Driving Alpha: Exploring Early Tech Ventures and the Evolution of Financial Media with Ron Insana

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Ron InsanaRon Insana is an award-winning financial analyst and commentator at CNBC, where he shares insights into economic trends. In addition to writing for Money magazine and USA Today, Ron has hosted two nationally syndicated radio programs. He previously served as the CEO of Insana Capital Partners, which, at its peak, managed the $125 million Insana Capital Partners “Legends Fund.” With a background in film production, he ventured into financial reporting in 1984, eventually becoming a regular anchor at CNBC. Ron has authored four books on investing and is recognized as one of the “Top 100 Business News Journalists of the 20th Century.” He is a sought-after lecturer on economics and financial markets, graduating with honors from California State University Northridge.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • [5:37] Ron Insana’s journey climbing the ranks of the media industry
  • [9:37] The impact of the Great Recession
  • [11:21] Ron recounts interviews with Bill Clinton, Warren Buffett, and Steve Jobs
  • [15:26] What is the future of financial media?
  • [19:18] The impact of new technologies like AI on news reporting
  • [23:25} The intersection of US politics, economy, and media
  • [24:21] Ron’s thoughts on the US financial market

In this episode…

Financial media has come a long way in a short span of time in the transition from traditional to digital platforms. This shift has led to the ubiquity of newer formats such as online news sites, podcasts, and social media influencers. How has this transformation changed the way we access financial information, and what does it mean for the future?

With a career spanning the early days of CNBC to the present, Ron Insana, a veteran financial analyst and commentator, has witnessed this transformation firsthand. Reflecting on the pioneering days of financial news networks, he highlights the profound shift toward accessibility and interactivity. However, while technological advancements offer new opportunities for engagement and outreach, the proliferation of misinformation and the increased politicization of news present formidable challenges. With the rise of AI-based fintech platforms and the fragmentation of media consumption habits, financial media outlets are challenged to adapt to changing consumer preferences while maintaining the integrity and credibility of their content.

In this episode of the Driving Alpha podcast, Steve Brotman discusses the evolution of financial media with media veteran Ron Insana. The two discuss Ron’s media career trajectory, emerging trends in financial media, ethical considerations regarding the use of AI, and the intersection of US politics, economy, and media.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by Alpha Partners, an NYC-based growth equity firm managing $130 million.

Alpha co-invests in top-tier growth equity companies led by the world’s best investors. We focus on scaling and late-stage tech investment opportunities primarily in the essential technology sector, including e-commerce, enterprise software, fintech, edtech, and health IT.

To learn how we can help you with your funding goals, visit www.alphapartners.com, or email us at vc@alphapartners.com.

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:06

Welcome to Driving Alpha, where we feature our friends, the outperforming investors who demonstrate their paths to driving alpha or outsized investment returns. We’re Alpha Partners, where we partner with 1,000 early-stage venture firms as their opportunity capital to invest in their best companies.

Steve Brotman 0:24

Hi, I’m Steve Brotman. I’m your host of Driving Alpha, where together, we engage in conversations with allocators of capital and entrepreneurs in the venture capital and tech realm. The inspiration for this podcast came from a supercar event I hosted with my firm about 10 years ago with my favorite VC and investor friends as well as entrepreneurs. And every year what I would do is I’d rent six exotic supercars, Lamborghinis and Ferraris and McLaren’s just for the day, and invite 11 other investors and VCs and entrepreneurs to spend the day together. So each car would hold two people: a driver, passenger, and we’d swap cars and driver positions every half hour. And it turns out that the cars are fun. But it was really the people and the interactions between those people for 30 to 60 minutes at a time, that was really just the best part of the day for everyone. And the food is great, and the drinks are great afterwards, and the dinner. But what this podcast was really inspired by is an attempt to recreate that type of conversation. And I thought about who our first call should be with. And starting with, I thought it would be awesome to start with someone who knows a thing or two about broadcast media. But more importantly about interviewing well, particularly with well regarded Alpha creators and investors. And I’ve known Ron Insana for over 20 years now. We were co-investors in an ill fated startup, and I think we got our money back. But

Ron Insana 2:13

You did. I was bored. I just like anything.

Steve Brotman 2:17

Yeah, so that was the only hang up there is that we didn’t do very well. We didn’t know, it wasn’t a home run. But it was actually a predecessor to YouTube. Yeah. Before the company was before YouTube. And they recorded. They were the first company to install servers, right? In every broadcast media market, they made that searchable. Before YouTube, right? Yeah.

Ron Insana 2:45

And in fact, not only that, you could pull clips from it on a fair use basis, if I recall correctly, and utilize those in any fashion that you desired as long as you didn’t violate IP rules.

Steve Brotman 2:57

So Ron was obviously a great board member to have. And we actually came up, I mean, not to go down this rabbit hole. But, you know, we just thought if we released this to the world and made the world of broadcast media searchable today to anyone, all consumers, this is before YouTube, we just would have been sued out of existence. And we couldn’t figure out how to get around that. And YouTube figured that out. Right?

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