Product Hunt Radio

Charles Hudson is founder of Precursor Ventures and a partner at SoftTech VC. This episode is about startup investing We talk about what makes a great investor, how Charles evaluates founders, how he raised a fund, advice to aspiring investors and more. We also talk about his past experiences at the CIA, Google, diversity in tech, the events business, and much more. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @chudson Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Jason is the founder and CEO of Basecamp. In this episode we talk about building a company that lasts 40 years, what it’s like to build a remote team, how he thinks of the professional year in terms of seasons, daily rituals, and how he defines success. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @Jasonfried Constructive Criticism to @ErikTorenberg

Sierra DeMulder is a renowned spoken word poet who’s just released her third book, Today Means Amen. In this episode we talk about what it means to be a poet today, how a poet makes a living, the craft of writing, editing, performing, and then themes in her work, which include relationships, mental health, shame, humor, and much more. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @Sierrademulder Constructive Criticism to @Eriktorenberg

This week's episode is with Justin Boreta of the Glitchmob, an electronic music group from LA, and the team that helped him make the app Hyperspektiv We talk about what inspired him to make the app in the first place, how he balances art and business, how he defines and measures success, the impact meditation has had on him, and much more. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @boreta Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

We're trying something new. We asked the Product Hunt community on Anchor, a new platform for bite-sized audio conversations, "what's the first thing you built?" Here are some of the answers. Enjoy. :) P.S. Check out Anchor. It's fun. https://www.producthunt.com/tech/anchor-4

This week’s episode is with Auren Hoffman. Auren is a prolific entrepreneur and investor, having started and sold Live Ramp and invested in Thumbtack, Brightroll and many more. In this episode we get into a lot - the concept of who you know vs what you know, preserving optionality regarding career, competing with computers, the future of college, how to pick life partner, how to hire good people, how to give valuable feedback, navigating acquisitions, and much more. Auren is a fascinating thinker and has a lot to say. if you like what you hear tweet @auren to let him know, and do read his fantastic answers on Quora.

Mitch Kapor is a successful entrepreneur, perhaps best known for founding Lotus, and investor, having founded Kapor Capital which focuses on tech startups that have strong social impact This episode we talk about Mitch's come up story, the world of impact investing and how Kapor measures impact, the ed-tech space, the role of government in tech and much more. This interview was recorded last year at the Launch Festival. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @mkapor Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

G-Eazy is a rapper from Oakland California. In this (short) episode we talk about his interest in tech, the intersection of tech and music, community building, brand building and much more. This interview took place last year as a part of the Launch Festival. Edited by @Alexkontis Lavish Praise to @G_Eazy Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Brad is the founder of General Assembly and now Common, which aims to do to co-living what WeWork has done for co-working. In this episode, we talk about his come-up story, lessons learned from General Assembly, what the real estate industry is like especially as it applies to tech, why he prefers being an operator to an investor, and much more.

This week’s episode is with Sam Lessin. Sam is partner at slow ventures and founder of Fin, which aims to eclipse Siri by building something like the technology from the movie "Her". Sam has made a name for himself both as an operator and investor, having started and sold Drop to Facebook and invested in companies such as Venmo, Birchbox, and Makerbot. In this episode we discuss his philosophy behind angel investing, product management, his college friendship and connection with Mark Zuckerberg, and why, if he was to give a controversial TED Talk right now, it would be about the end of capitalism. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @lessin Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Terry Gross has been hosting Fresh Air on NPR for over 40 years. She's done over 13,000 interviews, and is, in many people's opinion, the best interviewer alive. We talk about how Terry got her start, how she met her husband, her experience in therapy, the craft of interviewing, and much more. As a student of the craft, it was an absolute honor to have Terry on the podcast. If you like this epiode, tweet @NPRfreshair and let them know. If you haven’t listened to Fresh Air, I recommend starting with the interviews of Maurice Sendack, Louis CK, Marc Maron, or any other guests that interest you. Edited by Jenna Weiss Berman Lavish Praise (& Money) to @NPRFreshair Constructive Criticism to @erikorenberg

This week’s episode is with Danielle Morill, co-founder and CEO of Mattermark. We dive into her Mattermark story — company building, fund-raising, scaling, etc -- and then we get into her own personal story — what it’s like to start a company with her husband, her personal/professional rituals, her intellectual heroes (Ayn Rand being one of them), and much more. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @DanielleMorrill Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Ramit Sethi is the author and founder of IWT (Iwillteachyoutoberich.com) and GrowthLab (growthlab.com). Ramit applies behavioral psychology to help others lead a rich life, not only rich in finance but also in health, fitness, relationships, career & more. In this episode Ramit shares his come up story, how he’s built and scaled his business over time, how he changed his psychique, how he measures success, how being an immigrant shaped his perspective, his philosophy behind teaching, accountability. and much more.

Bryan Johnson is the founder of Braintree and the OS fund, which invests in science and tech startups aiming to radically improve peoples quality of life. This episode we talk about the Braintree story, advice for entrepreneurs, how he grew up Mormon and then changed his belief system, becoming a father, the future of education, medecine, technology and more. Brian is both a fascinating thinker & a proven entrepreneur, and it was a pleasure having a very candid conversation with him about his life and where the world is headed. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @Bryan_johnson Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Jeff Raider is the co-founder of Warby Parker and Harry's. This episode goes deep in the weeds of building a company and building a brand . We talk about Jeff’s journey building 100 year brands at Warby Parker & Harry’s, mistakes and lessons learned from building and scaling those companies, his philosophy on hiring and firing, and much more. Edited by @AlexKontis Lavish Praise to @JeffreyRaider Constructive Criticism to @Eriktorenberg

Josh is an entrepreneur, investor, and founder of First Round Capital. We talk about his come up story, starting half.com and selling it to ebay, how he started First Round, how he learned how to invest, advice to entrepreneurs, and much more. For anyone looking to learn how to invest, Josh is one of the best in the game and drops a bunch of gems in this episode.

Sarah Tavel is a partner at Greylock, previously ran product at Pinterest, and is one of my favorite investors in the Valley. We talk about her story at Pinterest - why she joined, how it scaled, and how she transitioned from PM to VC. She shares career advice talk about career advice — when to join a company, when to move on, and how to identify a rocket ship. And then we discuss investing and how to get good at it. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @sarahtavel Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Patrick Collison, cofounder of Stripe, is one of the most impressive and interesting CEOs in tech today. We delve into Patrick's story - how he came from Ireland, pursued Stripe while on leave from College, and then built and and scaled his company internationally. Patrick shares advice for entrepreneurs, thoughts on education, immigration, and a whole host of other topics. If you enjoyed the Tyler Cowen or Ezra Klein episode, you’ll also enjoy this one. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @patrickc Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Ezra is a journalist and founder of one of the most interesting media platforms today, Vox. In this second episode with Ezra Klein, we discuss politics: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Obama's legacy. We talk entertainment: highbrow vs lowbrow, and then I ask him a set of broad questions--namely where he differs intellectually from thinkers like Peter Thiel, Tyler Cowen, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and more. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @ezraklein Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

Ezra Klein is a journalist and founder of one of the most interesting media platforms today, Vox. Our talk was so good I had to break it down into two episodes. In this first episode, we cover Ezra’s start in journalism, how he transitioned from journalist to manager, and then we get into the future of news media platforms and what it will mean to be a journalist in 2020. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @ezraklein Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg