Today’s guest is the one and only Stephen Wolfram - a physicist, mathematician, computer scientist and entrepreneur He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha and Wolfram Language, The Wolfram Physics Project and the author of bestselling A New Kind of Science among many other books.A visionary polymath, Stephen published his first scientific paper at age 15, received his PhD in theoretical physics soon after his 20th birthday and became the youngest recipient of the Macarthur Fellowship Genius grant at age 21.Over the course of his career which spans more than four decades, he has been a pioneer in the development and application of computational thinking, and has been responsible for many discoveries, inventions, and innovations in the fields of science and technology.In this episode, we discuss his childhood, how he might reimagine education, the process of undertaking ambitious, long-term innovation projects, why he works in public and the surprising advice he would offer a younger Stephen.I really enjoyed talking to Stephen and I think you will learn a lot from this episode. Enjoy!Stephen Wolfram website / Twitter I am not on social media this year but stay in touch via my Newsletter / YouTube  

The podcast features Riva Tez discussing her early entrepreneurial ventures, the connection between mania and genius, cancel culture, and her early involvement in crypto. The conversation explores the impact of family influence, unconventional thinking, and the challenges of gender dynamics in the tech industry.

Today’s guest is Joe Macleod – designer, founder and author, former Head of Design at the award-winning digital product studio Ustwo, which brought the world the hit Monument Valley game.At ustwo, Joe helped build a globally awarded team, working with the world’s favourite brands on the most pioneering of products but he now focuses his energy on product endings and improving that experience for consumers and has written two books on the subjects – Ends and Endineering which we discuss in today’s episode.I have wanted to have Joe on the podcast for years now, after the first time I heard him talking about this concept of endings and how overlooked they are. In this conversation, we look at our rich history with endings starting with religion moving through to the plague, the industrial revolution, our over zealous consumerism and even cancel culture.It seemed fitting to end 2023 with this episode for obvious reasons but I really enjoyed this conversation and think you will too. Joe on Twitter / LinkedIn / Ends site / Instagram / Endineering for Businesses websiteDanielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube---------------Below are some links to Joe's courses and books including special 25% discount codes for Danielle Newnham Podcast listeners!Course here Starts 30th Jan 2024Discount Code: 25offendscohortBOOKSThe Endineering book on AmazonEndineering eBookDiscount code: RN25WEnds book on AmazonEnds eBookDiscount code: EB55V 

Today’s episode is going to be a little bit different as it is actually a podcast episode where I appeared as a guest as opposed to a host and I am sharing it here because I think you will find it useful. The podcast is called Digital Europe: Now and Beyond which is about European tech entrepreneurship and innovation and is hosted by serial Spanish entrepreneur Pau Garcia-Mila. In the episode you’re about to listen Pau talks to myself and South American but Ireland-based founder Alejandro Gutierrez, co-founder and CEO of Defactor Labs, a blockchain-based credit marketplace that links financiers with investors seeking opportunities in DeFi, about what it’s like to start a startup in Europe vs the USA including access to funding and networks, as well as why I believe in founders seeking out communities and networks at the beginning of their startup journeys, why we should be highlighting more female founders, and what Europe has to offer founders today vs the landscape here just ten or even twenty years ago.The episode has a lovely international flavour and isn’t focused on just silicon valley like many tech podcasts usually are and I think you will find some useful lessons in here so please do enjoy it.This episode features host Pau Garcia-MilaPau Garcia-Mila and guest Alejandro Gutierrez.Original episode and Digital Europe podcast can be found here.Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTubeWith special thanks to Hauwei   

Today’s guest is Nicki Sprinz, co-founder of Ada’s List  (A digital global network of over 150,000+ women and non-binary in tech) and Group Managing Director of ustwo’s studios – London, Malmö, New York, Tokyo and Lisbon. For those who don’t know, ustwo is a digital product studio with top name clients such Google, Meta, DeepMind, Samsung, and Peloton to name a few. Ustwo games also created the Apple award-winning Monument Valley game.But do you know what is really unique about ustwo which was founded by best friends Mills and Sinx almost twenty years ago now? I will tell you – it is employee-owned and B Corp certified. A hugely successful global studio that is completely independent and owned by its employees and one that puts its core values front and centre.In this episode, Nicki and I discuss what those ustwo values are, what makes the studio special and how they look after their staff with mental health first aiders and more. But we also discuss Nicki’s childhood from attending the very same convent I did where the nuns thought nothing of hitting you for getting advanced work wrong and what that taught her about how she wants to lead to the two serious illnesses which impacted her formative years.This is a really human story of one woman who overcame the odds to lead one of the world’s leading studios.So please enjoy my conversation with Nicki Sprinz.Nicki Twitter /  Newsletter / ustwo / Ada's ListDanielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube Image of Nicki by Alex Cameron

Today’s guest is Sean Dadashi, co-founder of Rosebud. Born to Iranian parents who emigrated to the US after the revolution in 1979, Sean grew up in Los Angeles and was on a path of studying mechanical engineering before he switched courses after a year to study Cognitive Science with a minor in Computer Science.He then became a CTO before starting his own company - Somatic Studios in 2016 – where he used his passion for both tech and wellbeing to experiment with ideas including a web app that provided a health and wellness index for over 160 cities across 6 continents.The studio also developed VR experiences to teach pain management patients mindfulness and somatic therapy techniques. After Somatic, Sean then joined up with Chrys Bader, who you may have heard of because he previously co-founded several startups including Treehouse and Secret. Together, Sean and Chris have created Rosebud – the number one AI-powered journal for mental health and personal growth and a product I highly recommend. Try it yourself for FREE here.In this conversation, Sean and I discuss the loneliness epidemic, the importance of good mental health, his passion for helping others, and how he has always leaned towards the marriage of psychology and the human mind with technology and his passion for creating things, which ultimately led to Rosebud.I really enjoyed this discussion and think you will too.Sean Dadashi / RosebudDanielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube

Today, I wanted to close out Series 11 with a recap of the wonderful guests we have had on – from Mike Slade and James Vincent who both worked for many years with Steve Jobs, VC James Wise of Balderton Capital, Josh Dahn who set up a school with Elon Musk, pioneering tech entrepreneur Dame Stephanie Shirley, Kindred founder Anna Anderson, Google Developer Advocate Kelsey Hightower and Syreeta Challinger who taught us about the importance of storytelling and how to cope after trauma.That’s something us founders don’t talk much about… how to cope better, whether it’s trauma, which drives so many of us, or the pain of simply building a startup with all the obstacles that comes with it.One action I have found helpful is journaling – and I have just started using Rosebud which makes it easy for anyone to build and maintain an impactful journaling practice.The number one AI-powered journaling app for mental health and personal growth, I have been using Rosebud for a week now and have already found clarity on some sticky situations, partly because instead of just writing my issues down in a physical journal, I am able to tell Rosebud what the issue is and then the app prompts me to go deeper which causes me to reflect more before offering some surprisingly good solutions which have helped me both in my personal and work life.I now do this practice every day – setting my morning intention for the day and then an evening reflection, and I have found it has made me happier and more productive for four simple reasons. 1. I have to set my intentions by typing them into Rosebud at the beginning of the day which helps me to visualise my day – you’ll be surprised how useful that can be. 2. It forces me to set my priorities for the day and make them front and centre. 3. It urges me to note what obstacles I have to overcome that day which encourages me not to shy away from them and 4. Rosebud is able to take what I say are my priorities and my obstacles and then offer practical solutions with warm advice – like a friendly therapist guiding me through my day. In fact, due to the speed at which Rosebud responds to my issues with extremely wise and human-like advice, it’s hard to believe I don’t actually have a human therapist responding to me in real time!Like I said, I am a big fan of Rosebud - I think it’s brilliant and I think you will like it too. So, if you want to try it out yourself, click the link here and try it for free.Enjoy!Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter Original Episodes:Mike SladeDame Stephanie ShirleyJames WiseAnna AndersonJosh DahnSyreeta ChallingerKelsey HightowerJames Vincent 

Today’s guest is James Wise – a Partner at Balderton Capital and author of Start-Up Century: Why we're all becoming entrepreneurs - and how we can make it work for everyone, which we will discuss in today’s episode.James grew up in Manchester among a community of business owners and inspired by them has spent his career surrounded by, helping and investing in entrepreneurs. Balderton Capital, where James is Partner, is a venture capital firm in London was one of the first to focus on investing in European startups and to date has raised over $4.5 billion and invested in over 250 European startups, many of which have gone on to do extremely well.James’ focus as an investor is on artificial intelligence, sustainability and health tech and he is a board member and observer on multiple portfolio companies, including Sophia Genetics (which is listed on the Nasdaq), Depop which was acquired by Etsy for $1.6 billion, and many other including some which went on to be sold to Amazon and Epic Games.Prior to joining Balderton, James also helped to launch and run one of the UK’s first social venture funds and he is also a member of the UK Government’s Industrial Development Advisory Board.In this episode, we learn more about James’ background, how his future path was unknown and why he believes in the rise of entrepreneurship as a power for good. We discuss what he looks for in a founder and why Balderton set up its Founder Wellbeing and Performance Platform - treating its founders like elite athletes who benefit from keeping an eye on health and wellness whilst undertaking an often gruelling entrepreneurial life.We also talk about his book Start-Up Century and thanks to our friends at Bloomsbury Publishing, we have a special discount for listeners - you can buy the book at a discount here by adding discount code DANIELLE30 at checkout.Enjoy!James on Twitter / Start-Up Century / BaldertonDanielle Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter

Today’s guest is Kelsey Hightower, a distinguished engineer and developer advocate at Google and speaker known for his work with Kubernetes, open source software and cloud computing.As a curious and motivated self-learner, Kelsey dropped out of College and taught himself the skills required to start his career as an independent contractor for BellSouth – a telecoms company in Atlanta helping the community to get online. From there, Kelsey set up his own business – an electronics store before becoming involved in the open source world, working at New Relic, CoreOS, Puppet Labs, and most recently at Google.A self-taught developer, Kelsey’s work on Kubernetes and at Google, from which he just retired, is well-known* so I wanted to focus our conversation on his life - how he got into tech, his love of learning, what drives him, what it means to be hopeful and the one piece of advice he would offer a younger Kelsey.I know I am not meant to have favourites – these conversations are like children - but I have to say this is up there with one of my most loved conversations. I learned so much from Kelsey and I think you will too.Enjoy!Kelsey on TwitterDanielle Twitter / Instagram / NewsletterPhoto of Kelsey is part of the Faces of Open Source Project by Peter Adams*If you want to learn more about Kelsey's work history, give this episode  from Ardan Labs a listen.

What does the future of education look like? This is a question I have pondered for the last ten years or so and today’s guest - Josh Dahn – has the answer. Eight years ago, Josh Dahn was teaching Elon Musk’s kids at Mirman – a private school for highly gifted children in LA when Elon approached him about rethinking the traditional education model. Josh jumped at the opportunity and in today’s episode, Josh talks me through that first meeting with Elon and how they worked together to found the Ad Astra school based at SpaceX. Based at the SpaceX site, it was a school where the children weren’t separated out by year group or grades as you say in the US, but instead, the education matched the aptitude of the children, and the education was focused around problem solving and teaching to the problem, as opposed teaching to the tools.Josh went on to co-found Synthesis which is an innovative online school, helping students to prepare for the future by getting them engaged and excited about complexity and solving for the unknown. Josh is Founder and Executive Director of Astra Nova School (previously Ad Astra) in Los Angeles.Enjoy!NB This interview was recorded in August of last year and first appeared in Series 4 of the podcast.Josh  Twitter Synthesis website / Twitter / LinkedIn / InstagramDanielle Twitter / Instagram / NewsletterEpisode edited by Jolin Cheng