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 everyone, but is rarely at the top of the list when Silicon Valley entrepreneurs look for businesses to transform.  Victor explains why and much more.

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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 transforming the way we view the world online and beyond. 

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.

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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. 

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 there, successful Canadian companies, and more.  Also discussed are the impacts of changing immigration dynamics on tech talent in Canada.

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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 changing the way we view the world online and beyond.

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.  

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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?

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.... Clearly there will be people who hate this book — which is probably one of the things that makes it such a great read.”

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 supporter and Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel.

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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 word online...and beyond.

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 and -- for a Silicon Valley podcast -- has positive things to say about Microsoft! (Take that, TWIT).

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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!

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!

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

In part 2, Kent Lindstrom continues his talk with Jonathan Abrams -- founder of Friendster, Nuzzel, Founders Den (with a few others), as well as Socializr and Hotlinks.  He is on the board of Girls in Tech.  In this continued conversation, some of the evils of VC firms are discussed.  Also discussed are sexism in Silicon Valley (a serious topic) and TV shows, and Sci Fi books (not a serious topic).

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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.

Jonathan Abrams founded Friendster -- the first social network, whose patent on social networking is now owned by Facebook.  He also founded Hotlinks, Socializr, and Founders Den.  He is currently CEO of social news site Nuzzel, which he also founded.

Jonathan has also invested in many seed stage startups, and sits on the board of Girls in Tech.

Jonathan has a unique perspective on Silicon Valley -- and in this podcast, he shares it.

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In the Something Ventured podcast, Silicon Valley insider Kent Lindstrom explores the reality behind the Silicon Valley headlines, as he sit-down with the people who are shaping the way we view the world online...and beyond.

Part 2 with Ian McFarland -- technologist, author.  Currently of Pear Therapeutics, also founder of Neo Innovation.  We continue our wide-ranging discussion of everything from bitcoin to the "Series A crunch".

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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.

Ian McFarland literally wrote the book -- on the Tomcat server.  He is one of Silicon Valley's great technologists -- from Hotwired, through being an executive and Principal at Pivotal Labs, to his current role as Chairman of Neo Innovation.  We roam widely through topics including (what else?) housing in Silicon Valley, whether Bitcoin matters, and his first computer.

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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 viiew the world online -- and beyond.

Dan Carucci, M.D., Ph. D. has served in the US Navy -- as head of its malaria program. He has served as director of science for the Foundation for the National Institutes for Health.  He has also spent time with the Gates Foundation, and escorting billionaires around Africa to study various health initiatives.  As wealth is created in Silicon Valley, many turn to funding large scale global health projects (perhaps most notably, Bill Gates).  In this podcast we discuss the effectiveness -- and pitfalls -- of global health programs, and their billionaire funders.

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

Neil Cohen -- CMO and lecturer and San Francisco State University continues the conversation about how -- and how not -- to optimize a career in Silicon Valley.

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

Charlie Recksieck is an entrepreneur, engineer and musician.  His band is "Leaders in the Clubhouse".

Discussed in this episode are the (many) impacts technology has had on music.  From 8-track tapes to Napster.  The episode begins with a brief explanation of Napster and Mark Zuckerberg's brief foray into peer-peer music, before....Facebook.

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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.

Internet exec and  San Francisco State professor Neil Cohen talks marketing.  Often misunderstood in Silicon Valley, the marketing role is a key one for almost any successful company of any size.  Also in this episode -- Neil and Kent poke fun at some Silicon  Valley marketing fails -- and those billboards on the 101.

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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.