What if the best way to win a deal isn't a faster term sheet, but a five-year head start on the relationship? That's the premise behind how Kyle Harrison and Contrary source and back founders.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn:

• 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

• 01:14 Contrary People Network

• 04:27 Research and Writing Flywheel

• 08:28 AI Tools and Thinking

• 11:58 Big Funds and Capital Cycles

• 20:01 Inside The Anduril Thesis

• 24:25 LPs and Defense Investing

• 27:49 Defense Bubble Psychology

• 33:52 Markets Kyle Excited About

• 38:14 Closing Thanks

In this episode...

Kyle, General Partner at Contrary, breaks down the firm's people-centric sourcing model, building relationships with future founders years before they raise capital, and how that approach put Contrary inside Ramp, Anduril, Basepower, and Hallow well before those bets were obvious. He also lays out his framework for today's fundraising environment: the "unholy trinity" of yield-seeking LPs, capital agglomerators, and capital-absorbing startups.

Kyle and Sam also get into the three-year research project behind his book, The Anduril Thesis, what a century of military-industrial history teaches about underwriting founders like Palmer Luckey, and how he uses Claude and Claude Code without letting AI replace his own thinking. They close on where Contrary is investing today, from software moats like Carta Health to physical-world bets like American Housing Corporation.

Episode Host: Alpha Partners

This episode is brought to you by Alpha Partners, an NYC-based growth equity firm managing $300 million. Alpha co-invests in top-tier growth equity companies led by the world's best investors. We focus on scaling and late-stage tech investment opportunities primarily in the essential technology sector, including e-commerce, enterprise software, fintech, edtech, and health IT. To learn how we can help you with your funding goals, visit https://www.alphapartners.com, or email us at vc@alphapartners.com.

What does it take to identify a multi-decade investment category before the rest of venture capital even considers it viable? Julian Counihan launched Schematic Ventures in 2017 to back Physical AI and supply chain technology when the space was widely considered uninvestable — and spent the years since building factory-floor relationships and writing first checks in companies like Altana, Flock Freight, Harbinger, and Platform Science.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn:

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:41 Origin of Schematic Thesis

02:03 Moving to San Francisco

03:40 First Checks in Supply Chain

05:13 Vibe Coding and AI Agents

09:58 Fund Three Edge in Physical AI

13:36 Hardware Software Investment Mix

14:31 Tourists and New Capital

16:24 Capex and Financing Reality

18:50 Valuations and Cycle Discipline

20:41 Humanoid Robots Reality Check

22:47 SpaceX and Liquidity Thoughts

24:18 Next Magic Moments in AI

27:47 Model Costs and Subsidies

28:59 Closing Thanks and Wrap

In this episode...

Brian and Julian trace the early conviction behind fund one — from Altana's supply chain data disruption to Harbinger's Class 6 electric truck. They discuss what separates fundable capital-intensive businesses from those that aren't, how Julian counsels founders through peak-cycle valuations, and the edge that two decades of factory visits and industry relationships buys you when generalist investors flood your category.

The episode also covers Julian's daily use of AI coding agents, why the magic comes from the harness around the model rather than the model itself, and a grounded take on where humanoid robotics actually stands today.

Episode Host: Alpha PartnersThis episode is brought to you by Alpha Partners, an NYC-based growth equity firm managing $300 million. Alpha co-invests in top-tier growth equity companies led by the world's best investors. We focus on scaling and late-stage tech investment opportunities primarily in the essential technology sector, including e-commerce, enterprise software, fintech, edtech, and health IT. To learn how we can help you with your funding goals, visit https://www.alphapartners.com, or email us at vc@alphapartners.com.

What does it take to generate consistent growth equity returns in one of the most regulated industries in the world? Ben Cukier, Partner and Co-Founder of Centana Growth Partners, has spent over 25 years doing exactly that, investing exclusively in the financial services ecosystem and backing the companies that are quietly transforming it.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn:

• 00:00 Welcome and Ben Intro

• 01:41 Regulation Over AI

• 02:24 Moats and Compliance

• 04:44 KYC and Sanctions Example

• 05:39 Portfolio Spotlight: Sayari Labs

• 06:20 ZestyAI InsurTech Pivot

• 07:40 Wildfire Model and 50-State Filings

• 10:07 Israel and the Fintech Ecosystem

• 10:56 Founder Pitch and Unit Economics

• 12:57 Growth Stage and Fund III

• 14:48 How Centana Makes Decisions

• 18:09 Career Lessons and Trusting People

• 21:05 Biggest Miss: Passing on PayPal

• 22:21 Fintech Market Size and the 2021 Vintage

• 23:35 Five-Year Outlook and AI Adoption

• 27:39 Closing and Next Steps

In this episode,

Steve Brotman speaks with Ben Cukier about why regulation in financial services is not a headwind but a durable competitive moat. Ben walks through how every company Centana backs must be regulation-aware, citing KYC, sanctions compliance, and beneficial ownership identification as examples of where fintech creates real enterprise value. He dives into portfolio companies Sayari Labs and ZestyAI, and explains how the latter pivoted from solar lead generation into one of the most sophisticated AI-powered property underwriting platforms in the insurance industry.

Ben also shares how Centana evaluates unit economics and what growth-stage really means to them, the firm's inclusive investment committee process, and why he believes the big banks and insurers will remain dominant while their service providers undergo radical transformation. He reflects on passing on PayPal, the 2021 valuation bubble, and why he still believes the SaaS apocalypse narrative is both real and overblown at the same time.