Kyle Harrison

Kyle Harrison, General Partner at Contrary and a seasoned venture capital expert, shares his insights on the shifting landscape of investment. He discusses the impending demise of 'so-so' venture firms, exploring what criteria lead to their downfall. Kyle highlights the emergence of dominant players reminiscent of Blackstone in venture capital and how increasing fund sizes impact returns. Additionally, his journey from filmmaking to tech investing reveals crucial lessons about market dynamics and the necessary evolution within VC firms.

Layla Khanfar and Kyle Harrison discuss the growth and challenges of voluntary carbon markets, different types of offsets available, and private companies' role in filling regulatory gaps. They explore BNEF's long-term carbon-market scenarios and the trends driving the transition to a lower-carbon economy, emphasizing the need for quality standards and collaboration to enhance market cohesion.

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 VantaSecurity 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 alikeWith 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 Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

Kyle Harrison, a General Partner at Contrary, shares his expertise on the future of venture capital for founders. He discusses critical shifts in the VC landscape, emphasizing the distinction between large capital managers and specialized funds. Kyle advises entrepreneurs to align with investors who share their vision, particularly favoring smaller, more deliberate funds. The conversation also covers recent tech updates, including Airbnb's new services and Anthropic's Claude models, weaving in valuable insights for navigating investor expectations.

Bloomberg Intelligence podcast features Woo Jin Ho's insights on HPE earnings, Peter Voser discusses ABB's role in energy transition and EV charging, Poonam Goyal talks about Lululemon's growth strategies, and Kyle Harrison explores U.S. carbon offset guidelines. Additionally, Max Abelson delves into Mnuchin's financial endeavors and Trafigura's profit struggles in the commodity trading industry.