Venture capital firms notoriously embrace risk and take big swings, hoping that one startup will become a monster hit that pays for many other failed investments. This VC approach scares established companies, but it shouldn’t. Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Ilya Strebulaev says that VC firms have proven best practices that all leaders should ... Show More
Oct 7
The Trouble with Tech Companies (and Their Strategies)
Cory Doctorow, author and digital rights advocate, argues that big tech companies from Facebook to Google and beyond have evolved - or devolved - in a disappointing way. He says that many large tech companies begin with a good product, but that over time they prioritize first bus ... Show More
26m 30s
Sep 30
How to Lead with Courage in Chaotic Times
Courage involves taking bold action despite uncertainty and fear. In a volatile business environment, it's hard to be brave. But Ranjay Gulati, a professor at Harvard Business School, says that there are strategies any of us can use to get improve our ability to make smart bets o ... Show More
32m 9s
Sep 23
Steven Pinker on Speculation Bubbles, Super Bowl Ads, and What Leaders Need to Know About Group Psychology
As a leader, psychology is fundamental to your success - whether that means understanding consumer behavior, team dynamics, or even your own biases and blind spots. Harvard professor Steven Pinker says that an important phenomena to understand is that of common knowledge and its ... Show More
27m 29s
May 2024
143. Adopt a VC Mindset: Achieve More by Thinking and Communicating Like a Venture Capitalist
In choosing who to date, what job to pursue, or how to invest our money, most people are just looking for a reason to move forward. But according to Professor Ilya Strebulaev, we should be looking for something else: a reason to bail."The smartest venture capitalists ask a very d ... Show More
21m 16s
Sep 2022
20VC: Why 95% of Venture Capital is Not Really "Venture Capital" | The Five Core Levers Needed To Assess Risk and Price a Startup | The Future of Venture; Who Wins, Who Loses, What Happens to the Cros
Will Quist is a Partner @ Slow Ventures. Over the last decade, the team at Slow Ventures have invested in the earliest rounds of over 500 companies including Robinhood, NextDoor, Airtable, Solana and many more. As for Will, prior to Slow he spent over 8 years at Industry Ventures ... Show More
45m 53s
Jun 2024
688: How VC Shapes Startups (with Benjamin Shestakofsky)
Welcome to an interview with the author of Behind the Startup: How Venture Capital Shapes Work, Innovation, and Inequality, Benjamin Shestakofsky. This book draws on nineteen months of participant-observation research inside a successful Silicon Valley startup, and examines how t ... Show More
49m 10s
Feb 2021
“Don’t eat the pizza” and other bits of investment wisdom
Capital Group’s collegial culture shines through, as three equity portfolio analysts — Mark Casey, Lisa Thompson and Chapman Taylor — share details of a recent “lessons learned” session involving the entire investment team. Hear the compelling, at times quirky, lessons that have ... Show More
39m 18s
Jun 2024
454: How VC Shapes Startups with Benjamin Shestakofsky
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 454, featuring an interview with the author of Behind the Startup: How Venture Capital Shapes Work, Innovation, and Inequality, Benjamin Shestakofsky. This book draws on nineteen months of participant-observation research inside a successful Sil ... Show More
50m 48s