Brom Rector is the founder of XEIA Venture Partners (formerly Empath Ventures), a venture capital firm focused on the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and emerging technologies.

In this episode we discuss:

- The evolution from Empath's psychedelics focus to XEIA's broader "Human 3.0" vision

- The current state of psychedelic medicine after recent FDA setbacks

- Revolutionary brain-computer interfaces like Motif Neurotech and their potential to treat depression

- Genetic medicine innovations including RNA therapeutics

- The fertility crisis and hearing damage epidemic as underexplored health frontiers

- How VCs evaluate founders and what makes a compelling pitch

- AI's role in investment decision-making and its future impact on various industries

Recorded in San Francisco in early 2025, this conversation explores the cutting edge of human health technology and the venture capital ecosystem supporting it.

#venturecapital #Biotech #Neuroscience #HumanHealth #Psychedelics #BrainComputerInterfaces #GeneMedicine #AI

Ollie Allen Fox speaks to Hugo Lu, founder of Orchestra, about his journey from investment banking to revolutionizing data engineering.

Molly O’Shea is an investor & founder of Sourcery.vc. A weekly newsletter on top weekly VC deals & tech signals. After posting top quality content for 4 years, whilst working at a variety of VC firms, Molly has built an audience of 6,000 people from the industry.

In this conversation we talked about:

00:59 Sourcery.vc

03:29 Consistency and discipline in content creation

05:41 Networking and building connections through content

12:16 Molly's personal background and journey into venture capital

18:18 Taking a multi-disciplinary to life

20:06 Whats the difference between those who are active in online communities and those who aren't?

23:24 Being a pirate

27:31 The hidden challenges of a 9-5

29:56 Alcohol

31:17 Go outside

35:42 Standing out in the age of AI

45:43 Content Advertising

55:56 Where does Molly get her information?

57:08 Morgan Housel Same As Ever

Subscribe to Sourcery.vc

Molly’s Twitter

Ollie’s Twitter

Cyrus is General Partner at rational.fund. He podcasts and writes at rationalvc.com. He is currently working as a Software Engineer at Tesla. 
He has co-invested alongside Founders Fund, Jim O'Shaughnessy, YC, a16z, Sam Altman et al. The podcast has reached the top 25 charts on several occasions, and the essays have 3,000+ subscribers.

Previously, Cyrus operated my own indie startups (some failed, 2 sold) or worked in VC-backed startups (and advised several).
Prior to that he was part of a founding team for Silicon Valley Bank in London after university where he managed a $200MM portfolio in his early 20s. 

Interests: reading (preferably Lindy), podcasting, writing, polymathy, learning new skills, indie hacking, asymmetric bets, lifestyle design, sovereignty, mentoring ambitious immigrants, barbell training, martial arts, flâneuring the oldest inhabited cities, architecture, hiking, meditating, and Achaemenid history.

Timestamps:

00:29 Cyrus's Background

08:08 Cyrus's Values

12:11 Escaping corporate

13:28 Leveraging code, media & capital

18:35 Self teaching software then joining Tesla

21:03 Making Small Bets

27:51 What is Lindy knowledge and why will it change your life

34:07 Is code or media a better form of leverage?

46:57 The Mayfair music scene

48:59 Should you optimise for work rate or exploration?

01:01:27 Why people should be bored more

01:04:29 Will AI eat software devs?

01:14:04 What it takes to be a top performing CEO / Founder

01:18:03 The problem with 30 under 30 & other status games

01:21:07 Don't build SaaS

01:24:03 How to get people more interested in quality content

01:35:50 The story of David Senra & Chris Williamson

01:40:48 Starting your life's work before having financial runway

01:46:22 Lifestyle design

01:49:40 Do people have a tendency to over prepare?

01:54:06 Is Charlie Munger right to be anti-crypto?

Cyrus Yari:
https://cyrusyari.com/
Ollie Allen Fox:
https://www.weboaf.com/
https://twitter.com/ollieallenfox

Alex Leiman is the Co-Founder of Plug AI. An AI dating app that got 1.5M downloads in 4.5 months thanks to a genius TikTok campaign. It's now making $190k / month and the business is for sale for $3.5M. Alex is 23.

His last business (SexyCakes - a college delivery service) did $700k in revenue whilst he was at college.

My goal with this podcast is to meet a billionaire to find out how they operate. I believe I have just met one, 15 years before his bank account catches up.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:36 How Wingman grew from 0 to 1.2M Downloads in less than 3 months

06:15 Experimenting to find viral content ideas

08:15 How to find content creators to collab with on TikTok

10:21 Does TikTok marketing work for any business?

11:51 Using Superwall to test paywall strategy

15:55 Teaching the art of Rizz

18:13 How to build an iOS app that integrates with AI

20:25 Using custom instructions on ChatGPT

23:20 What will successful entrepreneurs look like in 15 years?

25:53 Why the name change from rizz gpt to wingman

29:14 AGI coming in 5 years?

36:22 Selling $700k worth of pancakes in college

44:47 How hard it is applying for jobs

47:30 Living in america

49:20 What will be a safe career when AI takes over?

56:16 How to find a viral tik tok idea}

Ollie ( https://linktr.ee/ollieallenfox )

Alex ( https://twitter.com/old_man_alex )

Mike Annunziata is the Founding Partner of Also Capital, the Co-Founder of ⁠Farther Farms & a board member of Varda Space⁠⁠.

In this episode, Ollie & Mike talk about:

• Mike's fund, Also Capital


• Deep tech industry trends


• How to find great deep tech founders


• The founding story of Varda Space


• The founding story of Farther Farms


• How to master deep tech branding

Timestamps:

00:34 Mike's Background

04:16 Varda Space Founding Story

07:14 Storytelling for Founders

09:47 How do VC's find investment opportunities in Deep Tech?

13:56 How to launch a startup?

17:42 Farther Farms origin story

20:04 The steps to grow Farther Farms from Seed to Series B

22:17 Mike's lessons from his early times as an entrepreneur

24:03 Should you stay in a stable career or start a company?

25:21 Mike's approach to deep tech investing

31:32 Having fun and playing to win

33:58 The importance of getting on that flight

36:47 How the best founders lead their teams?

41:44 The biggest challenge of founding Farther Farms

43:42 The importance of aligning leaders with organisational culture

46:44 The difference between a seed stage founder, a growth stage founder & a public company CEO

48:34 How to pick good board members

50:32 How to guide founders as a board member

53:15 Who are board members typically?

54:11 Branding for deep tech companies

57:31 How to attract the best team to your deep tech startup?

59:18 Exciting frontier technologies arriving in the future

01:03:50 The Also Capital Flywheel

01:06:17 What does being a Father teach you about life?

Mike [Twitter]

Ollie [Twitter, WEBOAF]

Yuriy Blokhin is the Founder / CEO of Homecoming, a startup building tools and technologies to support the essential work of coaches and therapists.

Yuriy has consulted a therapy chatbot company for acquisition by Airbnb. 

He is a founding member of the Heroic Hearts Project, offering educational, financial & counseling services to veterans with PTSD seeking access to ayahuasca and other psychedelic therapies. 

He studied mathematical physics at college before dropping out to start working at Kik as the first employee, which grew to 300m registered users.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

01:18 Overcoming treatment resistant depression with psychedelics

07:19 What is consciousness?

11:12 What does homecoming do?

14:56 How to find a business idea

17:48 Should you follow your passion?

21:08 Is it possible to plan life?

24:42 Why you need a mentor

29:55 What is your life purpose?

35:09 What does a seed stage CEO do?

39:26 Homecoming go to market strategy

40:39 Finding product market fit

47:05 Does homecoming have a viral loop?

49:16 Adding discovery layers to apps second instead of first

56:05 Is SEO a good marketing strategy?

57:15 How to choose a great board of directors including the co-founder of Substack

01:01:02 The leading driver of burnout in startup Founders

Yuriy:

https://www.homecoming.health/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuriyblokhin/

Ollie:

https://weboaf.com/

https://twitter.com/ollieallenfox

Hector Mason is General Partner at Episode 1 Ventures, where he invests in pre-seed and seed stage companies using data driven insights. Often sourcing deals before founders have even left their job.

He supplements his work at Episode 1 as Co-Founder of Focal, a virtual demo day matching top seed companies with the best investors in the world.

As a self proclaimed productivity freak, he has also finds time to be the Co-Host of Riding Unicorns. A podcast focused on venture capital and growth startups where Hector has met many unicorn founders.

We talked about:

00:45 The new gold standard for demo days

04:41 How did you find the idea for Focal?

06:24 How do VC's find competitive advantage in the future?

10:05 Using Data & Tech in VC

18:55 Small teams doing the work of huge teams

22:03 What character traits define unicorn founders?

26:17 How hard do Founders really work?

29:20 Unicorn founders and wellness

30:29 The importance of self intuition

34:22 Hectors lifestyle as a VC, founder & podcast host

41:05 Becoming a Homing Missile to Money

44:45 How Hector became a general partner at 28

48:58 The Power of Curiosity

52:11 Pre-seed investing is a human business

57:03 Your most proud behaviour?

01:00:39 Content Strategy

Hector [Linked In]

Ollie [Twitter, WEBOAF]

Clint Graumann is Founder & CEO of Nuview. He's building the world’s first commercial constellation of LiDAR imaging satellites. The data will help academics, scientists and companies fight climate change. Clint has raised $15m from top investors including MaC Venture Capital, Leonardo DiCaprio and Florida Funders.

Clint is very passionate about the Space industry, he hosts the Space in 60 podcast. If you have ever read Naval Ravikant's 'How To Get Rich Without Getting Lucky' you will notice that Clint embodies lots of the philosophies that Naval talks about.

If you are stuck in life and want to see what someone who has found their passion looks like, this is it.

Timestamps:

01:04 Nuview Mission

06:26 Nuview Data Use Cases

13:17 What do you look for in Venture Capital partners?

15:31 How do you start a space company?

18:09 Getting Investment From Leonardo DiCaprio

20:20 What jobs are there in the Space industry?

23:46 How did you find your passion?

31:28 How to spot the best opportunities

34:23 Seeking deep expertise before starting a deep tech company

35:38 How to start a deep tech company

37:33 Do Sci Fi movies really influence science?

39:36 Will the human race go to space?

41:13 How does the Nuview business model work?

45:00 How to build a satellite

49:47 WEBOAF, a creative agency for deep tech founders. A good idea?

53:17 Should you plan or just get started?

56:19 How to find your passion in your 20s

59:58 Clint's thoughts on self actualisation

01:07:12 How to choose the right women to be your wife

Clint:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintgraumann/

https://nuview.space/

Ollie:

https://twitter.com/ollieallenfox

https://www.weboaf.com/

Sa'ad Shah is the the Managing Partner of Noetic Capital, a $150m AUM venture capital firm focused on funding companies providing solutions for the 1.2 billion people diagnosed with mental health conditions.

Portfolio companies include Merlin Mind, Beckley Psytech & Apollo Neuroscience.

Sa'ad has used his experience from his successful finance career in hedge funds and private equity to create a venture capital firm that invests in an area he is deeply passionate about.

Show Notes:

01:25 Noetic Fund Investment Thesis

04:29 Why isn't the mental health epidemic more widely reported?

07:20 The Theme Running Through Noetic Funds Investment Strategy

11:59 The Cultural Causes of the Mental Health Crisis

17:02 The Impact Of Phones On The Circuitry Of The Mind

20:54 Start Ups Tracking Data In The Brain

25:08 Merlin Mind AI For Government, Intelligience & Organisations Where Data Privacy Is Important

29:53 How Sa'ad found his passion?

37:40 Spending 51 years to find the meaning of life

40:17 How do you balance progress with health

47:36 Growing Up In East Berlin

52:37 What does Sa'ad think is the meaning of life?

56:06 The 5 Steps To Starting A VC Fund

01:04:42 Film Financing

01:08:48 The Performance Of Noetic Fund

01:11:42 The Traders Mindset

Sa'ad:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sa-ad-shah-a650441b7/

https://noeticfund.com/

Ollie:

https://twitter.com/oafhq

https://www.weboaf.com/