industries.

'AI Blueprint Deploying GenAI for Enterprise Transformation' | RAISE Summit 2024 | Paris

Gabriel Hubert, Biljana Kaitovic, Bruno Zerbib, Laetitia Cailleteau, Philippe Battel, Jérémy Arosh

Moderated by Jérémy Arosh of Capgemini, a roundtable featuring representatives from Dust, Engie, Orange, Oracle, and Accenture explores how generative AI is transforming enterprise operations from specialist tools into universal workforce assets. The discussion details specific implementation strategies, such as Orange's DINO2 platform boosting developer productivity by 40% and Engie's use of AI for predictive safety maintenance, while addressing critical challenges like the EU AI Act compliance and the management of workforce anxiety. Experts conclude that successful adoption requires a cultural shift toward iterative exploration and robust governance frameworks to navigate the transition from deterministic computing to stochastic, high-impact AI systems.

Making AI accessible with Andrej Karpathy and Stephanie Zhan

Andrej Karpathy, Stephanie Zhan, Brian Halligan, Alex, Sam, Peter, Michael

Andrej Karpathy outlines a future where the Large Language Model serves as a central CPU for a new "LLM OS," treating text, images, and audio as interchangeable peripherals within a decentralized startup ecosystem. He emphasizes that while massive scale drives current capabilities, the industry must overcome significant engineering and energy inefficiency barriers by adopting new hardware architectures and shifting from imitation learning toward self-correcting reinforcement loops. Drawing on lessons from Elon Musk’s management style, Karpathy advises founders to prioritize high-performance products, maintain technical rigor against organizational bloat, and foster a "coral reef" of vertical-specific applications rather than relying on monolithic corporate dominance.

Crypto Roundtable with Nick Tomaino & Kyle Samani: US Elections, NFTs, and Trump | E1100

Nick Tomaino, Kyle Samani, Trump, Harry Stebbings

Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle Samani and crypto purist Nick Tamaino debate the roles of speculation versus utility in the blockchain ecosystem, contrasting Samani's aggressive commercial approach to Solana's high-performance architecture with Tamaino's focus on long-term authenticity and social innovation. The participants analyze the collapse of major entities like FTX and Luna as warnings against greed-driven markets while discussing the divergent regulatory paths for Ethereum and Solana under potential changes to the SEC chairmanship. Looking toward the next five years, the speakers envision a future where financial infrastructure integrates directly into consumer devices and NFTs bridge mainstream culture with decentralized finance.

Roundtable #7: Spotify, Adobe and Linkedin on How AI Changes The Future of Product & Design | E1097

Gustav Söderström, Scott Belsky, Tomer Cohen, Harry Stebbings

Product leaders from Adobe, Spotify, and LinkedIn converge on an AI-first paradigm that prioritizes specialized long-tail models and proprietary data over general-purpose mega models to secure competitive moats. This strategic shift necessitates a redesign of user interfaces into probabilistic AI personas, transforming design roles to encompass model mechanics, prompt engineering, and cost-efficient infrastructure management. While traditional seat-based licensing remains prevalent, the industry anticipates a future where value-based pricing replaces headcount metrics, driven by the need to simplify complex workflows through intelligent model routing and verticalized hardware.

Jason Lemkin & Rick Zullo: How "Mark to Market" Corrupted Venture Capital | E1052

Jason Lemkin, Rick Zullo, Harry Stebbings

This industry analysis outlines a structural pivot in venture capital from a founder-centric model to an asset management framework driven by mega-fund inflation and a demand for $10 billion unicorn outcomes. Participants highlight a critical correction in market valuations where founders must prioritize capital efficiency and profitability over growth-at-all-costs, while investors increasingly focus on AI consolidation and strategic fund splintering. The discussion concludes that historical liquidity cycles will likely revive mega-fund fundraising in late 2024 and 2025, provided firms address the current trust deficit with LPs by avoiding inflated paper markups and rigid thesis-driven investments.

DEBATE: State of Seed Investing w/ Jason Lemkin, Sam Lessin, Frank Rotman & Harry Stebbings | E1047

Jason Lemkin, Sam Lessin, Frank Rotman, Harry Stebbings

Venture capital has shifted from a predictable factory model to a high-variance strategy focused on bespoke investing in "weird" deals with limited competition. While seed valuations remain elevated, the industry is prioritizing capital efficiency and profitability over hyper-growth narratives, forcing mid-tier funds to consolidate or demonstrate non-generic returns to secure capital. A divergence remains regarding the timing of a potential 2024 IPO wave, yet consensus suggests the market will ultimately favor efficient companies with proven unit economics over those relying on unchecked growth.

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.

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.

Sheel Mohnot: VC Funds Are TOO BIG

Sheel Mohnot, Harry Stebbings

The speaker critiques the venture capital sector's current "prisoner's dilemma," where oversized funds prioritize management fees over returns and force unsustainable valuations, contrasting this with smaller, disciplined approaches like those adopted by Founders Fund. Addressing structural shifts, BTV expanded its fund sizes to $150 million for seed and $75 million for opportunities to enable necessary follow-on investments that prevent strong portfolio companies from raising rounds elsewhere. Despite these adjustments and the strategic necessity of supporting slow-burn winners, the market is not expected to see a significant wave of capital returned to limited partners in the current cycle.