They're not perfect examples. But what they're saying is:
* High returns from interest means the cost of capital is higher. Comparable safe investments return more, so investors demand more of a return from a riskier one.
* As a result, a lot fewer venture investments make sense with the higher discount rate.
* Companies cannot count on going back to the venture till, so high volatility strategies of chase-IPO-now or monetize-now are increasingly employed.
* Similarly, public companies desperately seek better fundamentals now, because future revenues are discounted so much in investors' opinions.
* As a result, a lot of companies enshittify, going after short term wins that risk the entire company's reputation..
As to the interest rate environment: the Fed has suggested a couple more interest rate hikes are likely later this year. It is likely to take quite awhile to walk rates down after inflationary pressures reduce. Current market prices imply rates will stay relatively high for the next few years.
No one really knows what an aging, contracting population will do to the interest rate environment. It's likely governments will have to borrow a bunch more, which can push up rates... And older workers seem to be more productive than models expected, which adds further upward rate pressure.