Newcomer Pod

Katie and Tom interview New York Times media columnist Ben Smith about his piece on the deception at Ozy. This was recorded a few hours before the digital media company announced it was shutting down, following his reporting. We discuss Ozy's appeal to investors, the courting of billionaires, the nature of the fraud, and what to make of the entire cohort of digital media companies the sprang up at the same time.

Ben's initial column on Ozy

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/26/business/media/ozy-media-goldman-sachs.html

With Eric on vacation, Katie and Tom take on hosting duties without adult supervision. We go over the rise of tech employees griping to reporters about company inner workings (aka "leaking") and what it says about the state of employee happiness in the industry. Also why CEOs won't be able to control it unless they address what's ailing company morale. Then we touch on the pervasiveness of gig workers around the world and what happens with a significant portion of the world's workers relies on that model. Also, the mortifying text messages between Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani. 

Stories we discuss in this episode:

Elizabeth Holme's Texts:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-called-business-partner-boyfriend-her-tiger-in-lovey-texts-as-company-tanked

Tim Cook's Memo:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/22/22687747/tim-cook-employee-leak-memos-do-not-belong-at-apple

Global Gig Workers

https://restofworld.org/2021/gig-workers-around-the-world-are-finally-organizing/

Eric, Katie and Tom talk about why the Wall Street Journal's epic series about Facebook's internal failings is so powerful. And why Facebook continues to be aggressively covered by the media in a way it didn't use to be—well into the Biden presidency. That turns into a discussion about whether comparing the company to big tobacco makes sense. We also briefly debate if Peter Thiel is as powerful as the media makes him out to be. This will not be the last time we discuss Thiel on the podcast.

In a hosts-only episode, Katie, Eric, and Tom talk about whether the media has overplayed the Theranos story and argue about whether the public is still interested or what lessons can be learned from the verdict. That turns into a debate about other media-driven tech spectacles, like Facebook's camera glasses, and why reporters gladly play up the hype about hardware. 

Liz has handled communications with the media from the crucibles of both the tech and political worlds. We talked about her time with Tesla just as Elon Musk was finding his voice and going through and around the press. She reflected on her time with the Obama presidential campaigns, feeding opposition research to media about Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney. And we debated whether the media has become too critical of tech, particularly from the vantage point of her current role as the VP of comms and policy at DoorDash.

CEO and founder of security startup Vanta, Christina Cacioppo, joins to talk about how she was able to raise a huge Series A ($50m at $500m valuation). We also talk about her jump from being a VC to a founder, why Zoom-based fundraising is here to stay and whether female founders get a fair shake from the tech press.

Our show begins with our first ever guest, Rippling CEO Parker Conrad. He talks about why the tech press spends too much time listening to VCs who don't have nearly as much power as reporters think. He also looks back at the way he was infamously pushed out of his previous company, Zenefits, and the role A16Z played in that saga.

Our thanks to @yungchomsky for our theme music.

OpenAI has entered what insiders are calling Code Red!In this episode, we unpack why Sam Altman is suddenly sounding the alarm.Is this a genuine internal crisis, or a calculated move to set expectations ahead of a major product cycle next year?We explore:-What “Code Red” actually means inside OpenAI-Whether the urgency is operational, political, or performative-How leadership is using public pressure to reshape the company’s narrative-Why this dramatic messaging may signal a huge release in 2025-The possibility that Sam is intentionally creating a “we turned the ship around” story-How OpenAI’s competitors (Anthropic, Google DeepMind, xAI) are interpreting this momentOpenAI is still the most important company in AI, but the cracks, pressure points, and power moves have never been more visible. If this is really Code Red, the stakes are enormous.