The Data Minute
Join Carta's Head of Insights, Peter Walker, as he breaks down the data that's fueling today's most fascinating trends in startups, VC, and the private market ecosystem.
Featuring guests from across the venture industry — from founders to investors, and everyone in between — each new Data Minute is a bite-sized breakdown of the metrics, patterns, and important insights you need to navigate the ever-changing world of startups.
Episodes
38 episodes
The Venture Debt Masterclass | Marshall Hawks, Author, Venture Debt Deals
There is a long-standing stigma in venture capital that debt is a "company killer." This week on The Data Minute, Peter Walker sits down with Marshall Hawks, former SVB expert and author of “Venture Debt Deals,” to debunk the myths and explain ...
Live from Chase Center: The Future of Private Markets | Salil Deshpande, Amit Patel, Vignesh Ravikumar, & Corey Goodman
Live from the Chase Center in San Francisco, Peter gathers four leading venture investors to discuss the shifting landscape of private markets. This special episode features Salil Deshpande (Uncorrelated Ventures), Amit Patel (Owl Ventures), Vi...
Is "2 and 20" Still the Standard? | Hamza Shad, Carta Insights Team
In this special deep dive episode, Peter is joined by his Carta Insights colleague Hamza Shad to unpack the operational reality of running a venture fund. They leave behind portfolio performance metrics to focus entirely on the business of the ...
Why VCs Should Be Pirates | Arian Ghashghai, Founding Partner, Earthling VC
This week on The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Arian Ghashghai, Founding Partner at Earthling VC, to discuss his thesis of investing in "weird stuff early."Arian explains why he bets on robotic oyster farms, virtual reality, and ocea...
2026 Market Outlook | Ashley Neville, Carta Insights Team
Welcome to 2026. In this special New Year’s episode of The Data Minute, Peter sits down with his colleague Ashley Neville from Carta’s Insights Team to dissect the data that defined 2025 and forecast the trends shaping the year ahead.Ash...
The AI-First VC | Ben Orthlieb, Founding Partner, Blue Moon VC
This week on The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Ben Orthlieb, Founding Partner at Blue Moon VC, for a look under the hood of a firm that has completely re-engineered the venture capital process using AI.Ben explains how Blue Moon uses...
The Solo Founder Era | Julian Weisser, Co-founder, ODF & solofounders.com
Is the "co-founder mandate" dead? This week on The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Julian Weisser, co-founder of ODF and solofounders.com, to unpack the data behind a massive shift in the startup ecosystem: solo founders now make up over a th...
Don’t Sleep on Seattle Startups | Vivek Ladsariya (Managing Director, Pioneer Square Labs)
This week on The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Vivek Ladsariya, Managing Director at Pioneer Square Labs, for a deep dive into the Seattle startup ecosystem and the evolving world of venture studios.Vivek breaks down why Seattle has...
The Great VC Concentration
In another special solo episode, Peter Walker dives deep into Carta's Q2 Fund Performance Report to unpack the data on what's really happening inside venture capital today.Peter walks through the critical benchmarks every GP and LP needs...
Supernova & Shooting Star: The New AI Benchmarks | Janelle Teng (Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners)
In this special live episode of The Data Minute, recorded in San Francisco, Peter is joined by Janelle Teng from Bessemer Venture Partners for a data-driven look at the state of AI fundraising.Peter and Janelle walk through the data on e...
A Founder’s Guide to AI Funding
In another special solo episode, host Peter Walker tackles the most requested topic on The Data Minute: AI funding and valuations. Using data from Carta and Bessemer Venture Partners, Peter unpacks what’s really happening inside the AI boom.
The Automated VC | Yohei Nakajima, Founding Partner, Untapped VC
This week, Peter is joined by Yohei Nakajima, founding partner of Untapped VC and one of the most forward-thinking investors in the AI space. Known for his public experiments with AI agents and automations, Yohei shares his radically different ...
One In, One Out: A Look at Startup Hiring
In this special solo episode of The Data Minute, host Peter Walker dives into the data from Carta's latest research on the state of startup hiring. With hiring down month-over-month since 2021, Peter unpacks the trends that every founder, opera...
The Future of VC-Backed Fintech | Drew Glover, Founder and Managing Partner, Fiat Ventures and Fiat Growth
On this episode of The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Drew Glover, founder and managing partner at Fiat Ventures and Fiat Growth, for a wide-ranging conversation on what’s next in fintech and what founders actually want from their investors....
What it Really Takes to IPO | Dave Chen, Co-Head of Global Technology Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley
In this special episode of The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Dave Chen, Co-Head of Global Technology Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, for a tactical deep dive on how today’s founders should think about going public.Dave shares ...
How PE Funds Really Get Started | Stephanie Srulowitz (Co-Head of U.S. Private Funds at Weil, Gotshal & Manges)
What does it really take to spin out and start your own private equity firm?Stephanie Srulowitz, co-head of U.S. private funds at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, joins The Data Minute to break it all down. From legal structure to fundraising st...
How LPs Think: Taste, Timing, and Saying No With Style | David Zhou (Head of Investor Relations, Alchemist Accelerator)
This week on The Data Minute, Peter sits down with David Zhou, Head of Investor Relations at Alchemist Accelerator and the host of Superclusters, for a deep dive into how LPs choose, and say no to, emerging managers.David shares what hu...
AI, LPs, and the New Era of Venture | Lu Zhang (Founder & Managing Partner, Fusion Fund)
Lu Zhang Managing Partner of Fusion Fund joins Peter this week to talk about what it takes to scale an early-stage venture firm—and back game-changing companies—at the speed of today’s AI boom.Fresh off her oversubscribed $190M Fund IV ...
Liquidity, LPs, and the Long Game | Beezer Clarkson (Partner, Sapphire Ventures)
In this episode of The Data Minute, Peter is joined by Beezer Clarkson, Partner at Sapphire Ventures and co-host of the acclaimed Origins podcast, for a candid, rapid-fire look inside the minds of LPs, the realities of fundraising, and why vent...
Backing Founders From Day Zero | Ed Sim (Founding Partner, Boldstart Ventures)
What does it mean to be a “day one partner” for founders—and how does that change in an era of AI-driven acceleration?On this episode of The Data Minute, Peter sits down with Ed Sim, founding partner of Boldstart Ventures and the voice ...
Innovation Meets the Real Estate Industry | Liza Benson (Partner, Moderne Ventures)
In this episode of The Data Minute, Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) sits down with Liza Benson, Partner at Moderne Ventures, to discuss investing in real-world industries and Moderne’s unique LP-driven approach. They discuss th...
The Future of Venture in an AI World | Brianne Kimmel (Founder and Managing Partner, Worklife Ventures)
In this episode of The Data Minute, Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) sits down with Brianne Kimmel, founder and managing partner at Worklife Ventures, to explore what it really takes to build enduring companies in today’s AI-first start...
The Future of Fund Forecasting | Anubhav Srivastava (Founder, Tactyc)
Welcome to a very special episode of The Data Minute. For the first time, Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) is joined by an actual Founder and CEO, Anubhav Srivastava whose company Tactyc.io is now a part of the Carta family! Join them f...
The Hidden Value of the VC CFO | Marie Drez (Venture Capital CFO)
In this week’s episode of The Data Minute, Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) and Marie Drez (Venture Capital CFO) sit down for an insightful conversation on the crucial role of fund CFOs and how emerging managers can find one. Th...
How has the founders market changed? | Aditi Maliwal (Partner, Upfront Ventures)
In this episode of The Data Minute, Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) and Aditi Maliwal (Partner, Upfront Ventures) have an in-depth conversation regarding the seed and Series A market. They discuss seed stage dynamics across the U.S. pl...