This Week in Startups

TWiST News: M.G. Siegler Explains the Current Venture Crisis and Google’s Antitrust Woes | E2023

Oct 9, 2024

01:14:44

Snipd AI

M.G. Siegler, a venture capitalist and former journalist, shares his insights into the current venture capital crisis. He highlights challenges around early-stage returns and the struggle with high valuations in the market. The conversation also touches on Google's ongoing antitrust issues and the potential implications for M&A regulation. Siegler discusses the unique perspective journalists bring to investment decisions and the need for transparency in startups, making for a riveting analysis of the tech landscape.

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

M.G. Siegler highlights the challenges of early-stage investing amid high valuations and declining startup quality in the venture capital landscape.

The discussion underscores the impact of regulatory measures on tech giants, particularly Google's antitrust issues, and their potential effect on innovation.

Siegler explores the evolving role of AI in consumer products, emphasizing the competition between established companies and emerging startups in this space.

Deep dives

The Nature of Startup Reporting

The conversation highlights the tendency of companies to deny involvement in secret projects or emerging technologies, drawing parallels to past denials from companies like Google and Apple. The reluctance of corporate entities to disclose their ambitions can often lead to skepticism among reporters and the public. For instance, the mention of Google denying they would create a browser while they were actually preparing for Chrome illustrates this pattern of obfuscation. This creates an intriguing dynamic in technology journalism, where uncovering the truth can resemble a game of cat and mouse.

Intro

2min

Unity Amidst Storms

7min

Bridging the Gap Between Journalism and Venture Capital

2min

Openness in Startup Leadership

9min

Navigating the Challenges of Venture Funding and Startup Valuations

3min

Navigating Venture Capital Dynamics

15min

Enhancing Software Development and Competing in AI Queries

2min

AI Competition Among Tech Giants

6min

Exploring Advanced AI Tools and Voice Assistants

3min

10.

Google's Legal Battles and Antitrust Implications

10min

11.

Navigating Technology's Impact on Jobs and Privacy

3min

12.

Tech, Antitrust, and AI: Navigating the Future

13min

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

Gusto is easy online payroll, benefits, and HR built for modern small businesses. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at https://www.gusto.com/twist

Oracle - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. Save up to 50% on your cloud bill at ⁠https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist

Linear. Linear helps product teams focus on what they do best: Planning and building great products. Streamline issues, projects, and product roadmaps in a tool your team will actually enjoy using. Get 25% off at https://www.linear.app/twist

Todays show:

M.G. Siegler joins Jason and Alex to discuss the current venture capital crisis (14:11), and challenges in the venture industry, particularly in early-stage returns and high valuations (18:42). They also address future exits and the impact of regulatory measures on M&A (27:14), Google's antitrust case (49:08), and much more!

Timestamps:

(0:00) M.G. Siegler joins Jason and Alex

(5:05) M.G. Siegler's journey from journalism to venture capital

(8:33) Differences between journalism and venture capital

(10:02) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at https://gusto.com/twist

(11:02) Media training and transparency in companies

(14:11) Venture capital's current state and CRV's capital return

(16:23) Challenges and opportunities in the venture industry

(18:42) Early stage venture returns and the impact of high valuations

(21:42) Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at at https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist

(23:07) Future exits and liquidity evaluations in startups

(27:14) Acquisitions, hackquisitions, and regulatory impact on M&A

(34:09) Venture capital dynamics and fundraising during market downturn

(35:48) Predictions for the startup market recovery

(38:02) Linear - Streamline issues, projects, and product roadmaps in a tool your team will actually enjoy using. Get 25% off at https://www.linear.app/twist

(38:57) AI competition among tech giants and Meta's hardware challenges

(45:47) Venture capital dynamics and favorite AI tools

(49:08) Google's antitrust case

(55:25) Possible effects of opening Google's search API

(1:03:41) Potential Google spin-offs

(1:06:27) Audience Q&A

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Mentioned on the show:

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/doj-indicates-its-considering-google-breakup-following-monopoly-ruling.html

https://spyglass.org/vc-crisis

Follow M.G. Siegler:

X: https://x.com/mgsiegler

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgsiegler/?originalSubdomain=uk

Check out: https://www.spyglass.org

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Thank you to our partners:

(10:02) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at https://gusto.com/twist

(21:42) Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at at https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist

(38:02) Linear - Streamline issues, projects, and product roadmaps in a tool your team will actually enjoy using. Get 25% off at https://www.linear.app/twist

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916