Julian Guthrie is a journalist-turned-author, covering such topics as Larry Ellison’s quest for the America’s Cup, and the new age of private space exploration. She gravitates to tales of underdogs and innovation, and her latest book is no exception. “Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley's Male Culture and Made the Deals o ...…

Charles is the founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s hot seed stage venture firms. He was previously at Uncork, the storied seed venture firm founded by Jeff Clavier. Precursor is a classic seed stage venture firm investing in founders they believe in. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Charles cofounded ...…

Michael Tchong has been called "the most influential trend-spotter in America". He is a top-rated innovation speaker, adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, trend forecaster and author of “Ubertrends — How Trends And Innovation Are Transforming Our Future.” He heads up incubator Ubercool Innovation and is the founder of four disr ...…

Scott Kupor is the managing partner of famed venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm with more than $7 billion of assets under management that sits at the beating heart of Sand Hill Road. Sand Hill road is, of course, the physical center of the venture capital industry – the greatest wealth-generating machine in the world. So ...…

Ellen Pao is CEO of Project Include and author of the book Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change. Her book looks at power in the tech world – and why so few women and people of color hold it. She famously sued an elite venture capital firm for sexism, and in doing so set off a national conversation. As CEO of Reddit, she waged one of ...…

Welcome to Episode 100! Yep, we’ve made it to 100. And for this one…Pete Alcorn stops by the podcast as he bucket-lists his way around the world. He has run, among other things – ebooks at Amazon (just before they cared about it) and podcasting at Apple. Also at Apple, he oversaw iBooks in Europe and education content discovery everywhere. Pete ...…

Eric Lagier co-founded and is a general partner of ByFounders, a 100 million Euro venture firm focused on Nordic and Baltic startups. As you grab your map to find where the Nordics and Baltics actually are, think about this: Since 2013, 41 startups built in Europe are now worth more than a billion dollars. (These are known as “Unicorns”, a term ...…

Jay Adelson is the cofounder or CEO of Equinix, Revision3 and Digg. From a career that has taken him from building the first data centers to creating a wildly growing news aggregator, Jay has truly unique insight into Silicon Valley. In this conversation Jay traces his path from working at a temp agency to building the largest data center in th ...…

Best selling author Po Bronson has written deeply, often hilariously, about Silicon Valley and its effects on the world. After founding San Francisco’s Writers Grotto, he wrote such books as The Nudist on the Late Shift, Bombardiers, and What Should I Do With My life?. Today, he’s a venture capitalist at IndieBio – the Life Sciences accelerator ...…

Monique Woodard fell into venture capital. Or...wait. Actually, no. Monique grew up in rural Florida. Starting with an Atari game system and moving to a Commodore computer, she learned to write computer code This, in a place where coding was far from the norm, and computer class required a drive into town. She eventually became a venture capita ...…

Alan Eagle is Director of Executive Communications at Google. He is the coauthor of Trillion Dollar Coach, a book he co-wrote with Google’s former CEO Eric Schmidt and Google’s former SVP Jonathan Rosenberg. Trillion Dollar Coach tells the story of Bill Campbell – a football coach who became an executive at Apple, and then one of the most belov ...…

James Currier is a partner at NFX a venture firm he co-founded with partners Gigi Levy-Weiss and Pete Flint, and advisor Stan Chudnovsky. As an investor, he has funded companies before or alongside firms like Sequoia, Greylock, CRV, A16z, First Round, Mayfield, Shasta, and GGV. He's also a four-time serial entrepreneur with unique expertise in ...…

Miyoko Schinner is the founder and CEO of Miyoko’s – a vegan creamery that is leading the way to a dairy-free future. She an award-winning celebrity chef, restauranteur, cookbook author, and TV host. She brought all these experiences to bear as she founded and built Miyoko’s from a small storefront to over 100 employees distributing vegan chees ...…

Whether you call it "Gen Z" or "Post Millenial" -- Carter Cohen is one of them, embedded and here to tell you about the world as he sees it. Carter is the kind of guy who makes you feel bad about what you were doing in college. He's a biochemistry major at Georgetown, speaks 3 languages, studies electrochemistry and...well he's a member of Gen ...…

Ryan Bethencourt is the CEO of Wild Earth, a biotech startup developing meatless dog food. Its investors include Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, and Felicis Ventures. He is a Partner at Babel Ventures and Investor/Advisor to over 80 biotech startups. He also co-founded the Biotech accelerator Indiebio. We discuss why meatless pet food isn't as craz ...…

You may think you know about diversity in Silicon Valley, but you may not have heard it this straight up and candid before. Michael Ellison is African American and grew up poor as far from Silicon Valley as possible. Here he discusses how he made his unlikely way to Silicon Valley to become CEO of Codepath.org. Codepath is the the hugely influe ...…

In this replay episode, Kent Lindstrom and Michael White have a bit of fun at the expense of Burning Man. Burning Man is the the, um, art fest in the desert to which half of Silicon Valley decamps each year. We discuss the history of Burning Man, what might make people go to Burning Man, and the myriad benefits of hanging out in San Francisco w ...…

Rick Marini is the founder of Protocol Ventures -- a cryptocurrency fund-of-funds, which is rapidly becoming a dominant force in the emerging cryptocurrency space. Previously, Rick has been an entrepreneur building and selling multiple companies, including early social network Tickle and professional networking site Branchout. Along the way, he ...…

Rick Marini is the founder of Protocol Ventures -- a cryptocurrency fund-of-funds, which is rapidly becoming a dominant force in the emerging cryptocurrency space. Previously, Rick has been an entrepreneur building and selling multiple companies, including early social network Tickle and professional networking site Branchout. Along the way, he ...…

Nick Heyman was an early (like, #8) employee at Facebook. He is now a founder and Managing Partner of DynoVC, a venture firm focused on the transportation industry. Nick believes the transportation market is undergoing the most radical change since inception. In this podcast we discuss a range of topics from self-driving cards, autonomous vehic ...…

Joe Garofoli is the Senior Political Writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and host of their "It's All Political" podcast. Joe gives us his take on all things, um, political in Silicon Valley, California and beyond. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom takes a look behind the scenes as he sits down with ...…

Jim Scheinman, founder of Maven Ventures, has built Maven and achieved successful exits and investments such as Chariot, Cruise and Zoom.us. Immediately prior to founding Maven Ventures, Jim was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Charles River Ventures (CRV), a leading venture firm where he helped source, vet, and advise their consumer portfolio c ...…

The second part of my conversation with Jim Scheinman --- Jim has been an entrepreneur and startup executive. He is also the founder of Maven Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's seed investment firms, which counts among its investments Cruise (acquired by GM for over $1 billion), Chariot (acquired by Ford) and Zoom (which has raised over $100 mil ...…

Jim Scheinman has been an entrepreneur and startup executive. He is also the founder of Maven Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's seed investment firms, which counts among its investments Cruise (acquired by GM for over $1 billion), Chariot (acquired by Ford) and Zoom (which has raised over $100 million from firms including Sequoia Capital). Jim ...…

2017 was quite a year when it came to the consequences of sexual harassment in Silicon Valley. For the first time in memory, jobs were lost, careers were ended, and venture firms ceased to exist after women came forward and told their experiences of harassment. In this episode, Kent takes a look back to memorialize 8 stories in 2017 where the c ...…

Marketing guru and teacher Neil Cohen sits down with Kent to reflect -- in this age of cryptocurrency -- on the meaning of tech bubbles. A fun, lighthearted look at 20 years of craziness in Silicon Valley. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines, as he ...…

Marketing guru and university professor Neil Cohen sits down with Kent for a lighthearted ramble through a series of Tech Bubbles. From early commerce (Pets.com!) to Segway all the way up to Cryptocurrency, we have fun reviewing some of the most interesting internet phenomena of the past couple decades. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Sil ...…

Producer, Director, Writer and all-around Hollywood guy Mike Stutz has figured out how to hack the media. His protest group -- The Useful Idiots -- has figured out a way to get their message across, as only a group of creative types could. The Useful Idiots include TV, film, theater dance and other creative people. This episode is part 2 of Ken ...…

Producer, Director, Writer and all-around Hollywood guy Mike Stutz has figured out how to hack the media. His protest group — The Useful Idiots — has figured out a unique way to get their message across, as only a group of creative types could. The Useful Idiots includes TV, film, theater, dance, and other creative people with a common cause. I ...…

Jonathan Abrams is CEO of Nuzzel, co-founder of Founders Den, and founder of Socializr. He sits on the board of Girls in Tech, and has invested in over 50 startups. But before all that...he founded Friendster. Recently, Gimlet Media's "Startup" podcast covered Friendster. Here Jonathan shares his thoughts on how THAT podcast went.…

Jonathan Abrams is a busy guy. He has two kids. He co-founded The Founders Den, an entrepreneurial center in San Francisco, He founded, built and sold Sociializr. He's invested in nearly 50 startups, many of which have grown enormously, some beyond a billion dollars in valuation. He founded Nuzzel, and is currently its CEO. Nuzzel has become th ...…

Marcus Dantus is CEO of Startup Mexico. Startups, entrepreneurs, venture capital -- it's all happening and growing in Mexico. Marcus discusses the unique opportunities and challenges facing entrepreneurs and investors in Mexico. He also provides the point of view of Mexicans on the election of Donald Trump, and Mexico's path forward. -- In the ...…

Sharon Goldstein is Executive-in-Resience at XSeed Capital (xseedcap.com), and recently CMO of Shiphawk and Pixlee. She also sits on the board of Hebrew Free Loan of San Francisco, which she discusses. She walks us through her path from Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech through Northwestern University to becoming a Silicon Valley EIR. We a ...…

Victor Echevarria (OK, YOU try pronouncing it) made the bold leap from Harvard Business School to Silicon Valley. As founder of Frenting and team member at TaskRabbit, he was early to the sharing economy. Victor explains the differences in the success factors behind sharing economy companies that disappeared and those that are now successful li ...…

Carter Cohen is the future. In 1991 Douglas Copeland published the book "Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture", and we've worked our way down the alphabet ever since. In this podcast, Kent discusses technology -- and the future -- from the perspective of a 17-year old on his way to college. Is Snapchat the future? Or Facebook messenge ...…

In this second part of Kent's conversation with Neil Cohen, the discussion continues about which marketing trends everyone should keep an eye on for 2017. Personalization, video, Snapchatting and more. Neil Cohen is a sales strategy and marketing consultant, Lecturer at San Francisco State University, advisor to Startup Chile and Parallel18. An ...…

In honor of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the US, we talk to Lylan Masterman about Canada Venture Capital and Startups. Lylan is an investor with White Star Capital which invests across the Atlantic. Canadian tech -- turns out it's a much bigger topic than one might imagine. After a botched podcast opening (he did work at aQ ...…

Neil Cohen is one of our most engaging energetic guests. Here is his take on marketing trends for 2017 across several categories, his take on branding masters like Red Bull and more. Neil is a marketing veteran, professor at San Francisco State. And a San Francisco Giants fan. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Li ...…

Antonio Garcia Martinez, best-selling author of Chaos Monkeys (his New York times bestselling Facebook tell-all). If you haven't heard Antonio yet, enjoy his take on Silicon Valley, politics, Libertarianism -- and more. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley hea ...…

Best selling author (Chaos Monkeys) Antonio Garcia Martinez is back. If you haven't had the pleasure yet, you are in for something special. After discussing his book the first time around, we realized he is one of the most thoughtful, original and provocative thinkers on the topic of politics. In particular, his take on the relationship of Sili ...…

Welcome back -- to fan favorite Mike Stutz part 2. Mike Stutz is a Television Producer, movie director (Don't Change the Subject) just to name a few talents Here is part 2 of his insightful take on the interaction of television, fake news, and TV's changing role in politics. Also mentioned are US presidents named Jackson. -- In the Something Ve ...…

Mike Stutz is a reality TV show producer. Credits include "Shinesty" on MTV; "Loaded" on CNBC, and "Santa Sent me to the ER" on TLC. He is also producer, writer and director of the feature film "Don't Change the Subject". In this episode, Mike returns to talk about reality TV, politics....and Andrew Jackson/Johnson. -- In the Something Ventured ...…

Sarah Marie is an entrepreneur, executive and co-founder of Spec.fm podcast network and its CEO. After a break last week for the US election (spoiler alert, it did not go as expected) we return to more positive territory. Sarah continues her conversation about the path to Silicon Valley (which in her case did not involve Harvard or Stanford), t ...…

Something Ventured Election Special with Joe Garofoli, Senior Political writer for the SF chronicle. We cover the national election -- why everyone missed the rise of Trump, and what people are feeling in Pittsburgh. Also covered are California ballot measures (marijuana legalization in particular). We finish with a discussion of Bay Area measu ...…

Sarah Marie is co-founder and CEO of the fast-growing podcast network Spec Network (Spec.fm). Sarah's entrepreneurial journey brought her to Silicon Valley from Minnesota, and involved an early stint at a bakery. This is not your "Stanford/Facebook/XYZ VC" -- it's far more interesting. Spec Network has become a leading design and developer podc ...…

Chaos Monkeys' author Antonio Garcia-Martinez -- part 2 of 2. In which he discusses Y-combinator, the inner workings of Facebook and much more. Particularly interesting -- what happened when some (but not all) people at Facebook realized they were rich? The book Chaos Monkeys (on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/chaos-monkeys/id1071 ...…

Antonio Garcia-Martinez' "Chaos Monkeys" (Harper) was an instant New York Times bestseller. Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times said "Incisive -- the most fun business book I've read this year. Clearly there will be people who hate this book -- which is probably one of the things that make it such a great read". In this episode, Antonio co ...…

We pre-empt podcasts planned with Antonio Garcia Martinez and Sarah Marie of Spec Network, because Donald Trump made us. (don't worry -- we'll get to Antonio and Sarah Marie shortly) Without repeating the things Mr. Trump said about sexual assault and sexual harassment -- we're reminded that sexism, in all of its forms, is wrong. In this previo ...…

Donald Trump would hate this podcast. The story of an immigrant from China. Ben Cheung built an AI company (pay attention, Westworld fans). He discussed it in a previous podcast, when we talked about the struggle of the entrepreneur. Just a few months after that, Microsoft came calling and bought his company. Ben discusses the process of being ...…

In this replay, we revisit our interview with Benjamin Cheung, the entrepreneur behind Genee. This provides a glimpse of the entrepreneur at work -- a fascinating exploration now that we know the outcome: He eventually sells his company to Microsoft! -- In the Something Ventured Podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the realit ...…