StrictlyVC Download

The return of the Consumer Gold Rush? What Chi-Hua Chien is betting on next 16.06.2026 43min

In this episode, Connie and Alex talk with Goodwater Capital co-founder Chi-Hua Chien, whose career spans some of Silicon Valley’s biggest technology shifts, from helping source Accel’s investment in Facebook as a young associate to backing a new generation of consumer and AI startups. While much of the venture world is focused on models, chips, and infrastructure, Chi-Hua argues that history suggests the biggest long-term winners of the AI era may be the application companies built on top of them. They talk about why AI startups are reaching unprecedented revenue levels with remarkably small teams, what’s driving today’s soaring valuations, and why he believes many infrastructure businesses will eventually face the same commoditization pressures seen in previous technology cycles. He also shares what he’s seeing inside consumer AI, from hyper-personalized entertainment and women’s health platforms to new products built around voice, agents, and individualized experiences. And they discuss the increasingly public tensions between founders and VCs, why some of the most interesting fintech innovation is happening outside the U.S., and why Chi-Hua believes one of the biggest opportunities in consumer technology may be helping people reconnect in the real world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Runway and HOLYWATER TECH: Two AI Companies Trying to Upend Entertainment 09.06.2026 31min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, we're bringing you a conversation from our recent event in Athens. Connie Loizos spoke with Anastasis Germanidis: Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Runway and Anatolii Kasianov: Co-Founder & Co-CEO, HOLYWATER TECH. Runway began within art school, with a sparse network and little investor insight into AI video. HOLYWATER TECH started in Kyiv with no venture capital, and a mandate to be profitable from day one. Seven years later, both have succeeded in disrupting, and putting some level of fear in, creative industries worldwide. At this StrictlyVC Athens 2026 discussion, host and TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos brought both on stage to get the inside story of how these two breakout companies actually broke out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What VCs think about SpaceX, AI-valuation fever and where to bet next 02.06.2026 29min

For this episode of StrictlyVC Download, we're bringing you a conversation from the StrictlyVC Athens event. Connie Loizos sat down with three seasoned investors to break down the state of venture capital, the hunt for white space, and what it actually takes to back a breakout company in 2026. Featuring: Ben Blume: Partner, Atomico Andreas Stavropoulos: Partner, Threshold Ventures Niko Bonatsos: Founder & General Partner, Verdict Capital Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eclipse Ventures Co-Founder Lior Susan's Insights Into a $1.3B Bet on Physical AI 26.05.2026 20min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, we're sharing and interview from our 2026 event in San Francisco with TechCrunch reporter Marina Temkin and Lior Susan who is dresh off raising a $1.3 billion fund. Eclipse Ventures is doubling down on what it calls physical AI. Temkin and Susan discuss robotics, manufacturing, autonomous systems, and what it takes to build enduring companies where AI meets the physical world. Plus, you can get a peek into Susan's perspective about the SpaceX IPO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inside Stanford's Secret Tech Elite (And the Freshman Who Exposed It) 19.05.2026 27min

In this episode, we talk with Theo Baker, a soon-to-be Stanford graduate and author of How to Rule the World, about what he found when he traded his coding ambitions for student journalism. Within his first semester, Theo broke the story that led to Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation, a months-long investigation into manipulated research images that put him in the crosshairs of one of the world’s largest law firms. But that was just the beginning. Baker walks us through what he calls the “Stanford inside Stanford”: a parallel world of yacht parties, slush funds, secret seminars, and VC scouts hunting for teenage talent as soon as freshmen hit campus. We also get into the secret class literally called “How to Rule the World,” why he thinks the same system that built Silicon Valley is also what corrupts it, and what the SBF saga and the overnight pivot to AI looked like from the inside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CEO Amjad Masad on How Replit Is Changing Who Gets to Build Software 13.05.2026 18min

This week, we're sharing a conversaiton from Strictly VC's recent event in San Francisco. Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad joined Connie Loizos to talk about AI-driven software development, competing with major AI players, and how coding is changing as software creation becomes more accessible. Plus, he gives some insight into their back-and-forth with Apple over app store policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Airwallex Undervalued or is Stripe Overvalued? 21.04.2026 34min

In this episode, we talk with Airwallex cofounder and CEO Jack Zhang about building a global financial infrastructure company by taking the long, unglamorous path. Rather than layering on top of existing banking systems, Airwallex spent a decade acquiring licenses, integrating with local payment rails, and constructing its own end-to-end network for moving money across borders. Jack shares why he turned down a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe early on, how that decision shaped the company’s trajectory, and why he believes this hard-won infrastructure is becoming a major advantage in the age of AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How secondary markets are pricing SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic before they go public 07.04.2026 24min

In this episode, Connie Loizos talks with Rainmaker Securities managing director Glen Anderson about the surge in the secondary market as investors race to buy shares in some of tech’s most sought-after private companies. From SpaceX to OpenAI to Anthropic, demand is intensifying ahead of a potentially reopening IPO window. Glen explains how the secondary market really works, why some companies have plenty of buyers but no sellers, and what recent activity reveals about investor sentiment. He also shares why SpaceX has been such an outlier, what’s behind the imbalance between OpenAI and Anthropic, and how institutional investors are navigating this increasingly competitive market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High tech herding with Craig Piggott, Halter 31.03.2026 26min

In this episode, we talk with Halter founder and CEO Craig Pigott about building a $2 billion agtech company that’s transforming how farmers manage livestock. Using solar-powered collars and virtual fencing, Halter helps ranchers increase productivity, monitor animal health, and rethink how land is used. Craig shares his journey from Rocket Lab to agriculture, why farming is still underserved by technology, and how AI and hardware are reshaping one of the world’s oldest industries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The wearable you’re never supposed to stop wearing with Will Ahmed of WHOOP 24.03.2026 35min

WHOOP founder and CEO Will Ahmed joins Connie Loizos and Alex Gove on StrictlyVC Download to discuss the company’s evolution from a niche wearable for elite athletes into a fast-growing health platform. The three talk about WHOOP’s unconventional decision to skip a screen, its subscription-driven business model, and how it won over top athletes early on. They also dig into the company’s push into medical-grade monitoring, blood testing, and AI-driven insights, and what it all means for the future of continuous health tracking Chapters: 00:00 — The Rise of Whoop 02:45 — From Athlete to Founder 04:50 — Rejection and Early Challenges 06:10 — Why Whoop Skipped the Screen 08:25 — How Whoop Broke Through 13:30 — The Subscription Model 20:45 — Expanding Into Health and AI 27:50 — The Future of Wearables Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Ring building towards safer neighborhoods or neighborhood surveillance? 10.03.2026 28min

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff joins Connie Loizos and Alex Gove on StrictlyVC Download to discuss the company’s new AI-powered Search Party feature, which aims to help neighbors find lost dogs but has sparked debate about surveillance and privacy. The three discuss how the feature actually works, the company’s decision to abandon a partnership with Flock Safety, what Ring ultimately hopes to build in neighborhoods around the world, and how much control over that vision Ring really has. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The AI Safety Showdown: Max Tegmark on government, Anthropic, and what’s next 04.03.2026 41min

In this episode of StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove sit down with MIT AI researcher Max Tegmark to discuss the growing clash between AI companies and the U.S. government and the bigger question of who should control increasingly powerful AI systems. From the Trump administration’s move to phase out Anthropic’s technology to the broader race toward superintelligence, Tegmark argues that the real risk isn’t just geopolitical competition, but losing control of the systems we’re building. He makes the case for treating AI like any other high-stakes industry by implementing binding safety standards and independent oversight before the technology outpaces our ability to manage it. A broad coalition, including Tegmark's Future of Life Institute have released The "Pro-Human AI Declaration" outlining a path forward in which AI would best serve humanity. View the statement here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Future-Proofing work in the age of automation with Bill Gurley 24.02.2026 42min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos talks with Bill Gurley, longtime venture capitalist, former Benchmark partner, and author of the new book Running Down a Dream. After stepping back from day-to-day investing, Gurley has turned his focus to a different question: how people build meaningful, enduring careers—and what they might do differently if given the chance to start over.In this conversation, Gurley reflects on why nearly 60% of professionals say they would rethink their career paths, how to know when it’s time to pivot, and why “regret minimization” can be a powerful decision-making framework. He shares his views on mentorship, peer networks, and the risks of following conventional career tracks in the age of AI. Gurley also weighs in on Silicon Valley’s shifting work culture, the resurgence of 996-style intensity, and why he believes the best way to future-proof your career isn’t to avoid technology—but to run straight at it. It’s a candid discussion about ambition, reinvention, and designing a career you won’t second-guess. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rethinking series A in the age of mega funds 17.02.2026 28min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos talks with Stacy Brown-Philpot, founder and managing partner of Cherryrock Capital. After a decade at Google and leading TaskRabbit through its acquisition by IKEA, Brown-Philpot is now building a venture firm focused on Series A and Series B software companies led by under-invested founders—targeting what she sees as a critical gap in today’s venture ecosystem. In this conversation, Brown-Philpot explains why she launched Cherryrock in a difficult fundraising environment, how the firm evaluates product-market fit at scale, and why quality revenue matters more than headline ARR. She discusses how AI is reshaping enterprise software, how her board roles at HP and StockX inform the way she assesses companies, and why she believes strong businesses will continue to get funded despite a bifurcated venture market. It’s a grounded look at building durable companies—and backing them at a pivotal stage of growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Tether became crypto's most profitable company—and what it's building next 03.02.2026 39min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos talks with Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, the company behind USDT, the world's largest stablecoin. With 536 million users globally, Tether has quietly become one of crypto's most powerful players—and now it's evolving far beyond stablecoins. Ardoino is transforming Tether into what he calls "the stable company," a diversified operation making bold bets on decentralized AI, agriculture, telecommunications, and gold-backed tokens.In this conversation, Ardoino explains how Tether generates billions in profit from U.S. Treasury holdings, why the company is building AI platforms that run locally on smartphones for emerging markets, and how its relationship with U.S. regulators has shifted dramatically. He also discusses Tether's geographic expansion, particularly in El Salvador and across Latin America, and makes the case that all of these seemingly disparate investments—from cattle ranching to brain-computer interfaces—are part of an interlocking strategy to serve the billions of people left behind by traditional finance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Airtable is betting big on a standalone ai agent that could replace its own product 27.01.2026 49min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove talk with Howie Liu, co-founder and CEO of Airtable. On Tuesday, Liu announced the launch of Superagent, Airtable’s first standalone product outside of its core platform—and this isn’t just another AI feature bolted onto an existing product. Superagent represents a bit bet on autonomous agents that handle tasks end-to-end, rather than chatbots that provide text-based answers. In this conversation, Liu walks us through why he decided to build Superagent as a separate product rather than just another Airtable feature, how it actually works under the hood—from native integrations to browser automation—and the early signals that suggest he might be onto something big. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working in orbit: what happens when space goes blue-collar? 20.01.2026 26min

In this episode, Connie Loizos speaks with Mary Jane Rubenstein, a professor of religion and science and technology studies at Wesleyan University and author of "Worlds Without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse"—a book that served as research material for the Oscar-winning film "Everything Everywhere All at Once." As the space economy heats up and venture capital pours into startups promising everything from asteroid mining to lunar gas stations, Dr. Rubenstein offers a critical perspective on the ethics and values shaping humanity's expansion beyond Earth. Dr. Rubenstein discusses how religious stories have shaped space exploration from the Apollo missions to today's commercial ventures, examines how science fiction has influenced the industry (sometimes as cautionary tales that get misread as instruction manuals), and makes the case for why space debris might be the issue that brings nations together—ultimately challenging listeners to consider whether we're truly imagining new possibilities in space or simply extending the worst of what we have here on Earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why VCs think consumer AI hasn't lived up to the hype 14.01.2026 23min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, we're sharing a conversation with Goodwater Capital founder Chi-Hua Chien and Scribble Ventures founder Elizabeth Weil. They discuss why consumer AI hasn't lived up to the hype yet and what's coming next. Beyond ChatGPT and Gemini, the consumer AI landscape feels sparse. In this conversation, they explore why we're still in the "command line era" of AI, how form factors will unlock new use cases, and what it means to build AI-native products versus retrofitting existing platforms. They also dive into trust barriers, changing user behaviors, and why the next generation of founders needs to rethink everything from social networks to home maintenance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

True Ventures' contrarian playbook: High ownership, low noise 06.01.2026 33min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove talk with Jon Callaghan, managing partner at True Ventures. Callaghan has spent two decades building True Ventures into one of Silicon Valley's most successful seed-stage firms, managing nearly $4 billion across 12 funds while staying deliberately quiet in an increasingly loud venture landscape. In this conversation, Callaghan unpacks why True prioritizes founders over headlines, how the firm maintains remarkably high ownership in portfolio companies despite the bubbly market, and why duration is a feature, not a bug, of early-stage investing. Jon also shares his contrarian views on the AI wave, explains why mega-rounds and consensus capital often miss the real outliers, and reveals where he sees the biggest opportunities in consumer applications, personal software, and AI-powered biology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Competing in the post-Humane AI wearables era with Sandbar CEO Mina Fahmi 31.12.2025 25min

This week on StrictlyVC Download, we’re sharing a conversation from our event in Palo Alto, where TechCrunch reporter Marina Temkin spoke with Mina Fahmi, the founder and CEO of Sandbar, and Toni Schneider of True Ventures. Mina Fahmi is the CEO and co-founder of Sandbar, a startup building the Stream ring—an AI wearable designed to capture your whispered thoughts. Toni Schneider is a partner at True Ventures who backed Fitbit, Peloton, and Ring, and was initially skeptical of AI wearables until he saw Sandbar's demo – and to be clear, Schneider says he’d seen a whole lot of demos. In this conversation, they unpack what it takes to build hardware that people actually want to wear, why "self-extension" beats AI companions, and how privacy through whispering changes everything. They also discuss competing with OpenAI's rumored device with Jony Ive, why devices must do one thing brilliantly before doing ten things adequately, and what Sandbar learned from two years of prototyping to get the interaction model right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices