#13 – The Future of the Gaming Industry | Kai Bond

05/12/22 • 42 min

Sports and games are a huge part of our lifestyle and culture and will continue to be for generations to come. But how can investors and creators encourage growth and take advantage of this unique market?
Investor, founder, and entrepreneur Kai Bond had spent over a decade in the gaming industry when he realized he wanted to approach gaming as an investable category. So he partnered with the startup Courtside VC, a venture capital firm that challenges the traditional definition of sports, digital media, fitness, and gaming.
In this episode, Eddie Lopez and Kai talk about Kai’s entrepreneurial journey, how to approach gaming as an investable category, Kai’s take on web3, the future of gaming, diversity in the venture community and more.
Topics Include:
- Understanding what it means to be a good CEO
- Challenge of coming from the corporate world to the startup world
- The state of venture capital in Q1 2022
- The importance of transparency and discipline in VC
- What Courtside learned during 2020
- Evolution of monetizing assets in gaming
- Kai’s take on Web 3.0
- The future of gaming
- Why timing matters in the venture market
- How to increase diversity in venture capital
- And other topics...
Kai Bond is a partner at Courtside, a VC company that partners with early-stage founders who are challenging the traditional definition of sports, digital media, fitness, and gaming. Before Courtside, Kai was a Principal at Comcast Ventures where he led investments in Catalyst Fund, a seed-stage fund focused on investing in underrepresented founders.
Kai was the founder of pixieTV, an interactive SmartTV platform that was acquired by Samsung in 2014. After that, Kai moved into the role of GM at Samsung NEXT. Kai has held leadership positions in product strategy, business development, and M&A at Microsoft, GLG, and Hatch Labs. Kai is a graduate of Wesleyan University.

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#12 – Leading With a Servant’s Heart | Raj Verma

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Raj Verma is the CEO at SingleStore, a database management system that helps modern applications be fast, frictionless, and flexible.
When Raj started at SingleStore, he was Co-CEO with SingleStore’s founder, Nikita Shamgunov. By building a healthy relationship and friendship with Nikita, Raj was able to lead with the company’s founding principles, keeping that essence that makes SingleStore so special. Raj’s transition to Co-CEO and later to CEO has as much to do with his mindset and leadership skills as it does with the CEO job description.
In this episode, Catherine and Raj talk about Raj’s transition from Co-CEO to CEO, why Raj views CEO as a mindset, how Raj leads with “a warrior’s mentality and a servant’s heart,” the importance of adaptation and change, how to build company culture, and more.
Topics Include:
- Relationship between founder and CEO
- How his partnership with Nikita started
- The accountability that comes with being a CEO
- Executive coaching
- Conscious capitalism
- Combining business strategy with culture
- The importance of finding you're why
- What drives Raj toward success
- Adapting to new circumstances
- And other topics...
Raj Verma is the Chief Executive Officer at SingleStore. He has more than 25 years of experience in enterprise software and scaling operations. Before SingleStore, Raj was the CEO, EVP of Global Scales, and COO of TIBCO Software, a company that he helped grow to over $1 billion in revenue. He was also COO at Aptus Software and Hortonworks. Raj holds a BA in computer science from BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, India.
Resources Mentioned:
Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807060100/
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou: https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup/dp/152473165X
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts: https://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0312330537

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#14 – The Impending Revolution of the Trucking Industry | Mark Okerstrom

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Trucking is one of the largest industries in the United States with roughly $800 billion spent annually on trucking services. Despite the high demand for services, 35% of all miles driven by trucking companies are driven empty due to inefficient coordination systems within the industry.
Mark Okerstrom, President and Chief Operating Officer of Convoy, the nation’s leading digital freight network, believes the solution to empty freight lies at the intersection of logistics and technology. Convoy is working to save money for shippers, increase earnings for carriers and drivers, and eliminate carbon waste for our planet.
In this episode, Catherine and Mark talk about Mark’s transition from his role as CEO of Expedia to Convoy, why there is no one-size-fits-all approach to business, how Convoy plans to remedy problems in trucking and logistics, Convoy Go, and more.
Topics Include:
- What convinced Mark to join Convoy
- The state of today’s trucking industry
- Keeping trucks full by bundling shipments
- Financial and environmental impacts of truckers driving empty
- Thoughts on the current and future markets
- Dara Khosrowshahi and thoughts on mentorship
- Key lessons from Mark’s career
- And other topics...
Mark Okerstrom is the President and COO of Convoy, an American trucking software company. He is the former CEO of Expedia and previously served as an attorney with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and as a consultant with Bain & Company. Mark was selected by Institutional Investor Magazine three years running for its All-American Executive Team, Top 3 Public Company CFO, Internet Sector (2016, 2017, and 2018). He earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Harvard Business School and Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of British Columbia.