March 2023 - Fabrice Grinda

I was first introduced to the genre of horror comedy with the Bill the Vampire series by Rick Gualtieri. Bill the Vampire is the story of a video game playing nerd turned vampire who ends up being a video game playing nerd vampire rather than the suave sexy vampire of lore. The first few books made me laugh more than any book I probably ever read and I definitely recommend that series. However, little by little as the stakes got higher I found that it lost its comedic touches and never reached the heights of the first 2 or 3 books.

Fred The Vampire Accountant falls into the same genre. The series as a whole is better than the Bill the Vampire series. The world building is fantastic and I loved learning of the different species and interactions between them with dragons, demons, therians, fey and more. The humor is genuinely witty and never feels forced and over-the-top.

Ultimately the series is an ode to friendship, the family you chose, and the power of good intentions. I loved seeing Fred build his clan little by little. The interactions between the clan members are heartfelt and touching. They always have each other’s back and their relationship shines as a beacon of what people can accomplish when they overcome differences in backgrounds and race.

If you are into fantasy, the series is well worth reading!

I had the pleasure of being joined by my good friend Kevin Ryan. He’s often been called the “Godfather of NYC tech.” Kevin is one of the leading internet entrepreneurs and investors in New York. He is a co-founder of MongoDB, Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and Nomad Health, and founds new companies with AlleyCorp every year. Earlier in his career, Kevin helped to grow DoubleClick first as President and then as CEO, leading their growth from a 20-person startup to a publicly traded global leader with over 1,500 employees, through IPO in 1998 and acquisition by Google in 2007.

Kevin is also on the Board of Tech:NYC, Vice Chairman of The Partnership for New York City, a member of the CFR Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Director Emeritus for Human Rights Watch. Kevin previously served on the boards of the Yale Corporation and INSEAD.

It’s also worth mentioning Kevin is the one who convinced me to go to Antarctica with him.

We covered:

His history and path into tech.
How he built so many successful companies with Alley Corp.
Lessons learned along the way.
His general life philosophy and perspective on Antarctica, Burning Man, psychedelics and much more.