Village Global Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The State of Innovation Systems with Ben Reinhardt Sep 13, 2020

Show notes

Ben Reinhardt (@Ben_Reinhardt), independent researcher and host of Idea Machines Podcast, joins Erik to discuss:
- Why we don’t have more cool science fiction-like technology in the world.
- Why there hasn’t been as much innovation or progress as humanity had hoped for.
- How venture should evolve to increase innovation.
- The challenges posed by system decay.
- The way out of overregulation.
- How to fix government grants.
- How China balances innovation and regulation and how that compares to the US.
- The challenges relating to intellectual property.
- Where he agrees or disagrees with other thinkers in the 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.

Startup Ideas, Finding a Co-Founder, and Lessons From Dropbox with Aston Motes Sep 10, 2020

Show notes

Aston Motes (@__aston__), first employee at Dropbox and executive director at /dev/color, joins Erik on this episode. It was recorded as part of an On Deck Fellowship event.
They discuss:
- The story of how he became the first employee at Dropbox.
- What he learned at the company and how he approached helping to set the culture there.
- How to sell talent on joining your company.
- His frameworks for thinking about startup ideas.
- The possibilities for “bank shot” ideas.
- How to think about finding a co-founder.
- What he looks for in founding teams as an investor.
- Insights on the music industry.
- How to know when it’s time to shut down your startup.
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.

Fintech, Consumer Social, and Transportation with Andy Johns Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

Andy Johns (@ibringtraffic), investor at Unusual Ventures, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- His thoughts on transportation at short distances and the business model problem that these companies face.
- Where his thinking is at with respect to opportunities in consumer social today.
- His thoughts on low-code and no-code.
- Why he’s interested in fintech and what a financial social network might look like.
- Other areas in fintech that are interesting.
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.

Evaluating Social Capital with Julian Lehr Sep 06, 2020

Show notes

Julian Lehr (@lehrjulian) of Stripe joins Erik on this episode. He is the author of the blog post Signalling as a Service.
- The background of the post and why he wrote it.
- Signalling as a framework and his breakdown of the component parts.
- Why there is very little luxury software.
- How this intersects with Eugene Wei’s idea of status as a service.
- How monetization and signal amplification works in digital products.
- His requests for startups in the area.
- The next topics that he’s thinking about in the space.
- His thoughts on reputation and financial capital.
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.

Fintech 2.0 and Post-COVID Fintech Trends with Alexa von Tobel and Mark Batsiyan Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

Alexa von Tobel (@alexavontobel) and Mark Batsiyan (@mbatny) of Inspired Capital join Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- What fintech 2.0 will look like and their experiences growing a company during the fintech 1.0 era.
- The idea of the self-driving wallet and removing friction for consumers.
- Their investment thesis and the trends they are seeing in fintech.
- How incumbents will react to changes and why they will be just as acquisitive.
- The impact of COVID on fintech.
- How Gen Z thinks about finances.
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.

Institutional Investing in Crypto with Marcos Veremis and David Fauchier Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

Marcos Veremis, managing director at Evanston Capital Management, and David Fauchier (@dfauchier), CIO at Cambrial Capital, join Erik to discuss:
- How they became interested in crypto.
- How institutions have approached the space.
- How the space has evolved.
- Bitcoin as a store of value in the current market environment.
- The impact of COVID on crypto.
- Crypto investment strategies.
- Why generalist VCs have so far not been able to make good investments in the 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.

Progress, Cities, and Biotech with Anirudh Pai Aug 30, 2020

Show notes

Erik is joined by Anirudh Pai (@ani_pai), co-founder of the Conservative Curious podcast and creator of the Dreams of Electric Sheep newsletter.
They discuss:
- Why people don’t crave scientific advancement.
- What the postmodern solution to the desire to be part of religion might look like.
- What “the iPhone moment for cities” might look like.
- His thoughts on stagnation.
- His analysis of Thiel’s idea that “every bubble is a commentary on capitalism.”
- The state of biotech and the future of the FDA post-COVID.
- Why COVID will be an accelerant for crypto.
- His thoughts on the space industry.
- Why he thinks that moreso than “it’s time to build,” it’s time to tinker.
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.

How To Start and Grow a Newsletter with Lenny Rachitsky and Nadia Eghbal Aug 27, 2020

Show notes

Nadia Eghbal (@nayafia), of Substack, and author of Working in Public, and Lenny Rachitsky (@lennysan), author of a newsletter on product and growth and former Airbnb PM, join Erik on this episode to discuss:
- The On Deck Writer’s Fellowship in partnership with Substack.
- The evolution of newsletters as a medium over time.
- Nadia and Lenny’s journeys on Substack.
- Their advice for people who want to get started writing their own newsletters.
- How they think about what to write about and the right cadence for their newsletters.
- How to improve as a writer.
- How to think about pricing.
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.

How To Get Started Angel Investing with Nick Caldwell, Sheel Mohnot, and Anne Dwane Aug 25, 2020

Show notes

Erik is joined by:
- Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi), fintech seed investor
- Nick Caldwell (@nickcald), VP of Engineering at Twitter and angel investor
- Anne Dwane (@adwane), partner at Village Global
To discuss:
- The craft of angel investing.
- How Village Global is trying to decentralize VC with its Network Leader program.
- The benefits of the On Deck Angel Fellowship.
- Nick and Sheel’s journeys to becoming angel investors.
- Why networks appreciate over time.
- The advice they would give to people getting started angel investing.
- Their thought processes around making investments.
- How they think about improving as an investor.
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.

History Has Begun with Bruno Maçães Aug 23, 2020

Show notes

Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno), author of History Has Begun: The Birth of a New America, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- What people don’t appreciate or misunderstand about China.
- His thoughts on Fukuyama.
- The west as a culture exporter.
- Why this moment is a fork in the road for America and how it might play out for the country.
- Twitter as a virtual reality platform.
- How tech will transform society.
- Whether a decentralized future will lead to more freedom.
- Whether the state can be replaced by smart contracts.
- What the legacy of COVID in society might be.
- Some of the thinkers that he admires and where he agrees or disagrees with them.
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.

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