“You’re too early for us”. “We have doubts on your market”. These are some of the things VCs say, but what do they really mean? If there was a VC-to-English Dictionary, what would it look like? In this episode of Tech Deciphered, we will offer you explanations on some of the most used expressions VCs…

In June, the most capable American AI models stopped shipping as public launches and started shipping through a government gate. Six weeks later the gate is open again — and the real fight has moved to the layer no gate can touch. A Chinese open-weight model rattled trillions out of chip stocks, Washington pivoted from…

Competing in a Future World of Infinite Intelligence Navigation: Intro From Knowledge Workers to Judgment Workers The AI-Native Company: Org, Hiring, Culture The Human Element: Are We Underestimating It? Scenarios Our Take Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and…

Dead On Arrival: What was just Hype and what was just wrong Timing? Some technologies and products get over-hyped, and never seem to come to fruition? Some just come to fruition, but years or even decades later? In this episode of Tech Deciphered, what is Dead On Arrival versus just wrong timing Navigation: Intro The…

The Great Talent Redistribution: Where is Talent Actually Going in 2026 and beyond?  Is the start-up compensation model broken? How about big Big Tech? How about non-tech small & medium businesses? What is happening to talent, going forward? This and many other topics in this episode of Tech Deciphered. Navigation: Intro The Broken Contract? The…

The Great private Capital Reset is upon us. Markets are volatile and driving new economic imperatives. Are VC funds still VC funds, even if they raise billions per fund? What happened to the rest of the market? What is driving VC investments? What do Limited Partners think? What is on their minds? This and more,…

The SaaS multiples run was long, but it had to come to an end. Or Had it? Navigation: Intro Setting The Scene The Roots — This Didn’t Happen Overnight The Structural Thesis — Why This Isn’t Just A Sell-Off The Private Market Fallout The Bull Case — Is The Market Wrong? Separating The Wheat From…

Who dares to make predictions in the current landscape? We do!  Our Predictions are back. Will our track-record continue on a high or will we be fundamentally wrong? Listen in to our Predictions for 2026 Navigation: Intro What will 2026 be all about? AI, AI and … more AI The big Hardware movements Of Start-ups…

Infrastructure was passé…uncool. Difficult to get dollars from Private Equity and Growth funds, and almost impossible to get a VC fund interested. Now?! Now, it’s cool. Infrastructure seems to be having a Renaissance, a full on Rebirth, not just fueled by commercial interests (e.g. advent of AI), but also by industrial policy and geopolitical considerations….

IWhat is our children’s future? What skills should they be developing? How should schools be adapting? What will the fully functioning citizens and workers of the future look like? A look into the landscape of the next 15 years, the future of work with human and AI interactions, the transformation of education, the safety and…

Can AI be a co-founder? Do you need a technical co-founder, any more? How about a business co-founder? What can AI do for you as co-founder? Will this become the “brave new world” of start-ups, small and medium businesses? For this and much more discussion, a no BS perspective on AI as a potential co-founder….

What do we travel with? How do we prefer to travel? What are our travel hacks?  If you are seasoned travel or just getting into that hamster wheel, this is the episode for you. Our thoughts, best practices and hacks on traveling. Share with us yours on LinkedIn or X. Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur…

America’s AI action plan … “Winning the AI race” has just been announced. What is it all about? What are the implications? How will the rest of the world react? A deep dive into the announcement, approaches by EU and China, and overall implications of these action plans. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Context of the White…

Nintendo Switch, the Nokia 7110… what are the tech devices and gadgets that changed your life? How about you biggest disappointments?In this episode of Tech Deciphered, we will share ours. We look forward to hearing yours. Share on LinkedIn or via email or X Navigation: Intro (01:34) Tech That Changed Our Lives Our Worst Tech…

The reckoning is here. Once a safe harbor, Big Tech has finally also gone full out on layoffs. Is this a structural shift to employment in Tech? Will the subsequent talent spillover be great for start-ups and entrepreneurship? Will it positively affect other industries? In this episode of Tech Deciphered, we will answer these and…

Robotics is a field that seemingly hasn’t really delivered on its promises. Sure, plenty of robot arms and other robotic solutions in logistics and industrial spaces, but what about the rest… including, Consumer?!  Navigation: Intro (01:34) B2B Robotics Consumer Robotics Looking Ahead Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of…

The current landscape of fundraising for start-ups, companies and VC funds, as well as best practices and hacks… and how to get those investors to giving you the money. Navigation: Intro (01:34) What is the current evolution and landscape for fundraising for start-ups? What is the current evolution and landscape for fundraising for VC firms?…

Our analysis of the Space & Aeronautics, Defense and Homeland Security industries from key trends to investment landscape… to perhaps, more importantly, evil vs no evil? Where are we now? Navigation: Intro (01:34) Why now? Geopolitics Aerospace and Aeronautics Defense and Homeland Security Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder…

Our review of 2024 and what 2025 holds for the world and the Tech industry. From geopolitical dynamics to M&A and IPOs, regulation, crypto winters and summers, to inflation and DOGE and many other things. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Review of 2024 What’s next, 2025? Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River…

In a few decades, will Europe be good for anything beyond food and tourist experiences? With Europe lagging on innovation, productivity and with extremely costly decisions on the Energy side, and needing to defend itself, what is next? Navigation: Intro (01:34) New report out from Mario Draghi Profound mistakes in Energy initiatives increasing costs and…

Do we need yet another new AI platform? Would new foundation models stand a chance in today’s market? Will OpenAI, Anthropic, etc be the new Tech winners … or will they just get acquired, at some point? Navigation: Intro (01:34) Landscape Recent gigantic acqui-hires The Big Players How will the hardware change? Will there be…

Another election year and it’s already a dramatic one. Biden vs Trump turned into Harris vs Trump. An attempt on Trump’s life. What’s next? This episode will focus on the implication of the elections for Tech and its ecosystem in the US and globally. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Harris vs. Trump Silicon Valley / Tech business…

Did we go from a broad bubble to a gen AI bubble? What is the current state of AI and generative AI? What has been commoditized and what is still distinctive? What does the future hold? Navigation: Intro (01:34) The State of AI / gen AI On the negative side On the positive side Our…

AI is literally everywhere… in our mobile phones, laptops, their chipsets, etc. As integrations increase, what are the implications for everyone? Why are all the announcements from Microsoft, Google, Apple, Open AI and others, important? One of those episodes that you really need to listen to, as this IMPACTS YOU and all of us Navigation:…

When a company says they are launching a new product that is open, is it really? What does open even mean? The history behind open source, its successes and failures, and all the lies we are told all the time by some Tech players. The truth, unvarnished Navigation: Intro (01:34) What is Open Source Software…

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Can you handle the truth? What is the future of news? Are we at a Spotify moment? Do we even care about the truth? Navigation: Intro (01:34) Mainstream vs Niche News (02:09) Are we Close to the Spotify/Netflix moment? (29:30) State or Government Ownership and…

Is Technology intrinsically good, bad or neutral? In this episode, we will go into the depths of Technology Philosophy & Ethics, what it actually is, its historical developments, the current movements of the present and what the future likely holds. What is e/acc, what is EA? What is Degrowth? We will also discuss spiritual and…

The Apple Vision Pro is out and we each got ourselves one… Our first impressions on the early days of the Vision Pro. Will it change the world forever, like the iPhone? Navigation: Intro (01:34) Overall… TL;DR In-depth analysis Competition with Meta Quest 3 Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River…

Do you remember that company that raised at $1 billion valuation and sold for $15 million? How about that one that was the “hottest thing” ever, is still around, but never really became huge. This episode is about these companies… and about why some founders and investors can make a lot of money, while their…

That episode… the 50th, the big 50. We go back to the past and look into the future: was 2023 as bad as it gets? Is there some good or silver lining in front of us in 2024? These and more questions answered in our recap and looking forward episode.  Navigation: Intro (01:34) Looking Back…

What is an exit? You need to sell your company or sell some of your shares? How is the market for that, right now? All things M&A, IPO, Secondaries, etc.  Navigation: Intro (01:34) What is an exit? (02:17) Stats on M&A and IPOs (17:50) What’s ahead? (42:02) Conclusion (59:48) Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in…

So you’re starting a company? You’re now officially a founder. What should you do first? In episode 48, we will share our views on culture and why it “eats strategy for breakfast”, our thoughts on structure and legal framework for your new baby/start-up and on what 2nd+ time founders do differently. Navigation: Intro (01:34) “Culture…

So you’re starting a company? You’re now officially a founder. What should you do first? In episode 47, we will frame the landscape, share when it is a good time to start a company, how validate your start-up idea and the 3 key things to take into account: product, market and team. Navigation: Intro First…

Is work-life balance attainable or is it a “mythical creature”? What can one do to extract top professional performance while not endangering one’s personal life and hers/his/theirs physical and mental health? We will discuss how much is too much, the big axes of “life”, whether work-life balance is possible, differences between geographies and will, as…

Augmented Reality, VR, XR… what is all this? Shouldn’t we all be using these devices by now? Is Apple going to change everything? Or is it Meta? In this episode, we go in into the arenas of AR, VR and MR, explain what these different technologies are, the developments thus far, whether (or not) we…

Final episode on AI and generative AI, including start-up and VC landscape, regulatory & privacy environment and what does the future hold, with answers to such important questions as, can AI kill us? (spoiler alert: yes, it can). Navigation: Intro (01:33) Start-up and VC Landscape (02:13) Open-Source (08:31) Regulatory & Privacy Environment (14:31) The Future…

The truth about Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI. This is the first of two episodes on AI. Navigation: Intro (01:33) What is AI and AGI? Why now? (02:07) Setting the Record Straight (08:55) Verticals (20:30) Other AIs (28:48) The Big Guys (31:20) Conclusion (38:38) Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder…

In this episode, we deep dive into the process of Venture Capital – how does it actually all work? – and what the future of VC holds. The end of our 2 part episode on the Evolution of Venture Capital. Navigation: Intro (01:33) Section 1: The Process of VC (01:59) Section 2: Stats on VC…

In this episode, we will go in-depth into the evolution of Venture Capital, including its History, the business model, process and operating model, and what its future holds. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Section 1: History of Venture Capital (01:59) Section 2: The Business of VC (15:27) Conclusion (19:54) Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at…

SVB goes down, and the Fed and Treasury react. The latest on the financial crisis: What actually happened? What was done to stave off the crisis? What are the next steps and what’s further on the horizon? As always, our “no bs” views and analysis. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Section 1: What happened? Section 2: What…

In this final episode on Boards of Directors, we will share tips for successful board meetings, how to manage them, how to be a value-add board member and insights on advisors and advisory boards. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Section 1: Tips for Successful Board meetings (02:11) Section 2: How to manage your Board (18:24) Section 3:…

In this episode, we will explain what a Board of Directors is and is *not*, its roles & responsibilities, and how it should evolve over time. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Section 1: What is a Board of Directors (02:10) Section 2: Taxonomy (06:20) Section 3: Evolution of Board structure over time (12:08) Section 4: Board Composition…

We sort of predicted the FTX and SBF debacle… seriously! How much are CEOs’ political and socio-economic views welcome publicly? How about employees’? How much is too much? In this episode of season 3 of Tech Deciphered, we talk about founders & CEOs activism, employee activism and share our tips on when to talk and…

“I am leading or involved in a company… and we are in trouble. What should I do?” In this episode, we share what do when you are in trouble and what to do if everything else fails. This is the second and final episode on this topic. For more information, also listen to episode 35…

“I am leading or involved in a company… and we are in trouble. What should I do?” In this episode, the beginning of season 3 of Tech Deciphered, we firstly share how to know when you are in trouble (spoiler alert: getting this right is essential) or … if you are “relatively safe”. Navigation: Intro…

In this episode, the end of our 2nd Season, we close our discussion on the crisis that is upon us and deep dive on what will happen next. We finalize with a brief recap of our season 2 and on what we got right and wrong. Navigation: Intro (01:34) Section 1: What Will Happen Next…

Winter Has Arrived – the Burst of the Bubble and the Crisis Upon Us… AND WE GOT IT RIGHT! In this episode, we share … that we were right, all along. We were in a bubble and the crisis is upon us. We share context on the current crisis and what is happening, exactly at…

In this episode, we end our discussion on Leadership and Management: we delve into how to execute; explore values systems, including our own; and share our core beliefs.  Navigation: Intro (01:34) Section 1: How to Execute (02:08) Section 2: Culture & Values, Our Core Beliefs (20:11) Conclusion (34:57) Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence…