The Silicon Valley Podcast

On today’s episode, we chat with Jerry Ross. Jerry is an energetic and creative leader who has achieved success leading corporate, start-up, and non-profit organizations. He is a life-long entrepreneur that has been honored as "CEO of the Year" by the Orlando Business Journal, and the "Economic Development Leader of the Year" by I-4 Business Magazine for his work at the National Entrepreneur Center.     In this episode, you’ll learn:   What does it take to be an investible company? How can a startup ecosystem be built? What is needed?         What are the resources that are available to startups that they might not know about? How does a founder find those first big corporate sponsors? How does a corporate partnership or a pilot program between a startup and a corporation usually work? What skills can or can’t be taught to a founder of a company?   Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!   BOOKS AND RESOURCES Download yourfree audiobook at Audible. Find the best job candidate at Ziprecruiter. Connect with Jerry on LinkedIn Follow Jerry on Twitter Email Jerry National Entrepreneur Center   CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

    On today’s episode, we sit down with Raymond Chen. Raymond is a board member and the President of CIE-SF, a non-profit volunteer organization. He spent 19 years in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software industry. As the co-founder and Senior Vice President of Sigrity, Inc., he not only led many aspects of product architecture, engineering process, customer application and support, operation and IT with a worldwide team, but also marketed and sold innovative technologies and tools to leading-edge customers in semiconductor, computer, communication, networking, and consumer electronics companies.   In this episode, you’ll learn: Is the type of research that universities do more advanced than what the private sector is capable of? Or is it the opposite and the private sector is more advanced? What is Electronic Design Automation software? How does a software company protect its software from it being stolen and IP infringement? What is the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE)?     BOOKS AND RESOURCES Download yourfree audiobook at Audible. Find the best job candidate at Ziprecruiter. Find Raymond Chen on LinkedIn Chinese Institute of Engineers Website CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s episode, we char with Dr. Prasun Mishra. Dr. Mishra (Ex-Genentech, Ex-NCI, Ex-NIH) is the Founder and CEO of Agility Pharmaceuticals. He is a serial entrepreneur who founded his first company after graduating high school, and second company during his PhD.   Since then, he has accumulated a wealth of experienced by building, investing and advising numerous other companies. He is an investor/ co-founder/ board member of a few US based corporations focused on accelerating drug discovery & development, blockchain & digital health. Dr. Mishra is also founding president & CEO of American Association for Precision Medicine (AAPM) and is leading research efforts focused on preventing & curing chronic diseases; not only treating the sick but also providing knowledge/tools to individuals to live longer, healthier lives.     In this episode, you’ll learn: What is precision medicine? How is Big Data Analytics, AI and technology impacting the medical industry? Is the current process for drug discovery broken and if so, how can it be fixed? Will technology be at a point where research can be one step ahead of possible mutations in viruses or drug resistances? What does all this new technology mean for the skill requirements of health professionals?   We would also like to thank Atul Padha who made the introduction that allowed today’s interview to take place.     BOOKS AND RESOURCES Download yourfree audiobook at Audible. Find the best job candidate at Ziprecruiter. Find Dr. Mishra LinkedIn Email Mishra American Association of Precision Medicine     CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s show, we’re happy to chat with our very own Stig Brodersen. Stig is a value investor, business owner, and international bestselling author. His podcast We Study Billionaires has over 30 million+ downloads and has been recognized as the #1 ranked stock investing podcast in the world with awards such as: #1 stock investing podcast on iTunes #1 stock investing podcast on Google #1 investing podcast by CNBC #1 investing podcast by Business Insider     In this episode, you’ll learn: How does a podcast host build a relationship with advertisers for their shows? How do analytics play a part in podcasting? What are the struggles with having the core team in another country? How can one make a career out of podcasting?     BOOKS AND RESOURCES Download yourfree audiobook at Audible. Talk to Stig Brodersen on Twitter Follow Stig Brodersen on LinkedIn Get the latest updates on We Study Billionaires by The Investor’s Podcast Network on Facebook   CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com

James Ehrlich is a serial entrepreneur in the areas of technology, media technology and clean-tech. He is the founder at ReGen Villages, Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University Center for Compassion, Altruism, Research and Education (CCARE), and faculty at Singularity University.   James is part of an on-going White House Task Force on the Nexus of Food, Water, Energy and Waste and advising the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Department of State on regenerative platform development and implementation at the neighborhood scale. He also co-authored the UN Sustainability Platform Brief "Regenerative Community Development" with Professor Larry Leifer and Chris Ford (AIA) at the Stanford University Center for Design Research.     In this episode, you’ll learn:   How is tech leading towards a sustainable future for all? What is the Wood Wide Web? How are digital twins used in the modeling villages of the future? What technology will be used for completely self-reliant cities? What is it like to be the first ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Stanford?   Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! BOOKS AND RESOURCES Download yourfree audiobook at Audible. Find the best job candidate at Ziprecruiter. Connect with James on LinkedIn ReGen Villages James’ TV Show Hippy Gourmet  Email James Ehrlich     CONNECT WITH SHAWN:   https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s episode, we sit down with Jim McKelvey. Jim is the co-founder of Square, a financial services, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company. In 2009, Jim designed a card reader which in 2011 was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art. Jim then teamed with other St. Louis-based serial entrepreneurs to help found Cultivation Capital which was ranked the 7th most active venture capital firm founded since 2009, and the 3rd most active lead investor and since 2017, McKelvey has been appointed as an Independent Director of the St. Louis Federal Reserve.     In this episode, you’ll learn: Why you can’t be an expert as an entrepreneur About Jim’s new book “The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time” The incredible story of how he first met Jack Dorsey (cofounder of Twitter) and how they built Square together The story of the man that if he had wanted could have been the richest man ever to have lived     BOOKS AND RESOURCES Download yourfree audiobook at Audible. Visit Jim’s Website Follow Jim on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn Read Jim’s new book Read “Good to Great” by Jim Collins   GET IN TOUCH WITH SHAWN https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account

Rich Razgaitis has been passionate about building brands and teams. Since 2002, he has served in CEO/president-level roles in several venture capital backed start-ups, privately held turnaround and growth companies, and he brings insight from those experiences to his work today at FloWater. Raz was the CEO of several consumer-tech companies, including DealOn, an e-commerce company that developed the Web’s first deal-commerce exchange, and another, MyTownPerks, which built the first PCI-complaint, cloud-based loyalty program for B2B. (Both companies were subsequently acquired.)   In this episode, you’ll learn: What is the current problem with the “state of water” domestically and globally? What are the challenges of a hardware company when it comes to cash flow? How is a hardware company’s growth different than a software company? How are “refill stations” positioned as smart devices? What is the big vision and big events for the company Environmental Tech in 2020?   Help us out!   Please take a few seconds and leave us a positive review as it helps the show grow and motivates us to create content. Thank you for helping and giving back to the show!       BOOKS AND RESOURCES Find out more about FloWater Follow FloWater on Twitter Follow FloWater on Instagram Email FloWater   CONNECT WITH RAZ Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

Crystal McKellar is the Founder and Managing Partner of Anathem Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in companies that have developed breakthrough technology that they are pragmatically leveraging to win and own uncrowded, high-margin markets. Crystal currently serves on the board of Cooler Heads, and previously served as a board member at Siren, Neurable, and DoubleDutch (acquired by Cvent) and as a board observer at Fractyl.   Crystal is a Kauffman Fellows Mentor, and has served as a mentor to the TechStars MetLife Digital Accelerator and the Ad Astra tech incubator program. Crystal is a proud member of All Raise and is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship and innovation at technology conferences and finance events. In this episode, you’ll learn: When raising a fund, what recommendations are there for first-time fundraisers? What are the relationship dynamics between a Venture Capitalist and the Limited Partners (LPs)? The life of a VC, how is it really? What are some of the positives and negatives of the role? What are the advantages of keeping the fund size small?   We would like to thank Maya Tussing for making the introduction which allowed for today’s episode. Thank you for the support! HELP US OUT!   Please take a few seconds and leave us a positive review as it helps the show grow and motivates us to create content. Thank you for helping and giving back to the show!   CONNECT WITH CRYSTAL LinkedIn| Website | Email  CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com      

On today’s show, we’re happy to chat with Nichole Yembra. Nichole is the Founder and Managing Director of The Chrysalis Co which houses The Chrysalis Capital, a new $15M Africa and Diaspora early stage tech fund and The Chrysalis Advisors, a strategy and investment advisory firm.  In addition to this work, Nichole is deeply committed to making gender diversity a priority within the financial-technology 'fintech' space in Nigeria and enhancing opportunities for women in leadership. She founded the Garden Women's Network, a group dedicated to the development and retention of high-performing women in the Nigerian tech ecosystem.   In this episode, you’ll learn:  What’s it like to be a minority Female Venture Capitalist raising a fund to invest in African Startups?  Does a typical Silicon Valley Venture Capital fund structure work in Africa?  Which countries in Africa have a thriving startup ecosystem?  What are some difficulties facing African entrepreneurs?  How do African startups expand into new markers?    We would like to thank Nigel Salina who made the introduction that allowed the interview to happen.     HELP US OUT!  Please take a few seconds and leave us a positive review as it helps the show grow and motivates us to create content. Thank you for helping and giving back to the show!     CONNECT WITH NICHOLE  LinkedIn  | Twitter | Email  CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today’s show, we sit down with Kelly Coyne who is deeply immersed in the Silicon Valley start-up community. Having grown multiple start-ups from conception to over $100M valuations, she is a leading Go-To-Market expert. After earning her MBA from Oxford University, Kelly served at the helm of several early-stage hardware companies (Lily, Mimosa, Candl) and advised many others.  Kelly has broad technology experience, but specializes in guiding Robotics, AI, AR/VR and computer vision companies from concept to launch. She has tremendous experience managing successful betas, developing use cases, connecting products to the right customers, and leading successful product launches. She has also seen some of the extreme pitfalls of SV start-ups - this unique knowledge helps her guide new companies to success. She is a Techstars and Oxford Creative Destruction Labs mentor. In this episode, you’ll learn: How have the VCs changed over time in relation to their paths and career backgrounds before becoming a VC? What are the skills or knowledge that is going to be key to be a successful VC in the future? What does it look like to be a fundable pre-seed hardware company? What are the two largest issues that early-stage robotics and artificial intelligence startups face? What is “humanized AI”?   HELP US OUT! Please take a few seconds and leave us a positive review as it helps the show grow and motivates us to create content. Thank you for helping and giving back to the show!   Guest Kelly Coyne on Linkedin GritVentures.com   CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn’s Twitter Account Shawn Flynn’s LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn’s Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com