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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 cooking the books, comparing Nvidia and the hyperscalers to WorldCom-era fraud. The duo analyzes whether Burry is the modern-day Cassandra or just crying wolf (again). Plus: Luma AI's massive Saudi-backed raise, Revolut's $75B secondary completion, India's emerging IPO market, and Professor Verjee's bearish breakdown of Grayscale's $31-33B valuation.
[ timestamps ]
00:00 – intro
00:45 – [ tech & vc news ]
01:05 – Michael Burry vs NVIDIA 💥
01:44 – who is Cassandra Unchained ⁉️
05:54 – hyperscaler accounting 🧮
06:14 – worldcom’s fraud 🚨
11:52 – will Burry be right? 🔮
14:19 – luma AI lifted by saudis 🇸🇦
15:12 – genspark’s unicorn status 🦄
17:04 – meesho’s indian IPO 🇮🇳
19:03 – revolut’s $75B secondary sale 💰
20:53 – [ val corner: Grayscale @ $33B ]
21:04 – Grayscale’s “digital asset platform” 🟡
22:23 – S-1 form deep dive 🤿
27:03 – something smells fishy 🐠
32:07 – second takes
links:
[ trading places podcast = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ]
[ aman verjee = https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-verjee | https://x.com/amanverjee ]
[ dave mcclure = https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemcclure | https://x.com/davemcclure]
Pod Highlights This Week:
Burry is back: The Big Short investor claims big tech is cooking the books—but is he right or just crying wolf (again)?
Cassandra curse: Burry successfully called 2008 but has been wrong about bubbles in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023
Accounting deep dive: Why Google, Meta, and Oracle extended depreciation schedules from 3 → 6 years and what it means for earnings
WorldCom redux?: Burry compares hyperscalers to telecom fraud era—we break down why this comparison falls short
1999 vs 2025: Cisco's debt-laden telecom customers vs Nvidia's cashflow-positive hyperscaler clients
AI CapEx boom: $300-500B/year spending now equals 1% of US GDP (same as 1999 telecom bubble)
Luma AI rockets: $2B raise at $8B valuation backed by Saudi PIF—first major AI investment on Saudi soil
Revolut secondary done: $75B valuation secondary completed despite questions about bank-like revenue mix
India IPO surge: Meesho's $600M IPO signals India as viable alternative to US public markets
Grayscale disaster incoming?: Trading at 60x revenue with 88% concentration in 2 products seeing massive outflows
Fee comparison shock: Grayscale charges 1.5% for Bitcoin (vs BlackRock 0.12%) and 2.5% for Ethereum (vs Fidelity 0.25%)
Professor Verjee's verdict: Grayscale is bearish—overvalued, losing market share, and competitively unsustainable
View all episodes
By Practical Venture CapitalWelcome 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 cooking the books, comparing Nvidia and the hyperscalers to WorldCom-era fraud. The duo analyzes whether Burry is the modern-day Cassandra or just crying wolf (again). Plus: Luma AI's massive Saudi-backed raise, Revolut's $75B secondary completion, India's emerging IPO market, and Professor Verjee's bearish breakdown of Grayscale's $31-33B valuation.
[ timestamps ]
00:00 – intro
00:45 – [ tech & vc news ]
01:05 – Michael Burry vs NVIDIA 💥
01:44 – who is Cassandra Unchained ⁉️
05:54 – hyperscaler accounting 🧮
06:14 – worldcom’s fraud 🚨
11:52 – will Burry be right? 🔮
14:19 – luma AI lifted by saudis 🇸🇦
15:12 – genspark’s unicorn status 🦄
17:04 – meesho’s indian IPO 🇮🇳
19:03 – revolut’s $75B secondary sale 💰
20:53 – [ val corner: Grayscale @ $33B ]
21:04 – Grayscale’s “digital asset platform” 🟡
22:23 – S-1 form deep dive 🤿
27:03 – something smells fishy 🐠
32:07 – second takes
links:
[ trading places podcast = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ]
[ aman verjee = https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-verjee | https://x.com/amanverjee ]
[ dave mcclure = https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemcclure | https://x.com/davemcclure]
Pod Highlights This Week:
Burry is back: The Big Short investor claims big tech is cooking the books—but is he right or just crying wolf (again)?
Cassandra curse: Burry successfully called 2008 but has been wrong about bubbles in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023
Accounting deep dive: Why Google, Meta, and Oracle extended depreciation schedules from 3 → 6 years and what it means for earnings
WorldCom redux?: Burry compares hyperscalers to telecom fraud era—we break down why this comparison falls short
1999 vs 2025: Cisco's debt-laden telecom customers vs Nvidia's cashflow-positive hyperscaler clients
AI CapEx boom: $300-500B/year spending now equals 1% of US GDP (same as 1999 telecom bubble)
Luma AI rockets: $2B raise at $8B valuation backed by Saudi PIF—first major AI investment on Saudi soil
Revolut secondary done: $75B valuation secondary completed despite questions about bank-like revenue mix
India IPO surge: Meesho's $600M IPO signals India as viable alternative to US public markets
Grayscale disaster incoming?: Trading at 60x revenue with 88% concentration in 2 products seeing massive outflows
Fee comparison shock: Grayscale charges 1.5% for Bitcoin (vs BlackRock 0.12%) and 2.5% for Ethereum (vs Fidelity 0.25%)
Professor Verjee's verdict: Grayscale is bearish—overvalued, losing market share, and competitively unsustainable