Latest Interviews
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Clear all filtersBenchmark's AI Bets: Cerebras, Sierra, Legora, Fireworks, Starcloud, Gumloop..
Ev Randle, Everett Randle, Molly O'Shea, Brad Gerstner
The event analyzes how the AI paradigm has invalidated traditional software investing rules by decoupling scale from risk and replacing spreadsheet metrics with capital-intensive inference models. It details specific market shifts, including developer spending surges to $36,000 annually per seat, massive liquidity events like Anthropic's $38 billion round, and the emergence of a new valuation framework based on price, quantity, and margin. Finally, the discussion evaluates the long-term implications of these structural changes for venture capital strategies, wealth concentration, and the potential economic disruptions facing the San Francisco housing market.
How The Rarest Company On Earth Raised $75M from Altimeter
John Maslin, Brad Gerstner, Erik Kriessmann, Rajeev Misra, Molly O'Shea
Vulcan Elements has secured a $65 million Series A round to accelerate its mission of decoupling U.S. rare earth magnet supply chains from China by developing sovereign refining and manufacturing capabilities. The company, led by CEO John Maslin and supported by an advisory board including former Deputy National Security Advisor Nadia Shadlow, is already operating at over 95% capacity while fulfilling Defense Department contracts for critical military and emerging physical AI technologies. With new funding, Vulcan plans to announce a second facility and triple its engineering workforce to meet a projected 10x surge in global demand by 2027 as mandated by recent federal legislation requiring verified domestic provenance for defense hardware.