Innovation with Mark Peter Davis

What does it take to keep critical systems running? Building them is only part of the equation. Repair and sustainment are just as crucial. In this episode, I sit down with J. Kaempf, CEO of Lykos Industries, an Interplay Studio company rethinking how repair and sustainment work across regulated industries, starting with defense and aerospace. We discuss the often-overlooked infrastructure behind...

Immigration status shouldn’t depend on a paperwork nightmare. But for many immigrants, navigating the US immigration system means months of uncertainty, complicated filings, and life-changing consequences when something goes wrong. Aizada Marat knows this firsthand. After experiencing the system’s challenges herself, she founded Alma to transform how immigration legal services are delivered. Aizad...

Building something great is hard. The question is: which hard are you willing to choose? That’s something David Weisburd and I dug into on the latest episode. David chose podcasting as his hard. Three years ago, he committed to building How I Invest for at least a decade - before he knew whether it would work. There were no guarantees. Just the grind of booking guests, navigating compliance, build...

Most people only see the front end of fintech. The app. The card. The payment. But underneath that experience is an enormous amount of infrastructure and some of fintech’s biggest opportunities are hiding there. Rory O’Reilly, cofounder and CEO of Knot, joined me on the pod to talk about how Knot is rewiring fintech and transforming financial connectivity. We dive into: Why keeping a card “top of...

Every founder I know is asking the same question: "How should we actually implement AI across our company?" The reality is that every playbook will require customization, but there are clear patterns beginning to emerge. In this episode, Chetan Narain, Cofounder of Pepper, joins me and my colleague, Interplay Senior Partner Kevin Tung, to share how Pepper is integrating AI across its products and...

What happens when technology evolves faster than the venture capital model built to fund it? In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend Jenny Fielding , Cofounder and General Partner of Everywhere Ventures, to explore how venture capital is adapting to a world where competitive advantages can disappear faster than ever. We discuss what it takes to raise a pre-seed round in today’s market,...

Socks are the #1 most requested item at homeless shelters. Dave Heath turned that single fact into Bombas — a one-for-one apparel brand that's donated over 200 million items of clothing and built a billion-dollar business along the way. What makes Dave a builder worth studying isn't just the scale; it's the discipline behind it: reverse-engineering an exceptional product from a mission, learning t...

Cats are 40% of the pet market, but are somehow still chronically overlooked. Every innovation goes to dogs first. Even your vet's office is built for dogs first. Matt Michaelson, cofounder and CEO of Smalls, and his team have built an incredible cat-first brand precisely because of that blind spot. In this episode, I sit down with Matt to break down: • Why the cat industry is structurally underin...

Venture studios are quietly becoming one of the most effective models for company creation, but most people still don't understand what happens inside one. For this podcast episode I sat down with Andy Bilinsky , Partner at Interplay leading our Studio, to break down exactly how we build companies from the ground up. During our conversation, we covered: What a venture studio actually is and how it...

Private credit has exploded into a trillion-dollar asset class, but most people outside finance still don’t understand how it works. I sat down with Ivan Zinn, founder of Atalaya Capital Management and now part of Blue Owl Capital, to unpack the real mechanics behind the private credit market. Few people have a clearer view of how capital flows through the economy. During our chat we unpack: What...

Is the global economy stronger than it looks or more fragile beneath the surface? If you’re trying to reconcile booming markets with rising geopolitical risk, this week’s episode brings an important perspective. I sat down with Chris Zhang, Partner & CIO of Ascend Interplay, to break down the real forces shaping 2026: How AI is shifting from a narrative to a measurable economic impact Why labo...

Why is U.S. healthcare so broken? If you're not sure why it’s so expensive or dysfunctional, this week’s podcast may illuminate the answers for you. I sat down with Alex Barrett, Cofounder & CEO of Meroka, who's tackling one of the root problems: Consolidation that strips doctors of autonomy Misaligned incentives across the system Outdated models that sacrifice care for throughput 70% of docto...

This conversation blew me away. I sat down with Lydia Fenet, an auctioneer who’s raised over a billion dollars, and what started as a chat about charity auctions quickly turned into one of the most insightful masterclasses on sales, persuasion, and audience psychology I’ve ever heard. Lydia isn’t just good on stage, she’s world-class at reading people, building trust instantly, and closing with co...

Brad Svrluga has been a mentor and a close friend of mine for years. Watching him build Primary - one of the most respected firms in the industry - has been a masterclass in itself, so sitting down with him for this episode was a highlight I've been looking forward to and a great way to kick off the year. We went deep on an often overlooked topic in VC: How do you actually scale a firm's infrastru...

Our 2026 predictions are in. From IPOs to AI to robots - check out what we think is actually coming in 2026. To wrap up 2025, I regroup with Mike and Phuong for our annual end-of-year episode, where we look back at last year's predictions (they passed with flying colors) and set our sights on what’s ahead. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the topics covered: ✅ AI’s real impact on blue and white col...

What if you approached philanthropy like a startup? The results might shock you and completely rewire how you think about giving. I sit down with Mark Gerson, Cofounder of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) and Cofounder and Chair of 3i Members, to dive deep into how you can treat generosity like a capital allocation decision. We unpack a framework for ROI-driven giving that prioritizes measurable impact...

Beneath the surface of many everyday products lies a complex web of ethical dilemmas. In this powerful conversation, entrepreneur and investor Ryan Ansin peels back the curtain on global supply chains and the moral questions behind them. From chocolate and diamonds to blockchain transparency, he shares what ethical manufacturing really entails and how even simple choices carry weight. The episode...

This week’s episode explores one of the most pressing challenges early-stage startups face: competing against well-funded incumbents. We cover how startups can beat giants by focusing on niche markets, iterating fast, building emotional brands, and providing world-class customer experiences. This is the ultimate guide for founders navigating a David vs. Goliath scenario. Whether you’re bootstrappi...

Outsourcing isn't new — but the way startups can use it today has radically changed. On this week’s ep, I sat down with Shaun Walker, CEO of Spoke, to unpack what business process outsourcing (BPO) can look like for high-growth startups in 2025. Let me say this upfront: most early - stage founders are missing out. Outsourcing isn’t just about slashing costs - it’s about building operational levera...

How do you determine if your idea is truly worth pursuing? In this week’s episode, we dive into a practical framework that breaks down the evaluation process into four critical components: the pain point, the market size, the defensibility of your product, and how you plan to monetize and scale. Whether you're just brainstorming or already building, these criteria will help you gut-check your conc...

Y Combinator has long been - and continues to be - the tip of the innovation spear. That's why I was especially excited to sit down with Garry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator, for a conversation that gets right to the core of what’s changing across the startup landscape. At Interplay, I've spent years working alongside entrepreneurs who are laser-focused on building, scaling, and making a...

At Interplay, I've spent years working with entrepreneurs who are driven to build, scale, and make an impact - but too often, legal structuring gets overlooked in the frenzy of product development and fundraising. I've seen firsthand how costly early legal missteps can be so we brought on legal expert Eric Broad of Bowery Legal on to the pod to demystify early stage startup legal questions from en...

Chris Zhang, Partner and CIO of Ascend Interplay (Interplay’s multi-family office), returns to the pod to provide an in-depth analysis of China’s economic landscape in 2025, offering insights beyond mainstream media narratives. We discuss the current state of China’s economy, examining key indicators such as GDP growth, industrial production, and trade activity. At the same time, Chris highlights...

Seed-stage valuation can feel like a black box. Unlike later-stage companies with clear financial metrics, early-stage startups are evaluated based on qualitative factors, market conditions, and investor demand. Founders with finance backgrounds often expect rigid valuation models, only to realize that early-stage investing is more art than science. However, strategic valuation methods and investo...

On this week’s episode I chat with Kass and Mike Lazerow, a powerhouse entrepreneurial duo known for building and exiting multiple companies, including Golf.com and Buddy Media (which was acquired by Salesforce for $745 million). The conversation dives into their unique dynamic as a husband-and-wife co-founding team, their entrepreneurial journey spanning decades, and their latest venture—writing...