Passion Play Profit

In this conversation, Imad Agha, founder and CEO of Nabu Optical Systems and a professor of quantum optics and nano optomechanics at the University of Dayton, shares how research on optical memories turned into a maskless lithography startup, why AI is compressing the path from idea to implementation, and why founders are always running from boredom. Imad studied engineering in Beirut, did grad sc...

In this conversation, Sivan Sud, Executive Vice President at Cormint, shares how Cormint built a data center phase in 110 days instead of the usual 12 to 18 months, how moving construction into the factory cut build costs to a fifth, and what it takes to move a West Texas Bitcoin mining site to AI. Sivan studied mechanical engineering at Cornell and co-founded Ecosystems, a hardware startup out of...

In this conversation, Sri Chandrasekar, Managing Director at AI House and former Partner at Point72 Ventures, shares why AI rewards broadly skilled people over specialists, what investors can really assess at each stage of a company, and why he believes Seattle can build the next trillion dollar company. Sri was born in India, grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and studied engineering at Cornell. He gradu...

In this conversation, Nicole Hao, Founding Engineer at Janet AI (YC S25) and founder of NeuroAbility, shares why most founders are solving a problem that doesn't exist, how to talk to customers so you learn what they actually need, and how she gets the most out of AI coding tools. Nicole came from a family where neither parent went to college, studied math, computer science and neuroscience at...

In this conversation, Jeff Ciesielski, Director of Research at LeafLabs and stealth founder, shares how a team of three built a 2,000 channel brain recording ASIC that most people called impossible, how to learn anything hard, and how to break into deep tech from a white collar job. Jeff grew up on a farm in rural Indiana, got his first engineering job at 17 porting Fortran to C# at a steel mill,...

In this conversation, Renchu (Richard) Song, Co-Founder and CEO of Epsilla (YC S23), explains why stitching AI tools together breaks your workflow, how to get into YC, and why teams of three to five people will soon run businesses doing tens of millions in revenue. Richard dreamed of building a software business since he was ten, studied computer science, and co-founded an indoor navigation startu...

In this conversation, Vis Valluri, Senior Director of Industry Intelligence at SK hynix, explains how the memory market shapes AI, how close China really is in the chip race, and what three decades in semiconductors taught him about one of the most cyclical industries in tech. Vis grew up in India, studied mechanical engineering at IIT, and earned his master's at SUNY Binghamton on an IBM-fund...

In this conversation, Anita Vithayathil, Director of Product Management at Arch Systems, shares the trap every engineer falls into when they move into product, how she learns what customers really need by spending weeks on factory floors, and why AI agents are replacing dashboards in manufacturing. Anita grew up in India, moved to the US in high school and went to four different high schools, stud...

In this conversation, Ann Hsieh, product strategy leader at AfterShip and former UX research and strategy leader at Amazon, Google, Meta, Walmart, Yahoo and Nokia, shares how the best product teams find the problems customers actually have, why problems stay the same while the "how" keeps changing, and what building for the whole world really takes. Ann fell into human computer interacti...

In this conversation, Samir Kumar, Co-Founder and General Partner at Touring Capital, shares how the best investors build relationships that outlast the brand on their business card, why AI agents are about to make the software market an order of magnitude bigger, and what it took to back companies like PsiQuantum and Applied Intuition. Samir traces his path from mechanical and aerospace engineeri...

In this insightful conversation, Howard Morgan, a pioneer in early-stage investing and technology, shares his journey from a mathematics enthusiast to a leading figure in venture capital. He discusses his early influences, the founding of Renaissance Technologies, and the establishment of Idealab, emphasizing the importance of timing and execution in entrepreneurship. Morgan also reflects on his e...

In this episode of Passion Play Profit, host Peter Lu interviews Amber Shen, the global growth lead at Trae, an AI co-editor designed for building AI agents. Amber shares her journey from a passion for fashion and design to a career in technology and AI. She discusses her experiences at Meta, transitioning from software engineering to product management, and the challenges of building AI tools for...

In this episode, we sit down with Will Goto — a trailblazing entrepreneur who made the leap from materials engineering to founding multiple startups, including Rize, a next‑gen productivity tracking platform reshaping how we work. Will opens up about his early career pivots, the growing pains of startup life, and why building with empathy beats building fast. We dive into the role of co‑founder ch...

In this episode, we sit down with Athena Shea, a rising star in healthcare investing, to explore his journey from Accenture Strategy to Partners Capital and now B Capital. We unpack how his Cornell education and early interest in policy shaped his path into healthcare consulting, and how those consulting insights laid the groundwork for managing multi-asset portfolios for institutions and high-net...

David is a Senior Associate at Greycroft where he helps high growth companies scale and make follow-on investments in them. Prior, he worked in strategy and analytics at Grow Therapy, Faire, and Better. He also worked in PWC as a management consultant.

Danny Werfel is the former 50th Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. As Commissioner, he presides over the nation's tax system, which collects approximately $4.1 trillion in tax revenue each year, representing about 96% of the total gross receipts of the United States. Commissioner Werfel oversees an agency of about 85,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $12 billion. Prior to...

Kristin Chen is the founder of Kristin Chen Advising where she brings her vast experience in product to help businesses develop winning products and help individuals secure top roles in PM.  Prior, she worked in web3 as the CPO for Metatheory and the CEO of Top.gg, the biggest platform to find discord bots and servers. She also worked in numerous high profile Product Management roles at Twitch, So...

George Mathew is a managing director at Insight Partners, who focuses on venture investments in AI, ML, analytics, and Data.  He has over 20+ years of experience developing high-growth technology startups, including most recently being CEO of Kespry. Prior to Kespry, George was President & COO of Alteryx, where he scaled the company through its IPO (AYX). He has driven company strategy, led pr...

Laura and Wil are the hosts of Partner Path, a podcast that extracts insights from the venture capital and growth equity ecosystem and covers everything from sourcing and investment strategies to market trends and best practices. Laura is an associate at Spring Mountain Capital, a series A/B tech investment firm, while Wil is an investor at Apax Digital, a technology, internet, and software growth...

Weston Baker is the Founder and CEO of Morphic, the leading no-code website builder behind Wix and Squarespace. He is a creative and business and product leader with experience partnering and mentoring startups, tech giants, VCs, PE firms, real estate companies, fashion houses, and brands. He also created a startup studio, 15 Finches, which has worked with dozens of successful startups in various...

Siddhant Trivedi started on Wall Street at Barclays Capital, advising tech, media, and telecom companies and spending time on both the buy-side and sell-side of major deals, from mergers and takeovers to corporate debt and equity financings. He then worked as a PE professional at Symphony Technology Group, and investor at Omidyar Tech Ventures.

Allen Miller is an early-stage/growth investor at Oak, a venture and growth equity firm investing in companies driving transformation in healthcare and fintech. He is a board member at several of his investments and was formerly a management consultant at McKinsey.

Dan Simpkins is the Founder and CEO of Dwellwell, which offers a smart home product that monitors entire residential buildings, including every major system in a home, and provides insights to owners and property managers of real estate portfolios. He was formerly the founder and CEO of Hillcrest Labs, the Founder, and CEO of SALIX Technologies, and is currently an angel investor.

Sean Cai is a fellow class of 2025 student at Cornell University. He is the CEO and founder of Tourable, an online 360 video conferencing platform building personalized, live, and comprehensive virtual touring and college discovery options for everything from consultancies to international schools and universities. However, most Cornellians know him as the leading man behind start-up office hours...

Zuhair is a Product Manager at JP Morgan Chase and Co., specializing in sales technology. He also led business development at Cornell’s premier Consulting Club, and was the founder of a new club at Cornell about technology and work.