Great Chat

Between Anthropic’s soft Q3 and CoreWeave’s meltdown, everyone’s suddenly asking: is AI over? Spoiler: we don’t think so, but it’s going to be a bumpy ride. This week on Great Chat, we dig into IPO timing, the margin question nobody can answer yet, and why early-stage founders seem more optimistic than the late-stage crowd. Plus: Victoria’s Secret’s return to form, Elizabeth Holmes’s redemption arc, and the year’s best corporate security warning.

Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.

This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

People beyond Silicon Valley used to love the products tech companies made. Now, they feel like AI tools (and data centers) are being shoved down their throats. This week, comms pro Aaron Zamost joins the chat to rant about tech’s reputational decline and leadership vacuum. Maybe what we really need is a spokesperson who is, well…normal (it's a lot to ask). Plus: we debate what has and hasn’t changed since Aaron’s famous “startup clock” essay from 2015, lament the AI to SI rebrands, and dissect Twitter beefs spanning Vinod Khosla and Kelly Clarkson.

Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.

This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

In the AI slop era, pre-seed startups are spending real money on cinematic launch videos, renting creator armies, and prioritizing attention over substance. This week on Great Chat, Ashley and Helen ask whether manufactured hype has peaked, what comes next, and how a young startup can actually stand out when everyone is shouting. Plus: what's in a name? We dig into the proposed AI-to-SI name change, discuss AI safety, and debate whether AI can feel.

Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.

This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

New York's restaurants are bankrolled by Wall Street money; LA's by Hollywood. So why has tech failed to leave a physical imprint on San Francisco? This week, Ligaya Tichy, founder of New Entity and an early community builder at Yelp and Airbnb, joins the chat to make the case for putting tech wealth to work in brick-and-mortar businesses. We get into San Francisco's evolution from nerd utopia to industry town, why the last generation of tech money didn't make its way to small businesses, and what a modern system of patronage could look like with the AI lab IPOs on the horizon. Plus, Dario's on-camera awkwardness, and Oura's cratering IPO "Readiness Score."

Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.

This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm

Great Chat is back in its sixth season with Ashley, Helen, and guest host Taylor Lorenz. We dive into AI assistant wars, Dreamforce, the All In Summit, and Corgi in context. Plus, in our main topic, we break down Dario Amodei's "pacing" essay and discuss who actually benefits from the industry's current storylines.

Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.

This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm