World Class

A Story of Redemption: From Jackass Star to Recovery Advocate | World Class Podcast with Brandon Novak In this powerful episode of the World Class Podcast, Chris Vasquez sits down with Brandon Novak, a man whose life story is a testament to the power of transformation. Known for his wild days as a professional skateboarder and a fan favorite on MTV's "Jackass" and "Viva La Bam", Brandon’s life was...

In this episode of World Class, host Chris Vasquez sits down with Amjad Masad, the visionary CEO of Replit, a billion-dollar AI startup revolutionizing software development. Amjad shares his contrarian insights on building a one-person billion-dollar company, rethinking education in a post-AI world, and unlocking human potential through technology. From drawing inspiration from ancient Stoic philo...

In this episode of the World Class Podcast, Chris Vasquez sits down with legendary solo venture capitalist Oren Zeev, founder of Zeev Ventures. With a one-man fund that has consistently outperformed the biggest firms in Silicon Valley, Oren shares deep insights on how to think like a world-class investor, the mindset founders need to build generational companies, and why being contrarian is often...

In this powerful episode of the World Class Podcast, Chris Vasquez sits down with Andrew D’Souza, the co-founder and former CEO of Clearco, one of the most successful fintech startups of the last decade, valued at over $2 billion. After scaling Clearco to massive heights and transforming how startups access capital, Andrew made the bold decision to step away from the company he built — not to reti...

In this episode of the World Class Podcast, Chris Vasquez sits down with Jim McKelvey, the co-founder of Square (now Block), to discuss how he and Jack Dorsey built a $50 billion+ company that revolutionized digital payments. Jim shares the inside story of how Square took on—and ultimately beat—Amazon, the challenges they faced in scaling the company, and the innovation mindset required to disrupt...

In this episode of the World Class Podcast, Chris Vasquez sits down with Adam Wexler, the visionary Founder and Chairman of PrizePicks, one of the fastest-growing daily fantasy sports platforms in the world. Adam shares his journey of building PrizePicks from an idea into a market-leading company, navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship, and scaling a business in one of the most competitive...

In today’s episode, we sit down with Peter Smith, the visionary CEO and co-founder of Blockchain.com , one of the world’s largest and most trusted cryptocurrency platforms. As a pioneer in the crypto space, Peter has seen firsthand how blockchain technology has transformed finance and reshaped how we think about money, security, and freedom. In this in-depth conversation, we explore Peter’s unique...

In this deeply moving episode, we sit down with Darren Prince, renowned sports and celebrity agent, and a global advocate for addiction recovery, who shares a raw and inspiring story of resilience. Darren built a successful career representing some of the world’s most iconic figures, like Magic Johnson, Muhammed Ali, Hulk Hogan, and Dennis Rodman. But despite working at the top of his industry, he...

In this episode of World Class with Chris Vasquez, we dive into the mind of one of Silicon Valley’s most influential entrepreneurs and investors, Keith Rabois. Keith, a founding member of PayPal and an early investor in companies like LinkedIn, Square, and Yelp, shares his profound insights on scaling world-class companies, leadership, and what it takes to succeed in the fast-paced world of startu...

In this insightful episode of “World Class with Chris Vasquez,” Chris is joined by Ed Sim, the #1 seed investor in the world, to share his invaluable lessons from 28+ years of venture capital investing. We cover the best startup funding lessons from 28+ years of investing and the exciting world of AI & VC trends in the next 12 months. Ed breaks down his approach to “inception investing,” divin...

Myles Shear also known as Manager Myles, a pioneer in the music industry who manages some of the world’s biggest electronic artists like Kygo, Thomas Jack, Gryffin and Sam Feldt. Myles is the Co-Founder of Palm Tree Crew, an entertainment and hospitality empire spanning music, live events, consumer brands & investments. Whether you’re an aspiring artist manager, an entrepreneur looking to brea...

In this episode, we're joined by the legendary Brent Saunders. Brent Saunders is a world-renowned Fortune 500 CEO who has completed more than $300 billion in mergers & acquisitions throughout his career. He is the CEO of Bausch + Lomb, Chairman of Roam, and former CEO of Allergan, which he sold to AbbVie for $83 billion. He is a pioneer in the health & beauty industry and is directly respo...

Today I sat down with entrepreneur, investor & author, Sahil Bloom, one of the world’s most successful writers & content creators who’s amassed millions of followers in just the last few years. He’s a former Private equity investor turned full-time creator on a mission to help a billion people live healthy, wealthy & high performance lives. After playing Baseball at Stanford, Sahil joi...

Today we sit down with Ben Ling, the founder and managing partner at Bling Capital, an early stage technology focused venture capital firm. Ben has invested in 18 unicorn companies, including Lift, Square, Air Table, and Rippling. He was recently named the number 5 seed investor in the 2024 Forbes Midas list. Prior to that he was a managing partner at Khosla Ventures and held senior operating posi...

Dive into the inspiring journey of Kamal Hotchandani, founder of Haute Media Group, as he shares his path from immigrant to luxury media mogul. Learn how he built a world-class network, partnered with A-list celebrities, and created an iconic brand in the luxury space. Discover valuable insights on building successful businesses, cultivating gratitude, and living a fulfilling life. Don't miss this...

Today we sit down with Zeb Evans, the cofounder and CEO of ClickUp, a productivity software startup that he built from nothing, into a $4 billion company in under five years. In this conversation, we talk about how exactly Zeb went from three near-death experiences to building one of the fastest software companies in the world. We talk about everything from his habits and rituals that led to a suc...

In this episode, we talk with Matteo Franceschetti, the cofounder and CEO of Eight Sleep which is a revolutionary sleep fitness technology company. Eight Sleep is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world and endorsed by people like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Andrew Huberman. In this conversation we dive deep into Matto‘s journey building Eight Sleep. We talk about his philos...

In this episode we sit down with one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs ever. Elliot Bisnow is the cofounder of Summit Series, an iconic global events company for entrepreneurs, visionaries, and world leaders with attendees including Sergey Brin. Richard Branson, Sam Altman, and Jeff Bezos. He's also a prolific investor and an early investor in companies like Uber, Coinbase, and Warby Parker. Ell...

Today we have a conversation with Luke Schoenfelder, the founder and former CEO of Latch, a security technology company in which he took public in 2021. In this episode we dive into Luke’s journey from growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania all the way to building a multi-billion dollar technology company. We have a vulnerable discussion about how to turn your pain into your superpowers, the mindset...

On this episode of the World Class Podcast, we sit down with one of the most ambitious entrepreneurs of our generation and the world‘s first "space drug dealer”. Delian Asparouhov is a partner at Founders Fund, as well as the cofounder and chairman of Varda, a revolutionary company building pharmaceuticals infrastructure in outer-space to advance humankind here on earth. In this conversation, we d...

Today’s conversation is with the legendary Executive & Crypto pioneer, Brad Garlinghouse. Brad is currently the CEO of Ripple, a leading blockchain based payment solutions company with a current valuation of $11B. Prior to Ripple, Brad was the CEO of Hightail, President at AOL, and Sr. Executive at Yahoo. In this conversation, we really dive into his turbulent story leading Ripple through laws...

This week we sit down with Jan Bednar is an immigrant from the Czech Republic, who moved to the US at 16 years old to pursue his American Dream. In 2014, he Founded Shipmonk, with a vision to revolutionize the way e-commerce companies manage their supply chains & ship products to their customers. In less than a decade, he built Shipmonk into a $1B enterprise with thousands of employees around...

Howard Lerman is a visionary entrepreneur and pioneer. He is the Founder & CEO of Yext, a data technology company he took public in 2017 that reached more than $3B in Market Cap at its peak. Howard ran Yext as a Public CEO for 22 quarters, before returning back to his roots as startup founder. After experimenting with a number of ideas, Howard stumbled upon his next big venture. With a rampant...

In today’s episode I sit down with my friend Steven Galanis. Steve is the Co Founder and CEO of Cameo, in my opinion one of the coolest technology companies in the world that he built to a $Billion Dollar Business in just 5 years. Cameo is a platform that allows fans to purchase personalized videos from their favorite celebrities. It’s my go to gift for birthdays and Holidays, and some of my favor...

Today’s conversation is with my friend, Jack Abraham. Jack is a legendary entrepreneur, investor & pioneer in the technology space. He’s co-founded over a dozen companies, including Replicant, OpenStore and Hims & Hers which became one of the fastest multi billion dollar public companies in history. Jack is the Founder & Managing Partner of Atomic, a wildly successful venture studio th...