Village Global Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Byrne Hobart on COVID-19 and its Effects on the Financial Markets May 16, 2020

Show notes

Byrne Hobart (@ByrneHobart), creator of The Diff (diff.substack.com), joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- How have the past few months changed our understanding of institutions and our trust in them
- Is the current environment a win for modern monetary theorists?
- Is the current environment a win or loss for bitcoin maximalists that see the Fed as a huge liability?
- What should the Fed and Congress have done differently?
- Is the government running on autopilot?
- How do we make sense of what’s happening in the stock market?
- Is the stock market dominated by institutional or retail investor sentiment? How should we think about bailouts and stock buybacks?
- Future of Journalism and thoughts on Citizen Journalism
- How will China’s brand evolve over time?
- Byrne’s thoughts on “It’s Time to Build”
- What’s happening with pensions and how do we make sense of it?
- Has COVID accelerated the decline of traditional universities?
- How do we think about the oil markets right now, especially during the asme time as COVID?
- What are the second order effects of COVID?
- Is the stock market pricing in a recession?
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.

Arnold Kling on Second-Order Effects from COVID-19 May 14, 2020

Show notes

Arnold Kling (@klingblog), economist and author, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- What experts disagree on with respect to COVID-19.
- How Arnold would deal with the pandemic if he was in charge.
- What he would do about lockdowns.
- Where he agrees and disagrees with the government’s fiscal and monetary response to the crisis.
- The difficulty with models predicting cases.
- The effects of the pandemic on globalization, libertarianism, and progressivism.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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.

Understanding The Current Macroeconomic Situation with Scott Sumner May 12, 2020

Show notes

Scott Sumner, research associate on monetary policy at the Mercatus Center, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- What the US has done well and what it has not done well when it comes to fiscal and monetary policy.
- Why there has been a reversal of thinking on inflation between now and decades ago, and his thinking about dealing with inflation.
- Other tools that are available to influence the economy beyond interest rates.
- His thinking on modern monetary theory.
- The future of the economy with social distancing and high unemployment.
- The current debates within the Fed on monetary policy.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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.

Starting a Company in the COVID Era with Ann-Miura Ko May 10, 2020

Show notes

Ann-Miura Ko (@annimaniac), joins Erik on this episode. It was recorded as part of an On Deck Fellowship event.
They discuss:
- Her perspectives on what it was like to start a company in the last several downturns and why this one is different from the others.
- Why they are telling their portfolio companies that they need to be “outlasting, not outspending” their competitors.
- What a “minimal viable company” means and how to avoid “fake growth.”
- What will continue to be different when the pandemic is over.
- Which spaces she’s excited about.
- Her theory on the new social contract emerging between workers and employers.
- How startups should think about competition.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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 Past, Present, and Future of EdTech with John Danner and Michael Staton May 05, 2020

Show notes

John Danner (@jwdanner) of Dunce Capital and Michael Staton (@mpstaton) of Learn Capital join Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- How EdTech has evolved and the ways that perspectives have changed on the space.
- Their theses about the future of the space and the key challenges that it faces.
- Why the pandemic might be the catalyst for an increase in homeschooling.
- The problems with the current ways that education is delivered and how certain companies are well-positioned to change things for the better.
- Whether there will be an expansion of ISAs to different, more regulated, verticals.
- The challenges that for-profit companies face in education.
- Whether there will be such a thing as a “Walmart University” or “Amazon University.”
- Their requests for startups in the space.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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.

Austen Allred and Rishi Mandal on Turning In-Person Experiences into Digital Form May 03, 2020

Show notes

Austen Allred (@austen), CEO of Lambda School, and Rishi Mandal (@rmandal), founder of Future, join Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- How Austen took education that typically happened in person and transformed it into digital form at Lambda School.
- How Rishi is taking fitness training that happened in person and transforming it into digital form with Future.
- What Austen calls the “skeuomorphic” way of translating experiences into digital form and why it doesn’t work.
- How they ensure motivation and accountability on each of their platforms.
- Why relationships with a coach or a teacher are so special and how they can be cultivated digitally.
- How to think about community-building in a digital-only world.
- Why Austen says that it’s important to “compensate for weaknesses by doubling down on strengths.”
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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.

COVID, Financial Markets, and Bitcoin with Gabe Bassin and Taylor Pearson Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

Gabe Bassin (@gabebassin) and Taylor Pearson (@TaylorPearsonMe) join Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- The ins and outs of what each of the fed and treasury are doing at this time.
- The impacts of the pandemic on credit markets and pension systems.
- The disruptions to the demand side and the effects of possible supply-side disruptions.
- How the pandemic exacerbates inequality.
- The impact on Bitcoin and what this says about Austrian economics.
- Whether there’s a bubble in passive investing and the S&P 500 as a savings account.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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.

Creating Tools For Networked Thought with Conor White-Sullivan of Roam Research Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Conor White-Sullivan (@Conaw), founder of Roam Research, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- What they're working on at Roam and what will be different about the world if they achieves their dreams with the company.
- The different ways of representing the structure of thought and how tools impact thoughts themselves.
- How Roam relates to and is different from Twitter, GitHub, Notion, Quora, and others.
- What it means when he says he wants the product to have a “low floor and a high ceiling” like Excel.
- Some of the current debates in knowledge management and his thoughts on them.
- His requests for tools in the space.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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 COVID Impacts LPs, Venture Funds, and the Macro Environment with Samir Kaji Apr 26, 2020

Show notes

Samir Kaji (@SamirKaji), managing director at First Republic Bank, joins Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- The state of the financial world before COVID and the cracks that Samir saw in the system last year.
- Why this shock is like a “train going 150 miles per hour hitting a brick wall.”
- What venture funds should do in this environment.
- Whether there’s hope for a recovery in the near future, or not — and why this is different than any other previous recession.
- How the behavior of LPs will change and what they will require of fund managers.
- Why he’s been bullish on smaller funds.
- The future of venture and whether there are truly disruptive alternatives to today’s system.
- Why he thinks that the financial world might come out of this in a better place than before.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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 Direct-To-Consumer in a COVID World with Jesse Genet and Stephan Ango Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

Jesse Genet (@jessegenet) and Stephan Ango (@kepano), co-founders of Lumi, join Erik on this episode.
They discuss:
- How Lumi works, and how the company changes how a DTC brand does business.
- How community influences the success of DTC brands.
- Which areas within DTC are VC-fundable.
- Where they would be investing if they were running a fund focused on the space.
- What will happen with some of the more obscure consumer products that are sold, and whether they will be sold DTC eventually.
- Who the losers might be among entrenched players.
Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.
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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