Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast

Jim Scheinman, founder of Maven Ventures, has built Maven and achieved successful exits and investments such as Chariot, Cruise and Zoom.us.

Immediately prior to founding Maven Ventures, Jim was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Charles River Ventures (CRV), a leading venture firm where he helped source, vet, and advise their consumer portfolio companies.

Jim had an early seat at the emergence of social networking, first as an executive at Friendster, and then as an executive at Bebo (which was founded by Michael and Xochi Birch).  

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In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley Insider Kent Lindstrom goes behind the scenes, as he sits down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online....and beyond.

 

Direct download: jim_scheinman_84_FULL_episode.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:13pm EDT

The second part of my conversation with Jim Scheinman ---  

Jim has been an entrepreneur and startup executive.  He is also the founder of Maven Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's seed investment firms, which counts among its investments Cruise (acquired by GM for over $1 billion), Chariot (acquired by Ford) and Zoom (which has raised over $100 million from firms including Sequoia Capital).

Jim discusses a variety of topics, including the state of entrepreneurship, the nearly billion dollar exit of Bebo to AOL, and the implications of self-driving technology (both as an investment and for society).

 

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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 world online and beyond.

Direct download: 83_jim_scheinman_2_of_2_to_upload.m4a
Category:Technology -- posted at: 6:17pm EDT

Jim Scheinman has been an entrepreneur and startup executive.  He is also the founder of Maven Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's seed investment firms, which counts among its investments Cruise (acquired by GM for over $1 billion), Chariot (acquired by Ford) and Zoom (which has raised over $100 million from firms including Sequoia Capital).

Jim discusses a variety of topics, including the state of entrepreneurship, the nearly billion dollar exit of Bebo to AOL, and the implications of self-driving technology (both as an investment and for society).

 

---

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 world online and beyond.

Direct download: 82_Jim_Scheinman_1_of_2.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 4:01pm EDT

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 blog post about harassment at Uber.  The groundwork laid by these two may have contributed to the flood of revelations that made 2017 so extraordinary.

Uber, 500 Startups, Ignition, Binary Capital and more -- they are all here.  Along with 2 stories to wind up the podcast of 2 of the most ridiculous public utterances we heard in 2017.

 

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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.

Direct download: 81_sexual_harrassment_2017_tick_tock_--_edited.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:50pm EDT

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.

 

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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.

Direct download: 80_Neil_Cohen_2018_2_of_2.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 9:22pm EDT

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.

 

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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.

Direct download: 79_Neil_Cohen_Internet_Bubbles.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 2:35pm EDT

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.

Direct download: 78_stutz_hacking_media_2_of_2.m4a
Category:Technology -- posted at: 2:23pm EDT

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.

 

Direct download: 77_stutz_hacking_media_1_of_2.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 7:12pm EDT

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.  

Direct download: 76_Jonathan_Abrams_2_of_2.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 2:30pm EDT

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 industry.  Recently the Gimlet podcast "Startup" did two episodes about Friendster.  In THIS podcast, Jonathan talks about what they got right, wrong -- and what they missed.

Direct download: 75_Jonathan_abrams_1_of_2.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:18pm EDT