the #1 podcast about all the #2 in VC

episode 9 — reshma sohoni & carlos espinal: seedcamp’s secondary play, ai politics & tether’s trillion-dollar moment

in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee welcome reshma sohoni and carlos espinal of seedcamp to unpack europe’s secondary revolution and the new global liquidity race.

this week’s agenda:
– prediction markets explode as kalshi and polymarket hit unicorn status
– google deepens its $3b partnership with anthropic while oracle raises $38b in private credit to fuel ai datacenters
– tether passes 500m users and $13b annual profit — double blackrock’s earnings
– seedcamp reveals how selling funds 1 & 2 to molten unlocked a 4x+ return and powered fund 4
– the 20% rule: why selling early isn’t timing, it’s discipline
– valuation corner: professor verjee dissects anthropic’s $183b valuation and ai’s ideological divide

founders, lps, and ai maximalists alike — this one hits every market nerve.
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episode 8 — phil haslett: goldman’s secondary grab, ai chip wars & deel @ $17b

in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee sit down with phil haslett (equityzen) to decode wall street’s big move into venture secondaries — and how openai’s $500b chip empire is reshaping everything from nvidia to oracle.

this week’s agenda:
– openai’s chip kingmaker moment: $500b+ in equity deals with amd, broadcom, nvidia & oracle
– goldman sachs acquires industry ventures for $965m — the secondary market goes institutional
– tempo’s $5b series a & anysphere’s $27b valuation — bubble or breakout?
– phil on equityzen’s 12-year ride from 500 startups to billions in secondary trades
– retail vs institutional: why 29% discounts still move markets
– valuation corner: deel @ $17.3b — solid fundamentals or hr-tech espionage theater?

ai deals, wall street money, and spy-level hr drama — just another week in venture purgatory.
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episode 7 — turner novak: shitposting, prediction markets & openai @ $500b

in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee welcome turner novak (banana capital) to unpack the new reality where memes move markets and prediction markets go mainstream.

this week’s agenda:
– kalshi & polymarket raise big — are prediction markets the next gold rush or just expensive gambling?
– gold hits highs, bitcoin tanks — flight to safety or flight to prophecy?
– turner on shitposting as a venture strategy, social media clout as dealflow, and building banana capital post-quarantine
– investing thesis: “you need to fix something for someone” — no ai fairy dust allowed
– valuation corner: aman breaks down openai’s jump to $500b (yes, again)

if twitter is the new bloomberg terminal, turner is already trading. subscribe for more pod pain.

episode 6 — peter walker: carta charts, openai tender & the death of triple-triple-double-double

in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee invite peter walker (carta) to unpack whether vc’s sacred growth mantra — 3x 3x 2x 2x — is officially dead, or just drowning in ai delusion.

this week’s chaos includes:
– openai’s tender: only $6b of $10b actually sold — should founders worry?
– wealthfront files, cerebras un-files — ipo windows or revolving doors?
– peter’s rise as carta’s chart whisperer & reluctant linkedfluencer
– ai bubble talk: panic or paradigm shift?
– new data drop: series a founders selling secondaries — already?
– valuation corner: aman dissects revolut’s $75b fintech fever

vc math used to be religion. now it’s vibes and liquidity.
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episode 5 — isomer capital: secondary science, spacex @ $400b & eu discount hunting

in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee sit down with joe schorge and omolade idebisi of isomer capital — europe’s fund-of-funds dissecting the secondary market with surgical precision. they break down gp-led vs lp-led deals, weird eu discounts, and why pricing risk in 2025 feels like quantum physics.

meanwhile:
– dave reveals his current deal filters (aka why he says no)
– aman’s valuation corner returns with spacex at $400b
– debate of the week: revolut — buy, sell, or hold?

this one is for the allocators, the spreadsheet monks, and anyone who thinks fof capital is “boring money.”
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episode 4 — nik talreja: spvs, tiktok diplomacy & stripe’s $91b hangover

in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee dive into the messy middle of venture — where spvs meet kyc, and liquidity dreams go to die. joined by nik talreja (sydecar), they break down why anyone with a docu-sign can launch an spv… and why that might be a problem.

they get into:
– klarna, netskope & stubhub teasing an ipo window
– tiktok: oracle, xi, trump — one app, three egos
– fed cuts & tech hopium
– “you can buy a barge in alaska with an spv” (yes, really)
– continuation vehicles & lp migraines
– stripe @ $91b vs adyen — bubble math revisited

plus: sushant sharma (omni ventures) drops niche alpha and unicorn delusions via corp m&a.

no inspiration. just cap tables and regret.
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episode 3 — sim desai, emily zheng & vlad voroninski: the secondary swarm

in this third episode of trading places, dave mcclure & aman verjee accidentally assemble a liquidity brain trust to talk why ipos are overrated and secondaries are the real game.

guests include:
– emily zheng (pitchbook) — breaking down $61b in vc secondaries, step-ups, discounts, and why ai is the only thing propping up your carry.
– sim desai (hiive) — on transparency vs liquidity, kraken vs coinbase, spvs breeding like rabbits, and why today’s market = ai + crypto or nothing.
– vlad voroninski (helm.ai) — on why honda & vw are betting on his adas-to-l4 stack, why oems can’t build it, and whether robo-cars land before the singularity.
– vitaly golomb — translating helm into vc so the rest of us can pretend we get it.

if you still believe in ipo fairy tales, this episode will hurt.
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