The venture market is in flux. AI is booming while the rest of venture is in the dumps. … Continue reading “Episode 50: Venture Market Trends”

Clutch has had an incredible ride. As the “Carvana of Canada” it was a highflier in 2021. It … Continue reading “Episode 49: Dan Park and the Incredible Comeback Story of Clutch”

I had not done an Ask Me Anything session in over a year which led to many questions … Continue reading “Episode 48: Ask Me Anything”

Given that I have been building and investing in marketplaces for 26 years you might think that everything … Continue reading “Episode 47: Marketplace Trends”

While AI investing continues to reach new highs, we have been contrarian. Given how non-consensus we are, I … Continue reading “Episode 46: FJ Labs’ AI Thesis”

I had not done an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session in over a year which led to many … Continue reading “Episode 45: Ask Me Anything”

People often ask me how I manage to accomplish so much while leading such a rich, passionate life … Continue reading “Episode 44: Unlocking Productivity: Streamlining Your Days for Passion and Purpose”

I had the pleasure of receiving Julio Vasconcellos on the show. Julio is the Founder and Managing Partner … Continue reading “Episode 43: Julio Vasconcellos and the state of Latin American tech”

I had the pleasure of being joined by my good friend Kevin Ryan. He’s often been called the … Continue reading “Episode 42: Kevin Ryan, Unicorn Builder”

It had been over a year since we did the last Ask Me Anything (AMA) so the time … Continue reading “Episode 41: Ask Me Anything”

This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with my good friend Oskar Hartmann. He’s had the most … Continue reading “Episode 40: Oskar Hartmann, Unicorn Accumulator”

On this week’s episode I had the pleasure of welcoming Nitya Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Simpl, to … Continue reading “Episode 39: Simpl and the Indian Fintech Ecosystem”

This week we are covering the state of the Indian tech ecosystem. We are joined by Luke Skertich, … Continue reading “Episode 38: The Indian Tech Ecosystem & FJ Labs’ Thesis in the region”

After a long hiatus to take care of my ailing dad, who is fortunately fully recovered, I am … Continue reading “Episode 37: Building India’s 76th Unicorn & the Indian car market at large”

Lorien Gabel is the Co-Founder of Figment Network. He holds an LLB from Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School. … Continue reading “Episode 36: Building a Web3 Unicorn with Lorien Gabel (Figment)”

Last February, I decided to reflect on the turmoil that had started to affect the public, crypto and … Continue reading “Episode 35: Thoughts on the market”

My apologies for the delay in summarizing the episode, but it’s been a very busy 9 months. Last … Continue reading “Episode 34: Ask Me Anything”

Mark Lurie is the CEO and co-founder of Shipyard Software. Shipyard Software builds decentralized exchanges (DEX) for specific … Continue reading “Episode 33: From VC to Web2 to Crypto with Mark Lurie”

Laura Behrens Wu (@LauraBehrensWu) is the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo is an API-first company focused on … Continue reading “Episode 32: Building a shipping unicorn with Laura Behrens Wu, Co-Founder & CEO of Shippo”

Alisa Cohn (@AlisaCohn) is a prominent startup coach who has advised founders and executives at Venmo, Etsy, DraftKings, … Continue reading “Episode 31: From Start-up to Grown-up with Alisa Cohn”

Thomas Plantenga is the CEO of Vinted. He was born and raised in the Netherlands. Thomas was previously … Continue reading “Episode 30: A Conversation with Thomas Plantenga”

In episode 27, I took a stab at which categories investors and entrepreneurs should focus on for the … Continue reading “Episode 29: The Latest Marketplace Trends”

When Satoshi Nakamoto famously wrote the Bitcoin white paper on November 13, 2008, it proposed to solve the … Continue reading “Episode 28: What’s the deal with crypto?”

In a way I live in your future. By virtue of receiving 150 startup pitches per week, I … Continue reading “Episode 27: The Tech of Tomorrow”

Jeff Wald is a serial entrepreneur, board Member, bestselling author, keynote speaker, and investor. Jeff’s most recent company, … Continue reading “Episode 26: Jeff Wald & The End of Jobs”

As most of you know, I want to empower people to work on the things they love. As … Continue reading “Episode 25: Clearco & The Future of Finance”

One of our main theses at FJ Labs is to focus on vertical marketplaces. Slice is a great … Continue reading “Episode 24: How Slice is helping mom and pop pizzerias compete with Dominos”

The education system has not evolved since the industrial era. New tools have been introduced over the years, … Continue reading “Episode 23: Synthesis: The startup scaling up the most innovative ideas from Elon Musk’s school”

9 out of 10 startups fail. This is a gloomy number. However, it has never stopped entrepreneurs from … Continue reading “Ep 22: Why Startups Fail with Tom Eisenmann”

This is one of the most requested questions I’ve received since starting Playing with Unicorns. People want to … Continue reading “Episode 21: How to Build the Perfect Pitch Deck?”

Last week Alpha Capital, a SPAC company that FJ Labs co-sponsored, went public. We rang the bell and … Continue reading “Episode 20: So you want to launch a SPAC ?”

Brian Requarth is the Co-Founder of Latitud and former CEO of Viva Real. Through Latitud, he now dedicates … Continue reading “Episode 19: Reinvesting in the Latam Tech Ecosystem with Brian Requarth”

Tim Jackson is a fellow entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. He has lived an interesting life from a … Continue reading “Episode 18: Thirty-Six Lessons from Company Founders & CEOs with Tim Jackson”

This week Kerim Baran shares where we stand in the world of solar. He covers: If you prefer, … Continue reading “Episode 17: The State of Solar”

I often pondered the makeup of successful founders and founding teams. At FJ Labs we spend a disproportionate … Continue reading “Episode 16: Startup Talent & Trends”

It is extremely hard to succeed as an entrepreneur. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have countless ups and … Continue reading “Episode 15: Mistakes to Avoid as an Entrepreneur”

Christian is the rare breed of polymath Renaissance Man operating in a world that rewards specialization. We had … Continue reading “Episode 14: A Conversation with Christian Angermayer”

SPACs have been one of the hot topics of 2020. Jeff Weinstein, who co-heads investing at FJ Labs, … Continue reading “Episode 13: What’s the deal with SPACs?”

Given the omnipresent doom and gloom of 2020, I took the time to reflect objectively on where things … Continue reading “Episode 12: Pandemic, Populism and Policy Failure – The Surprising Case for Optimism in 2020”

I had the privilege of running into the same social and intellectual circles as Safi Bahcall for the … Continue reading “Episode 11: Loonshots with Safi Bahcall”

Last week we covered how to come up with great startup ideas. This week I present how to … Continue reading “Episode 10: Validating Your Startup Idea”

Many aspiring entrepreneurs struggle to come with compelling startup ideas. I detail the four sources of startup ideas: … Continue reading “Episode 9: Coming Up with a Startup Idea”

Most entrepreneurs merely see venture capitalists as a source of capital without understanding how venture capitalists operate. Jeff … Continue reading “Episode 8: The Business of Venture Capital”

Last week we covered whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an … Continue reading “Episode 7: FJ Labs’ Startup Studio Model”

This week we cover whether first time founders should build a company on their own or join an … Continue reading “Episode 6: DIY vs Accelerator vs Studio”

Given that I was in Lake Placid looking at the foliage change without my multi-screen setup, I tried … Continue reading “Episode 5: Ask Me Anything”

In the third episode, I described how VCs evaluate startups by using a combination of the team, business, … Continue reading “Episode 4: FJ Labs’ Investment Thesis”

In the first episode I covered how and when to fundraise. In this episode, I describe how venture … Continue reading “Episode 3: How VCs evaluate startups”

I start by covering the theoretical do’s and don’ts of building a minimum viable product (MVP) before giving … Continue reading “Episode 2: Build a MVP for less than $20k”

Given that it’s episode 1, I start by explaining why I am creating this show before covering everything … Continue reading “Episode 1: Fundraising”

Playing with unicorns is a new weekly live streaming show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I will … Continue reading “Announcing Playing With Unicorns”