For this week’s Newcomer podcast, I talked with Contrary general partner Kyle Harrison.

We spent the first part of the episode talking about his piece VC Contagion: Is Venture Capital Killing Itself? I just published the essay exclusively in Newcomer.

Then, on the podcast Harrison talked about Contrary and its research strategy. The firm has published reports on Stripe, OpenAI, Databricks, and many other private companies.

We also discuss whether, when it comes to the private markets, information really wants to be free. Harrison talks about the gossip economy that powers the venture capital industry.

This episode of Newcomer is brought to you by Vanta

Security is no longer a cost center — it’s a strategic growth engine that sets your business apart. That means it’s more important than ever to prove you handle customer data with the utmost integrity.

But demonstrating your security and compliance can be time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Until you use Vanta.

Vanta’s enterprise-ready Trust Management Platform empowers you to:

* Centralize and scale your security program

* Automate compliance for the most sought-after frameworks, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR

* Earn and maintain the trust of customers and vendors alike

With Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Win more deals and enable growth quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank.

For a limited time, Newcomer listeners get $1,000 off Vanta. Go to vanta.com/newcomer to get started.

Find the Podcast