November 12, 2025· 48 min

Jerry Neumann on the Problem With Investing in AI Right Now

Orality
Model
50%

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,578 words)
M:29%
HostJoe Weisenthal(3,242 words)
M:29%
GuestJerry Neumann(5,227 words)
M:29%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic32%
literally, completely, massive
Engagement77%
you, our, your
Memory Aids100%
listen, now, like
Repetition100%
like (137x), think (106x), right (106x)
Parallelism53%
And I'm Tracy Alloway...., But you kind of have to decide..., Or downstream?...
Sound Patterns100%
181 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"
Formulaic Phrases3%
you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging6%
may, probably, might
Passive Voice5%
were excited, are excited, being treated
Abstract Nouns12%
investment, recommendation, business
Subordination7%
because, since, though
Sentence Length21%
Avg: 10.4 words/sentence
Word Complexity47%
investment, analyze, anticipate
Academic Markers0%
Impersonal Style23%
936 personal pronouns found
Descriptive Style91%
literally, completely, apply

Description

AI has made a lot of people fabulously wealthy. But sorry, it's probably not going to be the thing that makes you rich. And if history is any guide, we don't even know who the real AI winners are going to be. That's the thesis from longtime Venture Capitalist (now retired) Jerry Neumann. Earlier this year, Neumann published an article, "AI Will Not Make You Rich," putting the AI boom in the context of previous technological revolutions, such as the shipping container. He points out that a lot of the companies that were early to shipping containers didn't make much money, and that the real winners were the new businesses that emerged later and took advantage of the shipping container to build new business models (think about the likes of Walmart or Target). In this conversation, we talk about why it's so hard to invest in technological revolutions, where we are in the cycle, why he's getting out of VC, and when the big opportunities will eventually emerge. Read more: SoftBank Sells Nvidia Stake for $5.8 Billion to Fund AI Bets AI’s $5 Trillion Cost Needs Every Debt Market, JPMorgan Says Only Bloomberg - Business News, Stock Markets, Finance, Breaking & World News subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at  bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots Join the conversation: discord.gg/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.