Silicon Street

Mike Joslin is currently a partner at the 1842 Fund and a Build Director at High Alpha Innovation, where he focuses on creating and investing in startups in collaboration with universities and corporations. We begin by discussing the start of his career at Best Buy’s corporate headquarters, followed by his MBA at Harvard Business School, where he conducted research under the late Clay Christensen. Mike then explores his experiences across various sectors of venture capital, including corporate VC, venture studios, and fund-of-funds investing. Further, Mike provides guidance to listeners on breaking into the various types of venture capital investing. Finally, he provides an in-depth look at the 1842 Fund, which collaborates closely with Notre Dame’s investment office and their mission.

Henry Kittle is the COO and Co-Founder of Tiger Tracks, a digital advertising agency focused on helping companies build effective and tailored marketing strategies centered around the top ad platforms. Prior to founding Tiger Tracks, Henry spent over 8 years at Google as a shopping lead, helping companies strategize and deploy their digital marketing budgets. In this episode, we discuss Henry’s career path and some of the lessons he has learned along the way, specifically focusing on how to make the most of opportunities that present themselves to you. Next, we dive into the digital advertising industry and Henry’s motivation for starting his own agency. Finally, Henry offers insights into the role of an entrepreneur and designing the proper organizational structure for a firm.

Mike Mauzé is a Founder and Partner at VMG Partners, a leading investment firm that backs visionary consumer products and technologies. First, we discuss some of the most important considerations before starting your own private equity fund and explore the sacrifices and benefits involved. Next, Mike elaborates on the art and science of consumer investing, offering insights for aspiring investors to master both aspects. Following this, he outlines the consumer trends VMG is monitoring and how the firm aims to capitalize on these opportunities. Lastly, Mike shares his perspective on the qualities of an ideal private equity professional and offers advice to students and young professionals embarking on a career in this field.

Professor Raymond Mooney is the Director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. Having written his first paper on AI as a 17 year-old and spending his entire academic and professional career as an AI researcher, Prof. Mooney has become one of the most respected and distinguished thought leaders in the world on artificial intelligence and natural language processing. First, we talk about what the blanket term “artificial intelligence” really encompasses and dig into some of the groundbreaking research that Prof. Mooney has conducted in the recent past. Next, we take a look into how AI has evolved over the past 70 years and point out some important historical landmarks for the technology. We then take a look into how AI differs in academia and enterprise and end off the episode with a discussion of some of the potential negative ethical implications that AI can bring about as well as some of the tremendous upsides that the technology can have in the near future.

Konrad Billetz has built and led several startup companies over the past decade, including his current company Outliant, and has received many distinctions for his entrepreneurial work, including an appearance on Shark Tank, being listed on Forbes 30 under 30 list, and being featured in numerous media outlets including Forbes and Entrepreneur. First, we talk about Konrad’s unique career journey and what a typical day in the life of a busy startup founder like Konrad looks like. Next, we break down the different stages of a typical business life cycle: from formulating an idea, to creating a business model, to looking for funding and scaling, to finally finding an exit opportunity. Finally, Konrad shares his unique perspective on failure and how it is necessary to succeed when starting a company, and he also provides fun insight into what it is like to pitch on the reality TV show Shark Tank.

Keith Melaragno was a long time manager at Pepsi Beverages Company and spent time in various high-level roles throughout the company including the VP of Marketing, VP of Foodservice, and VP of Retail in the Midwest. First, Keith talks about his career journey through the food and beverage industry, how the broad exposure he got by rotating through various divisions of Pepsi benefited him later in his career, and the benefits that can come from working at a large corporation like Pepsi. Next, we dive into the various strategies that Pepsi uses to create a competitive advantage beyond price to combat their biggest competitor and the most well-recognized brand in the world: Coca-Cola. We also talk about some of the bizarre and extreme initiatives that Pepsi has used in the past to try to gain market share in the food and beverage industry and some exciting trends that will affect this industry in the near future. Finally, we end our conversation by looking at how Pepsi’s marketing and expansion strategies have changed over time, and some of the genius acquisitions that Pepsi has made to aid them in becoming one of the world’s most prominent food and beverage conglomerates.

Sean Davis is the founder of and a managing director at Merton Capital Partners, which is a US-based investment firm that specializes in creating efficient vehicles to deploy large-scale philanthropy. First, we chat about how Sean’s experiences living abroad opened his eyes to the need for philanthropy giving and take a look at the major issues that Sean addresses in his book “Solving the Giving Pledge Bottleneck.” Next, we take a deep dive into the structure of Merton’s investment philosophy and compare it to typical structures of venture capital and private equity firms. We also analyze some of the projects that Merton is currently working on and how they are making tangible impacts in the communities that they invest in. Finally, we end our conversation by hearing Sean’s opinions on some of the biggest social issues plaguing the world today.

Russell Steenberg is a 40-year veteran in the private equity industry and is transitioning from his role as a managing director and the global head of the BlackRock’s Private Equity Partners business to serve as Chairman for the business. First, we discuss the challenges Russell faced and the lessons he learned throughout the process of building and leading BlackRock’s PEP into its current form. Next, we take a look at some of the important qualitative traits and quantitative metrics that Russell considers when making investments. We also talk about current trends in private equity and how investors can take advantage of these trends. Finally, we wrap up our conversation by talking about how current macroeconomic conditions are affecting private equity and how investment professionals that have experienced market cycles will have to step up to weather the impending economic storm.

Richard Dresdale is a senior managing director at Jefferson River Capital, which is a small family office private equity firm that invests across a number of industries including in industrial and healthcare businesses. First, we talk about Richard’s long and distinguished career in private equity, including his involvement in starting a middle-market private equity firm called Fenway Partners and his current role at Jefferson River Capital. Next, we dive into Richard’s perspective on the value and benefits that having operational experience can have when it comes to private investing. Richard also breaks down the structure and typical roles that make up a private equity firm and provides advice and insights that he has gained from his many years in private investing. Finally, we finish off our conversation by discussing the recent popularity of private equity investing for individual family offices.

Dennis Thankachan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lightyear, a telecom company that allows businesses to buy and manage all telecom services through a single platform. Additionally, he is an angel investor in numerous tech start-ups. First, we take a look at the lessons Dennis learned through his career in banking and at a hedge fund. Next, we dive into the telecom space, where Dennis elaborates on some of the issues he is working to solve. We also look into how Dennis came up with the idea for Lightyear and how he has successfully taken his product to market. Finally, we wrap up with a discussion about being a founder, including some of the perks and challenges involved.

With Conor, Alex, and Chris recently graduated from college and currently focused on starting their professional careers, Silicon Street is excited to announce Michael Cutler and James Barham will be taking over as co-hosts. Michael and James, both sophomores at the University of Notre Dame, are extremely passionate about the mission of Silicon Street and look forward to adding new energy to the podcast. On this episode, Conor, Alex, and Chris reflect on their journey creating Silicon Street into the successful educational platform that it is today. Additionally, Michael and James introduce themselves and outline their goals and aspirations for Silicon Street over the coming years.

Luiz Ribeiro is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Brazil Office for General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm. First, we discuss the impact of Luiz’s early career experiences at buyout firm Advent International on his investment philosophy and the lessons he learned from serving as the CFO of one of his portfolio companies. We then dive into the importance of investing in digital first companies and flexible management teams in volatile markets as well as the rise of copycat companies in Latin America. We wrap up with a conversation on price discipline in the face of increased deal competition, differences between investing in the U.S. and Latin America, and the ways in which General Atlantic leverages its global platform to help entrepreneurs.