6 episodes

A series where you hear real stories from innovators and pioneers describing the ups and downs of their career. Hosted by Nikunj Kothari. Learn more at rollercoaster.life
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rollercoaster Podcast with Nikunj Kothari Nikunj Kothari

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 10 Ratings

A series where you hear real stories from innovators and pioneers describing the ups and downs of their career. Hosted by Nikunj Kothari. Learn more at rollercoaster.life
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Kevin Lee - founder at immi

    Kevin Lee - founder at immi

    Kevin is the founder of immi, a company that is making healthy nutritious instant ramen. Prior to this, Kevin was a venture capitalist at Pear and a product manager at AltSchool + Kabam. In this episode, Kevin talks about his journey to founding immi. Some highlights being:

    - Gaming and learning how to meet strangers online
    - Shifting his focus from investment banking and becoming a PM at Kabam
    - Moving to the world of venture capital
    - How he met his cofounder serendipitously at a noodle shop
    - Building a CPG company with no experience during COVID and challenges along the way

    Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. 
    Check us out on the web at http://rollercoaster.life/ or get in touch with us on Twitter @rollerpod or emailing me at hello@rollercoaster.life

    Music: Nowhere land & Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod.
    License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 42 min
    Karan Talati - CEO of First Resonance

    Karan Talati - CEO of First Resonance

    In this episode, Nikunj chats with Karan Talati. Karan is the CEO of First Resonance, a company that is developing the next-generation manufacturing software platform for modern manufacturers . Prior to this, Karan was the first engineer at Sense360 and before that an engineer at SpaceX. In this episode, Karan talks about his journey to founding First Resonance. Some highlights being:
    Being influenced by technology and globalization very early in lifeShifting his focus from mechanical engineering to software in collegeBeing an early engineer at SpaceX and Sense360How the rise in hardware startups led him to start First ResonanceSurviving 2020 and sharing what the future holdsThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. 
    Check us out on the web at http://rollercoaster.life/ or get in touch with us on Twitter @rollerpod or emailing me at hello@rollercoaster.life

    Music: Nowhere land & Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod.
    License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 30 min
    Cristina Cordova - Platform & Partnerships at Notion

    Cristina Cordova - Platform & Partnerships at Notion

    For this episode, Nikunj chats with Cristina (@cjc). Cristina currently leads the platform and partnerships team at Notion. Prior to this, Cristina was at Stripe where she joined as the first business development hire and the 28th employee. Over her seven years there, she ended up growing her team, leading partnerships overall, and also leading efforts on new products like corporate card.

    In this episode, Cristina talks about her journey in leading partnership teams at various organizations. Some highlights being:
    Growing up home alone from 7th grade to 9th gradeLove for debate club growing up and joining Stanford aiming to be a lawyerPivoting to tech by being an intern at TapulousLeaving Google to join Pulse as their first employeeBeing the first business development hire at Stripe and her 7.5 year journeyJoining Notion this year to lead Platform and PartnershipsThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. 
    Check us out on the web at http://rollercoaster.life/ or get in touch with us on Twitter @rollerpod or emailing me at hello@rollercoaster.life

    Music: Nowhere land & Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod.
    License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 44 min
    Nish Bhat - Cofounder of Color Genomics

    Nish Bhat - Cofounder of Color Genomics

    For this episode, Nikunj chats with Nish Bhat (@nterminus). Nish was most recently working at Color Genomics where he was one of four cofounders. Prior to that, Nish worked as a software engineer at Lookout.

    In this episode, Nish talks about his journey to founding Color Genomics. Some highlights being:
    Love for entomology and biology growing upWanting to become an academic biologistTransition to being a software engineer in his junior year Founding Color Genomics as he wanted to get back to his first love, biology Growth challenges at ColorLeaving Color, and helping early stage founders with his expertiseThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. 
    Check us out on the web at http://rollercoaster.life/ or get in touch with us on Twitter @rollerpod or emailing me at hello@rollercoaster.life

    Music: Nowhere land & Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod.
    License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 50 min
    Sheila Vashee - VC at Basis Set Ventures

    Sheila Vashee - VC at Basis Set Ventures

    For today's episode, we chat with Sheila Vashee (@sheilavashee). Sheila works as a partner and venture capitalist at Basis Set Ventures. Prior to this, she was the vice president of Growth at Opendoor and the second marketing hire at Dropbox. 

    In this episode, Sheila talks about her incredible journey. Some highlights being:
    Starting a brownie company at age 8Becoming an investment banker after her undergrad in collegeTransitioning into corporate strategy at GapBeing the second marketing hire at DropboxLearning how to navigate growth and operations at Opendoor Early career as a VC at Basis Set VenturesThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. 
    Check us out on the web at http://rollercoaster.life/ or get in touch with us on Twitter @rollerpod or emailing me at hello@rollercoaster.life

    Music: Nowhere land & Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod.
    License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 23 min
    Wes Donohoe - VP of Product at One Medical

    Wes Donohoe - VP of Product at One Medical

    For today's episode, we chat with Wes Donohoe (@wesperience). Wes recently transitioned to working on special projects at One Medical after serving as their Vice President of Product for four years. Prior to this, he was the head of product at Shyp and previously head of product at Live Nation Labs. 

    In this episode, Wes talks about all his incredible ventures:
    Being scuba certified for free at age 12Starting his boat cleaning company in collegeLaunching and failing to build three companies after the 2008 financial crisisTransitioning to product management with no prior experience at Live Nation Labs and then joining ShypBuilding and scaling the One Medical product org Steering One Medical through IPO and COVID early this yearThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. 
    Check us out on the web at http://rollercoaster.life/ or get in touch with us on Twitter @rollerpod or emailing me at hello@rollercoaster.life

    Music: Nowhere land & Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod.
    License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 36 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
10 Ratings

10 Ratings

Matt2020 ,

Tells the real stories

Loved hearing about the founding story of One Medical. The podcast did a great job of conveying the challenges with startups and not just the easy, success stories that are often told. Can’t wait for more episodes.

Siddhartha9020 ,

A laid-back and engaging listen.

Rollercoaster is a refreshing talk where the host and guest talk from the heart and without sugar-coatings their lives and careers or showing them from rose-tinted glasses. Hearing what worked for them and what didn’t is valuable for all kinds of audiences, whether it be budding entrepreneurs or those simply curious about the lives of others.

Ojimisa ,

Wonderful Stories

It’s always interesting to see the career arc of innovators and pioneers and to see firsthand that it wasn’t a straight line.

I think a lot of people will find value in these conversations and get that nice feeling that they aren’t alone in their struggles whatever they may be.

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