Best Josh Michaelis Podcasts (2025)

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20Product: How Duolingo Build Product 10x Faster with AI | Duolingo's Biggest Lessons on Paywalls, Push Notifications and In-App Purchases | Why Small Teams are the Future of Product | Why PMs Will Become ... 1:19:24

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3d ago1:19:24

1:19:24

Cem Kansu is the Chief Product Officer at Duolingo, where he leads product strategy for over 90 million monthly active learners. Since joining Duolingo, Cem has played a pivotal role in driving record user engagement, revenue growth, and product innovation, including the launch of Duolingo Math and the wildly successful Duolingo Music. Under his le…

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Special Edition 34:44

3d ago34:44

34:44

By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: Scale's $14.8BN Acquisition: Is Scale a Dead Man Walking / What Did Meta Buy | Chime IPO: Are IPOs Hotter Than Ever | Ramp Hits $16BN Diluting Only 1% | Salesforce, Slack and Dropbox Falling Behind ... 1:06:44

4d ago1:06:44

1:06:44

Agenda: 00:00 – Meta’s $14.8B Deal for Scale: The Analysis 05:40 – Will Scale Lose Their $800M ARR? Will All Customers Leave? 13:00 – Who is the Winner from All Scale Customers Leaving? 21:30 – Who Made the Most Money From Scale? 24:00 – LPs Just Got $14B Back. Are They Reinvesting? 26:45 – Chime IPO: The Breakdown 29:20 – Ramp Hits $16B Valuation:…

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Episode 152: Nutrition with Gailen Cooper 33:40

5d ago33:40

33:40

This week Josh sits down and talks working dog performance with Elite Nutritions Gailen CooperBy Josh Michaelis

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Tree Dog Tuesday: The Future of the Sport 22:37

6d ago22:37

22:37

This week Josh Re-Caps another awesome PKC Youth National ChampionshipBy Josh Michaelis

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20VC: How We Made $800M on Coursera | We Lost Money on Uber and Made Money on Lyft | We Did 3x on Postmates in 18 Months | DPI is King, MOIC is BS | We Dodged Theranos and I Still Lost Millions with Larry ... 1:34:40

7d ago1:34:40

1:34:40

Larry Aschebrook is the Founder and Managing Partner of G Squared in what is one of the wildest stories of venture capital. Larry started G Squared with nothing, dialling for dollars having personally invested in Twitter and Uber. In his first fund, Larry made sizable bets into SpaceX, Palantir, Alibaba and Twitter. Larry has also had mega losses a…

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20VC: SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink: Elon’s Empire After the Firestorm | Are Circle and Coreweave Meme Stocks: IPO Analysis | Anduril Raises $2.6BN & Becomes Founders Fund's 1st and 2nd Largest Check Ever ... 1:16:12

11d ago1:16:12

1:16:12

Agenda: 00:03 – Circle’s IPO: Investors Just Left $BNs on the Table 00:06 – CoreWeave & Circle: Are We Back to Meme Stock Madness? 00:11 – Should Stripe and Databricks Finally Go Public? 00:17 – US Stock Markets: How They DOMINATE the Global Game 00:21 – 50% of Unicorns Are DOOMED. What Happens Now? 00:25 – Founders Fund Just Dropped $1B on Anduril…

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Episode 151: Kenneth Oliphant 54:22

12d ago54:22

54:22

This week BJ sits down with Kenneth Oliphant of Shallow Creek Transportation to talk Beagles, Brace Hunts, and More!By Josh Michaelis

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Tree Dog Tuesday: Good vs Great 24:35

13d ago24:35

24:35

This week Josh ponders what separates a Good Dog from a Great One in the Competition Coonhunting world.By Josh Michaelis

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Competition Corner Newdesk 6-9-25 5:29

14d ago5:29

5:29

Josh recaps this past week's competition resultsBy Josh Michaelis

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20VC: Fiverr CEO: ‘If You’re Not Adapting to AI, F* You. You’re Done | Why "Time to Copy" is the Most Important Metric in Startups Today | Why 99% of AI Companies Today Will Die | Why Governments Will ... 1:06:00

14d ago1:06:00

1:06:00

Micha Kaufman is the Founder and CEO of Fiverr, the leading online marketplace for freelance services. Fiverr has had an insane ride in the public markets, in 2019 the company went public with a $650M market cap, at their peak that hit over $8BN. Today, facing a wave of AI, the company has a market cap of $1.121BN on an estimated $430M EOY revenues…

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20VC: The Science of Storytelling: Three Steps to Master the Perfect Story | From Near Death Experience to Unicorn Startup: The Untold Story of Omaze with Matt Pohlson 1:25:51

17d ago1:25:51

1:25:51

Matt Pohlson is the co-founder and Chairman of Omaze, the most insane story in startups that you have never heard. From near death experience to working with Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney and The Pope. Omaze has raised over $200 million for charity by offering once-in-a-lifetime celebrity experiences and luxury house draws. He's a master st…

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20VC: Is Chamath Right: Is DPI The Only Thing That Matters | Does OpenAI Even Matter | Mary Meekers AI Report: The Analysis| IPO Breakdown: Chime, Circle & Thoma Bravo's New Fund 1:23:15

18d ago1:23:15

1:23:15

Agenda: 00:00 – The Most Unfiltered Episode Ever Begins 03:30 – Does OpenAI Even Matter? Sam Lessin Says Maybe Not. 05:45 – TVPI Is Bullshit? 09:20 – Asset Gatherers vs Real Investors: Who Actually Wins? 12:15 – The Death of the Billion-Dollar VC Fund? 16:00 – Mid-Tier VC Funds Are Getting Annihilated 21:00 – Chime: Great Exit or Missed Opportunity…

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Episode 150: Beagles with Chris Harlow 1:04:29

19d ago1:04:29

1:04:29

This week BJ is Joined by Missouri Beagler Chris Harlow to talk all things Beagles.By Josh Michaelis

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Tree Dog Tuesday: Heartbreak 25:25

20d ago25:25

25:25

This week Josh sits down and talks with Randy Bates about the loss of his hound under some of the worst circumstances imaginable.By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: Windsurf Founder on Will Model Companies Own the App Layer | Why Moats Do Not Exist in a World of AI | Why the Notion of Single Person $BN Companies is BS | Lovable vs Bolt & Cursor vs Windsurf ... 1:05:58

21d ago1:05:58

1:05:58

Varun Mohan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Windsurf, the leading AI-native IDE, which has over a million users and generates over 50% of all committed software across thousands of companies. Prior to Windsurf, Varun graduated with a Master’s in Computer Science from MIT and led a team at Nuro focused on large-scale deep learning infrastructure for au…

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20Sales: From $2M ARR to $40M ARR: The Playbook | How to Use AI To Supercharge Your Sales Team | Why Pipeline Reviews are BS | The Sales Call Script that Closes 99% of Prospects and How to Hire the Best ... 1:18:34

24d ago1:18:34

1:18:34

Kyle Norton is the Chief Revenue Officer at Owner.com, where he scaled revenue from $2M to $40M ARR in under 3 years while selling to one of the toughest markets: SMB restaurants. Before Owner, Kyle led sales at Shopify, where he helped architect one of the most operationally elite GTM orgs in SaaS. Agenda: 00:00 – From Shopify to $40M ARR at Owner…

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20VC: OpenAI's $6BN Jony Ive Deal | YC Is Both Chanel and Walmart—and Has Officially Won | Builder.ai Implodes and Hinge IPOs: Who Wins & Who Loses | Seed Is Easy. Series A Is Brutal & The Dirty Truth ... 1:19:44

25d ago1:19:44

1:19:44

Agenda: 00:00 – Why “Fund Returners” Are a Myth in Late-Stage VC 05:02 – Builder.ai Implodes: $500M Gone & Fraud Allegations Begin 11:40 – The Dirty Truth About Late-Stage Venture Math 15:57 – The Hinge IPO: Who Won, Who Lost, and Why It’s a Game Changer 23:03 – The Chime Bombshell: Late-Stage VCs Forced to Crystallize Huge Losses 27:14 – Why YC Is…

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Episode 149: Greg White 48:32

26d ago48:32

48:32

This week host Mike Greene is Joined by American Beagle Club Founder Greg White.By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: The Most Insane Story in Startups: Airwallex: The Angel That Turned $1M into $1BN | The Fund That Pulled a Term Sheet & Lost $1BN | Rejecting Stripe's $1.2BN Offer | Scaling to $1BN in Revenue ... 1:26:48

27d ago1:26:48

1:26:48

Airwallex is the most insane story in startups: The best angel investment ever: The angel that turned $1M into $1BN. One of the world's best VCs pulled a term sheet and lost $1BN. The company turned down a $1.2BN offer from Stripe. The company scaled to $1BN in transaction volume in 9 months. The company has never not grown 100% in a year. Jack Zha…

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Tree Dog Tuesday: What is Your Dream Win? 21:09

27d ago21:09

21:09

Of all the competition raccoon hunts to win, which one would you choose?By Josh Michaelis

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Competition Corner Newdesk 5-26-25 4:37

28d ago4:37

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By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: ElevenLabs Head of Growth on Why You Do Not Need PMs | The 7-Part Launch Playbook That Gets 700K+ Views Per Product | The Truth About CAC, Payback & Performance Marketing in AI with Luke Harries 1:15:44

1M ago1:15:44

1:15:44

Luke Harries is Head of Growth at ElevenLabs, where he leads marketing, product, engineering, and developer experience. ElevenLabs has raised $281M with the latest round pricing the company at $3.3B valuation. Previously, Luke held roles at PostHog and Microsoft, and is also an angel investor supporting startups like Lovable and Runna. In Today’s E…

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20VC: Chime IPO: The Breakdown | Why Fund Returners Are Not Enough & Seed is for Suckers | Are IPOs Dead & The Future of the Late Stage Private Market | Rippling vs. Deel Lawsuit: WTF Happens Now? 1:17:53

1M ago1:17:53

1:17:53

Agenda: 04:34 Chime's IPO Announcement: Who Wins & Who Loses 06:28 The Lopphole That Means Chime Has a Better Business than JP Morgan 10:51 Why Investors Who Invested at $25BN Will Make Money When it IPOs at $12BN 18:59 Are IPOs Dead & The Future of the Late Stage Private Market 27:32 Exits are Larger Than Ever: So What? What Happens? Who Wins? Who…

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Episode 148: Beagle Super Hunt?!?!?!? 45:22

1M ago45:22

45:22

This week Josh sits down with Co-Host BJ Hall to Talk a possible JOY Super Hunt for Beagles!By Josh Michaelis

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Tree Dog Tuesday: Squirrel Dog Super Hunt? 58:37

1M ago58:37

58:37

This week Josh sits down with Cody to talk a possible Squirrel Dog Super Hunt and what that may look like going forwardBy Josh Michaelis

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Competition Corner Newdesk 5-19-25 4:51

1M ago4:51

4:51

By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: Duolingo Co-Founder on Why $3M is Harder than $100M to Raise | Why You Should Always Take Tier 1 VCs Even at Worse Terms | Why Europe Can't Win Unless the US Screws Up | How AI Impacts the Future ... 1:31:43

1M ago1:31:43

1:31:43

Severin Hacker is the Co-Founder and CTO of Duolingo, the world’s most downloaded education app with over 100 million monthly users. Since its 2021 IPO, Duolingo has reached a market cap of $20BN. The company has raised over $183M from top-tier investors including CapitalG, Kleiner Perkins, Union Square Ventures, NEA, Ashton Kutcher, and Tim Ferris…

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20Product: Figma CPO on How Figma Builds Products: What Works, What Does Not | How Figma Does Testing and Product Reviews | The Future of Design, Engineering and Product with Yuhki Yamashita 1:01:51

1M ago1:01:51

1:01:51

Yuhki Yamashita is the Chief Product Officer at Figma, where he leads the development of one of the world’s most beloved design platforms. Previously, he was Head of Product at Uber, overseeing the core rider experience used by millions globally. A master of product storytelling and team-building, Yuhki has redefined how world-class digital product…

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20VC: Tiger Global Saved by OpenAI | Coatue's New Fund: Hype or Substance | Why SBF is the Greatest Investor of the Last 5 Years | Why Big Funds are Investing in Perplexity 1:14:37

1M ago1:14:37

1:14:37

Items Mentioned in Today’s Episode: 04:11 Owner’s New $120M Round at $1BN 06:05 Why Series A is F****** Today 14:55 Could Tiger Global Be Saved by OpenAI and Scale 22:43 Why SBF is the Greatest Investor of the Last Decade 31:34 Why No Individuals Should Invest in Venture Funds 36:27 Why Microsoft Laying 3% of Their Workforce Off is not Enough 41:38…

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Episode 147: In Memory of Sandra Tew 40:11

1M ago40:11

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This week Mike Greene is on location at the Sandra Tew Benefit Hunt This hunt was held in Eastern North Carolina for the benefit of the Tew family. Mrs. Sandra lost her battle with cancer and passed away to the next life, yet her family was still in need of assistance. The Houndsmen of NC came together with the guidance of Jason Horne and Arron Coa…

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Tree Dog Tuesday: We Did It! 24:57

1M ago24:57

24:57

By Josh Michaelis

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Competition Corner Newdesk 5-12-25 4:45

1M ago4:45

4:45

By Josh Michaelis

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20VC Exclusive: Mercury Founder Launches First $26M Fund | Why Founders Should Take the Highest Price | Why Serial Entrepreneurs are Better | Why AI Is So Overhyped | The Future of Venture Capital with ... 1:02:21

1M ago1:02:21

1:02:21

Immad Akhund is the CEO of Mercury. Launched in 2019, Mercury has raised $500M in funding from Sequoia, Coatue, CRV, Andreessen Horowitz and others. He is a former part-time partner at Y Combinator and is an active angel investor, with more than 350 investments in startups including Rippling, AirTable, Rappi, Applied Intuition, and Substack. In Tod…

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20VC: Four Traits of the Most Successful Founders | How to Hunt and Close Talent Like a Pro and Where All Founders Go Wrong | Lessons Raising $397M From the Best Investors in the World with Eléonore Crespo ... 1:09:46

1M ago1:09:46

1:09:46

Eléonore Crespo is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Pigment, one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. With Pigment, Eleonore has raised over $397M from the best in the world including ICONIQ, Greenoaks and IVP to name a few. Prior to Pigment, Eléonore was on the other side of the table as an investor with Index Ventures. In Today's Episode We Discuss: [0…

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Episode 147: Shameless Plug.... 15:01

2M ago15:01

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This week Josh abbreviates the show for a bit to explain CaneStream Media, the Elite Handler Series, and the best way to get the best in working dog entertainment!By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: Benchmark vs a16z: Why Stage Specific Firms Win | Windsurf Sells For $3BN | Decagon Raises at 100x ARR | Do Mega Funds Win the Future of VC | What Does Harvard's Losing Their For-Profit Status Mean ... 1:11:34

2M ago1:11:34

1:11:34

Today’s Topics: 04:44 Analysis of $3 Billion Windsurf Acquisition 12:39 Will Mega Funds Win the Future of Venture Capital 18:39 Does Every Fund Have to do Pre-Seed to Win Series A and B Today 27:53 Why AI Will Create Massive Unemployment 31:06 The $100,000 Bet on the Future of Work 35:52 Why Venture Has Become a Bundled Good 37:52 Why Stage Specifi…

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Tree Dog Tuesday: Let's Win a Truck (Ft Braxton Johnson) 42:14

2M ago42:14

42:14

This week Josh sits down with Pro Sport Truck Winner Braxton JohnsonBy Josh Michaelis

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20VC Exclusive: Why Mega Platforms Will Win in VC | Why You Cannot Do VC If You Do Not Do Pre-Seed | Why Market Sizing is BS | Where Will Foundation Models Build/Buy Apps vs Where Will They Not with Bucky ... 1:05:07

2M ago1:05:07

1:05:07

Bucky Moore is a Partner @ Lightspeed Venture Partners, announced exclusively in the show today on 20VC. Prior to Lightspeed, Bucky spent an incredibly successful 7 years at Kleiner Perkins working with Mamoon Hamid to build one of the most successful early stage firms of the last decade. Bucky has made investments in the likes of Prisma, Netlify, …

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Competition Corner Newdesk 5-5-25 5:22

2M ago5:22

5:22

By Josh Michaelis

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20Sales: Sierra: Inside Silicon Valley's Fastest Growing Sales Machine & How to Prospect, Outbound and Close Enterprise Deals in AI 1:07:19

2M ago1:07:19

1:07:19

Reggie Marable is the Head of Global Sales at Sierra, a conversational AI platform for businesses. Sierra enables companies like ADT, Sonos, SiriusXM, and WeightWatchers to build AI agents that transform customer experiences. The company has rapidly become a hypergrowth leader in Silicon Valley, recently securing a funding round that values it at $…

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20VC: Why Fund Returners Are Not Enough Anymore | Why Sequoia Had the Best Strategy at the Worst Time | What it Takes to Be Good at Series A and B Today | Benchmark Leads Manus Round: Should US Funds Invest ... 1:24:57

2M ago1:24:57

1:24:57

In Today’s Episode We Discuss: 03:56 Why The Risk Lever Has Been Turned Higher than Ever in VC 06:04 Why IRR is the Hardest Thing to Control 09:36 Is Lack of Liquidity Short Term Temporary or Long Term Structural 12:17 Why Fund Returners Are Not Good Enough Anymore 16:03 Sequoia: The Best Strategy at the Worst Time 26:30 What it Takes to be Good at…

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Episode 146: Dog Man (Ft Coty Wayne) 1:13:52

2M ago1:13:52

1:13:52

Jay Bicknell sits down this week with working dog enthusiast Coty WayneBy Josh Michaelis

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Tree Dog Tuesday: Perspective 22:39

2M ago22:39

22:39

This week Josh sits down and re-caps an amazing week at PKC Spring Super Stakes.By Josh Michaelis

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20VC: VCs are Spreadsheet Monkeys and are Commoditised | Why Fees and Carry Misalign GPs and LPs | Why Founders Will Realise Multi-Stage Funds Damage Seed Rounds | Why We Need European Sovereignty More ... 58:26

2M ago58:26

58:26

Taavet Hinrikus is a Partner at Plural, the early-stage fund that backs the most ambitious founders on a mission to change the world through technology. He co-founded Wise in 2010, where he was CEO and later Chairman, which went public in the first-ever direct listing in Europe in 2021. Prior to that, Taavet was Skype’s Director of Strategy until 2…

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20Growth: Inside Kraken’s $1.5BN Growth Playbook: What Works, What Doesn’t and What No Founders Understand About Growth That Will Change Their Company with Mayur Gupta 52:50

2M ago52:50

52:50

Mayur Gupta is currently the CMO at Kraken, one of the largest crypto platforms in the world. Prior to that, he lead Marketing, Business Transformation and Growth at Gannett - USA Today Network, led Growth at Spotify and was the CMO at Freshly which eventually got acquired by Nestle. He was the first ever Chief Marketing Technologist at Kimberly Cl…

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20VC: OpenAI's $3BN Acquisition of Windsurf: The Breakdown | Are Endowment Funds F******* & How LP Deployment to Venture Will Change in 2025 | Why Revenue Multiples are BS, The Rise of AI Rollups and Multi ... 1:25:42

2M ago1:25:42

1:25:42

In Today’s Show We Discuss: 04:49 Breaking Down the $3BN Windsurf Acquisition 06:18 Why Sam Altman is Playing a Master Game 12:40 Why Multi-Stage Funds are Destroying Seed Managers 21:52 Are Endowment Funds F****** 27:38 What Would Rory Do If He Was CFO of an Ivy League Endowment Fund 43:38 The Denominator Effect and It’s Impact on Venture Allocati…

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Episode 145: Beagle Superhunt? 33:04

2M ago33:04

33:04

Tune in as BJ Hall sits down with Joy Dog Food Owner Wade Graskewics!By Josh Michaelis

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Tree Dog Tuesday: Save the Raccoons! 21:29

2M ago21:29

21:29

This week Josh explains one of the reasons he feels the world has gone madBy Josh Michaelis

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20VC: Do Rich Founders Make Better Founders | The Best Performing Fund Would Only Back YC Founders on Their Second Time | Why SPACs Will Come Back | Why Short Sellers Should Be Banned | Is Trump Better ... 58:35

2M ago58:35

58:35

Jason Wilk is the Founder and CEO of Dave, the greatest turnaround in the public markets of the last 12 months. Dave went public with a market cap of $4BN, just months later the company had a market cap of $50M. Today, they are back with a market cap of $1.1BN. In 2024, CNBC named Dave the best-performing financial stock in the country, achieving 9…