The VentureFizz Podcast

Episode #334 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Don Bulens, 5 time Startup CEO and Executive Chair at CloudZero. This episode was recorded live at Suffolk University which was so much fun! We recorded 3 interviews with Suffolk alums on April 2nd, so this is the first conversation and we’ll have two more coming in the following weeks. And just a side note about Suffolk, the entrepreneurial spirit...

Episode 333 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Geri Kirilova, Managing Partner at Laconia. From what I’ve seen, it is very rare for someone to start their career in venture and continue to progress up the ranks. Usually, an Associate or Senior Associate will do a rotation for 2-3 years and then move on to a portfolio company, maybe start a company, or do something else. For Geri, outside of a sto...

Episode 332 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Lerer, Managing Partner of Lerer Hippeau. The tech scene in New York City has come a very, very long way over the past 14 or 15 years. A lot of that transformation and growth was due to access to early-stage capital which wasn’t prevalent back then, but Lerer Hippeau was a key element to the foundation of its success as a seed stage investor. The...

Episode 331 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Rob Go, Co-Founder & Partner at NextView Ventures. I’ve been fortunate to have many people support my journey with building VentureFizz through the years and Rob was one of the earliest. Shortly after I launched the site, he reached out looking to meet up and needless to say, I jumped at the chance. Through the years, Rob has always been incredibly h...

Episode 330 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Harman Singh Narula, Co-Founder & CEO of Canary Technologies. “Are these entrepreneurs uniquely qualified to build an industry leading company?” - this is one of the many questions that most (if not all) VCs ask themselves when deciding to make an investment into a company. When you look at Harman’s background, it is obvious that his “Founder Fit” is...

Episode 329 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Pano Anthos, Founder & Managing Director of XRC Ventures. I always love it when things come full circle. I first met Pano back in, what I believe was 2008 when he was building Hangout Industries. I was running a recruiting firm at the time and I stopped into their offices to discuss some of their hiring plans. Hangout was early to market as the compa...

Episode #328 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ellen Chisa, Partner at boldstart ventures. Back in 2016, we wrote a profile about Ellen on VentureFizz when she was leading product management at Lola.com. The profile was part of a series that we called Driven, which I think is a very fitting word to describe Ellen… and ironically, the discussion around considering a role in venture capital actual...

Episode #327 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Reed Sturtevant, General Partner at Engine Ventures. This is exciting! Why? Because this episode is longer than my normal interviews, as Reed and I cover his career that spans multiple decades across major technological platform shifts. This means that based on his career, he has so many great stories to share. It is like a historical walkthrough of...

Episode 326 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Dries Buytaert, Founder and Project Lead of Drupal and Co-Founder, CTO, and Chief Strategy Officer of Acquia. Many of the most successful companies in tech were created by founders who built something that was to fill their own need. This was certainly the case for Dries, who back in 2000, started an internal online message board for his friends from...

Episode 325 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Alex Shashou, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of 10Beauty. About 10 years ago, Peter Thiel is credited for saying “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” True, Twitter or X certainly was not in the same frame of mind as to what we saw on The Jetsons, but are we finally starting to get there? The Roomba was a step in the right direction in terms o...

Episode #324 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Sameer Gulati, Founder & CEO of Ordway. Sameer loves SaaS and it’s for good reason… it is expected that the size of the SaaS market may hit almost $1 trillion by 2030! Yes, the tech industry is having some challenges, but did you know that… even though the evolution to SaaS started 20 something years ago… the adoption of SaaS still only sits at a 36...

Episode 323 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Elizabeth Lawler, Founder & CEO of AppMap. A question that I ask every guest at the end of every interview is - “What do you like to do for fun outside of work?” Oftentimes, I get common answers like - hiking, traveling, etc. But, Elizabeth’s answer has by far been the best one yet and it is proof that she is not only a great entrepreneur but also a...

Episode 322 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ryan Shank, CEO & Founder of ShareWillow. Finding the right idea for building a company that will scale is hard. It’s even harder when you get influenced by all the news about the trends in tech like AI, Web 3, crypto, or whatever is the latest trend. Yet, there are still some very large industries that are still operating with very old tech and are...

Episode #321 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Gabi Steele, Co-Founder & CEO at Preql. Building a company is hard and there is no “one right way” to go about getting started, especially when you are creating a new category. But, when I talk to founders like Gabi, there was always an emphasis on generating revenue from the start. It’s a smart move, as you can obviously control your own destiny th...

This is episode #320 and today’s guest is Mike Duda, Managing Partner at Bullish. Peloton, Harry’s, Warby Parker, Casper, Birchbox… these are all iconic direct-to-consumer brands that have all disrupted various categories that were ripe for disruption. Take Warby Parker, the eyewear company that disrupted Luxottica’s business which pretty much owned the whole market from eyewear brands to storefro...

Episode 319 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Peter Berg, Managing Partner at M12, Microsoft’s venture capital fund. I’ve had lots of investors as guests on the podcast, but I was excited to interview Peter because I’ve never interviewed an investor from a CVC or a Corporate Venture Capital fund. I’m not sure what the number is today, but according to a 2023 report about CVCs, it counts 1,100 ac...

Episode #318 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Henrik Werdelin, entrepreneur & author. Incubators are not a new thing but some are certainly more successful than others. Take prehype, a venture development firm in New York City where Henrik is a Founding Partner. It has holdings in major success stories like BarkBox and Ro, plus over a dozen other venture capital-backed startups. As a Co-Founder...

Episode 317 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Deon Nicholas, CEO & Co-Founder of Forethought. I was at a couple of networking events the other week and let’s just say the word AI was brought up many, many times. Yes, we are in a major shift in terms of a tech platform, but doesn’t it feel like some companies are forcing AI into their business model or solution… versus an organic solution. Well,...

Episode 316 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Clement Cazalot, CEO & Co-Founder of Machinery Partner. From scaling docTrackr to an exit… to running the Boston Techstars program… to his latest company… since coming to Boston from France in 2011, Clem has become an anchor of the Boston tech scene as an entrepreneur, investor, and community builder. Machinery Partner is on a mission to digitize acc...

Episode 315 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Jordan Fliegel, Managing Director of Techstars’ NYC and Sports accelerators. Athlete, entrepreneur, investor, mentor, are just some of the words to describe Jordan’s career. Originally a fixture of the Boston tech scene with his first company, CoachUp, and now a major part of the NYC tech scene as the leader of the Techstars program, it is shocking t...

Episode 314 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Cory Munchbach, CEO of BlueConic. There is no set rule on how one becomes a CEO of a tech company and when you look at Cory’s career path, it is one of the main reasons why I encourage people to work for high growth startups. She was employee #17 at BlueConic, eight years ago, and was announced as the company’s CEO earlier this year. My point isn’t t...

Thanksgiving is not only a special holiday because of the time with your family, all the great food, and of course, football, but it is also a time when lots of people volunteer and give back. Thus, the timing of this interview with John couldn’t have been more perfect as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday. Most people know of John as an entrepreneur and investor, as he was the founder of a com...

I don’t mind shopping for groceries but my problem is that I’m a creature of habit and I tend to purchase the same things over and over again. Plus, I am terrible about meal planning, so after doing a full shop there is still “nothing to eat.” I guess I’m not the only one. As Ben and I discuss, on average, consumers spend 2-3 hours a week grocery shopping. 75% of what we buy at the grocery store a...

Did you know that 23% of global emissions come from single family homes? Needless to say, this is a underserved segment and an industry that is ripe for innovation. Carl’s current company, Aro Homes, is a purpose-driven company on a mission to redefine residential construction. The company was founded in 2021 and has raised $21M in funding from world-class investors including Eric Schmidt’s Innova...

This episode is the second live interview that we recorded live at Startup Boston Week at Suffolk University which was a ton of fun and maybe it is something that I should do more often. As you’ll hear, Wes is a native New Englander. He grew up in Acton and launched Fetch while he was in school at the University of Wisconsin. The company has office locations in Madison, Chicago, and other location...