The Dart Board with Daniel Dart

Meet Vanessa Larco, co-founder of the new venture firm Premise and former NEA partner. In this episode, Vanessa joins Daniel to talk about why she left one of the world’s largest VC firms to start her own, how she and her co-founder built Premise from first principles, and what she looks for in truly magnetic founders. They also dive into why consumer tech is on the verge of a new boom, her belief that discomfort is a signal you’re on the right path, and the hard tradeoffs of building while raising a family.

Meet Alda Leu Dennis, managing partner at Hawktail VC.From her start at Disney and Wilson Sosini to working alongside Peter Thiel at Founders Fund and Garry Tan at Initialized, Alda shares what she’s learned from two decades in venture. From backing exceptional founders to why smaller funds often outperform to the power of clear expectations with LPs and founders alike, she also discusses what she's building, why she's building it, along with understanding resilience, and why her guiding philosophy is: “Be bold, and all the mighty forces will come to your aid.”

Meet General Stan McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and one of the most respected military leaders of our time. From a career that spanned 34 years in uniform to the Rolling Stone article that ended it overnight, his journey is a story of leadership, resilience, and character.In this episode, he shares why credibility and long-term thinking matter more than winning at all costs, and how the toughest setbacks can become defining moments for growth.We explore his path from a rocky start at West Point to leading elite forces, the lessons he’s carried into business and teaching at Yale, and why empathy, persistence, and values are the true markers of great leadership.

Meet Samara Hernandez, founder of Chingona Ventures. From growing up under the poverty line to breaking into Goldman Sachs and launching a fund named after the Spanish word for “badass woman,” her journey is nothing short of inspiring.In this episode, she shares why resilience—what she calls the Chingona Factor—matters more than pedigree, and how underestimated founders often build the most transformative companies.We explore her path from engineering to venture, the lessons she’s learned raising funds as a solo GP in the Midwest, and why betting on grit, creativity, and values-alignment is the future of venture capital.

Meet Nitish Maini, chief strategy officer at WorldQuant. From a small town in India to rising through the ranks of finance to help steer one of the world's most significant quantitative hedge funds, his journey is nothing short of amazing. In this episode, he shares why the worst advice he ever got was "don't take the risk," and why he believes the wildest leaps often turn out to be the safest. We explore WorldQuant's global footprint and how their initiatives, like WorldQuant BRAIN and the International Quant Championship, are democratizing opportunity by tapping into talent in every corner of the world. It's a conversation about creativity and adaptability, and what it really takes to build at scale, told through the lens of someone who's lived it.

In this engaging conversation, Brad Feld, co-founder of Foundry Group and Techstars, shares his journey from founder to prolific author and marathon runner. He dives into the resilience required in both entrepreneurship and running, emphasizing the power of perseverance. Brad discusses his passion for long arc narratives in fiction, showcasing character development and diverse representation. Additionally, he reflects on the challenges of managing personal healthcare data and the evolution of the startup landscape towards meaningful success.

Finn Meeks, a partner at South Park Commons, transforms the way we think about startup support by focusing on technologists in the 'minus one' stage. He shares insights from his journey as a competitive rower, highlighting the importance of community and collaboration in helping founders succeed. Finn emphasizes the balance between resilience and the willingness to pivot, showcasing how empathy plays a crucial role in entrepreneurship. His experiences reveal that the right environment and relationships can redefine personal and professional identities.

Founder of Drive Capital, Chris Olsen, left a dream job as a partner at Sequoia to prove that billion-dollar companies could be built outside Silicon Valley. In this candid conversation, he unpacks the founding of Drive Capital, why geography no longer limits great ideas, and how authentic leadership, disciplined fundraising, and building powerful local ecosystems can drive long-term success.We also get personal, talking about failure, family, gym routines, and why comparing yourself to yesterday is the real competition.A must-listen for founders, funders, and anyone who cares about building for the long game.

Meet Dan O'Connell, CEO of Front. From joining Google when it had just 300 employees, to leading AI strategy at Dialpad, to now running one of the most innovative customer support platforms in the world at Front, Dan understands tech and Silicon Valley in ways few others do. We dive into the future of AI, what it's like to be recruited as a CEO, how to empower teams at scale, and why disruption isn’t just inevitable, it’s a responsibility.We finish by digging into why you must move fast in everything you do, both in business and life, as well as why some people, for better or worse, will never change.

Meet Mike Miller, co-founder of Liquid 2 Ventures. In this episode, we explore his journey from being a nuclear physicist to a successful entrepreneur and investor. We dig into why so much VC dogma isn't rooted in fact, and how Liquid 2 has forged it's own path - one that many new funds are copying. He shares how sometimes the worst things you go through can end up being the best thing, and how founders are often given poor advice when thinking about how to get later funding, and how there's many ways to win in venture.