Village Global's Venture Stories

Michael Acton Smith, co-founder and co-CEO of Calm, joined Ben Casnocha, co-founder and partner of Village Global, at a special virtual masterclass for Village Global founders, Network Leaders, and friends of the firm. They discussed:- How Michael got into meditation, his personal practice, and meditating together as a company.- The story of the early days of Calm, including their fundraising journey and how they acquired their first users.- How to maintain confidence when everyone thinks what you’re doing is crazy, and how a great co-founder can help you.- Why business is like surfing and how to balance the tension of pursuing a huge market with remaining focused on a specific use case.- How to build a mentally healthy team.- What he would have done differently if he was doing everything over again.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Mindaugas Petrutis, head of the On Deck Design Fellowship, and Jeff Anders (Hilnbrand) (@jeffand_), Co-Founder of Ambrook, join Erik on this episode. They discuss:- The On Deck Design Fellowship.- The five I’s of design.- How to think about the forks in the road you’ll face as a designer.- Whether to move into management or continue as an individual contributor.- What you will get out of the ODD Fellowship.- How to think about transitioning to a specific vertical as a designer.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Hikari Senju (@hisenju), founder of Omneky, joins Erik on this episode.They discuss:- The state of online advertising today.- Why Hikari started Omneky, how it works, and how it’s helping small businesses.- Advances in AI and computer vision and how they’re impacting advertising.- What it means when he says the cost of attention is getting to be higher than the cost of content.- How antitrust is changing the marketplace for online ads.- Opportunities for investors in the space.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Peer Richelsen (@peer_rich), founder of Lean Hire and Head of Product at On Deck, and Andreas Klinger (@andreasklinger), CTO at On Deck, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- Why global hiring is broken.- How companies should get started with contract-to-hire and common challenges they may face.- The background of Lean Hire.- What needs to happen for this to become a norm for companies.- The problems with the existing hiring process.- Why you need to remember that the “people you hire will hire the next people” at your company.- Where On Deck is going in the future.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Yasmin Razavi (@yasminrazavi), GP at Spark Growth, joins Erik on this episode. It was recorded as part of an On Deck Angels event. At this fireside chat they discussed:- Her thesis on the payroll space and what gets her excited about a deal.- The history of the lending and payments spaces and where each is headed in the future.- How she sees the low-code space.- Her investing framework and thoughts on margins.- Advice on go-to-market for later-stage companies.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Phin Barnes (@phineasb), venture capitalist, most recently at First Round, joins Erik on this episode which was recorded as part of an On Deck Angels event.They discuss:- Why he thinks of an investment as a product.- Advice for founders working with investors.- The reasons he has changed his mind after a meeting with an entrepreneur.- How to ask better questions.- Why he loves “seeing something in someone they don’t see in themselves” and amplifying their success.- Why making more smaller investments is the best way to get better as an investor.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Marc McCabe (@mccabe), partner at Oyster Capital, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- What people get wrong when they’re preparing to fundraise.- The importance of stress-testing a deck, and how to do it.- The right investor to pitch first, and the right time to follow-up.- Whether to give a VC a deadline or not.- Common mistakes people make when fundraising and how to avoid them.- Lessons from his time at Airbnb.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Increasing Scientific Progress and Improving Institutions with Alexey GuzeyAlexey Guzey (@alexeyguzey), independent researcher, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- His thoughts on how to make scientific institutions work better.- What people get wrong most often when analyzing institutions.- How he would change the FDA and academia.- Why people under appreciate scientific progress.- Where he agrees or disagrees with Tyler Cowen, Peter Thiel, Patrick Collison, and - What he thinks about Effective Altruism.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Shellye Archambeau (@ShelArchambeau), one of tech’s first black female CEOs and author of Unapologetically Ambitious, joins Village Global co-founder and partner Anne Dwane for this masterclass held in December 2020. They discuss:- How to decide what you want in life and your career.- Why she makes choices but never sacrifices, and what the difference is.- How to adopt a mentor.- How to overcome impostor syndrome.- Diversity and inclusion in your startup.- How to know whether taking a risk makes sense.- Why startups shouldn’t fall in love with their product.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Paul Martino (@ahpah), co-founder of Bullpen Capital, joins Village Global co-founder and partner Anne Dwane on this episode.They discuss:- Stories from his entrepreneurial journey.- Advice for founders navigating the pandemic.- How the venture ecosystem today differs from ten years ago.- What characterizes the post-seed phase.- Why they look for companies that are “off by one.”- Their approach to data.- His tips on hiring.- Advice for emerging fund managers.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Vidya Peters (@vidya_peters), Chief Marketing Officer at Marqeta, joins Erik and co-host Yasmin Razavi (@YasminRazavi), GP at Spark Capital, on this episode. They discuss:- What accounts-based marketing is and why it’s important.- How marketing works at Marqeta.- Building a demand-gen team.- Getting started with content marketing.- The importance of events.- How to measure the effectiveness of your marketing.- How marketing tactics change when working in a developer-focused company.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Amira Yahyaoui (@Mira404) of Mos and Deena Shakir (@deenashakir), partner at Lux Capital, join Erik on this episode to discuss:- Amira’s part in the revolution in Tunisia.- How she ended up in tech.- Why she wanted to solve this issue.- Lux’s thesis in this area.- The gap she saw and how Mos will fill it.- How COVID has impacted higher education.- Her thoughts on governance and technology.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Siadhal Magos (@smagos), co-founder of Metaview, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- What Metaview can offer and what inspired him and his co-founder to start it.- Insights from how teams grew at Uber and Palantir.- The rich data and insights that can be drawn from conversations.- The hiring lessons to impart to founders.- Best practices for startups hiring.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Greg Isenberg (@gregisenberg) of Late Checkout, and Justin Murphy (@jmrphy), social scientist and philosopher, join Erik on this episode to discuss:- How society got to a place where it lost its collective sense-making abilities.- Why calibrating what is real is harder than ever.- Signs that your community is working and what makes it flourish.- Techniques to build your communities.- Identity and how it interacts with your community.- Communities based around people.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

Laís de Oliveira (@isolive), author of Hacking Communities, joins Erik on this episode to discuss:- The “why now” for her book.- Why we are more connected than ever but still lonelier than ever.- How to be a good storyteller and why vulnerability is important.- The tension between building a community for a business versus for the community’s own sake.- How to think about monetizing a community.- How to grow a community.- What community-building looks like in the COVID era.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup