Newcomer Pod

Kenneth Chenault on why venture capital needs to change, what great leaders stand for, and how AI could reshape business without sacrificing trust.Former American Express CEO and General Catalyst Chairman Ken Chenault joins Eric Newcomer to discuss the lessons that shaped his career, from taking risks early in life and joining Bain to leading one of America’s biggest companies.Chenault explains why business leaders need clear principles, his views on merit and diversity, Harvard’s response to political pressure, and why CEOs cannot stay silent when their core values are at stake. He also breaks down General Catalyst’s evolution beyond traditional venture capital, investing in Stripe at the Series A, using AI to transform legacy businesses, and why he believes the “move fast and break things” era is over.The conversation also explores whether AI is in a bubble, responsible AI development, the future of American business, and Chenault’s belief that companies can pursue both profit and purpose.

Read the full Emergent list of 29 promising startups here: https://www.newcomer.co/p/emergent-2026AI could create a world with billions of agents, millions of robots, and entirely new industries we have barely begun to imagine.Felicis founder and former Google product manager Aydin Senkut joins Eric Newcomer to break down the technologies he believes will define the next decade, from artificial intelligence and robotics to biotech and the infrastructure powering the AI boom.Aydin explains why he believes robotics is finally reaching an inflection point, how AI could transform healthcare and drug discovery, and why the biggest opportunities may come from solving problems that previously looked impossible. He also shares lessons from joining Google when it had roughly 30 employees, building Felicis from a $41 million first fund into a firm managing billions, and backing companies including Shopify, Canva, Adyen and Supabase.They also discuss the AI bubble debate, why Aydin believes the underlying demand matters more than market hype, the companies building the infrastructure behind AI agents, and why Google may be better positioned for the AI era than many people realize.

Mercury CEO Immad Akhund on the AI startup funding frenzy, agents that spend money, and the future of banking.Immad joins Eric Newcomer to discuss building Mercury to $1 billion in annualized revenue, competing with JPMorgan Chase, and developing financial tools for AI agents. What happens when an agent can move money, make purchases, or help run a business? They explore the controls and human oversight those tools need, plus the possibility of companies with no employees.As a founder and active angel investor, Immad also explains why he sees signs of a startup funding bubble. With 10 or 20 funded companies competing in categories that once attracted just one or two, he argues that plenty of AI startups and their investors will lose, even as the technology creates major winners.The conversation also covers Y Combinator valuations, building AI tools in-house instead of buying software, and why Mercury is hiring more as its engineers adopt AI.Subscribe to Newcomer for conversations with the founders and investors shaping Silicon Valley.Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

OpenAI’s revenue confusion, Apple’s AI missteps, and Nvidia’s investments raise a bigger question: how much depends on the AI boom continuing?Big Technology founder Alex Kantrowitz joins Eric Newcomer to examine OpenAI and Anthropic’s businesses, the market’s sensitivity to their growth, and the competition reshaping Big Tech.They discuss Apple’s siloed culture and struggles with Apple Intelligence, Meta’s push into personal AI assistants, and Amazon’s resistance to outside shopping agents. The conversation also covers Google’s position in the AI race, Microsoft’s missed opportunities, and questions around Nvidia investing in companies that buy its chips.Alex and Eric debate AI safety, access to powerful models, and the trade-offs of giving assistants more personal information. They also explore how Google’s AI Overviews are affecting publishers, Silicon Valley’s hostility toward the press, and what it takes to build an independent media business.

Reid Hoffman on ChatGPT, the future of jobs, and why he believes the AI boom is keeping America out of a recession.The LinkedIn co-founder joins Eric Newcomer to explain why America needs to keep building AI while being careful about how powerful new systems are released. He shares why nobody can confidently predict AI’s impact on employment, how AI-native startups could disrupt established businesses, and what it would take to help workers navigate that transition.Hoffman also recounts knowing three people whose lives he says were saved by ChatGPT as a medical second opinion. He argues for making AI medical assistants, legal advice, and tutoring more widely accessible, with privacy protections and clear rules.The conversation covers the backlash against AI, data center investment, the limits of universal basic income, and how AI-driven prosperity could benefit local communities. They also discuss government debt, political corruption, AI safety, longevity, and the potential for AI to advance cancer research.Subscribe to Newcomer for conversations with the founders, investors, and technology leaders shaping Silicon Valley.