Spencer speaks with Ian Cinnamon , the CEO and co-founder of Culver City-based startup Apex , which manufactures productized, configurable satellite buses for the expanding space industry. As access to space becomes democratized, Apex's is poised to offer its scalable solutions to both commercial and government customers. Prior to Apex, Ian founded Synapse, a startup that built AI systems for the defense and security worlds, which he helped grow before it was acquired by Palantir. Ian is an alum...
Jun 02, 2023•34 min
Eddy Lu , CEO of GOAT, explains his pivot from a restaurant meet-up app, the ups and downs of working with his co-founder, and how insight into the sneaker vertical on eBay helped build the start-up into what it is today. This episode was originally released in February of 2011.
May 19, 2023•27 min
Howie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of tech decacorn Airtable , a connected apps platform that lets users build and customize apps using shared data. As a no code platform, Airtable has iterated and innovated their product by combining the features of a relational database by using an interface that looks like a spreadsheet. Since it's founding in 2012, the company has raised nearly $1.4B in funding and is currently valued at $11B. In this episode, Howie talks about starting his first company, t...
May 05, 2023•39 min
In this episode of Office Hours, Spencer speaks with L.A.-based entrepreneur Shiloh Johnson , the CEO and founder of ComplYant, a digital tax assistant tool. The technology platform offers small business owners and entrepreneurs an easy way to handle business taxes. The fintech startup was originally bootstrapped by Johnson, who as a Black female founder thought she'd be overlooked by VCs. Since then, Shiloh raised $5.5M in seed funding through Techstars’ Los Angeles program....
Apr 07, 2023•31 min
Bill Gurley , Legendary Silicon Valley VC, is a general partner at Benchmark and famously known for investing early in trailblazing companies including Uber, GrubHub, Zillow and so many others. Hear this conversation with Spencer from the dot.LA Summit where they discuss marketplace-based companies, how work-from-home will accelerate business opportunity, and why startups—though they might be attached to their autonomy—should pick up the phone when a big company calls. Plus, hear Bill’s thoughtf...
Mar 24, 2023•45 min
Growing up as the son of a nationally renowned veterinarian, Brandon knows first-hand the importance of having access to experts when your pet is sick. In 2018, Werber launched Airvet, a Beverly Hills-based digital health company for pets. Airvet works with employers and business partners to make sure pet parents get affordable and fast access to virtual vet care via video and chat. (Disclosure: dot.LA co-founder Spencer Rascoff is an investor in Airvet.)
Mar 10, 2023•30 min
Roy Swan, Director of The Ford Foundation's Mission Investments team, is committed to increasing the impact of their portfolio of mission-related investments (MRIs). He works alongside the organization's leadership to identify opportunities and guide decision-making processes as they relate to its global activities. Prior to joining the Foundation, Roy served as managing director and co-head of Global Sustainable Finance at Morgan Stanley. While there, he oversaw massive community development tr...
Feb 24, 2023•27 min
Spencer speaks with Isa Watson , the Founder & CEO of Squad . Watson, author of the upcoming book, "Life Beyond Likes: Logging Off Your Screen and Into Your Life." In the book, she raises awareness around how social media has impacted our daily lives, self-worth, and real life relationships. With so much of our lives lived online, Isa argues, we’ve never been more connected—or disconnected—from what’s most important to us. It’s time to let go of our curated online worlds and get beyond our n...
Feb 10, 2023•38 min
Diankha Linear , CEO of Community , an SMS marketing platform for business, speaks with Spencer in this episode of Office Hours. Ms. Linear was an officer and early executive team member at Convoy, serving as General Counsel and corporate secretary—overseeing one of Seattle’s largest VC transactions with a Series D Round of $400M, among other roles in the startup. Diankha comes from a strategy and leadership background, built on her years of military education and training with the Army and as a...
Jan 27, 2023•40 min
Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and CEO of Revolution speaks with Spencer about his current mission to locate compelling investment opportunities outside of the traditional tech hubs like Silicon Valley. Case's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is a Revolution initiative aimed at accelerating the growth of early-stage startups across the country. The ideas is that there's more opportunity for investors to back companies in other parts of the country during their early stages, since valuation and arbitrat...
Jan 13, 2023•33 min
Spencer speaks with Sami Inkinen , the CEO and Founder of Virta Health . After winning the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in 2011, the triathlete found out that he was pre-diabetic that same year. Unsatisfied with the conventional wisdom of “exercise more and eat less,” Sami dug into the science of type 2 diabetes, by consulting experts on the science of carbohydrate restriction and metabolic health. Seeking to raise awareness about the dangers of sugar, Inkinen and his wife rowed across the P...
Dec 30, 2022•41 min
Julia Boorstin is CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent and has been an on-air reporter for the network since 2006. She also plays a central role on CNBC’s bicoastal tech-focused program “TechCheck” delivering reporting, analysis, and CEO interviews with a focus on social media and the intersection of media and technology. In 2013, Boorstin created and launched the CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list she oversees, highlighting private companies transforming the economy and challenging compa...
Dec 16, 2022•30 min
Tricia Han, the head of MyFitnesesPal speaks with Spencer about her journey from being a Product Manager to becoming a CEO in this episode of Office Hours. MyFitnessPal is a leading health and wellness tech brand, whose popular mobile app allows users to track their daily food intake. Tricia talks about the differences of working in East Coast tech vs West Coast tech, heading a start-up through a change management process, and the importance of representation in the tech space. Tricia also share...
Dec 02, 2022•31 min
Host Spencer Rascoff speaks to David Fields, founder and CEO of both Afterparty and Wander . Afterparty is looking to evolve the event-ticketing space with NFTs to assist creators, musicians and collectors. Previously, Fields worked at Disney and was part of the team that helped acquire Pixar. David was also formerly the head of acquisitions and investments for Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s Investment group, The Tornante Company. Fields has a BA in Economics from Harvard. ( Disclosure: dot.LA co-f...
Nov 18, 2022•31 min
As CEO and co-founder of Tomo, Greg Schwartz leads the company in its mission to transform the home buying experience. Tomo was founded in the fall of 2020 and raised a $70 million seed round, reportedly the largest in U.S. history. The company’s initial product, Tomo Mortgage, launched in June of 2021 to streamline the mortgage process by bringing e-commerce to the paperwork heavy part of home transactions. Previously, Greg was the lead business executive of Zillow Group for 13 years. Before Zi...
Nov 04, 2022•37 min
Rand Fishkin, co-founder and CEO of SparkToro , and formerly of Moz speaks with Spencer in this revealing conversation about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Rand started out as an SEO enthusiast writing about increasing organic traffic through his SEOmoz blog, and then realizing that his expertise had the makings of a business, he began consulting and then developing Moz into a SaaS. Rand helped grow Moz to more than 130 employees, with over $30M in revenue, and traffic reaching 30M visit...
Oct 21, 2022•49 min
In this episode of Office Hours, Spencer speaks with Colin Walsh , CEO and Founder of Varo Bank about the importance of their startup getting its charter and being FDIC insured, what it's like leading the way of a "challenger bank" in the fin-tech space, the tough decision he's had to make to stay competitive, and how the bank aspires to create financial inclusion by focusing on its younger customer base. Colin also talks about his journey through the financial services industry having worked fo...
Oct 07, 2022•36 min
Blackstone Growth's Jon Korngold joins Spencer on this episode of Office Hours for a conversation about how the recent stock market downturn is affecting the tech sector and whether a market correction lies ahead. Korngold is Senior Managing Director and Head of Blackstone’s global growth equity investing platform, where he focuses on funding growth-stage companies. Prior to joining Blackstone in 2019, Korngold was on the Management Committee of General Atlantic, leading both the global financia...
Sep 23, 2022•43 min
Roman Kaplun is the CEO and Co-founder of Zoolatech, a custom software development company specializing in high-end software engineering based in the San Francisco area. Born in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union, his family moved to the United States as Jewish refugees in 1988, right after he completed High School. Zoolatech has workers in the U.S., Ukraine, Mexico, and Poland. The startup was able to evacuate, relocate, and resettle many of its employees from Kiyv after the Russian invasion ...
Sep 09, 2022•34 min
On this episode of Office Hours, Spencer speaks with John Shegerian, CEO and chairman of ERI, the largest cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction and electronic waste recycling company in the United States. Shegerian is a serial entrepreneur who helped found FinancialAid.com , Addicted.com and Engage, LLC , a speaker-booking platform, among other organizations. In the early '90s, Shegerian co-founded Homeboy Tortillas and Homeboy Industries , led by Father Greg Boyle, to help improve the live...
Aug 26, 2022•37 min
Spencer speaks with Maria Colacurcio , the CEO of Syndio Solutions on this episode of Office Hours. Syndio is a software startup helping companies around the world create an equitable workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity. Syndio’s workplace equity platform helps companies close pay and opportunity gaps, mitigate legal risk and turn diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals into tangible results. Prior to joining Syndio, Colacurcio co-founded Smartsheet.com , wh...
Aug 12, 2022•38 min
This episode features Nick Green , co-founder of Los Angeles-based ecommerce startup Thrive Market in conversation with Spencer. Nick speaks about selling his first company, a college test prep startup which was purchased by Revolution Prep, in his early twenties after graduating from Harvard. From there, his involvement with Launchpad LA helped him connect with Thrive co-founder Gunnar Lovelace. Nick saw firsthand the challenges of eating healthy while growing up in the Midwest. He says stickin...
Jul 29, 2022•33 min
On this episode of Office Hours, Spencer speaks with entrepreneur and venture investor David Beatty. David is a managing partner and co-founder of Gaingels, an LGBTQ investment syndicate. Started in 2014, Gaingels' mission is to foster social change through their investment portfolios by creating a more diverse, inclusive and accessible venture capital ecosystem. Their network does this by working with accredited investors interested in diversifying the startup world by building leadership among...
Jul 15, 2022•22 min
On this episode, Spencer speaks with iconic global business leader John Chambers in a live conversation that was recorded at the Montgomery Summit on May 24. Chambers, the former chairman and CEO of Cisco , currently serves as the founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures. The firm is focused on helping build and scale disruptive startups from around the world, largely by investing in companies that are leading market transitions. The Montgomery Summit is an exclusive, annual gathering of over 1,000 senio...
Jul 01, 2022•32 min
Spencer speaks to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on this episode of Office Hours. In this conversation he talks about his broad based views on the city’s tech economy, why he supports cryptocurrency, and took his salary in crypto (the city even has its own MiamiCoin). Mayor Suarez talks about the evolution of the local technology ecosystem through Venture Miami and its growing fintech, medtech, and greentech sectors. He is the son of former Miami Mayor, Xavier Suarez and is the first Miami-born mayo...
Jun 17, 2022•20 min
In this episode of Office Hours, Spencer speaks with Congressman Derek Kilmer who serves as the United States Representative of Washington’s 6th Congressional District. Rep. Kilmer started his career as a business consultant for McKinsey & Company, then moved on to work for the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. He then began a career in local government in Olympia, serving in the Washington State House from 2005 to 2007 and the state Senate from 2007 until he was elected t...
Jun 03, 2022•35 min
Host Spencer Rascoff speaks with Ian Siegel , CEO and co-founder of ZipRecruiter on this episode of Office Hours. ZipRecruiter is an online employment marketplace that uses artificial intelligence to match businesses with job candidates in every industry. More than 1.8 million employers have used ZipRecruiter since its founding in 2010. Ian previously held leadership roles at CitySearch, Stamps.com and Rent.com . He received his B.A. in sociology from Oberlin College. He's now based in Santa Mon...
May 20, 2022•30 min
Spencer caught up with Mayor Stephen Adler at the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 2. Mayor Adler is the 58th mayor of Austin, Texas—a city that, along with L.A., has grown into a thriving hub of tech startups over the past two decades. Mayor Adler has received praise for his administration’s focus on innovation while staying true to the city’s slogan: “ Keep Austin Weird .” Mayor Adler was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Princeton and the University of Texas Law School....
May 06, 2022•23 min
Aero CEO Uma Subramanian speaks to Spencer on this episode of Office Hours about her love of everything that flies. Her appreciation of flight was sparked by her visit to Space Camp as a child which led her on the path to study aerospace engineering. Uma got her start in the aviation industry working at Northrop Grumman under contract to NASA. After receiving her MBA at Harvard Business School, Subramanian went into consulting, then returned to aerospace. After a brief stint as the director of E...
Apr 22, 2022•30 min
On this episode of Office Hours, Spencer speaks to Philip Rosedale , CEO and cofounder of High Fidelity and founder of Linden Lab , for a wide-ranging conversation about Web 3.0 and the future of the metaverse. Rosedale, who recently rejoined Second Life as a strategic advisor, speaks about his vision on what the future of metaverse holds, and how startups can prepare to innovate around it. As a true pioneer in the early iterations of the metaverse and virtual reality, Rosedale shares what he’s ...
Apr 08, 2022•50 min
