The Venture Variety Show

In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Alastair Goldfisher speaks with Chia-Lin Simmons, CEO of LogicMark, about what it really takes to modernize an old safety category and build AI-driven health technology inside a public company. LogicMark began in the traditional personal emergency response space, often associated with reactive “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” alerts. Simmons explains how...

I’ve spent a lot of time this year writing about how AI is changing the rhythm of work. In September , I covered new research from Read AI showing that workers using AI tools were far more likely to start Mondays with clarity instead of stress, and that Fridays were becoming more productive. Since then, I wanted to go deeper and hear directly from the people building these tools. That’s why I sat...

In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Raj Singh, VP of Product at Mozilla and a two-time AI founder, explains why AI agents work in demos but fail inside real organizations. Raj breaks down the gap between hype and execution, the mindset shift teams need before automation can take hold, and why the AI era is rewarding high-agency generalists over deep specialists. We also get into job desi...

Reinvention Is a Skill Summary This episode goes deep on reinvention and leadership. Cathy Brooks has built a career across journalism, Silicon Valley, dog training, coaching, construction, and brand work. She explains how to carry your skills into a new chapter, why reinvention is a learned skill, and how to approach career change with intention. We also talk about how AI fits into the process. C...

Why Fewer Seed Rounds Get Covered — and What Founders Can Do About It Description: PR strategist Katy Goldstein, founder of KG Comms, joins The Venture Variety Show to explain why fewer seed-stage companies are getting coverage in 2025 and how founders can adapt. She shares original research showing only about 10% of seed funding announcements make it into tier-one publications, and she breaks dow...

How DVC Rebuilt Venture: 170 LPs, No Analysts, and an AI-Powered Approach In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , husband-and-wife founders Nick Davidov and Marina Davidova share how their firm DVC is redefining venture capital by connecting a 170-member LP community through AI. They discuss how this model helped early investments like Perplexity AI , why founder well-being is as critical as...

Episode Summary In this episode, I talk with Christina Farr about why storytelling has become a leadership skill — not a marketing exercise. Christina shares lessons from her new book The Storyteller’s Advantage and her work advising founders and CEOs. We discuss how storytelling shapes company culture, drives recruiting, and strengthens relationships with investors and teams. Christina also expla...

In my recent story on voice AI (" AI Finds Its Voice ), I wrote about how the technology is changing the customer-support playbook. In this follow-up episode of The Venture Variety Show , the voice AI story goes deeper with Tom Chen, Chief Product Officer at Aircall. Chen talks about how AI is moving beyond chat to transform live conversations, helping human agents respond faster, stay on script a...

Carrie Rich isn’t chasing trends. She’s backing people — especially overlooked founders solving real-world problems. As co-founder of The Global Good Fund and Global Impact Fund, Rich has helped fund and coach hundreds of underrepresented entrepreneurs. In this episode, she explains how to raise capital without warm intros, why resilience matters more than revenue, and what founders can do to get...

Summary In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Alastair Goldfisher speaks with Liz Tarullo, co-founder and CEO of Nolia Health . After her father’s stroke, Tarullo experienced firsthand the challenges of family caregiving — an experience shared by more than 53 million Americans. That personal crisis inspired her to launch Nolia, a tech-enabled healthcare startup that blends clinical experti...

In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , host Alastair Goldfisher sits down with Keegan Evans, founder and CEO of Euda , to explore how AI adoption is less about technology and more about culture and leadership . Keegan shares how his background as a Marine Corps pilot and organizational leader shaped his approach to building AI-ready workplace cultures . We discuss why hybrid work was the “H...

What’s Inside * How Viome analyzes RNA to personalize what people should eat * Why to avoid even “healthy” foods like broccoli or turmeric * What founders can learn from Viome’s use of AI as an interface Guru Banavar has worked at the frontier of AI for years. He helped lead IBM Watson before pivoting into healthcare. Now as co-founder and CTO of Viome, he’s applying that AI background to a new ch...

The Venture Variety Show, Episode 32: Scott Sage, Crane Venture Partners Platform is no longer a perk. It is the work. Scott explains why early GTM help and sharp positioning matter more than ever, how founders should approach the “machete phase,” and why AI will compress firm operations while raising the bar for investors and teams. Chapters 00:00 Meet Scott Sage 02:42 Why platform is a “have to...

Summary Entrepreneur, investor and author Sharmin Ali joins The Venture Variety Show to talk about why vision and storytelling matter more than product features, and how founders can leverage AI to run lean, focused teams. Drawing on her experience building and selling AI startups, Sharmin explains why “prompt engineering is overhyped,” how founders can use general-purpose AI tools to create strat...

What Founders Get Wrong About Picking VCs with Greg Sands, Founder & Managing Partner at Costanoa Ventures Summary Greg Sands joins The Venture Variety Show to break down what early-stage founders often miss when choosing investors. From how to vet a VC beyond the pitch to why platform support only matters if it’s rooted in real context, Greg offers hard-won insights from decades in venture. We al...

What happens when AI “breaks” the old model of education? In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Alastair talks with Frank Fusco , co-founder of Silicon Society , about how learning and work are being reshaped in real time. From why homework no longer works, to the rise of generalist specialists , Frank shares how careers are shifting into skills and what founders, investors and operators n...

Episode Summary In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Alastair Goldfisher speaks with Arjun Dev Arora , a venture advisor and investor with a rare 360° view of the startup ecosystem. They cover how AI is transforming startup operations , how fund managers are adapting to tougher conditions, and what LPs are doing differently as capital slowly returns to the market. Arjun shares sharp insig...

Summary: In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Alastair Goldfisher talks with Olivia O’Sullivan, Partner and COO at Forum Ventures, about how the role of platform teams in venture is evolving and why founders should treat fundraising like a two-way interview. They discuss the professionalization of platform functions, how AI is reshaping startup dynamics and investor workflows, and why the...

AngelQ and the AI Mission to Protect Kids Online Keywords AI safety, child protection, AngelQ, AI parenting tools, digital safety, GenAI for kids, ethical AI, AI and mental health, online risk, Tim Estes, AI agents, safe search alternatives Episode Summary In this episode of The AI Cognitive Shift , host Alastair Goldfisher speaks with Tim Estes — AI entrepreneur and founder of AngelQ — about the...

Episode: Aaron Panzer on Powering the AI Era: National Grid’s $100M Bet Summary In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , Alastair Goldfisher talks with Aaron Panzer, Head of Venture Acceleration at National Grid Partners, about how AI is reshaping the energy landscape. Aaron shares why NGP committed $100 million to AI investments earlier this year—and what it means for startups, infrastructur...

Episode #24 The Venture Variety Show What Founders Really Want From Their VCs With Cherae Robinson, Head of Platform & Marketing at Flybridge In this episode, I talk with Cherae Robinson about what founders really want from venture capital—and how the platform role inside VC firms is evolving fast to meet those needs. Cherae shares her journey from bootstrapping a travel startup to leading platfor...

Episode Summary In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , I talk with Tony Stubblebine , CEO of Medium , about the power of writing in a noisy, AI-driven world. Tony shares why storytelling is still the most underrated skill in entrepreneurship—and how Medium is helping real voices rise above the noise. We dive into writing as a strategic edge, how platforms shape behavior, and why user-genera...

Multi-Sapiens Teams: Managing AI Agents in the Real World with Tatyana Mamut Keywords AI agents, Wayfound, multi-sapiens teams, future of work, human-AI collaboration, team structure, trust in AI, workplace culture, AI leadership, anthropology, AI operations Summary In this episode, I talk with Tatyana Mamut, co-founder and CEO of Wayfound, about how AI agents are already reshaping teams, operatio...

Alternative Titles: — Entrepreneur-Led Funds Are Changing the Future of Venture — How VC, PE, and Corporate Investors Are Converging — And What It Means for Startups Keywords: emerging managers, venture capital, private equity, fund administration, corporate venture, diversity in venture, liquidity, founder-led funds, fundraising trends, investment landscape Episode Summary: In this episode of The...

Episode Title: From Deep Tech to Ikigai to Yoga – A VC’s Purposeful Path with Kira Noodleman Summary: In this episode of The Venture Variety Show , host Alastair Goldfisher sits down with Kira Noodleman, partner at Bee Partners, to explore what it means to invest at the edge of innovation and humanity. Kira shares her nontraditional path into venture capital, her thesis on deep tech and “machines...