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Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast

by Kent Lindstrom

Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the established venture capital and founder veterans and up-and-comers who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond. Conversations include prominent venture capitalists and famous startup founders. Current hot topics: The state of the venture capital industry, AI startups, artificial general intelligence, venture capital investing in AI, and the societal risks of AI adoption and the emergence of AGI. Explore how venture capital is fueling the AI revolution, through inside conversations with insights from top VCs & founders.

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Episodes

  1. Spooky News: California's Billionaire Tax is on the Ballot!

    My explainer on California's "Billionaire Tax". In this episode I break down California's proposed billionaire tax, which is now officially on the ballot as Proposition 40. It's a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires, put forward by a healthcare union. It's opposed by Governor Gavin…

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  2. David Tisch (BoxGroup): Cursor Exits at $66 Billion — Still Hunting the Next One

    I sat down with David Tisch from BoxGroup. If you've looked at a seed firm's website and seen one famous logo, that's usually the whole list. David's list is Ramp, Plaid, ID.me, Stripe, Airtable, Warby Parker, Clay, Zipline — and Cursor, which just got acquired for $66 billion. Then he shrugs and...

  3. Is Silicon Valley Over Burning Man? (Replay)

    As Burning Man rolls around once again, is it still relevant to Silicon Valley? Reports of lower attendance this year, as the newer arrivals to Silicon Valley say "pass". A deep dive into this crazy event in the desert. li>ol]:list-[lower-alpha] [&_ol>li>ol>li>ol]:list-[lower-roman]...

  4. Better Tomorrow Ventures' Sheel Mohnot Passed on Robinhood -- Then Built a Fintech Investing Powerhouse

    Sheel Mohnot is co-founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures, a venture firm that leads rounds in pre-seed and seed-stage fintech companies. It is one of the most active fintech investors in the world. Sheel has spent the last decade in fintech — first as an operator and angel, then as a founder of his...

  5. Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures: Los Angeles' VC Powerhouse on Why LA is Dominating Space, Hard Tech, and National Defense

    In this episode of Something Ventured, Kent Lindstrom sits down with Mark Suster, Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and one of Los Angeles' most prominent venture capitalists. Mark shares his unconventional journey from early computer programming in the 1980s, building and selling software...

  6. Uncork Capital's Andy McLoughlin: Silicon Valley's British Invasion and Building a Great Seed-Stage Venture Firm

    Andy McLoughlin is Managing Partner at Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC). We discuss Andy's journey from co-founding Huddle -- racking servers in the Docklands and building their own payment system before Stripe -- to Silicon Valley. He was an early angel investor in companies like Postmates,...

  7. Will a "Billionaires Tax" Destroy California?

    In this episode of Something Ventured I dive into the explosive controversy shaking Silicon Valley: California's proposed one-time 5% "Billionaires Tax" ballot initiative. Filed by the powerful healthcare workers union SEIU-UHW, the measure would impose a retroactive 5% levy on the net worth of...

  8. HotelTonight Founder: How Sam Shank Built & Sold a $400M Travel App (And What He's Building Next)

    In this episode of the Something Ventured podcast, I talk with Sam Shank, the founder of HotelTonight—the groundbreaking last-minute hotel booking app that was acquired by Airbnb in a deal reportedly valued at nearly half a billion dollars. Sam takes us on an incredible journey: from his early…

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  9. Lee Edwards of Root VC: "Let's get Technical!" -- An Engineer Becomes a VC

    Lee Edwards is a General Partner at Root VC, a San Francisco-based deep tech seed fund. They recently raised their 4th fund of $190 million. But before he became a venture capitalist, Lee was an engineer. He was most recently CTO at Teespring. Previously, Lee was a mechanical engineer at iRobot…

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  10. 1517 Fund: The Maverick VC Betting on Teens to Outbuild Ivy Leaguers

    In this episode of the Something Ventured podcast, I spend time with Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson, the people behind 1517 Fund. 1517 is a venture capital firm that defies Silicon Valley's fixation on elite credentials from Stanford, Harvard and the like. Their paths to venture capital…

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  11. Frank Rotman: The Midas List Veteran on Building Fintech Empires at Capital One and QED Investors

    In this episode I talk with Frank Rotman, Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of QED Investors, a leading fintech-focused venture capital firm managing $4.3 billion that has backed over 200 companies. A seven-time Forbes Midas List honoree, Frank shares his remarkable journey—from…

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  12. Eric Ries: The Lean Startup Revolution in an AI-Driven World

    Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of the bestselling book "The Lean Startup," ignited a movement that reshaped how founders and corporations build and scale businesses worldwide. Drawing from his experiences in Silicon Valley startups, Ries introduced a methodology centered on rapid...

  13. Kobie Fuller: Upfront Ventures Partner's High-Speed Sprint from Track Star to Venture Capital Powerhouse

    Kobie Fuller is a partner at Upfront Ventures. He came to the firm after investing at Accel and leading marketing efforts at EVOLVE, the large global fashion ecommerce platform. Highlights from our conversation. -- we covered a lot of ground, so this is just a small part: Kobie's Athletic...

  14. David Anderman: Space (Investing) is Big. Really Big. From Lucasfilm's Star Wars to SpaceX to…The Final Frontier

    David Anderman is co-founder and General Partner of Stellar Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage space technology startups. He spent 16 years at Lucasfilm Ltd., creator of the Star Wars franchise. As Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, he notably negotiated Lucasfilm's...

  15. Cyan Banister: The Future is Cool Again / Falling in Love with Technology / A Brush with Star Wars

    Cyan Banister of Long Journey Ventures is truly one of the most successful and interesting early stage venture investors. And by 'successful investor', I mean "invested early in Uber and SpaceX" kind of successful. She overcame a challenging childhood that included periods of homelessness (a...

  16. Roger Ehrenberg: From IA Ventures to Eberg Capital – A Top Silicon Valley Investor Turns to Sports

    Roger Ehrenberg's career spans three remarkable acts, each of which would be impressive on its own. He founded IA Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm, in 2010. IA Ventures invested in numerous successful startups, including Datadog, Digital Ocean, The Trade Desk, and Wise. His work with…

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  17. Mark Scianna: From Palantir Engineer to Venture Capitalist / Inside Palantir's Early Days / VC Discovers Defense Tech

    Mark Scianna, the founder of venture firm "Forward Deployed," which targets sectors like Defense, Energy, and A.I., was spotlighted as a 'top emerging manager' in 2022. Starting his journey as an engineer and an early investor at Palantir, Scianna offers an insider's perspective in this episode,...

  18. Winter Mead: How to Raise a Venture Capital Fund (and more!), From Coolwater Capital's Founder

    Winter Mead is the author of How to Raise a Venture Capital Fund: The Essential Guide on Fundraising and Understanding Limited Partners. He is also founder of Coolwater Capital, a new model that helps launch, build, and scale emerging fund managers While there are a lot of investors (known in the...

  19. Max Altman and Ben Braverman: Returning to Tradition with Saga Ventures

    Max Altman and Ben Braverman were both pretty close to Silicon Valley royalty before they started Saga Ventures. Max had built Alt Capital with his brothers Sam and Jack. Ben had helped Ryan Peterson build Flexport as its Chief Revenue Officer. Recently, they came together with a third partner...

  20. Alexis Gay: Silicon Valley's Favorite Comedian Makes her "Unprofessional" Debut

    If you don't already know about Alexis Gay, you're about to. Alexis is the creator and star of her solo comedy show, "Unprofessional". Recently, her show was a hit at the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and she's now touring the show for audiences across the United States. Alexis...

  21. Adeyemi Ajao: A Founder Turned VC on Building Base10 Partners, and the Abundance Mindset

    In this episode of Something Ventured, I talk to Adeyemi "Ade" Ajao, co-founder of Base10 Partners, one of the largest Black-led venture capital firms in the world. Ade shares his journey from growing up in Nigeria and Spain to building multiple successful companies, including Tuenti, which was...

  22. Ignition Partners' Nick Sturiale: Reflections on a Life in Venture

    Nick Sturiale reflects on a career working in venture capital, in which he invested early in companies such as Splunk, Bill.com, and Reputation.com. Nick shares insights from his extensive career, which spans roles at Ignition Partners, Icon Ventures, Seven Rosen Funds, and the Carlyle Group…

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  23. Founder Collective's Eric Paley on Empathy and Execution in Venture Capital

    Eric Paley is a General Partner at Founder Collective, one of the great seed-stage venture capital brands - and one of the relatively few venture firms led by startup founders. As the name suggests, Founder Collective is a "founder stage" venture capital fund that focuses on providing the first...

  24. Homebrew's Hunter Walk and Satya Patel: The Power of a Partnership

    Homebrew is one of the great venture firm names. It hearkens back to the 1970s era computer hobbyist group that included people like Steve Jobs. Hunter Walk and Satya Patel are the partners who founded and built Homebrew (the venture capital firm). Nevertheless, if you say "Hunter and Satya" in...

  25. Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell and Dr. Leah Hanes Have a (Better) Plan for Educating America

    Nolan Bushnell's career is extraordinary. Nolan has ignited two entertainment revolutions: first with Atari, birthing the video game industry through classics like Pong, and later with Chuck E. Cheese, merging pizza and arcade games for family fun. A serial entrepreneur, he's founded over 20...

  26. Richard Socher: Exploring AI with the Visionary AI Scientist, Entrepreneur and Investor

    Richard Socher is a visionary computer scientist, entrepreneur, and AI researcher who has dedicated his career to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in AI. With a Ph.D. from Stanford University, Richard's groundbreaking work in deep learning, neural networks, and NLP has paved the way for...

  27. Hadley Harris: Building Eniac Ventures with 3 Friends / Investing in AI

    What are the odds that 4 friends can start a VC firm, and still be firing on all cylinders years later? Hadley Harris, one of Eniac Ventures' 4 co-founders has the answer. Before co-founding Eniac, Hadley was as a developer and engineering team lead at Pegasystems, and later took on roles as a...

  28. Samir Kaji: Building Allocate; The State of the Venture Market; Banking Meltdown (SVB/FRB) Post-mortem

    Samir Kaji is the founder behind Allocate, a pioneering platform in the venture capital space. Samir has established himself as a key connector between venture capital firms and the "LPs" (Limited Partners) who invest in them. He is building Allocate to leverage his experience into a platform....

  29. Darian Shirazi, General Partner at Gradient Ventures (Google's AI Fund): Unleashing AI's Investment Potential

    Darian Shirazi is a general partner at Gradient Ventures, Google's AI fund. Gradient Ventures invests in companies that are "developing AI technologies that have the potential to make a significant impact on the world". Darian is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded and served as CEO...

  30. Anthony Soohoo: Bringing the Entrepreneurial Mindset to Walmart

    Anthony Soohoo is a Venture Advisor at AI Fund. It is a role he took on after building a company (Dot & Bo) that was acquired. He went from buidling his own company to becoming a leader at -- Walmart. . In fact, Anthony became the head of Wal-Mart's Home Division. It's the largest US retailer for...

  31. Nnamdi Okike on Building 645 Ventures, Bias in Fundraising, and Being a Boston Sports Fan in New York

    Nnamdi Okike is rapidly becoming a prominent figure in the venture capital industry. He is the co-founder of 645 Ventures, along with his partner Aaron Holiday. Recently, 645 Ventures successfully raised its fourth fund, of about $350 million. Nnamdi's background includes an education at Harvard,...

  32. Coindesk's David Z. Morris: The Wild Story of FTX and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried

    David Z. Morris is part of the Coindesk reporting team that was critical in bringing to light the (apparently) massive fraud at FTX, the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX, abruptly collapsed in 2022, after having grown to become the world's third…

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  33. Elad Gil: "A Startup is An Act of Desperation" and Other Wisdom from one of Silicon Valley's Best Investors

    It is not a stretch to call Elad Gil one of Silicon Valley's best investors. In a world where one big hit can make a venture capitalists' career, Elad has invested in…Well, here's a partial list Airbnb, Airtable, Anduril, Brex, Checkr, Coinbase, Deel, Figma, Flexport, Gitlab, Gusto, Instacart,...

  34. Adrian Fenty: From Mayor of Washington DC to…Venture Capitalist

    There are a few – very few –non-traditional paths into venture capital. Adrian Fenty may have one of the most unusual ones. Adrian was the Mayor of Washington D.C., winning that post at the age of 35 (making him Washington D.C.'s youngest mayor ever). In this episode we discuss his path to…

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  35. Michelle Tandler: An Entrepreneur's "Growth Path", and "What's the Matter with San Francisco?"

    Michelle Tandler is an entrepreneur – she founded "Growth Path", a provider of audio courses for professional development. Her goal is to teach soft skills and management at scale. She previously worked at tech firms Thumbtack and Yammer, as well as the venture capital firm Trinity. In this…

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  36. Max Chafkin on Peter Thiel: "The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power"

    Max Chafkin is the author of "The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power". Max is a technology reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. "The Contrarian" isn't just about Thiel. It's about that, too, of course -- from PayPal to his Facebook investment to his failed hedge fund,...

  37. Howard Morgan: From RenTec to First Round Capital, and Beyond

    Howard Morgan is one of those few – very few – people who have built multiple game-changing firms. He is co-founder of Renaissance Technologies (sometimes known as "RenTec"). While a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he divined the opportunity to apply emerging...

  38. Jenny Lefcourt: Freestyle Capital Partner's Path from Entrepreneur to VC

    Jenny Lefcourt is a partner at Freestyle Capital, a seed stage venture firm overseeing $450 million in seed investments. Jenny dropped out of her Stanford MBA program – before that was cool -- to co-found online wedding registry startup WeddingChannel.com (with classmate, Jessica Herrin) After…

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  39. Joe Hudson: The Man Behind Silicon Valley's Unicorn CEOs

    I talk to a lot of founders and CEOs in Silicon Valley. They started telling me "you know, I couldn't have done it without…" When I heard that multiple times, I just had to meet the guy they were talking about – Joe Hudson. Turns out, Joe Hudson is a sought after executive coach and creator of…

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  40. Eliot Brown on the Crazy Life and Wild Times of We Work Founder Adam Neumann

    Eliot Brown, with Maureen Farrell, is co-author of "The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion". As a reporter for the Wall Street Journal he became intrigued by the messianic founder who had raised billions of dollars, and developed a cult-like following at his startup...

  41. Brad Feld: "Friedrich Nietzsche is the Patron Philosopher of Today's Entrepreneurs"

    Brad Feld's latest book (with David Jilk) is "Entrepreneur's Weekly Nietzsche (A Book for Disruptors)". Those familiar with Brad's "Feld Thoughts" blog, will find the unexpected title – unsurprising. While reading Nietzsche (um, yes) Brad noted that his favorite personality was a "free spirit: An...

  42. 165 Auren Hoffman -- Silicon Valley's Hyper-connected Founder, CEO and Investor Shares his Wisdom

    Auren Hoffman is one of the most connected people in Silicon Valley. In a place where the currency of the land is connections – Auren is near the top of the heap. Auren is a Founder and CEO -- He founded SafeGraph in 2016, and previously founded LiveRamp, which is now public (NYSE: RAMP) – a...

  43. 164 Nicole Taylor: Silicon Valley Community Foundation's CEO On Giving in Silicon Valley; Responding to Black Lives Matter

    In Silicon Valley enormous wealth and huge need sit side by side. The gap is bridged in large part by an important organization – Silicon Valley Community Foundation ("SVCF"). SVCF manages more than $10 billion. In this episode Nicole Taylor, SVCF's CEO, tells us where the money comes from, where...

  44. 163 Avi Loeb -- Extraterrestrials in our Solar System: What Happened in October of 2017?

    Avi Loeb is author of the book "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth". It's a story you can hardly believe, once you hear it. But here it is -- the story of the day in 2017 when telescopes around the world started tracking an object in our solar system. It was moving…

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  45. 162 Jamie Ducharme on her Book "Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul"

    Big Vape is a nicotine-high of a book: An intense ride-along with the story of the rise of Juul. The story begins innocently – a couple guys don't want to quit smoking, but also do not want to suffer the ill effects of cigarettes. They start Juul, and its rise – the massive wealth created, the...

  46. 161 Ryan Nece of Next Play Capital: From the NFL to Venture Capitalist

    Ryan and his dad are one of only two father/son NFL players to both win Superbowl rings. Today Ryan a venture capitalist at the firm he founded, Next Play Capital. His many co-investments include Hippo, ByteDance (TikTok), Flexport, Hims, Impossible Foods, Peloton, (IPO), and Rubrik among others....

  47. 160 Ali Tamaseb – "Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion Dollar Startups"

    Ali Tamaseb pulls the curtain back on the myths about billion-dollar startups – and he does it with data. That's not surprising for a guy who is a partner at DCVC, the multi-billion dollar venture firm focused on deep tech. Ali is a scientist turned engineer who works on a broad spectrum of areas...

  48. 159 Suneel Gupta on The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance

    Suneel Gupta is author of the book "Backable: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance". Backable tells Suneel's journey from first-time entrepreneur to being named "The New Face of Innovation" by the New York Stock Exchange. Suneel's ideas have been adopted by firms like...

  49. 158 David Bohnett -- GeoCities Founder Turned Philanthropist and Social Activist

    David Bohnett founded GeoCities in the 1990s, well before the internet attained its current ubiquity. GeoCities became publicly traded on NASDAQ and was acquired by Yahoo! Inc. in 1999. In a 2007 article, the Wall Street Journal described it as a Facebook prototype and noted, "Back then, entries...

  50. 157 Kara Nortman: Upfront Venture's co-Managing Partner on Becoming a Leader of a Major VC Firm, and Co-owner of Angel City FC

    Kara Nortman is a Managing Partner of venture firm Upfront. Upfront famously hosts the "Upfront Summit" – a hard-to-describe, but massive confab of celebrities, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders held in Los Angeles. Kara is a founding member of All Raise – you've heard about All Raise…

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the established venture capital and founder veterans and up-and-comers who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond. Conversations include prominent venture capitalists and famous startup founders. Current hot topics: The state of the venture capital industry, AI startups, artificial general intelligence, venture capital investing in AI, and the societal risks of AI adoption and the emergence of AGI. Explore how venture capital is fueling the AI revolution, through inside conversations with insights from top VCs & founders.

HOSTED BY

Kent Lindstrom

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast have?

Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast currently has 205 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast about?

Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the established venture capital and founder veterans and up-and-comers who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond. Conversations include prominent venture capitalists...

How often does Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast release new episodes?

Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast publishes regularly with 205 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast?

You can listen to Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast 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 Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast?

Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast is created and hosted by Kent Lindstrom.
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