Snap Specs, Taste, Midjourney Hardware | Eric Newcomer, Merrill Lutsky, Carter Reum, Swami Sivasubramanian, Thomas Suarez, Mark Gurman, Ryan Daniels, Isaiah Granet

June 17, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Snap’s $3.5 Billion Bet on Glasses That Might Not Fit

Snap’s new Spectacles, unveiled at the Augmented World Expo 2026, cost $2,200, weigh heavily on the wearer’s ears (Evan Spiegel’s ear was visibly bent during demos), and have drawn a level of public mockery that one commentator called “the first product ever to hit the market and not sell a single unit.” The stock has fallen 92% from its peak, and in the five days after launch it dropped another 8.5%. Yet the conversation around the glasses reveals something deeper about the hardware business: the difference between what a startup can get away with and what a public company cannot.

The Spectacles Problem: Killer Features vs. Daily Drivers

Snap has spent somewhere in the range of $3.5 billion building the Spectacles over roughly a decade of acquisitions and R&D. The features are genuinely impressive in isolation: a heads-up display for navigation, restaurant reviews in your visual field, the ability to measure distances without a tape measure, and collaborative virtual whiteboards. But as one panelist put it, “It’s hard to imagine any one of them justifying a $2,000 price tag, especially because they look painful to wear.”

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Show Opening and Snap Spectacles Discussion** - Hosts introduce the episode's guest lineup and immediately dive into the mixed reception of Snap's new AR glasses.
2 (05:33) **Brandon's Take: Snap Spectacles Critique** - A staffer's written critique of the Spectacles is read and discussed.
3 (18:57) **Taste Labs: The Controversy Over Codifying Aesthetics** - The hosts analyze the launch of Taste Labs, a startup aiming to improve AI's aesthetic output.
4 (29:29) **Interview: Eric Newcomer on Media, Scoops, and the AI Era** - Founder of Newcomer joins to discuss his media strategy and the state of tech journalism.
5 (65:24) **Interview: Merrill Lutsky on Graphite, Cursor, and Origin** - The founder of Graphite discusses the recent acquisition by Cursor (and by extension, SpaceX) and the launch of a new product, Origin.
6 (77:43) **Interview: Carter Reum on M13's Investment Thesis and Hardware** - Partner at M13 discusses the firm's focus on hardware and finding value layers in the AI boom.
7 (96:59) **Interview: Swami Sivasubramanian on AWS's AI Agent Strategy** - The VP of Agent AI at AWS discusses the company's new agentic AI services.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Mark Gurman Ryan Daniels

Show Notes

(01:48) - Snap Specs
(17:39) - Midjourney Hardware
(18:56) - Taste Labs
(29:27) - Eric Newcomer, an American journalist and founder of the "Newcomer" newsletter, discusses his transition from traditional media to independent journalism, emphasizing the importance of building trust and transparency with his audience. He highlights the challenges and opportunities in covering Silicon Valley, noting the evolving dynamics between venture capitalists and founders, and the impact of AI on the media landscape. Newcomer also shares insights into his business model, including revenue streams from subscriptions and events, and reflects on the future of independent media ventures.
(01:05:19) - Merrill Lutsky, a key figure at Cursor, discusses his early fascination with space exploration, inspired by films like "October Sky," and how this passion led him to his current role. He elaborates on the recent partnership between Cursor and SpaceX, highlighting the excitement within the team and the potential for advancements in model training. Additionally, Lutsky introduces Origin, a Git infrastructure designed for the agentic era, emphasizing its scalability and the goal of achieving more autonomous, self-driving pull requests.
(01:17:38) - Carter Reum, co-founder of venture capital firm M13, discusses the U.S. soccer team's historic World Cup performance, highlighting their unprecedented scoring success. He reflects on M13's decade-long journey, noting investments in 17 unicorns, including SpaceX, and emphasizes the importance of investing in cycles, particularly in emerging technologies like AI. Reum also shares insights on the evolving venture capital landscape, stressing the need for clear communication and strategic differentiation in a competitive market.
(01:36:46) - Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President for Agentic AI at Amazon Web Services (AWS), has been instrumental in developing AI services like Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock, and Amazon Q. In the conversation, he discusses the transformative potential of agentic AI, highlighting AWS's launch of Qlik Autonomous Agent to integrate context across tools, and Continuum, a service designed to continuously enhance security by integrating AI into software development processes. He emphasizes the importance of balancing speed and security in AI adoption, noting that AWS's innovations aim to empower enterprises to build trustworthy and efficient AI agents.
(01:50:21) - Thomas Suarez, founder and CEO of Raven Resonance, discusses the development of Raven Prism, the world's first ambient computer in the form of stylish glasses. He highlights its standalone Linux-based operating system, privacy-preserving eye control, and hot-swappable batteries for all-day use. Suarez emphasizes the device's focus on micro-interactions and contextual information, aiming to seamlessly integrate technology into daily life.