Carta’s CMO Reveals What’s Really Happening to Startups
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How is venture funding changing for AI-native startups?
About half of all venture funding is going to AI native startups now. So that means like the world of everything else, which used to be 100% of the world, is now 50% of the world. We've seen 10% more solo founders than we had five years ago. And while that doesn't seem like a huge number, it's actually like a fairly seismic change. And that is entirely because of AI. deal count is down. It's at a six year low. So the number of companies that are getting funding is significantly down. But the amount of funding that's going to sort of the chosen companies is incredibly high. The number of companies that are getting to a billion dollars in revenue startups in two or three years versus that's starting to become more of a norm as opposed to it being seven to ten years.
What trends are emerging with solo founders in the startup landscape?
AI slop, it might seem like it's at the moment, you know, gets attention, but it's actually quite brand destructive.
So over the past decade, the startup story has felt very familiar. Build fast, raise often, hire aggressively, and assume the next round or the IPO is right around the corner. But the data now says that era may be over. Welcome, humans, to the Neuron AI Explained. I'm Corey Knowles here, as always, with Grant Harvey. How are you today, man?
Doing good. Doing good. Excited for this one. One of the reasons I'm excited is because we're talking to Carta. And Carta is one of those really interesting companies I've known a lot about for a while. And it's been really cool to see their rise to the moment where they're at now. In fact, according to them, some interesting data at our last look at it, we'll see what our guest has to say about this. But startup seed deals are actually down 39% from their 2022 peak. But here's what's wild about that. The total dollars invested stayed roughly the same. So that means bigger checks are going to fewer companies. Nicole Baer is the chief marketing officer at Carta, where she leads brand, demand, and go-to-market across Carta's platform for companies, venture funds, and private capital.
Carta manages equity for tens of thousands of startups and thousands of venture funds, giving it one of the most comprehensive views into how the private market is actually behaving, or not just how people think it's behaving.
Nicole, welcome to The Neuron. Yes. Thank you. So nice to be here.
How is the timeline for startups to reach billion-dollar valuations evolving?
Excellent. It's good to have you. We're excited about this chat.
Me too. So, Nicole, before we jump into the data, could you just give our listeners a quick background on you and what Carta does, as well as how you started at the company?
Yeah, so hello, Nicole Baer. I've been in this marketing game for about 25 years, almost exclusively in tech. Never really wanted to be anywhere else. I've held leadership roles at Logitech, Zendesk, Aon Hewitt, now Carta. I'm also a two-time founder of marketing advisory firm. So I've been sort of on the in-house side of the front as well as the agency side for a few decades now. So everything that's happening in AI is incredibly interesting to me as well.
That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, the last data we saw was the state of the startup 2025 report. And it said that the ecosystem is moving at two speeds. What does that actually mean? And what does the data show now?
Yeah. I think what it's referring to is sort of the non-AI world of startups and the AI world of startups. And about half of all venture funding is going to AI native startups now. So that means like the world of everything else, which used to be 100% of the world, is now 50% of the world. And so it's a very different landscape than it's been in the past.
Yeah.
And really at all stages, whether it's seed all the way up through later stages, we're seeing more fundraising going to AI native companies compared to non-AI companies.
Okay. Well, you know, everyone's talking right now about how AI is really dominating the venture funding space. What are you actually seeing in the numbers? How much capital is flowing to AI companies versus everything else right now?
A lot. A lot. I think to Grant's earlier point, deal count is down.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How is venture funding changing for AI-native startups?
0:00–0:44
2
What trends are emerging with solo founders in the startup landscape?
0:44–2:18
3
How is the timeline for startups to reach billion-dollar valuations evolving?
2:18–7:48
4
What challenges do non-AI companies face in securing funding?
7:48–14:37
5
How is AI impacting marketing strategies for startups?
14:37–29:43
6
What does the current equity landscape look like for early employees?
29:43–44:13
7
How are AI tools transforming the roles of marketers?
44:13–48:24
8
What insights can we gain about the future of startups from this discussion?
48:24–48:46
Speakers
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