Village Global Podcast

Erik is joined by Will Houghteling (@willhoughteling), founder of Strive, a competency-based marketplace, and Kara Nortman (@karanortman), the first investor in Strive and partner at Upfront Ventures. Will explains why he started Strive and how the educational needs of the middle 50% of American post-secondary students aren’t being met at the moment. Kara and Will discuss the merits of new forms of career-oriented education that have emerged in the past decade, like bootcamps, income-sharing agreements and employer-paid training. They also take a look at what other companies in the space are doing. Finally, they talk about why Will says "the future of work is emotional labor" and discuss the changes to meaning and identity coming with the advent of AI and universal basic income. And of course, "it's not a tech podcast without blockchain!"Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favourite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

Erik talks to Shilpi Kumar (@_shilpikumar), who helps Village Global find hardware investments and Seth Winterroth (@sethwinterroth), partner at Eclipse Venture Capital. They explain how hardware has been changing over the past several years and where they think it's going. They also explain why hardware devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home are being sold at a loss and what might be enabled when machines are able to speak to each other more efficiently. They also talk about some of the coolest companies they've seen recently and how automation will change different industries.We apologize for the quality of audio in this interview.If you like what you hear, please review us on your favourite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Rebecca Kaden (@rebeccak46) recently joined Union Square Ventures in in her hometown of New York City as a partner. She and Erik (@eriktorenberg) talk about why she joined USV and the three “waves” of investment theses for the firm. They discuss the unique dynamics in a partnership versus a company. She talks about her recent investment in Nurx, a company that specializes in delivery of birth control to women who might otherwise not be able to access it. Rebecca also talks about why network effects apply to more than just social networks and what opportunities are opening up in the consumer healthcare space. They also discuss potential opportunities in fintech and insurance and why now, in the age of Amazon, it’s still a great time to create a consumer brand.If you like what you hear, please review us on your favourite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Erik talks to Keith Rabois (@rabois), Managing Director at Khosla Ventures and Jack Altman (@jaltma), CEO and co-founder of Lattice. Keith and Jack draw on their experience working at high-growth start-ups to explain how to attract the best people to your startup. They discuss how and when to hire and fire when you’re running an early stage company, the parallels between sports and work, and how to pick a co-founder. Jack says that he can tell a lot about a startup just by walking around the office and Keith tells us why a change in floor plan was the beginning of the end for his former company, Slide. Keith and Jack also discuss why “the best way to retain people is to win as a company.”If you like what you hear, please review us on your favourite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Kyle (@kylenakatsuji) talks to Erik about his company, Clearcover, which plans to offer a new way to buy insurance. Kyle has extensive experience in the insurance industry as an employee, investor and founder, and describes the ins and outs of the insurance industry to us. He explains why insurance companies spend such a big percentage of their revenue on advertising and the antiquated way that most insurance is sold these days. That leads to a discussion of how insurance companies and the industry in general might be disrupted. He tells us what a new kind of insurance company might look like and which companies he’s long or short on.If you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Selina Tobaccowala (@selinato) of Gixo and Holly Shelton (@hlshelton) of MoveWith join Erik for a discussion of the state of consumer fitness apps. The Gixo and MoveWith apps bring fitness to you. Selina and Holly break down the successes of a few other companies in the space and talk about what the business models look like for both online and offline fitness. Erik asks why it’s been so difficult to build a business in this space and they discuss the difficulty of behavior change and how to make fitness something you want to come back to again and again. Selina and Holly also talk about how VR/AR might affect fitness and why competition feels so good — even for non-competitive people. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik talks to Sara Mauskopf (@sm) and Anne Halsall (@annekate) about Winnie, the “companion app for parents” which Erik calls the “most slept-on consumer social company today.” Sara and Anne tell us about Winnie’s unique combination of a community and a utility. They talk about how they bootstrapped the company to where it is today and their unique approach to company culture. They also discuss how they approach social media and play Long-Short, where Erik names a company and Sara and Anne say whether they’re long or short and why. They end with the advice Sara and Anne have for new founders. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik talks to Tom McLeod (@tmcleod3) and Ryan Delk (@delk) of Omni about the future of access. Omni provides physical storage but is also a marketplace, allowing you to rent what you need on-demand or make extra money renting out the things you’re not using. Tom and Ryan recount their entrepreneurial journey so far and what their plans are for the company in the future. They talk about the changing patterns of consumption by millennials and how those may change consumer goods in the future. Tom explains his theory of the three types of entrepreneurs and why he says in the world of work and entrepreneurship, “everything is like selling t-shirts.”Disclosure: Erik is an investor in Omni. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik and his co-host for this episode, Abie Katz of August Capital, interview Josh Elman (@joshelman), partner at Greylock Partners. Josh recounts the twists and turns of his career and how they led to him becoming a venture capitalist. He talks about the unique approach he takes when working with founders and how that has impacted the outcome of his investments. He tells us why you so infrequently find truly visionary founders and how Greylock thinks about their seed stage Discovery Fund. Josh also explains the candid candid career advice he would give to his younger self.Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik interviews Ash Fontana (@ashfontana) of Zetta Venture Partners with his co-host for this episode, Abie Katz of August Capital. They talk about how Ash got his fund started and how and why he structured it the way he did. They discuss how to manage growth in a venture fund and the relative importance of being a recognizable brand in the space. They ask Ash what he looks for in a machine learning startup and Ash explains why sometimes it’s better to stay small. He also talks about how and why to be intellectually honest about your investing decisions. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.