Episodes
Marina Toybina is a six times Emmy Award winning costume designer, who is behind the fascinated costumes of The Masked Signer show on Fox. She won awards for her work at The Masked Signer, Super Bowl Halftime Show (w/Katy Perry), 55th Annual Grammy Awards, SYTYCD, and X Factor.  Marina was born in Moscow, USSR, but when she was 11, her family immigrated to USA, settling in Phoenix, AZ. Her incredible journey from constant struggles to the pinnacle of the industry is one that is worth hearing!
Published 10/04/21
Published 10/04/21
In this interview Graham Weaver takes us to a journey from his childhood in suburbs of Ohio, to his school athletic life, college, and career. He then walks us through early days of Alpine, which despite underperformance of its first fund, ultimately becomes one of the best performers in the industry. 
Published 06/03/21
Jeremiah Tower is likely the first Celebrity Chef in the US. A food lover from childhood, he had no formal culinary education before beginning his career as a chef. Jeremiah later opened one of the most famous restaurants in the country in 1980s - The Stars, which became the major attraction for celebrities. Anthony Bourdain produced a fantastic documentary on Jeremiah - The Last Magnificent, which tells his story. 
Published 04/15/21
Jim Grant is the founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, a twice-monthly journal of financial markets popular among some of the most famous investors. Over past 35+ years of the publication, Grant developed a cult following on Wall Street.   In this interview we discussed Modern Monetary Theory and its limitations, Keynesian and Austrian Schools of Economics, recent government actions in response to COVID, Jim's life, career, and founding Grant's Interest Rate Observer. 
Published 12/22/20
Dominique Crenn is the owner of Atelier Crenn restaurant in San Francisco, and is the only female 3 Michelin Star Chef in the US. In her recent memoir - Rebel Chef: In Search for What Matters - she shares her fascinating life story from French orphanage to the pinnacle of culinary art.  In this interview we discussed Dominique's journey: influence of her parents, challenges she had faced (she don't have a former culinary education), building Atelier Crenn, her battle of cancer, and many...
Published 10/30/20
Eicca Toppinen is the founding member of the multi-platinum metal band Apocalyptica, which has a cult following around the world. Its first album, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos was released in 1996 and turned the heavy metal music upside down due to the band unique sound - the new music style is now called Symphonic Metal. In this interview we covered the history of the band, changes in the music industry, Eicca's life and creative process, and collaboration with Metallica & other bands.
Published 08/18/20
I interviewed Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, whose team has been working on COVID response from the very beginning. - How COVID affects people with different pre-existing conditions - Effective treatment, but not Hydroxychloroquine - Vaccines - Why is COVID picking up again? - Do masks work? - Shortage of PPE and Testing - Is COVID human made virus? - Day-to-Day activities: Wiping groceries? Fly? Eat out? Gym?
Published 08/03/20
Tom Steyer is a Political Activist, Philanthropist, who recently ran for Democratic Presidential Nomination (2020 election). Tom was recently appointed by the Governor Gavin Newsom to Co-Chair California Task Force on Business and Job Recovery that is focused on re-opening CA for business post-COVID lockdowns.  We spoke about BLM protests, COVID, Tom's run for Democratic Presidential Nomination, his childhood, lessons he learned from his parents, and philanthropy.
Published 07/09/20
Vitaliy Katsenelson is a famous value investor and a CEO & Chief Investment Officer, of Investment Management Associates. Vitaliy has written several books on investing, including Active Value Investing and The Little Book of Sideways Markets. We spoke about value investing, Vitaliy's investment process, his view on diversification, his biggest mistakes, his bucket list, and many other things. 
Published 11/25/19
Lou Ferrante is a former mobster of the Gambino Crime Family, who did his time in prison, and then turned his life around becoming a bestselling author and a sought after TV personality. His book, “The Mob Rules" became a best seller and his TV project, “Inside The Gangsters’ Code” has been successfully running on Discovery Channel since 2013. We spoke about his path to the Gambinos, his arrest, his time in prison, this books, John Gotti, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, and other things.
Published 10/26/19
Fengsuo Zhou is a President of Humanitarian China, a non-profit organization that is focused on development of a civil society in China to promote rule-of-law, human rights, and freedom of expressions.  Fengsuo was one of the student leaders during the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, and post massacre, ended up on the list of 21 Most Wanted issued by the Chinese government.  We discussed what happened at the Square 30 years ago, his role at the protest, his arrest, and the life afterwards. 
Published 09/06/19
Dan Primack is a Business Editor of Axios, where he runs the daily Pro Rata newsletter and hosts the daily Pro Rata podcast, among other things. 
Published 06/30/19
Guy Kawasaki is the Chief Evangelist of Canva, an online graphic design tool. He is a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley). Guy is widely known around the world for his books and speeches on entrepreneurship, and his early work at Apple alongside Steve Jobs. 
Published 03/16/19
Keith Teare is Executive Chairman of ADV and a serial entrepreneur, who has built two $1 billion dollar companies, raised billion dollars in VC fund, and was in the founding team of TechCrunch.  Born in the UK, he learned how to code at early age, and later started his first tech company to pay for his passion - political activism.  We covered many subjects from class-conscious UK to blockchain, bootstrapped companies, VC trends, and Keith’s childhood and
Published 02/01/19