Inside CVC by u-path

Send us Fan Mail Yariv Adan spent 17 years at Google leading Google Assistant, Google Lens, and the commercialization of Cloud AI's conversational and generative AI products before becoming a venture capitalist. He joins Philipp and Steve to argue that the old AI moat, being fast and owning proprietary code, is gone, and that proprietary data is now the only defensibility left. He explains why he looks for founders who have already proven they can hire, fire, raise, and scale, not just build,...

Send us Fan Mail Leif Lindner is CEO of IFA Management GmbH, the organization behind IFA Berlin, the world's oldest consumer electronics show. After 25 years at Sony and Samsung, Leif took over IFA in 2023 and rebuilt it from the ground up, renaming it from Internationale Funkausstellung to Innovation For All. Leif joins Philipp and Steve to break down IFA Berlin 2026, where 240,000 visitors from 155 countries turned out, 20,000 more than the year before. He explains why this was the fi...

Send us Fan Mail Naiana Miranda is Principal and Co-Founder of MSH Partners and Chair of the Amazon Bioeconomy Chamber, the first international chamber built to connect capital with entrepreneurs across the Amazon basin. Naiana joins Philipp and Steve to trace her path from a childhood in the Amazon and a family of Brazilian entrepreneurs to a severe bout of mold poisoning that triggered a near-death experience in Qatar, one she says left her channeling Harriet Tubman and starting what ...

Send us Fan Mail Outwardly, Nick Jonsson had everything that success is supposed to look like: two decades as a senior executive across Asia, an Ironman athlete, a family, the villa and the driver. Alone, he was turning to alcohol, and eventually drugs, to cope. It is an issue many corporate leaders carry in silence, and it is the one Nick, now an executive coach, spends his days trying to change. In this conversation with Philipp and Steve, Nick shares his own story: the divorce,...

Send us Fan Mail Dawn Lim is Executive Director of the DesignSingapore Council, Singapore's national agency for design, and spent over a decade before that at the Economic Development Board working with Fortune 500 companies on innovation and investment. In this conversation, Dawn joins Philipp and Steve to unpack what it means to treat design not as aesthetics but as a strategic capability for governing a country, walking through Singapore's ten-year design master plan built around one...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Tan Sian Wee has built companies in Silicon Valley, lived and worked in Germany, and now sits inside Singapore's innovation engine at the National University of Singapore, where he manages a S$150 million venture fund. In this conversation with Philipp and Steve, Sian lays out why Germany's welfare state now discourages full-time work, why Europe allocates just 0.01% of its $9 trillion in pension assets to venture capital, and why that single number is quietly handi...

Send us Fan Mail For decades, much of the world viewed Africa through the lens of aid, extraction, or geopolitical risk. Taj Eldridge argues that perspective is rapidly becoming obsolete. Drawing on experience spanning venture capital, private equity, climate investing, and now living and working in Nairobi, Taj explains why Africa is emerging as one of the world's most important innovation markets—not because it mirrors Silicon Valley, but because it solves problems born from necessity...

Send us Fan Mail Stuart Russell co-wrote Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, the textbook that trained a generation of AI researchers, and founded UC Berkeley's Center for Human-Compatible AI. He joins Philipp and Steve on Inside CVC straight from the floor of SuperReturn in Berlin, where AI was the only topic anyone wanted to talk about. Stuart takes apart the "but China" argument used in Washington to block AI safety regulation, and explains why China's rules are actually stricter t...

Send us Fan Mail Lynda Mansson spent close to thirty years in the nonprofit sector, most recently as Director General of the MAVA Foundation, a large family philanthropic foundation. She started her career about as far from philanthropy as it gets: as a stockbroker. Today she's a leadership coach for mission driven leaders, working from a framework of six practices that separate those who sustain impact from those who burn out chasing it. Lynda walks Steve and Philipp through why transformati...

Send us Fan Mail Boardrooms in Transition is a five-part special series from Inside CVC by U-Path on how boards make decisions when the information is incomplete and the stakes are real. Start with Episode 1 and listen in order. All five episodes are live now. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

Send us Fan Mail This is episode 1 of 5 in Boardrooms in Transition, a special series from Inside CVC by U-Path. Start here and listen in order. In the opening chapter of Boardrooms in Transition, IMD professor and globally recognized governance expert Didier Cossin examines why so many boards fail—not because they lack information, but because they fail to act on what they already know. Drawing on his experience advising boards around the world, Didier explores the human dynamics...

Send us Fan Mail This is episode 2 of 5 in Boardrooms in Transition, a special series from Inside CVC by U-Path. We recommend starting with Episode 1 and listening in order. This episode opens with a short recap. If you are listening to the full series in one sitting, use the chapter marker to jump straight to the conversation. In the second chapter of Boardrooms in Transition, former Deloitte Global CIO and seasoned board director Larry Quinlan explores what it means to govern in an AI...

Send us Fan Mail This is episode 3 of 5 in Boardrooms in Transition, a special series from Inside CVC by U-Path. We recommend starting with Episode 1 and listening in order. This episode opens with a short recap. If you are listening to the full series in one sitting, use the chapter marker to jump straight to the conversation. In the third chapter of Boardrooms in Transition, seasoned public company director and Chair Circle co-founder Karen Francis explores what it takes to lead throu...

Send us Fan Mail This is episode 4 of 5 in Boardrooms in Transition, a special series from Inside CVC by U-Path. We recommend starting with Episode 1 and listening in order. This episode opens with a short recap. If you are listening to the full series in one sitting, use the chapter marker to jump straight to the conversation. In Part Four of Boardrooms in Transition, former Deloitte Global CEO and longtime board leader Barry Salzberg explores what leadership looks like when organizati...

Send us Fan Mail This is episode 5 of 5 in Boardrooms in Transition, a special series from Inside CVC by U-Path. We recommend starting with Episode 1 and listening in order. This episode opens with a short recap. If you are listening to the full series in one sitting, use the chapter marker to jump straight to the conversation. In the final chapter of Boardrooms in Transition, veteran public company chair and former CEO Penny Herscher explores the human side of governance—and why trust,...

Send us Fan Mail Hayley van Loon is the CEO of Crime Stoppers International and spent the first eight years of her career in counterterrorism operations in Australia. She joins Inside CVC to explain why criminal networks are not a parallel economy. They run directly through yours. In this conversation, Hayley walks Steve and Philipp through what Crime Stoppers calls the Illegal Empire: a $4 trillion ecosystem where counterfeit goods, human trafficking, illicit tobacco, firearms and scam compo...

Send us Fan Mail David Betts spent two decades at Deloitte building a healthcare strategy practice, ultimately leading a public health business serving 20 states with 400-plus people. Then, at the peak of his career, he was diagnosed with ALS. His response wasn't to step back. It was to build something. In this conversation, David walks Steve and Philipp through how a non-developer used AI as a teammate to build Talk to Me Goose, an AI-enabled text-to-speech application that gives people with...

Send us Fan Mail In this Inside CVC Encore, we revisit a conversation that feels even more relevant today. Pete Horsley, founder of Remarkable, challenges one of the biggest blind spots in corporate innovation: why disability and accessibility are still treated as compliance or charity initiatives rather than engines of growth, talent, and competitive advantage. Pete shares why designing for disability often leads to better products for everyone, how inclusive innovation is shaping the future...

Send us Fan Mail In this Inside CVC Encore, we revisit our conversation with Salesforce Chief Futurist Peter Schwartz and You.com founder and CEO Richard Socher. We explore what leadership looks like in a world where technological change is no longer sequential, but simultaneous and accelerating. Drawing on their experience shaping AI strategy at Salesforce years before the current wave, they unpack how AI is redefining work, decision-making, and the role of leaders across the enterprise. Fro...

Send us Fan Mail In this Inside CVC Encore episode, Deborah Elms joins Steve and Philipp for a timely conversation on the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Trump administration’s use of IEEPA tariffs—and why the ruling did not end tariff uncertainty. Deborah explains what happened in the first 72 hours after the decision, why companies faced immediate confusion over tariff rates, exemptions, and refunds, and how the administration’s pivot to other trade tools could create a more durable, mor...

Send us Fan Mail In this Inside CVC Encore from Season 1, Episode 1, we revisit his conversation with J. Carl Ganter, founder and managing director of Circle of Blue and a veteran storyteller whose work spans National Geographic, network TV news, and NPR. The episode lands at a moment when desalination plants and water infrastructure across the Middle East are making headlines as targets in the Iran conflict, putting the systemic risks Carl warned about squarely in front of the boardroom. Car...

Send us Fan Mail Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT and the originator of Theory U, the foundation of U-Path. In this conversation, Otto walks Philipp and Steve through what it actually means to lead from an emerging future rather than the past, and why that distinction matters more now than ever. They dig into the four levels of listening. Downloading. Factual. Empathic. And the one most leaders never reach: generative. Otto explains how the quality of your listening determines whethe...

Send us Fan Mail Oliver Zeidler made history at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, winning gold in the men's single scull and breaking the Olympic record by nearly five seconds in the semi-final. But he will tell you the medal wasn't won in Paris. It was won three weeks earlier, at a World Cup race in Lucerne, where he finished second. In this episode of Inside CVC, Philipp and Steve sit down with Oliver for a conversation about reinvention, high-performance leadership, and what it actually tak...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, Joanna Massey explores how AI and digital platforms are reshaping boardroom governance. The conversation examines how polarization, employee stress, and shifting expectations around free speech are impacting decision-making inside companies. Joanna introduces the concept of “mass incitement” and explains why boards must take a more active role in overseeing how technology influences behavior, culture, and risk. The discussion also covers the rol...

Send us Fan Mail The CVC Open Innovation Summit began as a small gathering of corporate venture, strategy, and innovation leaders looking for something missing in the market: a trusted environment where decision-makers could collaborate on the challenges shaping industry. In this special episode of Inside CVC, Steve Schmith speaks with Philipp Willigmann of U-Path Advisors and Daniel Kennel of BorgWarner about how the summit series is evolving into a global platform connecting leaders across ...

Send us Fan Mail When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration illegally imposed tariffs under IEEPA, markets reacted fast. But relief quickly gave way to confusion. In this episode, Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy at the Singapore-based Hinrich Foundation, explains what happened in the first 72 hours, why some countries now feel blindsided, and how the administration’s pivot to other tariff tools could make this moment more durable, not less. We cover: Who wins and loses...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you leave a world class platform like Deloitte without a plan, and then choose to spend your next chapter on a problem hiding in plain sight? In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Janet Foutty, former CEO of Deloitte Consulting in the United States and Executive Board Chair of Deloitte US, now focused on driving impact across women’s health, tech for good, and long-term research ecosystems. Janet shares what stayed consistent through the transition...

Send us Fan Mail Longevity is not just a healthcare issue. It is a workforce issue. It is a competitiveness issue. It is an everything issue. In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Katharina Janus, founder of Fourth Quarter Life and a longtime healthcare leader across managed care, hospitals, academia, and consulting. She shares the personal moment that changed her work forever. Navigating her father’s Alzheimer’s care showed her how opaque and unfair the system feels, even when you ...

Send us Fan Mail What do the Hindenburg, the Titanic, Boeing, and the Challenger disaster have in common? According to historian and author Edward Tenner, they were not failures of incompetence. They were failures born from success, confidence, and blind spots. In this episode of Inside CVC, Tenner explains why highly capable organizations still make catastrophic mistakes. From the smoking lounge on the Hindenburg to safety measures that destabilized the SS Eastland, which capsized in 1915 wh...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, we’re joined by David Homan, author of Orchestrating Connection, for a wide-ranging conversation on why trust, gratitude, and intentional community building are no longer “soft skills,” but strategic advantages in corporate venture capital and M&A. Drawing from more than a decade of building a global, high-trust network spanning family offices, venture capital, private equity, and corporate leadership, David challenges the transactional mind...

Send us Fan Mail In Part Two of our special Inside CVC series recapping the CVC Open Innovation Summit in Berlin, the conversation moves from diagnosis to execution. Episode One explored urgency. Episode Two focuses on alignment. As Europe faces accelerating technological change, geopolitical pressure, and widening capital gaps, the challenge is no longer awareness. It’s how leaders align capital, institutions, and organizational systems once the direction is clear. This episode brings ...

Send us Fan Mail In late November, leaders from across Europe gathered in Berlin for the first European edition of the CVC Open Innovation Summit. What emerged was not another debate about whether innovation matters, but a far more urgent question: is Europe actually set up to execute? In Part 1 of this special two-part Inside CVC series, host Steve Schmith takes listeners inside the Berlin summit to explore why this moment feels different. Corporate investors, policymakers, founders, and eco...

Send us Fan Mail Europe once led the world in autonomous driving. Massive public investment. Breakthrough demonstrations. Real vehicles on real highways long before autonomy was mainstream. So what happened? In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Christian to unpack the rise, stall, and potential resurgence of autonomy in Europe. Drawing from decades of experience across research labs, OEMs, and boardrooms, Christian explains why Europe’s challenge isn’t technology. It’s culture, reg...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, Steve and Philipp sit down with Jen Randle, co-founder of SGNL, a strategic advisory and content firm known for helping leaders communicate with clarity, coherence, and purpose. Jen has spent her career advising executives, founders, and institutions on how to build trust by aligning what they say with what they do. Her work at SGNL focuses on narrative clarity, strategic storytelling, and the deeper system dynamics that shape leadership and cul...

Send us Fan Mail Engineer, board director, and Shifting Gears author Kristin Slanina joins Inside CVC for a candid conversation on what it really takes to lead transformation in an industry that’s been “five years away” from disruption for more than a decade. Kristin shares how discomfort became one of her greatest teachers, what she learned building Ford’s original Blueprint for Mobility, and why electric and autonomous vehicles will only scale when leadership mindsets change as fast as the ...

Send us Fan Mail Innovation inside large companies often runs on instinct, scattered pilots, and wishful thinking. Yaron Flint joins us to explain why so many corporates still lack a true playbook — and how a more structured approach can turn chaos into clarity. Listeners will hear Yaron discuss: Why he wrote Innovative Business Development and the gap he saw across global organizations.The four pathways for bringing innovation into a company — and why partnership remains the most underused.H...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Philipp Mueller, Vice President, Public Sector at DriveLock and Co-Founder of the European Resilience Summit Series, joins Inside CVC to explore why resilience — not sovereignty — is becoming Europe’s defining strategy in an age of constant disruption. He shares how leaders can rethink governance, investment, and collaboration around adaptation and trust rather than borders and control. Philipp, Steve, and Philipp Willigmann discuss: How resilience shifts fro...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, hosts Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann speak with Andy Binns, co-founder and Managing Director of Change Logic, and co-author of Corporate Explorer and the forthcoming Corporate Explorer Fieldbook. Andy has spent his career helping CEOs, boards, and innovation leaders at companies like Analog Devices, RELX, and UNIQA Insurance build new growth businesses while sustaining the core. Listeners will hear: Why most corporations fail to scale inno...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Inside CVC, Steve and Philipp are joined by Gerald Knaus, founding chairman of the European Stability Initiative and author of The European Miracle and Its Enemies. Knaus reflects on how post-war Europe built an unprecedented framework of peace, democracy, and economic cooperation—and why that “European miracle” is now under its greatest threat since 1949. From the war in Ukraine to the rise of populist movements and waning transatlantic trust, he ...

Send us Fan Mail Disability is often seen through the lens of charity — but what if it’s actually one of the greatest drivers of innovation? In this episode of Inside CVC, hosts Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann speak with Pete Horsley, founder of Remarkable, a global accelerator for disability technology startups. From Sydney, Pete shares why inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s the smart thing to do for corporations, investors, and innovators. Listeners will hear: Why disabi...

Send us Fan Mail What if the greatest untapped driver of innovation isn’t found in Silicon Valley, but in the lived experience of people with disabilities? In this episode of Inside CVC, Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann sit down with Regina “Gina” Kline, founder of Enable Ventures and a pioneer at the intersection of civil rights and impact investing. From her years litigating landmark ADA cases at the U.S. Department of Justice to her current role backing DisabilityTech startups, Gina ha...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Howard Ross—author, consultant, and one of the nation’s preeminent thought leaders on unconscious bias and organizational change. Howard brings a candid, historical, and forward-looking perspective on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at a time when the topic is both urgent and contested. Listeners will hear: Why DEI has always followed a “three steps forward, two steps back” cycle—and what makes this moment unique.How unco...

Send us Fan Mail Europe is at a crossroads in shaping its technological future. In this episode of Inside CVC, Martin Hullin, Managing Director of the Network for Technological Resilience & Sovereignty Europe’s Future Program Bertelsmann Stiftung introduces Eurostack—a visionary framework designed to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty, resilience, and competitiveness in the digital age. Listeners will hear: Why Eurostack is sparking both excitement and controversy in Europe—and what it means...

Send us Fan Mail As experts gather in Berlin and Brussels to debate climate policy, MIT Sloan’s Jason Jay joins Inside CVC to cut through the ESG noise. He introduces the Four Lenses Framework, showing how boards can focus on what matters, align purpose with business value, and invest for long-term impact. You’ll hear: How to separate signal from noise in ESGWhy short-termism blocks real progressHow cross-industry coalitions can drive systems changePractical ways leaders can turn sustainabili...

Send us Fan Mail Robotics is moving from the lab to the loading dock, farm, and job site—and the playbook is changing. In this episode, Sam Abidi—robotics expert and member of the U-Path Advisory team—explains how to pick the right first use cases, redesign operations around machines, and structure partnerships that actually scale. We cover ROI beyond simple labor displacement, how CVCs de-risk technical bets, and why the integration playbook for AI agents mirrors what’s worked in robotics. W...

Send us Fan Mail In a moment when AI is rewarding efficiency and headlines spotlight shrinking management layers, strategist and author Kaihan Krippendorff argues the real advantage comes from optionality—and from empowering intrapreneurs across the enterprise. We dig into why the MVP-and-hyperscale era is giving way to longer feedback cycles and thesis-driven bets, what distinguishes innovation programs that outperform, and how to fund and govern “everyone innovates” cultures without blowing...

Send us Fan Mail Vietnam and Southeast Asia are fast becoming global hotspots for innovation and venture capital, but success in the region requires more than just money. In this episode of Inside CVC, Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann sit down with entrepreneur, investor, and community builder Cuong Dang to explore the realities of scaling startups and corporate ventures in one of the world’s most dynamic markets. Cuong shares his journey from launching and exiting startups in the U.S. to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Hee S. ("Hee") Jung, CEO of SK Chemicals America and head of SK Group’s corporate venture investment operations in North America. Just days after SK Group announced strong earnings in South Korea, Hee offers an inside look at how the conglomerate is navigating today’s global headwinds—from regulatory shifts and tariff challenges to geopolitical uncertainty—while doubling down on innovation that delivers operational value. Hee sh...

Send us Fan Mail Futurist Peter Schwartz (Chief Future Officer, Salesforce) and AI pioneer Richard Socher (CEO, You.com) join Inside CVC to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping work, leadership, and society. They reflect on the evolution of AI at Salesforce, the shifting skills required of tomorrow’s leaders, and how regulation, culture, and global risk shape innovation. From scenario planning and AI literacy to Europe’s innovation lag and the promise of inclusive technology, this...

Send us Fan Mail Enterprise AI strategist Alec Coughlin joins Inside CVC to share hard-earned insights on scaling AI beyond the memo. Alec challenges common misconceptions about “AI-first” strategies and explains why so few companies are truly AI-mature. We explore how leading enterprises like McKinsey, Blue Yonder, and Union Square Ventures are operationalizing intelligent systems—and what corporate innovators and venture investors can learn from them. From automation vs. augmentation to sti...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, futurist and innovation expert Jonathan Brill, author of Rogue Waves, joins Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann for a provocative conversation about navigating—and capitalizing on—radical change. From AI and demographic shifts to geopolitical volatility and supply chain resilience, Brill explains how corporate venture capital can create real value by investing ahead of disruption, not in spite of it. He shares strategies for scenario planning, ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Michael Granoff, founder of Maniv Mobility, to explore the dynamic forces reshaping the movement of people and goods. From electric trucks in California to two-wheelers in India, Maniv’s portfolio reflects the global push toward decarbonization, automation, and digitization. Michael shares candid insights on the rise of Chinese EV dominance, the challenges of aligning corporate venture capital with geopolitical uncertainty, and ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Shawn Hoyer, Head of Venture Capital Coverage at Bank of America, to explore how capital markets are evolving—and what it means for founders, investors, and corporate innovators. From the fluidity of global capital and the rise of sovereign wealth funds to the future of AI-driven startups and public market exits, Shawn unpacks the macro trends reshaping the venture and CVC landscape. We also dive into the shifting role of the U....

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 5 of Inside CVC, we continue our deep dive into the 2025 CVC Open Innovation Summit, this time focusing on highlights and takeaways from Day 2. Co-hosts Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann explore how Miami took center stage as an emerging hub for globally connected innovation—spanning Latin America, Europe, and beyond. We spotlight the city’s growing influence in sectors like climate tech, logistics, and healthcare, and unpack the critical role public-private par...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Inside CVC, hosts Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann explore the origins, purpose, and outcomes of the CVC Open Innovation Summit in Miami. Philipp shares how a dinner conversation in 2023 sparked a movement to create a trusted, high-impact environment for CVC and innovation leaders—culminating in a summit designed by CVCs, for CVCs. Listeners will hear how this unique event came together, what made it different, and why it resonated with corporate invest...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Episode 3 of Inside CVC! In this special behind-the-scenes edition, co-hosts Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann sit down—finally together on the mic—to talk about the "why" behind Inside CVC. If you’re just tuning in, this is your chance to meet the minds behind the podcast. Steve and Philipp share the story of how the show came to life, reflect on their shared background in corporate innovation, and offer a candid look at what’s shaping today’s global venture an...

Send us Fan Mail In this timely and globally focused episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Benjamin Qiu, an American lawyer and cross-border investment expert, to unpack the escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China—and what they mean for corporate venture capital, startups, and innovation worldwide. Benjamin brings a unique perspective shaped by decades of experience in Silicon Valley and China, and currently joins us from Tokyo. We explore the ripple effects of rising tariffs, ...

Send us Fan Mail J. Carl Ganter, founder of Circle of Blue, joins Inside CVC by u-path to explore water scarcity as a rising threat to corporate employees, supply chains, operations, and customers. With a journalist’s eye and an innovator’s urgency, the advisor to the World Economic Forum and global business leaders explains why this issue demands board-level attention — and the vital role CVCs can play in accelerating solutions. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside...