The VentureFuel Visionaries

How startups and industry leaders can drive meaningful impact to the planet and the bottom line. How Starbucks, Patagonia and Comcast are tackling water management, circularity and plastic free initiatives. How Diageo made paper spirits bottles and Adidas is helping us run on recycled materials. Then we dive deep with Ralph Lauren and NFW on the innovations to be showcase at the upcoming Olympic Games.

In the 60s, the first Riverkeeper patrol boat was launched by military veterans and fishermen who mobilized to challenge polluters on the Hudson River. This inspired nearly 200 autonomous “Waterkeeper” organizations across the world. David Whiteside founded the Tennessee Riverkeeper in 2009 after being introduced to the Waterkeeper Alliance by his Godfather, Robert F Kennedy Jr. Their mission to protect and preserve our local water sources is something we can all support. Learn how corporations can be the solution, not the problem, and how you can make a difference in your community.

Is brushing our teeth killing the planet? Plastics toothbrushes, floss, plastic paste tubes discarded on the regular. Why is every toothbrush advertisement of perfect people, with perfect smiles filled with perfect teeth? What about the quirks, flaws and originality? What about diversity? Shouldn’t every smile be celebrated and shouldn’t caring for that smile be less harmful to the planet? Christina Ramirez began thinking about fixing these dual issues in college – then set out on a journey to learn the industry – from being a cashier at Whole Foods to consulting on syndicated shopper data – she put in the time while perfecting her products with dentists. Now Plus Ultra is an inclusive and eco-conscious line of oral care products making everyone smile.

We all swarmed to remote work and virtual meetings over the past 15 months and now are experiencing “Zoom fatigue” from the debilitating sameness of each meeting. We toggle between so many tools from slack to PowerPoint to calendars and are struggling to authentically collaborate. Meet the Bee Keeper, Filo CMO Jeff Rohrs, who is helping our virtual hives flow. Filo reduces the friction in remote collaboration, enabling distributed teams to work better, together. Born from a Sprint Week at Venture Studio High Alpha.

The collaboration of David and Goliath. How upstart disruptors can collaborate with large corporations to drive mutual benefit. Pedro Earp is the Global Chief Marketing Officer for Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest beer company in the world: $55bn in sales, 170,000 employees in 50 countries, 7 of the top 10 beer brands. Additionally, Pedro is head of ZX Ventures, the brewer's global innovation unit that oversees investments, acquisitions, partnerships, and creation of new brands. We discuss how to unleash the innovators, how beer civilized the world and why entrepreneurship and Venture Capital are forms of management of top line growth/creation and how big companies can adapt to this new world.

Ronan Dunne leads the teams responsible for providing wireline voice, data and TV products and services with wireless connected experiences to more than 100 million consumers every day. In addition, his teams are building the first 5G technology network that will redefine how customers live, work and play. We talk about Verizon’s multiple touchpoints for startup/corporate collaboration, the opportunity of 5G and the canvas it creates for innovators. Find out why Ronan believes Edge Computing will be the most transformational advancement of the next 10 years.

The Rogue Women conference brings together the next generation of female leaders, celebrating the trailblazing women who have forged new paths, to make the impossible, possible. It is produced in partnership with the Rogue Ventures Women's Fund and features execs from SeeHer, Comcast LIFT Labs, Estee Lauder Companies, Soul Cycle, Whole 30, the W Fund, 5th Century Partners and much more.

In celebration of our Rogue Women on March 25th @ 12 EST we want to go back to the origin, to where the Rogue Women event series started to Caroline Lewis – Partner at Rogue Ventures, Managing Partner of Rogue Women's Fund, and Kauffman Fellow. We talk about being fiercely female and always rogue. Caroline shares why investing in women is good business and how we can build our innovation muscles to change the world. Please enjoy.

As part of our celebration of Women’s History Month this episode takes insightful clips from the visionary women that have appeared on the podcast over the last few months. From VC Samara Hernandez talking about diverse portfolios and what she looks for in founders, to CEO Whisperer and Sunday Dinner Founder Lindsey Slaby discussing self-worth and ROI. Futurist Cathy Hackl does a speed round on new technology giving you a glimpse into what’s next and 3 female founders shaking up the food & beverage industry share their founder stories: Peekaboo Ice Cream, Snack Riot and Superfrau. #WomenInTech #FemaleFounders #RogueWomen.

LG invested nearly $80 million dollars into TV data and measurement company Alphonso in January 2021. The plan is to leverage Alphonso’s software, data analytics, and media activation capabilities across LG’s home entertainment products, mainly smart TVs. Raghu Kodige, the Co-Founder of Alphonso, shares his thoughts on corporate/startup collaborations, the journey from garages and mattresses to building the future of Connected Television. This episode is a masterclass in how to launch a successful startup and the value of big company and startup partnerships.