Podcast
ORIGINS
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11episodes
Episodes
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The Story of Mercury | $5B Bank With 300,000 Customers
May 700:48:03Tap to summarizeImmad Akhund is the co-founder and CEO of Mercury, a San Francisco-based digital banking platform for startups.He was born in Pakistan, with his mother working as a teacher and his father owning a mechanic shop. At the age of nine, he moved with his family to London. He would go on to attend the University of Cambridge and later move to San Francisco to participate in Y Combinator with his company Clickpass. Immad then founded Heyzap, a mobile developer tools company that successfully sold for $45 million in 2016.In 2017, Immad co-founded Mercury, which has since raised over $450 million from a16z, CRV, and Coatue. He is a former part-time partner at Y Combinator and recently launched IA Fund to formalize his prolific angel investing, which includes backing more than 350 startups including Airtable, Deel, and Substack.Beyond his illustrious career, Immad is a husband and the father of three children.Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:11 Growing Up in Pakistan And Moving to London06:37 “Yelp For London” and Early Entrepreneurial Endeavors10:45 Pivoting From Flash Games to Mobile Ad Networks12:15 Selling a Company After 8 Years of Pivoting16:42 Thank You to Macroscope and Timeless Partners17:56 Meeting His Wife Through Facebook19:09 Finding Your Life’s Work22:35 The Origins of Mercury26:44 The Importance of Design at Mercury27:37 How Mercury Landed Its Initial Customers29:12 Raising Mercury’s Seed Round31:09 The Choice to Not Work Weekends34:58 Immad’s Best Startup Ideas36:15 Are There Moats with AI?38:05 Mercury’s 10-year vision39:50 From Angel Investing to Formalizing a New Fund42:13 Paul Graham’s Influence44:33 Parenting Philosophy46:27 Sources of Happiness This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Kayvon Beykpour | Selling to Twitter, Rejecting Elon Musk & Getting Trolled by Kobe
Apr 1601:11:43Tap to summarizeKayvon Beykpour is the co-founder and CEO of Macroscope, an AI code review agent, backed by Lightspeed, Thrive Capital Google Ventures, and others.Previously, Kayvon was the GM of Twitter’s consumer division until the platform was acquired by Elon Musk. He Joined Twitter after co-founding Periscope, a live video platform where people can create, watch, discover and share live video, Periscope was acquired by Twitter for $120M in 2015. Periscope pioneered technology that inspired Instagram Live, TikTok Live, Facebook Live, and other social networks’ expansion into livestreaming.Prior to Periscope, he co-founded Terriblyclever Design LLC, a software company that was sold to Blackboard Inc. Following the acquisition, Kayvon led Blackboard’s mobile division for four years where he grew its team from five to more than 100 employees and helped the company become one of the most downloaded apps in the education industry.Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:54 Fleeing the Iranian Revolution to California00:04:32 How Gaming Sparked a Career in Tech00:08:28 Growing Up With 12 Kids00:12:32 Pissing Off an Apple Exec with a Jailbroken iPhone00:14:29 From a Cardboard Sign to Winning Emmys00:19:20 Building Software for Colleges While Skipping Class00:20:53 Selling $100k Apps to Best Buy & HP00:22:32 Getting Acquired Over a Spam Call00:27:03 The Importance of Passion00:34:21 The Origins of Periscope00:39:20 Scott Belsky Invented “Teleportation”00:43:20 Six Months of Failed Designs00:47:33 Selling to Twitter Before Launching00:54:07 Trolled by Kobe Bryant00:57:41 Turning Down Elon Musk01:01:54 Founding Macroscope01:10:21 The Two Most Consequential Life Decisions This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Frank Guzzone | Head of Design at Thrive Capital
Apr 1601:03:55Tap to summarizeA conversation with Frank Guzzone, Head of Design at Thrive Capital. He grew up in Virginia, the son of an immigrant father. Frank and I are from the same hometown & college. Frank enrolled at UVA with the plan to become a doctor. He took the MCATs, spent two years as a scribe but a chance opportunity to design the cover of a textbook accompanied a change of course, he decided to pursue a masters degree at the VCU Brandcenter.He interned at AKQA in San Francisco in the summer between grad school years, worked at Mother New York in advertising, moved to Google’s Creative Lab, and joined Oscar Health - Arriving at the Puck Building in 2015, where he would return years later…From there: City Block Health and four years of freelancing, meanwhile, posting Cinema 4D animations on an Instagram account now approaching 100k followers.Frank then arrived at Thrive already having worked with brands like Apple, Google, Adidas, plus touring musicians like John Mayer and Fatboy Slim. He is now Head of Design, helping portfolio founders design and name companies, designing Thrive’s merch and brand, commissioning the flags on the building, and running a design fellowship.Frank is an amazing designer and an even better person. I hope you enjoy our chat: A glimpse into Frank’s life, past work, and the journey that led him to shaping one of venture’s great brands.Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:57 Hospitality and Hard Work00:03:06 Choosing UVA Over Art School00:07:37 Early Creative Outlets00:13:49 Oscar Health00:23:02 Going Viral on Instagram00:25:06 Freelancing for Apple, Rimowa, and More00:31:32 Building Thrive’s design function00:37:52 How to Name a Startup00:42:12 Design as an expression of Thrive’s Values00:47:20 Why Good Design is Invisible00:48:48 Design Fellowship00:57:08 Work-Life Balance00:59:43 Adaptation is a Superpower This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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James Currier | How Your Life is Driven by Network Effects
Apr 1600:55:12Tap to summarizeJames Currier is a Founding Partner at NFX and an angel investor in DoorDash, Lyft, and Patreon.James grew in New Hampshire to a carpenter father and music teacher mother. He left home at 13 on a full scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy. Then Princeton, then HBS, all three on scholarship. After college, he sailed to Tahiti, then went to work for Rupert Murdoch building Asian satellite TV at STAR TV in Hong Kong. At 24, a mysterious misdiagnosis forced him back to the US and led him to Boston.After a stint at various venture firms, James would go on to co-founder Tickle. As CEO, James grew Tickle to the 18th largest website in the world with over 150 million registered users - before being acquired in 2004 by Monster for $110 million.James then co-founded three other successful companies — Wonderhill an online video game studio which merged with Kabam in 2010 and later sold for $800M, IronPearl a growth analytics SaaS, acquired by PayPal in 2013, and Jiff an enterprise healthcare software which raised $68M from Venrock, GE, J&J, merged with Castlight in 2017.Timestamps:0:00 Intro01:31 Selling Worms to Fishermen at 6 Years Old03:20 From a Dirt Road to Phillips Exeter Academy04:49 The Hovercraft Corporation of America07:48 Sailing Across the North Atlantic09:18 Misdiagnosed in Communist China10:41 Joining Battery Ventures in the 90s12:25 Throwing Parties for Hundreds of Tech Associates13:25 The Origins of Tickle16:42 The $100M Healthcare IT Clusterf*ck18:19 The Next 30-Year Technology Window23:50 When to Start Your Own Company26:26 The Importance of Geography: San Francisco vs. New York29:34 AI, Consciousness, and Talking to God31:51 Discovering Meditation and the Awakened Mind34:27 Why You Work Best From 10 PM to 2 AM36:07 Founder Psychology, Psychedelics and Self-Discovery39:05 Status & Human Interaction40:49 The Preferred Attachment Theory42:40 The Real Value of College44:01 People vs. Capital47:56 What True Hustle Actually Looks Like49:56 “Dad Talks” About Sex and Drugs53:41 Quitting Alcohol at 21: The Ultimate Life Hack54:42 F*cking Around at Scale This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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David Tisch | The Life Story of Box Group's Founder
Apr 1600:59:48Tap to summarizeA conversation with David Tisch, founder of BoxGroup.We talked about the importance of taste, why you can't replicate career paths, playing in the world series of poker, and a bunch more.I hope you enjoy!Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:33 Focusing on Tomorrow04:22 A Bet Against the Cable Monopoly06:02 A Historical Lens to Understand the Future of Tech09:40 Tech is Filled with Rebels11:55 Jumping Into the Early NYC Tech Scene14:26 Building a Skunkworks Team Inside a "411" Company16:25 Co-Founding Techstars NYC19:56 Baseball Cards and Collectibles23:42 Rejecting Analogies: Extracting Lessons vs. Forcing Comparisons24:56 The Myth of Linear Success Stories27:19 Why You Can't Replicate Career Path30:17 The Emotional Toll of Failure32:21 No One Can Give You Good Advice34:01 Peter Thiel, Facebook, and Uber36:36 ChatGPT Beating Google37:37 Focus on the Founder's Story38:26 The Box Group Competitive Edge40:44 Why Social Media is Inherently Good43:11 Parenting Philosophy45:19 Playing The World Series of Poker While Bored in Law School46:34 The Importance of Taste52:26 The Doorman Becomes a Famous Instructor55:05 Meet Interesting People56:50 Why Cold Emails Fail This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Zach Dell & Justin Lopas | Solving the Hardest Problem in America - Base Power
Apr 1600:47:05Tap to summarizeZach Dell and Justin Lopas are the co-founders of Texas-based Base Power Company.They recently raised a $1B series C at a $4B valuation, fueling their goals to modernize the electricity grid and provide affordable energy for all.Zach comes from Blackstone, Thrive Capital, and a lifetime of mentorship from his father, Michael Dell. Justin comes from leading efforts at SpaceX, Anduril, and world-class execution alongside Elon Musk.For everyone watching, this will give you a tiny glimpse into their exponential growth.It’s clear Base Power will be a household name, and every engineer would be lucky to join them. Enjoy!!Timestamps:00:00 Intro1:43 The Base Talent Filter4:00 Lessons from Michael Dell6:15 Zach’s First Startup8:45 The Slow Midwest Automotive Industry15:45 The Base Recruiting Strategy20:40 Origins of Base: How Zach and Justin Met23:55 Cut Your Costs, Not Your Power26:02 The First Battery Install33:55 Energy Trading and Arbitrage36:02 The Path to a $100B40:50 Base Pace45:15 Don’t Tell Your Grandkids All You Did Was B2B SaaS This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Aaron Levie | He Cold Emailed Mark Cuban To Invest in His Startup (Now They’re Worth $5B)
Oct 1700:45:34Tap to summarizeEpisode #18 of Yesterday:Aaron Levie is the co-founder and CEO of Box (NYSE: BOX), a cloud storage company used by over 100,000 businesses worldwide, including 67% of the Fortune 500. He co-founded Box in 2005 while a student at USC, initially funding it with online poker winnings before securing an investment from Mark Cuban off a cold email. Under Aaron’s leadership, Box grew from a dorm-room startup to a publicly traded company with more than $1 billion in annual revenue and over 2,000 employees. In this episode, Aaron shares the unfiltered journey behind that growth: The early pivot from a consumer product to an enterprise-first model, to navigating the “innovator’s dilemma” He also discusses how the iPhone and the broader mobile revolution reshaped Box’s product strategy and accelerated enterprise adoption. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 01:34 Box Origin Story 04:24 Funding the Company with Online Poker 05:46 The Cold Email That Landed Mark Cuban 07:06 Dropping Out of College for the Dream 09:52 Advice From Mark Cuban 11:12 Enterprise vs. Consumer 12:50 Using the “Innovator’s Dilemma” 15:59 The iPhone Launch 17:46 The ChatGPT Moment 21:02 AI Pivot 26:05 SORA Video Generation 29:45 Why Most Companies Are Failing 33:12 Agents Automating Everything 35:50 Jack Dorsey’s Favorite Entrepreneur 38:13 Advice for Young Founders Presented by Rho: Rho is the all-in-one banking platform for startups, used by Perplexity, Product Hunt, and thousands of other companies. You get everything you need to manage your startup’s cash & a team that’s obsessed with helping founders beat industry giants. Learn more at rho.co/yesterday Sponsored by The Cannon Project (TCP): TCP recruits founding GTM and engineering teams for startups like Ramp, Cursor, and Decagon while investing through their flagship venture fund, TCP 1. Apply for roles and learn more at thecannonproject.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Jonathan Neman | How Sweetgreen Became a Multi-Billion Dollar Salad Chain
Oct 1501:16:16Tap to summarizeEpisode #17 of Yesterday:Jonathan Neman is the co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE: SG), the mission-driven restaurant brand redefining fast food through fresh, seasonal, and sustainable meals.Born in Los Angeles and a graduate of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business (’07), Neman co-founded Sweetgreen with classmates Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru shortly after graduation, opening the first location in Georgetown, D.C. in 2007. Under his leadership, Sweetgreen has grown from a single salad shop into a nationwide company with hundreds of locations, a leading digital platform, and a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange.Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:41 Parents Fled a Revolution for the American Dream04:00 The One Rule Dad Had08:33 Selling Ads in High School14:49 The 25,000-Person Music Festival17:03 Escaping the “LA Bubble”21:41 The Australian Cafe That Inspired Sweetgreen24:23 The Hated Consulting Job26:45 The Partner Who Told Me to Quit29:23 The Complaint That Sparked Sweetgreen36:24 Raising $300k from $5,000 Checks37:23 The Co-Founder Who Quit45:15 The Power of Doing One Thing Perfectly47:50 The #1 Rule for Running a Business50:52 From Dishwasher to Head Coach55:25 Building a Restaurant App58:32 Revolutionizing Takeout1:11:18 The Reality of a Founder’s Life1:13:42 Happiest vs. Unhappiest MomentsPresented by Rho:Rho is the all-in-one banking platform for startups, used by Perplexity, Product Hunt, and thousands of other companies. You get everything you need to manage your startup’s cash & a team that’s obsessed with helping founders beat industry giants. Learn more at rho.co/yesterdaySponsored by The Cannon Project (TCP):TCP recruits founding GTM and engineering teams for startups like Ramp, Cursor, and Decagon while investing through their flagship venture fund, TCP 1. Apply for roles and learn more at thecannonproject.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Zach Sims | The Codecademy Story: A $525M Exit That Almost Didn't Happen
Oct 201:06:59Tap to summarizeZach Sims co-founded Codecademy with Ryan Bubinski after dropping out of Columbia. And over a decade later in 2021, they sold to Skillsoft for $525M.We discuss his family, scrappy upbringing that led to Columbia, and early life stories before Codecademy.We also discuss YC, growing to hundreds of thousands of users in a few days, the reason they exited, and much more.Zach’s on the precipice of a new chapter in his life & work, and it was a pleasure to profile his life up until now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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Joe Lonsdale | From Chess Prodigy to Co-founder of Palantir, 8VC
Sep 2300:58:02Tap to summarizeJoe Lonsdale co-founded Palantir (now worth ~$400B) and went on to found venture firm 8VC, the University of Austin, OpenGov, Addepar, and several other companies. In this wide-ranging conversation, Lonsdale traces his life story from deep family roots and early childhood to the present day. He shares the formative experiences that shaped his thinking, his years at Stanford, and the lessons learned from macro investing with Peter Thiel, especially digging into U.S. and Japanese bond markets. We explore chess, philosophy, and warfare; the courage to invent and build talent clusters; the founding stories behind Palantir and Formation 8 (now 8VC); and the vision behind the University of Austin. A rare look at one of Silicon Valley’s most prolific founders & investors, and one of my favorite conversations we’ve recorded so far. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit originsmedia.substack.com
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