How to prioritize people, relationships, and communication when venture building and investing :: with Linda Olson and Laura Yunger
02/15/22 • 42 min
In this episode of Ventures, my guests Linda Olson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-olson-cpc-cfa-55885858/), Laura Yunger (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurayunger/), and I discuss the often-overlooked value of people and communication alignment when when building and investing in businesses. This is an episode I wish I had 20+ years ago when starting out my entrepreneurial career. Based on their extensive experience coaching and investing in entrepreneurs, Laura and Linda also talk frankly about how to avoid burnout and stay maximally healthy with your team.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-84 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
1:46 - Tee-up for the motivation for this episode
2:36 - Linda introduction and background
4:55 - Laura introduction and background
7:59 - For the audience (entrepreneurs and investors), a lot of the questions are around “How do I form, communicate with, and rally a team”?
12:43 - Fundamentally it’s about: 1. Set a vision/mission, and 2. From the start, invite a wide range of diversity onto the team. Question: what do you do if good communication and diversity isn’t in place in an existing business?
18:55 - What are the questions/topics/problems that Laura and Linda are thinking about these days as it relates to venture building/investing. (Human connection & flourishing...”what do you want your legacy to be”...”what is success to you?”)
23:14 - Importance of getting “the people stuff” right, hard to hear when younger in your career, but so incredibly important.
25:30 - For the 20yr-old listening in, what are we trying to drive home for their generation in terms of the value of relationships and communication?
28:25 - More about GEEK values at Prota (Generosity, Empathy, Excellence, and Kindness). Jim Collins → BE 2.0: https://www.amazon.com/BE-2-0-Beyond-Entrepreneurship-Business/dp/0399564233 // and Good to Great: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996
31:22 - How to avoid burnout
37:17 - Final thoughts - importance of the founder team / dynamics / etc.. value of compassion.
40:44 - Where can people find Linda and Laura online? https://www.mandladvisors.com/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-olson-cpc-cfa-55885858/ // https://www.protaventures.com // https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurayunger/
In this episode of Ventures, my guests Linda Olson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-olson-cpc-cfa-55885858/), Laura Yunger (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurayunger/), and I discuss the often-overlooked value of people and communication alignment when when building and investing in businesses. This is an episode I wish I had 20+ years ago when starting out my entrepreneurial career. Based on their extensive experience coaching and investing in entrepreneurs, Laura and Linda also talk frankly about how to avoid burnout and stay maximally healthy with your team.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-84 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
1:46 - Tee-up for the motivation for this episode
2:36 - Linda introduction and background
4:55 - Laura introduction and background
7:59 - For the audience (entrepreneurs and investors), a lot of the questions are around “How do I form, communicate with, and rally a team”?
12:43 - Fundamentally it’s about: 1. Set a vision/mission, and 2. From the start, invite a wide range of diversity onto the team. Question: what do you do if good communication and diversity isn’t in place in an existing business?
18:55 - What are the questions/topics/problems that Laura and Linda are thinking about these days as it relates to venture building/investing. (Human connection & flourishing...”what do you want your legacy to be”...”what is success to you?”)
23:14 - Importance of getting “the people stuff” right, hard to hear when younger in your career, but so incredibly important.
25:30 - For the 20yr-old listening in, what are we trying to drive home for their generation in terms of the value of relationships and communication?
28:25 - More about GEEK values at Prota (Generosity, Empathy, Excellence, and Kindness). Jim Collins → BE 2.0: https://www.amazon.com/BE-2-0-Beyond-Entrepreneurship-Business/dp/0399564233 // and Good to Great: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996
31:22 - How to avoid burnout
37:17 - Final thoughts - importance of the founder team / dynamics / etc.. value of compassion.
40:44 - Where can people find Linda and Laura online? https://www.mandladvisors.com/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-olson-cpc-cfa-55885858/ // https://www.protaventures.com // https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurayunger/
Previous Episode
Introducing BanyanDAO: Training and supporting Web3 product leaders to promote human flourishing :: with Priya Baveja, Jake Varghese, and Mike Anderson
In this episode of Ventures, my guests Priya Baveja (https://www.linkedin.com/in/priya-baveja/), Mike Anderson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeandersonjr/), Jake Varghese (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-varghese-498335/) and I (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wclittle/) talk about Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) structure, governance, incentives, and participation. We are a subset of founders currently launching BanyanDAO (https://banyandao.xyz/), which is growing a community of Web3 entrepreneurial leaders to promote human flourishing. Our first training event - to level up Web2 product managers into Web3 - will be in April 2022 (exact dates TBA). For more details and to participate, join us in our Discord server (https://discord.gg/bYnxySgw34) and follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BanyanDAO).
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-83 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
1:56 - Tee-up and background/motivation for the episode & BanyanDAO
5:28 - What is a DAO?
7:58 - Why DAOs are not simple to define. Institution vs. Organization
11:12 - the DAO/Web3 spirit of coming together to build something as a collective to make the world a better place
11:56 - How are we thinking about incentives in BayanDAO?
15:44 - Brief history of BayanDAO from Will’s perspective. How and why it came together.
18:16 - Mike/Priya/Jake’s story/motivation for forming and being in the DAO
21:22 - Invitation to join BanyanDAO. Help bring clarity. Discord can be confusing. Modes of communication / learning best practices for DAO communication. A community of DAO of DAOs.
22:30 - Meaning for web3 beyond [adjective] [animal] NFT clubs.
24:00 - Initial compensation model and token nuances for BanyanDAO. Using https://coordinape.com/ - GIVE token dynamics.
27:10 - Building a DAO in a repeatable way. A great opportunity to learn how to build a DAO
27:52 - Origin of the name BanyanDAO
29:00 - What projects are Mike/Jake/Priya working on? // First project: event upcoming in April to train Web 3 product managers.
30:37 - Is there a date set yet for this?
31:06 - An invitation to everyone to join us for this upcoming event.
31:21 - Mike’s project: working on how to collaborate as a team.
32:25 - The balance between idealism of DAOs (“it will magically work”) and burning out / tragedy of the commons.
34:14 - The four modules of our upcoming event in April.
36:20 - What is the vision for the capstone (module 4).
37:39 - The training event will be on a weekend (saturday and sunday)
37:55 - Intent for the capstone
39:16 - Avoiding tragedy of the commons.
41:00 - Bringing order to chaos, seeing outcomes happen will make things clearer.
43:31 - Final thoughts.
45:02 - Coming back to the purpose: human flourishing.
45:25 - Where can people find Mike/Priya/Jake/Will online to continue the conversation? https://twitter.com/mikeyanderson, https://twitter.com/PBaveja, https://twitter.com/jakevarghese, https://twitter.com/wclittle
Next Episode
The evolution of identity and data sovereignty in Web1, Web2, and Web3 :: with David Harding and Solomon Cates
In this episode of Ventures, my guests David Harding (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveh003/), Solomon Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/solcates/) and I discuss all-things identity and data sovereignty leading up to - and within - the present Web3 era. We tee-up a framework to think about identity verification and data warehousing, cryptocurrencies vs. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), Identity Assurance Levels (IALs), Presentation Attack Detection (PAD), and how to think about building Web3 applications with a realistic hybrid of both centralized and decentralized identity verification and control services.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-85 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
5:16 - Sol introduction of self-sovereign identity and sovereign control of data
8:19 - David introduction of identity and technology... “Identity 101” based on David’s extensive background in the space.
11:49 - Username/password problem that birthed a whole industry of “password management”
12:32 - What does this conversation matter for humanity?
14:46 - SSI (self-sovereign identity opens up new opportunities for people
15:41 - Will’s business accounts getting closed, likely because of his involvement in Web3
18:24 - Where are we going? Are Solomon and David feeling optimistic or pessimistic? Why?
25:02 - How is a CBDC different than traditional ways that Central Banks print currency? Coming back to trust, where data sits, and decentralization.
27:42 - Difference between “connect to wallet” in Web3 and showing up to, say, an airport.
28:36 - What is the state of the tech today for the TSAs of the world to prove that “you are you”.
33:30 - For the TSA, the physical driver’s license or passport doesn’t - in theory - matter. What matters is the “thing” (QR code or whatnot) that can pull up a database.
35:30 - Is it a good thing to build a decentralized database of identity? When would you build on top of centralized vs. decentralized databases?
38:42 - Reality is a hybrid. Decentralized data on blockchains we trust AND data sitting in centralized datacenters we trust.
40:08 - Social media companies as “identity management companies” that provide social media services. They will sell it to anyone willing to pay.
43:30 - Multiple levels of identity verification (IAL levels) → https://ldapwiki.com/wiki/Identity%20Assurance%20Level
46:15 - Is the common IAL level 2 mechanisms legit? Why is this important for venture building?
51:30 - Signing up for exchanges with a photo of my face and the date. A brief discussion about liveness technology. PAD Levels https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/presentation_attack_detection
54:00 - Pay to x models. What can/should be used when building today to verify one account = one human?
1:00:31 - Create a one-account-per-human experience, and don’t create it yourself. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel of cryptography.
1:01:43 - Creation and verification and continual authentication of data, depending on use case and security requirements.
1:03:23 - What are Solomon/David working on now? Where can people follow up? https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveh003/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/solcates/
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