Latest Interviews

Must Read Research: World Cup, Higher Oil Prices, and Mega IPOs

Candace Browning

Scheduled for June 2026, the FIFA World Cup serves as a global infrastructure stress test projected to add $41 billion to GDP and generate two exabytes of data through the integration of AI and physical robotics. Concurrently, the energy sector faces a supply rebalancing driven by strategic reserve rebuilding and new output from the UAE, Canada, and the U.S., though analysts warn that sustained stock re-rating requires oil prices to exceed the historical norm of $70. Simultaneously, equity markets anticipate a $2 trillion issuance deluge from major private firms that may force passive funds to reallocate capital from mega-cap tech holdings to absorb the new supply.

Inflation markets

Ralf Preusser, Mark Capleton, Meghan Swiber

Analysts examine the $4 trillion inflation-linked bond market to highlight how fiscal constraints in the UK and Eurozone have created supply scarcity while instrument mechanics drive persistent basis disparities between swaps and cash markets. Despite theoretical stagflation models predicting lower real yields, current data shows a market anomaly where US real yields have risen alongside compressed long-term inflation expectations. Consequently, investors are advised to fade the recent spike in short-term real yields, as this pricing disconnect challenges the Federal Reserve's dual mandate without indicating an immediate risk of unanchored inflation expectations.

Must Read Research: Weather & Commodity Risks; Fed Hikes; EU Trade Dynamics and Evolving Consumers

Candace Browning, Mark Cabana, Horst Schneider, Lorraine Hutchinson

A 2026 market analysis highlights severe El Niño-driven disruptions to global grain and sugar supplies alongside tightening U.S. corn balances that could push prices above $6 per bushel. Concurrently, resilient payroll growth and accelerating inflation suggest the Federal Reserve must raise rates to approximately 4% by year-end, a move likely underpriced by current market expectations. In global trade, Chinese automakers doubled their European market share to 8% in Q1 2026 while second-hand apparel spending surged 38%, reflecting shifting consumer dynamics and intensified geopolitical trade flows.

Is Defense the Next Trillion-Dollar Category? | a16z American Dynamism Summit

Erin Price-Wright, Michael Duffey, Dino Mavrookas

Saronix is reshaping maritime defense by pivoting to software-driven autonomy that slashes labor requirements from millions to mere fractions while deploying an "IKEA" manufacturing model at its new Louisiana Port Alpha facility. This industrial strategy integrates commercial vessel production to ensure economic sustainability and rapid scaling, directly addressing Pentagon constraints on manufacturing capacity through private capital investment and streamlined acquisition policies. By fostering a robust public-private partnership, the initiative aims to establish a century-long national industrial base capable of supporting both defense needs and global energy dominance.

Zepto: How Two 17-Year-Olds Built India's Largest Seller Of Fruits and Vegetables

Aadit Palicha, Jared Friedman, Keval

Founded in 2020 by college dropouts Adit Ayyal and Keval Karia, Zepto revolutionized India's grocery sector by pivoting from a WhatsApp-based service to a proprietary 10-minute dark store delivery model. Operating as a massive logistics and supply chain network, the company now manages over 200,000 jobs and delivers tens of millions of monthly orders while leveraging AI to optimize forecasting and advertising revenue. With current expansion plans targeting India's top 50 cities, Zepto aims to replicate the scale of major global retailers like Walmart and cultivate a domestic consumer goods ecosystem.

How He Turned a Blood Test Startup Into $7B OS for Healthcare

Tanay Tandon, Molly O’Shea

Commure has secured $70 million in a new funding round led by General Catalyst, bringing its total valuation to $7 billion and cumulative capital to approximately $750 million. The company now supports 200 million annual patient encounters and is deploying this capital to transition its point solutions into a unified AI-powered operating system while accelerating R&D. With a commitment to a public market IPO, Commure aims to eliminate administrative work tax in the healthcare sector, targeting $1 trillion in systemic efficiency gains through its expanding global workforce and enterprise partnerships.

Rebuilding IT From the Ground Up for the AI Age: Serval's Jake Stauch

Jake Stauch, Pat Grady

Serval positions itself as an AI-native ServiceNow platform that leverages a code generation engine to instantly build workflows from natural language, collapsing development timelines from months to near zero. By separating its architecture into a restricted Admin Agent and a reasoning-capable Help Desk Agent, the company balances autonomous employee support with strict enterprise security while avoiding token-based pricing through pre-built TypeScript automation. This approach allows Serval to operate with extreme talent density and a flatter structure, ultimately aiming to eliminate menial tasks so employees can align their daily work with professional aspirations.

Backing What's Next: A Conversation with Serena Williams | Global Conference 2026

Serena Williams, Jason Kelly

Serena Williams transitioned from angel investing to launching Starfire Ventures, a firm established to support underrepresented founders in sectors like financial services and technology. Under the leadership of General Partner Serena Williams and co-general partner Beth Farah, the firm differentiates itself by applying an "AI first" investment thesis while providing deep operational support to scale companies such as Isuzu. This strategic approach addresses the historical lack of capital allocation to women by combining institutional discipline with a mission to empower entrepreneurs serving "middle America."

How Founders Can Build for Law Enforcement and First Responders | The a16z Show

David Ulevitch, Col. Jeffrey Glover, Rahul Sidhu, Colonel Glover

Law enforcement agencies are rapidly transitioning from traditional physical confrontation to AI-driven investigative frameworks that utilize autonomous drones, sensor fusion, and behavioral analytics to prevent crime and optimize resource allocation. This shift is evident in successful interventions where technology de-escalated potential threats and in the adoption of data-driven well-being programs that have reversed historical union resistance to body-worn cameras. Looking ahead, international intelligence sharing and advanced fraud detection are becoming central to a new policing model that prioritizes technical analysis over brute force, requiring developers to deeply understand operational contexts to effectively deploy these inevitable advancements.

Turning Peter Thiel's $100K into $10M Angel Portfolio & Why VCs Can Be Sharks | Josh Browder

Peter Thiel, Josh Browder, Harry Stebbings

Josh Browder leverages a high-conviction, paranoia-driven investment thesis to fund early-stage founders, utilizing a unique "Hotel California" accelerator that houses select entrepreneurs in Menlo Park until they secure institutional seed rounds. His strategy has successfully transformed a $100,000 grant into a $10 million-plus portfolio by prioritizing founder grit and deep problem connection over traditional credentials, while his own company, Do Not Pay, demonstrates a path to profitability through organic growth and shareholder dividends rather than venture-style burn. Browder further influences the market by advocating for aggressive capital deployment at pre-seed stages, dismissing over-dilution concerns, and guiding founders to prioritize real product traction over theoretical valuations.

Fatty Liver Expert: The Toxic Ingredient Silently Filling Your Liver With Fat - Dr David Unwin

Dr David Unwin, Dr. Jen Unwin

Dr. David Unwin and his wife Jen Unwin transitioned from standard medical practice to leading an informal low-carb intervention after observing its failure to address the global diabetes and obesity crisis. Their study demonstrated that dietary changes could reverse type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease in the vast majority of participants, prompting the creation of the GRIN behavior change model and the Public Health Collaboration to educate the public. Through these initiatives, they advocate for protein-based nutrition, continuous glucose monitoring, and the reduction of ultra-processed foods to improve healthspan and mitigate the severe complications of sugar addiction.

The Five Year Desert to Product Market Fit & a $5.3BN Valuation with Shiv Rao, Founder @ Abridge

Shiv Rao, Harry Stebbings

Valued at $5.3 billion, Abridged transitioned from a niche consumer app to a dominant vertical AI enterprise by pivoting to an intelligence layer that automates clinical documentation within existing EMR systems. Led by CEO Shiv Rao, the company recently secured a $300M Series A1 round while leveraging a hybrid model of proprietary fine-tuned and frontier models to achieve the ultra-low latency required for real-time healthcare workflows. By capitalizing on "founder-market fit" and overcoming early skepticism, Abridged has established a unique competitive moat against incumbents by transforming note generation into revenue-generating billing, positioning itself to drive a fundamental shift from fee-for-service care to AI-aligned prevention.

Thanks for a great time, India 🇮🇳

The India AI event drew an overwhelming 25,000 applications, surprising organizers with the unprecedented turnout. This massive participation underscores a pivotal shift where the future of the ecosystem is being defined by the current generation of attendees rather than previous leaders. The scale of engagement signals a transformative moment for the nation's artificial intelligence development.

Trump-Xi Summit, Benioff: "Not My First SaaSpocalypse," OpenAI vs Apple, Multi-Sensory AI, El Niño

Trump, Xi, Benioff, Scooter the Dog, Chamath, Jason, Friedberg, TheZachEffect

The first face-to-face summit in six years between President Trump and President Xi established a framework for U.S.-China stability through commitments to keep the Strait of Hormuz open while averting Taiwan's nuclear conflict, all while securing a massive trade expansion involving 200 Boeing jets and increased energy imports. This geopolitical realignment was reinforced by a high-profile delegation of American CEOs, including Elon Musk and Jensen Huang, who navigated complex regulatory environments to advance U.S. interests in AI, payment systems, and software services across China. Concurrently, the event highlighted global market shifts driven by artificial intelligence and severe climate risks, as leaders addressed the economic resilience of enterprise platforms and the looming threat of a record-breaking El Niño year that could trigger worldwide food insecurity.

Dwarkesh Goes Inside Jane Street's Latest AI Data Center

Dwarkesh, Ron Minsky, Daniel Pontecorvo, Mark Mirchandani

Jane Street transformed a Texas data center into a high-density liquid-cooled facility housing 4,032 GPUs to execute large language model training and custom trading architectures. The retrofit replaces legacy air-cooling with an 18°C fluid distribution system that manages 140 kW per cabinet while utilizing proprietary software to dynamically redistribute power and prevent breaker trips during peak loads. Engineering safeguards now focus on mitigating new liquid-cooling risks like biological growth and leaks, enabling sub-100-nanosecond latency required for modern algorithmic trading compared to the millisecond scales of its historical "Hive" cluster.