Empowering Everyday Americans to Unlock Their Financial Potential Chris Britt, Chime
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, General Atlantic’s Head of Financial Services Paul Stamas speaks with Chris Britt, Founder and CEO of Chime. They discuss Chris’ early days in consulting and his time working at start-ups in San Francisco; his experience at Green Dot and working on teams that invented the retail distribution of credit and debit cards in traditional retail locations like Walmart and Walgreens; Chime's founding vision to cater to customers that were underserved by traditional banks; meeting his co-founder Ryan King and the importance of their complementary skillsets to...
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Accelerating Sustainability Goals with Actionable Intelligence Frédéric Trinel, EcoVadis
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, BeyondNetZero Managing Director Rhea Hamilton speaks with Frédéric Trinel, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, the global provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence, and collaborative performance tools servicing more than 130,000 companies across the globe. They discuss Frédéric’s long history as an entrepreneur, with EcoVadis marking his fifth business endeavor; deciding to start the Company in 2007 at a time when not many people were focused on sustainability; meeting his co-founder Pierre-Francois Thaler 32 years ago while working in...
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Laying the Foundation for Connectivity in Global Emerging Markets
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, General Atlantic’s Head of EMEA and Global Head of Climate, Gabriel Caillaux speaks with Vittorio Colao, Vice Chairman of EMEA at the firm. They discuss Vittorio’s interest in telecommunications before the industry had taken off; the entrepreneurial spirit that shaped his early days at Omnitel Pronto, an Italian telecom company; the yearslong succession process that led to his appointment as CEO of Vodafone; his views on launching one’s career and welcoming opportunities to level up even when not feeling fully prepared; the strategy behind...
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Driving Financial Inclusion Through Digital Payments
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, General Atlantic Managing Director and Head of Mexico Office Luis Cervantes speaks with Adolfo Babatz, Founder and CEO of Clip, a multi-product, Mexico-based, commerce and digital payments platform for small and medium-sized businesses. They discuss Adolfo’s journey to founding Clip; the lessons he learned from fundraising with David Rubenstein while at Carlyle; his disciplined upbringing and how that led him to pursue an MBA; catching the entrepreneurial bug while taking part in an MIT-sponsored program in Turkey; his experience helping to set up...
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Putting the Pieces in Play for the Rise of Chess
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, General Atlantic Managing Director and Head of Consumer Internet and Technology Tanzeen Syed speaks with Erik Allebest, Co-Founder and CEO of Chess.com, one of the world’s largest platforms for playing, learning and watching chess, with over 100 million members. They discuss Erik’s mission-driven pursuit to build Chess.com, driven by his love of chess and passion for bringing the game to others; his earlier chess-related businesses and experience in e-commerce, starting when he was in college; his decision to take an unconventional path following his...
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Building a community-driven brand
Breakthrough Labs
In the premiere episode of Breakthrough Labs Season 2, General Atlantic Managing Director and Head of Consumer for EMEA Melis Kahya Akar sits down with Ben Francis, Founder and CEO of Gymshark, a leading online, direct-to-consumer, community-based fitness apparel brand. They discuss Ben’s entrepreneurial journey and the importance of taking risks; how he paired his love for building websites and apps with fitness to create Gymshark; why he dropped out of university to focus on Gymshark full time; how stepping down as CEO for four years allowed him to focus on learning more about business...
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Creating Frictionless Experiences Powered by You
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of the podcast, General Atlantic Co-President, Managing Director and Chairman of the Global Technology Group Anton Levy sits down with Caryn Seidman-Becker, Chairman and CEO of CLEAR, a leading biometrics company that streamlines authentication and security as it strives to provide a safe, secure and frictionless way for people to live, work and travel, including solutions for airports, sports stadiums and anywhere else credentials need to be verified. They discuss Caryn’s first job on Wall Street working in risk arbitrage; her decision to start her own investment firm named...
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Powering Homes with Off-Grid Solar Solutions
Breakthrough Labs
In this episode of the podcast, BeyondNetZero Managing Director Eli Aheto sits down with Patrick Walsh and Anish Thakkar, the Co-Founders of Sun King, one of the largest providers of solar energy products for off-grid homes in Africa and Asia, to discuss providing access to sustainable and affordable solar power for nearly 82 million people across 40 countries to date. They discuss how they bonded at the University of Illinois over a shared desire to use engineering to solve the world’s “existential problems”; their unique experiences traveling to India and other parts of the developing...
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Pioneering A New Generation of Medicines to Transform Lives
Breakthrough Labs
General Atlantic Managing Director and Global Head of Life Sciences sits down with Bahija Jallal, CEO of Immunocore, a leading biotechnology company aiming to develop a new generation of transformative medicines. They discuss the personal experiences that led Bahija to devote her career to science; the enduring source of inspiration that her mother provides; the power of research and its ability to change lives; the critical importance of diversity in STEM and how Bahjia’s role has allowed her to pave a path for other women in the industry; her view that innovation is rooted in diversity of...
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Redefining IT for The Modern Workplace
Breakthrough Labs
Global Head of New Investment Sourcing and Co-Head of Emerging Growth Alex Crisses sits down with Raj Bhargava, co-founder and CEO of JumpCloud, a leading cloud-based, Directory-as-a-Service® company. They discuss Raj’s love of the entrepreneurial journey; hard-won lessons about what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur, including the vital importance of relationships and the role of focused attention and time management; what it means to have a true partnership with investors; the origins of JumpCloud and building a directory service at a time when the market of solutions in the category...
info_outlineIn the first episode of the podcast, Bill Ford sits down with Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit commercialization. They discuss Tom’s early fascination with aerospace engineering, including stealthy afternoon trips to walk through out-of-commission planes parked at an Air Force Base near his childhood home; Tom’s journey through the aerospace industry, from Northrop Grumman to Aerion to Sierra Space; the next-generation technology that the Sierra Space team is building, including the DreamChaser, the world’s only runway-landing spaceplane for civil & commercial use, and the Orbital Reef, the first commercially owned and operated space station; a partnership with Blue Origin to chart a new future for the International Space Station in a project for NASA; why the environmental conditions in space allow for pioneering scientific and medical research as well as disruptive innovations in telecoms, energy and other industries; lessons in leadership, such as the vital role of empathy in fostering successful collaboration; the mission-driven mindset that distinguishes the next generation of employees; and other topics.