Podcasts about svb

Immad Akhund is the CEO and co-founder of Mercury, a digital banking platform that's become the go-to financial infrastructure for startups. Before Mercury, Immad spent nearly two decades founding companies, learning the hard way what separates a good idea from a great business. In this episode, Immad shares the hard-earned lessons from launching Mercury as his third startup. He unpacks how he recognized this was the right idea to pursue, what strong product-market fit feels like, and why trying to "iterate" your way to success often leads founders astray. In this episode, we discuss: • Mercury's unusual culture playbook – and why it works • How to hire with intention • The trap of weak product-market fit • Shipping under intense pressure during the SVB crisis • And much more… References: • Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/ • Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com/ • Apple: https://www.apple.com/ • Block: https://block.xyz/ • Brex: https://www.brex.com/ • Chime: https://www.chime.com/ • Gusto: https://gusto.com/ • Mercury: https://mercury.com/ • Paul Graham: https://x.com/paulg • Plaid: https://plaid.com/ • Stripe: https://stripe.com/ • SVB (Silicon Valley Bank): https://www.svb.com/ • True Link Financial: https://www.truelinkfinancial.com/ • Varo: https://www.varomoney.com/ • Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/ Where to find Immad: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iakhund/ Where to find Brett: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/ • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson Where to find First Round Capital: • Website: https://firstround.com/ • First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/ • Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital • This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast Timestamps: (1:07) Hard-won lessons from serial entrepreneurship (2:02) You shouldn't copy-paste advice (6:57) Why personality trumps culture playbooks (8:48) How do you hire for cultural fit? (12:38) The values that shaped Mercury's DNA (14:08) The drivers underpinning Mercury's success (15:50) The significance of product-market fit (20:41) Don't fall into the weak product-market fit trap (25:49) How to evaluate startup ideas that scale (30:14) Mercury's unlikely origin story (33:51) Breaking into the fintech space (37:31) Mindset shift: From “This is hard” to long-term gains (39:43) Building Mercury's MVP (44:25) Overcoming early obstacles to reach launch (47:36) Navigating Mercury's rapid growth phase (51:18) Competition isn't the reason you're failing (55:58) Crisis management during the SVB collapse

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome Brian O'Neil, a veteran CIO with over four decades of investment experience, who provides a candid overview of the current venture capital landscape. Brian discusses the challenges facing venture capital, including excessive funding, prolonged private company lifecycles, and the shift from growth-at-all-costs to profitability. He also emphasizes the importance of diversification, understanding investment portfolios, and the need for patience when approaching venture investments. Key insights include the difficulty of finding top-quartile venture funds, the potential of AI and personalized medicine, and the critical role of relationship-building for emerging managers. Brian advises allocators to be selective, learn across asset classes, and recognize that venture capital requires a long-term perspective with an acceptance that many investments may not succeed. Don't miss this great conversation. Highlights from this week's conversation include:Early Days of Venture and LBOs (1:23)Performance of LBOs and Venture Capital (2:27)Allocator Approaches to Private vs. Public Markets (4:35)Continuation Funds and LBO Fund Lifecycles (6:42)Comparing Current Venture Downturns to History (8:22)Growth Equity and Venture Stage Reclassification (11:41)AI Hype and Venture Market Cycles (13:17)Time Horizons and Commitment Budgets (15:43)Advice for Allocators on Manager Selection (18:55)Co-Investment Trends in Private Equity (21:01)Lessons from CIO Experience (25:01)Advice for New Allocators (26:29)Advice for Emerging Managers (31:05)Exciting Trends in Venture: AI and Personalized Medicine (33:20)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (35:52)Brian O'Neil is the former Chief Investment Officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and has served in investment leadership roles for over 40 years, including at Equitable Life and AXA Investment Managers. He currently serves on the board of the Brooklyn Public Library and is an Investment Committee member at The Wallace Foundation. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Wendy's Origin Story and Entry into Allocator World (1:17)Early Lessons as an Allocator (3:59)Gravitating Toward Private Assets (6:39)Founding Ivy Invest: The Problem and Vision (8:06)Trends and Tailwinds in Asset Management (11:01)Challenges Bridging Institutions and Individuals (13:55)Bridging Institutional and Individual Experiences (16:47)Is Retail Capital a New Institutional Staple? (19:58)Why Early-Stage Venture “Math Still Works” (24:00)Institutional Governance and Fund Size Trends (27:14)Advice for Emerging Managers Approaching Institutions (29:45)Where Alpha Will Come From in Venture (33:13)Intangibles and Differentiation in Early-Stage Managers (36:26)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (39:56)Ivy Invest brings institutional-quality portfolios to individual investors using an endowment-style investment framework. Co-founded by Wendy Li, Ivy invests across equities, income, and diversifiers—partnering with experienced asset managers to deliver performance, discipline, and access. Learn more at www.ivyinvest.com.Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Episode 390 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Maya R. Said, Sc.D., Founder & CEO of Outcomes4Me. Maya believes that in our lifetime, we will get to a point where we can either cure or control cancer.  That is a bold statement and one of major importance.  As we kick off our interview, she shares the reasons why it could happen. In order to get there, however, it is certainly going to take a lot of brilliant founders and innovative companies, but when you have founders like Maya who are building companies like Outcomes4Me, you can see why there is hope. For this podcast, I am blessed to speak with so many amazing people, who are all very intelligent, driven, and optimistic… but Maya is in a league of her own. Her academic credentials are beyond next level and what she accomplished within the healthcare industry makes her uniquely qualified to build a company that is contributing to this mission of either curing or controlling cancer. Outcomes4Me is the first and only end-to-end, AI-driven patient empowerment platform that helps patients with cancer take a proactive approach to their care from diagnosis throughout every stage of life and care.  Its direct-to-patient platform integrates clinical guidelines, genomics, trial matching, and symptom tracking to help patients navigate through a cancer diagnosis with confidence and clarity.   The company recently announced a $21M round of funding from new investor - Salica Investments, with participation from all existing investors: Labcorp Venture Fund, Forecast Labs, Northpond Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Asset Management Ventures, IRA Capital, and Merstal LTD. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Maya's background story and her experience in academia at MIT. * Her transition into industry and the various leadership roles she held. * The full story of Outcomes4Me including how the platform works and how they help patients, plus their plans looking ahead. * The importance of data to speed up innovation and the drug development process. * The impact of TV advertising * The overarch theme of what she has learned while building a company. * Fundraising advice * And more Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Finding Inspiration and Friendship Under the Stockholm Sun Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-07-24-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Solen sken varmt över Stockholm när Karin steg in i Vasamuseet.En: The sun shone warmly over Stockholm as Karin stepped into the Vasamuseet.Sv: Hon var en konststudent som behövde inspiration för sitt projekt.En: She was an art student in need of inspiration for her project.Sv: Just nu var det mitt på sommaren, och staden var livlig med Midsommarfiranden.En: It was midsummer, and the city was bustling with Midsommar celebrations.Sv: Karin gick runt i museet.En: Karin wandered around the museum.Sv: Hon fascinerades av den stora skeppet Vasa och alla dess detaljer.En: She was fascinated by the large sailing ship Vasa and all its details.Sv: De höga fönstren släppte in solens strålar, vilket skapade en varm och välkomnande känsla över hela museet.En: The tall windows let in the sun's rays, which created a warm and welcoming feeling throughout the museum.Sv: Efter att ha utforskat utställningarna bestämde sig Karin för att hitta ett unikt minne i museets presentbutik.En: After exploring the exhibits, Karin decided to find a unique keepsake in the museum's gift shop.Sv: Hon ville ha något som fångade hela hennes upplevelse i Stockholm.En: She wanted something that captured her entire experience in Stockholm.Sv: Butiken var full med turister, och alla vanliga souvenirer verkade så generiska - kylskåpsmagneter, vykort och nyckelringar.En: The shop was filled with tourists, and all the usual souvenirs seemed so generic—fridge magnets, postcards, and keyrings.Sv: Klockan började närma sig stängningstid, och hon blev alltmer orolig.En: The clock was nearing closing time, and she was growing increasingly anxious.Sv: Just då fick hon syn på Sven, en vänlig kille som arbetade som volontär i butiken.En: Just then, she noticed Sven, a friendly guy working as a volunteer in the shop.Sv: Sven hade stort intresse för historia och älskade att hjälpa besökare.En: Sven had a great interest in history and loved helping visitors.Sv: Karin gick fram till honom och frågade försynt, "Har du något speciellt här?En: Karin approached him and gently asked, "Do you have anything special here?Sv: Jag letar efter något unikt."En: I'm looking for something unique."Sv: Sven log varmt.En: Sven smiled warmly.Sv: "Följ med mig," sa han och visade henne en liten, bortglömd hylla längst bak i butiken.En: "Come with me," he said and showed her a small, forgotten shelf at the back of the store.Sv: Där låg en samling med exklusiva, begränsade upplagor av tryck från Vasa-skeppet, vackert illustrerade av en lokal konstnär.En: There lay a collection of exclusive, limited edition prints of the Vasa ship, beautifully illustrated by a local artist.Sv: Karin blev förtjust.En: Karin was delighted.Sv: Hon visste genast att dessa tryck var perfekt för henne.En: She immediately knew these prints were perfect for her.Sv: De var sällsynta och fångade essensen av hennes besök.En: They were rare and captured the essence of her visit.Sv: Hon kände en glädje av att ha hittat precis vad hon letat efter.En: She felt a joy at having found exactly what she was looking for.Sv: När hon gick ut från museet med sitt nyförvärvda tryck kände hon sig tvungen att tacka Sven ännu en gång.En: As she left the museum with her newly acquired print, she felt compelled to thank Sven once more.Sv: Han nickade glatt och sa, "Det var bara roligt att kunna hjälpa till."En: He nodded happily and said, "It was just fun to be able to help."Sv: De delade ett ögonblick av förståelse.En: They shared a moment of understanding.Sv: Karin insåg vikten av att be om hjälp när hon behövde det, och Sven kände sig uppmuntrad att fortsätta dela sin passion för historia.En: Karin realized the importance of asking for help when she needed it, and Sven felt encouraged to continue sharing his passion for history.Sv: Båda lämnade museet med ett leende och ett minne för livet.En: Both left the museum with a smile and a memory for life.Sv: Det var en dag som fångade både sommarsolens glans och de oskattbara människomötena som Stockholm kunde erbjuda.En: It was a day that captured both the splendor of the summer sun and the invaluable human interactions that Stockholm could offer. Vocabulary Words:stepped: steginspiration: inspirationbustling: livligfascinated: fascineradesdetails: detaljerwelcoming: välkomnandeexploring: utforskatsouvenirs: souvenirergeneric: generiskaapproached: gick fram tillanxious: oroligvolunteer: volontärunique: unikaspecial: specielltshelf: hyllaexclusive: exklusivalimited edition: begränsade upplagorillustrated: illustreradedelighted: förtjustessence: essensenacquired: nyförvärvdacompelled: tvungenencouraged: uppmuntradsplendor: glansunvaluable: oskattbarainteractions: människomöten

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome Jon Wolkin, Managing Director of Deloitte Ventures. Jon shares his journey from investment banking to corporate venture, highlighting Deloitte's $150 million fund strategy that balances direct and fund investments across key technology verticals like AI, future of work, and health tech. The discussion reveals critical insights into corporate venture capital, emphasizing the importance of having a clear "North Star" strategy, understanding long-term value creation, and navigating the complex ecosystem of innovation. Key takeaways include the need for corporations to move quickly, provide strategic value beyond capital, and remain adaptable in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Jon also provides unique perspectives on the Canadian venture ecosystem, noting its potential in emerging technologies and the relatively low corporate venture participation compared to the US market. Don't miss this in-depth discussion.Highlights from this week's conversation include:Jon's Career Journey (1:18)Transition to Corporate Venture and Deloitte (3:19)Strategic vs. Financial Objectives in CVC (4:39)Long-term vs. Short-term Goals in Venture (7:15)Challenges of Launching a Venture Arm in a Partnership (9:11)Direct vs. Fund Investing Strategy (11:53)Fund Selection and Ecosystem Engagement (13:20)Alignment of Direct and Fund Investment Verticals (17:29)Corporate VC Activity in Downturns (22:56)Misconceptions About Corporate Venture Groups (25:21)Advice for Emerging Managers Working with Corporates (27:59)Key Learnings and Reflections at Deloitte Ventures (30:11)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (32:20)Deloitte Ventures Canada is a $150M corporate venture capital fund investing in Series A and B companies across fintech, cyber, climate, data/AI, and work tech. With a dual mandate of direct investments and fund investments, Deloitte Ventures is strategically positioned to support innovation while delivering financial and strategic value. Learn more at www.deloitte.ca.Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Andrew is the Janet Yellen Professor of Finance and Management at the Yale School of Management and Director of the Yale Program on Financial Stability, specializing in financial crises. He discusses the vulnerabilities of the banking system, lessons from recent crises like SVB and the GFC, the government's role in crisis management, and the biggest risks facing today's financial system.

In this episode of The Girl Dad Show, host Young Han sits down with Jason Mok, VP and GTM leader at Brex and a devoted single dad. Jason currently serves as GM of Brex's Startups business and oversees Strategic Partnerships. Before Brex, he was an Operating Partner and GM at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he led the firm's first $400M Seed Fund, and spent 16 years at Silicon Valley Bank championing early- and growth-stage founders. Jason's story spans decades of leadership in banking, venture capital, and fintech—but at the heart of it is a father navigating the complexities of work, legacy, and raising good humans. In this episode, Jason opens up about teaching his kids about money, setting boundaries between work and family, and how success as a parent isn't about control—it's about the relationship you build as they grow up. ✨ All episodes of The Girl Dad Show are proudly sponsored by Thesis, helping founders go further, together. Takeaways Jason Mok is a single dad and fintech exec at Brex Brex offers a financial stack for startups and enterprises Jason's path includes SVB, a16z, and years of startup advisory Parenting requires consistent self-reflection Teaching kids about money is non-negotiable Being present matters more than being perfect Self-care supports strong parenting and leadership Boundaries between work and family take real intention Legacy is built through quality relationships, not just career wins

Episode 389 and today's guest is Jeff Taylor, serial entrepreneur and Founder of Monster.com. About a month ago, the combined entity of Monster & CareerBuilder filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It signaled the end of an era and a 31 year run for Monster which is pretty extraordinary. A reflective tribute was added to LinkedIn by Jeff and after reading his post, I immediately reached out, as the story of Monster needed to be told and documented. Thus, I went long form for this interview, a la Joe Rogan style, to bring you the most detailed account of Monster.com from an initial dream to a top 11th or 12th website in the world & a major consumer brand. An initial dream, you might ask… yes… it's true.  Jeff dreamt of the idea, the brand, and the mascot… which received tremendous pushback from multiple parties in the early days. It's this story and so many others that we uncover: * The early building blocks of the internet and how groundbreaking Jeff and Monster.com was in terms of being the 454th dot com and posting the first jobs and resumes on the internet. * The debatable too-early acquisition of Monster in the very early innings of the dot com bubble by TMP Worldwide. * Stories of the hypergrowth years at Monster. * Behind the scenes of the, what was first considered a failure then turned iconic - When I Grow Up - Super Bowl commercial. * And what I found to be the most shocking story… which we lead with - the paper napkin agreement between Jeff Taylor and Reid Hoffman for Monster.com to acquire LinkedIn.  Wow - can you imagine what might have happened if Monster's board didn't turn the deal down? In addition to the deep dive into the legendary story of Monster, we also discuss Jeff's background story, other companies he's built like Eons, and his current company called BoomBand - which is reinventing the resume and building a new AI talent marketplace. The company is still in stealth mode but expects to launch its product late fall. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

This week on Swimming with Allocators, Earnest and Alexa welcome Quincy Brown, Managing Director at FEG Investment Advisors. With 29 years of experience, Quincy discusses how his firm serves mission-driven organizations by integrating responsive investing strategies, focusing on diverse and emerging managers, and balancing financial performance with social impact. Key topics include the evolution of ESG investing, technology's role in creating new investment opportunities, and the importance of understanding client missions. Quincy also emphasizes that organizations can achieve both financial returns and social objectives by taking a long-term, strategic approach to investing, particularly in venture and private equity sectors. The conversation provides a nuanced look at how investment consultants are navigating changing landscapes of mission-aligned investing. Don't miss it! Highlights from this week's conversation include:Quincy's Career Path (1:09)FEG's History and Client Base (4:44)Building Trust and Client Relationships (7:00)Values-Aligned and Responsive Investing (9:17)Shift Toward Venture and Private Equity (12:26)Identifying Diverse and Emerging Managers (14:36)Diversity Criteria and Thresholds (17:01)Advice for Emerging Managers (18:03)Role of the Research Team (19:10)Fund Performance Trends (21:55)Mission Alignment Across Asset Classes (24:33)Lessons from ESG and DEI Trends (28:44)Exciting Trends in Venture and Private Markets (30:16)Advice for Allocators on Values-Aligned Investing (35:14)Connecting with Quincy and FEG and Parting Thoughts (36:34)FEG Investment Advisors is a Cincinnati-based investment consulting and OCIO firm serving nonprofits, endowments, and foundations nationwide. With a legacy of research-driven diligence, values-based investing, and a deep commitment to diverse and emerging managers, FEG is a leader in aligning capital with mission. Learn more at www.feg.com.Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Get 90 days of Fellow's AI meeting assistant at fellow.app/cooWhy Linda still codes on weekends — and what it teaches her about the future of AI (6:00)How AI is changing what Webflow builds — and how fast they build it (3:30–13:00)What happens when websites are no longer built just for humans (14:00)The rise of AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and what it means for ops (17:00–21:00)Favorite LLMs and workflows — from Claude Sonnet to custom GPTs (23:00–26:00)How Linda builds a culture of innovation — and why bad ideas are worth celebrating (29:00)Leading through operational ambiguity and defining what to say “no” to (49:00)How product thinking helps Linda prioritize and run the business (54:00)Creating an actual in-office “innovation lab” — and what worked (1:04:00)Wild story: how her team navigated the SVB collapse weekend (1:08:00) 

Peter Thiel and Palmer Luckey are launching a Tolkien-themed bank to serve crypto and defense startups left behind after SVB's collapse. And a new study warns that AI in fintech and healthcare apps can be tricked into leaking data with just a sneaky prompt.Featured Guests: Jake O'Shea, principal, Antler | Gareth Shepherd, managing director, Voya Investment Management

When the Silicon Valley Bank crisis erupted in early 2023, Larry Roseman was already well-acquainted with market upheaval. A member of the CFO class appointed around 2020—just as the pandemic began—Roseman had weathered previous storms. He began his career amid the dot-com collapse, then advanced through the 2008 financial crisis. “Scar tissue helps,” he tells us.So when he landed in Palm Springs for a tennis tournament and learned SVB was in freefall—taking all of Thumbtack's cash with it—his weekend plans were immediately sidelined. “Literally getting on the plane and landing, and the whole thing sort of blowing up,” Roseman recalls. “I was holed up in the hotel room for days,” working through how to ensure payroll and access to capital.That crisis became a defining moment. “That was the catalyst for us,” he tells us. Roseman used it to pivot the business away from growth-at-all-costs and toward sustainable, profitable growth. In just a few years, Thumbtack went from -$60 million in EBITDA to +$60 million.His ability to adapt comes from a varied career path—public accounting at Ernst & Young, investment banking at Bear Stearns and JPMorgan, and operational finance at eBay, where he helped spin off PayPal. At Thumbtack, a national home services marketplace, he's scaled the finance team tenfold and implemented a discipline around contribution margin, hire rate, and CAC.“The P&L doesn't lie,” Roseman tells us—especially in times of crisis, when it's clarity, not comfort, that defines the leader.

Former Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig joins Soar Financially to break down the real challenges facing the Federal Reserve in 2025. From rising tariffs and inflation to the risk of renewed QE and Fed independence under fire — this interview reveals what's really happening behind the scenes at the FOMC and Jackson Hole.#federalreserve #economy #qe ------------Thank you to our #sponsor MONEY METALS. Make sure to pay them a visit: https://bit.ly/BUYGoldSilver------------

Episode 384 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Thomas “TK” Kinsella, Co-Founder & Chief Customer Officer of Tines. The success of Tines is not based on luck. The company's co-founders experienced a major problem that wasn't being being solved by existing platforms and after talking to peers who were also dealing with the same problem, they decided to do something about it. But, it wasn't just an idea that got them to where they are today. This team was uniquely qualified to build the next generation solution based on TK's and his Co-Founder & CEO, Eoin Hinchy's many years of experience in the cybersecurity industry, plus a history of working together for something like 15+ years at Deloitte, eBay, and DocuSign. Tines empowers teams to build, run, and monitor their most mission-critical and sophisticated workflows. The company recently announced a $125M round of funding at a $1.125B valuation and is co-headquartered in Dublin and Boston. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of great topics like: * A discussion about the cybersecurity industry and the platform shift to AI. * TK's background story growing up in Dublin and some mutual geeking out on rugby. * Starting his career in cybersecurity at Deloitte where he met Eoin, plus lots of details about what they worked on at eBay and DocuSign. * Getting Tines started from the early days and all the details about the platform today. * Why they hired a top designer as one of the first employees in the company and the importance of making products that are easy to use. * Details on the latest round of funding and what's next. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 381 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Mike Massaro, CEO of Flywire, a global payments enablement and software company. This is the full lifecycle story of an idea to a pillar publicly traded tech company in the Boston tech scene and it has it all. An international founder who discovered a major problem while trying to pay his tuition at MIT, to Mike joining the company after its Series A, an evolving business model from consumer to B2B, navigating choppy near death experiences to scaling aggressively, then raising multiple rounds of venture funding to an IPO, and more! It really is an inspirational story for all entrepreneurs to hear, as it is never an easy up & to the right story. There is so much that goes into building a successful company and this one does not disappoint. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:17 Learning to Lead & the Importance of Communication 04:51 Mike's Background & Getting Started in Tech at edocs 15:00 Carrier IQ 19:47 The early days of Flywire 19:52 Navigating the Go-to-Market Strategy 29:52 Moving into the Role as CEO of Flywire 31:55 Challenging Times 35:09 Scaling the Company & Playing Long Ball 39:17 Expanding into New Industries 41:47 The Impact of COVID-19 45:20 Flywire IPO 50:06 Looking Ahead: Growth and Innovation 51:42 Building a Strong Company Culture 57:12 The Importance of a Strong Board of Directors 59:50 Hiring for Leadership Roles 01:02:13 Apps, Books, & Fun Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 380 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Eduardo Torrealba, CEO & Co-Founder of Lumafield. As part of my conversation with Eduardo, we talk about the importance of working on hard things. Yes, it's hard to build things that seem impossible at the time but it is that level of difficulty that attracts the top talent across engineering and other functional areas to join the company. And, it is that level of difficulty that once you establish product market fit, it can been highly defensible and really difficult to copy. And, it is that level of difficulty that attracts the best investors to fund a company with the hopes that it can be an industry defining company, especially when there is hardware involved. Take Lumafield, a pioneering developer of accessible X-ray CT technology, recently announced a $35M Series B round of funding led by Spark Capital, along with previous investors Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, DCVC, Future Shape and angel investors like Tony Fadell - yes that Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod and Founder of Nest. When you have an industry leader like Tony, who after seeing their product & vision and ended up committing to an investment into the company after a 30 minute meeting, you know you are on to something big, as he understood the problem first hand based on his experience. In the video version of our podcast, there is a brief video showing Lumafield's platform in action, as you need to see it to truly appreciate the complexity yet the obvious use case it has when building physical products. In the show notes, I have also included a fun video from Lumafield with Tony where they take a look at the evolution of the iPod by looking at the inside of different generations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC6BQPowf7w In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Eduardo's background story and his initial journey into entrepreneurship with an IoT soil moisture sensor company called Oso Technologies. * Joining Formlabs and what he worked on in the earlier days of the company and what he learned during the company's growth to a billion dollar valuation. * The full story of Lumafield in terms of how the team came together and the problem they are solving. * The fundraising process and the current state of the company, plus future plans ahead. * Lessons learned from building companies and raising capital. * The importance of a strong company pitch. * And so much more Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 379 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Graham Brown, Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. It seems like just yesterday when I first interviewed Graham seven years ago back for Episode 32 (https://soundcloud.com/venturefizz/episode-32-graham-brown-partner-at-lerer-hippeau) when Lerer Hippeau was announcing its sixth fund. This puts Graham in elite company as one of the very few people who have made a repeat appearance on The VentureFizz Podcast – which I'm sure is an incredible honor for Graham to achieve… just kidding obviously. But in all seriousness… in that first interview, we discussed Graham's background (he's actually a fellow native of New Hampshire) and the early innings of his career, so in this interview, we were able to get much deeper into other topics around startups and fundraising. As you might know, Lerer Hippeau is one of the top early stage VC firms in the country and they recently announced another new fund, that one being LH Fund IX, a $200M fund which is exclusively focused on early stage companies. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * How to land a job in venture capital. * How our original interview discussed AI seven years ago and what Graham is excited about in terms of this platform shift. * The renewed interest in energy startups and the innovation in this sector. * What he's looking for out of a first meeting with an entrepreneur & the process of getting funded. * PLG versus founder led sales and advice on avoiding entrepreneurial envy. * The latest on the NYC tech ecosystem. * And so much more Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

The health tech fundraising environment shows promise. More deals are occurring alongside modest growth in total funding, suggesting a shift toward realistic valuations. In this episode, Julie Ebert, managing director of Healthcare and Life Sciences for Silicon Valley Bank, discusses the key findings from their annual Future of Health Tech report, highlighting the growth of AI adoption in healthcare as well as the increasing focus on specialty value-based care models. She noted a third of health tech companies that have raised money have an AI component, and half of the investment is in the administrative use of AI. Julie also explains that value-based care is moving from primary care to specialties due to these areas being complex and costly. Finally, she emphasizes that Silicon Valley Bank is playing a bold role in providing transparency to companies by offering working capital solutions and releasing reports that allow companies to have the knowledge to move forward.  Tune in and learn about the current landscape of health tech investment and the future of value-based care! Resources: Connect with and follow Julie Ebert on LinkedIn. Follow Silicon Valley Bank on LinkedIn and visit their website. Read this year's SVB's Future of Healthtech report here.

Episode 378 of The VentureFizz Podcast features two of the Co-Founders of Copley - David Henriquez, CEO and Sean Marshall, Chief Operating Officer. It is just a necessity for any thriving tech ecosystem. You need companies that scale and people from those companies take their learnings and go off to start their own company. HubSpot has been a big feeder of alumni who have gone off to start companies and you are starting to see the next wave with founders coming from Toast and now Klaviyo. What's even better is when you see the founders of these anchor tech companies fund the next generation of entrepreneurs. David & Sean were part of the hypergrowth scale up years at Klaviyo that ultimately led to a pillar public tech company in the Boston tech area. David held a variety of engineering & sales engineering roles, whereas Sean led global sales. Now, they are building a new company with a third Co-Founder & CTO, Mike Torra called Copley. It is an AI-Powered Content Optimization Platform that allows marketers to quickly create, test & deploy content everywhere. Copley recently announced a $4.8M pre-seed round of funding led by Asymmetric and Underscore. And yes, the founders of Klaviyo - Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen are investors… plus Tom Ebling & Jeffrey Barnett of Demandware which was acquired by Salesforce. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Startup fundraising advice for first-time founders and the importance of building long term relationships with investors. * The background stories for both David and Sean. * The explosive growth years at Klaviyo. * The full story of Copley in terms of the problem they are solving and their unique approach to finding early adopter customers. * GTM advice for early stage startups and the importance of storytelling. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode #376 features Prem Sharma, Founder & CEO of Tandem. When you are a serial entrepreneur like Prem, you are probably coming up with lots of ideas but how do you decide which one is viable to focus on and actually build a company around? For Prem, it comes down to recognizing an experience that is broken and lots of market research. And this is not light market research, this is total submersion into the industry market research. The interest in Tandem started with a puppy arriving at his home as a new family pet and an experience at the vet. During a visit, he recognized how fragmented the industry was and how inefficient the office operated. This got him thinking about a unified vet experience. But, before jumping into build mode, he spent time working at veterinary clinics and recognized that the appetite for adopting a whole new system was not going to happen, so just a new tech platform wouldn't be the answer. Instead, he had to build a healthcare company from the ground up that includes a comprehensive service leveraging onsite clinics, mobile care, telehealth, and a whole new tech stack for running the overall operation. Tandem raised $10M in funding earlier this year to redefine veterinary care with a comprehensive solution through its novel approach to care delivery, AI technology, and more. Chapters: 00:00 Prem Sherma Intro 02:48 What Ideas Should You Build a Company Around? 07:00 From Childhood Dreams to Startup Realities 10:39 Navigating the Startup Landscape 14:30 The Full Story of DayToDay Health 18:16 Building Impactful Solutions in Healthcare 21:50 The Complexity of Patient Care 27:03 Lessons Learned From Building DayToDay Health 29:45 All the Details about Tandem 38:26 Current State of the Business & GTM 44:36 Advice for Building a Healthcare Company 50:00 App & Book Recommendations Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Join me as I sit down with Seamus Rocca, visionary CEO of Xapo Bank, a trailblazer at the intersection of Bitcoin and traditional finance. We unpack Xapo's transformation into a fully licensed bank, how it safeguards your crypto, the regulatory balancing act, and the future of digital assets. Plus, Wences shares his thoughts on yield, DeFi, CBDCs—and even the meaning of life. Follow Seamus Chen: 

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: A Spring Awakening: Friendship Blossoms at Skansen Festival Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-04-04-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Våren hade just börjat omsvepa Skansen med sitt milda ljus och sina färger.En: Spring had just begun to envelop Skansen with its gentle light and colors.Sv: De första blommorna började kika fram, och träden började slå ut sina knoppar.En: The first flowers started to peek out, and the trees began to bud.Sv: Det var fullt med liv och rörelse, människor som förberedde den kommande påskfestivalen.En: It was bustling with life and activity, people preparing for the upcoming Easter festival.Sv: Mitt i detta kaos fanns Oskar, en ung man med stort intresse för historia och natur.En: Amidst this chaos was Oskar, a young man with a great interest in history and nature.Sv: Han trivdes bäst i sin egen värld, men just den här dagen hade han bestämt sig för att ge sig ut i det okända.En: He thrived best in his own world, but on this particular day, he had decided to venture into the unknown.Sv: Elin, en annan frivillig, sprang omkring och försökte styra upp allt.En: Elin, another volunteer, was running around trying to organize everything.Sv: Trots sin utstrålning och energi kände hon sig orolig inombords.En: Despite her radiance and energy, she felt anxious inside.Sv: Hon ville att allt skulle bli perfekt, men stressen över alla detaljer kunde ibland bli överväldigande.En: She wanted everything to be perfect, but the stress of all the details could sometimes be overwhelming.Sv: Oskar såg henne där, i färd med att hänga upp pastellfärgade dekorationer.En: Oskar saw her there, in the process of hanging up pastel-colored decorations.Sv: Han tog ett djupt andetag och bestämde sig för att hjälpa till.En: He took a deep breath and decided to help.Sv: "Behöver du hjälp med något?"En: "Do you need help with anything?"Sv: frågade han försiktigt.En: he asked cautiously.Sv: Elin såg på honom och log tacksamt.En: Elin looked at him and smiled gratefully.Sv: "Ja, det skulle jag verkligen uppskatta.En: "Yes, I would really appreciate it.Sv: Kan du hålla i den här stegen medan jag fäster dekorationerna?"En: Can you hold this ladder while I attach the decorations?"Sv: Tillsammans började de arbeta.En: Together they began to work.Sv: Elin förklarade hur hon ville arrangera saker, och Oskar lyssnade noggrant och ställde frågor.En: Elin explained how she wanted things arranged, and Oskar listened carefully and asked questions.Sv: Oskars hjälp gjorde att arbetsbördan lättade för Elin, och hon kände sig inte lika ensam i sitt ansvar.En: Oskar's help lightened the workload for Elin, and she didn't feel as alone in her responsibilities.Sv: Dagen fortskred, och det började komma fler besökare.En: The day progressed, and more visitors started to arrive.Sv: Plötsligt drog mörka moln ihop sig på himlen.En: Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky.Sv: Ett stilla vårregn började falla, och båda kände hur paniken spred sig.En: A gentle spring rain began to fall, and both felt panic spread.Sv: De behövde skydda dekorationerna och utrustningen innan allt blev förstört.En: They needed to protect the decorations and equipment before everything was ruined.Sv: "Kom, vi måste flytta bordet under tak!"En: "Come, we need to move the table under the roof!"Sv: ropade Elin när hon snabbt agerade.En: shouted Elin as she quickly took action.Sv: Oskar hjälpte henne utan att tveka, tillsammans bar de bord och dekorationer under den närmaste överbyggnaden.En: Oskar helped her without hesitation; together they carried the table and decorations under the nearest shelter.Sv: Regnet gick över lika snabbt som det kommit, och en vacker regnbåge spände över Skansen.En: The rain passed as quickly as it had come, and a beautiful rainbow arched over Skansen.Sv: Besökarna samlades igen, och festivalen kunde börja på riktigt.En: The visitors gathered again, and the festival could truly begin.Sv: I det ögonblicket kände Oskar och Elin en gemensam känsla av framgång och lättnad.En: In that moment, Oskar and Elin felt a shared sense of success and relief.Sv: De insåg hur bra de hade samarbetat och hur mycket de hade åstadkommit tillsammans.En: They realized how well they had collaborated and how much they had accomplished together.Sv: Efter festivalen slutade de stå vid sidan av varandra och samtalade, nu både som vänner och kollegor.En: After the festival, they stood together and chatted, now both as friends and colleagues.Sv: Båda kände en ny slags tillit, Oskar mer öppen och självsäker, och Elin insåg vikten av att be om hjälp och att lita på andra.En: Both felt a new kind of trust, Oskar more open and confident, and Elin realized the importance of asking for help and trusting others.Sv: Skansen låg nu stilla under den ljusa försommarnatten.En: Skansen now lay still under the bright early summer night.Sv: Det levande museet, fyllt av historia och natur, hade blivit en plats för oväntad vänskap och gemensamma drömmar.En: The living museum, filled with history and nature, had become a place for unexpected friendship and shared dreams.Sv: Och så där, mitt i det glittrande nattlandskapet, hade både Oskar och Elin funnit något som gick bortom deras ursprungliga mål.En: And there, in the shimmering nightscape, both Oskar and Elin had found something that went beyond their original goals. Vocabulary Words:envelop: omsvepagentle: mildbud: knopparbustling: rörelsechaos: kaosventure: ge sig utradiance: utstrålninganxious: oroligoverwhelming: överväldigandepastel-colored: pastellfärgadegratefully: tacksamtcautiously: försiktigtarranged: arrangeralightened: lättadeworkload: arbetsbördanshelter: överbryggnadenpanic: panikequipment: utrustninghesitation: tvekarainbow: regnbågearch: spänderelief: lättnadcollaborated: samarbetatsuccess: framgångstanding next to: stå vid sidan avcolleagues: kollegortrust: tillitconfident: självsäkerbright: ljusashimmering: glittrande

Ducky AI operates as a pre-LLM compute layer, enabling businesses to make their proprietary data accessible to large language models without compromising security or privacy. In this episode of Category Visionaries, James O'Brien shares the journey of pivoting from a customer support solution to becoming a machine learning infrastructure tool that helps developers find and transform internal business data for optimal LLM consumption. With $2.7 million in funding, Ducky is positioning itself as the essential bridge between enterprise data and AI systems, making advanced AI capabilities accessible to technical teams without requiring extensive ML expertise.   Topics Discussed: Ducky's evolution from a customer support solution to a developer-focused ML infrastructure tool The validation process that led to identifying knowledge accessibility as a core market problem How and why the team executed their pivot in just three months The challenges of defining an ideal customer profile in the rapidly expanding AI space Building a go-to-market strategy in Nashville's emerging tech ecosystem Fundraising lessons learned during the SVB collapse   GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Listen when developers ask for your infrastructure: James discovered their true product-market fit when developers started requesting access to Ducky's knowledge retrieval infrastructure rather than their customer-facing application. "We had a revelatory moment where we realized that a bunch of developers had asked for access to our infrastructure, our knowledge retrieval infrastructure. And that's kind of what we're good at." This insight led to their pivot toward becoming an API-first tool that matched their technical strengths with the right audience. Validation is a superpower: The Ducky team excels at gathering unbiased feedback from potential customers. When considering their pivot, they embraced this strength: "I think one of the things that we're best at as a team is validation. I think we're really good at drawing relatively unbiased... input and feedback from people that we're interviewing or talking to." For B2B founders, this emphasis on rigorous customer validation before building can be the difference between success and wasted engineering resources. Make pivot decisions with data, not emotion: When considering a change in direction, Ducky time-boxed their exploration to three weeks, built multiple prototypes, and showed them to potential customers. "It was pretty clear after three weeks that one was not only a better use of our skills and time, but also a better market fit." B2B founders should approach pivots methodically, setting clear timelines and success criteria for validation. Design pricing that aligns with value creation: James emphasizes usage-based pricing that fundamentally connects revenue to customer value: "If you use it and it works, you will use it more. And that means that we're doing our job. And that's awesome. That's all I ever want to do, quite frankly, is get paid for actually bringing value to people." This approach creates natural incentives for both the vendor and customer, unlike the multi-year contracts that often create misaligned incentives. Look beyond AI hype to focus on business problems: James discovered that many companies have been tasked to "do something with AI" without clear objectives. "People are like, 'hey, we got to do something with AI,' but we don't know what that is. And then they think so deeply about, 'hey, how are we going to construct this?'" B2B founders should help customers cut through the hype by focusing on the underlying business value and specific problems to solve, rather than getting lost in technical details.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co  

Ben Beller, Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Ben Beller, Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, joins the podcast to walk through how companies can strategically navigate bankruptcy and restructuring during M&A. Drawing from experience on major cases like FTX and Silicon Valley Bank, Ben shares practical insights into Chapter 11 processes, planning strategies, liability management transactions, and how buyers can successfully acquire distressed assets. A must-listen  for corporate development professionals, acquirers, and M&A legal teams looking to build competency around distressed transactions. Things you will learn: The differences between Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcies and when to use each How liability management transactions work and their growing role in restructuring What buyers need to know about acquiring businesses in bankruptcy _______________ What is the Buyer-Led M&A™ Virtual Summit This isn't just another webinar—it's an interactive experience designed to give you the tools and strategies to lead your M&A deals with confidence. This half-day event brings together corporate development leaders and M&A experts to explore Buyer-Led M&A™, showing how you can take control of every stage of the deal. Register Now ________ This episode is sponsored by FirmRoom.  The World's Most Intuitive Virtual Data Room With AI Contract Analysis No Per-Page Fees. No B.S. Just Smarter, Faster Deals. Get started with your free trial today! ________ Episode Timestamps: [00:04:00] Ben Beller's background and major bankruptcy cases (FTX, SVB, Mallinckrodt) [00:07:30] Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 11 – key differences [00:11:30] Signs companies should begin planning for bankruptcy [00:14:00] Prepackaged vs. prearranged vs. freefall bankruptcies [00:17:30] Importance of lender relationships and communication [00:22:00] Role of private credit and debt trading in distressed situations [00:28:00] Liability management transactions explained: dropdowns, up tiers, and more [00:35:00] Trends in liability management and how they defer bankruptcy [00:41:00] M&A in bankruptcy: How buyers can seize opportunities [00:46:30] Understanding stalking horse bids and auction dynamics [00:54:30] Common mistakes in buying businesses out of bankruptcy [01:01:00] Bankruptcy reform trends and cost implications  

Episode 374 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Dave Blundin, serial entrepreneur & investor. Dave's track record is legendary as one of the top entrepreneurs and investors in the Boston tech scene. He's co-founded 23 companies… and many have been incredibly successful: * DataSage - acquired by Vignette for over $1B in today's dollars * EverQuote - which went public * Vestmark - manages over $2 trillion in assets Companies like CourseAdvisor, Jobcase, Autotegrity, LeadKarma were all acquired. Plus he's invested in CarGurus, TripAdvisor… and he is the Founder & General Partner of Link Ventures and he's also the founder of the startup incubator, Cogo Labs. One might think that after all of this success, Dave would downshift and relax… but it is the exact opposite. He has been waiting for this moment since he was 14 years old and that is the current platform shift to AI. He studied AI at MIT back in 1984 and pioneered quantizing neural networks as early as 1992. Needless to say… his time is now and he believes that it has the potential to be the greatest thing that ever happened to humanity. He wants to savor the moment and work to train and build faster, better, & smarter AI. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:43 Dave Blundin's Journey Begins 08:27 Founding DataSage and Early Innovations 15:55 Meeting Jeff Bezos & Building Personalization at Amazon 18:18 DataSage Acquisition by Vignette 20:59 Founding Story of Vestmark & Its Scale 27:39 Link Ventures & Cogo Labs - Building Consumer Companies at Scale 32:31 Story of EverQuote to IPO 35:04 The Best Friend Method for Investing 36:33 AI & The Importance of Chip Manufacturing 41:45 The AI Revolution & Opportunities 44:11 Liquid AI: General-Purpose AI Systems at Every Scale 47:45 Boston's Talent Density & MIT's Advantage 53:44 Personal Insights and Hobbies 57:40 Podcast & Book Recommendations Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Lars' Path: Finding Peace in Spring's Embrace Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2025-03-20-22-34-01-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Lars gick försiktigt längs skogsstigen.En: Lars walked carefully along the forest path.Sv: Det var vår och träden började få sina första knoppar.En: It was spring, and the trees were beginning to get their first buds.Sv: Luften var frisk och fylld med hopp om en ny början.En: The air was fresh and filled with hope for a new beginning.Sv: Hans tankar var tunga, tyngda av skuldkänslor från en gammal konflikt med sin syster Anna.En: His thoughts were heavy, burdened with feelings of guilt from an old conflict with his sister Anna.Sv: De hade inte pratat ordentligt sedan dess.En: They hadn't talked properly since then.Sv: Den täta skogen runt honom kändes både tröstande och förvirrande.En: The dense forest around him felt both comforting and confusing.Sv: Han hade alltid trivts i naturen, men idag speglade träden hans inre kaos.En: He had always enjoyed being in nature, but today the trees mirrored his inner chaos.Sv: Med påsken som närmade sig kände han ett starkt behov av att finna modet att närma sig Anna igen.En: With Easter approaching, he felt a strong need to find the courage to approach Anna again.Sv: Deras bror Karl hade planerat en påskträff för familjen, och det var hans chans att rätta till saker.En: Their brother Karl had planned an Easter gathering for the family, and it was his chance to make things right.Sv: Plötsligt bestämde sig Lars för att lämna stigen.En: Suddenly, Lars decided to leave the path.Sv: Han ville hitta en lugn plats, en plats där han kunde tänka klart.En: He wanted to find a quiet place, a place where he could think clearly.Sv: När han trädde in i den täta delen av skogen kände han sig genast lite bortkommen.En: As he stepped into the dense part of the forest, he immediately felt a bit lost.Sv: Träden stod så tätt att solen knappt nådde marken.En: The trees were so close together that the sun barely reached the ground.Sv: Trots det kändes doften av våren starkare här.En: Despite this, the scent of spring was stronger here.Sv: Han gick försiktigt längre in, med målet att få lite stillhet.En: He walked carefully further in, with the goal of finding some stillness.Sv: Efter en stunds vandring hörde han ljudet av vatten.En: After walking for a while, he heard the sound of water.Sv: Snart möttes han av en strömmande bäck.En: Soon, he was met by a flowing brook.Sv: Vattnet forsade kraftigt över stenarna, och ljudet var både skrämmande och lugnande.En: The water rushed powerfully over the stones, and the sound was both frightening and soothing.Sv: Lars stannade upp vid kanten.En: Lars paused at the edge.Sv: Bäcken symboliserade hans känslor.En: The brook symbolized his feelings.Sv: Pepprad med rädsla och skuld behövde han den här konfrontationen.En: Peppered with fear and guilt, he needed this confrontation.Sv: Lars satte sig ner på en sten och tittade över vattnet.En: Lars sat down on a stone and looked over the water.Sv: Han mindes grälet med Anna som om det vore igår.En: He remembered the argument with Anna as if it were yesterday.Sv: Orden hade sårat dem båda djupt.En: The words had hurt them both deeply.Sv: Men nu, med ljudet av den energi som bäcken gav, insåg han att han inte kunde fortsätta fly.En: But now, with the sound of the energy the brook gave, he realized he couldn't keep running away.Sv: Det var dags att släppa sin stolthet och bryta isen.En: It was time to let go of his pride and break the ice.Sv: Efter att ha suttit där en lång stund, fylld av både tvivel och hopp, bestämde Lars sig för att återvända.En: After sitting there for a long time, filled with both doubt and hope, Lars decided to return.Sv: Han förstod nu att isolationen inte var lösningen.En: He now understood that isolation wasn't the solution.Sv: Om han verkligen ville försonas med Anna, behövde han tala med henne.En: If he truly wanted to reconcile with Anna, he needed to talk to her.Sv: De kunde inte vänta längre.En: They could no longer wait.Sv: När han så småningom återvände till stigen, kände han en lättnad smyga sig in inom honom.En: When he eventually returned to the path, he felt a sense of relief creeping in within him.Sv: Att hitta tillbaka till henne, skulle han nu istället göra med öppna konversationer framöver.En: To find his way back to her, he would now instead do so with open conversations in the future.Sv: Han var redo att möta Anna på påskträffen med nytt mod och en vilja att återförenas.En: He was ready to meet Anna at the Easter gathering with new courage and a willingness to reunite.Sv: Lars hade funnit det svar han sökte.En: Lars had found the answer he sought.Sv: Familjen var viktig och det var dags att göra saker och ting rätt.En: Family was important, and it was time to make things right.Sv: Redo att börja om, gick han tillbaka genom den vackra vårliga skogen, fylld med frid och beslutet att inte längre frukta orden som kunde hela.En: Ready to start anew, he walked back through the beautiful spring forest, filled with peace and the decision to no longer fear the words that could heal. Vocabulary Words:carefully: försiktigtdense: tätacomforting: tröstandeconfusing: förvirrandecourage: modetgathering: träffleave: lämnaquiet: lugngoal: måletflowing: strömmandebrook: bäckrushed: forsadefrightening: skrämmandesoothing: lugnandepaused: stannade uppsymbolized: symboliseradeconfrontation: konfrontationenpride: stolthetreconcile: försonasisolation: isolationrelief: lättnadcreeping: smyga sigreunite: återförenasdecision: beslutetfear: fruktaheal: helaburdened: tyngdarealized: insågmirror: speglahope: hopp

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Lockwood's Background and Journey (0:46)Vincimus Capital Overview (2:09)Democratization of Private Markets (3:51)Transition to Private Equity (4:52)Influence of Shackleton's Endurance (7:43)Current Market Opportunities (8:40)Criteria for Ideal Clients (14:26)Opportunities in Larger Investments (17:09)Slow Dating in Manager Selection (20:26)Evaluating Deal Opportunities (22:07)Insider Segment: SVB's Approach to Innovation (26:10)Diversification in Venture Capital (31:07)Investment Buckets (36:02)Philanthropy in Wealth Management (39:00)Fund Manager Dynamics (41:55)The Importance of Patience in Investment (46:28)Connecting with Contacting Vincimus Capital and Final Thoughts (48:22)Vincimus Capital is an investment platform and community founded upon shared values and trusted relationships. As a team of capital allocators, we seek to deliver risk-adjusted returns that support the present and future needs of the values-aligned families we serve. Learn more: https://www.vincimus.com/Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Part 2 of 2: Provocative China Podcast presents a conversation with Ken Wilcox, former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank and the author of The China Business Conundrum: Ensure That "Win-Win" Doesn't Mean Western Companies Lose Twice. Listen to Ken's firsthand trials and tribulations trying to set up a joint venture in China between SVB and the CCP. His experience is fascinating—and sometimes maddening—filled with unexpected assertions from Chinese counterparts right out of the Art of War playbook, highlighting key cultural differences and, as Ken puts it, deeply convoluted negotiations that expose our Western naivety regarding doing business in China. No one in China has read the book "Getting To Yes," so if you are armed with these tactics and strategies, YOU WILL FAIL IN CHINA!In our conversation, Ken dives into the struggles Western businesses face in China, from the risks of technology transfer to navigating the morality and ethics of Chinese business negotiations. He also shares some lessons he learned from his missteps along the way. Whether you're in business or just curious about U.S.-China relations, this episode is packed with honest, down-to-earth advice from someone who's been through it all.00:00:08 Western Companies Losing Twice in China 00:02:59 Negotiation Styles Between Western and Chinese Companies 00:06:11 Cultural Differences in Business Ethics 00:07:08 Honeymoon Period in Business Relationships 00:08:41 Negotiating with Chinese Partners 00:11:27 Recommended Books to Prepare for China 00:17:47 Future Economic Relations Between the U.S. and China 00:24:21 Advantages of China in Global Competition 00:25:02 Advantages of the U.S. in Global CompetitionConnect with Kenhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kenwilcoxsvb/Buy Ken's book:https://www.amazon.com/China-Business-Conundrum-Win-Win-Companies/dp/1394294166 Visit Gene's author website:https://www.provocativechina.com/Buy Gene's books:https://www.amazon.com/Gene-J.-Hsu/e/B092FYDCN7

Episode 373 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Jeff Bussgang, General Partner at Flybridge. Jeff has accomplished so much throughout his career. I'm sure lots of people probably know him best as a Venture Capitalist and Professor at Harvard Business School. But... you might not know the details about his startup career prior to Flybridge which I was really excited to dig into because he played a key role at two incredibly successful companies in the Boston tech scene. The first being OpenMarket, which pretty much invented eCommerce with its shopping cart technology that was licensed by companies like Amazon when they were just getting started. The company went public at a billion dollar valuation back in 1996 which was a very big deal. The second company is Upromise, where he was a Co-Founder along with Michael Bronner, who was also the Founder of Digitas and really helped establish the world of direct & loyalty marketing and David Fialkow, who you might also recognize as one of the founders of General Catalyst. Upromise allowed consumers, including myself, to save for their kids' college education through a loyalty rewards program. The company was very successful and it was later acquired by Sallie Mae. In addition to being an entrepreneur, investor, and professor, Jeff is also an author of three books and his latest book is called The Experimentation Machine - Finding Product-Market Fit in the Age of AI. Plus we talk about his Dad (Julian Bussgang), a scientist and entrepreneur who developed the Bussgang Theorem, Jeff educational background in AI, Flybridge's history of investments in AI, Hack.Diversity and so much more! Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:05 Jeff's New Book - The Experimentation Engine 04:47 Jeff's Background and Early Influences 08:47 The Story of OpenMarket & Shopping Cart Tech 17:21 The Creation of Upromise 25:06 Transition to Venture Capital & Flybridge 26:37 Flybridge's History & Focus on AI 32:50 Flybridge's Investment Process 34:13 Advice on Go-to-Market Strategy 35:36 Getting Pitched by Curt Schilling 38:03 Teaching at Harvard Business School 39:48 Career Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs 42:22 Must-Have Versus Nice-to-Have Products 44:00 Hack.Diversity 46:46 The Boston Tech Ecosystem & AI 52:55 Recommendations - Apps & Podcasts Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Ian's Journey in Wealth Management (0:41)Founding Westfuller Advisors (5:05)Challenges in Early Days (10:36)Current Differentiation and Pitch (12:18)Long-term Strategic Asset Allocation Model (14:37)Ownership Lens Focus (16:57)Advocacy for Due Diligence (18:16)Economic Mobility and Career Decisions (22:32)Insider Segmeng: Catalyst 2045 Initiative Overview (25:59)Investment Focus Areas (28:32)Challenges in Supporting Underrepresented Founders (32:16)Future of Values-Aligned Investing (35:04)Investment in Generative AI (40:56)Incremental Impact in Investment (43:46)Active Ownership and Corporate Stewardship (46:43)Building Long-Term Partnerships (48:39)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (50:55)Westfuller Advisors is a values-driven investment advisory and wealth management firm dedicated to providing advice, strategy, and investment management for mission-aligned individuals, families, nonprofits, and foundations globally. Committed to fostering a just and equitable society, Westfuller integrates clients' values into tailored financial solutions. Learn more: https://westfulleradvisors.com/Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Tom welcomes back an always interesting guest who dives deeply into various financial topics; John Titus. Several key topics were discussed, including the banking crisis of March 2023, federal debt, central bank independence, and the implications of the Fed's policies. Titus began by revisiting his prediction of the banking crisis, attributing it to the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program during the pandemic. He explained that this led to a surge in commercial bank deposits, which ultimately caused instability when large deposits were withdrawn from banks like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Titus emphasized that these massive deposits, often exceeding $1 billion, were uninsured and posed significant risks when withdrawn rapidly. He discussed how the Fed's actions during the pandemic injected liquidity into non-bank entities, leading to a buildup of deposits in commercial banks. This created a situation where the failure of SVB was inevitable due to the withdrawal of large deposits. Moving on to federal debt, Titus expressed concern about the growing U.S. debt and its sustainability. He highlighted that the Fed's policies have led to a system where debt is used to finance government operations, creating a cycle of borrowing to cover interest payments. This spiral could lead to fiscal insolvency if not addressed. The discussion then turned to central bank independence and the implications of a Biden administration memo emphasizing central bank autonomy. Titus argued that in the U.S., the Federal Reserve is not truly independent but rather an agency under Congress, which has the constitutional authority to oversee it. He warned against efforts to model the Fed after systems like the European Central Bank, which operate independently of national governments, as this could erode democratic accountability. Titus also previewed his new series, "The War for Bankocracy," which explores the history and power dynamics of central banks. He emphasized the importance of constitutional governance over monetary policy, arguing that Congress must maintain control to prevent abuses of power by central bankers. Throughout the interview, Titus stressed the need for public awareness and engagement in monetary policy decisions, urging listeners to stay informed and advocate for transparency and accountability in how debt and money are managed. His analysis highlighted the interconnected risks posed by federal debt, banking instability, and central bank autonomy, emphasizing that these issues require immediate attention to prevent further economic crises. Time Stamp References:0:00 - Introduction0:48 - Predicting Bank Failures4:12 - Bank System in 20256:43 - Risks or Manipulation10:06 - Fed, Deficits, & Austerity12:43 - Fed & Fiscal Dominance15:05 - The Debt Spiral20:15 - Extinguish Debt?23:40 - C.B. Gold Reserves25:57 - U.S. Rates & Debt Rollover27:07 - Treasury Dealers31:25 - Fed & Inflation34:59 - Neverending Puzzle36:30 - Debt Solutions?40:00 - Reverse Repo Status45:15 - Fed 'Independence'50:00 - Biden Memo Concerns52:26 - C.B. Independence55:20 - Bankocracy Series Guest Links:SubStack: https://bestevidence.substack.com/Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1843407Odysey: https://odysee.com/@BestEvidence:bYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BestEvidenceBankocracy Series Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-fPI_tleUo&list=PLXr4cxq6ih6DbS8NIMK3nAiEM8AggZ_DQ John Titus holds a masters degree in electrical engineering as well as a law degree and he uses these to pursue his "day job". However, John is also a staunch critic of central banking the federal reserve system and his diligent research has uncovered numerous lies and deceptions from the U.S. Federal Reserve regarding their actions/policies since 2008. John is the creator and executive producer of the "BestEvidence" YouTube channel and all of his documentaries can be found there. BestEvidence seeks to chronicle major financial forces and legal changes be...

Episode 370 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Toshit Panigrahi, Co-Founder & CEO and Olivia Joslin, Co-Founder & COO of TollBit. There are going to be so many amazing benefits and advancements that are a result of the platform shift to AI. However, in this new world, many industries will need to go through radical transformation and the publishing industry is right in that mix. We even see some of these issues with VentureFizz, of course at a much smaller scale as compared to major publishers. For example, if you are searching for information about some startups in Boston, it's possible that the results will include content from VentureFizz in the results from Google Gemini. While in one regard, it is great that Google views us as an authority on the topic, it does however eliminate the need for the consumer to come to our site because they likely have their question answered. It's really not a major problem for us because of our business model, but it is certainly a major problem for publishers who count on pageviews for ad revenue. Enter TollBit, a two-sided marketplace for AI companies and publishers started by two alumni of Toast. The platform seeks to address the new economics of content creation in the AI era by reducing the legal uncertainties of scraping and protecting the health of the entire content ecosystem. The company recently announced a $24M Series A round of funding in October of last year which comes shortly after raising a $7M seed round in March of last year, as well. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of great topics: Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:10 AI & the Media Industry 03:51 Olivia's & Toshit's Background & Professional Journey 12:48 Starting TollBit 17:46 The Details of TollBit's Platform 25:07 TollBit's Funding & Pitch Advice 31:06 TollBit's Business Model 37:27 The Importance of Advisors for Your Startup 39:12 Lessons Learned While Building TollBit 42:18 Hiring 44:11 App & Podcast Recommendations Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Meghan's Background and Journey (1:18)Capital Formation Insights (7:39)Lessons from Goldman Sachs (9:05)Advice for Emerging Managers (11:11)Importance of Client Experience (17:00)The Competitive Landscape of Venture Capital (19:14)Changing GP and LP Relationships (23:29)Creativity in Investor Relationships (28:19)Insider Segment: Florida's Diverse Venture Ecosystem (31:10)Challenges and Opportunities in Florida Startups (35:40)Talent Access and Flexibility (39:08)Institutional Reporting Challenges (41:02)Trust and Transparency in Fundraising (45:23)Institutional LP Process Advice (49:35)Power Law in Venture Capital (54:35)Understanding Capital Allocation (56:49)Fund Sizes and Venture Capital Dynamics (1:00:12)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (1:05:10)Altimeter Capital Management is a leading investment firm specializing in technology-focused public and private market investments. By integrating insights across markets, Altimeter aims to drive innovation in the financial industry.http://www.altimeter.com/Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Episode 368 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Matthias Hofmann, Co-Founder & CEO of Eyebot. I met Matthias and Jack, Eyebot's Co-Founder & CTO at a pre-party for TechCrunch's Early Stage event in Boston a couple of years ago. It was one of those meetings that when someone describes their product - an AI powered kiosk that could conduct vision tests in 90 seconds… it sounded like something out of science fiction… but it made you pause and think… what if they actually build this… the market opportunity is massive - like TAM - everyone in the world massive. On top of that, here are some crazy stats of the void in the market that needs to be addressed with a solution: 40,000 unfilled eye doctor positions in the U.S. - more doctors retiring than graduating from school) 25% of U.S. counties don't have a practicing eye care provider 63% of Americans don't have vision insurance Well, this product and solution became a reality when Eyebot announced its partnership with Zenni Optical by deploying their kiosks in various locations and as you'll hear from Matthias… the pipeline of demand for their kiosks is incredibly strong. Another crazy stat that he shared with me is that the team is only 14 people. It's another perfect example of the level of innovation in the Boston tech scene with several next generation hardware & robotics companies that are emerging like 10 Beauty, Ozlo Sleepbuds, Pickle Robot, and many more. Eyebot raised a $6M seed round of funding last year led by AlleyCorp and Ubiquity Ventures with participation from other top investors. In this podcast, we cover: * Eyebot's first appearance at CES this year and advice on how to create a buzz. * Matthias' background story and how positions at EyeNetra & Formlabs helped shape his career. * The full story of Eyebot and the challenges in the market that they are addressing. * How their technology works, plus their go-to-market strategy, and details on funding. * Advice for founders on building hardware and raising capital. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Highlights from this week's conversation include:​​Samir's Background and Journey (0:31)Founding Allocate (1:09)Emerging Managers Focus (4:26)Market Cycles and Investment Strategies (8:11)Current Market Trends (12:22)Illiquidity in Venture Capital (14:04)Misconceptions About Venture Capital (16:05)Direct Investments vs. Fund of Funds (19:51)Operational Needs of Wealth Advisors (22:13)Building Infrastructure for Investment (24:16)Insider Segment: Nico Toro of Silicon Valley Bank (27:00)Customization in Different Markets (28:55)Understanding Local Ecosystems (30:07)Opportunities in Fintech (32:26)Consolidation in Private Equity (36:49)Investment Strategies for Family Offices (40:43)Responsible Participation in Venture Capital (44:50)Ideal Investor Profile (47:05)Market Growth and Challenges (50:04)Current Investment Climate (52:00)Connecting with Samir and Final Thoughts (53:12)Allocate is a platform designed to modernize and democratize private market investing by providing accredited investors with curated access to top-tier private capital funds and direct investment opportunities. Allocate's mission is to empower a broader audience of investors to participate in private markets while emphasizing transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity. https://www.allocate.coSilicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

About Julie Ebert:Julie Betts Ebert is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank's National Life Science & Healthcare team, supporting life science companies in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast with banking services, debt financing, and strategic growth advice. Previously, she led SVB's Strategic Advisory effort, managing client engagements and advisory projects. Julie's prior experience includes 10 years at Greenhill & Co., advising on M&A and restructuring, and roles at Prudential Securities and J.P. Morgan. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in finance from the University of Virginia.Things You'll Learn:There's been an increase in the number of deals being made in the health tech space, signaling a positive shift in the market despite funding not growing as drastically as there's a slight uptick.A significant portion of health tech companies, roughly a third that have raised money, are integrating AI into their products or services, demonstrating the growing importance of AI in healthcare innovation. Silicon Valley Bank's reports aim to create transparency in the market. They give companies access to critical information about venture capital trends and investment patterns, helping to level the playing field for these companies.The 2024 Future of Healthtech report also shows that investors are becoming more pragmatic about valuations, with fewer up rounds and an increase in flat or down rounds or deals where the terms are not disclosed at all. By offering its insights, being creative in its financing, and supporting companies with the knowledge to help move their businesses forward, Silicon Valley Bank shows that it is a bold leader who is playing a crucial role in transforming the healthcare industry and fostering innovation.Resources:Connect with and follow Julie Ebert on LinkedIn.Follow Silicon Valley Bank on LinkedIn and visit their website.Read this year's SVB's Future of Healthtech report here.

Episode 367 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Vivjan Myrto, Founder & Managing Partner at Hyperplane. Why Boston Be The Star of the AI Revolution - this is the title of an article that Zach Winn wrote for VentureFizz seven years ago. It talks about the history of AI in the Boston area including Marvin Minksy's first neural net machine back in 1951, the amazing academic institutions, plus the state of the tech ecosystem in this industry back then. Vivjan was featured in this article along with this quote: “I think machine intelligence represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for entrepreneurs...” It's impressive to see how Vivjan and his partners were well ahead of the AI hype machine, as they built Hyperplane's focus around backing the best founding teams working in this sector along with other innovations in hardtech like robotics, sensors and more. The firm's name is even based on a term in machine learning applications, a higher-dimensional plane used to help categorize data based on its underlying structure from images to real-world events. In this podcast, we cover: * Vivjan's inspirational background story from growing up in Albania to fighting cancer and moving to the United States for treatment and learning how to speak English while he was in the hospital. * Going on to build a healthcare startup that was acquired. * How Hyperplane came to fruition and how they raised their first fund. * All the details about Hyperplane and the firm's area of focus for investments. * A deep dive into Modulate, one of their portfolio companies. * Advice on taking the entrepreneurial leap * A discussion around the Boston tech scene and areas for improvement. * His passion for wind sports and photography. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

What can we say for sure about China? Many of us can rattle off some incredible statistics.  It is a manufacturing and technology powerhouse. China ran up an astonishing $1 trillion dollar surplus in 2024. China builds more EVs than all other countries combined. And China has enough capacity to supply total global demand for batteries. We know these facts. But what we know much less well is how to engage with Chinese business people in a productive way that leads to successful outcomes. That's been a giant black hole for many Western business people. Fortunately, a giant dose of help is on the way in the form of a tremendous new book by Ken Wilcox called The Chinese Business Conundrum: Ensuring Win-Win Doesn't Mean Western Companies Twice. Mr Wilcox, the former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, also ran SVB's joint venture bank in China. He shares extremely valuable inside views of realities on the ground.   

Blake and David jump into the latest news, including the launch of Trump's own cryptocurrency and KPMG's expansion into legal services in Arizona, taking advantage of new rules allowing non-lawyers to own law firms. They also examine the Treasury Department's Chinese hack attack, South Carolina's $1.8 billion accounting error resolution, and Trump's proposed External Revenue Service.SponsorsRelay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/relayKeeper - http://accountingpodcast.promo/keeperTaxBandits - http://accountingpodcast.promo/taxbanditsBasil - http://accountingpodcast.promo/basilChapters(00:48) - Trump's TikTok Saga (03:35) - Live Stream and CPE Credits (04:48) - Trump's Cryptocurrency Launch (06:54) - Sage AI Data Leak Incident (12:27) - Relay Sponsorship and Banking Solutions (14:13) - Trump's Cryptocurrency Impact (28:06) - Direct File and IRS Developments (32:45) - KPMG Enters Legal Services (38:51) - Tax Bandits: Streamlining Your Tax Season (39:50) - Legal Document Automation with AI (41:04) - South Carolina's $1.8 Billion Accounting Error (45:56) - Trump's External Revenue Service Proposal (49:54) - Chinese Hackers Breach U.S. Treasury (56:51) - FDIC Sues Silicon Valley Bank Executives (01:04:39) - American Express Settles for $230 Million Over Bad Tax Advice (01:08:28) - Testing Google's Gemini Advanced for Tax Research (01:12:17) - Earn Free CPE Credits with Earmark (01:14:22) - Conclusion and Live Stream Announcement  Show NotesTikTok restores US service after Trump says “we have to save it”https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-goes-dark-us-users-trump-says-save-tiktok-2025-01-19/ Donald and Melania Trump debuted meme coins, $Trump and $Melania. Here's what to know.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-melania-meme-coin-cryptocurrency-what-to-know/ KPMG's Bold Move: How Arizona's ABS Rules Are Reshaping the U.S. Legal Landscapehttps://lawleaders.com/kpmgs-bold-move-how-arizonas-abs-rules-are-reshaping-the-u-s-legal-landscape/ IRS Direct File set to expand availability in a dozen new states and cover wider range of tax situations for the 2025 tax filing seasonhttps://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-direct-file-set-to-expand-availability-in-a-dozen-new-states-and-cover-wider-range-of-tax-situations-for-the-2025-tax-filing-season Sage Copilot grounded briefly to fix AI misbehaviorhttps://www.theregister.com/2025/01/20/sage_copilot_data_issue/ FDIC sues 17 former Silicon Valley Bank executives over collapesehttps://www.cnn.com/2025/01/16/business/fdic-sues-svb-executives-directors-intl-hnk/index.htmlFDIC sues former SVB execs over bank closurehttps://bankingjournal.aba.com/2025/01/fdic-sues-former-svb-execs-over-bank-closure/ SoftBank-Backed Fish Firm Allegedly Faked Most of Its Saleshttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/softbank-backed-fish-startup-allegedly-141253969.html American Express to pay $230 million to settle US charges over deceptive sales practiceshttps://www.reuters.com/business/finance/american-express-pay-1087-mln-settle-deceptive-marketing-allegations-justice-2025-01-16/ U.S. Sanctions Chinese Cybersecurity Firm Over Treasury Hack Tied to Salt Typhoonhttps://thehackernews.com/2025/01/us-sanctions-chinese-cybersecurity-firm.html SC auditor resigns after outside audit found $1.8 billion ‘surplus' was actually an accounting errorhttps://www.wistv.com/2025/01/23/sc-auditor-resigns-after-outside-audit-found-18-billion-surplus-was-actually-an-accounting-error/Need CPE?Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.comSubscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.comGet in TouchThanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. Call us and leave a voicemail; maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040.SponsorshipsAre you interested in sponsoring the Cloud Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus.Need Accounting Conference Info? Check out our new website - accountingconferences.comLimited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessitiesTeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merchSubscribeApple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcastsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAccountingPodcastSpotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/SpotifyPodchaser: http://cloudacctpod.link/podchaserStitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/StitcherOvercast: http://cloudacc...

Technology has impacted so many areas of lending but one niche that has remained a manual, human-powered process is middle market lending, where deals are typically $5 million to $100 million. These deals have been consummated on the golf course or at expensive dinners after often months of analysis and negotiation. That is not an efficient way to do business in 2025. Enter Arc.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Don Muir, the CEO and Co-Founder of Arc. Arc is first and foremost a technology company, providing startups and lenders the tools they need to manage their finances. Where Arc shines is in helping companies raise debt capital, they have built one of the most sophisticated systems on the market today to bring borrowers and lenders together to get deals done quickly and easily, even deals in the tens of millions of dollars.In this podcast you will learn:The aha moment that led to the founding of Arc.Why banks are not interested in serving the lower middle market.Why they launched with a direct lending model.How their two-sided debt marketplace works.Details of their commercial banking offering.How they make lenders decisions easier.The range of deal sizes they are doing today.What they offer in their cash management platform.How the SVB collapse has impacted their business.How Arc Intelligence uses AI to helps lenders make decisions more efficiently.Why they have decided to focus exclusively on debt and not do equity.Why demand has been so strong for the last year or more.How Don is thinking about Arc long term.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Episode #366 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Graham Brooks, Partner at .406 Ventures. “Data is the new oil” - it's a slogan that you hear everywhere these days… it's on TV commercials, print ads, LinkedIn posts… but this is not a new trend or revelation for Graham. His interest in data goes back to his first job out of college and his passion for data has followed him throughout his career, including in his current role as the leader of .406 Ventures' Data + AI strategy. .406 Ventures is a Boston-based venture capital firm with over $1.4B under management and nearly two decades of experience leading or co-leading early-stage investments in pioneering healthcare, data + AI, and cybersecurity companies founded by visionary entrepreneurs. Oh… and here's a fun fact about Graham… his sport of choice while growing up was fencing. He competed all over the world and was a two-time All American at Princeton. So cool. In this podcast, we cover: * Graham's thoughts on AI and the investment outlook for 2025. * His background story including how he got into fencing. * Joining a Princeton startup called ALK Associates which was early AI for data cleansing that was acquired by Trimble. * Learning sales and fundraising as part of the founding team at Accentus after he received his MBA at Dartmouth. * Graham's journey to landing a job in venture capital which was intentional, plus he shares some great advice for others who are interested in this career path. * The details about .406 Ventures and its thesis driven approach, plus portfolio company examples and their investment process. * His passion for extreme sports * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Insider Segment: SVB's Role in the Innovation Economy (1:14)Challenges for Emerging Managers (4:31)Global Innovation and Connectivity (6:15)SVB's Offerings Beyond Financing (8:41)Treasury Services and Liquidity Solutions (10:59)Ertan Can's Background and Journey into VC (13:45)The Birth of Multiple Capital (17:41)Pan-European Portfolio Strategy (20:38)Investment Jurisdictions and Structures (24:06)Opportunities for US Investors (28:27)Exit Markets and Valuation Benefits (30:01)The Rise of European Startups (33:08)Identifying Outliers in the Ecosystem (35:10)Focus on Small and Seed-Stage Funds (38:31)Adapting to Market Changes (42:26)Advantages of Solo GPs (45:24)Future of the European Market (50:27)The Randomness of Venture Success (54:25)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (1:01:09)Multiple Capital is Europe's first tech-focused fund of micro funds, founded in 2018 by Ertan Can. The firm invests in emerging and solo fund managers across Europe and the U.S., focusing on overlooked opportunities in niche geographies and verticals. With a portfolio spanning over 1,000 companies, Multiple Capital aims to democratize access to early-stage tech investments and foster innovation. Learn more: https://www.multiple.capital/Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, is the bank of the world's most innovative companies and investors. SVB provides commercial and private banking to individuals and companies in the technology, life science and healthcare, private equity, venture capital and premium wine industries. SVB operates in centers of innovation throughout the United States, serving the unique needs of its dynamic clients with deep sector expertise, insights and connections. SVB's parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), is a top 20 U.S. financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com. Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Episode 365 of The VentureFizz Podcast features John Harthorne, Founder & Managing Director of Two Lanterns Venture Capital and Founder and decade-long CEO of MassChallenge. A career is a body of work. It doesn't have to be a straight line… it can take twists and turns… yon can switch industries… you can reinvent yourself… and it should be fulfilling. As you'll learn from John's background, he had lots of twists and turns but ultimately, he decided there must be more to his career. One where he can make a massive impact, but he obviously had to weigh the risks of the unknown during one of the worst economic conditions back in 2009. That unknown became one of the largest accelerators in the world with over 4,000 alumni and over $13B raised with a 65% survival rate which includes companies like Flywire, Ginger, Bitso and many, many more. It's proof that you can think and dream big! Today at Two Lanterns Venture Capital, John is focused on making pre-seed and seed investments in software startups in the U.S. and Israel. In this podcast, we cover: * John's outlook for 2025 as an investor. * His background with lots of twists and turns, including how he landed in the tech industry at a cybersecurity company called @stake. * The decision to go back to business school at MIT Sloan and how his passion for entrepreneurship developed. * The full lifecycle story of MassChallenge. All the stories from leaving Bain as a consultant along with Akhil Nigam to start the accelerator, all the obstacles they overcome, and then scaling the organization. * What led him down the path of starting Two Lanterns Venture Capital, plus all the details on the firm and what they are targeting for investments. * Common entrepreneurial mistakes. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode #364 of The VentureFizz Podcast features John Andrews, Co-Founder & CEO of Cimulate. There is a wave of entrepreneurs who are uniquely qualified to build a pillar tech company in the Boston tech ecosystem while leveraging the platform shift to AI. Not only is John one of them, but he is also an alum of the very successful crew from Endeca. John and his co-founder, Vivek Farias, are tackling the future of eCommerce and as you'll hear, their platform is a perfect use case for Gen AI. Their last company, Celect, was a big data predictive analytics platform for the retail industry which was acquired by Nike. Cimulate recently announced a $28M Series A round of funding led by Spark Capital with participation from their seed stage investors SIERRA Ventures and Pillar VC, with additional participation from LFX Venture Partners and Commerce Ventures. In this podcast, we cover: * A deep dive into the use cases of AI in the retail & eCommerce industry especially around personalization. * John's background story and getting his career started at Deloitte Consulting and getting an MBA from HBS. * How he met Steve Papa, the founder of Endeca, and the full lifecycle of his experience there including the acquisition by Oracle and integration of their tech there. * Connecting with Vivek Farias and Devavrat Shah through Steve Papa and the story of building Celect which was using AI / machine learning back in 2014. * How the acquisition by Nike came together * All the details about Cimulate and how the platform works, plus their growth plans ahead. * Biggest lessons learned as a multi-time CEO. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

All entrepreneurs should understand what venture debt is so they can make an informed decision to take it or not. Heidi poses a series of questions and scenarios to help founders know whether it's a good option for their company. And if it is, how to set it up and use it.  More Information: https://www.threshold.vc/podcast/the-case-of-the-venture-debt-dilemma Further Reading: As I mentioned in the episode, General Catalyst has an interesting offering around a financing model for growth equity that is a hybrid of debt and equity: https://www.generalcatalyst.com/stories/the-unbundling-of-growth-equity Also, as mentioned, the next version of the SAFE has arrived in the form of a SAFERloan agreement, which allows for some repayment instead of conversion: https://www.liquiditygroup.com/resource-funding/what-is-the-safer-agreement Here's a solid primer on debt covenants:https://www.lightercapital.com/blog/what-are-debt-covenants-on-a-loan#:~:text=A%20debt%20covenant%20lays%20out,more%20specific%20and%20complex%20requirements Finally, one thing I didn't cover in the episode but is relevant to the decision-making about debt is that the lender may ask you to move all your banking business to their bank. And that can prove disastrous in situations like what happened to SVB. Here's a great piece on that danger: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wake-svbs-collapse-some-tech-founders-turn-against-venture-tanya-dua

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu talks about his three-plus years at the forefront of bank regulation, including what regulators learned from the fall of SVB, why we still need new Basel capital rules, and whether regulatory restructuring would be worth the effort.

Here's how the second-biggest bank collapse in U.S. history happened in just 48 hours. Silicon Valley Bank closed its doors today. Within 48 hours, a panic induced by the very venture capital community that SVB had served and nurtured ended the bank's 40-year-run. For sure you've heard that millionaires are made in recessions, but how? Jaspreet Singh is joining Tom for a second time to get you up to speed on what it takes to get wealthy during any recession. Jaspreet is the Minority Mindset guru and Chief Money Nerd at Minority Mindset Companies. He's been creating financial education videos on YouTube for years and is breaking down all the reason you don't have to be scared during a recession Jaspreet is a voice of reason to remember that recessions are only bad or good in relation to which side of the equation you are on. This is a must watch if you're trying to find the best route through a recession that has most people nervous and panicked. [Original air date: 3-13-23]. CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS Range Rover: Explore the Range Rover Sport at  https://landroverUSA.com Miro: Bring your teams to Miro's revolutionary Innovation Workspace and be faster from idea to outcome at https://miro.com. Found Banking: Stop getting lost in countless finance apps and try Found for free at https://found.com/impact. Netsuite: Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://netsuite.com/theory Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impact Factor:  Get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month while your subscription is active at https://factormeals.com/impacttheory50 with code impacttheory50. Follow Jaspreet Singh: Website: https://theminoritymindset.com/about-us/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MinorityMindset Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minoritymin... Twitter: https://twitter.com/minoritym1ndset Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MinorityMind... CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS Range Rover: Explore the Range Rover Sport at  https://landroverUSA.com Miro: Bring your teams to Miro's revolutionary Innovation Workspace and be faster from idea to outcome at https://miro.com Betterhelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/impacttheory and get 10% off your first month Netsuite: Spend less time looking backwards, and more time on what's next. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at https://NetSuite.com/theory  NordVPN: EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/impacttheory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Vanta: Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to https://vanta.com/THEORY ********************************************************************** What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER SCALING a business: see if you qualify here. Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here. ********************************************************************** Join me live on my Twitch stream. I'm live daily from 6:30 to 8:30 am PT at www.twitch.tv/tombilyeu ********************************************************************** LISTEN TO IMPACT THEORY & MINDSET PLAYBOOK AD FREE + BONUS EPISODES on APPLE PODCASTS: apple.co/impacttheory ********************************************************************** FOLLOW TOM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are breaking down commercial real estate lending with Josh Zegen, co-founder and managing principal of Madison Realty Capital.  Josh and his team at Madison launched in 2004 and evolved from a hard money lender when there really was no alternative industry called commercial real estate lending. They've developed into a single-source capital provider today with more than $21 billion in AUM. Josh gets into great detail here about how it's not an all-or-nothing story when it comes to real estate. We covered some of the basics on construction loans, the life cycle of capital, and new developments. Then, we get into some of the current market dynamics, post-COVID interest rates, post-SVB, and much, much more.  Please enjoy this Breakdown of commercial real estate lending. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Public: Invest in stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more in one place. A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. The [6.7%] yield is the average annualized yield to maturity (YTM) across all ten bonds in the Bond Account, before fees, as of [9/05/2024]. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore a bond's YTM is “locked in” when the bond is purchased. Your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTM is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTM of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity, or if the issuer calls or defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. You should evaluate each bond before investing in a Bond Account. The bonds in your Bond Account will not be rebalanced and allocations will not be updated, except for Corporate Actions. – This episode is brought to you by EightSleep, the temperature-controlled mattress cover that heats or cools your mattress to transform your sleep. The Pod 4 Ultra is the new gold standard in intelligent sleep systems. It can be added to your current mattress like a fitted sheet and is been clinically proven to give you up to an hour more quality of sleep every night. The cooling capability can cool your side of the bed to 20 degrees below room temperature, all managed by the pod's autopilot feature, which adjusts the temperature throughout the night. This holiday season go to eightsleep.com/breakdowns and use code JOYS for up to $600 off the Pod 4 Ultra when bundled.  ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns (00:05:22) Starting Madison Realty Capital (00:06:44) Evolution of the Lending Market (00:10:08) Construction Lending Dynamics (00:15:36) Risk Management and Portfolio Strategy (00:18:49) Leveraging Private Credit (00:30:31) Portfolio Management and Challenges (00:33:32) COVID-19's Impact on Real Estate Projects (00:34:49) Strategies for Loan Workouts (00:37:38) Post-COVID Market Dynamics (00:39:45) Opportunities in Loan Purchases (00:42:53) Sector-Specific Real Estate Insights (00:49:27) Impact of Work Schedules on Real Estate (00:51:22) Interest Rates and Market Impact (00:55:45) Future Opportunities and Market Trends