Episode 2023: How the AI "bubble" isn't really a bubble and why Keith Teare might be emigrating to China
Is there such a thing as an economic bubble? Not according to That Was The Week author Keith Teare who argues that all bubbles reflect innovation and promise (even if you lose your shirt by investing in tulips or dotcoms). While Keith still doesn’t seem to have met a bubble he wouldn’t invest in, his argument probably does make sense for the current “AI bubble” which many skeptics today are writing off as just more irrationally exuberant techno-babble. For all his critique of techno-pessimism, Keith himself sounded pessimistic this week about the future of innovation, arguing that it’s China now, rather than America, that captures the really disruptive spirit of Silicon Valley.
Keith Teare is a Founder and CEO at SignalRank Corporation. Previously he was Executive Chairman at Accelerated Digital Ventures Ltd - A UK-based global investment company focused on startups at all stages. He was also previously the founder at the Palo Alto incubator, Archimedes Labs. Archimedes was the original incubator for TechCrunch and since 2011 has invested, accelerated or incubated many Silicon Valley startups including Around (sold to Miro), Millicast (Sold to Dolby), InFarm, Miles, Quixey; M.dot (sold to GoDaddy); chat.center; Loop Surveys; DownTown and Sunshine. Teare has a track record as a serial entrepreneur with big ideas and has achieved significant returns for investors.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Episode 2477: How Daniel Oppenheimer Learned That the Problem in his Marriage Was Himself
Episode 2476: William Deresiewicz on American Boys & Men
Episode 2475: Gregory Walton on how to achieve BIG change with small acts
Episode 2474: What Thomas Mann can teach America about how to save its democracy
Episode 2473: Is Europe about to become the World's 3rd Tech Superpower?
Episode 2472: Clay Risen on Joe McCarthy, Donald Trump and the Paranoid Style of American History
Episode 2471: Dan Brooks reveals the MAGA aesthetic
Episode 2470: Andrew Keen on the current state of American journalism
Episode 2469: Daryl Davis on His Life with the Klu Klux Klan
Episode 2468: David Masciotra on Trump's ravenous bigotry toward the trans community
Episode 2467: Will AI kill Apple?
Episode 2466: Sarah Vowell tells the Untold Story of Public Service
Episode 2464: Marc Dunkelman on Why Nothing Works