The week's news · new episode 21 Oct 2026
StrictlyVC Download
Hosted by Connie Loizos and Alex Gove
Weekly interviews with investors and founders, from the StrictlyVC newsletter.
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Investors named as guests in the most episode titles on StrictlyVC Download.
Every episode 242 · page 1 of 9
- 242Benchmark's Five Partners on AI, IPOs, and Silicon Valley's Comeback21 Oct 2026 · 44 minJack AltmanChetan PuttaguntaEverett Randle▶
About this episode
This week we're sharing a conversation from TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, host Connie Loizos sits down with all five partners at Benchmark, Peter Fenton, Erik Vishria, Chetan Puttagunta, Everett Randle, and Jack Altman, for a rare look inside one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture capital firms. The partners…
- 241Al Gore on the $4.5 Trillion Clean Energy Opportunity24 Sept 2026 · 32 minAl GoreGeneration Investment Management▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie and Alex are joined by former Vice President Al Gore and Lila Preston, head of growth equity at Generation Investment Management, to discuss how the AI boom is reshaping the global energy transition. Gore explains why the rapid buildout of AI data centers is a cause for concern but not panic,…
- 240Keith Rabois on Why the AI Bubble Fears Are Overblown15 Sept 2026 · 27 minKeith RaboisKhosla Ventures▶
About this episode
Is the AI boom a bubble, or just the biggest productivity unlock in a generation?For this episode, we're sharing a conversation from StrictlyVC New York 2026. TechCrunch's Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos sat down with Keith Rabois, Managing Director at Khosla Ventures, to talk tech optimism, AI panic, and where the…
- 239Grindr CEO is betting on AI to solve online dating's biggest problem2 Sept 2026 · 42 minGeorge Arison▶
About this episode
In this episode of StrictlyVc Download, Connie and Alex sit down with Grindr CEO George Arison to talk about how he’s transformed the company since taking over in 2022 and where he wants to take it next. Arison discusses Grindr’s rapid growth, why roughly 80% of its code is now written by AI, and how the company is…
- 238The Anti-a16z? Vijay Pande’s Bet on a Tiny, AI-Native VC Firm26 Aug 2026 · 35 minVijay PandeAndreessen Horowitz▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie is joined by Vijay Pande, co-founder of VZ and former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss why he believes AI is poised to transform healthcare and create a new generation of trillion-dollar companies. Pande explains how AI could improve drug discovery and clinical trials, why…
- 237Equity Replay: Menlo Ventures’ Matt Murphy says the lesson for founders now is that a great model isn't enough4 Aug 2026 · 32 minGoogle▶
About this episode
This week we'r sharing a conversation from our colleagues at TechCrunch's Equity. Anthropic leaped to a $47 billion revenue run rate by May, compared to $9 billion in 2025. It’s the kind of growth that Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy says he's never seen in 25 years of investing, not in the internet wave, not in…
- 236Why Founders Fund Backed a Fish Robotics Startup28 Jul 2026 · 23 minFounders FundDelian AsparouhovLos Angeles▶
About this episode
Much of American-caught fish is processed overseas, and often in China, before it comes back to the U.S. Shinkei wants to change that with robotics, computer vision, and a vertically integrated supply chain built from scratch. This episode of StrictlyVC Download was recorded at StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026. TechCrunch…
- 235Reed Jobs Is Betting Cancer Doesn’t Have to Be Fatal21 Jul 2026 · 49 minReed Jobs▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie and Alex are joined by Reed Jobs, founder and managing partner of Yosemite, to discuss the firm’s ambitious mission to make cancer nonlethal by building biotech companies from the ground up. Jobs explains why Yosemite pairs venture capital with no-strings-attached research grants, how AI is…
- 234Uber’s Chief Product Officer on Travel, AI Agents, and Playing Both Sides of the Robotaxi Race14 Jul 2026 · 40 min▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie Loizos sits down with Uber Chief Product Officer Sachin Kansal to discuss the company's expanding vision beyond ride-hailing, from hotels and travel planning to AI-powered shopping and autonomous vehicles. Sachin explains how Uber decides which new products to build, why the company believes a…
- 233The Race to Build the First Real Humanoid Robot Business with Peggy Johnson from Agility7 Jul 2026 · 37 min▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove sit down with Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson following the company's announcement that it will go public, making it one of the first pure-play humanoid robotics companies to reach the public markets. Peggy explains why she believes the industry is moving beyond flashy…
- 232Is Your AI Actually Worth What You're Spending? with Parker Conrad30 Jun 2026 · 34 minParker Conrad▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie Loizos sits down with Rippling founder and CEO Parker Conrad to discuss the company's biggest product launch in years: Rippling Data Cloud. Parker explains why he believes the future of enterprise AI depends on giving AI access to an organization's people data and business systems, not just…
- 231Is There an AI Bubble? VCs on Valuations and ARR Inflation23 Jun 2026 · 26 minBasis Set VenturesCarter Reum▶
About this episode
This episode features a conversation recorded live at StrictlyVC LA in El Segundo between Connie Loizos, Cheng Xu, partner at Basis Set Ventures, and Carter Reum, founder of M13. Together, they discuss whether today's AI boom represents a bubble, how investors are thinking about soaring startup valuations and ARR…
- 230The return of the Consumer Gold Rush? What Chi-Hua Chien is betting on next16 Jun 2026 · 44 minChi-Hua ChienAccelGoodwater Capital▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie and Alex talk with Goodwater Capital co-founder Chi-Hua Chien, whose career spans some of Silicon Valley’s biggest technology shifts, from helping source Accel’s investment in Facebook as a young associate to backing a new generation of consumer and AI startups. While much of the venture world…
- 229Runway and HOLYWATER TECH: Two AI Companies Trying to Upend Entertainment9 Jun 2026 · 31 min▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, we're bringing you a conversation from our recent event in Athens. Connie Loizos spoke with Anastasis Germanidis: Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Runway and Anatolii Kasianov: Co-Founder & Co-CEO, HOLYWATER TECH. Runway began within art school, with a sparse network and little investor insight…
- 228What VCs think about SpaceX, AI-valuation fever and where to bet next2 Jun 2026 · 29 minAtomicoAndreas StavropoulosBen Blume▶
About this episode
For this episode of StrictlyVC Download, we're bringing you a conversation from the StrictlyVC Athens event. Connie Loizos sat down with three seasoned investors to break down the state of venture capital, the hunt for white space, and what it actually takes to back a breakout company in 2026. Featuring: Ben Blume:…
- 227Eclipse Ventures Co-Founder Lior Susan's Insights Into a $1.3B Bet on Physical AI26 May 2026 · 21 minLior Susan▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, we're sharing and interview from our 2026 event in San Francisco with TechCrunch reporter Marina Temkin and Lior Susan who is dresh off raising a $1.3 billion fund. Eclipse Ventures is doubling down on what it calls physical AI. Temkin and Susan discuss robotics, manufacturing,…
- 226Inside Stanford's Secret Tech Elite (And the Freshman Who Exposed It)19 May 2026 · 28 min▶
About this episode
In this episode, we talk with Theo Baker, a soon-to-be Stanford graduate and author of How to Rule the World, about what he found when he traded his coding ambitions for student journalism. Within his first semester, Theo broke the story that led to Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation, a months-long…
- 225CEO Amjad Masad on How Replit Is Changing Who Gets to Build Software13 May 2026 · 19 minAmjad Masad▶
About this episode
This week, we're sharing a conversaiton from Strictly VC's recent event in San Francisco. Replit co-founder and CEO Amjad Masad joined Connie Loizos to talk about AI-driven software development, competing with major AI players, and how coding is changing as software creation becomes more accessible. Plus, he gives…
- 224Is Airwallex Undervalued or is Stripe Overvalued?21 Apr 2026 · 34 min▶
About this episode
In this episode, we talk with Airwallex cofounder and CEO Jack Zhang about building a global financial infrastructure company by taking the long, unglamorous path. Rather than layering on top of existing banking systems, Airwallex spent a decade acquiring licenses, integrating with local payment rails, and…
- 223How secondary markets are pricing SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic before they go public7 Apr 2026 · 25 minGlen Anderson▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie Loizos talks with Rainmaker Securities managing director Glen Anderson about the surge in the secondary market as investors race to buy shares in some of tech’s most sought-after private companies. From SpaceX to OpenAI to Anthropic, demand is intensifying ahead of a potentially reopening IPO…
- 222High tech herding with Craig Piggott, Halter31 Mar 2026 · 26 minCraig Piggott▶
About this episode
In this episode, we talk with Halter founder and CEO Craig Pigott about building a $2 billion agtech company that’s transforming how farmers manage livestock. Using solar-powered collars and virtual fencing, Halter helps ranchers increase productivity, monitor animal health, and rethink how land is used. Craig shares…
- 221The wearable you’re never supposed to stop wearing with Will Ahmed of WHOOP24 Mar 2026 · 36 minWill Ahmed▶
About this episode
WHOOP founder and CEO Will Ahmed joins Connie Loizos and Alex Gove on StrictlyVC Download to discuss the company’s evolution from a niche wearable for elite athletes into a fast-growing health platform. The three talk about WHOOP’s unconventional decision to skip a screen, its subscription-driven business model, and…
- 220Is Ring building towards safer neighborhoods or neighborhood surveillance?10 Mar 2026 · 28 min▶
About this episode
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff joins Connie Loizos and Alex Gove on StrictlyVC Download to discuss the company’s new AI-powered Search Party feature, which aims to help neighbors find lost dogs but has sparked debate about surveillance and privacy. The three discuss how the feature actually works, the company’s decision…
- 219The AI Safety Showdown: Max Tegmark on government, Anthropic, and what’s next4 Mar 2026 · 41 min▶
About this episode
In this episode of StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove sit down with MIT AI researcher Max Tegmark to discuss the growing clash between AI companies and the U.S. government and the bigger question of who should control increasingly powerful AI systems. From the Trump administration’s move to phase out…
- 218Future-Proofing work in the age of automation with Bill Gurley24 Feb 2026 · 42 minBill Gurley▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos talks with Bill Gurley, longtime venture capitalist, former Benchmark partner, and author of the new book Running Down a Dream. After stepping back from day-to-day investing, Gurley has turned his focus to a different question: how people build meaningful, enduring…
- 217Rethinking series A in the age of mega funds17 Feb 2026 · 29 minGoogleStacy Brown-Philpot▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos talks with Stacy Brown-Philpot, founder and managing partner of Cherryrock Capital. After a decade at Google and leading TaskRabbit through its acquisition by IKEA, Brown-Philpot is now building a venture firm focused on Series A and Series B software companies led by…
- 216How Tether became crypto's most profitable company, and what it's building next3 Feb 2026 · 40 minTether▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos talks with Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, the company behind USDT, the world's largest stablecoin. With 536 million users globally, Tether has quietly become one of crypto's most powerful players, and now it's evolving far beyond stablecoins. Ardoino is transforming Tether…
- 215Airtable is betting big on a standalone ai agent that could replace its own product27 Jan 2026 · 49 minHowie Liu▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos and Alex Gove talk with Howie Liu, co-founder and CEO of Airtable. On Tuesday, Liu announced the launch of Superagent, Airtable’s first standalone product outside of its core platform, and this isn’t just another AI feature bolted onto an existing product. Superagent…
- 214Working in orbit: what happens when space goes blue-collar?20 Jan 2026 · 27 minApollo▶
About this episode
In this episode, Connie Loizos speaks with Mary Jane Rubenstein, a professor of religion and science and technology studies at Wesleyan University and author of "Worlds Without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse", a book that served as research material for the Oscar-winning film "Everything Everywhere All at Once."…
- 213Why VCs think consumer AI hasn't lived up to the hype14 Jan 2026 · 23 minGoodwater CapitalScribble VenturesChi-Hua Chien▶
About this episode
This week on StrictlyVC Download, we're sharing a conversation with Goodwater Capital founder Chi-Hua Chien and Scribble Ventures founder Elizabeth Weil. They discuss why consumer AI hasn't lived up to the hype yet and what's coming next. Beyond ChatGPT and Gemini, the consumer AI landscape feels sparse. In this…
Who the show talks about
Firms named in its episodes, and people named in descriptions: talked about, rather than on the show.
