E75: Greg Castle (Anorak VC) on the Biggest AR/VR and Spatial Computing Opportunities

"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing

#Trading #Business #Natalie Toren #Erik Torenberg

1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying math that powers modern machine learning to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives, even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

acum un an 50:31

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

🎙️Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhov kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod

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SPONSORS:

☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Investing in AR/VR with Greg Castle (first episode with Greg): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjjWeaKA2Jg

Anorak Ventures: https://www.anorak.vc/

—

X / TWITTER:

@gpcastle12

@eriktorenberg

@turpentinemedia

—

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:

Spatial computing represents computing in the third dimension, evolving from manual inputs to capturing and recreating real-world environments.
AR is technically more challenging than VR because it must understand and integrate with the environment rather than simply replace it.
Meta (Facebook) is currently the main player investing heavily in VR/AR, while other tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google are taking more measured approaches.
Training and education are viewed as the most promising VR applications due to improved retention through 3D learning experiences.
The concept of a single unified metaverse faces significant challenges due to existing business models and the siloed nature of current platforms.
Digital replicas of physical objects represent one of the few remaining "white spaces" for startup opportunities in the spatial computing market.
Qualcomm is emerging as a significant player through their development of XR-specific chips and industry consortium building.
Gaming has replaced music as the primary cultural touchstone for younger generations, indicating a broader shift toward digital experiences.
The ultimate vision for spatial computing is to transform education and enable more natural human-technology interactions.

81 episoade

E75: Greg Castle (Anorak VC) on the Biggest AR/VR and Spatial Computing Opportunities

"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing

published acum un an

Distribuie

MP3•Pagina episodului

—

📰Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess

🙏Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse

—

RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod

—

SPONSORS:

💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.

—

LINKS:

Investing in AR/VR with Greg Castle (first episode with Greg): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjjWeaKA2Jg

Anorak Ventures: https://www.anorak.vc/

—

X / TWITTER:

@gpcastle12

@eriktorenberg

@turpentinemedia

—

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:

Spatial computing represents computing in the third dimension, evolving from manual inputs to capturing and recreating real-world environments.
AR is technically more challenging than VR because it must understand and integrate with the environment rather than simply replace it.
Meta (Facebook) is currently the main player investing heavily in VR/AR, while other tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google are taking more measured approaches.
Training and education are viewed as the most promising VR applications due to improved retention through 3D learning experiences.
The concept of a single unified metaverse faces significant challenges due to existing business models and the siloed nature of current platforms.
Digital replicas of physical objects represent one of the few remaining "white spaces" for startup opportunities in the spatial computing market.
Qualcomm is emerging as a significant player through their development of XR-specific chips and industry consortium building.
Gaming has replaced music as the primary cultural touchstone for younger generations, indicating a broader shift toward digital experiences.
The ultimate vision for spatial computing is to transform education and enable more natural human-technology interactions.

81 episoade

#Trading #Business #Natalie Toren #Erik Torenberg

Toate episoadele

1
E80: Logan Bartlett on How Great VC Firms Truly Operate 1:06:40

acum 16 hours1:06:40

1:06:40

This week on Turpentine VC, we’re re-releasing Erik Torenberg’s interview with Logan Bartlett, partner at Redpoint and host of The Logan Bartlett Show. They discuss Redpoint's approach to venture, patterns in the VC ecosystem, and the strategies of venture's most consequential firms. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast — SPONSORS: ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Redpoint: https://www.redpoint.com/ Check out the Logan Bartlett Show: @theloganbartlettshow — X / TWITTER: @loganbartlett @Redpoint @eriktorenberg @TurpentineVC — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Technology disruption patterns repeat across different eras (railroads, telephones, internet, AI), making historical knowledge valuable for predicting future trends. Venture firms are fundamentally shaped by the era they emerged in, creating lasting structural impacts on how they operate. Management fees can become a "sticky drug" influencing fund size growth decisions, even when larger funds may not optimize returns. Failed venture capitalists are called millionaires while failed founders often go broke, illustrating the risk asymmetry in the ecosystem. Founders Fund succeeded by differentiating through philosophy rather than history with "if you can't compete on history, you can compete on philosophy." After the dot-com crash, RedPoint stayed out of the limelight for 15 years and focused on work, demonstrating how failure shapes firm culture. In venture competition, Logan believes RedPoint needs to "throw a perfect game" to win against established firms, showing the hierarchy's persistent advantage. Venture capital is significantly overfunded by 3-5x current levels, creating unsustainable market dynamics. Historically, only about 7 companies (not 50) create most of the equity value in each technology cycle, making winner identification crucial. The key question for AI is whether it will create new companies (like the internet era) or primarily benefit incumbents (like mobile).…

1
E79: Now at $2B Valuation: Mercor CEO On How They Started 56:42

acum 8 zile56:42

56:42

This week on Turpentine VC, we are releasing an episode from 1 to 100 hosted by Usman Hanif. Usman interviews Brendan Foody, founder and CEO of Marcor, an AI-powered recruitment platform that automates the process of hiring, vetting, and paying employees. Brendan discusses Mercor's rapid growth, technology behind their operations, and the company's focus on reducing hiring costs while improving efficiency for both employers and candidates. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️1 to 100 with Usman Hanif Usman Hanif, the co-author of Why You Should Join, sits down with the founder of a notable startup to give you the inside story behind breakout, early stage companies potentially worth betting your career on. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/1-to-100-mercor/id1762756034?i=1000668280100 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/70NOWtWDY995C8qDqojxGw?si=36dab0a7cdeb4f7f YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@oneto100podcast 🎙️Second Opinion Join Christina Farr, Ash Zenooz and Luba Greenwood as they bring influential entrepreneurs, experts and investors into the ring for candid conversations at the frontlines of healthcare and digital health every week. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A8NwQE976s32zdBbZw6bv Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/second-opinion-with-christina-farr-ash-zenooz-md-luba/id1759267211 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SecondOpinionwithChristinaFarr — SPONSORS: ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Mercor: https://mercor.com/ Why You Should Join: https://whyyoushouldjoin.substack.com/ — X / TWITTER: @BrendanFoody @mercor_ai @usygoosy @why2join @turpentinemedia…

1
E78: Why Benchmark is Different Than Other Firms with Sarah Tavel & Eric Vishria 1:32:09

acum 15 zile1:32:09

1:32:09

In this episode of Turpentine VC, we're sharing Erik Torenberg's 2023 interview with Sarah Tavel and Eric Vishria from Benchmark, exploring the firm's unique minimalistic approach, commitment to deep founder partnerships, and their deliberate avoidance of platform teams. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — SPONSORS: ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Benchmark: https://www.benchmark.com/ Dopamine Nation: https://www.amazon.com/Dopamine-Nation-Finding-Balance-Indulgence/dp/152474672X — X / TWITTER: @sarahtavel @ericvishria @eriktorenberg @turpentinemedia — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Benchmark was founded in 1995 as an "internet era" firm, distinct from semiconductor era firms like Sequoia (1970s) and mobile era firms like Andreessen Horowitz (2009). The firm operates with six equal partners who split economics equally and make just 1-2 investments per year each. Benchmark intentionally maintains no platform team, believing direct GP involvement leads to better founder outcomes. The firm's Monday meetings have no agenda to encourage open-ended curiosity and foster creative thinking. During 2020-2021, Benchmark's investment pace was historically slower due to the challenges of building relationships over Zoom. The firm is currently on pace for making the most new investments in a year than they have in the past decade. Benchmark sees three distinct opportunities in AI: foundational models, vertical companies selling work, and incumbent product enhancement. The firm succeeded in crypto by focusing on company-building founders (Chainalysis, So Rare) rather than token-based speculation. Benchmark prioritizes "seeing the present clearly" over making big macro predictions about the future. The partners view their lack of a platform team as both a constraint on deal flow and a feature that ensures deep GP involvement. The firm deliberately maintains consistent fund sizes and focused strategy, unlike peers who have expanded into multiple products. Healthcare investments focus on peripheral areas (nurse marketplaces, medical devices) rather than core healthcare delivery. The partners still cold email and DM founders directly, with no junior staff intermediating relationships. The firm's equal partnership model intentionally doesn't scale beyond a small number of partners to maintain quality of collaboration. Benchmark measures success by investment multiples rather than total capital returned, focusing on being in "the few deals that matter."…

1
E77: IVP's Somesh Dash on Growth Stage Investing and Strategic Discipline 1:01:06

acum 22 zile1:01:06

1:01:06

This week on Turpentine VC, we're re-releasing one of our most popular episode: Erik Torenberg’s interview with Somesh Dash. Somesh is a General Partner at IVP, shares insights on IVP's unique positioning in the venture capital ecosystem, the importance of team construction, the future of venture capital, and how IVP supports founders through scaling and strategic growth. — 📰Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — SPONSORS: ☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: IVP: https://www.ivp.com/ — RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE: (Morgan Stanley) What to Expect When You're Expecting to Go Public: https://advisor.morganstanley.com/mark.wolkstein/documents/field/m/ma/mark-wolkstein/GoingPublicIPO_Wolkstein.pdf Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-3rd-Disruptive-Mainstream/dp/0062292986 Turpentine VC Episodes mentioned: With Alfred Lin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv4cwqO87eI With Ben Horowitz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdpcF7LnL6g — X / TWITTER: @someshdash @ivp @eriktorenberg @turpentinemedia — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: IVP is a 45-year-old venture firm focused mainly on Series B and C investments, reviewing 2000 companies annually but investing in only about 15. The firm maintains a small, equal partnership model where each General Partner has equal voting power and say in decisions. IVP positions itself as "Switzerland" in the venture ecosystem, working collaboratively with all early-stage firms rather than competing with them. The firm typically builds relationships with founders/CEOs for around 20 months before making their first investment. IVP has kept its fund size consistent at $1.4-1.8 billion for the past decade, viewing fund size as an output rather than an input. Their Twitter investment in 2009 during the financial crisis returned their entire fund, demonstrating the power law in growth-stage investing. The firm's team construction has evolved from finance backgrounds (70s-80s) to engineering (80s-90s) to now valuing curiosity and passion for technology above specific backgrounds. IVP believes venture capital is following private equity's evolution path, about 5-10 years behind. The firm predicts AI will create more efficiency in venture capital's core business of investing and deal sourcing. Despite the current market conditions, IVP believes the IPO window remains open for the best companies, particularly in sectors like security. The firm has recently expanded to Europe with a London office, staffed primarily with transplants from California. IVP maintains its focus on helping companies scale rather than expanding into new business lines, guided by their founder's philosophy of "disagreeing without being disagreeable."…

1
E76: Thrive Capital's Bold Bets on Category-Defining Companies with Kareem Zaki 1:10:19

acum 29 zile1:10:19

1:10:19

Kareem Zaki shares the founding and development of Thrive Capital, emphasizing their strategy of opportunism combined with a focus on category-defining companies, their unique approach to talent cultivation and company-building in various sectors, especially healthcare, and their intentional media minimalism. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast — SPONSORS: ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Thrive Capital: https://thrivecap.com/ — X / TWITTER: @kareemszaki @ThriveCapital @eriktorenberg @turpentinemedia — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Thrive started in 2010-2011 with the insight that venture capital would evolve from a niche asset class into a major economic force. Thrive blends East Coast quantitative thinking with West Coast product vision. The firm concentrates investments in fewer companies but with higher conviction rather than spreading capital across many investments. They take a long-term view on investments, often continuing to invest in companies even post-IPO. In healthcare investing, Thrive focuses on building within existing systems rather than trying to work around them. The firm has co-founded about a dozen companies, focusing only on potential $10B+ market opportunities. Thrive deliberately hires young talent (0-4 years experience) and develops them internally rather than poaching established investors. The firm maintains a low profile with no website and minimal social media presence. They aim to keep their builder mentality and avoid becoming too institutionalized as they grow. Thrive views macro conditions as important for execution but not for changing their long-term investment thesis. The firm approaches talent development by seeking independent thinkers with "maverick" mindsets who can challenge conventional thinking. Rather than having a rigid selling strategy, they evaluate each company individually based on the specific situation. They credit their success partly to maintaining the same culture and values from their early days through their growth. Thrive sees their role as supporting founders while letting them be "the stars of the movie."…

1
E75: Greg Castle (Anorak VC) on the Biggest AR/VR and Spatial Computing Opportunities 50:31

acum 5 weeks50:31

50:31

Greg Castle, founder of Anorak Ventures, discusses the evolution and future of spatial computing, particularly in AR, VR, and technology's impact on human interaction and learning. This conversation took place in February 2023. — 📰Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhov kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod — SPONSORS: ☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Investing in AR/VR with Greg Castle (first episode with Greg): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjjWeaKA2Jg Anorak Ventures: https://www.anorak.vc/ — X / TWITTER: @gpcastle12 @eriktorenberg @turpentinemedia — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Spatial computing represents computing in the third dimension, evolving from manual inputs to capturing and recreating real-world environments. AR is technically more challenging than VR because it must understand and integrate with the environment rather than simply replace it. Meta (Facebook) is currently the main player investing heavily in VR/AR, while other tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google are taking more measured approaches. Training and education are viewed as the most promising VR applications due to improved retention through 3D learning experiences. The concept of a single unified metaverse faces significant challenges due to existing business models and the siloed nature of current platforms. Digital replicas of physical objects represent one of the few remaining "white spaces" for startup opportunities in the spatial computing market. Qualcomm is emerging as a significant player through their development of XR-specific chips and industry consortium building. Gaming has replaced music as the primary cultural touchstone for younger generations, indicating a broader shift toward digital experiences. The ultimate vision for spatial computing is to transform education and enable more natural human-technology interactions.…

1
E74: General Catalyst CEO on Running VC Like an Enduring Company 47:44

acum 6 weeks47:44

47:44

Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst discusses the firm's evolution from an artisanal business to an enduring venture platform, focusing on operational rigor, fund size, talent strategy, and investments in companies like Stripe and Snap, while emphasizing the importance of responsible innovation and long-term industry transformations. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — SPONSORS: ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: General Catalyst: https://www.generalcatalyst.com/ — X / TWITTER: @htaneja @eriktorenberg @generalcatalyst @TurpentineVC — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Hemant Taneja became CEO of General Catalyst through a deliberate five-year succession plan that began when Ken Chenault joined as chairman to mentor him and help transform GC into an enduring business rather than just a traditional venture partnership. General Catalyst aims to differentiate itself by operating with the same operational rigor as successful tech companies, moving away from the traditional "artisanal" venture capital model where partners make decisions like oracles around a table. The firm developed its mission and values in 2018, focusing on "investing in positive, powerful change that endures" and positioning itself as a platform for inclusive capitalism. GC focuses on four main areas: global resilience (including climate and defense), AI transformation, health assurance, and financial inclusion through fintech and crypto technologies. Unlike some competitors, GC intentionally keeps fund sizes smaller because Taneja believes you can't scale venture capital funds to be very large while maintaining performance. The firm maintains a unique culture that preserves the magic of partnership for investment decisions while running with corporate rigor in operations, with Taneja serving as both CEO for business operations and managing director for investments. GC's healthcare strategy focuses on radical collaboration with health systems to make them better businesses, aiming to create a trillion-dollar ecosystem rather than a single trillion-dollar company. The firm's "creation" (incubation) strategy has evolved from being serendipitous to becoming more structured, aiming to launch 6-8 companies per year that require interdisciplinary teams and significant capital. GC introduced a customer value fund to provide non-dilutive financing for subscription-oriented businesses' customer acquisition costs, offering an alternative to equity funding. Taneja believes that for new venture firms starting today, having a specific point of view is crucial for rising above the noise in an overcapitalized industry, as the traditional generalist approach is no longer sufficient. The firm emphasizes "radical collaboration" over disruption, believing that working with existing institutions and understanding their legacy is key to creating lasting change in complex industries. GC's talent strategy focuses on bringing in diverse thinkers who share the firm's values and can build their own investment platforms within the larger organization.…

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E73: Aydin Senkut on Building Felicis Ventures 1:02:22

acum 7 weeks1:02:22

1:02:22

Today on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing one of our most popular episodes: Erik’s interview with Aydin Senkut, founder and managing partner of Felicis Ventures. Aydin discusses the evolution and distinct strategies of Felicis Ventures, their focus on mental health, and insights on successful generalist investing in venture capital. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast — SPONSORS: ☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine — LINKS: Felicis Ventures: https://www.felicis.com/ — X / TWITTER: @asenkut @eriktorenberg — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Aydin Senkut started Felicis Ventures as a solo practitioner during the super angel era, proving an outsider could succeed in venture capital. The firm evolved through its middle stage by raising institutional capital and building its reputation. In its current stage, Felicis has established a successful track record and optimizes for ownership. Felicis pioneered investing internationally without opening offices abroad. The firm operates as generalists across multiple stages and sectors rather than specializing. They aim to have multiple successful investments rather than relying on one or two big hits. Each Felicis fund maintains 40-50 companies across uncorrelated sectors and geographies. The firm uses a "prepared mind" approach, thoroughly researching markets before meeting companies. Investment decisions are made unanimously as a team while maintaining quick decision-making capabilities. When hiring, Felicis looks for smart generalists with strong motivation and intuition. They particularly value people who have been underestimated and have a "chip on their shoulder." The firm provides attractive carry to all team members to encourage an ownership mentality. Felicis was the first VC firm to prioritize founders' mental health support. Through founder surveys, they discovered that mental health support was a crucial need. Trust emerged as the number one factor founders consider when choosing investors. The firm maintains a single fund structure rather than creating multiple specialized funds. Felicis focuses primarily on writing first checks as their core strength. In AI, they invest across six different sub-areas with a systematic approach. They largely avoided crypto investments due to uncertainty about value creation. Looking forward, Felicis believes early-stage investing won't be automated or replaced by AI. The firm emphasizes continuous learning and rapid adaptation as their key to future success. Instead of growing significantly larger, they plan to maintain their current fund size.…

1
E72: Keith Rabois: On Identifying Talent [Classic Interview] 1:05:03

acum 8 weeks1:05:03

1:05:03

This episode of Turpentine VC was recorded in front of a live audience in San Francisco in October 2018.Keith Rabois discusses his frameworks for identifying talent, sharing anecdotes about notable operators and companies like PayPal, LinkedIn, and Square. He emphasizes the importance of talent assessment, strategic thinking, and offers career advice while reflecting on his own experiences and observations. — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765665937 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast — SPONSOR: ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine — X / TWITTER: @rabois @eriktorenberg — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: "You don't want to be the best at what you do. You want to be the only one who does what you do." This was a key lesson Keith learned from a Pat Riley book. Great talent can be found in unexpected places, as demonstrated by Keith's hiring of successful executives like David Han, Jared Fleisler, and Brian Gastronomy who came from non-elite schools without technical backgrounds. You should only start a company if you have a specific idea you're deeply passionate about - Keith doesn't believe in starting companies just for the sake of being a founder. Working at a high-growth company for two years is valuable because the constant flow of problems creates unique learning opportunities, but you hit diminishing returns after about two years. The identification of talent often comes from seeing unique "sparks" - like when Taylor Francis solved the complex smoothie delivery problem at Square in an innovative way. When evaluating people, Keith tests them by continuously expanding their scope of responsibilities until they show signs of struggling. Strategic thinking means understanding how different parts of the business connect to each other - like understanding how turning different "knobs" affects the entire system. The best market opportunities exist in industries with low NPS scores that are highly fragmented and can be improved through vertical integration and simplification. Good judgment means understanding your limitations and knowing when to ask for help before getting in too deep. Getting adequate sleep (8 hours) is crucial for maintaining high performance and making good decisions - Keith believes most human problems stem from lack of sleep. A venture capitalist can effectively handle about 8-10 meetings per day before their energy and creativity begin to decline. Reading should combine both professional necessity and serendipitous discovery, with Keith still valuing physical bookstores for finding unexpected insights.…

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E71: How to Scale Talent | Andy Price, Artisanal Ventures [Cross Post] 58:26

acum 9 weeks58:26

58:26

This week on Turpentine VC, Andy Price, a veteran executive recruiter and venture capitalist, joins Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich from HR Heretics, a Turpentine podcast, for a deep dive into the crucial aspects of hiring, retaining, and developing top talent. Andy has built leadership teams for renowned companies like Snowflake and DocuSign. Check out HR Heretics for more conversations like this one (links below) — 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — SPONSORS: 📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors . ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 🤲🏼 GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.) 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Listen and subscribe to HR Heretics: Apple : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hr-heretics-how-cpos-chros-founders-and-boards-build/id1712407491 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1WML9AfadzaH9WCR4HHqbZ Substack : https://hrheretics.substack.com/ — LINKS: Artisanal Ventures: https://artisanalv.com/ — FOLLOW: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyprice1/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/ — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Even at top companies like DoorDash, executive hiring only succeeds two-thirds of the time, while most firms see one-third success rates. To mitigate hiring failures, recruiters must deeply understand a company's problems and weaknesses, not just focus on their strengths. Back-channel references are crucial but must be handled carefully, with recruiters making vague inquiries without revealing specific roles or companies. The ideal number of references is 5-7 meaningful ones, focusing on depth of conversation rather than quantity of references. Founders often get attached to "shiny new" executive candidates and forget about the people who helped build the company. When layering an existing executive, the person needs to be involved in the interview process but with clear expectations about their role. The best companies like Snowflake and ServiceNow succeed through seamless executive transitions and continuity. To help up-and-coming executives scale, companies need to invest in advisory networks and strong board members who can provide mentorship. The best executives rarely actively job hunt - instead, they study industry trends in their spare time and maintain relationships with select recruiters. Multiple one-year executive tenures are a red flag; ideal careers show 3-6 year commitments at successful companies.…

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E70: Martin Casado of a16z on AI Innovation and AGI 1:48:03

acum 10 weeks1:48:03

1:48:03

Today we're sharing a conversation between Martin Casado, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and Nathan Labenz, AI scout, which originally aired on The Cognitive Revolution podcast from Turpentine. Their discussion explores AI systems complexity and debates whether AI development will lead to AGI. The conversation covers model scaling, biological AI, driverless cars, and AI safety concerns. — 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — SPONSORS: 📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors . ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 🤲🏼 GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.) 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Check out Modern Relationships , where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhova kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod -- 🎙️ The Cognitive Revolution Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk — FOLLOW: @martin_casado @labenz @eriktorenberg @TurpentineVC — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Martin Casado argues AI has shown consistent incremental progress over 80 years rather than dramatic leaps, with apparent breakthroughs often being advances in specific domains rather than general intelligence. The self-driving car industry demonstrates how early promising results don't necessarily translate to general solutions, with unit economics still being 3x worse than human drivers after 20 years and ~$100B investment. The universe operates on heavy-tailed distributions where most new instances are exceptions, making truly general systems extremely difficult to create. Language Models primarily perform kernel smoothing over positional embeddings to predict average human responses, excelling at routine tasks but struggling with unique cases. Advances in biological applications of AI represent extensions of simulation capabilities in specific domains rather than steps toward general intelligence. On regulation, Martin advocates treating AI like other software - regulating applications rather than the underlying technology to avoid hampering innovation. The AI industry exhibits a "perverse economy of scale" where market leaders must spend increasingly more to maintain their advantage while followers can use their outputs to catch up. Looking forward, Martin expects continued incremental progress in specific domains rather than sudden AGI emergence, emphasizing practical applications over theoretical risks.…

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E69: Lost Tapes: Elad Gil on the Eve of the AI Boom 50:17

acum 11 weeks50:17

50:17

This ‘lost episode’ of Turpentine VC with investor Elad Gil was recorded at a unique moment in time (September 2022) — before ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity launched. Drawing from his experiences at Google, Elad discusses early ML systems, the open source debate, NVIDIA, labor markets, and AI alignment and shares some behind the scenes anecdotes. — 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Check out Modern Relationships , where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhova kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod -- SPONSORS: 📑Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors . 🤲🏼GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.) 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Attention Is All You Need: https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2017/file/3f5ee243547dee91fbd053c1c4a845aa-Paper.pdf AI Revolution - Transformers and Large Language Models (LLMs): https://blog.eladgil.com/p/ai-revolution-transformers-and-large Elad’s website: https://eladgil.com/ High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil: https://growth.eladgil.com/ | https://www.amazon.com/High-Growth-Handbook-Elad-Gil/dp/1732265100 — FOLLOW : @eladgil @eriktorenberg @TurpentineVC — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: This episode was recorded in 2022, before the launch of ChatGPT, Claude, and other major AI applications that are now common. This interview captured a moment in time when industry leaders were anticipating major breakthroughs in AI. Elad explained how AI's definition has evolved from basic automation in the 1980s to sophisticated applications, with Google emerging as the first true "AI-first" company at scale through its search and ad targeting systems. The 2017 "Attention is All You Need" paper proved pivotal, with six of its eight authors going on to start companies, creating what Gil compared to a "Xerox PARC moment" where Google developed breakthrough technology but others, particularly OpenAI, commercialized it. Elad outlined three main categories of emerging AI companies: platforms and infrastructure providers like OpenAI, AI-first standalone companies, and tech-enabled incumbents adding AI capabilities. Initial predictions about AI's impact on labor markets proved incorrect, with AI currently affecting white-collar, repetitive tasks more than blue-collar jobs, and creative and caring fields experiencing more disruption than anticipated. The semiconductor industry lacks a massive AI-specific chip company, with NVIDIA's continued success attributed to strong founder leadership, superior software tooling, and advanced interconnect capabilities. Elad emphasized the importance of open-source models and predicted the AI platform market would likely consolidate into an oligopoly similar to cloud infrastructure, with a few dominant players rather than a single winner.…

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E68: How Theory Ventures Differentiates in a Crowded VC Market 57:41

acum 12 weeks57:41

57:41

This week on Turpentine VC, we feature a compilation episode of our popular interviews with Tom Tunguz, General Partner at Theory Ventures who just announced a $450M second fund less than two years after launching. Over the course of the episode Tomasz explains their concentrated portfolio approach, and expands on their key theses in AI, decentralized infrastructure, and the future for data businesses (like Databricks and Snowflake). — 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — SPONSORS: 📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors . 🤲🏼 GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.) 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: Tom’s Website: https://tomtunguz.com/ Theory Ventures: https://theory.ventures/ — FOLLOW: @ttunguz @Theoryvc @eriktorenberg @TurpentineVC — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Theory Ventures has launched a $450 million second fund and focuses on making concentrated investments after extensive research in specific sectors. The venture capital industry has grown from $8 billion to $300 billion over the last 12 years but is expected to settle back to around $150-180 billion. Blockchain technology is viewed as a contrarian investment in 2024, but there's potential for practical enterprise applications beyond cryptocurrency. Databricks has seen massive growth, with its data warehousing revenue increasing from $100 million to $400 million in just one year. The modern data infrastructure stack includes companies like Fivetran for moving data and DBT for transforming data once it's in a database. The most valuable part of the data infrastructure business is compute workload processing, not data storage. Tom’s take on NVIDIA's future value…

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E67: Defense Tech’s Rise with 8VC’s Alex Kolicich 58:51

acum 13 weeks58:51

58:51

This week on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing Sourcery’s Molly O'Shea’s interview with Alex Kolicich, founding partner at 8VC to discuss Alex's H1 2024 report on the venture landscape, covering AI investment challenges, the resurgence of defense technology, and broader economic trends impacting markets. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/3f9d98f9-c3d6-42c9-b2cc-e6ba32c668e4 — 📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse — RECOMMENDED PODCASTS: 🎙️ Sourcery Interviews with the top VCs & Founders leading the next tech innovation cycle. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ni3Tese9CtZa3oxpCjgTg?si=9b01b3dbcca242f0 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sourcery/id1738124704 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SourceryVC — SPONSORS: 📑 Discover Carta, the innovative end-to-end accounting platform revolutionizing private fund management with streamlined operations and on-demand insights. Experience the new standard at carta.com/investors . ☁️ Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. — LINKS: 8vc: https://www.8vc.com/ Alex’s Substack: https://www.alexkolicich.com/ Alex’s first appearance on Sourcery: https://www.sourcery.vc/p/exclusive-alex-kolicich-8vc-exodus Alex’s latest H1 2024 report: https://www.sourcery.vc/p/alex-kolicich-8vc-ai-and-defense — FOLLOW: @AlexKolicich @MollySOShea @eriktorenberg @TurpentineVC — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (00:59) Meet Alex Kolicich (01:50) Diving into the H1 2024 venture landscape report (02:03) The AI investment paradox (03:31) Challenges and opportunities in AI (07:25) Public vs. private market dynamics (08:24) The role of AI in software and market valuations (12:32) Fundraising strategies in the AI era (13:01) Sponsors: Carta | Oracle (19:12) AI capabilities and the future of technology (25:58) The Gartner hype cycle and AI's future (28:08) AI market trends and valuations (29:00) The exit environment and acquihires (29:28) Challenges in IPOs and M&A (32:03) Opportunities in secondaries (32:52) Sponsor: Squad (33:58) Defense wave: A new frontier (43:52) Changes in defense procurement (49:31) Advice for defense startups (52:09) Reflections on AI and market surprises (55:32) Wrap…

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E66: Why Inception Investing Beats Traditional Seed with Ed Sim of Boldstart 56:12

acum 14 weeks56:12