Who are the billboards for?

Who are the billboards for?

You can’t turn around in San Francisco without seeing a startup billboard…or five. We share some of our favorite marketing stunts of all time, and talk about why startup-branded shuttles and cafes are all the rage in our current era. Plus: more SpaceX S-1 talk (we can’t get enough), with Anthropic’s confidential filing close on its heels. It’s going to be a fun few months in the group chat. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

AI services, so hot right now

The AI labs’ ARR charts only go up and to the right, but actual diffusion through the Fortune 500? Way messier. This week, Jaclyn Rice Nelson, co-founder and CEO of Tribe AI (and Ashley's partner at Coalition), joins the chat to explain why OpenAI and Anthropic each stood up their own deployment companies. We discuss why the big consultancies can’t get the job done, and why "change management" is the wrong frame for what's actually a from-scratch refactor of how enterprises work. Plus: SpaceX's $1.75T turducken IPO, and a meh Google I/O may have just made the case for moving beyond conference-driven product launches. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

Dear Graduates: we’re sorry about the Schmidt speech

Eric Schmidt delivered a pitch for AI to the University of Arizona graduating class—and the audience was not having it. We break down the nuance behind those boos, and grapple with the reality that no tech leader could have delivered a rousing AI speech in this moment. On the bright side, Schmidt sent us down a fun rabbit hole, reviewing some of the best commencement speeches in recent history (RIP Steve Jobs). Plus: the most boring possible verdict in the Musk v. Altman showdown, the tweet about the SF wealth gap that broke our group chats, and the doomsday vibes at Meta. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

What does it mean to be mission-driven in 2026?

We’ve come a long way from the idealistic startup missions of the 2000s and 2010s. Today’s mission statements (when they exist) are more adversarial and more capitalist. Did we lose something, or are we just being honest? Plus: secondary sales exacerbate the already crazy SF housing market, and blaming AI isn’t landing as well for the latest wave of tech layoffs. Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/

The hills we’ll die on

In this era of hot takes loosely held, we each reveal the hills we’re willing to die on. Helen defends advertising as the perfect business model, Angela says the maths never really math (so throw out your spreadsheets), and Ashley insists you only lose when you try to play someone else’s game. Plus: the Anthropic narrative shift, everyone loves Bret Taylor, and so long Tim Apple (hello Johnny Appleseed?). Mercury is back as the headline sponsor for year two of Great Chat. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. This podcast is edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]