Technology

Sourcery

Interviews with the top Investors, CEOs, & Founders

Latest Episodes:

Peter Thiel’s $50M Bet on American Nuclear Fuel, General Matter Jul 30, 2025

Show notes

Scott Nolan, Founder & CEO of General Matter and Partner at Founders Fund, joins Sourcery to break down America’s urgent need to rebuild its nuclear fuel supply chain. With $50 million in funding led by Founders Fund, General Matter is developing U.S.-based production of HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium), the nuclear fuel critical for powering next-generation reactors.

As part of the recent investment, Peter Thiel, Founders Fund Partner & billionaire investor, is joining the board–a notable move for Thiel, who stepped down from Facebook’s board in 2022 and rarely takes on new board roles beyond his long-standing position at Palantir.

Nolan shares how General Matter is applying a “SpaceX x Palantir” playbook to reindustrialize the U.S., from assembling a cross-functional engineering team to securing government contracts and navigating executive orders. We dive into the HALEU bottleneck, AGI power demand, reactor deployment timelines, and the energy arms race with China—and why enrichment is the unlock for nuclear to become the cheapest, safest, & most scalable baseload energy source.

This conversation is part of Sourcery’s “Made in America” Mini-Series recorded at the Reindustrialize 2025 Summit.

Highlights

• America’s Enrichment Deficit: The U.S. currently supplies less than 0.1% of global nuclear fuel enrichment, with 25% of its supply still coming from Russia.

• General Matter’s Mission: Founded in 2023 to make enrichment affordable and scalable, enabling nuclear to become the lowest-cost baseload power.

• SpaceX/Anduril-style Playbook: Blending industry veterans with startup talent to accelerate execution: “1/3 incumbents, 2/3 Silicon Valley engineers”

• AI Energy Demands: By 2030, AI is projected to consume the equivalent of today’s entire U.S. power grid, making energy production the bottleneck.

• Executive Orders & Industrial Strategy: Recent U.S. government actions aim to re-regulate nuclear, fast-track licensing, and quadruple nuclear output by 2050—backed by DOE, DOD, and NRC.

Connect with us:

1. Scott Nolan: https://x.com/ScottNolan

2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvc

Brought to you by:

• Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.

As a Sourcery Listener you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → https://brex.com/sourcery

• Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. Visit: turing.com/sourcery

• Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

• Fourthwall—The #1 way to sell merch online — Fourthwall is the easiest way to launch a fully branded merch store—used by big brands like MKBHD, Acquired, & even the Smithsonian. 100+ products. No upfront cost. Visit Fourthwall to start today: https://fourthwall.com/

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

(00:00) U.S. Nuclear Resurgence

(00:56) Why General Matter Was Founded

(02:49) Making Nuclear The Cheapest Baseload Energy

(04:00) Enrichment And Fuel Process Breakdown

(05:16) Decline Of U.S. Enrichment Capacity

(07:26) Building General Matter & SpaceX/Palantir Playbook

(09:55) Skunkworks Team: Nuclear Experts + Generalist Engineers

(11:11) Breakdown Of The Four Executive Orders

(16:35) Geopolitics, GDP, & The China Energy Gap

(21:14) End Of Stranded Assets & AI’s Power Bottleneck

(24:40) AGI & Software’s Role In Nuclear Deployment

(31:13) General Matter’s 12–18 Month Milestones

Winning the AI Race & Reindustrialization | Christian Garrett, 137 Ventures Jul 27, 2025

Show notes

Christian Garrett, Partner at 137 Ventures and Co-Founder of the Hill & Valley Forum, returns to Sourcery for a deep dive into Winning the AI Race—a high-stakes summit bringing together Trump, J.D. Vance, top tech CEOs, and government leaders to chart America’s AI future. In this fast-moving conversation, Christian breaks down how AI is driving reindustrialization across mining, energy, and manufacturing, why pricing—not capital—is the real bottleneck in U.S. mining, and how the Pentagon's landmark deal with MP Materials could start to reshape the global rare earths market. He also unpacks Applied Intuition’s $600M Series F at a $15B valuation, the rise of venture opportunities enabled by new policy, and why the Invest America Act—seeding every American newborn with a $1,000 investment account—could be the most important wealth-building policy of this generation.

Join us for a quick dive into the state of national resilience, generational investing, and the convergence of tech, defense, and policy.

This conversation is part of Sourcery’s “Made in America” Mini-Series recorded at the Reindustrialize 2025 Summit.

Highlights

Reindustrialization with AI across mining, energy, & manufacturing
Creating new wealth for Americans with the Invest America Act
Applied Intuition’s $600M Series F at $15B valuation
MP Materials’ rare earths deal with the Pentagon
China’s control of pricing—not capital—is stalling U.S. mining growth
Winning the AI Race summit with Trump, Vance, and tech leaders pushing for U.S. AI dominance and job creation

Connect with us:

1. Christian Garrett: https://x.com/CGarrett_15

2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvc

Brought to you by:

Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.
As a Sourcery Listener you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → https://brex.com/sourcery

Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. Visit: turing.com/sourcery

Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

Fourthwall—The #1 way to sell merch online — Fourthwall is the easiest way to launch a fully branded merch store—used by big brands like MKBHD, Acquired, & even the Smithsonian. 100+ products. No upfront cost. Visit Fourthwall to start today: https://fourthwall.com/

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

Timestamps:
(00:00) – Christian Garrett Returns

(01:30) – Hill & Valley, Reindustrialize, & 137’s Industrial Bets

(06:10) – AI + Legacy Industry = New Industrial Revolution

(08:30) – Big Bets On Defense, Auto (Applied Intuition), & Mining

(10:55) – MP Materials + Pentagon: Rare Earth Strategy

(13:15) – U.S. Needs Pricing Support + Vertical Integration

(15:30) – Policy Drives Markets: Dodd-Frank, JOBS Act, 174

(17:45) – Invest America: $1K Seed Accounts For All Newborns(

20:10) – “Winning The AI Race” Summit: Tech X Government

How Vise Hit $22B in Platform Assets, Reshaping The $83T Wealth Industry Jul 25, 2025

Show notes

Samir Vasavada joins Molly O'Shea on Sourcery to share how he and his co-founder Runik Mehrotra launched Vise as teenagers and scaled it to over $22 billion in platform assets with their leanest team ever: just about 40 people. After a record-breaking Q2 and 1275% YoY growth, Vise is leading the shift to Wealth 3.0 with personalized, automated portfolios that go beyond mutual funds and ETFs.

Backed with $130 million in funding at a $1B valuation from Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, and Allen & Co, Vise uses AI to help advisors build, manage, and explain portfolios across nearly every asset class and client type.

Since recording this episode Vise has grown from $15B to $22B platform assets in just a few months.

In this episode, Samir breaks down:

• Bootstrapping Vise at 16: From seed to unicorn in 18 months

• Raising $130M from investors like Sequoia, Founders Fund, + Allen & Co

• How Vise saves clients $60M+ in taxes

• What tech billionaires actually do with their equity

• The $10T RIA opportunity—& why the legacy wealth stack is broken

• Retail demand for private credit, real estate, & alternative assets

• Global wealth shifts from London to Dubai, Milan, & Southeast Asia

• Why scaling back from 150+ employees to 40 made the company stronger

“There needs to be one platform that is functionally the platform that powers the global multi-trillion dollar asset management industry. And it will be Vise”

Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOShea

Samir on X: https://x.com/samir_vasavada

Visit Vise: https://vise.com

Brought to you by:

• Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.

As a Sourcery subscriber you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) Visit: brex.com/sourcery

• Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. Visit: turing.com/sourcery

• Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: kalshi.com/sourcery

• Fourthwall—The #1 way to sell merch online — Fourthwall is the easiest way to launch a fully branded merch store—used by big brands like MKBHD, Acquired, & even the Smithsonian. 100+ products. No upfront cost. Visit Fourthwall to start today: https://fourthwall.com/

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

Chapters:

(00:00) $83T Market → Vise Hits $22B platform assets, 1275% YoY Growth

(01:30) Founding Vise at 16 & Becoming a Unicorn in 18 Months

(03:04) Pivoting to $10T Enterprise RIA Market

(05:28) Lean 40-Person Team → Fastest Growth Ever

(06:23) What Vise Actually Does

(10:23) State of Retail Market: $83T in wealth, $2T+ in Access to Alts

(22:45) $63M+ Saved via Daily Tax-Loss Harvesting

(24:38) Servicing Clients from $200 to $150M Accounts

(30:45) Why Zuckerberg & Elon Take “$0 Salaries”

(32:42) Billionaire Playbook: Financing Homes & Jets via Stock Loans

(39:21) Scaled to 150 Employees to “Refounding” with 40 “Barrels” (Keith Rabois Strategy)

(43:20) Vision: World’s Biggest Tech-Powered Asset Manager

Nat Friedman Leads $15M in Superintelligence Insurance Company | AIUC Jul 23, 2025

Show notes

Rune Kvist, CEO & Founder of the Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC), joins Sourcery to break down how his team is building the confidence infrastructure for AI adoption — and why every AI agent will soon need to be certified and insured.

AIUC just came out of stealth with a $15M seed round led by Nat Friedman (NFDG), with participation from Emergence, Terrain, Ben Mann (Anthropic co-founder), former CISOs of Google Cloud & MongoDB, and other top AI operators.

Rune was the first product & GTM hire at Anthropic, and now he’s building the “confidence infrastructure” for the AGI era — combining standards (AIUC-1), audits, and insurance to de-risk AI deployments.

Key Takeaways:

• CEO Rune Kvist: Anthropic’s first product & GTM hire

• AIUC is building insurance, standards, and audits for AI agents

• Enterprises won’t adopt AI without trust & accountability

• AI agent failures — like hallucinations or leaks — are inevitable

• AIUC-1 is a fast-updating standard to certify agents (SOC 2 for AI)

• Every AI agent will need certification and insurance

Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOShea

Rune on X: https://x.com/RuneKvist

Visit Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company: https://aiuc.com

Brought to you by:

• Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.

• Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: kalshi.com/sourcery

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

(00:00) Launching AIUC: $15M Seed Led by Nat Friedman

(01:49) What AIUC Does: Insurance, Standards, and Audits for AI Agents

(04:20) History Repeats: How Insurance Enabled Innovation (Franklin, UL, Cars)

(08:14) The AI Divide: OpenAI vs Anthropic vs SSI

(10:39) Confidence Infrastructure: Helping Enterprises Trust AI

(14:13) How AIUC Tests Agents & Updates Standards Frequently

(17:03) Underwriting AI: Modeling Risk When Agents Go Rogue

(21:40) From AGI to Superintelligence: What Comes Next?

(28:36) Why AI Regulation Won’t Be Federal This Year

(34:36) What Is a Kill Switch — And Do We Need One?

(39:28): One Dominant Standard for AI Insurance

(45:41) What Enterprise AI Will Look Like in 3–5 Years

How Palantir Is Modernizing the Military With AI Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Greg Little, Senior Counselor at Palantir, joins Sourcery to discuss how AI is reshaping national defense, why America must rebuild its manufacturing base, and the urgent need to weaponize capitalism. He shares a Game of Thrones-inspired breakdown of the defense ecosystem—from Lockheed to startups—and how Palantir’s tools are driving outcomes across the U.S. Navy, industrial supply chains, and even hospital systems. We unpack how the Pentagon needs to evolve, why AI isn’t just hype, and why Palantir’s First Breakfast initiative could be the key to winning the next great power competition.This conversation is part of Sourcery’s “Made in America” Mini-Series recorded at the Reindustrialize 2025 Summit. Topics include:- Palantir’s work with the Navy and defense contractors- The national security implications of China’s manufacturing scale- Why America must learn to build again- How AI is being deployed in shipbuilding, logistics, and battlefield awareness- A defense-tech Game of Thrones: Pentagon = Iron Throne, Lockheed = Lannisters, Startups = Starks- The economics of government procurement vs. value- Financial audits as a weapon of war- Palantir’s infrastructure advantage for startups- How AI can close the “kill chain” and the “cash chain”

Timestamps:(00:00) Palantir's Role in Reindustrializing America(04:02) How Palantir is deploying AI across the U.S. Navy(05:16) The China Shipbuilding Gap: 200 to 1(06:34) Game of Thrones Analogy: Defense tech's competing houses(13:18) “First Breakfast”: “Weaponizing Capitalism”(17:13) Why the Pentagon’s obsession with cost hurts national security(21:03) AI + Capitalism vs. Bureaucracy: Who Wins?(24:51) What Palantir actually does(26:45) Can financial audits help win wars? (Yes!)(30:21) Ontologies, explained (kind of)(34:12) The “Alien Autopsy Room”Connect with us:1. Palantir: https://x.com/PalantirTech2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvcBrought to you by:Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel. As a Sourcery Listener you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → https://brex.com/sourceryTuring—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. Visit: turing.com/sourceryKalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourceryFourthwall—The #1 way to sell merch online — Fourthwall is the easiest way to launch a fully branded merch store—used by big brands like MKBHD, Acquired, & even the Smithsonian. 100+ products. No upfront cost. Visit Fourthwall to start today: https://fourthwall.com/Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!https://www.sourcery.vc/

Hadrian Raises $260M Series C Led by Founders Fund & Lux Capital; A Turning Point for U.S. Manufacturing Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

Chris Power, CEO of Hadrian, returns to Sourcery to break down the company’s newly announced $260M Series C.. bringing Hadrian’s total investment to ~$500M since founding the company in 2020. This round was closed in 3 weeks, with equity led by Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund and Lux Capital, alongside a factory expansion loan facility from Morgan Stanley. The funding supports Hadrian’s rapid U.S. expansion, including Factory 3 in Mesa, Arizona, and the build-out of new divisions like Hadrian Maritime.

Chris explains how Hadrian is evolving from precision part production to full product manufacturing, covering everything from components to assemblies to mission-critical platforms. He also shares how the company is integrating AI across its stack, building proprietary labeled data in a space where legacy manufacturing systems have long been offline.

The conversation touches on geopolitics, the Davidson window, industrial readiness, and why Hadrian is betting big on automation and American workforce reinvention.

Highlights:

$260M Series C to expand into full product manufacturing and naval defense
Factory 3 opening in Arizona with 270,000 sqft
Hadrian generating one of the only scalable labeled data sets for AI in manufacturing
10x YoY Growth & National Expansion Plans

Connect with us!

1. Chris Power: https://x.com/2112Power

2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvc

Brought to you by:

Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel. As a Sourcery Listener you get: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on Brex card(s), white-glove onboarding, $5,000 in AWS credits, $2,500 in OpenAI credits, & access to $180k+ in SaaS discounts. On top of $500 toward Brex travel, $300 in cashback, plus exclusive perks (like billboards..) visit → https://brex.com/sourcery

Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. Visit: turing.com/sourcery

Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

Fourthwall—The #1 way to sell merch online — Fourthwall is the easiest way to launch a fully branded merch store—used by big brands like MKBHD, Acquired, & even the Smithsonian. 100+ products. No upfront cost. Visit Fourthwall to start today: https://fourthwall.com/

Subscribe to Sourcery for the latest updates!https://www.sourcery.vc/

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Chris Power Returns

(01:00) - $260M Series C: Founders Fund, Lux, Morgan Stanley

(03:35) - Factory 3 in Arizona & expansion

(05:10) - Hadrian’s product vision: parts, assemblies, full systems

(06:55) - Customers: hardware startups, primes, DoD

(08:30) - Why America needs 20 Hadrians

(10:50) - Financing factories like solar & data centers

(13:45) - ReIndustrialize 2025: momentum in policy & defense

(15:45) - The Davidson Window: China, Taiwan, and U.S. readiness

(22:57) - AI in manufacturing: Hadrian’s data moat & automation strategy

(25:55) - Future Predictions: Trump, China, Recession

(30:30) - Bloopers

#Hadrian #AdvancedManufacturing #ReindustrializeAmerica #DefenseTech #SupplyChainResilience #BuildInAmerica #ChrisPower

How Brex Hit $100B+ in TPV | M&A & Road to IPO Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Art Levy, Chief Business Officer at Brex, the $12.3 billion modern finance behemoth, breaks down why we’re seeing a Golden Age of M&A, with mega-acquisitions, reverse acqui-hires, and aggressive consolidation across the AI landscape. From Meta’s $14B 49% stake in Scale AI, to Google’s $32B Wiz deal, & Stripe’s aggressive crypto rail strategy, Art offers a sharp view into the strategies behind the biggest moves in tech & finance.

We go deep on:

• The rise of “tuck-in” M&A (Scale AI) + strategic AI consolidation

• Best & worst practices for M&A

• Brex’s growth: 80% YoY enterprise revenue growth, 140% NRR, $100B+ in TPV run rate

• Their structural advantage vs. Ramp, Amex, & legacy banks

• The rise of crypto rails (Stripe’s acq of Bridge & Privy)

• Raising $1.5B & the road to IPO

Brex has evolved far beyond its startup roots, now powering financial operations for over 200 public companies, including leading global players like Arm, Anthropic, eToro, Neuralink, Scale AI, Wiz, etc. Plus 1 in 3 venture-backed startups in the U.S. use Brex. With multiple $100M+ revenue lines, Brex combines a globally distributed payments platform with spend management software, banking infrastructure, and AI-powered automation. The company is redefining what it means to be mission-critical infrastructure for modern CFOs — with durable revenue streams, strong retention, and a clear path to IPO.

Brex Funding Stats:

• Last valuation: $12.3B, primary round done in late 2021

• Investors: YC, DST Global, Greenoaks, Tiger Global, Ribbit, TCV, Kleiner Perkins, IVP, Lone Pine, GIC, Baillie Gifford, Madrone Capital Partners

• Total funding: $1.5B; did a tender offer in early 2022 for $250M at same $12.3B valuation.

Brought to you by:

Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.

visit → https://brex.com/sourcery

Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

Chapters:

(01:13) Massive AI Consolidation

(04:41) Art Levy's Journey to CBO at Brex

(08:28) Brex's $12.3B Evolution & Path to IPO

(14:18) Current State of M&A (Meta, Stripe, OpenAI)

(24:00) Meta's Strategic Moves in AI

(37:32) Best & Worst Practices for M&A

(50:00) 3 Types of M&A

(52:22) Brex's M&A & Partnership Approach

(53:35) Brex's Modular Product Strategy

(54:43) Strategic Partnerships (Zip, Coupa, Navan, Warp)

(01:05:05) Exploring Stablecoins, Crypto Rails, & Global Finance Infrastructure

(01:08:26) Dethroning Amex: Brex's Market Position & Competitive Edge

(01:25:04) Rise of AI & AI Agents in Finance

(01:27:14) Brex's Massive Growth & Market Strategy

(01:31:23) Future Predictions: AI, Finance, Waymo, Happy Gilmore

Connect with us:

1. Art Levy: https://x.com/Alevy1511

2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvc

Inside a16z’s $15M Bet on Cluely: Lead Investor Bryan Kim Reveals All Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

Bryan Kim, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), focuses on early-stage investments in consumer and application-layer AI. He has invested in some of the most prolific consumer companies like: Captions, ElevenLabs, BeReal, Function Health, and more.

One of his recent investments is viral phenomenon, Cluely, a controversial San Francisco-based AI startup founded by Roy Lee. Cluely has raised over $20M to date, with their most recent $15M investment from Bryan at a16z. Cluely is building an invisible desktop assistant to help you “cheat on everything.”

We talk about:

• The wild backstory behind investing in Cluely & ElevenLabs

• Why he calls momentum “the moat” in the AI era

• What it takes to raise a Series A today

• How context makes AI products infinitely better, and harder to replace

Brought to you by:

Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel. As a Sourcery listener, you can unlock up to $500 toward Brex travel or $300 in cash back, plus exclusive perks to help you move even faster: https://brex.com/sourcery

Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

Connect with us:

1. Bryan Kim: https://x.com/kirbyman01

2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvc

(00:00) Trailer

(01:04) Welcome Bryan Kim & Cluely Intro

(02:26) How Bryan Met Roy Lee

(07:00) The $15M Bet On Cluely

(09:58) Cluely’s Hype Media Strategy

(14:18) Momentum Is The Moat

(20:37) Brex’s Full-Stack Product Suite

(22:26) Chasing ElevenLabs Across the Globe

(26:04) Function Health & Preventive AI

(32:39) Why Creative AI Tools Are Exploding

(34:54) Deepfakes, Risks & Regulating AI

(38:08) Startup Exits, Liquidity & What’s Changing

(43:50) Do Post-2024 Startups Scale Faster?

(49:04) OpenAI Usage beating Social Media?

(51:58) The 3 Metrics Bryan Looks For

(58:07) Growth vs. Profitability: Where We Are Now

(01:02:00) Will Tech Layoffs Keep Rising?

(01:04:35) What’s Next for Consumer AI

(01:05:49) Will Roy Lee Become a Billionaire?

(01:06:57) Jony Ive × OpenAI: New Ambient Device?

(01:09:56) Waymo, Robotaxis & the Future of Cities

(01:11:47) Final Thoughts: It’s Time to Build

How Jack Altman Hit 100x Growth With Uncapped: AI, VC, Founders Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

Jack Altman built Lattice into a multi-billion-dollar category leader, raising hundreds of millions along the way.

Now he runs Alt Capital, backing 25 bold AI startups out of the $150M AUM fund III. This includes existing portfolio companies like Antares, Owner.com, David AI, Retell AI and more.

In addition to that, we breakdown Jack’s new podcast Uncapped, which recently reached escape velocity in just 14 episodes after interviews. Uncapped is a podcast where Jack interviews founders and investors he genuinely admires, using those conversations to publicly explore the inner workings of venture capital. Legendary guests include Marc Andreessen, Keith Rabois, Gary Tan, Josh Kopelman, Elad Gil, Aaron Levie, Qasar Younes, Elad Gil, Adam Guild, and of course, his brother Sam Altman.

In this episode with Molly O’Shea, he dives into:

• why there’s no such thing as a “right strategy” in VC

• how your board shapes your long-term trajectory

• what AGI could mean for our world, and more

(00:00) Trailer

(00:59) Welcome Jack Altman!

(02:12) Founder to VC & now Podcaster

(05:48) Learnings from hosting Uncapped

(12:50) The Marc Andreessen Podcast

(14:10) Brex’s Full-Stack Product Suite

(18:24) Securing an allocation in hyper competitive rounds

(20:04) What is it like being a founder in today’s environment?

(24:13) Will model companies grow even bigger?

(33:50) Sam Altman & The AGI Timeline

(39:44) Are energy companies the next gold rush?

(43:13) Silicon Valley: More Talent Acquisitions Abound

(44:40) Alt Capital’s Investment Portfolio

(46:40) What’s it like being a high performer?

(48:00) Espresso obsession & Pokémon cards?

Brought to you by:

Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, and travel.

As a Sourcery listener, you can unlock up to $500 toward Brex travel or $300 in cash back, plus exclusive perks to help you move even faster: https://brex.com/sourcery

Kalshi—The largest prediction market and the only legal platform in the US where people can trade directly on the outcomes of future events: https://kalshi.com/sourcery

Visit Fourthwall to start today: https://fourthwall.com/

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc/

Connect with us:

1. Jack Altman: https://x.com/jaltma

2. Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

3. Sourcery: https://x.com/sourceryvc

Cluely Raises $15 Million From a16z | Roy Lee, Founder & CEO Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

Roy Lee, Founder & CEO of Cluely, announces their $15M from Andreessen Horowitz to build what they call the most viral AI startup in the world. In this deep dive, we break down their product, business model, fundraising strategy, controversial stunt marketing playbook, and what it means to scale with creator-led growth.

With over $20M in total funding, Cluely is building real-time, undetectable screen overlays, Cluely is rethinking how AI should show up in your workflow, and they’re doing it profitably.

Cluely last announced their $5.3M Seed round in April 2025, co-led by Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures.

Whether you think they’re brilliant or reckless, this is one of the most fascinating startup stories in tech right now.

Try Cluely: https://cluely.com/

Molly on X: https://x.com/MollySOSheaRoy on X: https://x.com/im_roy_lee

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00:35 - $15M Led by a16z

02:21 - Cluely’s Viral Mega Launch

03:07 - Fundraising Strategies & Founder Mindset

04:51 - From Columbia to Silicon Valley

08:17 - Cluely: Product Overview & Vision

16:39 - Business Model & Profitability

21:10 - Stunt Marketing & Virality

26:48 - Idol: Elon Musk's Freedom & Success

27:05 - Controversies

27:46 - Criticism28:09 - Will Roy Go To Jail?

29:54 - Selling to Enterprise

32:20 - Importance of Viral Content

33:58 - Team Dynamics & 50 Interns

36:03 - Managing Stunts & Culture

46:36 - Leadership Challenges & Personal Reflections

51:09 - Kalshi Predictions & Future Outlook#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley #Cluely #SeriesA #a16z #AmbientAI #FounderLed #CreatorLedGrowth #ViralMarketing #UndetectableAI #EscapeVelocity #ConquerorOfTheUniverse #RoyLee

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