Best Gu Universe Podcasts (2024)

1
On the Way #12: Asking a Shaolin Master how to be focussed 1:03:15

8d ago1:03:15

1:03:15

Can't focus? A Shaolin Master shares the ancient secrets used by monks for ultimate concentration! 🧘🏻‍♂️

1
Encore: Secrets of Public Speaking and Oral Communication from Renowned Speaking Coach 42:20

16d ago42:20

42:20

Michael Balaoing, founder of Candlelion, joins Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha on this episode to discuss: - The importance of the acronym WTF (what’s the feeling?) when you’re giving a presentation. - The four roles that you take on as a speaker: captain, pilot, guide, and game show host. - The five questions to ask when seeking…

1
Encore: Brad Feld on What Nietzsche Can Teach Entrepreneurs 50:09

1M ago50:09

50:09

Brad Feld (@bfeld), VC at Foundry Group and co-author with Dave Jilk of The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche, joined Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha to discuss: - Common misconceptions about Nietzsche and why being misunderstood makes him an especially interesting philosopher. - What Nietzsche can teach entrepreneurs deciding whet…

1
COGS Graduate Academic Conference (GAC): Part 2 18:15

2M ago18:15

18:15

Mari and Dimitri interview student researchers at the 16th annual Graduate Academic Conference (GAC), hosted by the Council of Graduate Students (COGS). The second episode of this four-part series features interviews with Roselane Kithan-Lundquist, and Ifeanyichukwu Eke from MSU's Microbiology department , and Simon Sanchez from the Department of B…

1
COGS Graduate Academic Conference (GAC): Part 1 14:59

2M ago14:59

14:59

Mari and Dimitri interview student researchers at the 16th annual Graduate Academic Conference (GAC), hosted by the Council of Graduate Students (COGS). The first episode of this four-part series features interviews with Sam Norcia and Char Dengler from the College of Nursing, and Bismarck Amaniampong from the Department of Chemistry. If you’re int…

1
How to Nail Product-Market Fit and Scale a B2B Company with Thejo Kote of Airbase 57:45

2M ago57:45

57:45

Thejo Kote (@thejo) talks to Village partner Ben Casnocha. Thejo is a two-time founder and CEO. His current company, Airbase, is a spend management platform serving companies with 100 and 5,000 employees like Coda, 15Five, Front, Marqueta, CaptivateIQ, Abnormal, and more. Airbase has raised over $200 million, has tens of millions in ARR, and is con…

1
Encore: Cloudflare Co-Founder Michelle Zatlyn’s Advice on Hiring, Fundraising, Scaling, and more 50:26

2M ago50:26

50:26

Michelle Zatlyn (@zatlyn), co-founder, president, and COO of Cloudflare, joined Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha for a masterclass with our founders in late 2020. They discussed: - The origin story of Cloudflare, including how the co-founders met, and how Michelle realized that she too could start a company. - Her advice on fundra…

1
Lessons from the Early Days at Uber and Advice for Founders with Kevin Novak 46:37

3M ago46:37

46:37

We're excited to launch a new EIR program for data science founders in partnership with Rackhouse Ventures, founded by Kevin Novak. Learn more about the program: https://www.villageglobal.vc/rackhouse-village-global-eir-program Kevin Novak (@novakkm), an early Uber employee, was instrumental in developing their data science program and was the crea…

1
Veona Cutinho about Revolutionizing Cloning: The Power of a Single Protein in Unlocking Nuclear Transfer Efficiency 20:38

3M ago20:38

20:38

On this week's episode of The Sci-Files, your hosts Mari and Dimitri interview Veona Cutinho. Veona works in the Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory at MSU led by Dr. Jose Cibelli. She works with zebrafish embryos and manipulates them so they can be ideal donors for cloning. These tiny embryos are perfect for studying cloning because their developmen…

1
Yunting Gu about Articulatory Preference: Explaining Universal Sound Patterns 20:34

3M ago20:34

20:34

Yunting Gu is a PhD candidate in linguistics from Michigan State University. Her research in speech production suggests a basis for several universals regarding the sound pattern of languages. Despite the differences in languages, some sound patterns are common to most languages of the world. For example, cross-linguistically, syllables starting wi…

1
Encore Episode: John Donahoe’s Lessons on Leadership and Being a Better CEO 54:14

3M ago54:14

54:14

This encore episode is a recording of a special masterclass roundtable session for our founders with John Donahoe. John is CEO of Nike and was previously CEO of ServiceNow and eBay. He is known as one of the most inspirational leaders in Silicon Valley and is a highly sought-after mentor to CEOs including Brian Chesky at Airbnb, Drew Houston at Dro…

1
Identifying 275M Unreported Genetic Variations To Improve Healthcare with NIH All of Us Program CTO Chris Lunt 49:08

4M ago49:08

49:08

Chris Lunt is a technology executive with more than 25 years of experience building web services and data platforms. He is in his seventh year as the CTO for the NIH's All of Us Research Program. He joined the NIH from GetInsured, where he worked to improve health insurance shopping and enrollment systems. Previously Chris ran VC-backed internet st…

1
Kiyotaka Suga on The Roles of Speaking and Writing Practice in Second Language Grammar Learning 17:19

4M ago17:19

17:19

On this week's episode of The Sci-Files, your hosts Mari and Dimitri interview Kiyotaka Suga, a PhD candidate in Second Language Studies. One of the engaging questions for second language (L2) teachers is how to introduce grammar instruction to help adult L2 learners develop their well-balanced communicative abilities. Most L2 teachers may believe …

1
On the Way #11: Asking a Relationship Coach How to Have Stress Free Relationships 1:01:00

4M ago1:01:00

1:01:00

Discover how relationships contribute to a happier, more fulfilling life ✨

1
Bryan Stanley on Understanding and Supporting Informal Physics Programs and their Student Volunteers 17:04

4M ago17:04

17:04

Bryan Stanley is a PhD student in the Physics Department. He does Physics Education Research (PER), where he primarily studies informal physics programs. Informal physics programs create physics learning spaces outside of the traditional classroom settings. Examples of these types of programs include, but are not limited to, summer camps, planetari…

1
Building Hardware Companies and Choosing Co-Founders with Michael Hochberg 57:04

4M ago57:04

57:04

Michael Hochberg (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hochberg/) is a physicist and a founder of four successful startup companies in semiconductors and telecommunications, including Luxtera, acquired by Cisco in 2019, and Elenion, acquired by Nokia in 2020. He won the highest awards for young scientists in Singapore (NRF Fellowship) and the United States …

1
Natasha George about a "Cool" Approach to Unraveling Antibiotic Resistance 21:27

5M ago21:27

21:27

When you get a scrape or cut, you might reach for a tube of Neosporin, but have you ever wondered what exactly this antimicrobial ointment does to bacteria, or how bacteria might avoid being killed? Bacteria possess a dizzying variety of specialized protein machinery that help them resist our medicines, complicating treatment of infection. Natasha,…

1
Secondaries with Matt Pellini of Hamilton Lane 40:19

5M ago40:19

40:19

Matt Pellini, Managing Director at Hamilton Lane, joins Olga Serhiyevich on this episode. Highlights: - Matt says the secondaries market has grown over 5x from 15 years ago to now. - Selling in the secondary market used to be a sign of distress but is no longer. There are many different reasons for doing so and it’s mostly a sign of a manager being…

1
Logan Soule on Blood Storage: Even Red Blood Cells Get a Sugar Crash 22:18

5M ago22:18

22:18

Blood transfusions can be life-saving procedures for patients in need. However, they can also impart much more devastating complications, leading to poorer outcomes than prior to transfusion, such as infection, inflammation, and even death. This is in part due to the red blood cell “storage lesion”, which refers to the irreversible metabolic and ph…

1
Lessons Learned From Running CalSTRS with Chris Ailman 52:38

5M ago52:38

52:38

Christopher Ailman (@CJAtheCIO), Chief Investment Officer at CalSTRS, joins Olga Serhiyevich on this episode. Highlights: - CalSTRS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, was created in 1913 and is actually older than Social Security. It has over 400 members who are over 100 years old who are still receiving their pension. - Chris says …

1
Encore: Mark Pincus on Product Management, Raising Capital, and Building Zynga 1:10:17

5M ago1:10:17

1:10:17

This encore episode is a recording of a special event where Mark Pincus (@markpinc) was interviewed by Ben Casnocha in San Francisco in front of a live audience of portfolio founders, friends of the firm, and LPs. Mark is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Zynga, and is an angel investor in Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and other companies. He tal…

1
Encore: Bill Gates on Advice For Founders, Mistakes, and Philanthropy 59:58

5M ago59:58

59:58

This encore episode is a recording of a special event where Bill Gates was interviewed in San Francisco by Julia Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite. It originally took place in 2018 in front of a live audience of Village Global founders and friends of the firm. We are honored to count Bill Gates among our luminary LPs whose financial capital and engag…

1
Encore: Jerry Yang on Yahoo!, Early-Stage Investing, and China 56:18

6M ago56:18

56:18

Jerry originally joined us on the podcast in 2019. He is co-founder of Yahoo! and founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures. He was interviewed in front of a live audience in San Francisco by Village Global co-founder and partner, Ben Casnocha. Jerry told stories from the early days of Yahoo! and explained his lessons learned from the experience. He a…

1
How Superplastic Built a Social Media-Native Character Universe 44:00

6M ago44:00

44:00

Paul Budnitz, founder of Superplastic, and Jennifer van Dijk, CEO of Superplastic, join Christina Des Vaux, head of marketing and platform at Village Global, on this episode. Takeaways: Superplastic is a creatively-led company that has managed to maintain its unique identity and artistic integrity while nevertheless running a thriving business. The…

1
Nupur Huria and Harsna Chahal about Factors Impacting Perceptions and Stigma Surrounding Menstruation: Michigan State University Perspective 19:54

7M ago19:54

19:54

Period poverty is an important, yet often ignored, public health crisis. The social shame and steep cost of menstrual products often push low-income people to adopt unhygienic practices during menstruation, negatively impacting their health, education, and dignity. Specifically, period poverty significantly impacts young menstruators in universitie…

1
On the Way #10: Move your Body, Move your Feelings: An Inspiring Talk with Chungliang Al Huang 1:02:18

8M ago1:02:18

1:02:18

Discover the art of dancing through life in this inspiring talk with Chungliang Al Huang 🕺 In this conversation, Chungliang Al Huang discusses the practice of Tai Chi, Taoism, and the integration of Eastern and Western philosophies in one's life. He emphasizes the importance of embodiment, yin-yang balance, and the fluidity of Tai Chi as a way to f…

1
On the Way #9: How our society CAN be sustainable: a talk with Jeremy Lent 44:01

8M ago44:01

44:01

Imagine a world where instead of making money we focus on ecological sustainability and harmony with the natural world. 🌿 Discover the transformative concept of an ecological civilization with Jeremy Lent.In this engaging conversation, explore how we can shift from a wealth-focused society to one centered on life affirmation. Learn about the fascin…

1
Alyssa Saunders about A Tale of Tailless Sperm: Investigating the Unique Gametes of African Electric Fish 14:58

8M ago14:58

14:58

Alyssa studies the reproductive biology of African electric fish, called mormyrids, with a focus on their sperm and eggs. These freshwater fishes are found throughout lakes and river throughout the African continent and are used by research laboratories across the globe to study questions in evolution, neuroscience, behavior, and other biological d…

1
Ben Kline in Out of the frying pan into the fire: How will Coldwater Fish Survive on a Hot Planet? 17:54

8M ago17:54

17:54

Ben is a graduate student in the Departments of Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at Michigan State University. His research interests include understanding how species adapt to changing environments, especially thermal stress and conservation of coldwater fishes. Ben uses genomic tools to improve our understanding of species…

1
Megan McGrath about Gaining the System: What the Thalamus can Teach us about Consciousness 22:36

9M ago22:36

22:36

On the first episode with the new hosts of The Sci-Files, Mari Dowling and Dimitri Joseph interview Megan McGrath. Interacting with the world relies on our ability to take in information and stimuli from our environment and integrate it into a cohesive explanation of what it happening around us. But the world is full of constant, unending stimuli..…

1
Reference Checking and Personality Assessments with Investor Graham Duncan 51:26

9M ago51:26

51:26

Graham Duncan (@GrahamDuncanNYC) is a longtime investor and author of a legendary essay on reference checking: https://grahamduncan.blog/whats-going-on-here/ He was interviewed by Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha (@bencasnocha) during a special masterclass for Village Global founders and friends of the firm. Takeaways: - Be aware …

1
Insights on Capital Power Brokers from Hedge Funds to Venture Capital with Sebastian Mallaby, author of The Power Law 51:29

9M ago51:29

51:29

Sebastian Mallaby (@scmallaby) is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. He is the author of five books, including most recently The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future. He joined Olga Serhiyevich, head of investo…

1
Goodbye to Chelsie and Daniel 11:33

10M ago11:33

11:33

On this episode of The Sci-Files, Mari Dowling and Dimitri Joseph interviewed Chelsie Boodoo and Daniel Puentes about their research. Daniel Puentes graduated from Michigan State University with a Ph.D. in Physics. His work focused on using experimental information to inform nuclear astrophysical simulations describing the creation of elements in s…

1
On the Way #8: The Simple Keys to Emotional Well-being with Dr. Elizabeth Thompson 43:23

10M ago43:23

43:23

Transform challenging emotions like grief, fear, and anger into valuable insights and positive states of being with Dr. Elizabeth Thompson.

1
On the Way #7: Transform Your Emotions: Taoist Wisdom from Master Gu 33:01

10M ago33:01

33:01

Achieve tranquility and inner peace through the transformative power of Taoist wisdom with Master Gu. In this podcast, Master Gu shares personal experiences and practices, including using a mantra to overcome anger and maintaining an optimistic and joyful outlook.

1
Welcoming Dimitri Joseph and Mari Dowling 10:11

10M ago10:11

10:11

Chelsie and Daniel visited the COGS Graduate Academic Conference (GAC) for the last time. For their final interview, they spoke with Dimitri Joseph and Mari Dowling, the new hosts of The Sci-Files. Dimitri Joseph is a 4th-year DO-PhD student in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department. He uses bioinformatics to study disparities in cancer. Mari D…

1
COGS GAC Part 2 10:11

10M ago10:11

10:11

Chelsie and Daniel visited the COGS Graduate Academic Conference (GAC) for the last time. They continued to interview students briefly about their research. Listen to them speak with Jamily Ramos De Lima and Betul Kara. If you want to discuss your MSU research on the radio or nominate a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm…

1
LatAm Digital Transformation Report from Atlantico 49:16

10M ago49:16

49:16

Julio Vasconcellos (@JulioV), managing partner at Atlantico, and Ana Martins (@martinsg_ana), partner at Atlantico, join Anne Dwane (@adwane), co-founder and partner at Village Global, to discuss Atlantico’s 2023 report on digital transformation in Latin America. Takeaways: - If Latin America was its own country it would be #3 in the world in terms…

1
Opportunities in Public Health Investing with Gurdane Bhutani and Zeshan Muhammedi 52:43

10M ago52:43

52:43

Gurdane Bhutani and Zeshan Muhammedi are co-founders and GPs at MBX, a VC firm investing in early-stage bio/healthtech companies tackling major public health threats. Prior to that they co-founded healthcare and life-science venture capital firm FundRx, where they championed the firm's build-out of its community-driven investment infrastructure, mo…

1
The Future of Retail with Lee Hnetinka 38:00

11M ago38:00

38:00

Lee Hnetinka, founder and CEO of Future and Darkstore, joins Olga Serhiyevich, Head of Investor Relations at Village Global, on this episode. Lee and his companies are building innovative solutions in retail and e-commerce and have worked with world’s most admired brands like Nike, Adidas and Disney where they enabled same-day and 1-hour delivery f…

1
COGS GAC Part 1 18:05

11M ago18:05

18:05

Chelsie and Daniel visit the COGS Graduate Academic Conference (GAC) for the last time. They interviewed students briefly about their research. Listen to them speak with Debkumar Debnath, Sam Weiser and Daniel Marri. This will be a three-part series as Daniel and Chelsie say bye and welcome the new hosts of The Sci-Files soon. If you’re interested …

1
CIO Series: Wealth Management Platforms, Private Investment Strategies, and the Current (non-Twitter) Macro Outlook with Cameron Dawson 39:48

11M ago39:48

39:48

Cameron Dawson, Chief Investment Officer at NewEdge Wealth, joins Olga Serhiyevich, Head of Investor Relations, on this episode. Prior to joining NewEdge Wealth, Cameron was the Chief Market Strategist at Fieldpoint Private Securities and a Senior Equity Analyst at Bank of America. Takeaways: Cameron says that wealth management firms can provide th…

1
Opportunities at the intersection of software and hardware in national development projects with Prescott Watson 56:03

11M ago56:03

56:03

Prescott Watson (@prescottwatson) joins Olga Serhiyevich (@olgaserhi), head of investor relations at Village Global, on this episode. Prescott is co-founder of Port Power, a software platform that aims to de-risk commercial fleets’ adoption of electric vehicles by ensuring their charging infrastructure functions flexibly and reliably. Takeaways: - …

1
Brett Volmert about Growing Mini Human Hearts from Stem Cells 13:13

11M ago13:13

13:13

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Brett Volment. Heart diseases represent the leading causes of death worldwide. Researchers commonly use cellular and animal models to investigate and study cardiovascular disease and other diseases. However, these models do not provide the best representation of human physiology. …

1
Chinese Medicine and Australia 1:08:23

11M ago1:08:23

1:08:23

In this episode of the Purple Cloud Podcast, we talk to James Flowers about the history of Chinese medicine in Australia, as well as delving into the nature of scientific research and where it fits into the future of Chinese medicine. James Flowers is a Research Fellow at Kyung Hee University of Korean Medicine, South Korea. He is a historian of me…

1
On the Way #6: The peaceful power of Emotional Alchemy (with Wai-Yii Yeung & Desmond Murray) 56:18

1y ago56:18

56:18

Wai-Yii Yeung and Desmond Murray are leading Daoist thinkers and teachers of lishi and other wellness practices. In our conversatoin we explore 'emotional alchemy' - how princples of Taoist philosophy and wellness can help us work with and transmute our emotions.We discuss how balance, harmony, and a non-judgemental understanding of our emotions ca…

1
Mark Cuban on Disrupting Healthcare, Trends in AI, and Randomness 54:27

1y ago54:27

54:27

Mark Cuban (@mcuban) joins Olga Serhiyevich (@olgaserhi), head of investor relations at Village Global, on this episode. Takeaways: - In the US healthcare system the interests of patients, providers, and payers are not aligned. This drives many of the problems in the system today and is part of what inspired Mark to get involved in trying to disrup…

1
Disrupting VC Benchmarking and Closing The LP-GP Information Gap with Eric Woo and Spencer Tyson 48:35

1y ago48:35

48:35

Eric Woo (@ericjwoo), co-founder and CEO of Revere, and Spencer Tyson (@SpencerGTyson), Head of Investment Ratings at Revere, join Olga Serhiyevich (@olgaserhi), Head of Investor Relations at Village Global. Revere has pioneered the world’s first rating system for venture capital funds. Takeaways: - Venture has changed a lot over the last couple de…

1
On the Way #5: Ken Cohen reveals the incredible healing benefits of Qi Gong 1:03:39

1y ago1:03:39

1:03:39

With over 50 years of experience, Ken Loach is one of the world’s leading qi gong thinkers and practitioners, championing the importance mindfulness, gratitude and compassion. I’m thrilled to share this conversation with Ken, exploring the transformative power of this ancient practice. Hope you enjoy!…