Village Global Podcast

Garrett Smiley (@gw_smiles), co-founder of Sora Schools, and Rebecca Kaden (@rebeccakaden), investor at USV, join special guest host Anne Dwane (@adwane), co-founder and partner at Village Global, on this episode.They discuss:- The story of how Sora Schools came about and how they plan to create the best high school in the world.- How Rebecca and USV evaluated the business.- Why a new model for education is needed today.- The role of a school in the 21st century and the importance of community.- What it was like fundraising during a pandemic.- Other needs and problems that provide opportunities for entrepreneurs in the education space.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Karan Wadhera (@karanw), managing partner at Casa Verde Capital, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- The evolution of the space and how it has changed over the last several years.- The different types of companies in the space and who they have been investing in.- Who the winners might be in the delivery space.- The biggest companies that have emerged over the last few years.- His requests for startups in the space.- How the perception of cannabis is changing in culture and the impacts of that change on investing.- Global and geographic differences in space within the US and around the world.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Tyler Hayes (@thetylerhayes), CEO of Atom Limbs, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- His mission to create mind-controlled bionic arms at Atom Limbs.- How the company came to be.- What enables this technology at this point in time.- How the tech transfer process works from university to commercial application.- Lessons learned on commercializing something like this.- The bottlenecks to innovation in the area.- Why he is intent on curing death.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Chris Castiglione (@castig), co-founder of One Month, adjunct professor at Columbia, and author of a new book on decentralization called The Untold History of the Internet.- Why the launch of the Sputnik satellite spurred the creation of the internet.- The early days of the internet as a publicly funded program.- Why innovation has moved from government to private industry over the decades.- How decentralization became part of the ethos of the internet and why that has changed over time.- How data network effects led to the oligopolies seen among internet companies and whether this could have been different.- Recommendation engines and their effects on how we find truth.- How he would reform the regulation of the internet.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Alfred Chuang and Chris McCann (@mccannatron) of Race Capital joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- Where they were investing during COVID and how to find opportunities in a crisis.- Where they’re excited in the crypto space in 2020.- Thoughts on valuations and why they have remained high.- IPOs, SPACs, and the Long-Term Stock Exchange.- Why they’re not concerned about a bubble.- How the enterprise space has evolved over time.- Their take on remote and how COVID will change how companies operate.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Elad Gil (@eladgil), entrepreneur and investor, and Kevin Hartz (@kevinhartz), investor and co-founder of Eventbrite, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- What they think is special about each other’s investing abilities.- How certain people are able to stay relevant in every investing cycle.- Kevin’s latest venture and the path he took to start it.- SPACs and their advantages.- How to find your own angel investing style.- How venture will change in the next ten years.- Elad’s COVID investment thesis.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Keith Rabois (@rabois), partner at Founders Fund, and Jacob Helberg (@jacobhelberg), senior advisor at Stanford Cyber, adjunct fellow at CSIS, and formerly of Google, join Erik on this episode. They discuss:- Why the US is indeed in a cold war with China.- The roles of DC and Silicon Valley in this new cold war.- The reasons for the foreign policy establishment’s dovishness on China.- How economic foreign policy became decoupled from national foreign policy.- TikTok, and how tech and geopolitics will intersect in the future.- How the election might play out.- SPACs and how going public will change in the next 12-24 months.- The impact of COVID on valuations in public and private markets.- How COVID impacts remote work and Silicon Valley.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Sacha Lazimi (@SachaLaz), co-founder and CEO of Yubo, and François Meteyer (@FrancoisMeteyer), partner at Alven, join Erik on this episode to discuss:- The founding of Yubo and the philosophy behind the app.- What differentiates Gen Z from other generations.- The future of social networks.- Lessons for founders building in this space for this audience.- The future of entertainment, media, and gaming, and where the investment opportunities are.- The future of Yubo.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Erik is joined on this episode by Ricardo Sequerra (@ric0seq), Pawel Chudzinski (@pawell), Christoph Janz (@chrija), and Louis Coppey (@louicop), partners at Point Nine Capital.They discuss:- The background of the fund and how it got started.- Their journeys in venture so far.- Why they have an equal partnership and how to think about when that arrangement works for a firm.- How SaaS has evolved over the last several years.- Which large companies might be disrupted by SaaS startups.- Opportunities in vertical SaaS.- How machine learning changes the landscape.- How their thesis on digital marketplaces has evolved and why B2B SaaS is a large market.- Other spaces they are interested in.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Flo Crivello (@altimor), former product manager and engineer at Uber, and now starting his next thing, joins Erik to discuss:- Lessons he learned at Uber, and what he might have done differently if he were in charge of strategy.- How transportation is evolving and who the winners in the space might be.- Why the decentralized model works at Uber.- What people misunderstand about the history of tech and Silicon Valley.- Whether egalitarianism is eating the world.- Libertarianism, government, and progress.- His thoughts on Twitter and thinking in public.- His book reviews and explanations of why several books in particular are powerful.- The differences between France and the USA and why they have persisted.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.