The Trojan Venture Podcast

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Kelvin Beachum Jr. Kelvin is a 12 year NFL veteran, but his impact stretches far beyond the football field. As an investor, Kelvin has become deeply involved within the venture capital ecosystem, serving as a leading voice for athlete involvement in business. Additionally, Kelvin's philanthropic efforts across clean water, hunger prevention and education hav...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Kristine Locker. Kristine is the Founder and CEO of Locker, a free chrome extension that allows shoppers to save and organize products while shopping online. Throughout the episode, Kristine will discuss what differentiates Locker from others in the crowded world of social commerce. Additionally, Kristine will talk about the importance of curation for custom...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Phil Rosen. Phil is a USC alum and an award winning financial reporter. Before leaving last month to co-found Opening Bell Daily, a free daily newsletter reporting on the financial markets, Phil spent three years at Business Insider as a Senior Markets Reporter. Phil is also a published author, writing two #1 bestseller books, and writes about the intersecti...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Howard Lindzon. Howard has become one of the most recognized and respected figures within the investing world over the last twenty years. In 2008, Howard co-founded StockTwits, a social network for traders and investors with over 6 million registered users. Howard is also the public face and Managing Partner of Social Leverage, a seed stage venture capital f...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Conor Witt. Conor just started as a Business Development and Partnerships Lead at Setpoint.io , a capital markets infrastructure platform for asset based lending. Before joining Setpoint, Conor served as a Vice President at Upper90, a New York based private credit firm. During the episode, Conor will talk about simplifying the debt raising process for founde...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Cort Post. Cort serves as Principal at Courtside Ventures, a New York based venture capital firm investing in Seed and Series A companies across sports, gaming and wellness. During the episode, Cort will talk about Courtside's portfolio diversification across international markets, why he decided to return to school to get his MBA and how those looking to ge...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with the CEO and COO of Gemini Sports Analytics, Jake Schuster and Alec Coughlin. Founded in 2021, Gemini Sports Analytics is a data management platform leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to help sports organizations better identify talent, build their teams and drive results. During the episode, Jake and Alec discuss how their previous exper...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Julia Haber. Julia is the co-founder and CEO of Home From College, a Gen-Z focused professional development platform helping students and new grads secure short term work opportunities and improve their resumes. During the episode, Julia discusses her motivation for starting Home for College, working at Snapchat and Spotify, and how students should evaluate...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Jenni Leong. Jenni is an Investor Relations Partner at DFJ Growth, a leading growth equity firm based in Silicon Valley. Jenni spent sixteen years at JP Morgan, eventually leading JP Morgan’s Alternative Solutions Group for the Americas. Before joining DFJ Growth in 2022, Jenni was an Investor Relations Partner at Next Play Capital. During the episode, Jenni...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Timothy Li. Timothy is a serial entrepreneur within the world of payments and lending, co-founding five companies, including LendAPI, Magic, MaxDecisions, Kuber Financial and Mobilend. Timothy, a graduate of USC's Viterbi School of Engineering, has served as a professor within Viterbi since 2019. Throughout the episode, Timothy will talk about his time worki...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Will O'Donnell, the Founder and Managing Director of Prologis Ventures. Prologis Ventures, founded in 2016, is the venture arm of Prologis, the global leader in industrial real estate and supply chain logistics. Will has been at Prologis Ventures since 2003, helping to build Prologis' platform across various international markets, while also investing and in...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Michael Broughton. Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of Altro, a no-cost credit building platform using individuals monthly expenses, like subscriptions, to help build one’s credit. During the episode, Michael will talk about how his personal experience with credit led him to co-found Altro, Altros' fundraising journey and his work at the USC Credit Union. T...

On today's episode, Eric sits down with Landon Campbell. Landon is the general manager for Drive Capital's Chicago office, a pre-seed fund based out of Columbus, Ohio. During the episode, Landon will talk about lessons learned from guests of his popular business podcast, InTheir20's, what excites him about the Chicago venture capital ecosystem and what he looks for in founders. Tune in!

On the twenty sixth episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with Adam White, CEO of Front Office Sports. Since founding Front Office Sports in 2014, Adam has grown Front Office Sports into the preeminent multimedia platform covering the business of sports. Throughout the episode, Adam will talk about Front Office Sports early days, his opinion on the recent Sports Illustrated layoffs...

Welcome to 2024 everyone! To kick off the new year, Eric sits down with Bobby Pinckney, CEO of Discz. Discz is a song recommendation app connecting Gen Z around music and culture. Throughout the episode, Bobby will talk about his partnership with his co-founder, Michelle Yin, his experience taking the company through Y-Combinator and Discz's rise to the top of music app charts. Tune in!

On the twenty fourth episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with his former entrepreneurship professor, Rob Schoeben. Outside of teaching at USC from 2019 until the spring of 2023, Rob has held senior marketing roles at places like Microsoft, Apple and Carbon. During the episode, Rob will talk about his unique college work experience, his time working with Steve Jobs and his motivat...

On the twenty third episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with USC alum, Nicolas Mindel. He received both his undergrad degree and MBA at USC. Currently, Nicolas is a partner at Amberstone, a Bay Area based venture capital firm that invests in breakthrough food, beverage and consumer companies. Nicolas spent the early part of his career in investment banking and private credit. Dur...

On the twenty second episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with Laurel Touby. Laurel is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Supernode Ventures, a NYC based venture firm which invests in pre-seed and seed stage tech startups. Laurel has had several different parts of her career, starting in journalism before founding mediabistro, a community for journalists and media profe...

On the twenty first episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with Ken Shapiro, a seasoned media and advertising executive with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Ken’s most recent roles have included Chief Revenue Officer of the Morning Brew and Chief Revenue Officer of Fandom. During the episode, Ken will talk about the differences in the advertising world from 20 years ago...

On the twentieth episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with Nadine Pfeifer to discuss the world of mental health and confidence building. Nadine is the founder and CEO of HopStair, a confidence building app based in the United Kingdom. Nadine has been involved in the healthcare system in the UK for several years, with prior experience at the UK NHS and NEL. During the episode, Nadi...

Live from Tech Crunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Eric sits down with Gregg Stein, Founding Partner at TripleG Ventures. TripleG Ventures is a global business growth accelerator and venture studio for rising brands. Gregg comes from the music world, starting his career as a professional drummer before making the transition over to the business world. During the episode, Gregg talks about what he loo...

On the eighteenth episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric sits down with Saad Alam, Co-Founder and CEO of Hone Health. Hone Health is the largest men's hormone optimization and longevity clinic in the United States. During the episode, Saad will talk about Hone's commitment to patients, challenges Hone has had to work through and the people that have helped accelerate Hone's growth. Tune in!

For our first episode of September, Eric welcomes USC alum, Jordan Banafsheha. Jordan is the founder of IcePop, a performance marketing agency focused on helping companies grow profitably through major ad platforms. Jordan got his start at Tinder as a product manager before becoming a founder member of Verishop. Additionally, Jordan is a guest lecturer at USC's Marshall School of Business as well...

After narrowly escaping the so called "hurricane" that hit LA on Sunday, Eric and Vivek are back with another episode. Today's guest is Jamie McLaughlin, CEO and Founder of Monday Talent, a recruitment agency specializing in the marketing, communications and creative fields. Jamie has over a decade of experience in the recruitment industry and has used this experience to help grow Monday Talent ov...

On the fifteenth episode of the Trojan Venture Podcast, Eric chats with Amobi Okugo, owner and founder of A Frugal Athlete. A Frugal Athlete is an online platform that helps athletes make, manage, and multiply money through financial education and athlete empowerment. Amobi is a former professional soccer player in both the MLS and USL and has been a part of numerous successful brand campaigns and...