Best Audio Stories From Silicon Valley Podcasts (2024)

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#177 Hostplus CIO Sam Sicilia in a rare public interview: Italian roots & theorotical physics to managing $100B+ Retirement Fund, Hostplus! 1:11:02

17h ago1:11:02

1:11:02

We're joined by Sam Sicilia in a very rare public interview appearance. Sam is the Chief Investment Officer for the multi-billion dollar superannuation Fund (Retirement savings) Hostplus, often referred to as a 'giant' in the industry with around 1.7 million members and over $100b funds under management. Hostplus were pioneers in laying the foundat…

1
#176 EVP’s Justin Lipman + Henry Innis from Mutinex: Decoding A-Players, Competitive edge in fundraising, Power of speaking numerically 1:13:36

11d ago1:13:36

1:13:36

In another edition of our Round Table and Provocation series, hear from Justin Lipman and Henry Innis in their first ever public interview together (and a particularly rare appearance for Justin in the public domain)! Justin has been with EVP since 2015 and has developed a reputation as a leading software investor and is actively involved in the Fu…

1
Coming Soon: "Close Your Eyes" Season Two 1:50

28d ago1:50

1:50

|| Season Premieres Sept 26th || Dylan hopes to maintain his cover within Ignota while he continues his search for his brother. Meanwhile, Morgan befriends another member and discovers some startling truths about the cult's origin. Featuring the vocal talents of: Elliott Brotherhood, Samantha Cooper, Devon Chandler, Whitney Holland, Rich Summers, C…

1
#175 Will Davies: Farm Life to Acquisition by Uber; the inspiring in-depth story of "Car Next Door" in a rare public interview 1:14:04

28d ago1:14:04

1:14:04

Will Davies was the co-founder and CEO of Australia’s biggest peer-to-peer car sharing platform, Car Next Door. Founded in 2012, they grew to over one million trips taken through the platform. In January 2022 Car Next Door was acquired by Uber for an estimated $105M. Will was born in Regional NSW and now lives in Sydney, Australia. Hosted by Vidit …

1
#174 James Cameron: Becoming VC investor at Accel + Airtree, Embracing Career Uncertainty, Why diversity matters (in his first public interview since 2018) 1:11:30

1M ago1:11:30

1:11:30

James is a General Partner at Airtree Ventures and this is a very rare public interview with him, we understand his first since 2018. James has a particular interest in software, infrastructure and fintech and led Airtree's investments in A Cloud Guru, Constantinople, DroneDeploy, Zepto, Buildkite and Secure Code Warrior. Prior to joining Airtree, …

1
#173 Sarah Nolet: Multi-Sport Athlete, Building Tenacious Ventures, State of AgTech, Making Vulnerability a Strength 1:07:36

1M ago1:07:36

1:07:36

Sarah is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Tenacious Ventures - Australia's first AgTech venture firm. Their $35M first fund was backed by Grok Ventures, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) with investors including primary producers, and agribusiness executives. Tenacious Ventures has so far backed 14 startups building a more sustainab…

1
#172 Scott Thomson: Becoming head of Innovation at Google, Navigating International Childhood, Why Engineers lead Tech Companies 1:15:40

1M ago1:15:40

1:15:40

Scott served as the recent Head of Innovation for Customer Engineering at Google. He worked at the company from 2015 through 2024 in the Ads Data Platforms, Analytics and Google Cloud product areas in ANZ and APAC. Before Google, Scott worked with Adobe on digital strategy and transformation. Scott is a also recent graduate of the VC catalyst progr…

1
#171 Jacqui Purcell, Adam Milgrom & Ashleigh Camm: The Raw Ingredients in 'zero to great' relationships 1:00:03

2M ago1:00:03

1:00:03

In this special conversation, hear from three relatable role models: Adam Milgrom, Partner at Giant Leap; Jacqui Purcell, Operating Advisor at TDM Growth Partners (She's also ex CFO of two leading tech companies in Culture Amp + Deputy) and Ashleigh Camm, Board Course Director/VP of Labs at LUNA about how exactly Founders and Investors should build…

1
#170 Steve Baxter: Army to building startup with wife, Shark Tank Stardom, Ten13 + Defence Tech Investing 55:24

2M ago55:24

55:24

Steve Baxter is a Tech entrepreneur and Investor. He co-founded the Investing Platform, TEN13 and recently a VC Fund, Beaten Zone Venture Partners focused on DefenseTech. He has built and sold two startups: SE Net and PIPE Networks (for $373M). He was a 'Shark' on the hit TV series, Shark Tank for four seasons, showcasing his business expertise. Th…

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#169 Silicon Valley to Aotearoa: Unfiltered debunking of NZ's startup myths with Blackbird's Phoebe Harrop & David Booth 1:23:17

3M ago1:23:17

1:23:17

Phoebe is a Partner in Blackbird’s NZ team with investments in Tracksuit, VeVe and Carepatron. Prior to joining Blackbird, she was a Director in the Growth Equity fund at Generation (Al Gore's Growth Equity Fund). David is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Blackbird NZ and previously an early employee at Angel List, Carta, and 500 Startups. He then b…

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#168 Craig Blair: Trials and Tribulations; Co-Founder of a $1B+ VC Fund in his most candid interview ever 1:17:54

3M ago1:17:54

1:17:54

Craig Blair is the Co-Founder and Partner at Airtree, a globally recognised Venture Capital firm with $1B+ funds under management. Before AirTree, he was a partner at Netus, a venture fund with a global top decile track record. He has also been a founder of three software businesses -- two of which were successful and one of which was a painful lea…

1
#167 Investment Memo: How CLT Toolbox is eliminating 39% of global carbon emissions from buildings ft. Adam Jones & Ringo Thomas 51:51

3M ago51:51

51:51

Welcome to installment #25 of the Investment Memo series and overall episode #167 on the show. Submit this EOI for your company to be considered in future episodes of this special series! *** Adam Jones and Ringo Thomas are the Co-Founders of CLT Toolbox, a software company building solutions for structural engineers and architects that radically s…

1
#166 Alasdair MacLeod (Rare Public Interview): Murdoch's Newsrooms to Soil Carbon Pioneer & Reshaping Agriculture 56:16

4M ago56:16

56:16

Alasdair is Executive Chairman of Macdoch, a private investment company with offices in Sydney and London. Macdoch comprises of Macdoch Ventures, investing in early stage tech startups, Macdoch Agriculture using capital to drive global climate solutions and the Macdoch foundation. Al was previously a senior leader at Newscorp for over 20 years and …

1
#165 Jillian Broadbent: The Trailblazing Company & Board Director in a rare public Interview 1:09:39

4M ago1:09:39

1:09:39

Jillian Broadbent is one of the leading Business and Industry minds, with extensive investment banking industry knowledge and markets expertise, including a deep knowledge of risk management and regulation. She has served on the boards of many organisations, encompassing finance, the arts, and other sectors. She is currently a Member of the Board o…

1
#164 Connor Archbold: Living in 28 homes, Unpacking the magic and learnings building 'Tracksuit', New York, NZ & Family! 1:13:18

5M ago1:13:18

1:13:18

Connor is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Tracksuit. Tracksuit provides always-on, beautiful tracking to measure brand health. Tracksuit today covers 1,300 brands including many household names and recently raised $20M dollars in funding from leading investors to fuel their next phase of Growth. Connor was born in California, USA and now lives in Auck…

1
#163 Grant Dooley (Rare Public Interview): Learnings as Counsul General in China + Indonesia, Inside Breakthrough Victoria 1:18:33

5M ago1:18:33

1:18:33

Grant Dooley is an experienced international funds manager and the CEO of the $2B Fund, Breakthrough Victoria, with prior roles at Hastings and heading ARA Infrastructure. Grant had a distinguished career as a Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic trade official for the Australian Government, including two years as the Australian Consul General in China a…

1
#162 Adam Jacobs: How he built 'The Iconic' and now 'Hatch', Learnings from selling kitchen knives, personal identity and dad's influence! 1:03:39

5M ago1:03:39

1:03:39

Adam Jacobs is the Co-Founder of THE ICONIC - A globally recognised online fashion retailer, and the Co-Founder of Hatch - a new venture whose mission is for all people to find meaning in work. Adam was born and lives in Sydney, Australia with brief stints living in Boston and Copenhagen. It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Click the links bel…

1
#161 Holly Ransom: Inspiring journey from Perth to working w Obama, Branson, Gladwell + world events, her grandma and more! 57:12

5M ago57:12

57:12

Holly Ransom is an internationally acclaimed leadership speaker and consultant – paving the way for leaders across the globe to turn knowledge into action for real-world change. She is CEO of Emergent Global and author of The Leading Edge. Holly was personally requested by Barack Obama to interview him on stage. She delivered a Peace Charter to His…

1
#160 Kell Reilly: Lessons from investing in Spotify, Uber, Atlassian in his first ever public interview 1:21:07

6M ago1:21:07

1:21:07

Kell is the newest Partner at the Venture Capital firm, Airtree. Before joining Airtree, he spent most of his career in Silicon Valley at renowned firms such as Dragoneer, D1 Capital Partners and General Atlantic, investing in some of the most interesting consumer and enterprise companies in technology (Airbnb, Appfolio, Atlassian, Gitlab, Gusto, S…

1
#159 Matteo Franceschetti: From Late English Learner to Building "Eight Sleep" with Khosla & Founders Fund Backing 1:07:44

7M ago1:07:44

1:07:44

Matteo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, the sleep fitness company. Eight Sleep developed a proprietary technology which is redesigning sleep by developing cutting-edge AI and machine learning models to track bio signals during the night and optimising body recovery and rest while asleep. The end goal of the Pod is to compress sleep and sca…

1
#158 Judy Anderson-Firth: Source of "abundant giving" personality, becoming CEO w Dom Pym, democratising access to investing + personal news with her wife! 1:17:54

7M ago1:17:54

1:17:54

Judy is the Group CEO of Euphemia, the family office for Australian entrepreneur and technologist, Dom Pym. Together they manage ~$65m in investments globally, focussing on Fintech, ClimateTech, women-led startups and startup infrastructure. Prior to teaming up with Dom, Judy was the CEO of Startup Victoria, Australia’s largest network for entrepre…

1
#157 Jack Zhang: Airwallex's $5.6B Journey - From Coffee Shop to Global Fintech Giant (First Ever In-Depth Interview) 56:51

7M ago56:51

56:51

Jack Zhang is the Co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, last valued at $5.6B. Airwallex is a leading global financial platform for modern businesses, offering trusted solutions to manage everything from payments, treasury, and spend management to embedded finance, serving over 100,000 companies around the world. Jack is responsible for devising and impl…

1
#156 Ahmed Fahour (pt 2 of 2 - Rare Public Interview): How he became the highly acclaimed CEO of Citigroup, NAB & Australia Post 1:07:20

8M ago1:07:20

1:07:20

This is the second and final part of a 2 part special conversation with Ahmed Fahour in a rare public interview appearance. Ahmed is a prominent business executive who has held leadership positions in various organizations around the world. He moved to Australia from Lebanon at a young age, and is currently CEO of The Gurner Group. Previously, he h…

1
The UK’s leading romance fraud specialist 46:13

7M ago46:13

46:13

How did one detective take on an international network of romance fraudsters? This episode was written Stuart McGurk and read by Will Dunn. The commissioning editor was Melissa Denes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1
#155 Ahmed Fahour (pt 1 of 2 - Rare Public Interview): Early life influences, Lebanon, Adversity, Re-marriage + new CEO role! 1:16:58

8M ago1:16:58

1:16:58

This is part 1 of a 2 part special conversation with Ahmed Fahour in a rare public interview appearance. Ahmed is a prominent business executive who has held leadership positions in various organizations around the world. He moved to Australia from Lebanon at a young age, and is currently CEO of The Gurner Group. Previously, he has held well known …

1
#154 Larry Marshall: Loosing dad early, building 6 tech companies, 30 yrs in the US, transforming Australia's National Science Agency (CSIRO) 1:15:48

8M ago1:15:48

1:15:48

Dr. Larry Marshall is a distinguished scientist, technology innovator, and business leader with over 25 years of experience. He holds a PhD in Physics and As the longest-serving chief executive of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, he led a transformation that resulted in the first growth in 30 years and the first emissions reduction in 10…

1
#153 Mark Suster: Battling ADHD, Selling to Salesforce, Good vs Bad Acquisitions, Venture Capital predictions for 2024! 1:15:42

8M ago1:15:42

1:15:42

Mark Suster is a globally renowned Investor, being Partner at Upfront Ventures, based in LA, California. He previously was the founder & CEO of two successful enterprise software companies, the most recent of which was sold to Salesforce.com where Mark became VP, Product. Mark was born in Philadelphia, and now lives in Los Angeles, California in th…

1
#152 Holly Kramer (Rare Public Interview): US Countryside to Board Director at ANZ, Woolworths & Fonterra 1:09:32

9M ago1:09:32

1:09:32

We're joined by Holly Kramer in a very rare public interview appearance. Holly is an experienced non-executive Director and Chief Executive. She is on the boards of leading companies such as Woolworths, ANZ, Fonterra and more. Holly is the former CEO of Best & Less and has more than 25 years’ experience in general management, marketing and sales, i…

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[Replay] Daniel Petre: Insecurities, reporting to Bill Gates, founding Airtree, building a philantropic nation & more! 1:05:22

9M ago1:05:22

1:05:22

This is a replay of our very popular episode with Daniel Petre. He was one one of 5 global VP's under Bill Gates at Microsoft, Co-founded three Venture Capital firms including the globally successful Airtree, and is now building his non for profit in Start Giving. **** In this (replay) episode #113 w Daniel Petre, learn about: sunrise in Sydney and…

1
[Replay] Anil Sabharwal: Multicultural roots to leading THREE of Google's nine BILLION active user products! 1:09:45

9M ago1:09:45

1:09:45

This is a replay of our very popular episode with Anil Sabharwal (one of his only public interviews to date!). Anil is Vice President of Product Management at Google. The company has nine products that have achieved the coveted Billion active users goal, and Anil has built and led three of them in Google Photos, Google Chrome and Google Drive. He i…

1
#151 Sam Sicilia (Rare Public Interview): Humble roots, theorotical physics, Chief Investment Officer for $100B+ retirement fund, Hostplus! 1:10:32

9M ago1:10:32

1:10:32

We're joined by Sam Sicilia in a very rare public interview appearance. Sam is the Chief Investment Officer for the multi-billion dollar superannuation Fund (Retirement savings) Hostplus, often referred to as a 'giant' in the industry with around 1.7 million members and over $100b funds under management. *** Learn about Sam’s sunrise in Melbourne, …

1
Introducing: Close Your Eyes 1:55

10M ago1:55

1:55

|| PREMIERES JAN 18 2024 || A mind-bending mystery/thriller from the creator of 7 Suspects. A man’s search for his missing brother leads him to a mysterious cult. Subscribe on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts Support the Show.By Cryptic Radio

1
#150 Simon Holmes à Court (First Ever In-Depth Public Interview): Life influences, tech, energy, politics, climate 200 and the "trim tab" 1:07:53

10M ago1:07:53

1:07:53

To celebrate this milestone episode 150, we're joined by Simon Holmes à Court in a very rare public interview appearance, and we believe his first about his own story! Simon has stood at the intersection of community, climate action and politics since May 2007 when he began chairing the community cooperative that set out to build Australia’s first …

1
#149 Roundtable musings w Barnaby Marshall + Vignesh Kumar: Demistifying the fast growing NZ tech ecosystem w Icehouse Ventures and GD1 54:55

10M ago54:55

54:55

We're joined by Barnaby Marshall, Partner at Icehouse Ventures and Vignesh Kumar, Co-Managing Partner at GD1 in this special "round table musings" demystifying the fast growing New Zealand tech ecosystem. *** Episode guiding points: Think of this conversation as a balcony view of the state of play in the tech ecosystem in NZ and a round table of mu…

1
The great private school con 29:19

11M ago29:19

29:19

They no longer have a stranglehold on Oxbridge and would lose tax breaks under Labour. So what is elite education really selling? At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool in October, the Independent Schools Council hosted a forlorn drinks reception: not one of the more than 40 MPs showed up. ‘We are not the enemy,’ one private school headmaster …

1
#148 Martijn Wilder (First Ever In-Depth Public Interview): Book publishing family to building Pollination & the $15B National Reconstruction Fund 1:03:02

11M ago1:03:02

1:03:02

Martijn Wilder is the Founder & CEO of Pollination, a global climate change advisory and investment firm. He is also the chair of the $15B National Reconstruction Fund set up by the Australian Government and was previously Head of Baker & McKenzie’s global climate law and finance practice for twenty years working with governments and bodies to acce…

1
How Rishi Sunak became the first Silicon Valley prime minister 22:27

11M ago22:27

22:27

On 2 November 2023, Rishi Sunak closed his global AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park by interviewing the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk. The mood was deferential (the PM towards the tech billionaire). Was Sunak eyeing up a post-politics job in San Francisco, some wondered, or calculating that Musk’s Twitter might be an effective campaigning tool c…

1
#147 Sarah Hamilton: Entreprenurial upbringing to building Bella Box + how she's now an investor and advisor to leading companies! 50:14

11M ago50:14

50:14

Sarah Hamilton is the co-founder of Bellabox, Asia Pacific’s market leading beauty box that she co-founded with her twin sister, and raised investment from leading investors including SquarePeg. Sarah is now an investor, and advisor to many of the leading companies and CEOs in the consumer and beauty industry, and a graduate of the Wade Institute V…

1
Israel, Hamas and the unravelling of the West 16:11

11M ago16:11

16:11

What might be the long term impact of the Israel-Hamas war on global alliances? In this week’s audio long read, the New Statesman’s contributing writer John Gray reflects on three weeks of bloodshed, beginning with the massacres of 7 October, and their wider consequences. An escalating conflict will empower Iran and Russia, he writes, as well as st…

1
#146 Toby Hall: Early influences in the UK and South Africa to becoming a highly regarded healthcare and not for profit executive leader 59:15

11M ago59:15

59:15

Toby Hall is an experienced not-for-profit and healthcare executive, having most recently served for 8 years as CEO of St Vincent’s Health Australia, Australia’s second largest healthcare provider, until February 2022. Prior to St Vincent’s, Toby was the CEO of Mission Australia for nearly a decade, and during his time at Mission, Toby oversaw the …

1
Has your AI therapist got your back? 21:53

12M ago21:53

21:53

In May this year, an American woman sought the help of a chatbot on an eating disorders website. The bot, named Tessa and running on an evolving, generative AI, advised her to start counting calories. Perhaps she should get some calipers, it suggested, to measure her body fat. When it emerged that Tessa had given similarly dangerous advice to other…

1
#145 Beezer Clarkson: The untold story to becoming partner at Sapphire and unpacking the behind the scenes of global Venture Capital 1:01:35

12M ago1:01:35

1:01:35

Beezer Clarkson leads Sapphire Partners‘ investments in venture capital funds in the USA and internationally -- and is widely recognised as one of the most prominent LP's (Limited Partners) thanks to her decade plus time in the industry and initiatives such as #OpenLP. Beezer was born in London, UK and now lives in Austin, USA. *** Episode guiding …

1
How Britain became a dangerous place to have a baby 23:54

12M ago23:54

23:54

What are the roots of today’s maternity crisis? Recent research by the Care Quality Commission has found a “concerning decline” in England, with over half of maternity wards rated substandard. Donna Ockenden’s review of Shrewsbury and Telford maternity trust found that, between 2001 and 2019, 201 babies and nine mothers had died avoidable deaths. I…

1
A year inside GB News: "We’re going to disrupt" 47:35

12M ago47:35

47:35

For today’s Audio Long Read we’re bringing you one from our archives, which is suddenly extremely prescient. This week GB News is in the spotlight once again, this time for broadcasting misogynist comments made by Laurence Fox about a female journalist, Ava Evans. The channel has suspended Fox, along with host Dan Wootton, and has apologised for br…

1
The philosopher and the crypto king: Sam Bankman-Fried and the effective altruism delusion 36:12

1y ago36:12

36:12

At the time of writing, the crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is due to stand trial on 3 October 2023. He stands accused of fraud and money-laundering on an epic scale through his currency exchange FTX. Did he gamble with other people’s money in a bid to do the maximum good? In this week’s long read, the New Statesman’s associate editor Sophie M…

1
#144 Piruze Sabuncu: The unique journey to joining Stripe in South East Asia as first hire, turkish influences + fascinating trials and tribulations! 1:10:47

1y ago1:10:47

1:10:47

Piruze Sabuncu is a Partner at the Venture Capital firm Squarepeg. She was born in Turkey and currently lives in Singapore. Piruze built and scaled the startup that's now a global juggernaut, Stripe -- in Southeast Asia as employee #1 in the region, following a stint as a founder and working at companies including Dell and Mckinsey. *** Episode gui…

1
How Chile (almost) democratised Big Tech 22:18

1y ago22:18

22:18

Fifty years after Salvador Allende was ousted, might his greatest legacy be his battle with the emerging tech giants? On 1 August 1973, a seemingly mundane diplomatic summit took place in Lima, Peru. But there was nothing mundane about its revolutionary agenda. The attendees – diplomats from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru – aspired to c…

1
The prime minister and the AI that solved the climate crisis 22:49

1y ago22:49

22:49

After the extreme heat of summer 2024, which saw children stretchered out of their exams, Britain’s prime minister calls a press conference in Westminster Hall. He has one eye on life after office (skiing in Aspen, a big gig in Silicon Valley), but before he leaves, he wants to unveil something truly ground-breaking: a large language model that has…

1
#143 Aneetha De Silva: From Singapore to bridging worlds, relatable journey in law, infrastructure and people leadership 56:32

1y ago56:32

56:32

Aneetha De Silva is the managing director, government for Aurecon’s Australia and New Zealand business is a leading public infrastructure expert. She is also President of Roads Australia and sits on the boards of Aurecon Group, LaunchVic, the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation and the North East Link State Tolling Corporation. *** Episode guiding …

1
Summer of Light: a new short story by Jonathan Coe 20:22

1y ago20:22

20:22

In the summer of 1924, a highly regarded painter falls – or is he pushed? – into the canal while celebrating his exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Two young women are heard running away into the night. In this dazzling new coming-of-age story first published in the New Statesman’s summer issue, the award-winning novelist Jonathan Coe explores the …

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