The VentureFuel Podcast - podcast cover

The VentureFuel Podcast

VentureFuelwww.workperfectly.com
To accelerate in an accelerating world, your business needs to run on a different kind of fuel. Your ability to find new solutions and embrace creative strategies is what drives growth. You will learn actionable strategies from the most successful corporate visionaries and venture capitalists as well as discover breakthrough startups. This is a podcast for innovators at large companies and disruptive founders - the intrapreneurs and the entrepreneurs. This is for the doers that ask what’s next? Because what’s next is now.

Episodes

AI Grocery Checkout – Popspots Co-Founder & CEO, Marlow Nickell

Popspots operates Grocery TV, The largest digital advertising network in U.S. grocery. Their tech delivers AI enabled in-store advertising, out-of-stock management, and planogram compliance. What’s unique about Popspots is their use of AI to measure their audience and the value they add to the physical grocery stores, which are not only an essential service but the center of our communities.

Sep 17, 202016 min

Rapid Military Innovation – AFVentures Director, Jason Rathje

Jason Rathje, Major in the Air Force, aeronautical engineer and Director of AFVentures, spent 3 years researching the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation, and national security at Stanford. Now he is part of the team that implements novel initiatives to accelerate product-market fit between companies passionate about national security and Air Force users who need their revolutionary technologies. We talk disruption insurance, how to make it easier for startups to interact with the gover...

Sep 15, 202034 min

Enrich Conversations Everywhere – Holler Founder & CEO, Travis Montaque

Holler is on a mission to make your texts, posts, and DMs more expressive by creating original content meant for messaging (think GIFs/fun animated stickers in places like LinkedIn and Venmo) and then recommending the most relevant ones at just the right moment. 2020 Most Innovative Company (Fast Co), Entrepreneur Magazine’s Most Daring Entrepreneur, Forbes 30 Under 30 -- Founder & CEO Travis Montaque.

Sep 10, 202021 min

Welcome to 2030 – Paramount Pictures Futurist in Residence, Ted Schilowitz

Ted Schilowitz is the Futurist in Residence at Paramount Pictures/Viacom CBS, where he works with studio leadership and tech teams exploring new and emerging technologies. We explore XR, the acceleration caused by the pandemic and why large companies need to get curious about tomorrow. How do we consume content in 2030? Take a listen...

Sep 08, 202041 min

A.I. Democratizing Music – Amper Music CEO Drew Silverstein

Amper is an artificial intelligence composer that allows you to create your own unique music instantly, tailored to any content, without any musical experience required. In fact, I used it to create our new podcast music. CEO Drew Silverstein and I talk about the fusion of music theory and AI. We discuss how you can unlock emotional intent through sonic branding and how to find your sound whether it be Orchestral Hip-Hop, How To Train Your Dragon or Jackson Browne. www.ampermusic.com

Sep 03, 202031 min

Optimizing Human Performance - Mel Strong, Next Ventures Managing Partner

How can the tech tools of the most elite athletes help us perform better in our daily lives? Why should large companies partner with startups? Can sports transform culture? Mel Strong is the Managing Partner at Next Ventures, a VC fund investing in human performance via innovative health, sports and wellness companies. Mel began her investing career after 17 years at Nike where she held senior roles on NikeID, Women’s Training, Skateboarding and more, and is now an advisor to Nike’s Valiant Labs...

Sep 01, 202028 min

Leading in the Dark - Adrian Parker, Global Vice President, Marketing at Patron

Normal Ain’t Working. CFO – Chief Failure Officer. Unrealistic Leaders Move Irreversibly. Storytelling Through Technology. These were just a few of the titles we considered after talking with Adrian Parker – Global VP of Patron, where he oversees all things marketing across 100 countries for the company Bacardi bought for $5b. Learn how Adrian leads and makes decision amidst ambiguity and an ever-changing environment.

Aug 27, 202037 min

Supercharged Children’s Nutrition - Bears Nutrition Founding Team

When an Olympic Gold Medalist + Former UNICEF Chairman + Pediatric Nutritionist + VC with 3 Stanford Degrees get together to create a delicious kids nutritional shake. Winner of the Real California Milk Accelerator, Bears Nutrition, is supercharged milk to provide essential nutrients to help active kids grow. We welcome Adam Kreek: Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the Canadian Hall of Fame; Kevin Yeung: former UNICEF Chairman, and David Sheu: Co-Founder of Bears Nutrition to talk about accele...

Aug 25, 202016 min

The Power of Passion Communities - Twitch Chief Revenue Officer Walker Jacobs

Why did Amazon buy Twitch for $970M in 2014, and why are the NFL, the Premier League and the biggest stars in music flocking to the platform today? Walker Jacobs, Chief Revenue Office of Twitch, tells us about the passion economy and why live, interactive and community-based content is the future. We also chat about selling new and different, why gaming is no longer niche, brand love, embracing innovation and why he may start to live-stream his bbq.

Aug 20, 202024 min

Food Trends & Makers Communities - Foodboro Founder Mark Johnson

What’s next in food, grocery and beverages? Who are the next wave of makers and how Mark Johnson is building a community to give them the insights and services they need to thrive. Foodboro’s passionate micro-community of food and beverage innovators are connecting with each other to overcome challenges of scaling up and looking to disrupt yesterday’s CPG giants.

Aug 18, 202014 min

Augmenting Our Realities - Eyecandylab CEO & Co-Founder Robin Sho Moser

From immersive ocean worlds for adidas in Paris, to AR Home Shopping Experiences with LG in Korea, to slime dripping from YOUR ceiling during a Nickelodeon broadcast - Eyecandylab is augmenting our experiences for the better, and doing it in a way that is both accessible and scalable with our current devices. We talk about the metaverse, why we can’t Shazam our way to the second screen and what’s next for television and sports.

Aug 13, 202029 min

Snacking Made Right - Brigette Wolf - Global Head of SnackFutures at Mondelez

How do you launch 4 startups, amidst a global pandemic? How can a $26B business innovate, disrupt and find new ways to serve their consumers? Brigette Wolf, the Global Head of SnackFutures at Mondelez, talks with us about finding your pivot, doubling down on the distinct customer need that you want to fight for and how to cut through processes and layers with small experiments.

Aug 11, 202019 min

The Snackcelerator – CMAB’s CEO John Talbot and VP of Business Development Bob Carroll

If you open your fridge, chances are you’ve Got Milk. No other product has the same level of mass acceptance - yet, there is a need to innovate to stay close with the ever-changing consumer. CMAB is one of the largest agricultural marketing boards in the US and we chat about their new startup competition The Real California Milk Snackcelerator and the value of new ideas, outside perspectives and the future of dairy.

Aug 04, 202020 min

Startup Agility with Corporate Ability - Estee Lauder Head of Strategic Partnerships Erika Parkins

Erika has 10+ years of experience working in entrepreneurial new business and corporate innovation divisions for leading global media, beauty and CPG firms. As the Head of Strategic Partnerships for the Digital Technology and Innovation Group at Estee Lauder Companies Online, she fosters collaboration between emerging enterprises and large corporations, matching startup agility with corporate ability and expertise. We talk about clarity, non-linear ideation and open innovation.

Aug 04, 202021 min

Redefining a $40b Industry - MakeSpace Co-Founder Rahul Gandhi

The storage industry was a real estate game, slicing up units like apartments and renting them – that is, until MakeSpace disrupted it with a customer-first convenience strategy. Now, after raising $150m and expanding to 31 markets, Co-Founder Rahul Gandhi is still flexing his innovation mindset to ensure they are the disruptors. We talk about risk-taking, the importance of convenience and re-imaging customer-centric strategies.

Jul 30, 202032 min

Adapt to Win - Rogue Women's Fund Managing Partner Caroline Lewis

How do you evolve your mindset from fear to growth? Can you become the change you want to see in the world, and if you want to change the narrative, shouldn’t you change the outcome? Fiercely female, always rogue. Caroline shares why investing in women is good business and how we can build our innovation muscles to change the world.

Jul 28, 202031 min

Combatting Bias & Harassment - AllVoices Founder Claire Schmidt

AllVoices gives companies the tools to listen at scale by allowing employees to anonymously send feedback to company leaders about workplace issues like bias and harassment. This gives everyone a voice and gives employers the opportunity to proactively improve diversity, equity and inclusion.

Jul 23, 202026 min

The Great Disruption - Comcast, AB InBev and Supergoop!

Corporate innovators from AB InBev, Comcast and Supergoop! discuss going rogue in their careers and how Covid as the great accelerator is shaping the future of entertainment, retail and social connections.

Jul 16, 202023 min

Collaborations Create Tomorrow - Capitol Records Sr. Director Modi Oyewole

Combining hip-hop, electronic, R&B and indie rock was the signature of the Trillectro Music Festival lauded for showcasing up-and-coming musicians on the eve of their big break. But for founder Modi Oyewole, this mashup of various cultures and passions is the secret sauce of innovation. Join us as Modi takes us from Nike to Jay Z, from Red Bull to Kendrick Lamar to how he connects brands with the culture of tomorrow and merges nostalgia with cutting edge.

Jul 14, 202031 min

Brand Safe Video Intelligence - IRIS.TV Founder Field Garthwaite and Head of Brand Strategy Michael Kahn

The social media boycott and impending cookie-apocalypse mean that brands and viewers are demanding a “better, high-quality, safe and appropriate” video experience. Enter IRIS.TV, a privacy-first video intelligence platform using machine learning to automate personalized video content based on audience preference with top premium publishers. Happier viewers, higher performing ads – all safely delivered at scale.

Jul 09, 202021 min

Government Innovation - U.S. Census Bureau Sr. Advisor Mara Abrams

Learn how Mara Abrams is creating and deploying open innovation strategies (prize competitions and accelerators) to solve the key challenges of increasing participation in the 2020 Census and showing the critical importance of Census and other federal data. Mara is a Senior Advisor for the Open Innovation Program at the U.S. Census Bureau and Co-Founder and Director of the Census Open Innovation Labs.

Jul 07, 202024 min

Cloned Voice - Resemble Co-Founder Saqib Muhammad

Custom computer-generated voice for business. Resemble Co-Founder Saqib Muhammad discusses his solution for creating and updating audio content outside the studio, enabling creators to be more dynamic and flexible in this growing age of voice assistants and audio-driven media.

Jul 01, 202020 min

Making Ideas Real - Microsoft Garage Director Mike Pell

Embrace curiosity and overcome risk with Mike Pell, a one-man creative agency for designing, coding and shipping breakthrough software. Mike leads Design for The Microsoft Garage, the company’s worldwide program for experimental projects and curiosity-fueled explorations. He is the co-inventor of Adobe Acrobat, has been awarded several U.S. patents for work at Microsoft and designed and developed MenuFonts (for the original Macintosh in 1984).

Jun 30, 202016 min

Virtual Studios - Live CGI Founders Amanda and Marc Rowley

A broadcast-quality studio created remotely in a matter of days, capable of streaming live content across TV, mobile, AR, VR with almost zero latency. The future of content, education, podcasting and professionalizing your business content.

Jun 26, 202026 min

DTC and Finding the Misfits - The Clorox Company VP/GM Jackson Jeyanayagam

Can large companies and traditional industries go Direct-to-Consumers (DTC)? Learn from the best as 2020 VentureFuel Visionary Jackson Jeyanayagam, VP/GM of DTC at The Clorox Company, shares his recipe for innovating within large companies. He describes how he created a playbook for how to modernize brands and to scale them across traditional organizations.

Jun 16, 202028 min

Sonic Branding to Priceless Experiences - Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar

"Advertising is dead," so says 2020 VentureFuel Visionary Raja Rajamannar, the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President of Healthcare Business for Mastercard. He shares why the greatest advancements in his 35-year career are from collaborations with startups and how you can build an innovation culture.

Jun 09, 202030 min