Moderator Sally Shin sits down with Natasha Mascarenhas (The Information) and George Hammond (Financial Times) to unpack mega funds, the AI frenzy, rollups and secondaries, the rise of VC podcasts, and exactly what it takes for a smaller company to earn real coverage. We get practical about sourcing, exclusives, tension, speed vs accuracy, and why “going direct” often backfires.
What we cover:
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and panel setup
00:00:27 What is the big theme in VC right now
00:01:27 AI boom meets exit drought and mega funds
00:02:13 Emerging managers and fundraising cracks
00:02:54 Getting GPs to talk when times are tough
00:03:41 What VC is getting wrong; smaller funds and new products
00:04:23 Are VC podcasts strategy or ego
00:04:49 How journalism adapts to the podcast era
00:05:39 How startups get coverage from The Information and FT
00:06:13 The Information’s bar: exclusivity, bigger theme, real tension
00:07:25 The FT’s lens: audience, geography, and exclusives
00:08:27 Moonshot AI teams and why they get covered
00:08:46 How stories are sourced; embargoes, tips, relationships
00:09:26 Slow burns and when small rounds become big stories
00:10:04 Independents vs newsrooms; speed and checks
00:11:32 Covering mega AI companies across beats
00:12:58 Mega funds, rollups, and a bifurcated VC model
00:14:32 Reinventing VC: spin outs, secondaries, business model shifts
00:15:47 Keeping up with direct channels and why journalism still matters
00:17:29 The power shift and access challenges
00:18:35 Going direct when you have nothing new to say
00:19:36 Preempting negative press and why it can amplify
00:20:11 When calls and DMs go public
00:20:50 A more combative climate and the job of ethical reporting
00:21:32 Is the IPO window open yet
00:22:06 Closing and thanks
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