Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital

When you build beyond yourself — what does legacy really look like? In this special crossover episode, our own host Sarah Chen-Spellings joins The Jasmine Star Show for a candid conversation on leadership, investing, and the power of women building boldly. From cutting million-dollar checks in her 20s to co-founding Beyond The Billion, Sarah shares how she turned a question “Where are the women?”, into a global movement mobilizing over $1.4 billion towards women-founded companies. Tune in to hear how to think bigger, do hard things, and build for generations. Timestamps/Key Takeaways 0:00 - Intro 02:09 - From Instagram DM to real-life connection 05:36 - How Sarah’s mother inspired her journey from Kuala Lumpur to boardrooms and billion-dollar funds 13:20 - Becoming an “accidental feminist” in venture capital: Lean In Malaysia & Beyond The Billion (launched as Billion Dollar Fund for Women) 17:11 - Moving to the U.S., and starting over without a network 20:47 - From volunteer to co-founding Beyond The Billion 23:59 - Hitting the $1B goal in nine months & the updated impact numbers 29:25 - Funding 101: How founders should think about capital 35:16 - How the business of venture capital works 37:25 - How to sell your dream to investors: Sarah’s 3-step framework to pitch with conviction 42:07 - Challenge yourself to do the hard things Watch the original episode here About Jasmine Star A world-class speaker, thought leader, podcast host, CEO, and entrepreneur dedicated to helping you reach your fullest potential - After getting her start in the entrepreneurial world as an internationally recognized wedding photographer, Jasmine became a speaker and business strategist for creative entrepreneurs - and spent almost a decade helping business owners across the world take risks and live their lives to the fullest. Jasmine then went on to found tech company Social Curator: a monthly subscription that serves as a digital marketing agency in your pocket, complete with an A.I. social media manager providing customized marketing content. As a top podcast host and keynote speaker, her goal is simple: to empower you to change the way you approach your professional and personal ambitions. Her approach is rooted in the desire to help you build the future you want and help you see your own potential - regardless of whatever stands in your way. Follow Jasmine: https://www.instagram.com/jasminestar/ https://www.youtube.com/@officialjasminestar https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jasmine-star-show/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-star/ - Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies. From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond. Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder. This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook. PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community FOLLOW SARAH: LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter

What does it take to build a billion-dollar fund from Australia — and back global unicorns like Canva, SafetyCulture, and Culture Amp? In this episode, we sit down with Rick Baker, Co-Founder of Blackbird VC, to unpack the journey from 530 investor rejections to becoming one of the most successful venture firms in the Southern Hemisphere. Rick shares the real stories behind meeting and backing Canva’s Melanie Perkins, scaling a multi-generational VC franchise, and why storytelling and diversity are key to building enduring funds. This is a masterclass on conviction, culture, and capital. Timestamps / Key Takeaways 00:00 Intro 02:01 The early days of Australia’s startup scene: Atlassian & the incoming of US VC firms: Sequoia, Accel, Benchmark, a16z and more. 05:27 From founder to investor: lessons from two failed startups 07:28 How 530 meetings led to Blackbird’s first $29M fund 11:02 The first Canva meeting and what convinced Rick to invest in Melanie Perkins 15:01 Luck vs pattern recognition; turning a $29M fund into 40x returns 17:43 Why funds should last longer than 10 years 19:39 Building a multi-generational VC franchise 21:22 Inside Blackbird’s blind hiring and bias-free investing 24:41 The future of AI and deep tech in Australia 29:02 The thesis of Blackbird VC and portfolio construction 32:00 Lessons from the Kiki incident: investing and accountability 35:13 Gender-lens investing, transparency, and joining Beyond The Billion’s pledge 43:02 “Would you have built Blackbird differently?” 44:25 Billion Dollar Questions About Rick Baker Rick Baker is a co-founder of Blackbird Ventures, a venture capital firm focussed on investing in the best global tech startups being formed in Australia. Rick has led the firm’s investments such as Canva, SafetyCulture, Baraja, Gilmour Space and Ovira. Prior to Blackbird, Rick ran MLC’s venture capital portfolio with investments of over half a billion dollars. Prior to MLC, Rick co-founded two successful software companies: IDC Global and Right Party Connect. Blackbird partners with founders at the very beginning and surrounds them with a community of other founders who have built successful technology companies before. The firm was founded in 2012 and currently manages $1.3 billion dollars. Follow Rick: - Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies. From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond. Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder. This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook. PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community FOLLOW SARAH: LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter

From living in motels and battling recurring infections to leading one of the fastest-growing feminine care brands in America, Beatrice Dixon’s story is as unlikely as it is inspiring. In this episode, Bea reveals how a dream sparked the formula for The Honey Pot, how she scaled from kitchen batches to Target’s Super Bowl ads, and why she walked away from a higher $450M offer to exit on her own terms. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or leader, this is a masterclass in resilience, conviction, and building generational wealth without selling your soul. TIMESTAMPS / KEY TAKEAWAYS 0:00 Intro 01:45 Chapter 1: Rock Bottom to Mindset Shift 03:26 Chapter 2: The Genesis of Honey Pot — a dream of grandmother’s recipe turned the formula that changed her life 07:01 Chapter 3: From Kitchen Batches to Target Super Bowl Ad 13:46 Chapter 4: Scaling with Capital — Why every founder must master money and Bea’s lessons on raising responsibly 16:36 Chapter 5: The Exit & Walking Away From $450M 18:05 Chapter 6: Modern Matriarch & Legacy Builder — on scrutiny, social media storms, and leading Honey Pot into the future 23:13 Bea Dixon’s 5 lessons: invest early, stay authentic, raise with clarity, exit on your terms, and scale with soul ABOUT BEA DIXON Beatrice Dixon is the CEO, cofounder, and chief innovation officer of The Honey Pot Company—the first complete personal wellness brand “made by humans with vaginas, for humans with vaginas.”® She has been named one of Goldman Sachs’s 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, Worth’s Worthy 100, Forbes’ Top 100 Female Founders, Inc.’s Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs, Ebony’s Power 100, and Create & Cultivate’s 100. FOLLOW BEA: LinkedIn | Instagram Source: Healing from the Earth with The Honey Pot Founders | Black America | CUNY TV Honey Pot Founder Beatrice Dixon Talks Wellness, Black-Owned Business, & Shares Her Five Minute Face The Business of Making Money w/ Bea Dixon - Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies. From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond. Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder. This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook. PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community FOLLOW SARAH: LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter

How do you build a cross-border VC fund that backs female founders before the world sees their value? In this #MeritIn Motion series, we sit down with Marisa Warren, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of ALIAVIA Ventures and Founder of the ELEVACAO. A former Microsoft and SAP exec turned entrepreneur and investor, Marisa shares how she’s rewriting the rules of venture, by backing high-growth female founders across the U.S. and Australia before they're on anyone else’s radar. Backed by Carol Schwartz, the Forrest Family Office, the Denholm family and more, Marisa and co-founder Kate Vale (ex-Google, Spotify) are proving that investing in diverse teams isn’t charity—it’s smart capital. Tune in now to learn more about generating cross-border alpha, and why Aussie startups may just be VC’s best-kept secret. Timestamps / Key Takeaways 0:00 - Intro 02:21 - From teenage hustles to Microsoft, SAP, and Workday; built SAP’s SME channel and scaled Microsoft cloud partner revenue 07:35 - The gender gap in VC; founded ELEVACAO to support women in tech 14:24 - Building ALIAVIA: a cross-border VC fund amid the pandemic; creative loan structure to beat the “no track record” barrier 18:38 - Fund strategy & the edge of cross-border dynamics: Australian startups are often undervalued, capital-efficient, growth-ready 24:48 - LP co-investment as a value driver; founder red flags & must-haves 31:14 - Portfolio focus & the influence of AI on Future of Work and HealthTech 35:10 - The maturity of Australian startup scene; LP alignment and stakeholder management 39:52 - Looking ahead: Fund II at $25M; Fund III to follow with potential growth fund 42:41 - Billion Dollar Questions ABOUT MARISA WARREN Marisa Warren is the Founder and Managing Partner of ALIAVIA Ventures, investing in female-founded tech startups across the U.S. and Australia. Established in 2021, ALIAVIA has delivered it's first exit, Loupe Art to Stingray, and invested in 12 early stage companies. She’s also the founder of ELEVACAO, a not-for-profit that helped 175 women raise over $120 million in funding, leading to 5 exits. FOLLOW MARISA: https://www.aliavia.vc/ https://www.elevacao.org https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisawarren - PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://billiondollarmoves.com Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves FOLLOW SARAH: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal X/Twitter: https://x.com/sarahchenglobal

This week we sit down with Jeffrey L. Bowman — former Ogilvy senior partner turned founder of Reframe Consulting and Reframe AI Technologies — for a bold, unfiltered look at what it really means to future-proof your business. Jeffrey doesn’t just talk about diversity as a moral imperative; he reframes it as a growth strategy rooted in data, market opportunity, and long-overdue correction. From revealing how legacy data sets exclude entire populations to unpacking the $100 billion blind spots companies ignore when they leave women and people of color out of their TAM, he challenges conventional thinking on every front. He pulls no punches—calling out performative DEI, synthetic AI datasets, and the emerging “woe is me” narrative among young men. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or operator, this is a provocative, insight-rich conversation on how to build boldly for the world that is, not the one that was. Timestamps / Key Takeaways 0:00 - Intro 01:53 - Why Reframe? Widening the lens on TAM (Total Addressable Market) and reevaluating go-to-market strategies that exclude women and minorities 06:08 - This is a business risk, not a moral issue - exclusion is leaving billions on the table 08:01 - MetLife case study: refocusing segmentation led to 2x growth in digital product lines 11:04 - Historical data sets, current AI and most TAMs are inherently biased 18:14 - Future-proofing for brands; ELF Beauty case study 23:23 - Global lens on consumers today; How exclusive is your TAM? 27:53 - Monocultural vs. cross/polycultural strategy; Amazon case study in addressability 33:38 - Responsible AI & women in tech 37:06 - Power and capitalism: “To build the America we love, we must accept the new America: diverse, cross-cultural, and polycultural.” 39:49 - Masculinity and the “Lost Boy Syndrome” 43:24 - Billion Dollar Questions About Jeffrey L. Bowman Jeffrey L. Bowman is the CEO and founder of Reframe AI Technologies and Reframe Consulting Services. He is an inventor, pioneer of a change operating system and inclusive experience design approach that helps leaders accelerate and operationalize inclusive change and growth at scale. Bowman is a two-time award-winning Wiley published author and Campaign US 40 Over 40. A former senior partner and managing director at Ogilvy & Mather in New York City, one of the world’s largest advertising and communications agencies. It was there Bowman pioneered the industry’s first cultural practice that modernized the marketing and communications industry. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Campaign, The Economist, Fast Company, NBC (Today Show), Fortune to name a few and he speaks frequently at industry and trade events across the United States, Europe, and South America. FOLLOW JEFFREY: https://jeffreylbowman.com LinkedIn | Instagram - PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://billiondollarmoves.com Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves FOLLOW SARAH: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal https://x.com/sarahchenglobal