The High Flyers Podcast

You probably know Venky Ganesan as a Partner at Menlo Ventures — the firm that made an early bet on Anthropic. But did you know that at 16, he left India alone and moved to a tiny town in rural Washington? No family. No internet. Venky calls it a “culture shock.” Listen to this full episode with Venky and our host Vidit Agarwal here: https://lnkd.in/gdJnQNZv - Venky Menlo Ventures Darcy Sanjay Matt Shawn Manish Somesh Bilal

A public company may give you a clearer career path. A founder-led private company may give you a much bigger opportunity. R.M.Williams CEO Paul Grosmann compares his experiences working with for founders and being a senior executive at Nike. Which environment would accelerate your career more? Listen to this full EP #282 with Paul and our host Vidit Agarwal here: https://lnkd.in/ehEPdt_U Tim Victoria Dany Chris Natalie Marco

Ep #284 is now live! Re-imagine a high flyer with someone who moved alone from India to rural America at 16, became an entrepreneur, and has now spent more than 20 years investing in some of technology’s defining companies including his firm being one of the earliest investors in Anthropic. Meet Venky G., Partner at Menlo Ventures. In a rare in-depth interview, Venky joins Vidit Agarwal to share: ▪️ How his mother’s belief taught him to dream big ▪️ Moving alone from India to rural America at 16 ▪️ Why technology became his path to freedom and independence ▪️ Choosing a $39,000 McKinsey job and what it taught him ▪️ Building Trigo and eventually selling it to IBM ▪️ How he backed Palo Alto Networks early ▪️ Why “propensity for action” signals exceptional founders ▪️ Why being first doesn’t always mean winning ▪️ How Menlo reinvented itself for the AI era ▪️ Why AI is moving from “innovators” to “imitators and idiots” ▪️ Why this is the most disorienting market of his 20+ year VC career ▪️ Why VCs often invest more in their worst companies than their best ▪️ How a near-fatal stroke changed his perspective ▪️ Why he wishes his younger self had been less anxious 🎧 LISTEN HERE: https://lnkd.in/gdJnQNZv Venky's re-imagined "high flyer": Asheem Chandna Thx for the research help: Shawn, Sanjay, Kamal, Manish, Narasimha People mentioned: Byron, Roelof, Sarah, Max, David cc: Guru, Bilal, Matt, Deedy, Darcy, David

What do you learn from working inside the offices of two Australian Prime Ministers? Amit Singh worked closely with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard — and says seeing politics from the inside changed his perception of the people who choose public service. His biggest lesson surprised him. Find out in this short video from Episode #280. Listen to this full conversation between Amit and our host Vidit Agarwal here: https://lnkd.in/gv58BRWX ____ This is the 14th episode in this special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia-India Relations, spotlighting Indian-Australian leaders across business, government, media, sport, science and the arts. Check out our previous episodes in this series via your favourite podcast player. Robin Ryan David Swati Ben Hayley Jinane Adam Tom Lindsay Jo Mukund

Mike Vernal is someone I deeply respect and trust, and an all-around great person. In this podcast, he shares some great stories - including how he picks founders to invest in - and the principles that have helped him in his career and life. I’m a bit biased here since he did choose to invest in Statsig 5yrs ago :) Well worth a listen. Nicely done, Vidit Agarwal!

What if Frank Slootman never made the second call? David Schneider — who went on to play a critical role in scaling Data Domain from zero customers to $1B+ and ServiceNow from ~$100M to $5B....was initially rejected by Data Domain. Then Frank called him back. When our host Vidit Agarwal asked how often he thinks about what might have happened without that call, David's answer is fascinating. A great story about how second chances can change a career. Full episode here: https://lnkd.in/giFB2Qbq Frank Kevin John Lucas Chirantan Frank Dave Carl Coatue Management Shannon

Something remarkable our host Vidit Agarwal discovered in his research before recording with Mike Vernal: He rarely takes notes in meetings. “If I’m typing, I risk becoming a stenographer.” Mike joined Facebook very early, worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg as the VP of Engineering, then became a partner at the storied Sequoia Capital and is now a General Partner at the leading AI fund, Conviction. Listen to this full EP #281 here: https://lnkd.in/g_ss9VHp Sarah Vijaye Matt Parker Pranav Ivan