Sourcery

Packy McCormick, a writer and investor known for his newsletter 'Not Boring,' shares insights on how his writing journey transformed into a $50M VC fund. He discusses the art of storytelling in venture capital and highlights the magnetic traits of successful founders. Packy dives into the balance between intuition and analysis in investing while exploring the impact of vertical integrators in various industries. He also shares his hot takes on AI and reveals what he's most excited about for 2025.

Today Molly O’Shea speaks with Founding GP Gordon Ritter & new Partner Yaz El-Baba of $2.3B AUM VC fund Emergence Capital. We cover everything from the IPO window, Stargate, the macro environment, the state of AI, the app layer to infrastructure, preventing the AI plateau, to Emergence’s history & evolution. Emergence Capital is a venture capital firm known for its specialization in early-stage investments in enterprise cloud software companies. The firm's focus is on businesses that leverage technology to improve workplace productivity, business outcomes, and the customer experience. Emergence is widely regarded as a pioneer in the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) space and has backed some of the most successful companies in the category, such as Salesforce, Veeva, Box, Yammer, Bill.com, Zoom, Blend, and Doximity. Founded in 2003, Emergence Capital operates with a philosophy of fostering long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs and helping them build world-class companies. Notable Investments: Salesforce (CRM software giant) Zoom (video conferencing leader) Veeva Systems (cloud solutions for life sciences) Box (cloud-based content management) Emergence Capital is recognized for its deep commitment to its portfolio companies and its expertise in scaling enterprise-focused startups. Stats: $320B+ Market Cap of Portfolio (current and former) $2.3B AUM Six (VI) Funds 100+ Portfolio Companies 20 Exits and Private Valuations Greater than $500 Million Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOShea Gorfon on X: https://x.com/gordonritter Yaz on X: https://x.com/yazanelbaba Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!  https://www.sourcery.vc/ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Welcome Yaz & Gordon! 1:20 - Current State of VC 6:45 - Emergence's IPOs, Salesforce, Zoom, Bill.com 10:00 - Veeva $37B story 18:10 - Stargate $500B Investment In AI 21:20 - ROI of AI 29:50 - Is SAAS Dead?! 32:30 - Together AI 38:40 - Which Founders Will Win Today? 41:00 - The AI Plateau 58:00 - How Marc Benioff Helped Start Emergence 1:03:10 - Navigating Changes In The Market 1:09:30 - Resolving Partner Tensions In A Fund 1:13:40 - Investment Announcement! 1:16:00 - 1 Deal That You Regret 1:17:50 - Yaz & Gordon's 2025 Outlooks #podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Tomasz Tunguz is a prominent venture capitalist and the founder & GP of Theory Ventures, a $688M AUM fund. Theory focuses on investing $1-25m in early-stage companies that leverage technology discontinuities into go-to-market advantages. Before Theory, he was a managing director at Redpoint Ventures, where he led investments into companies such as Looker, Expensify, Monte Carlo, Dune Analytics, and Kustomer. Throughout his career, Tunguz has been recognized for his data-driven approach to investing and his very popular, personal blog, TomTunguz.com. Tomasz recently raised $450 million in November of 2024 for Theory Ventures' second fund, which marks a significant milestone for the firm. This follows his initial breakout fund, launched in 2023, with $238 million. This is a very fun conversation where we go deep into everything AI, LLM business models, predictions, and more. Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOShea Tomasz on X: https://x.com/ttunguz Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!  https://www.sourcery.vc/ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Welcome Tomasz To Sourcery 1:00 - State of AI Adoption 6:45 - Hyperscaler Power Dymnmic 9:50 - AI Inference 15:00 - Monetizing 20:00 - Raising $600B 28:00 - Decade Of Data 33:30 - Parterning with Former Palantir Executive 35:45 - Tomasz's Childhood 37:40 - What Is Tomasz Looking Forward To The Most This Year #podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Joe De Sena is the founder and CEO of Spartan Race, Inc. In this conversation, we discuss Joe’s 20+ years of Spartan Race, surviving covid, acquiring competition and investing in fitness companies. We also get into fitness tips, what to avoid, and how you can train for a Spartan Race. Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!  https://www.sourcery.vc/ Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOShea Joe on X: https://x.com/realJoeDeSena TIMESTAPS: 0:00 - Welcome Joe De Sena To Sourcery! 0:30 - Mental Resilience 3:30 - Creating A Resilience Flywheel 5:20 - Building Spartan Race For 20 Years - Surviving Covid 8:15 - The Spartan Cult 12:15 - How Tech Will Improve Spartan Race 14:00 - Biggest Lesson Of The Last 24 Years 16:30 - Chasing Money vs. Purpose 18:30 - Acquiring Competition & Scaling 21:00 - Thoughts On Investing In The Fitness Industry 23:15 - Worst Fitness Trend That Joe Fell Into 26:25 - How To Approach Fitness In The New Year 31:40 - Training For Spartan Race 33:25 - What Joe Is Most Excited About For 2025 #podcast #investing #venturecapital #business #saas

Cyan Banister, co-founder of Long Journey Ventures, and Lee Jacobs, focused on investing in 'Magically Weird' companies, share their insights on unconventional startups. They discuss creating deep connections at networking events and highlight how spirituality is reshaping business in Silicon Valley. The duo reflects on aligning profit with purpose and the importance of community among founders. Their unique approach has led to investments in groundbreaking companies like SpaceX and Uber, driving a shift in venture capital attitudes.

Lucy Guo, a prominent entrepreneur and investor known for her role at Scale AI, shares insights from her studio in Los Angeles. She discusses the future of the creator economy, emphasizing the shift toward direct fan support and the emergence of diverse revenue streams. Lucy also highlights the decline of legacy media and the rise of independent journalism driven by trust issues. Additionally, she reveals effective fundraising strategies that helped her raise $50 million in two years, alongside her philanthropic aspirations to combat human trafficking.

Today Molly O'Shea speaks with Dan Wright, CEO of Armada, backed with $100M to date from notable investors like Trae Stephens from Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux, Dragon Global, Microsoft’s M12, 8VC, Shield Capital, among others. Armada is a leading edge computing company deploying servers for advanced AI applications in remote locations. More impressively, this company barely started 2 years ago and has been out of stealth for less than a year, while achieving critical milestones like partnerships with Starlink, Skydio, Hallibutron, and more, we’ll discuss shortly. Dan is a remarkable figure in the world of data coming from key executive positions at DataRobot and AppDynamics, while Armada’s COO Jon Runyan led Okta through its IPO, and CTO Pradeep Nair was VP of MSFT Azure. This is a great sneak peek into the early innings of one of the next most important rocket ship companies in technology. Disclosure: The Fund Molly works for is an investor in Armada  -- Follow on Twitter  https://x.com/MollySOShea https://x.com/danwrightsf -- Check out Armada https://www.armada.ai/ -- Subscribe to Sourcery: https://www.sourcery.vc/  -- Sponsor: Archer Archer's Midnight is a piloted four passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. Learn more about how Archer is set to open up a new world of opportunity for passengers by providing safe and efficient access to people, places, and events across the communities they live, visit https://www.archer.com/ –- COMPANIES MENTIONED: Founders Fund: https://www.foundersfund.com 137 Ventures: https://www.137ventures.com Starlink: https://www.starlink.com Microsoft Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com DataRobot: https://www.datarobot.com AppDynamics: https://www.appdynamics.com Okta: https://www.okta.com Halliburton: https://www.halliburton.com Skydio: https://www.skydio.com Cisco: https://www.cisco.com Palantir: https://www.palantir.com Anderol: https://www.anderol.com Rippling: https://www.rippling.com Ramp: https://www.ramp.com Goldman Sachs: https://www.goldmansachs.com OpenAI: https://www.openai.com Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com Databricks: https://www.databricks.com Cockroach Labs: https://www.cockroachlabs.com Metronome: https://www.metronome.com -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Introduction & Founding of Armada  (01:29) The Role of Early Investors  (02:52) Recruiting Top Talent  (04:34) Armada's Product Suite: Connect, Edge, and OpsAI  (07:55) The Galleon: Design and Engineering  (09:58) The Marketplace and Partner Ecosystem  (12:30) Building vs. Partnering for AI Applications  (14:20) Go-to-Market Strategy and Global Expansion  (16:46) The Go-to-Market Team and Hiring Philosophy  (18:24) Pitching to Public and Private Sectors  (21:01) Addressing the Market's White Space  (22:42) Key Partnerships and Building a Moat  (24:02) Sourcing Hardware and Scaling Production  (25:51) Growth Strategies Across Companies  (27:52) Capital Allocation and Milestones  (30:39) Crazy Edge Cases, Team Expansion, and Hiring Priorities  (33:33) Wrap  (34:00) Post-Interview Advertisement RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️ Unpack Pricing Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more.  Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg

Molly O'Shea talks with Joshua Browder, Founder & CEO of DoNotPay, a $200M AI champion designed to help people fight against big corporations and beat bureaucracy. Joshua shares his journey from dropping out of Stanford for a Thiel Fellowship to founding DoNotPay. To date, DoNotPay has saved consumers $100M+ on over 1.6M cases and attracted significant venture capital interest. We go deeper into the innovative features of DoNotPay, its ‘spicy’ media strategy, and the importance of building a subscription-based business model. Browder also reflects on his experiences as a Thiel Fellow and his investment philosophy as “statistically” the most active Thiel Fellow investor. Our discussion concludes with his predictions for the future of the tech market and the potential for a new tech bubble. -- Follow on Twitter  https://x.com/MollySOShea https://x.com/jbrowder1 -- Check out Do Not Pay https://donotpay.com/ -- Subscribe to Sourcery: https://www.sourcery.vc/  -- Sponsor: Archer Archer's Midnight is a piloted four passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. Learn more about how Archer is set to open up a new world of opportunity for passengers by providing safe and efficient access to people, places, and events across the communities they live, visit https://www.archer.com/ – COMPANIES MENTIONED: DoNotPay: https://donotpay.com Google: https://google.com Meta: https://meta.com Amazon: https://amazon.com Comcast: https://xfinity.com IBM Watson: https://www.ibm.com/watson Equifax: https://www.equifax.com Harper's Magazine: https://harpers.org McDonald's: https://www.mcdonalds.com Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com Polymarket: https://polymarket.com Character AI: https://character.ai Riverside: https://riverside.fm Figma: https://www.figma.com Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com Founders Fund: https://foundersfund.com Kotu Capital: https://www.kotucapital.com Index Ventures: https://www.indexventures.com Lux Capital: https://www.luxcapital.com Tribe Capital: https://tribecap.co Day One Ventures: https://www.dayoneventures.com DST Global: https://dst-global.com Owner.com: https://www.owner.com Wanda: https://www.wanda.co Robinhood: https://robinhood.com Umami Burger: https://umamiburger.com -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview (01:03) DoNotPay: Fighting Big Corporations and Bureaucracy (02:13) A Modern-Day David vs. Goliath (03:33) AI and DoNotPay: Not Just Agents, But Robots (04:20) Scale and Impact: DoNotPay's Success Stories (05:17) Key Use Cases: Free Trial Credit Card and Robo Revenge (07:10) Unexpected Allies: Warren Buffett and IBM Watson (10:50) Media Strategy: Tapping into Anger and Current Events (12:40) Supreme Court Challenge: A Million Dollar Offer (14:55) Sponsor: Archer (15:39) Enemies and Good Media Strategy (17:05)) Business Model: Subscription, Profitability, and Dividends (21:40) Investor Relations: Favorable Relationships and Strategies (23:40) Thiel Fellowship: Investing in Young Entrepreneurs (29:40) The State of Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities (33:00) Leadership: Values and Influences (35:10) 2025 Predictions: Voice AI, Tech Bubble, and M&A (37:55) Wrap -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️ Unpack Pricing Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more.  Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg

Molly O'Shea interviews Jason Fiedler, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, a $2B+ venture fund focused on consumer and internet businesses. They discuss his unique investment strategies focused on consumer goods, sports, and the evolving retail landscape, diving into specific subcategories and his portfolio companies. Jason shares insights on the importance of NPS Delta, the application of software frameworks to consumer investing, his Sims City vision, pearls & strings system, and the rapid growth of his firm. He emphasizes the significance of sourcing deals through a rigorous process, keeping track of 'crazy' ideas, and the big opportunity for innovative beverage brands in a changing market. The discussion also touches on the risks of fast growth and the future trends in consumer behavior. -- Follow on Twitter ⁠https://x.com/MollySOShea⁠ https://x.com/jfeedler -- Check out Left Lane Capital: ⁠https://www.leftlane.com/⁠ -- Subscribe to Sourcery: ⁠https://www.sourcery.vc/ ⁠ -- Sponsor: Archer Archer's Midnight is a piloted four passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. Learn more about how Archer is set to open up a new world of opportunity for passengers by providing safe and efficient access to people, places, and events across the communities they live, visit https://www.archer.com/ -- COMPANIES MENTIONED: Investment Companies: Left Lane Capital: ⁠https://www.leftlanecap.com/⁠ Insight Partners: ⁠https://www.insightpartners.com/⁠ Left Lane Capital Portfolio Companies: Blank Street: ⁠https://www.blankstreet.com/⁠ Kings League: ⁠https://kingsleague.pro/⁠ Olipop: ⁠https://drinkolipop.com/⁠ Holy (German beverage): ⁠https://drinkholyfood.com/⁠ League One Volleyball: ⁠https://www.l1volleyball.com/⁠ Jason's Personal Investments: Farmer's Dog: ⁠https://www.thefarmersdog.com/⁠ Figs: ⁠https://www.wearfigs.com/⁠ Major Companies Referenced: Coca-Cola: ⁠https://www.coca-cola.com/⁠ Pepsi: ⁠https://www.pepsi.com/⁠ Monster Energy: ⁠https://www.monsterenergy.com/⁠ Starbucks: ⁠https://www.starbucks.com/⁠ McDonald's: ⁠https://www.mcdonalds.com/⁠ Driscoll's: ⁠https://www.driscolls.com/⁠ TCBY: ⁠https://www.tcby.com/⁠ All Birds: ⁠https://www.allbirds.com/⁠ Liquid Death: ⁠https://liquiddeath.com/⁠ Rao's: ⁠https://www.raos.com/⁠ -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (01:50) Inspiration from Starbucks and Investment Strategy (04:07) Subcategories of Interest (05:14) Applying Frameworks from Software to Consumer (06:56) LTV to CAC and LTV to CapEx (08:43) The Sims Framework (10:35) NPS Delta(11:51) Growth and Current Stats (14:50) Sponsor: Archer (15:33) Number of Investments and Board Seats (16:15) Sourcing Deals and Thematic Approach (19:18) Identifying Breakout Companies (20:41) The App Store Influence (21:29) Risks of Rapid Growth (23:08) Olipop Investment (25:24) The Holy Investment and Powder-Based Beverages (29:25) Conviction on Sports Investments (31:51) Crazy Ideas and Future Investment Areas (34:10) The Next Big Trends (37:08) Outro and Next Steps RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️ This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts:⁠ https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937⁠ Spotify:⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz⁠ YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast⁠

Molly O’Shea interviews Saurav Shroff, Founder & CEO of Starpath, a company developing megascale propellant production systems for lunar and Mars operations. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/65820d0a-9323-4de8-a526-9bb3aca1baeb -- Follow on Twitter https://x.com/MollySOShea https://x.com/SauravShroff5 -- Check out Starpath https://starpath.space/ -- Subscribe to Sourcery: https://www.sourcery.vc/ -- Sponsor: Archer Archer's Midnight is a piloted four passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. Learn more about how Archer is set to open up a new world of opportunity for passengers by providing safe and efficient access to people, places, and events across the communities they live, visit https://www.archer.com/ -- Companies mentioned: SpaceX https://www.spacex.com/ Blue Origin https://www.blueorigin.com/ NASA https://www.nasa.gov/ Investors: 8VC https://www.8vc.com/ Fusion Fund https://fusionfund.com/ Day One Ventures https://www.dayoneventures.com/ Hummingbird https://hummingbird.vc/ -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Introduction and multi-planetary discussion (01:19) Starpath's mission and fundraising (02:50) Breakdown of core systems (04:50) Technical details of mining operations (08:30) Regulatory considerations for lunar mining (10:10) Energy demand and power generation (12:30) Sponsor break (13:14) Market context and SpaceX developments (15:06) Prototyping and scaling strategy (16:40) Power generation system design (21:30) Testing methodology (24:09) Lunar night survival challenges (25:40) Facility and operations (26:40) Business model and revenue strategy (28:19) Competition landscape (29:30) Founder's conviction and vision (31:00) Hiring plans and closing remarks -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️ This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast