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1. 

   Steve Fischer

   September 12, 2026

   25 Years After 9/11, Former Gov. George Pataki Warns of a Nation Divided

   NEW YORK — A quarter-century after the September 11 terrorist attacks, former New York Governor George Pataki recalled the tragedy that defined his tenure while offering a blunt assessment of American political culture, warning that polarization and institutional failure threaten the nation’s core principles.

   Speaking in an interview ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Pataki recounted the immediate chaos of that morning in 2001. After receiving a call from his daughter alerting him to the first plane striking the World Trade Center, the then-governor initially assumed it was an accident.

   “As soon as the second plane hit, you knew then that this was not an accident,” Pataki said. “This was a calculated attack on New York, on America.”

   Pataki refused recommendations from state police to evacuate lower Manhattan for an underground nuclear-rated command bunker in Albany. Instead, he remained in the city, establishing a unified crisis table with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and federal officials to coordinate emergency operations, deploy the National Guard, and close airspace and river crossings.

   Beyond the logistical response, Pataki recalled personal losses, including the death of Port Authority Executive Director Neil Levin, who was having breakfast atop the World Trade Center.

   “You say there will be a time to mourn, there will be time to be sad about it, but this isn’t the time, because there’s just too much to do,” Pataki said.

   Reflecting on the years since the attacks, Pataki contrasted the post-9/11 solidarity with today’s polarized political landscape. The author of the 2020 book Beyond the Great Divide, Pataki questioned whether the societal fracturing that followed represents an ideological setback for the country.

   “Abraham Lincoln said a house divided against itself cannot survive,” Pataki noted. “And we are a house divided against ourselves right now.”

   Pataki leveled sharp criticism across the political spectrum:

   • Radicalization and Political Correctness: Pataki voiced alarm over rhetoric sympathizing with anti-American or extremist ideologies, expressing concern that educational and media institutions have grown hesitant to confront radical movements out of a desire to avoid offending critics.
   • The Rise of Conspiracies: He pushed back against persistent 9/11 conspiracy theories, labeling them “nonsense” and pointing to a growing cultural tolerance for unfounded narratives.
   • Democratic Party Fractures: Pataki argued that Democratic leadership has increasingly accommodated far-left elements in an effort to maintain narrow legislative majorities.
   • GOP Vulnerabilities: While defining his own party as primarily conservative, Pataki cautioned that Republicans remain overly reliant on singular leadership and have engaged in destructive intra-party purges rather than putting forward a forward-looking, unified governing philosophy.

   Addressing the 25th anniversary commemorations at the World Trade Center site, Pataki emphasized that the milestone belongs entirely to the victims, their surviving families, and the first responders.

   “We built the memorial and rebuilt Ground Zero so that people could see the magnitude of the attacks, the losses that we had, and the courage that we responded with,” Pataki said. “We need some of that courage right now to tell the truth.”

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2. 

   Steve Fischer

   September 12, 2026

   Former Founders Fund Partner Brian Singerman Unveils GPX: A High-Conviction Strategy Backing Elite Solo VCs

   Brian Singerman, the long-time venture capitalist who helped steer Founders Fund into era-defining tech investments, has turned his focus to the next generation of venture managers with a new investment vehicle called GPX.

   Singerman, who backed transformative companies including Airbnb, Oculus, and Anduril during his tenure at Founders Fund, discussed his evolving philosophy on talent evaluation, fund concentration, and the shifting dynamics of Silicon Valley venture investing on a recent podcast appearance with Jack Altman.Identifying “Spiky” Talent Over Checklists

   Singerman rejected traditional corporate rubrics for spotting elite talent, whether founders or venture capitalists. Instead of seeking well-rounded candidates, he hunts for “spikiness”—extreme strengths in distinct areas, paired with the radical self-awareness required to exploit those edges.

   “I have no list of attributes,” Singerman said. “I do not have a checklist, and I do not have a rubric at all. I am looking for people who spike… What are the things that you’re just better than everybody else at? And can you exploit those strengths to win?”

   Pointing to defense technology unicorn Anduril, Singerman noted that the company’s success stems from complementary extremes across its four-person founding team rather than a single polymath:

   • Palmer Luckey: The visionary product mind and “mad scientist” driving technical ambition.
   • Matt Grimm: The operations powerhouse executing day-to-day delivery.
   • Trae Stephens: The high-level networker and government relations strategist.
   • Brian Schimpf: The steady chief executive who commands universal respect and arbitrates final decisions across the executive team.

   Singerman observed that founders who attempt to master everything rarely succeed, citing Elon Musk and Max Levchin as rare exceptions capable of operating simultaneously as top-tier chief executives and technical chiefs.The GPX Thesis: Automating Capital for Elite Emerging Managers

   Singerman launched GPX alongside Quiet Capital partner Lee Linden. The firm does not write large direct venture checks into late-stage startups or chase broad portfolios of traditional venture firms. Instead, GPX primarily backs emerging, solo general partners (GPs) who bypass the consensus-driven politics of traditional venture partnerships.

   Under the GPX model:

   • Direct Strategic Support: Singerman and Linden act as dedicated strategic advisers (“consiglieres”) to a select roster of managers.
   • Direct Access Without Management Carry: Up to 20% of GPX capital goes directly into managers’ primary funds with no GPX management carry markup passed on to limited partners.
   • Automatic Double-Down Capital: GPX writes programmatic checks to allow solo GPs to preempt competitive funding rounds when the manager stakes roughly 20% or more of their own fund on a single company.

   “When you put 1% to 2% of your fund into something, who cares if it goes to zero? It doesn’t matter,” Singerman said. “You put 20% of your fund into something, that better work. We enable that to happen by writing programmatic and automatic capital to them when they bet their career on something.”

   Singerman explained that solo GPs offer cleaner conviction signals than multi-partner funds, where internal compromise can dilute accountability. “If you’re a solo GP and you invest 20% of your fund, there’s nowhere to run. It’s just you,” he said.The Power Law and Founder Trust in a Capital-Dense Market

   Reflecting on his track record, Singerman defended Founders Fund’s historic strategy of aggressive concentration. Recalling the firm’s late entry into Airbnb, Singerman noted that Founders Fund wrote a roughly $150 million check around a $2 billion valuation after initial skepticism, eventually turning it into billions in net gains.

   “Billions minus $5 million is the same as billions minus $50 million, is the same as billions minus $150 million,” Singerman said. “The answer is still billions. You have to be right.”

   However, Singerman cautioned managers against manufacturing high-conviction bets simply to appease LPs or emulate high-profile strategies. Most fund vintages do not yield a market-defining company like SpaceX, and trying to force concentration on mid-tier opportunities destroys capital.

   In today’s venture environment, Singerman argued that early trust between founders and initial backers holds greater sway than top-tier institutional brand prestige. While elite firms previously leveraged signaling to win allocations, today’s best founders prioritize genuine strategic partnership, operational chops, or co-founder dynamics over pedigree.

   At the same time, Singerman dismissed special purpose vehicles (SPVs) as a long-term mechanism for elite dealmakers, warning that early-stage founders increasingly view broad-market SPVs as unmanageable cap-table liabilities.The Human Element in Tech and Creative Pursuits

   Singerman, who recently retired from daily startup pitch meetings to focus on managing GPX, drew parallels between venture investing and his personal creative passion: running a private music studio where emerging artists record at zero cost in exchange for his presence as an observer.

   “I’m not going to be in a band. I can’t found a company. But yeah, I can enable that,” Singerman said.

   Weighing in on artificial intelligence, Singerman described himself as a long-term tech and human optimist. Drawing comparisons to chess, where human interest shifted toward grandmasters like Magnus Carlsen rather than machine engines like Stockfish, he concluded that competitive, human-driven experiences will outlast rapid advancements in AI.

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