Superpowers Podcast

Phil Bronner and I have known each other for the last 15 years. Phil started as a self-described snotty-nosed kid running around Baltimore trying to play ball and became one of the most successful venture capitalists in the D.C. area. "I was leaving for school, and my dad said congratulations. You're going off to college. I really hope it goes well. But if it doesn't, you're never coming back here. You're going to the military. And that stuck with me." He started in venture in 1999 and worked his way up, gaining his apprentice-style experience through a big fund that had $650 million under management. "It's hard to learn the business outside of the industry. You sort of have to learn it by doing." After 15 years, he decided to pave his own path and co-founded Ardent Venture Partners. Phil shares his journey of what it is like to be a black man in venture and how we can break the cycle of making deals with "the same people we always have." "How does venture work? It's driven by two things—your relationships and pattern recognition. You do research and other things. But, you also say, well, I backed the person who looks just like that person who reminds me of this person. And that makes you more comfortable doing that deal. So when your networks are white males, it's going to lead to referrals that are from other people who look like them." Phil has an incredible way of seeing things from others' perspectives and finding a workaround to be successful. "Often, we allow emotion to color our perspective on the situation. But you have to pay attention and separate that from your decision-making." Visit LinkedIn to connect with Phil or learn more about Ardent Venture Partners. ______ Phil's Bio Phil Bronner is the co-founder of Ardent Venture Partners, a venture fund investing in companies that transform the way we work. He is currently on the board of Reserve Trust, Verituity, ExecOnline, OneMain Financial (O.M.F.), and an investor in Method Financial and Collective. Before co-founding Ardent Venture Partners, Phil was Founder/Managing Member of Summer League Ventures (S.L.V.). Active S.L.V. deals include Morning consult, ExecOnline, Ordway Labs, Gather.ai, Anno.ai, and AirSide Mobile. Prior to S.L.V., Phil was a General Partner with Novak Biddle Venture Partners. Over the course of his 15-year career, he led 16 investments (was actively involved in 20) with investments totaling over $100 million. Three of Phil's series A investments went on to be worth $880 million or more. Investments include 2U (TWOU), Infoblox (BLOX), SolidFire (Acquired by NetApp), AddThis (acquired by Oracle), Webs (Acquired by Vistaprint), Approva (Acquired by Infor), LifeShield Security (acquired by DirectTV), ClearStandards (Acquired by SAP), Social Gaming Network, and Logic Library (Acquired by S.O.A. Software). In addition, Phil's past board observer seats include N.E.W. Customer Service Companies (acquired by Asurion), AnswerLogic, a natural language search engine (acquired by Primus Knowledge Systems), and Spectrum K12 (acquired by Power Schools). Phil was the founder of Quad Learning, a venture-backed startup acquired by Wellspring Higher Education, served as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co., and worked as a software engineer at I.B.M. Phil earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University; a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Law; and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Phil and Brooke live in Washington DC with their 3 kids: Dylan, Sophia, and Mason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I started playing hockey when I was 5 years old. Now I call myself a midlife crisis hockey player, somewhat (but not NHL level) living out my childhood dreams of being in the league. So, I couldn't wait for Heidi to join me and talk about our shared love of hockey on the podcast.  I have known Heidi for over 15 years, since her MySpace and Pandora days, where I got to see first-hand how incredible she was at listening to her customers and using that knowledge to make better business decisions for the companies. This led her to an opportunity at the NHL when they were building out their social marketing and marketing practice. "It is a privilege and an honor to be the CMO at the NHL. When I first joined, it was our one-hundredth anniversary. It's not too often that as a marketer, you get the opportunity to usher in the next generation of fans with a hundred-year-old brand. So that's what really excited me." Heidi has taken the NHL to the next level, focusing on bringing new fans into the fold. "How do we grow our fan base and diversify our fan base? It has to start with who's working in our league. Then extends to the fans and the players, et cetera." Even though joining the NHL was an exciting career move for Heidi, she had no previous experience in sports. "Coming in as a new and casual fan, in the beginning, I could see right away that we spent a lot of time catering to the avid fans. We conducted focus groups that confirmed my observation. Hockey fans are like the coolest, most rabid, fanatical fans out there. They know the rules, history, and tradition. It can be intimidating to be on the outside trying to get in." Heidi has always focused on what customers are saying. She has never been afraid to hear feedback and tries to connect the old and the new generations to keep her companies relevant. I hope you enjoy our conversation and we inspire you to join our love of hockey. You can connect with Heidi on LinkedIn and visit the NHL to learn more. Connect with Chris Cunningham and subscribe to the show. ______ Heidi's Bio As Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Heidi Browning leads the National Hockey League’s growth marketing strategy with a focus on digital, innovation, and social media. With more than 25 years of marketing experience, including success with major brands in Silicon Valley, Browning brings a valuable mix of client, agency, and media owner perspectives to the NHL. Browning is known as a passionate pioneer in digital, mobile, and social marketing and as an executive who advances new ideas and innovation within the industry. Inspired by the intersection of media, technology, and culture, Browning studies generational trends in attention and brand engagement. Her experience marketing to Millennial and Gen Z audiences is essential for engaging young sports fans and will help guide her leadership of the NHL’s new fan database/analytics initiative. Under Browning’s leadership, the NHL has experienced a 33% growth in followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. She spearheaded the introduction of eight new Twitter accounts, including six international languages, @StanleyCup; @NHLGIFs; NHL Europe on Instagram; and TikTok, Weibo, and WeChat accounts. As a result of a focused strategy on video content, video streams have increased 111% across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Since Browning’s arrival at the NHL, the League’s Instagram engagement has increased by 58%, while followers on that account increased 46%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My friendship with Andy Dunn started 10 years ago at a conference in Hawaii. Even though we have been in each other's lives for a long time, I had no idea he is a life-long sufferer of depression. When we think about incredible entrepreneurs, like Andy, it is hard to believe that they can be so successful while battling such dark times. Today, on the show, we hear about the human behind the entrepreneur. Andy shares his tumultuous journey and how his mental illness has shaped the way he creates his future businesses. We discuss how new startup founders may struggle with focus and have grandiose ideas about what they think their company is versus what it actually is. How do founders determine the distinction between the fantasy and reality of the business and when it's time to accept reality? He also tells us about the incredible women in his life that have shown him how resilience and perseverance are the cornerstones of continual growth. Through these lessons, he has focused on using his company, Red Swan, to help back minority entrepreneurs and give them an opportunity to grab a piece of the investment pie. I am humbled and thankful to call Andy Dunn my friend, and I hope you enjoy his life story as much I enjoyed sharing it with you. To learn more about Andy, visit LinkedIn or Twitter. Sign up to get an exclusive first look at his new company Whipped Cream. We release new episodes bi-monthly, so if you enjoy what you hear, please subscribe or leave us a review! ______________ Andy Dunn Bio Andy co-founded the menswear brand Bonobos in 2007 and served as the company’s first CEO for ten years. Bonobos pioneered the digitally native, direct-to-consumer brand model. In 2017, Walmart acquired Bonobos for $310 million. Andy is co-founder and chairman at Monica + Andy, a leading organic children’s clothier where his sister Monica Royer is founder and CEO. The company is now building the leading community and marketplace for parents who care about organic and sustainable baby products. An angel investor and venture capitalist through the seed fund he co-founded, Red Swan, Andy has backed eighty startups. Notable investments include Coinbase, Scopely, Warby Parker, Dia & Co, Blueland, Ethena, and Modern Meadow. Andy’s book with Penguin Random House on the intersection of entrepreneurship and mental illness is due out in May of 2022. His next company is currently in stealth mode. All we know is it is called Whipped Cream, so stay tuned... Andy has been recognized as Fortune’s 40 under 40, Crain’s 30 under 30, and chairman emeritus of education nonprofit the Blue Engine. He was a guest on NPR’s How I Built This with Guy Raz in 2019. He received his B.A. at Northwestern and MBA from Stanford. Andy and his wife Manuela Zoninsein live with their baby boy Isaiah in Chicago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris talk with the hilarious Terence Kawaja, Founder and CEO of the investment bank LUMA Partners. Terence brightened the video conference with his engaging storytelling and unique views on the intersection between digital media and marketing. A native of Quebec, Terence was an entrepreneur from an early age. From running a paper route at 9 years old to building a prominent investment bank, he has always been a driven and creative problem solver. Terence graduated from the University of Western Ontario, then went on to both law school and business school before starting his career on Wall Street at 26. After a decorated career as a Partner at Salomon Brothers and other Wall Street heavyweights, Terence decided to build his own company. He started LUMA Partners in 2010 and has helped it grow into an influential investment bank that advises top businesses and oversees M&As of dozens of companies every year. Terence’s superpower is his comedic skill and ability to tell stories that captivate audiences. He’s also a giver. As he told Bill and Chris, “95% of the things that don’t accrue to LUMA’s benefit, I believe in giving” without monetizing. That’s why LUMAScapes, which breaks down the supply chain of various parts of the digital media ecosystem with engaging graphics and data visualizations, is free at LUMA’s website along with other information resources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices