Newcomer Pod

Newcomer Pod

A podcast about Silicon Valley, hosted by newsletter writer and independent journalist Eric Newcomer. Listen in for interviews with the dealmakers and builders who matter. Subscribe to newcomer.co for summaries of the episodes plus tech industry news, scoops, and analysis.

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Immad Akhund on Building Mercury, AI Agents & Taking On Big Banks
Newcomer PodOctober 19, 202600:52:0947.76 MB

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 ...

Alex Kantrowitz on OpenAI, Nvidia & What Could Derail the AI Boom
Newcomer PodOctober 13, 202601:06:2460.8 MB

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 com...

Reid Hoffman on ChatGPT, Data Centers & Why America Needs AI
Newcomer PodOctober 02, 202600:52:3348.12 MB

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 c...

Josh Elman on Apple, AI Agents & Why Startups Can Still Win
Newcomer PodSeptember 24, 202600:51:0646.8 MB

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 Appl...

Former SEC Official on FTX, Crypto & Silicon Valley’s Fraud Problem
Newcomer PodSeptember 17, 202600:58:5553.96 MB

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 Newcome...

Zavain Dar on Hugging Face, NVIDIA & Why Silicon Valley Should Pay Attention to China
Newcomer PodSeptember 10, 202600:49:1945.16 MB

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,...

Sam Parr on The Hustle, Hampton & Why the OpenAI-TBPN Deal Was a Mistake
Newcomer PodAugust 26, 202600:56:4351.93 MB

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 me...

This AI Was Trained on a Billion Video Game Clips. Now It Controls Robots.
Newcomer PodAugust 03, 202600:58:3253.59 MB

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 found...