Newcomer Pod

Aydin Senkut on How Robotics Could Reshape the Economy

Read the full Emergent list of 29 promising startups here: https://www.newcomer.co/p/emergent-2026AI could create a world with billions of agents, millions of robots, and entirely new industries we have barely begun to imagine.Felicis founder and former Google product manager Aydin Senkut joins Eric Newcomer to break down the technologies he believes will define the next decade, from artificial intelligence and robotics to biotech and the infrastructure powering the AI boom.Aydin explains why he believes robotics is finally reaching an inflection point, how AI could transform healthcare and drug discovery, and why the biggest opportunities may come from solving problems that previously looked impossible. He also shares lessons from joining Google when it had roughly 30 employees, building Felicis from a $41 million first fund into a firm managing billions, and backing companies including Shopify, Canva, Adyen and Supabase.They also discuss the AI bubble debate, why Aydin believes the underlying demand matters more than market hype, the companies building the infrastructure behind AI agents, and why Google may be better positioned for the AI era than many people realize.

Immad Akhund on Building Mercury, AI Agents & Taking On Big Banks

Mercury CEO Immad Akhund on the AI startup funding frenzy, agents that spend money, and the future of banking. Immad joins Eric Newcomer to discuss building Mercury to $1 billion in annualized revenue, competing with JPMorgan Chase, and developing financial tools for AI agents. What happens when an agent can move money, make purchases, or help run a business? They explore the controls and human oversight those tools need, plus the possibility of companies with no employees. As a founder and active angel investor, Immad also explains why he sees signs of a startup funding bubble. With 10 or 20 funded companies competing in categories that once attracted just one or two, he argues that plenty of AI startups and their investors will lose, even as the technology creates major winners. The conversation also covers Y Combinator valuations, building AI tools in-house instead of buying software, and why Mercury is hiring more as its engineers adopt AI. Subscribe to Newcomer for conversations with the founders and investors shaping Silicon Valley. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

Alex Kantrowitz on OpenAI, Nvidia & What Could Derail the AI Boom

OpenAI’s revenue confusion, Apple’s AI missteps, and Nvidia’s investments raise a bigger question: how much depends on the AI boom continuing?Big Technology founder Alex Kantrowitz joins Eric Newcomer to examine OpenAI and Anthropic’s businesses, the market’s sensitivity to their growth, and the competition reshaping Big Tech.They discuss Apple’s siloed culture and struggles with Apple Intelligence, Meta’s push into personal AI assistants, and Amazon’s resistance to outside shopping agents. The conversation also covers Google’s position in the AI race, Microsoft’s missed opportunities, and questions around Nvidia investing in companies that buy its chips.Alex and Eric debate AI safety, access to powerful models, and the trade-offs of giving assistants more personal information. They also explore how Google’s AI Overviews are affecting publishers, Silicon Valley’s hostility toward the press, and what it takes to build an independent media business.

Reid Hoffman on ChatGPT, Data Centers & Why America Needs AI

Reid Hoffman on ChatGPT, the future of jobs, and why he believes the AI boom is keeping America out of a recession. The LinkedIn co-founder joins Eric Newcomer to explain why America needs to keep building AI while being careful about how powerful new systems are released. He shares why nobody can confidently predict AI’s impact on employment, how AI-native startups could disrupt established businesses, and what it would take to help workers navigate that transition. Hoffman also recounts knowing three people whose lives he says were saved by ChatGPT as a medical second opinion. He argues for making AI medical assistants, legal advice, and tutoring more widely accessible, with privacy protections and clear rules. The conversation covers the backlash against AI, data center investment, the limits of universal basic income, and how AI-driven prosperity could benefit local communities. They also discuss government debt, political corruption, AI safety, longevity, and the potential for AI to advance cancer research. Subscribe to Newcomer for conversations with the founders, investors, and technology leaders shaping Silicon Valley.

Josh Elman on Apple, AI Agents & Why Startups Can Still Win

Why did Josh Elman leave Apple, and where can AI startups still win against OpenAI? The former Siri and Apple Intelligence team member explains why he’s betting on a new wave of consumer companies. Josh joins Eric Newcomer to discuss his move to Andreessen Horowitz, what held Siri back, and how Apple can rebuild users’ trust. He shares why OpenClaw changed his thinking about startups and why founders don’t need to build their own AI models to create valuable products. They also explore personal AI agents, the future of shopping and travel, lessons from Musical.ly and TikTok, AI-generated entertainment, and the opportunities for new AI devices. In this episode, we discuss working on Siri and Apple Intelligence, why OpenAI and Anthropic won’t be the only AI winners, how OpenClaw helped inspire Josh’s return to venture capital, what personal AI agents could change about everyday life, TikTok, microdramas, and the next consumer platforms, and how to build products people trust and keep using. Subscribe to Newcomer for conversations with the founders, investors, and technology leaders shaping Silicon Valley.

Former SEC Official on FTX, Crypto & Silicon Valley’s Fraud Problem

Renee Jones on how billion-dollar startups escaped public scrutiny, why founders became more powerful than their boards, and what happens when private markets operate in secrecy. Renee Jones, Boston College Law School professor, former SEC official, and author of Untamed Unicorns, joins Eric Newcomer to examine how the startup financing system shifted from investor oversight to founder control. Renee explains how changes to securities laws allowed companies to raise enormous sums while remaining private, avoid meaningful disclosure, and delay going public indefinitely. They discuss what FTX, Theranos, WeWork, and Uber reveal about startup governance; why unicorn valuations can be misleading; how employees are asked to accept stock without the information needed to value it; whether venture capital’s AI obsession is distorting innovation; and why Renee believes stronger disclosure and financial controls are essential. They also debate the SEC’s approach to crypto, the political power of the industry, and whether meaningful private-market reform is still possible. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, executives, and policymakers shaping the tech industry.

Zavain Dar on Hugging Face, NVIDIA & Why Silicon Valley Should Pay Attention to China

What does NVIDIA really get from Hugging Face—and what is Silicon Valley missing about China? Zavain Dar, co-founder of Dimension and an early Hugging Face investor during his time at Lux Capital, joins Eric Newcomer to unpack NVIDIA’s open source strategy, the competition with OpenAI and Anthropic, and why his trips to China changed how he thinks about the future of technology. They discuss China’s AI and biotech boom, the limits of US chip restrictions, and why American startups are building on Chinese models. Plus: Dimension’s Coefficient Bio exit to Anthropic, whether AI can make most human diseases treatable in our lifetime, and why human trials remain a bottleneck. Subscribe to Newcomer for more reporting on the people, companies, and deals shaping Silicon Valley: https://www.newcomer.co

Sam Parr on The Hustle, Hampton & Why the OpenAI-TBPN Deal Was a Mistake

Sam Parr on getting fired by Airbnb the day before he started, selling The Hustle, and why $10 million in revenue changes everything. Sam Parr, founder of The Hustle and Hampton and co-host of My First Million, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about how he went from an Airbnb firing to an eight-figure media exit. Sam breaks down what 5,000 Hampton founder interviews reveal about the messy middle between $1M and $10M in revenue, what shifts on the other side of that number, why he studies successful businesses before building anything new, how AI is reshaping agency margins, why he thinks OpenAI buying TBPN was a mistake, and how founders can build an audience by going obsessively niche. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

This AI Was Trained on a Billion Video Game Clips. Now It Controls Robots.

How can billions of video game clips train AI to control robots? General Intuition CEO Pim de Witte explains why gaming data may be the missing ingredient for the next generation of robotics and AI agents. Pim de Witte built the world's largest RuneScape private server as a teenager before founding Medal, one of the biggest gaming clip platforms in the world. Today, Medal processes roughly one billion gameplay clips every year, creating a unique dataset that powers General Intuition's AI models for robotics, world models, and autonomous agents. In this conversation with Eric Newcomer, Pim explains why video games may be one of the most valuable training grounds for artificial intelligence, how gaming data transfers to real world robotics, why humanoid robots may not be the future, and what AI means for gamers, developers, and the future of work.

John Coogan on Selling TBPN to OpenAI, Sam Altman & the Future of Tech Media

John Coogan, co-founder of TBPN, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the acquisition that shocked the tech media world. John breaks down how TBPN went from two guys in suits to one of the most-watched live tech shows on the internet, why OpenAI came calling, what an editorial independence clause actually means in practice, and why he and Jordy chose to sell when they didn't have to. He also gets into the mechanics of building a media brand that works, why they monetized everything from day one, and what Sam Altman actually needs to do better on comms.

Taylor Lorenz Unfiltered on Social Media, Free Speech & the Surveillance State

Taylor Lorenz on why the social media panic is overblown and who's actually driving it. Taylor Lorenz, journalist and author of Extremely Online, joins Eric Newcomer to push back on the moral panic around phones, social media, and screen time. Taylor argues there is no such thing as social media addiction, that age verification laws do more harm than good, and that the groups pushing child protection legislation have their own agendas. She and Eric also get into the surveillance state, anonymous speech online, why podcasters are secretly taking money to book guests, and what the creator economy has gotten badly wrong. Listen to Taylor's newsletter and reporting at UserMag.co. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

The Goldman Sachs Exec on AI, Wall Street & the Firm That Went Bankrupt in 40 Minutes

The Goldman Sachs exec who automated Wall Street on what AI agents actually do to jobs, companies, and the future of enterprise software. Marty Chavez got his AI PhD in 1991 when there were exactly zero AI jobs. So he went to Goldman Sachs and spent decades building the machines that took over Wall Street. Now at Sixth Street and on Alphabet's board, he joins Eric Newcomer at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in London to explain what actually happens when AI replaces human labor, why a trading firm went bankrupt in 40 minutes because of a bot, and what it really takes to sell software to a large institution. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Ben Smith on Trump, Anthropic & the Collision of Government and Big Tech

Semafor's editor-in-chief on why Washington has decided Anthropic needs to pick a side. Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, joins Eric Newcomer to break down the collision between the Trump administration and Anthropic, and what it reveals about the new relationship between Washington and big tech. Ben explains why the government is taking equity stakes in companies, how the Trump family is monetizing the presidency, and why he believes this is one of the most corrupt periods in modern American governance. The conversation also covers the politicization of the Justice Department, why CEOs now flock to Washington instead of avoiding it, the Intel deal and what it signals about industrial policy, and Ben's bet that newsletters and live events can outlast the chase for viral traffic in media. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Aidan Gomez Unfiltered on AGI, China & AI's Biggest Risk

Aidan Gomez on AGI, China, and the Biggest Risk Facing AI. Cohere co-founder and Transformer co-author Aidan Gomez joins Eric Newcomer to discuss whether we've already reached AGI, why Chinese AI models are being underestimated, the future of enterprise AI, sovereign AI, and why relying on a handful of AI companies could become the industry's biggest risk. If you're interested in artificial general intelligence, OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Chinese AI, AI infrastructure, and the future of machine learning, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at where AI is headed next. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the future of technology.

Christina Cacioppo Unfiltered on Fake Compliance, AI Security & Building a $4B Company

The CEO of a $4 billion compliance company on how her biggest competitor was faking it, and what that means for AI startup culture. Christina Cacioppo, co-founder and CEO of Vanta, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the scandal that shook the compliance world. Her $4 billion competitor Delve was caught pre-filling compliance reports without doing the actual security work — and customers had no idea. Christina explains how Vanta figured it out, why fake compliance is a better product experience than real compliance, and what happened to Delve's customers after the story broke. The conversation also covers the AI hype cycle and whether it is crypto 2.0, why AI is both the biggest threat and biggest tailwind for security companies, the broken VC equity social contract, and what it really takes to build a $4 billion company without losing sight of the fundamentals. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Ed Zitron Unfiltered on OpenAI, Anthropic & Why the Whole Thing Is a Con

Ed Zitron is back, and he's making his strongest case yet that OpenAI and Anthropic are running a deliberate con on the public. In his second appearance on the Newcomer Podcast, Ed Zitron sits down with Eric Newcomer to break down why he believes there is no real ROI in AI, how Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have hidden the true cost of their products behind subscription pricing, and why enterprises like Uber are already pulling back. Ed also makes the case that the entire culture around AI is a psyop designed to silence skeptics and protect a trillion-dollar house of cards. Eric pushes back throughout, defending the long-term potential of AI and pressing Ed on whether pure skepticism is its own kind of shtick. The result is one of the most honest and combative conversations about AI you'll find anywhere.

How Tech's San Francisco Values Gave Way to the Right

How San Francisco's tech culture went from countercultural idealism to right-wing power, and what it means for the rest of us. Jonathan Weber, editor at large at The New Yorker and author of City on the Edge, joins Eric Newcomer to trace the 30-year arc of how San Francisco became the center of the tech universe, and how the industry that once promised to change the world ended up changing politics instead. From the early commercial internet to the rise of OpenAI and Anthropic, Weber connects the dots between Silicon Valley's cultural roots and its dramatic political shift toward the right. The conversation covers the dot-com boom and bust, the sharing economy's broken promises, why tech executives became dismissive of public concerns, how AI is accelerating the disconnect between the industry and everyday Americans, and what history tells us about where this all goes next. City on the Edge is available now wherever books are sold.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

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WIRED's Editor on Elon, Trump & Silicon Valley's War on the Press

WIRED's global editorial director on why Silicon Valley wants to control the press and what she's doing about it. Katie Drummond, global editorial director of WIRED, sits down with Eric Newcomer to talk about the simmering war between tech and media. From surviving the Gawker bankruptcy to now running one of the most scrutinized publications in tech, Katie doesn't hold back on why figures like Peter Thiel and Trae Stevens want to buy or dismantle WIRED, why so much of Silicon Valley turned toward Trump, and what serious tech journalism looks like in 2026. Listen to Katie's podcast Uncanny Valley: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncanny-valley-wired/id266391367 Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

The Man Who Helped Destroy Gawker Is Coming Back For The Rest of Media

The man who helped bring down Gawker is back, and this time he’s coming for the media industry. Eric sits down with Aron Ping D’Souza, the Oxford law student who first pitched Peter Thiel on the idea that would eventually bankrupt Gawker. Today, Aron is building the Enhanced Games, a PED-legal sporting competition, and Objection AI, a Peter Thiel-backed platform designed to investigate news articles line by line using former CIA and FBI agents. They revisit the Gawker lawsuit and the Hulk Hogan case, then dive into the growing crisis of trust in media, from anonymous sourcing to AI-generated journalism. Aron also explains why Ronan Farrow’s Sam Altman profile concerns him and why he believes AI is about to fundamentally reshape how information is created, investigated, and trusted online. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping technology and culture.

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Vinod Khosla on the End of Jobs and the Future of Capitalism

Vinod Khosla on Why AI Could End Human Labor and Change Capitalism Forever Vinod Khosla joins Newcomer to discuss AI, capitalism, freedom, education, religion, and why he believes technology will fundamentally reshape how humans live and work. The legendary venture capitalist behind Sun Microsystems and early bets on OpenAI shares his thoughts on why AI could eliminate the need for traditional jobs, how capitalism may evolve in an AI-driven world, and why future generations may no longer need careers purely for survival. He also discusses Silicon Valley’s biggest blind spots, the future of education and creativity, human purpose after AI, why institutions are failing to adapt, and what comes next for entrepreneurship and innovation. Vinod also explains why he thinks most people underestimate the speed of AI progress, and what happens when intelligence becomes effectively unlimited. Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping technology, media, startups, and culture.

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