High Octane Friends

Send us Fan Mail Special guest Divya Raghavan is a venture capitalist at Hitachi Ventures in Palo Alto, California. She shares details with Trevor & Rob about her route into the profession, and what the key success factors are in today's dramatically different tech investment world.  You will also learn why she thinks Canada's tech startups and scaleups are such attractive investment...

Send us Fan Mail On High Octane Friends' latest podcast, Caitlin Carter from VC firm/venture studio Highline Beta discusses where Artificial Intelligence is going and how it is affecting investment, startups/scaleups, and society as a whole. Join co-hosts Rob McMullan & Trevor McKee with Caitlin on this insightful and far-ranging conversation. Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and othe...

Send us Fan Mail Our good friend Nadine ("Nerdine") Miller is a true "Renaissance person" with degrees from MIT and Oxford, she has shifted from engineering and mining to board work, which led to self-funding a tech startup. Her career included advanced soil mechanics work to design and close tailings facilities in mining, and now advisory roles on three mining boards. Her new...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan and Trevor McKee are joined by Bryan Watson, who discusses his extensive history in the Canadian angel investment and tech ecosystem, including work in building angel groups and his perspective on the SR&ED tax credit as a due diligence tool. Bryan Watson detailed how the SR&ED process and financing the receivable through services like Easley and Fund Through...

Send us Fan Mail Returning to productivity after a break—such as the holiday season—requires addressing motivation from biological, psychological, and environmental angles. Foundational habits like consistent sleep, morning sunlight exposure, and stable blood sugar are critical, as poor sleep and ultra-processed foods create cycles of fatigue and demotivation. High-protein, savory breakfasts and m...

Send us Fan Mail The main topic of the podcast was the importance and value of living abroad in an increasingly insular society, which led to a discussion of Adrienne Nemeth's move from Hungary to Paris due to the fall of communism, Trevor McKee's formative experiences in South Africa before immigrating to the US, and Rob McMullan's move from Canada to Japan to gain perspective. The...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan, Trevor McKee, and Patrick de Kruyff discussed the episode topic, "Your couch potato investment style has pre-diabetes." Patrick de Kruyff, an executive for Owens McFaden Group, critiqued the passive investing "couch potato" style, highlighting the concentration risk in ETFs and the need for personalized financial planning integrated with tax consi...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan, Trevor McKee, and guest Sheliza Jamal discuss the state of DEI (perhaps regrettably now more aptly described as "reversity and exclusion"), focusing on the challenges of implementing DEI, the concept of "reversity," and the impact of AI on bias and education. Sheliza, a Harvard aluma and founder of Curated Leadership (https://www.curatedleadership...

Send us Fan Mail Hosts Rob McMullan & Trevor McKee spoke with guest Vivian Yan about the nature of personal magnetism. Vivian shared her transition from living in a small Chinese mining town to becoming a successful journalist and venture capital professional.  They discussed several key factors contributing to personal and professional attractiveness, such as confidence, positive perspective,...

Send us Fan Mail This podcast episode focuses on the importance of sports as a community builder and a source of discipline and professional success, with Rob McMullan highlighting the social and public health benefits, and Trevor McKee emphasizing how sports can offer a path out of poverty and a connection point for communities to come together. The High Octane Friends podcast is where Rob McMull...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan, Trevor McKee, and Jori Lichtman discussed "developing resilience in the face of change," covering personal, employment, corporate, and societal changes. Jori Lichtman introduced themselves as the first guest and shared their journey, including career transitions and parental loss, contributing to their "PhD in resilience," whether from personal or...

Send us Fan Mail Also available on YouTube Rob McMullan and Trevor McKee discussed the importance of leveraging AI as a tool for business, with Trevor noting that most creative ideas often come from allowing the subconscious mind to ruminate on problems, such as taking a break or walking, rather than actively staring at a blank screen. Rob countered the idea of an "us versus them" mental...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan and Trevor McKee proposed focusing on how to avoid misinformation, using examples from finance, health claims, and AI's tendency to "hallucinate" false information. The main talking points included critical thinking, identifying self-interest in information sources, the use of Snopes.com and "trusted sources" to verify information, the role of...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan and Trevor McKee discussed the difficulties of establishing romantic and platonic relationships in the modern era, highlighting the importance of in-person contact, effective communication, and shared values. They offered advice on combating loneliness by reducing social media use, engaging in social activities, and initiating simple conversations. Key topics included...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan and Trevor McKee , hosts of the " High Octane Friends podcast ," dedicated their third episode to exploring various aspects of happiness , discussing personal hacks and learned experiences . They delved into topics such as: Personal habits like smiling Experiences with mental health support   Overcoming imposter syndrome from the Dunning-Kruger effect Benefi...

Send us Fan Mail High Octane Friends Podcast Episode #2 also available on YouTube   Co-hosts Trevor McKee & Rob McMullan highlight breakthrough medical research, insights and evidence on these topics:   Critical thinking applied to health Current vaccination science The best sources of medical information and how to read scientific articles New research linking intermittent fasting to a higher...

Send us Fan Mail Rob McMullan and Trevor McKee introduce their new podcast - High Octane Friends  - and discuss secrets of successful entrepreneurship. These two high octane friends with backgrounds in tech, finance and entrepreneurship discuss: Starting a Business with Zero Money The Importance of Simple, Serious Ideas How to Focus Your Thoughts and Efforts in Business Avoiding Over-Engineering a...