Village Global Podcast

Ryan Craig (@ryancraigap) and Daniel Pianko (@danielpianko) of Achieve Partners join Erik on this episode to discuss:- The multiple crises in higher education: of affordability, of completion, and of employability.- Why there doesn’t yet exist a Walmart University.- Why they think that big companies will be some of the great educational institutions of the 21st century.- Their thoughts on ISAs.- What they would change if they could change anything about higher ed.- How to fix the fact that half of people entering a degree program don’t complete it.- Why we should make higher education free.- How they foresee the unbundling of college happening.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Liron Shapira, Co-founder of Relationship Hero, discusses creating a new industry in relationships, the idea of bloated MVPs for startups, and the future of dating apps. He also touches on unbundling venture capital, misconceptions about building MVPs, and how society's analytical nature impacts dating.

Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi), and Greg Miaskiewicz (@miaskiewicz), join Erik on this episode. Sheel is a Network Leader at Village Global, and Greg is CEO and co-founder of Capbase.They discuss:- How Capbase can help streamline the workflows involved in getting a company off the ground.- How Greg navigated the idea maze and validated his hypothesis.- Why there should be more transparency in investing and startups.- The pros and cons of transparency within a company.- Ethical investing.- How to give feedback as an investor.- How the pandemic changes company formation.- The future of Capbase.*The deadline to get your application in for the spring vintage of the Village Global Accelerator is March 1st! It’s a personalized and tight-knit program with an amazing network of peers, advisors, and experts. Companies that have been through the accelerator have raised from some of the top venture funds in the world, like a16z, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, True Ventures, Felicis and more.Learn more and apply at www.villageglobal.vc/accelerator!Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Erik is joined on this episode, recorded as part of a Big Ideas Clubhouse, by:- Lyn Alden (@LynAldenContact), founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy- Nic Carter (@nic__carter), partner at Castle Island Ventures- Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital- Luke Gromen (@LukeGromen), founder of Forest for the Trees- Katherine Boyle (@KTmBoyle), partner at General Catalyst- Dan Romero (@dwr), angel investorThey discuss:- Whether the US dollar being the global reserve currency has led to a hollowing-out of the American manufacturing base.- Whether the US should be looking to move on from being the global reserve currency.- Why the pandemic has pulled forward American loss of leverage in the world.- How Bitcoin relates to this and whether there will be a transition to it as the global reserve currency.- Thoughts on China and its behavior in global currency markets.*The deadline to get your application in for the spring vintage of the Village Global Accelerator is March 1st! It’s a personalized and tight-knit program with an amazing network of peers, advisors, and experts. Companies that have been through the accelerator have raised from some of the top venture funds in the world, like a16z, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, True Ventures, Felicis and more.Learn more and apply at www.villageglobal.vc/accelerator!Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Elliot Shmukler (@eshmu), of Anomalo, joins Ben Casnocha on the podcast to discuss:- How growth marketing has evolved over the last decade or so since he was an early pioneer of the field at LinkedIn in 2008.- What people misunderstand about A/B testing, and the right way to go about it.- Why he doesn’t like the term “growth hacking.”- Why people should both be more humble and more ambitious with their growth marketing program.- Lessons from his time at LinkedIn, eBay, Wealthfront, and Instacart.- Finding a co-founder before finding the idea that became Anomalo.- The perils of bad data and how Anomalo is helping to fix that problem.*The deadline to get your application in for the spring vintage of the Village Global Accelerator is March 1st! It’s a personalized and tight-knit program with an amazing network of peers, advisors, and experts. Companies that have been through the accelerator have raised from some of the top venture funds in the world, like a16z, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, True Ventures, Felicis and more.Learn more and apply at www.villageglobal.vc/accelerator!Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Sar Haribhakti (@sarthakgh), program lead for On Deck Fintech, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- How fintech has evolved over time, from PayPal to Stripe to now.- How fintech is different from other areas in tech.- The most frontier themes in fintech today.- Why the lines between what is fintech and what isn’t are blurring.- How On Deck has been expanding opportunity for people.- Sar’s experience going from outsider to insider in fintech.- The biggest misconceptions people have about fintech.- What people will get out of the On Deck Fintech Fellowship (https://www.beondeck.com/fintech) and who should apply.*The deadline to get your application in for the spring vintage of the Village Global Accelerator is March 1st! It’s a personalized and tight-knit program with an amazing network of peers, advisors, and experts. Companies that have been through the accelerator have raised from some of the top venture funds in the world, like a16z, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, True Ventures, Felicis and more.Learn more and apply at www.villageglobal.vc/accelerator!Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Santiago Suarez (@SantiaSua), co-founder and CEO of ADDI, joins Village Global co-founder and partner Anne Dwane on this episode. They discuss:- What he wish he knew when he started ADDI.- Why hustle alone has never made a company successful, and why he says it’s necessary but not sufficient.- His experience going through the Village Global Accelerator, and now mentoring founders in the program.- Where he’s looking to invest in fintech.- Startups he would like to exist that don’t yet.- Why he has changed his mind on investing in founders working in a space he doesn’t like.Companies Santiago has invested in:ProTalento - https://protalento.org/english-version/Kolors - https://kolors.com.mx/Rubik - https://www.getrubik.com/*The deadline to get your application in for the spring vintage of the Village Global Accelerator is March 1st! It’s a personalized and tight-knit program with an amazing network of peers, advisors, and experts. Companies that have been through the accelerator have raised from some of the top venture funds in the world, like a16z, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, True Ventures, Felicis and more.Learn more and apply at www.villageglobal.vc/accelerator!Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Anna Gat and Anne-Laure Le Cunff discuss virtual events, scaling communities while staying human, importance of documentation, off-limits topics, generalists, and great meetups. They explore mindfulness, public/private language, online community building, diverse conversations, continuous learning through meetups, and diverse business models for learning communities.

Josh Clemente (@joshuasforrest), founder of Levels, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- The personal story that led him to start the company.- The fact that most people in America are metabolically unhealthy and what Levels is doing about it.- How they are taking huge amounts of complex data and distilling it down to a single score.- The history of nutrition research and the debates in the space.- What’s coming up from Levels.*The deadline to get your application in for the spring vintage of the Village Global Accelerator is March 1st! It’s a personalized and tight-knit program with an amazing network of peers, advisors, and experts. Companies that have been through the accelerator have raised from some of the top venture funds in the world, like a16z, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, True Ventures, Felicis and more.Learn more and apply at www.villageglobal.vc/accelerator!Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Owen Willis, lead of the On Deck Health Tech Fellowship, and Nikhil Krishnan of Out-of-Pocket, discuss the evolution of health tech, common misconceptions about building a company in healthcare, and the purpose and benefits of the fellowship. They also touch on building platforms in health tech, resources to learn more, and details about the on deck health fellowship.