Everyone has opinions about founder equity, funding timelines, and valuations—but Peter Walker holds the data.

In this special live Agentic session, I sat down with Peter, Head of Insights at Carta, to unpack what’s actually happening beneath the surface in early-stage AI startups.

Peter’s team has a privileged vantage point—cap tables, valuations, and hiring data across 45,000 startups and 83% of U.S. unicorns.

We explore:

a common equity mistake that’s quietly killing fundraising chances
why AI founders are raising bigger rounds… and keeping more of their companies
how lean teams are pushing out serious ARR—and what that means for hiring
the valuation delta between AI and non-AI startups—and why that window may be closing

If you’re raising, hiring, or advising an AI startup in this market, this one’s for you.

If you’re in the early innings of building something in AI, especially if you’re figuring things out from first principles—let’s chat.

Connect with us here:

Peter Walker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterjameswalker/
George Bandarian: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgebandarian/⁠
Untapped Ventures:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/company/untappedventures

00:00 Trailer

01:26 Introduction

02:44 Untapped Ventures

08:39 Carta

10:34 Early Equity

25:05 Venture Context

34:47 AI Story

51:04 Questions

54:48 Outro

Carta’s 2025 AI Funding & Equity Insights | Peter Walker

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