Why AI Enterprise Market Velocity Threatens One-Third of the S&P
Steven Rosenblatt details why AI velocity and fortress balance sheets create unprecedented enterprise market cap risks.
What Steve Jobs Taught Me About Great Founders
With David Weisburd, Steven Rosenblatt · Sunday, October 11, 2026
Steven Rosenblatt, General Partner at Oceans, shares leadership and operational lessons from working closely with Steve Jobs following Apple's acquisition of Quattro Wireless. He breaks down how elite founders balance obsessive attention to detail with grand vision, how Apple pre-sold $60 million in mobile ads on a non-existent product, and why Oceans backed semiconductor startup Etched. Rosenblatt and host David Weisburd also discuss how the velocity and balance sheets of the AI revolution differ from the dot-com and mobile eras, alongside the 20-year development of New York's tech ecosystem.
Key takeaways
- The dot-com crash wiped out speculative startups running on venture cash, while the AI cycle is financed by tech incumbents with fortress balance sheets. Read more →
- Steven Rosenblatt observed Steve Jobs pre-sell $60 million in mobile advertising inventory at Apple for a product that did not yet exist, showing how high-conviction narrative requires operational backing. Read more →
- Seed fund Oceans broke two firm rules to back Etched: they do not invest in Series A rounds, and they do not invest in hardware. Read more →
- Apple acquired Quattro Wireless ahead of WWDC 2010, aiming to build a mobile ad network that would generate millions for app developers. Read more →
- Apple acquired mobile advertising network Quattro Wireless in 2009 for approximately $300 million, primarily to secure executive talent rather than its existing software stack. Read more →
5 articles from this episode
Why Venture Capitalists Filter for Founder Magnetism
Steven Rosenblatt and David Weisburd explain how top VCs separate operational ambition from delusion using Ashton Kutcher's founder magnetism rule.
Why Oceans Broke Its Mandate to Back AI Chip Maker Etched
Steven Rosenblatt explains why seed fund Oceans broke its rules against Series A and hardware to back AI chip startup Etched against Nvidia.
Apple Sold $60M of iAd on Vaporware in Six Weeks
How Steve Jobs forced Steven Rosenblatt to sell $10M mobile ad packages with only a slide deck, closing $60M before Apple iAd launched.
Steve Jobs Bought Quattro Wireless for Trust, Not Tech
Steven Rosenblatt reveals how Steve Jobs ran Apple through granular obsession, $60M in pre-sold ads, and complementary operators like Tim Cook.
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