Wharton Tech Toks: Recent Episodes
Wharton Tech Toks
Wharton Tech Toks (WTT) creates a space for bold, forward-looking tech discussions that enlighten and inspire.
We feature executives, founders, investors, and professors from across the tech industry. We discuss interesting trends, analysis, strategies, and personal stories that are compelling to everyone from MBA students to senior executives. We want to dare to be bold, even if we’re wrong, to push our collective thinking
Employee acquisition, retention, and management are top-of-mind objectives across SMBs and enterprises alike. AI offers an opprotunity to dramatically improve companies' abilities to respond to employee needs and proactively drive better employee experiences--and Eightfold AI is at the forefront of this.
Join Manasi Patwa and Cynthia Zhou as they speak with Matias Spinetta, Global Vice President of Revenue Operations at Eightfold. If you were curious about drivers of go-to-market success and creative strategy in a fast-growing enterprise AI leader, this episode provides a deep-dive into this arena - along with an insightful discussion around what will define differentiated B2B AI companies in the long-term.
In this episode, Steph Kim chats with Oscar Höglund, Co-Founder and CEO of Epidemic Sound, the leading platform for world-class music and sound effects for brands and creators, with an expansive catalog seen and heard over 2.5 billion times a day worldwide. They discuss Epidemic Sound's innovative subscription-based model that simplifies music licensing and offers transparency and simplicity for both musicians and creators. Oscar opens up about his CEO role that has evolved from obsessing over ideas and product-market fit to focusing on scale. He emphasizes the importance of balancing paranoia and ambition in entrepreneurship.
Join Daniel Berkovits, the VP of Strategy of Via, to talk about how Via is digitizing the historically analog world of public transit to improve the experience of riders around the world.
For those interested in the intersection of tech and entertainment, join Steph Kim in this exciting one-hour episode as she dives into YouTube creator empowerment with Monica Khan (EVP, Creator Team) and Tyler L. Woods (Director Creator Experience Strategy & Programs) of Spotter, named one of TIME100's Most Influential Companies in 2023. In addition to providing top creators — from MrBeast to Airrack — with upfront capital, Spotter offers support through innovative AI tools, community, insights, and more. Monica and Tyler share their favorite creator success stories and offer advice for breaking into the industry.
Join Steph Kim as she chats with Camille Van Horne, Instacart's Director of Product Management, as they discuss the evolution and expansion of Instacart's services, including the launch of Instacart Platform. She shares insights on how Instacart is adapting to changing consumer behavior and the demand for convenience and personalization in grocery retail. They also discuss Instacart's approach to AI and the importance of long-term thinking and emotional intelligence in the product management role.
In this episode, we are joined by the VP and Head of Corporate Development at LinkedIn, Benjamin Orthlieb. We explore what corporate development entails at LinkedIn, build vs. buy decisions, and themes in the future of work that Ben is personally excited by.
In this episode, we're joined by Mike Collett, founder and managing partner of Promus Ventures, a VC firm focused on deep tech. We explore the evolving world of robotics, discussing everything from robotics-as-a-service to AI integration. Mike shares insights from his over two decades in venture capital on how robotics is transforming industries and impacting investors. Tune in to gain a unique perspective on where the technology is headed and how it's reshaping our world.
In today’s episode we are joined by Elisha Jacobs, Senior Associate at RedBlue Capital. Elisha helps unpack the complexities of venture capital within the mobility sector. Discover the future of transportation through investments in groundbreaking technologies and models that could redefine how we move goods and people around the globe. For anyone interested in the mobility sector, this episode serves as a great overview of the sector.
“We think about ways where we can combine human insight together with ML models that are able to think about the world around them and really expand the scope of what humans can do.”
In this episode, Emma is joined by Vijay Karunamurthy, Field CTO at Scale AI, a company at the heart of the AI revolution. This episode focuses on the integral processes of AI testing and evaluation, highlighting the importance of ethical frameworks in the development of AI.
Vijay shares examples from his work, illustrating the practical applications of these processes in ensuring AI technologies are both effective and responsible. A great listen for those interested in the intersection of AI, ethics, and practical applications!
"The biggest mistake we can make is saying space is only separate industry. Space crosses absolutely everything we do nowadays."
In this episode we are joined by Melissa Quinn, General Manager of Seradata, a Slingshot Aerospace company. We discuss the pivotal role of data in ensuring space safety, sustainability, and the vital collaboration across global space markets. Melissa also sheds light on the emerging challenges and opportunities within the space insurance sector, the integration of AI in space data management, and the pressing need for diverse talents in this rapidly evolving industry.
"Today it's become easier to build a product and harder to get distribution and awareness... think distribution much more than your product."
In this episode, Cynthia and Sophie interview Sean Regan, former Global Head of Product Marketing at Atlassian and serial entrepreneur, for a deep dive into the growth story of Atlassian and insights into how to 10x a product. Sean also provides valuable advice about career development and navigating the AI landscape, as well as his bets on the changes that this new wave of technological innovation is going to bring to the world.
In this episode, join Stephanie Kim as she chats with Laura (Gentile) Danforth, Director of Global Partnerships at Discord. They discuss the evolving role of developers in the Discord ecosystem, exciting new developer monetization opportunities, the integration of AI in Discord apps, and more. Laura also provides insights into her dynamic career that spans across roles in finance, product, strategy, and partnerships, and offers advice for those looking to break into the tech industry.
“During the highs of the 2020-2021 era, a lot of companies were encouraged to grow at any cost. We’ve always been much more oriented around trying to grow but making sure you are thinking about your profitability and building a sustainable business.”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to AJ Jangalapalli, Principal on the Discover team at Thoma Bravo. Listen in to learn more about Thoma Bravo’s investments in Mailgun and Greenphire, the recent tech market pullback, enterprise software industry and value creation initiatives.
“My two biggest competitors are the two wealthiest people on the planet. And capital is a giant tool and a giant weapon, especially in the space industry.”
In this episode Emma Robinson sits down with Peter Beck, the CEO of Rocket Lab, who shares how the company is facing off against the giants and the decision to go public. We also discuss Rocket Lab's unique approach to vertical integration, making it a one-stop-shop for building, launching, and even operating spacecraft.
This episode also offers a glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of competing in the space race, underscored by the reality that success hinges on avoiding that “one tiny error” that could lead to disaster. Learn about the passion, the pressure, and the precision needed to succeed in space, straight from the heart of one of its most ambitious players.
In this Valentine’s Day special, Zoë sits down with current Wharton students Annie Xu and Chloë Ahle. After hearing both friends and therapy clients discuss the challenges of dating, Annie used her experience in social work to start Pairfect. Chloë joined the team, using her experience as a logistics officer to support the development of the purpose-driven platform. Tune in to learn more about combining the scalability of technology with the personalization of a matchmaking service.
In the latest episode of Wharton Tech Toks, join Steph Kim as she speaks with Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera. They discuss the launch and reception of Coursera’s generative AI-powered Coach, his contrarian thoughts on the value of bite-sized content, his very first job, his advice on life itself, and more.
“We want clients to use our service in whatever way that’s best for you, your needs, your unique exposure to styling. In the longer term, we want to build a better way to shop that will change the retail paradigm and to become the blueprint for the industry to follow. ”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Cynthia Zhou on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Janiece Okpobiri, Director of Product and Growth at Stitch Fix. At Stitch Fix, Janiece focuses on client onboarding and loyalty. Prior to Stitch Fix, Janiece was a senior PM on the Customer and Loyalty team at Abercrombie & Fitch and also held roles at Hilton.
Listen in to learn more about Janiece’s product management philosophy, her perspective on how to build customer loyalty in retail, and her insights on how to build a successful career in product management.
In this episode, Leon Zhang and Steph Kim interview John Nack, Principal Product Manager at Adobe, about the future of AI in creative experiences. They discuss the use cases for generative AI across Adobe, AI ethics, and his vision on the future of AI. With over 20 years of experience in PM at Adobe and Google, John reflects on the role of PM and shares insights about his career journey.
"To maintain your position as a market leader in the tech space means that you have to constantly innovate...you can't rest on your laurels. So we have to constantly push the envelope in what we do in this space.
What we've been doing is really being a tech partner for educators and school systems... we have many educators in our app and many schools want that help. They want to understand what can they do with all these AI [tools] and it's changing every day... so [we're] pairing [up] with schools to help them deploy AI safely in the classroom and evolve their coursework, homework, and assessment... and we're very glad to be the partner in all this."
Join Sophie Wang for an interview with Dr. Minh Tran, Vice President of Operations at Goodnotes, as they delve into the transformative journey of this beloved note-taking app. Minh reveals how Goodnotes is turning its visionary ideas into reality, empowering students, professionals, and educators alike with innovative AI tools and a dedication to serving as a thought leader in the field. Minh also offers invaluable advice on navigating the entrepreneurial landscape, drawing from his own rich career path.
“It ends up being about: is this truly a venture investable business? You need to be in a massive market and have the ability to scale quickly…the company should grow with speed and accelerate.”
Join Manasi Patwa in her conversation with Arjun Arora, Founder and Managing Partner at Format One, where he advises transformational companies on their growth strategies through hands-on and impactful collaboration. Prior to starting FormatOne, Arjun was a Partner at 500 Startups, where he invested in technology companies at the pre-seed and seed stages.
In this interview, Manasi and Arjun discuss valuable tips for founders at the earliest stages of their journeys, common challenges faced by entrepreneurs and ways to address them, and what tech investors look for as differentiators of success.
"We don't always need an AI person [to] come up with a new transformer-like model, but we do need people who have a good intuition on understanding where these models do well and where these models can fail."
In this episode, Cynthia and Leon interviewed Dr. Kanu Gulati, partner at Khosla Ventures. Kanu started her career as a research scientist at Intel, was a founding engineer at a number of early start-ups, and has since been investing at the forefront of AI/ML applications, robotics and hardware acceleration. In this episode, we talked about how Khosla Ventures became one of the earliest backers of OpenAI, Kanu's investment thesis in AI and Robotics, and what traits she looks for in founders.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an investor, or just intrigued by the rapid advancements in AI, tune into this episode to learn more!
“On the sustainability side, [we’re] helping our members understand the benefits and positive impact they’re having… How much are they able to reduce their carbon footprint? How much waste is diverted from landfills by shopping from our platform?... Being able to present that information is critical to helping [customers] feel good about their membership and really helps provide value that goes beyond the boring utility of grocery shopping.”
This week, Leon and Zoë are joined by Sasha Siddhartha, the Co-Founder and CTO of Thrive Market, a membership-based market that makes high-quality, healthy, and sustainable products available for every budget, lifestyle, and geography. Prior to Thrive Market, Sasha began his career as an engineering leader at Microsoft before founding a venture-backed fashion technology company. In this episode, Sasha explains Thrive Market’s approach to building mission-driven, highly personalized, customer experiences. Tune in to learn how Thrive Market weaves their key values into every aspect of a scalable business model.
“It’s alot of reacting to the situation, but we don’t run these companies. I think that as a minority investor you have to have the mentality that you backed a set of entrepreneurs to do it, and you have to coach them and support them as best as you can, but you can’t run the company.”
In today’s episode, Cynthia and Zoë welcome Wharton alumni Charles Birnbaum to the podcast. After beginning his career on Wall Street, Charles moved into the venture capital space. As a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, he invests in early stage fintech, consumer and education companies including Alloy and Brightwheel. Listen in to learn more about Charles’s experience breaking into venture capital, major industry trends, and advice for investor-founder relationship management.
“Space Traffic Management is not just about avoiding collisions, it’s about ensuring the sustainability of space for future generations.”
In this podcast episode, Emma Robinson converses with Araz Feyzi, co-founder and CTO of Kahan Space. They discuss the critical issue of space traffic coordination, highlighting Kahan's pioneering Pathfinder platform for automated space traffic management. Feyzi delves into the challenges of avoiding orbital debris and satellite collisions, emphasizing the importance of data sharing and international cooperation in space sustainability.
The episode also explores Feyzi's journey from a non-space background to a key player in the industry, offering insights into the broader potential and challenges of the rapidly evolving space sector.
"When you go out to raise...you have to think about if you have a story to tell...think like an investor. Why are you the best person to solve this?"
Join Manasi Patwa and Cynthia Zhou as they chat with Vivien Ho, Partner at Pear VC (Wharton '21). Listen to dive into the world of early-stage investing, tips for founders and entrepreneurs, and insights on the tech sphere as it stands today.
Learn in this episode from Muhammad Shahzad, CFO of Relativity Space. With a valuation of over $4B, Relativity is one of the few companies positioned to challenge SpaceX.
"Our long-term goal, and as audacious as those sounds, is to create humanity's industrial base on Mars."
Emma Robinson and Shahzad delve into financial strategy and risk in a capital intensive industry with some of the longest time horizons, Relativity’s unique position, and his journey from Wharton to leading the financial helm of a groundbreaking space venture.
“We were the last ones in the market by years… and yet our investors have an unrealized IRR that is significantly better than anyone else’s”
Join Emma Robinson as she dives into conversation with Gabe Dominocielo, co-founder and president of Umbra Space. Discover how Umbra's innovative technology is reshaping our view from space, offering unprecedented clarity and detail. Learn about their unique business strategy that prioritizes quality and affordability, setting a new standard in the industry and democratizing access to earth imagery.
"To be a great investor, you need to be deeply curious...you need to be great at operating in ambiguity. Show your ability to drive to an outcome. And it's very important to have that empathy or EQ."
Join Manasi Patwa and Cynthia Zhou in a conversation with Meera Clark, Principal at Redpoint Ventures. Listen to learn about Meera's remarkable career journey in the investing world, her view on key drivers in the tech-enabled sustainability and wellness sectors, and advice to founders and investors hoping to make an impact.
“How do we use data more and more intelligently to be able to understand who do we market to, how do we market to them, [and] what’s the story that we tell each of them in a different way to be really relevant?”
This week, Leon and Zoë are joined by Jessica Gilmartin, Wharton alum and Chief Marketing Officer at Calendly. With experience across large companies and startups, Jessica is an expert in her field. In this episode, she discusses the critical questions her team at Calendly is asking and how data informs their decision making. Listen in to learn more about finding a balance between creativity and analytics while developing marketing strategies.
Ever wondered about the science behind your favorite tunesor podcasts?
John us as we talk to Marion Boeri, Associate Director, Thought Leadership Research at Spotify and Josh McDermott, Associate Professor at MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
Marion and Josh share insights on how audio shapes our experiences and emotions and how that relates to business strategy. Discover the intricate relationship between sound and human behavior in this compelling conversation.
“[Soon] we won't be talking about questions like, do you have to be an engineer or be super technically strong to have a meaningful impact in the space world?”
Join us in talking to the new CEO of Space Tango, Sita Sonty, for the first official episode of our series on the space industry. This series is geared towards proving space is a diverse industry not only for those with technical backgrounds. Sita's leap from diplomat to space industry CEO exemplifies that space innovation isn't just for engineers. Tune in for an enriching dialogue on navigating life's transitions with audacity and professional courage.
Plus, explore with us the exciting frontiers of on-orbit pharmaceuticals and the future of printing organs in zero-gravity. Listen in on this compelling conversation that's sure to elevate your view of what's possible in the final frontier.
"What I think is important in venture capital is to understand where the analogy is the same and where the analogy is different."
"[There is this] opportunity to use technology to help people have more authentic human interactions online ... to create novel forms of human interaction that try to connect people more closely."
Join Cynthia Zhou as she interviews Brett Martin, Managing Partner for Charge Ventures, a new york based pre-seed/seed stage venture fund. Brett is also a serial entrepreneur, having previously co-founded 2 startups and is now the co-founder and President of Kumospace, a startup focused on building the best virtual office and events software.
Together they delve into the world of pre-seed investing and serial entrepreneurship, covering a wide range of topics like lessons in entrepreneurship, strategies for identifying genuine potential in early-stage businesses as a pre-seed investor, and the evolving landscape of remote work.
“We will see strength in a few players that will ultimately prove out this technology and in consumer and urban environments specifically… some of these other semi-controlled environments are already ripe for disruption by autonomous technologies.”
Join Leon Zhang and Javier Torres as they interview Scott Walbrun, Principal at BMW i Ventures. Together they explore broad trends in the future of mobility space such as autonomous vehicles and electrification as well as current sentiment in the investment landscape. Scott also goes deep into investments like Fox Robotics (warehouse automation) and Lilac (lithium extraction technology).
“There’s a fundamental lack of data and information at every level. Even the government doesn’t have access to reliable, real time information, especially in the used home space… you just kind of had to ask some friends and try to guesstimate what [prices] would be like.”
Join Leon Zhang and Javier Torres in a conversation with Brynne McNulty Rojas, the first and only female founder and CEO of a LatAm unicorn, on how she built Habi. Brynne shares her journey of identifying a market gap and founding her innovative proptech company, including the inception, team building, and nuances of scaling across diverse Latin American cultures compared to the U.S. Listen in for her insights on emerging trends in proptech as well as her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Data is food for AI and so are the queries for generative AI…How do we ask the right questions to the machine? How do we have the right data so the machine has all of the information we need, and not misinformation or missing information?”
Join Cynthia Zhou and Spandana Bhattacharya as they interview JoAnn Stonier, Mastercard Fellow of Data and AI, previously the Chief Data Officer at Mastercard. JoAnn shares her thoughts on the explosive growth of generative AI, how data plays a pivotal role, and what it means to use AI responsibly. Plus, her career journey is simply fascinating - tune into this episode to learn about how she went from law school student to becoming a leading expert on data and AI.
“It was disheartening… but there was also a weird voice inside me that was kind of excited. We have our backs against the wall, we have a really hard problem, how are we going to figure it out?”
Join Emma Robinson as she interviews Austin Link, the co-founder of Starfish Space, a startup working on the future of on-orbit servicing. Join us as we discuss the path of founding a deep tech startup from concept to early stages while highlighting the unique challenges they face compared to other industries. Also, learn about the major obstacle Starfish Space faced this summer and what it means to build a resilient community. And don't worry, no spoilers here – stay with us until the end to find out how this challenging experience has unfolded for Starfish Space.
“The hardest problem in education is the problem of transfer. ChatGPT gives us the ability to practice transfer in other ways… we start to be able to approach problems in different ways that build expertise or intuition faster.”
Join Leon Zhang and Jordan Baker in a conversation with Christian Terwiesch, Professor at Wharton and chair of the Operations, Information, and Decisions department and Ethan Mollick, Associate Professor at Wharton. Together they explore the impact of ChatGPT in educational settings: how it can help students accelerate learning, but also situations where intuition is lost by “faking it”. Ethan and Christian also touch upon how the AI tool’s ability to increase variability makes it powerful, current flaws in the model, and how students can use ChatGPT to come up with and vet entrepreneurial ideas.
“[The hardest part of procurement at Zoox] is trying to convince [the major automotive companies] to give us their engineering resources on the promise that, one day, we are going to change their industry.”
Join Emma Robinson and Leon Zhang in a conversation with Kit Cutler, Director of Procurement and Strategic Partnerships. Together they explore the challenges of building a supply chain for a company that is not only pioneering self-driving technology but is also reimagining the car itself. Kit discusses how he got major automotive companies to invest their time and resources in designing new car systems for a promising, albeit early-stage startup. Kit also sheds light on other aspects of procurement and draws comparisons to his previous role at Apple.
“We saw a lot of our event creators, who were just doing real-life events, start to do more online events. So we very quickly pivoted to give them all the tools to do online events. Now we are seeing hybrid events, event creators who might be sitting in New York and used to just do a small, local event with 20-25 attendees every week, are now suddenly doing that in a hybrid format, where they still get 20-25 attendees in New York but they have 10-15 folks from London or 5-10 from Mexico City attending those events. I think that’s been good, our creators suddenly have realized they have a global footprint and they can choose to operate and the most successful ones do that pretty effectively”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Vivek Sagi, Chief Technology Officer at Eventbrite. Listen in to learn more about Eventbrite’s innovative approach to event creation, how they are using machine learning to improve the creator and user experience, what headwinds and tailwinds the company is facing, and the launch of Eventbrite’s ad business. Vivek also sheds light on his career journey starting from enterprise software, RetailMeNot, to becoming an entrepreneur, to Amazon, and to his current role as CTO of Eventbrite.
“9 out of 10 people that use our platform tell us that they come to get inspired. The majority of our users want to shop. So you have this wonderful intersection of inspiration and commerce on the platform. The magic of go-to-market strategy happens at the intersection of our advertising partners adding value to our users, who, in turn, help us fulfill our mission of bringing everyone the inspiration to go create the life they love.”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Bill Watkins, Chief Revenue Officer at Pinterest. Listen in to learn more about Pinterest’s full-funnel advertising solution backed by computer vision technologies and commitment to driving value for advertisers and users in automated ways. Bill also sheds light on his career journey starting from Yahoo to joining Pinterest as one of the first 200 employees and helping Pinterest IPO.
“It is a political cudgel that people try to say there is a seesaw between investor protection and capital formation and market efficiency... The US has 4.4% of the world's population, and over 60% of the world's capital was raised in the US. It's because we've pursued all of those objectives. ”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Jordan Baker as they talk to Jay Clayton, former Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission from 2017 to 2020. Mr. Clayton is also a Senior Policy Advisor at Sullivan Cromwell LLP, Non-Executive Chair of Apollo Global Management, on the board of American Express, and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Wharton and Carey schools.
Mr. Clayton describes how crypto technology can revolutionize the financial industry, especially in terms of efficiency. When it comes to the global futureof crypto, Mr. Clayton likens it to the evolution of phones in that interoperability once seemed a far-off dream but now is ubiquitous. He also emphasizes that to gain regulatory acceptance, crypto must do the current regulatory job at least as well and that investor protection is not a tradeoff with efficiency and growth.
“If you think about how we go through our day…It’s not natural for someone to stop and switch over to email, or try to find the 1-800 number. We want to use messaging, that’s just the way we communicate.”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Cynthia Zhou on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Matt Idema, who was most recently VP of Business Messaging Group at Meta and was previously the Chief Operating Officer at WhatsApp. Matt is also a proud alumni and holds an MBA from the Wharton School.
In this episode, Matt covers how leaders at Meta find business models, why he believes messaging is the future for business and his career development philosophy. Tune into this episode if you’re interested in learning more about commerce enablement, how to find product-market-fit and how to have a twenty-year-and-counting successful career in technology.
“When I was ten or twelve, I thought wouldn't it be great if I found myself participating in the birth of a technology at that right time when that technology is being born. Drone technology for me is this. It is extremely challenging but fascinating to participate in the birth of a new industry.”
While the delivery by drone of pizza to your high-rise window may still be far off, listen in while Andreas talks about the challenges that drone delivery is solving today. The episode covers how Matternet has been able to find its niche delivering time-critical medical products and how Matternet is thinking about expanding in the future.
Andreas also shares advice for entrepreneurs especially in learning how to build and scale a hardware startup.
“Someone who leads large teams needs to spend a material amount of time and energy to understand what the world of AI, machine learning and natural language processing mean because it’s a muscle you need to have… If you are a student, you need to think about not only how AI helps you but how you influence where AI is going.”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Sam Allen, EVP and Global Chief Operating Officer for Tableau at Salesforce. Sam is in his 8th year at Salesforce, with previous roles as EVP, COO for Salesforce.org, SVP, COO of Global Marketing and VP, Corporate Development and Head of M&A Integration. Listen in to learn more about Tableau’s mission, how Tableau is integrating AI, Sam’s views on responsible AI and his leadership advice for young professionals and entrepreneurs in tech.
“We want clients to use our service in whatever way that’s best for you, your needs, your unique exposure to styling. In the longer term, we want to build a better way to shop that will change the retail paradigm and to become the blueprint for the industry to follow. ”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Cynthia Zhou on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Janiece Okpobiri, Director of Product and Growth at Stitch Fix. At Stitch Fix, Janiece focuses on client onboarding and loyalty. Prior to Stitch Fix, Janiece was a senior PM on the Customer and Loyalty team at Abercrombie & Fitch and also held roles at Hilton.
Listen in to learn more about Janiece’s product management philosophy, her perspective on how to build customer loyalty in retail, and her insights on how to build a successful career in product management.
“The worst thing you can do in your start-up journey is being paranoid that someone is going to steal your idea. Most startups will fail because of their own doing and not because someone stole their idea. For a startup it’s important to be out there, talk to people and learn what the applications are, and listen - if someone is using the product then probably they are going to be using it in a way you might not have anticipated or for reasons you might not have anticipated.”
JoinSpandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Roel Peeters, a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of startup experience, who’s currently the co-founder and CEO of Roost. Roel is also a co-inventor of low-power Wi-Fi Personal Area Networks (PAN) technology and successfully created a worldwide standard known as “Wi-Fi Direct”. Listen in to learn more about Roel’s entrepreneurial journey, nuances of innovating for tech hardware versus software, and the VC landscape for tech hardware. Roel also shares practical tips on how to decide whether to become an entrepreneur, identify product-market fit, hire the first few employees, refine GTM strategy, and build and sell a successful tech start-up.
“We know that AI is going to be a key differentiator in products and services, you are seeing this already in everyday life whether it is autocomplete of a search or it is within Gmail where over time it learns the words that you use and auto completes your sentences. So AI is already all around us in our everyday lives. Our principle is we want to make sure that all of our customers and users have the best technology that we can possibly provide but also there is a level of trust and assurance and they feel very safe using products and services where AI is playing a larger part”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to Will Grannis, VP and CTO of Google Cloud. Prior to this, he was the founding CEO of Google Public Sector Cloud, and the founder and managing director of the Office of the CTO at Google. Listen in to learn more about his career, Google Cloud, Google Public Sector, and the future of AI
“During the highs of the 2020-2021 era, a lot of companies were encouraged to grow at any cost. We’ve always been much more oriented around trying to grow but making sure you are thinking about your profitability and building a sustainable business.”
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres on Wharton Tech Toks as they talk to AJ Jangalapalli, Principal on the Discover team at Thoma Bravo. Listen in to learn more about Mailchimp and Greenphire (recent acquisitions), the recent tech market pullback, enterprise software industry and value creation initiatives.
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres as they talk to Melissa Nguyen, the Regional Director for Vendor Performance Management for Google Customer Solutions Americas. Melissa has also held various positions in startups and private equity across East and Southeast Asia.
By now I am sure you have, at some point, been surprised by how well targeted ads know you. Maybe you searched for a product once (or maybe just thought about it) and now that product is everywhere. Join us while we talk to Melissa about the nexus of merchant empowerment and consumer protection. Having worked for Google in Southeast Asia and the United States, Melissa also dives deep into the difference between mobile users and the rise of “shoppertainment.”
Melissa also shares her advice to entrepreneurs and how to innovate within startups versus within large companies.
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Emma Robinson as they talk to Sandeep Lodha, an entrepreneur and the current CEO of Gaana, India's largest commercial music streaming service. Sandeep shares more about his entrepreneurial journey starting and scaling Weddingz.in, and learnings he brought over to Gaana. Considering expanding your musical horizons? Tune in to learn about the unique aspects of the Indian market, and how Gaana successfully competes with global streaming giants, while balancing growth with profitability.
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Leon Zhang as they talk to Professor Gad Allon, an expert on operations management and award-winning professor renowned for the highly popular course "Scaling Operations: Linking Strategy and Execution" at The Wharton School. Listen in to get tips on how to scale start-ups in challenging macro environments, when robots will become mainstream, what's causing airline disruptions, and how the nature of employment will change over the next generation.
Join Spandana Bhattacharya and Javier Torres as they talk to Cem Kansu, Vice President of Product Management at Duolingo. Cem is a fellow Whartonite, graduating with an MBA in 2016 who worked at Google prior to school.
We’re sure by now you’ve seen their funny, ubiquitous green owl mascot (if not, check out Duo on TikTok), but Duolingo’s mission to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available is no joke. Boasting over 100 courses in 40 distinct languages, including High Valyrian and Klingon, the leading global edtech platform has been downloaded more than 500 million times and is the world’s most popular way to learn languages. Duolingo uses a data-driven, mobile-first approach to help the ~1.8 billion people in the world learning a foreign language do so in a new, efficient and convenient way.
In this episode, we talk to Cem about monetization, Duolingo’s approach to experimentation, and their diversification to math learning. During Cem’s time, Duolingo went from $0 to $300 million in revenue, and we delve into what went into the decision to launch the subscription model. We also talk about the >500 A/B tests that are run each quarter and how these are used to drive growth. Lastly, we dive into the exciting launches of Duolingo’s new math and literacy apps, a crucial part of the company’s strategy to diversify.
Join us as we talk to Chris Best, co-founder and CEO at Substack, a leading newsletter subscription platform.
Five years ago, email newsletters sound downright archaic. Today, reading email newsletters is society’s coolest hobby. From Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald’s newest take on current events, to Yem’s newsletter that sends 2 hours of music everyday at 3am to kickstart your day, Substack is creating an alternate universe of trusted, high quality content shipped right to your inbox.
In this episode, Chris discusses the transition from the attention economy to one where time and attention is a rare commodity. We talk about how Substack is enabling consumers to be more protective of their attention and helping writers do the work they believe in. Investments in growing quality content through Substack Grow and the newly launched mobile app have empowered people to turn their side passion in writing into a value-creating profession. In the final minutes of the episode, we wrap up with anecdotes of people who’ve done a great job at becoming creator entrepreneurs via Substack as well as Chris’ take on transformational trends for the next decade.
What is quality content? As Chris describes it, you should have the power to decide. Though we can confidently say that this episode definitely exceeds the quality bar.
Join us as we talk to Trond Wuellner, Director of Product Management at YouTube, an investor in more than 25 early stage businesses as an active member of the Hustle Fund Angel Squad, and a board member of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. In this podcast, we talk about the growing creator economy and Trond’s previous experience at Google and YouTube, from learning about managing people from Sheryl Sandberg to his advice for aspiring product managers.
Growth in tooling and media platforms has created an explosion in content from the creator economy by enabling regular people to showcase their passions, whether it’s your friend’s Instagram of their meal at Zahav or Charli d’Amelio’s TikTok dances. While there was once an insurmountable editing barrier to creating professional content, creators can now use AI programs to remove pesky background noises; where it was once tough to monetize a growing channel, there are now programs to help convert virality into physical merchandise, vibrant fan communities, and other opportunities to earn. The next online sensation could easily be that podcast about cooking you’ve thought of starting!
Trond is at the forefront of these developments with his work at YouTube. We talk about the megatrends in the creator economy that are enabling an emerging “middle class” of participants, and how the effectiveness of tools has shifted the focus of media back to the storyteller and as a result returned the emphasis to authenticity and transparency. People are creators by nature, eager to tell their own stories, and now the growing ecosystem is allowing this community to think of themselves as businesses. The ability to monetize and adapt content to a captive audience is creating a flywheel effect that powers continued growth in the industry.
We also delve into Trond’s experience at Google and the most important lessons he got from Sheryl Sandberg about people management. We talk about the a-ha moments that led to his decision to lead projects on GoogleFi, reflections on his extensive experience in product management and most importantly, how to listen to your users. You won’t want to miss out on this episode!
Read more about Trond here: LINK
Join us as we talk to Joseph Cohen, Founder and CEO at Univer.se. Ever wanted a website to launch and grow your business or side-hustle? Or perhaps you wanted a place to showcase your creativity online? Even if you have no idea where to start and are a non-coder, Univer.se has got you covered.
Univer.se is a mobile drag and drop website builder that makes creating a personal portfolio to an ecommerce shop as easy as editing a photo on Instagram and as fun as playing with Legos. Part of the no-code movement, Univer.se is meant to increase flexibility and creativity in website building by making it “hands on.” As of Spring 2022, when this episode was recorded, Univer.se had 500k monthly creators and small businesses users and the team had recently raised a Series B round at $30M.
In this episode, Joseph talks about the inspiration for Univer.se and how Univer.se fits into the hype behind Web3 and NFTs. We also explore how the team incrementally built up the platform by focusing on user needs and by bringing on independent and creative hires. We then talk about the future of Univer.se as the company looks to expand while staying true to their mission and values. Finally, Joseph talks about his own journey from Wharton undergraduate drop-out to successful founder and entrepreneur.
Join us as we talk toStacy Brown-Philpot, Founding member of SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund, Board Member of HP Inc., Nordstrom, Noom, StockX, Black Girls Code, the Urban Institute, and former CEO of TaskRabbit. We chat about launching new markets, scaling culture, leading authentically, and investing in founders of the future.
How does the small size of apartments in Wembley, England and Ikea Pax wardrobes lead to improvements in TaskRabbit’s app? What does the NYC metro and grid lock traffic in LA mean for expansion in quirky markets? I couldn’t have asked better questions myself, you’ll have to check out the podcast to find out :)
Let’s talk about culture. We all know culture is crucial when leading a company, but how do you scale it? How do you avoid the many stories of culture gone wrong? Stacy shares her insights on creating an environment where the flowers can bloom, where there isn’t one single great culture, but a melange of unique cultures in every office. Leading authentically is certainly a buzzy phrase right now, but what does it mean to actually create a space where people can bring their full selves? It’s not simple, but it starts with building an organization that is representative of the folks you’re serving, searching for people that are already living your organization’s values, and creating systems that promote and reward teams.
It’s not a “pipeline problem”, there's a lack of capital focused on investing in founders of color. We talk about how SoftBank’s Opportunity Fund is intentional about its focus on diversity, creating opportunities, building community, and mentorship.
Enough teasers check out the podcast!
Join us as we talk toSean Brecker, CFO and Board Member atHeadspace Health, one of the first meditation apps and a leader in whole body wellness space!
Let’s face it, this pandemic has shot up our cortisol levels to the moon! And there seems to be a never-ending torrent of things to worry about from elections to whether we’ll be able to see our families. So, what do we do about this constant feeling of existential crises? Well, here’s where Headspace and whole body wellness come in! Not only is Headspace a one stop shop for meditation, sleep, fitness, mental health, and more, it was created by a Buddhist monk trained in the Himalayas! Can you say zen master?
Sean chats about how Headspace has evolved from meditation to a total health and wellness app. Headspace addresses anxiety, sleep, and mindful movement all with a focus on science and results. We also explore Headspace’s mission to improve health and happiness and how they are approaching that through their content partnerships with companies like Netflix and Sesame Street. Stressed over Squid Game? Put Headspace on and get some peace and clarity. And we all know that if there’s anyone that could use some help with impulse control, it’s the Cookie Monster.
Big News: Headspace recently merged with Ginger (not the root) to form a health and wellness powerhouse, Headspace Health. Headspace Health will democratize mental healthcare to provide the full spectrum of affordable and comprehensive support for everyone.
Read more about Sean here:LINK
Join us as we talk to Jessica Lachs, VP, Analytics and Data Science at DoorDash, everyone's favorite food delivery app. In this episode, we dive into how data and technology are transforming the food delivery and restaurant industry, the role of data in solving optimization problems that arise from three-sided marketplaces, the steps involved in scaling operations at a startup, data-driven decision making, data analytics, data science, how to switch careers or enter a new industry and more!
DoorDash was founded in 2013 by Tony Xu, Andy Fang, Stanley Tang and Evan Moore with a simple mission: to enable every merchant to deliver. The group of Stanford grads emerged triumphant from an industry that continues to become more competitive with a successful IPO last year. So, to what do they owe their success? Was it an industry analysis of the century using Porter’s Five Forces or an exquisite blue ocean strategy? But seriously...what are they teaching over there? Asking for a friend cough, Wharton, cough. While there’s no sole answer as to why companies succeed or fail, could the key to DoorDash’s success be data?
DoorDash’s three-sided marketplace brings consumers, restaurants and dashers together on one platform to gather enough data to make Zuckerberg reel with excitement and jealousy at the same time. But when you’re knee deep in data, how do you interpret it, action it and use it to help differentiate from the competition? Well, that’s where data experts like Jessica come in! So come join the data revolution and tune in to learn more about what it really means to have a data-driven mindset.
Read more about Jessica here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Join us as we talk to Kartik Hosanagar, John C. Hower Professor of Technology and Digital Business and a Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Kartik’s research focuses on the digital economy, in particular the impact of analytics and algorithms on consumers and society, Internet media, Internet marketing and e-commerce. In this episode, we dive into the Artificial Intelligence (AI) landscape by discussing key players, new and exciting areas of development, applications across industries, impact on jobs, algorithms, the balance between transparency and control and the science behind machine learning (ML). Kartik is currently working on starting his own company powered by AI and ML so tune in to hear his expansive knowledge of the space and entrepreneurial journey.
AI, ML, NLP, GPT-3...random acronyms, buzzwords or technological advancements that will make Westworld a reality? With data now at the heart of every big tech’s company strategy, it seems everybody is touting their AI and ML capabilities and applications. But from an outsider’s perspective, it’s hard to tell if they’re truly using AI to make a difference, hello AI in diagnosing cancer and preventing blindness, or just have a team of writers and graphic designers creating some captivating content, paging Watson.
AI has the power to make humans more efficient and effective by taking over redundant, mundane tasks. From diligence and contract creation in the legal industry to identifying patterns in scans and symptoms of Covid patients for faster diagnoses in the healthcare industry to even GPT-3 enabling machines to write screenplays, poems and songs in the entertainment industry. While nobody can replace Quentin Tarantino, I’d like to see how humans and AI can work together to save more lives or provide higher quality and more targeted content.
If you’re at all interested in AI or don’t want to live in the stone ages, tune in for another riveting episode so that you can call yourself a tech professional.
Read more about Kartik here:https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Join us as we talk to Jay Richman, VP, Head of Global Advertising Business & Platform at Spotify, a digital music service that needs no introduction. In this episode, we dive into the streaming industry, the podcast landscape and trends, advertising technology, streaming targeted ads, creator platforms, the algorithm revolution, recent acquisitions, entrepreneurship and more!
Spotify revolutionized the music industry by providing users with easy access to millions of songs and personalized playlists, but recently they’ve made moves in the podcast game through exclusive contracts with top podcasters, acquisitions of podcast advertising and publishing platforms and investments in advertising technology and a creator marketplace.
Spotify’s ability to harness the power of its data to create a personalized experience with curated playlists, recommendations and ads through AI and algorithms has made the company successful in both music and podcasts. Wharton Tech Toks is out here trying to be the next Joe Rogan but as a podcaster myself, I appreciated learning about the tools and platforms to help publish, monetize, grow and advertise content (seriously, fellow podcasters out there take notes!).
With the spur of the creator economy, sounds like Wharton Tech Toks launched at just the right time! So tune into the podcast to a) support our success (how are we going to be famous without your help?!) and b) learn about all things ad tech and creative platforms!
Read more about Jay here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Join us as we talk to Sukanya Soderland, Chief Strategy Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, one of the largest private health plans in Massachusetts serving 3 million members. In this episode, we dive into how big data is changing digital health, why patients will own their data, and the technology innovations that will bring about the Apple of EHRs.
With the rise of COVID, we’re overcoming byzantine barriers like hyper locality. Your doctor doesn’t need to be down the street, they can be across the country. It’s progress but Tele-health doesn’t equal digital health.
For years we thought the problem was a lack of data, but now doctors are drowning in it. Electronic health records were supposed to bring about a revolution or at least free up some office space. Instead, it takes 62 clicks for a doctor to prescribe Tylenol! It’s faster to skip the doctor and go straight to CVS.
So what now? Learn how health systems, EHRs, and physicians can leverage data and patient condition views to provide better health outcomes. How do we marry big tech and health care? Is it Amazon health, niche VC-backed startups, or examples like Author by Humana? Find out on the podcast!
Read more about Sukanya here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Join us as we talk to Andrew Straus, VP of Sales Strategy and Planning at Snowflake, a cloud-based data warehousing company. Snowflake made history in September 2020 with the largest software IPO ever selling 28 million shares and raising nearly $3.4 billion. During this episode, we get an incredible understanding of the rise of cloud, the current state of the market, how cloud customers think about their cloud strategy and the future of data analytics powered by cloud.
Dude where’s my cloud? Back in the stone ages, data was housed in clunky on-prem data warehouses resulting in high maintenance, rigid infrastructures that siloed data making it difficult to paint holistic financial or analytical pictures. Fast forward to the cloud disrupting the data warehouse industry by compiling and unifying data from disparate systems to one location enabling the ability to securely share governed data.
With players dominating the US market such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud and now a global player, hello Alibaba, Snowflake has carved out a unique position with their data cloud’s ability to operate concurrently on all platforms. As an MBA student, I love a good multi-task and if you don’t know what that last sentence meant...listen to the damn podcast!
Read more about Andrew here:https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Join us as we talk to Nash Ahmed, CEO and Founder of Undock about the Future of Work, the technologies that will change our daily lives and his 1 Billion user vision. Undock just raised $1.6M from big ol’ names like Bessemer Venture Partners and Lightship Capital.
COVID struck. Zoom went Boom. WFH became “permanent”. Incumbents are snapping unicorns up like afternoon tea to stay competitive (yes, you Salesforce / Slack - Slackforce?). The workplace shifted by lightyears! We were all excited by the dream of the 4 hour work week or WFH (work from Hawaii) - but what really is the future of work?
Read more about Nash here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Space is the new Silicon Valley and Musk, Bezos and Branson are all competing to be the real life version of Tony Stark (nerds and their superheroes…). In fact, they're all playing a new game of: My Rocket Ship is Bigger than Your Rocket Ship.
But, why the hell are we investing in space? Do we just plan on abandoning Earth like last week's leftovers (i mean, how much turkey can you eat)? Where are we really in this quest to become space people? What are the potential tech and business applications that exist today and could be tomorrow? How do we not screw up space like we did earth (did no one watch The 100 and learn their lessons)????
Join us as we talk to the author of Space Is Open For Business, Robert Jacobson where he shares his views on the race to space and key opportunities like in-space manufacturing, space militarization (please don’t make a real life Death Star) and the reality that business in space is already here, today.
Read more about Robert here:https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Healthcare is in the Dark Ages. Seriously. Even the DMV has better NPS scores. And we’ve been talking about ‘radically’ changing the system for what, two decades now? Telemedicine was supposed to be the best thing since the stethoscope but adoption was slower than a turtle racing in F1 before COVID forced us to change.
Join us as we talk to Mount Sinai Health System’s Chief Product Officer and Head of Consumer Digital Innovations, Dave Kerwar, where he covers the barriers to innovation, the NYC competitive health system landscape, and creating delightful consumer centric digital experiences.
Read more about Dave here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Social media dominates our daily lives from a morning scroll through Instagram (hello enews), mid-day break to get ‘inspired’ by LinkedIn (click to be influenced) and evening rabbit hole on YouTube (1 hour, 3 funny dog compilations later). But where can I get advice from senior leaders on the daily struggles as a junior resource? Yes Bob, projecting my screen to watch me perform a financial forecast live is the definition of micromanaging. Where can I talk candidly to fellow young professionals about compensation and careers? Will trade Marriott points for a McKinsey referral.
Fishbowl is a powerhouse player, swimming in the huge markets of traditional social media and professional networks with a grand vision to fill the space.
In this conversation, we talk to Fishbowl’s co-founder and CEO Matt Sunbulli where he shares his personal story, Fishbowl’s founding and unique (hilarious) insights, his Amazon-ian / Bezos-esque vision for the future, their unique takes on moderation and community, and the role of government in social media.
Read more about Matt here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/
Everything is connected - my car, my speakers, my TV, my coffee machine, my toothbrush - what’s next? My toilet paper? Join us as we talk about human-centered design and connected devices, particularly Autonomous Vehicles, with Zafar Razzacki. Zafar is an expert on the design, development and launch of connected and innovative products. His experience spans over 15 years of product, marketing, and strategy roles at companies including Google, General Motors, Accenture, and multiple technology start-ups.
In this conversation, we cover: the future of connected devices, autonomous vehicles and their roadmap, questions of safety and accountability, and meta questions of the impact on our humanity. Read more about Zafar here: https://whartontechtoks.medium.com/