Trailblazers

This week we chat with Nihal Mehta! At Eniac, they call Nihal the human Rolodex, thanks to the thousands of connections he has made with some of the world’s top companies and brands. He developed many of these connections (and scar tissue!) over the past 20+ years while founding five startups: Philly2nite -> UrbanGroove -> Chapter 7 bankruptcy; ipsh! -> acquired by Omnicom (NYSE: OMC); buzzd -> LocalResponse -> acquired by BlueCava.Early in his career, Nihal honed his ability to spot top entrepreneurial talent by investing in Admob (acquired by Google), Swiftkey (acquired by Microsoft), Tapad (acquired by Telenor), Tala, and Uber, to name a few. Nihal and his wife are now angel investors and LPs in almost 100 underrepresented founders and fund managers.Nihal is a co-founder of the non-profit “Project Ahimsa,” providing scholarships to disadvantaged youth in India, where his parents immigrated from in the early 1970s. Nihal also recently co-founded initiatives like Help Main Street to help restaurants survive the pandemic, and The 100k Pledge, a social justice tracker of economic empowerment to Black communities. You might catch him running down the Hudson River weekday mornings with founders and his #pitchandrun crew.Outside of the office Nihal loves to spend time with his wife Reshma and is a big supporter of her non-profit Girls Who Code and her initiative “Moms First.” Around town, you will usually see him with his sons Shaan and Sai and beagle-bulldog Stanley. Nihal is the life of the party, which is why he always spearheads Eniac events.Nihal graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Philosophy and a BSE in Computer Science.Follow us!Nihal Mehta: @nihalmehtaEniac Ventures: @EniacVCErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week our host, Erica Wenger, takes a step back to reflect on the highs, lows, and lessons of 2024 while looking ahead to the opportunities of 2025.In this episode, she shares her personal process for year-end reflection, breaking it down into eight fool-proof buckets to help you identify what went well, what didn’t, and how to grow. From celebrating wins to recalibrating for the future, she provides actionable insights and tools to help you visioncast your best year yet.Whether you're wrapping up the year or gearing up for 2025, this episode is packed with inspiration and practical steps to set your sights on 2025 with clarity and intention.Follow Us!Erica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Dennis Hegstad!Dennis is an experienced entrepreneur and founder, having co-founded LiveRecover, an SMS marketing company for Shopify merchants that scaled to thousands of users and drove over $100 million in additional revenue. He also founded OrderBump, a Shopify app for upsells, which he quickly grew and sold within just 100 days. Currently, Dennis is the co-founder of Vigilance, and Internet Research Unit.Follow us!Dennis Hegstad: @dennishegstadInternet Research Unit: @IRU_DCEErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Lisa Mayer!Lisa Mayer is the co-founder & CEO of Boss Beauties, a next gen tech company backed by Serena Ventures, the $100M+ venture fund founded by world class athlete Serena Williams. Boss Beauties inspires & elevates the next generation of women & girls to be everything they want to be through technology, content, and education.Boss Beauties was first born in emerging tech and they have had massive traction in the web3 space, launching multiple collections of digital collectibles that consumers have spent over $50M collecting and trading since 2021. They also partnered with Mattel & Barbie launching the first collection of digital collectibles celebrating the 250 careers Barbie has had since its inception. Lisa’s work has impacted thousands of high school and college-aged girls all over the world spanning across 15 countries and over 400 educational institutions. In addition to Barbie, Lisa has grown the brand to highlight & celebrate women through live events and global collaborations with partners that include Rolling Stone, Marvel, and the New York Stock Exchange and her work has been featured by Forbes, Fortune, and Apple.Follow us!Lisa Mayer: @lisacmayerBoss Beauties: @BossBeautiesErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Mac Reddin!Mac Reddin is the Founder and CEO of Commsor. At Commsor he's focused on building tools to enable companies to embrace Go-to-Network, a more sustainable way to grow compared to traditional direct Go to Market motions.Prior to Commsor he bootstrapped and exited various businesses across gaming, fashion, and software.Follow us!Mac Reddin: TheTeaGunsCommsor: @CommsorErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Ben Lang!Ben has spent his life hopping between New York, Tel Aviv, and San Francisco. He is a builder, former founder, and community guy, always in multiple places at one time.He was an early member of the Notion team, where he led community for nearly 5 years. He actively makes angel investments and advises a few select startups.He’s helping world-class talent discover what’s next through next play.Follow us!Ben Lang: @benlnnext play: @nextplaysoErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Nik Sharma!Nik is the CEO of Sharma Brands, a strategic initiatives firm working with a wide range of brands to help grow and scale revenue across digital platforms.Nik is one of AdWeek’s Young & Influential, Forbes 30 under 30, Business Insider's up and coming Investors to Watch, and an investor and advisor to some of the fastest-growing brands in commerce.Follow us!Nik Sharma: @mrsharmaSharma Brands: @sharmabrandsErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Sieva Kozinsky!Sieva is a founder of Enduring Ventures, a long-term holding company that buys wonderful businesses and holds them forever. Sieva is a lifelong entrepreneur who started Enduring Ventures with Xavier Helgesen, taking inspiration from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway model.Together with investors, they own stakes in over 20 companies, including Somewhere.com, Scribe Media, and Abstract. Sieva is a founder of Enduring Ventures, a long-term holding company that buys wonderful businesses and holds them forever. Sieva is a lifelong entrepreneur who started Enduring Ventures with Xavier Helgesen, taking inspiration from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway model.Together with investors, they own stakes in over 20 companies, including Somewhere.com, Scribe Media, and Abstract. Follow us!Sieva Kozinsky: @sievakozinskyEnduring Ventures: @enduring.venturesErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Liz Wessel!Liz Wessel is a Partner at First Round Capital, a pre-seed and seed venture fund, based in San Francisco. Prior to joining First Round, she was a Visiting Group Partner at Y Combinator, where she worked directly with over 110 early-stage startups. Liz has also been investing as an angel since 2016, backing over 60 startups, including Ramp, ScaleAI, Ro, Artera (fka WELL Health), FreeWill, Snackpass and others.Before becoming a full-time investor, Liz was the co-founder and CEO of WayUp, an early-career recruitment platform used by over 7 million candidates and thousands of companies. She launched WayUp in 2014 and ran it for seven years — during which time she raised over $40 million in venture and was with the company as CEO through its M&A exit in 2021.Prior to WayUp, Liz worked at Google as a product marketing manager. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s in Political Science, Mathematics and Japanese. Follow us!Liz Wessel: @lizwesselFirst Round Capital: @firstroundErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

This week we chat with Casey Lewis! Casey is a youth trends expert and brand consultant. Formerly an editor at Teen Vogue, MTV, and New York Magazine.She now writes After School, a trends newsletter read by 45,000+ people, and helps companies reach Gen Z.Follow us!Casey Lewis: @caseymlewisErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething