trading places
A podcast about venture capital secondaries, broken unicorns, and busted carry. It covers the messy side of VC investing with a candid and humorous tone.
Episodes
Anthropic vs. OpenAI: Inside the $2 Trillion IPO Race
This week on Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down the Anthropic roadshow numbers and leaked internal forecasts, Nvidia securing a $500B financing coalition of six Wall Street giants, and the SpaceX $60B acquisition of Cursor. Plus: the Canva growth slowdown rattles its IPO case, Databricks becomes a top-5 private company at $190B, and Aman celebrates the NYC launch of his new bo
Bending Spoons at $30B: Brilliant Roll-Up or Overvalued? + SpaceX, Airtable & VC News
Is Bending Spoons really worth nearly $30 billion?This week on Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down the Italian software roll-up after its $2.25B acquisition of Airtable — and ask whether buying challenged SaaS companies at 3–4x revenue can justify Bending Spoons trading around 10x revenue.Timestamps:00:39 - [ tech and vc news ]02:00 - historic Q2 earnings💲05:18 - SpaceX stock r
Can Helsing Become Europe’s Anduril? Inside Its $18B Valuation
Is Helsing becoming Europe’s answer to Anduril?In this episode of Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down the German defense technology company’s new $18 billion valuation, its AI-powered autonomous systems, its battlefield testing in Ukraine, and the growing pressure on Europe to build its own defense capabilities.Aman compares Helsing’s software-first model with Anduril’s vertica
SpaceX's First Earnings Report as a Public Company 🚨 SPECIAL EPISODE
SpaceX just reported earnings for the first time since going public — and the numbers were a rollercoaster. Revenue beat estimates by a mile (+92% YoY), EBITDA came in strong, and every business segment posted growth. So why did the stock give up its gains and drop 8% after hours?In this special breakdown, Dave and Aman dig into:0:27 SpaceX first earnings report 🚀5:45 how SpaceX makes money 💸6:38
Anduril Hits $100B, Saronic Hits $9B 💥 Inside the Defense Tech Boom w/ Dave McClure and Aman Verjee
Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down why venture capital is pouring into autonomous defense companies, how Anduril, Shield AI, Saronic and a new generation of startups are challenging the traditional defense primes, and why expanding military budgets outside the United States could create an enormous new market.They also discuss the growing threat Chinese open-weight AI models pose to OpenAI an
US vs. China AI: OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek & Moonshot Go to War
The AI arms race just got a lot more interesting. Moonshot's Kimi K3 is topping leaderboards ahead of proprietary US models, DeepSeek is raising at a $71B valuation ahead of its own IPO, and Anthropic is quietly lining up bankers for a Q4 listing that could value the company at $2-3 trillion. Meanwhile SpaceX has broken its IPO price, Stripe just made a $53B run at PayPal, and European defense
Can Jeff Bezos Catch Elon Musk? Blue Origin at $130B | Reflection AI vs. DeepSeek | Interview with Shawn Bercuson
Welcome back to Trading Places, the weekly show covering the biggest stories in venture capital, private markets, AI, IPOs, and secondaries.This week, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin make headlines with a $10B raise at a $130B valuation, igniting the next chapter in the battle with Elon Musk and SpaceX. We also break down OpenAI’s new multi-model strategy, the growing threat from open-weight AI models,
DeepSeek's $50B Round, OpenAI's Delayed IPO, and the GP Stakes Market with CAZ Investments
DeepSeek just raised $7.4B at a $50B valuation 🇨🇳and there's no cap table access. It's structured through an SPV, no voting rights, no board seats. CEO Liang Wenfeng put in $3B of his own money and controls the vehicle.Meanwhile Anthropic is trading above $1T on the secondary market despite Mythos getting staged by the government, and SpaceX just locked in its Nasdaq 100 slot with a $2T valuation
SpaceX Surges, Anthropic Stumbles, and Bezos Bets $12B
SpaceX just finished its first week as a public company. Anthropic just had its newest model frozen by the US government. And Jeff Bezos just raised $12B for a startup that's been alive for about a year.Dave and Aman break it all down — from SpaceX IPO mechanics and gamma squeeze risk, to the Dario vs. Washington standoff that could derail the Anthropic IPO, to Bezos's $41B physical AI bet
The SpaceX IPO Report Card, OpenAI vs. Anthropic, and the Private Market No One Talks About | CJ Gustafson w/ Guest CJ Gustafson
The SpaceX IPO just happened. Dave and Aman break down the grades, the winners, and what comes next — then sit down with CJ Gustafson, recovering tech CFO and founder of Mostly Metrics, to dig into the private market pricing mechanics that most investors get completely wrong.This week: SpaceX Day 1 results and the $75B raise that dwarfed an entire year of VC-backed IPOs. The updated Private Mag Se
I Read the 308-Page SpaceX S-1 So You Don’t Have To
Aman read all 308 pages of the SpaceX S-1 so you don't have to. This week we break down every major number, surprise, and buried Easter egg in the filing — plus the biggest IPO week in recent memory across the AI holy trinity.SpaceX is pricing around June 12 and could open at a $2T+ valuation. We walk through all three business segments (Connectivity, Space, AI), the $28.5 trillion TAM claim,
$900B Anthropic, SpaceX IPO Date, and the SPV Wild West w/ Clara Vydyanath | Trading Places Pod EP35
IPO season is here — and private markets are breaking at the seams.This week on Trading Places: Cerebras just had one of the best IPOs in years, pricing way above range and popping 68% on day one. SpaceX is targeting June 12th for its Nasdaq listing — and the prospectus drops next week. Anthropic raised $30B at a $900B valuation (up from ~$350B just three months ago) — and then told SPV operators
Anthropic's $44B Revenue Run Rate, SpaceX's $75B IPO Problem, and the Retail VC Trap | Ep 34
Anthropic is now reportedly running at a $44B ARR pace, secondary markets are valuing it north of $1T, and demand is turning into full-scale FOMO.This week on Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down:00:00 — cold open00:39 — [ tech and vc news ] 01:53 — Markets ATH during Iran war 💥06:45 — SpaceX + Anthropic $4B deal 🤝10:51 — New NASDAQ rules benefit SpaceX 🔔15:21 — Anthropic raisin
Anthropic at $900B, OpenAI Slipping | Sacra & Augment Power 20 Private Companies | Cohere Valuation | Ep 33
Anthropic is accelerating at a pace the tech world has never seen.In Episode 33 of Trading Places, Dave McClure, Aman Verjee, Marcelo Ballvé (Sacra), and Adam Crawley (Augment) break down the AI valuation frenzy, OpenAI’s growing pressure, hyperscaler spending, Cohere’s international AI strategy, and whether SpaceX’s trillion-dollar valuation has completely detached from fundamentals.Timestamps:[
Anthropic Hits $1T, OpenAI Struggling, Elon Reloads with $60B Cursor Deal | Trading Places Podcast E32
Anthropic just crossed a $1 trillion valuation… and may have officially passed OpenAI.Meanwhile, Elon Musk is making moves—SpaceX is partnering with (and possibly acquiring) Cursor in a $60B deal, while OpenAI races to stay competitive with new releases like GPT-5.5 and Images 2.0.This week on Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down one of the wildest weeks in AI, venture capital,
SpaceX, Saronic, and the New Era of Defense Tech Investing | Trading Places Podcast Ep31
Markets hit all-time highs in 11 trading days. Someone shorted oil 20 minutes before Trump spoke. SpaceX wants to raise $75B at a $2T valuation. And an autonomous naval defense startup just hit a $9.25B valuation — and almost no one's talking about it.Dave and Aman break down the biggest stories in venture and tech: the OpenAI executive exodus, why Stripe and Databricks still won't IPO, th
Anthropic Passes OpenAI ($30B ARR), SpaceX Lost $5B & How EquityBee Unlocks Employee Equity | Ep. 30
Trading Places is the only VC secondary podcast on the internet. Each week, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down the biggest stories in venture capital, tech, and private markets — with the insider perspective most shows don't have access to.This week's guest is Oren Barzilai, founder and CEO of EquityBee — the platform that funds startup employees' stock option exercises via forwar
SpaceX $2T IPO ?!? 🚀 Shield AI = next Anduril 🛩️ Shri Bhashyam Sydecar grows to $4B SPVs | Ep29
SpaceX just filed its confidential IPO prospectus — and prediction markets say it will be June 3rd, Elon's birthday, during a rare 6-planet alignment. Anthropic is on a generational heater — Opus 4.6, Cowork, enterprise momentum — while OpenAI cuts Sora and kills the Disney deal trying to find focus. Prediction markets now say Anthropic IPOs first, 60/40 chance.In Episode 29 of Trading Places,
Polymarket vs Kalshi ($20B), OpenAI vs Anthropic (IPO?), Tesla & SpaceX create Austin Terafab | Ep28
Dave and Aman break down a packed week in VC and tech — from macro headwinds threatening the IPO window to the big question of whether SpaceX and Tesla are quietly becoming one company.The Private Mag7 gets a full ranking debate: SpaceX is comfortably #1 at over a trillion, but Anduril's surprise $20B DoD contract has it punching into the top three. OpenAI just raised the biggest private round
Nvidia $4.4T vs Cerebras $23B Val | Why Private Prices Are Wrong with Nick Fusco of PM Insights | Episode 27
Episode 27 of Trading Places asks a simple question:Are we pricing AI companies completely wrong?This week, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee are joined by Nick Fusco, founder of PM Insights, a private markets intelligence platform focused on tracking valuations, secondaries, and what assets are actually trading for beneath the surface.From Cerebras at $23B to Nvidia at $4.4T, the spread in valuations
Iran Tanks IPOs | 2026 VC Outlook with PitchBook & CB Insights | ByteDance @ $550B | Ep26
Dave and Aman break down how the Iran conflict is rattling markets — and what oil futures backwardation is signaling about how long it lasts.Then: Anduril closes at a $60B valuation (a portfolio company for Dave and Aman — they got in at $14B), Palmer Luckey vs. Dario Amodei, Anthropic getting flagged as a supply chain risk by the Pentagon, Kraken connecting to the Fed, Robinhood's $RVI fund u
OpenAI $110B Raise, Stripe at $159B, and the Donor Money Tax Hack VCs Use | Trading Places Podcast E25
OpenAI just closed a historic $110B funding round — the largest private raise ever.At the same time:• Stripe surged to a $159B valuation• Anthropic is selling $6B of employee shares• The Pentagon reportedly blocked Anthropic from defense work• Sam Altman quickly picked up a DoD AI contract• ByteDance hit a $550B valuation• And Jack Dorsey laid off 4,000 employees citing AI productivityWelcome to E
OpenAI $830B vs Anthropic $380B: The Future of Private Market Pricing with Tyson Hendricksen | E24
The biggest private round in history just got bigger.This week on Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down:• OpenAI’s rumored $100B raise at an $830B valuation• Anthropic’s $380B valuation surge• Stripe’s $140B employee tender• Databricks at $134B• Harvey AI jumping to $11B• SCOTUS striking down Trump’s emergency tariffsThen we go deep with Tyson Hendricksen, Founder & CEO of No
Elon Musk $1.25T SpaceX + xAI merger, How to Get DPI in 2026 w/ David Zhou | Ep23
Space, AI, SaaS carnage, secondary liquidity, and the biggest merger of all time.Welcome to Episode 23 of Trading Places — and this one covers everything from venture DPI math to Mars colonization strategy.This week, Dave McClure, Aman Verjee, and returning guest David Zhou break down:🚀 The $1.25T SpaceX + xAI merger📉 Why SaaS multiples just collapsed💰 How VCs can generate DPI before year 10🧠 The
xAI SpaceX merger, LatAm 2026 IPOs, Anurag Chandra wisdom from managing pension funds & FOs | Ep22
Welcome back to Trading Places — the terrible, very bad, absolutely horrible VC secondaries podcast with Dave McClure and Aman Verjee.This week is a full-spectrum market tour: the latest rumors swirling around Elon’s empire (SpaceX + Tesla + xAI), the mega-rounds and IPO chess games of Anthropic + OpenAI, the reality check hitting public SaaS multiples reported by Jamin Ball, and a deep dive into
OpenAI Path To Profitability, Anduril Valuation, & India Unicorns | Qapita Ravi Ravulaparthi | Ep21
In this episode of Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down what’s driving markets right now, and what it means for liquidity in private tech.They’re joined by Ravi Ravulaparthi (CEO & Co-Founder, Qapita).Together, they unpack what’s actually happening across IPOs, secondaries, SPVs, and late-stage price discovery:• Why public markets rallied and what’s underwriting the optimism
Top 20 Private Companies in 2026, The Billionaire Tax, Mistral AI Valuation | Augment + Sacra | Ep20
In this episode of Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee dive deep into the rapidly evolving world of private tech markets.They’re joined by: • Noel Moldvai (Founder & CEO, Augment Markets) • Adam Crawley (Co-Founder, Augment Markets) • Marcelo Ballvé (Founder, Sacra)Together, they unpack what’s actually happening beneath the surface of AI, secondaries, and late-stage private companies:
Why LatAm Beats Other Emerging Markets, 2026 IPOs, & Discord Valuation | Guest Nathan Lustig | Ep19
In this episode of Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down the reopening IPO market, sky-high AI valuations, and the growing push for private-market liquidity — before diving deep into Latin America’s venture ecosystem with Nathan Lustig (Magma Partners) and Karin Tenenboim (Practical VC).Karin explains why Latin America has quietly outperformed other emerging markets on $1B+ exits
TP18: James Riney of Coral Capital 🇯🇵 | Japan's VC Explosion 🚀 | 2026 IPO Predictions 📈
Episode 18 of the @TradingPlacesPod featuring James Riney from Coral Capital is out now!This week: Dave and Aman kick off 2026 with their macroeconomic predictions (GDP growth, Fed rate cuts, and tax refunds), break down the IPO market outlook (SpaceX at $1.6T?!, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks), and dive deep into the secondary market dynamics for companies that won't go public in 2026. Plus, w
TP17: Caplight's Javier Avalos 📊 | Secondary Boom 🔥| Why Banks Need Private Mkts 🏦 | $230B xAI 🚀
Episode 17 of the Trading Places Pod featuring Javier Avalos of Caplight is out now!This week: the IRS as your hidden secondary buyer, why banks need private market solutions, how platform acquisitions are reshaping secondaries, and whether AI companies are in a bubble or just getting started. Plus, Oracle's cash flow crisis, TikTok's $38B deal, and why mega VC funds might be destroying re
TP16: Bridgespan VC 💰| Employee Stock Option Financing 🫴| Oracle Stock 📉 | Waymo Valuation 🏎️
Episode 16 of the TradingPlacesPod featuring Adrien Gautier of Bridgespan VC is out now!This week: Oracle's debt crisis sends shockwaves through AI infrastructure stocks, the IPO market heats up for 2026 with SpaceX, OpenAI & Anthropic eyeing historic exits, and Adrien Gautier reveals how Bridgespan's unique employee stock option financing strategy gets them 30-70% discounts vs. prefer
TP15: Ben Black Akkadian Ventures🏆 | Secondaries Secrets 💎 | RAISE Conf 🎯 | Vercel $9B 🚀
Episode 15 of the Trading Places Pod featuring Ben Black of Akkadian Ventures is out now!Welcome to Trading Places, the extremely terrible, very bad podcast on VC secondaries. Hosts Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down the biggest news in venture secondaries, late-stage funding rounds, and this week's exclusive interview with Ben Black, founder and Managing Partner of Akkadian Ventures and
TP14: Michael Burry vs Big Tech 🎯 | Grayscale IPO Disaster? 💥 | Thanksgiving Special 🦃
Welcome to Trading Places, the extremely terrible, very bad podcast on VC secondaries. Hosts Dave McClure and Aman Verjee unpack the biggest news in venture capital, late-stage funding, crypto valuations, and this week's explosive valuation corner on why Grayscale's IPO might be heading for disaster.This Thanksgiving episode dives deep into Michael Burry's controversial claims that Big Tech is coo
TP13: Emily Zheng of Pitchbook 📊 | VC Secondaries Hit $95B 🔥 | Ramp $32B 💳
Episode 13 of @TradingPlacesPod featuring Emily Zheng (@Pitchbook) is out now! Welcome to Trading Places, the extremely terrible, very bad podcast on VC secondaries. Hosts Dave McClure and Aman Verjee (with special guest Amber filling in) break down the biggest news in venture secondaries, late-stage funding rounds, market dynamics, and this week's exclusive interview with Emily Zheng from Pit
TP12: Top Tier's Sean Engel 🎯 | AI Bubble? 🎈 | Data Centers 🏗️ | Kraken 💰
Episode 12 of the @TradingPlacesPod featuring Sean Engel from Top Tier Capital Partners is out now! This week: Are we in an AI bubble (again)? Data center capacity constraints meet infinite hyperscaler ambition, SoftBank sells Nvidia (again!) to bet on OpenAI, and venture secondaries are the new must-have strategy for every LP trying to escape the 15-year fund cycle.00:00 - cold open/intro00:53 -
TP11: Daniel Blake of UI Charitable 💰🎁 | Donor-Advised Funds 📊 | Polymarket vs Kalshi Showdown 🎲
Episode 11 of the Trading Places Podcast featuring Daniel Blake from UI Charitable is out now!This week: the IRS as your secret secondary buyer, donor-advised fund (DAF) strategies that turn illiquid assets into tax savings, and the wild world of prediction markets—where Polymarket and Kalshi are coming for DraftKings’ and FanDuel’s lunch money.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro01:05 - Tech VC secondary new
TP10: Blackbird VC + Canva 🎨 | OpenAI $1T IPO😱 | Tether $500B Val | EquityZen Acquisition
This week on Trading Places, hosts Dave McClure and Aman Verjee cover the latest tech news, including OpenAI's path to a trillion-dollar IPO, Big Tech's massive AI spending spree, and Tether's $500 billion valuation. Plus, we sit down with Rick Baker, Managing Partner at Blackbird Venture Capital, to discuss the incredible Canva story, secondary transactions, and building Australia's venture ecosy
TP8: Phil Haslett EquityZen 🧘🏻♂️ | Goldman Acquires Industry Ventures 💰 | Deel at $17B 🤝
Episode 8 of the Trading Places Pod featuring Phil Haslett from EquityZen is out now. This week we dive deep into OpenAI's massive semiconductor partnership deals ($500B+ across AMD, Broadcom, Nvidia & Oracle), Goldman's billion-dollar acquisition of Industry Ventures, plus emerging IPO opportunities including Tempo's $5B series A and Anysphere's $27B valuation. Our guest Phil Haslett breaks d
TP9: Seedcamp Founders 🇪🇺 | Prediction Markets 📈 | Oracle $38B 💰 | Anthropic $183B 🤖
Episode 9 of the Trading Places Podcast featuring Seedcamp's Reshma Sohoni and Carlos Eduardo Espinal is out now. This week we cover a jam-packed news cycle (prediction markets 📈, Google-Anthropic deal, Oracle's $38B debt raise, Tether's 500M users 🌍) plus an in-depth interview with the legendary Seedcamp co-founders on their pioneering secondary fund sale strategy. And of course, Professor Verjee
TP7: Turner Novak 🍌🧢 | Prediction Market 📈 | Gold Rush💰 | OpenAI's $500B Valuation 🙀
Episode 7 of the Trading Places Podcast featuring Turner Novak from The Peel Pod and Banana Capital is out now. This week we cover a range of news highlights from a very boisterous week in tech and fundings (Polymarket, Kalshi, Navan IPO, Bitcoin shorts, gold price boom) plus a jam packed [valuation corner] hosted by Practical Venture Capital's GPs Dave McClure and Aman Verjee on OpenAI's lat
TP6: Peter Walker of Carta 📊 | OpenAI Tender 🧾| Revolut $75B Valuation 💳 | Is 3X 3X 2X 2X 💀?
episode 6 of @+[trading places] feat. our dear friend / VC’s chief graph officer, peter walker of carta—is out now!00:00 — cold open [ news ]00:38 — this week’s news01:34 — triple triple double double = ded ded DED03:36 — state of the software 2025 report07:42 — openAI completes tender offer… what now?09:43 — IPOs Q3 update11:43 — get ur IPO on: wealthfront12:32 — cerebras don’t need no stinkin’ I
TP5: Isomer Capital 🔬 | SpaceX $400B Valuation 🚀 | Nvidia 🤝 OpenAI | Revolut: Buy Sell or Hold? 🤔
episode 5 of @+[trading places], a very bad 💩podcast about VC #secondary 2️⃣, broken unicorns 🦄💔& busted carry 😱, is out NOW!this week, we sit down with Joe Schorge and Omolade Idebisi of EU fund of funds (FoF) Isomer Capital about secondary fund strategy, GP-led vs. LP-led and how they navigate a world of weird discounts when they go to trade in the secondary market. plus Dave Mcclure shares
TP4: Sydecar 🛵 | TikTok deal 🇺🇸🤝🇨🇳 | Netskope Stubhub Figure IPOs 📈 | xAI @ 200B💰| Stripe @ 91B 💳 | Omni Ventures ⚙️
[ trading places ] episode 4:a very bad 💩podcast about VC #secondary 2️⃣, broken unicorns 🦄💔& busted carry 😱this week in 2ndry: we talk #SPVs #KYC and #liquidity w/ nik talreja CEO @ sydecartimestamps:[ tech + vc news ]01:14 — ipo window creaks open (klarna, figma, netskope, stubhub)07:00 — tiktok deal: oracle, xi, trump10:16 — fed cuts 25bps → bullish for tech[ nik talreja interview ]13:30 —
![TP3: sim desai hiive🐝 • emily zheng pitchbook⚾️📓 • vlad voroninski helm.ai 🤖🚙 • bytedance 🫦🕺🏻-- [trading places] ep.3](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/44293854/44293854-1759940965741-8d1650dca8f2f.jpg)
TP3: sim desai hiive🐝 • emily zheng pitchbook⚾️📓 • vlad voroninski helm.ai 🤖🚙 • bytedance 🫦🕺🏻-- [trading places] ep.3
IPOs are overrated. secondaries are where the bodies get buried.in ep.3 of [trading places], dave mcclure & aman verjee get way too many smart people on one bad pod:emily zheng (pitchbook) — the adult in the room with $61b in us vc secondaries, step-ups, discounts, rofrs, and why ai is the only thing saving your carry.sim desai (hiive) — transparency = liquidity. kraken vs coinbase, spvs multi
![TP2: why VCs panic sell 💸 & unicorns break 🦄 — mark suster — [trading places]](https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_episode/44293854/44293854-1759940916535-2189c4eadf71c.jpg)
TP2: why VCs panic sell 💸 & unicorns break 🦄 — mark suster — [trading places]
a very bad podcast about broken unicorns & busted carryin this ep of [trading places],dave mcclure & aman verjee sit down with upfront ventures’ mark suster to talk:* why he sold $600m+ in secondaries before the crash* why vcs are emotionally bad at selling (spoiler: regret math)* how funds fake “long-term conviction” while quietly cashing out* the trillion-dollar tiktok problem & klar
TP1: a VERY BAD💩 podcast on VC 2️⃣NDRY, BROKEN❤️🩹 unicorns🦄 & BUSTED carry😱
in this inaugural ep of [trading places], dave mcclure & aman verjee welcome david zhou (super clusters) to talk secondary markets, ai bubbles, and why your DPI might be total bswe go deep on:– openai’s $500B tender– canvas vs databricks valuations– LP/GP dynamics– when to sell in secondaries– spv food fights– and the ghost of rap battles pastalso: mean VC, VC trading cards, and the most painf
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