the #1 podcast about all the #2 in VC
we host a very bad podcast about VC secondary, broken unicorns,
and busted carry. every episode dives into the practical truth about
fund metrics and widespread lies about company valuations.
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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.”
subscribe for more pod pain.
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.
subscribe for more pod pain.
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.
subscribe for more pod pain.
episode 2 — mark suster: regret math, klarna chaos & $600m secondaries
in this episode of trading places, dave mcclure and aman verjee sit down with mark suster (upfront ventures) to unpack the emotional damage behind venture selling. from klarna’s ipo whiplash to bytedance’s tiktok dilemma, they dig into why vcs talk “long-term conviction” while secretly wiring secondaries — including suster’s own $600m+ exit before the crash.
they debate:
– dpi vs tvpi (and why most gps don’t get it)
– canva @ $42b — smart sell or coward play?
– anthropic at $170b — bubble or belief?
this one’s about fear, liquidity, and the lies we tell our lps.
subscribe for more pod pain.
episode 1 — david zhou: superclusters, ai bubbles & busted dpi
in the first episode of trading places, dave mcclure and aman verjee sit down with david zhou (superclusters) to strip the gloss off venture returns and secondary markets. they get into openai’s rumored $500b tender, canvas vs databricks valuations, lp/gp tension, when to actually sell, and why your dpi might be complete fiction. also featuring: spv food fights, mean vc energy, and a rap battle ghost no one asked for.
dive into details of episode 1
if you’re here for comfort, wrong show. if you want the real math, welcome. subscribe for more pod pain.