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 book, A Brief History of Financial Bubbles.

00:00 – cold open

00:45 – [ tech and vc news ]

00:56 – Aman’s “History of Financial Bubbles” book launch 📖

01:20 – are we in a bubble right now? 🫧

02:00 – Anthropic IPO in Sept/Oct? ⏳️

05:30 – ⁠⁠Nvidia mobilizes $500B with 6 Finance Giants 🏢

11:22 – AI race: Anthropic is Secretariat, OpenAI is Twice a Prince 🏇

12:06 – potential timeline for OpenAI IPO 🤷‍♂️

14:22 – SpaceX acquires Cursor for $60B 🤑

16:11 – Canva growth rates slow down, valuation cut 😢

20:55 – Stripe acquires OpenRouter for $7B 💳

22:41 – Silver Lake takes Workday private 🔐

24:26 – Databricks valued at $190B 💰

26:17 – Kalshi and Cognition raise at $40B valuation each 🏅

29:02 – [ valuation corner: Hadrian @ $8B ]

33:00 – solving long-standing problems in weapons manufacturing 🏹

33:28 – can set up new production lines in months, not years 🏭

35:00 – signed massive contract with US Navy 🚢

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = 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 ]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. We may hold positions in companies discussed. Do your own research.

#Anthropic #IPO #VentureCapital #DefenseTech #PrivateMarkets

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 rises 📈

09:53 - ⁠Elon scores AI wins after Grok 'miss' 💪

11:44 - Nvidia partners with Elon 💽

15:55 - Elon is planning the largest building in the world 🏢

18:10 - SpaceX buys Cursor 🚀

19:47 - OpenAI slashes prices  🔖

22:34 - Pitchbook Q2 report on VC Secondary Market 🛍

29:54 - Zach Dell starts energy company: Base Power @$13B🔌

30:38 - defense-tech startup Hadrian on the rise @8B 🪖

31:06 - AI power crunch fuels Valar Atomics @$6B ⚛️

34:45 - Palmer Luckey joins Elon, Bezos and Dorsey 🏦

37:57 - Bending Spoons buys Airtable 💰

42:14 - the SaaSpocalypse is real 🧟‍♂️

47:25 - [ valuation corner: Bending Spoons, Luca Ferrari ]

49:09 - unconventional background of Milan-based founder Luca Ferrari 🇮🇹

50:03 - buying up famous internet names 🏚

50:38 - determining if their current value is justified 🤔

52:26 - recent acquisition of Airtable 💨

54:14 - why the Bending Spoons business model makes sense 👍

57:35 - second takes 😂[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = 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 ]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. We may hold positions in companies discussed. Do your own research.

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 vertically integrated hardware-and-software approach—and explains why Helsing’s limited access to the U.S. defense market may be the biggest factor determining whether its valuation is justified.

Dave also sits down with Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge Global, now part of Charles Schwab, to discuss the rapidly expanding private secondary market.

00:00 – cold open

00:47 – [ tech and vc news ]

02:41 – The Fed votes to hold rates steady 🏦

07:20 – Q2 Earnings Week: how big tech did last quarter 📈

09:22 – how big tech makes their money - diagramed 📊

12:08 – Situational Awareness - Aschenbrenner loses his shirt 😢

16:11 – the highly volatile Korean stock market 🇰🇷

18:14 – SpaceX shares unlock August 6 🚀

22:14 – Anthropic and OpenAI models hack into systems of other companies 🚨

25:37 – Big Tech employee tender offers 🧾

29:44 – Uber founder's new company and jet ski commute 🚤

32:51 – [ intvw: Kelly Rodrigues, Forge Global ]

33:19 – his journey into private markets 👔

35:57 – why companies stay private longer now 🔐

37:00 – the new secondary market "middle world"🏬

40:20 – the Forge customer type 🙋‍♂️

46:30 – how to buy private companies on Forge 💳

49:00 – why Charles Schwab bought them out💲

57:04 – what SpaceX IPO can teach AI giants 🛰️

1:05:15 – predictions for markets in coming year 🕔

1:06:58 – [ valuation corner: Helsing @ $18B ]

1:07:12 – the Munich-based company raised $1.8B 🇪🇺

1:07:45 – inspired by Clausewitz 🪖

1:11:45 – how military budgets are changing 💶

1:12:32 – how Helsing compares to Anduril and Saronic 🚁

Trading Places is the world’s worst podcast about VC secondaries, private markets and high-growth technology companies.

Subscribe for weekly coverage of private-company valuations, tender offers, secondary transactions, IPOs and venture capital liquidity.[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ][ kelly rodriques = https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-rodriques-9b49418 | https://x.com/frgeglobal ]

[ 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 ]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. We may hold positions in companies discussed. Do your own research.

#Helsing #DefenseTech #VentureCapital #PrivateMarkets #Anduril #SpaceX #ForgeGlobal

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 the importance of EBITDA 📖

8:04 detailing SpaceX revenue 📈

12:55 bull and bear case for SpaceX stock 🐂

17:13 chances of a SpaceX-Tesla merger 🤝

23:40 Dave’s 60th birthday 🎂

This is a special one-off episode — full episode with our regular format comes out tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in!

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = 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 ]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. We may hold positions in companies discussed. Do your own research.

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 and Anthropic, including Kimi K3’s near-frontier performance at a fraction of the apparent cost. Could cheaper open models force the leading American AI labs to compete harder—or will Washington restrict access?

00:45 - [ tech and vc news ]

01:51 - the Iran war: will it ever end? 🛢️

03:15 - Google: first negative cash-flow quarter ever 😢

09:55 - SpaceX continues to fall 📉

12:21 - Chinese open-source AI vs. American AI 🤼‍♂️

16:47 - When will Anthropic go public? 📊

22:32 - most recent Chinese IPOs 🇨🇳

26:17 - massive valuation for Databricks 🤑

27:06 - Where is the IPO market headed? 🧾

31:57 - [ valuation corner: defense tech on the rise ]

32:03 - Anduril seeking $100B valuation 🛩

33:53 - why defense tech is soaring 🚀

35:37 - military-tech leaders: the new generation 🪖

38:04 - how military budgets are changing 🗃

47:49 - second takes 😂

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = 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 ]

Thank you for watching!

#Anduril #saronic #shieldai #defensetech #venturecapital

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 tech is heating up with Helsing's $18B raise.

Then Adam Crawley (Augment) and Marcelo Ballvé (Sacra) join to break down the new Augment Power 20 — how the rankings are built, who's moving up (hello Neuralink and Crusoe), and their bold predictions for Q3.

We close out with a Valuation Corner deep dive on Crusoe, the neo-cloud infrastructure company reportedly raising at a $30B valuation, and where it fits into the broader AI stack.

0:00 - cold open

00:53 - [ tech and vc news ]

2:00 - post-IPO SpaceX: big flop? 📉

5:39 - Anthropic races to Q4 IPO 💰

7:26 - Chinese AI vs. US models 🇨🇳🇺🇸

14:26 - DeepSeek raises $1.5B @ $71B 🤖

16:15 - Stripe bids $53B for PayPal, not enough? 💸

22:49 - the European Anduril: Helsing 🛩️

24:46 - [ intvw: adam crawley @augment & marcelo ballvé @sacra ]

27:24 - how Power 20 rankings are calculated 💡

33:02 - most active 💪 Power 20 companies Q2 '26

40:08 - largest risers 📈 in price gains

42:15 - bold predictions for Q3 🔮

54:37 - [ valuation corner: crusoe @ $30B ]

55:03 - rapid revenue growth 🚀

58:29 - the AI "stack" breakdown 🍰

1:01:11 - pick-and-shovel play ⛏️🪏

1:05:07 - second takes 😂

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ]

[ adam crawley = https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-crawley-b2146753/ | https://x.com/adamcrawley1 ]

[ augment = https://augment.market/ ]

[ marcelo ballvé = https://www.linkedin.com/in/marceloballve/ | https://x.com/ballve ]

[ sacra = http://sacra.com/ ]

[ 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 ]

Thank you for watching

**Please note: Inclusion in the Augment Power 20 does not predict future performance and should not be considered investment advice. For informational purposes only. Augment Markets, Inc. is a technology company offering software and data services with securities-related services offered through its wholly-owned but separately managed subsidiary Augment Capital, LLC, Member of FINRA/ SIPC. Read our full disclosure statement here.

#tradingplacespodcast #sacra #augmentmarkets #davemcclure #secondarymarket

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, Meta’s move into hyperscale cloud computing, Kalshi’s explosive valuation, and much more.

Then we’re joined by Shawn Bercuson, Founder & CEO of Earlyasset Capital, for an in-depth conversation about the future of venture secondaries, liquidity, SPVs, private market investing, and why the next decade could fundamentally reshape private capital markets.

Timestamps:

00:56 — [ tech and vc news ]

03:05 — setter top 30: the secondary scoreboard 🏆

07:53 — ⁠us vs anthropic ceasefire 🤝

12:11 — openai ships gpt-5.6: sol / terra / luna 🌕

13:24 — china vs us ai: does cheap/open reset the race 🌏

19:15 — meta back: low-cost models, rentable compute 🔋

21:17 — $SKHY raises $26B, mkt cap >$1T 💾

23:25 — blue origin: $10b on $130b 🚀

26:33 — kalshi raising at $40b, polymarket lagging 🎲

30:29 — [ intvw: Shawn Bercuson @ Earlyasset Capital ]

⁠from groupon to secondaries: an origin story 🍩

38:45 — bull vc: liquidity for distressed shares 🐂

43:30 — the law of 30 (really 50) 📏

46:18 — dailypay, SPVs, and the anthropic fallout ⚠️

58:20 — ⁠⁠the private market in ‘27 and ‘28 🔮

1:01:08 — [ valuation corner: Reflection AI @ $25B ]

the raise and the team 💰

1:04:35 — deepseek vs reflection: revenue and multiples 🇨🇳

1:07:05 — mapping the ai landscape: cost vs efficacy 🗺️

1:10:00 — coding assistants and the verdict on reflection 🤖

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ]

[ shawn bercuson = https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnbercuson | https://earlyasset.com/ ]

[ 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 ]

Thank you for watching

#tradingplacespodcast #vcsecondary #SteveBercuson #davemcclure #BlueOrigin

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 on a float of only ~6%.

Plus: Michael O'Keefe of CAZ Investments breaks down how a $12B GP stakes portfolio actually gets built.

00:00 – cold open

00:54 –  [ tech and vc news ] 

02:33 – SpaceX joins Nasdaq-100 🚀

08:39 – Anthropic hits $1T valuation & IPO outlook 💸

14:45 – OpenAI builds its own chip + 2027 IPO delay 🤖

18:07 – AI memory demand surges (Micron wins, Apple/customers pay more) 💾

20:24 – Cerebras falls below its IPO price 📉

22:46 – AI token costs rising; customers shift to Chinese open-weight models 🔄

28:24 – Bending Spoons targets ~$19–20B IPO on profitable roll-up strategy 🥄

32:56 –  [ intvw: Michael O’Keefe @ CAZ ]  

33:22 – CAZ manages $12B AUM 💰

36:04 – What is GP stake investing? 📊

44:19 – Typical check sizes & fund sizes

45:45 – How GP stakes are valued 📈

56:52 – Where CAZ is investing today: AI, energy, sports 🤖

1:00:05 – The secondary market boom 🔥

1:02:45 – [ valuation corner: DeepSeek @ $50B ]

1:03:40 – Largest seed round ever? 🏆

1:04:45 – SPV mechanics & stockholder structure 🛠️

1:07:40 – Users and revenue growth 📈

1:10:25 – DeepSeek vs. OpenAI comparison 🆚

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ]

[ michael o’keefe = https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjoii/ | https://cazinvestments.com/ ]

[ 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 ]

Thank you for watching

#tradingplacespodcast #SpaceX #ClaraVydyanath #davemcclure #SpaceXIPO

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, a massive Salesforce acquisition of a 500 Startups alum, and why Mistral and Cohere just became the Dr. Pepper of AI.

Plus: the Valuation Corner returns with Powerlaw (PWRL) — the new retail-accessible VC fund from Ben Black and Mike Dinsdale backed by Acadian. Dave and Aman break down the portfolio, the price-to-NAV, and whether it's worth the ride.

00:48 - [ tech news and vc ]

02:58 - oil down, defense up 🚀

10:31 - SpaceX week one on the tape 📈

15:15 - Anthropic gets frozen 🧊

30:30 - SaaS enters valuation winter ❄️

33:42 - Bezos bets $12B on an AI engineer 🤖

36:30 - Mistral doubles to $23B 💸

42:15 - Saronic unmanned ship saves lives 🛟

43:20 - [ val corner: PWRL Ben Black ]

how Power Law gives retail a chance 🙏

46:06 - portfolio breakdown 💼

47:15 - strategy pros and cons 👍👎

49:29 - manager accolades 💐

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = 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 ]

Thank you for watching

#spacex #anthropic #mistralai #secondaries #venturecapital

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 Seven — who stays, who goes public, and who replaces them. OpenAI vs. Anthropic: which IPO is actually stronger and at what price. Google raising $80B in equity (not debt) with Berkshire Hathaway coming in. Cognition at $26B and the AI coding land grab.

——

00:36 - [ tech news and vc ]

01:52 - Big 3 Race to Go Public 🏁

04:15 - Google $85B Equity Raise 💰

22:48 - SaaSpocalypse Over? 🫨

29:46 - AI-coding Cognition Raises $1B 💸

32:32 - Databricks Past $134B & Revolut Past $100B 🚀

40:01 - [ intvw: CJ Gustafson, recovering tech CFO ]

44:32 - Raising $1B in 18 Months 💸

46:16 - SaaS Multiples: From 20x to 4x and the Road Back 📉

1:17:00 - Stay Private, Get to $1B ARR Before You IPO 🏰

1:20:26 - [ val corner: Aman grades SpaceX IPO ]

1:25:12 – What happens to stock price next 6 months 🤔

1:29:45 – Who made the most money 🤑

——

[ links ]

[ invest = https://practicalvc.com ]

[ trading places socials = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ][ cj gustafson = https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ | https://x.com/cjgustafson ]

[ run the numbers podcast https://www.youtube.com/@RuntheNumberswithCJ ]

[ 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 ]

Trading Places is the only VC secondary podcast on the internet. Hosted by Dave McClure and Aman Verjee of Practical Venture Capital.

Subscribe for weekly coverage of private markets, AI company valuations, and the deals most investors never see coming.

#spacex #spacexipo #spacexstock #secondaries #venturecapital