Venture Capital

Sean Cumiskey shares leaving Farallon partnership for family when wife had breast cancer, taking a year off, growing Yihang from $350M to $3.5B, and finding purpose at Omega Fund Management developing life-saving therapies.

Seth Levine shares investing life savings in Foundry only to face failure by May 2007, his wife's belief that saved everything, building $4 billion firm, and why dynamic capitalism creating more owners is the solution to neoliberal capitalism's extraction from labor.

Joe Carter shares journey from leaving $2M on table due to owner dependency to helping 100+ businesses 10X revenue—channeling son's suicide grief into awareness advocacy, working inside PE seeing 400 deals $14B+, teaching why valuation multiplier range position matters more than historical revenue at Twin Flame Group.

Toph Day, CEO of Elevate Ventures, shares his journey from building eight companies to leading the #1 most active early-stage VC firm in the Great Lakes—managing $250M, backing 450+ startups with 83% survival rate through patient capital and founder-first philosophy.

Marshall Hawks shares venture debt expertise from 20+ years SVB/Comerica banking—Twitch $1B Amazon acquisition keeping 5-10% extra equity in founders' pockets, Series G CEO yelling 58 minutes teaching founder empathy, leaving comfortable senior role writing Venture Debt Deals burning personal savings, January 20 2026 launch.

Todd Recknagel shares losing $100K his first year with Blimpy Subs, the mentor who taught him to fix problems whether selling or keeping, building $300-400M investor gains across franchise platforms, and paying full COVID payroll before PPP to protect team loyalty.

Melanie Brensinger of A1A Investment Partners shares her journey from GE Capital to founding a healthcare private credit firm, revealing how small-town values and principled leadership drive exceptional investment returns while improving patient outcomes.

Sunil Rao, Managing Partner at Plum Alley Ventures, shares how building businesses across 10 countries and growth mindset philosophy shaped his approach to purpose-driven venture capital.

Mike Horvath, CEO of Revenova, shares journey from 2008 bankruptcy to $100M+ logistics software company through customer focus, PE partnership, and learning to say no.

In this compelling episode, Steve Glover, Chief Financial Officer and Administrative Partner at Pelion Venture Partners, shares his remarkable transition from decades as a respected business school professor and auditing expert to becoming a key leader at one of Utah's most established venture capital firms.

In this compelling episode, Taylor DeHart, Principal at Mercato Partners Savory Fund, shares his remarkable journey from turning down a full-time offer at Apple to building one of the most successful restaurant investment firms in the country.

In this inspiring episode, Dan Shapiro, CEO and co-founder of Glowforge, shares his remarkable journey from early entrepreneurship failures to creating one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history.