The end of Venture Capital? (VC Roundtable) | E2285

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  May 06, 2026 at 23:17  |  1:22:55  |  This Week in Startups

Summary

Venture capital is bifurcating into consensus VC and traditional VC, with implications for founders and LPs. AI compute costs remain high, energy is a bottleneck, and defense tech is booming. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is emerging as a key financing venue for non-consensus companies.

  • Top US venture firms captured 73% of LP commits in Q1, signaling extreme concentration.
  • Michael Eisenberg argues VC as a craft business may be ending due to capital engorgement.
  • Larry Covert divides VC into Consensus VC and Traditional VC.
  • AI companies have lower gross margins due to token/compute costs.
  • Energy constraints are a limiting factor for AI and data centers.
  • Defense tech and dual-use companies are attracting more investment.
  • The global supply chain is shifting to allied sovereign supply chains.
  • Michael Eisenberg is bullish on Intel and Apple, and sees Tel Aviv Stock Exchange as the next NASDAQ.
Trade Ideas
Intel making incredible comeback.
Intel is making a remarkable comeback due to the extreme difficulty of chip design and manufacturing, and its stock has been the best performer globally over the last six months. This demonstrates that Intel's turnaround is real and the moat in semiconductors is very hard to overcome.
Bullish on Apple for edge AI.
Apple is very well positioned because its M-series chips are among the best consumer CPUs available, making it the prime beneficiary of edge AI. As AI models become smaller and run on devices, Apple's hardware advantage and control of the personal data on the edge give it a strong competitive edge.
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is next NASDAQ.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange will become the NASDAQ of the current decade. It has already outperformed every other index over the last year, and as global supply chains realign toward allied sovereign supply chains, Israeli companies and other non-consensus ventures will need a financing venue that does not require the massive thresholds of US exchanges. The TASE is positioned to absorb and list these companies, driving its long-term growth.
Up Next

This This Week in Startups video, published May 06, 2026, features Michael Eisenberg discussing INTC, AAPL, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. 3 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Michael Eisenberg  · Tickers: INTC, AAPL, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange