Unicorn Founders & Funders Episodes
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 …
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. 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…
Aug. 20, 2021
Learning Or Earning & Beyond Series A: Asian Startups on Overdrive with Rajive Keshup, Cathay Innovation
This week, we dive deep with Rajive Keshup in Singapore, Investment Director at Cathay Innovation, an early and growth stage venture capital firm with $1.5B AUM across San Francisco, Paris, Shanghai and Singapore, and closely affiliated with Cathay Capital Private Equity, a global private equity fi…
Aug. 13, 2021
Leaning into Your Voice with Walgreens' SVP, ESG & Chief DEI Officer Alethia Jackson
This week, we make a trip to The Hill with America’s Top Lobbyist, Alethia Jackson making some #BillionDollarMoves! We unpack what it means to lead with your voice, the complex healthcare landscape and how to build partnerships that matter.
Aug. 6, 2021
Enterprise is Eating The World with Cathy Gao, Sapphire Ventures
Enterprise technology companies attracted $30 billion in funding, outpacing their consumer-tech peers (by a third) for the first time in five years. This trend reflects a deeper evolution at play, at the intersection of software development, adoption of cloud technology, and data analysis—and as ma…
July 30, 2021
Tolerate Failure, Not Incompetence: Building Biotech Startups with Brian Conn, Quantapore
This week, we chat with, Brian Conn, serial biotech CFO, who has raised over $300M, completed 20 M&A deals and is currently CFO of genomic sequencing company, Quantapore, co-founder of synthetic biology company, Levadura and advisor to VC firm, General Inception.
July 16, 2021
BONUS: The Golden Era of Southeast Asia Startups
Dive into our post-show Clubhouse discussion Apr 16th 2021 with fellow VCs in the region, where we went deep on the rise of startups in Southeast Asia, fresh of Grab's announcement that week valuing it at close to $40Bn, Bukalapak netting $234M and more!
July 16, 2021
Southeast Asia Startups Winning with Michael Lints, Golden Gate Ventures
From our live show Apr 16th 2021, we went deep on the rise of startups in Southeast Asia, fresh of Grab's announcement that week valuing it at close to $40Bn, Bukalapak netting $234M and more!
Michael shares some #BillionDollarMoves we all will want in on.
July 2, 2021
The Rise of Superapps & The Fear of a Meaningless Life with Muneeb Maayr, Bykea
Ride-hailing giant Gojek and marketplace Tokopedia, Indonesia’s two largest startups, said a couple of days ago that they’ve merged their businesses to form GoTo Group, on track for a $35-$40B IPO end year. This sets more fuel to the fire of SuperApps rising in Southeast Asia: a trend that is actua…
June 18, 2021
Sold My Startup for $780M: the Good, Bad, Ugly with Jack Smith, Vungle
This week we went deep on the growing pains of a startup, from PR nightmares to co-founder breakups, the challenge of shifting from a scarcity to growth mindset, and so much more with Jack Smith, serial entrepreneur & investor. @_jacksmith has co-founded multiple startups: Vungle, Coin, Shyp and ad…
June 18, 2021
BONUS: Building a $780M Startup with Jack Smith —offline discussion with the audience
From breaking all these rules and more, this week's guest, serial entrepreneur and now investor, Jack Smith, somehow turned a terrible idea into a $780M+ exit. This snippet reveals Jack in his rare raw form being brutally honest with the audience on Clubhouse. @_jacksmith has co-founded multiple st…
June 11, 2021
{EXTENDED} Big Tech & The Global Entrepreneurial Revolution with Renowned American Investor, Chris Schroeder
Includes the post-show discussion on Clubhouse this week where we went deep on the Global Entrepreneurial Revolution shaping our future with renowned American investor & entrepreneur, Christopher Schroeder. From the dominance of big tech, to the digital divide to startups rising in the Middle East …