Technology

Sourcery

Interviews with the top Investors, CEOs, & Founders

Latest Episodes:

Base Power's $200M Series B Co-Led by Lee Fixel of Addition, A16Z, Lightspeed, & Valor Equity Partners Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

Zach Dell and Justin Lopas, co-founders of Base, discuss their recent $200 million Series B funding and their ambitious vision for revolutionizing the energy industry. Co-led by Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners with participation from existing investors Thrive Capital, Altimeter, Terrain, Trust and others. As part of the fundraise, Addition founder Lee Fixel will join Base Power’s board alongside Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners.

The new capital aims to unlock the next phase of growth for Base, including team expansion, market entry, and new product development. The episode delves into Base's unique approach to vertically integrating battery technology, offering both grid services and affordable, reliable power to homeowners. The conversation highlights the founders' experiences at SpaceX, Anduril, and Thrive Capital, shedding light on their mission to fix the power grid through aggressive, technology-driven execution. Learn how Base aims to become a household name and the SpaceX of the energy sector, starting with deployments in Texas and expanding nationwide.

About Base Power:

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Base Power is an energy company building a grid for the future—starting with battery-powered home energy service. The company’s mission is to advance human prosperity through energy abundance—delivering reliable and affordable power for all. Learn more at basepowercompany.com.

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

Zach on X: https://x.com/

ZachBDellJustin on X: https://x.com/JLopas

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - $200M Series B Announcement

00:51 - Base's Vision & Execution Strategy

02:28 - Energy Technology & Market Expansion

03:41 - The US Energy Problem & Grid Challenges

06:30- Why Texas? Strategic Location & Market

09:32 - Founders' Backgrounds & Entrepreneurial Journey

18:24 - Early Challenges & Iterative Approach

23:21 - Vertical Integration & Cost Advantage

26:05 - Customer Journey & Installation Process

30:34 - Energy Industry Breakdown

35:16 - Texas Energy Market & Regulatory Environment

38:38 - Scaling & Expansion Plans

42:45 - Team & Company Culture

46:58 - Future Vision & Goals

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Delian Asparouhov: Varda’s Space Factories & Founders Fund Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder of Varda & Partner at Founders Fund | We discuss Varda's recent space missions, regulatory challenges, and the broader impact of venture capital in the aerospace industry. Delian shares insights on the complexities of defense and space regulations, the relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington DC, and in particular, the context of the Hill and Valley Forum, which aims to bridge the gap between tech leaders and defense officials. He also shares his thoughts on the future of space exploration—from adapting to other gravitational environments like Jupiter's, to the rise of the “Space Club,” including Eric Schmidt’s new role as CEO of Relativity.

In addition, we go deeper on Delian’s investment strategy as he just hit the 6 year mark at Founders Fund, the importance of having an operational background in venture investing, and why seed investing might just be more effective as a hobby. Delian gives us the inside look at his investments in companies like Ramp, Sword Health, Varda, Hadrian, and more.

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

Delian on X: https://x.com/zebulgar

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Welcome Delian To Sourcery!

0:40 - Live From Varda Space Factories

02:36 Stranded Astronauts

13:10 Varda's Big Milestones

20:38 Growing Space Club: Eric Schmidt, New Entrants & Competitors

23:11 The Role of Public Policy in Space Exploration

28:07 Defense Funding & Government Contracts

29:37 Friction in Venture Capital & Defense Tech

33:12 Hill & Valley Forum: Bridging Silicon Valley & DC

36:05 Challenges in Defense Tech Funding

40:17 Founders Fund Reflection & Investing Strategies

53:28 Lessons From Fatherhood

#podcast #investing #space #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

SpaceX, Stripe, X, Ramp, Anduril: Navigating Liquidity in Private Markets Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

Molly O'Shea speaks with Christian Garrett, Partner at 137 Ventures. Christian shares his insights on the current state of private markets, the mechanics of high profile secondaries, and the growing liquidity squeeze faced by VCs.

We also take a closer look at SpaceX's financing history, how 137 Ventures got involved, and why SpaceX runs tenders every six months. Christian discusses the potential reopening of the IPO window, the rise of generational talent from companies like Anduril, SpaceX, and Palantir, and why he thinks defense tech might be overrated right now.

Other highlights include the evolving relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., government initiatives like the Replicator Initiative and FedRAMP, and the origins of the Hill & Valley Forum. On a personal note, Christian reflects on his career journey, his mentorship with Trae Stephens, and shares some spicy hot takes on topics like return-to-office policies, San Francisco’s future, and his unexpected bullishness on Europe.

If you're interested in venture capital, private markets, or the intersection of tech and policy, this is a must-watch episode!

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

Christian on X: https://x.com/CGarrett_15

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Welcome to Sorcery: Christian Garrett's Journey

00:39 - How Secondaries Work: SpaceX, Figma, Ramp, Plaid, Databricks

04:46 - 137 Ventures: Origin and Investment Thesis

06:36 - SpaceX: A Case Study in Private Market Success

10:38 - The Benefits of Staying Private

18:28 - Generational Talent in Tech: Anduril, SpaceX, Palantir

21:07 - Defense Tech: Opportunities and Challenges

26:02 - Tech and Government: Building Stronger Partnerships

34:25 - Hill and Valley Forum: Bridging Tech and Policy

38:58 - Christian's Journey to Becoming a Partner

42:02 - Trae Stephens & The Role of Mentorship in Success

43:45 - Helping Founders Beyond Capital

52:00 - Christian's Spicy Takes on Industry Trends

01:02:54 - The Future of 137 Ventures

01:09:31 - Looking Forward: Exciting Prospects Ahead

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Arielle Zuckerberg, Winning Founder Recipe: The Rizz & Tiz Mar 14, 2025

Show notes

Behind the Magically Weird: Arielle Zuckerberg on Long Journey Ventures, Unique founders, and Purpose-Driven Investing

Molly O'Shea speaks with Arielle Zuckerberg, diving into her journey at Long Journey Ventures, discussing her unique investment philosophy and the importance of purpose-driven investing. From her hobbies like skiing and DJing to the critical lessons learned from legendary mentor John Doerr, Arielle shares how she evaluates founders using the 'Rizz and Tiz' theory. We uncover Long Journey's creative diligence adventures, the value of unusual startup ideas, and how Long Journey Ventures fosters a unique community for 'magically weird' founders. Whether you're an investor or startup enthusiast, gain insights into navigating the fast-changing VC landscape and focusing on the human element of investing.

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

Arielle on X: https://x.com/ariellezuck

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Welcome Arielle To Sourcery!

01:22 - The Rizz and the Tiz Theory

05:31 - Lessons from John Doerr

08:49 - VC Twitter and Deal Flow

17:01 - $100M ARR AI Companies

22:05 - Portfolio Companies: Superpower, Autopallet

31:45 - Building a Vibrant Founder Community

36:43 - The Role of Purpose

39:52 - Hot Takes on Venture Capital

42:21 - The "Bubbe" Philosophy

44:19 - Looking Forward: Personal and Professional Goals

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour - The Future of Free Markets Feb 28, 2025

Show notes

Tarek Mansour, is the Co-Founder & CEO of Kalshi, a regulated exchange & prediction market where you can trade on the outcome of real-world events (buy and sell event contracts). Kalshi has had a huge start to the year post-election from unlocking significant new markets, launching new products, integrating with top brokers like Robinhood and Webull, and welcoming Donald Trump Jr. as an advisor. Mansour delves into the process of navigating regulatory hurdles, including the surprising decision to sue the government. as well as the maddening journey, challenges, and bold actions needed to be made in order to create an entirely new asset class.

Key Takeaways:

- How Kalshi is reimagining financial markets by letting users trade on anything in the news.

- The difference between gambling and investing in event trading.

- Why Tarek believes prediction markets could one day rival the stock market in size.

- Kalshi’s vision to make trading on real-world events accessible to everyone, from politics to sports and entertainment.

Kalshi is a federally regulated financial exchange and prediction market based in New York City. It allows users to trade on the outcomes of future events through event contracts. The platform was launched in July 2021 and is designed for both retail and institutional traders. Kalshi is notable for being the first federally regulated exchange of its kind, approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The company was founded in 2019 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, both of whom are MIT graduates. Tarek worked at Goldman and Citadel, Luana worked at Bridgewater and Citadel. Kalshi was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch and has raised $110M from SV and Wall Street heavy weights like Sequoia, Henry Kravis, Charles Schwab and more.

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

Tarek on X: https://x.com/mansourtarek_

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction: Struggles of Launching a Regulated Product

00:40 Welcoming Donald Trump Jr. as an Advisor

05:15 Vision for Prediction Markets

15:27 Expanding into Sports and Entertainment

23:11 The Future of Prediction Markets

30:38 Institutional Demand and Market Potential

31:52 Gambling vs. Investing

41:37 Insider Trading in Commodity Derivatives

43:38 Entrepreneurship vs. Trading

47:30 Business Model and Revenue Streams

52:16 Future Goals and Product Development

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Taking on an $80 Billion Dollar Market with Gen Z | Dylan Diamond Feb 21, 2025

Show notes

Dylan Diamond is the Co-Founder & CEO of Saturn, a viral Gen Z calendar app that's raised $68M after starting as a high school project. In this conversation, Dylan shares his journey of attracting major investors like Jeff Bezos and Mark Benioff, scaling the app to millions of users, and maintaining high retention rates across 18,000 schools.

We also get insights into Gen Z behavior, the role of AI in app development, and building a sustainable product. This episode also explores the unique ad model Saturn has created, its long-term vision, and the challenges of maintaining growth and user engagement.

I've teamed up with Passes to grant us access to a pro podcast studio in LA, exclusive early releases, audience Q&A, & BTS content. Sign up for Passes for more Sourcery content! https://www.passes.com/mollysoshea

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

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction

00:43 - Reconnecting in Westport

01:43 - Raising From Bezos, Benioff, Dara & More.

03:06 - From School Project to VC-Backed Company

05:09 - User Retention and Growth Strategies

12:29 - Onboarding and Ambassador Programs

16:56 - Adapting to Gen Z Trends

19:50 - AI Integration and Future Plans

22:41 - Advertising Model and Monetization

25:28 - Building and Maintaining a Consumer Product

28:16 - Expanding Saturn Beyond High School

31:47 - Recruiting and Team Composition

33:58 - Capital Raising and Investor Relations

36:54 - Gen Z Insights and Future Trends

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Packy McCormick, Not Boring | How writing led to investing in Ramp, Scale AI, Replit, Varda Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

Packy McCormick

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TIMESTAMPS:

1:30 - Growing to 239k+ Subscribers

5:00 - How Writing Led to a $50M VC Fund

8:00 - The 'Not Boring' Creative Process

13:50 - Top Founder Characteristics

16:00 - Following Instincts vs Over-Intellectualization of VC

22:00 - Packy’s Best Investments (Ramp, Scale AI, Replit, Chroma, Varda, Hadrian, Pipedream)

25:55 - Intro to Vertical Integrators (Base, Fuse, Varda, Hadrian)

38:00 - Why American Dynamism Won

42:45 - YC RFS Hot Take

46:00 - Can Heavy CapX Companies Raise Growth Funding?

49:15 - Packy’s Hot Take On AI - Is It Alive? Just A Marketing Stunt?! DOGE Recruiting?

1:00:00 - What Packy Is Most Excited About in 2025

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Zoom to Salesforce: How Emergence Capital Picks Billion-Dollar Winners Jan 31, 2025

Show notes

Today Molly O’Shea speaks with Founding GP Gordon Ritter & new Partner Yaz El-Baba of $2.3B AUM VC fund Emergence Capital. We cover everything from the IPO window, Stargate, the macro environment, the state of AI, the app layer to infrastructure, preventing the AI plateau, to Emergence’s history & evolution.

Emergence Capital is a venture capital firm known for its specialization in early-stage investments in enterprise cloud software companies. The firm's focus is on businesses that leverage technology to improve workplace productivity, business outcomes, and the customer experience. Emergence is widely regarded as a pioneer in the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) space and has backed some of the most successful companies in the category, such as Salesforce, Veeva, Box, Yammer, Bill.com, Zoom, Blend, and Doximity.

Founded in 2003, Emergence Capital operates with a philosophy of fostering long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs and helping them build world-class companies.

Notable Investments:

Salesforce (CRM software giant)

Zoom (video conferencing leader)

Veeva Systems (cloud solutions for life sciences)

Box (cloud-based content management)

Emergence Capital is recognized for its deep commitment to its portfolio companies and its expertise in scaling enterprise-focused startups.

Stats:

$320B+ Market Cap of Portfolio (current and former)

$2.3B AUM

Six (VI) Funds

100+ Portfolio Companies

20 Exits and Private Valuations Greater than $500 Million

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

Gorfon on X: https://x.com/gordonritter

Yaz on X: https://x.com/yazanelbaba

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Welcome Yaz & Gordon!

1:20 - Current State of VC

6:45 - Emergence's IPOs, Salesforce, Zoom, Bill.com

10:00 - Veeva $37B story

18:10 - Stargate $500B Investment In AI

21:20 - ROI of AI

29:50 - Is SAAS Dead?!

32:30 - Together AI

38:40 - Which Founders Will Win Today?

41:00 - The AI Plateau

58:00 - How Marc Benioff Helped Start Emergence

1:03:10 - Navigating Changes In The Market

1:09:30 - Resolving Partner Tensions In A Fund

1:13:40 - Investment Announcement!

1:16:00 - 1 Deal That You Regret

1:17:50 - Yaz & Gordon's 2025 Outlooks

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

$688 Million AUM in 2 Years Investing in Data, AI, Web3 & Blockchain | Tomasz Tunguz Jan 24, 2025

Show notes

Tomasz Tunguz is a prominent venture capitalist and the founder & GP of Theory Ventures, a $688M AUM fund. Theory focuses on investing $1-25m in early-stage companies that leverage technology discontinuities into go-to-market advantages. Before Theory, he was a managing director at Redpoint Ventures, where he led investments into companies such as Looker, Expensify, Monte Carlo, Dune Analytics, and Kustomer. Throughout his career, Tunguz has been recognized for his data-driven approach to investing and his very popular, personal blog, TomTunguz.com.

Tomasz recently raised $450 million in November of 2024 for Theory Ventures' second fund, which marks a significant milestone for the firm. This follows his initial breakout fund, launched in 2023, with $238 million.

This is a very fun conversation where we go deep into everything AI, LLM business models, predictions, and more.

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

Tomasz on X: https://x.com/ttunguz

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Welcome Tomasz To Sourcery

1:00 - State of AI Adoption

6:45 - Hyperscaler Power Dymnmic

9:50 - AI Inference

15:00 - Monetizing

20:00 - Raising $600B

28:00 - Decade Of Data

33:30 - Parterning with Former Palantir Executive

35:45 - Tomasz's Childhood

37:40 - What Is Tomasz Looking Forward To The Most This Year

#podcast #investing #technology #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #siliconvalley

Unlocking Mental Resilience: How Spartan Race Builds Unstoppable Minds | CEO Joe De Sena Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Joe De Sena is the founder and CEO of Spartan Race, Inc. In this conversation, we discuss Joe’s 20+ years of Spartan Race, surviving covid, acquiring competition and investing in fitness companies. We also get into fitness tips, what to avoid, and how you can train for a Spartan Race.

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TIMESTAPS:

0:00 - Welcome Joe De Sena To Sourcery!

0:30 - Mental Resilience

3:30 - Creating A Resilience Flywheel

5:20 - Building Spartan Race For 20 Years - Surviving Covid

8:15 - The Spartan Cult

12:15 - How Tech Will Improve Spartan Race

14:00 - Biggest Lesson Of The Last 24 Years