Today, Kyle Harrison, general partner at Contrary, joins the podcast to talk about the early-stage venture bear market and why it’s being masked by the AI hype cycle. While valuations for seed and Series A rounds have remained relatively stable, the number of rounds has plummeted, and Kyle argues that the true state of venture is far worse than it appears.

Next, the discussion turns to why capital destruction is overdue, how AI has warped investor incentives, and why many great companies are struggling to get attention despite solid fundamentals. Kyle and Eric also discuss the graduation rate from seed to Series A, the role of liquidity at later stages, and how the value chain of capital shapes what gets funded.

Finally, the episode covered Klarna’s pivot back to human support, Figma’s new “vibe-coding” AI feature, Waymo’s safety study results, OpenAI’s corporate governance reversal, and Fidji Simo’s appointment as head of applications at OpenAI.