Welcome to the Founder &amp; Funder Experience. Brought to you by Format One. This podcast brings to light the different journeys select founders and funders took to get where they are today. We hope their lives and their learnings continue to inspire both present and future innovators!

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“If you want to get a deal done as an entrepreneur, you can create the narrative that rationalizes your bias. And so when I call (references), I’ll give you some questions that I asked, I think the most salient piece of information is, okay, tell me a time when you were low, or that you had a transition? What did they do for you?”— Hooman Radfar (Founder &amp; CEO @Collective) Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hooman/" rel="nofollow">Hooman Radfar</a>, Founder &amp; CEO at <a href="https://www.collective.com/about-us.html?ref=homepage_nav" rel="nofollow">Collective</a> (backed by General Catalyst, QED, Google’s Gradient Ventures, and Expa). Collective&#39;s vision is to increase the number of financially successful businesses-of-one by enabling self-employed people to focus on their passion not their paperwork.Having been on the VC-side of the table, Hooman really understands how incentives at the capital level impact every aspect of company-building. Aside from sharing insights on the market and how Collective was born, Hooman shares his unique approach to company building, covering some of the most important pillars of any startup: 1) Fundraising and 2) Relationships. <ul><li>The outsized opportunities in the small-business market. </li><li>How to dissolve bias when selecting your VC/Investor partners.</li><li>Back to basics— doing business with people you have strong relationships with.</li><li>Building things for the love of building!</li></ul>

Founders Serving Founders:  Hooman Radfar of Collective

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“I would just caveat that I don&#39;t believe that being an operator makes you a better investor. It&#39;s still an incredibly hard job of picking great companies. We’ve all seen great venture capital investors who&#39;ve never been operators…”— Gautam Gupta Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gautamgup/" rel="nofollow">Gautam Gupta</a>, Partner at <a href="https://m13.co/" rel="nofollow">M13 Ventures</a> and founder (former CEO) of <a href="http://www.naturebox.com/" rel="nofollow">NatureBox</a>, a digitally native brand of snacks. He started his career as an early stage investor at General Catalyst, and had the great fortune to join the firm at 18 years of age, spending his first 8 years as part of a team that scaled it from a small firm to one with global reach. In this interview, Gautam talks about his unique learnings and journey from starting in venture, venturing out as a founder, and returning to venture!  <h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Starting a career at a startup VC and being part of its growth into an international brand.</li><li>The ups and downs of building a consumer startup. </li><li>The ONE 10x thing founders often don’t make the time for … </li><li>Distilling the art of successful fundraising. Period. </li></ul>

The Journey Into Venture and Back Again: Gautam Gupta of M13 Ventures

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“I&#39;m looking for leaders that I think can lead a company of hundreds of people in the future. And sometimes, you just don&#39;t get that feel, there&#39;s no way to quantify it. It&#39;s like a gut feeling that you have, but we&#39;re only looking to invest in companies that will have massive outcomes.” — Sheel Mohnot Today’s guest is Sheel Mohnot, Co-founder and GP at Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV). BTV is an early-stage venture fund focused on building the future of fintech by leading seed and pre-seed rounds of fintech companies. Before becoming an institutional investor, Sheel founded the podcast “The Pitch” and a tech-enabled food company, Thistle, serving 10’s of thousands of customers every week. He also invested in numerous tech companies as an angel investor, successfully achieving two meaningful exits in fintech companies. In this interview, Sheel talks about the journey from operator to angel, and now, institutional investor. If you are serious about getting into venture capital for life— you’ll enjoy Sheel’s sharing! “So I would say, the main thing I look for, is a founder who can clearly articulate their vision.”— Sheel Mohnot Highlights:Successful fundraising = clarity in communication!The single point of failure on unsuccessful early-stage venture deals. Enjoying being a VC, unapologetically.

The Ascent from ‘Angel’ to ‘Institutional’: Sheel Mohnot of Better Tomorrow Ventures

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“I got interested in technology as a way of solving some of these major challenges I was seeing in my classroom. And that&#39;s not just education. There’s also all the other things that people need to actually have upward mobility in their lives.”— Ashley Bittner Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymbittner/" rel="nofollow">Ashley Bittner</a>, Founding Partner at <a href="http://firework.vc/" rel="nofollow">Firework Ventures</a>, Investing in human-centered Future of Work companies. Their current investments include: TRANSFR, Stride Funding, Hone, Learn In, Podium Education, Catch, BrainTrust, The Prelude Institute, and Edvo.With first-hand experience as a teacher in the Bronx, a management consultant, and a political appointee in the Obama Administration, Ashley brings a thoroughly insightful learnings about the Future of Work. In this interview, Ashley talks about the kind of innovations needed to meet the rapidly evolving needs of our workforce. She also touches on important matters such as diversity, upward mobility, and the role policy plays in driving socioeconomic transformation. “Bridgette (Founding Partner) and I focus a lot on how we think or how we build a platform that has really values diversity of thought, different experiences.”— Ashley Bittner

Investing in the Many Dimensions of ‘Work’: Ashley Bittner of Firework Ventures

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“I think the entrepreneurs that have the best shot at success are those who have done the work to understand who they are, to have tons of confidence and courage in what they&#39;re building, but to also just be very aware, and humble about what they aren&#39;t great at.”— Melanie Strong Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-strong/" rel="nofollow">Melanie Strong</a>, Managing Partner at <a href="https://nextventures.com/" rel="nofollow">Next Ventures</a> and former Nike executive for over 18 years. With a history of leading diverse international teams, Melanie is one of the most passionate leaders you can find in the sports, health and wellness space. In this interview, Melanie talks about the fundamentals of human performance. Whether you are an athlete or not, you’ll appreciate her humble insights about career development, well-being, company-building, and life fulfilment :)  “That&#39;s my mantra when I ride— humility, humility, humility— over and over again.”— Melanie Strong<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Coming into venture with a fresh set of eyes.</li><li>The exciting developments in sports, health, and wellness. </li><li>The #1 well-being habit that everyone needs to pay attention to!</li><li>The ‘artform’ of early-stage venture investing.</li><li>The people-first approach to performance and resilience. </li></ul>

What’s ‘Next’ in Sports, Health, and Wellness?

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“Hunt for a problem worth solving, and then solve it better than anything else on the market.”— Hiten Shah (Co-Founder &amp; CEO at FYI)Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hnshah/" rel="nofollow">Hiten Shah</a>, Co-Founder &amp; CEO at <a href="https://usefyi.com/" rel="nofollow">FYI</a>, long-time serial founder and investor (120+ investments to date). Hiten has been in the profession of building companies since 2013— pioneering technology solutions in the analytics space that are easy-to-use and intuitive. First, with Crazy Egg, then with KISSmetrics, and now, with FYI. In this interview, Hiten shares some great insights into problem-hunting, product-development, and the performance psychology behind ‘0 to 1.’ Throughout this interview, you will experience his deeply empathetic, humble, and more importantly, engaging approach to company-building! Especially if you possess the ‘born to build’ mentality that so many great founders have!“This is one big problem we see founders do: preventing the thing (problem) next time is not as important as solving the thing first. Especially with a big problem!”— Hiten Shah (Co-Founder &amp; CEO at FYI)<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Problem-hunting— go where most don’t, and out-solution those who are there! </li><li>The 5-Day MVP rule </li><li>Solving big problems faster!</li><li>Don’t understand something? Start with context! </li><li>Controlling how you respond to what happens.</li><li>Solving for the future, not recreating the past.</li></ul>

Building Companies, Building Companies, and Building Companies: Hiten Shah of FYI

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Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jducla/" rel="nofollow">Jun Deng</a>, Investment partner at <a href="http://socialstarts.com/" rel="nofollow">Social Starts</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.joyancepartners.com/" rel="nofollow">Joyance Partners</a>— investing in the emerging science of health and happiness. The funds have achieved great success, effectively investing in multiple unicorns and companies exceeding 100MM in valuation. Jun has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and intentionally crafted her career in Venture Capital due to her love for new technologies that disrupt traditional areas. In this video interview, Jun shares her experience in investing and scientific due diligence— combining her love for data analysis with emotional intelligence to evaluate the companies building the future!

The Compound of Data & Emotional Intelligence: Jun Deng

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Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandermans/" rel="nofollow">Alex Mans</a>, serial entrepreneur, founder and president at <a href="http://flyrlabs.com/" rel="nofollow">FLYR Labs</a>. FLYR is a company radically transforming air travel through cutting edge technologies that are years ahead of what has been commercially available. Backed by notable tech figures such as Peter Thiel, FLYR solves complex problems with beautifully engineered solutions to help leading airlines around the world unlock their full potential. Even before founding and building FLYR, Alex has been building software and hardware products since 2007. In this interview, Alex takes us through his journey of entrepreneurship. But more importantly, he talks about the advantages and opportunities of solving the really hard things that no one else is! <blockquote>“The way you retain people is by finding people that you&#39;re confident will be able to mold with the company as the company evolves.” — Alex Mans</blockquote>

Powering the Future of Aviation: Alex Mans

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&#34;I got to see this machine learning AI space progress and now I&#39;m working in blockchain. And I have to tell you— there&#39;s a pattern. I just see this pattern.”—Jack O’Holleran Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/oholleran" rel="nofollow">Jack O’Holleran</a>, serial entrepreneur, and Co-founder and CEO at <a href="http://skale.network/" rel="nofollow">SKALE Labs</a>. SKALE is a technology company solving the blockchain scalability problem, helping the ecosystem run hundreds of millions of smart contracts and transactions per second. Before founding SKALE, Jack also co-founded and grew Aktana, the leading SaaS Sales and Marketing Analytics platform for Global Life Sciences companies. In this exciting interview, Jack takes us on an engaging journey of entrepreneurship— the inevitability of technology, and, the growth mindset behind building or achieving anything new! <h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>From riding horses and scooping snow to building tech companies in Silicon Valley. </li><li>Patterns in innovation and what that means for the future of technology and blockchain!</li><li>The growth mindset behind building and achieving anything new!</li><li>A world with much fewer middle-men. </li><li>Building an AI &amp; Machine-Learning driven product before people even knew what AI was!</li></ul> “It just seems to me like an inevitable thing, where you can— through smart contracts and open source software, and essentially blockchains— create new rails rules and governance for the way we use software systems.”— Jack O’Holleran

Patterns of Inevitability in Tech and Blockchain:  Jack O’Holleran

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Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehatanna/" rel="nofollow">Neha Tanna M.D.</a>, Investment Partner at <a href="https://www.socialstarts.com/" rel="nofollow">Social Starts</a> &amp; <a href="http://joyancepartners.com/" rel="nofollow">Joyance Partners</a>. Neha and the team are early-stage investors in the emerging science of health and happiness.  The funds have achieved great success, effectively investing in multiple unicorns and companies exceeding 100MM in valuation. In this interview, Neha Tanna takes us through her unique personal and professional journey. From medical general practitioner to innovation in the medical industry, and now an investment partner in a global institutional venture fund.Neha&#39;s sharing is a breath of fresh air— direct, engaging, and authentic. If you consider a career in venture, Neha&#39;s sharings will help you connect some dots between points A and B. If you are an early-stage founder looking for the right investment partner— you will gain an appreciation for the people behind the investments that enable breakthrough innovations to achieve dramatic scale and impact.  <h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>From doctor to investor at an institutional venture fund— how? </li><li>Radical candor— starting with yourself! </li><li>Learning and growing in the venture profession. </li><li>Happiness is a science. </li><li>Better collaboration between nature and science— the next emerging frontier of innovation? </li></ul>

Redefining the Status Quo:  Neha Tanna M.D.

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“I think the real definition (of empathy) for me is just having a full understanding of the whole person.”— Puneet Agarwal Keeping it ‘@True’...  Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/puneet324/" rel="nofollow">Puneet Agarwal</a>, General Partner at <a href="http://trueventures.com/" rel="nofollow">True Ventures</a>, a seed and Series A stage venture fund in San Francisco that is empowering extraordinary founders from all walks of life. The True VC team has invested in iconic companies such as Peloton, Duo, Blue Bottle, and Fit Bit, to name a few.   But logos hardly do justice to the depth of learning, coordination, and that community goes behind every single founder they partner with!  In this interview, we get a comprehensive look into the psychology and experience behind one of True’s incredible General Partners, Puneet Agarwal. Puneet’s insights come from a place of deep humility while providing an incredibly lateral view of all things that matter to founders and people in tech— leadership, empathy, and company-building.  “I think what I&#39;ve said before, and I&#39;ll say, again, is that I think venture capital is a fundamentally human business.”— Puneet Agarwal<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Keeping it ‘True’ — VC as a human business. </li><li>Coming full circle on venture— starting a career in venture, leaving to be an operator, and returning.</li><li>360 vision on founders— a sophisticated use of empathy for evaluating, partnering, and investing in visionary founders. </li><li>Pushing the fold in early-stage VC— how can you successfully maximize risk at the earliest stages?</li><li>Cross-functional innovation— product, go-to-market, and business model!</li></ul> “So, we&#39;re really looking for, you know, is this person able to navigate from an entry point and then find a bigger vision down the road that they can, again, also navigate?”— Puneet Agarwal

Keeping it ‘True’ in Venture Capital:  Puneet Agarwal

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“We are big believers that everybody in technology is standing on the shoulders of giants.”— Satya Patel Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyapatel/" rel="nofollow">Satya Patel</a>, Founding Partner at <a href="https://homebrew.co/" rel="nofollow">Homebrew</a>, a seed stage venture fund in San Francisco focused on helping entrepreneurs who are building within the Bottom-Up Economy. Alongside his partner, Hunter Walk, Satya and the team are investing in mission-driven founders who are leveraging technology— often in some novel way— to democratize access to products, services, data, customers, revenue, markets, and more! Satya’s thoughtful sharing provides piercing clarity to a myriad of topics— venture investing, career development, and company building. Anyone who consumes large volumes of content will find Satya’s sharing to be a breath of fresh air!  <h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>The bottom-up economy and making the world a more equitable place to live. </li><li>The best of both worlds— classical VC and operational support. </li><li>Operating experience— a double-edged sword?</li><li>Bringing the product-philosophy to investing.</li><li>The ONE domain of expertise every VC must master. </li><li>The founder’s relationship with capital— necessary evil, or, a rewarding path to long-term value creation and partnership?</li></ul>

Progressing the Bottom-Up Economy: Satya Patel of Homebrew

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“That&#39;s how we&#39;re gonna level up mankind— by augmenting people&#39;s natural capabilities with the software and tools that we create. Give them superpowers and make them Superhuman—that&#39;s where the name of the company came from.” — Vivek Sodera Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vsodera/" rel="nofollow">Vivek Sodera</a>, Co-Founder at <a href="https://superhuman.com/" rel="nofollow">Superhuman</a>, the fastest email client in the world. The team has rebuilt the inbox from the ground up to make customers brilliant at what they do. To date, Superhuman has over 300,000 people on their waitlist, and raised over $51MM in VC led by a16z and First Round Capital. Vivek’s journey as a serial entrepreneur is packed with humble insights that come from a deep respect for the ‘art of the start’ and beyond. If you too are a passionate operator and team-builder, you will feel a strong kinship with Vivek.  “I think the biggest growth area for me personally, is going super deep in the context of being more external facing— this is actually a real-time conversation I&#39;m having right now with my co-founder, Rahul...”— Vivek Sodera<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>From studying chemical and nuclear engineering, to serial entrepreneurship— how? </li><li>Co-creation and serendipity— meeting Rahul Vohra and joining forces to create <a href="https://superhuman.com/" rel="nofollow">Superhuman</a>!</li><li>Discovering the quotient for product-market fit. </li><li>Building a world-class team who are obsessed with delighting customers. </li></ul>

Superhumans Behind Superhuman: Vivek Sodera

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“ I think if I have one DNA very much in common with Silicon Valley is just this insane amount of optimism. For me everything is possible. That&#39;s why I went from rug salesman to venture capitalist.” — Pejman Nozad Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pejman/" rel="nofollow">Pejman Nozad</a>, Founding Managing Partner of Pear.VC, an early-stage venture capital firm partnering with entrepreneurs from day ‘zero’ to build category defining companies.Pejman has over 15 years of experience investing in early stage high tech start-ups. He&#39;s invested in over 100 startups and has seeded several multi-billion dollar companies such as Dropbox, Lending Club, Gusto ( Zenpayroll), Doordash, Guardant Health and Branchmetrics.As a human being and professional investor, Pejman is someone with an inherently ‘positive-sum’ approach to life and business. In this video interview, Pejman covers key areas of his most unprecedented career journey into VC— one that connects all the dots in hindsight while illuminating the future with foresight.  “I encourage entrepreneurs to have a global view, I encourage entrepreneurs to think about outside where we are— some of the best entrepreneurs I&#39;ve ever worked with investments in themselves.”— Pejman Nozad<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>From rug salesman to rockstar venture capitalist— how?</li><li>What does being the BEST seed investor mean?</li><li>Self-awareness as a guiding mechanism to a rewarding career. </li><li>The core ingredients to building ‘category defining’ companies. </li><li>Learning from the great investments you miss.</li></ul>

Playing a Positive Part for The 'Whole':  Pejman Nozad of Pear VC

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“I think the transition is learning that I am a whole center in and of myself. ”— Tracy Lawrence Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracylawrence/" rel="nofollow">Tracy Lawrence</a>, Co-Founder &amp; Former CEO at <a href="http://chewse.com/" rel="nofollow">Chewse</a> (acquired) and an allround complete human being. Tracy founded Chewse, a corporate tech-enabled catering company, at about 19 years of age. Their mission was to bring people and teams closer together through well-curated and sourced foods!Over the 10 years, Tracy shaped the culture around love— for the customer, for each other, and for life. But more importantly, Chewse became a symbol for a humane organization, one that recognized the significance of emotions in business and performance, and designed their team practices around it. Tracy is a unique founder with truthful insights about startup life— before, during, and after! If you want hardcore tactics and strategies, this video interview isn’t for you. But if you want to explore how the softer, subtle human needs move and shape startups— you’ll enjoy this! :) “I have my whole life to be a novice, which is actually kind of thrilling if I don&#39;t attach my ego to it.”—Tracy Lawrence<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Understanding your past and freeing yourself from it!</li><li>Little hints that suggest that founding a company might just be for you …</li><li>Lessons from founding and running a startup for over 10 years.</li><li>Emotions and their place in company-building. </li><li>Listening to your voice and bringing your unique style of leadership to your company! </li><li>Life after exiting your startup! </li></ul>

‘Being’ In The Business of Building: Tracy Lawrence

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“I think that if we start to think about the world in a much broader way, and sort of lift ourselves out of the immediacy of Silicon Valley— and this goes for both investors and founders— there are much, much bigger market opportunities for us to get excited about.”— Monique Woodard (Founder at Cake Ventures) Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquewoodard/" rel="nofollow">Monique Woodard</a>, Founder at <a href="http://cake.vc/" rel="nofollow">Cake Ventures</a>. Cake Ventures has a simple, effective motto, “Investing in where we’re going, not where we came from.” Monique invests at the intersection of technology and newly powerful consumer groups who are mostly overlooked by most. Before starting her venture firm, Monique worked at 500 Startups, investing in pre-seed and seed companies in the US and Africa. She also worked as a product-focused operator and founded a national community of tech entrepreneurs.Monique symbolizes how one can live a self-directed, meaningful life regardless of your background. Any investor and operator who is building the future of humanity can benefit from watching this video! You will feel a kinship with what Monique has to share! :) “To put a clear perspective on it like back when I started, there were really very few black people in venture. There was Charles Hudson, and like that was it.” — Monique Woodard<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Investing in where we’re going, not where we came from. </li><li>Venture Capital as a culture-setting vehicle. </li><li>The evolving state of diversity in tech and venture. </li><li>Market trends, changing demographics, and the newly powerful consumer groups. </li><li>The growing economic power of women in the world.</li><li>Gray New World— the aging market is still in its infancy. </li><li>Journey to the west— from programming to venture investing.</li><li>Breaking the mold for a more diverse, equitable venture ecosystem. </li></ul>

All Eyes Ahead: Monique Woodard of Cake Ventures

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“There&#39;s this opportunity for well-designed technology to help us feel more in tune with our environments, more connected to our emotions, and more in touch with how our bodies feel on a physical level.”— Sam Shames (COO &amp; Co-Founder of Embr Labs) This podcast interview is close to the heart for us…Today&#39;s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/samshames/" rel="nofollow">Sam Shames</a>, Co-Founder &amp; COO at <a href="http://embrlabs.com/" rel="nofollow">Embr Labs</a>. Embr Labs pioneered the exciting category of thermal wellness technology, starting from their labs at MIT, to growing a company with customers who absolutely love their product (<a href="https://embrlabs.com/products/embr-wave" rel="nofollow">The Embr Wave</a>). Sam and the Embr Labs team truly embody the pure, honest spirit of entrepreneurship, and one that is grounded in scientific research &amp; innovation. As co-founder and COO of Embr Labs, Sam shares his humble insights and discoveries in company building. If you want to model and adopt a low-ego stance for growing a category defining technology company— watch this video!  “And for us, that&#39;s the fundamental belief that technology can— and when it&#39;s at its best— should make our lives better.”— Sam Shames (COO &amp; Co-Founder of Embr Labs) <h1>Highlights:</h1><ul><li>Temperature— a keyboard to our nervous system? </li><li>Empowering people to harness temperature for their well-being.</li><li>What do you do when no single co-founder should be CEO?</li><li>What’s professional wrestling got to do with entrepreneurship?</li><li>CFO— Chief Food Officer? </li></ul>

The Science of Being ‘Cool’ (or Hot): Sam Shames of Embr Labs

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Today’s guest is Nina Achadjian, Partner at Index Ventures. Before joining Index, Nina was also the founder of HIVE Ventures, the first seed fund focusing on Armenian entrepreneurs. She was also a higher yield bond trader at Citigroup and the FP&amp;A Lead for Google’s AdSense team. In this podcast episode, Nina shares her unique journey into venture and her passion for working with brilliant entrepreneurs who shape the world we live in. Furthermore, if you are determined to find a path into VC, Nina provides a simple, effective frame for securing your VC career.  You’ll enjoy this! :)

Building The Future Through Venture: Nina Achadjian of Index Ventures

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“I had the luxury to help other people before myself... it grew me more into a mentor as a leader than it did as a hustler entrepreneur.”— Sandeep Kumar Sood Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandeepsood/" rel="nofollow">Sandeep Kumar Sood</a>, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of <a href="http://kun.ai/" rel="nofollow">Kun.ai</a>, a consulting company that has led innovation for large financial institutions for over a decade. To date, they have shipped over 150 products for the clients which include the top ten US banks, Fortune 500 technology companies, and numerous unicorn startups.  Sandeep was also the co-founder of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/junglee-games/" rel="nofollow">Junglee Games</a>, helping the company become the largest game producer in India. Before that, Sandeep also successfully sold his first agency, Monsoon, to Capital One.  As a serial entrepreneur, CEO, and mentor, Sandeep’s insights and sharings come from a place of deep humility and experience. If you want to adopt the right stance for transforming old, archaic industries— you must watch this interview! Sandeep will take you on a journey of building the future with an appreciation for the past... “This to me is a moment for the industry (financial) when consulting and labor is equally if not more important than SaaS companies in the space.”— Sandeep Kumar Sood

The Shoulders of FinTech Giants: Sandeep Kumar Sood of Kun.ai

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/8/8/14/a3882300-22e6-40a1-84d9-594f866c0d6a_mp3_celine_ivari-2.mp3

“It was wonderful to understand that there was so much you can do when you can just figure out if you set your mind to it.”— Celine Ivari (Co-Founder &amp; CEO, WholyMe)Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/celine-ivari-077278b2/" rel="nofollow">Celine Ivari</a>, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of <a href="https://wholyme.com/" rel="nofollow">WholyMe</a>, a company focused on delivering the healthiest, effective relief solutions for an active lifestyle. Along with Co-Founder &amp; COO, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/quitterie-de-rivoyre-4385b324/" rel="nofollow">Quitterie de Rivoyre</a>, Celine is on a mission to empower people to make the best decisions for their well-being and the planet. Before co-founding WholeMe, Celine co-founded and operated Meshkati hair center— a high-end hair loss clinic in London. Celine holds a Master’s Degree in Genetics, and worked in the medical educator sector, helping big pharmaceutical companies launch new medicine globally. Celine possesses an incredibly mature and youthful approach to leadership, building a sustainable business, and placing customers at the center of all commercial efforts. Any founder, seasoned or emerging, will enjoy listening to her speak! :) “If you believe in yourself, and if you have faith in your project and your ambitions, and the bigger mission, then you can weather every single storm.”— Celine Ivari

The Business of Powerfully Caring.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/31/14/a0a4da75-6267-4488-a865-24d785cfd338_jean_anne-2.mp3

“The difference to me, between an engineer and a scientist, is that an engineer builds things for people— scientists investigate things because they&#39;re trying to answer questions.” — Jean Anne BoothToday’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanannebooth/" rel="nofollow">Jean Anne Booth</a>, CEO at <a href="http://unaliwear.com/" rel="nofollow">UnaliWear</a>. UnaliWear is a tech company focused on extending independence with dignity. She has 30 years of experience in technology, spanning all facets of business— management, product engineering &amp; development, marketing, engineering, and operations. Prior to founding UnaliWear, Jean Ann founded, built, and sold multiple companies, one of which was sold to Texas Instruments (Luminary Micro) and the other sold to Apple (Intrinsity). She holds a BSEE from the University of Texas and an MSCE degree from National Technical University. Jean Anne possesses an incredibly deep, acute understanding of how to define, prototype, and develop truly customer-centric technology products. As a well-renowned pioneer of the semiconductor revolution, Jean Anne’s thinking is something entrepreneurs of all backgrounds can learn from. If you are looking to absorb the first-principles of product-led entrepreneurship, Jean Anne is someone you MUST pay attention to :)“What are the real things behind products that help extend your independence? And that was when we came up with our tagline— extending independence with dignity.”—Jean Anne Booth

The Timeless Principles of Human-Centric Design: Jean Anne Booth of UnaliWear

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/23/2/79214ee8-5235-42ba-9dc9-633cfd5e7141_mike_edelhart_social_starts_final.mp3

You can&#39;t fight your way through extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds.” (on investing)— Mike Edelhart Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeedelhart/" rel="nofollow">Mike Edelhart</a>, Managing Partner for Joyance Partners &amp; <a href="http://socialstarts.com/" rel="nofollow">Social Starts Venture Capital</a>— investing in the emerging science of health and happiness. The funds have achieved great success, effectively investing in multiple unicorns and companies exceeding 100MM in valuation. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was the original Executive Editor of PC Magazine and was later an executive vice president at Ziff Davis. He has also been CEO at many startups, including Olive Software, Inman News, and Zinio.Mike is filled with incredibly rich experiences, insights, and learnings from serial company-building, venture-investing, and technology. By combining the best of people with the best of technology, Mike and the team have been able to effectively analyze and evaluate companies at the earliest stages — inception. ANYONE who is actively involved in building the future will enjoy this :) “If you just look at historically, a lot of really great companies started during recessions. Why? Because big companies are wide open to new things during recessions.”—Mike Edelhart<h1>Highlights</h1><ul><li>Scientific-investing— pipedream or reality? </li><li>What’s ‘love’ got to do with successful investing, really?</li><li>Combining the best of people and the best of technology to secure opportunities others can’t see. </li><li>The merits of &#39;meritocracy (and other positive side-effects).</li></ul>

Moments-of-Inception: Going Where Investors Aren't...

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/20/19/90673176-e2e7-4f52-8d54-485e1751b2f0_podcast_season_2_ep_1_kendrick_nguyen_of_republic.mp3

“I could see the potential for a more democratized venture ecosystem.” — Kendrick Nguyen Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendrick-nguyen-7145bb5/" rel="nofollow">Kendrick Nguyen</a>, Co-founder @<a href="https://republic.co/about" rel="nofollow">Republic</a>, an investment platform where everyone can invest as little as $10 in cutting-edge startups. Kendrick is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded two fintech startups prior, and his business experience spans the disciplines of fundraising, ops, product strategy, and investing. He also served as General Counsel at AngelList. Kendrick is part of an existing, emerging wave of entrepreneurs transforming the platforms of old industries to make the world a more accessible, equitable, and wealthy place to live. More importantly, they are doing it by aligning stakeholders, old and new, and bringing everyone along. In this <a href="https://youtu.be/qJ2hJLoPXpg" rel="nofollow">podcast interview</a>, Kendrick candidly shares his journey as a founder, his life (and business) philosophies, and his love for building teams with an inherently positive attitude towards everything they do. Anyone can enjoy this! :)

Democratizing Startup Fundraising & Investing: Kendrick Nguyen of Republic

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/12/2/03d7a7d9-6c35-4be4-a66f-312dc4753e94_copy_of_manan_mehta_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/" rel="nofollow">Manan Mehta</a>, co-founder and General Partner @<a href="http://unshackledvc.com/" rel="nofollow">Unshackled Ventures</a>. Manan has experience as both an investor and a founder. In this post, he talks about identifying the need to unlock immigrant founder talent, and professionalizing a leading venture capital firm to deploy capital with speed, intelligence, and discipline. Founder talent finds its way from all across the globe. However, not all of them have the right networks and resources to go from great idea to effective implementation. That’s where Unshackled VC comes in. Manan and the Unshackled VC team bring a high-performing approach to investing. They take the best, timeless practices of VC and make them even better! We believe this podcast episode will be a breath of fresh-air for founders and emerging fund manager talent!

Enabling High-Octane Founders From Day 0 and Beyond: Manan Mehta of Unshackled Ventures

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/12/2/0b522ddd-b11c-4108-bf8b-1b22ad342ee6_copy_of_greg_sands_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregsands/" rel="nofollow">Greg Sands</a>, Founder and Managing Partner at <a href="http://costanoavc.com/" rel="nofollow">Costanoa Ventures</a>, a boutique, early-stage VC firm. Before starting Costanoa Ventures, Greg worked at Sutter Hill Ventures as their Managing Director. To date, Greg has over 20 years of experience in VC. Before becoming a professional investor, Greg also worked at multiple technology companies, Netscape included. Interesting fact: Greg was the first product manager at Netscape and coined the name for the company!  In this podcast episode, Greg shares his decades-worth of learnings and discoveries in tech. This interview is perfect for you if:<ul><li>You are a founder looking to scale your company.</li><li>You are looking to launch your career in venture capital. </li><li>You love hearing stories about bold people building great things in the world. </li></ul>Greg is a clear and engaging communicatory— you’ll enjoy this! :)

Anatomical Insights  On Early-Stage Venture Investing: Greg Sands of Costanoa Ventures

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/12/2/61cc7d12-b2e0-420a-b76f-ce9169372bd7_copy_of_miles_lasater_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mileslasater/" rel="nofollow">Miles Lasater</a>, serial founder turned investor and the founding partner at <a href="https://purposebuilt.vc/#about" rel="nofollow">Purpose Built Ventures</a>. As a founder, he helped Higher One scale to over $200MM in revenue and eventually, a public offering. Today, Miles’ VC fund is focused on investing very early (pre-seed or seed) in companies that improve human wellbeing, expand economic opportunity, and improve the public sphere— Atlas, Remix, Edvo, and Notable to name a few. In his words, “... companies that are purpose-driven, and that are solving key challenges facing all of us.”In this podcast episode, Miles shares his journey as a founder turned investor and illuminates insights from having experience on both sides of the venture capital marketplace! As a human being, Miles is simply someone you feel you can trust— he is grounded, honest, and emotionally intelligent— experience him for yourself! :)  “You’re also more fundamentally a service provider to entrepreneurs, and they are the center of the story. And they are the ones that are doing the hard stuff— solving the problems, building the companies etc. And so it&#39;s so fun to be a part of multiple stories.” (Reference to being an investor)” — Miles Lasater

Placing Founders at the Center of Your Efforts: Miles Lasater of Purpose-Built Ventures

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/10/19/24c748ce-956f-4c99-aa60-d995e5509024_copy_of_logan_allin_final_modified.mp3

<blockquote>I wake up every morning excited to work with entrepreneurs, and that&#39;s where I get my energy from, even though I&#39;m an introvert… So, I think from a social impact, from a legacy perspective— this is my last job. This is all I want to do the rest of my career.”— Logan Allin</blockquote>Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganallin/" rel="nofollow">Logan Allin</a>, Founder and Managing Partner at <a href="https://finvc.co/about/" rel="nofollow">Fin Venture Capital</a> (Fin VC), an operator-focused, early-stage fintech venture firm. Before becoming a full-time investor, he patiently dedicated his career as an operator in financial services, and, advising numerous fintech companies such as SoFi and Addepar, to name a few. Logan’s expertise in the financial industry spans multiple functions, including (but not limited to); go-to-market, business development, product development, relationship management, engineering, innovation, and compliance. He understands the enterprise landscape of the fintech industry, opportunities, and just as importantly, how to align and move key stakeholders.Fun fact: Logan used to code and build enterprise software at his first job out of college!Today, the Fin VC team is dedicated operators with deep corporate and startup experience. Their capital has vast entrepreneurial experience embedded within its DNA— helping portfolio founders successfully navigate the complex waters of the Fintech industry. In this podcast episode, Logan shares over a decade worth of learning and discoveries in the Fintech industry.

Navigating the Waters of FinTech: Logan Allin of Fin Venture Capital

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/9/23/44b480a8-5ba1-4ccb-8f29-f32e4231b43c_copy_of_rahim_fazal_final_modified.mp3

“ When there is sort of instability in the market, and people are going one way— how can you intelligently go the other way?”— Rahim FazalToday’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahimfazal/" rel="nofollow">Rahim Fazal</a>, Co-founder and CEO @<a href="https://sv.academy/" rel="nofollow">SV Academy</a>, a tech company focused on democratizing access to the tech industry through their 4-week (or 12-week) business development fellowship. Before founding SV Academy, Rahim was founder of several software companies with multiple acquisitions along the way— his first during his senior year exams! In this episode, Rahim takes us through his heart-warming, personal growth journey as a founder— from innovating his way into more opportunities, taking the road less traveled, and learning from some amazing mentors about business AND life! You’ll enjoy this :)

The Founder's Journey of Personal Growth & Development: Rahim Fazal of SV Academy

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/9/23/b6fb5b23-851a-483c-b5da-68e3b9e532de_copy_of_elias_rubel_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/elirubel/" rel="nofollow">Elias Rubel</a>, a serial founder and currently the Founder &amp; CEO @<a href="https://www.mattermade.co/" rel="nofollow">Matter Made</a>. His company is a B2B growth firm, focused on helping clients accelerate their outcomes through marketing, especially at the Series A level (post product-market fit). Matter Made’s clients include companies like Dropbox and SV Academy, and companies backed by some of the best names in VC. The Matter Made model isn’t based on a traditional agency model, but built to align with the needs of early-stage growth startups. In this episode, Eli talks about building a contemporary, incentives-aligned marketing company to support early-stage and growth start-ups. This video is perfect for you if:<ul><li>You are a founder or an aspiring founder, and you want to know how to get the most out of early-stage growth marketing efforts.</li><li>You are a VC helping your portfolio companies with talent acquisition and growth. </li></ul>In the true spirit, Elias is a builder with an incredible attention to measurable results. He and the team are growing a contemporary marketing company that aligns with the interests and needs of startups. Enjoy!

Building a Contemporary, Incentives-Aligned Marketing Company: Elias Rubel of Matter Made

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/9/23/c780121c-0066-4783-9c78-09870fe6c430_copy_of_adam_lawrence_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aslawrence/" rel="nofollow">Adam Lawrence</a>, a serial founder and at the time of this recording, the COO at Bolt. In his early days, Adam was one of the first employees at Addepar, helping scale the company to over a hundred people. Adam is a growth-oriented startup leader with unique insights about manufacturing luck, hiring and unlocking talent, and being uncompromising about excellence. This podcast episode is perfect for you if:<ul><li>You are a founder or an aspiring founder, and you want to triage some useful perspectives and experiences against either your own, or other founders. </li><li>You are an investor looking to assist your portfolio companies with talent acquisition and team construction. </li><li>You appreciate the rewards of hard-work, perseverance, and courageously facing what is in front of you. </li></ul>Adam is low-key, humble, and a builder by nature. His insights are based on first-hand experiences in the startup world. Enjoy!

Founder Lessons on Identifying, Securing, and Scaling Excellence: Adam Lawrence

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/9/22/b6e8bd9c-50cd-42ed-a520-bfdb911d5b11_copy_of_ullas_naik_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ullasnaik/" rel="nofollow">Ullas Naik</a>, Founder and General Partner at <a href="http://streamlinedventures.com/" rel="nofollow">Streamlined Ventures</a>. His notable investments include; Addepar, DoorDash, Rappi, and FLYR, for example. Ullas has been an investor for over 23 years with 400 companies worth of investment experience. He has steadily weathered the ups and downs of markets, and more importantly, been a steady, guiding hand to portfolio founders.  Beyond just professional titles, Ullas is an authentic, humble, dedicated human being. He migrated from India (Mumbai) to the US with limited capital, networks, and western knowledge. Through the merit of his efforts, he achieved great personal and professional success. In this podcast, we cover many aspects of Ullas personal and professional journey:<ul><li>The core traits and values he sees in successful founders and emerging fund managers for that matter. </li><li>Migrating to a foreign country and securing his first job on Wall Street with limited english and experience. </li><li>Helping founders during economically challenging situations.</li><li>Managing investor relationships. </li><li>Mentoring and succession planning. </li></ul>We believe his story and takeaways are inspirational— enjoy!

The Core Values & Traits of Successful Founders: Ullas Naik of Streamlined Ventures

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/9/22/37963a01-2df8-4755-9c4f-899689c7fb40_copy_of_adam_jackson_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajackson/" rel="nofollow">Adam Jackson</a>, a serial founder and currently the Founder &amp; CEO at <a href="https://www.usebraintrust.com/" rel="nofollow">BrainTrust</a>. Braintrust is the first user-controlled talent network that connects organizations with highly skilled tech talent. Throughout his career as a founder, Adam has started and grown multiple marketplace businesses (Cambrian Asset Management, Doctor On Demand, and DriverSide) in different categories. Today, Adam and the Braintrust team are leveraging blockchain to cultivate a better incentives-aligned marketplace for skilled tech talent to thrive, and for large organizations to source the specialized talent they need. In this podcast, you will enjoy hearing and learning from an entrepreneur who has honed a very special ability— connecting with people and creating a trusted environment for them to transact!

The First User-Controlled Talent Network: Adam Jackson of BrainTrust

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2020/7/9/22/3e7c0747-a909-45a1-b69b-ec2423ccf7ac_copy_of_robert_fenton_final_modified.mp3

Today’s guest is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertpfenton/" rel="nofollow">Robert Fenton</a>, Founder and CEO of <a href="http://qualio.com/" rel="nofollow">Qualio</a>. Qualio provides the tech-driven quality operating system for modern life sciences companies— no small undertaking!  Robert grew up in Cork, Ireland, graduated as a pharmacist, then moved to the US to accelerate the growth of his enterprise SaaS business. He is a founder who is naturally gritty, performance oriented (quality), but more importantly, focuses on developing people and culture.  Having worked first-hand with him and his leadership team, we can testify to the strong talent chemistry that has already been built amongst Qualio team members. Even before the recent mass pandemic, Qualio had been operating as a fully remote, distributed team across the USA, UK, and Europe.   In this interview, Robert shares his journey as an immigrant founder and some of his stories just simply couldn’t have been scripted better! We’ll let him do the talking— enjoy! :)

Building a High-Performing Distributed Team by Choice (Not Necessity): Robert Fenton of Qualio

A Nexus for Potential.

*Welcome to the Founder & Funder Experience.* Brought to you by Format One. This podcast brings to light the different journeys select founders and funders took to get where they are today. We hope their lives and their learnings continue to inspire both present and future innovators!

Founder & Funder Experience

Episodes

Founders Serving Founders: Hooman Radfar of Collective