Innovation with Mark Peter Davis

On today’s show I chat with Jon Stein, the Founder and Chairman of Betterment. Betterment is an investing platform that helps people manage their money. Jon and I met at Columbia Business School way back in 2007, which is when he first told me about his idea for Betterment. I didn’t get it at the time, but Jon had a vision.After navigating the murky waters of a HIGHLY regulated sector, Jon launched Betterment in 2010, which was revolutionary at the time for being the first no-fee trading platform. Now they have $30b in AUM serving 600,000 customers. It’s officially a unicorn.After 13 years at the helm, Jon recently stepped down from being CEO and is now the Chairman of the Board. Here in the States it’s become strangely taboo for a CEO to step down, while in other countries it’s an obvious sign of growth and development. I view Jon’s move as a promotion. During our chat Jon was very candid about the transition which I think will be helpful to a lot of other founders.We also discuss Betterment’s founding story, how to navigate regulatory challenges as an entrepreneur, and much more.Follow us on Twitter: @jonstein / @Betterment / @mpdShow Notes: Betterment, Howard Marks MemosPodcast Links: Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s episode I catch up with Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures. New Stack is a VC firm based out of Chicago, IL that focuses on early seed stage investing. With a strong focus on investing in their own backyard, Nick and New Stack are on pace to build a brand name VC between the coasts that represents the Midwest on the national stage. It was great to hear about how things are going and what they have planned for the future.Along with being a big time VC, Nick is also a veteran podcaster. He hosts a podcast called The Full Ratchet where he interviews fellow venture capitalists and investor experts. It’s a great pod and I highly recommend checking it out. He was kind enough to have me on the show back in 2015. If you’d like to listen to those episodes, I’ve included links in the show notes below.During today’s chat you’ll hear some pretty honest, real talk about the world of venture capital and how it functions, what’s broken, and where it’s going.Enjoy.Follow us on Twitter: @TheFullRatchet / @NewStackVC / @mpdGuest Links:Twitter - Nick, The Full Ratchet (Nick’s podcast), New Stack Ventures Here’s a link to The Full Ratchet episodes with Mark as the guest: Part 1, Part 2Podcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

On today’s episode I catch up with David Cummings, an entrepreneur on a mission to put Atlanta on the map when it comes to tech and venture capital. He also happens to be an old friend of mine. David and I met during our undergraduate days at Duke where we were two of only a few entrepreneurs on campus. My endeavors fizzled out while David’s became massively successful. He sold one of them - Pardot - to Salesforce for $95m and another - Hannon Hill - is still active and continuing to scale.David’s current focus and passion is the Atlanta Tech Village, an innovation hub he’s created in a building located in the heart of Atlanta. As he puts it, by creating an ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs he’s “engineering serendipity” with the goal to make sure Atlanta is reaching its full entrepreneurial potential. Out of it has come many successful companies, including Calendy of which David is an investor/board member.During our chat David breaks down how the Atlanta Tech Village operates, the VC fund he invests out of, and why companies should HEAVILY consider getting their start in Atlanta.Guest Links:Twitter - David, Twitter - Atlanta Tech VillagePodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

David Cohen is the Founder and Chairman of Techstars, one of the largest venture capital operations in the world. Since 2006 they’ve been on a mission to help entrepreneurs succeed and have invested in over 2,400 companies.What began in Boulder, CO is now a global network of entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and cities. You know innovation isn’t far behind when Techstars comes to town! During our convo we discuss the inner workings of Techstars, tips for entrepreneurs on how to get admitted into their programs, and the most valuable entrepreneurial lessons David has learned along the way.Follow us on Twitter:@davidcohen / @techstars / @mpdGuest Links:Twitter - David, Twitter - TechstarsPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Samer Hamadeh is the Founder and CEO of Zeel. Zeel started by providing in-home massage therapy, but looks a bit different these days. As you might suspect, the pandemic crushed their business and overnight their revenue went to zero. But in a time of crisis Zeel was able to leverage the logistics network they had built over the years to start offering in-home COVID testing. They’ve now expanded their services to include in-home medical services and have positioned themselves to be a pioneer in the nascent in-home-medicine market.During our conversation we discuss the growth potential for the in-home healthcare industry that is quickly taking shape, the difficulties of a logistics based company, how companies can navigate crises, and much more. Follow us on Twitter:@samerham / @getzeel@mpdShow Notes:Book - The GoalGuest Links:Twitter - Samer, Twitter - ZeelPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

As the Managing Partner of Upfront Ventures, Mark Suster has helped Los Angeles, where he and Upfront are based, reach the national stage when it comes to venture capital. The landscape was totally different 20 years ago and Mark/Upfront is a big reason why.After two successful exits as a founder, Mark joined Upfront in 2007. Since then Mark has become one of VCs most prominent venture capitalists. The main reason being his savvy business decisions, but he’s also always been ahead of the game when it comes to social media. Between his blog (www.bothsidesofthetable.com) and Twitter, he has always made his presence known by sharing fantastic insights into the world of venture capital.During today’s chat we discuss what has changed in venture over the last decade and where it’s moving forward, Mark’s take on how VCs should think about branding and social media, and how to balance politics and business.Follow us on Twitter:@msuster / @Upfrontvc@mpdGuest Links:Twitter - Mark, Twitter - Upfront, Mark’s Blog, Podcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

VCs invest in startups and founders, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they always provide the support and patience that the founders need. On this week’s episode I chat with Josh Stein - Managing Partner of Threshold Ventures - about Threshold’s emphasis on how they champion their founders by supplying them with that support and giving them time to develop.Josh is acutely aware of this need in VC because he was a founder himself before becoming a VC, so his experience has helped shape this empathic perspective!During our chat we cover a lot… we discuss the impact of covid on operations, global fund strategies, pros/cons of blending growth & early-stage funds, dynasty funds, and advice for up & coming VCs. Enjoy!Follow us on Twitter:@JoshSteinVC / @thresholdvc@mpdGuest Links:Twitter - Josh, Twitter - Threshold, Website - ThresholdPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Ian Sigalow is the Co-Founder and Partner of Greycroft, one of the biggest and most successful VCs out there. Over their 14 year history they've invested in a long list of success stories such as Public, Acorns, Goop, Bird, and many more.On this week’s episode Ian and I discuss the strategies Greycroft has followed in order to grow into a firm that manages more than $2 billion. We chat about how they evaluate talent, sectors, and global trends as well as specific do’s and don’ts for the world of venture capital. Ian is wildly smart and very candid so I hope you find the convo to be helpful and informative. Enjoy!Follow us on Twitter:@sigalow / @GreycroftVC@mpdGuest Links:Twitter - Ian, Twitter - Greycroft, GreycroftPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Limited Partners are a critical part of the venture capital ecosystem. They provide capital to VCs who in turn invest that money in companies, so the LP perspective is important to consider when trying to fully understand how VCs operate.Graham Pingree is a Partner at Cendana Capital, one of the preeminent LPs in the tech community.Graham and I discuss the role of LPs in venture capital, strategies that Cendana Capital keeps in mind when making investments, and his take on the global startup scene.Follow us on Twitter:@gpingree / @CendanaCapital@mpdGuest Links:Twitter, Cendana CapitalPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

Modern Meadow is revolutionizing the materials industry by inventing brand new materials that can be used in our everyday lives.Inventing new materials is exciting, but Modern Meadow's sustainable approach might just be the best part. By using nature's building blocks - proteins - to build these brand new materials, they hope to replace the the materials used in most of today's goods that are large contributors to global warming (ie leather derived from cows and plastic oriented synthetics derived from fossil fuels).The potential is MASSIVE!Andras and I discuss Modern Meadow's ZOA technology, how these new materials will hopefully help save our world, and how Andras ended up at this current venture.Follow us on Twitter:@ModernMeadow / @atforgacs@mpdGuest Links:Twitter, Modern MeadowPodcast Links:Website, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn