Future Squared with Steve Glaveski

Niki Scevak is co-founder of Startmate, and founder and partner at Blackbird VC, Australia’s largest venture capital fund, with its 5th fund having raised AUD$1B (US$640M). Blackbird was an early investor in Canva, SafetyCulture, CultureAmp, BugCrowd, RedBubble, and many more, and has to date generated a net internal rate of return of 56%. 

 

Niki joined me today to discuss:

• His life before Blackbird

• Successfully raising his first fund back in 2012, without having a network or any startup successes of his own 

• Getting beyond the trough of disillusionment

• How Australian superannuation funds are opening their wallets to VC

• Scaling culture

• Generating deal flow

• Advice for founders and budding VCs on raising capital in a down market

• The AI investment landscape

• The battle between AI-powered indie hackers and venture-backed startups

• Whether sophisticated investor rules preventing retail investors from getting direct exposure to venture capital is just increasing the wealth gap 

• Diversity, quotas, and Startmate’s merit-based selection criteria

• And more. 

 

Show Notes:

Email Niki: [email protected] 

Web: www.blackbird.vc  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nikiscevak?lang=en

Contact Steve on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/steveglaveski

Email Steve: [email protected] 

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Mick Wall has spent over four decades interviewing rockstars and chronicling their amazing stories, and today, we're turning the tables on Mick Wall and unpacking his story in this marathon 3-hour and 40-minute, Joe Rogan-esque interview.   Our conversation focuses on the early years, taking in Mick’s childhood all the way through to Sounds magazine, Heavy Publicity, and the inception of the world-famous magazine Kerrang! magazine.   We touch on ghostwriting, his feud with Axl Rose, and revelations about the rock 'n roll lifestyle.   As you might expect, there’s plenty of sex, drugs n rock n roll, and some valuable life lessons.   So strap yourself in for my chat with Mick Wall.

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Dennis Savic is a pioneering entrepreneur and innovative thinker in the fields of electric vehicles and sustainable transportation. 

As the founder and CEO of SAVIC Motorcycles, he has introduced high-performance, eco-friendly models that cater to a wide range of consumers. Born in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, and raised in Australia, Dennis holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has always been passionate about the intersection of technology, design, and environmental responsibility. 

We explored:

• Dennis’ upbringing and inspiration for getting into motorcycle building

• Savic Motorcycles' C-series cafe racer motorcycle 

• The company’s journey to $6m in pre-orders 

• Its current Equitise crowdfunding campaign

• Challenges faced by EV startups include manufacturing economies of scale, talent acquisition, and competition from established automakers.

• How the future of the motorcycle industry is evolving with the introduction of AI, autonomy, and charging infrastructure.

• How Savic Motorcyles is bringing the manufacture of parts in-house to reduce costs, improve performance, and speed up time to market 

• The entrepreneurial mindset

• The most impactful books Dennis has read

• And so much more

 

Show Notes:

Website: www.savicmotorcycles.com 

Crowdfunding campaign: https://equitise.com/offer/savic-motorcycles-offer

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Torsten Hoffmann is a media entrepreneur, filmmaker, and technology investor. 

He has produced and directed several documentaries, including "Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It" and the award-winning "Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet"  

Torsten joins me today to talk about his forthcoming feature documentary,  FORTITUDE: Forging the Trillion Dollar Space Economy, which uncovers how a few influential individuals with utopian ideas and vast fortunes are forging a trillion-dollar off-world industry, while inspiring millions of us back on Earth.

In this conversation we unpack:

• The Space economy and its constituent parts

• Space tourism

• Sustainability in Space

• Controversy over Government contracts being awarded to billionaires

• The Colonization of Mars

• The new Space Race with China

• What the significance of SpaceX’s Starship is

• Opportunities for entrepreneurs

• And how you can preserve your DNA on the moon for future generations to discover, and possibly, resurrect you

Show Notes:

1. Film: www.fortitudemovie.com 

2. Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitcointheendofmoney/fortitude-forging-the-trillion-dollar-space-economy 

Sponsored by:

LVLUP Health’s BPC157. Get yours at: www.lvluphealth.com and use code FUTURE for 10% off.

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Kevin Kelly is a renowned technology writer, futurist, and entrepreneur who co-founded Wired magazine in 1993. He has authored several books on the impact of technology on society, including "The Inevitable" and "What Technology Wants." He is also a sought-after speaker and advisor on emerging technologies and their social and economic implications.

His new book, Excellent Advice for Living: WIsdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier, distils Kelly’s timeless advice on everything from right living to setting ambitious goals, optimizing generosity, and cultivating compassion. He has wisdom for career, relationships, parenting, and finances, and gives guidance for practical matters ranging from travel to troubleshooting.

In this conversation, we unpack:

• How Kevin’s beliefs have changed his beliefs over time

• Kevin’s perspective on success and external validation

• Why we shouldn’t pursue being the best, but being the only

• 3 things Kevin would take with him into the afterlife

• Why you should kill your darlings, and throw out work you’ve labored over

• How Kevin would spend the next 10 years if he was 21 years old today 

• Learning how to be more compassionate towards people with views that we find abhorrent

• Why we shouldn’t measure our lives with someone else’s ruler, and how to get better at that

Show Notes:

Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Excellent-Advice-Living-Wisdom-Earlier/dp/0593654528 

Kevin on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/kevin2kelly 

Future Squared:

Website: www.futuresquared.xyz

Twitter: www.twitter.com/steveglaveski 

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@futuresquaredpod 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/futuresquaredpod

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC63t7PVnhh6YaS1OSzELGng 

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My guest today is Mike Todasco, former director of innovation at PayPal, and current self-imposed AI-researcher, and co-author of numerous AI-generated books under the pseudonym Alex Irons.

 

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, including:

• Generative AI use cases

• The impact of AI on startups and the venture capital ecosystem

• AutoGPT

• The threat of misaligned goals and existential risks posed by AI

• The 6-month development ban proposal

• Regulatory considerations 

• Intellectual property challenges and solutions

• The AI Arms Race with China

• And so much more.

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Show Notes:

1. Alexirons.com 

2. Mike on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todasco/

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Sponsored by:

1. www.lvluphealth.com Use coupon code FUTURE for 10% off ALL products, including BPC-157, and heal yourself like wolverine! 

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Rebroadcast: This episode originally appeared in 2019.

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James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement.

A freak baseball accident put James in a desperate place, fighting to recover from brain damage. The debilitating brain injury forced him to discover a new way of living. Recovery took James to a new understanding of habits and the power of stacking simple, easy habits, one on top of the other, to create momentum and change.

His book, Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results, shares his learnings with the world. It has sold well over one million copies and has been translated into numerous languages.

He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning.

We covered numerous topics in this conversation, including, as you might expect:

• How to build good habits and break bad ones
• Why systems are much more important than goals alone; and
• What kind of ‘meta habits’ deliver a massive return in life

We explore this and a whole lot more so strap yourself in for an hour with Mr Atomic Habits himself, James Clear.

Topics Discussed:

• Why are good habits so difficult to form
• Our brain’s desire to optimize for energy conservation
• The three layers of behaviour change
• The four laws of behaviour change
• The power of rewards
• Habit stacking
• Environment design
• The power of small changes
• The path of least effort meets the laws of motion
• Picking the right metrics
• The Goldilocks Zone
• Short feedback loops
• What leaders can do to build better habits in their teams and companies
• Meta habits
• What role identity plays
• Values alignment

Show Notes:

• com
• @jamesclear on Twitter
• Get the book: https://amzn.to/2DHgN5l
• ----------
• Listen to Future Squared on Apple Podcasts  gl/sMnEa0
• Also available on: Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher and Soundcloud
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/steveglaveski
• Instagram: instagram.com/@thesteveglaveski
• Future Squared: futuresquared.xyz
• Steve Glaveski: steveglaveski.com
• Medium: medium.com/@steveglaveski
• Steve's book: employeetoentrepreneur.io
• NEW Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/futuresquared/
• Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2N77FLx

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This episode originally appeared in episode 318, Feb 2019.
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Dr Michael Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor-in-chief of its magazine Skeptic. Shermer engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism.

He’s also a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. He is the author of Why People Believe Weird Things, Why Darwin Matters, The Science of Good and Evil, and The Moral Arc. His new book is Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality & Utopia.                                 

Shermer is also a member of what’s become known as the intellectual dark web, alongside others such as Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Jordan Peterson.

Having recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience and the  David Rubin Show, today he appears for the first time on Future Squared.

We covered a lot of ground in this episode, including:

• People’s last words and what we can glean from them about how we live our lives
• Immortality and whether you and I might live long enough to live forever
• Tribalism, identity politics and diversity quotas in tech

 This only scratches the surface of what we covered, so sit back and strap yourselves in for an enlightening conversation with the skeptic, Dr. Michael Shermer.

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Topics Discussed:

• Michael’s new book, Heavens on Earth
• Our fear of death and how people come to terms with the inevitable
• People’s last words
• The afterlife
• The technotopian quest for immortality
• The intellectual dark web
• Jordan Peterson
• The meaning of life
• Why people believe in God
• Evolutionary advantages of belief
• Morality without religion
• Tribalism and identity politics
• Diversity quotas in tech
• The shortcomings of science
• Why decision outcomes shouldn’t be equated with the quality of the decision
• Stein’s Law
• The value of counterfactuals

Show Notes:

• michaelshermer.com
• skeptic.com
• Twitter: @michaelshermer
• Shermer’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Shermer/e/B001H6MCNY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1550116103&sr=1-1

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My guest today is Daniel Cannizzaro, founder of fintech company Parpera.

I invited Dan back on to discuss the difficult landscape that startups find themselves in, and how Parpera has been navigating both macroeconomic challenges, and some very unique technical setbacks.

If you’ve ever found yourself or currently find yourself navigating uncertainty and staring at the proverbial abyss, then this conversation serves as a reminder that when we find ourselves going through difficult times, only by focusing on what we can control can we slowly but surely get back on track.

We touch on the impact on Dan and his business, the impact on his team and customers, and how to manage relationships with key stakeholders through difficult times when there is little measurable progress to speak of, whilst maintaining a shared belief in your vision.

We also touch on the global banking crisis, the impact on startups, and where the economy is headed.

Show Notes:

• Parpera: www.parpera.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielcannizzaro

Follow Future Squared online:

• TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@futuresquaredpod  
• IG: www.instagram.com/futuresquaredpod  
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@futuresquaredpod 
• Subscribe to newsletter: www.futuresquared.xyz 

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Chris Themelco is a founding member, singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Australian metal band Orpheus Omega, founder and chief engineer at Monolith Studios, and producer for numerous heavy rock acts. 

Whether you’re a fan of heavy music or not, this conversation is an absolute must-listen for anybody wanting to make it in a competitive or creative pursuit - be it as a musician, entrepreneur, comedian, content creator, artist, athlete, or ‘influencer’. 

We unpacked numerous topics that get to the heart of what it takes to excel at almost anything and cultivate a life doing what you love, including:

• The importance of range, and how creativity is all about connecting dots between our experiences

• The sunk cost fallacy

• Motivation versus discipline

• Emotional regulation

• Why process trumps results

• The value of not having a plan B

• Making the jump from gainfully employed to being your own boss

• Why most things aren’t binary

• Real world guerilla marketing versus digital marketing

• Why showing up when you don’t feel like it matters

• Managing your energy and rhythm throughout the day and year

• The creator economy, and why having several income streams is becoming the norm

• The state of the music industry today, and how some top tier musicians are making more money streaming than they do playing arenas

• The 1000 true fans concept

• And so much more.

 

Show notes:

Orpheus Omega on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/54Fv7qOKjyLWOWlwMUl2J9 

Orpheus Omega on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orpheusofficial/ 

Monolith Studios: https://monolithstudios.com.au/ 

Tags: #Motivation #Music #Discipline #HighPerformance #Success #SelfImprovement #PersonalDevelopment #Entrepreneurship #Mindset #Inspiration #Productivity #HeavyMetal #DeathMetal #MeloDeath #MelodicDeathMetal #AudioEngineer #Producr #AudioProduction #MusicBusiness #MusicBiz #Spotify #Bandcamp #Soundcloud #GoalSetting #SelfMotivation #Achievement #Leadership #PositiveThinking #HabitFormation #TimeManagement #PeakPerformance #GrowthMindset

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