Trailblazers

In this episode, we sit down with Justin Welsh, entrepreneur, writer, and founder of a $15 million one-person business. After helping build two billion-dollar companies and raising more than $300 million in venture capital, Justin chose a different path; one focused on freedom, leverage, and ownership. We discuss the power of writing, the future of entrepreneurship in the age of AI, why many founders are building the wrong businesses, and how to create wealth without sacrificing your time, health, and relationships. If you want to build a business that supports your life instead of consuming it, this episode is for you.This episode is supported by Sydecar, HEX, Wispr Flow, Granola, Beehiiv, KalshiSydecar: http://Sydecar.io/partner/trailblazersbeehiiv: https://www.beehiiv.com/splash?utm_campaign=trailblazers-2026-Partnership&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=trailblazers&utm_term=podcast-2&stripe_campaign_code=TRAILBLAZERS30 (or use code “trailblazers30” for 30% OFF)*beehiiv has a major announcement coming July 16 - can't say more, but you won't want to miss it. RSVP here: https://www.beehiiv.com/summer-release-2026Granola: http://granola.ai/trailblazers*Granola is the official notetaker of Trailblazers. Check out the episode show notes here: https://notes.granola.ai/t/5998b389-aaa5-4d9c-bc58-a7ff3230378c-009c2hmaKalshi: http://Kalshi.com/r/trailblazersWispr Flow: https://ref.wisprflow.ai/trailblazersHEX: http://hex.ai/trailblazers🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.trailblazerspod.com🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://spotify.trailblazerspod.com📲 Follow on TikTok: https://tiktok.trailblazerspod.com▶️ Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.trailblazerspod.com📸 Follow on Instagram: https://instagram.trailblazerspod.com🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital: https://parkrangerscap.comTrailblazers is your favorite tech + VC podcast, hosted by Erica Wenger (GP at Park Rangers Capital). Each week we sit down with founders, operators, and investors who’ve found conventional success in unconventional ways. New episodes every Tuesday.

This week we chat with Felix Levine! Felix is an entrepreneur, investor, and media operator who began his career in podcasting back in 2019—recording interviews straight out of his freshman-year dorm room at UC Santa Barbara. After transferring to Boston University, where he earned a dual degree in Business Law and Management, Felix spent his college years traveling the country interviewing everyone from high-growth founders and world champion athletes to creators, reality TV stars, and even figures from the criminal underworld. Drawn early to entrepreneurship and venture, Felix knew a traditional career path wasn’t for him. After graduating, he went all-in on the podcast, which eventually led to the launch of Lynx, an events and tech company. While Lynx ultimately failed, it became one of his most formative experiences and clarified his desire to operate on the investor side of the table. Around that time, Felix met his business partner Brett and joined Bulletpitch, where he became a partner focused on bringing creators onto cap tables and bridging the gap between venture capital and the creator economy. Today, Felix is helping build a next-generation venture platform—one that uses creator influence not just for deal flow, but as a core de-risking mechanism for early-stage companies. ✨ This episode is presented by Brex. Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena. RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger @thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger 🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

Welcome back to Trailblazers by Park Rangers Capital! In this week’s solo episode, host Erica Wenger breaks down 10 pieces of advice for ambitious twenty somethings! Drawing from her personal experiences in the business world, Erica covers topics like building a strong personal brand, making smart career choices, and other key strategies for growth and success. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to level up, these insights will help you approach your professional journey with confidence and clarity. ✨ This episode is presented by Brex. Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod This episode is supported by Rocketreach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena. RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers Quo (formerly OpenPhone): Quo.com/trailblazers Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger Follow Us! @thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger 🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week we chat with Haseeb Qureshi! Haseeb is the Managing Partner at Dragonfly, a multibillion-dollar leading crypto VC firm, and is a longtime technology-focused crypto investor. He was previously a General Partner at Metastable Capital (now acquired by Dragonfly). Earlier in his career, Haseeb founded a stablecoin startup, worked as a blockchain engineer at Earn.com (acquired by Coinbase), and served as an anti-fraud engineer at Airbnb. Before entering tech, he was among the top heads-up no-limit Hold’em poker players in the world, becoming a sponsored professional and self-made millionaire by age 19. He later authored a best-selling poker book, donated the bulk of his poker earnings—about half a million dollars—to charity, and pursued an earn-to-give path that led him into software engineering and eventually blockchain. Haseeb has taught a Web3 Entrepreneurship course at UC Berkeley and is widely followed for his technical expertise in crypto. Today, he continues to write, invest, and contribute to the ecosystem while committing a third of his pre-tax income to charitable causes. ✨ This episode is presented by Brex. Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena. RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger Follow Us! Haseeb Qureshi: @hosseeb @thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger 🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week we chat with Paige Finn Doherty! Paige is the Founding Partner of Behind Genius Ventures, an early-stage venture firm managing nearly $14 million in AUM. Behind Genius makes concentrated investments in pre-seed and seed-stage companies led by technical storytellers across applied AI, frontier tech, and what’s next. A writer and former engineer, Paige first broke into venture capital in a truly unconventional way by writing a best-selling “children’s book for adults” about how venture capital works, Seed to Harvest. At the time, she was working as a Developer Success Engineer at WorkOS, a role she actually landed through Twitter! Paige’s impact and storytelling have earned her widespread recognition: she was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Cover in Venture Capital (2022), named a Rising SDSU Aztec Awardee, and most recently, inducted into the Rancho Bernardo High School Hall of Fame. Originally from San Diego and now based in San Francisco, Paige continues to bring transparency, creativity, and heart to the world of venture through storytelling and curio ✨ This episode is presented by Brex. Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena. RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger Follow Us! Paige Finn Doherty: @paigedoherty Behind Genius Substack: @behindgenius.substack.com @thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger 🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

Welcome back to Trailblazers by Park Rangers Capital! In this week’s solo episode, host Erica Wenger breaks down 7 things she wishes every founder knew before raising their first check. The honest, unfiltered truths that can dramatically change the way you approach fundraising. Drawing from the countless lessons she’s learned while raising for her own firm, Erica unpacks the realities behind investor conversations, what actually moves a deal forward, and the common mistakes first-time founders don’t even realize they’re making. From understanding how investors really make decisions to setting expectations, building genuine momentum, and crafting a narrative that sticks, Erica shares the tactical learning nuggets she had to earn the hard way. If you’re preparing for your first raise or simply want a clearer look at how fundraising really works behind the scenes. This episode is your grounded, practical guide to entering the capital-raising arena with confidence. ✨ This episode is presented by Brex. Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod This episode is supported by Rocketreach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena. RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers Quo (formerly OpenPhone): Quo.com/trailblazers Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger Follow Us! @thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger 🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!

This week, we chat with Jeffrey Bussgang! Jeff has spent his career at the intersection of startup experimentation and transformative technology. For over a decade, he has taught one of Harvard Business School’s most popular entrepreneurship courses, Launching Tech Ventures, where he's helped thousands of founders build and scale successful companies. As co-founder of Flybridge Capital Partners (a leading seed VC fund with over $1 billion under management), he and his partners were early to recognize AI’s potential to transform startups, evolving the firm’s investment thesis to focus exclusively on AI-forward companies and founders. Before his time as an educator and investor, Bussgang experienced the startup journey firsthand—joining Open Market’s early team and helping lead it through an IPO in 1996, and then co-founding Upromise in 2000, which was successfully acquired. This unique vantage point—as professor, investor, and startup executive—has given him an unmatched perspective on how AI is revolutionizing the startup landscape. ✨ This episode is presented by Brex. Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspod This episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena. RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazers Gusto: gusto.com/trailblazers Quo: Quo.com/trailblazers Athena: athenago.me/Erica-Wenger Follow Us! Linkedin : Jeff Bussgang @thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Erica Wenger: @erica_wenger 🐘 Learn more about Park Rangers Capital!