Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL)

The ETL series is currently taking a break, but don’t worry! We’ll keep your podcast feed flowing with a special ETL Looks Back series, highlighting some timely gems from our archives. They’ll be published right here in your regular ETL feed—there’s nothing you need to do. Be sure to stay subscribed for future announcements about the return of the series. We can't wait to bring you more new episodes! Until then, enjoy ETL Looks Back, and find more episodes from our archive at stvp.stanford.edu/eCorner. Thanks for tuning in!—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USX: https://x.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner by STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecornerSTVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

Alexandra Zatarain, Co-founder of Eight Sleep, talks about achieving product-market fit, building the brand, and scaling revenue. She discusses the challenges in integrating hardware, therapy, services, and analytics into their sleep technology products. The conversation also covers the importance of targeting a specific audience, navigating the startup journey with passion, and exploring customer segments and marketing challenges.

Maria Barrera, founder of Clayful, discusses her journey in creating mental health support for students. She explores the intersection of mental health and startup culture, embracing authenticity as an underrepresented founder, and navigating challenges in mental health tech for schools.

David Allemann, co-leader of Swiss sports company On, discusses their innovative shoe brand built on exploration and positivity. Topics include sustainable footwear, collaboration with Roger Federer, co-founder dynamics, design influences, and defining core values.

Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, discusses trust among co-founders, transitioning from open-source to enterprise, building a cohesive team, going public, and navigating company growth stages. He emphasizes diversity, shared values, and prioritizing company success over personal preferences.

CEO-partner Margo Georgiadis discusses deep tech innovation in biotech, navigating drug development challenges, entrepreneurial emotions, and career mistakes in a thought-provoking conversation with Ravi Belani.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, shares insights on AI entrepreneurship, risks and opportunities surrounding AI tools, and the mission of OpenAI to build general-purpose artificial intelligence benefiting humanity. He explores personal growth, financial challenges in AI, resilience, leadership needs, responsible deployment of AGI, and AI's impact on society.

Qasar Younis, CEO of Applied Intuition, shares insights on entrepreneurship, diverse reading, and radical pragmatism in building organizations. He reflects on success, motivations, and the future of autonomous vehicles, emphasizing company values and mission in advancing safe and intelligent machines.

Sharon Prince is the CEO and founder of Grace Farms Foundation, a new kind of boundary-defying public space in New Canaan, Connecticut, that has become widely known as a global humanitarian and cultural center. Grace Farms is the platform for the Foundation and its interdisciplinary humanitarian mission to pursue peace through nature, arts, justice, community, faith, and Design for Freedom, a global new movement to eliminate forced labor from the building materials supply chain. In this presentation, Prince explains the origin and possibilities of the Design for Freedom movement and shares how she designed Grace Farms to embody her vision and values.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.

Discover how Stanford grads Sophia Edelstein and Nathan Kondamuri transformed the eyewear industry with customizable glasses. They share insights on co-CEO dynamics, customer passion, and expansion plans, emphasizing innovation, community, and strategic decision-making.