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Packy McCormick

Founder & Author, Not Boring

Search every verified Packy McCormick interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Packy McCormick, founder of the newsletter Not Boring and the venture fund Not Boring Capital, has recently discussed his views on technology, AI, and optimism in podcast appearances. In an October 2026 interview, he described his theory of differentiation as a moral obligation and commented on the AI industry, stating that he considers environmental concerns about data centers to be "complete BS" and argued that data centers are beneficial for pulling forward demand and lowering costs for other technologies. He also expressed concern about a potential "race to the bottom on costs" in AI adoption, suggesting that competitive pressure could lead companies to replace customer support with AI even if the quality is not as good. In a September 2026 conversation, McCormick discussed his career trajectory, including his six years at the company Breather before starting his newsletter, and described his current mission as "taking things that are complex but important and communicating them in a way that people resonate with." He attributed his optimism to having a "really good life" and pointed to historical improvements in GDP per capita as evidence that things get better over time, while noting that he finds some pessimistic perspectives in the AI industry, such as those from Anthropic, to be "weird" given the positive developments he observes. He also highlighted recent progress in nuclear energy, mentioning companies like Antares that raised $470 million for micro reactors and noting that four companies went critical before the 4th of July.

Recent appearances

  • Humanmaxxing: Packy McCormick (8/10)

    October 10, 2026 · 📺 sublime

    We met ⁠Packy McCormick⁠ many years ago in a group chat for newsletter writers. His newsletter Not Boring had taken off and ours was still small. We asked if he wanted to do a guest piece together, and he said yes. Packy is ⁠funny⁠, brilliant, ⁠deep⁠, genuine, and one of the best players of ⁠the great online game⁠. For as long as we've known him, he’s used his platform to boost others. One of the good guys in tech, in our book. In this conversation, he covers: His theory of differentiation as a moral obligation Why the people building AI make it so hard to love the tech Why he thinks the en…

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  • He Turned A Newsletter Into A Venture Fund - Packy McCormick (Not Boring Capital)

    September 07, 2026 · 📺 Luba Yudasina

    Automate Compliance (and get $1000 off!!) - https://vanta.com/luba Today I walk with Packy McCormick, founder of Not Boring and ...

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  • Hemant Taneja & Packy McCormick on Rethinking Venture in an Era of Concentration

    July 30, 2026 · 📺 General Catalyst

    General Catalyst's CEO, Hemant Taneja, joins Packy McCormick for a candid Q2 in review. He digs into the work already underway, from turning Summa into an AI-native hospital system to reimagining the wealth experience with Janus, both powered by Percepta. Hemant explains why he pushes founders to build the defining company in their category, then the conversation turns to sovereignty, human agency, the tech backlash, and the risk he thinks matters most. Chapters 00:00:00 — Recalibrating What Scale Means in the AI Era 00:02:12 — Stop Playing the Markup Game 00:05:41 — Financial Innovation, Not…

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  • Turning Content into Competitive Advantage with Packy McCormick | Founding the Fund 3

    July 09, 2026 · 📺 The Room Podcast

    In this bonus episode of The Room Podcast, we speak with Packy McCormick, founder of Not Boring and Not Boring Capital, an investment firm focused on backing ambitious technology companies tackling large, complex industries. Through his writing, investing, and storytelling, Packy has built one of the most influential platforms in venture capital, helping founders explain difficult technical businesses to customers, talent, and investors. Not Boring began as a newsletter during the early months of the pandemic and has since grown into a media platform reaching hundreds of thousands of readers,…

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  • Not Boring (with Packy McCormick)

    July 07, 2026 · 📺 Family Cartoon

    When does a creator become a company? Who says that media companies — or venture firms — have to be organizations?

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  • In Defense of Optimism with Packy McCormick

    March 03, 2026 · 📺 Lawfare

    Packy McCormick, founder of Not Boring and Not Boring Capital, joins Kevin Frazier, Director of the AI Innovation and Law Program at the University of Texas School of Law and a Senior Fellow at the Abundance Institute, to discuss the power of narratives in tech, the intersection of investing and policy, and what it means to build frameworks for the future in an age of rapid technological change.

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  • Why the Future Is Better Than You Think | Packy McCormick

    February 12, 2026 · 📺 Infinite Loops

    Packy McCormick is one of the most thoughtful writers in tech and investing. In this episode of Infinite Loops, we talk about why writing is still the most powerful way to think clearly, how optimism becomes rational when you spend time with people actually building things, and what happens when the internet punishes you for being early and wrong. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 4:00 Writing Is Thinking 9:10 Why the Best Ideas Are Written Down 14:45 From Failing Startup to Not Boring 20:00 Getting Dunked on by the Internet 27:50 Failure, Confidence, and Scar Tissue 34:30 The Case for Optimism in Tech…

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  • E14: Packy McCormick on Writing, Investing, Media and Creative Process

    January 22, 2026 · 📺 Suffiyan Malik

    Packy McCormick has built one of the top newsletters in tech and business to over 250,000 subscribers and manages a $50M fund to invest in companies building the future. In the conversation we discuss the vertical integrators thesis, new media business models, creative process, personal monopolies and more. Packy: X: https://x.com/packyM Substack: https://www.notboring.co/ LinkedIn:   / packym   Suffiyan: X: https://x.com/suffiyanmalikk?s=20 Substack: https://wethebuilders.us/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/suffiyanmalik Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:11 - Why Substack and the origin…

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  • Ben & Marc: Why Everything Is About to Get 10x Bigger

    January 15, 2026 · 📺 a16z

    a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz join a16z general partner Erik Torenberg and Not Boring founder Packy McCormick for a conversation on how the media and information ecosystem has changed over the past decade. The discussion breaks down the shift toward a more open and decentralized speech environment, the rise of writer- and creator-led platforms like Substack, and the erosion of centralized media gatekeepers. Marc and Ben also tie these dynamics to their investing worldview, outlining how supply-driven markets, major technological step changes, and reputation-driven venture pl…

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  • How Packy McCormick Turned Not Boring from Newsletter to Venture Fund

    December 02, 2025 · 📺 Self Funded

    Packy McCormick has built a one-of-a-kind career around curiosity. As the writer behind Not Boring and GP of Not Boring Capital, he’s turned a side project newsletter into a thriving ecosystem that bridges media and venture. In this episode, Packy and Chrissie talk about burning the boats to bet on yourself, how deep research and writing became his superpower, and why the Internet still rewards people who do truly original work.Packy shares the evolution from banker to startup operator to full-time creator, the flywheel between his writing and investing, and what he sees coming next for indepe…

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  • How Packy McCormick Turned Not Boring from Newsletter to Venture Fund

    November 19, 2025 · 📺 Self Funded

    Packy McCormick has built a one-of-a-kind career around curiosity. As the writer behind Not Boring and GP of Not Boring Capital, he’s turned a side project newsletter into a thriving ecosystem that bridges media and venture. In this episode, Packy and Chrissie talk about burning the boats to bet on yourself, how deep research and writing became his superpower, and why the Internet still rewards people who do truly original work. Packy shares the evolution from banker to startup operator to full-time creator, the flywheel between his writing and investing, and what he sees coming next for indep…

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  • Nuclear Race to Power Superintelligence

    August 08, 2025 · 📺 Sourcery with Molly O'Shea

    Isaiah Taylor (Valar Atomics), JC Btaiche (Fuse), & Packy McCormick (Not Boring) join Molly O’Shea to explore how nuclear energy—fission and fusion—is at the heart of America's industrial resurgence and the race for AI dominance. Isaiah unpacks Valar’s plan to scale modular fission reactors across the U.S., breaking decades of regulatory stagnation and reimagining how America powers its factories and data centers. JC shares Fuse’s rapid-fire progress in fusion technology, from breakthroughs in pulse neutron generation to vertical integration strategies that echo SpaceX. Packy ties it all toge…

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I think the biggest problem with this stuff that we've seen so far is that it's a way that the people at the labs talk about it. I think there is a little bit of I'm worried that this is kind of what that guy Satrini wrote about in that report that scared everybody. I don't think the dynamic is as crazy as he thinks, but that there's almost this race to the bottom on costs. So like if your competitor is using AI inst”

“I think the environmental stuff is complete BS. I think data centers are awesome. I wrote a whole piece like 'thank god for data centers.' That is basically like you need an irrational buyer to come in every once in a while who just blows out, like normally it's the government and defense that is for the capability we actually don't care we just want it right now we're willing to pay whatever we can get and then that”

“There's so much stuff like two years ago, three years ago, Julia Dewahl, who's at Antares, she's a co-founder there, they just raised $470 million making micro reactors. Shout out to Antares. If you're a military branch of the military and you need a nuclear reactor, call Antares. But we did this podcast where the whole first half of the season was like how do we come up with nuclear energy and we don't have it every”

“I'm going to get the origin story somewhat wrong. I'd started talking to Nick Abz at Main Street. And he was like, 'By the way, these posts that you write on companies, you could write those on startups and I bet people would be willing to pay.' And he had just come over from Shrunk Capital to run marketing at Main Street. And he's like, 'We'll be the first ones who do this.' And I was like, 'All right, cool. Let's t”

“I think the overall tone of tech journalism is like what's wrong with these companies like they're making too much money and so if somebody has to be on the other side saying like no this is awesome I'm happy to be that guy.”

“I think what this misses, what I missed are a couple of things that I think are actually like I think it's going to be a bonanza time to be a curious and like you have to be good at this stuff. you can't just like lazily wait and hope that like you know someone is now looking for a guy to like very easy jobs are probably like going to be harder to come by actually. Um but for young people who like at least like you i”

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