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THE SHOW
We travel across the globe in search of what we call “The Unexpected Leader”— unicorn founders & funders across the globe. This show is about unfiltered conversations about success, failure, fear and courage, in the pursuit of the next big thing in tech and venture. Tune in to Billion Dollar Moves wherever you get your podcasts; brought to you by the Hubspot Podcast Network.
INTERVIEW STYLE
Think Oprah meets Guy Raz with a touch of BBC HardTalk, Billion Dollar Moves is a conversational interview where we’ll dive deep into the personal and business journeys of each leader featured to date, the trends they’re keeping tabs on and more. Sarah uncovers more depth than any interviewer!
Disclaimer: This podcast is an expression of personal opinion and does not represent the opinion of the host Sarah Chen-Spellings (SCS) as an investor personally, her firm Beyond The Billion (BTB) or any company discussed. These discussions are for informational purposes only, including any mention of securities or venture funds; and does not constitute any investment, legal, tax advice. SCS or BTB may hold currently, or in the future, direct or indirect interests in the featured companies or funds. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted.
BUILDING FOUNDER & FUNDER ALIGNMENT WITH ELODIE DUPUY, FOUNDING PARTNER, FULL IN PARTNERS
This week, we cover these crucial questions in a Billion Dollar Bite with Elodie Dupuy, Founding Partner of $200M growth equity firm, Full In Partners.
1. What are some key factors that contribute to a successful exit for a company? How can investors and founders align valuations with realistic outcomes?
2. How have market conditions affected the fundraising landscape for companies? What opportunities exist for quality companies with strong fundamentals?
3. What is the service mindset founders need to be really zooming in on? How does this differentiate successful companies?
Trauma to Transformation: Tackling Global Mental Health with Elisha London, Prospira Global
In conjunction with World Mental Health Day, I’m thrilled to be bringing you a slightly different but very special episode that I think will be important to you as you build, lead, and invest better.
Elisha and I cover so much in this conversation from:
1. What it means to really struggle with mental health and why we need to all pay attention;
2. The need to address systemic issues, ‘structural determinants’ in mental health;
3. Where capital can drive impact on mental health, the challenges and opportunities.
UNLEASHING AFRICA'S TECH POTENTIAL: INVESTING IN EMERGING MARKETS WITH EUNICE AJIM
Today’s guest speaking to the African continent is none other than Eunice Ajim, Cameroonian-American tech entrepreneur and investor who’s changing the game. With her fund, Ajim Capital, she seeks to invest in Africa’s best startups at the pre-seed and seed level; leveraging her experience as a former repeat founder herself, including leading a $10M+ tech startup. But what many may not know is her story of becoming homeless while building what she calls the African dream.
Eunice’s story is not just a cheatsheet into investing in Africa (which by the way has had 51 Private Equity exits in the last 10 years, with 478 deals worth $8.6 billion), but real talk on how hard it still is to build in the emerging markets.
Pivot or Persevere? Being a Growth Company CEO with Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera
For 18 years, Jeff worked side by side with Nobel Prize winner and economist Bill Sharpe, as the founding CEO of Financial Engines, one of the earliest pioneers in the world of robo-advisors and algorithm-driven investment strategies that became the largest independent online retirement advice platform with more than $100 billion under management. Sold for you know, a casual $3 billion.
Fast forward to today, Jeff is at the helm of another HIGH IMPACT endeavor. As the CEO of Coursera, he’s leading the charge to redefine education for the digital age; since joining in June 2017 and has helped the company grow to over 120 million learners and 7,000+ institutions, served by high-quality learning content from 300+ of the world’s top universities and industry educators. From what a good CEO is and how a game of Monopoly really started Jeff on this journey, our power-packed conversation is a CEO masterclass you need to buckle up for.
coming into her own with rachel lim, love bonito
This week we dive into the story of Love, Bonito, in the business of serving the modern Asian women; which last raised a $50M Series C in 2021 led by Primavera Capital Group, China’s second-largest private-equity firm which previously invested in Alibaba and ByteDance.
We chat with Love Bonito’s co-founder Rachel Lim about risking her mother’s entire savings to overcoming jealousy of her new CEO and finding herself as a leader even as they scale profits, revenues, and markets, and build to an exit for their investors.
This is a conversation you don’t want to miss.
Apeel's $2 Billion Bite: James Rogers On His Last Decade and the Food Revolution Underway
To keep fruits lasting longer, Apeel has engineered an edible coating product made from naturally occuring plant materials that can make fruit last two to three times as long.
The idea has attracted a number of high-profile investors, including celebrities Katy Perry and Oprah Winfrey, Singapore’s SWF GIC, the Wojcicki sisters, Andreessen Horowitz and today Apeel’s valuation is just about $2 billion. I chat with my friend, James Rogers, Founder & CEO of Apeel when we were together in Oklahoma City about his journey over the last decade, and how he’s finally getting closer to his why in the first place.
investing with penny pritzker & building a robust venture & growth practice
This episode features Momei Qu, Managing Director of PSP Growth, where she leads PSP’s venture capital and growth equity initiative, working closely with the esteemed Penny Pritzker, former United States Sec of Commerce and American billionaire businesswoman with family investments in the Hyatt Hotels and Marmon Group.
From Momei’s leadership lessons working with a trailblazer to building a robust venture and growth practice to the future of B2B SAAS despite valuation slashes we’ve seen, we cover it all.
unleashing ai & the future of xr
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 this space of AI, VR and XR, immersive and extended reality long before it was the hype it is today. Martina Welkhoff, Managing Partner of WXR fund, an early stage fund that invests in two of the greatest opportunities of our time: the next wave of computing + female entrepreneurs; with companies like Obsess AI, BODs and Embodied labs in her portfolio.
why early specialization doesn't guarantee career success
A head start doesn’t always … well, help you get ahead.
With examples from sports, technology and economics, journalist David Epstein shares how specializing in a particular skill too early in life may undermine your long-term development — and explains the benefits of a “sampling period” where you try new things and focus on building a range of skills. Learn how this broader, counterintuitive mindset (and more forgiving timeline) could lead to a more fulfilling life, personally and professionally: even in our world of venture and business.
NO ONE'S FOOL: OLLEN DOUGLASS SPEAKS OUT
Ollen Douglass is a name that many have come to recognize in the venture industry, in particular for building the first venture fund for the Motley Fool; a popular news and media platform providing investing insights and financial advice to millions of people for over 25 years. But his story takes an unexpected twist as he walks away from a $250 million outfit he helped start. His abrupt departure left industry insiders hungry for answers.
And today, he’s here to reveal in his own words what happened and why; and importantly we’ll chat about his mission to challenge the status quo as a Black man in this industry.
FROM UNDERESTIMATED TO 50 MILLION USERS: AI TO EMPOWER WITH VU VAN, ELSA
Long before AI became a buzzword, Vu Van recognized its transformative potential. Combining her deep understanding of language learning with her AI expertise, Vu Van founded ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) in 2015. ELSA, an AI-powered learning app, provides users with an interactive and personalized approach to improving English pronunciation,
50 million users later, over $27 million dollars raised, with investors including Gradient Ventures, Google’s dedicated AI fund, this is a conversation not to be missed.
THE UNSTOPPABLE POWER OF WEB3
From building emerging tech in IBM to working with Jeff Bezos and Andy Jessy, being a part of scaling Amazon from a $12 Billion to $80 Billion company; tech pioneer and trailblazer, CNN’s Top 10 Most Powerful Women in Tech Sandy Carter is now betting big on Web3: as COO of Unstoppable Domains, a platform for user-owned digital identity that hit the unicorn status last year led with a round led by Pantera Capital.
Today we break some exciting news by Unstoppable Domains launching, discuss the viability of Web 3.0 and how it is creating new business opportunities and reshaping the way we think about commerce, entertainment, and social interaction.
THE COST OF INFLUENCE & BILLION DOLLAR AMBITIONS
GLOBAL CEO OF LEGO GROUP, DELOITTE DEBATE "THE NON-POLITICAL LEADER"
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. Is this the time for the ‘non-political’ company leader?
former mp, phumzile van damme on battling disinformation while young, black & Female
Phumzile Van Damme is a former Member of Parliament of South Africa, winning multiple awards for her work counter-electoral disinformation, digital rights and platform accountability focusing on Africa.
Phumzile’s first foray in the fight against disinformation centered on the rise and fall of the controversial global PR firm Bell Pottinger, who ran a race based campaign to ignite the differences between the people of South Africa, digging into its painful history of apartheid.
What does it take to be a young Black Woman in politics, to build influence and lead with your principles still intact?
inside look: a billionaire's view on making a mark
you are what you risk: the svb collapse
leveraging community to invest in the future
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 pursuing a global strategy, as U.S. venture capitalists have taken a step back from deals abroad; launching a new $25M fund, to be the first-check in for startups building in the future of money, health and work.
scaling a $4.2 billion global business with nicole sahin
"i am the most introverted person; i had to actively work on myself to sell the vision"
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’s first cultivated shellfish meat company, and Southeast Asia’s first cultivated seafood and meat company with investors like Y Combinator to Korean Conglomerate CJ’s Food Arm.
"THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR STARTUP MORTALITY? STAKEHOLDER MISMANAGEMENT"
The key question: will the momentum survive this downcycle? I chat with Dmitry Levit, Founding Partner of Cento Ventures, a venture capital firm specialized in under-invested emerging digital markets, primarily Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Bonus: quiet quitting, leading with clarity - an inside look davos 2023
getting users hooked & Regaining control of your attention
BECOMING THE CEO YOUR COMPANY ACTUALLY NEEDS
RISING FROM INSECURITY
turning fear to power
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 rights advocate. Fighting everyday to have her voice heard since female solo singers are not allowed to release songs or perform publicly in Iran, Gola shows us what pushing boundaries and true bravery means; and how at the edge of your deepest fear could lay your greatest potential.
the exit: i am more than my startup
And we are back with a bang in Season 2! This week we dive deep into discussion on the ethics of AI, emotional intelligence, finding inspiration and executing on that founder’s vision while finding purpose along the way, even post-exit, with the global pioneer of Emotional AI, Rana el Kaliouby. One of the few women leading a disruptive AI company, and an Egyptian-American, Rana gets vulnerable about what that all means to her and her view on the portfolio career. You don’t want to miss this!
is enterprise eating venture capitial?
We travel today to the West Coast of the United States where it’s becoming increasingly clear that Enterprise Tech is dominating venture capital — where every company is becoming a software company. From retailers to established financial institutions and even health providers, the underlying technology has enabled everything from payments to CRM, information management, and so, much more. But how did we arrive at this inflection point and what next?
WHY YOU SHOULDN'T BE TASKING YOUR DIVERSE HIRE WITH YOUR DIVERSITY GOALS
how we've been approaching partnerships all wrong
building through startup chaos
“The team was not cooperative with me. I was trying to manage them, doing the right thing for the company. And this is what she said ‘Tiwa, you understood the words but did not understand the meaning’. I wasn’t really listening to my team and why they were frustrated with me: I was thinking that I was doing the right thing, but I wasn’t hearing what they were trying to tell me… there’s a sense of silent stubborness I was up against”
executing on your purpose & making eggs without chickens
asian startups on overdrive - real fundamentals or are we drinking our own kool-aid?
never too late to startup: building insurtech
We love rooting for the underdog- but what does it really take to rise despite the odds, as THE underdog? Rosaline Koo founded CXA Group from her living room in 2013 after a storied career with multinationals, with ambitions to transform health benefits for employees. Tune in to her story from risking all her family savings to build her startup; to scaling to over a million users and raising over $50M from the likes of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group, EDBI, Openspace Ventures and more.
building INDONESIAN UNICORNS
building biotech startups
“Tolerate failure but don’t tolerate incompetence. Till this day, I regret how I let a company go bankrupt— I’ve learned from that” From microbiome manipulation, to genomic sequencing, biotechnology promises an unprecedented future. But what does it really take to build a biotech company that will last? 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.
The rise of superapps with bykea's muneeb maayr
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 actually moving from East to West. But is it all that it’s cut out to be?
From the rise of SuperApps to the unique challenges of the two-wheeler opportunity in a country like Pakistan, to the fear of a meaningless life, Muneeb Maayr, Bykea and I cover it all.
CORPORATE AMERICA IN THE FIGHT: THE HEALTHCARE BATTLE OF OUR GENERATION
“If I was being invited into a room, it was for a reason. So it’s about being confident in that I had something to offer. I wasn’t going to sit at the periphery of the table and not speak”
This week, we make a trip to The Hill with America’s Top Lobbyist, Alethia Jackson. As VP of Federal Relations & Head of Advocacy for Walgreens, Alethia is expanding patient access to pharmacy services while advancing the role of pharmacy in the healthcare system. We unpack what it means to lead with your voice, the complex healthcare landscape and how to build partnerships that matter.
the power of trust & the malaysian lp view of vc funds
big tech & the global entrepreneurial revolution with renowned investor, christopher schroeder
This week, 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 – we cover it all.
VENTURE CAPITALIST VIEW: STARTUPS WINNING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA WITH MICHAEL LINTS
Southeast Asia’s ride hailing giant, Grab is set to go public through the world’s largest SPAC merger, valuing the company at close to $40Bn. Fresh off the announcement, in this episode, we talk about the rise of startups in Southeast Asia, with over 650 million internet users, more than America and Europe combined. Southeast Asia is arguably the most exciting region in the world right now to create disruptive tech companies with more dry powder, higher valuations, the rise of unicorns and imminent exits fueled further by large corporates.
sold my startup for $780m: the good, bad, ugly
“Never do business with your friends”
“Never hire from Craigslist”
From breaking all these rules and more, 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 who sold his startup, Vungle to Blackstone for $780M.
THE END OF IMPACT WASHING WITH KAREN WAWRZASZEK
Over a decade ago, JPMorgan and the Rockefeller Foundation, together with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), published a report claiming that impact investment was an emerging asset class that would reach between $400 billion and $1 trillion in assets under management by 2020. Many thought this was an ambitious prediction but fast forward, we now see how those doubts were misplaced with markets hitting $715 billion in assets under management in 2020. Against the backdrop of the reckoning of 2020, our lens on impact dollars has become tremendously important. But is there far too much sensationalization of impact? How do we stay grounded on metrics that really matter? We talk with Karen Wawrzaszek to unpack this.
Reimagining work with slack's brian elliott
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY WITH FIRST FEMALE NFL COACH, DR. JEN WELTER
What does it mean to be the first and the only? How do you turn being seen as the ‘token’ woman to being taken seriously as a team player? We hear from the one and only, Dr. Jen Welter who tackled her football career with tenacity and an unprecedented track record of pioneering firsts. From building on her career in women’s football, that included 2 Gold medals with Team USA, 4 World Championships and 8 All-Star selections to breaking through the biggest boys club of all, the NFL, as the first female coach in the league and the Madden NFL 20 video game.