Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital

I’ve been enjoying the Women's FIFA World Cup, and I’m so thrilled to see the conversation on gender equity that has arisen alongside the excitement of the sport. As we continue to be in awe of the performance of so many of the teams, I was inspired to bring this week’s Billion Dollar Bite to a candid conversation with Coach Jen Welter who tackled her football career with tenacity and an unprecedented track record of pioneering firsts.

What does it mean to be the first and the only? How do you turn being seen as the 'token' woman to being taken seriously as a team player? From building on her career in women’s football, which included 2 Gold medals with Team USA, to breaking through the biggest boys club of all, the NFL, as the first female coach in the league, I thought her Billion Dollar Moves deserved a listen this week.

Original full episode

Follow Dr. Jen Welter

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From building emerging tech in IBM to working with Jeff Bezos and Andy Jessy, being a part of scaling Amazon from a $12 Billion to $80 Billion company; tech pioneer and trailblazer, CNN’s Top 10 Most Powerful Women in Tech Sandy Carter is now betting big on Web3: as COO of Unstoppable Domains, a platform for user-owned digital identity that hit the unicorn status last year led with a round led by Pantera Capital.

Today we break some exciting news by Unstoppable Domains launching, discuss the viability of Web 3.0 and how it is creating new business opportunities and reshaping the way we think about commerce, entertainment, and social interaction.

ABOUT SANDY CARTER:

Sandy Carter is Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development at Unstoppable Domains, a platform for user-owned digital identity. As COO, she is responsible for driving growth and developing business strategies in pursuit of the company’s mission to provide user-owned identity for the world. She also drives partnerships and integrations for Web3 and the Metaverse. Prior to Unstoppable, Sandy was a VP at AWS where she created and grew businesses in emerging tech, leveraging AI, blockchain, and AR/VR. Before that, she was a General Manager at IBM and a Silicon Valley start-up founder.

Sandy is a leading voice in technology, social media, Web3 and the metaverse who has been recognized as a Top 10 Most Powerful Woman in Tech by CNN and as a top AI influencer per Onalytica. Sandy Carter is a Board Member at Altair, an AI company, Chairman of the Board for the non-profit Girls in Tech, a past member of the Diversity Committee at the World Economic Forum, the founder of Unstoppable Women of Web3 and a founding member of Blockchain Friends Forever (BFF). She has won numerous awards including 2023 Crunchbase Influential Women in Sales List, 2023 CRN Channel Chief, Top 100 Global Thought Leader by Awards Magazine, Top 150 Business Transformational Leaders, a Top 100 Chief Tech Leader, Top 115 Most Inspirational Women of Web3/Metaverse, 100 Women Davos, Two Lovies Awards for Best Metaverse HQ, Top 14 Edge Leader, Federal 100 Award Winner, Top 100 Women of the Future, and PwC Game Changer. She is a member of Fortune Most Powerful Women. She is fluent in eight programming languages and is the author of five books, which won the Platinum MarCom Award and the Silver Marketing Sherpa award.

About Unstoppable:

Launched in 2018, Unstoppable Domains is a Web3 domain name provider and digital identity platform working to onboard the world onto Web3. Unstoppable Domains offers Web3 domains minted on the blockchain that give people full ownership and control of their digital identity, with no renewal fees. With Unstoppable Domains, people can replace lengthy alphanumeric crypto wallet addresses with a human-readable name and log into and transact with more than 720 apps, wallets, exchanges and marketplaces. The company was named by Forbes as one of America's Best Startup Employers in 2022.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top global funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we cover it all in the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar-episodes

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves

Long before AI became a buzzword, Vu Van recognized its transformative potential. Combining her deep understanding of language learning with her AI expertise, Vu Van founded ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) in 2015. ELSA, an AI-powered learning app, provides users with an interactive and personalized approach to improving English pronunciation,

50 million users later, over $27 million dollars raised, with investors including Gradient Ventures, Google’s dedicated AI fund, this is a conversation not to be missed.

ABOUT VU VAN:

Vu Van is Co-founder & CEO of Silicon Valley-based ELSA, the world’s best and smartest English pronunciation app. She worked with leading speech scientists, machine learning scientists, and linguists from around the world to create ELSA. Powered by the company’s proprietary AI and speech recognition technology, ELSA scores a learners' speech to pinpoint individual syllable and phoneme level mistakes with real time feedback.

Prior to founding ELSA, Vu lived and worked in Vietnam, Singapore, Denmark where she experienced the challenges of an English language learner abroad. She served as an Engagement Manager at Booz & Co, one of the top four global management consulting firms. Vu earned an MBA and a Masters in Education from Stanford University and is originally from Vietnam.

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top global funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we cover it all in the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar-episodes

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves

While the IPO window feels closed for many; what we’re still seeing are interesting mergers, acquisitions and strategic exits: many of which create the scenario of leaders at the helm of new teams. And so, for this week’s Billion Dollar Bite; I’m bringing a question I’m off late being asked a lot: how do leaders make maximum impact in the first 90 days?

A concept; from one of my fav book of all time— by Michael Watkins where as Watkins brilliantly illustrates the first 90 days present a unique window for leaders to establish their vision, build influence and actually set the foundation to make things happen. It is a period that demands precision, clarity, and swift action, political savvy.

I couldn’t think of a better episode than that of Tiwa York to highlight: a visionary leader who has made waves in the e-commerce industry like no other. Tiwa was handpicked by industry giants, Naspers and Tencent, to revolutionize their e-commerce portfolio in Thailand. And boy, did he deliver in the first 100 days and more.

Full episode:

On Apple: https://apple.co/3sXNtkz

On Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3UpAbcV

On Youtube: https://youtu.be/fBmTNT4G-20

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top GLOBAL funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we deconstruct the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar...

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondol...

Ollen Douglass is a name that many have come to recognize in the venture industry, in particular for building the first venture fund for the Motley Fool; a popular news and media platform providing investing insights and financial advice to millions of people for over 25 years. But his story takes an unexpected twist as he walks away from a $250 million outfit he helped start. His abrupt departure left industry insiders hungry for answers. And today, he's here to reveal in his own words what happened and why; and importantly we’ll chat about his mission to challenge the status quo as a Black man in this industry.

FOLLOW OLLEN:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollendouglass/

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top GLOBAL funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we deconstruct the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar...

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondol...

A head start doesn't always ... well, help you get ahead.

With examples from sports, technology and economics, journalist David Epstein shares how specializing in a particular skill too early in life may undermine your long-term development -- and explains the benefits of a "sampling period" where you try new things and focus on building a range of skills. Learn how this broader, counterintuitive mindset (and more forgiving timeline) could lead to a more fulfilling life, personally and professionally: even in our world of venture and business.

Special thanks to Cortado Ventures for setting this up in the beautiful First National Center in Oklahoma City: https://cortado.ventures/

FOLLOW DAVID:

Get his book, Range: https://amzn.to/3Nrht3c

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidEpstein

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-epstein-5a37ba25/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidepstein/

https://davidepstein.com/

David Epstein is the author of the #1 New York Times best seller Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, and of the New York Times best seller The Sports Gene, both of which have been translated in more than 30 languages. (To his surprise, the latter was purchased not only by his sister but also by President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.)

He was previously the host of Slate‘s popular “How To!” podcast, and a science and investigative reporter at ProPublica. Prior to that, he was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he co-authored the story that revealed Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez had used steroids. His writing has been honored by an array of organizations, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, to the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Center on Disability and Journalism, and has been included in the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. His story “Following the Trail of Broken Hearts,” on sudden cardiac death in athletes, was chosen as one of the top 100 stories of the last 100 years by Columbia Journalism alumni.

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top GLOBAL funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we deconstruct the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar...

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondol...

This week I am so pumped to be speaking with Momei Qu, Managing Director of PSP Growth, where she leads PSP’s venture capital and growth equity initiative, working closely with the esteemed Penny Pritzker, former United States Sec of Commerce and American billionaire businesswoman with family investments in the Hyatt Hotels and Marmon Group. From Momei’s leadership lessons working with a trailblazer to building a robust venture and growth practice to the future of B2B SAAS despite valuation slashes we’ve seen, we cover it all.

ABOUT MOMEI:

Momei Qu is a Managing Director at PSP Growth, and leads PSP’s venture capital and growth equity initiatives. She is responsible for strategy development, new deal sourcing, and portfolio company oversight.

Prior to joining PSP Growth in 2018, she was a Vice President at Baird Capital where she invested in healthcare and technology companies. Prior to joining Baird, she was at Independence Equity (IE), a technology focused venture capital firm. Before IE, she worked as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch & Co. Qu earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. She currently serves on the Board of The Goldie Initiative, an organization dedicated to elevating the careers of high potential women in real estate, and on the Board of CRETI (Center for Real Estate Technology and Innovation).

In her spare time, Momei enjoys traveling with her husband and 2 kids, running by the lake, and finding deals at wine auctions.

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top global funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we cover it all in the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar-episodes

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves

This week's Billion Dollar Bite features the big question:

Who am I beyond the company I built?

This has become a theme that has emerged in so many of my conversations with both founders and funders at the helm of their businesses — an inspired this week’s Billion Dollar Bite about finding identity and decoupling your identity from your business. Tune in to what Rana el-Kaliouby who sold her emotional AI startup, Affectiva to publicly listed Smart Eye for $73.5 Million has to say:

Full episode:

(Season 2 Episode 1; 11/03/22) Rana el-Kaliouby: https://tinyurl.com/2p94hmyy

About Rana (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliouby/)

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top global funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we deconstruct the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar-episodes

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves

Our next guest is tackling the food waste problem by applying what he and his team have learned from nature. They created a plant-based protective coating that can make fruits and vegetables last longer. When the average household wastes over 30% of their food and throws $1,500 of the food they buy into the trash, you can see how it’s crucial to work to reduce this impact on our planet and our pocketbooks. 

Apeel is commercially available for avocados, organic apples, cucumbers and citrus fruits (lemons, limes, mandarins, oranges and grapefruit)- so they can stay fresher longer in the supply chain and in our homes. I chatted with my friend, James Rogers, Founder & CEO of Apeel when we were together in Oklahoma City about his journey over the last decade, and how he’s finally getting closer to his “why” in the first place.

ABOUT JAMES:

Dr. James Rogers is Founder and CEO of Apeel, a company that’s fighting the global food waste crisis by using materials found in nature to help food last longer — a sustainable approach to enable a more abundant future for the entire supply chain. Apeel’s mission has enabled Dr. Rogers to learn from and collaborate with thought leaders from all segments of the global food system. Founded in 2012, Apeel works with a global network of suppliers to serve retail customers across the globe with longer-lasting organic and conventionally grown produce, ensuring a fresher experience for customers at home. Apeel also invests its expertise in biological and data science toward helping retailers solve their fresh challenges and securing new opportunities for growth.

www.apeel.com

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top US-Asia funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we deconstruct the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar-episodes

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves

What’s the secret to becoming more likable and influential as a leader? How do we actually build and scale by appealing to our consumers in a sustainable way?

Why are we more likely to eat an imperfect cookie? This week’s episode will have you taking copious notes from Phill Agnew, a behavioral science expert and my podcast brother in the network, where he hosts one of the top Marketing podcasts, Nudge and shares tips of the trade you can start applying to win business and yes influence people today.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

03:42 - Why sharing your imperfection is key to being likeable

11:04 - Does this apply to gender stereotypes?

15:36 - Why is Tony the Tiger on Frosties, Ronald McDonald?

19:56 - Because you're worth it? Language matters

23:33 - Articulating value to your stakeholders

30:23 - Are marketers responsible for our culture? Will AI disrupt marketing?

35:27 - Showcasing labor to influence others

SHOW NOTES

FOLLOW PHILL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/

NUDGE Podcast: The consumer psychology podcast - listen to the researchers, authors, and pioneers in behavioral science and learn small nudges you can use to improve your work. NudgePodcast.com

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahchenglobal

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Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top US-Asia funders & founders. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we deconstruct the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.

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PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: https://sarah-chen.com/billion-dollar-episodes

Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal

Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves