Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast
Startup insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the established veterans and up-and-comers who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond. Topics include technology trends, startups, Silicon Valley politics, women in silicon valley and more. Learn the histories of each guest and be enlightened by their area of expertise. New episode released each Tuesday at Noon, Pacific Time.
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#114 Jerry Colonna: Break your Heart and Keep it Open
10/07/2019
#114 Jerry Colonna: Break your Heart and Keep it Open
Jerry Colonna is the author of Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up, and cofounder of Reboot – a coaching company, which he started along with Ali Schultz, Khalid Halim, and Dan Put. Before building a successful coaching firm – Jerry was a “Prince of New York” – he co-founded the VC firm Flatiron partners and then ran JP Morgan Partners’. But walked away from it all at the age of 38, wracked with depression. Today he’s a bestselling author, Buddhist, and a sought after coach for the most influential people in business and beyond. In this podcast we discuss some fascinating parts of Internet history that you may have forgotten – including the first internet newspaper. We speak about the legacy of “Coach” Bill Campbell and how Jerry found himself as a coach to some of the most powerful and famous executives in the world. We also track his harrowing path through depression and suicidal thoughts to a fulfilled life, in which he is transforming the lives of others. Reboot https://www.reboot.io Something Ventured https://somethingventured.us
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#113 Maha Ibrahim: Canaan Partner, The RealReal Investor, All Raise Member
09/24/2019
#113 Maha Ibrahim: Canaan Partner, The RealReal Investor, All Raise Member
Maha is a partner at Canaan Partners, one of Silicon Valley's largest and most successful venture firms. She spots technology trends early and partners closely with her companies to drive growth and exits. Maha focuses on e-commerce and enterprise / cloud, and was one of the first investors to recognize the potential of social gaming. She represented Canaan as the first institutional investor in The RealReal – which recently went public. Maha is a founding member of All Raise, an organization with the mission to “accelerate the success of female funders and founders”. She is also a trustee for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Maha was an executive at Qwest Communications and studied Economics and Sociology at Stanford, and Economics at MIT. In this podcast Maha shares her journey to becoming a venture capitalist. She discusses the changes she’s seen in the venture industry and what does – and doesn’t – excite her today. We also talk about the evolving path for women in Silicon Valley, and what an ally of women can do to be helpful. Canaan Partners www.canaan.com All Raise www.allraise.org The RealReal www.threrealreal.com
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#112 Esther Wojcicki: How to Raise Successful People
09/17/2019
#112 Esther Wojcicki: How to Raise Successful People
Esther Wojcicki is a journalist and educator. She founded and runs the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Center, which engages over 600 students directly in media such as magazines, newspapers, radio, television and photography. She wrote the book “How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results”. Her qualifications? Her three daughters, Susan, Anne and Janet are the CEO of Youtube, Founder and CEO of 23 and Me, and a professor of medicine at UCSF. In this podcast, we discuss her path through the male dominated world of journalism, to becoming a teacher and founding the Media Arts Center. She relates how she raised her children to be particularly independent, and discusses the rise of ‘helicopter parents’ -- parents who sometimes hover over their children even as they go to college. We also discuss the evolution and state of journalism from typeset newspapers, to the massive changes brought on by the Internet, Facebook, YouTube and Google. How to Raise Successful People https://raisesuccessfulpeople.com Media Arts Center http://www.palymac.org/
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#111 REPLAY: Silicon Valley goes to Burning Man
09/05/2019
#111 REPLAY: Silicon Valley goes to Burning Man
It's the time of year when Silicon Valley decamps to a party in the desert known as Burning Man. Grown adults, with children and jobs spend multiple weeks preparing, burning, then decompressing. In this replay episode, we take a light-hearted look at Burning Man as seen from Silicon Valley. We review the history of the event, which began at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. We also cover a dark period in Burning Man's early history. Michael White is a recovering Silicon Valley attorney. I'm a venture capitalist. Neither of has been to Burning Man. Well, that's not going to stop us. We watched a movie about Burning Man! The movie we refer to in this episode is "Spark: A Burning Man Story" from 2013. www.somethingventured.us
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#110 Alison McCauley: Falling down the Blockchain Rabbit Hole (and why you should too)
08/26/2019
#110 Alison McCauley: Falling down the Blockchain Rabbit Hole (and why you should too)
Alison McCauley is the Best Selling Author of Unblocked: How Blockchain will Change your Business and What to Do About It. Why does blockchain matter? Alison points out that disruption is no longer a moment in time. It's a continual state. How do you understand the new opportunity? Set priorities in a complex and ever-shifting landscape? Prepare for what’s ahead? Alison helps you navigate the human side of digital acceleration. In this episode we discuss the moment Alison came to be blown away by the potential of blockchain, how it’s like the early Internet…and the surprisingly large role of women in this industry. I also conduct a thorough podcast investigation of whether Alison is Satoshi Nakamoto. Don’t miss it! More about Alison McCauley: Alison is founder and CEO of Unblocked Future, a consultancy that helps executives drive adoption at the forefront of emerging tech. She helps companies communicate their vision, resonate with stakeholders, and activate communities for change. She is a keynote speaker who, in addition to spending time in the blockchain rabbit hole, helps teams to educate and drive adoption in their markets at the front edge of innovation in IoT, robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and other developing technologies.. A social scientist by training, she spent her career studying the intersection of human behavior and emerging technology, with 20 years of consulting to technology-first startups and Fortune-500 companies across industries including healthcare, education, telecommunications, energy, retail, finance, hospitality, and manufacturing @unblockedfuture https://www.alisonmccauley.io www.somethingventured.us
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#109 E. Keller Fitzsimmons: The Darkness in Silicon Valley – Anxiety, Depression and Suicide in Startuplandia
08/20/2019
#109 E. Keller Fitzsimmons: The Darkness in Silicon Valley – Anxiety, Depression and Suicide in Startuplandia
Keller Fitzsimmons is the author of Lost in Startuplandia: Wayfinding for the Weary Entrepreneur. She gives lie to the idea that entrepreneurship is a thrilling, lucrative adventure. All is great, of course, until things go horribly wrong. “As crisis after crisis hits, even the most seasoned founder can get disoriented. Whether you're in the throes of business woes or just getting into the game, E. Keller Fitzsimmons has written a field guide outlining the terrain to help you avoid getting Lost in Startuplandia.” Keller is a serial tech entrepreneur, artist, and mother of two. She is the cofounder of Custom Reality Services, a virtual reality production company whose first two projects, Across the Line (2016) and Ashe '68 (2019), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Keller is the recipient of the Silvertip PwC Entrepreneurship Award and Speech Technology's Luminary Award. Her work has been published by Network Computing, InformationWeek, and Inc. An active angel investor, she serves on the technology committee for BELLE USA, a venture fund that invests in women-led startups. Originally trained as a classical archaeologist, Keller holds a master's degree from Harvard University. In this podcast Keller discusses a wide range of topics, including losing her ability to read (before becoming a best selling author). She discusses the surprising prevalance of anxiety, depression and suicide in Silicon Valley. Lost in Startuplandia https://www.lostinstartuplandia.com Something Ventured www.somethingventured.us
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#108: Adriana Gascoigne: Tech Lady Boss - How to Startup Disrupt and Thrive as a Female Founder
08/12/2019
#108: Adriana Gascoigne: Tech Lady Boss - How to Startup Disrupt and Thrive as a Female Founder
Adriana is the Founder and CEO of Girls in Tech, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that empowers women in the tech industry across the globe. Before founding Girls in Tech, Adriana served in executive roles at Ogilvy & Mather, Interpublic Group of Companies, Social Gaming Network (SGN), and SecondMarket. She has been named one of the 20 most influential Latinos in Technology by CNET, among other awards. She is author of the book Tech Boss Lady: How to Startup, Disrupt and Thrive as a Female Founder. In this episode, Adriana charts the influence her immigrant grandparents, and entrepreneurial parents had on her. She shares her early experience with Silicon Valley’s unwelcoming male culture, and how she came to create the global enterprise that is Girls in Tech. She discusses how sexual harassment in Silicon Valley has – and hasn’t – changed. From roller skating to balling up stress like a travel t-shirt – this episode has a bit of everything. Girls in Tech https://girlsintech.org Something Ventured: something ventured.us
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#107 Anne Dwane: From Startup to Public Company To VC -- Her Journey
07/31/2019
#107 Anne Dwane: From Startup to Public Company To VC -- Her Journey
Anne Dwane is co-founder and partner of Village Global, the venture firm backed by an impressive and diverse group of investors that includes: Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, Reid Hoffman, Magic Johnson, Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg, Diane Green, Judy Estrin, and Ken Chennault. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Anne was a tech company co-founder, a private company CEO, and public company executive. She built Military.com with previous podcast guest Chris Michel, and was CEO of Zinch before it was acquired by Chegg. At Chegg she had P&L responsibility as the company became public, with a value over $1 billion. In this episode, Anne shares her journey from Harvard Business School, to Silicon Valley, and her path to becoming a public company executive to her latest role as a venture capitalist at Village Global. Village Global www.villageglobal.vc Chegg www.chegg.com Something Ventured www.somethingventured.us
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#106 Chris Michel’s Extraordinary Path and Wise Life Advice
07/22/2019
#106 Chris Michel’s Extraordinary Path and Wise Life Advice
After attending the University of Illinois, Chris Michel began his career as a Naval Flight Officer, flying aboard P-3 Orion “sub-hunters”. Today, he is a photographer, chronicling Silicon Valley and the World. His photography has taken him from the edge of space, to the North and South Poles and everything in between. Chris’s path from the Navy to photographer was not a straight line, and in this podcast you’ll hear his story. In this wide-ranging discussion we talk about how Chris made it from the Navy to Harvard business school, where he met his business partner (and future podcast guest) Anne Dwane. Also covered are his path to founding two Silicon Valley companies, and his struggle to guide them through difficult times. Finally, we discuss Chris’s advice on how to think about structuring a career and a life. https://www.christophermichel.com In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the headlines, as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond. https://somethingventured.us
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#105 Julian Guthrie: Taking on Silicon Valley’s Male Culture with Alpha Girls
07/15/2019
#105 Julian Guthrie: Taking on Silicon Valley’s Male Culture with Alpha Girls
Julian Guthrie is a journalist-turned-author, covering such topics as Larry Ellison’s quest for the America’s Cup, and the new age of private space exploration. She gravitates to tales of underdogs and innovation, and her latest book is no exception. “Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley's Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime” is the story of four women: Magdalena Yesil, Mary Jane Elmore, Theresia Gouw, and Sonja Hoel Perkins. Each of these rose – against the well-known odds of Silicon Valley – to the top of the game. Well before “me too” these four women juggled work and family, overcame unequal pay, and faced the sexist attitudes prevalent in male-dominated Silicon Valley. Nevertheless, they rose to rewrite the rules of an entire industry. Each story is amazing on its own. Magdalena Yesil, came from Turkey with $43 to her name, and would go on to help Marc Benioff build Salesforce. Mary Jane Elmore went from the cornfields of Indiana to Silicon Valley and landed at the storied venture capital firm IVP - where she was one of the first women in the U.S. to make partner at a venture firm. Theresia Gouw, Asian American from a working-class town, ultimately helped venture firm Accel Partners invest in firms like Google, Facebook, Imperva, Forescout, and Trulia. Sonja Hoel Perkins, a Southerner, became one of the first women investing partners at white-glove Menlo Ventures, and invested in McAfee, Hotmail, Acme Packet, and F5 Networks. In this wide ranging conversation, Julian shares her experience in writing this book, and previous books including “How to Make a Spaceship,” with a foreword by Richard Branson and an afterword by Stephen Hawking, and “The Billionaire and the Mechanic,” about Larry Ellison. We also discuss the current state of sexism in Silicon Valley, her predictions for the future, and the in-the-works adaptation of her book for television. www.somethingventured.us www.julianguthriesf.com
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#104 Charles Hudson – Charles Builds a Venture Fund
07/08/2019
#104 Charles Hudson – Charles Builds a Venture Fund
Charles is the founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s hot seed stage venture firms. He was previously at Uncork, the storied seed venture firm founded by Jeff Clavier. Precursor is a classic seed stage venture firm investing in founders they believe in. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Charles cofounded Bionic Panda Games, and held senior business development roles at Serious Business and Gaia Interactive. Also – he went to Stanford. Twice. In this episode we discuss a range of issues including what it’s like to be a black VC in a mostly white industry, how he made his way to venture, what it’s like working at Q-Tel, and why he left a hugely successful VC to start his own. www.uncorkcapital.com www.precursorvc.com www.somethingventured.us
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#103: Michael Tchong on 8 Ubertrends Crashing into our Future
06/18/2019
#103: Michael Tchong on 8 Ubertrends Crashing into our Future
Michael Tchong has been called "the most influential trend-spotter in America". He is a top-rated innovation speaker, adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, trend forecaster and author of “Ubertrends — How Trends And Innovation Are Transforming Our Future.” He heads up incubator Ubercool Innovation and is the founder of four disruptive startups, including MacWEEK, Atelier Systems, CyberAtlas and ICONOCAST, all riding early market waves. In this podcast we discuss “Ubertrends” — his proprietary framework of massive waves that are reshaping global human behavior. In this podcast, Michael and Kent discuss the trends that are shaping the future -- from "time compression" to the to the 'rise of women' -- we cover them all. The full set of trends discussed includes: Digital Lifestyle -- Marriage of Man and Machine; Fountain of Youth -- Rejuvenating Body, Spirit and Environment; Generation X-tasy -- Been There, Done That; Time Compression -- The Acceleration of Life; Unwired -- Untethered and Unfettered; Casual Living -- The Evaporation of Decorum; Voyeurgasm -- I Like to Watch; WAF (Woman's Acceptance Factor) -- Ascent of Woman; Innovation -- Reinventing Business and Life More about the book: Ubertrends — How Trends And Innovation Are Transforming Our Future is a graphic and eye-opening exploration of nine disruptive forces that are shape-shifting society. As these massive waves crash into the future, they leave many subtrends in their wake while leading to many cultural value changes. Society’s permanently altered behavior provides ready context for how the future will evolve
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#102: Scott Kupor: Secrets of Sand Hill Road
06/04/2019
#102: Scott Kupor: Secrets of Sand Hill Road
Scott Kupor is the managing partner of famed venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm with more than $7 billion of assets under management that sits at the beating heart of Sand Hill Road. Sand Hill road is, of course, the physical center of the venture capital industry – the greatest wealth-generating machine in the world. So...Scott is at the center, of the center of the global venture capital industry. In his new book -- Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It -- Scott covers a range of topics critical to any founder: Why VCs invest in particular stages, the key skill for raising venture capital, and what happens when things don’t go so well. http://secretsofsandhillroad.com www.a16z.com www.penguinrandomhouse.com In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond.
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#101 Ellen Pao: Ellen Changes the Game
05/28/2019
#101 Ellen Pao: Ellen Changes the Game
Ellen Pao is CEO of Project Include and author of the book Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change. Her book looks at power in the tech world – and why so few women and people of color hold it. She famously sued an elite venture capital firm for sexism, and in doing so set off a national conversation. As CEO of Reddit, she waged one of the first highly visible battles against Internet trolls – a topic which has since exploded as big tech companies come under heavier scrutiny. In this wide-ranging conversation, we cover a range of topics. From Ellen’s experience litigating against a powerful venture capital firm to the current state of diversity in Silicon Valley she tells her story. https://www.ellenkpao.com https://projectinclude.org https://somethingventured.us
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#100: Pete Alcorn -- Democratizing Publishing
05/20/2019
#100: Pete Alcorn -- Democratizing Publishing
Welcome to Episode 100! Yep, we’ve made it to 100. And for this one…Pete Alcorn stops by the podcast as he bucket-lists his way around the world. He has run, among other things – ebooks at Amazon (just before they cared about it) and podcasting at Apple. Also at Apple, he oversaw iBooks in Europe and education content discovery everywhere. Pete was also Kent’s first partner in the startup world, building a company (that still exists today) called “NetRead”. Oh, and we also went to high school together in La Jolla California. In this wide-ranging episode we cover: the future of edtech, the corporate path vs. the startup path, whether Pete agrees with Po Bronson, and the future of the planet. Thanks for making it to 100. Enjoy! www.somethingventured.us www.netread.com
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#99 Eric Lagier: The Nordic Unicorn Factory
05/13/2019
#99 Eric Lagier: The Nordic Unicorn Factory
Eric Lagier co-founded and is a general partner of ByFounders, a 100 million Euro venture firm focused on Nordic and Baltic startups. As you grab your map to find where the Nordics and Baltics actually are, think about this: Since 2013, 41 startups built in Europe are now worth more than a billion dollars. (These are known as “Unicorns”, a term coined by Ailene Lee of Cowboy Ventures). Even more extraordinary is the fact that 10 of those 41 are from the Nordics. So an area comprising of 4% of Europe’s population has generated 25% of Europe’s Unicorns. This includes companies like Unity, Spotify, Just Eat, Sitecore, Klarna, Zendesk and Tradeshift among others. Yes, a lot of numbers! Join us as Kent and Eric talk about why such huge outcomes occur in Nordic countries, and what cultural differences define the Nordics vs. the U.S. Learn who is behind ByFounders, how the fund came together and more. https://somethingventured.us Links: ByFounders https://byfounders.vc
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#98 Jay Adelson: Jay Builds the Internet
05/06/2019
#98 Jay Adelson: Jay Builds the Internet
Jay Adelson is the cofounder or CEO of Equinix, Revision3 and Digg. From a career that has taken him from building the first data centers to creating a wildly growing news aggregator, Jay has truly unique insight into Silicon Valley. In this conversation Jay traces his path from working at a temp agency to building the largest data center in the world. Nerd out with us as we discuss how you obtained a URL before the Internet even had a governing body – and before the web existed; the battle over whether the Internet should ever be commercial; and the kind of technologies you can only invent when you are the core of the Internet. Also discussed – should you be CEO of two companies? Why didn’t Revision3 become Youtube? Why was it called Revision3? Did Reddit replace Digg? What did Youtube get wrong, and Twitter get right? Oh, and play more pinball! https://somethingventured.us
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#97 Po Bronson -- The Future According to Po
04/30/2019
#97 Po Bronson -- The Future According to Po
Best selling author Po Bronson has written deeply, often hilariously, about Silicon Valley and its effects on the world. After founding San Francisco’s Writers Grotto, he wrote such books as The Nudist on the Late Shift, Bombardiers, and What Should I Do With My life?. Today, he’s a venture capitalist at IndieBio – the Life Sciences accelerator. In this episode, Po discusses why 2019 feels like 1994, and what happens when daytime and nighttime conversations converge in Silicon Valley. We also cover income inequality – the idea of ‘Basic Universal Equity”, and the futures of sports, medicine and…libraries. But that’s just the beginning – stay tuned to hear what happens when climate change, biotech and automation converge. And the big finish: whether our species will survive. www.somethingventured.us In the Something Ventured podcast Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond.
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#96 Monique Woodard, Venture Capitalist
04/23/2019
#96 Monique Woodard, Venture Capitalist
Monique Woodard fell into venture capital. Or...wait. Actually, no. Monique grew up in rural Florida. Starting with an Atari game system and moving to a Commodore computer, she learned to write computer code This, in a place where coding was far from the norm, and computer class required a drive into town. She eventually became a venture capitalist, investing in such companies as: Blavity, Court Buddy, Silvernest, and Mented Cosmetics. In this podcast we discuss Monique’s journey from the farms of rural Northern Florida to Miami’s music scene, to Silicon Valley. We discuss how she established herself as an entrepreneur, and founded the organization Black Founders, eventually becoming a venture capitalist. We cover a wide range of topics, including her demographic investment thesis, and why it should not be conflated with ‘diversity initiatives’. www.somethingventured.us In the Something Ventured podcast Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond.
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#95 Alan Eagle on Bill Campbell, "Trillion Dollar Coach"
04/15/2019
#95 Alan Eagle on Bill Campbell, "Trillion Dollar Coach"
Alan Eagle is Director of Executive Communications at Google. He is the coauthor of Trillion Dollar Coach, a book he co-wrote with Google’s former CEO Eric Schmidt and Google’s former SVP Jonathan Rosenberg. Trillion Dollar Coach tells the story of Bill Campbell – a football coach who became an executive at Apple, and then one of the most beloved coaches to a “who’s who” of Silicon Valley. Among those coached by Bill Campbell are Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, Sundar Pichai at Google; Steve Jobs at Apple; Brad Smith at Intuit; John Donahoe at eBay; and Marissa Mayer at Yahoo. In this podcast, Alan discusses what made Bill Campbell so special. How did a football coach become beloved in Silicon Valley? Why is Bill Campbell called a ‘trillion dollar coach”? Finally, Alan discusses and what lessons we can take from Bill today: How to run a meeting, the meaning of leadership…and the power of love. ------ In the Something Ventured Podcast (https://somethingventured.us) Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond
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#94: James Currier -- The Soul of Silicon Valley
04/11/2019
#94: James Currier -- The Soul of Silicon Valley
James Currier is a partner at NFX a venture firm he co-founded with partners Gigi Levy-Weiss and Pete Flint, and advisor Stan Chudnovsky. As an investor, he has funded companies before or alongside firms like Sequoia, Greylock, CRV, A16z, First Round, Mayfield, Shasta, and GGV. He's also a four-time serial entrepreneur with unique expertise in network effects businesses (his firm has identified 13 different network effects models https://www.nfx.com/post/network-effects-manual ) James is also deeply understands the ebbs and flows of Silicon Valley: Its technology, its trends, its tribes. In this episode James and Kent cover myriad topics – including James’ perspectives on why Silicon Valley works, who should (and shouldn’t) come to Silicon Valley, and whether or not Silicon Valley has lost its soul. -- In the Something Ventured Podcast (https://somethingventured.us) Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people changing the way we view the world online…and beyond.
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#93 Miyoko Schinner's Entrepreneurial Journey
02/26/2019
#93 Miyoko Schinner's Entrepreneurial Journey
Miyoko Schinner is the founder and CEO of Miyoko’s – a vegan creamery that is leading the way to a dairy-free future. She an award-winning celebrity chef, restauranteur, cookbook author, and TV host. She brought all these experiences to bear as she founded and built Miyoko’s from a small storefront to over 100 employees distributing vegan cheese around the country. Miyoko’s has raised venture capital from firms like Obvious (Ev William’s venture firm) and Stray Dog capital. In this conversation Miyoko and Kent discuss her entrepreneurial journey from delivering bread in a backpack in Tokyo, to founding and building one of the fastest growing venture-backed food production companies in America.
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#92 Carter Cohen -- Gen Z Up Close
02/07/2019
#92 Carter Cohen -- Gen Z Up Close
Whether you call it "Gen Z" or "Post Millenial" -- Carter Cohen is one of them, embedded and here to tell you about the world as he sees it. Carter is the kind of guy who makes you feel bad about what you were doing in college. He's a biochemistry major at Georgetown, speaks 3 languages, studies electrochemistry and...well he's a member of Gen Z, also called "post millennial". In this wide-ranging conversation, Kent and Carter discuss the myths and realities about how Gen Z uses technology, what they expect from the future of work and....much more.
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#91 Ryan Bethencourt -- Wild Earth Founder on Meatless Dog Food and More
11/27/2018
#91 Ryan Bethencourt -- Wild Earth Founder on Meatless Dog Food and More
Ryan Bethencourt is the CEO of Wild Earth, a biotech startup developing meatless dog food. Its investors include Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, and Felicis Ventures. He is a Partner at Babel Ventures and Investor/Advisor to over 80 biotech startups. He also co-founded the Biotech accelerator Indiebio. We discuss why meatless pet food isn't as crazy as it sounds, the idea that animal-free meat is coming way faster than you think, and the decision between being a VC or an entrepreneur. We also discuss the path from legalizing marijuana to legalizing psychedelics. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom takes a look behind the scenes in Silicon Valley as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online..and beyond.
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#90 Codepath's Michael Ellison -- Racism, poverty and Silicon Valley
10/09/2018
#90 Codepath's Michael Ellison -- Racism, poverty and Silicon Valley
You may think you know about diversity in Silicon Valley, but you may not have heard it this straight up and candid before. Michael Ellison is African American and grew up poor as far from Silicon Valley as possible. Here he discusses how he made his unlikely way to Silicon Valley to become CEO of Codepath.org. Codepath is the the hugely influential engineering training organization working with Silicon Valley’s tech giants, and universities across the country. We discuss problems with diversity programs, income inequality and racism on the road to Silicon Valley. A bonus : what you should really think of the movie Black Panther.
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#89 -- Silicon Valley Goes to Burning Man
08/22/2018
#89 -- Silicon Valley Goes to Burning Man
In this replay episode, Kent Lindstrom and Michael White have a bit of fun at the expense of Burning Man. Burning Man is the the, um, art fest in the desert to which half of Silicon Valley decamps each year. We discuss the history of Burning Man, what might make people go to Burning Man, and the myriad benefits of hanging out in San Francisco while everyone else is away. --- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom goes behind the scenes as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online....and beyond.
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#88 Rick Marini of Protocol Ventures 2 of 2
08/14/2018
#88 Rick Marini of Protocol Ventures 2 of 2
Rick Marini is the founder of Protocol Ventures -- a cryptocurrency fund-of-funds, which is rapidly becoming a dominant force in the emerging cryptocurrency space. Previously, Rick has been an entrepreneur building and selling multiple companies, including early social network Tickle and professional networking site Branchout. Along the way, he has been a prolific angel investor, investing early in companies like Snapchat. For these efforts, Rick was recently named one of the Top 50 Angel Investors by Forbes. In our wide ranging conversation, we cover various trends in Silicon Valley, and dig in on cryptocurrency. We discuss the value of a 'fund-of-funds" for an emerging asset class like cryptocurrency, the brief history of cryptocurrency, why crypto is such a huge deal and a lot more. We also answer the question: "Is Rick Marini Satoshi"? -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley Insider Kent Lindstrom goes behind the scenes in Silicon Valley as he goes behind the scenes with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond.
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#87 Rick Marini of Protocol Ventures 1 of 2
08/07/2018
#87 Rick Marini of Protocol Ventures 1 of 2
Rick Marini is the founder of Protocol Ventures -- a cryptocurrency fund-of-funds, which is rapidly becoming a dominant force in the emerging cryptocurrency space. Previously, Rick has been an entrepreneur building and selling multiple companies, including early social network Tickle and professional networking site Branchout. Along the way, he has been a prolific angel investor, investing early in companies like Snapchat. For these efforts, Rick was recently named one of the Top 50 Angel Investors by Forbes. In our wide ranging conversation, we cover various trends in Silicon Valley, and dig in on cryptocurrency. We discuss the value of a 'fund-of-funds" for an emerging asset class like cryptocurrency, the brief history of cryptocurrency, why crypto is such a huge deal and a lot more. We also answer the question: "Is Rick Marini Satoshi"? -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley Insider Kent Lindstrom goes behind the scenes in Silicon Valley as he goes behind the scenes with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond.
/episode/index/show/somethingventured/id/6895758
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#86 The Future of Transport with Nick Heyman
07/17/2018
#86 The Future of Transport with Nick Heyman
Nick Heyman was an early (like, #8) employee at Facebook. He is now a founder and Managing Partner of DynoVC, a venture firm focused on the transportation industry. Nick believes the transportation market is undergoing the most radical change since inception. In this podcast we discuss a range of topics from self-driving cards, autonomous vehicles, the future of trucks, scooters and more! -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom goes behind the scenes in Silicon Valley as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online, and beyond.
/episode/index/show/somethingventured/id/6821707
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#85 SF Chronicle's Joe Garofoli
06/26/2018
#85 SF Chronicle's Joe Garofoli
Joe Garofoli is the Senior Political Writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and host of their "It's All Political" podcast. Joe gives us his take on all things, um, political in Silicon Valley, California and beyond. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom takes a look behind the scenes as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online....and beyond.
/episode/index/show/somethingventured/id/6735437