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Ben Miller, CEO and Co-Founder at Fundrise, joins NEW ECONOMIES to explore the future of investing in an AI-driven world. From democratizing private markets to backing the next generation of technology companies, Ben explains why software is entering a new era of disruption, and how AI could reshape everything from work and housing to healthcare and human longevity.
About Fundrise:
Fundrise is the largest direct-to-consumer alternative asset manager with more than 385,000 active investors, 2.1 million platform users, and $3.3 billion in assets across real estate, venture, and private credit.
In this episode, we explore why Fundrise expanded beyond real estate into venture investing, how Ben thinks about building with conviction instead of institutional consensus, and why some of the best investment decisions come from waiting rather than deploying capital on schedule.
We also go deep on how AI is reshaping software, venture, and the broader economy — from why application-layer businesses may become harder to sustain, to why capital is increasingly concentrating around models, compute, and infrastructure.
If that’s not enough, we also discuss why venture is far more relationship-driven than most people realize, why investors often overstate their impact relative to founders, and why Ben believes the next great opportunities won’t come from another consumer app — but from applying AI to the physical world through biology, materials, energy, and longevity.
Watch or listen now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify
Download the transcript
Timestamps
(0:00) Ben Miller
(1:42) Democratizing Access To Private Markets
(9:50) Venture vs. Real Estate
(12:48) Getting Access To Companies
(15:07) Venture Is Changing
(20:10) What Happens Next?
(22:10) Companies Going Public
(28:16) Where Are The Next Opportunities?
(31:22) The Impact of Longevity
(33:30) Tough Categories Right Now
(35:15) Thoughts On Vibe Coding Tools
(36:12) Ollie Joining As Chief of Staff
(37:35) How Ben Uses AI
(40:53) The Next Big Act For Fundrise
(44:22) What Categories Would Ben Build In?
(46:13) Rapid Fire
Our notes from this conversation
Fundrise was built as a reaction to the financial system.
The idea didn’t start with real estate — it started with distrust. After living through the 2008 financial crisis firsthand, Ben’s view became simple: people should be able to own real assets directly instead of relying entirely on financial institutions.
Private markets became consumer products.
Fundrise saw the opportunity earlier: It took institutional investing models — private equity, real estate funds, venture — and rebuilt them for individuals. The thesis wasn’t to invent a new asset class. It was to open access to one that already existed.
Great investing often means not doing what you said you would.
The team raised venture capital to invest in tech — and then barely invested for a year. Instead of deploying because markets expected it, they waited. Flexibility became an advantage over institutional pressure.
Access in venture is more random than people admit.
From the outside, venture looks like a system. Inside, it often looks like relationships, timing, and proximity. Many of the best investments happen through unexpected connections rather than structured processes.
Founders create outcomes. Investors mostly provide fuel.
The venture industry talks heavily about value-add. Ben’s view: teams build companies. Capital matters. Advice occasionally matters. But execution compounds more than introductions.
AI is making software easier — and company building harder.
As models become more capable, application layers become vulnerable. Product roadmaps compress. Builders increasingly compete not just with startups, but with the platforms underneath them.
Capital is concentrating faster than people expect.
AI isn’t only changing software — it’s redirecting capital. Trillions are flowing into models, compute, and infrastructure, creating second-order effects across housing, credit, real estate, and the broader economy.
The next breakthrough isn’t digital — it’s physical.
The most exciting opportunities may not be chat interfaces or copilots. They may come from applying AI to biology, materials, medicine, energy, and the physical world itself.
The future belongs to people willing to suffer for the hard decisions.
Ben’s framework for leadership is simple: the best decisions are often the ones that are personally painful. Building means choosing uncertainty, absorbing pressure, and taking responsibility before outcomes are obvious.
Learning remains the ultimate competitive advantage.
The next company, sector, or wave rarely looks obvious in advance. Curiosity, experimentation, and being willing to look outside your category matter more than defending a fixed identity.
Links
Subscribe to NEW ECONOMIES on YouTube
Follow Ollie on X (https://x.com/ollieforsyth)
Follow Ben on X (https://x.com/BenMillerise)
