Episodes
May 11, 2023
Unleashing AI —Too Soon? with VC Martina Welkhoff, WXR Fund
Unless you’re living under a rock, you know that ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm. And with it, a whole conversation surrounding AI, it’s opportunities and yes perils. Well, to go deeper in this, I’m excited to speak with someone who has been working in thi…
May 4, 2023
Battling Disinformation while Young, Black and Female with Phumzile Van Damme, Former MP, South Africa
“It takes years to build a reputation and minutes to ruin it.”
Many would recall the scandal of Bell Pottinger: the reputation-laundering firm that ruined its own reputation.
One of the most notorious PR firms in history, Bell Pottinger represented clients like Oscar Pistorius, after he was c…
April 27, 2023
What Makes A Billion Dollar Founder? According to Cathy Gao, Sapphire Ventures & Jack Smith, sold Vungle for $780M
Between the SVB collapse (and now First Republic Bank on the edge, with stock now down 95% for the year to date!), ChatGPT taking over and the "SAAS-cre", where valuations of Software-As-A-Service companies have taken a dive, for some, as high as 60%; it’s been a lot.
A question that I get asked…
April 20, 2023
Leveraging Community to Invest in the Future with VC Jenny Fielding, Everywhere Ventures
Founder turned Funder, from Head of Digital Ventures of the BBC to Managing Director of Techstars, to now Managing Partner of Everywhere Ventures with 250 portfolio companies and counting, Jenny Fielding is the ultimate community builder and investor. Together with Scott Hartley, Jenny is today pur…
April 13, 2023
You Are What You Risk—Unpacking the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse & Gray Rhino with Global Best-Selling Author & Risk Expert Michele Wucker
Today’s episode is by no means a full breakdown of what happened, but answers this one question :
“Was this truly a Black Swan event? as Nassim Taleb explains it or really, a Gray Rhino, as Best-Selling Author, my friend Michele Wucker writes?
And today we have her on the show exactly to spea…
April 6, 2023
Inside a Billionaire's Mind: Nirvana Chaudhary—Making Your Mark, The Teacher Appears When The Student Is Ready, Selling 3 Billion Noodle Packets Yearly
We’re bringing our next billionaire on Billion Dollar Moves; this time from Nepal, my friend Nirvana Chaudhary who is at the helm of Nepal’s first and only company listed on the Forbes list of Billionaires since 2015, valued in excess of $2.5 Billion.
What started in 1935 has today become a cong…
March 30, 2023
From Lab to Table: The Startup Founder Revolutionizing the Seafood Industry with Sandhya Sriram, Shiok Meats
What does it take to sell and execute on what feels like an impossible vision?
This, is the task of a stem-cell scientist turned founder who is tapping into the multi-billion opportunity to create lab-grown crustacean meat.
Under Dr. Sandhya Sriram's leadership, Shiok Meats today is the world…
March 23, 2023
Getting Users Hooked & Regaining Control of Your Attention with Nir Eyal, WSJ Best-Selling Author of 'Hooked' & 'Indistractable'
A ping on your phone takes you out of a conversation with a friend. At the office, a colleague interrupts your work on a project. At home, screens intrude on time with your partner.
Your goals don’t get done and it feels like someone (or something) is constantly pulling you away from what you re…
March 15, 2023
"Let's Take Our Chips Off The Table"—Riding the Venture Downcycle: Investing in Southeast Asia with Dmitry Levit, Cento Ventures (Part 2)
In today's Billion Dollar Moves, we bust some myths about Southeast Asia's VC activity and the narratives driving the expansion seen in the region.
The key question: will the momentum survive this downcycle? I chat with Dmitry Levit, Founding Partner of Cento Ventures, a venture capital firm spe…
March 13, 2023
"Narratives Driving Substance" —Riding the Venture Downcycle: Investing in Southeast Asia with Dmitry Levit, Cento Ventures (Part 1)
In today's Billion Dollar Moves, we bust some myths about Southeast Asia's VC activity and the narratives driving the expansion seen in the region.
The key question: will the momentum survive this downcycle? I chat with Dmitry Levit, Founding Partner of Cento Ventures, a venture capital firm spe…
Feb. 28, 2023
"When The S**t Hits The Fan"—Scaling to a $4.2 Bn Global Business with Nicole Sahin, G-P (Globalization Partners)
While scaling globally seems often to be part of the 'Billion Dollar Plan', it is hardly as simple as it is thought to be. Nicole Sahin who founded and scaled G-P, a global PEO leader from an idea to over $4Bn in value chats with me in Davos on her thoughts on the future of work, the challenges of …
Feb. 19, 2023
Multi-Billion Firms' Chief Investors, CPP Investments, CVC Capital Partners, EPF, CD&R on Actually Aligning Profit & Purpose in Private Equity — Davos Takeaway 3 {BONUS}
Private Equity has a tremendous role to play in the real economy: with about $10Trillion assets under management, robust returns relative to public market measures, a reach that touches the lives of many (some say 1/3, 2/3 of global GDP by 2030) and with maximizing impact across the risk/return con…
Feb. 7, 2023
Former Unilever MD, Silvia Wiesner on Quiet Quitting, Paranoia of Productivity - Davos Takeaway 2 {BONUS}
Quiet quitting, a recession looming, a polycrisis declared at Davos 2023 — how can leaders navigate this uncertainty?
Silvia Wiesner, former Managing Director at Unilever who was with me in Davos joins me to weigh in on the 53rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Feb. 2, 2023
Global CEO of LEGO, Deloitte & Chair of Henry Schein debate the Non-Political Company Leader - Davos Takeaway 1 {BONUS}
The 'non-political' company leader.
In 2020/2021, we saw feathers ruffled when leaders like those from Google, Coinbase declared certain "political activism" was a distraction.
Employees walked out since of course, in many ways, we're in a generation that have been told to bring "our full selves …
Jan. 27, 2023
"To Fail in Such A Public Way"—The Cost of Influence & Billion Dollar Ambitions with Vivy Yusof, FV Group
Social media platforms and creator-focused startups haven’t looked too hot coming into 2023, with companies like Meta, Snapchat waging of layoffs along with the rest of the tech industry. BUT the creator and influencer economy are more than just buzzwords losing interest among venture capitalists. …
Jan. 16, 2023
Diverse Hires ≠ Diverse Goals: MLK Special with Sonia Thompson
Data shows that building with diversity in mind just makes business sense.
Yet, we’ve not moved the dial nearly enough: bringing it to our investment world, as of Sep 2021 according to Knight Research only 1.4% of US AUM are managed by diverse firms, and at a startup level, we all know the abysm…
Jan. 12, 2023
Meta's Global Head of Social Marketing, Eric Toda on Building World-Class Brands & Rising with Authenticity
Phil Knight, the founder of Nike famously said “ Nike is a marketing company, and our product is our most important marketing tool.” But what does it take to build a world-class brand, and rise above the noise? I dive deep wi...
Jan. 5, 2023
Becoming the CEO Your Company Actually Needs to Scale & The Future of Virtual Kitchens with Kim Yao, CloudEats
We've heard a lot about scaling tactics for businesses, but have we paused to think about what it takes to scale ourselves as leaders at the helm? In this episode, Kim Yao, shares with us about how each chapter of her companies demanded different versions of her as a leader, and the future of 'virt…
Dec. 29, 2022
Reinventing Your Career at Every Age & Building a Top Performing Corporate VC with Paul Ark, Former MD, Digital Ventures, Siam Commercial Bank
In this episode, Paul Ark shares how "when you take that big leap of faith, what's waiting for you on the other side is not necessarily a bad thing".
From investment banker with global banks Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in Asia and New York, to facilitating Apple and Microsoft's Retail’s market e…
Dec. 19, 2022
Turning Fear into Power: with Exiled Iranian Singer, Gola
What if at the edge of your deepest fear lays your greatest potential?
Exiled from the only place she knew to be home, Iranian singer, Gola (Golazin) shares her story on how her first hand experiences of life under the oppressive Iranian Regime shaped her as a fearless, international women’s rig…
Dec. 9, 2022
Playing to Your Unique Advantage & Rising from Insecurity: Episode Recap (Lu Zhang)
ICYMI: Lu Zhang Episode Recap
Dec. 2, 2022
Rising from Insecurity: Material Scientist to Unicorn Backer Lu Zhang, Founding Partner, Fusion Fund
Despite Lu Zhang’s accelerated path from researcher to founder to investor — by age 30 —she still reveals how she feels like a failure everyday! This episode is one you’d want to tune into.
👊🏻 3 THINGS YOU’LL LEARN:
– Why feeling like a failure is part of the process
– How you can ma…
Nov. 25, 2022
Outgrowing Your Dreams & Not Every Check is Made Equal: November Recap
ICYMI: November Recap
Due to popular request since many of my episodes are a little bit long, this season, I’ll be serving up recaps at the end of each month. It features my quick thoughts on the top 3 things that left an impression on me and a short clip from each convo in one place so you can …
Nov. 17, 2022
Reluctant CEO to Managing Director of $1.2 Bn Fund, Gobi Partners: The Power of Trust & The LP View of VC Funds
From reluctant CEO, to seeding and scaling the original generation of venture capital funds in Malaysia as a limited partner investor as MAVCAP’s 4th CEO, to Managing Director of $1.2 Billion Pan-Asian VC fund, Jamal Bujang covers it all from how he took different leaps in his career, to how new ve…