Tech Today with Eric Tarczynski

On Tuesday, Emergence Capital announced it had raised a $1 billion Fund VII. Today, Emergence Capital general partner Jake Saper joins the podcast to talk about Emergence’s focus on B2B software and plans for the future. He also describes his point of view on how the venture industry has evolved and why it’s both the scariest and most exciting time to be in VC. Finally, we talk about what will happen to SaaS post-AI and why Jake thinks people will continue to buy software.Finally, we cover the resurgence of the IPO market with StubHub and eToro recently filing to go public. We also covered Google’s new Gemini 2.5 model and OpenAI’s launch of image generation in ChatGPT.

On March 6, President Trump signed an executive order establishing both a strategic bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile, which the administration says is meant to position “the United States asa. leader among nations in government digital asset strategy.” Today, Anthony Pompliano, founder & CEO of Professional Capital Management, joins us to unpack the significance of this move, discussing the geopolitical game theory behind Bitcoin adoption, how tech and politics are increasingly intertwined, and why governments are now competing for digital assets. He also explores potential methods for the US to expand its Bitcoin holdings, the shifting attitude toward crypto in Washington, and what all this might mean going forward. Finally, we discuss Dario Amodei’s warning about Chinese IP theft, OpenAI’s push to ban DeepSeek from the US and its new creative writing model, and the upcoming rollout of Community Notes on Meta.

This week, voice AI startup Cartesia raised a $64 million Series A at an undisclosed valuation, led by Kleiner Perkins.Today, Cartesia CEO Karan Goel joins us to talk about the vision behind Cartesia’s voice products. Karan also spoke about the origins of Cartesia, the importance of latency, the unrealized potential of voice AI and why it will be the way that we interface with the robots of tomorrow, and how Cartesia hopes to contribute to the next big step in AI by building a AI brain that can interface more directly with the world.Lastly, we covered Hinge Health’s upcoming IPO, Dario Amodei’s predictions about AI coding, Niantic’s sale of its game division, and cybersecurity startup Pantera’s $60 million Series D. 

Last week, Hallow, a prayer and meditation app, reached number 2 on the app store and almost half a million downloads in a single day. Today, Alex Jones, CEO and co-founder of Hallow, joins us to talk about Hallow’s origin story, what he believes is behind its rapid success, and the past and future of prayer.Finally, we discuss Eric Schmidt’s new CEO role, a $11.9 billion deal between OpenAI and CoreWeave, ServiceNow’s acquisition of MoveWorks, and Redfin’s acquisition by Rocket Companies. 

Delian Asparouhov, co-founder and president of Varda Space Industries, shares insights from Varda's successful second mission that aims to revolutionize pharmaceutical production in space. He discusses ambitious plans for the W-3 launch and a decade-long roadmap for space-based drug trials. Delian recounts the founding story of Varda, driven by a pivotal moment involving a Merck dataset. The conversation also touches on tech news, including Klarna's $15 billion IPO and the exciting creation of 'woolly mice' by Colossal Biosciences.

This Monday, Ramp announced a $150 million secondary round which valued the company at $13 billion.Today, Ramp co-founder and CEO Eric Glyman joins the podcast to talk about what has driven Ramp’s rapid growth, why he’s happy about Ramp’s decision to recognize reality and raise $5.8 billion down round in 2023, and how Ramp’s future will look in a world where AI transforms how finance works.Finally, we cover TSMC’s plan to invest $100 billion in the US over the next four years, the Trump administration’s announcement of a strategic crypto reserve, Anthropic’s $3.5 billion Series E, and Microsoft’s new Dragon Copilot product launch.

Ryan Petersen, Founder and CEO of Flexport, shares insights on the recent launch of 20 new products, inspired by the concept of 'founder mode.' He discusses the evolution of Flexport since his return, emphasizing the role of strategic deadlines in enhancing collaboration. Petersen also highlights the need for cultural shifts in businesses facing revenue delays, and he outlines ambitious plans to transform logistics into a growth engine. The conversation touches on the latest AI developments and industry changes, making it a riveting listen for tech enthusiasts.