Today’s guest is Ivan Misner, who is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. Ivan is also known as the “Godfather of Networking” and is considered one of the top networking experts in the world. Ivan is also a New York Times best-selling author who has written 27 books. Among his many awards, he has been named “Humanitarian of the Year” by the Red Cross and has been the recipient of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Award. In this...

Today’s guest is Julian Treasure. Julian is one of the most popular Ted speakers - 5 of his TED talks have been watched more than 100 million times, and his talk on 'How to speak so that people want to listen' is in the top 6 TED talks of all time. He is also the best-selling author of “How to be Heard and Sound Business”. In this episode, we discuss why becoming a skilled listener is so important, and the practices you can use to do so.  We also cover the seven deadly sins of speaking and...

Today’s guest is Sam Zaid, who is CEO and cofounder of Getaround, the world’s first connected carsharing marketplace. It operates in more than 1000 cities across the United States and Europe. To date, Sam has raised over $600 million for Getaround from some of the best including Softbank, Menlo Ventures, Redpoint Partners, and General Catalyst to name a few. Before co-founding Getaround, Sam founded Apption, an enterprise software consultancy, and 360pi, a retail price intelligence platform...

Today’s guest is Kim Scott, who is the author of the revolutionary New York Times bestsellers Radical Candor and Just Work. She co-founded two companies that help organizations put the ideas in her books into practice. Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. Kim previously held leadership roles at Apple and Google. Earlier in her career Kim managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo and started a diamond-cutting factory in Moscow.  On this episode, Kim talks...

Phil Libin is on the podcast this week. Phil is a software engineer turned serial entrepreneur. He immigrated to the United States as a child from the Soviet Union and went on to build the popular note-taking app Evernote. The company grew to have more than 150 million users and a $1 billion valuation while Phil served as CEO, a position he stepped down from in 2015. He then took a detour as a venture capitalist at General Catalyst. Now he’s a founder again. He’s the CEO of Mmhmm, a video...

Joining us on Luminate this week is Felix Ohswald. Felix is the Co-Founder and CEO of GoStudent, Europe’s first Edtech unicorn. GoStudent is a company that provides tailored, high quality video-based tuition for students of all school levels and for all school subjects. To date, Felix has raised over $600 million with GoStudent from some of the best including Softbank, Tencent, Dragoneer and Prosus. GoStudent’s latest round valued them at a reported $3.4 billion. Felix is also an investor...

Today, I’m excited to be here with Jim McKelvey, he’s the co-founder of Square along with Jack Dorsey. Square is a payment processing company that lets anyone accept credit cards. Square went public in 2015 and the company is worth over $100 billion! In December 2021, Square changed its name to Block. In 2009, Jim designed a card reader, which, in 2011, was inducted in the Museum of Modern Art. In addition to Square, Jim has founded several other companies such as Visibly, LaunchCode and...

Paul English is on the podcast this week. Paul is a serial entrepreneur, since high school he has founded 8 companies and 4 philanthropies ranging from gaming to fintech to GetHuman, a site that helps users access human customer support. Paul is best known for disrupting the travel industry with online travel search engine Kayak, which he sold to Priceline in 2012 for $1.8 billion. If you have any inkling of starting your own business, you wanna listen closely to Paul, because in this...

Today’s guest is Dr. Robert Cialdini. Dr. Cialdini is one of the most renowned psychologists in the world. He is known as the “Godfather of Influence”, because he is the creator of the science of persuasion. He is New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Influence, which has sold over five million copies. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger called Dr. Cialdini's book "Influence" one of the most important books they've ever read. Fortune Magazine lists Influence in...

Today’s guest is Chris Voss, who is the founder of the Black Swan Group and the author of the mega bestseller "Never Split the Difference". Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI. He has been on the front lines of some of the most high-stakes hostage negotiations of the last 20 years. In today’s episode of Luminate, master negotiator Chris shares his journey from the FBI agent to hostage negotiator and we also discuss how we can be more effective negotiators by...

Joining us on Luminate this week is the incredible Vaira Vike Freiberga. She became the first female President of Latvia in 1999 and served a second term in 2003. President Vaira is also known as the “Baltic Iron Lady”. She was a hugely popular and successful President, and at one point her approval ratings were as high as 85%. President Vaira was instrumental in achieving membership in the European Union and NATO for her country and raised the nation’s recognition through her international...

Joining us on Luminate this week is Alan Patricof, one of the early pioneers of the venture capital and private equity industries. In 1977, Alan founded APAX Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in the world and in 2006 he also co-founded Greycroft, which is a venture capital firm focusing on investment in the internet and mobile markets. His latest venture Primetime Partners, which is a seed and early-stage venture capital fund investing in companies transforming the...

Joining us on Luminate this week is Evan Goldberg, who’s the Founder and Executive Vice President of NetSuite. Evan founded NetSuite in 1998. It’s a cloud computing company that provides software and services to manage business finances, operations, customer relations, and much more. In 2016, Evan sold the company to Oracle for $9.3 billion. In our conversation, Evan talks about his first failed startup and what he learned from that experience, his on-going relationship with his mentor Larry...

Joining us on Luminate this week is the incredible Dame Stephanie Shirley CH. Dame Stephanie is tech pioneer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. She also goes by the name “Steve” which she used to sign business letters to potential clients when they were not responding to her.   Dame Stephanie arrived in England as an unaccompanied child refugee at the start of the Second World War, and in 1962 started a software business from her dining table which grew to employ 8,500 people and was...

Hap Klopp is on the podcast this week. Hap is the founder of the North Face, one of the world’s biggest outdoor apparel brands.   In 1968 when Hap traded-in his corporate aspirations for the life of an entrepreneur, the support network for such endeavors was not nearly what it is today. However, Hap knew that he had what it took to run a successful business and lead The North Face for 20 years as CEO. After selling the North Face, Hap launched a global management consultancy company, HK...

Hap Klopp is on the podcast this week. Hap is the founder of the North Face, one of the world’s biggest outdoor apparel brands.   In 1968 when Hap traded-in his corporate aspirations for the life of an entrepreneur, the support network for such endeavors was not nearly what it is today. However, Hap knew that he had what it took to run a successful business and lead The North Face for 20 years as CEO. After selling the North Face, Hap launched a global management consultancy company, HK...

Hap Klopp is on the podcast this week. Hap is the founder of the North Face, one of the world’s biggest outdoor apparel brands.   In 1968 when Hap traded-in his corporate aspirations for the life of an entrepreneur, the support network for such endeavors was not nearly what it is today. However, Hap knew that he had what it took to run a successful business and lead The North Face for 20 years as CEO. After selling the North Face, Hap launched a global management consultancy company, HK...

Joining us on Luminate this week is Brian Smith. Brian is the founder of UGG boots, a brand that started from humble beginnings and went on to become a multibillion-dollar global icon. Graduating in 1978 as a Chartered Accountant in Australia, Brian came to California looking for the next big opportunity to bring back to Australia. While studying at the UCLA Graduate School of Management he observed that there was no sheepskin footwear in the US. With only $500 in capital to start, he...

Joining us on Luminate this week is Brian Smith. Brian is the Founder of UGG boots, a brand that started from humble beginnings and went on to become a multibillion-dollar global icon. Graduating in 1978 as a Chartered Accountant in Australia, Brian came to California looking for the next big opportunity to bring back to Australia. While studying at the UCLA Graduate School of Management he observed that there was no sheepskin footwear in the US. With only $500 in capital to start, he...

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by a living legend Joe Foster, founder of Reebok. Coming from a long line of shoemakers, it seemed only natural that Joe Foster follow in his family’s footsteps, but instead Foster decided to push his horizons even further and create a brand that would become a legacy. Listen in as Foster shares his incredible journey through generations of shoemakers to bring us the global brand we know today: Reebok. Foster’s entrepreneurial journey is nothing short of...

Serge Haroche is on Luminate this week. Serge Haroche is a professor at the Collège de France and holds the Chair of Quantum Physics. In 2012, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for “ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”.   Starting in the 1980s, Haroche has designed ingenious experiments to study quantum phenomena when matter and light interact. He has been able to capture photons using a trap made of highly...

Joining us on Luminate this week is Tarja Halonen. Tarja Halonen is a real trailblazer. She became Finland’s first female President in 2000 and served a second term in 2006. She served as President of Finland for 12 years. Prior to her presidency, she served as Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice, and Minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.   Tarja Halonen has been named one of the most powerful women in the world....

Our guest today is Mika Hakkinen, a.k.a. the Flying Finn. He's a two time Formula 1 world champion and one of the most popular drivers of all-time. And Mika Hakkinen was perhaps the only racer who could challenge Michael Schumacher to his possible limits.     Back in 1995 at the Australian Grand Prix, Mika Hakkinen nearly died in a terrible accident, but somehow he was back on track just a few of months after his crash and later became a two-time Formula One World Champion.    In this...

We are so honored for this week’s distinguished guest, Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and the world’s most renowned and successful mediator in international conflicts.   In 2008 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in bringing independence to Namibia, Serbia’s withdrawal from Kosovo, and autonomy for Aceh in Indonesia.     In this conversation, we talk about his early years, how he helped bring resolutions to conflicts in Namibia and Kosovo and what it...

This is our inaugural episode, and we're kicking it off with someone who's practically seen it all. Rosen Plevneliev is the former President of Bulgaria from 2012 to 2017.   From 2009 to 2011, he served as Bulgaria's Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, overseeing the country's infrastructure, communications and development projects.    Prior to government service, Plevneliev was a very successful entrepreneur. He managed more than 80 construction projects in Germany and...