Trailblazers by Erica Wenger

This week we chat with Satya Patel!

Satya is the co-founding General Partner of Homebrew, a seed-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco. Through Homebrew, Satya has backed some of the most impactful startups of the past decade, including Chime, Cruise, Finix, Gusto, Habi, Honor, Plaid, and Shield AI.

He’s also the co-founder of Screendoor, an investment platform designed to support emerging fund managers by pairing mentorship from experienced GPs with anchor capital from world-class institutional LPs.

Before becoming a venture capitalist, Satya served as VP of Product at Twitter, where he built and led the Product Management and User Services teams during a pivotal period of the company’s growth. Prior to that, he held venture and product roles across the tech ecosystem, including serving as a Partner at Battery Ventures and as a product management leader at Google.

Satya has been recognized on the Forbes Midas List Seed for his track record backing category-defining companies, particularly in fintech and AI. The U.S.-born son of Indian immigrants, he grew up in Las Vegas before building a career at the intersection of technology, product, and venture capital.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Satya Patel: @satyap

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week we chat with Kipp Bodnar!

Kipp is the Chief Marketing Officer of HubSpot, the #1 CRM platform for scaling companies, where he leads the company’s global marketing strategy—driving awareness, demand, and growth across one of the most influential software brands in the world.

Before stepping into the CMO role, Kipp served as Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot, overseeing worldwide demand generation, building out the EMEA and APAC marketing teams, and managing field marketing, localization, strategic partnerships, and social media. He’s helped shape how modern SaaS companies think about growth at scale.

Beyond HubSpot, Kipp is a trusted advisor to leading SaaS companies like SimplyMeasured, InsightSquared, and Guidebook. He’s also the co-author of The B2B Social Media Book, a playbook for marketers looking to generate real results through digital channels.

An industry-leading speaker, blogger, and marketing strategist, Kipp combines storytelling with data-driven execution—and has been at the forefront of how B2B marketing has evolved over the past decade.

This is going to be a masterclass in modern marketing.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Kipp Bodnar: @kippbodnar

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

HubSpot AEO Grader: https://www.hubspot.com/aeo-grader

Marketing Against The Grain Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@MATGpod

This week we chat with Delian Asparouhov!

Delian is a Partner at Founders Fund and the President and Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries, one of the most ambitious companies redefining what’s possible in space and manufacturing. Varda is pioneering the orbital economy by producing pharmaceuticals and advanced materials in microgravity—unlocking breakthroughs that simply can’t be achieved on Earth.

Before co-founding Varda, Delian earned a Thiel Fellowship while still an undergraduate, leaving MIT to move to Silicon Valley and build at the frontier of technology. Since then, he’s become a leading voice at the intersection of startups, deep tech, and national ambition.

Beyond venture and space manufacturing, Delian is also the co-creator of the Hill & Valley Forum, which brings together leaders from Washington and Silicon Valley to strengthen collaboration around technology, defense, and national security.

Born abroad and raised in Salt Lake City, Delian’s journey—from a young coder obsessed with space to backing and building category-defining companies—has been anything but conventional. Driven by intellectual curiosity and an appetite for hard problems, he’s helping shape the future of both industry and exploration.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Delian's Twitter: @zebulgar

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

Welcome back to Trailblazers by Park Rangers Capital!

In this week’s solo episode, Erica Wenger breaks down her powerful 7-step time management framework called “The Bucket Method.”

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, stretched too thin, or constantly busy but not actually productive, this episode is your reset. Erica walks through a simple, practical system for organizing your priorities, protecting your energy, and making sure what matters most actually gets done without burnout.

Clear, actionable, and easy to implement, this is a must-listen for founders, operators, and anyone serious about taking control of their time.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by Rocketreach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo (formerly OpenPhone): Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

www.timenavi.com

This week we chat with Eric Newcomer!

Eric is the founder and writer behind Newcomer, which is a deeply reported newsletter on the inner workings of the startup industry. He’s widely regarded as one of the sharpest independent journalists and observers of power, money, and ambition in tech. He’s built Newcomer from a Substack newsletter into a must-read publication with over 100,000 subscribers.

After spending six years at Bloomberg, Eric took the leap in 2020 to build Newcomer full time - breaking stories that shape how founders, investors, and operators understand the startup world. From leaked slide decks at Coatue and Tiger Global to deeply reported interviews with top venture capitalists, his work consistently uncovers breaking news. 

Eric is also the host of the Newcomer Podcast, which launched with a debut episode featuring Reid Hoffman, and the co-creator of major tech events like the Cerebral Valley AI Summit, bringing together CEOs from Stability, Runway, Hugging Face, and leading partners from firms like Sequoia and Greylock.

Earlier in his career, Eric was the first employee at The Information, where he broke news including Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch. A Harvard graduate with a background in philosophy and a journalist’s instinct for truth, Eric has built a platform that founders and investors can’t afford to ignore.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

@ericnewcomer

https://www.newcomer.co/

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week we chat with Jason Feifer!

Jason is the Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, where he’s spent nearly a decade studying and telling the stories of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. He’s also a startup advisor, keynote speaker, and a nonstop optimism machine.

He’s the author of the best-selling book Build For Tomorrow, host of the hit podcast Help Wanted with over one million monthly downloads, and the writer of the weekly newsletter One Thing Better, read by more than 70,000 leaders. LinkedIn has named him a Top Voice in Entrepreneurship.

Beyond media, Jason is the cofounder of CPG Fast Track, Chief Content Officer for the business community Uncharted, and a trusted advisor to startups. He’s delivered keynotes for global brands like Google, Microsoft, Pfizer, and Alibaba—helping teams turn adaptability into a competitive advantage.

And above all, Jason is a husband and proud father of two, bringing heart and clarity to everything he builds.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Jason Feifer: @heyfeifer

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week we chat with Felix Levine!

Felix is an entrepreneur, investor, and media operator who began his career in podcasting back in 2019—recording interviews straight out of his freshman-year dorm room at UC Santa Barbara.

After transferring to Boston University, where he earned a dual degree in Business Law and Management, Felix spent his college years traveling the country interviewing everyone from high-growth founders and world champion athletes to creators, reality TV stars, and even figures from the criminal underworld.

Drawn early to entrepreneurship and venture, Felix knew a traditional career path wasn’t for him. After graduating, he went all-in on the podcast, which eventually led to the launch of Lynx, an events and tech company. While Lynx ultimately failed, it became one of his most formative experiences and clarified his desire to operate on the investor side of the table.

Around that time, Felix met his business partner Brett and joined Bulletpitch, where he became a partner focused on bringing creators onto cap tables and bridging the gap between venture capital and the creator economy. Today, Felix is helping build a next-generation venture platform—one that uses creator influence not just for deal flow, but as a core de-risking mechanism for early-stage companies.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Felix Levine

Older Hotter Wiser

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week, we chat with Terri Burns!

Terri is the founder of Type Capital, an early-stage venture firm focused on being the first check for ambitious founders at pre-seed and seed. Most recently, she was a partner at GV, where she made history as the firm’s youngest partner and its first-ever Black female partner, with a focus on digital consumer and emerging technology.

During her time at GV, Terri led and supported investments that went on to raise follow-on capital from top-tier firms and achieve meaningful exits, including the social app HAGS, which was acquired by Snapchat. She’s also an active angel investor and cofounder of an angel collective that has backed companies like Clubhouse.

Terri’s impact extends well beyond investing. She’s a Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee for Venture Capital, a three-time co-chair of Fortune Magazine’s Brainstorm Tech Conference, and a frequent speaker at institutions like Stanford GSB and Harvard Business School. Her work has been featured in publications including Vogue, Fortune, and TechCrunch.

Before venture, Terri began her career as an associate product manager at Twitter, studied computer science at NYU, and today serves on NYU’s Board of Trustees.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Terri Burns: @tcburning

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

Welcome back to Trailblazers by Park Rangers Capital!

In this week’s solo episode, host Erica Wenger breaks down 10 pieces of advice for ambitious twenty somethings! 

Drawing from her personal experiences in the business world, Erica covers topics like building a strong personal brand, making smart career choices, and other key strategies for growth and success.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to level up, these insights will help you approach your professional journey with confidence and clarity.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by Rocketreach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo (formerly OpenPhone): Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

Shomik is the newest partner at Sierra Ventures! A longtime venture investor and an inception-focused fund backing technical founders at day zero. He supported companies like Cloudquery, Kiln AI, and Ask-Y, and played a role in many other early investments.

Shomik was an investor at Top Tier Capital, where he focused on growth-stage companies including CircleCI, Anaplan, Remitly, Shape Security, and Snyk. His path into venture was anything but traditional, with early experience spanning tech M&A, venture debt, a failed startup, and fixed income sales and trading.

Originally from New Jersey and a Pittsburgh alum, Shomik is an avid hiker, an aspiring guitarist—progress very much still in flight—and the proud dad of a one-and-a-half-year-old son who now takes up all of his spare time.

✨ This episode is presented by Brex.

Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod

This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.

RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers

Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers

Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers

Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger

Follow Us!

Shomik Ghosh: @shomikghosh21

@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger

🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!