Speaker Series Rewind: A Podcast by High Alpha

In July 2016, Paul Singh, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Bump Health, joined High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen for our monthly Speaker Series. Bump Health is a company that serves mom before, during and after pregnancy. He is also founder of Results Junkies, a company that invests in 200 companies each year by driving across North America and visiting cities. The company has a portfolio of over 2000 companies it has invested in. In this episode, we revisit Paul's Speaker Series where you'll learn: His background and investing thesis His idea around “moneyball for cities” Advice for entrepreneurs building breakout companies outside of the Valley

In August of 2017, High Alpha welcomed Lisa Coca, as our featured guest at our August Speaker Series. At the time of the interview, Lisa was the Managing Director of Corporate Venture Investments and Commercial Development at GE Ventures. In addition to her role as Managing Director at GE Ventures, Lisa was also the architect of GE Ventures' EDGE program which leverages the global scale, expertise and resources of GE to provide start-up partners with programs and tools to help them grow and scale their enterprise. Prior to joining GE Ventures, her professional career spanned a number of other disciplines including finance, sales & marketing, strategy, and business development at major financial institutions such as GE Capital, Bankers Trust, and Deutsche Bank. Lisa is now a Partner at Toyota Ventures, where she serves as the lead for the Climate Fund. In this role, she invests in the best entrepreneurs developing technologies and solutions focused on fighting climate change. In this episode, we revisit Lisa's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Key learnings from her experiences in venture capital The risks and rewards she has encountered throughout her career GE Ventures industrial journey

In November 2016, Alex Bard, Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, joined High Alpha Managing Partner Scott Dorsey for our monthly Speaker Series. Prior to Redpoint Ventures, Alex served as Chief Executive Officer at Campaign Monitor. Alex has also served as Executive Vice President & General Manager of the Service Cloud business at Salesforce.com, which acquired Assistly, Inc., where Alex served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of several privately held companies. In this episode, we revisit Alex's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Alex's entrepreneurial journey and his experience starting and exiting companies Competing with large incumbents and developing meaningful core values The importance of finding a framework to align and measure your success How giving back helps build meaningful relationships with colleagues outside of the context of work

In May 2017, Founder and General Partner of Emergence Capital, Gordon Ritter joined High Alpha Managing Partner Scott Dorsey for our monthly Speaker Series.  Prior to founding Emergence, Gordon spent over fifteen years founding and building companies that pioneered new markets. One of these was Software As Service, a web services platform company he co-founded with Marc Benioff. Before that, he ran IBM's $3 billion Global Small Business division. Gordon gave a presentation around the Rise of Coaching Networks and the next era of software that won't be based on forms. In this episode, we revisit Gordon's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Gordon's background in SaaS and his coaching network thesis Evolution of the software sector How fast the SaaS investing market is today His coaching network thesis

In August 2019, Kobie Fuller, General Partner at Upfront Ventures, joined High Alpha Partner Eric Tobias for our monthly Speaker Series. Kobie joined Upfront in 2016 after having previously been an investor at Accel. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at LA-based REVOLVE, one of the largest players in the global fashion e-commerce ecosystem. He has deep knowledge of emerging sectors including VR and AR and was an early investor in Oculus and ExactTarget. Earlier in his career, Kobie helped found OpenView Venture Partners and was an investor at Insight Venture Partners.  In this episode, we revisit Kobie's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Kobie's journey into Venture Capital His experience being a part of the Los Angeles startup community The power of community and how you can use it to build a brand and serve today's hyper competitive landscape His take on the future of software and tech

On June 17, 2020 Freestyle Capital General Partner Jenny Lefcourt joined High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen for our monthly Speaker Series. Together, they discussed Jenny's career, her path into venture capital, and her involvement with All Raise. Jenny's career spans corporate America, consumer startups, founding companies, and investing. After graduating from the Wharton School and spending a year backpacking around the world, she worked for a Palo Alto-based consumer software company through its IPO. Later, she founded WeddingChannel.com and Bella Pictures, both of which went on to be acquired. Today, she spends her days meeting with entrepreneurs and working alongside Freestyle Capital portfolio companies, including BetterUp, Narvar and Daily.co. Jenny is also a founding, active member of All Raise, a non-profit dedicated to increasing diversity in tech. In this episode, we revisit Jenny's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Jenny's investment and decision-making frameworks Her mission to take risks in both her personal and professional life Her role in identifying opportunities for inclusion in the venture capital space

On June 24th, 2021, Seth Levine joined High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen for a conversation about his new book, The New Builders, and his career working with startups for 20+ years. Seth Levine is currently involved in venture capital investing as well as operational, transactional, and advisory roles at both public and private companies. He is a Partner and Co-Founder of the Foundry Group.  Seth Levine began his venture capital career at Mobius Venture Capital. Prior to Mobius Venture Capital, Seth Levine joined FirstWorld Communications, which is a restart of a data communications company. He then led the IPO process for FirstWorld's IPO in 2000 and negotiated simultaneous equity investments from Microsoft, SAIC, and Lucent Technologies. In this episode, we revisit Seth's Speaker Series where you'll learn: The catalyst for his latest book, The New Builders  Current and future state of entrepreneurship Stories about new builders making an impact in their local communities

On January 13, 2021, Mary Grove joined High Alpha Partner Eric Tobias for a virtual fireside chat about her career and the lessons she's learned working with startups. Mary Grove is Managing Partner of Bread and Butter Ventures. She brings nearly two decades of leadership experience in technology, early stage investing, and startup ecosystem growth. She began her career working on the Google IPO, and went on to lead new business development partnerships, negotiating early stage product and technology deals worldwide. Mary then served as the founding director of Google for Startups, leading the company's global efforts to support entrepreneurs in over 100 countries. After her 15 year career at Google, Mary worked as an investment partner at Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund where she led dozens of investments in a range of sectors including healthcare, enterprise software, and fintech. She also built the fund's portfolio support platform and built a network of over 150 mentors and partners to guide startup growth. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Silicon North Stars, a nonprofit that she and her husband Steve founded in 2013 to help young Minnesotans from underserved communities pursue careers in tech. In this episode, we revisit Mary's Speaker Series where you'll learn: How to be proactive about diversity in LPs, founders, & hiring Her role in elevating the Minnesota startup ecosystem Educating and inspiring youth from economically underserved communities

On September 29, 2020, Brad Feld, Managing Partner at Foundry Group and High Alpha Managing Partner Scott Dorsey sat down for a discussion on building startup communities as part of High Alpha's monthly Speaker Series. Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars. Brad is a writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He's written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and writes the blogs Feld Thoughts and Venture Deals. His latest book, “The Startup Community Way,” was released in July 2020. In this episode, we revisit Brad's Speaker Series where you'll learn: The startup ecosystem's growth How to build thriving startup communities The importance of reading and writing outside of your domain His internal commitment to amplifying the voices of the underrepresented

On August 25th, 2021, Carlotta Siniscalco, Principal at Emergence Capital sat down with High Alpha Managing Partner Scott Dorsey for an interview unpacking her experience as an enterprise technology venture investor and her mission to elevate underrepresented founders in the world of tech, VC, and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Emergence Capital, Carlotta was an investor in financial services and financial technology companies at Advent International, a large global private equity fund. At Advent, Carlotta worked on acquisitions both in Europe (including the carve-out of Cartasi/Nexi from ICBPI) and in the United States, and was a board observer at Transunion. She also spent time in the Business Operations group at Nerdwallet (a fintech startup) and was an early-stage investor at Ribbit Capital, a fintech-focused VC. In this episode, we revisit Carlotta's Speaker Series where you'll learn: The ingredients that lead to successful founders How to be a change agent and create more opportunities for underrepresented groups The importance of peer-to-peer, coaching support in Venture Capital The power of deep self-awareness

In March of 2018, Sarah Lacy joined High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen to discuss notable moments in her career and her passion and advice for working professional mothers.   Sarah Lacy is the Founder of Pando, a venture-backed technology news site founded in 2012. Sarah is a prolific tech reporter and a former senior editor at TechCrunch. Her latest venture is ChairmanMe, an online community for working professional women. 

In July of 2019, Lessonly Co-Founder Max Yoder joined High Alpha Speaker Series to discuss his book, Do Better Work. In this episode we revisit his overview of the themes from his book, including how to share before you're ready, getting more agreements, and having difficult conversations. No matter your rank, role, or team, the advice in this episode will lead to better understanding, accountability, and progress. Since this recording Lessonly, one of our very first High Alpha Studio companies, was acquired by sales and marketing enablement leader Seismic.

On April 29, Dave Gerhardt, Founder of DGMG, joined us for our first virtual Speaker Series. Dave has built his career in marketing at some of the world's most successful tech companies, including Drift, HubSpot, and Constant Contact.  At the time of this interview, Dave was the CMO at Privy. Privy has since been acquired by Attentive. Today Dave is building his own consulting business called DGMG, which provides marketing education and consulting for high-growth B2B startups. In this episode, we revisit Dave's Speaker Series where you'll learn: How the best marketers, salespeople, and brands reacted to COVID-19 Dave's advice for making your first marketing hire How Dave would construct the marketing team at a SaaS startup The importance of brand, no matter what growth stage you are at Why copywriting is an important skill, no matter what role you hold

In August of 2018, Justin Delaney sat down with Scott Dorsey to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship and the origin behind his company, Meguin. Menguin is an online tuxedo rental startup that takes the entire, timely process of renting a tuxedo online. The idea came to Delaney in 2011 as an MBA student at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. After receiving his MBA, Delaney moved to Arkansas to continue scaling the business with key investors. Menguin quickly became one of the largest online tuxedo rental companies, growing 800% annually. In September 2017, Menguin was acquired by Generation Tux, a leading online suit and tuxedo rental company founded by menswear legend George Zimmer. Justin is now a Managing Director at Ikigai Capital. In this episode, we revisit Justin's Speaker Series where you'll learn: What it takes to effectively navigate entrepreneurship in the wedding industry Effective marketing online using Google and social media How to get unstuck throughout your entrepreneurial journey How to build your business from the customer voice

In January of 2017, Angie Hicks joined High Alpha Partner Eric Tobias for a discussion about her entrepreneurship journey. Angie is the Co-Founder of Angie's List, which was since acquired by Home Advisor in 2017 (and is more recently known as Angi). Angie's List began with Angie going door to door hoping to get more than 30 people to sign up and later scaled to over 5 million users.  In this episode, Angie shares her advice about: How to evolve alongside your company How to gain the strength to push through the hard times in entrepreneurship Why people have affinity for people more than brands How to navigate being the only woman in the room

In December of 2019, Jeremy Swift sat down with Eric Tobias to discuss his background, entrepreneurial journey, and philosophy for work-life balance. Jeremy is CEO and Co-Founder of Cordial, a platform that enables marketers to deliver personal, relevant, and emotionally intelligent messages across any channel. Today, brands like Revolve, Edible Arrangements, Toms, and 1-800-Contacts use Cordial. Prior to Cordial, Jeremy was VP of Sales & Strategic Accounts at BlueHornet. In this episode, we revisit Jeremy's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Lessons learned from starting his first business venture and how that helped him build Cordial How to find the right balance between his family and his job The importance of prioritizing mental health

In November of 2021, Sun King Brewing Co-Founders Clay Robinson and Dave Colt joined High Alpha Partner Mike Fitzgerald for a fireside chat about the brewing industry, building strong company cultures, and the origin of Sun King Brewing, the largest brewery in Indianapolis and the second largest brewery in the state. Dave and Clay have both been brewing professionally for more than 20 years. Since opening Sun King in 2009, their brewery has won more Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup medals than any other Indiana brewery. In fact, Sun King ranks in the top five of all medal recipients worldwide. Most recently, Sun King was awarded the Grand Champion Brewery at the 2019 U.S. Open Beer Championship. In this episode, we revisit their Speaker Series interview, where you'll learn: The origin story of Sun King How they prioritize putting people and the community first as a business The importance of transparency with your team Their philosophy for coaching their team to follow their passions (even if it's not at Sun King)

In October of 2021, Gumroad Founder Sahil Lavingia sat down with High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen to discuss the framework from his new book, The Minimalist Entrepreneur, and his entrepreneurial journey. Before founding Gumroad at the age of 19, Sahil was a part of the founding team of Pinterest and built over 20 smartphone apps. Sahil is also an angel investor in startups like Clubhouse, Lambda School, Figma, Notion, and HelloSign. In this episode, we revisit Sahil's Speaker Series, where you'll learn: Sahil's career in tech and journey as a young entrepreneur His simple framework for owning your own business His predictions for the rise of the creator economy Gumroad's historic crowdfunding on Republic.co Themes from his new book, The Minimalist Entrepreneur  If you've ever thought, "maybe I should start my own business," only to stall when complications pop up, then this episode is for you.

In April of 2019, Scott Dorsey chatted with Gerry Dick about his career in broadcasting and how it transformed into an entrepreneurial journey. This episode of Speaker Series Rewind covers the details about the 14 years Gerry spent as a field anchor for WRTV and his journey creating a company of his own - though he never thought he would be an entrepreneur. Gerry is the creator and host of Inside INdiana Business and has done so for over 23 years. More recently, IBJ Media acquired the business in September of 2021. In this episode, we revisit Gerry's Speaker Series where you'll learn: How the broadcasting landscape has changed in the last 30 years Lessons about entrepreneurship in the broadcasting industry How to build a business that benefits your community Tips in dealing with the media as an entrepreneur

On April 14th, 2021, Jason Jacobs joined High Alpha Partner Mike Fitzgerald for a virtual fireside chat about his background and perspective on this very timely and important topic. In 2016, Jason's company Runkeeper, one of the largest fitness apps and communities, was acquired by ASICS. Post-acquisition, he turned his attention to climate change and understanding how he could address the problem with his skillset as a long-time software entrepreneur. He is now a venture investor and the host of the My Climate Journey podcast dedicated to those seeking to understand climate change better and how to help. The show also includes a bi-weekly startup series dedicated to showcasing new climate tech startups. In this episode, we revisit Jason's Speaker Series where you'll learn: The importance of great partners and advisors as an entrepreneur Why you should focus on work the excites you Lessons from building a successful startup and how it's okay to question yourself What the future holds for technology addressing Climate Change

In February of 2020, former Walmart CMO and Zytara CEO and Founder Julie Lyle joined High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen for a fireside chat about her career, leadership philosophy, and experience leading multibillion-dollar organizations. Julie is an entrepreneur, global business leader, and board director who has built winning brands and teams for the world's largest companies. She has been a CMO, CCO, and CRO for companies including Walmart, Prudential plc, hhgregg, Barnes & Noble, Raytheon, and DemandJump. Julie is currently building Zytara, a startup focused on blockchain aimed at retail CPG, brand building, and loyalty marketing. In this episode, we revisit Julie's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Lessons from her early experience in entrepreneurship How to navigate the politics of business Her philosophy of "taking the elevator down" The importance of data-backed decision making as executive leaders

Back in July of 2019, Brad Rencher joined Scott Dorsey for a fireside chat to discuss his career at Adobe, how to get on the radar of a big company for acquisition, prioritizing change agents, and the future of enterprise software. Brad has since become the CEO of BambooHR, the industry's leading software provider dedicated to powering human resources. Prior to joining BambooHR, Brad was responsible for Adobe's $3B+ digital experience business, leading P&L responsibility for one of the largest SaaS businesses in the world. Adobe entered the digital marketing space in 2009 via the $1.8B acquisition of Omniture. Digital experience is now the fastest growing business at Adobe and one of the fastest-growing businesses in the software market. In this episode, we revisit Brad's Speaker Series where you'll learn: What it takes to be acquired by a BigCo How to lead without ego and build a company that lasts Lessons from growing Adobe from $300M to $3B in revenue Creating a go-to-market strategy through product-led growth

On May 17th, 2021, Beth Paretta joined High Alpha Partner Kristian Andersen for a virtual fireside chat about her career in autosports, this year's Indianapolis 500, and her experience leading diversity initiatives in professional racing. Paretta Autosport, led by longtime motorsports executive Beth Paretta, will field the first female-owned, female-driven, and largely female-operated team scheduled to compete in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. In this episode, we revisit Beth's Speaker Series where you'll learn: The importance of equity and inclusion in motorsports The power of network and mentorship for entrepreneurs How to be resourceful and solve hard problems What it takes to win the Indianapolis 500

On July 22nd, 2021, Bolster Co-Founder and CEO Matt Blumberg joined High Alpha Managing Scott Dorsey for a conversation about his new book, Startup CXO. Unlike other business books, Startup CXO is designed to help each functional leader understand how their function scales, what to anticipate as they scale, and what things to avoid. Matt approached this topic with deep domain expertise in creating startups, scaling them, and sharing best practices of what works and what doesn't work for other CEOs and team members in the entrepreneurial community. Prior to Bolster, Matt was the Founder and CEO of Return Path, which he sold in 2019. In this episode, we revisit Matt's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Themes from his new book, Startup CXO Lessons from building, scaling, and selling ReturnPath The role of the CEO as functional supervisor and why they not only have to master the entirety of their role, but deeply understand other functions Candid advice on effectively managing and utilizing your board members and meetings

Introducing Speaker Series Rewind, a podcast by High Alpha! In each episode, we revisit discussions from High Alpha Speaker Series events featuring industry leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and investors. This is the trailer for our very first season, which includes Founders and CEOs from across the country running everything from B2B software companies to international airports and packaged foods startups. Visit our website to learn more about High Alpha and subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get the latest High Alpha news and podcast episodes sent directly to your inbox.