PODCAST · business
Playing With Unicorns
by Fabrice Grinda
Playing with unicorns is a new weekly show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I cover everything I learned as an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist during the last 22 years, focusing on everything I wished I knew when I first got started as a tech entrepreneur.
Episodes
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#53 Ask Me Anything
It's been a year since my last Ask Me Anything session. A lot has happened since then across AI, marketplaces, macro, and the broader tech ecosystem. Here are the questions we covered: · 4:22 Why does AI feel so widely feared or disliked right now? · 8:48 Why is AI driving massive progress while...
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#52 Marketplaces in the Age of AI
Over the past few weeks, a growing narrative has emerged arguing that AI could destabilize the economy and disrupt entire business models. Last week, I published my view that AI is far more likely to be a productivity revolution than an economic collapse. But what does this mean specifically for...
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#51 Zach Resnick, Founder & CEO of Ascend
I had the pleasure of chatting with Zach Resnick, the founder and CEO of Ascend (formerly FlyFlat), a membership program for frequent travelers that eliminates 90% of travel decisions and saves 35% off biz/first class flights. Ascend has been helping my partners Jose and Jeff with all their…
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#50 Venture Market Trends
The venture market is in flux. AI is booming while the rest of venture is in the dumps. Venture capital as an asset class is evolving and retrenching. Fewer deals are happening at higher prices. New marketplace types are emerging. AI is impacting marketplaces in unexpected ways and new…
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#49 Dan Park and the Incredible Comeback Story of Clutch
Clutch has had an incredible ride. As the "Carvana of Canada" it was a highflier in 2021. It had a brush with death in 2023 and effected an incredible turnaround. They are now once again on a tear. Dan Park, Clutch's Founder & CEO, joined us to share all the lessons learned along the way.
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#48 Ask Me Anything
I had not done an Ask Me Anything session in over a year which led to many questions on a wide variety of topics: macro, marketplaces, AI, fundraising, wealth management, education, island shopping, India, how to lose your accent, adventure travel, climate tech, the state of VC, and much more.…
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#47 Marketplace Trends
Given that I have been building and investing in marketplaces for 26 years you might think that everything that needed to be built has already been built, but nothing could be further from the truth. In many ways, we are still at the beginning of the marketplace revolution with lots of exciting…
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#46 FJ Labs' AI Thesis
While AI investing continues to reach new highs, we have been contrarian. Given how non-consensus we are, I wanted to share our thoughts and perspective. In this episode, I cover: The general state of venture. The explosion in AI investing. The varying fortunes of AI startups. FJ Labs'…
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#45 Ask Me Anything
I had not done an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session in over a year which led to many questions on a wide variety of topics: AI, augmented reality, crypto, macro and much more. Here are the key questions we covered: • 00:01:44 Artificial Intelligence: Where are we now? Where are we heading? What is…
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#44 Unlocking Productivity: Streamlining Your Days for Passion and Purpose
People often ask me how I manage to accomplish so much while leading such a rich, passionate life as illustrated by my 2023 year in review. In this episode I share all my secrets. I will cover everything from general productivity tips to how and what you can outsource in your professional and...
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#43 Julio Vasconcellos and the state of Latin American tech
I had the pleasure of receiving Julio Vasconcellos on the show. Julio is the Founder and Managing Partner of Atlantico, a leading early-stage venture fund in Latin America. It was Julio's role as the inaugural Facebook employee for Latin America that initiated his path in the startup world in the...
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#42 Kevin Ryan, Unicorn Builder
I had the pleasure of being joined by my good friend Kevin Ryan. He's often been called the "Godfather of NYC tech." Kevin is one of the leading internet entrepreneurs and investors in New York. He is a co-founder of MongoDB, Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and Nomad Health, and founds new...
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Episode 41: Ask Me Anything
It had been over a year since we did the last Ask Me Anything (AMA) so the time had come. As requested by the audience, my son François joined us for the first part of the show. He was his usual epic self: calm, poised, and playing along cutely. His presence clearly played a part in the success…
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#40 Oskar Hartmann: Unicorn Accumulator
This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with my good friend Oskar Hartmann. He's had the most incredible unicorn experience: He was part of 10% of all German unicorns Made a $300M mistake on Ozon Managed to make money on Fab.com despite it going from $1.5B in value to $0 in 6 months Why selling...
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#39: Simpl and the Indian Fintech Ecosystem
On this week's episode I had the pleasure of welcoming Nitya Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Simpl, to conclude our mini-series on the Indian tech scene. We had a fascinating conversation on the state of Indian Fintech, which in many ways is more advanced than the US. I am beyond impressed by the...
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#38 The Indian Tech Ecosystem & FJ Labs' Thesis in the region
This week we are covering the state of the Indian tech ecosystem. We are joined by Luke Skertich, senior associate at FJ Labs, who is leading the charge with our Indian investments. In this episode, we cover: The history of India's tech ecosystem and the recent explosion in unicorns Why we are...
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#37 Building India's 76th Unicorn & the Indian car market at large
In this episode, we cover: Niraj's path to creating Spinny, including creating two much less successful startups right out of college The differences between the US & Indian car markets Spinny's unique solution to the market considering the specifics of the market Spinny's ambitions on a go…
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#36 Building a Web3 Unicorn with Lorien Gabel (Figment)
Lorien Gabel is the Co-Founder of Figment Network. He holds an LLB from Toronto's Osgoode Hall Law School and is a member in good standing with the Ontario Bar. In 1994, at the age of 24, 6 months into practicing law, Lorien quit to help his brother Matt run a bourgeoning internet company,...
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#35 Thoughts on the market
These days every meeting seems to start with a conversation on market conditions. In the next episode, I am sharing my perspective on what has been happening in the public, crypto, and private markets, and what it means for investors and founders.
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#33 From VC to Web2 to Crypto with Mark Lurie
Mark Lurie is the CEO and co-founder of Shipyard Software. Shipyard Software builds decentralized exchanges (DEX) for specific types of trades, traders, and instruments, starting with Clipper, a DEX with the best prices anywhere on retail trades
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#32 Building a shipping unicorn with Laura Behrens Wu, Co-Founder & CEO of Shippo
Laura Behrens Wu is the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo is an API-first company focused on building shipping for 21st-century e-commerce. Top takeaways Build something that's a pain killer, not a vitamin. This means finding a true pain point and solving it. Constantly seek new customer...
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#31 From Start-up to Grown-up with Alisa Cohn
Alisa Cohn (@AlisaCohn) is a prominent startup coach who has advised founders and executives at Venmo, Etsy, DraftKings, The Wirecutter, Mack Weldon, and Bloomberg. She's one-time startup CFO, strategy consultant, and current angel investor and advisor, she was named the number one "Global Guru"....
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#30 A Conversation with Thomas Plantenga
Thomas Plantenga is the CEO of Vinted. He was born and raised in the Netherlands. Thomas was previously a Venture Partner at FJ Labs and an early member of OLX. Thomas never intended to join Vinted. He flew from New York to Vilnius for 5 weeks to simply to have a deeper look at Vinted's metrics.…
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#29 The Latest Marketplace Trends
In episode 27, I took a stab at which categories investors and entrepreneurs should focus on for the coming 5 years. In today's episode, I wanted to cover the themes and trends that emerged in the last 12 months. Ten trends clearly emerged as we saw them time and time again with a plethora of...
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#28 What's the deal with crypto
When Satoshi Nakamoto famously wrote the Bitcoin white paper on November 13, 2008 it proposed to solve the Byzantine Generals problem. The Byzantine Generals Problem is solving the puzzle of how multiple, separated generals can achieve consensus on the time to attack a particular city. 13 years...
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#27 The Tech Of Tomorrow
In a way I live in your future. By virtue of receiving 150 startup pitches per week, I have a good sense of what founders are trying to build for the coming decade. At the same time, as a student of history, penetration and cost trends, I can make calculated guesses for when things go from being...
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#26 Jeff Wald & The End of Jobs
Jeff's newest book, The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Wokers and Agile Corporations, provides a look into the future of work by looking into the past. In human history, there have been three monumental technological revolutions: mechanization, electrification, and computerization. These...
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#25 Clearco & the future of SMB lending
As most of you know, I want to empower people to work on the things they love. As a result, I am excited that FJ Labs invested early in Clearco (formerly Clearbanc), now valued at $2 billion, which is helping entrepreneurs all around the world to live out their dream. In this episode, I chat with...
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#24 How Slice is helping mom-and-pop pizzerias compete with Dominos
One of our main theses at FJ Labs is to focus on vertical marketplaces. Slice is a great example of a company that has found product-market fit within a vertical. In this episode Ilir Sela gives insights into how Slice empowered 16,000 pizzerias to compete with giants like Dominos and Pizza Hut....
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#23 Synthesis: The startup scaling up the most innovative ideas from Elon Musk's school
The education system has not evolved since the industrial era. New tools have been introduced over the years, but nothing has dramatically changed. To reinvent education, you don't more tools to add to the arsenal, but first principal thinking. What assumption have we been making about education?...
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#22 Why Startups Fail with Tom Eisenmann
9 out of 10 startups fail. This is a gloomy number. However, it has never stopped entrepreneurs from hedging their bets to create successful companies. And I want to help entrepreneurs, whether they're first, second, or third-time founders, increase their odds of success. So this week, I talked…
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#21 How to build the perfect pitch deck
This is one of the most requested questions I've received since starting Playing with Unicorn podcast. People want to know "How do I build the perfect pitch deck to raise funds?" So joining me is Kelly Anne Tully, Head of Platform and Investor at FJ Labs. Kelly has helped many of our portfolio...
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#20 So you want to launch a SPAC ?
Today's episode is special because Jeff Weinstein interviews Rahim Lakhani, the CFO of Alpha Capital. Most of you will remember Jeff from Episode 13: What's the deal with SPACs. He is the resident SPAC boy at FJ Labs. Rahim has an illustrious record of leading finance, strategy, and sales from...
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#19 Reinvesting in the Latam Tech Ecosystem with Brian Requarth
Brian Requarth is the Co-Founder of Latitud and former CEO of Viva Real. Through Latitud, he now dedicates his time to providing mentorship and advice for entrepreneurs in Latin America (LATAM). Brian's new book, Viva the Entrepreneur: Founding, Scaling, and Raising Venture Capital in Latin…
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#18 Thirty-Six Lessons from Company Founders & CEOs with Tim Jackson
Tim Jackson is a fellow entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. He has lived an interesting life from a career in journalism for the Financial Times, to VC seed funding for technology startups. It was no accident that he would eventually find himself in this world - he recalls speaking on…
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#17 The State Of Solar
This week Kerim Baran (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbaran/) shares where we stand in the world of solar. He covers: • The history of solar • The impressive decline of the cost of panel over the last 40 years • The decline in the cost of batteries • Why ultimately batteries plus panels will cost...
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#16 Startup Talent & Startup Trends
I often pondered the makeup of successful founders and founding teams. At FJ Labs we spend a disproportionate amount of time screening for EIRs. We only build 1 or 2 companies per year, so we cannot afford to get it wrong. I was fascinated to talk Magnus Grimeland and Vegard Medbø of Antler…
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#15 Mistakes to avoid as an Entrepreneur
It is extremely hard to succeed as an entrepreneur. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have countless ups and downs. I would argue that I failed my way to success. My brother Olivier (https://oliviergrinda.com/), a successful tech entrepreneur and investor in his own right, joins me this week...
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#14 A Conversation with Christian Angermayer
Christian is the rare breed of polymath Renaissance Man operating in a world that rewards specialization. We had an extremely broad and far-ranging conversation covering: • Whether you should always pursue your passion • The relative importance of focus • How to make the most of the opportunities...
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#13 What's the deal with SPACs?
SPACs have been one of the hot topics of 2020. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital nerd, joins to talk about all things SPAC. He covers: • What are SPACs? • How do they operate? • Why are they hot in 2020? • What's in it for sponsors, institutional...
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#12 The Surprising Case for Optimism in 2020
Given the omnipresent doom and gloom of 2020, I took the time to reflect objectively on where things stand and where the world is heading. My deep dive across so many industries and technologies left me inspired and awe struck by the opportunities open to us. We will address the two fundamental...
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#11 Loonshots with Safi Bahcall
In general, I do not read "business books" as I find them simplistic. Loonshots is the exception to that rule. It blew me away. It mixes compelling personal narratives of entrepreneurs like Edwin Land (Polaroid) and Juan Trippe (Pan Am) with observations from physics and history to weave a very...
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#10 Validating Your Startup Idea
Last week we covered how to come up with great startup ideas. This week I present how to evaluate if the idea is worth pursuing. I detail which hypothesis you need to validate and how to go about providing or disproving them. Vivian Graves (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivian-graves/), an...
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#9 Coming Up with a Startup Idea
Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to come with compelling startup ideas. I discuss how to quickly determine whether the idea is worth pursuing further. I also share tips and tricks on ideation and early validation. Arne Halleraker , who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, joins to share the startup...
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#8 The Business Of Venture Capital
Most entrepreneurs merely see venture capitalists as a source of capital without understanding how venture capitalists operate. Jeff Weinstein who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital nerd, joins to explain the history of venture capital. He details how VC firms…
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#7 FJ Labs' Startup Studio Model
Last week we covered whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. As a follow-up, I wanted to present the specifics of the FJ Labs startup studio model. Anthony Valente, Andrea Xu, and Charles Gorra join to describe their experiences…
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#6 DIY vs Accelerator vs Studio
This week we cover whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. Nancy Dong (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancydong/), our first ever guest on Playing With Unicorns, joins to share the framework she used to decide whether she should…
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#5 Ask Me Anything
Given that I was in Lake Placid looking at the foliage change without my multi-screen setup, I tried a "Ask Me Anything" session for the week. It was a resounding success with very varied questions. We covered: • The impact of antitrust laws on the venture ecosystem • The differences between…
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#4 FJ Labs' Investment Thesis
In the third episode, I described how VCs evaluate startups by using a combination of the team, business, deal terms and whether the idea fits with their thesis to decide whether to invest or not. In this episode, I present FJ Labs' Investment thesis. I start by covering why we focus on...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Playing with unicorns is a new weekly show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I cover everything I learned as an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist during the last 22 years, focusing on everything I wished I knew when I first got started as a tech entrepreneur.
HOSTED BY
Fabrice Grinda
CATEGORIES
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How many episodes does Playing With Unicorns have?
Playing With Unicorns currently has 53 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Playing With Unicorns about?
Playing with unicorns is a new weekly show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I cover everything I learned as an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist during the last 22 years, focusing on everything I wished I knew when I first got started as a tech entrepreneur.
How often does Playing With Unicorns release new episodes?
Playing With Unicorns has 53 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Playing With Unicorns on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Playing With Unicorns?
Playing With Unicorns is created and hosted by Fabrice Grinda.
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