2017 was quite a year when it came to the consequences of sexual harassment in Silicon Valley. For the first time in memory, jobs were lost, careers were ended, and venture firms ceased to exist after women came forward and told their experiences of harassment. In this episode, Kent takes a look back to memorialize 8 stories in 2017 where the consequences of sexual harassment reverberated. We start with the earlier story of Ellen Pao and her lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins, and Susan Fowler's bl...
Apr 24, 2018•41 min
Marketing guru and teacher Neil Cohen sits down with Kent to reflect -- in this age of cryptocurrency -- on the meaning of tech bubbles. A fun, lighthearted look at 20 years of craziness in Silicon Valley. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines, as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond.
Mar 20, 2018•41 min
Marketing guru and university professor Neil Cohen sits down with Kent for a lighthearted ramble through a series of Tech Bubbles. From early commerce (Pets.com!) to Segway all the way up to Cryptocurrency, we have fun reviewing some of the most interesting internet phenomena of the past couple decades. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines, as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we vi...
Feb 10, 2018•47 min•Ep. 79
Producer, Director, Writer and all-around Hollywood guy Mike Stutz has figured out how to hack the media. His protest group -- The Useful Idiots -- has figured out a way to get their message across, as only a group of creative types could. The Useful Idiots include TV, film, theater dance and other creative people. This episode is part 2 of Kent's conversation with Mike Stutz i which we learn how Mike and his colleagues get the cameras' attention, and get their message out to the masses.
Jul 25, 2017•25 min
Producer, Director, Writer and all-around Hollywood guy Mike Stutz has figured out how to hack the media. His protest group — The Useful Idiots — has figured out a unique way to get their message across, as only a group of creative types could. The Useful Idiots includes TV, film, theater, dance, and other creative people with a common cause. In this episode learn how Mike and his colleagues get the cameras' attention, and get a progressive message out to the masses.
Jul 18, 2017•28 min
Jonathan Abrams is CEO of Nuzzel, co-founder of Founders Den, and founder of Socializr. He sits on the board of Girls in Tech, and has invested in over 50 startups. But before all that...he founded Friendster. Recently, Gimlet Media's "Startup" podcast covered Friendster. Here Jonathan shares his thoughts on how THAT podcast went.
Jun 20, 2017•42 min
Jonathan Abrams is a busy guy. He has two kids. He co-founded The Founders Den, an entrepreneurial center in San Francisco, He founded, built and sold Sociializr. He's invested in nearly 50 startups, many of which have grown enormously, some beyond a billion dollars in valuation. He founded Nuzzel, and is currently its CEO. Nuzzel has become the largest aggregator of business, media and tech news in the world. But before all that, Jonathan founded Friendster and started the social networking ind...
May 23, 2017•44 min
Marcus Dantus is CEO of Startup Mexico. Startups, entrepreneurs, venture capital -- it's all happening and growing in Mexico. Marcus discusses the unique opportunities and challenges facing entrepreneurs and investors in Mexico. He also provides the point of view of Mexicans on the election of Donald Trump, and Mexico's path forward. -- In the Something Venture podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the headlines, as he sits down with the people who are shapin...
May 10, 2017•39 min
Sharon Goldstein is Executive-in-Resience at XSeed Capital (xseedcap.com), and recently CMO of Shiphawk and Pixlee. She also sits on the board of Hebrew Free Loan of San Francisco, which she discusses. She walks us through her path from Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech through Northwestern University to becoming a Silicon Valley EIR. We also spend time discussing women in Silicon Valley, which of course takes us to...Uber. Don't worry, we get past it! -- In the Something Ventured podcast, ...
Apr 11, 2017•53 min
Victor Echevarria (OK, YOU try pronouncing it) made the bold leap from Harvard Business School to Silicon Valley. As founder of Frenting and team member at TaskRabbit, he was early to the sharing economy. Victor explains the differences in the success factors behind sharing economy companies that disappeared and those that are now successful like AirBnB, Uber and Lyft. Victor transitioned into healthcare, founding Remedy Labs. Healthcare represents a huge portion of the US economy and affects ev...
Mar 28, 2017•45 min
Carter Cohen is the future. In 1991 Douglas Copeland published the book "Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture", and we've worked our way down the alphabet ever since. In this podcast, Kent discusses technology -- and the future -- from the perspective of a 17-year old on his way to college. Is Snapchat the future? Or Facebook messenger? Listen to learn this, and more. Oh, and you'll probably feel better about the future too! -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider ...
Mar 07, 2017•40 min
In this second part of Kent's conversation with Neil Cohen, the discussion continues about which marketing trends everyone should keep an eye on for 2017. Personalization, video, Snapchatting and more. Neil Cohen is a sales strategy and marketing consultant, Lecturer at San Francisco State University, advisor to Startup Chile and Parallel18. And -- San Francisco Giants Fan. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley ...
Feb 21, 2017•31 min
In honor of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the US, we talk to Lylan Masterman about Canada Venture Capital and Startups. Lylan is an investor with White Star Capital which invests across the Atlantic. Canadian tech -- turns out it's a much bigger topic than one might imagine. After a botched podcast opening (he did work at aQuantive and went to Kellogg, not so much Merrill Lynch). The VC ecosystem in Waterloo, Toronto, Montreal etc. are discussed. Trends in VC and startups the...
Feb 15, 2017•50 min
Neil Cohen is one of our most engaging energetic guests. Here is his take on marketing trends for 2017 across several categories, his take on branding masters like Red Bull and more. Neil is a marketing veteran, professor at San Francisco State. And a San Francisco Giants fan. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyo...
Feb 07, 2017•31 min
Antonio Garcia Martinez, best-selling author of Chaos Monkeys (his New York times bestselling Facebook tell-all). If you haven't heard Antonio yet, enjoy his take on Silicon Valley, politics, Libertarianism -- and more. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond.
Jan 31, 2017•30 min
Best selling author (Chaos Monkeys) Antonio Garcia Martinez is back. If you haven't had the pleasure yet, you are in for something special. After discussing his book the first time around, we realized he is one of the most thoughtful, original and provocative thinkers on the topic of politics. In particular, his take on the relationship of Silicon Valley, and it's wealth, to politics -- is fascinating. Part 1 of 2, enjoy. Follow Antonio on Facebook or Twitter @antoniogm . -- In the Something Ven...
Jan 24, 2017•30 min
Welcome back -- to fan favorite Mike Stutz part 2. Mike Stutz is a Television Producer, movie director (Don't Change the Subject) just to name a few talents Here is part 2 of his insightful take on the interaction of television, fake news, and TV's changing role in politics. Also mentioned are US presidents named Jackson. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are sha...
Jan 17, 2017•39 min
Mike Stutz is a reality TV show producer. Credits include "Shinesty" on MTV; "Loaded" on CNBC, and "Santa Sent me to the ER" on TLC. He is also producer, writer and director of the feature film "Don't Change the Subject". In this episode, Mike returns to talk about reality TV, politics....and Andrew Jackson/Johnson. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping t...
Jan 10, 2017•36 min
Sarah Marie is an entrepreneur, executive and co-founder of Spec.fm podcast network and its CEO. After a break last week for the US election (spoiler alert, it did not go as expected) we return to more positive territory. Sarah continues her conversation about the path to Silicon Valley (which in her case did not involve Harvard or Stanford), the struggle to build a path in Silicon Valley, and the early success of her Spec podcast network.
Nov 15, 2016•40 min
Something Ventured Election Special with Joe Garofoli, Senior Political writer for the SF chronicle. We cover the national election -- why everyone missed the rise of Trump, and what people are feeling in Pittsburgh. Also covered are California ballot measures (marijuana legalization in particular). We finish with a discussion of Bay Area measures, and San Francisco housing in particular.
Nov 07, 2016•1 hr
Sarah Marie is co-founder and CEO of the fast-growing podcast network Spec Network (Spec.fm). Sarah's entrepreneurial journey brought her to Silicon Valley from Minnesota, and involved an early stint at a bakery. This is not your "Stanford/Facebook/XYZ VC" -- it's far more interesting. Spec Network has become a leading design and developer podcast network, with podcasts such as "Design Details", "Immutable" and "Runtime", among others. Also discussed are the sometime challenges of navigating the...
Nov 01, 2016•30 min
Chaos Monkeys' author Antonio Garcia-Martinez -- part 2 of 2. In which he discusses Y-combinator, the inner workings of Facebook and much more. Particularly interesting -- what happened when some (but not all) people at Facebook realized they were rich? The book Chaos Monkeys (on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/chaos-monkeys/id1071356667?mt=11 ) was recently described by Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times as: "Incisive.... The most fun business book I have read this year.... C...
Oct 25, 2016•27 min
Antonio Garcia-Martinez' "Chaos Monkeys" (Harper) was an instant New York Times bestseller. Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times said "Incisive -- the most fun business book I've read this year. Clearly there will be people who hate this book -- which is probably one of the things that make it such a great read". In this episode, Antonio covers a range of Silicon Valley topics - including some heroics from Y-combinator's Sam Altman. Sam has since been in the news for supporting Donald Trump ...
Oct 18, 2016•25 min
We pre-empt podcasts planned with Antonio Garcia Martinez and Sarah Marie of Spec Network, because Donald Trump made us. (don't worry -- we'll get to Antonio and Sarah Marie shortly) Without repeating the things Mr. Trump said about sexual assault and sexual harassment -- we're reminded that sexism, in all of its forms, is wrong. In this previously aired, but always timely podcast, Rachel Fairbanks covers a theme that has come up many times on Something Ventured: harassment and assault in Silico...
Oct 12, 2016•47 min
Donald Trump would hate this podcast. The story of an immigrant from China. Ben Cheung built an AI company (pay attention, Westworld fans). He discussed it in a previous podcast, when we talked about the struggle of the entrepreneur. Just a few months after that, Microsoft came calling and bought his company. Ben discusses the process of being approached and negotiating with Microsoft after Microsoft exec Qui Lu took an interest in Genee. He also talks about what it's like working at Microsoft a...
Oct 04, 2016•35 min
In this replay, we revisit our interview with Benjamin Cheung, the entrepreneur behind Genee. This provides a glimpse of the entrepreneur at work -- a fascinating exploration now that we know the outcome: He eventually sells his company to Microsoft! -- In the Something Ventured Podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond....
Sep 06, 2016•39 min
Every year Silicon Valley marches off to the desert for several days of....well, probably NSFW activity. For those who remain -- Silicon Valley becomes a place where parking is easy, and there is a seat at the bar. In this podcast, Kent and Michael White discuss the history of Burning Man. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley Headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world on...
Aug 31, 2016•43 min
Part 2 of Kent's conversation with Peter Berger -- CEO of Contact IQ and former Director of Strategic Development at Tagged. Peter is also the organizer of the Silicon Valley Semantic Technology Group. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online and beyond.
May 17, 2016•30 min
Peter Berger is the CEO of Contact IQ. He's an entrepreneur who was formerly the Director of Strategic Development at Tagged. He is the Organizer of the Silicon Valley Semantic Technology Group, which has over 1000 members. His path to being CEO of Contact IQ -- well, it probably wasn't what you imagine, and it's certainly more interesting. In this discussion we cover a range of issues in Silicon Valley, and Peter's path to his current success. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valle...
Apr 26, 2016•32 min
After explaining April 15th and #42 to enough people, I decided to make it into a quick podcast. Racism being a frequent topic of this podcast, Michael White joins us to explain the significance of April 15th and the #42. On April 14, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American player (since the 1880s) to play professional baseball in the "Major" leagues. Also discussed are the Negro leagues, and the 5 best baseball movies of all time. -- In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Va...
Apr 12, 2016•36 min
