How I Invest with David Weisburd
How I Invest with David Weisburd is a podcast that interviews the world's leading institutional investors. Previous guests include The Ford Foundation, Northwestern University Endowment, CalPERS, Stepstone, and other top limited partners.
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E312: The Power Law of Reputation in Venture Capital
Can ethics, generosity, and long-term relationships really outperform aggression in venture capital? David Weisburd speaks with David Hornik about why “nice guys finish first… eventually,” how power-law outcomes shape a venture career, and why reputation compounds more reliably than tactics. Hornik explains why backing unflinchingly ethical founders isn’t just moral—it’s a durable competitive advantage in an industry defined by uncertainty. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why Hornik only backs founders who are “unflinchingly ethical” Ethics vs. culture: where pushing hard crosses the line Why venture capital is a business of disappointment—and patience How one out of ten investments defines an entire...
E311: How Continuation Vehicles Quietly Reshaped Private Equity
Why have continuation vehicles become one of the fastest-growing segments in private markets? David Weisburd speaks with Benjamin Carper about what’s driving record CV volume, how these transactions solve structural mismatches in private equity fund lives, and why both LPs and GPs hold mixed views on the strategy. Ben explains how continuation vehicles create liquidity, extend ownership of high-quality assets, and reshape portfolio management across buyout and venture markets. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why continuation vehicles reached over $100B in annual volume How arbitrary fund life cycles created the need for CVs The shift from selling winners to compounding them Ty...
E310: The DPI Problem Plaguing Venture Capital & PE
Why has liquidity across private markets broken down and what does it mean for institutional portfolios? David Weisburd speaks with Alex Ambroz about collapsing distributions, the rise of continuation vehicles and secondaries, and why many allocators are facing a structural mismatch between models and reality. They explore whether “private is the new public,” how incentives shape GP behavior, and what LPs must change to adapt to a new normal of prolonged illiquidity. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why private market distribution yields have fallen from ~25% to single digits How declining DPI drives the denominator effect across portfolios Continuation vehicles: why LPs both rely...
E309: Why Most VCs Firms will Die by 2030
What happens when AI stops assisting humans and starts replacing decision-making itself? David Weisburd speaks with Camilo Acosta about the rise of agentic AI, why incumbents still leave massive openings for startups, and how AI will reshape labor, venture capital, and entire asset classes. Camilo explains how investing ahead of regulation, betting on founders over ideas, and building for a fully agentic future define the next era of venture. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why agentic AI replaces prediction, judgment, and action—not just tasks Lessons from building products at Meta and founding startups How incumbents’ scale creates opportunity rather than safety Why...
E308: The Future of LP Liquidity
What happens when capital markets move from batch processing to real time? David Weisburd sits down with Yuval Rooz to discuss his path from Citadel and DRW to founding Digital Asset and building the Canton Network. Yuval explains why blockchain is less about crypto speculation and more about upgrading the infrastructure of global capital markets—unlocking 24/7 settlement, asset utility, and new forms of liquidity across public and private markets. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Yuval’s unconventional path from engineering to trading and entrepreneurship Citadel’s talent model and why technical skills scale faster than finance knowledge Building DRW’s ETF market-making desk fro...
E307: Why Size Is the Enemy of Venture Returns w/Glenn Solomon
How do you compete with Sequoia and Andreessen while running a $650M fund and still expect to outperform? In this episode, I sit down with Glenn Solomon, Managing Partner at Notable Capital, to break down how focused early-stage investing can outperform mega-platform venture funds. Glenn explains why 70%+ of venture dollars now go into mega-rounds over $100M, why Notable stays disciplined at seed and Series A, and how delivering “unscalable” founder support creates real edge. We also go deep on Anthropic, the so-called “software apocalypse,” AGI narratives, and where durable alpha exists in an AI-dominated world. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why $350B in ventu...
E306: Can VCs Actually Pick Winners? w/Eric Bahn
Why does execution velocity matter more than pedigree at the earliest stages of company building? David Weisburd speaks with Eric Bahn about the concept of “hustle,” why early judgments about founders tend to persist, and how throughput, learning speed, and grit outperform traditional signals in pre-seed investing. Eric explains Hustle Fund’s wide-net strategy, its community-driven platform model, and how changing startup timelines are reshaping venture economics. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why early founder rankings tend to persist over time Defining “hustle” as execution speed and learning velocity Why hustle is difficult to fake but easy to observe in practice Quantity of experim...
E305: Why 95% of AI Startups Will Never Build a Moat
Why are vertical AI applications emerging as some of the most defensible opportunities in technology today? David Weisburd speaks with Nick Beim about why context—not raw intelligence—is becoming the key driver of AI performance, and how vertical software is reshaping wealth management, legal services, and defense. Nick shares how legacy infrastructure, industry economics, and human-centered workflows create enduring opportunities for AI-driven transformation. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Why vertical AI outperforms horizontal models through domain-specific context The limits of large LLM platforms in winning every application layer Structural failures in wealth management technology and custody systems Why advisors remain central desp...
E304: Co-CIO of Multi-Asset at Neuberger Berman on Mistakes Smart Investors Make
How should investors think about risk when traditional measures like volatility fall short? David Weisburd speaks with Jeff Blazek about portfolio construction across institutions and family offices, why drawdown matters more than standard deviation, and how allocators should balance public and private markets. Jeff shares first-principles thinking on liquidity, behavioral risk, and building resilient portfolios across market cycles. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Key differences between managing large institutions and smaller endowments Why drawdown is a more meaningful risk metric than volatility First principles for building an endowment-style portfolio The behavioral risks of over-allocating to private markets How liquidity enables rebalancing during...
E304: Neuberger Berman Co-CIO on Mistakes Smart Investors Make
How should investors think about risk when traditional measures like volatility fall short? David Weisburd speaks with Jeff Blazek about portfolio construction across institutions and family offices, why drawdown matters more than standard deviation, and how allocators should balance public and private markets. Jeff shares first-principles thinking on liquidity, behavioral risk, and building resilient portfolios across market cycles. <h3>Highlights:</h3> Key differences between managing large institutions and smaller endowments Why drawdown is a more meaningful risk metric than volatility First principles for building an endowment-style portfolio The behavioral risks of over-allocating to private markets How liquidity enables rebalancing during...
