iinnovate

John Morgridge is a Silicon Valley legend who led Cisco Systems through its rise from start-up to networking technology giant. MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Add to del.icio.us John Morgridge was the 34th employee at Cisco Systems when he joined as President and CEO in 1988. Morgridge joined the company despite its notoriously toxic culture and revenue of only $5 million annually. By the time Morgridge concluded his tenure as CEO in 1995, he had grown sales to over $1 billion and 2,250 employees worldwide. Morgridge transitioned to Chairman of the Board when John Chambers became CEO. During his term as Chairman, Cisco continued its meteoric rise to become the world leader in networking technology and grew to more than $25 billion in revenues and some 50,000 employees in 77 countries as of 2006. For a brief period in early 2000, at the height of the Internet bubble, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market cap of $500 billion. Morgridge discusses his experiences and lessons learned at Cisco with Min Liu and Nir Eyal during this episode. He shares how he was able to pick the tiny start-up that would became Cisco and discusses the difficulty of having to ask the original founders of the company to step aside. He also discusses the personal sacrifices that he believes an executive must make to succeed. Enjoy the interview and let us know what you think! - Min Liu and Nir Eyal

Greg McAdoo focuses on consumer internet, cleantech and systems investments as a partner at Sequoia Capital. MP3 File Subscribe via iTunes Add to del.icio.us In this interview, Greg speaks with Nir about what it takes to get noticed by a top-tier venture capital firm. Greg himself worked extensively with VCs before actually becoming one after 17 years of engineering and executive level management experience. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 2000, Greg served as President and CEO of Sentient Networks which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1999. Greg shares how entrepreneurs can increase their chances of closing a funding round with the right VC firm. He also discusses his involvement in Sequoia’s cleantech practice and shares his top picks for the next growth sectors. Greg has led several high-profile investments while at Sequoia including Allegro, which was acquired by Cisco Systems, Isilon Systems, which had its IPO in December, Loopt, PowerFile and RockYou. Thanks for listening! - Nir

Martin Eberhard is the Co-founder and President of Technology at Tesla Motors. Before Tesla, he was the Co-founder of Network Computing Devices and the CEO of NuvoMedia. MP3 File Subscribe via iTunes Add to del.icio.us "What keeps me up at night is the complexity of the problem," Martin reflects upon engineering the Tesla Roadster. After founding various successful startups in the computer and internet space, Martin took a departure and co-founded Tesla Motors with Marc Tarpenning. With a passion for cars going back to his childhood, his goal is to create a sleek, high-performance all-electric vehicle. The highly anticipated Tesla Roadster will go from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds, drive 245mph on one charge, and will be powered by the equivalent of laptop batteries. Owners in the first shipment include Matt Damon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and of course, Martin himself. We catch up with Martin at the Tesla Motors headquarters in San Carlos, CA. In this interview, check out what Martin has to say about creating a startup car company, his reflections on risk taking, and the engineering and market challenges in the electric car milieu. Check out the Roadster! A Roadster prototype at the San Carlos headquarters. Thanks to Roger Gill for contributing to this podcast. Correction in the video: the Roadster drives 245 miles per charge. Top speed is 125mph. - Min Liu and Nir Eyal

Vinod Khosla is the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, formerly a partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, and partner at Khosla Ventures. MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Add to del.icio.us In this interview Matt and Julio caught up with legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur and “venture assistant” Vinod Khosla. Vinod was a co-founder of Sun Microsystems along with Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Bill Joy. After leaving Sun, Vinod made the shift to Sand Hill Road as a venture capitalist at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers until forming his own firm, Khosla Ventures, in 2004. Today, Vinod is well-known for his investments in clean technology. Join us in this interview as Vinod shares early stories from Sun, his views on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, and his outlook on clean tech investing. Check out the video of the full interview below: Thanks for listening! - Julio and Matt.

Thomas Keller is widely regarded as one of America's finest chefs, and his restaurants French Laundry and Per Se have been named the best restaurants in America. MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Add to del.icio.us Interviewing Thomas Keller at the French Laundry in Yountville was a rare treat for two food fanatics like ourselves, and the great surprise that Chef de Cuisine Corey Lee whipped up for us in the kitchen post-interview was the icing on the cake. Food allusions aside, we hope you enjoy this superb interview with Thomas. In our conversation we talked about his entrepreneurial success, how he picks new members for his team, expanding his personal brand, and, of course, food. Check out this video of Thomas talking about the secret of success behind French Laundry as well as how to select a great team: And as a special bonus here's a video of Chef de Cuisine Corey Lee in the kitchen talking about his involvement with French Laundry. Click to hear what Corey's answer to "if you were any food, what would you be?" - Owen and Julio

Matthew and Jessica Flannery are founders of Kiva.org, what the New York Times calls "D.I.Y. foreign aid" MP3 File Subscribe via iTunes Add to del.icio.us Great things are afoot at Kiva, featured today on Oprah alongside Bill Clinton. Kiva is a person-to-person microcredit lending platform which allows any individual in the world to be a banker to the poor: it does this by connecting the working poor with microloans from anyone in the world. Kiva straddles innovative intersections, and does it well. By combining philanthropic motivations with the marketplace, Kiva is entrepreneurial, rigorous, capitalistic, and charitable all at once. iinnovate caught up with Matt and Jessica Flannery for an insightful chat on how it all started, the experience of starting an endeavor as a husband-wife team, as well as Kiva's challenges, successes, and future directions. - Nir Eyal and Min Li Chan

Marissa Mayer is a key figure at Google and has much influence in the design, development, and usability of Google products we use every day, such as search and Gmail. MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Add to del.icio.us When we asked what she thinks about each morning, Marissa said, "I think about the people here [at Google] and how great they are... The people here inspire me to such a level." Marissa plays a pivotal role in the development and launch of key Google products and serves as a key advisor to many of Google's new talents. As the 20th hire (and the first female hire), she has and continues to set deep footprints in products such as Gmail and Google Desktop. Her demonstrated passion for consumer products and her engagement with the people she works with have made her one of the most influential figures in Silicon Valley. She has been written about in multiple publications, including Newsweek, Fortune, and Fast Company. In this interview, Marissa talks about Google's vision for search, ads, and apps, and personal experiences and lessons. Also find out how she identifies a great product during her "office hours", which Google application spawned AdSense (a core multi-billion dollar business), and which San Francisco bakery she co-owns. Many thanks to the Googlers who contributed to this interview. - Min Liu and Julio

Tim Ferriss is the author of "The Four Hour Work Week" MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Add to del.icio.us Timothy Ferriss recommends you check email only once per week, don't read the newspaper and don’t save for retirement. These are only a few of the taboo recommendations found in Tim’s book, “The 4-Hour Work Week.” It would be easy to dismiss Tim’s advice as lunacy if it weren’t for his impressive list of achievements. Tim used his time-saving technique to learn six languages, become a National Chinese kickboxing champion, and a Guinness World Record holder in tango, all at 29. Tim now adds author of the #1 business book in America according to the Wall Street Journal to his long list of accomplishments. Tim candidly discusses the contents of his book, his life philosophy and how he propelled his book to #1 using blog marketing. Tim's ability to use technology to do more with less time and money is impressive and fresh. - Nir

Tom Arnold is the Chief Environmental Officer of Terrapass, an environmental company that provides carbon offsetting solutions for individuals. MP3 File | Subscribe via iTunes | Add to del.icio.us "Terrapass is the $50 bumper sticker," says Tom. In a period when climate change could not be more critical, Terrapass provides a way for individuals to offset their car, flight, or home carbon emissions -- and to show it on a decal and bumper sticker. In this interview, Tom provides some interesting insight into the company, the carbon credit business, and the climate change milieu. This past March, Terrapass became the official gift to the Academy Awards' performers and presenters, all 100,000 lbs of CO2 reductions for every Hollywood star. In addition to some Hollywood glitter, this is a sign that doing environmental good -- and showing it -- is the new chic. Many thanks to Himanshu Agarwal and Ashish Chordia for coordinating the interview and Min Li Chan and Galen Panger for the contributions. Stay tuned for more interesting interviews, including a whirlwind tour of Napa, California (featuring Thomas Keller of French Laundry), John Morgridge, and Vinod Khosla. - Min Liu