Billion Dollar Moves
Deep dives with Asian founders and VCs building scalable, high-growth companies globally.
$22M Exit, Broken Deal & Buyback | Jaclyn Johnson, Founder, Create & Cultivate & Co-Founder, Cherub
Jacqueline Johnson, founder of Create & Cultivate and co‑founder of the angel‑investing platform Cherub, recounts her 20‑year entrepreneurial journey—from early marketing agency work and a pandemic‑era $22 million private‑equity exit to buying back her company in 2024. She highlights the personal toll of scaling a business, including burnout, divorce, and health challenges, and stresses the importance of cash‑flow discipline versus strategic risk‑taking. Johnson also critiques the stagnant 1.8‑2.1% of venture capital that goes to women, urging community‑building and mutual investment to shift the narrative. Her latest venture, Cherub, uses dating‑app mechanics to connect angels and founders, illustrating her pivot from founder to investor.
From Losing $1M a Month to a $1B Exit — Jim Sorenson on Building Impact That Pays
In this episode, Jim Sorenson recounts how he turned a company burning $1 million a month into a near‑$1 billion exit in under three years by pivoting from a mass‑market video‑compression startup to a niche video‑relay service for the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing....
After The Exit | Ariana Pareja on Building, Selling and Starting Again
In this episode, serial entrepreneur Ariana Pareja shares her journey from early real‑estate hustles to co‑founding Remind, a real‑estate tech platform that scaled to over a million agents and was acquired for $53 million. She discusses the emotional roller‑coaster of big...
Women of the New Frontier: Capital, Ownership & The Founder’s Journey W/Allison Ellsworth, Rachel Roy & Theresa Fette
In this episode, founders Allison Ellsworth (Poppy Soda), designer Rachel Roy, and fintech entrepreneur Theresa Fette discuss their journeys from humble beginnings to multi‑billion‑dollar exits, emphasizing the importance of owning control, embracing embarrassment, and making bold, sometimes "stupid" decisions. They...
Legacy, Innovation, and the Future of ASEAN Agri-Food W/ Ho Ren Hua, CEO of Thai Wah PCL
In this episode, Sarah Chen‑Spellings talks with Ho Ren Hua, CEO of Thai Wah, about transforming a 77‑year‑old family starch business into a regional agri‑food and bio‑materials platform anchored in sustainability. He outlines the “F4” framework (Farm, Factory, Family, Food) and shows how...
Future-Proofing Portfolios W/ Chris Rynning (AMYP Ventures) & Anulika Malomo (HarbourVest Global Private Equity)
Chris Rynning and Anulika Malomo discuss how LPs, family offices, and GPs can future‑proof portfolios for 2025 and beyond, focusing on AI risk, liquidity crunches, and the fallout from China’s DeepSeek shock. They highlight the growing reliance on secondaries, new...
Betting on Yourself: How Anne Mahlum Built a $100M Empire
Anne Mahlum recounts her journey from a North Dakota upbringing marked by her father's gambling addiction to founding the nonprofit Back on My Feet and later bootstrapping the boutique fitness brand solidcore into a $100 M exit. She emphasizes the power...
Inside India’s $1 Trillion Venture Revolution W/ Kalaari Capital, General Catalyst, DM Gupta & Lightspeed India
The episode examines India’s rapidly evolving venture ecosystem, highlighting how women investors and family offices are driving a shift toward a $1 trillion wealth era and reshaping where capital flows. Panelists Vani Kola, Priya Mohan, Aarti Gupta, and Shruvi Shrivastava discuss...
Rebuilt From Rejection Into a Billion-Dollar Model W/ Michael Loeb
The episode chronicles Michael Loeb’s journey from being fired at 36 to creating billion‑dollar ventures like Synapse, Priceline.com, and the healthcare discount platform ScriptRelief, now operating under his venture collective Loeb.nyc. He argues that entrepreneurial instincts appear early—often evident in...
Unveiling the Power Shift: Private Wealth’s Impact on Venture Capital
The post recaps a panel from the Arctic15 LP Summit where family offices and high‑net‑worth investors discussed their growing influence on venture capital, noting that the average single family office now manages roughly $989 million and allocates 5‑10% to VC. Panelists...