Back

Explore every episode of the podcast Smart Humans with Slava Rubin

Dive into the complete episode list for Smart Humans with Slava Rubin. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

Rows per page:

1–50 of 76

TitlePub. DateDuration
Smart Humans: 2025 Pre-IPO Briefing on Stripe with Sacra's Marcelo Ballvé27 Aug 202500:46:35

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Marcelo Ballvé of Sacra discuss the evolution and current state of Stripe, the $90 billion payments company. They explore Stripe's business model, revenue streams, competitive landscape, and future growth potential, including the impact of stablecoins and AI on its operations. The discussion also includes Christine Healey of Healey Pre-IPO who discusses investment opportunities in Stripe and the dynamics of accessing shares in the company.

Smart Humans: HEALEY PRE-IPO’s Christine Healey on investing in pre-IPO Tech Unicorns in today’s market19 Aug 202500:38:58

Christine Healey is the Founder of HEALEY PRE-IPO, a concierge Pre-IPO broker service helping people invest in private tech stocks – the simple, personal way. Previously, Christine was the Head of Private Markets at Destiny and the Portfolio Manager of Destiny’s Pre-IPO fund (NYSE:DXYZ), as well as early employee and Senior Director at Forge (NYSE:FRGE), working in both San Francisco and Hong Kong. Christine has closed ~$600m+ of private tech unicorn transactions to date and has spent close to a decade specializing in Pre-IPO investments. See healeypreipo.com for more information or to sign up for mailing list.


This discussion is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an affiliation with or endorsement of any company, and does not constitute a recommendation, offer to sell, or solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Investments in private companies are offered only through appropriate offering materials and accreditation requirements apply as defined under SEC Regulation D. Investments in private companies involve high risk, including the risk of complete loss of capital. These investments are illiquid, through a variety of structures including SPVs, may be difficult or impossible to resell, and may not ever result in an IPO or other liquidity event. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The speaker may receive compensation in connection with certain transactions discussed. There is no guarantee these private companies will achieve any specific valuation, and returns can vary widely and may underperform public markets. They may also involve additional risks not present in public market investments.

Smart Humans: Fenchurch Legal's CEO and founder Louisa Klouda on the world of litigation finance and the opportunities it presents for investors16 Jun 202500:43:48

Louisa Klouda is the CEO and Founder of Fenchurch Legal, and is responsible for overseeing all business operations. Louisa founded Fenchurch Legal in 2020 after an interest in the litigation finance market sparked an idea to apply a secured lending model to litigation finance. She discovered a market largely dominated by funders focusing on high-value, complex cases such as class actions, however, there was a lack of support for smaller claims. This insight led to the creation of Fenchurch Legal. Before launching Fenchurch Legal, Louisa operated the broking and dealing desk for a corporate brokerage and finance firm in London. In this role, she gained extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and investment product structuring.

Smart Humans: EquityMultiple CEO Charles Clinton on the importance of diversification, the impact of interest rates, and the state of the real estate market09 Jun 202500:46:27

Charles Clinton is the CEO and co-founder of EquityMultiple, an online platform that enables individuals to invest in institutional-grade commercial real estate. Before launching EquityMultiple in 2015, Charles was a real estate attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City, where he advised major private equity clients such as Blackstone and KKR on transactions exceeding $10 billion, including Blackstone’s acquisitions of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Motel 6, and Hilton’s restructuring ahead of its IPO. Charles earned his JD and Business Law Certificate from Berkeley Law and holds a BA from Amherst College, where he captained the swimming and water polo teams. He is FINRA Series 7 and 66 certified and resides in New York City with his wife and two daughters.

Smart Humans: Vintage's Alan Feld on managing $4.5 billion, venture investing, and finding great managers30 May 202500:46:20

Alan Feld is the founder and managing partner of Vintage Investment Partners. Prior to founding Vintage, Alan Feld was a General Partner at Israel Seed Partners and at Vertex Ventures. Prior to Vertex, Alan was the Managing Director of Evergreen Capital Markets/Robertson Stephens Israel. Alan received an MBA from York University in Toronto, an L.L.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and a B.A. in Commerce and Finance from the University of Toronto.

Smart Humans: Milk Road's Kyle Reidhead on the crypto space, the importance of stablecoins, and his predictions for the market.22 May 202500:39:58

Kyle Reidhead is Co-Owner & Head of Research at Milk Road, a leading crypto investing media company, and Founder of Impact3, a crypto-native marketing agency helping top protocols and brands in crypto grow.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on Glean with Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund16 May 202500:37:06

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund did a deep dive into Glean, the multi-billion dollar AI startup helping to companies get the most out of their enterprise data. They looked at Glean’s growth trajectory, the competitive landscape and a possible IPO timeline.

Smart Humans: FranShares' Kenny Rose on on investing into franchises and how the asset class can hedge against a recession07 May 202500:46:17

Kenny Rose is the founder and CEO of FranShares, the first platform to package income-producing franchise assets into diversified, SEC-regulated funds for everyday investors. A Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) and former franchise broker, Kenny worked with over 600 franchise brands in more than 100 industries. Kenny’s views on franchising have been featured in Business Insider, Forbes, ABC, The Hustle, American Express, the Amazon feature book, “More Than Just French Fries,” and other publications worldwide, in total reaching over 300 million people throughout the world, making him a sought-after voice for RIAs, family offices, and institutions seeking durable, inflation-hedged cash flow.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on Neuralink with Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund23 Apr 202500:42:05

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund looked at Neuralink, the Elon Musk-founded neurotechnology company. They talked about the company’s growth, strengths, challenges, IPO prospects, and much more.

Smart Humans: Worth Media Chairman Jim McCann on diversifying across alternatives, scaling 1-800-FLOWERS to a public company, and the value of being curious08 Apr 202500:47:10

Jim McCann is an entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist, renowned for transforming a single flower shop into the billion-dollar omni-channel retailer, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. His entrepreneurial journey began with a deep belief in the importance of social connections, which inspired him to create a company dedicated to helping people build meaningful relationships.

The company’s portfolio includes well-known brands such as Harry & David®, PersonalizationMall.com®, Cheryl’s Cookies®, The Popcorn Factory®, Things Remembered®, and SmartGift Inc., along with its newest additions, Card Isle®, an innovative greeting card company, and Scharffen Berger®, a premium chocolate company.

Jim is also dedicated to philanthropy, with a particular focus on supporting individuals with developmental disabilities. He founded Smile Farms, Inc. a not-for-profit organization in 2015 that provides meaningful work opportunities for people with disabilities. 

In addition to his role as Founder and Chairman of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., Jim serves as Chairman of Worth Media Group. He also holds various other positions, including Vice-Chairman and Lead Independent Director for International Game Technology PLC, and serves on several private and not-for-profit boards.

Smart Humans: Neutral's Nate Helbach on developing sustainable, wellness-focused real estate and the future of luxury housing24 Mar 202500:56:53

Nate Helbach is the founder and chief executive officer of Neutral. While studying finance and sustainability at Harvard Extension School, Nate developed the framework of what is now Neutral, which redefines conventional development strategies and mitigates the harmful effects of the built environment on our ecosystem. Nate founded Neutral based on this thesis in 2020 and continuously seeks to evolve and innovate new sustainable and regenerative development methods to rejuvenate our built environment. He leads financing, capital markets, accounting, investments, product development, and construction oversight of the company's low-, mid-, and high-rise developments.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on Anthropic with Vincent's Eric Cantor and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund06 Mar 202500:39:03

Vincent CEO Eric Cantor and Sacra co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund looked at Anthropic, the American AI startup behind LLM model Claude. They talked about the company’s rapid growth, the competitive landscape in AI, and how the recent emergence of DeepSeek could affect Anthropic's outlook.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on Klarna with Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund12 Aug 202500:36:34

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discuss Klarna, a leading buy now, pay later (BNPL) company, exploring its business model, revenue streams, competitive landscape, and future outlook as it approaches a potential IPO.

Smart Humans: Argo co-founder Peter Grosskopf on investing in precious metals and building a digital gold investment platform24 Feb 202500:35:07

Peter Grosskopf was one of the founding investors and currently serves as the Chairman for Argo, a precious metals investment platform that enables secure and digital access to physical gold. With over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, Peter served as Chief Executive Officer of Sprott Inc. for 12 years from 2010 to 2022. During that time, he drove the growth of the fellow Sprott Family Company from $5 billion to more than $20 billion of assets under management. Peter is a CFA® Charterholder and earned an Honours Degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on SpaceX with Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund13 Feb 202500:44:37

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund, analyze SpaceX, the most valuable private company in the world. They talk about the company’s growth, strengths, challenges, IPO prospects, and answer investor questions.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on OpenAI with Vincent's Eric Cantor and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund05 Feb 202500:34:46

Vincent CEO Eric Cantor and Sacra co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund talked about OpenAI, the American AI giant.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on Stripe with Sacra's Marcelo Ballvé29 Jan 202500:36:05

Slava Rubin and Marcelo Ballvé, Pre-IPO analyst at Sacra, analyzed Stripe, the global payments platform last valued at $95 billion.

Smart Humans: Meanwhile's CEO and co-founder Zac Townsend on life insurance denominated in Bitcoin, thinking long-term, and innovating fintech forward20 Jan 202500:48:12

Zac Townsend is the co-founder and CEO of Meanwhile, the world’s first Bitcoin life insurance company. Meanwhile’s mission is to democratize access to financial protection and security. Formerly, Townsend was a leader in the financial services practice of McKinsey & Company and served as the inaugural Chief Data Officer of California. Townsend was also the founder of a banking API business called Standard Treasury which was sold to Silicon Valley Bank.

Smart Humans: The Year in Alternative Investing and Predictions for 2025 with Vincent's Adam Katz08 Jan 202500:52:20

In this episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin and Vincent's Adam Katz recap the year in alts, and talk about what to what to expect in 2025 in real estate, pre-IPO venture, art, collectibles, and crypto.

Adam Katz is a co-founder and Head of Research and Content at Vincent. He is a seasoned real estate investor and syndicator and a longtime investor in alternative assets. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School and has an undergraduate finance degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Smart Humans: Cambria Investment Management founder Meb Faber on private markets, farmland, and investing globally23 Dec 202400:49:39

Meb Faber is the founder and CEO of Cambria Investment Management. He is the manager of Cambria’s ETFs and separate accounts. He hosts The Meb Faber Show podcast and has authored numerous leather-bound books. He is a frequent speaker and writer on investment strategies and has been featured in Barron’s, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Meb graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Engineering Science and Biology. 

Smart Humans: Nectar co-founder and CEO Derrick Barker on investing into real estate debt, how to underwrite multifamily buildings and picking the next hot real estate markets.11 Dec 202400:47:03

Derrick Barker is the co-founder and CEO of Nectar, a fintech company focused on innovative financing solutions for Commercial and multi family real estate investors. His journey in real estate began during his time at Harvard, where he started acquiring properties from his dorm room. Following graduation, Derrick joined Goldman Sachs as a bond trader but continued to expand his real estate portfolio, primarily focused on affordable housing in Atlanta, his hometown.

After three years at Goldman and building a portfolio of 500 units, Derrick returned to Atlanta to focus full-time on real estate, eventually growing his assets to over 4,700 units, valued at $500 million. His work included revitalizing distressed neighborhoods by renovating affordable housing complexes, creating thousands of units and enhancing community stability.

In 2021, Derrick co-founded Nectar with his wife, Brittany Mosely, also a real estate investor, to help other developers who own stabilized properties to access liquidity in the form of flexible capital without having to completely refinance their senior debt. Through small balance mezzanine debt and preferred equity solutions, Nectar supports multifamily projects across the U.S., enabling developers to expand quickly while delivering stable, risk-adjusted returns for investors.

Smart Humans: Solana co-founder Raj Gokal on building one of the biggest crypto companies in the world, navigating the asset class, and his outlook for 202522 Nov 202400:54:36

Raj Gokal is the co-founder of Solana and president of Solana Labs. He also serves on the board of the Solana Foundation. He was previously focused on startups in behavioral health. He was Director of Product at Omada Health; EIR at Rock Health; Co-Founder of Sano, building consumer glucose sensors; and an investor at General Catalyst Partners. He started his career in hedge funds at companies like Meridian Capital Partners. Raj studied Finance at the Wharton School of UPenn.

Smart Humans: CapitalPad co-founder Travis Jamison on sourcing, investing in, and profiting from small and medium sized businesses11 Nov 202400:43:45

Travis Jamison is a successful multi-time founder turned private market investor. He is the co-founder and managing partner of CapitalPad, a platform that enables accredited investors to invest in small business M&A deals, an asset class that has historically been out of reach for most investors.

Smart Humans: Pre-IPO Briefing on CoreWeave with Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund05 Aug 202500:34:17

Recorded 3/18/25

Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund break down CoreWeave, the AI infrastructure powerhouse about to IPO at a $35B valuation. They discuss that upcoming IPO, the competitive landscape, and CoreWeave’s future prospects. They also analyze the company's rapid growth, its relationship with NVIDIA and its unique market position.


Since the discussion CoreWeave has gone public and seen its share price rise by 160% as of August 4.

Smart Humans: Vincent co-founder Slava Rubin on alternative assets, his investment philosophy and supporting entrepreneurs01 Nov 202400:28:45

Slava was co-founder and CEO at indiegogo in addition to being co-founder at Vincent, co-founder at Nillion and co-founder and Managing Partner of Humbition, an early stage venture fund. He is currently a member of the board for NYSE traded (WSO) Watsco Inc.

Smart Humans: Doorvest CEO and co-founder Andrew Luong on turnkey real estate investing and how to avoid dealing with tenants and tough homes16 Oct 202400:39:28

Andrew Luong is a personal finance and technology enthusiast and serves as the co-founder & CEO of Doorvest.  Founded in 2020, Doorvest is an online way for everyone, everywhere to buy, own and sell investment homes.  Doorvest currently manages over 400 homes and $100m in assets and is on a mission is to advance financial security for all.

Smart Humans: SkyBridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci on the 2024 election and its effects on the private markets02 Oct 202400:54:47

Slava and Anthony talk about the impact of the election on private markets and the public stock market. They go through different private markets, including real estate, crypto, pre-IPO venture, art and collectibles, and talk about how each candidate can impact the economy and your investments.

Smart Humans: EquityZen's Atish Davda on pre-IPO venture investing and the latest trends in the asset class18 Sep 202400:57:48

Atish Davda is the co-founder and CEO of EquityZen, a leading marketplace for private company stock. For a decade, he has been responsible for running the firm, designing the organization, managing the leadership team, and guiding product development. He has spent 15+ years in fintech and asset management as an engineer, quant, and investor. He is an established leader in identifying novel markets, capturing opportunity with inventive technology applications, and running highly capital efficient operations. He has been a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and contributor on Forbes, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Atish holds a Bachelors of Economics and Finance from The Wharton School and a Bachelors of Computer Science and Engineering from University of Pennsylvania.

Smart Humans: Auren Hoffman on angel investing, venture capital, and how he invests into data businesses03 Sep 202400:49:38

Auren Hoffman is CEO of SafeGraph. SafeGraph is a geospatial data company focused on understanding physical places. He is also GP of Flex Capital. He is the former CEO and cofounder of LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP) -- the largest middleware provider in marketing technology. He is the founder of the Dialog Retreat and investor in over 160 active technology companies. Auren holds a B.S.E. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley. Twitter: @auren

Smart Humans: Frec's Mo Al Adham on direct indexing and tax loss harvesting14 Aug 202400:41:51

Mo Al Adham is the founder and CEO of Frec, the investment platform bringing sophisticated investing products like direct indexing to consumers, bypassing traditional wealth advisors. Prior to Frec, Mo was the first advisor at Instacart, joining the advisory board in early 2013. Mo was also the founder of Twitvid in 2008, the first video platform for social networks like Twitter. Mo joined Twitter in 2016 and spent 5 years in various product leadership roles. Mo has a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Smart Humans: Alliance CEO Ben Reinberg on commercial real estate and medical office investing05 Aug 202400:53:22

Ben Reinberg is the Founder & Chief Executive officer of Alliance Consolidated Group of Companies, LLC, which specializes in medical office investing. He is a prominent figure in commercial real estate acquisition and investment and a widely recognized expert in the development and structuring of commercial real estate transactions. Ben brings immense value to the dealing process in his ability to build trust quickly, raise equity efficiently, solve problems, and bridge the gap between buyers and sellers.

Smart Humans: Hiive's Sim Desai on trading private securities and launching a new private market index22 Jul 202400:40:59

Sim Desai is the Founder and CEO of Hiive, the first true marketplace for private company stock. Before founding Hiive, Sim spent over a decade at Setter Capital, where he founded and led the firm’s venture capital secondaries team since 2015. He grew this business from a new entrant to VC/unicorn trading to its current position as a major global hub. Sim holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology from UBC and a JD/MBA from the University of Toronto.

Smart Humans: Affirm's Max Levchin on entrepreneurship, angel investing, and the future of finance08 Jul 202400:53:44

Max Levchin is the founder and CEO of Affirm, the payment network that empowers consumers and helps merchants drive growth. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Glow, a data-driven fertility company. Both companies were created and launched from his San Francisco based innovation lab, HVF (Hard, Valuable, Fun). Max was one of the original co-founders of PayPal where he served as the Chief Technology Officer until its acquisition by eBay in 2002. In 2002, he was named to the Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world as well as Innovator of the Year.

Prior to HVF, Max founded and was CEO of Slide, a personal media-sharing service, which was acquired by Google in 2010. Max also helped create Yelp Inc., a consumer internet company, where he served as Chairman of its Board of Directors from its founding in 2005 until July 2015. He served on the board for Yahoo! Inc., an internet company, from 2012 until 2015. 

Max was born in Kyiv, Ukraine before moving to the United States and settling in Chicago in 1991. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he founded and led four other technology startups. Max is a serial entrepreneur, computer scientist, philanthropist and active investor in more than 100 startups.

Smart Humans: Groundfloor's Brian Dally on capturing yield via real estate investing and predicting the US economy24 Jun 202400:54:17

Over a 25-year entrepreneurial career that spans IP communications, wireless telecom, and finance, Brian Dally has pushed the boundaries of how disruptive Internet technologies can be applied to solve large-scale consumer problems and distribute value to all.


As the co-founder and CEO of Groundfloor, a wealth tech platform that allows everyone to build wealth through real estate, Brian has helped make private capital markets radically more accessible to new participants. Under his leadership, Groundfloor became the first company qualified by the SEC to offer direct real estate debt investments via Regulation A to non-accredited investors and accredited investors alike. In 2020, Groundfloor made its debut on Inc. Magazine’s prestigious list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America. It’s now been on the Inc 5000 list four years in a row. Most recently, Groundfloor was named to the 2024 Forbes Fintech 50 as one of the most important innovators changing the way people save, spend, and invest. Brian has also been recognized for his entrepreneurial leadership by many organizations.

Smart Humans: Entrepreneur James Altucher on becoming a successful investor, the impact of AI on the economy, and the future of crypto29 Jul 202500:46:14

James Altucher is a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, angel investor, and podcaster who has founded or co-founded over 20 companies and advises or invests in more than 30. After losing his fortune—plummeting from $15 million to $143 in months—he rebuilt his life by embracing a "choose yourself" philosophy, rejecting conventional paths to success. A chess master and host of The James Altucher Show, Altucher shares raw, actionable insights on entrepreneurship, investing, and personal growth. His bestselling books, including Choose Yourself and Skip the Line, reflect his unconventional approach, blending hard-earned lessons from failures and triumphs.

Smart Humans: Percent CEO and Founder Nelson Chu on private credit investing and optimizing yield12 Jun 202400:59:31

Nelson Chu is an experienced serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Percent, the modern credit marketplace. After witnessing the inefficiencies in the private credit markets, Nelson was inspired to transform this industry for the better and founded Percent in 2018. He and his team have built an end-to-end credit platform unlike any other, empowering borrowers, underwriters, and investors to transact with confidence through governance, asset transparency, and market standardization. Nelson has been recognized by Private Debt Investor as a Rising Star in their annual list of the top 40 individuals shaping the future of private credit.

Smart Humans: Carry Founder Ankur Nagpal on tax optimization and getting the best return from your investments23 May 202400:38:53

Ankur Nagpal is the founder of Carry and previously founded Teachable, which he scaled to $60M+ in ARR. Ankur also runs a venture fund, Vibe Capital and has invested in 100+ startups.

Smart Humans: Issuance CEO Darren Marble on equity crowdfunding, "Going Public" and storytelling for entrepreneurs13 May 202400:37:54

Darren Marble is a serial entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. Darren is the co-founder and CEO of Issuance, a leading software as a service (“SaaS”) platform for online capital raising. Issuance has processed more than $250 million from retail investors across its offerings to date. He is also an Executive Producer of Going Public, a groundbreaking original series that follows the stories of founders on their capital-raising journeys. For the first time, viewers globally can Click-to-Invest in featured companies while they watch.

Smart Humans: 3i Members' Mark Gerson on their investing network, the importance of community, and accessing unique alternative investments24 Apr 202400:52:57

Mark Gerson is an investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He co-founded Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), Thuzio, and most recently, 3i Members. Mark is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of United Hatzalah, a network of volunteer medics in Israel, and the African Mission Healthcare Foundation.

3i Members is an investing network of 400+ investors—all who have exited a company or lead a family office. Members participate in monthly deal meetings, regional events, diligence discussions, and more. 3i deal flow is characterized by its high-yielding nature (15-20%+ IRRs), underwritable, uncorrelated, and off-market alternatives with asymmetric return profiles.

See here:
https://bit.ly/44ff6r1

Smart Humans: Forge Capital's Kelly Rodriques on private market investing, navigating IPOs, and how to find the next breakout companies08 Apr 202400:43:05

Kelly Rodriques is the CEO of Forge Global, a leading global private securities marketplace. He’s accrued decades of domestic and international experience founding and successfully operating growth companies in the financial technology sector and his fintech experience spans both investing and financial services leadership. Formerly, he was the CEO of Pensco, Totality and Novo and was an Operating Partner with Ignition Growth Capital; He founded and remains managing partner of Operative Capital, an early stage financial technology investment fund.

Smart Humans: Republic’s Kendrick Nguyen on the last few years in venture, revisiting his predictions and the massive opportunities that lie ahead28 Mar 202400:50:27

Kendrick Nguyen is CEO of Republic, a multifaceted venture firm and investment platform connecting global investors with tech startups. Prior to Republic, he served as general counsel of AngelList and was a Fellow at Stanford University. He is a founding adviser to CoinList, NOW Ventures and an angel investor himself. An immigrant from Vietnam, Kendrick has a strong interest in improving access to capital for underserved entrepreneurs in the US and beyond. 

Smart Humans: DealMaker's Rebecca Kacaba on investing into private markets and powering equity crowdfunding13 Mar 202400:26:22

Rebecca Kacaba is the CEO and Co-Founder of DealMaker, winner of Lexpert's Top 40 Under 40, and has been named one of North America's most innovative lawyers by the Financial Times, and one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women 2022. After over a decade of practicing securities law, she took an ambitious leap from her partnership at the world’s largest law firm and founded DealMaker to build a system that would make online capital raising mainstream. She is the force behind building DealMaker into one of Canada's Top 10 Fastest Growing Companies two years in a row as ranked by the Globe & Mail's Report on Business and a 2023 Deloitte Fast 50 Company-to-Watch. With a deep commitment to fostering a work culture that encourages ingenuity and creativity, Rebecca has helped guide DealMaker to land the second spot on Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators list.  With her vision and drive, Rebecca as a regular featured speaker has become a trailblazer in the intersection of the capital markets and tech, and is committed to driving change and doing business the right way.

Smart Humans: Equity Multiple's Charles Clinton on real estate investing and which sectors to invest in and which to avoid15 Feb 202400:47:45

Charles Clinton is the CEO and co-founder of EquityMultiple and is responsible for shaping the strategic vision of the company and overseeing its daily operations. Charles also sits on EquityMultiple’s Investment Committee and Board of Directors. Since its inception in 2015, EquityMultiple has transacted on hundreds of real estate investments, totaling over $5B in capitalization. Today, EquityMultiple serves over fifty thousand self-directed investors across the U.S.



Prior to EquityMultiple, Charles was a real estate attorney with Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, where he worked on a variety of major transactions for private equity clients, primarily Blackstone and KKR. During his time at SImpson, he worked on over $10 billion in transactions, including Blackstone’s $1.7 billion purchase of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Blackstone’s $1.9 billion purchase of Motel 6 and Hilston’s real estate asset restructuring and refinancing in advance of its $2.5 billion IPO. 



Charles received his JD and Business Law Certificate from Berkeley Law and Bachelors Degree from Amherst College, where he was the captain of the swimming and water polo teams. He has FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations. He lives in New York City, where he grew up, with his wife and two daughters.

Smart Humans: Fund That Flip's Matt Rodak on real estate investing and evaluating single family homes16 Feb 202300:56:02

Matt Rodak is the CEO and founder of Fund That Flip, an end-to-end residential real estate lender, SaaS solution, and investment platform that empowers real estate entrepreneurs to create wealth and more value in their communities. After years in commercial property risk management, Matt decided to actualize his passion: real estate. However, he quickly became frustrated with the challenges of getting access to fast, reliable, and sustainable capital to finance his deals. And in 2014, Fund That Flip launched.

Fund That Flip’s award-winning platform and simple process allow borrowers to get loan commitments within 24 hours and the fastest closing of any hard money lender. Investors can then purchase fractional shares of those loans, historically earning more than 10.8% returns. The Platform and team provide first-class support and industry-leading transparency into every deal, while also offering unprecedented access to an asset class previously dependent on “who you know.” Fund That Flip has grown nearly 300% in the past three years, and to date has originated more than $2.2 billion in loans, with 99.7% of principal returned, and more than 93% repeat borrowers.

Smart Humans: Alumni Ventures' Mike Collins on venture investing and scaling across universities19 Jan 202300:44:45

Mike Collins has been involved in almost every facet of venturing, from angel investing to venture capital, new business and product launches, and innovation consulting. He is currently CEO of Alumni Ventures Group, and launched AV’s first alumni fund, Green D Ventures, where he oversaw the portfolio as Managing Partner and is now Managing Partner Emeritus. Mike is a serial entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, including Kid Galaxy, Big Idea Group (partially owned by WPP), and RDM. He began his career at VC firm TA Associates. He holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Smart Humans: Wefunder CEO Nick Tommarello on the evolution of crowdfunding, the importance of community investing, and democratizing startup investing23 Jul 202500:35:09

Nicholas Tommarello is the Founder and CEO of Wefunder, a pioneering crowdfunding platform that allows individuals to invest in startups. He co-founded Wefunder in 2012, leveraging provisions from the 2012 JOBS Act to enable unaccredited investors to purchase equity in early-stage companies, thereby democratizing access to investment opportunities that were traditionally available only to wealthy individuals. Tommarello holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College and participated in the prestigious startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2013.

Smart Humans: Fundrise's Ben Miller on real estate investing and 3 housing markets that will continue to appreciate26 Oct 202200:49:14

Ben Miller is Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise, America's largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment manager.

Fundrise’s mission is to use technology to build a better financial system for the individual investor, one that is simpler, lower cost, more reliable and transparent. They build software that enables the company to develop and manage investments uniquely well positioned to grow and preserve their clients’ capital in any economic environment.

Since launching America’s first online real estate investment platform in 2012, Fundrise has now become the largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment manager with more than 1.6 million active users, more than $3.3 billion worth of equity under management, and $7 billion worth of real estate transacted. From private credit to real estate private equity to growth-stage venture capital, Fundrise offers investors exposure to some of the most prized asset classes in the world.

Prior to Fundrise, Ben has decades of experience in real estate and finance. As Managing Partner of WestMill Capital Partners and President of Western Development Corporation, Ben was responsible for acquiring, developing, and financing more than $500 million worth of property.

Smart Humans: Fanatics Collectibles co-founder Josh Luber on investing into Sports and Culture05 Oct 202200:50:59

Josh is the co-founder of Fanatics Collectibles and the founder of zerocool, the company’s pop culture, art, and entertainment vertical. He is also a co-founder of StockX, the world’s first ‘Stock Market of Things’, where he led the rise from idea to billion-dollar company in less than three years, cementing StockX as the world's leading marketplace for sneakers, apparel, and collectibles. In 2019, Josh stepped down as CEO to focus on StockX’s ‘startup within a startup activities’, including leading the nascent trading cards vertical. A year later, he left StockX to return to his entrepreneurial roots with the goal of revolutionizing the trading card industry as he’s done for sneakers.

Before StockX, Josh founded and ran four other startups and, in between each, had varying corporate jobs ranging from IBM strategy consultant to Alston & Bird bankruptcy attorney. He has an undergraduate BBA and joint JD/MBA from Emory University.

Smart Humans: The Riverside Company's Stewart Kohl on managing $15B AUM, doing 900 transactions in Private Equity, and scaling globally21 Sep 202201:11:52

Stewart A. Kohl is Co-Chief Executive Officer of The Riverside Company, a $10 billion global private equity firm founded to invest in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market. Since 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 700 companies globally. The firm’s investors include leading pension funds, endowments, funds-of-funds, insurance companies and banks. The firm employs more than 300 people in offices across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr. Kohl joined Riverside in 1993. Prior to that, he was a vice president of Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd., the private equity arm of Citibank.

In addition to his work with Riverside, Mr. Kohl serves as an Honorary Trustee of Oberlin College and of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. He is also on the Board of Directors of Cleveland Clinic and Co-Chairs its $2 billion Power of Every One Capital Centennial Campaign. He was inducted into the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges Hall of Excellence in 2009. He previously served as Co-Chair of the Building for Hope Capital Campaign of the Center for Families and Children.

Mr. Kohl earned the George S. Dively Entrepreneurship Award in 2018. He was inducted into the Northeast Ohio Business Hall of Fame in 2014. After spending 16 years as a “Heavy Hitter” participant in the Pan-Mass Challenge bicycle fundraiser, Mr. Kohl founded VeloSano, a similar event that has raised more than $20 million to fund cancer research since 2014.

Mr. Kohl holds a BA from Oberlin College.

Smart Humans: Fin Capital's Logan Allin on the future of fintech, shifting valuations, and the benefits of chess07 Sep 202200:52:26

Logan Allin is the Managing Partner & Founder of Fin Capital where he is responsible for management of the firm, sourcing/making investments, maintaining board responsibilities, and adding operating value across the portfolio. Logan was most recently Vice President of SoFi Ventures, where he was tasked with investing in and working hands-on with FinTech companies, as well as running SoFi’s accelerator and corporate development efforts.

Prior to SoFi, Logan was focused on entrepreneurial advisory and operating roles at Light Street Capital, Formation 8/Group, Zanbato, Addepar, Point Finance, Price, BridgeAthletic and ONEHOPE. Prior to his entrepreneurial pursuits, Logan was a corporate executive, as Head of Strategy, overseeing the enterprise FinTech strategy and execution, while serving as a member of the Operating Committee at Atlantic Trust, the Private Wealth Management arm of Invesco (and now CIBC). Previously, Logan was a Senior Vice President in City National Bank’s wealth management division (now part of RBC) where he led the technology strategy, open product architecture platform, and other strategic initiatives. Logan spent his earlier career in management consulting, in leadership positions at PwC, EMC, and Capgemini, focused exclusively on the intersection of Financial Services and technology.

Logan earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in public policy and political science from Duke University and a M.S. in Management from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where he was a Sloan Fellow.

© My Podcast Data