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9 episodes with human ventures
8 episodes with human ventures
2 episodes with human ventures
2 episodes with human ventures
2 episodes with human ventures
2 episodes with human ventures
2 episodes with human ventures
2 episodes with human ventures
Mizuho analyst Jordan Klein discusses what investors want to hear from Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang at the company's annual GTC developers conference this week. Plus, Heather Hartnett of early-stage venture capital firm Human Ventures, talks about the current environment for VC and startup investing. And Standard Chartered's Suki Cooper discusses what's been driving the rally in gold to historic highs above $3,000 an ounce this year.
Dan Nathan is joined by Joe Marchese, General & Build Partner at Human Ventures, for an in-depth discussion on the intersection of human attention and generative AI. They explore Joe's recent article, 'Human Attention is All You Need,' which critiques the reliance on algorithms over trust in building brands. They also discuss the role of AI in the stock market, focusing on companies like NVIDIA, Meta, and Amazon. The conversation delves into the implications of AI on advertising, commerce, and brand building, and reflects on the broader economic impacts. Additionally, they talk about the challenges and opportunities for startups in the AI space, the future of media and advertising platforms, and the potential for brand erosion due to over-reliance on performance marketing. The episode concludes with insights on the future of generative AI, market valuation, and the importance of building consumer trust. — View our show notes here Learn more about Current: current.com Listen to 'Strategic Alternatives': https://www.rbccm.com/en/gib/ma-inflection-points Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan Nathan is joined by Joe Marchese, General & Build Partner at Human Ventures, for an in-depth discussion on the intersection of human attention and generative AI. They explore Joe's recent article, 'Human Attention is All You Need,' which critiques the reliance on algorithms over trust in building brands. They also discuss the role of AI in the stock market, focusing on companies like NVIDIA, Meta, and Amazon. The conversation delves into the implications of AI on advertising, commerce, and brand building, and reflects on the broader economic impacts. Additionally, they talk about the challenges and opportunities for startups in the AI space, the future of media and advertising platforms, and the potential for brand erosion due to over-reliance on performance marketing. The episode concludes with insights on the future of generative AI, market valuation, and the importance of building consumer trust. — View our show notes here Learn more about Current: current.com Listen to 'Strategic Alternatives': https://www.rbccm.com/en/gib/ma-inflection-points Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
This week, we're joined by Joe Marchese, operating and build partner at Human Ventures and veteran media exec. We discuss why the obsession with performance marketing has created incentives for many intermediaries to focus on giving the appearance of being responsible for a sale rather than actually contributing to the sale, and how that's led to short-term approaches that skips the basics of building lasting brands. Plus: What the meting of Kamala Harris says about the direction of news and political campaigns, why Netflix points to a shrinking TV ad market and the perils of operating content and commerce businesses as part of one company. Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletterBrian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletterAlex Schleifer's Universal EntitiesFollow Alex, Brian and Troy on TwitterSkip to topic:00:00 Introduction06:09 Netflix vs. Apple TV: The Future of Streaming16:51 The Meme Election24:42 The Role of AI in Media and Advertising35:59 The Evolution of Content Creation Tools38:07 The Cookiepocalypse and Ad Tech Cynicism40:31 Performance Media and Brand Building44:37 Content and Commerce: The Houdinki Case Study51:32 The Future of Digital Media and Monetization58:56 Media Investments and Optimism01:01:00 Good Product
Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza host Mixed Signals, a new media podcast from Semafor. And Joe Marchese is the general & build partner at Human Ventures. The three join Big Technology Podcast for a VC + Journalist conversation on whether the news industry can survive its dealings with generative AI tech providers, like OpenAI, after several publications inked multi-million dollar content deals. Tune in for a conversation that explores whether the news industry is setting itself up for a repeat of past mistakes made with Facebook and Google. We also cover whether the news industry can harness AI, what the value of news is to AI companies, and whether AI can be taught to emulate media brands and pay a licensing fee. Plus much more. Tune in for a lively conversation about a core issues facing the AI field today. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/ Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here's 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com
As a women's health founder, creativity is the backbone of your company's success. This is particularly true in an industry where less than 4% of all venture capital funding goes towards women's health. Using innovative and community-driven tactics to raise capital, test and launch your product, and earn revenue is essential. In this episode of FemInnovation, host Bethany Corbin sits down with Catherine Hendy, co-founder of ELANZA Wellness, to walk through her startup journey and the creative paths she's taken to fund her startup and contribute to long-term women's health research. Bethany and Catherine discuss pros, cons, and personal experiences with accelerator programs, raising venture capital funds, and crowdfunding; how to overcome the daily challenges of building a health tech product; how founders can use their product's data to contribute to women's health research; the power of technology to help patients actively manage their health; how to incorporate clinical and scientific voices into product development, and much more. Join us for an exciting episode to hear first-hand advice from a femtech founder whose making significant strides in the endometriosis field. About Catherine Hendy:Catherine Hendy is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ELANZA Wellness, co-author of the book “Everything Egg Freezing” and an ex-BBC producer and program maker. She is focused on the intersection of technology, behavioral science, and wellbeing, is a member of the British Fertility Society, and judged the European Fertility Awards. Catherine was selected as one of 13 Innovators Shaping the Future of Health 2024 by Fortune Health. About ELANZA Wellness: ELANZA's virtual care platform, EverythingEndo, helps people with endometriosis unlock more symptom free days. Catherine and the founding team graduated Techstars New York in 2021 and are also backed by Human Ventures, Gaingels, the Accel Scout Fund, and leading angels in the digital health space. ELANZA has been named a “health startup to watch” by MedCity and has been featured in Techcrunch, BBC, NPR, Grazia, FemTech Insider, Future of FemTech, Women of Wearables, and more. RELEVANT LINKS: Learn more about ELANZA at this website. Purchase “Everything Egg Freezing” on Amazon. Connect with Our Guest, Catherine Hendy: LINKEDIN Follow Our Host, Bethany Corbin: WEBSITE | LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM | ADDITIONAL LINKS
On this episode of Okay, Computer. Dan Nathan is joined by Deirdre Bosa of CNBC to discuss Walmart's “Rom Commerce” play (2:30), Apple still lagging in the generative AI space (7:00), Nvidia sideways since May (11:00), China issues for EV manufacturers (14:00), Uber joins the S&P 500 (19:00) and the late bloomers of the 2024 IPO class (24:30) Later, Dan sits down with Joe Marchese of Human Ventures and Dr. Marcus Collins, marketing professor at Michigan University and best-selling author of For The Culture and they discuss his background, which includes working for Beyonce (31:00), culture brand marketing (33:30), the Taylor Swift effect (44:00), Elon Musk (46:15) and the culture surrounding Tesla (52:45). -- View our show notes here Learn more about Ro body: ro.co/okay Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
On this episode of Okay, Computer. Dan Nathan is joined by Deirdre Bosa of CNBC to discuss Walmart's “Rom Commerce” play (2:30), Apple still lagging in the generative AI space (7:00), Nvidia sideways since May (11:00), China issues for EV manufacturers (14:00), Uber joins the S&P 500 (19:00) and the late bloomers of the 2024 IPO class (24:30) Later, Dan sits down with Joe Marchese of Human Ventures and Dr. Marcus Collins, marketing professor at Michigan University and best-selling author of For The Culture and they discuss his background, which includes working for Beyonce (31:00), culture brand marketing (33:30), the Taylor Swift effect (44:00), Elon Musk (46:15) and the culture surrounding Tesla (52:45). -- View our show notes here Learn more about Ro body: ro.co/okay Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan is joined by Joe Marchese of Human Ventures and Stuart Sopp of Current to discuss doing business in New York (2:00), the pulse of the consumer (5:30), why the sentiment is too bearish for where the market is trading (12:30), digital transformation among different sectors, and how to donate with Hawaii wildfires (16:30). Later, Dan and Guy are joined by their CNBC Fast Money panelist Karen Finerman for a look behind the curtain at who she is, her new podcast, How She Does It, and the stock market (21:00). Here's how you can donate to people impacted by the Hawaii wildfires: Use Groundswell to make a donation Screenshot it and send it to contact@riskreversal.com Joe Marchese will double any donation made About the Show: On The Tape is a weekly podcast with CNBC Fast Money's Guy Adami, Dan Nathan and Danny Moses. They're offering takes on the biggest market-moving headlines of the week, trade ideas, in-depth analysis, tips and advice. Each episode, they are joined by prominent Wall Street participants to help viewers make smarter investment decisions. Bear market, bull market, recession, inflation or deflation… we're here to help guide your portfolio into the green. Risk Reversal brings you years of experience from former Wall Street insiders trading stocks to experts in the commodity market. Check out our show notes here Learn more about Ro body: ro.co/tape See what adding futures can do for you at cmegroup.com/onthetape. Shoot us an email at OnTheTape@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OnTheTapePod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow Danny Moses @DMoses34 on Twitter Follow Liz Young @LizYoungStrat on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
1:57 - How to get guests on Linkedin3:20 - Rewind button: First job4:23 - Greatest lesson at Chucky cheese5:12 - The first job felt like an Entrepreneur6:08 - Early Negotiation6:42 - Background of starting a company9:26 - Working with job boards10:16 - Scared of launching a company alone12:58 - Breakdown of years16:14 - Inspiration17:31 - Business Model19:18 - Robots vs Humans20:21 - Reassess the metrics21:32 - A ha fun moments with ChatGPT22:35 - Thought on co-founders24:44 - How did the product come up? (Luxury Tequila)29:17 - The good, the bad, the ugly in the web3 space31:57 - Effect on Philanthropy33:47 - Joe's Go-to interview Questions36:28 - Single greatest piece of advice37:43 - Joe's North Star
Dan Nathan and Deirdre Bosa, host of CNBC's TechCheck, discuss investors lining up for Instacart's private stock (2:00), Netflix's live ‘Love is Blind' reunion fiasco (5:00), Nvidia's double upgrade (13:00), Samsung considering ditching Google Search for Bing (16:30), the Fox/Dominion lawsuit (21:00), and Tesla (25:00). Later, Dan is joined by Joe Marchese of Human Ventures and Packy McCormick of Not Boring for a conversation about why artificial intelligence is the future (32:00), and the Twitter/Substack drama (1:12:30). Read Joe's post: Human Dot AI: How to Think About the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Brands, Commerce, and Culture Read Packy's post: Intelligence Superabundance View our show notes here Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan Nathan and Deirdre Bosa, host of CNBC's TechCheck, discuss investors lining up for Instacart's private stock (2:00), Netflix's live ‘Love is Blind' reunion fiasco (5:00), Nvidia's double upgrade (13:00), Samsung considering ditching Google Search for Bing (16:30), the Fox/Dominion lawsuit (21:00), and Tesla (25:00). Later, Dan is joined by Joe Marchese of Human Ventures and Packy McCormick of Not Boring for a conversation about why artificial intelligence is the future (32:00), and the Twitter/Substack drama (1:12:30). Read Joe's post: Human Dot AI: How to Think About the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Brands, Commerce, and Culture Read Packy's post: Intelligence Superabundance View our show notes here Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Michael Mignano is a partner at Lightspeed VC. Joe Marchese is a general and build partner at Human Ventures. The two investors join Big Technology Podcast to discuss this new wave of generative AI's potential. We interrogate how this technology might be overhyped, and then speak about the potential areas of opportunity. Three domains stand out: 1) Content creation and entertainment. 2) Search and discovery. 3) AI as an assistive agent. Tune in for the second half where we discuss platform strategy and the associated risks.
This week, Alexis gets non-technical with Heather Hartnett, CEO and Founding Partner of Human Ventures. They talk about Sims maximalism, Letting It Be, gamifying the human experience, fried Oreos (ok!!!), Odyssey of the Mind, and no white tablecloths.You can find Heather on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HeatherHartnett. You can find Alexis at twitter.com/yayalexisgay, instagram.com/yayalexisgay, and tiktok.com/@yayalexisgay or you can sign up for her email list at bit.ly/hellofromalexis.This episode is brought to you by Mercury, the banking stack for startups. With Mercury, protecting your money doesn't have to mean settling for a clunky, complicated banking experience. Through partner banks and their sweep networks, Mercury offers up to $5M in FDIC insurance — 20x the per bank limit. They also make it easy to invest any cash above the FDIC-insured amount in a money market fund, giving you even more peace of mind. Visit mercury.com to join more than 100,000 startups that trust Mercury with their finances.Ooo, a disclosure! Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust®; Members FDIC.
Heather Hartnett is the founding partner of Human Ventures. The firm is a startup studio and a venture firm investing in wellness and digital health. It is backed by renowned investors, including Ray Dalio of Bridgewater, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, and James Murdoch. As the CEO of Human Ventures, she has created one of New York's premier startup studios and early-stage venture funds. Since launching under Heather's leadership, Human Ventures has invested in and co-built more than 65 companies, with key investments including Reserve (acquired), Current, TheSkimm, Tiny Organics, and Tia Health. Those companies have grown to more than $7.5 billion in enterprise value and have raised over $500 million in additional capital from notable later-stage investors.As one of The 50 Most Influential Women in America by Hearst Digital Media Publications, Heather is a frequent speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt and a regular contributor to Forbes, where she covers various venture capital topics.Twitter of Host (Shamus Madan): @mbitpodcastTwitter of Guest (Heather Hartnett): @HeatherHartnettLearn more about Human Ventures here: https://human.vc/
On this week's episode of Inside Outside Innovation, we sit down with Maisha Leek, Managing Director of Forum Venture Studios. Maisha has had an amazing career in corporate innovation, company building and venture capital, and we talk about the new Venture studio model and some of the things that she's seeing in the world of venture. Let's get started.Inside Outside Innovation is podcast to help new innovators navigate what's next. Each week we'll give you a front row seat into what it takes to learn, grow, and thrive in today's world of accelerating change and uncertainty. Join us as we explore, engage and experiment with the best and the brightest, innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneering businesses. It's time to get started. Interview Transcription with Maisha Leek, Managing Director of Forum Venture StudiosBrian Ardinger: Welcome to another episode of Inside Outside Innovation. I'm your host, Brian Ardinger, and as always, we have another amazing guest. Today we have Maisha Leek. She's the managing director of Forum Venture Studios. Welcome to the show, Maisha. Maisha Leek: Thank you Brian. I'm excited to be here.Brian Ardinger: I'm excited to have you because you've spent a lot of time in all the different cross sections of innovation. So corporate innovation, company building, venture capital. Can you tell us about your path and journey in this innovation space? Maisha Leek: Sure. I'd love to say it was all brilliantly planned. There's a lot of trial error, error, error, error, and then trial again. I actually got into this world in the interesting route. I was for a long time in Washington DC. I was a policymaker and a fundraiser. And in DC we had oversight of most of the science and innovation agencies. So, everything from NASA to Noah to National Science Foundation, which is about the $54 billion proposition, which is a lot of responsibility. And we work with your tax dollars, placing the best bets we could to jumpstart the economy or to just position the United States to be competitive. And so that turned in everything from investing in commercial space flight. You see that now with SpaceX and Virgin Galactic and other companies. Those aren't the only ones. And investing in the advancement of batteries, which leads to all of the electric vehicles that we have now and, and sort of their ability to compete with their combustible counter parts.I knew I was far from all the action that everybody was in, in Silicon Valley and wanted to get closer to it, but by happenstance, met the founder of United Masters. Which was a music and tech company. And did not know what I was doing, except that I was an operator. I knew how to build out teams and build out a company and spent my time doing that. And we had the right as Silicon Valley goes investors. So had Ben Horowitz on our board. And David Drummond on our board. And was really active in managing those relationships. And when I was thinking about what to do next after spent some time at that startup, I had an executive coach and friends, they were like, you got to get into venture.And I'm like, that sounds really boring. And their suggestion I think is really apt for folks who are thinking about it. They suggested I would be good in the space because I had experience to do this on Capitol Hill, operating across a range of subject matters. And knowing to be sort of a generalist that can go deep in certain areas and analyze information and make quick judgements.My first experience was at Adventure Studio at Human Ventures. And that really influenced what I decided to do after that. And most of my time in the venture space, outside of being an angel investor or participating SPVs has really been in the venture studio space. I love it because of the close connection you can have with the founder and the founding team. It's not sort of like write a check. I'll call you once a month kind of thing. We're in it with them. But it also leans into the place where I'm strong. Which is I'm a really great operator and being able to do that with founders and helping them not make the same mistakes I've made in other companies that I've built or independent of that, also gives me great joy.So, I've done four Venture Studios - Nike Valiant Labs, Human Ventures, New Lab, which are across the series of categories. New Lab is Frontier Technology. Nike is really best to describe with CPG. Human Ventures, which is in large part direct to consumer. And Forum, which is B2B SaaS. And they all have their challenges. But again, I love the model. I'm an evangelist for the model. Brian Ardinger: Let's talk about that model. You know, people who've followed the show and that have heard more and more about Venture Studios, and if you've been in the space, you're hearing different flavors of what Venture Studios are. So can you talk about what is a venture studio from your definition and what were the differences between the different ones that you've started and where you're at currently with Forum. Maisha Leek: The term studio, when it's combined with venture, actually originates from Hollywood, which I did not know. Essentially, like the idea that the studio from ideation to putting it into theaters would be responsible for the build. Like they collaborate with some folks, but they wanted to sort of own the vertical of the product that went out to market. And Venture Studios do just that in a venture context. We are building small businesses as fast as possible.You do different things depending on the category, and there are few ways the model sort of shows up. On one extreme, they're starting with just the idea and there's no founder. On the other extreme, you've built out a business and you're hiring in a CEO. Most of the venture studios I've worked with sort of lean to the front end where we really are interested in and get really excited about the founder. And really help them determine what to build.And that's really a question of what the problem is that they want to solve. It's not really starting with a solution. And then we take them through a process to de-risk it, diligence it, figure out who the real customers are. What needs to be true for the MVP, and then bring it out to market. Most venture studios do that.I think that where we get variation is the degree to which the idea is evolved before the team that's going to live with the problem goes out into the world. I think that's where folks tend to have differing points of view about what's most important. And a lot of it's logical. Venture Studios exist because we have a better risk profile than a founder doing it on their own.I can get into why that is, but you can imagine it's just our expertise. And depending on the Venture Studio and their point of view about what they have to offer in terms of the early ideation, you have some organizations or groups who really want to use every insight that they have and stand up a company. And others who believe that the founder who's taking the risk should do most of that work. That's how folks are making those choices from what I've seen. Brian Ardinger: Yeah, that seems to be some of the key differentiation. It's how much additional resources perhaps are put towards it. So, some venture studios are very much hands-on. They have a team of developers that the founder can work with to build out, you know, early-stage prototypes and things along those lines. All the way to, obviously capital's involved.But it, it's interesting to see even the last three or four years, how that model has evolved. You know, some of the earlier venture models, you know, High Alpha out of Indianapolis or Highland Beta Toronto, they're looking at different models. You've got Nobody's Studios out in New York and the Philippines. And then you've got, obviously some of these, what were more traditional startup accelerator programs, whether it's Techstars or others that are, are looking at kind of a venture model where again, it seems to be how do we find the early founder with some magic sauce. And then put the magic sauce together to create companies together. Rather than looking for a company out there, which would be more, I guess, a traditional venture model in general.Maisha Leek: It's interesting. I love how you put that last point. The debate, I think, amongst people who are in the venture studio space is like, well, what matters more, the idea or the founder. I think that the way they're setting up venture studios is really an answer to that individual group's point of view on that question. I personally believe that the founder is the one thing you cannot de-risk. Human beings are human. And you know, you can pivot a company, you can pivot a strategy, you can change who is sitting where. But when it comes to the founder, you really wanna have conviction before you build. And I think a ton of folks are seeing that as the whole game. In large part, because early-stage investors are only looking at the team, right? So, it stands to reason that where venture studios can really play the game super, super well is making sure they've got that really, really tight, and then getting into the idea and the problem space from there.Brian Ardinger: And that makes perfect sense. You know, at the earliest stages, most ideas are crap, and they have to be worked through. And so the uncertainty itself, you're looking for somebody who can work through that uncertainty and adapt to the changing things that they learn along the way. Maisha Leek: A hundred percent. And somebody also who has a game plan for themself, which I find doesn't come up as much. But you know, I was talking to a founder this morning that was having a rough day, early on a Monday. And essentially, am I making the right choice for my life? How do I do that? Having a plan for all of those rough moments, it's like one of the most important things an investor or even a studio or a founder can put together before they even dig into the idea, because it's your right. The way a business shows up today. Fifteen years from now, it's going to be completely different. And really having a game plan for how to address the uncertainty, the significant amount of volatility that you'll face and keep your head is probably some of the most important details about being a founder that I don't think get enough of your time.Brian Ardinger: So obviously a founder's a core component to creating any new company. What are some of the ways that you both source founders and what do you look for. Maisha Leek: This is the best question. It's also the hardest. There are a range of approaches. I think that over time you start to build a network of founders that trust and know you.And when you say that you're standing up the studio and that you want to build, they tend to refer people that they're really excited about. Just starting from scratch. I mean, you really do want to spend time doing what we're doing right now. Demonstrating your capabilities in conversations and writing. Really posting a ton. Trying to draw people in.Being a judge at competitions. Talking to your network of other investors. There are a ton of folks that are further down the line and they meet founders who are too early for them to consider for their deals. I've talked to my entire network about getting folks to refer those folks to us. And then also not being afraid to look in places that you don't suspect. And so at the studios that I've worked with, we always have a complete open door. We do not require a warm intro for you to engage us. That's intentional. You're a needle in a haystack. I don't want to have the door closed. And when I have talked to every and anyone about the studio model, about what we can offer, about how to think about joining us.From a profile perspective, there's what I'm looking for and then there's like where those people are. I have the same challenge any startup has. Who is your customer? Right? I went to the first one. There are about like three types of people, right, that are very stages of availability. There are folks that are experienced founders who seek out venture studios because they've had to do it alone before. And they know that doing it alone is not worth it. it's not efficient. They want to move quickly, understand if there's real meat to their idea, and dig into that fast. They tend to come to venture studios actively, actively always talking to founders despite how deep they are into their build. It's just going to be top of mind for them. There's a ton of people who don't see themselves as founders but have all the experience. These are my favorite to cajole and to taking the risk. They tend to be a human, we used to call them the person behind the person, right? These are folks that have COO roles or Head of Biz ops or revenue, or chief of staff roles. They spent a significant amount of time learning how to build a business by being the number one, number two, or the sidekick to the person that's doing it.They've got to learn the category really well. They have a ton of insights, and they might be thinking, well, my next role is to sort of be the number two. Invariably though, based on that experience, they have strong points of view about what's missing from the market. They just had to do it. And they have all the experience of an experience founder, and I'd like to almost always pull those people in and have them think about what it might look like if they were in a leadership chair.Brian Ardinger: In that particular environment, are founders coming to you with an idea or a series of ideas that they want to explore? Or are they coming to you saying, hey, what do you know out there? What are you seeing from an opportunity perspective? And I'll sift through that and pick one that might resonate with me. Or what's that, I guess, spectrum of coming in with an idea versus coming in with a blank slate.Maisha Leek: it's a mix of both. The last like profile of somebody who might come to us as like an entrepreneur, someone who's been inside a big company, and they're always the first task with standing up the new thing. And so, you're hearing the mechanics like that folks have internalized. To your point about ideas, it depends on the studio, right? But I've seen folks come in with a strong point of view. I know exactly what I want to build. I know exactly the problem I want to address. Sometimes that's exciting. Sometimes that's problematic. Our process in the early days is designed to tear your idea apart. And so, if you're wedded to it, it can be a bit challenging.And then folks that don't have an idea, I've spent time with a number of business designers helping them think through the problem that they're really excited about and pulling out the thread that might be the one that we want to dig into. The trick of all of that in terms of founders is like, you should have a strong point of view about a problem space. You don't have to have the idea fully formed. So, you should know I'm fired up about logistics. I've spent 10 years as like the head of business development here and I really want to pull this apart. I have less experience than that, but I have actively been tinkering. Because I think that this problem that I've experienced is really a challenge. Those are the best people. They're ready to go. They've got a chip on their shoulder and something that they want to address. And Venture studios a really great place for them. Brian Ardinger: Yeah. I often talk to founders and that, and like you want to find those founders that want to spend time with that problem and or customer segment because not necessarily having a solution around it, but you know, they know they're going to be spending 5, 7, 10 years of their lives. You want to get up every day focused on that and really digging into it versus, I'm just chasing the next greatest trend because it sounds like the next thing to do. Maisha Leek: Fastest way to burn yourself out or to get frustrated really quickly. Because we're talking about years and years of your life. You got to love the problem or the customer.Brian Ardinger: You mentioned on the corporate entrepreneur side of things, and have you seen different flavors of this Venture Studio model being deployed, I guess within a company versus externally Forum Ventures? Maisha Leek: I have, yeah. I have a ton of friends that are leading innovation teams inside big companies, and they frequently connect up with Venture Studios primarily because we can help them move faster. Internally for the corporates, what can be an amazing opportunity can also be your challenge. The innovate team, is a great opportunity to build against the problems either facing the business internally, like so you're building for inefficiencies within the business, and you want to build tools, services, platforms, whatever.And then some who are only thinking externally around mark, market cap or market share. It's like, all right, we are really tight with these customers. We want to expand to these others. Let's build out small brands that can go help us expand our reach, essentially. And the challenge for folks inside a highly matrixed organization that are building a studio or building an innovation team is really like who amongst your colleagues can actually play in that sandbox?It's not always what you think. They are of the generals. The guys and gals who've been around the company forever. They know where all the bodies are buried. The new sandbox has switched on. They're like, great. I want to jump in there and play. They're the deal maker inside the company. Not always. They're great, right? But not always the profile, the founder you want to look for. You're really looking for folks that really are ambitious about standing up something new. Are great storytellers inside the company but aren't wedded to company culture in a way that will slow them down. There are a ton of tricks for leaders of innovation teams that are internal on how to draw those people in and protect yourself from the rest. That's a story for another time. Brian Ardinger: The other topic I want to dig into, obviously venture studios require money or capital and, and they differ than a traditional, I guess, fund investment and that. Can you talk about the Venture Studio model from the investor side. And why that particular path versus, I guess, a traditional fund. And what's different and, and what's good or bad about the different approaches?Maisha Leek: Like I've heard people describe it a few ways. Some LPs describe it as like investing into an index fund. When you get a batch of companies at a cheaper rate. That's fine. Feels a little off brand. I think that for investors in large part, the value is that you get a de-risk asset faster and equity in that de-risk asset cheaper than you would finding a company on your own.And so, I find that LP is into venture studios have been brought along on that narrative journey. They can see the numbers. I mean, Venture Studios at this point have so much track record. I mean, we're perhaps like maybe 20 years in in terms of Venture Studios being around. Don't quote me on that. And essentially the track record, you know, suggests right that companies that come out of venture studios have like a 30% higher success rate than the ones that are stood up on their own.They return to fund faster, they have a 72% chance of raising their subsequent rounds C day and CB that, you know, all of the conditions are really right to make it something that's super, attractive as an investment. And investors into studios I think are, are dialed into that. And more and more now that more and more venture students are coming online across a series of categories.Brian Ardinger: Talk a little bit about how you see the Venture Studio, the life cycle of a company. So, if it's one thing, if you build it yourself and you go out and raise venture capital, you're building all your teams yourself, you're scaling it. Where in the Venture Studio model, obviously kickstart it and stand it up, does the company itself, when does it go on its own or does it continue with the studio or talk about those inflection points. Maisha Leek: Yeah, I think it's a, that's actually a strategic question for the studio, and also a good opportunity to provide advice to founders that might be listening in. Essentially, the best studios in my experience, have a time boxed plan for your journey. Doesn't have to be rigid. There's less likelihood of success when it's a sort of a meandering X metric that we'll move you through. I mean, really strong venture studios have a plan for after your company is built, the MVP, the number of people that you need on your team, how we're going to prepare you to go into the market to raise money, the number of customers we want you to have, and then move you through.Your question was about like what's the long tail of support? Really great Studios show up in the way that great funds would. Once you're a portfolio company, our interests are aligned with yours. We are a hundred percent dialed into your success. If you need something. Phone home kind of approach. And I think that having the staffing or the plan for that is really helpful for a founder to hear when they're evaluating venture studios that they might engage with.Right after I have my set of customers, after I've done my raise, what is our relationship going to be is the right question to ask there. But I've seen a range of folks on how they navigate that. Sometimes it's ad hoc, the GP is the only person interacting and sometimes it's, there's a real plan with a platform team that folks are tapping into as they're on their growth journey.Brian Ardinger: What are you excited about? Are the particular trends or the particular things that you're really digging into in 2023 and beyond? Maisha Leek: Yeah. I am personally super excited about logistics and transportation. I think that personally that it's an exciting moment for a few reasons. One, the technology allows us to do this more efficiently than we ever had. The migratory patterns that we saw post covid are pretty fascinating. We once had Class A, class B, class C cities. It's sort of turned that entire dynamic on its head. It's sending people your way, Brian. Brian Ardinger: Exactly. Maisha Leek: Yeah, and I love that. I don't know what that means, but I love it. I'm very excited about it. From a macro perspective, you know. I'm a millennial, right? So, this is like, I guess the fourth or fifth global crisis that I've lived through. What's really exciting about that, to the degree that can be exciting, is I think that folks are in a very salt of the earth, meat and potatoes way, rethinking their relationship with work and their responsibility for their own careers and lives.And I think it's going to lead not surprisingly to a surge of people starting their own businesses because they want to be, they want to take ownership right for their futures. And I'm really excited about that. I also think that the conversations that younger generations, gen Z, for example, are having around work, will lead to hopefully the resurgence of labor unions.I think that there is a period of time where we sort of walked away from that because you know, the worker and the employer were really at a better eye to eye level sense. I think that we're seeing a lot of the convulsions out of the tech sector teach us that that's not the case. And we do need a fair arbiter to make that work.I come from a long line of union workers. And so, in the venture world, I'm excited that venture studios are no longer taboo. I was mentioning earlier when I first told people I worked at Venture Studios, they were like, oh, it's not a fund. And now all, every day I hear somebody talking about getting into the space. I think that's great. I think Venture Studios will be the really strong gateway to capture those other three trends that I mentioned. You know, people are reconsidering their relationship with work, their expectations of what good company stewardship have changed, and just our needs from an infrastructure perspective have shifted because our behavior and venture studios are going to be best suited to dig into those problems and questions for us. So that's what I'm really excited about. We'll see, I'll watch this back in five years and see if I was right about anything. For More InformationBrian Ardinger: I'm excited about it because anybody who can help move ideas faster into the ether and create value along that way, that's what we're all about. So, I'm excited to hear your journey in the future. And in the interim, if people want to find out more about yourself or about Forum Ventures, what's the best way to do that? Maisha Leek: I am hyperactive on LinkedIn and getting more and more active every day. Definitely DM me. Definitely reach out. I'm also an angel investor. I'm standing up a syndicate in the next little bit here. I'm really, really, really obsessed with small businesses and founders. I mean, my family has come from five generations of entrepreneurs. It's really game changing work, and I'd love to be a part of that. So hit me up there. Brian Ardinger: Excellent. Well, Maisha, thank you again for being on Inside Outside Innovation. Looking forward to continuing the conversation and best of luck. Maisha Leek: Thank you, Brian.Brian Ardinger: That's it for another episode of Inside Outside Innovation. If you want to learn more about our team, our content, our services, check out InsideOutside.io or follow us on Twitter @theIOpodcast or @Ardinger. Until next time, go out and innovate.FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER & TOOLSGet the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HEREYou can also search every Inside Outside Innovation Podcast by Topic and Company. For more innovations resources, check out IO's Innovation Article Database, Innovation Tools Database, Innovation Book Database, and Innovation Video Database.
Next in Marketing spoke with Joe Marchese, partner at Human Ventures, and Marc Guldimann, founder and CEO of Adelaide, about why the TV ad model is broken, and why we're still not valuing attention correctly. Marchese and Guldimann also helped break down why it's so hard to get the ad world to change currencies, but why this time around brands may force change on the media ecosystem. Guest(s): Joe Marchese, Marc GuldimannHost: Mike Shields
Dan and Joe Marchese, Build Partner at Human Ventures, discuss Disney's battle to keep up with Netflix in the streaming wars (2:00), Netflix's execution on its new ad-supported tier (6:00), the potential impact of the Justice Department's new antitrust lawsuit against Google over its digital ads dominance (11:00), what industries are most likely to see M&A activity this year (16:00), why Joe is still bullish on Roku's future (18:00), Twitter's plunge in ad revenue and why many of the wrong people were laid off (21:00), if Snap could be a major beneficiary from Twitter's woes (23:00), why Meta needs to re-focus on commerce (25:30), the strength of luxury brands & growth of top-shelf tequilas (29:00), reshaping the exhibition of movies (33:00), and the state of corporate giving (36:00). — Check out the companies discussed in the episode: -Groundswell -Kinema -Tequila Komos ---- View our show notes and transcript here ---- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Episode Description: Dan and Joe Marchese, Build Partner at Human Ventures, discuss Disney's battle to keep up with Netflix in the streaming wars (2:00), Netflix's execution on its new ad-supported tier (6:00), the potential impact of the Justice Department's new antitrust lawsuit against Google over its digital ads dominance (11:00), what industries are most likely to see M&A activity this year (16:00), why Joe is still bullish on Roku's future (18:00), Twitter's plunge in ad revenue and why many of the wrong people were laid off (21:00), if Snap could be a major beneficiary from Twitter's woes (23:00), why Meta needs to re-focus on commerce (25:30), the strength of luxury brands & growth of top-shelf tequilas (29:00), reshaping the exhibition of movies (33:00), and the state of corporate giving (36:00). — Check out the companies discussed in the episode: -Groundswell -Kinema -Tequila Komos ---- View our show notes and transcript here ---- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan and FirstMark Capital's Rick Heitzmann discuss how the results of the midterm elections may impact the markets and regulation (1:00), intensifying layoffs in the tech industry (3:45), Binance's shock move to buy FTX sparking new fears and volatility in crypto (11:00), why Rick is bullish on “pick-and-shovel” startups (17:15), Elon Musk's chaotic handling of Twitter so far (20:45), Tesla shareholders feeling the pinch from Musk's Twitter mess (23:15), and if it's the beginning of the end-game for the market slump (32:45). Later, Dan talks with Jake Wood, Groundswell's founder and CEO & Team Rubicon's co-founder and Executive Chairman, along with Joe Marchese, Build Partner at Human Ventures, about what drove Jake to enlist in the Marine Corps (41:00), how 2010's devastating earthquake in Haiti led to the creation of Team Rubicon (45:30), the importance of giving veterans purpose after military service (48:30), starting Groundswell and the growth of Philanthropy-as-a-Service (57:30), the “founder's journey” during the COVID-era (1:09:00), navigating privacy protections in philanthropy (1:11:30), and how inflation and recession fears are impacting philanthropy and charitable giving (1:16:00). ---- Check out Groundswell's work Make a donation to Team Rubicon ---- View our show notes and transcript here ---- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan and FirstMark Capital's Rick Heitzmann discuss how the results of the midterm elections may impact the markets and regulation (1:00), intensifying layoffs in the tech industry (3:45), Binance's shock move to buy FTX sparking new fears and volatility in crypto (11:00), why Rick is bullish on “pick-and-shovel” startups (17:15), Elon Musk's chaotic handling of Twitter so far (20:45), Tesla shareholders feeling the pinch from Musk's Twitter mess (23:15), and if it's the beginning of the end-game for the market slump (32:45). Later, Dan talks with Jake Wood, Groundswell's founder and CEO & Team Rubicon's co-founder and Executive Chairman, along with Joe Marchese, Build Partner at Human Ventures, about what drove Jake to enlist in the Marine Corps (41:00), how 2010's devastating earthquake in Haiti led to the creation of Team Rubicon (45:30), the importance of giving veterans purpose after military service (48:30), starting Groundswell and the growth of Philanthropy-as-a-Service (57:30), the “founder's journey” during the COVID-era (1:09:00), navigating privacy protections in philanthropy (1:11:30), and how inflation and recession fears are impacting philanthropy and charitable giving (1:16:00). ---- Check out Groundswell's work Make a donation to Team Rubicon ---- View our show notes and transcript here ---- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
LifeBlood: We talked about the startup studio model for growing businesses, how to prioritize resources, embracing the human condition, and what makes for a great founder, with Heather Hartnett, CEO and General Partner with Human Ventures. Listen to learn why reciprocity can be a human superpower! You can learn more about Heather at Human.VC, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Thanks, as always for listening! If you got some value and enjoyed the show, please leave us a review here: https://ratethispodcast.com/lifebloodpodcast You can learn more about us at LifeBlood.Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you'd like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood.Live. Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeblood
How much weight should an investor put on a company's advertising strategy? According to this week's guest, quite a lot. Joe Marchese, Executive Chairman at Human Ventures and previous President of Advertising Revenue for Fox Networks Group, sit down with Liz to talk about looking at ads - specifically ones that aim to acquire a customer versus ones that simply acquire a transaction- can give investors a lot of insight into how a company may fare in the long run. Liz and Joe also talk about advertising trends and what that could mean for the consolidation of a business, or M&A, through the business cycle.For more, read Liz's weekly column every Thursday on SoFi's blog at https://www.sofi.com/blog/category/investment-strategy/ or follow her on Twitter @LizYoungStrat
Episode Description: Dan talks with Joe Marchese, Executive Chairman & Build Partner at Human Ventures, about Snap's struggles amid an advertising downturn (2:35), unlocking Twitter's full potential and its brewing courtroom fight with Elon Musk (6:36), Netflix's make-or-break push into ad-supported subscriptions (9:37), challenges with evaluating the performance of digital ads (18:45), the intensifying competition between Alphabet/Google and Amazon (29:09), if TikTok is the new center of culture creation (34:54), and whether Apple will become a dominant player in the streaming wars and digital advertising (43:40). ---- Background reading for stories discussed in this episode: The Information: A Visionary Afloat: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Helped Create the Social Web as We Know It. Now He's Sinking Under It. The Information: What Snap's Major Restructuring Means for Creators Variety: Netflix Ad Tier Launch Moved Up to November to Get Ahead of Disney+, Streamer Tells Ad Buyers FT: Apple plans to double its digital advertising business workforce Bloomberg: Why Apple Is Preparing to Let You Subscribe to Your iPhone Gavin Baker's Twitter exchange with Dan on Apple & its digital advertising business —- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod, and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
See our show notes and transcript here Episode Description: Dan talks with Joe Marchese, Executive Chairman & Build Partner at Human Ventures, about Snap's struggles amid an advertising downturn (2:35), unlocking Twitter's full potential and its brewing courtroom fight with Elon Musk (6:36), Netflix's make-or-break push into ad-supported subscriptions (9:37), challenges with evaluating the performance of digital ads (18:45), the intensifying competition between Alphabet/Google and Amazon (29:09), if TikTok is the new center of culture creation (34:54), and whether Apple will become a dominant player in the streaming wars and digital advertising (43:40). ---- Background reading for stories discussed in this episode: The Information: A Visionary Afloat: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Helped Create the Social Web as We Know It. Now He's Sinking Under It. The Information: What Snap's Major Restructuring Means for Creators Variety: Netflix Ad Tier Launch Moved Up to November to Get Ahead of Disney+, Streamer Tells Ad Buyers FT: Apple plans to double its digital advertising business workforce Bloomberg: Why Apple Is Preparing to Let You Subscribe to Your iPhone Gavin Baker's Twitter exchange with Dan on Apple & its digital advertising business —- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod, and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
The pendulum always swings. Media regularly oscillates between periods of bundling and periods of unbundling. Bundles tend to rub people the wrong way because they feel they pay for stuff they don't want. The downside is unbundling can be a complete hassle and the supposed savings quickly evaporate. Just look at what you're paying now for various streaming services (themselves mini-bundles) instead of cable service. Inevitably, whether it's the proliferation of newsletters or the many streaming products, we'll see rebundling take off. “The bundle was the absolute worst form of entertainment delivery, except for every other one,” said Human Ventures executive chairman Joe Marchese. “Consumers are looking for a rebundle and these streamers are gonna have some sort of rebundle coming. News and Substack has some sort of rebundle coming. Everything that's old is gonna be new again over the next couple of months.” Other topics: Media is often a terrible standalone business but is good support for other businesses. The TV business is now dominated by tech companies, a trend likely to continue. That isn't particularly new. “Media has historically been owned by non-media businesses,” Joe notes, going back to early radio and then cable systems owning TV networks. “The business of media has outsized influence but undersized monetization.” The result: “I don't know the media business works at scale without alternative models.” The "permission to curate" is powerful. In a world of near-infinite media choices, people need some way to make sense of what's good and what's bad. That's where trust comes into play. People can turn to algorithms like Google's or Facebook's to make sense of what's important to them, or they can turn to publishing brands and individual brands. “Brands matter for the curation of goods and services so that people don't have the paralysis of infinite choice,” Joe said. Not everything is performance advertising. With ample data, sophisticated targeting and analytics, it can sometimes seem that brand advertising is an anachronism as the media world shifts firmly to “performance advertising,” or what used to be known as direct response. “In a world where we have dynamic targeting and we know what each household is watching, the advertising experience is actually worse,” Joe said. “How did we get worse at advertising in a CTV advertising environment than broadcast television 40 years ago?”
Description: Today, Lee is joined by Sofia Laurell, the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Tiny Organics, an early childhood nutrition and wellness company that introduces babies and toddlers to their first 100 flavors through organic plant-based fresh, frozen meals. In this episode, Sofia shares her journey from growing up in Finland, to working at Deutsche Bank in New York and pursuing her master's degree at NYU, to becoming an entrepreneur in residence at Human Ventures Startup Studio. They talk about how they validated the concept for Tiny Organics, Sofia's nontraditional path to becoming an entrepreneur, and the challenges she faced in scaling the business.Exclusive Deals from Our Sponsors:Get 2 months FREE with Gorgias by clicking HERE and mentioning the podcastHead over to Okendo to get 30 days FREE!In This Episode You'll Hear About:(4:12) What it was like growing up in Finland as the youngest of three siblings(7:50) Her career journey before becoming an entrepreneur from working at a retail store to a coffee shop and why she's always valued hard work(14:00) Her first entrepreneurial idea of starting a travel app geared to New York visitors(20:00) How she and her Co-Founder came together for the idea of Tiny Organics(22:00) Her experience working with Human Ventures and why she valued working with them for their diverse stances(26:00) How they did a food journal with 15 moms and asked them to text what they were feeding their babies(28:00) How they validated the concept for Tiny Organics by testing meal flavors with 100 families in Brooklyn(34:00) The idea behind baby-led weaning and their choice to take a different option than what you see on the market(40:00) The challenges faced in scaling the business, and the obstacles in raising funds(50:50) Her final advice for fellow entrepreneurs, and the next steps for growing and scaling Tiny OrganicsTo Find Out More:https://www.tinyorganics.com/Quotes:“It's a myth that baby food can't be interesting flavors.”“Some of the best things happen at rooftop parties.”“We knew that we wanted to build something for parents, families, and babies, and really bring the important discussion to the forefront around family's health.”“We came together and realized we could have the biggest impact on childhood development through food.”“Document as much as you can, because you forget.”“I'm a big believer in incentivizing your early supporters and early believers.”“It's made fresh, and shipped frozen so the shelf life is much longer and there's no prep required.”“We really wanna just be a trusted friend and a trusted advocate.”“Ultimately what we want to do is make parent's lives easier, make children's lives healthier, and be accessible.”“Have people around you, you don't have to do it all yourself.”“Talk about your idea, wear crazy costumes, believe in yourself, build your networks. A lot of people have openness to new ideas, and this kind of mindset of encouraging different people on their journeys.”
The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing
Our guest today is Joe Marchese, who is a serial entrepreneur and has started a few VC funds including Human Ventures, Casa Komos, Groundswell, True X, Reserve and Attention Capital. His resume is pretty wild. Joe has alot of experience within marketing and advertising so on today's episode we're going to focus on how to approach marketing channels, what channels are still undervalued and maybe you can get more bang for your buck, and his approach to building brands and partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs. How did you get your start in media and advertising? What was your attraction to entrepreneurship as well as working with founders? What advertising channel is still underappreciated by brands? What's still misunderstood about media today? (follow on: talk about the Attention Economy.) How do you monetize attention? What's your approach to starting businesses? How did Human Ventures come together? When you are incubating companies at Human, what do first-time entrepreneurs misunderstand the most when it comes to growing their businesses? What's your diligence process when you're analyzing companies? Are there specific categories that you're currently deep in or intrigued by? What's one thing you would change about venture capital? What's one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?Probable impossibilities Life's Edge by Carl Zimmer What's the best piece of advice you've received?
Starting solids is one of the most exciting milestones for you and your baby. Whether you're serving up purees or following baby-led weaning, offering a wide variety of new flavors, tastes, and textures can lay the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating habits. When it comes to feeding baby solids, however, it's important that they're exposed to vegetables frequently and from the start which helps to foster a love for these foods and can go a long way in helping kids to be healthy, adventurous eaters now and throughout their lives. Rates of childhood obesity, type-2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are on the rise, and although there are many factors at play, diet is one of the best ways to prevent these conditions. In this episode, I sat down with Betsy Fore and Sofia Laurell, co-founders of Tiny Organics, an early childhood nutrition company on a mission to build a healthier generation of adventurous eaters with vegetable-first foods for babies and toddlers. Betsy, Sofia, and I talk about their backstories, why they started Tiny Organics, and their journey to launch a food business in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also talk about their veggie-first approach, their focus on real, whole foods and the flavor window of 4 to 7 months, and why comfort food can actually be savory. They also talk about what makes them different from other baby food solutions, how they are building valuable relationships with their customers and engaging them in their brand, and how they're changing the conversation around feeding baby solids without making moms feel any guilt or shame. Welcome 3:15 Let's talk about your stories! 10:00 Have you always been passionate about healthy eating and food? 11:56 Why did you start Tiny Organics? 21:55 What was one challenge that you think was a great learning lesson? 25:25 What can people expect when they become customers? 28:54 What is your direct-to-community approach? 32:57 What are your favorite tips for feeding little ones? 35:33 What is your and your children's favorite Tiny Organics meal? LINKS MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Sofia mentions Human Ventures. Sofia explains that Tiny Organics partners with the Food Bank for NYC. Betsy mentions that Brooklyn Decker is one of their investors. Betsy talks about the Tufts School Of Nutrition Science and Policy. Betsy mentions Michelle Obama and Partnership For a Healthier America. Learn more about Tiny Organics on their website. Follow Tiny Organics on Instagram and Facebook. FROM OUR PARTNERS Kids Cook Real Food eCourse The Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, created by a mom of 4 and a former elementary school teacher, is designed to build connection, confidence, and creativity in the kitchen. The course includes 30 basic cooking skills, 45 videos including several bonuses, printable supply and grocery shopping lists, and kid-friendly recipes. The course is designed for all kids ages 2 to teen and has three different skill levels. More than 18,000 families have taken the course and The Wall Street Journal named it the #1 cooking class for kids. Sign up now for the Kids Cook Real Food ecourse and get a free lesson for being a “Food Issues” listener. Thrive Market Thrive Market is an online membership-based market that has the highest quality, organic, non-GMO, healthy, and sustainable products. From groceries, clean beauty, safe supplements, and non-toxic home products to ethical meat, sustainable seafood, clean wine, and more, Thrive Market is where members save an average of $32 on every order! Through Thrive Gives, every paid membership sponsors a free one for a low-income family. Join Thrive Market today and get 25% off your first order and a free gift.
Dan talks with FirstMark Capital's Founder & Managing Director Rick Heitzmann and GGV Capital Managing Partner Jeff Richards on what advice they're giving portfolio companies to deal with intensifying economic uncertainty (3:54), why Jeff still has a positive business outlook (21:57), which under-the-radar tech stocks they think are good buys, and the most important attributes a founder should have right now (26:43), and if Elon Musk will ever go a bridge too far with customers & shareholders (33:57). Later, Dan talks with Human Ventures CEO Heather Hartnett about what's making New York City a growing center for venture capital (41:01), the “Hollywoodization” of startup founders (54:42), the challenges of finding the right talent (56:37), and why she's going big on philanthropy as a service (1:00:19). —- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan talks with FirstMark Capital's Founder & Managing Director Rick Heitzmann and GGV Capital Managing Partner Jeff Richards on what advice they're giving portfolio companies to deal with intensifying economic uncertainty (3:54), why Jeff still has a positive business outlook (21:57), which under-the-radar tech stocks they think are good buys, and the most important attributes a founder should have right now (26:43), and if Elon Musk will ever go a bridge too far with customers & shareholders (33:57). Later, Dan talks with Human Ventures CEO Heather Hartnett about what's making New York City a growing center for venture capital (41:01), the “Hollywoodization” of startup founders (54:42), the challenges of finding the right talent (56:37), and why she's going big on philanthropy as a service (1:00:19). —- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Today we will be talking with Alessandra Henderson, the Co-Founder and CEO of Elektra Health, the next-gen healthcare platform to smash the taboo surrounding menopause. Elektra health offers evidence-based education, care, and community for women going through various stages of menopause. Elektra Health has been featured in leading publications including Fast Company, Forbes, Techcrunch, and more with endorsements from prominent women like Katie Couric and Maria Shriver. Alessandra began her career at Artsy, building the content partner business. She then went on to found and serve as Executive Director of the MIT NYC Startup Studio and as VP of Network at Human Ventures. She has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a MBA from Sloan MIT, where she received the Martin Trust Community Fellow Award '16 and the Patrick J. McGovern, Jr Entrepreneurship Award '16. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theia-hc/support
Simon Yi is Co-founder and Head of Growth at Clam Island. He has over a decade of experience serving as a growth marketing expert for venture funds and startup studios including Consensys Mesh, Expa, Betaworks and Human Ventures. Simon also serves as a growth marketing advisor for startups, incubators and venture funds throughout New York City.In this conversation, we discuss:- VaynerMedia back in the day - Growth marketing tactics - Doxing teams - Finding users that have multiple ERC-721 wallets - Actionable marketing advice - Clam Island - DAOs not really being DAOs Clam IslandWebsite: clamisland.fiTwitter: @clam_islandDiscord: discord.gg/F4ak27n8ShSimon YiTwitter: @MysterYiLinkedIn: Simon Yi--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT. PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50
Do you have a small business, the seed of an idea, or a side hustle that you're hoping to expand? Then this episode is for you. We are delighted to welcome to THE FULLEST podcast our first venture fund guest, Heather Hartnett. Heather is a General Partner and CEO of Human Ventures, where she has created one of New York's premier startup studios and early-stage venture funds. Since launching under Heather's leadership, Human Ventures has invested in and co-built more than 50 companies — many of which you'll have heard of such as TheSkimm, Tiny Organics, and Tia Health. Outside of being completely knowledgeable in the space, Human Ventures has an interest in funding wellness and health focused companies – something that we admire greatly. She's also just a lovely human and generously shares her expertise and many wise words for entrepreneurs and founders looking to take their businesses to the next level.
Dan Nathan and Rick Heitzmann are joined by “On the Tape” co-host and CNBC “Fast Money” contributor Guy Adami to discuss volatility in the public markets (4:58), a hard reset on tech valuations (8:24), Later, Dan sits down with Joe Marchese of Human Ventures for a conversation about the state of VC (26:25). ---- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Dan Nathan and Rick Heitzmann are joined by “On the Tape” co-host and CNBC “Fast Money” contributor Guy Adami to discuss volatility in the public markets (4:58), a hard reset on tech valuations (8:24), Later, Dan sits down with Joe Marchese of Human Ventures for a conversation about the state of VC (26:25). ---- Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow Dan Nathan @RiskReversal on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page
Alessandra Henderson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Elektra Health, a next-gen women's health platform on a mission to smash the menopause taboo. Elektra empowers the 50M women in the US navigating menopause with evidence-based education, virtual care, and a supportive community. Prior to Elektra, Alessandra began her career in technology as the sixth employee at Artsy, where she built the content partner business from the ground up. From there, she went on to found and serve as Executive Director of the MIT NYC Startup Studio, and VP of Network at Human Ventures. She has been featured in leading publications including Fast Company, Forbes, Techcrunch, and more. She has also been a recipient of quite a few laurels like the Martin Trust Community Fellow Award '16 and the Patrick J. McGovern, Jr Entrepreneurship Award '16. Beyond the office, Alessandra is passionate about taboo-smashing, all things art, and supporting & elevating women. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE EPISODE 01:26 Alessandra explains the Elektra Health 03:23 Symptoms of Menopause and the challenges faced by women 06:07 Creating safe spaces for women to speak about their health 08:24 Having personal connections to your startup serves as a driving force 15:57 Entrepreneurs need to be in a constant state of evolution 17:03 How to build your team and starting out 23:17 Additional features of Elektra Health 31:29 Investing into your team is essential 36:10 Plans ahead for Elektra GOLDEN NUGGET FROM TODAY'S SHOW Alessandra says, “Understanding and paying attention to people and the level of interest and curiosity they bring to the table helps to build the right team and culture in any startup." CONNECT WITH ALESSANDRA Elektra Health - https://www.elektrahealth.com/ Connect with Alessandra on Twitter - @acphenderson Connect with Alessandra on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandrahenderson/ CONNECT WITH DANIELLE Danielle's Website - https://www.daniellegillespie.net/ Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellegillespie/ Email Danielle - dg@daniellegillespie.net Medium: https://medium.com/@dgillespie_irl Send A Text: +1 (412) 207-3851 Connect with Danielle to learn more about how the Ideas Last methodology can help you turn your product into a successful business venture, regardless of product stage: paper napkin, beta, V1, or established product already released into the wild. SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEAS LAST PODCAST Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ideas-last/id1579391101 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Fj8K2kEIm8RWNfYzgZs4L If you liked this episode, please don't forget to tune in, subscribe, and share this podcast! ABOUT THE IDEAS LAST PODCAST It has long been said that ideas are everything, especially in the startup world. But what if having a laser focus on your idea can actually hold your business back? In the Ideas Last podcast, Danielle Gillespie interviews startup founders, whose success came from obsessively, focusing on execution instead of ideation. Each episode dissects what it actually takes to build a long-lasting profitable startup, rather than simply launching - by putting your idea, last. Read more about the Ideas Last story - https://medium.com/@dgillespie_irl/ideas-last-a-new-way-to-startup-b94a585e35f5
Justin Gordon (justingordon212) talks with Heather Hartnett (@HeatherHartnett), General Partner and CEO of Human Ventures, where she and her team have created one of New York's premiere startup studios, incubators and early stage venture funds. Prior to founding Human, Heather's venture capital career spanned across various roles at firms including Lightspeed Venture Partners, CityLight Capital, and Claremont Creek Ventures. Previously, Heather led the development and operations at the David Lynch Foundation, where she worked with some of the country's largest family offices and investment institutions. She's a graduate of the Kauffman Fellowship Program and serves on the board of Transact Global, Trilantic Capital Partners Founder's Council, AARP's Innovation Council, and Summit Impact.Heather is active in the community, serving on the leadership board of tech: nyc and Transact Global. She has been listed as one of The 50 Most Influential Women in America by Hearst Digital Media Publications, is a frequent speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt, and is a regular contributor to Forbes, where she covers a range of venture capital topics.Website: Human VenturesLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/heatherhartnett/Twitter: @HeatherHartnettHeather's Forbes ContributionsHeather with Transact GlobalShow Notes: Human Ventures as a business creation platform How Heather and her partner Joe Marchese started as a startup studio in NYC and how it was received Where Human Ventures focuses their investments How they operationalize their network to build companies How Heather personally manages her network as an investor Being relationship driven and focusing on creating value How she evaluates founders' EQ Their Guide to Being Human Some highlights of Human Venture's portfolio companies Evaluating product vs. distribution Their Humans in the Wild entrepreneur in residence incubation program, born during the pandemic Heather's thoughts on building startup and VC ecosystems Transitioning from an operator to an investor Increasing diversity in VC More about the show:The Vitalize Podcast, a show by Vitalize Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 300+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at Vitalize Venture Capital, The Vitalize Podcast includes two main series. The Angel Investing series features interviews with a variety of angel investors and VCs around the world. The goal? To help develop the next generation of amazing investors. The Future of Work series takes a look at the founders and investors shaping the new world of work, including insights from our team here at Vitalize Venture Capital. More about us:Vitalize Venture Capital was formed in 2017 as a $16M seed-stage venture fund and now includes both a fund as well as an angel investing community investing in the future of work. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.The Vitalize Team:Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVC Caroline - https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_ Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212Vitalize Angels, our angel investing community open to everyone:https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/
Heather Hartnett, General Partner and CEO of Human Ventures, shares how she identifies ‘futurists' to back them until the market sees their value. Heather talks about supporting early-stage entrepreneurs through ‘Humans in the Wild' (the firm's business incubator) and explains how valuation affects a startup's future.In this episode, you'll learn:[3:40] Why VCs like to invest in ‘futurists'[9:29] How ‘Humans in the Wild' helps early-stage founders to transform raw ideas into the next big idea[13:48] Why should founders be mindful of which firms they choose to come into their earliest rounds?[17:33] The dangers of startup over-valuationNon-profit organization that Heather is passionate about: David Lynch FoundationAbout Guest SpeakerHeather Hartnett is the General Partner and CEO of Human Ventures. Under Heather's leadership, Human Ventures has invested in and co-built more than 30 companies, with key investments including Reserve (acquired), TheSkimm, Current, Tiny Organics and Clark (acquired).Prior to founding Human, Heather's venture capital career spanned across various roles at firms including Lightspeed Venture Partners, CityLight Capital, and Claremont Creek Ventures. She also led the development at David Lynch Foundation, crystalizing her professional expertise and operations with the largest family offices and sophisticated investment firms. Heather is a member of the Kauffman Fellows program and a frequent Forbes contributor on the topic of venture capital.About Human VenturesHuman Ventures is a New York City-based venture capital firm that invests in Model Businesses with ambitious founders who are creating and building innovative technology companies that aim to make life easier and more fulfilling. The firm comprises an early-stage fund and venture studio. Its portfolio includes: Paloma Health, The Muse, Tiny Organics, Current, AmbassCo, Bikky, Day One, Hello.me, Kindred, Lupii, Spora Health, Quantime and Tia.Next Week's EpisodeComing up next week in Episode 75, we welcome a special guest, Dan Rosen, Founder and General Partner at Commerce Ventures, to talk about fintech investing, and how fintech has evolved over the last two decades.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode that will drop next Tuesday. Follow Us: Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook
Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, talks about how he founded Precursor Ventures and why he is unafraid to back unproven first-time entrepreneurs. Charles gives useful tips for founders embarking on finding product-market fit, and shares his thoughts on bridge funding.In this episode, you'll learn:[3:57] Starting early in venture capital as an undergraduate; what you enjoy, and what you miss[8:49] Why Precursor is unafraid to back unproven, first-time entrepreneurs[11:50] $1m pre-seed funding can quickly vanish due to lack of clarity on the product-market fit.[16:26] How bridge funding can be helpful to entrepreneursNon-profit that Charles is passionate about: San Francisco-Marin Food BankAbout Guest SpeakerCharles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. For more than three decades, Charles has made seed-stage investments in startups in the internet and mobile spaces. Prior to founding Precursor, he identified investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces as a Partner at Uncork Capital. Before that, he co-founded Bionic Panda Games (a mobile games startup), held business development roles for Gaia Interactive, Google, and Serious Business, was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, and worked at In-Q-Tel, CIA's venture capital fund.About Precursor VenturesPrecursor Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that seeks to invest in a company's first round of institutional investment and focuses on investments in B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware. Precursor's portfolio includes: AnyRoad, Afriex, Arternal, Ascent Autism, Bloom, Bobbie, Documate, Nomad, Encantos, Healthie, Knack, Sagelink, and Zeta.Next Week's EpisodeComing up next week in Episode 74, we welcome a special guest, Heather Harnett, CEO and Founding Partner of Human Ventures, to talk about how she identifies ‘futurists' to back them until the market sees their value.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode that will drop next Tuesday. Follow Us: Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook
for founders, investing in other founders' success is key. today on read receipt i'm chatting with heather hartnett from human ventures, the venture platform that helps incubate, fund, and connect entrepreneurs to the resources they need.having come from a family where launching start-ups was the norm, hartnett has stellar instincts to help businesses grow and thrive.we talk meaningful networking, creating compound success, and what venture capitalists look for when deciding to believe in a business.
Maisha Leek was, at the time of this recording, a partner at Human Ventures, an NYC based venture capital firm and startup studio. Today, she's Managing Director at A/B Partners, a digital storytelling agency. On this episode, AfroTech's Will Lucas sits down with Maisha Leek to talk about the capitalism with heart, opportunity in flyover country, and distributed teams. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Learn more about other Black tech disruptors and innovators at AfroTech.com Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers.
My guest today is Heather Hartnett, CEO and founder of Human Ventures, an NYC-based venture firm founded in 2015 that leverages a very unique model that combines traditional fund investing with business creation and startup studio model in order to back and assist exceptional founders. Human Ventures has over $50M AUM, and has four exits including Reserve, Girlboss, and Clark.Prior to founding Human Ventures, Heather’s career spanned across roles at firms including CityLight Capital, and Claremont Creek Venture, and the David Lynch Foundation, where she worked with some of the country's largest family offices and investment institutions. Heather is a member of the Kauffman Fellows program and a frequent contributor to Forbes on the topic of venture capital. Get on the email list at ventureunlocked.substack.com
Today on Subscribing to Wellness we are joined by Isabelle Steichen and Allie Dempster, co-founders of Lupii. Isabelle and Allie are using the small but mighty lupini bean to disrupt the protein bar industry and provide consumers with a vegan, plant-based, sustainable, high-fiber, amino-packed protein bar offering. Allie was a former marketer at PepsiCo with a focus on innovation and transformation and after facing some challenging personal health conditions, became a holistic health and wellness junkie. Isabelle is a die-hard vegan and started Lupii after experiences at IfOnly, Sawyer, and as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Human Ventures. Lupii Fun Facts: 1) Lupii bars derive from the Lupini bean. Small in size but huge in function, the Lupini bean is originally from Europe and has the highest concentration of plant-based protein of any bean (higher than soy!) and is packed with fiber. On the environmental side, Lupini beans are great for soil health and require very little water usage 2) Lupii is coming off a hugely successful crowd fundraising reaching over 200K and over 550 investors! 3) Lupini beans are quite diverse and can be enjoyed plain, in salads, as hummus, as ice cream, and more. Lupii has an exciting innovation pipeline in the making 4) Isabelle and Allie are the dream team. Isabelle met with over 50 potential co-founders before finding Allie and their skill sets complement each other perfectly. Allie is a new mother and barely sleeps! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/subtowellness/support
In our most recent episode, Heather Hartnett, CEO and Founding Partner at Human Ventures Co., joins us to discuss her unique learning experience at Maharishi International University and her path into impact investing. She touches on the venture studio model at Human Ventures that focuses on ongoing founder support and shares her own observations on gender dynamics in VC.
The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing
My guest today is Heather Hartnett, CEO and General Partner at Human Ventures. Human Ventures is an early-stage venture studio and venture fund in NYC that backs and builds consumer technology companies. Some of their portfolio companies include Tiny Organics, Toucan, and On Deck. In this episode we discuss their Humans in the Wild program for founders, what is the human needs economy and how companies are building community.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to learn moreSome of the questions I ask Heather:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship and venture capital?How did Human Ventures come together?What is a venture studio?What makes an assumption reasonable? What are some examples?Why did you want to focus that early in a company's stage?Do you have specific themes you focus on?When building companies, there has been lots of chatter about needing to build a community. What does community mean to you?Does early signs of having a community mean that you are building a cult like brand?How does the fund tie into the studio?Walk me through your due diligence process.What are qualities you look for in founders?What are some of your favorite questions to ask founders?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have to founders?
Human Ventures is a business creation platform. We go beyond the business model and seek opportunities to build Model Businesses with ambitious founders who are innovating around Human Needs. By unlocking access to a powerful network of founders, investors and corporate partners, we are creating a blueprint for the future of business to be built on purpose.
Human Ventures is a business creation platform. We go beyond the business model and seek opportunities to build Model Businesses with ambitious founders who are innovating around Human Needs. By unlocking access to a powerful network of founders, investors and corporate partners, we are creating a blueprint for the future of business to be built on purpose.
Soraya Darabi is redefining venture capital by investing in undervalued, nonobvious founders who have something to prove and will make the world a better place because of it.Virginie Raphael is redefining venture capital by capitalizing on an emerging trend in fund structure innovation to better align founders and investors.Heather Hartnett is redefining venture capital by building a firm that resonates with a new wave of exceptional entrepreneurs.Learn more about Transact Global ›When Soraya Darabi, Virginie Raphael, and Heather Hartnett first met each other in 2018, they connected over their shared experiences of raising first-time funds as women in an industry that has long been dominated by men. All three women were emerging managers at their own respective funds: Soraya is a co-founder and general partner of TMV, an early-stage venture fund; Virginie is founder and managing partner of FullCircle, a preseed and seed-stage fund; and Heather is CEO and general partner of Human Ventures, a venture studio and fund.Alongside Alexia Bonatsos, founder of venture fund Dream Machine, and Marina Hadjipateras, Soraya's partner at TMV, the women began conducting weekly calls together that they jokingly referred to as “Transact” because of how transactional these meetings felt. They suspected that other women who were trying to raise their first funds would benefit from calls like these, and they soon formalized the conversations to include others who were interested.And just like that, Transact Global was born. Today, Transact is nearly 200 members strong and growing, with emerging managers from over 15 countries meeting together on a bi-weekly basis to share best practices, discover which LPs are allocating capital, and help each other move further and faster together. The women of Transact stay connected through a weekly newsletter, a Slack channel, a Whatsapp group chat, and fundraising pods.Learn more about TMV ›Learn more about FullCircle ›Learn more about Human Ventures ›
Andrew Hutton is the founder and CEO of Day One. Day One is pioneering how we educate and support entrepreneurs. With a program that is one part community membership and one part entrepreneurial bootcamp, Day One provides founders and future-founders the place to learn how to start, build and grow a business. Prior to founding Day One, Andrew was Chief Innovation Officer at Human Ventures, a startup studio in New York City. In his time at Human Andrew led the incubation and launch of startups like Tiny Organics, Paloma Health, LUPii and Milo. During the show we discuss: ● Why startups fail and how you can succeed ● Secret ingredients to become a successful entrepreneur ● The basic knowledge founders must-have ● Kind of skills should every founder work on improving ● Factors that affect the success of your business ● How to properly prepare for the launching of a startup business ● Common challenges of startup businesses ● How to know when you are ready to start your business ● What should founders expect in their first quarter ● Importance of evaluating your business performance ● How to properly evaluate your current performance Show resources: https://joindayone.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-hutton-3a030739/
An early-stage start-up, Britive, that brings privileged access control to a multi-cloud world, has announced a $10 million Series A. The investment was led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from previous investors, Upfront Ventures, and One Way Ventures. The company helps automate permission-ing across multiple cloud vendors, and software services, whether that involves a human or a machine, that is seeking permission. The company currently has 40 employees, a number that Britive expects to double, in the next 12 months, as they put this capital to work. Unbounce, a Vancouver start-up known for helping marketers create automated landing pages, announced that it has acquired Snazzy dot AI, an early-stage automated copywriting start-up. Unbounce's Chief Strategy Officer, Tamara Grominsky, says that her company focuses on helping customers convert their customers into sales, and with Snazzy, it gets some pretty nifty technology, based on GPT-3 artificial intelligence technology. The product is aimed at the marketing generalist, charged with overseeing landing pages, and who is responsible for a range of tasks including writing copy. Upstream, a new professional networking platform, just closed a $2.75 million seed round, bringing their total raised to $3.25 million. The round was led by Ibex Investors, and managing partner Nicole Priel. The investment also includes participation from 8-Bit Capital, Human Ventures, NYVP, Converge Venture Partners, and a few angel investors. Unlike LinkedIn, Upstream focuses on generating meaningful connections between its members, and one way they go about it, is by hosting digital events, that start with a speaker, followed by breakout matched sessions, that are five minutes each.Fintech start-up Pipe, which aims to be the “Nasdaq for revenue” had raised $150 million in a round of funding that was closed in March. Now, the Miami-based Start-up confirms that it has actually raised, $250 million at a $2 billion valuation in a round that was massively oversubscribed. More than 4,000 companies have signed up on the Pipe trading platform since its public launch in June 2020, with just over 1,000 of those signing up since its March raise. Pipe's platform assesses a customer's key metrics, by integrating with its accounting, payment processing, and banking systems. It then instantly rates the performance of the business and qualifies them for a trading limit. Forecast, a start-up that uses artificial intelligence to both reads, and integrates data from different enterprise applications, to build a bigger picture of the project, and potential outcomes have raised $19 million. Headquartered in London, the company plans to use some of the funding to expand to the U.S., and some to continue building out its platform and business. This funding, a Series A, comes less than a year after the start-up's commercial launch, and it was led by Balderton Capital, with previous investors Crane Ventures Partners, SEED Capital, and Heartcore also participating. Düsseldorf-based prop-tech start-up, Dabbel, is using AI to drive energy efficiency savings in commercial buildings. It's developed cloud-based self-learning building management software, that plugs into the existing building management systems, taking over control of heating and cooling systems, in a way that's more dynamic than legacy systems, based on fixed set-point resets. Dabbel says its AI considers factors such as building orientation, and thermal insulation, and reviews calibration decisions every five minutes, meaning it can respond dynamically to changes in outdoor and indoor conditions. Founded in 2018, the start-up claims this approach of layering AI-powered predictive modeling, atop legacy BMS to power next-gen building automation, is able to generate substantial energy savings, touting reductions in energy consumption of up to 40%. European start-up studio, e-Founders states that the portfolio companies have reached a valuation of $2 billion together — only 18 months after reaching $1 billion. E-Founders says it is focused on building the future of work. In practical terms, it means the company is building B2B SaaS start-ups, with a focus on productivity, and workflows. For instance, Front, Aircall, and Spendesk all started with e-Founders. When e-Founders comes up with a new project, they act as a sort of third co-founder. The start-up studio tries to find a CEO and a CTO. In exchange for a third of equity, the e-Founders core team helps take the project off the ground. When the start-up raises a seed round, e-Founders move on from day-to-day activities and focuses on new projects. And it has been working well. With 30 portfolio companies, there are now 1,500 people working for an e-Founders-backed company. Combined, they generate $131 million in annual recurring revenue.
A discussion on ideation, validation and passion – with Andrew Hutton, CEO and Co-founder of Day One, and Heather Hartnett, CEO and Founding Partner of Human Ventures.
74. In How to Build a Default Alive Business: The Different Types of Entrepreneurship, Andrew Hutton, the CEO & Founder of Day One, joins host William Glass to discuss the different types of entrepreneurship and how to decide which is right for you. Key Takeaways Accelerators have moved upstream Defining a default alive business and why you should aim to be default alive The different flavors of entrepreneurship What it means to be a maker, creator, builder, hacker, innovator, content creator, etc. You’ll learn why accelerators like Y-combinator & TechStars are increasingly out of reach for early-stage companies and why their business model may not be an ideal fit for your business. One of the most insightful takeaways is the notion of a default alive business and why no matter what flavor of business you build this is the most ideal state. Andrew Hutton: Andrew is the founder and CEO of Day One, a company that is creating the future of entrepreneurial education and support. Day One's flagship program, our Fellowship, is a 10-week program designed for early-stage founders to level up as entrepreneurs and accelerate their business through mentorship, step-by-step playbooks, and a tight-knit community. Before founding Day One, Andrew was Chief Innovation Officer at Human Ventures, a startup studio based in New York City, where he launched a dozen new startups over a 3 year period. https://ww.joindayone.com https://twitter.com/AWHutton https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-hutton-3a030739/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for information only. Always seek professional investing and legal advice. __ Visit SiliconAlleyPodcast.com - Instagram: http://bit.ly/SIliconAlleyIG - LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/SiliconAlleyLI - YouTube: http://bit.ly/SiliconAlleyYouTube Theme music is Million Voices by Brett Miller - www.brettmillerofficial.com Ostrich is a personal finance app that uses the power of positive social accountability to help you define, set, & achieve your financial goals. Sign Up for Ostrich at https://www.getostrich.com Silicon Alley is a Financial Glass Production --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/silicon-alley/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/silicon-alley/support
In this podcast, Paul interviews Jesse Morris, General Partner at Human Ventures, Inc. He is also the fraternal twin to Paul, an amazing brother born on the spectrum. Paul and Jesse discuss the following: The amazing story of Jesse and his 3 siblings, including Paul The evolution of his relationship with his brother over the years What Dads need to hear about being the sibling of a child with ASD How can Dads support both their neurodiverse and neurotypical children? Show notes: Andrew Horn & the Junto info Andrew Horn - Social Entrepreneur | Men's Life Coach | Podcast Host
I'm very excited to have Andrew Hutton on the show with me today Andrew was a former adjunct professor at Parsons school of design in New York, he was a principal design strategist Accenture and the head of business design at Human Ventures he is currently the founder and CEO of Day One which is a cohort based program for entrepreneurs and idea stage startups. What I really resonate with about Day One is that it's not just focused on helping entrepreneurs that have their sites set on vc funding, it's really about starting businesses and creating livelihoods and about getting into the right mindsets that are really tantamount to success and longevity as a business owner or running a business and those are some of the things we dive into on the show.
EP #168 - What Makes A Great StartUp with Andrew Hutton Join Alex as he discusses along with Andrew Hutton all about being a sucessful entrepreneur and how to create a great startup. Andrew is the Founder and CEO of Day One, a fellowship for early-stage founders who are on the journey from zero to one. Before founding Day One, Andrew was the Chief Innovation Officer at Human Ventures, a startup studio in New York City that has built and invested in businesses worth north of $1B In this episode we discuss: - How the Day One Incubator, Accelerator Program was born - The creative process and solving real-world problems - Innovation - What makes a successful entrepreneur: 1)They control the inputs, the market controls the outputs. 2)They chop wood 3)They are curious and rigorous 4)They trust but verify 5)They question their own dreams - What makes a great StartUp - How the Day One program works and is successful You can connect with Andrew Hutton here: Facebook: @joindayone Twitter: @DayOneD1 Website: www.joindayone.com Email: andrew@joindayone.com BONUS gift by Andrew: - Join an upcoming Day One cohort for 15% off by using code DREAM15! You can connect with Alex Terranova here: Instagram: @InspirationalAlex Website: www.TheDreamMason.com Email: Alex@TheDreamMason.com Remember, You are a DreamMason®… Because Your Dreams Don't Build Themselves. Alex Terranova is a DreamMason, the author of Fictional Authenticity, a Personal & Professional Performance Coach, and he Hosts The DreamMason Podcast, Flip the Lens & Co-Hosts The Coaching Show Podcast. He supports strong & successful high achievers to unmask convention, embrace the rebel within them, and more deeply explore the complex and agitated edges of our existence to create more clarity, freedom, and success. Alex has been featured on NBC, Fox, Focus TV's Good Morning LaLa Land, NBC Radio, Elephant Journal, The University of Adversity Podcast, The Unleash Success Podcast, The Rising Man Podcast, The Sovereign Society Podcast, Love Living Radio, and an episode of The Villain Crusher.
Megan O’Connor is serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Kaplan, one of the world’s largest and most diversified educational services providers. She is currently spearheading development of Kaplan’s new Boost program, designed for pre-college students to help bridge the gap between the college experience and work readiness. Prior to joining Kaplan, Megan founded, led and sold Clark, a provider of end-to-end operation software, education services and coaching for teachers who want to grow their tutoring business. Before Clark, Megan was a founding partner of New York-based startup studio Human Ventures and Director of Development at the nonprofit Pencils of Promise. Megan has an MPA from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service and a BA from Santa Clara University. Join us on the Parent Corner January 13, 2021 at 1pmET/10amPT and then in #podcast. Connect with Megan on Twitter, LinkedIn and find out Boost at BoostbyKaplan.com. Please follow #WordofMom on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and email us at info.wordofmomradio@gmail.com. Thanks to our sponors Safety Bags, StadiumBags.com, NoSuchThingasaBully.com and Smith Sisters Bluegrass for our theme song, She is You! #WordofMomRadio ~ Sharing the wisdom of women, in business and in life.
Today's guest Andrew Hutton is the founder and CEO of "Day One". Day One is pioneering how we educate and support entrepreneurs. With a program that is one part community membership and one part entrepreneurial bootcamp, Day One provides founders and future-founders the place to learn how to start, build and grow a business. Prior to founding Day One, Andrew was Chief Innovation Officer at Human Ventures, a startup studio in New York City. In this episode we discuss: - How Andrew learnt all the details about building businesses. - Start-up's require the most altitude shifting right brain and left brain thinking at the same time. - He considers himself "the student of entrepreneurial process". - His first job he took up was in Uganda, Africa helping a friend running a small business and it was the best decision but was the hardest where he learnt that entrepreneurial journey is failing forward. He not only survived but he also pushed through in many ways which was a formative thing for him as a young professional. - When you are an entrepreneur the outputs matter more than the inputs vs any other professions. It is hard to control, you could do everything right and still fail. - The narratives of successful entrepreneurs on Social Media is not normal. Especially once that makes it look easy! - Not every business fails or succeeds easily but the truth is entrepreneurs give up easily or too soon. Entrepreneurs need to find more sustainable paths. - Three things one must consider before starting a business 1. Sustainability 2. Know what you want (you might not need venture capital for your business) 3. Go hard into your business idea, dive deep into it. Don't be a wonderpreneur. - Risks are completely normal in business, there will be failures but you should still take the risks. What's important is to recognize how to move forward when you fail. - Venture Capital Industry is a different ball game. There is risk involved when people are investing in an idea they are not sure if the business will succeed or fail but they still do it. - Marginally VC industry is small compare to self funded companies or businesses. All this and much much much more from Andrew Hutton. Listen to the FULL EPISODE and please leave us your reviews as it means the world to us. To get in contact with Andrew Hutton find him at: https://www.joindayone.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-hutton-3a030739/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE HOST: I am your host Kajal Khurana - KK, Author of best selling book on Amazon, Mindset & Health Coach, Nutritionist and a Reiki Healer. I am very passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve their desired goals faster by using tools and techniques which will help them stay energized, focused so they can feel good with their body and mind and make better business decisions. If you enjoyed the episode, if it helped you in any way, or if you had ONE aha moment, please let me know, hit the subscribe button, rate the show and leave me a review. You will make my day :). My new book is launched on amazon here is the link please grab your copy http://mybook.to/whymefirst Get the 5 hacks to escape burnouts, including free weekly planner and a bonus of free 30 minutes consultation call with me, all inside the ebook: https://bit.ly/2yfhjIH Let me know what topics you want me to cover in my future episodes at info@bodymindsolution.com Or visit my website: https://bodymindsolution.com
Heather Hartnett is the founder and CEO of Human Ventures, an early-stage venture studio that backs and builds consumer technology companies. She was named one of the '50 Most Influential Women in America' by Marie Claire, The Information has referred to her as 'the new breed of VC,' and Business Insider has pointed to Human as the first female-led startup studio. Prior to Human Ventures, Heather incubated companies with City Light Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in companies seeking to generate measurable social and environmental impact. She serves on the leadership council for tech:nyc and is a mentor to the NYC MIT Startup Studio and 1776. She's also a contributor to Forbes and serves on the Board of Directors of the David Lynch Foundation. Heather joins us to talk about the qualities that make a great entrepreneur, how from an early age, transcendental meditation has impacted her life, and how she and the team at Human Ventures foresee the future of work. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers
Day One is designed to help founders navigate the formative stages of building a business by helping them meet co-founders, find product-market fit and build momentum for their launch.Before founding Day One, Andrew was the Chief Innovation Officer at Human Ventures, a startup studio and $50m venture fund. In 3 years, Andrew helped launch 10 startups, working with some of the world’s most talented entrepreneurs.Andrew has an M.S. from Parsons School of Design where he was an adjunct faculty member.Learn More: www.joindayone.comInfluential Influencers with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-andrew-hutton-founder-and-ceo-of-day-one-a-fellowship-for-early-stage-founders
Day One is designed to help founders navigate the formative stages of building a business by helping them meet co-founders, find product-market fit and build momentum for their launch.Before founding Day One, Andrew was the Chief Innovation Officer at Human Ventures, a startup studio and $50m venture fund. In 3 years, Andrew helped launch 10 startups, working with some of the world’s most talented entrepreneurs.Andrew has an M.S. from Parsons School of Design where he was an adjunct faculty member.Learn More: www.joindayone.comInfluential Influencers with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-andrew-hutton-founder-and-ceo-of-day-one-a-fellowship-for-early-stage-founders
Joe Marchese, media exec and multiple time co-founder of CKBG, Human Ventures, true[X], and Attention Capital, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- How he got to where he is and the thread that runs through his career.- What tech and startup people don’t appreciate about TV advertising.- What he’s trying to do with Attention Capital.- What people predicted in the space several years ago and why they didn't come to pass.- What he expects the landscape to look like for media and attention in the next ten years.- How a post-COVID world will be different than the pre-COVID world.- The idea of a purpose economy.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup
Nyssa's Mia Clarke speaks to Alessandra Henderson, CEO and co-founder of Elektra Health.Elektra is a new platform for women navigating hormonal health, starting with perimenopause and menopause. Alessandra and her team are building an integrative healthcare solution that is breaking the menopause taboo by providing women with access to leading specialists, evidence-based programs, and a community of women facing similar questions.Alessandra is an operator, (occasional) angel investor, and educator who is passionate about taboos, women's health and the intersection of art and science. She was formerly at Human Ventures, MIT NYC Startup Studio and Artsy.You can read more about Alessandra and Elektra here and here. Do you have questions you'd like Nyssa to explore with our network of experts? Stories that you'd like to share? Leave us a message at (336) HI-NYSSA or e-mail us at hello@nyssacare.com.
Today's guest on the EdTech Startup Show is Megan O'Connor. Megan O'Connor is serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Kaplan, one of the world's largest and most diversified educational services providers. She is currently spearheading development of Kaplan's new Boost program, designed for pre-college students to help bridge the gap between the college experience and work readiness. Prior to joining Kaplan, Megan founded, led and sold Clark, a provider of end-to-end operation software, education services and coaching for teachers who want to grow their tutoring business. Before Clark, Megan was a founding partner of New York-based startup studio Human Ventures and Director of Development at the nonprofit Pencils of Promise. She has an MPA from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service and a BA from Santa Clara University.
Megan O’Connor is an entrepreneur that enjoys solving complex problems with a societal impact, especially related to education or the future of work. As the founder of Clark (acquired by Noodle), Megan set out to provide educators with the economic opportunities they deserve by giving them tools to start tutoring businesses. Under her leadership as CEO, Clark served thousands of educators and raised funding from Lightspeed Ventures Partners, Winklevoss Capital, Rethink Education, Foundation Capital and more. Before Clark, Megan was a founding partner of New York-based startup studio Human Ventures and Director of Development at the nonprofit Pencils of Promise. Currently Megan is serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Kaplan, one of the world’s largest and most diverse education providers.In this episode, Megan reveals what inspires her work in the educational realm. Stay tuned as we discuss how higher education is changing because of COVID. Plus, Megan predicts the future of online education and how college will evolve. Find Megan O’ConnorLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganmoconnor/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganmoc/Twitter: https://twitter.com/meganmoconnorBoost by Kaplan: https://boostbykaplan.com/
College is one of the biggest investments that families make, and yet many students spend much of their time in college figuring out what they want to do. There's very little time between high school and college to explore career interests. 30% of undergrads change their major at least once within three years of initial enrollment. 40% of bachelors' degree holders would study a different major if they had to do it all over again. Megan O'Connor is serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Kaplan, one of the world's largest and most diversified educational services providers. She is currently spearheading development of Kaplan's new Boost program, designed for pre-college students to help bridge the gap between the college experience and work readiness. Prior to joining Kaplan, Megan founded, led and sold Clark, a provider of end-to-end operation software, education services and coaching for teachers who want to grow their tutoring business. Before Clark, Megan was a founding partner of New York-based startup studio Human Ventures and Director of Development at the nonprofit Pencils of Promise. She has an MPA from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service and a BA from Santa Clara University. To find out more about Megan O'Connor visit: https://www.boostbykaplan.com More about Houston Money Week visit: www.Houstonmoneyweek.org http://www.cheatsheet.com/personal-fi… Financial Advisor Magazine Articles: http://www.fa-mag.com/news/advisors-s… http://www.fa-mag.com/news/on-it-s-80… You can listen live by going to www.kpft.org and clicking on the HD3 tab. You can also listen to this episode and others by podcast at: http://directory.libsyn.com/shows/vie… or www.moneymatterspodcast.com #moneymatters #christopherhensley #houston #texas #KPFT #HoustonMoneyWeek #finance #financialliteracy #education
I have a great conversation with Heather Hartnett of Human Ventures in Manhattan. They invest in the ‘human needs economy’ - health, wellness and the future of work. Guest - Heather Hartnett, CEO and Founding Partner at Human Ventures howardlindzon.com, human.vc Twitter: @howardlindzon, @HeatherHartnett, @knutjensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance
I have a great conversation with Heather Hartnett of Human Ventures in Manhattan. They invest in the ‘human needs economy’ - health, wellness and the future of work. Guest - Heather Hartnett, CEO and Founding Partner at Human Ventures howardlindzon.com, human.vc Twitter: @howardlindzon, @HeatherHartnett, @knutjensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance
The COVID-19 continues to upend all of our assumptions about education, particularly in regard to advancing directly from high school to college. What other options exist when even traditional “pause” activities aren’t viable? Amy and Mike invited entrepreneur Megan O'Connor to discuss gap year alternatives during COVID. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why might a student be wise to pause before entering college? How does the COVID-19 crisis impact college options? What options should students consider over enrolling in a four-year school? How can a structured work readiness program benefit college-aged students? Why can non-linear paths sometimes lead most swiftly to one’s goals? MEET OUR GUEST Megan O’Connor is serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Kaplan, one of the world’s largest and most diversified educational services providers. She is currently spearheading development of Kaplan’s new Boost Year program, designed for pre-college students to help bridge the gap between the college experience and work readiness. Prior to joining Kaplan, Megan founded, led and sold Clark, a provider of end-to-end operation software, education services and coaching for teachers who want to grow their tutoring business. Before Clark, Megan was a founding partner of New York-based startup studio Human Ventures and Director of Development at the nonprofit Pencils of Promise. She has an MPA from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service and a BA from Santa Clara University. Find Megan on LinkedIn. LINKS https://boostbykaplan.com/ RELATED EPISODES WHY TAKE A GAP YEAR? COLLEGE ADMISSIONS DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC UPSIDE OF A SEMESTER ONLINE ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.
Joe Marchese is the Executive Chairman and lead investor in Human Ventures. Joe serves as president of Advanced Advertising Products at Fox Networks Group, where he leads operations in non-linear advertising products and services for 21st Century Fox's global portfolio of channels.
Today I am speaking with Isabelle Steichen. Isabelle Steichen grew up in Luxembourg and moved from Europe to the US in 2013. She also transitioned to a plant based diet the same year and her decision was driven by ethical, environmental and heath reasons. As a long time passionate vegan, certified in plant based nutrition from e-Cornell, as well as the founder of the Plantiful Podcast, she is now combining her startup background with her desire to spread plant based eating with her new business Lupii. Lupii is here to help people live plantiful lives through the power of the small-but-mighty lupini bean, which is not only good for humans but also for mama nature. www.getlupii.comThis series features conversations I conducted with individuals who have dedicated their work and lives to Vegan research, businesses, art, and society. This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media. TRANSCRIPTION* Please note this is an automated transcription, please excuse any errors or typos [00:00:00] In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down with founder, certified plant based nutritionists and podcasters Isabella Steichen key points addressed where Isabella's company, Lupi, a company producing products based on the powerful Lapine Bean. Isabella and I also discussed the various terms and subsequent conditions involved in the plant based food industries and how this translates to the current state of the worldwide covered 19 pandemic. Stay tuned for my fascinating chat with Isabella Steichen. [00:00:39] My name is Patricia Kathleen. And this series features interviews and conversations I conduct with experts from food and fashion to tech and agriculture, from medicine and science to health and humanitarian arenas. The dialog captured here is part of our ongoing effort to host transparent and honest rhetoric. For those of you who, like myself, find great value in hearing the expertize and opinions of individuals who have dedicated their work and lives to their ideals. If you're enjoying these podcasts, be sure to check out our subsequent series that dove deep into specific areas such as founders and entrepreneurs. Fasting and roundtable topics they can be found on our Web site. Patricia Kathleen ICOM, where you can also join our newsletter. You can also subscribe to all of our series on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Pod Being and YouTube. Thanks for listening. Now let's start the conversation. [00:01:36] Hi, everyone, and welcome back. I'm your host, Patricia. [00:01:38] And today I'm sitting down with Isabella Steichen. She's the founder, a certified plant based nutritionist and podcast. Or you can find out more about the information we talk about today. And her company on Get Lupi dot com. That is g. T. L. You p. I dot com. Welcome, Isabel. [00:01:56] Hey, it's nice to be here. I'm excited. Thank you for having me. [00:01:59] Absolutely. I'm excited to talk to you as well. I like your company. We talked off the record briefly about it. The Web site presence and everything else. I think it's really cool what you're doing with it and for everyone listening. I will read a quick bio on his web before I do that. A roadmap of today's podcast, in case you would like to forecast the trajectory of our rhetoric. We'll first be looking at Isabelle's academic and professional background and personal plant based journey leading up to launching her company. And then we will directly turn into unpacking Lupi and the plant. It's a plant based protein for planet based people. The company itself has products will unpack that. We'll also get into the logistics of the who, what, when, where, how and why for all of you nerdy entrepreneurs and founders out there that care about those back end deals. And then we will also look at the ethos of the company and the impetus for launching it. And within that, we'll look at rhetoric regarding the responsibility, environmentally stable questions, as well as the questions we're getting. The pandemic of covered 19 and how those interplay with a lot of the ethos around companies like this. And then we'll wrap everything up with goals that the company and Isabella herself is looking to towards for the next one to three years. As promised, a quick bio on Isabel before I start prepping, peppering her with questions. Isabel Steichen grew up in Luxembourg and moved from Europe to the US in 2013. She also transition to a plant based diet. The same year. And her decision was driven by ethical, environmental and health reasons. Since moving to New York City, Isabelle worked closely with founding teams for various early stage RBC backed startups in the food and tech space. Her first role was at Kitchen Surfing and on Demand Chef Service Startup, where she launched the business in new markets and scaled the OnDemand chef team. Most recently, Isabelle ran the operations and customer service team at SOYER, a Brooklyn based education software company. As a longtime, passionate Vegan certified in plant based nutrition from Cornell, as well as the founder of the Plentiful podcast, she is now combining her startup background with her desire to spread plant based eating with her new business. Loopy Loopy is here to help people live. Plant four lives through their power of the small but mighty Lapine Bean, which is not only good for humans but also for momma nature. So and again, the website is Get Lupi dot com. [00:04:31] So Isabelle, before we launch into Get Lupi, I'm hoping that you can kind of draw us an academic background and early professional life as well as like your plant Vaisse journey and how that all kind of led you into launching Get Lupi. [00:04:52] Yeah, totally. So as you mentioned earlier, I actually grew up in Luxembourg, which is a small little country in Europe, and went to elementary and high school there. And then I moved to France to go and get an undergrad degree. And then also I went to grad school in France. So I studied political science and econ during undergrad. And I actually did a study abroad here in the United States during undergrad. I went to Hamilton College, which is a small liberal arts school upstate New York. So I got kind of a feel for this state then for American education while I was there. [00:05:32] And then I decided to go back to Paris and pursue a master's degree in urban planning. And so urban planning is like all about city design and thinking about how people behave and live in urban spaces and knowing that, you know, the world is moving towards more urbanization. That was something that I was always really interested. I'm passionate about and thinking about cities from a holistic perspective. And so that's what I went to school for. And then I ended up moving to the states in 2013. So right when I finished grad school, that was motivated by the fact that I had met my husband's undergrad. When I studied abroad of Hamilton, I met him. He's American. He went to school here. We started dating. And we did long distance for a while. [00:06:20] And then I you know, I had studied urban planning and had actually specialized on North American cities. So it felt like moving to New York was a great way for me to bring or kind of start my professional career, but also be with the person who I love. And so I ended up moving here and I worked in urban planning for about a year or so. I worked for a nonprofit that was managing one of the neighborhoods around Bryant Park, as well as the park itself. And I really loved the team there and I loved the mission. But I felt I felt that I wanted something very different. And I had a few friends that were working for startups. And so I started getting really curious about that. You know, the education space in Europe is different, but also the professional space when it comes to startups innovation. It's just very different. I think it's very much based on how kids are raised in Europe. And I think there's just maybe different incentives around innovation, but it's just not as evolved as it is in the States. And so I was very intrigued by that. [00:07:27] And I ended up getting my first job at an early stage tech food startup called Kitchen Surfing, as you mentioned in the bio. It was. Did the service change the business more? I mean, to change the business model a few times. But it was in a nutshell, like an On-Demand chef service. So we were basically deploying chefs on a weekly night and sending them to people's homes and having them cook meals there with like 30, 40 minutes and then move on to the next person's home. So it was this really interesting tech enabled food startup that was very specific to the New York City market, actually, because nowhere else, I think, in the world. Is there a need for like this, like rapid service that that exists in New York. So was there for a while and helped to scale the team and expand the business into new markets. And really, I would say that was I called the startup bucket there because I really loved being part of the early stage team. I loved how I saw that anything and everything I was doing had a direct impact on the outcome of the business and the trajectory of the business. And I was employee, I think there were seven or eight there. [00:08:37] And so I saw the team grow and double and triple in size and move from like a townhouse and go like Brooklyn, which is very far from Manhattan to, you know, a fancy office in Soho. And so really saw the company go through very different stages. [00:08:55] And that really made me so much more excited even about being part of a startup. And just seeing the direct impact of your work on an everyday basis like that. And so I ended up spending my career on the last year years for various different startups, mostly actually in the tech space. And most recently I was with Sawyer, which is an amazing online platform and software company for education businesses. And I learned a ton about product development and tech and coding and things like that that I never thought I would ever be exposed to. [00:09:34] And so I think that would be the second piece that I love about startups is that, you know, you get hired for a specific role, but really you do a lot of different things and you grow in two different roles throughout the life span of the company and really evolve and learn new skills. And that's something that. I truly appreciate. I like the fact that you can really acquire very new skill sets when you're exposed to things that, you know, just come up like they do in a startup. Well, you have to be nimble and adapt and have a growth mindset. And so. Yeah. So that's a little bit about my my professional background in a nutshell. And then you asked about my plan based journey. And I think it's very much linked to my whole trajectory, especially since I moved to the States. I decide to go Vegan when I moved here. And it wasn't coincidental in the sense that I had been playing or playing with the thought of totally cutting out animal products for a while. [00:10:37] But I grew up in a I wouldn't say very traditional European family. And I had a French grandmother and cheese was an essential part of our culture. And so where a lot of meat dishes. But I personally always struggled with the concept of eating animals and why we were making a distinction between the animals that we loved, like our dogs and cats and the animals that we did end up on our plate. And so I always wanted to be vegetarian or be getting. But growing up with my family, that just was not an option. And then when I moved out from home to France for undergrad and grad school, I pretty much was vegetarian because I was cooking for myself. And then I started just getting more and more into researching, you know, the sustainability aspects and the economic aspects of animal agriculture and realized that especially in the states, it's a it's a you know, it's up a scale that is just very hard. In terms of animal ethics. [00:11:40] And so I put all of that together and I decided to go vegan when I move to New York because I felt culturally more free to express that part of my identity in a in a city that is so diverse and so open minded, where so many people follow different diets. There was no judgment associated to me eating plant based or being Vegan. And so took that leap. And then I really went on a journey, I want to say, because I started learning more and more about it and I started this podcast is like a side project to my full time job. And my husband, who, you know, is grew up in a very traditional American diet, ended up going vegan a few years ago, totally kind of motivated by by by himself coming coming to it more from the health angle. And so I ended up doing a plant based nutrition certification to learn more about plant based eating and health and put all of that together. I realized that, you know, one of the things that I want to do is how people empower them to make more mindful choices when it comes to our food, mindful choices for themselves, for their health, but also for the environment and the sustainability of our planet. And so it all kind of came together and culminated with me launching Lupi because I was able to bring my startup background, an early, early stage company background, and combine that with this deep passion that I have for her to plan a space. [00:13:12] Yeah, well, so here in lies. I always wait for my guests to drop it first. I try to see how long I can go. But you did enter into mix the two terms and you said that, you know, you became Vegan. [00:13:26] And I always use the term plant based, particularly with people who have companies such as yourself, because that seems to be the chosen term. But before we get into any more dialog about how the two of us see or don't see the term, similarly, how do you define Vegan and how do you define plant based? [00:13:44] Yeah, that's a great question. So I would call Lupi a plant based company, because we are making foods out of plants and we are not here to prescribe any ethical convictions on people. I do think that veganism has an ethical connotation. And I would refer to myself as being an ethical vegan in the sense that I'm trying to avoid plen animal based products in all areas of my life. So I don't wear leather or wool and I don't eat any animal products. And that's very important to me. On a personal level. But that I feel is very much a personal choice. And what we do with Lupi is help people who are trying to eat more clients, include more plants in a sustainable way into their diets. And so I think that's where I see the distinction. I see that there is an ethical connotation of veganism and a more healthy connotation of plant based eating. I am both right. I'm a fan base leader. I care about it for health perspectives. But I also from a health perspective. But I'm also vegan. I want to add here that these terms and terminology can be problematic at times because it seems very binary. It seems like, you know, my co-founder, Ali, always talks about how she like I actually don't want a label because I find that limiting the sentence. And I think she's very right about that, because I think you need to think about this as a spectrum and not as a binary choice. And so I think what turns a lot of people off is when you hear Vegan, you think you have to be like militant or do everything in a prescribed way. And I just don't think that that is what veganism should be about or plumpness eating should be about. [00:15:35] Yeah. And likewise, on the other end of that pendulum is people who feel comforted by the umbrella. You know, plant bases become one of the top 10 key marketing terms for every industry, like fortified with vitamin D was in the 80s, you know, and so people are saying things are plant based on their label if it has any kind of a vegetable in it. [00:15:56] And it could be a product that is strictly not Vegan. And worse, it could have preservatives. It's starting to become this very wishy washy, untrustworthy term. And so I think it's it's it's cool for me because I love the opportunity to make people redefine themselves and to look into how people are defining their terms. And it's causing a lot of questions to come out. And so and I didn't you know, having one term to describe 16 things is really complicated. So having Vegan plant based in 50 more doesn't bug me. But not having people question or define themselves, I think is where a lot of the inconsistencies are coming from. So I'm glad that you did. And since you used Lupi as an example, let's kind of climb into what it is you and I talked about my first observations when I hit your website. I was, you know, immediately presented with iconography and we call it art back in the day. But pictures and photographs that for me had this kind of throwback feel to the 70s, you have a great deal of representation of different ethnic groups and generations and things like that. And it's all based around this product that you have. So can you start off by telling us what the products are that you create and then we'll get into the logistics of the company? [00:17:15] Yeah, totally. Yeah. So. So Lupi is here to help people live plant for life. So whatever that means for you, no matter if you're trying to be 100, some plant base or if you're just dabbling. We want to be here for you and we want to be inclusive in that way. And so I think when you point out how the website speaks to you from this inclusiveness perspective, I think that's something that feels really that we feel very strongly about, is that we don't want to alienate people and we want to meet people where they are. We launched Lupi in January. So we are we are celebrating company and we launched our first suite of products, which are two would be bite's. [00:17:53] And so to be by it's this little scrap or Secombe in three different flavors currently taking your lemon cranberry peanut butter counted and with better cinnamon raisin or the three different flavors. [00:18:05] And that's the first product of hopefully many. So how we see Lupi is we see it as a platform for this incredible ingredient called Luchini B, which is kind of underrated and undiscovered here in the United States. So it's an ingredient that is originally from Europe, from the Mediterranean region in Italy. And Greece has been consuming lapine beans for, I want to say centuries. But it's something that I had been researching and thinking a lot about. How how does nobody interstate's know about this being that happens to be to being with the highest concentration of pompous protein. When I know that a lot of kids are struggling with nutrition and specifically with protein when it comes to eating Clockface. And so we are here to hero this ingredient and build a platform for it through. Through Luby and through what we are doing. [00:18:59] Very cool. So when you went into product development, seems tricky. [00:19:04] It seems like a completely different beast when it comes to, you know, Vegan worlds and things like that. How long did it take you guys to source everything that you needed to from the manufacturer and distributing and things of that nature? Are you in? I mean, brick and mortar, everyone, you know, it hasn't really been a hot topic for it over the past couple of months due to reasons of the pandemic. Are you in brick and mortar stores or did you start with a completely virtual presence? [00:19:31] Yes, these are great questions. So starting with your last question, first, our initial launch strategy was only focused on physical distribution. So we were in about 40 accounts in the New York City area, mostly independent health stores and independent grocery stores. And then we were selling directly to office spaces as well as yoga studios engines. And so a lot of that has been obviously put on hold due to what's going on in the world. And to react quickly, shift gears and focus on our online distribution. [00:20:03] And we always have the website. We always had an online storage was in our focus as it is a very distinct channel. And so we just took our playbook for it out the window and created a new one and focused on that. And so we are now available mostly through the Web site. And then we saw on some other platforms like Amazon and Bubble and some some other online retailers. In terms of your question of how long has this all, how long does this all take? So I want to maybe put it together and like the different steps and pieces. So I had been really fascinated by this ingredient. [00:20:40] And I really mean that, like reading everything and talking to everyone who knew anything about it. Well, both people in the States as well as abroad for a few years now. And I have been playing around with it in my kitchen and making different variations of recipes and loopy, loopy bites originally was actually two rounds and it were this little around balls that I'd made them all types of different flavors. [00:21:06] And I did sell them for a split second at a store. I'd like a Vegan. She started at Vegan specialty store in Brooklyn and down the street for me, just to kind of test like, was there a market? Was there interest? And it all kind of came together in fall of 2018 where I decided to leave my last full time job. And through various kind of opportunities, I was connected with a startup studio in Manhattan called Human Ventures and Day. They like to invest in two entrepreneurs and businesses that have a positive impact on humans on the planet and the environment. And so I we connected with a founder, Heather, and clearly I saw that there was an opportunity for us to work together. [00:21:51] So I basically started working with them and and kind of took this idea. That was Luby before it was Lupi. [00:22:04] And it's a bunch of market research and made everything a little bit tighter and then realized that if I wanted to launch a food business, I needed to get some expertize from the food world and food space. And so luckily, I was introduced to Ali, who's today my co-founder. I'm through a kind of connection. We both I remember when we grab coffee for the first time on a Saturday morning, we were both, like, not really thinking much of it. And when we met, it was kind of like love at first sight. We we share a passion for eating the both plant based leaders. And she was ready to leave her job and jumped into this with me. And her background is in traditional CPG. She's worked for Pepsi and for a few other bigger companies and the more corporate space and has been mostly focused on branding and marketing. So my ops experience in startups and her experience and branding and marketing was a great combination. So we got together and that's when we really started functioning the recipe and scaling it from my home kitchen to a commercial kitchen to then a Coke hopper. And that's when we started building up the brand and the supply chain. [00:23:19] So we did find over the last year, you know, we officially start working together in May of last year. And so for six months, we were just heads down focused on all of these moving pieces. And then we ended up launching come January 1st of this year. [00:23:34] Fantastic. Congratulations. Did you guys take funding or was it bootstrapped? [00:23:38] Yeah, we did. To take some Creecy funding from Human Ventures to UPS to do that. And they were super excited about the idea. So they invested. But, you know, we are a scrappy early stage startup. It's just Ali and myself. And then we have a really amazing person on a team, Meghan, who is doing all of our social and so much more. And we were getting some help with fulfillment. But that's basically it. We're still a really small team and trying to be really, really scrappy. [00:24:09] Absolutely. [00:24:10] I'm wondering with especially with startups, you know, it feels like because of the scrappiness, you're talking about this kind of Alleycat mentality. A lot of people have. [00:24:22] I find that younger the company, the more apt and prone they are to addressing, you know, a conversation or a dialog between their company or their product and customers regarding Kofod and and in particular, you know, plant based Vegan companies have this very delicate but important narrative with that, because, you know, the analysis, regardless of where you stand on the history of the epithet or the pandemic or any of that which this podcast is not endeavor to look into, what it has done for the majority of civilization has caused people to reanalyzed food sources and and health and really look at what health is in this latter day and what it means to someone and your company being this company based on this very healthful product. You know, the Lupino being and I'm wondering if you have had a chance to you and your co-founder, Ali, if you guys have spoken about messaging that for your customer moving forward. [00:25:25] Yeah, I mean, I think health is is an essential part of what we are trying to do with Lupi. You know, what makes us different is not only that we're using Lapine beans, which are these incredibly powerful, which fish Latricia's and little beans, but also the fact that we're using the whole being an albar. There is no other protein bar that it's using the whole bean. And why is that important? Because you get all the fiber so you don't get something super process of a stripped of nutrition. You get the real whole ingredients. And there has been a trend over the last few years and I see a trend. But really, it's a movement towards eating more real food. And that's really what we're spending for. So all of our bars in five or six ingredients, you can identify all of them. They are simple. They are, you know, straightforward. There's nothing hidden in it. And so I think that that's really essential. And we we have found that our consumers really, truly resonate with the fact that it's a wholesome product, that it's made out of whole real ingredients. In a way, it's something you could make in your kitchen at home. And I think that's one of the value crops when it comes to the pandemic. [00:26:33] I think what's interesting this time around is that, you know, people are suffering obviously economically and financially, not only from a health perspective, but it's very different than what happened, for example, in 2008, I think, where, you know, there was a lot. [00:26:50] It was a big economic impact on people's lives. Then people will stop spending money on certain things in those times. What we've seen here is there's actually been a focus of consumers, of spending money on healthy, real, wholesome products. And it's almost like people are rewarding themselves and they are investing into their health. And I think it's one because we are in 2020 and people. There has been a shift. Like I said, in terms of people's mindset around eating better, we'll hold some food and realizing it can be delicious and convenient and still really good for you. But also, this pandemic, you know, it is health related. It is all about how, you know, how can you protect yourself as much as possible from the impact. And I think investing into your health, eating good food, taking care of your sleep and your stress levels is something that you can do and you have control over. And I think consumers are really resonating with that understanding. [00:27:49] Yeah, absolutely. And to that end, I'm wondering, have you guys looked down the road in your goal of making? Have you thought about future products or future flavors on the product? [00:27:58] Has it was any of that ever written into, like the beginning plans of what you're doing? And if so, can you enumerate on what they are? [00:28:04] Yeah, totally. So, yes, we have a lot of ideas, a lot of thoughts and a lot of things in the making. Obviously, you know, we are Starbucks, so we we're always changing things and adapting to the environment. We're definitely thinking about a few new flavors in the future. So that's definitely in the pipeline. We have been talking and thinking about other products, and I think that will be very much driven by what our consumers want because we want to co create this company and Lupi and the products with our consumers. But the cool thing is Luchini beans are very versatile and they can be adapted and used in different applications. So there's definitely a lot of opportunity there. [00:28:49] Yeah, it's an exciting time for you guys. And as things, you know, as hopefully as as a cure comes forward from the pandemic or an immunization, at the very least we can return and, you know, we can start looking forward to new products from you guys. That's going to be exciting. Isabel, we are out of time. But I want to say thank you so much for speaking with us about your company and all of your Vegan knowledge. I really do appreciate it and appreciate your time today. [00:29:19] Thank you so much for having me. It was really awesome talking to you. [00:29:22] Absolutely. For everyone listening, we've been speaking with Isabel Steichen. She's founder, a certified plant based nutritionist and podcast. Or you can find out more about her and her company on Get Lupi dot com. Thank you for giving us your time today until we speak again next time. [00:29:39] Remember to eat clean and responsibly, stay in love with the world and always bet on yourself. Such as?
Are you ready to take your company globally? If so, tune in to learn how my guest, Angel Ribo, has helped 1500 CEOs in 33 different countries do exactly that. He specializes in bridging the gap to maximize success when expanding globally. In most cases Angel does 2 things for each company. 1. He helps them change the way they are doing business. 2. He helps them find their higher purpose to ensure what they are doing is good for the employees and the world. While traveling the world, Angel noticed the alarming amount of poverty and people that lacked quality drinking water. He discovered that 81 million kids live in poverty and 22 million don't have access to quality drinking water. This stat is from 2012 so Angel thinks that in 2020, the number is even higher. Learn about what Angel is doing to help through his non-profit, Wisdom for Kids. Learn about Angel's #1 mistake, being fearful and how it held his company back. Please tune in and hear Angel Ribo's story, it is outstanding! To reach Angel for more information, you can contact him at Angel@AngelRibo.com, through his website https://AngelRibo.com or through Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelribo/ As always, thank you for listening. I hope you found this interview interesting, thought-provoking and informative. Warmest Regards, David M. Frankel Inventor of the Perky Collar and Founder of Perky, LLC- The Clothing Innovation Company http://PerkyLLC.com Info@PerkyLLC.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmfrankel/ Feel free to learn more about The Fenx and join fellow successful Entrepreneurs https://entrepreneurs-maclackey.thrivecart.com/the-fenx-monthly/?ref=cettsupport --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/perkycollaradioshow/support
I've known Heather for several years. And I've always known her to have her finger on the pulse of what's coming next. Heather Hartnett is the CEO and founding partner of Human Ventures, an early-stage venture studio in NYC that backs and builds consumer technology companies. She serves on the leadership council for tech:nyc and is a mentor to the NYC MIT Startup Studio and 1776. She is also a contributor to Forbes where she writes about the most impactful startups, investors and founders. I recently saw an article that Heather wrote in Forbes that said: "The last 10 years of startup growth have been about building and investing in these “nice to haves.” We believe the next 10 years will be focused on building and investing in “need to haves,” and the greatest business opportunities will be found in what we at Human Ventures call The Human Needs Economy — products and services that have material impact on basic needs and livelihoods and address a core draw on a consumer's time, money or energy." Which is why I reached out to Heather to ask if she'd elaborate on the podcast. She did not disappoint. Huge thanks to Heather for sharing so much with us. #EveryMileMatters.
Heather Hartnett CEO & Founding Partner Human Ventures a venture fund & startup studio investing in exceptional founders who are defining our future. We talk about her mentors Chris Sacca , David Z. Solomon & Beth Comstock - She explains the fund strategy, the type of talent the they like to back, what is the StartUp Studio & the Importance of Adding Value to others first. http://humanventures.co Check out Past Episodes here: https://www.charlienyc.com/podcast
Heather Hartnett of Human Ventures has made it her mission to invest in other exceptional founders. She not only believes the best and most successful companies grow out of pain points but that creativity thrives with constraints–“If you're not out of your comfort zone you're not growing." She gives John and Cynthia the low down on cognitive diversity and how partnering with external innovation shops can help larger organizations adopt some entrepreneurial DNA.
This week, we had the chance to chat with Heather Hartnett, CEO and Founding Partner of Human Ventures, a New York City-based venture capital fund. Heather is gritty, passionate, and is building the next evolution of venture capital through the studio model. Hear her story, what brought her here, and what she's excited about. Signup for our newsletter to get notified of the latest release and to receive the latest insights in VC and startups http://eepurl.com/dzVE5j podcoin
Tim Young speaks with Heather Hartnett, the CEO at Human Ventures. She was NYC’s first female-led start-up studio founder and her philanthropic background brings a unique approach to investing, helping set the firm apart with their Human Network approach. In this episode, Heather speaks on the “Myth of the Big Idea” and how Human proactively looks at the zeitgeist to see what types of patterns and opportunities are starting to form. She gives the scoop on how this method redefines their thesis to focus on “Reinventing Life Stages,” looking at how each generation experiences life’s stages with unique lenses and what market opportunities each brings. Heather also talks about Human’s new strategy, Beyond the Resume, born to evaluate founding teams beyond just experience and take into account dynamics and the multidimensional factors that are critical for success, yet so often overlooked at the early stage. Send comments or suggestions to seedtoscale@eniac.vc or @seedtoscale.
LISTEN HERE: iTUNES | OVERCAST Heather Hartnett is the CEO and founding partner of Human Ventures. She leads the Human Ventures team and advises each of Human Ventures’ portfolio companies. Heather brings a fresh new perspective to the technology scene and Business Insider recently featured Human Ventures as the first female-led startup studio in New York City. Heather was also named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in America by Marie Claire. Before Human Ventures, Heather founded a FinTech company incubated within City Light Capital — a venture capital fund that invests in companies making social and environmental impacts. Heather and I talk about her childhood, and what she learned by traveling the world, focusing on the time she spent in Holland and India in particular. We talk about Heather’s favorite subject: people and the importance of having great energy, a singular vision, and how to get things done. We also explore the intersection of Eastern philosophies and western ways of living and working. Meditation plays a prominent role in Heather’s life and she serves on the Board of Directors of the David Lynch Foundation, which is dedicated to helping children around the world learn to meditate. Heather and I explore the impact of Transcendental Meditation on her life, her work, and her worldview. This was, without question, my favorite part of the episode. Links: Human Ventures Hunter Walk Overview Bob Roth The Autobiography of a Yogi Science of Being and Art of Living Catching the Big Fish, David Lynch Recommended for New Hires at Human Ventures: Hard Things about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Heather Hartnett took a nontraditional path to the world of venture capital, and it’s ignited a great passion for enabling social change through technology and business. She now leverages her experience to help founders build better companies through commitments to diversity, personal wellness and positive impact. Hartnett began her career in venture capital but was quickly compelled to move into the philanthropy space, where she spent five years on the board of directors for the David Lynch Foundation. When she returned to venture capital, Hartnett decided to merge philanthropy and business through the lens of impact investing. She co-founded Human Ventures, a New York-based venture studio dedicated to building tech companies that make life easier and more fulfilling. Hartnett believes a company’s impact is determined by the people who run it. In our interview, she explains the benefits of diversity and how to nurture it in the tech industry, as well as how founders can avoid burnout through meditation and care for their emotional health. Ultimately, she illustrates how companies built on solid human foundations can be extraordinary forces for positive change in the world. Take a look at the Human Ventures website to learn more about the studio’s mission and portfolio companies, reach out to Hartnett on Twitter @HeatherHartnett to thank her for sharing her wisdom and enjoy the show! In this episode with Heather Hartnett, you’ll learn: --- How a background in philanthropy can help you in business --- Why the impact of your business is determined by its people --- The obstacles “non-traditional” founders should be prepared to face --- Strategies entrepreneurs and investors can use to nurture diversity in tech --- Why you need to take care of yourself as well as your business --- Tips for diversifying your knowledge base and creating your own luck ---- Download show notes and transcripts at www.powderkeg.com This episode of Powder Keg is brought to you by DeveloperTown. If you’re a business leader trying to turn a great idea into a product with traction, this is for you. DeveloperTown works with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies who want to build and launch an app or digital product. They’re able to take the process they use with early stage companies to help big companies move like a startup. So if you have an idea for a web or mobile app, or need help identifying the great ideas within your company, go to developertown.com/powderkeg. Thanks again to everyone who has shared an episode of Powderkeg, subscribed to us on iTunes, or left us a review. It’s the only way we’re going to spread this message and reach new people and we could do it without you. We’re coming out with new episodes every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe on iTunes or at powderkeg.co/itunes
Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast
You might recognize Megan from the interview she did last year about her startup studio, Human Ventures. The very model Megan created for the studio worked for her own idea and today she is working with Sam Gimbel on Clark, an AI assistant for tutors. Megan and Sam were introduced by a mutual friend who realized they were both working on similar projects in the education space. Sam had a tech background but no market for his idea. Megan had the market but was working on her idea through very manual work. Together they made the perfect team. Today they are building a tool for tutors to help them do their jobs sustainably without the headache of administrative work. Whether it's handling payment, scheduling, or communication with clients, Megan and Sam have spent the last year serving as personal assistants to educators in order to understand the market and grow their product. Check out this week's episode to learn more about how Clark is poised to transform the private tutoring space and help educators celebrate their side hustles.
Are you ready to take the leap and startup a company? You may not have an idea yet, but you want to be in an ecosystem that is full of ideas. Maybe when you surround yourself with people creating ideas, it may just spark an idea of your own? Perhaps, you have two passions you want to contribute to the ecosystem but you don’t know which one to follow? You don’t have to choose just one. You can combine your passions and be involved in one, or maybe all stages of starting up a company. Today’s guest, Heather Hartnett, married her passions of startup and technology, to philanthropy. Heather is the CEO and founding member of venture studio,Human Ventures,where she combines her passions by investing in people who, she is confident, will bring a sustainable method to positive change. Let’s talk tech. Tune in! In this episode you will... Discover what a venture studio is Learn what the “future founder pipeline” is Explore the importance of informal networks for company growth Realize it’s possible to “marry” two career paths into one Understand the “myth of the big idea” Recognize why you need to know your own “personal risk tolerance" RESOURCES: She Did it Her Way Podcast She Did it Her Way Twitter She Did it Her Way Facebook Heather Hartnett Twitter Heather Hartnett Linkedin Human Ventures David Lynch Foundation INSIGHTS: “Part of what really makes or breaks a company in the early days, is a strong network.”-Heather Hartnett “If I don’t have an idea yet, that I know I want to start myself, how can I surround myself with people who are starting ideas and maybe it will start something? I kind of fell into the venture world at that point.”-Heather Hartnett “Whatever stage you are in the company, then determines what leverage you have to bring on talent.”-Heather Hartnett “In New York there is this whole opportunity for new growth. Because people have been in the fashion industry for twenty years and they don’t know how to approach tech.”-Heather Hartnett “Everyday you have to be a little out of your comfort zone or you’re not growing.”-Heather Hartnett “You have to be learning as you’re convincing other people to come along for the ride with you.”-Heather Hartnett
Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast
This week Jeremy chats with Heather Hartnett and Megan O'Connor of Human Ventures, a startup studio that co-founds and incubates companies in house with exceptional humans. Human Ventures is building and supporting five new companies in their first year (they are a year old this month) and focuses on partnering with individuals who have innate characteristics rather than specific technical skills. Both Heather and Megan have a variety of experiences including backgrounds in the nonprofit space. Listen to this week's episode to learn all about exceptional humans and why Megan and Heather take referrals over resumes
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