Advertise on podcast: Luminate with Lan Anh Vu

Today’s guest is Eric Becker. Eric is the founder and co-chairman at Cresset, an award-winning multi-family office with more than $250 billion in assets under management and advisement. Prior to launching Cresset, Eric co-founded Sterling Partners, a value-added, growth private equity firm that raised eight funds with over $5.7 billion of capital. Eric is the bestselling author of The Long Game, an acclaimed work that empowers entrepreneurs to lead with vision, think beyond the short term, and create enduring impact, and the host of The Long Game Podcast, where he sits down with founders, CEOs, investors, and multigenerational leaders to explore the decisions, discipline, and long-term thinking required to build companies that last. In this episode, we discuss Cresset’s origin story, the lessons Eric has learned from decades of investing. Eric also explains the main characteristics of successful and enduring companies.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Steve Blank, an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. Steve is widely regarded as the father of modern entrepreneurship. Prior to academia, Steve’s career spanned eight different startups.   Credited with launching the Lean Startup movement and the curriculums for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and Hacking for Defense and Diplomacy, he’s changed how startups are built; how entrepreneurship is taught; how science is commercialized, and how companies and the government innovate.   Steve is also the renowned author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany and The Startup Owner’s Manual.  Steve blogs at www.steveblank.com.   In this episode, we dive into: -       How Steve made his way into the world of startups and Silicon Valley and how that led to his creation of “The Lean Startup Movement” -       The differences between large corporations and startups -       How founders can transition to CEOs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Jessica Rolph, cofounder and CEO of Lovevery, a subscription brand that sells early-childhood development play kits and solutions. To date, Jessica has raised over $132 million for Lovevery from top-tier investors, including, TCG, Google Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Lovevery has 350,000+ active subscribers. It has been named one of Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies" and has been recognized on TIME's list of "Best Inventions". Prior to Lovevery, Jessica was the cofounder and COO of Happy Family, helping to launch, build and lead Happy Family to its position as a top organic baby and toddler brand in the US. Happy Family was acquired by Group Danone in 2013 for about $300 million. Jessica also co-founded the Climate Collaborative , a non-profit organization helping companies in the natural products industry take meaningful steps to reverse climate change. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow and was awarded the Park Leadership Fellowship.  In this episode, we dive into: Jessica opens up about how she never thought of herself as an idea person when it came to starting a business How she found purpose in life and how she discovered a market for Happy Family and Lovevery How to find product market fit Why ugly prototypes are the way to go Exiting to Danone and dreaming about Lovevery Her fundraising experience and how she deals with rejection Delegation versus what to control as a leader Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Brian Lee, a rock-star serial entrepreneur. Brian has cofounded several companies worth over a billion dollars each, such as Legalzoom with Robert Shapiro, The Honest Company with Jessica Alba, ShoeDazzle with Kim Kardashian and Arena Club with baseball legend Derek Jeter. Brian is also the cofounder and managing partner of BAM Ventures, an early-stage VC firm. Brian wrote the first investment check into Honey, which went on to sell to PayPal for $4B. Brian was formerly an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP.  Brian graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Economics and Business from UCLA. He received his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. He was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. In this episode, we dive into: The incredible stories of how LegalZoom, ShoeDazzle, The Honest Company and Arena Club came to fruition. The secret sauce behind celebrity partnerships How Brian made his transition into VC venture capital The types of founders that VCs want to invest in Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Magnus Grimeland, founder and CEO of Antler, one of the world’s largest day zero investor. Antler’s pre-seed strategy canvasses 27 countries, more than 1000+ portfolio companies, 8,000+ founders, and over 100,000 annual applications. Magnus previously co-founded Zalora, Southeast Asia’s largest fashion e-commerce company. It was later acquired by Global Fashion Group (GFG), where Magnus served as COO and Managing Director, rolling out the firm’s marketplace across 26 countries.  Magnus is an alumnus of Harvard University and McKinsey & Company, where he worked for six years. His last role at McKinsey & Co was as a Junior Partner, working across North America, Europe, and Asia in the global telecom, media, and high-tech industries. In this episode, we dive into: Magnus’s journey from growing up in a farm countryside in Norway to building a global startup platform. What Magnus has learned reviewing thousands of applications to Antler The importance of finding founders with drive, spike, and grit The process for building the infrastructure for founders to solve important problems in the world What it feels like to find product-market fit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Emily Hikade, founder and CEO of the luxury sleepwear brand Petite Plume. Emily launched Petite Plume in 2015 and it has been profitable since its first year. The company has also doubled its revenue every year since launch, and it has reached almost $100 million in revenue. Petite Plume pajamas are coveted by the Royal Family, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anderson Cooper, Miranda Kerr, and Kourtney Kardashian, just to name a few.   Prior to founding Petite Plume, Emily worked for the CIA as an operations officer in the Clandestine Service for nearly two decades. In this episode, we dive into: Emily’s experience working in the CIA What it was like to make such a major career pivot Where her idea for Petite Plume came from The art of failing forward How she builds a high performing team How she’s able to sustain and grow the business without raising external capital Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is Emmanuel Straschnov, founder and co-CEO of Bubble, a platform that empowers users to create powerful web apps without writing code. To date, Emmanuel has raised over $106 million for the company from the likes of Insight Partners, SignalFire, and Box Group, to name a few. In this episode, we dive into: How Emmanuel started Bubble with Josh What makes a great cofounder relationship The early days of Bubble Why it took Emmanuel 5 years to hire the first employee How Emmanuel bootstrapped for 7 years What has been the single biggest lesson Emmanuel has learned when it comes to fundraising? How to price a product/service Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Larry Gadea, founder and CEO of Envoy. Envoy is a workplace platform that helps companies welcome visitors, keep employees safe, book desks and conference rooms, and manage deliveries in over 16,000 locations around the globe. To date, Larry has raised over $170 million for Envoy from a16z, Menlo Ventures, Brookfield Growth, Marc Benioff, Elad Gil to name a few. Prior to Envoy, Larry started his career as a software engineer at 17, having been recruited by Google out of high school. He later joined X (formerly Twitter) as one of the early people driving its ability to scale. In today’s episode, we talk about Larry experiences at Google and Twitter and to better understand what pain points Envoy was trying to solve. We also talk about Larry on leadership lessons scaling Envoy to a billion-dollar company, what it takes to manage the board effectively, and so much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is Daniel Goleman, one of the world’s leading experts on the science of emotion. Daniel is the author of Emotional Intelligence, a blockbuster book that sold more than 5 million copies in about 40 languages.  Apart from his writing on emotional intelligence, Daniel has written books on topics including self-deception, creativity, transparency, meditation, social and emotional learning, eco-literacy and the ecological crisis. His latest book, Optimal, shows why emotional intelligence can help each of us have rewarding and productive days. Ranked one of the 10 most influential business thinkers by the Wall Street Journal, Daniel’s articles in the Harvard Business Review are among the most frequently requested reprints. He has won many awards, including the HBR McKinsey Award for best article of the year. Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded him its Centennial Medallion. He started out by getting his PhD in clinical psychology at Harvard, and he then spent 12 years writing about brain research as a science reporter for the New York Times. In this episode, Lan Anh talks to Daniel about why emotional intelligence matters, how science demonstrates that emotional intelligence matters far more than IQ, how we can enhance and manage our emotions to expand our brain capacity, and gives actionable tips about how we can learn emotional intelligence.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Liz Elting, cofounder and former CEO of TransPerfect, the world’s largest language solutions company, with over $1.1 billion in revenue and offices in more than 100 cities worldwide. In 2018, Liz left TransPerfect after being there for 26 years and now she’s running Elizabeth Elting Foundation , which advances economic social and political equality for women and marginalized people.  Liz received the 2019 Charles Waldo Haskins Award for business and public service from NYU’s Stern School of Business, the American Heart Association’s 2020 Health Equity Leadership Award, the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs’ 2021 Vertex Award for changing the face and direction of women’s high-growth entrepreneurship, the American Heart Association’s 2022 Woman Changing the World Award, Trinity College’s 2022 Kathleen O’Connor Boelhouwer ’85 Alumni Initiative Award, and the Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation’s 2023 Angel of Hope Award. Liz has been recognized as a NOW Woman of Power & Influence, American Express' and Entrepreneur magazine's Woman of the Year, and one of Forbes’ Richest Self-Made Women every year since the list’s inception. Liz is also the bestselling author of “Dream Big and Win: Translating Passion into Purpose and Creating a Billion-Dollar Business”. In this episode, we discuss how Liz came up with the idea for TransPerfect, how she built and scaled a billion-dollar company without taking any outside funding. We also discuss the power of setting goals and taking action, and the role that partnerships play in your success.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Isabelle Freidheim, founder and managing partner of Athena Capital, a technology fund that focuses on bringing high-performing, mission-driven companies to the market. Isabelle is the youngest female chairman of a publicly traded company in the U.S. Under her leadership, Athena has raised more than $1.2 billion. Before founding Athena Capital, Isabelle co-founded and acted as CEO of Magnifi, the AI and machine-learning fintech company. Isabelle led Magnifi's early growth as one of the few female CEOs in the AI industry. Isabelle previously co-founded and managed The London Fund and was the first female venture partner at VC fund MissionOG. During this interview, Isabelle shares her personal and career journey, from VC to entrepreneur. We then discuss SPACs in-depth, how they work, why some companies would prefer to IPO through a SPAC rather than the traditional IPO process, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Doug Conant, an internationally respected business leader. Doug served as the President of Nabisco from 1999-2001, served a decade as President and CEO of The Campbell Soup Company and then spent three years as Chairman of Avon Products. In 2011 he founded ConantLeadership, a consulting company focused on championing leadership that works in the 21st century. Doug is the only former Fortune 500 CEO who is a New York Times bestselling author, a Top 50 Leadership Innovator, a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, and one of the 100 Most Influential Authors in the World. He’s also the author of The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights, and Touchpoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments.   During this interview, Doug shares some of his personal story and leadership philosophy. He also talks about some of his first 100 days as CEO of Campbell Soup, how he saved Campbell’s Soup from freefall, the importance of focusing on the workplace before the marketplace and so much more.  No matter where you may be positioned in your current work situation, the lessons Doug shares will bring your attention to how important a brilliant leader is for a business and how you can take concrete steps towards being one yourself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Hristo Borisov, cofounder and CEO at Payhawk, a financial system that combines credit cards, payments, expenses, and cash into one integrated experience. Hristo has raised over $236 million with Payhawk from Lightspeed Ventures, Greenoaks, QED investors, and many more. Today, Payhawk is valued at US$1 billion, making it the first Bulgarian startup to achieve Unicorn status. Prior to founding Payhawk, Hristo worked at Telerik as software engineer and a product manager. In this episode, we talk about his founding of Payhawk, the challenges he encountered as an entrepreneur, lessons learned from scaling Payhawk into 32 countries, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Hap Klopp, founder and former CEO of The North Face, one of the world's biggest apparel companies. Hap was CEO of The North Face for 20 years. During that time The North Face was honored with many awards for being the best managed company in its industry, including being lauded by Business Week Magazine for providing one of the highest quality products of any company in the United States.  Hap is also an author of two highly acclaimed books "Conquering The North Face" and “Almost”. We draw upon so much wisdom from Hap, especially around what it takes to build an iconic brand. Hap built a brand that has stood the test of time, and that brand has gone through all sorts of pivots and turns, but there’s a lot of fundamental lessons that Hap shares with us around core brand building, leadership that we can all take away and learn from. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is Gary Klein, a cognitive psychologist and one of the world’s leading experts on human decision making. He has spent the last 50 years studying how and why people make the decisions they do. He is the author of six books, including the popular Seeing What Others Don’t: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights; Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions. His latest book "Snapshots of the Mind " is available now. Gary pioneered the naturalistic decision-making movement and is the founder of ShadowBox Training, a cognitive skills training company. In this episode, we talk about how humans make decisions and how leaders can make better ones. We also talk about pre-mortem analysis, intuition, mental simulation, shadow box and so much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.