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trading places@TradingVCs·2d

Watch @AmanVerjee and @davemcclure break it down👇

The price is wrong. ❌ AI valuations are all over the place: $23B for @cerebras vs $4.4T for @nvidia and both might still be mispriced. Meanwhile, Anthropic just added $5B in ARR in one month. In Ep. 27, @davemcclure, @AmanVerjee, and Nick Fusco of @P_M_Insights dive in 👇 00:00 — cold open [ tech & vc news ] 00:50 — Private Mag 7 + 3 Impostors 🧐 04:34 — @AnthropicAI vs @OpenAI 🥊 05:23 — @Figure_robot $39B val 🤪 08:00 — Iran: Straits of Hormuz vs. Price of Oil 🔮 15:00 — @Oracle & @Meta Layoffs 🚶‍♂️‍➡️ 19:43 — VC MAG 7 🏆 28:11 — Atoms: @travisk is BACK 🤖 30:20 — Mind Robotics of @Rivian raises $500M 💰 31:17 — @Replit $9B val 💸 [ intvw: Nick Fusco, PM Insights ] 33:16 — From public to private markets 🙇‍♂️ 41:05 — Their competitive advantage 💪 42:40 — @databricks example 📝 49:58 — Down rounds and repricing 📉 1:02:43 — @SpaceX IPO & @RobinhoodApp private stock 🤔 [ val corner: Cerebras @ $23B ] 1:04:17 — Cerebras vs NVIDIA 🤺 1:06:37 — 5x revenue in one year 📈 1:07:01 — S1 weakness 💣 1:12:05 — second takes 😂 thanks for sharing this with someone who likes very bad vc podcasts

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trading places@TradingVCs·2d

.@travisk, former Uber CEO, is back with a bold rebrand: Atoms. His new company is moving beyond food delivery to focus on "robots in mining and transport" and he says: "At Atoms we make gainfully employed robots, specialized robots with productive jobs that bring abundance to their owners and society at large." See the full tech breakdown in Ep. 27 of Trading Places Podcast.

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trading places@TradingVCs·4d

Emily Zheng predicts a massive secondary market dip as OpenAI and SpaceX suck all the liquidity out of the room. "A big theme in 2026 has been these mega IPOs with OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic potentially going public. What I ultimately think is going to happen is we are going to see a huge dip in volume in the secondary market. That's inevitable because so many dollars are going to the top. But I also think that this will be temporary and overall will expand the overall universe of companies. Don't panic if things suddenly drop off a cliff in 2026; it's just par for the course." — @EMZheng47 with @davemcclure, @AmanVerjee and @saltzman_jason on @TradingVCs Podcast Ep.26

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trading places@TradingVCs·5d

Check out UI Charitable's website for more information on this tax strategy. bit.ly/complex-assets

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trading places@TradingVCs·5d

Dave and Daniel are handing out the blueprint for turning "overvalued" assets into massive tax deductions. "If you've got illiquid assets sitting around, whether that's real estate, business interest, startup, stock, VC funds, there's a whole bunch of things that might be considered there." - @davemcclure "Select the asset again. What assets are highly appreciated on your balance sheet, or what assets do you feel like are perhaps overvalued? We can help you go get a third party appraisal and then as soon as that asset is transferred again, you receive an immediate tax deduction." - Daniel Blake (@UI_Charitable) If you have highly appreciated real estate, VC funds, or private business interests, you can donate them to offset your future tax bill.

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trading places@TradingVCs·14 Mar

🛑 How San Jose’s pension fund made a bold move at the height of COVID chaos: "Our CIO...says, yeah. You're not going to pay me a bonus if this works out, but I still think as a fiduciary, the right thing to do is let's call emergency meetings and let's buy into this market now...guess what, it worked out for us in one year because we all know the rally that took place." — @Achandra41 on @TradingVCs Podcast Ep.22

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trading places@TradingVCs·12 Mar

@AmanVerjee has studied every market mania from the 1637 Tulip craze to modern crypto. Learn how to spot the crash before it happens (and profit from the chaos) in his new book, The Brief History of Financial Bubbles. Pre-order your copy here: 👇 amanverjee.com/the-book

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trading places@TradingVCs·12 Mar

Aman explains how companies create early millionaires without an IPO through a Tender Offer: "The company will bring in new investors into the company and they will tell those new investors, we'd like you to make an offer to any of the existing employees or shareholders that meet our qualification list." "Typically company will put some rules around who can participate in an offer like that. It's a very controlled process, typically by the company with new money and allows employees to get some liquidity before the IPO or before the shares that they have become liquid. So it's a great retention tool for recruiting and a great way for employees to get some compensation." — @AmanVerjee in @TradingVCs Podcast Ep.26

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trading places@TradingVCs·12 Mar

Catch the full conversation with @AmanVerjee and @davemcclure in the latest episode 👇

Episode 26 of Trading Places is here! @davemcclure and @amanverjee break down the week's top news, and analyze ByteDance at $550B valuation. Plus, @PitchBook’s @EMZheng47 and @CBInsights’ @saltzman_jason join to talk 2025 trends & 2026 predictions. Dive in 🤿 00:53 - [ tech & vc news ] 01:04 - @AugmentMarkets Power 20 🏆 01:53 - @anduriltech $4B raise on $60B 🛸 03:00 - @PalmerLuckey vs @DarioAmodei 🤼‍♂️ 06:30 - Iran war shocks @Nasdaq, oil, & IPO markets 💥🛢️ 11:28 - Can @cerebras IPO in 2026? 🤷‍♂️ 13:27 - @RobinhoodApp public VC fund $RVI launch 🏁 16:51 - Secondary deals hit $226B in 2025 🚀 20:17 - @DecagonAI tender offer @ $4.5B 💰 25:09 - @krakenfx connects to Fed 🐙 27:46 - [ intvw: Emily Zheng & Jason Saltzman ] 28:23 - Emily gives Pitchbook 2025 recap 🙇🏻‍♀️ 31:36 - Jason gives CB Insights 2025 recap 🙇‍♂️ 35:50 - Emily gives Pitchbook 2026 predictions 🔮 57:53 - Jason gives CB Insights 2026 predictions 🔮 1:00:56 - [ val corner: ByteDance @ $550B ] 1:01:20 - Sum of Parts analysis 🧩 1:05:09 - What is @tiktok_us worth? 💃 1:09:33 - China still controls algorithm 🇨🇳 1:12:53 - second takes 😂 Share @TradingVCs with a friend who’s tired of good VC podcasts.

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trading places@TradingVCs·12 Mar

Watch the full breakdown 👇

Episode 26 of Trading Places is here! @davemcclure and @amanverjee break down the week's top news, and analyze ByteDance at $550B valuation. Plus, @PitchBook’s @EMZheng47 and @CBInsights’ @saltzman_jason join to talk 2025 trends & 2026 predictions. Dive in 🤿 00:53 - [ tech & vc news ] 01:04 - @AugmentMarkets Power 20 🏆 01:53 - @anduriltech $4B raise on $60B 🛸 03:00 - @PalmerLuckey vs @DarioAmodei 🤼‍♂️ 06:30 - Iran war shocks @Nasdaq, oil, & IPO markets 💥🛢️ 11:28 - Can @cerebras IPO in 2026? 🤷‍♂️ 13:27 - @RobinhoodApp public VC fund $RVI launch 🏁 16:51 - Secondary deals hit $226B in 2025 🚀 20:17 - @DecagonAI tender offer @ $4.5B 💰 25:09 - @krakenfx connects to Fed 🐙 27:46 - [ intvw: Emily Zheng & Jason Saltzman ] 28:23 - Emily gives Pitchbook 2025 recap 🙇🏻‍♀️ 31:36 - Jason gives CB Insights 2025 recap 🙇‍♂️ 35:50 - Emily gives Pitchbook 2026 predictions 🔮 57:53 - Jason gives CB Insights 2026 predictions 🔮 1:00:56 - [ val corner: ByteDance @ $550B ] 1:01:20 - Sum of Parts analysis 🧩 1:05:09 - What is @tiktok_us worth? 💃 1:09:33 - China still controls algorithm 🇨🇳 1:12:53 - second takes 😂 Share @TradingVCs with a friend who’s tired of good VC podcasts.

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trading places@TradingVCs·12 Mar

.@AmanVerjee proves TikTok isn’t just a social app anymore, it’s now a global financial juggernaut dominating the youth demographic. "TikTok on average, 70 minutes per day being used on their social media platform. That's twice as much as what Facebook, or WhatsApp, or Instagram have. So let's assume that that's correct and see what that implies for the overall valuation a $480 billion valuation." But here’s the kicker: After the US restructuring, the valuation looks completely different.

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trading places@TradingVCs·11 Mar

Jack Dorsey cut 40% of his staff and the stock price 🚀 20%. Is this the AI revolution or just the end of "COVID bloat"? "Jack Dorsey...announced layoffs of 40 percent of the company because...AI is going to make us so much more productive...The stock price jumped 15 or 20 percent, maybe more than 20 percent as a result of those moves." — @davemcclure The doomsdayers say AI is coming for your job, but the macro stats say we’re in a "Golden State" of full employment. Software jobs are actually UP, and AI engineers are clearing $500k starting salaries. "I think on the whole, there's going to be a lot of positive creation over the next five years that we don't yet have our arms around. Just a lot of anxiety around it. But I think that's a positive supply shock that when you get productivity going up, people can do a lot more things. Things become a lot more cost effective. And so people find jobs to do... So I tend to be on the optimistic side. I think, you know, I think Citadel's got a point. And I think the doomsdayers are probably overstating it." — @AmanVerjee

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trading places@TradingVCs·10 Mar

Episode 26 of Trading Places is here! @davemcclure and @amanverjee break down the week's top news, and analyze ByteDance at $550B valuation. Plus, @PitchBook’s @EMZheng47 and @CBInsights’ @saltzman_jason join to talk 2025 trends & 2026 predictions. Dive in 🤿 00:53 - [ tech & vc news ] 01:04 - @AugmentMarkets Power 20 🏆 01:53 - @anduriltech $4B raise on $60B 🛸 03:00 - @PalmerLuckey vs @DarioAmodei 🤼‍♂️ 06:30 - Iran war shocks @Nasdaq, oil, & IPO markets 💥🛢️ 11:28 - Can @cerebras IPO in 2026? 🤷‍♂️ 13:27 - @RobinhoodApp public VC fund $RVI launch 🏁 16:51 - Secondary deals hit $226B in 2025 🚀 20:17 - @DecagonAI tender offer @ $4.5B 💰 25:09 - @krakenfx connects to Fed 🐙 27:46 - [ intvw: Emily Zheng & Jason Saltzman ] 28:23 - Emily gives Pitchbook 2025 recap 🙇🏻‍♀️ 31:36 - Jason gives CB Insights 2025 recap 🙇‍♂️ 35:50 - Emily gives Pitchbook 2026 predictions 🔮 57:53 - Jason gives CB Insights 2026 predictions 🔮 1:00:56 - [ val corner: ByteDance @ $550B ] 1:01:20 - Sum of Parts analysis 🧩 1:05:09 - What is @tiktok_us worth? 💃 1:09:33 - China still controls algorithm 🇨🇳 1:12:53 - second takes 😂 Share @TradingVCs with a friend who’s tired of good VC podcasts.

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trading places@TradingVCs·9 Mar

Rumors are swirling: Could Stripe actually buy PayPal? Aman weighs in on the potential upsides and big risks: "Stripe is a natural acquirer for PayPal... There’s a lot of technical debt with PayPal. They were built 25 to almost 30 years ago now... Stripe doesn’t have a lot of acquisition history." — @amanverjee on @TradingVCs Podcast Stripe's clean APIs meeting PayPal's 30 years of technical debt sounds like a recipe for a distracted IPO. This bidding war will get messy fast.

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trading places@TradingVCs·9 Mar

🌎 How solving local problems sparks innovation: Karin Tenenboim on Mottu, a fast-growing Brazilian startup: "It's a very, as we say, tropical problem... That's something that I always tell to US investors or foreign investors to also try to look to the local problems. And that's also where the good opportunities are." — @LadyChutzpa with @nathanlustig and @davemcclure

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trading places@TradingVCs·7 Mar

get the full story here 👇

OpenAI just closed a $110B funding round — the largest private raise in history. Meanwhile Stripe is now worth $159B, ByteDance hit $550B, and Jack Dorsey just laid off 4,000 employees citing AI productivity. In Episode 25 of Trading Places, @davemcclure and @AmanVerjee break down the biggest stories in AI, venture capital, and private markets. Then Daniel Blake (@UI_Charitable) joins us to explain the donor-advised fund strategy founders and investors use to turn illiquid assets into major tax deductions. 00:00 - cold open 00:47 - [ tech & vc news ] 02:07 -⁠ ⁠@OpenAI historic $110B raise 😲 06:14 - @AnthropicAI $6B staff share sale 🕺 07:45 -⁠ ⁠Pentagon cancels Anthropic 🧨 11:08 -⁠ @sama grabs DoD AI bag💥 14:26 -⁠ ⁠SaaSpocalypse update 📉 18:20 -⁠ ⁠@jack Dorsey lays off 4,000 🚶‍➡️ 21:37 -⁠ ⁠ByteDance @ $550B 💃 24:11 - ⁠@Plaid tender offer @ $8B 🔒 25:49 -⁠ ⁠@RobinhoodApp $1B private fund 🤺 27:24 - [ val corner: @stripe @ $159B ] 29:58 -⁠ ⁠Competitive analysis 💪 32:40 -⁠ ⁠@PayPal acquisition target 🎯 39:23 - [ intvw: Daniel Blake - UI Charitable ] 40:09 - introducing Daniel Blake and UI Charitable 👋 40:43 - the problem with selling privately held complex assets 🧐 42:39 - intro to Donor-Advised Funds 🤲 49:03 - DAFs for founders + employees 1️⃣ 52:10 - DAFs for investors 2️⃣ 1:01:54 - donate your crypto holdings 💛 1:03:43 - not all DAFs are created equal ≠ 1:05:07 - case studies 📖 1:10:20 - get in touch with UI Charitable 📞 1:10:43 - second takes Thanks for watching and sharing this horrible, no-good podcast with a friend.

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trading places@TradingVCs·7 Mar

Jack Dorsey just laid off 40% of Block (formerly Square) as the company bets on AI-driven productivity. Stock soared 15-20% after the news. "The one piece of context... they basically tripled the size of the workforce between 2019 and 2023. All through COVID, they basically hired way ahead of their plan, way ahead of their revenues... now reductions." — @amanverjee and @davemcclure on @TradingVCs podcast Ep.25

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trading places@TradingVCs·6 Mar

🤔 Is Stripe about to make a major move? "I'm now hearing rumors about Stripe buying PayPal or maybe acquiring their way into some other businesses... PayPal at one time was worth $300 billion in the pandemic. They're now down something like 85% from that peak to only $45 billion... Stripe is a natural acquirer for PayPal." — @AmanVerjee on @TradingVCs Podcast Watching a $300B giant shrink by 85% just to be eaten by the new guard is a wild shift in power.

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