In this episode, TechCrunch's editor-in-chief, Connie Loizos, sits down with Kevin Hartz, the serial entrepreneur behind Zoom and Eventbrite who's now managing partner of A-Star Capital, a $300 million generalist fund. Recorded live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Kevin shares his unique perspective as a founder, investor, and LP—discussing why staying in the market matters even when two-month-old companies are raising at $60 million valuations. The two explore the dramatic rise in teenage founders, with Kevin revealing that 20% of his recent investments now include teams with a teenage founder, up from just 5% two years ago. Kevin also discusses A-Star's approach to differentiated deal flow through company incubations, including Sauron, his autonomous drone security startup applying self-driving car technology to home security. They dive into the controversial question of whether venture capital is truly an asset class, the lessons learned from taking companies public through both traditional IPOs and SPACs, and why the abundance of private capital is keeping quality companies out of the public markets indefinitely.
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