The VentureFuel Visionaries

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are re-releasing this episode

featuring Maria Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Valiente Fund, a collaborative

focused on increasing philanthropic investment in Latine leaders, organizations,

and communities. Maria shares insights on the importance of innovation in critical

moments, scaling bold solutions, and the power of microecosystems. We also

discuss the value of starting before you're ready and how collaboration can drive

systemic change.

Former NFL star (one of the top 50 wide receivers in NFL history

and the New Orleans Saints’ all-time leader in every major statistical category for his

position) and entrepreneur Marques Colston joins us to discuss the future of sports

and the new value chain in sports. As the Founder of Champion Venture Partners,

Marques has created a new investment model which unites everyone from casual

fans to accredited investors into a single fund, unlocking secure wealth-building

opportunities in alternative investment markets. We talk about the emerging

opportunities in sports beyond the Big 5 leagues, why media rights and appointment

viewing will continue to expand and how technology is creating competitive

advantage on a team and league level.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're re-releasing this insightful episode with Natalia Rodriguez-Hilt, Senior Director at Raza Development Fund (RDF). Natalia discusses how RDF unlocks the $2.1 trillion revenue potential of Latino-owned businesses through creative financing solutions, including equity-like revenue-based loans. She also highlights the crucial role of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and the importance of empowering under-resourced entrepreneurs to drive meaningful economic change.

What Needs to Be Done? Is Better Possible? Where do the seeds of change begin, and can entrepreneurs really solve society’s biggest challenges? Paolo Narciso is a Build Fellow at Stand Together Ventures Lab. STVL invests and builds to change society with founders and teams who are obsessed with showing that better is possible. Today, we talk about how he is re-imagining healthcare as well as his book “From Founder to CEO,” a transformative guide for entrepreneurs navigating the crucial transition from founding to leading.

“Further, Faster.” Rachel Shepphard, Director of Ventures for Mars Pet Care, shares how the Leap Venture Studio & Academy ignites impactful growth for pet care startups.7 out of 10 US households have a pet, with 97% considering the pet a part of the family - which explains the $320+ billion global pet care market (predicted to get to $500bn by 2030). In this episode, we discuss the future of pet care, exciting startups, and new technologies, as well as how to find adjacent and emerging opportunities and the value of holding frameworks lightly in the fast-moving world of innovation.

Dan Kihanya is the Director of REI’s Path Ahead Ventures, a $30 million fund aimed at supporting founders of color in the outdoor industry. Launched in 2021, this program focuses on providing resources, mentorship, and funding to help diverse entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses. They have multiple programs like Embark (for early-stage founders), Navigate (for enterprise-ready founders that could sell into REI) as well as the more traditional fund – all built to meet Founders where they are in the journey. In this episode we discuss how diversity drives innovation and how Path Ahead is closing the gap between the 1% of founders who identify as a person of color vs. the 30%+ of outdoor participants identifying as such.

Marcelo De Santis is a seasoned C-suite leader (former executive at Thoughtworks, Pirelli, and Mondelēz International), and his new book, Figure Eight, unlocks the secrets of leadership in our rapidly evolving world where technology and humanity converge. We talk about leadership in fast times, accelerating time to market, executive mountaineering through humility and empathy, and having more questions than answers. How far from the core should you explore, and what mental barriers you must overcome in order to drive transformation?

In this special re-release, we dive into the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence with Rudina Seseri, Managing Partner at Glasswing Ventures, as she reflects on AI investment and innovation. Rudina provides an analysis of the AI industry, addressing pressing questions on the technology's evolution and her assessment of its long-term potential to impact the enterprise.

Natalia Rodriguez-Hilt is the Senior Director of UnidosUS Affiliate Development and Small Business Strategies at Raza Development Fund. Natalia is a seasoned expert in economic and community development, with a passion for driving economic opportunity for entrepreneurs in underrepresented communities. We discuss how RDF unleashes unleash the power, potential and promise of Latino and other under-resourced communities to accelerate the $2.1 Trillion Dollar incremental revenue potential of Latino-owned business. WE talk about the need for creative financing to enable that growth (such as Equity-Like revenue-based loans), the role of CDFIs and how to empower entrepreneurs to ignite change.

Elizabeth Bieniek, author of Cake on Tuesdays: 25 Lessons To Unlock Corporate Innovation, shares her blueprint for executing change within complex organizations. She co-founded Webex Hologram, the industry’s first holographic collaboration system, while at Cisco and here explores the intricacies of innovation and leadership, offering valuable insights for aspiring innovators inside and outside of large companies with gems like “find the angel in the marble,” “add oil and reduce friction,” “nobody cares until you make them” and the hilarious “don’t be a flat squirrel.”