Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures and 8-time Midas List investor, sees the next wave of breakout brands emerging at the intersection of shifting consumer behavior, novel business models, and technological inflection points.In this conversation with Ruchi Sanghvi, she unpacks the investment frameworks behind early bets on companies like Warby Parker and Glossier—breaking down structural shifts that fueled their scale. They explore:• AI’s role in reshaping consumer distribution and brand-building• the enduring mechanics of advertising and its evolution across platforms• the biggest misconceptions about early-stage consumer investing• what defines the next generation of category-defining brandsConnect with us here:1. Kirsten Green – https://x.com/kirstenagreen2. Ruchi Sanghvi – https://x.com/rsanghvi3. South Park Commons – https://x.com/southpkcommonsThis episode was produced and distributed by our friends at Atomik Growth: https://atomikgrowth.com/00:00 Trailer00:56 Introduction02:25 Humble beginnings05:12 Vague misconceptions07:44 Consumer AI direction11:43 How to win in consumer AI18:32 Where is distribution now22:49 "What caught your attention?"24:45 The problems and the solution27:35 Consumer traction and engagement30:50 Giving venture the finger?34:06 Counterintuitive Traits of Founders37:03 Effective channels and connections39:53 Business of saying no41:49 Agents43:04 Search experience44:09 Education and healthcare economy46:36 Physical personalization48:31 Healthcare and social51:55 Key roles54:51 Outro

From launching Ola as a ride-hailing startup to expanding into EVs, AI, and now a third shot at food delivery, Bhavish Aggarwal has remained in relentless “founder mode.” He dives into the mental models that shaped his journey, how he processes failure, and his vision for India’s deep-tech future. Connect with us here: 1. Bhavish Aggarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavishaggarwal/ 2. Aditya Agarwal- https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/ 3. Prateek Mehta- https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-mehta-a571972/ 4. South Park Commons- https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/ The production and distribution of this episode were managed by our friends at Atomik Growth. (00:00) Trailer (00:55) Introduction (01:55) The chaos of building Ola (06:36) Rebels start companies (10:21) Leadership and Indian tech (16:48) Rationale instinct (21:30) Intelligence, consciousness, philosophies (25:40) How Krutrim fits in (33:13) Founders struggles (36:33) Indian ethos is still growing (43:13) Impact in business and personal life (47:46) Authentic execution, zero BS (55:33) Outro

Scott Belsky, Adobe’s Chief Strategy Officer & EVP of Design & Emerging Products (and previous Co-founder at Behance), joined us in NYC. Find out why Scott believes the intersection of design, technology & business converges on some of the most important problems worth solving today.

Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang shares how he navigated the existential angst of early company building to emerge as a leader in AI infrastructure. He shares insights on the brewing US-China AI race and offers provocative opinions on how the next generation of AI companies will need to compete and win.

Mike Krieger is the Co-founder and former CTO of Instagram and recently joined Anthropic as Chief Product Officer. He joined Aditya to discuss how he's navigated the repeated -1 to 0 phases of his career and how he went from founding one of the biggest social apps of the mobile generation to joining one of the most exciting companies of the AI generation.

Lindsay Kaplan is the Co-founder & Chief Branding Officer at Chief, the world’s largest network of senior women executives. She joined us in person at SPC-NYC to share how her experience leading marketing at Casper and other high growth startups led to the creation of Chief from the ground up—and why maximizing leadership impact for women in the 21st century is a worthwhile investment.

Mike Schroepfer is the Co-founder of climate tech fund Gigascale Capital and the former CTO of Facebook. He joined SPC in person to share how he went from leading technology at the world's biggest social network to investing in climate tech—and why he thinks tackling climate change is such a massive business opportunity.

Kevin McCarthy, former Republican Congressman from California and Speaker of the US House of Representatives, shares how he unexpectedly found himself at Minus One after reaching the highest congressional office, what it takes to make a career in politics, and why changing incentives is key to reforming the increasingly toxic US political culture.

Few people have thought as much about finding and cultivating talent than Tyler Cowen. The economist, prolific author, and Co-founder of Emergent Ventures (still one person) joined us to share how he thinks about identifying talented individuals at the earliest stages (like, say, -1) and channeling those people toward impactful work.

SPC founder Ruchi interviewed Jessica Lessin live for the story on how she decided to found a media company in the age of AI, journalism's relationship with tech, and a lot more. Jessica is the founder and CEO of The Information, the publication known for original, in-depth reporting about technology and business. In eight years, Lessin has grown The Information into one of the largest subscription journalism communities in the world, attracting an influential audience of business leaders globally. Lessin has covered Silicon Valley and the technology industry for almost two decades and was previously a reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal.