Chris Yeh's First Podcast

The very awesome Trevor Loy returns with an update on the government stimulus programs that entrepreneurs should apply for.  A lot has changed since our last podcast a few weeks ago, so tune in for the most up-to-the-minute advice! https://www.flywheelventures.com/index.php/website/flywheel_team/

It's one of the most-requested and most-anticipated interviews in the history of the podcast.  Finally, I sit down with Mental Samurai Grand Champion Heather Hurley to talk about life under quarantine, her childhood, her history with game shows ("my weird side hustle"), and the fact that she really does wear pink and dress like a librarian in real life. During the podcast, we talk extensively about her appearance on "The Chase," which she first encountered on vacation in the UK, and on which her team won a then-record $180,000.  You can find the complete episode on YouTube. We end with some words of inspiration for all you aspiring game show contestants out there!

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns to talk about three interesting VC deals from April.  We discuss mega-success Square, loyalty currency Props, and the brilliantly-named Trash Warrior.  We also discuss the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the venture business.

This is an experimental short episode to test whether you, my loyal listeners, want me to turn my blog posts into podcast content.

My guest in this episode is my classmate Kurt Daniel, who talks about his long career in high tech, what it's like to be an entrepreneur for the first time, and some of his interactions with Bill Gates during their time at Microsoft.  A fun bit of behind-the-scenes trivia: our recording was interrupted by a major Comcast internet outage which took down my home internet connection for two whole days, forcing us to split our recording into two sessions.  Can you guess where the audio switches from session 1 to session 2?

We're back with another Class of 2000 Reunion episode.  This time, Lindsey and I chat with Arcadia Kim, dialing in from Hong Kong.  We discuss Arcadia's meteoric rise in the videogame industry, why she chose to retire to raise a family, and her new initiative, the Infinite Screentime movement,  which encourages parents to stop feeling guilty about screentime (especially during this pandemic) and instead focus on how to make screentime a positive for their children's development.

One of my professors from my time at HBS, the acclaimed business historian Richard Tedlow, joins me to talk about his long career and his upcoming book on the power and peril of charismatic leaders.  We discuss the positives and negatives of charismatic leaders with a focus on Steve Jobs and President Donald Trump, including an analysis of how Richard believes Donald Trump's opponents should puncture his chaotic charisma.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures drops by for another round of blitzscaling investment analysis.  In this episode, we discuss two venture deals from November 2019, Guild Education and ACV Auctions.  As with our October deals episode, we cover the analysis we produced last year, then discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected their businesses.

My old friend Patty McCord returns, this time to discuss the future of work and corporate culture post-Covid-19.   We discuss how the pandemic will not only affect how people think about work, but offers a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity.  Now is the time to ask yourself, "What are we doing better because of the pandemic (so that we don't go back to the old ways)?  What have we learned doesn't really matter (so we can never do it again)?"

Join Lindsey Mead and I for a very special podcast episode.  We catch up with Sejal Shah Gulati, who discusses her life growing up on Long Island and how her life turned out so different than she expected while she was at HBS.  Sej also tells the story of how her beloved, completely healthy father contracted Covid-19, and went from minor symptoms to organ failure in just a few days, how a caring doctor allowed Sej's mother to hold her father's hand as he passed away, and how she, her sister, and her mother have mourned his death.  None of us is safe from this terrible disease; the best we can do is to try to draw what lessons we can from its seemingly senseless impact.  We also ask our usual lightning round questions, and find out the very specific reason Sej would want the power of invisibility.  Tune in, and bring your tissues.

Wondering how to lead your team during the Covid-19 crisis? I persuaded my old friend Patty McCord to come on the podcast and share her wisdom. Patty is the world's leading practitioner of building high-performance cultures, and is also a lot of fun to talk with. Patty and I discuss her book, her career, and her advice for CEOs navigating the crisis.   Patty also comes up with a brilliant podcast/book idea during the interview...if we end up pursuing it, this episode will mark where it all began!

Frantz Alphonse, fresh off the birth of his second child this week, stops by to chat with Lindsey Mead and I about his post-HBS life, how he changed his diet and lifestyle for the better, and how a single chance remark changed the trajectory of his career.

I'm joined by my friend Eli Schwartz, one of the world's leading SEO experts, to discuss how Covid-19 has impacted marketing, why companies should keep investing in marketing during the pandemic, and how they can best "play the rebound" when the Covid-19 pandemic recedes.  You can find Eli at https://www.elischwartz.co/.

Lindsey Mead and I are joined by our classmate and my old friend, Kwame Jackson.  We discuss Kwame's unique career path (from Goldman Sachs to The Apprentice to entrepreneur and TV news stalwart) as well as how he and the rest of us deal with shocks like the Dot Com bust, 9/11, and the current Covid-19 pandemic.  We also reminisce about our HBS days, and the time that Kwame was the headliner for a political fundraiser for an obscure Illinois State Senator named Barack Obama.

In this episode, I'm joined by classmate Greg Pal.  We discuss his many years in Boston, how he used an RFP process to choose a religion to join, and how his very first comment in Aldrich Hall was the highlight of his HBS career!

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures returns for another round of blitzscalability analysis.  We look at deals done in October of 2019, sharing the assessment we produced then, as well as an update on how those companies are doing during the Covid-19 pandemic.  This months companies are e-commerce enabled Faire, oil and gas services marketplace RigUp, and lending platform PeerStreet.

Scott Johnson of Blitzscaling Ventures joins me to review three March venture deals: AllSet, Proxy, and Lyra Health.  We also discuss how Covid-19 has negatively impacted many startups, even "bits-based" businesses like software and marketplaces.

In this episode, Lindsey Mead and I interview our classmate John F. Carrier, who now teaches at MIT's Sloan School of Management.  As befitting a business school instructor, John shares his knowledge and erudition (including some very interesting book and article picks).  Fun fact: He actually remembers 26 of the cases we learned in TOM (Technology Operations Management) our first year.  Honestly, I couldn't even remember one!  It's a good thing he's the one fixing factory floors and not me. You can find John's blog here: https://jfcarrie.mit.edu/blog In particular, he will be leading a webinar on Using Digital Technology to Rapidly Recover from Operational Interruptions on April 30, so register now!

Trevor Loy is a venture capitalist and all-around good person who has been doing great work on Twitter demystifying the alphabet soup of coronavirus relief programs.  I invited Trevor on the podcast to talk about his journey (he is the only prominent VC I know who works in New Mexico) and explain what he has learned about the various coronavirus relief programs that Congress has passed in the past month.  Trevor also explains how you can help your favorite local businesses obtain tens of thousands of dollars, rather than simply ordering a takeout meal or buying a gift card. Trevor's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/trevorloy Programs mentioned during the podcast: FFCRA: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave PPA: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp EIDL: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/economic-injury-disaster-loan-emergency-advance ERC: https://www.irs.gov/

Lindsey Mead and I interview our classmate Gadi Slade (whom I also knew when he was an undergraduate at Stanford) about his experiences at HBS and how his life has gone over the past 20 years.  You'll learn the key roles that Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, and Mt. Everest played in his life, and get his advice about how to manage the coronavirus crisis. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gadi-slade-03048660/