Shows
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Building with Swagger with Amy Fox, Employee #5 @ LyftAmy Fox is the COO and co-founder of ATH Media and the All the Hacks podcast. A former tech operator, she was employee number five at Zimride (which became Lyft), helping the company grow from a seed-stage startup to a post-IPO company. In this episode, she shares insights into Lyft's early days, startup culture, and the importance of building strong team relationships.
In this episode, we talk about :
- Lyft's origin story and Amy's unexpected recruitment
- The Hackathon that launched Lyft
- The ride...2025-01-2353 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: The Magic of Small Teams with Shreyans Bhansali, Employee #1 @ VenmoShreyans Bhansali is a serial entrepreneur who was employee #1 at Venmo, co-founded Socratic (acquired by Google), and is currently building Maven. He studied computer science and economics at UPenn before diving into the startup world.
In this episode, we talk about :
- Shreyans first foray into tech in middle school
- Why he left his stable consulting job to join Venmo as employee #1
- The early days at Venmo and a crazy SXSW 2010
- The power of talking to people
- T...2024-12-0456 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Finding PMF in Africa with Sid Sridhar, Head of Business @ Wave (fmr. Sendwave, Uber, Google)Sid Sridhar is Head of Business at Wave, a leading fintech company in Africa. Prior to Wave, Sid had stints at companies like Google, Uber, and Sendwave, and has the unique distinction of being Venmo user number 5! Through these experiences, he gained deep expertise in international payments, finance, and fintech broadly.
Sid shares his journey into startups, the lessons he's learned from building in Africa, what product market fit feels like, and how he balances his career while being a father of two young kids.
In this episode, we cover:
- How Sid's...2024-11-0750 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Building Winning Sales Teams w/ Justin Roberts (early @ SFDC, Box, Lever, SignalFX)Justin Roberts has over 20 years of experience selling software at companies like Salesforce, Box, Lever, and SignalFX. He also advises and coaches founders, sales executives, and account executives on how to become better sellers.
In this episode, we cover:
• Justin's first job at Salesforce and how it launched his startup career
• Justin's decision to leave Salesforce and join the early team at Box
• Building sales processes and systems at fast-growing Box
• The impact of closing Box's first six-figure deal on the team
• Transitioning from an individual contributor to a sales...2024-09-1151 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Going from BigCo to a Startup with Mike Smith, Co-founder, Footwork Ventures, Fmr. COO at StitchFix and Walmart.comMike Smith is the Co-founder and General Partner at Footwork, an early-stage venture fund. Mike also happens to be one of the most highly regarded and skilled operators in and around commerce. Prior to getting into venture he was the President and COO at Stitch Fix, where he joined as employee number 4, and for over 10 years there held most of the senior roles at the company from COO to CFO to interim CEO and eventually took the company public in 2017.
Prior to joining Stitch Fix, Mike spent almost 10 years building out the e-commerce and multi-channel offerings of...2024-08-1459 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Why All Founders Should Write with Tom White, Ghostwriter (fmr. Google, On Deck, Sandhill Markets)In this episode of Brick by Brick, Rishi Taparia sits down with Tom White. After stints at Sandhill Markets, On Deck, and Google, Tom now writes, edits, researches, and ghostwrites professionally for a number of startup/F500 executives, VCs, and institutional fund managers.
Past work includes writing The Observer Effect with Sriram Krishnan.
He also advises and consults on web3, growth, storytelling and customer psychology for a number of different international startups and funds. He also pens a free weekly newsletter on books and behavior, psychology and philosophy called "White Noise".
In this...2024-07-1859 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Finding Magic in the Mundane - Jared Fliesler, fmr Slide, Square, ScribdIn this episode of Brick by Brick, Rishi Taparia sits down with Jared Fliesler, a seasoned operator who has held key roles at companies like Slide, Square, and Scribd.
Jared shares his untraditional path into the startup world, the importance of storytelling as a leader, his philosophy on making the most of "mundane" tasks, and how to hire and fire well. He also discusses his own venture, First Call, his own coaching practice built to help founders navigate the challenges of scaling.
In this episode, we dig into:
- How Jared transitioned from...2024-06-1957 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: Finding Magic in the Mundane - Jared Fliesler, fmr Slide, Square, ScribdIn this episode of Brick by Brick, Rishi Taparia sits down with Jared Fliesler, a seasoned operator who has held key roles at companies like Slide, Square, and Scribd.
Jared shares his untraditional path into the startup world, the importance of storytelling as a leader, his philosophy on making the most of "mundane" tasks, and how to hire and fire well. He also discusses his own venture, First Call, his own coaching practice built to help founders navigate the challenges of scaling.
In this episode, we dig into:
- How Jared transitioned from...2024-06-1957 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick: What Product Market Fit Feels Like - Aston Motes, Employee #1 @ DropboxIn this episode, our guest Aston Motes shares his experience as the first employee at Dropbox, sharing insights into the early days of the company's growth, decision-making processes, and challenges faced. We explore the importance of product-market fit, the dynamics of startup culture, the impact of talent and diversity in teams, and the transition from early employee to founder.
Aston also shares advice for prospective founders and early employees.
Topics discussed include:
- Aston's background and journey from South Carolina to becoming the first employee at Dropbox- Why he decided...2024-05-2256 min
Brick by BrickBrick by Brick - Podcast trailerBrick by Brick is presented by Garuda Ventures (https://garuda.vc)
Welcome to the Brick by Brick podcast, hosted by Rishi Taparia and Arpan Punyani, co-founders of Garuda Ventures. Garuda is a first-check pre-seed and seed venture firm backing ambitious B2B founders right when they’re getting started.
We’ve both had the pleasure (and experienced the pain) of operating at early-stage companies, Arpan at Okta and Rishi at Poynt and Legion. We know firsthand how much successful company-building is a team sport, with the founders, early employees, early investors working together to lay the foundation for the busi...2024-05-2201 min
Venture with GraceFrom Operating to Investing: Insights with Rishi TapariaRishi Taparia is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures. He is a seasoned tech executive and investor with over 15 years of experience in strategy, operations and finance. He was most recently the SVP of Strategy and Operations at Legion, an AI/ML powered HR tech company, where he helped launch a new product line, and raise $80M in capital across multiple rounds of funding. Prior to Legion, Rishi served as the VP of Business Operations at Poynt, a hardware and software company building a commerce and payments platform, acquired by GoDaddy for $365M in 2021. Rishi joined as...2024-03-161h 04
CLIMB by VSCWhat VCs Talk About Behind Closed Doors | EP 062 Rishi TapariaWe're excited to have Rishi Taparia, Twitter friend turned real-life companion and the founder and managing partner of Garuda Ventures. With the recent close of their first institutional fund at $31 million, Garuda Ventures is taking the early-stage startup world by storm, offering not just capital, but invaluable advice and support to entrepreneurs.
Rishi shares his journey from banking to venture capital, and then as an operator in growing companies, before making his way back to venture, emphasizing the importance of resilience, relationship-building, and the nuanced understanding of market needs.
About VSC Ventures:
VSC Ventures is an early-stage venture capital...2024-02-071h 01
Seed to HarvestClosing a $31 Million Dollar Fund with Rishi Taparia of Garuda Ventures! | Ep 81Send us a textToday, I am joined by Rishi Taparia, Managing Partner of Garuda Ventures, who enthusiastically discusses the accomplishment of securing a $31 million fund. Rishi sheds light on the challenges of fundraising, providing insights into Garuda's journey from a nights-and-weekends passion project in 2018 to a full-time firm that successfully fundraised in 2021. He emphasizes the firm's dedication to early-stage B2B startup investments and its commitment to providing both capital and valuable guidance to founders. Prior to his role at Garuda Ventures, Rishi gained experience at Evergrow, Legion Technologies, and Poynt.Seed to Harvest...2023-12-1233 min
DrinksWithAVC (DWAVC)DWAVC: Rishi Taparia | Ep. 24Gear up for the weekend with DWAVC's latest episode featuring Rishi Tiparia from Garuda Ventures. Bree and Vik sit down with Vik's old friend and venture capital colleague to dissect the nuances of Seed investing and what Garuda Ventures looks for before taking the investment plunge. Plus, get a glimpse into the charming 'meet-cute' tale that bestowed Rishi with the playful moniker 'Sir Texts Alot'.Links:www.garuda.vcwww.twitter.com/tapsSubscribe to Rishi's Tippets newsletter.2023-03-101h 40
Humans of DigitalInnovation | New Look: How startups and technology change our livesInnovation in the startup world goes far beyond trends and "unicorns" – it has the power to continually change our lives. In this new episode of the CI&T Podcast, Rishi Taparia, Managing Partner at Garuda, joins Bob Wollheim, CSO at CI&T, in a 3-part conversation that covers the essential unseen elements of technology, investments, startups, and innovation:
Part 1- Investments and Startups
Part 2- Consumer and Business Behavior
Part 3- Corporate Innovation2021-08-1230 min
The Unlikely Journey#8 - Rishi Taparia InterviewLearn about the unlikely journey of successful Silicon Valley executive and investor, Rishi Taparia. Rishi is currently Managing Partner at Garuda Ventures and Strategic Advisor at Legion Technologies. Previously, Rishi served as Vice President of Business Operations at Poynt, a hardware and software company building a commerce and payments platform for businesses, Rishi joined as the company’s first non technical hire and was responsible for scaling the company’s business and operations globally.
Rishi joined Poynt from Matrix Partners, an early stage venture firm where he sourced and supported companies including Canva, ApartmentList and Bugsnag. Prior to Mat...2021-06-1832 min