The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal

James Alcorn is a partner at Zetta Venture Partners, one of the world's leading AI focused VC investors, serving technical founders building AI-native companies. Zetta has partnered with the founders of Kaggle, Domino Data Lab, Nabla Bio, and other leading franchises.In this episode #135 w James Alcorn, learn about:Given the extensive focus on AI and it’s exponential mainstream growth, I wanted to bring on someone who understands this space from various angels, the technological shift, business models, venture capital investment opportunities and what founders should know.A couple of weeks ago, I contacted my network and one name that kept coming up was James Alcorn so here we are. James is a partner at Zetta Venture Partners, one of the world’s leading AI focused VC investors since their inception in 2015.This episode can be best described as an introduction to AI, whilst being a deep dive into various aspects. I asked James about Zetta’s origin story given they’ve been 100% focused on only AI since 2015, his thoughts on AI today vs 5 years ago, what exactly led to ChatGPT becoming mainstream, open source vs priopetiary models, infrastructure vs application layer and more.And yes, we cover a lot of questions that founders and investors are asking today including IP protection, metrics for investment, valuation, geographical differences and we end with a special rapid fire final sprint, make sure to listen through for this special conversation.It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!(Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***💥 This episode is brought to you by Fullstack Advisory, Australia's top tech accounting firm, designed specifically for innovative tech founders and investors. They provide founder-friendly support across Accounting & Tax, R&D Tax Incentives, Bookkeeping, and CFO Advisory -- so you can focus on what you do best, innovating and growing your business. Get in touch with Stuart and the team today! ***03:30  - Where were you born and live now? 04:02 - What was your first job and now? 05:19 - Entry into VC with Zetta 06:11 - Zetta as an “AI only” investor 07:39 - Rate of growth in AI today vs 5 years ago 09:55 - What exactly is Artificial intelligence? 13:06 - What led to ChatGPT breakthrough in late 2022? 14:50 - Open source vs proprietary models 17:52 - Large availability of compute today 19:46 - IP protection for early stage startups 24:33 - What makes an AI startup investible? 28:50 - Startups vs incumbents in platform shifts like AI 32:40 - LLMs in infrastructure vs application layer 36:19 - Differences in USA vs Israel vs China 38:12 - Are AI startups more capital intensive? 41:40 - Automated speech recognition (ASR) 46:00 - Vector databases 51:10 - AI progress in Australia 55:25 - Final sprint rapid fire

This is a special episode and the 2nd in our "guest host" series. This time, with Jax Vullinghs from Airtree Ventures interviewing Kim Randle, Co-Founder and CEO of FairSupply about her early influences, how she fell into law and being inspired by a movie, what led to co-founding Fair Supply and problem they’re tackling, tireless enthusiasm and being a founder + parent.In this special episode #134:We have a special guest host in Jax Vullings from Airtree Ventures. We tried this format earlier in the year with another investor in James Tynan from Square Peg, guest hosting episode #121 and it was well received so we’re doing it again! What you’re about to hear is a special conversation where Jax and Kim Randle unpack important topics very candidly including Kim’s early influences, how she fell into law and being inspired by a movie, what led to co-founding Fair Supply and the important problem they’re tackling; tireless enthusiasm and being a founder and parent. I hope you enjoy this great conversation, and if you have ideas for other iconic duos we could bring on in a similar format, send me a note. It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!(Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***💥 This episode is brought to you by Fullstack Advisory, Australia's top tech accounting firm, designed specifically for innovative tech founders and investors. They provide founder-friendly support across Accounting & Tax, R&D Tax Incentives, Bookkeeping, and CFO Advisory -- so you can focus on what you do best, innovating and growing your business. Get in touch with Stuart and the team today! ***03:48 - Kim’s early influences07:50 - Career aspirations09:40 - bridge building between the corporate world and social justice problems 15:00 - 3 daughters and founding FairSupply17:30 - Ambition behind FairSupply19:12 - Industrial mathematician meets human rights lawyer22:55 - Modern slavery in supply chains and how FairSupply is the solution31:08 - Building a culture and employee engagement34:45 - Tireless enthusiasm being CEO36:25 - Risks and speed of learning40:00 - Being a founder and parent ***

Bec is Executive Director at Tripple, a 100% Impact private investment company that works across all asset classes and incorporates both investing and grant-making to use capital as a force for good. Outside of Tripple. Bec has extensive experience in marketing and strategy in the start-up and not for profit sectors and is a current board member of the Centre for Australian Progress, a not for profit enabling civil society to win social and environmental progress, and Steward, a crowd-lending platform focussed on regenerative farming. Bec has a particular passion for food, farming, social justice and systems change.In this episode #133 w Bec Milgrom learn about:Her sunrise in Melbourne, Australia being the middle child with two siblings and influences of her entrepreneurial parents.Bec talks about being the teachers pet in high school, the fullness of her imagination and aspirations after she graduated. I really enjoyed the human-ness Bec shows in this conversation about her journey of self exploration by traveling the world and working in the craft beer industry post university and for many years which led to the US and the realisation that driving change using capital is her calling which led to co-founding Tripple with her two brothers.We dive deep into Thoughtful vs thoughtless investing, Storytelling to change people’s world views on impact, climate and social change, the reality of Policy, Grant making and their involvement in The Australian election in 2021 through climate 200 driving historic grassroots and community change, and we unpack the structure, operations and team at Tripple.It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!(Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***💥 This episode is brought to you by Fullstack Advisory, Australia's top tech accounting firm, designed specifically for innovative tech founders and investors. They provide founder-friendly support across Accounting & Tax, R&D Tax Incentives, Bookkeeping, and CFO Advisory -- so you can focus on what you do best, innovating and growing your business. Get in touch with Stuart and the team today! ***03:20 - Acknowledgement of country 05:00 - Where were you born and live now? 05:18 - What was your first job and now? 06:21 - High Flyer in Bec’s life 07:25 - Deep family connection 11:34 - Different learning styles 14:20 - Aspirations at age 18 and beyond 18:37 - 10 years in Craft Beer and behaviour change 22:36 - Oregon, USA 25:50 - The story behind the creation of Tripple, 100% impact multi asset private company 30:49 - Thoughtful vs thoughtless investing 36:29 - Storytelling to change people’s world views on impact, climate and social change 44:05 - Policy, Grant making and climate 200 48:38 - Structure, operations and team at Tripple 54:40 - Short term vs long term investing 01:04:20 - Rapid fire final sprint 

Osher Gunsberg is one of the most recognisable media personalities. He first came to attention as the face of Australian Idol and the voice of Australia's largest weekly radio countdown, Take 40 Australia.  He continues to be the host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette on Channel Ten.  Until recently, Osher was also part of the Breakfast Team and co-host of Hit105's radio brekky show alongside Abby Coleman and Stav Davidson.  Osher is a keen advocate for mental health awareness and climate change. He is also the co-creator and host of Movember Radio for the Movember Foundation, and a director of the board of SANE Australia. In this episode #132 w Osher Günsberg learn about:His sunrise in Brisbane, Australia with both parents being doctors. I found his reflections on being a “white immigrant” and being a muso in a sports school really intriguingWe cover how he found clarity for his career early on, manufacturing serendipity and how that’s led to incredible opportunities, not achieving his radio or music dreams, transitioning to network TV, and evolving his identity including a name change.I was surprised to learn radio is much better to host compared to TV, and really valued Osher’s candour on his battles with addiction, exactly how he prepares for a TV show shoot (make sure to note down the 5 D’s and the 6 P’s). I enjoyed asking Osher about how he balances his public persona with his family role, and what seeded his advocacy for climate change.I went into this a little unsure, Osher is a pro at interviews but he was candid, vulnerable and this is one of my favourite conversations for sure. It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!(Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***💥 This episode is brought to you by Fullstack Advisory, Australia's top tech accounting firm, designed specifically for innovative tech founders and investors. They provide founder-friendly support across Accounting & Tax, R&D Tax Incentives, Bookkeeping, and CFO Advisory -- so you can focus on what you do best, innovating and growing your business. Get in touch with Stuart and the team today! ***04:20 - Where were you born and live now? 04:55 - What was your first job and now? 08:20 - High Flyer in Osher’s life 10:35 - Realities of hosting TV shows 13:05 - Growing up “immigrant” in QLD 15:53 - Influence of doctor parents 19:10 - Music in a sports school 23:28 - A+ in school vs A+ in life 24:50 - Seeking professional career clarity 31:47 - Manufacturing serendipity 36:35 - Not achieving his music or radio dreams 39:50 - World class TV hosting 44:20 - Versatility of Hamish and Andy across Radio, TV, Podcasts etc 46:04 - Evolving his identity 48:00 - Only Australian to have hosted live network TV in US 49:11 - Becoming sober and noticing success 55:31 - Vulnerability on network television 59:30 - Preparation for a live gig, tv, keynote etc01:06:50 - Balancing the public and personality identity01:11:40 - Journey to Climate advocacy01:23:59 - Final Sprint rapid fire***

Michael Kim, Founder of Cendana Capital, discusses his multicultural upbringing in the US with influences from Japan and Korea. He shares insights on Cendana's approach to investing in VC funds globally, from Australia to Israel. The episode explores his transition from banking to venture capital, the evolution of VC financing, and the importance of supporting early-stage fund managers for higher returns.

Paul Bassat is the Co-Founder of the Venture Capital firm, Square Peg with operations in Australia, Singapore and Israel. Previously, he co-founded the success story that is the online recruitment website, Seek. He was born and lives in Melbourne, Australia.In this episode #130 w Paul Bassat, learn about:Paul’s sunrise in Melbourne, Australia with European heritage with his parents coming to Australia as refugees and mum being a holocaust survivor from Poland. Paul shares the influences of his mum, a lawyer and dad an IBM executive, and his two older siblings.I loved asking Paul about his personality in high school, dreams at age 18, the two catalysts to leave his law career and start Seek in the 90’s (note: startups were not a thing back then) — and he’s candid about various parts of the Seek story that haven’t been shared before including the structure of the co-founding team, competing with large incumbents and market leadership in China.We dive deep into the transition from Seek to Square Peg, including living in France with his family, the ways in which the founder experience helped and hindered his investor role, the importance of founder’s having awareness of investor conviction in follow on rounds, and his most painful learnings. And we unpack what Paul would do if he was Australian Prime Minister for a year and how he would like to leave a legacy. 🎉 And our 7-star events are back! Yes as many of you know — we are a special series of LIVE fireside conversations in May and June. Tickets are quickly selling out for event #2 with James Tynan, Partner at Squarepeg, get your ticket today HERE! 💥It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! (Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***💥 This episode is brought to you by Fullstack Advisory, Australia's top tech accounting firm, designed specifically for innovative tech founders and investors. They provide founder-friendly support across Accounting & Tax, R&D Tax Incentives, Bookkeeping, and CFO Advisory -- so you can focus on what you do best, innovating and growing your business. Get in touch with Stuart and the team today! ***02:47 - Where were you born and live now? 03:09 - What was your first job and now?03:55 - High Flyer in Paul’s life04:47 - Sense of identity as an Australian and Jewish06:36 - Smartass or studious as a child? 08:00 - Sporting heroes08:54 - Success at age 1810:31 - Being the youngest of 3 siblings 11:41 - Catalysts to start Seek in the 90’s16:20 - Sponsor message featuring Full Stack Advisory17:00 - Foundational learnings about team management 20:20 - Three groups of competitors22:18 - Market leadership in China 25:04 - How did he succeed as CEO27:50 - Learning about investing as a profession29:30 - Leaving seek and living in France35:05 - Sponsor message featuring Full Stack Advisory35:50 - The birth of Square Peg Capital38:20 - Realities of transition from founder to investor40:45 - Raising their first fund 44:18 - Brand awareness and high conviction investing 47:41 - Lack of Founder awareness of follow on funding50:42 - The VC fund vs the Partner? 52:40 - Most painful learnings to date55:30 - What should Australia do differently?57:45 - Decade goals vs yearly goals01:01:10 - Building relationships, not networking01:04:10 - Being grounded and relatable despite success01:06:35 - Final sprint*** 

Sam Wong is a General Partner at Blackbird Ventures, who exist to supercharge Australia's and New Zealand's most ambitious founders. She was the first hire in their Australia fund and has since invested in companies including Vow, Halter, Harrison AI and led the raising of their inaugural $59M New Zealand Fund, and $80M New Zealand Fund II (2022) + heads up their New Zealand office. Sam was born in Perth, Australia and now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. In this episode #129 w Sam Wong, learn about:Sam’s sunrise in Perth, Australia growing up in and around her parent’s business packing Soundblaster boxes, and influenced by various cultures with mum of Malaysian/Chinese heritage and Dad being half English and half Chinese but grew up in India.This one is wide ranging and Sam is very candid — we cover her highlights from 7 years as a lawyer and influences from early managers that have shaped Sam’s leadership style today as General Partner at the Venture Capital firm, Blackbird.Sam’s been at various vantage points in her career, from law to early stage startup to co-founding a startup to investing so I wanted to know where would she start her career if she could do it again? Learn about her experience co-founding a startup with her partner Ben, biases Sam had to delete switching from founder to investor and we cover the Blackbird story to date, including Sam’s reflections on her investments in companies like Vow and Halter that seemed very non obvious at the time, the story behind raising and building the NZ fund and her most painful learning to date.🎉 And our 7-star events are back! Yes as many of you know — we are a special series of LIVE fireside conversations in May and June. We are almost sold out for event #1 with Niki Scevak on the 18th May, get your ticket today HERE! 💥It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! (Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***02:42 - Lowest ego to bad-assess ratio03:15 - Where were you born and live now?03:27 - What was your first job and now?04:48 - High Flyer in Sam’s life06:54 - Sandblasters, Perth, 80s09:08 - Malaysian, Chinese, UK, Indian influences12:32 - Helping others come up the ranks15:50 - Not having a set path at age 1818:00 - Highlights from 7 years in Law20:56 - Niki Scevak’s “2/10 intellectually lazy” feedback26:29 - time bounded experiments and firing yourself every year31:50 - Practicalities of annual reviews32:55 - Building a startup with her now partner, Ben37:06 - Investor and founder biases40:19 - Building success foundations of a VC fund45:38 - Sam’s investments to date in Vow, Partly, Halter, Harrison.AI50:13 - Painful learnings as an investor53:19 - The story behind starting the Blackbird NZ fund58:44 - What would Sam like to change about the world of LP’s?01:01:38 - Final sprint***

Peter Huynh is the Chief Strategy Officer at Harrison AI, and previously spent over a decade as a VC investor in Asia, UK and Australia with Singtel and Qualgro Partners. He was born in Vietnam, and lives in Sydney, Australia. In this episode #128 w Peter Huynh, learn about:Peter’s Vietnamese heritage, especially how his family moved to Sydney, Australia in the late 1970’s and the early challenges they faced as his dad’s medical degree was not recognised meaning he had to study again, whilst Peter and his mum stayed in a small apartment with 9 of his relatives in Wollongong. Peter’s reflections including learning English watching TV shows on the ABC are fascinating!Peter is well known for helping founders and investors with mindfulness coaching, I had to ask him the source of this and he candidly shares his own journey including having teachers for nearly 8 years to understand his own self.We unpack his career including his most formative experiences, with Hutchison Group and Singtel in the UK, Asia and Australia, working with early versions of Spotify and Facebook in 2009 and seeding the Australian startup ecosystem when it was just taking off in 2011.Peter has recently transitioned from a decade long stint as a VC investor to became a startup executive joining Harrison AI as chief strategy officer, hear about why he made this decision and his learnings working at the intersection of health care and AI. It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! (Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***02:41 - Where were you born and live now?03:51 - What was your first job and now?05:37 - High Flyer in Peter’s life07:02 - Challenging adjustment setting in Australia as a child11:35 - Learning English watching TV12:42 - The desire to belong13:54 - Relationship with mindfulness and spirituality16:57 - Realising Law wasn’t an enjoyable career path19:35 - Most formative career experience22:34 - Single largest foreign investor in Western Europe23:47 - Re-connecting with Asian heritage24:39 - Working with mobile versions of Spotify and Facebook in 200928:11 - Seeding the early Australian startup ecosystem34:41 - Founding Qualgro VC, building a bridge between South East Asia and Australia36:40 - Learning to build deeper connections with people42:19 - Mindfulness practises during a work day45:42 - Educating his two children on guided meditations46:42 - What led to joining Harrison AI as Chief Strategy Officer54:58 - Government regulations in Health and AI58:17 - Rapid fire final sprint***

Michael Stocks is Head of Strategy & Operations at "FL0", previously he joined the global success story Linktree as one of their earliest hires, scaling the startup to a billion dollar business. He was born and lives in Sydney, Australia. In this episode #127 w Michael Stocks, learn about:Michael’s sunrise, a mix of the Blue Mountains in Sydney and Malaysia — his parents met bush walking (how good), and mum was a speech pathologist and dad in the navy followed by working in Oil & Gas. We connect over our shared love for quality storytelling and advertising, especially in today’s closed loop world with Netflix and Spotify where ads aren’t like live TV. We spend the majority of this episode on Michael’s career journey from starting in advertising to joining Google first in Sydney and then New York when they were slightly smaller than they are today, how this led to his MBA study at Harvard and then the big moment!How did he join Linktree when they were a dozen people and had not raised much external funding. Today they’re valued at over a billion dollars — what exactly is operations in a startup and why the perceptions can be wrong, using the vision to values framework to set team and company vision, how to strategise pricing for a global product launch, sequencing ambition and impact in a fast growing company, world class investor relations and successful off boarding and on boarding.And that’s not all — Michael has decided to go back to early stage company building, joining Flo (that’s Fl0) — the platform that empowers back end engineers to deploy code, and how he’s using his link tree experiences to see around corners, especially being the first non engineer hire.It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! (Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***02:48 - Where were you born and live now? 03:20 - What was your first job and now?05:04- High Flyer in Michael’s life06:18 - Malaysia and the Blue Mountains07:46 - Introverted and shy 09:02 - Advertising love from day dot13:15 - Mad Men15:02 - Young Wisdom 17:08 - Rationale to work at Google19:30 - Corporate vs startups 22:39 - Google in America vs Australia 26:35 - Harvard MBA 28:30 - Joining Linktree (when it was < 20 employees)34:10 - Setting up for success in early startup38:06 - Unpacking what “operations” means in a startup 42:05 - The vision to values framework44:32 - Setting pricing for a viral global company 46:57 - Executive Coach49:33 - Sequencing ambition and impact 53:06 - World class investor relations56:00 - How can investors be most helpful 58:10 - Team management being a sharp curve59:33 - Joining the startup, FL001:00:31 - Successful off boarding and onboarding 01:02:25 - Most formative experience in his career01:03:39 - Final sprint***

Dan Fitzgerald is the Managing Partner at ReGen Ventures, has been investing in climate-tech for over 10 years across early-stage, growth and real assets. Dan was previously the co-founder of a quant hedge fund and an Options Trader at UBS and Macquarie Bank.In this episode #126 w Dan Fitzgerald, learn about:His early influences with his sunrise in Brisbane, Australia when his mum was just 18! (My mum was 21 when I was born, kudos to all the incredible mums out there, you’re special). I love Dan’s candour including his dreams to play professional sport, Rugby union in particular — how that didn’t eventuate and led his foray into the world of financial markets and living a life of being present.Dan calls his 6+ years in the investment banking and hedge fund industry as a rolling epiphany as he sought to find his eventual home of fulfillment being impact investing and working with exceptional founders creating companies as the force for good and this led to the creation of ReGen Ventures, where Dan is the Managing Partner.Get excited to immerse yourself in how Dan and his team are re-imagining the world from the atom up, what it means to invest in startups from the UK, to Austria to the US to Australia and what are the raw ingredients of category defining companies in ClimateTech.This episode is dedicated to the beautiful memory of Dan’s daughter Frankie who inspires us all to live to our fullest each day, in love and wonder.It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy! (Timestamps below)***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! ***02:20  - Where were you born and live now?02:42 - What was your first job and now?03:52 - High Flyer in Dan’s life05:03 - 18 year old mum07:25 - Period of change08:37 - Everyday is a gift09:40 - Heroes10:55 - Professional athlete dreams14:27 - 4am wake ups capturing moments of quiet16:23 - First date with business and finance19:20 - Rolling epiphany 6 years in financial markets21:50 - How to review and change career identity24:28 - Founding a Quant fund26:50 - Downside limited, upside unknown and Risk Management28:10 - Creation of ReGen Ventures32:00 - “Inconvenient truth” movie inspiring change34:00 - Magic moments to building a VC fund37:47 - Breath vs depth of relationships40:20 - Thesis beyond sustainability to “Regenerative” globally45:28 - Learnings from investing in UK, Austria, USA and more48:43 - DNA of a category defining company in ClimateTech51:00 - Assessing spikes in category creating founders54:05 - Rainbow in the clouds, daughter Frankie’s memory57:50 - Final sprint***