PODCAST · business
Running Through Walls
by Venrock, a venture capital firm
Running Through Walls is a Venrock podcast featuring candid conversations between investors and entrepreneurs. Each episode, we offer a behind-the-scenes look at the breakthroughs, challenges and nuttiness associated with building and growing companies. Venture capital firm Venrock has been investing in entrepreneurs across technology and healthcare since 1969.
Episodes
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Under Promise, Over Deliver
Venrock partners Andrew Gottesdiener and Nimish Shah sat down with Michael Henderson, CEO of Apogee Therapeutics, to talk about selling Apogee to AbbVie for nearly $11 billion, the hardest part of being a CEO, what it takes to build a great team and culture, Michael's three rules for first-time...
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Primary Care's Win-Win-Win
Siobhan Nolan Mangini and Bob Kocher sit down with Patrick Nelli, founder and CEO of Aligned Marketplace, to discuss how rebuilding how we access advanced primary care can improve outcomes, lower costs, and better serve employees. Patrick shares his path from Health Catalyst executive to…
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Healthcare Prognosis 2026
The results of Venrock's 10th annual Healthcare Prognosis are in. This year's survey covers some of the biggest questions in healthcare, from AI in medical care and the future of GLP-1s to consumer peptides, IPOs, M&A, and what's ahead for healthcare policy. In this episode, Bryan Roberts, Bob...
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Arca's AI-First Vision for Human-First Wealth Management
As Arca launches with $64 million in funding and more than $1 billion in assets under management, founder and CEO Rron Rexha joins Nick Beim to share his vision for AI-native wealth management built around human-first advice. Rron reflects on his journey from Kosovo to fintech, his year as an...
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Building a Differentiated Obesity Biotech
Metsera CEO Whit Bernard joins Venrock's Nimish Shah to discuss how the company's ultra-long acting GLP-1 program helped position it as a strategic standout in the obesity market. The conversation covers the bidding war between major pharma players, lessons in first-principles company building…
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The Long Game of Building Breakthrough Biotech
Nimish Shah sits down with Andy Robbins, CEO of Cogent Biosciences, for a candid conversation about building a targeted therapy company in oncology. Andy shares how Cogent made high-stakes decisions around bezuclastinib, why speed matters in biotech, and what it takes to build conviction years...
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SmithRx's Mission to Break the Drug Pricing Black Box
SmithRx CEO and co-founder Jake Frenz joins Venrock's Siobhan Nolan Mangini to talk about the company's mission to fix the opaque and broken US drug ecosystem. SmithRx started by tearing down the existing misaligned model of PBMs with a per member model that is incentivized to deliver the lowest...
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Pursuit over Podium: Rethinking Excellence with Brad Stulberg
Bob Kocher speaks with Brad Stulberg, on the many lessons in his newly-published book The Way of Excellence, including why we find excellence on the side of the mountain, not at its peak. Drawing on the ancient Greek concept of Arete, Brad argues that you find true success in pursuit itself: the...
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AI: Smart/Stupid
Leading AI researcher and Professor at the Santa Fe Institute Melanie Mitchell joins Ethan Batraski for a conversation on how our current generation of AI is powerful, promising, and still badly in need of transparency about how it actually "thinks." She gives advice on how to redesign our...
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A Giant Leap: Bob Wachter on AI's Inflection Point in Healthcare
Siobhan Nolan Mangini sat down with author and UCSF physician Bob Wachter for a fireside chat about his new book on AI in healthcare, A Giant Leap. In this special live-recorded episode, he reflects on what he learned from interviewing top leaders across healthcare and technology about the coming...
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Empowering Data Engineers
Ethan Batraski speaks with Astronomer CEO Pete DeJoy several months into taking the helm at the company he cofounded over 8 years ago. They discuss the company's journey from their earliest days stewarding the Apache Airflow open-source project to how they're driving the renaissance of the data...
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Fix the System, Save Hearts
Farzad Mostashari, CEO and founder of Aledade, and Sunny Kishore, Associate Professor at UCSF, join Bob Kocher for a conversation about why U.S. blood pressure control has stalled for two decades despite having the tools to do far better. Sunny and Bob recently co-authored a piece in the New...
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How to Hackathon
Bryan Mistele, co-founder and CEO of INRIX, joins Venrock's Brian Ascher to deep dive on the company's use of their Innovation Week to maintain startup-style innovation two decades into their journey. Their conversation serves as a master class for how to foster new ideas from within, from...
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Beyond the Battlefield Deep Dive with Navy CTO Justin Fanelli
One of the critical questions in our first annual Beyond the Battlefield survey was how we more effectively get technology from the private sector to the battlefield. Who better to discuss that than the man responsible for making those decisions for the US Department of Navy, Chief Technology...
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Don't be a Schmuck (& other lessons for a great life)
Ezekiel Emanuel joins Venrock's Bob Kocher to talk about his newest book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life and dive deeper on what surprised him and how his own life changed through his research. From the magnitude of the impact of social relationships to how to...
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Building a Warfighter-First Business
Morgan Hitzig speaks with two of Forterra's leaders, Josh Araujo, CEO, and Scott Sanders, CGO about how they refounded Forterra in flight and their approach to implementing autonomy at scale. Their conversation serves as a roadmap for building in defense tech, from finding investors who…
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Data-Driven Science and Leadership
Dominik Schumacher, CEO and co-founder of Tubulis GmbH, joins Venrock's Nimish Shah to dive deeper on the company's ADC technology which specifically targets cancer cells thereby reducing side effects on the rest of the body, dramatically improving outcomes and quality of life for patients. They...
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Healthcare Predictions for 2026
Siobhan Nolan Mangini, Bob Kocher and Bryan Roberts delve deeper into their 2026 predictions for healthcare in this special episode of Running Through Walls. They discuss what they've already gotten right on AI, what they see ahead for inflation and TrumpRx, and more. To read all 10 of their…
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Where You Can Learn the Most
Hunter Smith, Rhythm Pharmaceutical's Chief Financial Officer, joins Venrock's Nimish Shah for a conversation about how he manages the financial intricacies of a public company to enable them to change the lives of patients with rare neuroendocrine diseases. They go deep on how Hunter and the…
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Bringing Trust Back to Healthcare
Matt Holt, Managing Director & President, Private Equity at New Mountain Capital speaks with Venrock's Bryan Roberts and Siobhan Nolan about how the healthcare industry should come together to build a system that optimizes for patient outcomes through the rebuilding of trust on all sides. While...
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Marrying the Business with the Science
Sam Kulkarni, PhD, CEO and Chairman of CRISPR Therapeutics, joins Venrock's Nimish Shah for a conversation about how they're using gene editing to find potential cures so miraculous, it almost sounds like science fiction. Sam shares advice on how to fundraise in the extraordinarily...
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Rebuilding Financial Markets
Dylan Parker, Co-Founder and CEO of Moment, joins Venrock investor Nick Beim to discuss how Moment is transforming the fixed income market, starting with rebuilding execution and portfolio management for some of the largest players in U.S. wealth management. Their discussion ranges from how to…
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Software-Defined Warfare
Ellen Lord, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S) at the Departmet of Defense, joins Venrock investor Morgan Hitzig to discuss the defense tech ecosystem, building resilient supply chains and efficient teams, and making the often conflicting timelines between VC,...
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Healthcare Prognosis 2025
The results of our 9th annual Healthcare Prognosis are in and the healthcare experts who took our survey aren't too optimistic about what's ahead. Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher sat down to discuss the most interesting findings, their perspective on what it means and what's ahead, and even offer a...
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Invisible Assistive Layer
Punit Soni, CEO and Founder of Suki, joins Venrock partner Bob Kocher for a conversation about how AI will invisibly assume administrative burdens in healthcare, enabling a future where doctors get to do what they love – serving patients. They discuss building companies during generational step...
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Lead with Fundamentals
Charlie Glazer, Head of Healthcare Equity Capital Markets at Jefferies, joins Venrock partner Nimish Shah for a conversation on what will move the needle for the healthcare market in the months ahead. He shares advice on transactions including crossovers, reverse mergers, IPOs and also, his...
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Competitive, Meaningful Work
Jonathan Violin, CEO of Crescent Biopharma and Venture Partner at Fairmount, speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah about how the company is keeping a frenetic and exciting pace to generate a new class of drugs while preparing to launch on the public markets later this year.
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Get Caught Trying
Cameron Turtle, CEO of Spyre Therapeutics,Inc. speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah about Spyre's priorities for 2025, building a collaborative and productive Board, how culture shines through when the going gets tough, and the best advice he's ever received. This podcast was recorded in...
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Keeping Technology Simple & Elegant
Bruce Perkins, healthcare advisor and former Humana leader, speaks with Venrock partners Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher about how he built Humana into a juggernaut of Medicare Advantage and his prognostications for the industry amid CMS-HCC model version 28, GLP-1s, margin structure recovery, and...
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Healthcare Predictions for 2025
Bob Kocher and Bryan Roberts take the mic for a special episode highlighting their predictions for healthcare in 2025. They go deeper on their thoughts about Medicare Advantage under the new administration, how a resurgence of IPOs and M&A could play out, where Big Tech may actually be good at...
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Translating the Science
Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, speaks with Venrock partners Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher about the chapters of his career in public health before, during, and after the pandemic. He shares what he got right and wrong during his time as White House COVID-19...
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Electrifying the Market
Elizabeth Pemmerl, Chief Revenue Officer at GitHub, speaks with Venrock partner Ethan Batraski to discuss her nearly decade-long journey with GitHub. Pemmerl shares how she transitioned from working in the public sector to GitHub, go-to-market strategies, balancing developer vs. enterprise needs,...
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If You're Going to Bet on Anyone, Bet on Yourself
David Stark, Chief Medical Officer at Morgan Stanley, speaks with Venrock partner Bob Kocher to discuss his career journey from practicing medicine to taking a non-clinical role in business. Stark shares how he views his role as Chief Medical Officer, advice for other doctors who want to…
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Know What Problems You're Solving
Alex Rosemblat, former Chief Marketing Officer at Datadog, speaks with Venrock partner Ethan Batraski to discuss his 11-year run at the helm of Datadog's Marketing Team and what's next for his career. Rosemblat shares insights into leading Datadog's go-to-market strategy, advice for other…
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Be Planful as Early as Possible
Heather Turner, CEO at Carmot Therapeutics, speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah to discuss her time as CEO. Turner shares how she guided the company through its acquisition by Roche, advice for other CEOs on the verge of an acquisition, her perspective on the GLP-1 market and what excites her...
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Think Big, Focus Small
Mark McKenna, chairman and CEO at Mirador Therapeutics, speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah to discuss his most recent role at Prometheus Biosciences and the beginning of his new company, Mirador. McKenna shares a behind-the-scenes look into leading Prometheus during its acquisition by Merck,...
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Healthcare Prognosis 2024
We have a special episode today because Venrock's 8th annual Healthcare Prognosis results are in! From drugs (e.g., GLP-1s, pricing negotiations) to fundraising and optimism around the equity market to cybersecurity and AI regulations - this year's survey covers it all. In this episode, partners...
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Selectively Ignore to Positively Disrupt
Sami Inkinen, founder and CEO of Virta Health, speaks with Venrock partner Bob Kocher to discuss how Virta has evolved since he was on the podcast seven years ago. Inkinen shares how he views the GLP-1 craze, insights on his go-to-market strategy, advice for founders entering the healthcare…
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Taking Sand Out of the Gears
Latané Conant, Chief Revenue Officer at 6sense, speaks with Venrock partner Brian Ascher to discuss how her previous marketing role prepared her for her promotion to Chief Revenue Officer. Conant shares her approach to keeping product market fit, her opinion on Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)…
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Overcoming Skepticism to Deliver Value
Isan Chen, CEO of MBrace Therapeutics, speaks with Venrock partner Racquel Bracken to discuss his career trajectory leading up to his founding of MBrace. Chen shares the impetus behind his decision to become an oncologist, why he switched from academic medicine to the industry side, lessons…
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Relentless Execution
Patrick Conway, CEO of Optum Rx, sits down with Venrock partners Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher to discuss his first few months on the job. Conway also shares his views on the best early metric indicators of success, the effectiveness of Medicare Advantage Star Ratings, the role of technology in...
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Do the Easiest Version of the Hard Thing
Ed Park, co-founder and CEO of Devoted Health, sits down with Venrock partners Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher to discuss the founding of Devoted. Park talks about his priorities for the next five years, the value he sees in AI and LLMs, Medicare Advantage industry changes, his favorite interview...
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The Ins and Outs of Being CEO
Ying Huang, CEO of Legend Biotech, speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah about his career path to Legend Biotech and the lessons he learned from transitioning from Wall Street to an operating role. Huang also discusses what he prioritized when he first started the role, the most rewarding parts...
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Using Rugged Flexibility to Master Change
Brad Stulberg, best-selling author of The Practice of Groundedness and co-author of Peak Performance, speaks with Venrock partner Bob Kocher about Stulberg's new book, Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing—Including You. Stulberg and Kocher discuss ways to rethink change, the...
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Optimizing Teamwork
Senthil Sundaram, CEO of Terns Pharmaceuticals, speaks with Venrock's Nimish Shah about the lessons learned balancing personal health events while being CEO of a young company. Sundaram also discusses the "Working Genius" model, an approach focused on leveraging the types of work that bring an...
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Take the Road Less Traveled
Dr. Sheila Gujrathi, a biotech industry veteran with a strong track record as an entrepreneur, physician executive, translational scientist, board member, and drug developer, speaks with Venrock's Nimish Shah about the lessons learned in her career at biotech companies both big (Genentech) and...
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The Truth Will Always Be Revealed, So Act Accordingly
Sam Kintz, co-founder, and CEO of Enliven Therapeutics, speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah about the journey that led him to found Enliven. Kintz delves into lessons learned during his time at Roche Venture Fund, and how his time at Stemcentrx and Abbvie revealed what truly matters most to…
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C.O.R.E. Culture with the Right Team
Venrock partners Andrew Gottesdiener and Nimish Shah speak with Michael Henderson, CEO of Apogee Therapeutics, about his role's unique challenges and opportunities. Henderson discusses his accelerated career trajectory, valuable lessons that have helped shape his success, and Apogee's recent…
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The Innovation Frontier of Wealth Management
Venrock's Nick Beim speaks with Steve Lockshin, founder of Vanilla, about lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur in wealth management services. Lockshin shares what drives him as an entrepreneur, the need for more digestible information in estate planning, and his most valuable lessons learned…
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Be Humble About What You Know (And Don't Know)
Venrock partner Nick Beim speaks with Bill McNabb, former chairman and CEO of Vanguard, an asset management company that pioneered low-cost investing for the consumer. McNabb shares important leadership lessons including the importance of being humble, having a clear definition of success, and...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Running Through Walls is a Venrock podcast featuring candid conversations between investors and entrepreneurs. Each episode, we offer a behind-the-scenes look at the breakthroughs, challenges and nuttiness associated with building and growing companies. Venture capital firm Venrock has been investing in entrepreneurs across technology and healthcare since 1969.
HOSTED BY
Venrock, a venture capital firm
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Running Through Walls have?
Running Through Walls currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Running Through Walls about?
Running Through Walls is a Venrock podcast featuring candid conversations between investors and entrepreneurs. Each episode, we offer a behind-the-scenes look at the breakthroughs, challenges and nuttiness associated with building and growing companies. Venture capital firm Venrock has been...
How often does Running Through Walls release new episodes?
Running Through Walls has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Running Through Walls?
You can listen to Running Through Walls 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 Running Through Walls?
Running Through Walls is created and hosted by Venrock, a venture capital firm.
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