Podcast · 73 episodes
Newcomer Pod
by Eric Newcomer | newcomer.co · English
Hi, I'm Eric Newcomer. With this podcast, I dive straight into the heart of the tech industry, interviewing top investors and founders. I’m bringing my sensibility as someone who understands the inside story of Silicon Valley but who is happy to poke and prod as to why the tech world operates like it does. If you want first-person and insider information delivered to your newsletter, subscribe to my podcast at newcomer.co on Substack.
Latest episodes
Josh Elman on Apple, AI Agents & Why Startups Can Still WinJosh Elman discusses AI agents and chat-based products, how they’ll change marketplaces (especially when multiple agents compete for limited slots), and why startups can still win.24 Sep 2026 · 51 min
Former SEC Official on FTX, Crypto & Silicon Valley’s Fraud ProblemThe episode argues that Silicon Valley’s “founder control” and private-market exemptions let large startups grow with limited disclosure, enabling fraud and harmful governance failures.17 Sep 2026 · 59 min
Zavain Dar on Hugging Face, NVIDIA & Why Silicon Valley Should Pay Attention to ChinaInvestor Zavain Dar discusses NVIDIA’s $12.9B acquisition of Hugging Face, why open-source is strategically important for chips and inference, US-China AI/biotech interdependence, and whether AI can…10 Sep 2026 · 49 min
All episodes
Josh Elman on Apple, AI Agents & Why Startups Can Still WinJosh Elman discusses AI agents and chat-based products, how they’ll change marketplaces (especially when multiple agents compete for limited slots), and why startups can still win.24 Sep 2026 · 51 min · 23 chapters
Former SEC Official on FTX, Crypto & Silicon Valley’s Fraud ProblemThe episode argues that Silicon Valley’s “founder control” and private-market exemptions let large startups grow with limited disclosure, enabling fraud and harmful governance failures.17 Sep 2026 · 59 min · 28 chapters
Zavain Dar on Hugging Face, NVIDIA & Why Silicon Valley Should Pay Attention to ChinaInvestor Zavain Dar discusses NVIDIA’s $12.9B acquisition of Hugging Face, why open-source is strategically important for chips and inference, US-China AI/biotech interdependence, and whether AI can…10 Sep 2026 · 49 min · 21 chapters
Sam Parr on The Hustle, Hampton & Why the OpenAI-TBPN Deal Was a MistakeSam Parr (The Hustle, Hampton) discusses building media businesses via email/newsletters, the economics of attention vs. profit, and why he believes the OpenAI–TBPN deal was a mistake.26 Aug 2026 · 57 min · 26 chapters
This AI Was Trained on a Billion Video Game Clips. Now It Controls Robots.Pim DeWitt (General Intuition) argues that training AI on massive, controller-labeled video-game clips can produce “general agents” that read pixels and predict next actions, and that this transfers…3 Aug 2026 · 59 min · 27 chapters
John Coogan on Selling TBPN to OpenAI, Sam Altman & the Future of Tech MediaJohn Coogan (TBPN co-host) explains TBPN’s “going direct” media philosophy, how podcast comedy/characters shape debate, and why OpenAI acquired TBPN—plus what that means for tech media and Sam…28 Jul 2026 · 1 h 2 min · 22 chapters
Taylor Lorenz Unfiltered on Social Media, Free Speech & the Surveillance StateTaylor Lorenz discusses free speech and anonymity online, arguing that current “protect children” proposals (age verification, biometric ID, surveillance) are actually mass-surveillance measures that…10 Jul 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 28 chapters
The Goldman Sachs Exec on AI, Wall Street & the Firm That Went Bankrupt in 40 MinutesMarty Chavez, an AI PhD and long-time Goldman Sachs executive, discusses how “AI” in finance evolved from earlier algorithmic trading, how big institutions adopt AI, and what AI’s market trajectory…6 Jul 2026 · 26 min · 12 chapters
Ben Smith on Trump, Anthropic & the Collision of Government and Big TechBen Smith discusses how the Trump administration’s approach to government-business relations is colliding with frontier AI companies like Anthropic, and what that means for regulation, media…29 Jun 2026 · 55 min · 24 chapters
Aidan Gomez Unfiltered on AGI, China & AI's Biggest RiskAidan Gomez discusses where foundation models are headed (AGI-like capabilities, transformer longevity, token “maxing” cycles), enterprise adoption beyond coding, open-source vs hosted models, and…26 Jun 2026 · 22 min · 11 chapters
Christina Cacioppo Unfiltered on Fake Compliance, AI Security & Building a $4B CompanySOC 2 compliance “drama” and how Vanta built a $4B business by turning security audits into scalable, founder-friendly workflows; plus AI’s impact on security and compliance, and the ethics of “fake…16 Jun 2026 · 47 min · 18 chapters
Ed Zitron Unfiltered on OpenAI, Anthropic & Why the Whole Thing Is a ConEd Zitron argues that today’s foundation-model AI (OpenAI, Anthropic) is a financial “con” rather than a proven, scalable product—driven by subsidized pricing, unrealistic ROI narratives, and…8 Jun 2026 · 58 min · 24 chapters
How Tech's San Francisco Values Gave Way to the RightHow San Francisco’s tech culture shifted from early internet optimism and creative experimentation to AI-era cynicism and rightward political influence, shaping national attitudes toward technology…29 May 2026 · 1 h 7 min · 27 chapters
WIRED's Editor on Elon, Trump & Silicon Valley's War on the PressKatie Drummond, Wired’s global editorial director, discusses why Wired is turning more skeptical toward Silicon Valley’s incumbents, the fight over whether Wired is “for sale,” and how AI should be…22 May 2026 · 54 min · 23 chapters
The Man Who Helped Destroy Gawker Is Coming Back For The Rest of MediaAaron D’Souza recounts how he helped fund and structure the 2009–2016 lawsuit that bankrupted Gawker, then argues for “Objection AI,” a Peter Thiel-backed platform that aims to create accountability…15 May 2026 · 1 h 11 min · 33 chapters
Vinod Khosla on the End of Jobs and the Future of CapitalismVinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures) argues that AI and technology should replace religion as a source of meaning, enabling “material abundance for everyone” and a future “post-capitalism” where basic…12 May 2026 · 1 h 5 min · 32 chapters
Katie Jacobs Stanton on Elon, Trump & Why Silicon Valley Won’t Speak UpKatie Jacobs Stanton, a former Twitter executive and Obama White House alum turned VC, discusses why Silicon Valley stays quiet on major political crises, how Twitter/X shapes news and discourse, and…27 Apr 2026 · 56 min · 28 chapters
Amanda Askell on AI Consciousness, Claude & Silicon Valley’s Biggest FearAmanda Askell (Anthropic) discusses AI consciousness/qualia, Claude’s “personality” and sense of time, and why Anthropic uses a published “constitution” to shape behavior while keeping ultimate…20 Apr 2026 · 56 min · 22 chapters
Kara Swisher — "I'd rather have Ted Cruz make decisions about AI"Kara Swisher criticizes Silicon Valley’s influence over AI, social media, and politics, arguing tech companies avoid regulation while shaping public life.14 Apr 2026 · 52 min · 31 chapters
Jim Lanzone — "They Had a Chance to Sell for $44 Billion. They Didn't."Jim Lanzone (Yahoo CEO) discusses Yahoo’s current scale and strategy, why Yahoo lost search to Google (outsourcing + linking back to Google’s logo), and how AI “chatbot search” changes the interface,…7 Apr 2026 · 1 h · 28 chapters
The Startup That Crashed Its Own Servers Because of Open ClawThe episode is about Mintlify’s role as “knowledge infrastructure” for developers and AI agents, and how accurate, self-updating docs become critical as agent traffic grows.31 Mar 2026 · 1 h 25 min · 37 chapters
Matt Mahan — "California's Failure Is the Best Ammunition Trump Has Ever Had"Matt Mahan, Mayor of San Jose & Candidate for Governor of California24 Mar 2026 · 1 h 5 min · 27 chapters
Shardul Shah — "I wired the money before knowing what they were building"In this episode, Shardul Shah discusses his role in the $32 billion acquisition of Wiz, an Israeli cybersecurity company, by Google.20 Mar 2026 · 56 min · 20 chapters
Barry McCardel on Why Everyone Is Copying Palantir’s Playbook (And Getting It Wrong)In this episode of The Newcomer Podcast, Eric Newcomer speaks with Barry McCardel, co-founder of Hex and former forward deployed engineer at Palantir.16 Mar 2026 · 1 h 2 min · 32 chapters