Tech Today with Eric Tarczynski

Today on Tech Today, Eric is joined by TJ Parker, Founder of PillPack and Amazon Pharmacy, to break down the current state of drug pricing in the U.S. and the significance of Trump’s recent executive order on prescription drugs. TJ walks through the supply chain mechanics behind inflated out-of-pocket prices and explains why consumers often pay far more than insurers for the same drug.They discuss how middlemen like PBMs distort prices, why rebates have made the system so opaque, and how a “most favored nation” pricing clause could finally give Americans access to net prices at the pharmacy counter. TJ also lays out what a consumer-first drug supply chain could look like—and why it might resemble a retail e-commerce experience more than anything else.We also covered Uber’s new fixed-route commuter shuttles, GM’s next-gen battery chemistry, advances to Tesla’s Optimus, and Anthropic’s upcoming reasoning-first models.

Today, Eight Sleep co-founder and CEO Matteo Franceschetti joins us to talk about sleep science, recovery, and how better sleep might be the greatest untapped lever for improving human performance.He broke down why sleep matters more than fitness or nutrition, how deep and REM sleep drive mental and physical recovery, and how new tools are helping people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Matteo also shares Eight Sleep’s broader vision — from smart beds and thermoregulation to eventually compressing total sleep time without sacrificing recovery.We also covered Harvey's shift to Google and Anthropic models, Chime's IPO filing, SpaceX’s rocket reuse milestone, and a potential Amtrak partnership with The Boring Company.

Danny Crichton, Head of Editorial & Riskgaming at Lux Capital, joins the podcast to break down the state of U.S. export bans on AI chips — and whether they’re actually working. Danny explains why NVIDIA is so central to the policy debate, how sales are still finding their way to China through workarounds like Singapore, and why the U.S. may not be able to stop China from achieving AI parity if their models keep catching up in performance.We also discuss the tension between national security and commercial success, the importance of measuring output rather than input when it comes to China’s AI capabilities, and what it really means for the U.S. to "stay ahead."Finally, we covered Klarna’s reversal on AI-only customer support, Google’s new AI Futures Fund, a biotech startup linked to Elizabeth Holmes, and Omada Health’s IPO filing.

Today, Kyle Harrison, general partner at Contrary, joins the podcast to talk about the early-stage venture bear market and why it’s being masked by the AI hype cycle. While valuations for seed and Series A rounds have remained relatively stable, the number of rounds has plummeted, and Kyle argues that the true state of venture is far worse than it appears.Next, the discussion turns to why capital destruction is overdue, how AI has warped investor incentives, and why many great companies are struggling to get attention despite solid fundamentals. Kyle and Eric also discuss the graduation rate from seed to Series A, the role of liquidity at later stages, and how the value chain of capital shapes what gets funded.Finally, the episode covered Klarna’s pivot back to human support, Figma’s new “vibe-coding” AI feature, Waymo’s safety study results, OpenAI’s corporate governance reversal, and Fidji Simo’s appointment as head of applications at OpenAI.

A few years ago, all eyes were on Big Tech when it came to startup acquisitions. But with regulatory pressure mounting, a new cohort of acquirers has emerged: mid-sized, AI-native companies like Databricks, Datadog, and OpenAI.In this episode, Alex Konrad of Upstarts Media joins Eric to break down the new wave of $100M–$1B deals — from Databricks’ pending $1B acquisition of Neon to Datadog’s Eppo pickup and OpenAI’s pursuit of Windsurf. They unpack the strategic motives behind these deals, what they signal about the current state of the market, and why companies that once would've been IPO-bound are now attractive targets.We also covered Stripe’s new AI foundation model, Apple moving away from Google search, Amazon’s new touch-sensitive robot, and OpenAI’s quiet meetings with the FDA.

Jacob Kimmel, co-founder and President of NewLimit, joins us to talk about the company’s newly announced $130 million Series B and its ambitious plan to develop reprogramming-based medicines that can reverse cellular aging.We explore how NewLimit’s therapies use mRNA to deliver transcription factors that restore liver cells to a younger state, why the company is targeting alcohol-related liver disease first, and how advances in single-cell sequencing and AI made this work possible. Jacob also shares how NewLimit is expanding into the immune and endothelial systems—and what that could mean for extending human healthspan.We also covered OpenAI’s acquisition of Windsurf, DoorDash’s Deliveroo and SevenRooms deals, Legora’s new raise in legal AI, and Uber’s $700M push into Turkey’s delivery market.

Cloud seeding isn’t new, but Rainmaker is giving it a second life. On today’s episode, Augustus Doricko, founder and CEO of Rainmaker, joins Eric to explain how his company uses drones, radar, and remote sensing to make it rain on command. Augustus outlines how Rainmaker's technology solves the attribution problem that has long haunted cloud seeding, and why their $25M Series A marks the beginning of a new infrastructure layer for the American West. We also discuss the company’s long-term ambition: building programmable weather systems to green deserts, stabilize water supply for agriculture and industry, and compete with China's state-run weather engineering programs.Finally, we covered 11x’s CEO transition, OpenAI’s decision to remain under nonprofit control, Databricks’ possible $1B acquisition of Neon, and Anduril’s newest buy and portable edge computing system.

Apple just got slammed by a federal judge for willfully violating an injunction in its antitrust fight with Epic Games. Patrick McGee, longtime Apple reporter at the Financial Times and author of the upcoming book Apple in China, joins to unpack how the case unfolded, why Epic’s move was both strategic and symbolic, and what this moment means for the future of the App Store.We zoom out to discuss Apple’s broader challenges—from its tightening entanglement with China to the slow progress in decoupling its supply chain. Patrick explains why Apple may be far more reliant on China than it admits, and why India isn’t a simple replacement. Plus, a preview of what’s to come when his book releases on May 13.We also covered Apple’s AI coding partnership with Anthropic, EToro’s IPO timing, Fivetran acquiring Census, and Tim Cook’s comments on Trump’s new tariffs.

Most AI apps still feel clunky, generic, or oddly off-tone. Pete Koomen thinks he knows why — and he’s calling it the “horseless carriage” problem. Just like early cars mimicked carriages, today’s AI products too often copy outdated software models instead of rethinking from first principles.Pete, a General Partner at Y Combinator and co-founder of Optimizely, joins us to break down his viral essay AI Horseless Carriages. We talk about why editable system prompts are critical, how app design is holding AI back, and why user-controlled agents could unlock far more powerful workflows than today’s one-size-fits-all experiences.We also covered WhatsApp’s 3B user milestone, Mach Industries’ new funding round, a major App Store ruling against Apple, and Anthropic’s Claude integrations.

Rick Song, co-founder and CEO of Persona, joins us after announcing the company’s $200 million Series D. In this episode, Rick breaks down what it means to build the verified identity layer of the internet — not just verifying who someone is, but verifying who an AI agent is acting on behalf of, and what their intent is.We explore how identity has evolved from static credentials to something continuous and contextual, how AI is raising the stakes for online trust, and why Rick believes the future of identity must be privacy-preserving and user-controlled. He also shares how Persona scaled from an idea at Square and Dropbox to powering hundreds of millions of verifications per year.We also covered Meta’s trillion-dollar AI forecast, Anthropic’s proposed changes to chip export rules, Microsoft’s capacity warning, and Glean’s new funding round at a $7 billion valuation.

Sid Malladi, co-founder and CEO of Nuvo, joins us on the day of the company’s public launch to talk about the future of B2B trade infrastructure. Backed by $45M from Sequoia, Founders Fund, and Spark, Nuvo aims to replace the outdated pen-and-paper systems that still dominate the $11 trillion U.S. trade economy.Sid explains why the problem isn’t just software—it’s a lack of shared infrastructure across businesses. He walks us through the scaling challenges, the platform Nuvo is building, and why he compares Nuvo’s roadmap to early Facebook: first connect businesses, then build layers of coordination like payments, underwriting, and automation on top.We also covered supply chain resilience, vendor adaptation in the face of tariffs, and how Nuvo’s viral trade graph might one day power millions of relationships between buyers and sellers.

In today’s episode, Jon Gegenheimer, Global Co-Head of Tech M&A at Jefferies, joins us to break down how the Trump administration’s new tariffs have frozen the tech M&A market almost overnight. We dive into why the year started with optimism, how quickly the landscape shifted in April, and why buyers and sellers are now stuck in a tense waiting game.Jon also shares his advice for founders and boards navigating this uncertainty—and why companies need to be prepared to move fast if the market reopens later this year.We also covered Neuralink’s latest breakthrough, OpenAI’s new push into shopping and search, Huawei’s plan to compete with Nvidia, and Hugging Face’s robotics expansion.

Today, Kyle Harrison, general partner at Contrary, sits down with Sean Hunt, co-founder and CTO of Solugen, to talk about how the company is reinventing chemical manufacturing from first principles. Sean explains why traditional chemical supply chains are fragile and carbon-intensive — and how Solugen’s modular, carbon-negative Bioforge model could reshape industrial production.We discuss the dynamics driving demand for domestic chemicals, how tariffs are creating new opportunities, why reusing abandoned infrastructure is critical for scaling manufacturing, and how Solugen thinks about licensing its technology in the future.We also covered Discord’s CEO transition, Flow’s latest funding round, Elon Musk’s $20 billion xAI fundraising talks, and Apple’s push to manufacture more iPhones in India.

Samir Vasavada, co-founder and CEO of Vise, joins us to talk about how registered investment advisors (RIAs) are increasingly entering the world of venture capital. Samir explains how changes in liquidity, demand for differentiation, and the availability of new platforms have opened the door for wealth managers to back private tech companies—something historically reserved for endowments and institutions.We dive into why this shift is happening now, how RIAs are navigating access to top-tier venture funds, and what the “retailization” of private markets might mean for venture as an asset class going forward.We also covered Revolut’s record profit, Anthropic’s model welfare research program, Flex’s acquisition of Maza, and Adam Neumann’s latest raise for Flow.

Over the last decade, startup exit timelines have stretched, cap tables have grown more complex, and LPs have become more focused on liquidity. That’s why Homebrew co-founder Hunter Walk says it’s time for early-stage VCs to embrace secondaries—not as a last resort, but as part of the playbook.In this episode, Hunter breaks down why the traditional “buy and hold” mindset is breaking down, how the dynamic between small funds and mega-AUM firms is reshaping investor behavior, and what responsible secondaries can look like for both founders and early backers.We also covered Windsurf’s new pricing war with Cursor, Datadog’s latest acquisition, Perplexity’s iPhone assistant rollout, and Tesla’s robotaxi pilot in Austin.

The tools—and expectations—of software development are changing fast. Today on Tech Today, Zach Lloyd, founder and CEO of Warp, joins us to talk about how the job of the software developer is evolving in the age of AI, agents, and “vibe coding.”Zach breaks down what gets easier, what stays hard, and what tools will need to be rethought entirely. He shares why he thinks IDEs are becoming obsolete, why software engineers are more in demand than ever, and what Warp is doing to build the developer interface of the future.We also covered: xAI’s Grok Vision update, Supabase’s $200 million raise, Northwood Space’s ground station expansion, and OpenAI’s surprising interest in acquiring Google Chrome.

Replit founding engineer Gian Segato joins us to talk about his viral new essay, Agency Is Eating the World, and the shift toward high-agency individuals building and scaling software alone. He explains why today’s AI “agents” aren’t truly agentic, why taste is downstream of iteration, and how generalists are now empowered to compete with specialists across industries.We also discuss the end of credentialism, how AI collapses years of specialization into days of effort, and why this is only the beginning of a larger economic shift — one that stretches from barbershops writing code to billion-dollar solo startups.We also covered ChatGPT Search's rapid EU growth and looming regulatory status, YC-backed Theseus and its GPS-free drone tech for Special Operations, OpenAI’s massive spend on making ChatGPT more polite, and Slate Auto’s $25K EV that can change shape ahead of its public reveal.

Bhavin Shah, founder and CEO of Moveworks, joins us after announcing the company’s acquisition by ServiceNow last month. Moveworks was one of the first enterprise AI startups to bet on conversational interfaces and AI agents — years before ChatGPT made that idea mainstream. In this episode, Bhavin walks us through the origin story, how they made the gutsy call to rewrite their entire architecture around agentic reasoning, and how that decision set the stage for their nearly $3 billion exit.We also talk about what it really takes to build AI that works in the enterprise: connectors, context windows, multilingual models, and the hard truth of procurement cycles. Bhavin shares lessons from navigating two black swan events — COVID and the generative AI boom — and why conviction, speed, and creative destruction were key to Moveworks’ success.We also covered Bill Gates’ prediction that AI will replace doctors and teachers, Strava’s acquisition of AI running coach Runna, OpenAI’s potential $3 billion acquisition of Windsurf (formerly Codeium), and Figma’s confidential IPO filing.

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Nicholas Harris, CEO and co-founder of Lightmatter, joins us to talk about the company's latest product launches: the Passage M1000 and the L200, two breakthroughs in photonic interconnect technology that could reshape how we scale AI infrastructure.We also discussed the limits of traditional electrical interconnects, why data movement — not compute — is the real bottleneck in AI training, and how Lightmatter is building a full-stack photonics platform for the next era of massive, energy-intensive AI models.Finally, we discussed Base Power’s $200 million Series B to build a distributed residential battery network, OpenAI’s launch of a new benchmarking program following controversy around Meta’s Llama 4, Andreessen Horowitz’s plans to raise a $20 billion growth-stage AI fund, and Anthropic’s launch of a new $200/month “Max” subscription tier for power users.