James Hardiman is a General Partner at DCVC (Data Collective), a deep tech venture capital firm that's backed companies across AI, quantum computing, robotics, and applied science since 2010. A physicist by training with a stint at Blackstone before joining DCVC, James joined Affinity to walk through some of the biggest questions in deep tech investing today.

Inside this conversation:

— James traces his path from engineering physics at Berkeley through Blackstone to General Partner at DCVC, then digs into whether "atoms" (hardware, energy, biology) are finally outperforming "bits" (software) for venture returns.
— He makes the case for uranium over Nvidia chips as the scarcer resource for AI by 2030, breaks down DCVC's bet on Quantum Motion and silicon-based qubits, and explains how Noetik's AI is turning biotech into something closer to a predictable licensing business.
— James also compares the private equity and venture capital mindsets, describes the one reference check he values most when evaluating a founder, and closes with a lightning round covering the Series A crunch, remote work for hardware companies, and the biggest mistake he sees GPs making in AI right now.

If you invest in deep tech, or want to see where smart money is placing its bets, this one's worth your time.

The Cap Table is a podcast by Affinity.

🔗 Affinity: https://buff.ly/11jDF7y
🔗 DCVC: https://www.dcvc.com/
🔗 Follow DCVC: https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-collective/
🔗 Connect with James Hardiman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardimanjames/

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YouTube: @affinity_presents
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-affinity/

• (00:00) - Introduction, from engineering physics to DCVC's mission
• (01:47) - Atoms vs. bits and where physical bottlenecks are reshaping venture
• (02:59) - The energy wall and AI's electricity problem
• (03:39) - The SaaS-ification of biology and the Noetik/GSK deal
• (05:16) - Quantum on the factory floor and the bet on silicon qubits
• (06:40) - The PE vs. VC mindset
• (07:39) - The infrastructure hand-off from venture bet to PE-ready asset
• (08:36) - Data vs. conviction in early-stage investing
• (09:26) - The investing miss that shaped how James picks founders
• (10:21) - The one data point James values most in a founder
• (10:48) - A habit from Blackstone he refuses to give up
• (11:29) - Lightning round: Nvidia vs. uranium, quantum, and the biggest AI mistake

In this episode of The Cap Table, Melissa and Madeline join Affinity to talk through what "platform" actually means at a VC firm in 2026 and why it's become one of a firm’s biggest differentiators.

Inside this conversation

 — Melissa and Madeline walk through their paths into venture platform work and March Capital's focus on frontier technology companies at the leading edge of the AI revolution. What does a roughly $1.65 billion, 30-company portfolio look like day to day?

— They get into how the firm cuts through the noise of VC-led content with authenticity over hot takes, and how tools like Claude, Claude Cowork, and the Affinity MCP have changed their daily workflow.

— They discuss the Montgomery Summit, March Capital's flagship event, and its long-tail ROI, including a story of how a 2005 pitch from a then-lesser-known founder turned into a $66 million investment in CrowdStrike that returned roughly 75x.

— They cover March's team-based investment philosophy, how they build LP trust through transparency, and why they track OKRs instead of vanity metrics.

— Finally, they close with a lightning round on events versus newsletters, LinkedIn versus X, and whether AI-generated content is a time-saver or a brand killer.

If you work in venture platform, marketing, or LP relations, or are just interested in the venture capital space, this one's worth your time.

The Cap Table is a podcast by Affinity.

🔗 Affinity: https://buff.ly/11jDF7y

🔗 March Capital: https://www.marchcp.com/

🔗 Follow March Capital: https://www.linkedin.com/company/march-capital-partners/
🔗 Follow Melissa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamontan/
🔗 Follow Madeline: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mp-madeline-pope/

Follow Affinity on YouTube: @affinity_presents

YouTube (product): @affinity_co

Instagram: @affinity.hq

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-affinity/

• (00:00) - Cold open
• (00:20) - Melissa and Madeline's backgrounds, and March Capital's mission
• (06:23) - A day in the life of March's platform team
• (10:56) - Signal vs. noise: cutting through VC content
• (13:34) - AI in the marketing stack: Claude, Claude Cowork, and the Affinity MCP
• (16:01) - The Montgomery Summit's ROI and the CrowdStrike origin story
• (19:39) - Investing as a team
• (21:14) - LP trust and the brand of a durable firm
• (23:56) - Measuring platform success beyond vanity metrics
• (26:22) - A marketing trend that stopped being a gimmick
• (28:21) - Lessons from Clocktower and M13
• (29:39) - Building a seamless web of trust
• (32:14) - Lightning round
• (33:26) - Close

Jason Saltzman runs insights at CB Insights, where he turns data on millions of private companies into a read on where the market is really going. In this pilot episode of The Cap Table, Sam Andersen, partner at Element Ventures, brings him on to answer the questions nobody has clean answers to.

They dive into the K-shaped venture economy, why private companies now collectively outvalue every top IPO in history, what specifically broke in 2021, and why 53% of unicorns from that era are already worse off. They also discuss behavioral data from Affinity pulled from hundreds of private equity companies over the last two years. It turns out, the most efficient firms scaled email outreach 12x while the least efficient sent 5x more emails and got fewer results.

The data proves it: Relationships beat volume every time, upholding a near-universal truth in private capital.

Finally, they close on this: Does the 2026 AI vintage end up looking like 2021? Both say no. The reasoning is worth hearing.

The Cap Table is a podcast by Affinity.

🔗 Affinity: https://www.affinity.co
🔗 CB Insights: https://www.cbinsights.com
Connect with Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-salt
Connect with Sam:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/samander/

Follow Affinity YouTube: ‪‪@affinity_presents‬
YouTube (product): ‪‪@affinity_co‬
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/project-affinity/

• (00:00) - Introductions
• (00:12) - Does the AI deal market of today feel like 2021 right now?
• (08:37) - How do you (as an investor) re-center founders as a source of investment value in 2026?
• (10:51) - Are the largest firms behaving fundamentally differently on AI deals than everyone else?
• (13:03) - Are large traditional venture capital funds beginning to behave more like growth funds?
• (17:25) - Are growth funds buying secondary from seed funds within the same corporate umbrella?
• (19:20) - Are founders pitching differently knowing firms are moving faster?
• (21:16) - Is category crowding part of the explanation for firm inefficiency?
• (29:54) - What actually broke in 2021 beyond high valuations?
• (35:24) - Are "zombie unicorns"actually closing their doors?
• (40:08) - What is actually differentiated right now versus what's vibe codeable?
• (47:08) - Half of firms worked harder and got worse results; what separates the two halves?
• (52:03) - How would a GP know if they were being overtaken by more efficient firms?
• (57:41) - Are firms moving faster on AI because of conviction or 2021 FOMO?
• (01:01:20) - How do you underwrite AI without 2021 logic?
• (01:06:20) - Are the best AI investors scaling outreach or just taking more meetings?
• (01:11:18) - Does the email outreach conversion efficiency gap become a return predictor?
• (01:16:32) - Does the 2026 AI vintage of companies look like 2021?