

Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
Inspired Capital
Inspired with Alexa von Tobel dives headfirst into conversations with the most ambitious people on the planet. Host Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital, gets under the hood of guests’ ambitions, from pivotal childhood moments to the critical advice that shaped their life paths. What does it take to be a true visionary, one who stares down monumental challenges with grit and resilience? Learn directly from those builders and problem-solvers whose determination is shaping a brighter, more inspired future.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 5, 2021 • 33min
How to Pace Yourself with Francois Kress of Feelmore Labs
At this very moment, you might be wearing a device to track your heart rate, your steps, or how well you slept. But what if you wear a device that impacted how you felt? That's the vision behind Feelmore Labs, and their debut product, Cove — a scientifically proven new wearable device that improves sleep and cancels stress. Cove's co-founder, Francois Kress, comes from the world of luxury fashion, but he brings a lifelong passion for science. Cove is already showing great results, with 90% of people who used Cove for 30 days experiencing 41% less stress. Francois shares why the future of self-care is active wearables (not passive ones), what he learned from opening a Louis Vuitton store on the island of Saipan, and why he still starts every day with a well-organized to-do list.

Apr 28, 2021 • 33min
How to Create a Sticky Product with Flori Marquez of BlockFi
Blockchain, NFTs, ethereum—the world of crypto is wildly complex for most consumers. But Flori Marquez and her cofounder Zac Prince had a vision to bridge traditional finance and blockchain technology through their startup, BlockFi. With a range of products, like a credit card that lets you earn bitcoin in lieu of reward points, BlockFi is bringing crypto to the mainstream. Since launching in 2017, BlockFi has grown to manage over $15B in assets, scaled its team to over 500 employees, and hit a $3B valuation. Flori shares why they started by building the hardest product first, why it was difficult to raise their first round of venture capital as a crypto startup, and how her Argentinian roots impact how she thinks about financial security.

Apr 21, 2021 • 42min
How to Stay Present with Christy Turlington Burns of Every Mother Counts
Christy Turlington Burns is known around the globe as a model. She's been featured on thousands of magazine covers and was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. But Christy is also a repeat founder—of yoga lifestyle brand Nuala, skincare line Sundari, and for the last decade, not-for-profit Every Mother Counts. After experiencing a childbirth related complication of her own, Christy founded EMC to make pregnancy and childbirth safe, respectful, and equitable and has invested $21M globally across 29 programs in 9 countries. Christy shares why she became a global health advocate when she became a mom, how she thinks about the use of storytelling in EMC's work, and why lobbying for legislative change is more accessible than it looks.

Apr 14, 2021 • 31min
How to Solve Hard Problems with Stephany Kirkpatrick of Orum
As Certified Financial Planner, Stephany has long had a passion for helping families manage their money. And as a seasoned tech executive, Stephany realized that the most effective way to help hundreds of millions of families was to build new fintech infrastructure from the ground up. In 2019, she started Orum to make money movement smart and real-time—working to improve upon the 50-year-old system of ACH. Stephany shares why the self-driving wallet is coming sooner than we think, how Orum will lower the $11B consumers currently pay in overdraft fees each year, and why her secrets to success as a founder include Whoop and ice cream.

Apr 7, 2021 • 34min
Why Data is the New Code with Alexandr Wang of Scale AI
As a freshman at MIT, Alexandr was struck by his classmates' interest in AI. But he realized that despite all that AI technology could solve, there was no solution for managing AI-related data. So, at 19, he dropped out of college and started Scale AI. Scale now helps customers like Pinterest and Toyota accelerate the progress of AI and has grown to a valuation of $3.5B. Alexandr shares how AI is changing software development, why he believes in surrounding yourself with optimistic people, and how he learned to get comfortable with not being able to do everything at once.

Mar 31, 2021 • 40min
How to Identify Your Customer with Armon Dadgar of HashiCorp
Armon was on the PhD path, poised to become an academic. But he and his college friend Mitchell Hashimoto realized they had an opportunity ahead of them: building technology to support cloud infrastructure. They founded HashiCorp in 2012 and have grown to more than 80 million open source downloads per year, with a company valuation over $5 billion. Armon shares how a stint at a San Francisco startup led to his aha moment, how HashiCorp decided on an open-source model and enterprise customer, and why the company was remote-first long before Covid.

Mar 24, 2021 • 39min
How to Stay True to Your Principles with Ken Lin of Credit Karma
In 2007, a year before the Recession hit, Ken Lin set out to offer free credit scores and bring transparency to the credit industry. His startup, Credit Karma, now serves more than 100 million members around the globe and has continued to roll out free, consumer-first tools to help members manage the entirety of their financial lives. The industry took note of Credit Karma's exponential growth, and in 2020, the company was acquired by Intuit for $8.1 billion dollars. Ken shares why doing right by consumers is his guiding principle, how he beat imposter syndrome in the CEO seat, and why an IPO was never his end goal.

Mar 17, 2021 • 35min
How to Build Your Executive Team with Ali Ghodsi of Databricks
In 2013, a team of academics at UC Berkeley was working to solve massive data challenges that were impacting the tech companies in their backyard. Fast-forward and that team now represents the co-founders of Databricks, a data and AI company used by more than 5,000 organizations worldwide. In 2016, Ali Ghodsi stepped into the CEO seat and the company is now valued at $28 billion. Ali shares why he prioritizes building leaders over making decisions, how he sees the future of AI, and how he navigates the unique experience of having six co-founders.

Mar 10, 2021 • 38min
How to Work Smarter with Andrew Frame of Citizen
What if technology could make us safer in the real world? That's the problem Andrew Frame, founder of Citizen, set out to solve. The Citizen app, which combines location information with 911 intelligence, is now used by over seven million people across 25 cities. Andrew is a serial entrepreneur and tech whiz who is creating a fundamentally new category: safety. Andrew shares why he considers Citizen a mission instead of a product, how he approaches the burden of responsibility for building tech that impacts our psychology, and why he opts for poetry and philosophy over business books.

9 snips
Mar 3, 2021 • 35min
How to Create Cultural Change with Alyssa Ravasio of Hipcamp
Alyssa Ravasio of Hipcamp shares her journey in creating a platform for outdoor stays. She discusses the challenges of finding suitable campsites, the importance of partnering with landowners, and the growth of outdoor culture during COVID-19. Alyssa also talks about her path to entrepreneurship, her rules for success as a CEO, and her predictions for the future of outdoor-related businesses.


