Village Global Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The State and Future of Education in 2020 with Megan O’Connor Jul 28, 2020

Show notes

Megan O’Connor (@MeganMOConnor), entrepreneur-in-residence at Kaplan, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- The recent waves of innovation in education.
- How college and K-12 evolve post-COVID.
- What will have changed about education in the next 5-10 years.
- Whether she would bet on solutions inside or outside of the existing education system.
- The future of ISAs.
- What the new wave will be in education.
- Whether big companies like Facebook or Google will create their own universities.
- Whether the mechanics of video games can be applied successfully to learning.
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.

Science, Innovation, and Longevity with Jose Luis Ricón Fernández de la Puente Jul 26, 2020

Show notes

Jose Luis Ricón Fernández de la Puente (@ArtirKel) joins Erik on this episode. He is currently at Twitter and is a researcher in several areas including the science of longevity.
They discuss:
- How science funding works currently and how it would work if he was redesigning the system.
- Whether progress in science is slowing down.
- His thoughts on GDP and how we measure innovation.
- Whether the FDA is too restrictive or too permissive.
- Healthcare costs in the USA, treatments with marginal benefits, and how a publicly-funded system triages patients.
- How to fight aging and improve longevity.
- The cultural problem with longevity research.
- Challenges and opportunities in education and potential solutions.
- His production function and why he puts bounties on his papers for others to find mistakes.
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.

Silicon Valley and the US-China Cold War with Jacob Helberg Jul 23, 2020

Show notes

Jacob Helberg (@jacobhelberg), senior advisor at Stanford Cyber, adjunct fellow at CSIS, and formerly of Google, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- The competition between the US and China.
- The biggest misconceptions that people have about China.
- Common disagreements or unanswered questions about the competition between the two countries.
- Why the principle that as countries become richer they also become freer didn’t pan out in China.
- What to do about TikTok.
- Possibilities for re-shoring and how different tech companies might be affected.
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.

Investing in Chinese Companies with Eric Rosenblum Jul 21, 2020

Show notes

Eric Rosenblum, partner at Tsingyuan Ventures, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- US-China relations.
- The differences between the internet markets in the US and China.
- The (potential) rise of deep tech and which spaces Eric is excited about.
- Why the commercial rivalry between the US and China has formed the core of the anxiety about China in the US.
- The new wave of companies with Chinese co-founders operating in China but headquartered in the US.
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.

Journalism, Subscriptions, and Podcasting with Li Jin and Nathan Baschez Jul 19, 2020

Show notes

Li Jin (@ljin18), formerly of a16z and founder of a new firm called Atelier, and Nathan Baschez (@nbashaw), writer of Divinations and co-founder of the Everything bundle, join Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- Where they would be investing if they were running a fund focused on the space.
- The first wave of content companies and the lessons that have been learned from them.
- The key learnings of the last decade for media businesses.
- The future of journalism and journalists.
- The impact of subscription models on the content of a writer’s work.
- Aggregation models for writing.
- Podcasting, including whether there will be a unicorn in the space and the future of subscription podcasts.
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.

What Dan Romero Thinks About Basically Everything Jul 16, 2020

Show notes

Dan Romero (@dwr), formerly of Coinbase, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- Why startup titles are an unnecessary distraction.
- The lessons he learned from scaling Coinbase.
- Some of the best books he’s read.
- What he learned from his deep dive on communism and why socialism seems popular with young people today.
- What people don’t appreciate about the history of technology.
- His thoughts on crypto.
- Where he agrees or disagrees with prominent Silicon Valley figures.
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.

Technology and Freedom with Michael Solana Jul 14, 2020

Show notes

Mike Solana (@micsolana), of Founders Fund, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- What brought him to Founders Fund.
- Collectivism versus individualism.
- How to make capitalism cool.
- Where to find a philosophy of morality.
- Climate change, altering nature, and nuclear power.
- Thoughts on AI, AR, and VR.
- The problems with San Francisco and why tech workers are leaving.
- How the tech industry can make the world better for everybody in society.
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.

Mark Pincus on Product Management, Raising Capital, and Building Zynga Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

Mark Pincus (@markpinc) joined us last summer in San Francisco for a town hall with Ben Casnocha, co-founder and partner at Village Global.
Mark is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Zynga, and is an angel investor in Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and other companies.
He talked about about raising venture capital, his philosophy of product management, the early days at Zynga, and much more.
He also took time at the event to meet with Village Global founders to give them his advice on growing their companies.
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.

Lessons from Founding and Scaling Thumbtack with Sander Daniels Jul 09, 2020

Show notes

Sander Daniels (@sanderdaniels), co-founder of Thumbtack, joins Erik on this episode. It was recorded as part of the OnDeck Fellowship.
They discuss:
- The origin story of Thumbtack and how he came together with his co-founders.
- How he went from a founder to an executive and the advice that his coaches gave him.
- His advice on the idea generation process.
- The biggest challenges that they faced.
- How they built supply as a marketplace.
- The key moments in their growth trajectory.
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.

The Future of Journalism, Religion, and Polarization with Katherine Boyle Jul 07, 2020

Show notes

Katherine Boyle (@KTmBoyle), investor at General Catalyst, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- Katherine’s piece in the Washington Post about religion and how software can help transform it.
- Polarization in society, politics, news, and the end of the fairness doctrine.
- Journalists as free agents and why she says subscription will be the future of good journalism.
- Why any institution that has existed for a long time is being questioned now.
- Whether there will be increasing uniformity of political views within companies.
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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