Shows
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersGlobal Startups and the Japanese Market: Top Venture Capital Investor Explains How Startups Can Successfully Expand to Japan and the World | Phil Wickham, Sozo Ventures | E10Phil Wickham is Executive Managing Director at Sozo Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that specializes in helping startups become global category leaders by expanding to Asia and the world via Japan. They have deep connections with many of the largest and most prestigious Japanese corporations, which are also investors in their funds. Phil was also the longtime Executive Chairman, President, and CEO of the Center for Venture Education, the foundation that oversees the Kauffman Fellows Program, the most prestigious venture capital fellowship program in the world. In addition, he was an early advisor to the well-known Swedish...
2024-10-081h 57
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersSecrets to Building Successful Enterprise Software Startups (& AI Startups) | Lars Leckie, Aspenwood Ventures | E9Lars Leckie is a Managing Director at Aspenwood Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm specializing in early-stage enterprise software startups.Aspenwood Ventures was rebranded from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, the first venture capital firm focused exclusively on software. Founded in 1989, Hummer Winblad Ventures was incredibly successful from its first fund and operated for over 30 years as a pioneer in the enterprise software space. 🚀The video version of this episode is also available on our 🎥 YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/ZPQ5GLAYB5Y?si=oK3imhlKvY05FyiZIf you like this episode, I think...
2024-09-031h 16
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersAI, EdTech & the Future of Education | Ian Chiu, Owl Ventures | E8Ian Chiu is a Managing Director at Owl Ventures, the largest EdTech (education technology) venture capital firm in the world, with over $2 billion under management. Owl Ventures is stage-flexible, investing in EdTech startups from seed through growth. The firm is also international, investing in EdTech startups throughout the world. Ian received an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), as well as a BS and MS from Stanford University. To support Next Unicorn Podcast, please press the "follow" button for the show on your podcast platform. Also, please take a moment to leave a 5-star r...
2024-08-061h 27
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersTop Startup Accelerator Reveals How It Helps Startups Succeed | Ajay Kamat, PearX | E7Ajay Kamat is a Partner at Pear VC, where he runs PearX, one of the top startup accelerators in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pear VC has been an early investor in many successful startup companies. In this episode, we talk about the PearX method of startup success, and how the team at PearX helps startup founders avoid common mistakes, find product-market fit, land their first hires, find venture capital funding, and quickly scale into successful unicorn companies. Later in the interview, we discuss Ajay’s personal career background, his time as a founder, and how he became the he...
2024-07-0953 min
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersThe Future of Battery Technology | Nick Kateris, Stanford University | E6Nick Kateris is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford University, where his research is focused on new battery technology, and computer modeling to help develop new types of battery technology, as well as on detonation engines. (Recently, along with colleagues from Stanford and Dartmouth, Nick developed a new type of lithium-sulfur battery that performs much better than any lithium-sulfur batteries developed previously.) In this episode we talk about the future of new battery technology innovation and how it will change the world. Nick completed his PhD at Stanford University, and his bachelor's and master's degrees at Cambridge University in the...
2024-03-051h 27
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersAre Startup Accelerators Worth It For Founders? | Collin Wallace, Lobby Capital | E5Collin Wallace is the Former Head of Techstars Silicon Valley (one of the top startup accelerators), co-teaches the Startup Garage accelerator class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), and is a partner at Lobby Capital (formerly August Capital), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Previously, as a repeat founder, he also was a participant in Techstars and Y Combinator (YC is, of course, also a top startup accelerator). One of the startups that he founded (FanGo) was acquired by Grubhub pre-IPO, where he became Head of Innovation. In this interview, we talk about startup accelerators, how they've...
2024-01-161h 21
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersHow Did Famous Successful Startups Get Their First 1,000 Customers? | Ali Abouelatta, First 1000 | E4Ali Abouelatta is the author of the First 1000 newsletter on Substack (with over 85,000 subscribers at the time of publishing this episode), which is about just that! It also contains all kinds of tips, tricks, and hacks relating to getting your first 1,000 customers and beyond, including: pricing, product design, product management, growth hacks, startup stories, and much more. By day he is a product manager at the popular language learning app Duolingo, and by night he is the author of the popular email newsletter First 1000. Originally from Egypt, he received his bachelor's degree from NYU, and his Master's degree from...
2023-11-141h 04
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersCan This AI Startup Cure Cancer? | Damir Vrabac, Valar Labs | E3Damir Vrabac is the Co-Founder & COO of Valar Labs, an AI startup that analyzes cancer tissue samples and predicts which type of cancer treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, etc.) would be most successful for each individual cancer patient. Until now, this has been a very difficult thing for oncologists to predict. This incredible application of AI has the potential to have a life-saving impact on the lives of so many people. The Valar Labs founding team is out of Stanford. Their seed round was led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other keywords: Medtech / healthtech / healthcare / digital...
2023-09-261h 12
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersHow a Top Seed-Stage Venture Capital Firm Picks Startups | Leeor Mushin, Floodgate Fund | E2Leeor Mushin is a Principal at Floodgate, an early-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Floodgate has been an early investor in such iconic companies as Lyft, Twitter, Okta, Twitch, Task Rabbit, and many others. Leeor attended the University of Texas at Austin, and more recently graduated with an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (the GSB). He previously worked in the energy sector, and also co-founded a digital marketing company. While at Stanford, he co-founded the GSB 2020 Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in startups founded by his classmates, which was the first such fund...
2023-06-271h 34
Next Unicorn: The Next Great Tech Startups & FoundersCan This Clean Hydrogen Startup Disrupt the Energy Industry? | Caleb Boyd, Molten Industries | E1Caleb Boyd is the Co-Founder & CEO of Molten Industries. Molten is commercializing breakthrough technology to produce the lowest-cost, cleanest hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industrial sectors such as steel, fertilizer, fuels, and plastics. He attended UC Berkeley for his bachelor’s, and then graduated from Stanford with a PhD in materials science and engineering. After graduating, he moved to Germany and become a venture capitalist in Munich, working with UVC partners, an early-stage deep tech VC firm. Eventually, he moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area to co-found Molten Industries. Recently, he was named a 2023 Forbes 30 under 30. Caleb and hi...
2023-04-2440 min