OVNI's [RE-RELEASE] OVNIs – Immigrant Grit, Silicon Valley Scale: Bruce Falck’s Playbook for Reinvention
Some people change your trajectory — Bruce Falck changed mine.
In 2019, he greenlit the acquisition of my startup by Twitter.
A few years and one tech rollercoaster later, I sat down with Bruce in San Francisco to record Episode 1 of the OVNI Podcast.
Bruce’s story is wild:
➤ Born in Johannesburg.
➤ Moved to the US without a visa.
➤ Waited tables.
➤ Built a startup from scratch.
➤ Led a $5B ads business at Twitter.
➤ Got fired the week Elon took over.
And now — he's building again.
A startup in the energy mapping space. At 54. With 3 kids. With humility and fire.
We talked about ego death, reinvention, customer obsession, and why being an immigrant made him a better founder.
This episode is personal. Raw. And full of lessons for anyone thinking of starting over — again.
🎧 Listen to Episode 1 here → I know I got a lot out of this hour with Bruce, I can’t wait to hear what your thoughts of this conversation.
#founderstories #resilience #siliconvalley #OVNIPodcast #BruceFalck #exitandstartagain
[00:00:00]: Introduction
[00:00:57]: Bruce Falck's early years
[00:02:10]: Arrival in San Francisco and early jobs
[00:04:42]: Transition from corporate to dot-com projects
[00:07:36]: Learning new tools and getting hands-on
[00:08:10]: Joining Google and initial experiences
[00:11:50]: Transitioning from Google to BrightRoll
[00:12:04]: Challenges of immigration and visa journey
[00:13:50]: Yahoo acquisition and the role of danger
[00:15:01]: Joining Turn and handling leadership challenges
[00:16:19]: Transition from a large company to a startup
[00:20:01]: Becoming a professional CEO and its challenges
[00:22:01]: The competitive landscape with The Trade Desk
[00:24:04]: Joining Twitter and the role of GM
[00:28:18]: Initial excitement about Elon Musk's interest in Twitter
[00:29:02]: Acquisition of Aiden AI and the process
[00:32:54]: The media attention and personal impact
[00:33:03]: Attempting to lead Twitter through chaos
[00:35:54]: The acquisition by Elon Musk and its aftermath
[00:37:00]: Starting Halcyon and the startup journey
[00:39:07]: The decision to start a company and initial steps
[00:41:27]: The founding of Halcyon and its focus
[00:43:34]: The challenge of building a startup
[00:45:32]: Overcoming self-doubt and failure
[00:46:19]: Leadership style and delegation
[00:47:14]: The role of a founder in customer understanding
[00:47:53]: Building as an antidote to cynicism
[00:48:41]: Conclusion
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