Playing with Unicorns is a live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I stream Thursdays at 12 pm EST on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. I then post the videos to YouTube and the audio to the podcast section of Spotify and iTunes. All the episodes are below including all the supporting materials presented during the stream.

 

It takes me a while to write episode summaries. For the latest shows, check out Playing with Unicorns on YouTubeSpotify, or iTunes.


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에피소드 50: 벤처 시장 동향

벤처 시장은 유동적입니다. 인공지능은 호황을 누리고 있는 반면 나머지 벤처는 침체기에 빠져 있습니다. 자산 클래스로서의 벤처 캐피털은 진화하고 축소되고 있습니다. 더 높은 가격에 거래되는 건수가 줄어들고 있습니다. 새로운 마켓플레이스 유형이 … 더 보기 “에피소드 50: 벤처 시장 동향”

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에피소드 49: 댄 박과 클러치의 놀라운 컴백 스토리

클러치는 놀라운 상승세를 타고 있습니다. “캐나다의 카바나” 로서 2021년에 높은 인기를 누렸습니다. 2023년에 죽음의 문턱까지 갔다가 놀라운 반전을 이뤄냈습니다. 이제 그들은 다시 한 번 눈물을 흘리고 있습니다. Clutch의 창립자이자 CEO인 … 더 보기 “에피소드 49: 댄 박과 클러치의 놀라운 컴백 스토리”

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에피소드 48: 무엇이든 물어보세요

매크로, 마켓플레이스, AI, 모금, 자산 관리, 교육, 섬 쇼핑, 인도, 억양을 잃는 방법, 모험 여행, 기후 기술, VC 현황 등 다양한 주제에 대한 많은 질문이 이어졌습니다. 다음은 저희가 다룬 주요 … 더 보기 “에피소드 48: 무엇이든 물어보세요”

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에피소드 47: 마켓플레이스 트렌드

제가 26년 동안 마켓플레이스 구축과 투자를 해왔기 때문에 구축해야 할 모든 것이 이미 구축되었다고 생각할 수도 있지만, 사실과는 거리가 멀 수 있습니다. 여러 가지 면에서 우리는 여전히 마켓플레이스 혁명의 시작 … 더 보기 “에피소드 47: 마켓플레이스 트렌드”

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에피소드 46: FJ Labs의 AI 논문

AI 투자가 계속해서 최고치를 경신하는 동안 저희는 반대 입장을 취해왔습니다. 의견이 일치하지 않는 상황에서 저는 우리의 생각과 관점을 공유하고 싶었습니다. 이 에피소드에서는 이를 다룹니다: 이 에피소드에서는 수십 개의 청중 질문이 … 더 보기 “에피소드 46: FJ Labs의 AI 논문”

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에피소드 45: 무엇이든 물어보세요

1년 넘게 아무것도 묻지마 질문(AMA) 세션을 진행하지 않았기 때문에 다양한 주제에 대한 많은 질문이 쏟아졌습니다: AI, 증강 현실, 암호화폐, 매크로 등 다양한 주제에 대한 질문이 쏟아졌습니다. 원하는 경우 내장된 팟캐스트 … 더 보기 “에피소드 45: 무엇이든 물어보세요”

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에피소드 44: 44화: 생산성 향상 열정과 목적을 위해 하루를 간소화하기

사람들은 제 2023년 한 해를 돌아보며 제가 어떻게 그렇게 풍요롭고 열정적인 삶을 살면서 많은 것을 성취할 수 있었는지 종종 묻곤 합니다. 이 에피소드에서는 제가 가진 모든 비밀을 공유합니다. 일반적인 생산성 … 더 보기 “에피소드 44: 44화: 생산성 향상 열정과 목적을 위해 하루를 간소화하기”

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Episode 43: Julio Vasconcellos and the state of Latin American tech

I had the pleasure of receiving Julio Vasconcellos on the show. Julio is the Founder and Managing Partner of Atlantico, a leading early-stage venture fund in Latin America. It was … Continue reading “”

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Episode 42: Kevin Ryan, Unicorn Builder

I had the pleasure of being joined by my good friend Kevin Ryan. He’s often been called the “Godfather of NYC tech.” Kevin is one of the leading internet entrepreneurs … Continue reading “”

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Episode 41: Ask Me Anything

It had been over a year since we did the last Ask Me Anything (AMA) so the time had come. As requested by the audience, my son François joined us … Continue reading “”

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Episode 40: Oskar Hartmann, Unicorn Accumulator

This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with my good friend Oskar Hartmann. He’s had the most incredible unicorn experience: You can listen to the full episode in the … Continue reading “”

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Episode 39: Simpl and the Indian Fintech Ecosystem

On this week’s episode I had the pleasure of welcoming Nitya Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Simpl, to conclude our mini-series on the Indian tech scene. We had a fascinating … Continue reading “”

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Episode 38: The Indian Tech Ecosystem & FJ Labs’ Thesis in the region

This week we are covering the state of the Indian tech ecosystem. We are joined by Luke Skertich, senior associate at FJ Labs, who is leading the charge with our … Continue reading “”

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Episode 37: Building India’s 76th Unicorn & the Indian car market at large

After a long hiatus to take care of my ailing dad, who is fortunately fully recovered, I am back! For this episode and the next two, I am focusing on … Continue reading “”

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Episode 36: Building a Web3 Unicorn with Lorien Gabel (Figment)

Lorien Gabel is the Co-Founder of Figment Network. He holds an LLB from Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School. In 1994, at the age of 24, 6 months into practicing law, … Continue reading “”

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Episode 35: Thoughts on the market

Last February, I decided to reflect on the turmoil that had started to affect the public, crypto and private markets. This is the first time I focused on the topic. … Continue reading “”

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Episode 34: Ask Me Anything

My apologies for the delay in summarizing the episode, but it’s been a very busy 9 months. Last December, I hosted a Ask Me Anything on Playing with Unicorns. We … Continue reading “”

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Episode 33: From VC to Web2 to Crypto with Mark Lurie

Mark Lurie is the CEO and co-founder of Shipyard Software. Shipyard Software builds decentralized exchanges (DEX) for specific types of trades, traders, and instruments, starting with Clipper, a DEX with … Continue reading “”

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Episode 32: Building a shipping unicorn with Laura Behrens Wu, Co-Founder & CEO of Shippo

Laura Behrens Wu (@LauraBehrensWu) is the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo is an API-first company focused on building shipping for 21st-century e-commerce. When Laura Behrens Wu launched her own … Continue reading “”

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Episode 31: From Start-up to Grown-up with Alisa Cohn

Alisa Cohn (@AlisaCohn) is a prominent startup coach who has advised founders and executives at Venmo, Etsy, DraftKings, The Wirecutter, Mack Weldon, and Bloomberg. She’s one-time startup CFO, strategy consultant, … Continue reading “”

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Episode 30: A Conversation with Thomas Plantenga

Thomas Plantenga is the CEO of Vinted. He was born and raised in the Netherlands. Thomas was previously a Venture Partner at FJ Labs and an early member of OLX. … Continue reading “”

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Episode 29: The Latest Marketplace Trends

In episode 27, I took a stab at which categories investors and entrepreneurs should focus on for the coming 5 years. In today’s episode, I wanted to cover the themes … Continue reading “”

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Episode 28: What’s the deal with crypto?

When Satoshi Nakamoto famously wrote the Bitcoin white paper on November 13, 2008, it proposed to solve the Byzantine Generals problem. The Byzantine Generals Problem is solving the puzzle of … Continue reading “”

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Episode 27: The Tech of Tomorrow

In a way I live in your future. By virtue of receiving 150 startup pitches per week, I have a good sense of what founders are trying to build for … Continue reading “”

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Episode 26: Jeff Wald & The End of Jobs

Jeff Wald is a serial entrepreneur, board Member, bestselling author, keynote speaker, and investor. Jeff’s most recent company, Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers … Continue reading “”

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Episode 25: Clearco & The Future of Finance

As most of you know, I want to empower people to work on the things they love. As a result, I am excited that FJ Labs invested early in Clearco … Continue reading “”

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Episode 24: How Slice is helping mom and pop pizzerias compete with Dominos

One of our main theses at FJ Labs is to focus on vertical marketplaces. Slice is a great example of a company that has found product-market fit within a vertical. … Continue reading “”

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Episode 23: Synthesis: The startup scaling up the most innovative ideas from Elon Musk’s school

The education system has not evolved since the industrial era. New tools have been introduced over the years, but nothing has dramatically changed. To reinvent education, you don’t more tools … Continue reading “”

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Ep 22: Why Startups Fail with Tom Eisenmann

9 out of 10 startups fail. This is a gloomy number. However, it has never stopped entrepreneurs from hedging their bets to create successful companies. And I want to help … Continue reading “”

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Episode 21: How to Build the Perfect Pitch Deck?

This is one of the most requested questions I’ve received since starting Playing with Unicorns. People want to know “How do I build the perfect pitch deck to raise funds?” … Continue reading “”

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Episode 20: So you want to launch a SPAC ?

Last week Alpha Capital, a SPAC company that FJ Labs co-sponsored, went public. We rang the bell and it was beautiful. Alpha Capital is a formed blank check company that … Continue reading “”

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Episode 19: Reinvesting in the Latam Tech Ecosystem with Brian Requarth

Brian Requarth is the Co-Founder of Latitud and former CEO of Viva Real. Through Latitud, he now dedicates his time to providing mentorship and advice for entrepreneurs in Latin America … Continue reading “”

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Episode 18: Thirty-Six Lessons from Company Founders & CEOs with Tim Jackson

Tim Jackson is a fellow entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. He has lived an interesting life from a career in journalism for the Financial Times, to VC seed funding for … Continue reading “”

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Episode 17: The State of Solar

This week Kerim Baran shares where we stand in the world of solar. He covers: If you prefer, you can listen to the episode in the embedded podcast player. In … Continue reading “”

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Episode 16: Startup Talent & Trends

I often pondered the makeup of successful founders and founding teams. At FJ Labs we spend a disproportionate amount of time screening for EIRs. We only build 1 or 2 … Continue reading “”

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Episode 15: Mistakes to Avoid as an Entrepreneur

It is extremely hard to succeed as an entrepreneur. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have countless ups and downs. I would argue that I failed my way to success. My … Continue reading “”

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Episode 14: A Conversation with Christian Angermayer

Christian is the rare breed of polymath Renaissance Man operating in a world that rewards specialization. We had an extremely broad and far-ranging conversation covering: If you prefer, you can … Continue reading “”

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Episode 13: What’s the deal with SPACs?

SPACs have been one of the hot topics of 2020. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital nerd, joins to talk about all things … Continue reading “”

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에피소드 12: 팬데믹, 포퓰리즘, 정책 실패 – 2020년 낙관론의 놀라운 사례

2020년의 만연한 파멸과 우울함을 감안할 때, 저는 현 상황과 세계가 나아갈 방향에 대해 객관적으로 생각해보는 시간을 가졌습니다. 수많은 산업과 기술에 대해 깊이 파고들면서 우리에게 열려 있는 기회에 대한 영감과 경외감을 … 더 보기 “에피소드 12: 팬데믹, 포퓰리즘, 정책 실패 – 2020년 낙관론의 놀라운 사례”

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Episode 11: Loonshots with Safi Bahcall

I had the privilege of running into the same social and intellectual circles as Safi Bahcall for the past 20 years. When I heard he wrote a book on how … Continue reading “”

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Episode 10: Validating Your Startup Idea

Last week we covered how to come up with great startup ideas. This week I present how to evaluate if the idea is worth pursuing. I detail which hypothesis you … Continue reading “”

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Episode 9: Coming Up with a Startup Idea

Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to come with compelling startup ideas. I detail the four sources of startup ideas: Observed pain points Geographic arbitrage Business model or approach arbitrage Verticalization I … Continue reading “”

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Episode 8: The Business of Venture Capital

Most entrepreneurs merely see venture capitalists as a source of capital without understanding how venture capitalists operate. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, and our resident venture capital … Continue reading “”

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Episode 7: FJ Labs’ Startup Studio Model

Last week we covered whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. As a follow-up, I wanted to present … Continue reading “”

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Episode 6: DIY vs Accelerator vs Studio

This week we cover whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an accelerator or a venture studio. Nancy Dong, our first ever guest on … Continue reading “”

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Episode 5: Ask Me Anything

Given that I was in Lake Placid looking at the foliage change without my multi-screen setup, I tried a “Ask Me Anything” session for the week. It was a resounding … Continue reading “”

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Episode 4: FJ Labs’ Investment Thesis

In the third episode, I described how VCs evaluate startups by using a combination of the team, business, deal terms and whether the idea fits with their thesis to decide … Continue reading “”

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Episode 3: How VCs evaluate startups

In the first episode I covered how and when to fundraise. In this episode, I describe how venture capitalists (VCs) evaluate you once you are in front of them to … Continue reading “”

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Episode 2: Build a MVP for less than $20k

I start by covering the theoretical do’s and don’ts of building a minimum viable product (MVP) before giving an in depth and specific example of how I would go about … Continue reading “”

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Episode 1: Fundraising

Given that it’s episode 1, I start by explaining why I am creating this show before covering everything there is to know in terms of fundraising for venture backed startups: … Continue reading “”

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Announcing Playing With Unicorns

Playing with unicorns is a new weekly live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I will be streaming every Thursday at 12 pm EST on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, … Continue reading “”