The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal

In this episode #100, Natasha Ong (marketing associate) interviews Vidit Agarwal (Founder & Host)!We cover: Learnings from first job working at a restaurantMum’s influence and being the high flyer in my lifeHow has my perception of a high flyer changed?Society views on celebrating success and how this podcast plays a small role in re-creating thatOrigin story of the podcast and the name "The High Flyers"Personal growth through this podcast over past 2 yearsBehind the scenes of interview prep and research processHow to make guests comfortable to open upRanking in the top #20 shows in Aus, India, Hong KongWhat’s helped grow the podcast?How has the marketing evolved?Advice for budding podcastersRapid fire: Proudest achievement, Guest that surprised you, Piece of advice from a guest, What separates a great podcast, dream guests, Thank you to first believers It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Michael is Principal at Blackbird VC and helps uncover & invest in founders and innovation in Synthetic biology, Embedded commerce, Compute, Healthcare and Robotics.In this episode #99, learn about:Sunrise in Melbourne having rich Italian heritage and influences, with his dad being a chemical engineer and mum starting out as a high school teacher and then becoming a financial planner and always being there for Michael and his younger brother.How speaking different languages is he perfect way to see through a clear window into a cultureHow he started his career in law and then utilised an inspiring learning path to move to finance and then into Venture Capital with Playground VC in the USA (which also has a story behind it) Specific learnings of these 3 transitions and now being back in Australia with BlackbirdWhy Deep Tech investing fascinates himDistilling misconceptions about founders in Deep Tech3 key traits to be a successful VCHow he spends his perfect day off work Michael's one strength and one weaknessIt’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via OUR WEBSITE or email  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! ***Welcome to episode #98 w Daniel Madhavan! It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! We cover: Learn about his sunrise in Melbourne, Australia in the most multicultural family with his dad being half Indian, half Chinese and mum being Dutch.Success at age 18 being to be financially independent which drove Dan’s successful 12+ year career in banking with JB Were rising to acting CEOPractical learnings that helped Dan be promoted every few years ("build bridges not boats")Specifics of the fascinating decision making process to leave the firmFunny story from early 20’s that was a big learning in hindsightUsing capital to make a positive impact for the future of the planetTop 3 impact focused investors he’s the most impressed by 

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterEmail  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz or contact us via www.curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! ***Welcome to episode #97 w Lauren Capelin! It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! Learn about her sunrise in QLD with dad being a banker and mum working at Ansett and achieve her desire of sending Lauren and her sisters to private school. Lauren candidly shares this private schooling experience and how it changed the family dynamic and also realising success tends to be more about happiness over status.We cover a lot and Lauren shares fantastic insights about how she discovered and built her career merging creativity, community and impact with the business world - working with global thought leaders like Rachel Botsman on building the sharing economy and collaborative consumption to then how she was the first person in a community and platform role in Venture Capital in Australia.How Lauren manages to be ahead of the curve on many trends?Moving to Noosa, QLD in 2020What people get wrong about relationship building? How can Australia cultivate a successful women led VC fund?

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterEmail  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz or contact us via www.curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! ***Welcome to episode #96 w Dalton Henshaw! It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!Learn about his sunrise in Melbourne and having to grow up quickly as his parents separated when he was 6. His dad ran a fashion retail business and mum was Chief Family officer before moving into medical admin.Dalton shares his dream at 18 to play professional AFL which eventually turning into creating a prominent mens lifestyle publication called The Tailored Man, working with brands such as Tag Heuer, Hugo Boss and Mercedes Benz.I asked Dalton about the 3 successful people that he’s met that inspire him, how he prepares for client meetings, how he manages a team of 40, especially people older than him and 1% habits he and his wife Laura have added in the last 2 years. Stay tuned to learn about Dalton’s favourite fashion and running brands and lots more

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterEmail  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz or contact us via www.curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests and share how we can improve. ***Welcome to episode #95 w Joel Connolly! Please enjoy. ***TIMESTAMPS01:50  - Where were you born and live now? 02:00 - What was your first job and now? 02:31 - High Flyer in Joel’s life 03:58 - Darwin and Copacabana 06:57 - Influences of family and public figures 08:53 - Being raised by a single mum 11:18 - First time he came across music and creative world 13:13 - Career plan at age 18 17:08 - Didn’t feeling like a creative till his mid 30’s 18:10 - We’re all born creative 19:36 - Creativity in podcasting 21:39 - The move from music to Venture Capital at Blackbird 28:05 - Unlearning and trying new things at Blackbird 31:50 - How Joel created the Blackbird brand strategy: 36:15 - Community and firm building 38:25 - Most painful learning 42:01 - Balancing creative role in an investment firm 45:13 - Blackbird 2.0 49:03 - What is brand building as an expression of who you are 52:20 - What does crypto have right and wrong about culture? 55:41 - How does Australia encourage Vitaliks (founder of ETH)? 58:31 - Joel’s thinking in themes and not pictures 01:01:12 - Rapid fire 

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterEmail  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz or contact us via www.curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests and share how we can improve. ***Welcome to episode #94 w Jackie Vullinghs! Please enjoy. ***TIMESTAMPS01:55 - Where were you born and live now? 02:07 - What was your first job and now? 02:26 - High Flyer in Jackie’s life 03:10 - Childhood in the UK w immigrant parents 04:21 - History teacher influence to learn about the world 05:22 - Cultural significance of studying history and connection to VC 07:40 - Success at age 18 09:07 - Do small things and chase curiosity 10:40 - Growth between high school and university 12:54 - Painful learnings 14:50 - Working in investment banking and why she left? 17:42 - Learning more in a startup vs investment banking 19:09 - Building confidence to change professional path 21:07 - Moving from the UK to Australia 22:50 - Applying to Airtree a second time after being rejected 26:25 - Setting up for success in first 6 months at Airtree 29:30 - How did bouncing around help form a world view? 31:01 - Filtering through information 33:12 - How to get to know a company from scratch? 35:22 -  Investing in consumer 37:50 - Airtree playing a leadership role beyond B2B SaaS investments 39:40 - Becoming the first second generation fund in ANZ 41:57 - Decision making adjustment now vs boom times 43:41 - Unpacking MILKRUN 47:23 - How becoming a mother has changed Jackie? 50:08 - Rapid fire 

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterEmail  Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz or contact us via www.curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests and share how we can improve. ***Welcome to episode #93 w Kelly Godfrey! Please enjoy. ***TIMESTAMPS02:02 - What was your first job and now? 02:40 - High Flyer in xx life 03:34 - Family memories 05:16 - Mum’s influence 07:19 - Gymnasts training 4x a week 08:46 - London and Brighton 10:41 - Success at age 18 12:03 - Painful learning 14:48 - Becoming Marketing Director within 6 years 18:09 - Building social capital 21:52 - Agency to in house marketing 25:33 - Leading marketing for ancestry.com 29:15 -  Role of marketing in customer discovery 30:35 - Moving roles and countries at same time 35:15 - Success in first 3 months of new role 40:34 - Taking a sabbatical in 2018 46:57 - Exploring opportunities post sabbatical 50:47 - Learnings about growth in new markets 54:00 - StockX being at the cutting edge of culture 56:07 - Rapid fire 

Explore your curiosity with Elise Kennedy, who leads the Australian equity research team covering tech and internet stocks at the investment bank, Jarden. I really wanted to have Elise on because equity markets, inflation, interest rates, and the general economy are a hot topic of interest.Learn about the status of current markets and why we’re in this position, how are companies rated as under or over valued, the role of M&A and leveraged buyouts during volatility, geographical impact, tourist investors perhaps exiting the market and more. Please enjoy! ***Find out more about Curiosity Center, including 90+ episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz Find out more about Jarden at https://www.jardengroup.com.au/Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyzFollow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter***TIMESTAMPS01:46 - Elise’ path into investment banking 02:56 - Life as an associate 03:52 - Life now as Vice President 04:32 - Perception vs reality of titles like Managing Director 05:15 - Overview of current markets (public and private) 07:18 - Tech companies seeing sell offs despite strong fundamentals 09:09 - How do investment banks rate a stock as under or overvalued? 11:55 - Tech pull back vs broader economy 14:12 - Inflation impact on the consumer 16:07 - Geographical impact and correlation between Australia and the US 18:18 - Does Elise’ role change in an up vs down market 19:29 - The role of M&A and leveraged buyouts in volatility 21:32 - Opportunities for VC’s deploying capital at better valuations 23:51 - “Tourist” investors leaving the market 25:14 - Super funds tightening capital allocation 26:56 - Cross over funds requiring re-alignment of exposure 27:36 - Metrics of EBITDA, Price to earnings ratio, CAGR 29:09 - Filtering through speculation 32:30 - Structuring work week and reports Elise reads 34:05 - Elise using her recreational pilots license to switch off 36:00 - Personal areas of investment interest 

Explore your curiosity with Gael Aitor, one of 5 hosts of the largest teen mental health podcast in the world called Teenager Therap, based in the US. We connected a few months ago through a mutual friend and this was great fun.Learn about how they started this podcast and movement in their quest to talk about and Improve mental heath, their 3 biggest learnings to date, actionable insights on how we can all improve our mental health and we went deep into the state of podcasting, media and some of the innovation and trends we’re excited to see. Please enjoy! ***Find out more about Curiosity Center, including 90+ episodes at www.curiositycenter.xyz Find out more about Teenager Therapy at https://teenagertherapy.com/Share your feedback and discuss sponsorship opportunities with us by directly emailing vidit@curiositycenter.xyzFollow the show on Linkedin / Instagram / Twitter***TIMESTAMPS01:46 - Moving to the US from Mexico at age 16 02:30 - Starting the largest teen mental health podcast (globally) 02:50 - Discovering podcasts for the first time 04:18 - Biggest learnings about the root cause behind mental health issues 08:30 - Core root causes of a lack of mental health amongst all age groups 10:40 - how to improve your mental health space 14:38 - Balancing performance with inner relaxation 15:51 - How mental health differs based on culture and country 18:26 - The role of social media in vulnerability and connection 22:45 - Seeking approval as a creator based on likes and comments 24:07 - Most exciting trends over next 12 months in podcasts and media 27:35 - Changing landscape of media and discovery limitations 31:15 - Building a niche vs generalist show 33:21 - Vidit & Gael riff on what they’d love to have in podcasts