Are Machines Already Conscious? What Founders Need to Know About the Future of Intelligence

Why Cheap Energy Is the Foundation of Human Prosperity

What do synthetic neurobiology, an alcohol company sold out of a car, the Department of Energy, and a pesticide-killing RNA startup have in common? They're all stops on Nico Enriquez's path to becoming one of the most interesting VCs in deep tech. As a Principal at Future Ventures, the fund behind SpaceX, Tesla, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Nico backs founders solving the world's biggest problems with genuine technological breakthroughs. In this conversation with Ravi Belani, Chairman and Founder of Alchemist, he shares what that actually looks like in practice, why cheap energy is the foundation of everything, and why the most inspiring founder he knows spent 17 years building something nobody thought was possible. If you care about where the world is headed and who's funding the people trying to fix it, this one is for you. New episodes drop regularly. Follow the show so you never miss a chat.

The Quantum Moment Is Coming: Here's What Founders Need to Know Before It Does.

Everyone is talking about quantum computing. Almost nobody actually understands it. Tommaso Demarie is going to change that. Tommaso is the Co-Founder and CEO of Entropica Labs, a company building the error correction infrastructure that sits at the very heart of making quantum computing actually work. He has a PhD in quantum information systems, nearly two decades in the field, and the rare ability to explain one of the most complex technologies in the world in a way that clicks. In this episode, Ravi Belani, Chairman and Founder of Alchemist (formerly CEO), sits down with Tommaso for a conversation that starts with the basics and ends somewhere you didn't expect. They get into: - What quantum computing actually is, explained in a way that finally makes sense. - Why some of the world's top researchers still don't believe it will ever be useful. - The 1940s computer parallel: why the killer app for quantum hasn't shown up yet, and why that's completely normal. - Whether quantum has its own version of Moore's Law (it does, and it's moving faster). - Why quantum error correction is the single biggest roadblock between where we are and where we need to be. - The "fault-tolerant chasm": what it is, why it matters, and what Entropica is doing to cross it. - Where the real opportunities are for founders building in quantum right now. - Why governments are still the primary buyers, and what that tells us about where the market is headed. - Why Tommaso is an optimist even when people push back on the dystopian case. Rigetti Computing went through Alchemist over a decade ago. It's now a multibillion dollar public company. Entropica might be next. This conversation is worth paying attention to. 🔔 Subscribe for more Alchemist Influencer Series episodes 🌐 Learn more at alchemistaccelerator.com

Are Machines Already Conscious? What Founders Need to Know About the Future of Intelligence

What if everything you think you know about consciousness is wrong? And what if the machines we're building right now are about to prove it? Joscha Bach is the Executive Director of the California Institute for Machine Consciousness, and he might be the most interesting thinker you haven't heard of yet. With a master's in computer science and a PhD in cognitive science, and stints at MIT Media Lab and Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Joscha has spent his career asking the questions most researchers are too cautious to touch. Like whether machines can be conscious. Whether they already are. And whether that should terrify us or excite us. In this episode, Ravi Belani, CEO and Founder of Alchemist Accelerator, sits down with Joscha for one of the most mind-bending conversations we've ever had on this show. They get into: * What consciousness actually is, and why most definitions get it wrong * Why coherence, not complexity, might be the key to understanding awareness * Free will: is it real, and does it mean what we think it means? * Whether today's LLMs are conscious, and how we'd even know if they were * Why machine consciousness shouldn't scare us, and why the alternative is far more depressing * The difference between a silicon golem that controls us and a substrate that genuinely carries life forward * Why Joscha thinks we're living on the deck of the Titanic, and why that's not actually a bad thing * Universal basic intelligence: why it might matter more than universal basic income * His six-word closing thought that will genuinely stay with you This is not a typical tech conversation. It's a philosophy lecture, a science discussion, and an existential gut check, all in under 25 minutes. 🔔 Subscribe for more Alchemist Influencer Series episodes 🌐 Learn more at alchemistaccelerator.com

Why Most Hard Tech Founders Fail to Get Funded And How to Not Be One of Them

Hard tech is hard. Funding hard tech is even harder. Andrew Haughian has the answer, and it's not what you think. Andrew is a Partner at Pangaea Ventures, a hard tech focused VC fund with nearly 30 CVCs as limited partners. He's an engineer turned investor who has spent years sitting at the intersection of corporate innovation and early stage hard tech, working closely with companies like Aspect Biosystems, CarbonCure Technologies, Prime Roots, and others navigating the long, complex road from lab to market. In this episode, Ravi Belani, CEO and Founder of Alchemist Accelerator, digs into the playbook that separates fundable hard tech companies from glorified research projects, and why CVCs are more critical to hard tech than almost any other sector. They get into: * Why hard tech founders absolutely need CVCs, and how to build those relationships the right way * The real timeline for landing a CVC investment (hint: it's not months, it's years) * How one founder is closing a CVC-led Series A, and exactly what they did differently * What POs, LOIs, and MOUs actually signal to investors, and which ones are worth the paper they're written on * The "option value trap": why customer enthusiasm doesn't always mean skin in the game * How to go from 1 customer to 10 to 100, and what great founders know about that path that others don't * Why CVCs keep churning talent, and what the best ones are doing to fix it * The singles and doubles strategy for new CVCs trying to prove their value internally This one is for hard tech founders, CVC leaders, and anyone trying to understand how corporate innovation actually works from the inside out. 🔔 Subscribe for more Alchemist Influencer Series episodes 🌐 Learn more at alchemistaccelerator.com

Why Smart Founders Are Taking CVC Money (And Most VCs Won't Tell You That).

Most VCs will tell you to stay away from Corporate Venture Capital. Angelo Del Priore is here to tell you why they're wrong. Angelo is the Founding Managing Director of HP Tech Ventures, one of the most active CVCs in the game. He's led and followed investments in AI, edge compute, and the future of work, and he's sat on boards alongside companies that have exited to Google, Oracle, and Unity. Before all of that, he consulted for Apple, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, and Sony, so he's seen this world from every angle. In this episode, Ravi Belani, CEO and Founder of Alchemist Accelerator, pushes back hard, and Angelo pushes back harder. They get into: Why CVC money can actually be smarter money than a traditional fund The no-BS truth about when CVCs follow vs. when they lead How having HP, Intel, or Samsung on your cap table signals something no pitch deck can Why CVCs rarely take board seats, and why that's a bigger deal than founders realize The one mistake founders make that wastes everyone's time (free pilots) How great founders actually use their CVC investors vs. how most founders ghost them The pre-seed warning: why bringing in a CVC too early can quietly kill you This is not a CVC sales pitch. It's a real, honest debate between two people who've been on both sides of the table, and it'll change how you think about building your cap table. 🔔 Subscribe for more Alchemist Influencer Series episodes 🌐 Learn more at alchemistaccelerator.com