The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ What does it take to go from an introverted kid obsessed with robotics to building rockets at SpaceX and co-founding a $13 billion energy company? And what happens when an intense, no-BS operator decides to build a company of his own? Justin Lopas is Co-founder and COO of Base Power, one of America's fastest-growing energy companies, which has raised over US$2 billion since launching in 2023. Previously, he helped build SpaceX's Starbase manufacturing operations in Texas and led manufacturing at Anduril, one of America's leading defence technology companies. In this unusually candid conversation with Vidit, Justin reveals how volunteering for a job in a town he'd never heard of led him to help build SpaceX's Starbase, the leadership mistakes he made under intense pressure, and why he eventually walked away. He reflects on his childhood, his father's influence, and the lessons from SpaceX and Anduril that shaped his approach to building and leading teams. They explore how an unlikely partnership with Zach Dell became Base Power, a $13 billion company reimagining America's electricity grid through home batteries and distributed energy infrastructure. Justin shares what it takes to scale manufacturing at extraordinary speed, why he and Zach argue constantly, and the unconventional culture behind Base's rapid growth, from starting all-hands meetings with failures to the infamous "hot potato" rule. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Intense, direct and no-BS 01:30 – How his wife's family ended up cooking for hundreds of Base employees 03:00 – Midwest America childhood and his father's influence 08:15 – Growing up antisocial, obsessed with robotics and uninterested in fitting in 10:00 – The strict routines behind Justin's intense personality 16:00 – Inside SpaceX and what separates its exceptional engineering talent 21:15 – Volunteering to build Starbase 24:00 – SpaceX burnout and leadership mistakes 28:45 – Becoming COO and why titles matter less than execution 31:30 – Making choices and finding his next chapter at Anduril 38:00 – How SpaceX and Anduril hire, develop and challenge exceptional people 41:00 – Building supplier relationships and scaling manufacturing at extraordinary speed 47:15 – Why Base Power is building electricity infrastructure, not just home batteries 48:45 – Meeting his co-founder Zach Dell and the origins of Base Power 51:00 – Why Justin and Zach argue, and how their partnership works 54:00 – Starting all-hands with failures and the “hot potato” rule 55:40 – Why negative feedback motivates Justin and how he adapts his leadership style 58:45 – Navigating America's complicated electricity regulations 1:03:40 – Testing Base's earliest batteries in an investor's home 1:04:15 – Base's next products and expansion plans 1:10:40 – Justin's family life and the person tougher than him ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ What separates the world's most successful business people from everyone else? Intelligence, charisma, connections, or something less obvious? Neil Plumridge and Robert Nason are co-founders of RAYN Group and authors of Rainmaker ( available here) , bringing decades of global leadership experience across Kearney, EY, PwC, KPMG and Telstra. Robert shares his unlikely journey from leaving school at 15 to helping transform Telstra, while Neil reflects on the pivotal moments that shaped his international career. In this conversation with Vidit, they unpack why exceptional performers are made, not born, how major business deals are won long before the pitch, and the five levels of trust that separate good performers from extraordinary ones. From a hair-raising motorbike ride through Mumbai to turning one idea into 14 global consulting engagements, they reveal the hidden habits behind lasting success and why AI could make human relationships more valuable than ever. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. Purchase Robert and Neil's book, Rainmaker: How the Best Consultants Think, Act, and Win in an AI-Accelerated World : https://www.amazon.com.au/Rainmaker-Consultants-Think-AI-Accelerated-World/dp/1394440677 _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Meet the Rainmakers: Neil Plumridge & Robert Nason 01:40 First jobs and the unsung high flyers 07:45 Robert: From school dropout to global business leader 10:45 Taking on the 'worst corporate job' at Telstra 12:00 Neil's ife-changing US move 14:00 Climbing the ranks at Kearney, EY and PwC 16:15 How a LinkedIn post became the book Rainmaker 19:00 Writing a book together: Harder than expected 28:15 A terrifying Mumbai motorbike ride and a business revelation 31:15 Are rainmakers born or made? 35:00 How the world's biggest consulting deals are won 39:15 The five levels of trust that separate the best 41:15 How one idea became 14 global deals 44:30 The mistakes even top performers make 48:00 Why networking isn't really about networking 50:45 Building RAYN Group and the secret to high performance 54:30 Will AI upend the consulting industry? 57:00 Rapid fire: Burnout, reinvention and life beyond work ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . Welcome to this classic episode. Classics are our favorite episodes from our back catalogue, published as frequently as possible. These are N of 1 conversations with N of 1 people. This is a replay of Episode 200, originally released in April 2025— one of our most loved classics. ________ Malcolm Turnbull is one of the most fascinating figures in modern politics and business. He served as Australia's 29th Prime Minister (2015–2018), and previously built a career as a Goldman Sachs partner, successful technology investor, entrepreneur and lawyer. Earlier in his career as a barrister, he famously defeated Margaret Thatcher's British government in the landmark Spycatcher legal battle. In this uniquely candid conversation, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joins Vidit to share his remarkable journey from a difficult childhood to the highest office in the country. He reveals how he became the trusted lawyer to billionaire Kerry Packer at just 28, defeated Margaret Thatcher's British government in the landmark Spycatcher case, and what working with powerful figures like Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch taught him about standing up to bullies. They also explore the personal setbacks that nearly broke him, the lessons from losing political power, why financial independence mattered more than becoming a billionaire, and how his relentless curiosity shaped his career across law, business, technology and politics. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Meet Malcolm Turnbull 01:39 – Life after politics 04:30 – A difficult childhood and school bullies 08:00 – Growing up without his mother 13:45 – The ambition to conquer the world 15:30 – Becoming Kerry Packer's lawyer at 28 20:30 – Standing up to Packer and Trump 24:30 – Does ruthlessness drive success? 27:00 – Mentors and the power of curiosity 30:00 – Why he never chased billions 32:30 – Defeating Margaret Thatcher's government 37:00 – Taking on the British establishment 40:30 – Lessons from his 250,000-word memoir 43:00 – His darkest political setback 45:00 – Bringing innovation into government 47:00 – What Australia gets right and wrong 50:00 – AI, leadership and habits 51:15 – Watching Packer gamble away millions 53:00 – How to become Prime Minister ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Aleks Spaseska is the CEO of Kmart Group, an A$11.8 billion (US$8 billion) retail giant behind Kmart, Target and the global Anko brand, operating 445 stores with over 48,000 employees. This is a rare in-depth interview with Aleks. In this rare public conversation, Aleks Spaseska joins Vidit to share how she went from struggling to find her confidence at school to becoming CEO of one of the region’s largest retailers. She reveals the career move that changed everything, how she returned from maternity leave into a bigger leadership role, and what really helped her stand out from her peers. They also explore the realities of running a retail giant, the leadership mistakes that shaped her, why she never had a 10-year career plan, and how her childhood continues to influence the decisions she makes as CEO. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Meet Aleks Spaseska 02:20 Why store managers are underrated leaders 05:50 Growing up in Macedonia 08:45 No English 10:15 Why she never planned her career 11:15 How childhood shaped her view of affordability 13:10 From university to a finance PhD 17:45 The career move that changed everything 20:50 Lessons from her early Wesfarmers years 25:30 Taking uncomfortable career risks 28:00 Transforming Target's business 33:50 Learning empathy as a leader 37:15 Maternity leave, relocation and COVID 39:15 Making decisions without rigid plans 41:20 How Kmart operates within Wesfarmers 46:00 From CFO to CEO of Kmart 49:10 The Anko business model and global expansion 54:00 Kmart's next chapter of growth 56:40 Rapid fire round ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Venky Ganesan is a Partner at Menlo Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest venture capital firms, where he has helped lead its push into AI and backed companies including Anthropic, Abnormal AI and Palo Alto Networks. He has spent 20+ years in venture capital, after starting his career as an entrepreneur and co-founding Trigo Technologies, which was acquired by IBM in 2004. In this rare public conversation, Venky joins Vidit to unpack a journey that began in India before he moved alone to rural Washington State at 16. He shares the culture shock of arriving in America, working through college, choosing a $39,000 McKinsey job over a far more lucrative offer, and eventually becoming an entrepreneur — co-founding Trigo Technologies and selling the company to IBM in 2004. They also explore Venky’s 20+ years in venture capital, from backing Palo Alto Networks early in its journey to becoming a Partner at Menlo Ventures and helping drive the firm’s push into AI. Venky shares what separates good founders from great ones, why “propensity for action” has become one of his strongest signals, how he thinks about position sizing and why VCs often end up with more money in their worst companies than their best. He also unpacks today’s extraordinary AI market, investing in Anthropic, and why he believes the industry is moving from innovators to “imitators and idiots.” Venky reflects on the role his wife has played in his life, the stroke that nearly killed him and changed his perspective, what more than two decades of investing have taught him about ambition, and more. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 01:17 — The 15-year-old who talked his way into a job 03:21 — Growing up in India with big ambitions 08:08 — An unexpected lesson from Nelson Mandela 10:05 — Leaving India alone at 16 14:10 — Why technology became his path to freedom 22:41 — McKinsey, entrepreneurship and selling to IBM 31:13 — From founder to venture capitalist 39:57 — The signal Venky looks for in great founders 44:02 — How he backed Palo Alto Networks early 47:00 — Reinventing Menlo for the AI era 53:14 — AI’s “innovators, imitators and idiots” 59:25 — The most disorienting market of his career 1:06:05 — The stroke that nearly killed him 1:08:20 — Rapid fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ David Schneider is a General Partner at Coatue, where he co-leads the firm’s Growth Fund. Previously, he was President at ServiceNow, helping scale the company from roughly $100M to $5B in revenue, after helping take another software company in Data Domain from zero customers to more than $1B in revenue. David is widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most successful go-to-market, sales, revenue and business building executives of all time. In this rare public conversation, David joins Vidit to unpack a career spent building some of enterprise software’s defining companies. He shares how he was initially rejected by Data Domain for not being “aggressive enough”, only to join when it had zero customers and around 18 employees and help scale it beyond $1 billion in revenue — revealing the intensity, hiring philosophy and relentless focus on execution that shaped him as a leader. They also explore David’s decade at ServiceNow, where he helped scale the business from roughly $100 million to $5 billion, what he learned working alongside legendary CEO Frank Slootman, and the painful customer failure that fundamentally changed how he thought about leadership. David then opens up about leaving operating at the height of his career to become a General Partner at Coatue, where he now co-leads its Growth Fund, and the surprisingly difficult transition from being the person making decisions to the investor sitting beside the founder. Along the way, he reflects on building exceptional sales teams, spotting future leaders, the future of enterprise go-to-market, flying 250,000–350,000 miles a year, the impact that ambition had on his family, and why curiosity has remained a constant throughout his life. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Left Field Questions 01:24 – The founder David is betting on 04:01 – Growing up in Silicon Valley before the boom 08:25 – How David became obsessed with winning 24:45 – Rejected by Data Domain for not being “aggressive enough” 28:40 – From zero customers to a billion-dollar business 40:00 – What David learned working with Frank Slootman 50:23 – The customer failure David never forgot 52:25 – How David helped scale ServiceNow from $100M to $5B 59:04 – Why he walked away from operating 01:00:29 – From operator to investor at Coatue 01:08:00 – What David looks for in breakout companies today 01:11:00 – 350,000-mile years 01:13:30 – Left-field questions: grit, pet peeves and what matters now ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Paul Grosmann is the CEO of R.M.Williams, the 94-year-old heritage bootmaker whose handcrafted leather boots have become one of Australia’s most recognisable cultural exports, worn from the outback to boardrooms around the world. He is leading the next phase of growth for the business, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, expanding it as a global premium brand while preserving its manufacturing roots in Adelaide. Before R.M.Williams, Paul built an unusually international career across PwC and McKinsey, before leading strategy and digital growth for Nike in Greater China. In this rare public conversation, Paul joins Vidit to unpack an unusually global career, from Sydney to New York and China, including quitting his job and spending a year learning Mandarin to earn a role with McKinsey in Shanghai. He shares what he learned working inside Brett Blundy’s private business group, how he pitched his way into Nike and helped lead its retail and digital growth across Greater China, and why decision-making changes across public companies, private businesses and founder-led organisations. They also explore Paul’s return to Australia to lead R.M.Williams, the 94-year-old heritage brand whose handcrafted boots have become one of the country’s most recognisable cultural exports. Paul explains how the company has doubled its production capacity and created 350 Australian jobs, while expanding online, attracting younger and female customers, and building an international retail presence through an unconventional UK strategy. Along the way, he reflects on cold emails, considered decision-making, living across cultures, balancing ambition with family, and the role his wife Sophie has played throughout the journey. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold emails 04:32 Growing up in a loud Italian family 07:35 Becoming a global citizen 13:55 Quitting work to learn Mandarin 18:29 Learning to operate in China 20:31 Choosing mentors over promotions 22:11 Paul’s cold-email playbook 23:57 The leadership power of pausing 27:09 Why Paul left McKinsey 28:57 Learning retail from Brett Blundy 34:28 Public versus private companies 40:39 Rising rapidly at Nike China 45:38 Pitching for the R.M.Williams CEO role 47:51 Returning to China during COVID 49:12 The partner behind the career 50:24 Rebuilding an Australian icon 53:53 Taking R.M.Williams global 55:47 Winning younger customers 58:00 Rethinking women’s footwear 01:00:44 The unconventional UK expansion strategy 01:03:30 Rapid-fire lessons and quirks ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Mike Vernal is a General Partner at Conviction and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected operator-turned-investors. He joined Facebook very early, spent eight years there working closely with Mark Zuckerberg and ultimately became VP of Product and Engineering, before becoming a partner at storied venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, where he backed companies including Notion, Rippling, Clay and Statsig. In this conversation, Mike joins Vidit to unpack the journey from Microsoft to joining Facebook when it was still only a few hundred people, helping scale it through one of the most important periods in technology, and later becoming a partner at Sequoia before joining Conviction. He shares what he learned working closely with Mark Zuckerberg, why Facebook’s obsession with speed became such an advantage, how he learned to spot exceptional founders, and why ambition remains one of the traits he values most. They also explore why Mike believes people risk “overfitting” to a job after seven years, what Sequoia taught him about great businesses, why he came back to venture after some of the most enjoyable years of his life with his family, and what changes when the cost of creating software starts approaching zero. Along the way, Mike shares the habits, quirks and principles behind his reputation as a “nerd’s nerd”, from obsessive curiosity and inbox zero to the belief that the best leaders make the people around them better. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — The Nerd’s Nerd 04:00 — Growing Up in New York 08:00 — Power, Internet and Caffeine 13:00 — Working at a Startup in High School 14:00 — Why Harvard Became the Goal 18:00 — Meeting His Wife 24:00 — What Microsoft Taught Him 31:00 — Why Strategy Can Go Wrong 33:00 — How Facebook Built High-Impact Teams 37:00 — The Moment Facebook Felt Different 43:00 — Facebook’s Speed Advantage 49:00 — Why Mike Left Facebook 54:00 — Why Sequoia 56:00 — Learning What Makes a Great Business 59:00 — Why He Doesn’t Take Notes 01:01:00 — What Mike Looks for in Founders 01:07:00 — Leaving Sequoia 01:09:00 — Why He Joined Conviction 01:14:00 — How Mike Spots What’s Next 01:16:00 — When Software Costs Approach Zero 01:18:00 — What Makes Products Go Viral 01:20:00 — Coaching His Kids 01:22:00 — Inbox Zero and Productivity 01:25:00 — What Mike Is Experimenting With 01:27:00 — The Advice That Changed His Career ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

Welcome to the 14th episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations (CAIR), spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport. Other guests in this series include BHP's CFO Vandita Pant, Bank of America's Head of Capital Commitments Gautam Chari, Austrade's GM for South Asia Mukund Narayanamurti, Renowned Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Australia's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan Dowling, Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, Sports Journalist Bharat Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and CAIR's CEO, Ryan Neelam, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at the most senior levels. ________ This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. ________ Amit Singh is Managing Partner of Mandala, a global economics, data and policy research firm. He has advised three Australian Prime Ministers, served as Uber’s Global Head of Economic Policy in San Francisco, and more. Today, he leads Mandala and serves on several prominent government and public-policy boards. In this conversation with Vidit, Amit shares his journey from growing up amid political instability in Fiji and moving to Australia as a teenager, to running a $20 million organisation with 200 employees at just 21 — before going on to work at the highest levels of Australian government. He reflects on going from Freehills to Kevin Rudd’s office in the space of two days, subsequently working for Julia Gillard and briefly Anthony Albanese, and the experience of technically losing his job five times during his political career. Amit also shares the equal-pay decision he is proudest of, which delivered a 23–45% pay increase for 150,000 predominantly female care workers. Amit also explains why he left government for technology, what moving to San Francisco and working at Uber taught him about ambition and taking risks, and how those experiences ultimately led to building Mandala as a globally focused economics and policy firm. They also explore Amit’s Fijian-Indian identity, why he believes the Australia–India economic relationship remains underdone despite decades of intent, the opportunity across technology, AI and services, and why changing Australians’ understanding of modern India could unlock a much deeper relationship. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Who is Amit Singh 01:28 From selling limes in Fiji to building Mandala 03:43 Growing up Fijian-Indian amid political instability 04:31 His parents’ sacrifice — and the values they passed down 08:11 Navigating identity after moving to Australia 11:42 Finishing high school at 16 — by accident 13:12 Running a $20M organisation at 21 16:13 Law, Freehills & an unexpected career path 17:52 From lawyer to Kevin Rudd’s office in two days 21:51 What working closely with Prime Ministers taught him 23:21 The decision that changed pay for 150,000 workers 26:10 Leaving government for Uber and Silicon Valley 28:57 From playing it safe to “shoot your shot” 31:38 The hardest parts of Amit’s career 33:36 What Uber taught him about managing exceptional people 35:22 Building Mandala 37:22 Why Australia–India remains underdone 42:13 Why no one is truly self-made 43:24 Rapid fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Ryan Beiermeister is a Partner at Founders Fund, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms. Before becoming an investor, she held senior roles at three of the most consequential technology companies of the past decade: VP at OpenAI leading AI safety work, Product Director at Meta across election integrity and social issues, and VP at Palantir, where she helped lead development of Gotham. At College, Ryan was the #1 ranked college policy debater in the US and won top speaker at the 2012 national championship, becoming only the fourth woman since 1946 to do so. In this conversation, Ryan joins Vidit to unpack the unconventional path from Houston and elite college debate to Palantir, Meta, OpenAI and now Founders Fund, including why Palantir took a chance on her at 22, what she learned building products for governments and billions of users, and why she believes there is still “no replacement for human judgement” in the age of AI. They also explore the risks of building technology and simply “throwing it over the wall”, the developmental impact of AI on young people, what makes humans uniquely valuable in an increasingly automated world, and Ryan’s early lessons from making the leap from operator to venture capitalist. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 01:28 From Palantir to Founders Fund 04:00 The mentor who changed everything 07:05 Growing up in Houston 10:00 Feeling different at an elite school 12:00 Why high-performing women are different 14:00 Nolan Ryan 17:00 When debate became her superpower 20:00 Why Meta used her whole brain 22:00 Books, empathy & social justice 25:00 No master plan 27:00 How Palantir bet on a debate champion 32:00 From user empathy to building Gotham 34:00 Learning to double down on strengths 37:00 Trae Stephens 41:00 Breaking the VC pattern-recognition playbook 41:40 Can AI replace human judgement? 44:00 What AI could do to young minds 47:00 Why human imperfection matters 51:00 Leaving Palantir for Meta 56:00 When products meet the real world 59:00 Why Ryan finally became a VC 1:02:00 Why OpenAI felt impossible to ignore 1:04:00 Building safety systems for AI 1:05:00 The operator-to-investor mindset shift 1:10:00 Her first deal at Founders Fund 1:12:00 Why authenticity is an investing edge 1:19:00 Ryan’s one-hour reading habits 1:24:00 Ryan’s favourite interview questions ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Ellen DaSilva is the Founder and CEO of Summer Health, the pediatric healthcare company that served 30,000+ families before being acquired by Doctronic in 2026. Earlier, she was employee #8 at Hims & Hers and worked at Twitter during its hyper growth years. She is an active angel investor and Sequoia Scout, and earned her MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. In this conversation, Ellen joins Vidit to unpack the ambition behind her extraordinary career, the leap from Wall Street to scaling Twitter during its hyper gowth years, why she nearly became a Hims competitor before joining as employee #8, and what happened when she finally took the founder leap with Summer Health. They also explore how consumer software has changed, what makes great companies feel “inevitable”, why Ellen is “incapable of turning off founder mode”, and the philosophy behind living life on “maximum mode” and lots more. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. _______ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Ellen’s “hot take” on consumer AI 02:00 From Barclays to selling Summer Health 05:00 Growing up ambitious in New York 09:00 The family behind Ellen’s drive 11:00 “CEO of Coca-Cola” at age five 13:00 Politics, Bloomberg & an early obsession with change 15:00 Why Ellen studied English literature 18:00 Raising three intensely curious kids 19:00 China vs Wall Street 23:00 “I knew I was going to marry him” 26:00 Discovering tech from a Wall Street desk 29:00 The 10-day leap from Barclays to Twitter 31:00 Scaling Twitter during hypergrowth 33:00 Why “every job becomes sales” 35:00 How Twitter shaped Summer Health 38:00 HBS, ambition & “colouring outside the lines” 42:00 How Ellen spots exceptional companies early 45:00 The startup she nearly built before Hims 47:00 employee #8 at Hims to IPO 48:00 Building healthcare like consumer software 49:00 Why Summer Health removed the interface 51:00 Why text-based products may win 52:00 What Ellen would build next 54:00 Why Summer Health sold to Doctronic 57:00 Ellen’s fundraising playbook 01:02:00 The 5 people in her "hall of fame" room 01:08:00 The hardest period of her career 01:11:00 “I’m incapable of turning off founder mode” 01:13:00 Parenting without slowing down 01:14:00 Living life on “maximum mode” 01:17:00 Food, health & learning Mandarin 01:18:00 Vibe coding, robotics & what Ellen wants to learn next 01:19:00 “Where are you an outlier?” 01:20:00 Ellen’s pet peeve ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Dr. Shiv Rao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Abridge, one of the world’s leading healthcare AI companies, turning clinician-patient conversations into clinical intelligence across 300+ health systems and 100M+ conversations annually. A practising cardiologist, Shiv previously worked across healthcare technology and investing at UPMC before founding Abridge in 2018. In this rare in-depth conversation, Shiv joins Vidit to unpack his unconventional path: moving from Pittsburgh to India at nine, skateboarding, programming synthesizers, selling records in Japan and nearly quitting medical school before becoming a cardiologist. He shares how a seemingly perfect career across medicine, technology and investing left him “incredibly restless”, eventually leading to Abridge. But success was far from immediate: Shiv spent nearly four years as a “languishing founder” before generative AI arrived, “the sky just opened up”, and Abridge made its pivotal move into enterprise healthcare. They also explore why “pressure makes diamonds”, the family sacrifices behind building when “every minute matters”, what changes when a company passes 500 people, why Shiv still practises medicine, and what he’s learned from unlikely influences including Jensen Huang and Rick Rubin. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Meet Shiv Rao 02:00 Living on planes 04:55 Xero 07:00 Pittsburgh and India 12:00 Identity, India & belonging 17:00 Skateboarding, music & creativity 19:00 The moment that led Shiv to medicine 23:00 Selling records in Japan 25:00 Nearly quitting medical school 28:00 Medicine’s complicated relationship with technology 30:00 Teaching himself to code & early product-market fit 35:00 Why “pressure makes diamonds” 39:00 Medicine → healthcare investing 44:00 Leaving the “dream job” to build Abridge 48:00 Family sacrifice & the reality of building 50:00 Why “every minute matters” in AI 54:00 Abridge’s years as a “languishing” startup 59:00 When “the sky just opened up” 1:01:00 Abridge’s YOLO move into enterprise 1:03:00 The first customer “Love Stories” 1:10:00 Why enterprise healthcare is so defensible 1:15:00 Building AI that enterprises can’t replicate 1:21:00 Hiring, loyalty & scaling the team 1:23:00 Leading 500+ people 1:26:00 Lessons from Jensen Huang & Rick Rubin 1:30:00 What everyone is missing about AI 1:32:00 Rapid fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ John Willett is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Rogo, one of the fastest-growing AI companies in global finance, used by leading institutions including Lazard, Jefferies, Rothschild & Co, Moelis and Nomura. Rogo has raised more than $300 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Thrive and Khosla, was valued at $2 billion in 2026, and John now leads its expansion across Europe and APAC. In his first in-depth interview ever, John joins Vidit to tell the story behind Rogo and the person behind the company. He reflects on growing up in Connecticut in a family of engineers, being academically far ahead of his peers, meeting co-founder Gabe Stengel at Princeton, and experimenting with AI for finance years before ChatGPT made the category obvious. John shares how early investor Kevin Ryan convinced them to quit investment banking and go all in, why Rogo spent its first two years with little external validation, and how ChatGPT changed enterprise demand almost overnight. He also explains how Lazard became the first major customer, what it took to earn the trust of global banks, and how Rogo evolved from an early product into a platform tackling some of finance’s most complex workflows. They also unpack John and Gabe’s co-founder dynamic, why Gabe became CEO, how Rogo recruits former bankers into operating roles, and what John has learned scaling the company from roughly 40 to 200 people while building out Europe and APAC. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – The Real John Willett 04:33 – Xero 06:01 – The Family of Engineers Behind John 11:11 – Meeting Gabe at Princeton 12:22 – The Idea Before Rogo 17:16 – Building AI Before ChatGPT 18:46 – The Investor Who Told Them to Quit Banking 20:11 – Rogo’s First Fundraising Deck 24:31 – Two Years Nobody Wanted Rogo 27:16 – The ChatGPT Inflection Point 29:16 – Landing Rogo’s First Major Customer 34:11 – When Enterprise AI Started to Click 38:11 – Why Big-Name Customers Matter 43:10 – Deciding Who Should Be CEO 45:22 – Convincing Bankers to Join a Startup 50:09 – US vs Europe vs APAC 55:04 – Scaling Rogo From 40 to 200+People 01:00:04 – Becoming a Better Manager 01:02:44 – Rapid Fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. ________ Mukund Narayanamurti has spent more than two decades at the intersection of business, government and Asia. Based in New Delhi, he leads Austrade across six South Asian markets, including India, after previously leading its work across Southeast Asia. Earlier, he founded and led Asialink Business and spent more than a decade at KPMG advising companies across Asia. Born in Bengaluru, Mukund moved to Australia as an international student at 18, later earning an MBA from MIT Sloan and pursuing a PhD at Melbourne Business School. In this conversation with Vidit, Mukund shares his unlikely journey from a cricket-obsessed teenager in Bengaluru to moving to Australia alone at 18 — where he struggled so badly that he almost left after his first year — and ultimately returning to India as a senior Australian diplomat. He reflects on working on an $8.5 billion deal at 23 that “broke” him, losing business pitches for nearly three years before the wins finally came, and being initially dismissed as too young before becoming Asialink Business CEO at 34. Mukund also explains why he still pursues a PhD despite a demanding career, what 55 pieces of “scathing” academic feedback taught him about staying humble, and the leadership lessons he learnt across 750 consultations with Nicholas Moore. They also explore why India offers a front-row seat to global competition, the rapidly growing commercial relationship between India and Australia, and what Mukund has learnt from building a career across some of Asia’s most important markets. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:16 — Meet Mukund Narayanamurti 03:10 — Australian Government Message 04:10 — Bengaluru, Cricket & Growing Up “Unfocused” 09:10 — Leaving India Alone at 18 14:40 — Feeling Lost & Almost Going Home 18:15 — The University Year That Changed Everything 25:00 — Why Senior Leaders Need Brutally Honest Feedback 31:15 — The $8.5B Deal That “Completely Broke” Him 34:15 — Returning to India & Betting His Career on Asia 37:50 — Three Years of Losing Every Business Pitch 40:15 — Why India Is the Ultimate Test of Global Competition 50:00 — The Surprising Scale of Australia–India Business 54:10 — Leaving KPMG to Build Something From Scratch 58:10 — Dismissed as Too Young, Then CEO at 34 01:07:55 — 750 Meetings With Former Macquarie CEO Nicholas Moore 01:13:30 — International Student to Australian Diplomat in India 01:16:30 — “Work Is Worship”, Family & What Drives Him ________ Welcome to the 13th episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations (CAIR), spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport. Other guests in this series include BHP's CFO Vandita Pant, Bank of America's Head of Capital Commitments Gautam Chari, Renowned Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Australia's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan Dowling, Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, Sports Journalist Bharat Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and CAIR's CEO, Ryan Neelam, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at the most senior levels. ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Keith Rabois is Managing Director at Khosla Ventures and one of Silicon Valley’s most influential technology investors and operators. He held senior roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide and Square, co-founded Opendoor and OpenStore, and has backed more than 15 companies that have gone public, including YouTube, Palantir, Airbnb and DoorDash. A perennial Forbes Midas List investor, Keith has ranked as high as #4 in the US and #8 globally. In this unusually personal conversation with Vidit, Keith goes back to the beginning: growing up in a middle-class Jewish family in Edison, New Jersey, reading the encyclopedia cover to cover and becoming what he calls a “high-credentialist kid.” He explains how that pursuit took him through Stanford, Harvard Law School, a federal appellate court clerkship and Sullivan & Cromwell before he abandoned the path “cold turkey” at 29 to join a startup almost nobody remembers. Keith reflects on the people who changed the direction of his life, including Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Sam Altman. He shares why Peter’s criticism forced him to become more quantitative, why he waited to join LinkedIn until the company needed his particular strengths, and what the rarely discussed Slide chapter taught him about platforms, pivots, organizational design and failure. He also reveals how he identifies top 1% talent, why hiring exceptional people matters more than becoming a better manager, and why “the team you build is the company you build.” Keith explains why he still takes every note by hand, refuses laptops in meetings and measures how he invests every hour of his time. They also explore venture capital in the AI era: how to separate real product-market fit from corporate curiosity, why rapid revenue can conceal a fragile company, and why enduring advantages matter more than momentum. Keith also explains why his greatest edge remains becoming the first institutional investor in exceptional founders, and why launching a competitive venture fund today may require at least $500 million. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – The Real Keith Rabois 02:51 – His Online Persona 03:25 – Childhood and family 05:45 – Spotting Talent Before Everyone Else 06:50 – Xero 07:40 – The Parents Who Shaped Him 11:05 – The Ultimate Credentialist Kid 13:00 – Why Tech Was Never the Plan 16:10 – Becoming a Lawyer at Six 19:00 – Stanford, Harvard and Status 24:00 – Quitting Law at 29 28:05 – Growing Up With Peter Thiel 31:00 – Learning From Tech’s Best 36:00 – Between PayPal and LinkedIn 39:00 – Peter Thiel’s Career-Changing Criticism 42:00 – Talent Beats Management 44:00 – Finding the Top 1% 47:00 – His Executive Assistant Mistake 51:00 – No Laptops, One Pen 53:00 – The Lessons From Slide 57:00 – Vinod Khosla’s Best Advice 59:00 – Is AI Revenue Built to Last? 01:02:00 – Real Demand or Corporate Curiosity? 01:05:00 – Building a VC Fund Today 01:08:00 – Does Focus Still Win? 01:09:00 – Rapid Fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Kevin Hartz is the Co-Founder of Eventbrite and Xoom, and Co-Founder and General Partner at A*, the early-stage venture firm whose latest fund is $450M. Xoom was acquired by PayPal for more than $1B, Eventbrite went public, and Kevin has backed some of technology’s most important companies from the earliest stages, including PayPal, Airbnb, Palantir, SpaceX, Anduril, Ramp and Decagon. In this conversation with Vidit, Kevin goes back to the beginning: growing up in the Bay Area before Silicon Valley became Silicon Valley, studying history at Stanford and Oxford, returning home “fairly lost,” and nearly choosing medicine before the internet pulled him into technology. He shares how friendships with Peter Thiel and the early PayPal team shaped his trajectory, why he chose to build Xoom instead of joining PayPal, and what it felt like to later be “brushed aside” as CEO. Kevin also reflects on building Eventbrite with his wife Julia while raising a family, the relentless reality of being a scaling CEO, and how identity changes when a company that defined two decades of your life is no longer yours. He explains what the PayPal Mafia taught him about talent, why the best founders create leverage by surrounding themselves with exceptional people, and why some founders are simply an “automatic check.” They also explore A*, how Kevin finds the next generation of breakout founders, the extraordinary valuations and competition in today’s AI market, why relationships still matter at seed, and what decades of building and investing have taught him about ambition, judgment and the people you choose to spend your life around. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Meet Kevin Hartz 02:56 – Xero 03:56 – Childhood and family 16:00 – Stanford vs Oxford 21:00 – “I was fairly lost” 24:00 – PayPal, Peter Thiel and Xoom 30:00 – Getting pushed out as Xoom CEO 33:00 – Tech then vs now 35:00 – Why Eventbrite had to exist 43:00 – The reality of being CEO 45:00 – Building with Julia and becoming a dad 48:00 – What the PayPal Mafia taught him 53:00 – Investing in a wild market 56:00 – Who is Kevin Hartz after Eventbrite? 59:00 – Building A* after the SPAC era 1:02:00 – Finding the next great founder 1:04:00 – Why Ashwin was an “automatic check” 1:08:00 – Kevin’s dream dinner table 1:11:00 – The question Kevin asks every founder 1:13:00 – Why “I’d be happy to” is banned at A* ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Dylan Babbs is the Co-Founder and CTO of Profound, one of AI’s fastest-growing marketing companies, which reached a $1B valuation within 18 months and has raised $155M+ from Lightspeed, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures and others. Previously a design engineer at Uber, Dylan is a licensed private pilot and maps obsessive with a distinctive approach to engineering, product and design. In this conversation with Vidit, Dylan shares how an obsession with maps shaped his approach to product and design, why years of side projects eventually led him to leave his dream job at Uber, and how meeting James Cadwallader at South Park Commons led to Profound. He unpacks the three things every successful startup needs, why founders should stop “swimming upstream”, and how Profound grew far beyond even the founders’ expectations. They also explore Profound’s bigger bet on how AI is reshaping marketing, what Fortune 500 CMOs are asking today, the rise of the “marketing engineer”, product taste and speed, and why learning to fly taught Dylan to “run towards the anxiety.” Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Meet Dylan Babbs 02:25 Xero 03:25 Growing up in Silicon Valley 04:35 Why maps are fascinating 19:35 Berlin + starting a business 26:35 Puerto Rico + learning to fly 30:35 “Run towards the anxiety” 38:35 Uber + walking away 42:35 Meeting his co-founder 49:05 3 things every startup needs 53:35 Product taste + speed 56:35 Building Profound 59:35 Fast tracked revenue growth 1:03:35 What Fortune 500 CMOs want 1:07:35 The rise of the “marketing engineer” 1:10:35 Can the giants copy Profound? 1:13:35 Profound’s data moat 1:16:35 Flying, surfing + rapid fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ Damien Lewke is the Founder & CEO of Nebulock, an AI-native cybersecurity company building autonomous technology to find threats before they become major attacks. Previously, he worked across CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Arctic Wolf and Northrop Grumman, four leading names across cybersecurity and defence, and studied AI at MIT. Nebulock has since run 300M+ AI-powered investigations and surfaced 4,000+ security incidents missed by existing tools. In this conversation with Vidit, Damien traces the unconventional journey that led him there, from pursuing professional football in Germany and selling shoes in Los Angeles to discovering cybersecurity through an internship, working in Asia Pacific, and eventually quitting his job without a perfect plan to start Nebulock as a solo founder. They unpack why cybersecurity is harder today than 12 years ago, how AI could automate hacking at scale, and why even the world’s best security tools still miss attacks. Damien also shares why he interviewed 90 customers in 90 days before writing a line of code, the 30-page manifesto that helped launch Nebulock, what he learned inside some of cybersecurity’s defining companies, and why he still runs 1,000 miles every year. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Meet Damien Lewke 03:50 Xero 04:50 Growing up between America and Germany 14:20 Chasing professional football 21:00 Discovering cybersecurity 24:00 Cybersecurity: 2014 vs today 29:00 The DNC hack → CrowdStrike 38:30 Australia, Palo Alto + MIT 47:00 Why he became a solo founder 53:00 Why AI changes cybersecurity 57:00 Building Nebulock 1:00:00 Can the giants copy it? 1:05:00 90 customers before writing code 1:12:00 Hiring exceptional people 1:20:00 AI vs AI: the future of cyber 1:24:00 Running 1,000 miles + rapid fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers . Terms apply. ________ Luke Anear is the Founder and CEO of Mitti, the global technology company formerly known as SafetyCulture. Founded in 2004, Mitti has grown into a US$1.6 billion company with 850+ employees, helping tens of thousands of organisations improve how work gets done. Today, it is expanding across AI, computer vision and insurance, building on more than 3.5 billion workplace images and an insurance business that has already written US$115 million+ in premiums. After more than 20 years building the company, Luke stepped away from the CEO role completely exhausted. Eighteen months later, he’s back in the chair, has made more changes in five months than he says he did in the previous decade, and is rebuilding the business for the AI era. In this candid conversation, Luke shares how dropping out of school and cycling through 18 jobs and businesses shaped him, including living in his car before making $42,000 in a single night, and why he regrets selling 28% of SafetyCulture for just $2 million. Vidit and Luke unpack the chaos of scaling from 25 to 300+ employees, why stepping away became “one of the best things that ever happened” to him, what he’s doing differently in his second stint as CEO, and his ambition to build Mitti into a $10 billion revenue business. They also explore why AI is pushing software from horizontal to vertical, Mitti’s expansion beyond traditional SaaS, the surprising lesson Luke learned on a job site in Nepal, and the more personal side of a founder who flies helicopters, makes films and once took his children out of school to travel the world making documentaries together. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website ________ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Why SafetyCulture became Mitti 02:10 Introduction 07:00 Xero 10:15 Living in his car to making $42K overnight 20:30 How SafetyCulture really started 25:30 Selling 28% for $2 million 31:30 Stepping away and returning as CEO 36:00 The mistakes of scaling too fast 44:15 Why AI is making software more vertical 46:30 What Nepal taught Luke about global expansion 54:00 From SaaS to insurance 1:03:00 “I was cooked”: burnout and becoming a different CEO 1:15:00 Documentaries, his kids and flying helicopters 1:23:00 Rapid fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).

Flavia Tata Nardini is the co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies, the Adelaide company using satellites, seismic sensors and AI to help find the critical minerals needed for the energy transition. Since starting with just A$25,000, Fleet has grown into a global space and mining technology company valued at more than A$800 million. In this candid conversation, Flavia shares how losing everything as a child shaped her relationship with money, identity and risk, why moving to Australia left her with little choice but to build her own company, and how Fleet searched for product-market fit across everything from beehives and cattle to pipelines and vineyards. Vidit and Flavia explore the mining breakthrough that transformed Fleet, the A$100 Rocket Lab launch that helped save the company, raising children while building a startup, finding the right partner in life and business, and why Fleet now plans to take the same seismic technology it uses beneath the Earth to the Moon. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity. ________ Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. Show notes and more episodes here Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here Contact us via our website ________ TIMESTAMPS 01:00 Who is Flavia 03:42 The Day Her Family Lost Everything 14:02 The Childhood Dream That Never Left Her 19:12 Leaving Rome and Becoming Someone New 24:22 What the Space Industry Got Wrong 27:08 Why Australia Forced Her to Become a Founder 35:35 How Fleet Space Really Began 38:38 Betting on an Industry She Barely Knew 41:15 The Moment Fleet Became More Than an Idea 45:05 Building a Company With the Person You Love 49:36 The Messy Search for Product-Market Fit 54:12 The Bet That Changed Fleet Forever 55:45 Using Satellites and AI to See Beneath Earth 01:01:02 Building a Global Deep-Tech Company From Adelaide 01:05:15 The $100 Satellite Launch That Saved Fleet 01:09:15 From Founder Mode to Leading an $800M Company 01:14:40 Taking Fleet’s Technology From Earth to the Moon 01:16:00 Rapid Fire ________ The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW. Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).