Getting2Alpha

I first learned about John Hagel in the late 1990s, when I was elbow-deep in community-building -- working as a systems designer & UX leader on Ultima Online and eBay. One of my clients gave me John’s book, Net Gain: Expanding markets through virtual communities. It blew my mind and inspired me as I was writing my first book, Community Building on the Web. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to get to know John better. He’s written many books since Net Gain exploded on the scene, and now runs...

Schwark Satyavolu is a serial entrepreneur and early-stage investor at Trinity Ventures. After founding and growing several innovative startups in the fintech space - a journey that included a stint as an executive at Mastercard - Schwark is now building up the fintech practice at Trinity. His background as an entrepreneur makes him empathetic to the realities of what startup life is life -- a great quality for an investor to have. I also loved hearing Schwark’s perspective on the future of...

I first met Siqi Chen at a Lightspeed CEO dinner hosted by Jeremy Liew. We bonded over our mutual love of product design and fascination with customer engagement. Ever since, I’ve followed Siqi’s career from Zynga product lead to fast-pivoting startup CEO to VR executive. I love how Siqi’s ideas about vision and leadership keep evolving. This is a guy who’s always learning. Listen in and learn how this globally-minded entrepreneur is applying his hard-won innovation lessons to carving out a...

Tracy Rosenthal Newsom is an award-winning game producer and product leader who brought you hits like Rock Band and Dance Central. I worked with Tracy in the early days of bringing Rock Band to life - and learned so much from her. In many ways, we've traveled parallel paths - moving through the worlds of gaming, digital healthcare and humanistic product design. The common thread is a deep, abiding interest in creating experiences that connect with people in a deep and positive way. And I'll...

BJ Fogg is a shining light in the often murky field of behavioral science. His Stanford Lab was Ground Zero in the Facebook Platform explosion of 2007. He’s now pioneering the influential “Tiny Habits” training program that’s finding it’s way into popular culture. BJ has the soul of a scientist – an explorer seeking the truth, rather than selling a vision. Join us to learn about BJ’s fascinating backstory – plus find out how a near-miss plane crash led to BJ’s current creative obsession.

Jeri Ellsworth is a tinkerer, inventor, and entrepreneur who grew up fixing toasters and building race cars - then moved on to inventing the future of AR at Valve, CastAR and now Tilt Five. Jeri’s got a unique take on bringing innovation to market - and a healthy appreciation for the human side of technology development. Listen in and discover how a quirky kid from rural Oregon transformed herself into a Silicon Valley powerhouse.

I first met David Vogler during the early, heady days of the Web, when we worked together to craft Nickelodeon’s first online presence. David went on to lead creative teams at Disney, Hearst, NBC Universal, and other leading brands. He’s now the Head of Design for Complex Networks, a joint venture between Hearst and Verizon. David has a knack for creating innovative media experiences that still manage to connect with basic user needs. Listen in and discover how this long-time insider...

Bob Moesta is the CEO and President of the Re-Wired group, a consultancy specializing in demand-side innovation. Bob and his team help large companies innovate with demand-side techniques and learn methods - meaning that he helps them validate market demand before building something. Bob and I share a mutual love of using #jobs-to-be-done to innovate smarter and help people ask better questions. I love Bob’s down-to-earth perspective and deep insights into the systemic nature of innovation -...

Bob Moesta is the CEO and President of the Re-Wired group, a consultancy specializing in demand-side innovation. Bob and his team help large companies innovate with demand-side techniques and learn methods - meaning that he helps them validate market demand before building something. Bob and I share a mutual love of using #jobs-to-be-done to innovate smarter and help people ask better questions. I love Bob’s down-to-earth perspective and deep insights into the systemic nature of innovation -...

Michael John runs the Games and Playable Media masters program at UC Santa Cruz, where he and his team work to transform eager game students into industry-ready designers. Michael has a long and storied history in games. Ever heard of Spyro the Dragon - the adorable character who enchanted and educated kids on the Playstation? Michael helped bring Spyro to life, and did the same for other games including the God of War series, and the innovative Glasslab educational games. Michael’s passion...

Brian Norgard is a serial entrepreneur - expert team-builder - and currently Chief Product Officer at Tinder, the massively successful dating app. Brian knows a thing or two about how to grow and evolve successful products - and it's NOT about chasing trends or adding sexy new features. If you're into creating compelling products, I know you'll enjoy soaking up his wisdom and hard-won advice. Listen in and discover how a seasoned product leader guides his team towards success.

Howard Rheingold is a colorful character in every sense of the word. From his psychedelic painted shoes to his extraordinary legacy of ground-breaking visionary books, Howard offers a unique and incisive approach to creativity, learning and community-building. Most people know Howard from his writing about Virtual Communities and mind amplification - but he’s also a gifted & innovative educator. In his role as a visiting professor at Stanford & UC Berkeley, Howard re-imagined the...

Intro Casey Winters is a growth specialist who understands how to blend qualitative and quantitative data to get massive and sustained results. Casey learned his craft at GrubHub and Pinterest, and then moved on to Greylock - the storied investment firm - to help their portfolio companies scale up and accelerate growth. Casey focuses on the space where scaling techniques meet product design – and he’s collected some hard-won & actionable insights about on what gets in the way of growth – and...

Jason Hreha is a product leader at Walmart, where he works across the company to run smart experiments and infuse the retail giant with effective digital design. Jason has an academic background in psychology and neuroscience - and has learned through experience what actually works when you’re building products for humans. Listen in and learn how a behavioral scientist sees the world of product design.

Jeff Patton is well-known as the father of story-mapping - a visual way of mapping out and prioritizing your product backlog. Jeff is someone who deeply understands how teams come together to build products - and where that process can go off the rails. If you’re a product manager - or aspire to be one - Jeff’s work is fundamental background knowledge. Listen in and learn how to navigate around the common obstacles of corporate life that keep your product from succeeding

Steve Hoffman is a force of nature - and an amazing human. Known affectionately as “Captain Hoff” Steve is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and CEO of Founders Space, an one of the world’s leading incubators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Steve’s book on innovation, “Make Elephants Fly: The Process of Radical Innovation,” is required reading for entrepreneurs worldwide. Listen in and learn what Steve has learned about getting companies ready for takeoff.

Karl Kapp is a influential leader in the learning and development space. He wears many hats: a professor of Instructional Technology Professor at Bloomsburg University, author of 5 books, and a popular speaker and consultant on learning technology and gamification. Karl is passionate about making learning effective and compelling, and knows a thing or two about how to achieve those goals - and what gets in the way. Join us and discover why this multi-talented educator embraces failure and...

Lee LeFever and his wife Saachi pioneered a form of visual communication called “explainer videos.” They run Common Craft, an animated video production company - and a training spinoff, the Explainer Academy, that empowers anyone to create better, clearer explanations. Lee has a refreshingly clear way of looking at the choices a small business owner has to make when things start to take off. Join us and learn more about how Lee transitioned his successful business to support the life of his...

Jeremy Liew is a managing partner at Lightspeed, a global investment firm. Jeremy specializes in the consumer segement - including investments in Snapchat and The Honest Company. Join us and discover what a top-tier SIlicon Valley VC thinks about the current state of consumer tech - and what’s coming next.

When I first met Merci Victoria Grace, she was fresh out of school and leading a wildly innovative game project. Fast-forward to today, she’s a talented & accomplished product manager, most recently leading growth at Slack. Her blend of creativity, strategy & development chops gives her a great foundation for leading teams. Join us and discover how a fast-rising product leader integrates vision with collaborative leadership.