エピソード

  • #283 David Schneider: Scaling ServiceNow from $100M to $5B, Frank Slootman learnings, Left-Field Questions and Co-Leading Coatue’s Growth Fund

    #283 David Schneider: Scaling ServiceNow from $100M to $5B, Frank Slootman learnings, Left-Field Questions and Co-Leading Coatue’s Growth Fund
    2026/09/25
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________David Schneider is a General Partner at Coatue, where he co-leads the firm’s Growth Fund. Previously, he was President at ServiceNow, helping scale the company from roughly $100M to $5B in revenue, after helping take another software company in Data Domain from zero customers to more than $1B in revenue. David is widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most successful go-to-market, sales, revenue and business building executives of all time.In this rare public conversation, David joins Vidit to unpack a career spent building some of enterprise software’s defining companies. He shares how he was initially rejected by Data Domain for not being “aggressive enough”, only to join when it had zero customers and around 18 employees and help scale it beyond $1 billion in revenue — revealing the intensity, hiring philosophy and relentless focus on execution that shaped him as a leader. They also explore David’s decade at ServiceNow, where he helped scale the business from roughly $100 million to $5 billion, what he learned working alongside legendary CEO Frank Slootman, and the painful customer failure that fundamentally changed how he thought about leadership. David then opens up about leaving operating at the height of his career to become a General Partner at Coatue, where he now co-leads its Growth Fund, and the surprisingly difficult transition from being the person making decisions to the investor sitting beside the founder. Along the way, he reflects on building exceptional sales teams, spotting future leaders, the future of enterprise go-to-market, flying 250,000–350,000 miles a year, the impact that ambition had on his family, and why curiosity has remained a constant throughout his life.Please enjoy exploring your curiosity._______Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Left Field Questions01:24 – The founder David is betting on04:01 – Growing up in Silicon Valley before the boom08:25 – How David became obsessed with winning24:45 – Rejected by Data Domain for not being “aggressive enough”28:40 – From zero customers to a billion-dollar business40:00 – What David learned working with Frank Slootman50:23 – The customer failure David never forgot52:25 – How David helped scale ServiceNow from $100M to $5B59:04 – Why he walked away from operating01:00:29 – From operator to investor at Coatue01:08:00 – What David looks for in breakout companies today01:11:00 – 350,000-mile years01:13:30 – Left-field questions: grit, pet peeves and what matters now________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    1 時間 16 分
  • #282 Paul Grosmann: R.M.Williams CEO on learning Mandarin, cold emails, rising through Nike and how to listen well

    #282 Paul Grosmann: R.M.Williams CEO on learning Mandarin, cold emails, rising through Nike and how to listen well
    2026/09/22
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________Paul Grosmann is the CEO of R.M.Williams, the 94-year-old heritage bootmaker whose handcrafted leather boots have become one of Australia’s most recognisable cultural exports, worn from the outback to boardrooms around the world. He is leading the next phase of growth for the business, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, expanding it as a global premium brand while preserving its manufacturing roots in Adelaide. Before R.M.Williams, Paul built an unusually international career across PwC and McKinsey, before leading strategy and digital growth for Nike in Greater China.In this rare public conversation, Paul joins Vidit to unpack an unusually global career, from Sydney to New York and China, including quitting his job and spending a year learning Mandarin to earn a role with McKinsey in Shanghai. He shares what he learned working inside Brett Blundy’s private business group, how he pitched his way into Nike and helped lead its retail and digital growth across Greater China, and why decision-making changes across public companies, private businesses and founder-led organisations.They also explore Paul’s return to Australia to lead R.M.Williams, the 94-year-old heritage brand whose handcrafted boots have become one of the country’s most recognisable cultural exports. Paul explains how the company has doubled its production capacity and created 350 Australian jobs, while expanding online, attracting younger and female customers, and building an international retail presence through an unconventional UK strategy. Along the way, he reflects on cold emails, considered decision-making, living across cultures, balancing ambition with family, and the role his wife Sophie has played throughout the journey.Please enjoy exploring your curiosity._______Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold emails04:32 Growing up in a loud Italian family07:35 Becoming a global citizen13:55 Quitting work to learn Mandarin18:29 Learning to operate in China20:31 Choosing mentors over promotions22:11 Paul’s cold-email playbook23:57 The leadership power of pausing27:09 Why Paul left McKinsey28:57 Learning retail from Brett Blundy34:28 Public versus private companies40:39 Rising rapidly at Nike China45:38 Pitching for the R.M.Williams CEO role47:51 Returning to China during COVID49:12 The partner behind the career50:24 Rebuilding an Australian icon53:53 Taking R.M.Williams global55:47 Winning younger customers58:00 Rethinking women’s footwear01:00:44 The unconventional UK expansion strategy01:03:30 Rapid-fire lessons and quirks________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    1 時間 7 分
  • #281 Mike Vernal: Early Facebook with Zuck to Sequoia Investor to Conviction | Why This Tech Wave Is Different

    #281 Mike Vernal: Early Facebook with Zuck to Sequoia Investor to Conviction | Why This Tech Wave Is Different
    2026/09/18
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________Mike Vernal is a General Partner at Conviction and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected operator-turned-investors. He joined Facebook very early, spent eight years there working closely with Mark Zuckerberg and ultimately became VP of Product and Engineering, before becoming a partner at storied venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, where he backed companies including Notion, Rippling, Clay and Statsig.In this conversation, Mike joins Vidit to unpack the journey from Microsoft to joining Facebook when it was still only a few hundred people, helping scale it through one of the most important periods in technology, and later becoming a partner at Sequoia before joining Conviction. He shares what he learned working closely with Mark Zuckerberg, why Facebook’s obsession with speed became such an advantage, how he learned to spot exceptional founders, and why ambition remains one of the traits he values most.They also explore why Mike believes people risk “overfitting” to a job after seven years, what Sequoia taught him about great businesses, why he came back to venture after some of the most enjoyable years of his life with his family, and what changes when the cost of creating software starts approaching zero. Along the way, Mike shares the habits, quirks and principles behind his reputation as a “nerd’s nerd”, from obsessive curiosity and inbox zero to the belief that the best leaders make the people around them better.Please enjoy exploring your curiosity._______Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 — The Nerd’s Nerd04:00 — Growing Up in New York08:00 — Power, Internet and Caffeine13:00 — Working at a Startup in High School14:00 — Why Harvard Became the Goal18:00 — Meeting His Wife24:00 — What Microsoft Taught Him31:00 — Why Strategy Can Go Wrong33:00 — How Facebook Built High-Impact Teams37:00 — The Moment Facebook Felt Different43:00 — Facebook’s Speed Advantage49:00 — Why Mike Left Facebook54:00 — Why Sequoia56:00 — Learning What Makes a Great Business59:00 — Why He Doesn’t Take Notes01:01:00 — What Mike Looks for in Founders01:07:00 — Leaving Sequoia01:09:00 — Why He Joined Conviction01:14:00 — How Mike Spots What’s Next01:16:00 — When Software Costs Approach Zero01:18:00 — What Makes Products Go Viral01:20:00 — Coaching His Kids01:22:00 — Inbox Zero and Productivity01:25:00 — What Mike Is Experimenting With01:27:00 — The Advice That Changed His Career________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    1 時間 13 分
  • #280 Amit Singh: Fijian-Indian Roots, Inside Two Prime Ministers’ Offices & Why He Built His Own Research Firm

    #280 Amit Singh: Fijian-Indian Roots, Inside Two Prime Ministers’ Offices & Why He Built His Own Research Firm
    2026/09/16
    Welcome to the 14th episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations (CAIR), spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport.Other guests in this series include BHP's CFO Vandita Pant, Bank of America's Head of Capital Commitments Gautam Chari, Austrade's GM for South Asia Mukund Narayanamurti, Renowned Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Australia's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan Dowling, Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, Sports Journalist Bharat Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and CAIR's CEO, Ryan Neelam, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at the most senior levels.________This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more.________Amit Singh is Managing Partner of Mandala, a global economics, data and policy research firm. He has advised three Australian Prime Ministers, served as Uber’s Global Head of Economic Policy in San Francisco, and more. Today, he leads Mandala and serves on several prominent government and public-policy boards.In this conversation with Vidit, Amit shares his journey from growing up amid political instability in Fiji and moving to Australia as a teenager, to running a $20 million organisation with 200 employees at just 21 — before going on to work at the highest levels of Australian government. He reflects on going from Freehills to Kevin Rudd’s office in the space of two days, subsequently working for Julia Gillard and briefly Anthony Albanese, and the experience of technically losing his job five times during his political career. Amit also shares the equal-pay decision he is proudest of, which delivered a 23–45% pay increase for 150,000 predominantly female care workers. Amit also explains why he left government for technology, what moving to San Francisco and working at Uber taught him about ambition and taking risks, and how those experiences ultimately led to building Mandala as a globally focused economics and policy firm. They also explore Amit’s Fijian-Indian identity, why he believes the Australia–India economic relationship remains underdone despite decades of intent, the opportunity across technology, AI and services, and why changing Australians’ understanding of modern India could unlock a much deeper relationship. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.______Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 Who is Amit Singh01:28 From selling limes in Fiji to building Mandala03:43 Growing up Fijian-Indian amid political instability04:31 His parents’ sacrifice — and the values they passed down08:11 Navigating identity after moving to Australia11:42 Finishing high school at 16 — by accident13:12 Running a $20M organisation at 2116:13 Law, Freehills & an unexpected career path17:52 From lawyer to Kevin Rudd’s office in two days21:51 What working closely with Prime Ministers taught him23:21 The decision that changed pay for 150,000 workers26:10 Leaving government for Uber and Silicon Valley28:57 From playing it safe to “shoot your shot”31:38 The hardest parts of Amit’s career33:36 What Uber taught him about managing exceptional people35:22 Building Mandala37:22 Why Australia–India remains underdone42:13 Why no one is truly self-made43:24 Rapid fire________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, ...
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    49 分
  • #279 Ryan Beiermeister: Founders Fund's Partner on Building for Billions, Human Judgement & How Debate Changed Her Life

    #279 Ryan Beiermeister: Founders Fund's Partner on Building for Billions, Human Judgement & How Debate Changed Her Life
    2026/09/14
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________Ryan Beiermeister is a Partner at Founders Fund, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms. Before becoming an investor, she held senior roles at three of the most consequential technology companies of the past decade: VP at OpenAI leading AI safety work, Product Director at Meta across election integrity and social issues, and VP at Palantir, where she helped lead development of Gotham. At College, Ryan was the #1 ranked college policy debater in the US and won top speaker at the 2012 national championship, becoming only the fourth woman since 1946 to do so.In this conversation, Ryan joins Vidit to unpack the unconventional path from Houston and elite college debate to Palantir, Meta, OpenAI and now Founders Fund, including why Palantir took a chance on her at 22, what she learned building products for governments and billions of users, and why she believes there is still “no replacement for human judgement” in the age of AI.They also explore the risks of building technology and simply “throwing it over the wall”, the developmental impact of AI on young people, what makes humans uniquely valuable in an increasingly automated world, and Ryan’s early lessons from making the leap from operator to venture capitalist.Please enjoy exploring your curiosity._______Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS01:28 From Palantir to Founders Fund04:00 The mentor who changed everything07:05 Growing up in Houston10:00 Feeling different at an elite school12:00 Why high-performing women are different14:00 Nolan Ryan17:00 When debate became her superpower20:00 Why Meta used her whole brain22:00 Books, empathy & social justice25:00 No master plan 27:00 How Palantir bet on a debate champion32:00 From user empathy to building Gotham34:00 Learning to double down on strengths37:00 Trae Stephens41:00 Breaking the VC pattern-recognition playbook41:40 Can AI replace human judgement?44:00 What AI could do to young minds47:00 Why human imperfection matters51:00 Leaving Palantir for Meta56:00 When products meet the real world59:00 Why Ryan finally became a VC1:02:00 Why OpenAI felt impossible to ignore1:04:00 Building safety systems for AI1:05:00 The operator-to-investor mindset shift1:10:00 Her first deal at Founders Fund1:12:00 Why authenticity is an investing edge1:19:00 Ryan’s one-hour reading habits1:24:00 Ryan’s favourite interview questions________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    1 時間 9 分
  • #278 Ellen DaSilva: Scaling Twitter, Hims Employee #8, Sequoia Scout & building Summer Health on “Maximum Mode”

    #278 Ellen DaSilva: Scaling Twitter, Hims Employee #8, Sequoia Scout & building Summer Health on “Maximum Mode”
    2026/09/11
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________Ellen DaSilva is the Founder and CEO of Summer Health, the pediatric healthcare company that served 30,000+ families before being acquired by Doctronic in 2026. Earlier, she was employee #8 at Hims & Hers and worked at Twitter during its hyper growth years. She is an active angel investor and Sequoia Scout, and earned her MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.In this conversation, Ellen joins Vidit to unpack the ambition behind her extraordinary career, the leap from Wall Street to scaling Twitter during its hyper gowth years, why she nearly became a Hims competitor before joining as employee #8, and what happened when she finally took the founder leap with Summer Health.They also explore how consumer software has changed, what makes great companies feel “inevitable”, why Ellen is “incapable of turning off founder mode”, and the philosophy behind living life on “maximum mode” and lots more. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity._______Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 Ellen’s “hot take” on consumer AI02:00 From Barclays to selling Summer Health05:00 Growing up ambitious in New York09:00 The family behind Ellen’s drive11:00 “CEO of Coca-Cola” at age five13:00 Politics, Bloomberg & an early obsession with change15:00 Why Ellen studied English literature18:00 Raising three intensely curious kids19:00 China vs Wall Street23:00 “I knew I was going to marry him”26:00 Discovering tech from a Wall Street desk29:00 The 10-day leap from Barclays to Twitter31:00 Scaling Twitter during hypergrowth33:00 Why “every job becomes sales”35:00 How Twitter shaped Summer Health38:00 HBS, ambition & “colouring outside the lines”42:00 How Ellen spots exceptional companies early45:00 The startup she nearly built before Hims47:00 employee #8 at Hims to IPO48:00 Building healthcare like consumer software49:00 Why Summer Health removed the interface51:00 Why text-based products may win52:00 What Ellen would build next54:00 Why Summer Health sold to Doctronic57:00 Ellen’s fundraising playbook01:02:00 The 5 people in her "hall of fame" room01:08:00 The hardest period of her career01:11:00 “I’m incapable of turning off founder mode”01:13:00 Parenting without slowing down01:14:00 Living life on “maximum mode”01:17:00 Food, health & learning Mandarin01:18:00 Vibe coding, robotics & what Ellen wants to learn next01:19:00 “Where are you an outlier?”01:20:00 Ellen’s pet peeve________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    1 時間 13 分
  • #277 Shiv Rao: Abridge’s CEO on Skateboarding, “Languishing” Founder Pressure & Reinventing How Doctors Work

    #277 Shiv Rao: Abridge’s CEO on Skateboarding, “Languishing” Founder Pressure & Reinventing How Doctors Work
    2026/09/10
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________Dr. Shiv Rao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Abridge, one of the world’s leading healthcare AI companies, turning clinician-patient conversations into clinical intelligence across 300+ health systems and 100M+ conversations annually. A practising cardiologist, Shiv previously worked across healthcare technology and investing at UPMC before founding Abridge in 2018.In this rare in-depth conversation, Shiv joins Vidit to unpack his unconventional path: moving from Pittsburgh to India at nine, skateboarding, programming synthesizers, selling records in Japan and nearly quitting medical school before becoming a cardiologist.He shares how a seemingly perfect career across medicine, technology and investing left him “incredibly restless”, eventually leading to Abridge. But success was far from immediate: Shiv spent nearly four years as a “languishing founder” before generative AI arrived, “the sky just opened up”, and Abridge made its pivotal move into enterprise healthcare.They also explore why “pressure makes diamonds”, the family sacrifices behind building when “every minute matters”, what changes when a company passes 500 people, why Shiv still practises medicine, and what he’s learned from unlikely influences including Jensen Huang and Rick Rubin.Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.________Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 Meet Shiv Rao02:00 Living on planes 04:55 Xero07:00 Pittsburgh and India12:00 Identity, India & belonging17:00 Skateboarding, music & creativity19:00 The moment that led Shiv to medicine23:00 Selling records in Japan25:00 Nearly quitting medical school28:00 Medicine’s complicated relationship with technology30:00 Teaching himself to code & early product-market fit35:00 Why “pressure makes diamonds”39:00 Medicine → healthcare investing44:00 Leaving the “dream job” to build Abridge48:00 Family sacrifice & the reality of building50:00 Why “every minute matters” in AI54:00 Abridge’s years as a “languishing” startup59:00 When “the sky just opened up”1:01:00 Abridge’s YOLO move into enterprise1:03:00 The first customer “Love Stories”1:10:00 Why enterprise healthcare is so defensible1:15:00 Building AI that enterprises can’t replicate1:21:00 Hiring, loyalty & scaling the team1:23:00 Leading 500+ people1:26:00 Lessons from Jensen Huang & Rick Rubin1:30:00 What everyone is missing about AI1:32:00 Rapid fire________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    1 時間 8 分
  • #276 John Willett: Rogo’s COO on Princeton, Being Ignored for Years to Winning the World’s Biggest Banks

    #276 John Willett: Rogo’s COO on Princeton, Being Ignored for Years to Winning the World’s Biggest Banks
    2026/09/07
    This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________John Willett is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Rogo, one of the fastest-growing AI companies in global finance, used by leading institutions including Lazard, Jefferies, Rothschild & Co, Moelis and Nomura. Rogo has raised more than $300 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Thrive and Khosla, was valued at $2 billion in 2026, and John now leads its expansion across Europe and APAC.In his first in-depth interview ever, John joins Vidit to tell the story behind Rogo and the person behind the company. He reflects on growing up in Connecticut in a family of engineers, being academically far ahead of his peers, meeting co-founder Gabe Stengel at Princeton, and experimenting with AI for finance years before ChatGPT made the category obvious.John shares how early investor Kevin Ryan convinced them to quit investment banking and go all in, why Rogo spent its first two years with little external validation, and how ChatGPT changed enterprise demand almost overnight. He also explains how Lazard became the first major customer, what it took to earn the trust of global banks, and how Rogo evolved from an early product into a platform tackling some of finance’s most complex workflows.They also unpack John and Gabe’s co-founder dynamic, why Gabe became CEO, how Rogo recruits former bankers into operating roles, and what John has learned scaling the company from roughly 40 to 200 people while building out Europe and APAC.Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.________Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.comJoin our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes hereFollow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and InstagramGet in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly hereContact us via our websiteThis episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. ________TIMESTAMPS00:00 – The Real John Willett04:33 – Xero06:01 – The Family of Engineers Behind John11:11 – Meeting Gabe at Princeton12:22 – The Idea Before Rogo17:16 – Building AI Before ChatGPT18:46 – The Investor Who Told Them to Quit Banking20:11 – Rogo’s First Fundraising Deck24:31 – Two Years Nobody Wanted Rogo27:16 – The ChatGPT Inflection Point29:16 – Landing Rogo’s First Major Customer34:11 – When Enterprise AI Started to Click38:11 – Why Big-Name Customers Matter43:10 – Deciding Who Should Be CEO45:22 – Convincing Bankers to Join a Startup50:09 – US vs Europe vs APAC55:04 – Scaling Rogo From 40 to 200+People01:00:04 – Becoming a Better Manager01:02:44 – Rapid Fire________The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).
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    55 分