Perplexity Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko on why curiosity is AI’s scarcest resource

More from Summation with Auren Hoffman All episodes →

1. 

   23 Jun 2026 · 50 min

   Facet CEO Anders Jones on the biggest heist in finance, how advisors really sell permission, and the great boomer wealth transfer

   Anders Jones is the CEO and co-founder of Facet, a fintech company built to bring high-quality, flat-fee financial advice to an underserved market: the mass affluent. Facet has raised over $250M and manages more than $7B. Anders has seen the real finances of tens of thousands of households. In this episode of Summation, Anders and Auren discuss: why the percentage-of-assets fee is the greatest heist in financethe retention data showing people stick 3x longer when you help them act, not just a...

2. 

   16 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

   Charles Duhigg on the writing AI can't touch, what GLP-1s really do to your brain, and the serendipity tax

   Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker. He is the author of The Power of Habit, Smarter Faster Better, and Supercommunicators. His work focuses on the science of habits, productivity, decision-making, and human connection. In this episode of Summation, Charles and Auren discuss: why producing the words is only 10% of an author's job, and the 90% AI can't dowhat GLP-1s actually do to the brain the serendipity tax: why you pay for five dead...

3. 

   9 Jun 2026 · 46 min

   SignalFire CEO Chris Farmer on why venture funds now last 20 years and the hiring boom behind the layoffs

   Chris Farmer is the founder and CEO of SignalFire, an early stage venture firm managing over $3 billion. In this episode of Summation, Chris and Auren discuss: why the time to return 1x has stretched to 9+ years and funds are lasting 20 yearsthe engineering hiring boom hiding behind the layoff headlinesthe five functions of a VC firm and the one place data helps the leastwhy almost all conventional career advice is now badYou can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Farmer on X a...

4. 

   2 Jun 2026 · 40 min

   GTMnow Podcast | Your First VC Meeting Will Be Agent-to-Agent

   This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on the GTMnow podcast --------------------------------------------------- Auren Hoffman (Flex Capital) joins the GTMnow podcast to share some of the most contrarian takes in tech today, from why AI moats are gone, to why your next VC meeting will be with a bot, to why AI is secretly going to trigger a baby boom. In this episode: Why Auren runs 500+ AI agents to source deals, and what that means for founders raising capitalThe "agent-to...

5. 

   26 May 2026 · 50 min

   Serval CEO Jake Stauch: talent is the only moat left, hiring founders as FDEs, and building a $1B company with your wife and a newborn

   Jake Stauch is the co-founder and CEO of Serval, the AI-native enterprise service management platform. Serval was founded in 2024 and has already raised over $125M across rounds led by Redpoint and Sequoia at a $1B+ valuation. Before Serval, Jake spent five years on the product team at Verkada and earlier founded NeuroPlus, a brain-sensing hardware company that made video games for kids with ADHD. In this episode of Summation, Jake and Auren discuss: Why Anthropic has added more ARR in the pa...

6. 

   12 May 2026 · 1 hr 2 min

   Fundrise CEO Ben Miller: VCX, Roaring Kitty's revenge, and AI killing the office

   Ben Miller is the co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, an alternative asset management platform that gives individual investors access to private real estate, private credit, and venture capital. In March 2026, he listed the Fundrise Innovation Fund on the NYSE under the ticker VCX, one of the first publicly traded venture capital funds. VCX gives retail investors direct exposure to private companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and SpaceX. The fund manages over $650 million and has over 10...

7. 

   5 May 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

   Six-time CIA Station Chief Ralph Goff on the new doctrine of war

   Ralph Goff is a 35-year veteran of the CIA, having served as a six-time Chief of Station across Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. During his career, he also held the roles of Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia and Chief of the CIA's National Resources Division. Since leaving government, he advises on national security issues and speaks publicly on intelligence, geopolitics, and great power competition. In this episode of Summation, Ralph and Auren discuss: Why black...

8. 

   28 Apr 2026 · 58 min

   Glenn Youngkin on governing like a CEO, the AI power crisis, and why every operator should run for office​

   Glenn Youngkin was the 74th Governor of Virginia. Before politics, he spent nearly 25 years at The Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms in the world, where he rose to co-CEO. During his four-year term, Virginia generated $10B in surplus revenue, delivered $9B in tax relief, attracted $156B in capital investment, and became one of the first states in the country to mandate cell-phone-free classrooms. In this episode of Summation, Glenn and Auren discuss: Why every Virginia st...

9. 

   21 Apr 2026 · 59 min

   Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta on why trades are AI-proof, the trillion-dollar home services market, and why software stopped being a capital asset

   Marco Zappacosta is the co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack, the home services marketplace he started in 2008. Thumbtack connects homeowners to 300,000+ local service professionals, with nearly 100M projects started on the platform. In this episode of Summation, Marco and Auren discuss: Why home services is bigger than groceries but barely any is booked onlineHow AI collapsed Thumbtack's product pod sizesWhy Silicon Valley underrates leadership and overrates management The single trait...

10. 

    14 Apr 2026 · 59 min

    Eric Ries on why "bad governance" outperforms, the case against shareholder primacy, and AI's Chernobyl moment

    Eric Ries created the Lean Startup methodology and authored the bestselling book of the same name, which has sold over a million copies. He's also the founder and executive chairman of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, the co-founder of Answer AI (an AI R&D lab), and the author of the upcoming book Incorruptible, releasing May 26th. In this episode of Summation, Eric and Auren discuss: why "bad governance" companies have outperformed "good governance" since 2008financial gravity - the invisib...