The Ones Who Succeed

On today's podcast, a conversation with Venture Capitalist Turned Creator, Garry Tan. Garry is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Initialized Capital, a venture firm Garry started with Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian in 2011. With past investments in companies including Instacart, Coinbase and Cruise, Initialized boasts a combined market cap totalling 40 billion dollars. However, in 2019, Garry was inspired to start creating content on YouTube and in the process build a personal brand. A decision that was very much inspired by none other than YouTube luminary Casey Neistat. As a result, I sat down with Garry to discuss his entry into the world of startups, life as a Venture Capitalist with a portfolio worth over 40 billion dollars and, of course, the power of a personal brand in 2020. This conversation was recorded on October 20th, 2020, thanks for listening!

This week, a conversation about education, climate, startups and everything in between with Albert Wenger. Albert is a partner at Union Square Ventures, a top-tier venture firm with early investments in companies like Twitter, Etsy, Duolingo, Tumblr, Indeed & Twilio, to name a few. His thoughts and ideas regarding tech, investing, and even climate change are expressed through his blog Continuations (a blog I highly recommend). Nevertheless, I sat down with Albert in mid-October as I was keen to discuss his entry point into the world of startup investing, how Covid has shifted the venture landscape and why this pandemic has forced us to rethink the way we learn. This conversation was recorded on October 14th, 2020, thanks for listening!

This week, a conversation with entrepreneur, podcaster and investor Ben Gilbert, who, in 2015, started two entities. The first is Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio that builds and invests in early-stage companies. And the second transcends the walls of startup incubation as Ben teamed up with a venture capitalist named David Rosenthall and launched the podcast, Acquired FM, a great show that dives deep into the origin story of a company. I sat down with Ben to discuss his entry point into tech, the origin story of Pioneer Square Labs and Acquired FM and, of course, Ben’s views and ideologies on all things tech, startups, company building and everything in between. This conversation was recorded on October 8th, 2020, thanks for listening!

This week on the pod, a conversation with Domm Holland, the Co-Founder & CEO of Fast. Fast is a service that enables eCommerce sites to turn on Fast 1 Click Checkout and Login, which like implied, allows customers to login and checkout with the click of a button, something previously limited major players like Amazon. Fast launched publicly on September 1st of 2020 and has raised nearly 23 million dollars in investment to date. I sat down with Domm to discuss his origin story, all things Fast, in addition to Domm's perspective on the ever-changing startup scene within silicon valley. This conversation was recorded on October 13th, 2020, thanks for listening!

This week, a conversation with Canny Co-Founder Sarah Hum. Canny is a fascinating product designed for other startups to capture feedback in one organized place, which can inform your product decisions, all while simplifying the feedback process. The company was founded in 2017 and has intentionally taken 0 dollars from investors; however, recently, in September of 2020, it announced a milestone that many startups dream of; Canny is a business that generates 1 million dollars in occurring annual revenue. I sat down with Sarah to discuss her origin story, why she decided to bootstrap Canny, and of course, how she built a product from 0 - 1 million dollars in ARR. This conversation was recorded on October 5, 2020, thanks for listening!

This week, I converse with Taylor Neiman, the co-founder of Toucan, a browser extension that enables you to learn a new language by surfing the web, without even trying! In 2019, the company raised 3 million in seed funding from investors, including GSV, Amplifyher Ventures, Wonder Ventures, Halogen Ventures, VitalizeVC, and Golden Ventures, to name a few. However, before Toucan, Taylor spent time at startups, including Headspace, Fair and Science Inc. I sat down with Taylor to discuss her origin story, all things startups and, of course, her ambitions for Toucan in the years to come. This conversation was recorded on October 1, 2020, thanks for listening!

This week is the first installment of The Ones Who Succeed NEXT GEN, a mini-series featuring one-off conversations I have with up and coming entrepreneurs, leaders, builders and innovators, someone who is just at the beginning of their career, who I believe will go on to influence and shape our next generation. On today's episode, I am joined by 17-year-old Brain-Computer Interface Dev, among many other things, Luke Piette. Luke is a graduate of The Knowledge Society, a 10-month human accelerator program for curious and ambitious teens. His website LukePiette.com is full of previous projects he's worked on, including many applications and brain-computer interface projects, my personal favourite being a brain-controlled drone he built this summer. Luke, originally from Toronto, is currently based in San Francisco, attending Minerva University. I sat down with Luke to discuss his origin story, his perspective on technology and innovation and, of course, his professional ambitions for the years to come. This conversation was recorded on September 1, 2020, thanks for listening!

On this episode of the podcast, I have a conversation with Blake Robbins, a partner at Ludlow Ventures, which backs early stage startups with past investments including Honey, Angel List and Product Hunt, to name a few. Blake, the youngest partner at Ludlow, is quite in tune with the world of startups and the creator economy. And it's his unique views and ideas regarding the intersection of venture, startups and the creator economy that makes him an interesting guy to talk to. As a result, I sat down with Blake to discuss his origin story, all things venture capital, startups, creators and, of course, where he sees the world of startups and venture heading in the years to come. This conversation was recorded on September 14th, 2020, thanks for listening!

Today on the program, I have a conversation with serial tech entrepreneur and investor Michael Hyatt. He’s the co-founder of Bluecat Networks, a b2b tech company Michael started with his brother Richard Hyatt back in 2001. Sixteen years later, Bluecat was acquired for a reported 400 million dollars. Michael is now a prominent angel investor funding the next generation of great entrepreneurs, a guest panellist on Gimlet’s The Pitch, a member of the CEO Board of Advisors at Georgian Partners, one of Canada’s leading venture capital firms, in addition to his philanthropic efforts, as the chair of the Hyatt Family Foundation. I sat down with Michael to discuss all things Bluecat, his journey as a serial entrepreneur and the future of entrepreneurship and startups in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This conversation was recorded on August 6th, 2020, thanks for listening!