Danny In The Valley

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Adi Tatarko, founder of unicorn Houzz, to talk about the home improvement boom pandemic (2:45), the pandemic (5:15), ending up in California from Israel (9:30), a renovation project gone wrong (15:00), getting the first cheque for Houzz (20:50), raising $600 million more as a husband and wife team (27:40), on whether she plans to go public (30:00), how Houzz makes money (30:45), and drawing inspiration from her Holocaust-surivor grandmother (34:15).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Magi Richani to talk about cheese (4:15), how her lactose intolerance led her to start a company (7:30), the inefficiency of the cow (10:40), moving from Lebanon to Texas (15:50), becoming an engineer (20:45), starting out in the oil industry (24:15), rescuing animals (27:20), quitting Shell (30:00), coming from an entrepreneurial family (31:30), agricultural subsidies (37:00), getting her first investor (38:45), deciding on soybeans (43:10), slashing the environmental footprint of cheese production (46:00), using existing infrastructure (49:20), measuring up against the real thing (51:20), choosing the name (57:15), and launching a brand (58:30).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Dave Friedberg, founder of The Production Board, to talk about the western US’s ‘mega-drought’ (5:15), attracting cash to climate tech (8:30), the economic consequences of climate change (13:15), creating the Climate Corporation (16:15), getting investment from Larry Page (22:10), and Koch Industries (25:25), the future of food (28:00), “printing” drinks (34:05), water (39:15), climate migration (43:45), and how technology has saved the day before (45:45).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Justin McLeod, founder of Hinge, to talk about dating in the pandemic (2:41), launching an app (4:33), his early years as a “hot mess” (5:51), cleaning up his act (6:50), loneliness (9:45), overhauling the app (12:15), the irony of maximizing for “time in app” (15:03), injecting friction into the process (18:10), introducing a “vaccine status” badge (23:28), Facebook dating (27:00), the future of dating (30:03), the 36 questions to find love (32:14), his worst day of work (38:14), reconnecting with his wife (39:49), video first dates (41:49), and selling to IAC (43:20).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pearson’s Andy Bird: “Education is going to be disrupted like music”The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Andy Bird, chief executive of Pearson, to talk about transforming the education giant (5:40), creating textbook “playlists” (8:30), growing up in Manchester (14:45), getting into the entertainment industry (16:10), being recruited by Bob Iger (21:30), remaking Disney's foreign operations (23:05), cutting ties with Netflix (27:40), failing at Disney’s first streaming attempt (29:10), retiring (34:25), un-retiring and join Pearson {38:00), the backlash over his ‘golden hello’ (41:00), the breakdown of the higher education business model (43:40), the future of Pearson (49:40), overhauling a 177-year-old company (52:40), and learning from failure (57:40). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amid Facebook's record-setting financial performance and its pivot toward become a "metaverse" company, we air a revealing interview from last year (March 2020) with Stephen Levy, author of Facebook: The Inside Story, Levy talks about the moment he decided to write the book (4:15), the first time he met Zuck (8:55), the “book of change” (10:30), why Zuckerberg didn’t need an “adult in the room” (14:00), his deification in Silicon Valley (17:15), how Trump used Facebook (19:15), dark profiles (22:00), why Facebook is still moving fast (25:15), Facebook’s antitrust fight (28:45), on whether encryption changes things (31:15), Facebook as a utility (34:15), Zuckerberg’s shrinking inner circle (36:00), the hardest thing about writing the book (39:45), how Zuckerberg has changed (44:15), the Facebook phone (48:30), Cambridge Analytica (49:30), and whether Facebook is too big to control (53:45). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out in

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Antonio Garcia Martinez, to talk about his winding career in tech and media (3:25), living in the woods (7:25), his Facebook memoir (11:00), criticizing tech but also defending it (15:55), landing a gig at Apple and then getting fired (20:10), the Silicon Valley culture wars (23:25), launching a newsletter (30:25), the breakdown of the media business model (37:45), the tectonic plates shifting in the ad world (42:20), the privacy push (45:20), Apple and Google tightening their grip on the web (49:05), whether we should care (55:00), and living in Reno (58:30). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times' tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Tim Janssen of Sofar to talk about the paucity of ocean data (3:30), creating an ocean sensing network (6:15), the engineering challenge (8:30), modeling (10:30), why he left academia (15:15), raising money (19:20), coming here from the Netherlands (21:10), his customers (22:30), what’s happening in the oceans (33:25), and dropping the first sensor in the water (37:30). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We repost a podcast from Tales of Silicon Valley, the narrative podcast that Danny did two years ago. In the week that Sir Richard Branson touched space, and just days before Jeff Bezos prepares to do so as well, we go back to this investigatio into how billionaires are racing to become the first to settle on the moon. We talk to astronauts, and the billionaires themselves, about their plans to turn humans into a multi-planetary species. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Christian Angermeyer to talk about spending $40 million on his own money to reinvent the psychedelics industry (3:46), his first magic mushroom experience (6:58), convincing investors (11:09), targeting opioid addiction (17:35), the stoned ape theory (21:06), the legal challenge (24:33), the timeline (28:35), the social media effect (29:43), bad trips (39:56), developing a network of professionals to guide therapy (42:47), plus his view on the return of live events (46:23), the epidemic of undocumented mental health issues (50:27), and how he made his money (53:37). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, co-founders of Archer Aviation, to talk about their air taxi startup (6:00), starting out in recruiting (9:00), how they pivoted to flying cars (12:30), setting up an aeronautics lab (18:20), designing a plane (21:30), finding a billionaire backer (30:00), and then United Airlines (33:00), launching by 2024 (37:45), working toward test flights (41:10), the talent war (42:10), unveiling a plane that hasn’t flown (45:10), what air taxis will be able to do (49:15), and the adoption period (54:40). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Danny will be back later this week with more tales from the valley. But first, here's a special extra episode from the team behind "Secrets of the Side Hustle"Food waste is one of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis. Could sharing be the solution? Tessa Clarke, co-founder of the OLIO app thinks so.She sat down with host, Laura Jackson, to talk about how tech companies can change the world for the better, the struggles many female founders find when seeking investment and even more.Subscribe now to hear more from "Secrets of the Side Hustle"GuestTessa Clarke, co-founder of food sharing app, OLIOHost:Laura Jackson Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Grant LaFontaine, co-founder of Whatnot, to talk about creating the successor to eBay (3:40), the collectibles boom (7:50), his first startup (12:30), his early interest in marketplaces (14:25), working at Youtube (17:40), launching Whatnot in 2019 (23:45), starting with Funkopops (27:55), what’s happening in China (33:30), what works about live shopping (35:40), the Pokemon phenomenon (41:15), luring star investors (45:15), his worst day (49:15), and the future of eBay (51:20).Sign up for 50% off The Times and The Sunday Times with at www.thetimes.co.uk/dannyinthevalley Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Tim Barat, founder of Gridware, to talk about dropping out of school at 15 (4:30), his first company (11:30), moving to California (17:50), getting into college (22:30), the problem he's targeting (25:00), wildfires (28:20), building a super sensor (34:00), starting a company (36:30), raising money (42:30), how the tech works (51:50), how he sells it (59:10), and the what's left to do (1:02:50). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Gabby Dizon, founder of Yield Guild Games, to talk about starting a gaming guild (4:10), the crypto winter (8:25), Axie Infinity (10:00), an in-game economy (13:55), creating a scholarship programme (17:55), the perception of value (25:00), raising $1.3 million (28:00), struggling to keep his gaming studio alive (29:05), growing up in Manila (30:40), the metaverse (33:50), why he never left the Philippines (36:50), and the future of work (39:00). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

But we're back next week! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Alec Lee, founder of Endless West, to talk about re-engineering whiskey (2:45), starting out in stem cells (6:15), how a Napa wine trip inspired their startup (7:45), the regulatory hurdles (10:50), pitching investors (13:45), the key tech advances (16:45), how he makes whiskey (20:50), reducing to hours what takes years (26:00), how he’ll spend the $21 million he just raised (32:30), on celebrity tine-ins (34:00), why they chose whiskey (36:20), why sustainability in marketing is hard (38:00), and the hangovers (40:00). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times tech correspondent brings on Jim Mellon, the billionaire investor and co-founder of Agronomics, to talk about the lab-grown meat revolution (2:40), why he thinks he’s not too early (7:40), the dairy industry example (9:30), replacing traditional industries (11:00), why cultured meat will be bigger than electric vehicles (15:00), the carbon crackdown coming for meat (16:45), foetal bovine serum (20:40), what keeps him up at night (22:50), how cultured meat works (24:30), and the labelling fight (29:45). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Dr Mark Kotter, co-founder of Meatable and Bit Bio, to talk about the synthetic biology revolution (4:10), growing flesh (7:00), the field’s “big bang” (9:15), lab-grown meat (16:30), how far we are from a reverse-engineered ribeye (20:00), the “Meat 2.0” era (22:00), the branding challenge (26:30), creating a synthetic biology platform (28:00), the human cell atlas (32:00), cells as a smartphone (37:10), selling cells to pharmaceutical companies (41:15), the stem cell issue (45:45), living forever (49:45), and raising money (52:50).  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Josh Browder, founder of DoNotPay, to talk about leaving San Francisco (4:15), the quiet exodus (7:15), why San Francisco is “unfriendly” to business (11:30), why Miami feels real (14:04), DoNotPay’s plans (18:00), privacy (21:35), the future of San Francisco (22:40), and the straw that broke the camel’s back (24:25). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dannyinthevalley.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.