It was an absolute pleasure to be joined in this week's Strength Chat with gym owner, strongwoman and Giants Love commentator, Nicola Buchan. For a lot of people, the gym and fitness can be an intimidating and scary thing. With the awesome content and information that Nichola puts out there, it’s all with a positive and empowering message which is …

In this week's episode I was joined by strength and conditioning coach and Founder of Garage Strength, Dane Miller. Dane puts some awesome content and information out there and it was great to pick his brains on all things strength and power as they play an important role in most, if not all sports. How Dane breaks down what can be a complex and co…

It was an absolute pleasure to be joined in this week's Strength Chat with the Sheffield 2024 powerlifting champion, taking records in the bench, deadlift and total, Agata Sitko. With the success that Agata has had in her powerlifting career so far, it was great to get an insight into what the makes the mind and life of a champion tick. In this cha…

Michael Balaoing, founder of Candlelion, joins Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha on this episode to discuss: - The importance of the acronym WTF (what’s the feeling?) when you’re giving a presentation. - The four roles that you take on as a speaker: captain, pilot, guide, and game show host. - The five questions to ask when seeking…

In this week's Strength Chat, it was an absolute pleasure to be joined by 3x European Powerlifting champion and the first woman in IPF history to squat over 300kg, Sonita Muluh. Seeing Sonita compete live at Sheffield was absolutely awesome and it was great to speak with her and get an insight what it takes to be a truly world class lifter. In this…

Brad Feld (@bfeld), VC at Foundry Group and co-author with Dave Jilk of The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche, joined Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha to discuss: - Common misconceptions about Nietzsche and why being misunderstood makes him an especially interesting philosopher. - What Nietzsche can teach entrepreneurs deciding whet…

In this week's Strength Chat, I was joined by strength coach and author, working with EliteFTS and Thibarmy, Tom Sheppard. It was great to chat with Tom who has so much knowledge, and passion, for strength training. His understanding of programming, planning, and playing the long game to help his clients and athletes build long term strength is cle…

Thejo Kote (@thejo) talks to Village partner Ben Casnocha. Thejo is a two-time founder and CEO. His current company, Airbase, is a spend management platform serving companies with 100 and 5,000 employees like Coda, 15Five, Front, Marqueta, CaptivateIQ, Abnormal, and more. Airbase has raised over $200 million, has tens of millions in ARR, and is con…

This week's episode was an awesome chat with the owner of Four Pillars Studio, with countless qualifications and years of coaching experience to his name, Ben Wright. With some much information out there, it can be confusing to know what works, what’s the best method to use, and how to actually get results. Ben filters all that out and provides his…

Michelle Zatlyn (@zatlyn), co-founder, president, and COO of Cloudflare, joined Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha for a masterclass with our founders in late 2020. They discussed: - The origin story of Cloudflare, including how the co-founders met, and how Michelle realized that she too could start a company. - Her advice on fundra…

As a sport powerlifting is growing in popularity and participation year on year so it was great to chat with the dream team behind Barbell Coalition, who are pushing the standards higher and higher, Ibrahim Dridi, Stephan Karidis and Mahin Zafar. Seeing the passion and love for the sport of powerlifting from these guys it’s clear they are driven to…

We're excited to launch a new EIR program for data science founders in partnership with Rackhouse Ventures, founded by Kevin Novak. Learn more about the program: https://www.villageglobal.vc/rackhouse-village-global-eir-program Kevin Novak (@novakkm), an early Uber employee, was instrumental in developing their data science program and was the crea…

An awesome chat with an absolute top bloke! This week I was joined by strength and conditioning coach, current serving soldier, and buster of fitness fads and myths, Dean Hammond. With a no sugar coating approach to putting content and information out there that actually helps you achieve your goals and filters through the nonsense that is just soc…

Join Ren, Dan, and Ben as they discuss some of the most interesting player cards from the new investigator expansion. And maybe also some other topics?Dane Brophy, Dan Nichols, Ben Novak által

This encore episode is a recording of a special masterclass roundtable session for our founders with John Donahoe. John is CEO of Nike and was previously CEO of ServiceNow and eBay. He is known as one of the most inspirational leaders in Silicon Valley and is a highly sought-after mentor to CEOs including Brian Chesky at Airbnb, Drew Houston at Dro…

Chris Lunt is a technology executive with more than 25 years of experience building web services and data platforms. He is in his seventh year as the CTO for the NIH's All of Us Research Program. He joined the NIH from GetInsured, where he worked to improve health insurance shopping and enrollment systems. Previously Chris ran VC-backed internet st…

For this week's episode it was an absolute pleasure to be joined by the Co-Founder of the PFCA, Jenz Robinson. After seeing the content and information that Jenz puts out there, as well as listening to him on other podcasts, it’s clear how passionate he is about raising the standard of the fitness industry. All you have to do is look at the results…

In this week's Strength Chat I was joined by full time Firefighter and Strength Coach, who is the creator of The Strong Dad Club, Mark Novak. It was great to chat with Mark who puts some awesome content and information out there, as well as leading by example in what he does in terms of training and nutrition. In this episode we chatted about what …

Michael Hochberg (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hochberg/) is a physicist and a founder of four successful startup companies in semiconductors and telecommunications, including Luxtera, acquired by Cisco in 2019, and Elenion, acquired by Nokia in 2020. He won the highest awards for young scientists in Singapore (NRF Fellowship) and the United States …

Matt Pellini, Managing Director at Hamilton Lane, joins Olga Serhiyevich on this episode. Highlights: - Matt says the secondaries market has grown over 5x from 15 years ago to now. - Selling in the secondary market used to be a sign of distress but is no longer. There are many different reasons for doing so and it’s mostly a sign of a manager being…

It was absolutely awesome to be joined in this week's Strength by a Doctor of Physical Therapy, strength and conditioning coach, writer and researcher, Dr. Merrick Lincoln. I really enjoyed chatting with Merrick as it was clear we share similar thoughts and philosophies on training and coaching. In this episode we chatted about modifying an athlete…

Christopher Ailman (@CJAtheCIO), Chief Investment Officer at CalSTRS, joins Olga Serhiyevich on this episode. Highlights: - CalSTRS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, was created in 1913 and is actually older than Social Security. It has over 400 members who are over 100 years old who are still receiving their pension. - Chris says …

For this week's episode I was joined by the Founder and Director of PerforMotion, Kelly Mann. To be able to chat with someone of Kellys experience and knowledge was awesome. You only have to look at the success of the lifters she coaches, as well as the growth of PerforMotion, to see that she knows what she’s talking about. In this episode we chatt…

This encore episode is a recording of a special event where Mark Pincus (@markpinc) was interviewed by Ben Casnocha in San Francisco in front of a live audience of portfolio founders, friends of the firm, and LPs. Mark is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Zynga, and is an angel investor in Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and other companies. He tal…

Ren & Ben conclude the MUR player card dive in The Scarlet Keys by talking through the customizable cards.Dane Brophy, Dan Nichols, Ben Novak által

This encore episode is a recording of a special event where Bill Gates was interviewed in San Francisco by Julia Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite. It originally took place in 2018 in front of a live audience of Village Global founders and friends of the firm. We are honored to count Bill Gates among our luminary LPs whose financial capital and engag…

In this week's episode I was joined by a coach who has a roster of national and international champions in multiple sports, as well as being competitive in a number of sports himself, Amir Fazeli. It was awesome to chat with Amir who has competed in sports such as powerlifting, kickboxing, and wrestling and to get an insight into the lessons he has…

Jerry originally joined us on the podcast in 2019. He is co-founder of Yahoo! and founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures. He was interviewed in front of a live audience in San Francisco by Village Global co-founder and partner, Ben Casnocha. Jerry told stories from the early days of Yahoo! and explained his lessons learned from the experience. He a…

It was an absolute pleasure to be joined in this week's episode by competitive powerlifter, two time National Powerlifting Champion, and coach, Kristen Dunsmore. It was awesome to chat with Kristen and get an insight into her thoughts around coaching, training, and how strength training can be more than just getting strong. In this episode we chatt…

Paul Budnitz, founder of Superplastic, and Jennifer van Dijk, CEO of Superplastic, join Christina Des Vaux, head of marketing and platform at Village Global, on this episode. Takeaways: Superplastic is a creatively-led company that has managed to maintain its unique identity and artistic integrity while nevertheless running a thriving business. The…

In this week's episode I was joined by a coach with over 20 years experience, starting his journey at Westside Barbell under Louie Simmons, Greg Panora. To be able to speak to a lifter such as Greg, who has been there and done it at the very top level, was absolutely awesome. In this episode we chatted about his experiences and influences, how he g…

After a little hiatus it was awesome to have this guy as a guest on this week's Strength Chat. In this episode I was joined by a coach who has worked with celebrities and athletes, accruing thousands of hours on the gym floor, as well as a published author and writer, Gareth Sapstead. To be able to talk all things training and coaching with someone…

Listen to Dan and Ben share their takes on TSK scenario-by-scenario as they play through the entire campaign in one crazy New Jersey weekend.Transition music:Pardon Me Pretty Baby - music by Vincent Rose, lyrics by Ray Klages and Jack MeskillIkimiz Bir Fidaniz - Tülay ÖzerEl Toba - Abd El Halim HafezMilonga de mis amores - by Pedro Laurenz, perform…

Dan, Dana, and Ben return to the recording studio to share their thoughts on the new-ish campaign The Scarlet Keys.Dane Brophy, Dan Nichols, Ben Novak által

In this week's Strength Chat it was awesome to speak with the Founder of The Hard to Kill programme, Marc Rhodes. It was great to chat with Marc as he has so much knowledge and experience and has a clear focus on the direction of his coaching. In this episode, we chatted about creating discipline and sticking to habits, overcoming challenges, as we…

A returning guest to Strength Chat, it was awesome to catch up with the Education Manager at JPS Health & Fitness, Martin Refalo. Martin puts some awesome content and information out there, completing research that answers a lot of the coaching questions of the health and fitness industry. In this episode we chatted about his current research on ho…

Graham Duncan (@GrahamDuncanNYC) is a longtime investor and author of a legendary essay on reference checking: https://grahamduncan.blog/whats-going-on-here/ He was interviewed by Village Global co-founder and partner Ben Casnocha (@bencasnocha) during a special masterclass for Village Global founders and friends of the firm. Takeaways: - Be aware …

Sebastian Mallaby (@scmallaby) is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. He is the author of five books, including most recently The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future. He joined Olga Serhiyevich, head of investo…

It was an absolute pleasure to be joined in this week's Strength Chat with the Co-Founder and lead nutritionist at Reformance Training, as well as a returning guest to Strength, Kedric Kwan. Having followed Kedrics content and information he puts out there for some time now, it was awesome to catch up with him again. Following on from other convers…

In this week's episode it was an absolute pleasure to be joined by a coach at Stronger by Science and having a PhD in the minimum dose for strength, Dr. Pak Androulakis-Korakakis. Dr. Pak put some great content and information out there so it was great to have the opportunity to chat with him on the podcast. In this episode we chat about science ba…

Julio Vasconcellos (@JulioV), managing partner at Atlantico, and Ana Martins (@martinsg_ana), partner at Atlantico, join Anne Dwane (@adwane), co-founder and partner at Village Global, to discuss Atlantico’s 2023 report on digital transformation in Latin America. Takeaways: - If Latin America was its own country it would be #3 in the world in terms…

For this week's Strength Chat I was joined by a competitive powerlifter and coach, with a roster of athletes with National and European titles to their names, Louis Keightley-Smith. As the sport of powerlifting has grown over the last few years, so has Louiss' success with the athletes he coaches. In this episode we chatted about his Unconventional…

Gurdane Bhutani and Zeshan Muhammedi are co-founders and GPs at MBX, a VC firm investing in early-stage bio/healthtech companies tackling major public health threats. Prior to that they co-founded healthcare and life-science venture capital firm FundRx, where they championed the firm's build-out of its community-driven investment infrastructure, mo…

In this week's episode I was joined by a coach at Reactive Training Systems, as well as the Head Coach of the Thailand National Powerlifting team, Peter Lucey. It was awesome to have the opportunity to chat with Peter who has so much experience and knowledge when it comes to working with powerlifters. His understanding of how to get the best out of…

Lee Hnetinka, founder and CEO of Future and Darkstore, joins Olga Serhiyevich, Head of Investor Relations at Village Global, on this episode. Lee and his companies are building innovative solutions in retail and e-commerce and have worked with world’s most admired brands like Nike, Adidas and Disney where they enabled same-day and 1-hour delivery f…

Cameron Dawson, Chief Investment Officer at NewEdge Wealth, joins Olga Serhiyevich, Head of Investor Relations, on this episode. Prior to joining NewEdge Wealth, Cameron was the Chief Market Strategist at Fieldpoint Private Securities and a Senior Equity Analyst at Bank of America. Takeaways: Cameron says that wealth management firms can provide th…

It was absolutely awesome to welcome back one the very first guests on Strength Chat in this week's episode, the game day coaching wizard and author of his latest ebook Game Day Coaching Manual, Matt Gary. Matt has been in and around powerlifting for so long, his knowledge and experience is second to none. When he speaks, you can’t help but listen …

Prescott Watson (@prescottwatson) joins Olga Serhiyevich (@olgaserhi), head of investor relations at Village Global, on this episode. Prescott is co-founder of Port Power, a software platform that aims to de-risk commercial fleets’ adoption of electric vehicles by ensuring their charging infrastructure functions flexibly and reliably. Takeaways: - …

For this week's Strength Chat it was a pleasure to be joined by strength and conditioning coach and writer, having worked with Elitefts, Breaking Muscle, and Kabuki Strength, Daniel DeBrocke. There can be a lot of variables that can influence someone's progress. However, these variables are just challenges or obstacles that can be overcome with the…

In this week's Strength Chat I was joined by Marine Corps veteran and gym owner, having competed in Strongman, Powerlifting, and Weightlifting, Alan Thrall. One of the biggest challenges for a lot of people when it comes to training is time. That’s no different for Alan as he has to balance running a gym and family life. Therefore in this episode, …