Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders

Stanford eCorner

Each week, experienced entrepreneurs and innovators come to Stanford University to candidly share lessons they’ve learned while developing, launching and scaling disruptive ideas. The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series is produced by Stanford eCorner during fall, winter and spring quarters.

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Our Editor's Take

The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast has a variety of compelling business topics. Stanford University's Emily Ma hosts the program.

The show points out that entrepreneurs don't all create businesses. Some develop products, markets, or ideas. So says Jeff Housenbold, a guest on the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast. A former CEO of Shutterfly, he and other innovators share lessons they've learned on this podcast. He says entrepreneurship is a state of mind. Listeners will hear the mindset of many fascinating people generating change. Housenbold talks on the show about why he decided to focus on resolution instead of size.

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders has many other interesting guests. Martin Eberhard, former CEO of Tesla, discusses early electric cars and climate change. He says electric car sales seemed possible once Tesla styled an EV that appealed to car enthusiasts as well as "nerds." Elon Musk of Tesla visits Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders too. He explores fascinating concepts like colonizing Mars.

Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, cofounder of Plume, offers healthcare to transgender individuals. Kiki Freedman, cofounder of Hey Jane, facilitates abortion care through telemedicine. Both innovators serve communities affected by public policy. Kirkley and Freedman discuss real-world solutions to healthcare barriers. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders isn't afraid to talk about this and other controversial topics.

Raj Kapoor was a strategic adviser for Lyft. John Viera was a sustainability director for Ford. They analyze transportation on Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders. Kapoor says humans spend more on transportation than food. But they only drive 4% of the time in cars that are 75% unoccupied. Lyft works to improve these statistics. Viera says Ford also focuses on carbon emissions and climate solutions. If Viera had a magic wand, he'd create an affordable storage system for renewable energy.

In Mark Zuckerberg's 2005 episode, Facebook was "TheFacebook." It was a tool for college students to connect on campus. It didn't even involve photos. In Evan Williams' episode, he says the word "podcast" comes from the original intent to listen on an iPod. Now, people listen to podcasts like Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders everywhere. Times change. Listeners will hear innovation develop in real time.

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Episodes

Sharon Prince (Grace Farms Foundation) - Designing From Values
Apr 17 2024
Sharon Prince (Grace Farms Foundation) - Designing From Values
Sharon Prince is the CEO and founder of Grace Farms Foundation, a new kind of boundary-defying public space in New Canaan, Connecticut, that has become widely known as a global humanitarian and cultural center. Grace Farms is the platform for the Foundation and its interdisciplinary humanitarian mission to pursue peace through nature, arts, justice, community, faith, and Design for Freedom, a global new movement to eliminate forced labor from the building materials supply chain. In this presentation, Prince explains the origin and possibilities of the Design for Freedom movement and shares how she designed Grace Farms to embody her vision and values.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Shiza Shahid (Our Place) - A Meaningful Entrepreneurial Path
Feb 28 2024
Shiza Shahid (Our Place) - A Meaningful Entrepreneurial Path
Shiza Shahid is the co-founder and co-CEO of Our Place, a mission-driven startup reimagining kitchenware for the modern, multiethnic, global kitchen. Prior to Our Place, Shahid also co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. She led the organization as founding CEO, advocating for the rights of all girls to attend school. Shahid also launched NOW Ventures, an angel fund to invest in mission-driven startups. In this conversation with Stanford adjunct lecturer Ravi Belani, Shahid shares how her life and career have shaped her view of entrepreneurship and offers advice for infusing mission and meaning into products and brands.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Ernestine Fu (Brave Capital) - Taking Action for Startup Success
Feb 14 2024
Ernestine Fu (Brave Capital) - Taking Action for Startup Success
Ernestine Fu is managing general partner of venture capital firm Brave Capital. Over the past decade, Fu has worked across the startup ecosystem, including negotiating merger and acquisition agreements, organizing SPVs for later-stage companies, angel investing in and advising companies that have since been acquired, and advising banks on venture debt. Alongside her role at Brave Capital, she is also a Venture Partner at Alsop Louie Partners. In this presentation and conversation with Stanford adjunct lecturer Ravi Belani, Fu inspires students and aspiring entrepreneurs by sharing things she wished she knew before coming to Stanford as a student.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Bonus: ETL’s Emily Ma on Move Fast and Fix the Planet
Feb 7 2024
Bonus: ETL’s Emily Ma on Move Fast and Fix the Planet
ETL is off this week, but in its place, we’re pleased to share the first episode of a new podcast from Stanford eCorner and STVP called Move Fast and Fix the Planet. It’s about climate and sustainability entrepreneurship, and this episode features ETL host Emily Ma, head of special projects in sustainability, real estate, and workplace services at Google. Delve into Emily's journey as an intrapreneur focusing on sustainability within Google's internal operations, particularly in the realm of food systems. Learn about the unique opportunities and obstacles she’s encountered in building a more sustainable future. Gain insights into the entrepreneurial mindset, the intersection of technology and agriculture, and the importance of holistic approaches in addressing global challenges. Move Fast and Fix the Planet is hosted by Mike Lepech, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford’s School of Engineering.-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by STVP, the Stanford Engineering Entrepreneurship Center. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao (Stanford) - Smart Leaders Understand Friction [EXPLICIT]
Jan 31 2024
Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao (Stanford) - Smart Leaders Understand Friction [EXPLICIT]
Robert I. Sutton is an organizational psychologist and professor emeritus of Management Science and Engineering in the Stanford School of Engineering. Hayagreeva “Huggy” Rao is the Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Science, the Sociological Research Association, and the Academy of Management. In this conversation with Stanford lecturers Ravi Belani and Emily Ma, Sutton and Rao discuss their new book, “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder,” and offer advice and insights from their years of research and observation.(EDS NOTE: THIS TALK INCLUDES EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.)—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Adrian Rodriguez (Dreamlinks) - A Visually Impaired Founder’s Journey
Jan 24 2024
Adrian Rodriguez (Dreamlinks) - A Visually Impaired Founder’s Journey
Adrian Rodriguez is the co-founder and CEO of Dreamlinks, a startup developing AI-powered building blocks that make creating virtual 3D worlds as fun as playing with LEGO bricks. Prior to founding Dreamlinks, Rodriguez taught game design at StreetCode Academy, created a web design course for blind programmers, and worked as the CTO of AMPAworks, a company that uses computer vision to automate inventory tracking in hospitals. In this presentation, Rodriguez shares his journey as an entrepreneur who is visually impaired, his dreams for helping other blind and visually impaired people with technology, and his lessons for other aspiring innovators.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Andy Dunn (Bonobos) - Mental Health for Entrepreneurs
Nov 8 2023
Andy Dunn (Bonobos) - Mental Health for Entrepreneurs
Andy Dunn is an entrepreneur, author, and investor. Dunn co-founded the menswear e-commerce brand Bonobos in 2007 and served as the company’s CEO for its first 10 years, pioneering the digitally native brand movement. In 2022, Dunn published a memoir lifting the veil on the mental health demons he’d been privately battling as he built Bonobos. “Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind” chronicles his journey at the intersection of entrepreneurship and bipolar disorder. In this conversation with Stanford adjunct lecturer Ravi Belani, Dunn shares his experiences with bipolar disorder and encourages everyone to acknowledge mental health challenges, including in the world of entrepreneurs. This talk includes discussions of suicide and self-harm. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a trained listener, call 988. Visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or for more information. The Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To text with a trained helper, text SAVE to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Josh Wolfe (Lux Capital) - Investing at the Cutting Edge
Jun 7 2023
Josh Wolfe (Lux Capital) - Investing at the Cutting Edge
Josh Wolfe co-founded Lux Capital to support scientists and entrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time in order to lead us into a brighter future. The more ambitious the project, the better—like, say, creating matter from light. Wolfe is a director at Shapeways, Strateos, Lux Research, Kallyope, CTRL-labs, Variant, and Varda, and helped lead Lux Capital’s investments in Anduril, Planet, Echodyne, Clarifai, Authorea, Resilience, and Hadrian. He is a founding investor and board member with Bill Gates in Kymeta, which makes cutting-edge antennas for high-speed global satellite and space communications. In this presentation, Wolfe shares the principles that guide his entrepreneurship and investments, giving examples from companies he has founded and funded.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury (Grammarly) - Responsible AI Innovation
May 31 2023
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury (Grammarly) - Responsible AI Innovation
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury is Grammarly’s CEO as of May 1, 2023. He was previously the company’s Global Head of Product, overseeing everything that makes the company’s writing assistance software tick, managing the product, design, and data science teams. Before coming aboard at Grammarly, Roy-Chowdhury spent many years at Google leading the Privacy, Safety, and Security teams to unified solutions across Google’s product portfolio. In this presentation and conversation with Stanford adjunct lecturer Ravi Belani, Roy-Chowdhury Shares his company’s approach to building ethical AI tools and encourages aspiring entrepreneurs and tech leaders to get engaged in the conversation about responsible AI.—-----------------------------------Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. At STVP, we empower aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.CONNECT WITH USTwitter: https://twitter.com/ECorner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner LEARN MOREeCorner Website: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/STVP Website: https://stvp.stanford.edu/Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://ecorner.stanford.edu/give.