Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast

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 Silicon Valley, people will know exactly who you are talking about.  Hunter Walk came to homebrew with experience as a product leader at YouTube and Google.  Meanwhile, Satya Patel's background was as a seasoned investor at Battery Ventures and product leader at Twitter. In this episode we discuss the power of partnerships in Silicon Valley.  In particular we talk about the power of the 2 -person partnership (see also:  Andreessen Horowitz), why the alchemy has to be right, and why some don’t make it. We also discuss the evolution of Homebrew from a firm backed by outside capital (from Limited Partners or “LPs”) to one in which the two founders deploy their own capital. Finally, we cover Hunter and Satya’s newest fun

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 companies, venturing into robotics, personal computers, and beyond, forever changing the landscape of leisure and inspiration. Nolan has turned his thoughts to the state of education in the US and has teamed up with Dr. Leah Hanes to form ExoDexa, a developer of educational games that seek to ‘gamify’ education.  Together, they’ve published a book “Shaping the Future of Education” outlining their ideas. Dr. Leah Hanes is a force to be reckoned with as well.  Dr. Hanes has been a champion for STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) for years, leading the Two Bit Circus Foundation since 2013 and using her expertise to advocate for a more engaging and future-proof approach to learning.  In this

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 remarkable advances in AI applications. It may seem like everyone is an AI expert these days:  Richard Socher really is.  Richarrd is founder of the AI-focused venture firm AIX, and founder of the AI-powered search engine You.com. He is the former Chief Scientist at Salesforce and founder of the groundbreaking MetaMind AI startup (which was acquired by Salesforce).  In short, when it comes to AI, Richard is the real deal. In this episode, we delve into Richard's insights on the latest AI trends, ethical considerations in AI development, the future of human-AI collaboration, and much more. Whether you’re new to AI – or have been investing in it for 10 years -- Richard's engaging discussions and visionary ideas will cap

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 product manager at Microsoft and strategist at Samsung. His time at Microsoft and Samsung taught Hadley one thing:  Big companies were not for him. So, Hadley joined a couple of talented AI founders out of MIT at Vlingo where he ran a several aspects of the business across product, strategy, and marketing until it was sold to Nuance for $225M. He rolled his experience building a successful startup into Thumb, where as CBO he helped the real-time recommendation app reach user engagement levels second only to Facebook before being acquired. In this episode we discuss how he co-founded and built Eniac, and what he is seeing when it comes to the recently hot trend of investing in Artificial intelligence.  Last, but not lea

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. After observing inefficiencies in the venture capital market – between venture firms and the LPs that fund them – he was inspired to create Allocate.  Allocate is described as “a game-changing solution that empowers venture capital firms to streamline allocation processes, optimize portfolios, and make data-driven decisions.”    Samir's position in the industry gives him a unique perspective.  In this episode he parses what he sees from his vantage point, as the VC market undergoes upheaval at the same time one of the most exciting technologies (“AI”) in 20 years emerges. He also gives us a post-mortem on the turmoil that rocked SVB and First Republic Bank.  Here he brings unique insight, given his years spent in ventu

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 of Radius, a leading customer data platform, for over 7 years. Under his leadership, the company grew to over 100 employees, raised over $100 million in venture capital, and served dozens of Fortune 500 customers. Darian is also an early investor in many successful companies, including Lyft, Udemy, Carbon Health, and Palantir. At Gradient, he has invested in  Seed and Series A rounds in prominent companies such as Mural, SecureFrame, Chili Piper, Writer, Stairwell, Gigs, FlutterFlow, and Oura. He started his career working at Facebook as a Software Engineer reporting to Mark Zuckerberg. In this episode we discuss his path to becoming an investor in Gradient.  We also dive into the topic of the moment: Inves

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 home goods, and one of six business units at Wal-Mart.  Anthony discusses what it’s like going from a startup to operating at the scale of, essentially, a Fortune 500 CEO. Anthony also begins the “AI Series” – where we start discussing what is happening as AI technology begins to emerge.  Anthony advises “AI Fund”, a venture studio that works with entrepreneurs to bring their AI companies to market. A note on the “AI Series”:  A lot of people have expressed interest in the emergence of AI as a technological force driving the next wave of innovation.  Many believe it is significant as the emergence of the Internet or mobile phones.   So I’m beginning a series within Something Ventured where I talk to people wh

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, membership on the prestigious NVCA board (with former Something Ventured Guest Charles Hudson serving as the chair), and time at Insight Partners.  We discuss Nnamdi's path to finding a partner and establishing 645 Ventures. He shares why he left Insight to start his own fund, how he determined Aaron was the right partner, and the challenges they faced while raising funds from Limited Partners ("LPs"). Nnamdi also discusses how he applied his experience at Insight to 645 Ventures, their decision-making process for investments, and his perspective on the current state of the venture market. We conclude with a moment on how he manages to be a Boston sports fan living and working in…New York. Something Ventured:  https:

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 largest crypto exchange with over a million users.  While still unfolding, the FTX story so far has more layers, complexities and characters than a spy novel. David provides a thoughtful, nuanced explanation of what is known so far. We discuss what happened at FTX, how the events unfolded, and what Bankman-Fried’s role was in the multi-billion dollar collapse.  David Z. Morris is CoinDesk's Chief Insights Columnist. He has written about crypto since 2013 for outlets including Fortune, Slate, and Aeon. He is the author of "Bitcoin is Magic," an introduction to Bitcoin's social dynamics. He is a former academic sociologist of technology with a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Iowa. He holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, Sola

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, Notion, Opendoor, PagerDuty, Pinterest, Retool, Rippling, Samsara, Square, Stripe, TripActions, Wish. It seems almost impossible.  But there it is.  Elad’s career includes working at Google, founding a company acquired by Twitter, and founding Color Genomics (you probably heard about them during the COVID response). He is also author of the book High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People. In this wide-ranging discussion, Elad shares his thoughts on everything from building companies to crypto, AI, and more.   Elad’s home page:      https://eladgil.com/ Elad on Twitter:          https://twitter.com/eladgil Something Ventured: https://somethingventured.us/   

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 becoming mayor of a major city and his refreshing style for governing in that office.  But being mayor of a major US city was just the beginning. Adrian became a special advisor to the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, where he had the chance to observe its founders in action. Today, Adrian is a Managing Director of the venture firm he founded, MaC Venture Capital. https://macventurecapital.com/ www.somethingventured.com

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 episode we discuss her entrepreneurial journey, in which she gives us a pretty candid look at the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur. Michelle has also become a (fairly popular) voice of reason concerning the state of affairs in San Francisco.  She regularly poses thoughtful questions about various policies while generally shedding light on the byzantine corners of San Francisco politics.  Here, she shares her thoughts on a range of issues, providing thoughtful solutions, and frank explanations of various head-spinning policies. Substack https://substack.com/profile/1329960-michelle-tandler Twitter https://twitter.com/michelletandler Something Ventured https://somethingventured.us/

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, etc.  But it’s also about “Silicon Valley’s political coming-of-age”, as the New York Times describes it. We discuss how Peter Thiel came to wealth, and the many controversies surrounding him.  We also discuss the calculations that led him to back Donald Trump’s presidency, and ultimately take a role in Trump’s transition campaign. Max Chafkin on Twitter Something Ventured The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power

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 computer technologies to investing. The resulting firm – Renaissance Technologies -- is one of the most famous, and successful, hedge funds.  It pioneered systematic trading using quantitative models derived from mathematical models.  It famously hires people who are incredibly smart – but don’t have previous investing experience. While some might consider that enough of a career for one lifetime – Howard went on to co-found First Round Capital with Josh Koppelman.  First Round is one of the most respected seed venture capital firms, with investments in firms like Notion, Roblox, Uber, and Square. At last Howard is ready to retire….wait no.  No, Howard is now the chairman of B Capital, the global investment firm found

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 The Knot acquired WeddingChannel.com, Jenny started another company – Bella Pictures – also subsequently acquired.  Today she is a partner at Freestyle Capital, and was recently named one of Barron’s “100 Women Shaping the World of U.S. Finance”. In this conversation we discuss her path through these entrepreneurial experiences to becoming a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and co-founder of All Raise. She shares what it’s like to join and then become partner of a venture firm that already has a couple high-profile partners; why she thinks entrepreneurs make great VCs, and the role of All Raise in Silicon Valley. Freestyle Capital https://five.libsyn.com/episodes/add Something Ventured Podcast https://someth

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 The Art of Accomplishment, an online learning platform for personal development.  And get this – he quit his job as a venture capitalist to become a coach. Yep -- as a venture capitalist Joe found that the most rewarding aspect, and the part he was most successful at, was the mentorship and coaching of the leadership of his portfolio companies. This insight moved him to his present role as a coach, business consultant and teacher.  He now coaches 12 CEOs and leaders in prominent companies and runs transformative programs for both individuals and businesses. He is says he is practicing a craft that makes big, lasting, and overwhelmingly positive impacts on the lives of people in his programs and in the companies he work

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 WeWork. “In little more than a decade, Neumann transformed himself from a struggling baby clothes salesman into the charismatic, hard-partying CEO of a company worth $47 billion - on paper. With his long hair and feel-good mantras, the six-foot-five Israeli transplant looked the part of a messianic truth teller. Investors swooned, and billions poured in. Soon, however, WeWork was burning through cash faster than Neumann could bring it in. From his private jet, sometimes clouded with marijuana smoke, he scoured the globe for more capital. Then, as WeWork readied a Hail Mary IPO, it all fell apart. Nearly $40 billion of value vaporized in one of corporate America’s most spectacular meltdowns.” In this episode Eliot Bro

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 obsessed individual with a vision of the future and the will to make it so, a rebel who creates the future with childlike enthusiasm.”  That, thought Brad, sounded a lot like…an entrepreneur. The book is “a modern Art of War, connecting the dots to our high-tech business environment”. Each short chapter takes a quote from Nietzsche and applies it to an area of entrepreneurship. Brad Feld has been a famous venture capitalist for a long time.  He has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He currently runs Foundry group, which he co-founded. Before that Brad co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars. Brad is a writer an

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 leading data platform. Auren is also an investor – he has invested in more than 120 active technology companies. Auren went to UC Berkeley a B.S.E. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley. But perhaps most importantly – Auren shares his wisdom:  Often in napkin sketches, shared on Twitter.  In this podcast we discuss Auren’s journey, his wisdom and his view from his unique perch in Silicon Valley. Auren on Twitter https://twitter.com/auren Something Ventured https://somethingventured.us/ 

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 it goes, and the practical issues of giving to support Black Lives Matter. Since taking the helm at SVCF, Nicole has led the organization to renew its focus on the many challenges facing residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties – two of the largest counties in Silicon Valley. In April 2020, Nicole was invited by San José Mayor Sam Liccardo to be among the five co-chairs of the Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable. This group was formed to  address how Silicon Valley will adapt and thrive in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the early months of pandemic response, SVCF raised over $50 million for funds to meet the needs of individuals, families, nonprofit organizations, small businesses and education s