How I Invest with David Weisburd

Why do the largest investment firms keep getting bigger? David sits down with Joel Holsinger, Co-Head of Ares Alternative Credit, to discuss why scale has become one of the biggest competitive advantages in investing, how Ares evaluates multi-billion-dollar opportunities, why data centers and AI infrastructure are reshaping private credit, and how great investors think about downside protection. J...

For years, defense investing was considered off limits for most venture capital firms. Today, billions of dollars are flowing into defense startups as AI, drones, autonomy, advanced manufacturing, and national security become some of the biggest investment themes of the decade. David sits down with Jake Chapman, Managing Director at Marque Ventures, to discuss why defense became mainstream, how go...

For decades, fundraising was driven by relationships. Today, it increasingly starts with AI. David sits down with Lex Suvanto, Global CEO of Edelman Smithfield, to discuss how artificial intelligence is changing fundraising, why reputation is becoming one of the most valuable assets for investment firms, how GPs can differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market, and why authentic thou...

Most venture firms are experimenting with AI. Footwork rebuilt the entire firm around it. David sits down with Nikhil Trivedi, Co-Founder & General Partner at Footwork, to explore what an AI-native venture capital firm actually looks like, how autonomous agents are changing sourcing, diligence, portfolio management, and investment decisions, and why judgment and relationships may be the last true...

AI isn't just changing technology—it is reshaping how investment firms create value, evaluate managers, and generate alpha. David sits down with Thomas Scriven, Managing Director University of Pennsylvania Office of Investments, institutional investor with experience across private equity, endowment management, and investment banking, to discuss why AI-native investment firms may outperform tradit...

Most venture firms are using AI to save time. Earlybird is using it to generate alpha. David sits down with Andre Retterath, General Partner at Earlybird, to discuss how his firm built an AI-native venture platform, why proprietary data is becoming venture capital's biggest competitive advantage, how machine learning improves investment decisions, and why the future of venture belongs to investors...

Consumer startups may grab the headlines, but some of the most valuable companies are built by solving mission-critical problems for businesses. David sits down with Rick Heitzmann, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital, to discuss how he identifies high-growth technology-enabled business services, why sectors like data infrastructure, compliance, marketing technology, and information services co...

Most investors chase what's exciting. Jason Koenig built a $6.5 billion firm by investing where almost nobody was looking. In this conversation, Jason explains why overlooked industrial assets can produce exceptional long-term returns, how ITE grew from $60 million to $6.5 billion in assets under management, why culture compounds just like capital, and the leadership lessons he learned while scali...

Venture capital isn't about avoiding losses. It's about owning the handful of companies that change everything. Scott explains why HarbourVest has built its venture strategy around power laws, why secondaries have become essential to modern venture investing, and how institutions evaluate managers, partners, and companies across thousands of investment opportunities.

Venture capital has never been more competitive. Aram Verdian argues it has also never been more concentrated. Drawing on Accolade Partners' research across more than 3,000 U.S. venture firms, Aram explains why fewer than 20 firms have consistently produced 3x net returns, what separates the firms that keep winning, and why venture is increasingly becoming a winner-take-all business. From portfoli...

Most companies use AI to make employees slightly more productive. Sushanth Raman believes AI should do the work instead. As the CEO of Pallet, Sushanth is building an AI workforce for the $12 trillion logistics industry, helping carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and shippers automate mission-critical operations inside the systems they already use. He explains why reasoning-driven AI represent...

The best venture investors don't just identify great markets. They recognize exceptional founders before everyone else does. Michael Gilroy shares lessons from investing at Coatue, Microsoft's M12, Battery Ventures, Insight Partners, and now Marathon Management Partners. He explains what separates extraordinary founders from everyone else, how venture investors evaluate conviction versus consensus...

Most investors obsess over pre-tax returns. Scott Abookire argues they're measuring the wrong thing. As Chief Investment Officer of Pincus Capital, Scott oversees globally diversified public and private portfolios for multi-generational families. In this conversation, he explains why after-tax returns are the metric that truly matters, why he abandoned the traditional endowment model, and how soph...

Most investors believe raising more capital is always a sign of success. Stephen Ketchum has spent nearly two decades proving the opposite. As Founder, CEO, and CIO of Sound Point Capital, Stephen built a $46 billion credit platform by resisting one temptation that destroys investment firms: deploying capital simply because it's available. Instead of maximizing assets under management, Sound Point...

Everyone is asking which AI company will win. Lucas Swisher thinks investors are asking the wrong question. The biggest opportunities won't necessarily come from picking a single model or application. They'll come from understanding where durable advantages are created across the AI stack. Drawing on Coatue's investments in companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and SpaceX, Lucas explains w...

After more than 400 conversations with investors, founders, CIOs, and capital allocators managing over $10 trillion, the tables finally turn. In this special episode, Curtis Pierce, Co-Founder of Weisburd Pierce and the How I Invest podcast, interviews host David Weisburd about the biggest ideas that have permanently changed his thinking. David argues that the greatest compounding force isn't capi...

Most investors spend their lives searching for more ideas. Anthony Pompliano thinks the real money comes from finding the rare idea and refusing to let go. Across public markets, private markets, Bitcoin, startups, and careers, Anthony argues that value follows power laws: a tiny number of companies, people, and decisions drive almost everything. The hard part is not effort. It is recognizing dura...

Most investors assume that once a venture firm reaches $43 billion in assets under management, the real opportunities shift toward writing larger checks. Yuri Sagilov believes the opposite. General Catalyst continues to push deeper into seed because that's where investment themes are born, founder relationships are formed, and category-defining companies are first recognized. Rather than optimizin...

What separates the venture investors who consistently outperform from those who simply get lucky? In this episode, I sit down with Miguel Luina, Co-Head of Global Venture Capital at Hamilton Lane, to discuss how one of the world's largest private markets investors evaluates venture managers, constructs portfolios, and thinks about the future of innovation investing. Miguel explains why venture and...

What if the greatest edge in venture capital isn't having the biggest fund—but building the strongest relationships? In this episode, I sit down with Elizabeth Weil, Founder and Managing Partner of Scribble Ventures, to discuss how emerging venture firms can outperform by staying focused, collaborative, and relentlessly founder-centric. Elizabeth shares how she built Scribble into a $280 million v...

What if AI's most valuable commodity isn't software—but the computing power that makes intelligence possible? In this episode, I sit down with Kush Bavaria, Co-Founder and CEO of Ornn, to discuss why AI compute is becoming the next global commodity and how financial markets are evolving to support it. Kush explains why GPU capacity should trade like oil or electricity, how derivatives and futures...

What happens when computers stop being tools and start behaving like collaborators? In this episode, I sit down with Russ d’Sa, Founder and CEO of LiveKit, to discuss why voice AI may become one of the most important computing platforms of the next decade. Russ explains how LiveKit powers AI experiences for companies including Tesla and xAI, why voice is emerging as the natural interface for AI ag...

What if the biggest mistake LPs make in venture is backing the same managers over and over instead of constantly asking who they would invest in if they were starting from scratch today? In this episode, I sit down with Jamie Rhode, Partner at Screendoor, to discuss what separates the best emerging managers from the rest of the market. Jamie explains why so many venture funds look identical today,...

What if the biggest edge in investing isn’t information, strategy, or even intelligence—but relationships? In this episode, I sit down with Ron Biscardi, Co-Founder and CEO of iConnections, to discuss what separates the world’s best allocators and investment managers from everyone else. Ron shares lessons from building the largest capital introduction ecosystem in alternatives, with more than 26,0...

What if the secret to building generational wealth isn’t finding the perfect investment—but finding the right people and holding great businesses for decades? In this episode, I sit down with Jason Pritzker, Managing Director and Vice Chairman of The Pritzker Organization and founder of 53 Stations, to discuss the investing principles that helped shape one of America’s most successful business fam...