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They pepper sprayed his client's dogs for 24 minutes.
The dogs went back, cleaned their eyes, and attacked again. And again. Until neighbors called the police and the intruders ran.
Those dogs were trained by Mike Israeli, founder of Delta K9 Academy, the man LA's wealthiest families call when they want protection that doesn't fail. His dogs have made the news for stopping home invasions. His clients include people who already spent six figures elsewhere and found out the hard way what they actually bought.
Because here's what Mike told me: most of what's sold as a "protection dog" in this industry is fake. A dog that performs on training equipment and freezes in real life. In this episode, he explains exactly how to tell the difference, and why he'll personally play the attacker to prove a dog isn't what its owner was promised.
We talk about why the dog sometimes chooses the owner. Why he's refused wealthy clients outright. What he really thinks about police K9 training (he knows this answer will make people angry, and he says it anyway). The legal reality of what happens when your dog bites an intruder. And the part nobody expects: why he holds back his own affection from the dogs he trains, so they can fully love the family they're going to protect.
Mike came to this country and built something he calls a legacy, not a business. By the end of this conversation you'll understand why he means it.
⏱ CHAPTERS

00:47 "They taught me more than I taught them"
02:58 Why Delta exists: crime in LA and a dog named Graph
05:04 Fake dogs: the fraud inside the protection dog industry
07:25 A protection dog is a weapon: the owner problem
09:58 Training the kids, not just the dog
11:49 "Tell your dog to attack me" — how Mike tests a dog
17:26 The dog chooses the owner
18:38 What a $100,000 dog should actually do
24:17 Status symbol or security: who really buys these dogs
28:17 The law: when you're liable for a bite and when you're not
31:24 The pepper spray home invasion story
33:42 Criminals adapt, so the dogs must too
37:05 The clients Mike refuses
38:36 Holding back love: why Mike won't bond with Shadow
41:36 "Police dogs should be more trained"
45:19 Armenian families vs Beverly Hills families
48:21 What your dog eats is killing it
49:13 Before you spend $100,000: Mike's final answer
🎙 ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English podcast in the US, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Long-form conversations with leaders in business, medicine, sport and public life — the stories behind the people. New episodes every Saturday, 1pm PT.
Subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next: https://www.youtube.com/@UChSO072QVzwQzM8Ue8T1_7w 
📍 Follow INSIGHT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmasargsyan/ 
TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@emmasargsya
🤝 Work with Emma
PR, media strategy and personal branding — Saege PR: https://www.emmasargsyan.com/ 
Contact: [email protected]
🐕 Follow Mike Israeli & Delta K9 Academy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikeisraelyan/
Website: https://www.deltak9academy.com/ 
#INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #DeltaK9 #ProtectionDogs #MikeIsraeli #K9Training #GuardDogs #DogTraining #Podcast

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There is a room in Beverly Hills where fame means nothing. For 35 years, the most carefully managed people on the planet — Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Robert Pattinson, Tom Hardy, Vin Diesel, Mel Gibson — have stepped onto its mats, where money can't save them, publicists can't protect them, and everybody taps.

The man who runs that room is Rigan Machado: 8-time world champion, 365 wins and 0 losses, unbeaten for 13 years, trained within the Gracie family — the family that created Brazilian jiu-jitsu and founded the UFC's first dynasty.

In this episode of INSIGHT with Emma Sargsyan, Rigan reveals what Hollywood's most powerful people are actually like when the performance stops. Which superstar arrived too shy to speak — and how long it took him to relax. Why Tom Hardy entered a jiu-jitsu competition as a nobody and won. Why celebrities become "balloons" — and what it takes to bring them back to earth. What 55 years on the mats taught him about ego, power, masculinity, and why his integrity was never for sale.

This is not a conversation about martial arts. It's a conversation about what power does to a person when it can no longer protect them.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 The room in Beverly Hills
04:19 "I don't care who you are" — the first rule
04:51 Why Hollywood turns people into balloons
05:40 Why celebrities fall in love with jiu-jitsu
07:07 Robert Pattinson during Batman
08:51 Protecting actors before filming
10:33 Training celebrities inside their homes
12:08 What losing control does to powerful people
16:46 Tom Hardy's secret competition
18:09 "Is jiu-jitsu just a celebrity trend?"
19:56 Royce Gracie and the first UFC
22:13 Meeting his childhood heroes
23:23 Power, ego, and Beverly Hills
26:01 The beating that made him humble
29:53 Rio de Janeiro to Beverly Hills
32:42 Social media: the girl who invented a life
35:27 Masculinity in 2026
38:01 What tapping out really means
40:11 Directing films & Ashton Kutcher's advice
44:56 What jiu-jitsu took from him
46:34 How he reads people
47:59 A free class for INSIGHT viewers
50:01 Zion Clark: no limits

---

🎧 SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every Saturday, 1pm PT:

📩 From the Inside — Emma's monthly newsletter on PR, media and the stories behind these conversations:

▶️ Watch next — The Truth About Ronda Rousey's Losses | Edmond Tarverdyan:
https://youtu.be/HscFDRss2pM?si=a-aZYT2YDiG1LYzu 

—
ABOUT RIGAN MACHADO
Rigan Machado is an 8-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and coral belt with a competition record of 365-0, unbeaten across 13 years. A member of the legendary Machado family and cousin to the Gracies — the founders of Brazilian jiu-jitsu — he has taught more than 10,000 students and trained over 60 world champions. For 35 years, his Beverly Hills academy has been Hollywood's most trusted training room, coaching stars including Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Robert Pattinson, Tom Hardy, Vin Diesel, Mario Lopez and Mel Gibson. He is also a film producer and director, and the creator of his own energy drink brand.

ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is a podcast hosted by Emma Sargsyan — PR strategist, media founder, and CEO of Saege PR, who has spent two decades advising international brands, governments and institutions. On INSIGHT, she sits down with experts, changemakers and bold thinkers to uncover the stories behind the headlines — the conversations people the world has already judged never got to have. New episodes every Saturday at 1pm PT.

📲 Follow Emma:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmasargsyan/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-sargsyan/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emmasargsya?lang=en
Website: https://www.emmasargsyan.com/

#RiganMachado #BrazilianJiuJitsu #BJJ #TomHardy #RobertPattinson #AshtonKutcher #GracieFamily #Hollywood #INSIGHTPodcast #EmmaSargsyan #Podcast #MartialArts #UFC #CelebrityTrainer #BeverlyHills

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The most controversial coach in the history of women's MMA has never told the full story.
Until now.
Edmond Tarverdyan trained Ronda Rousey for five years. He was in her corner for every fight. He watched her become the most dominant champion women's MMA had ever seen — and then watched it fall apart in 48 seconds.
He has been blamed for the losses. Called a terrible coach by her own mother. Analysed by Joe Rogan and every MMA commentator alive.
In this conversation he finally says what he has never said publicly.
What actually happened the night Ronda lost to Holly Holm — and why 28 days notice was only the beginning of the problem. What it was like when she could not drop half a pound after eight hours in a bathtub and they had to fight in Australia in the morning. Why he says Joe Rogan's analysis is wrong. What he wishes he had done differently. The brain hemorrhage that almost made him quit coaching entirely. And what he thinks Ronda would ask him if she was sitting here right now.
This is not the story MMA media told. This is the story from the man who was in the corner.
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WHAT WE COVER
How Edmond started coaching at 16 with a stick in his hand — and why parents loved it
The full story of what happened in the 28 days before the Holly Holm fight nobody talks about
Why Ronda was in a bathtub for 8 hours before the Amanda Nunes fight
What he actually thinks of Joe Rogan's analysis of the losses — and why he says it is completely wrong
The moment he knocked on Ronda's door before the Amanda fight and saw Travis Brown there for the first time
What he wishes he had said or done differently
The brain hemorrhage that almost made him walk away from coaching forever
Whether Arman Tsarukyan is the most coachable fighter he has ever worked with
What Armenian parents get wrong about putting their kids in combat sports
What Ronda Rousey would ask him if she was sitting in this chair right now — and what he would say back
─────────────────────
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open
01:00 Building Glendale Fighting Club from a printing shop — two years of legal battles
08:00 Starting coaching at 16 — the stick, the strict parents and the mistakes
13:00 How Ronda came into his gym — and why he threw her out first
20:00 The early years before she became famous — six amateur fights, all first round
27:00 The Holly Holm fight — 28 days notice and what really happened
38:00 The Amanda Nunes fight — the bathtub, the morning weigh-in, Travis Brown
48:00 His response to Joe Rogan's analysis — and why he says it is wrong
55:00 The brain hemorrhage — two months away from the gym
62:00 Arman Tsarukyan — what makes him different from everyone else
68:00 What Armenian parents get wrong about combat sports
78:00 What Ronda would ask him right now — and his answer
─────────────────────
ABOUT EDMOND TARVERDYAN
Founder, Glendale Fighting Club, Glendale, California. Former head trainer, Ronda Rousey. Current trainer, Arman Tsarukyan and multiple UFC fighters. Over 30 years coaching combat sports in the Armenian-American community of Los Angeles.
─────────────────────
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Distributed across all major podcast platforms and amplified through emmasargsyan.com.
Subscribe for new episodes every week.
─────────────────────
Follow Emma: @emmasargsyan
Listen: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · All major platforms
─────────────────────
#RondaRousey #EdmondTarverdyan #UFC #MMA #GlendaleFC #ArmanTsarukyan #Boxing #ArmenianAmerican #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #WomensMMA #UFC #HollyHolm #AmandaNunes

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Why do men cheat?
It is not what you think. It is not about the relationship. It is not about the woman. According to one of the most prominent celebrity matchmakers in Beverly Hills — it is proximity and opportunity. And that changes everything about how we think about loyalty.
Alessandra Conti is a celebrity matchmaker and Co-Founder of Matchmakers In The City in Beverly Hills. In 14 years she has matched A-list celebrities, royalty and Real Housewives cast members. She has worked with clients from age 21 to 88. She has been on Bravo, NBC, CBS, MTV and Fox News.
And in this conversation she finally says the things that do not make it into the TV segments.
Why successful women are accidentally repelling the men they want. Why men who are great at dating are terrible at relationships. What the gold digger accusation is actually about — and what separates a gold digger from a woman who knows her worth. Whether a serial cheater can ever become faithful. What your friend group has to do with whether you cheat. Why women cheat as much as men — and why nobody knows. And what 14 years of finding love for other people has taught her about whether love actually exists.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Opening 
01:30 Are the most eligible men in Beverly Hills as good as they seem
06:00 What successful women get wrong when dating
10:00 Is it a myth that men are intimidated by successful women
14:00 Feminine energy and letting him lead — what it actually means
19:00 How matchmaking actually works — the process
26:00 From 21 to 88 — who actually uses a matchmaker
31:00 Are male and female clients looking for the same thing
36:00 How many clients are actually ready for love
40:00 Why do men cheat — the real answer
47:00 Can a serial cheater become faithful
51:00 What your friend group has to do with cheating
56:00 Working with clients who have been cheated on
62:00 The gold digger accusation — where it comes from
68:00 The difference between a gold digger and knowing your worth
73:00 What celebrities actually lack in their relationships
78:00 Advice for the person who has given up on love
82:00 After 14 years — does she still believe love exists
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ABOUT ALESSANDRA CONTI
Celebrity Matchmaker and Co-Founder, Matchmakers In The City, Beverly Hills. 14 years matching A-list celebrities, royalty and public figures. Featured on Bravo, NBC, CBS, MTV and Fox News. matchmakersinthecity.com | @alessandraconti
─────────────────────
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Distributed across all major podcast platforms and amplified through Tribune.am reaching 30 million monthly readers globally.
Subscribe for new episodes every week.
─────────────────────
Follow Emma: @emmasargsyan
Listen: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · All major platforms
─────────────────────
#BeverlyHills #Matchmaking #CelebrityMatchmaker #WhyMenCheat #Dating #Relationships #GoldDigger #Love #AlessandraConti #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #DatingAdvice #RelationshipAdvice #Cheating #Loyalty

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Every three seconds, someone in the world has a stroke. In the next hour — while you watch this — 1,200 people will have one.
Most people think a stroke announces itself. That it arrives slowly. That they will know.
It does not. It arrives in seconds. And the window to reverse it — the window between a person who can speak, move and recognise their family, and one who cannot — is measured in minutes.
My guest today goes into that window for a living.
Dr. Mikayel Grigoryan is the Medical Director of the Neurointerventional Program at Adventist Health Glendale. He has over 45 peer-reviewed publications. He trained at UCSF, Stanford and the University of Minnesota. He left academia for private practice because he wanted the freedom to take care of patients the way he believed they deserved to be cared for.
He also goes to Armenia four times a year, performs surgeries and tells almost nobody about it.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Dr. Grigoryan for the most honest medical conversation she has ever filmed. What the system gets wrong. What the Armenian community does to itself. Why he thinks about brain surgery the way a plumber thinks about pipes. And what a bottle of wine taught him about life.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open

00:30 What it's like to be inside a human brain

03:30 The plumber analogy — opening and closing pipes

08:00 How to recognise a stroke — BE-FAST

14:00 AI in stroke care

20:00 What the medical system gets wrong

27:00 Pharma, research and the rules he breaks

33:00 Food, inflammation and brain disease

40:00 The Armenian community and going to the doctor

48:00 Stress, genocide and the Armenian body

54:00 The philosophy and what happens when patients die

58:00 The Sopranos quote and the direct message
─────────────────────
If you or someone you know shows sudden signs of stroke — face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, vision changes, severe headache or loss of balance — call 911 immediately. Do not drive. Do not wait.
─────────────────────
ABOUT DR. MIKAYEL GRIGORYAN
Medical Director, Neurointerventional Program, Adventist Health Glendale. Over 45 peer-reviewed publications. Trained at UCSF, Stanford and the University of Minnesota. Based in Los Angeles, California.
─────────────────────
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Distributed across all major podcast platforms.
Subscribe for new episodes every week.
─────────────────────
Follow Emma: @emmasargsyan

Listen: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · All major platforms
─────────────────────
#Neurosurgeon #Stroke #BrainHealth #ArmenianAmerican #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #MikayalGrigoryan #Healthcare #MedicalAdvice #ArmenianCommunity #StrokeAwareness #BrainSurgery

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Hollywood has been casting this man as the villain for 12 years. The mob boss. The criminal. The dangerous one.
His family fled the Armenian Genocide. His uncle fought the Nazis. And this country looked at him and decided he was the threat.
Jack Topalian plays Nasim/Naz in HBO's Euphoria — a role that became one of the most talked-about Armenian moments in television history, almost entirely by accident. The Armenian coffee cups, the cigarette, the unscripted Armenian dialogue with his on-screen bodyguard — none of it was in the script. He asked for it scene by scene, and the show's creator said yes.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Jack Topalian for a conversation about Hollywood, identity, masculinity, fame, fear and what it actually costs to keep being cast as the villain.

ABOUT JACK TOPALIAN
Jack Topalian is an actor known for his roles in Argo, Shock and Awe, True Detective, Ray Donovan, Emily the Criminal, Clipped, Duster and HBO's Euphoria, where he plays Naz. Born in Soviet Armenia, he came to the United States at age ten and spent over four decades in business before pivoting to acting.

ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Distributed across all major podcast platforms and across the global Armenian diaspora.

TIMESTAMPS
00:30 How the Euphoria role happened

04:00 The unscripted Armenian coffee scene

09:00 Has he ever been the villain in his own story

12:00 The biggest lie successful people tell

16:00 Why he pivoted to acting after 40 years in business

21:00 Being Armenian in America at age 10

27:00 The night he drove home drunk

31:00 Method acting and what it does to the mind

36:00 The critic question

38:00 Masculinity in Hollywood today

42:00 Why Armenians keep playing the villain

48:00 What he actually sacrificed

51:00 The accidental audition through his children

55:00 If social media disappeared tomorrow
#Euphoria #JackTopalian #Hollywood #ArmenianAmerican #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #Acting #Masculinity #ArmenianCommunity #Identity

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His name is a mountain in Armenia.
When his family moved from Iran to Los Angeles, there was no English equivalent for the letter. So his parents invented one. Aragad. It became his identity — which is exactly how he has approached everything since.
Aragad Abramian grew up in Los Angeles as an Armenian-American kid born in Iran who was not the tallest player on any court he ever played on. He was the point guard. The coach on the floor. The one responsible for making every person around him better.
He played professionally in Kazakhstan. He travelled twelve times a month. His coaches did not speak English. His teammates did not speak English. When he stepped on the court none of that mattered. There is only one language on the court — and he spoke it fluently.
When COVID shut down professional basketball he did not wait. He pivoted in days — completely, fully, without one foot still in the door — into financial services and real estate investing. The same discipline that built his basketball career built his investment firm.
He also coaches youth basketball in the Armenian-American community because there were not enough coaches and somebody had to show up.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Aragad Abramian for a wide-ranging conversation about hunger, discipline, losing, leadership, motivation and what it actually takes to rebuild yourself when the first plan does not work out.
─────────────────────────────────────
ABOUT ARAGAD ABRAMIAN
Aragad Abramian is a former professional basketball player who competed in leagues across the United States, Armenia and Kazakhstan. He is the founder of a real estate investment firm and runs Mini Ballers Academy USA — a skills development programme for youth basketball players in the Armenian-American community of Los Angeles. He is based in Los Angeles.
─────────────────────────────────────
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Each episode is a long-form conversation with an extraordinary guest at the intersection of business, identity, leadership and culture. Distributed across all major podcast platforms. 
Subscribe for new episodes every week.
─────────────────────────────────────
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open 
00:38 The name — a mountain in Armenia 
03:00 Where the hunger came from 
08:00 The Armenian household and education 
13:00 Kazakhstan — grinding where nobody is watching 
20:00 Motivation is a match — discipline is the candle 
26:00 Losing, scars and learning from wins 
32:00 Coachability and the two types of coaching 
38:00 When the game is on — personal problems do not belong on the court 
43:00 Blaming and taking responsibility 
47:00 Leadership as action — leading from the front 
51:00 No plan B — transition 100% or not at all
─────────────────────────────────────
FOLLOW EMMA SARGSYAN
Instagram: @emmasargsyan 
─────────────────────────────────────
This episode is for everyone who is grinding somewhere nobody is watching — and wondering if it is worth it.
It is.
#Basketball #Entrepreneur #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #Motivation #Discipline #Leadership #ArmenianAmerican #Kazakhstan #RealEstate #AragadAbramian #PersonalDevelopment #GrowthMindset #ProfessionalAthlete #SportsToBusiness

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What your family called protection was actually control.
And most of us spent years - sometimes decades - believing the two were the same thing.
Dr. Pauline Yeghnazar Peck is an Iranian-Armenian psychologist, coach and speaker who specialises in helping daughters of immigrants break cycles and bridge gaps. She grew up as the sensitive child in a family where emotions were seen as a problem. She resisted therapy when her mother died because she thought it was "a white person thing." She became the psychologist she needed. And in this conversation — she named things she has never said publicly before.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Dr. Pauline for the most honest conversation this show has ever had about guilt, narcissism, shame, women's bodies, abusive relationships and the cost of breaking cycles inside families that do not want to be broken.

WHAT WE COVER
How the overachieving eldest daughter drive becomes a pathway to burnout — and what is actually fueling it
Why the sensitive child in an immigrant family is taught that her emotions are a problem
What happened when her mother died and she refused therapy — and what finally changed
The difference between narcissistic tendencies and narcissistic personality disorder — and why social media is confusing the two
Why guilt is a byproduct of trauma, and how the Armenian Genocide is still transmitting guilt through generations into women alive today
Whether it is possible to love your child and cause them significant psychological harm simultaneously,  regularly - without knowing it
What growing up in a family where a woman's body is simultaneously her family's honour and something never discussed does to her relationship with her own body and sexuality
Why shame around sex and the body leaves young women unable to protect themselves
The trauma bond - what it actually is versus how social media uses the term
Why leaving an abusive relationship is sometimes the most dangerous moment
The woman who waited until her father died before she could live the life she wanted
What the overachieving woman who has everything and feels hollow is actually running from
The hardest thing she has had to name in her own family — including something she revealed for the first time in this conversation

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Pauline analyses Emma live
04:00 The survival tactic, you cannot be mediocre
08:00 The sensitive child and what shame does to a seven year old
16:00 Her mother's death and the resistance to therapy
22:00 Narcissism - tendencies versus disorder
29:00 Guilt as a byproduct of the Armenian Genocide
36:00 What is normalised is not always healthy
42:00 Can you love and harm simultaneously
49:00 Overprotection versus resilience
55:00 Women's bodies sexuality and shame
65:00 Purity patriarchy and the outfit in the backpack
70:00 The milestones burden
74:00 Trauma bonds and abusive relationships
84:00 Family approval and intercultural couples
89:00 Unprocessed trauma in the body
94:00 The overachieving woman and conditional love
99:00 The hardest thing she named in her own family
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If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
─────────────────────
ABOUT DR. PAULINE YEGHNAZAR PECK
Licensed psychologist, coach and speaker based in Los Angeles. Founder of Noor Therapy and Wellness. Creator of Bridging Gaps Breaking Cycles — a coaching and community program for daughters of immigrants. Follow her at @paulinethepsychologist
─────────────────────
Follow Emma: @emmasargsyan
Podcast: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · I Heart Radio · All major platforms
─────────────────────
#Psychology #MentalHealth #Narcissism #Trauma #ArmenianWomen #IranianAmerican #DaughtersOfImmigrants #BreakingCycles #Therapy #WomensMentalHealth #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #PaulineYeghnazarPeck #IntergenerationalTrauma #GuiltAndShame

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This conversation was filmed two years ago in San Francisco. I am sharing it today because everything Raffi Krikorian told me then is more relevant now than it was when we recorded it.

Raffi Krikorian was employee number 50 at Twitter. He became the company's Chief Technology Officer. He then left to become CTO of Uber — overseeing self-driving car development at one of the most ambitious technology projects in history. Then he left that to become Chief Technology Officer of the Democratic National Committee — integrating AI into American politics at the highest level for the first time. Today he is Managing Director and CTO of Emerson Collective and has spent over twelve years as a board member of TUMO in Armenia.
He helped build the internet we have today.
And in this conversation — filmed two years ago, republished this week as X is back in every headline and AI deep fakes are reshaping elections around the world — he said it is broken.
He also said Armenia could be the AI powerhouse of the world. He said that before ChatGPT existed. He still believes it.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Raffi Krikorian for one of the most wide-ranging and honest conversations about technology, power, privacy, children, politics and the future of the internet that this show has ever produced.
─────────────────────────────────────
A NOTE ON TIMING
This conversation was recorded two years ago when Raffi was Managing Director at Emerson Collective. Since then the world he described — the broken internet, the AI deep fakes in politics, the data privacy crisis, the question of children and screens — has not improved. If anything it has accelerated. I am sharing this episode now because the questions he raised then are the questions everyone is asking today. And his answers hold up completely.
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ABOUT RAFFI KRIKORIAN
Raffi Krikorian is Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of Emerson Collective. He previously served as CTO of the Democratic National Committee, CTO of Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, and Vice President of Engineering and CTO at Twitter where he was one of the company's first fifty employees. He has been a board member of TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Armenia for over twelve years.
─────────────────────────────────────
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Each episode is a long-form conversation with an extraordinary guest at the intersection of business, identity, technology, leadership and culture. 
Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Support the show

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Let us know what you think!

Adam Kablanian has spent his career building things nobody can see.
Microchips. Molecular layers that make screens produce light. Embedded memory inside the devices billions of people hold every day. The infrastructure nobody notices until it stops working.
He grew up in Aleppo as an Armenian — which means he grew up as the grandchild of people who survived something unsurvivable, in a city that no longer exists as he knew it. He watched Artsakh fall too. He visited in 1998 and saw that there were not enough people to defend the land. He told people. Nobody listened.
He left Aleppo at eighteen to study astrophysics at Berkeley. He wanted to understand how the universe works — where it started, what the forces are, what the fate of everything is. He recognised at Berkeley that his classmates were smarter than him. So he found what he was actually good at. Circuit design. Fifteen patents. A company he started as a consultant that he took public on NASDAQ in four years.
He hired his first Armenian engineering team in 1998 over five days of cognac and lunch at a colleague's house in Yerevan. At the time Armenia had no cellular network. The government had no idea what IT was. The tax authority tried to get bribes. He set boundaries and they never tried again. Those engineers designed three chips that ended up inside the first Apple iPod. Billions of people held that device. None of them knew.
He then built and sold companies to Cisco, Samsung and Aixtron. He invested in quantum computers in Finland when the field was a decade from viability. He is the founding chairman of Paradromics — a neural interface startup competing directly with Neuralink on a fraction of the funding. He brought broadband internet to Armenia.
And then he planted vines.
Not in Napa Valley — in Proshyan, Armenia, on a parcel of land he already owned. His first Chardonnay was not good enough. He sold it as bulk wine and started again. His 2024 White Cuvée — a blend of Chardonnay and Armenia's indigenous Voskehat grape, east meets west — won double gold and champion in class at the Houston Rodeo wine competition.
He also founded Friends of the Armenian Soldier and Family three months after the 44-day war ended. He personally pays every overhead cost — every dollar of administration, marketing and operations — so that one hundred percent of every donation reaches the families of fallen and disabled soldiers. He has raised over $300,000 and run six programs. He stepped down from the Zinapah board after five years deliberately, to let others lead.
He said in this conversation: without Armenia there is no diaspora. In another hundred years there will hardly be any.

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