John Coogan on Selling TBPN to OpenAI, Sam Altman & the Future of Tech Media
Tuesday · 1 hr 1 min
NP
News
Newcomer Pod
Eric Newcomer | newcomer.co
Hi, I'm Eric Newcomer. With this podcast, I dive straight into the heart of the tech industry, interviewing top investors and founders. I’m bringing my sensibility as someone who understands the inside story of Silicon Valley but who is happy to poke and prod as to why the tech world operates like it does.
If you want first-person and insider information delivered to your newsletter, subscribe to my podcast at newcomer.co on Substack.
- 20 episodes
- Updated Tuesday
Episodes20
- NP
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.
July 10 · 1 hr 6 min - NP
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.
July 6 · 25 min - NP
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.
June 29 · 55 min - NP
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.
June 26 · 21 min - NP
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.
June 16 · 46 min - NP
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.
June 8 · 58 min - NP
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.
May 29 · 1 hr 6 min - NP
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.
May 22 · 54 min - NP
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.
May 15 · 1 hr 10 min - NP
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.
May 12 · 1 hr 5 min - NP
Katie Jacobs Stanton on Elon, Trump & Why Silicon Valley Won’t Speak Up
Silicon Valley has more power than ever, so why won't it speak up? Katie Jacobs Stanton, former Twitter executive, Obama White House alum, and founder of Moxxie Ventures, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about what's really happening inside the Valley right now. They get into why tech leaders stayed silent when ICE showed up in Minnesota, what Sam Altman's Molotov comment really exposed, and why Katie thinks the current AI cycle is building on quicksand the same way the dot-com era did. Plus: her seat on Yahoo's board, what Kara Swisher's "take your space" advice looks like in practice, why Democrats need to worry about a lot more than AI, and the one portfolio bet she's most excited about right now. Watch the full episode for an inside look at tech, politics, and where Silicon Valley goes next.
April 27 · 56 min - NP
Amanda Askell on AI Consciousness, Claude & Silicon Valley’s Biggest Fear
Amanda Askell, AI safety researcher at Anthropic, joins Eric Newcomer to break down one of the biggest and most uncomfortable questions in tech right now: could AI systems like Claude become conscious, and if they do, what do we owe them? They discuss why treating AI systems poorly might matter more than people think, how researchers are approaching questions of AI consciousness, and why some of the biggest fears about artificial intelligence are not the ones most people are talking about. The conversation also explores the future of AI alignment, the risks of getting it wrong, and how Silicon Valley is thinking about building powerful systems responsibly. Watch the full episode for a deeper look at where AI is headed and the ethical challenges that come with it. Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping technology, startups, and the future.
April 20 · 55 min - NP
Kara Swisher — "I'd rather have Ted Cruz make decisions about AI"
Kara Swisher has spent decades as the most feared journalist in Silicon Valley. She predicted the January 6th insurrection in 2019. She called out Zuckerberg on hate speech years before it became a mainstream conversation. She warned about techs drift toward right wing politics before anyone wanted to hear it. And she has been right about most of it.Eric sat down with Kara Swisher — CNN Contributor, Author, Podcast Host — to talk about Sam Altman and whether she was too close to him during the OpenAI board crisis, why she thinks Silicon Valley has become addicted to playing the victim, her take on Elon Musk, Mark Andreessen and Peter Thiel, why she would rather have Ted Cruz making decisions about AI than the tech industry itself, and what she thinks is coming next.One of the most honest and unfiltered conversations on this channel.
April 14 · 52 min - NP
Jim Lanzone — "They Had a Chance to Sell for $44 Billion. They Didn't."
Jim Lanzone has spent his entire career betting on companies the internet forgot about and making them matter again. CEO of Ask.com, Tinder, and now Yahoo. Eric sat down with him to find out how he pulled off the turnaround nobody thought was possible, what single decision handed Google the internet, and why Yahoo is building its own AI search product for the first time in over a decade.They get into the $44 billion Microsoft deal Yahoo walked away from, why AI chatbots are failing publishers and what needs to change, how Yahoo Scout is trying to do search differently, and what 700 million users actually looks like in 2026.If you think Yahoo is a relic, this conversation will change your mind.
April 7 · 1 hr - NP
The Startup That Crashed Its Own Servers Because of Open Claw
VCs surveyed across the industry ranked their most exciting enterprise tech companies and the #1 early stage pick was a name almost nobody had heard of. Eric sits down with Han Wang, CEO of Mintlify, the knowledge infrastructure platform that quietly powers the docs for Anthropic, Lovable, and thousands of other companies and found out their servers crashed overnight because of Open Claw before Han even knew what it was. Then in the second half, Eric talks to Jesse Zhang, CEO of Decagon, ranked #4 on the late stage list in a category that includes some of the most well funded names in enterprise AI, on how agents are replacing call centers, why voice AI is closer than you think, and where the customer experience space is headed in the next three years. Two of the most exciting under the radar bets in enterprise AI right now, in one episode.
March 31 · 1 hr 25 min - NP
Matt Mahan — "California's Failure Is the Best Ammunition Trump Has Ever Had"
Matt Mahan is the Mayor of San Jose and a candidate for Governor of California. He is one of the only prominent Democrats in the state willing to say out loud that California's failure to fix housing, homelessness, and energy costs has handed the MAGA movement its best ammunition. It isn't a partisan argument. It's a governance one. In this conversation, Eric sits down with Matt to get into why California has spent $20 billion on high speed rail and delivered nothing, why the billionaire wealth tax will backfire, and how San Jose reduced homelessness by a third without raising taxes. They also get into his break with Gavin Newsom, the tech industry's growing political power, and what a competence first Democratic message actually looks like in practice. They also talk about what's next — the jungle primary on June 2nd, what Matt thinks California needs from its next governor, and why he believes fixing the state is the most powerful counter to what's happening in Washington right now.
March 24 · 1 hr 5 min - NP
Shardul Shah — "I wired the money before knowing what they were building"
Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures, was one of the first checks into Wiz — the Israeli cybersecurity company Google acquired for $32 billion. It wasn't luck. It was a decade-long relationship with the founders, a willingness to wire money on conviction alone, and a philosophy that treats risk calculus as a fool's errand.In this conversation, Eric sits down with Shardul to unpack how the Wiz deal actually came together, what Google really bought for $32 billion, and why mid-sized acquisitions almost always fail. They get into how Index thinks about doubling down across funds, why Shardul refuses to invest in a founder he's only met over Zoom, and what he saw in the Wiz founders a decade before anyone else was paying attention.They also talk about what's next — the categories Shardul is hunting, the founders he's already betting on, and why he thinks everything that happened with Wiz should stretch every entrepreneur's sense of what's possible.Eric Newcomer covers the inner workings of startups and venture capital. Subscribe for interviews with the people building and funding the next generation of tech.
March 20 · 56 min - NP
Barry McCardel on Why Everyone Is Copying Palantir’s Playbook (And Getting It Wrong)
Barry McCardel spent years at Palantir before co-founding Hex, the AI data platform he describes as “Cursor for data.” In this conversation with Eric Newcomer, he breaks down Palantir’s business model, the truth about forward deployed engineers, how AI agents are changing data analytics and business intelligence, and why Hex is taking a different path in enterprise software.They also get into AI agents, the future of data work, the reinvention of business intelligence, whether white-collar jobs are really at risk, and the fight over Anthropic, defense tech, surveillance, and government power.
March 16 · 1 hr 2 min - NP
Rick Heitzmann: The AI Boom Is Forcing a New IPO Wave
Rick Heitzmann of FirstMark joins the Newcomer Podcast to discuss the state of venture capital, the AI investment boom, and why the next wave of tech IPOs may be closer than many expect. Rick shares how investors are thinking about AI infrastructure, the role of data as the core advantage in the AI race, and why massive private capital has allowed companies to stay private far longer than in previous cycles. As AI companies continue raising unprecedented amounts of money, the conversation turns to what happens when that capital eventually runs out and why public markets may become the next step. Eric and Rick also discuss the broader venture cycle, the impact of market uncertainty on IPO timing, and how investors are navigating a period defined by rapid technological change and massive AI spending. This conversation explores how venture capital is adapting to the AI era and what it could mean for the future of startups, public markets, and the next generation of tech giants.
March 9 · 50 min