Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital

This week’s episode is fresh out of the oven! The Family Office Alliance Stockholm Symposium took place about a week ago. In one of the panels titled "Purposeful Investing in AI," Sarah Chen-Spellings moderated a discussion on AI and impact investing with an emphasis on women's perspectives. She was joined by esteemed panelists Dorothy Chou from Google DeepMind, Sandro Gianella from OpenAI, and Ni...

What distinguishes the standout figures in the world of venture capital from those who aren’t? "𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞." Currently serving as the Partner Emeritus at Top Tier Capital Partners, Lisa describes her journey as "serendipitous" and filled with unexpected twists. Join us as we explore the realm of venture capital through Lisa Edgar's eyes. It's a...

𝐎𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 $𝟐𝟎𝐌 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 - how did this happen? This week’s episode features Mike Moradi, one of the GPs of Cortado Ventures, also the co-founder and also a portfolio company CEO, the CEO of Sensulin, where the company Sensulin is developing a glucose responsive insulin which will drastically reduce the number of injections diabetes patients will have to take...

Let’s make things tangible - how do we challenge the status quo with actions? Beyond The Billion returned to Austin earlier this year in partnership with Dell Technologies, Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, Dell For Startups, and Intel, to convene some of America’s leaders in both venture capital and entrepreneurship to kick off SXSW and International Women’s Day. Against the backdrop of a declin...

Munich Re Ventures is the venture capital group of Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurance company and a leading global provider of primary insurance and insurance related resolutions.  Now Munich Re Ventures is a billion plus platform that is financially driven while focusing on the strategic interests of Munich Re. In this episode, Sidra Ahmed Lefort, Investment Director, Munich Re Ventures,...

Tubi is the most-watched free TV and movie streaming service in the U.S. to date, with the world's largest content library of over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of originals, and nearly 250 Fox channels. The powerhouse behind Tubi’s success is no stranger to the media industry: Anjali Sud, CEO of Tubi. Prior to Tubi, Anjali led Vimeo to become a public company following its...

In the age of AI and rapid technological advances, what does it mean to leverage data for good? And in the face of the digital divide, what can we as investors do to address it? With over 20 years of experience in founding multiple start-ups and leading initiatives across diverse sectors, Danil is dedicated to exploring and innovating at the intersection of technology, culture, and society. As the...

“As long as you're open to what's next, as long as you're open to the unknown, then there's an opportunity for you to improve yourself.” - Kimberly Yao, Co-Founder & CEO of CloudEats. From selling booze online and working in Philippine F&B to creating a revolutionary cloud kitchen concept, Kimberly Yao’s entrepreneurial journey has not been a walk in the park, to say the least. Fueled by her passi...

As of January 2024, Canva’s design platform attracted around 170 million monthly global users from 190 countries. BUT it was not too long ago that now 36-year-old Canva founder Melanie Perkins was rejected by 100 VCs.  Just like some of the best companies today, Canva took awhile to get to an inflection point: between the first idea in 2006, to launching 2013, that was a span of 7 good years. Toda...

You may have heard the news: as of January 2nd, 2024, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd has stepped down as chief executive after nearly a decade leading the dating app company. Despite challenges ahead - a more conservative revenue forecast highlighting the need for a dating-app revamp - let’s not overlook the journey that brought Whitney and Bumble to this point. Not to down play that Whitney Wo...

Revisiting a clip from the LP Summit co-hosted by Beyond the Billion and Arctic15 in Helsinki in 2023, we have curated this brief but insightful episode for GPs, LPs, or even founders. This week’s guests are two European LP veterans - Marko Hara, formerly the director of Elo, one of Finland's largest employee pensions, and Tomi Viia, currently the head of investments at OP Financial Group, managin...

"Goodwill should mean a whole lot more than accounting concept, is earned and cannot be bought; but if done correctly, can be worth a whole lot." As we step into Q2, there's no better time to pause, reflect, and realign our goals for the year ahead. This week, we revisit an episode that continues to inspire, which talks about creating real value with kindness and math, as advocated by James Rhee a...

Muslims are projected to constitute more than 25% of the world's total population this year. To many in the industry, this isn't just a statistic; it represents a vast array of opportunities for the markets. This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with Fara Abdullah, CEO of Bitsmedia, the brains behind the immensely popular Muslim lifestyle app, Muslim Pro.  With a fresh injection of $20 millio...

“We believe an inclusive and optimal asset management industry will be the cornerstone of an equal and equitable future.” - Illumen Capital While organizations explore ways to embody diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), authenticity and clear, measurable outcomes are essential for effectiveness.  This week, we're joined by Joanna Kuang, Senior Vice President of Product Development and Impact at...

Berkshire Hathaway and the famed investor Warren Buffett himself are often the topic of discussion when it comes to achieving success in the world of venture.  Nevertheless, despite the almost unassuming marketing strategies compared to today’s eye-catching everything, Berkshire Hathaway illustrated incomparable strategic marketing that yielded loyalty and reputation. This inspired today's Billion...

In venture capital, pattern recognition is a valuable skill.  Investors often analyze various pieces of a puzzle, employing pattern recognition to assess whether a company might be on the path to success. This week’s Billion Dollar Bite features Leah Barto, Senior Director of Research at Endeavor Global, who leads a team to redefine pattern recognition through the lens of data journalism. Endeavor...

This week's guest is Samir Kaji, a prolific writer and host of Venture Unlocked, a podcast and blog that dives into the inner workings of venture capital, and the CEO and co-founder of Allocate. With over 20 years of experience in VC and private equity ecosystem, Samir's work has guided many investors, entrepreneurs, and fund managers on how to navigate and succeed in the private markets. Our conv...

This week we had not one but two esteemed guests - a funder and his founder of choice to talk through everything from building trust and partnership to getting to that IPO. Featuring Somak Chattopadhyay, founder of Armory Square Ventures, and Vikas Mehta, COO of ACV Auctions. Their paths beautifully overlapped after their MIT days when Somak recognized ACV's potential in B2B automobile marketplace...

“If you can show strong growth in this environment, that means you’re getting corporate budgets at a time when corporate budgets are tightening.” As we continue to emerge from the belt-tightening era in investment and venture, now is an opportune moment to revisit an episode featuring Momei Qu, Managing Director of PSP Growth. Momei carved her own path in leadership, having worked with one of the...

Investing in women is the smartest thing you could do right now.  Erin Harkless Moore, Senior Director of Investments at Pivotal Ventures, a company founded by Melinda French Gates to promote social equity in the realm of investment, eloquently expressed this notion with her work. Whereas in numerous regions across the globe today, it's surprising to consider that such a statement could be content...

This week's episode features Allen Taylor, managing partner at Endeavor Catalyst, one of the earliest supporters at the Billion Dollar Fund for Women (now Beyong The Billion). Allen also sits on the global leadership team at Endeavor, a mission driven organization focused on supporting high growth companies in emerging and underserved markets. We discuss everything from how Reid Hoffman inspired t...

"It's probably not a good idea to overlook female CEOs or Black CEOs. Because they're driving an enormous amount of value in business. And you overlook it at your own expense." - Iman Abuzeid, Co-founder & CEO of Incredible Health This week's Billion Dollar Bite is from an event held in Austin, hosted by Beyond the Billion and Brown Advisory, among a crowd of family offices and other investors. Fe...

From a market that was almost nonexistent in 2015, hitting double digits with a ~25% CAGR by 2018, Femtech and women's health industry have been long underestimated until the rise of Thinx and similar brands revolutionized the industry. Today’s guest is Shama Amalean Skinner, an entrepreneur, a trailblazer in the world of feminine care, and a business leader who has broken barriers and challenged...

The global economic uncertainty and a shift in focus towards sustainable growth are widely expected to impact the fundraising prospects for new vehicles, especially those focused on emerging markets or launched by first-time managers.  As Asia continues to present key growth opportunities, how are dynamics between LPs and GPs evolving? In the current environment, how should emerging managers appro...

As we step into the new year of 2024, we bring you a conversation that challenges the very essence of legacy.  In this short and impromptu episode, Juan Pablo Escobar (now known as Sebastián Marroquín), the son of the notorious drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar, shares insights that will challenge preconceptions and spark hope. Join us as we explore how one man's choice to embrace a path of peace i...