OFF RCRD with Cory Levy

This week, Cory speaks to venture capitalist Niko Bonatsos, who is well known for being a managing director at General Catalyst, a multi-billion dollar venture capital firm where he was instrumental in the investment in Snapchat. In this weeks episode, Niko tells us about how he went from being an entrepreneur to a VC, the behind the scenes details on meeting Snapchat and what happened in the initials meetings that’d lead to being one of the most lucrative investments in the firm. He also gives us what metrics he looks for when evaluating a startup and he tells us which side of the Bitcoin debate he’s on. “IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO…FIND PEOPLE THAT CAN INSPIRE YOU.” When Niko Bonatsos (@Bonatsos), Managing Director of General Catalyst, started in technology, he didn’t consider becoming an investor because he was too focused on trying to build his social networking company. “I wasn’t looking to become a venture capitalist. I ended up becoming one because my startup failed,” says Niko, who talks wit

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneur and investor Justin Kan, who is well known for being the founder of Justin.TV turned Twitch.TV, a live streaming powerhouse that was bought by Amazon for close to a billion dollars. He is also a partner for Y-Combinator and recently has started video Q&A platform Whale and is the CEO of legal startup Atrium. In this weeks episode, Justin tells us how he got into technology, the story of selling his first startup on eBay, the inception of his billion-dollar startup Twitch, some of the crazy moments building the company, what he’s learned and observed over the years as a founder and his strategies for recruiting top talent. “THE BEST FOUNDERS AND THE BEST STARTUPS REALLY BASE WHAT THEY’RE DOING ON CONSTANTLY GETTING FEEDBACK FROM THE MARKET, FROM CUSTOMERS, AND ADJUSTING THEIR PLANS ACCORDINGLY.” Justin Kan (@JustinKan) is an entrepreneur with an impressive track record. He’s the co-founder of Justin.tv and Twitch.tv, and is now the founder and CEO of legal tech startu

This week, Cory speaks to product veteran and venture capitalist Josh Elman, who is best known for his integral roles in designing, building and scaling consumer products at Robinbood, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Zazzle. Josh is also a Venture Partner at Greylock. In this weeks episode, Josh talks about the early days of the dot com era, his roles at LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, what it was like working with what are now the icons of the industry and what are the questions and qualities he looks in a founder before writing a check. “THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO AS AN ENTREPRENEUR IS TO GET ONE MORE PERSON EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, EVERY MINUTE, TO ADOPT YOUR PRODUCT, TO ADOPT YOUR NEW WAY OF THINKING, TO ADOPT THE SYSTEM OR THE PRODUCT THAT YOU’RE ACTUALLY BUILDING AND ENGAGING PEOPLE WITH.” Venture capitalist and Greylock Partners investor Josh Elman (@joshelman) has built a successful career on finding new trends worth investing in, and using his skills and interests to move those trends forward. Befo

This week, Cory speaks to venture capitalist, angel investor, and entrepreneur Albert Wegner, who is best known for being a partner at venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. Before joining the firm, Albert founded several companies and was the president of del.icio.us through the company’s sale to Yahoo. He was also an angel investor in successful startups such as Etsy and Tumblr. In this weeks episode, Albert gives us his take on blockchain and bitcoin, tells us what skill every young person should do more of, his secret on making hard decisions, how you can figure out your career path and towards the end gives a very interesting insight into the AI debate. “I THINK ANYTHING THAT YOU LOVE TO DO; YOU SHOULD ALWAYS JUST CONTINUE TO DO IT BECAUSE (IT WILL) FULFILL YOURSELF, (AND) YOUR PROFICIENCY IN THAT ACTIVITY WILL GROW.” What do you want to do with your life? If you don’t know, start by working on things you’re interested in, but you first have to know what you’re interested in. According to Albert Wen

This week, Cory speaks to musician, businessman and philanthropist Aloe Blacc, who is best known for his hit singles, “I Need A Dollar”, “The Man” and writing and performing vocals on Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”. In this weeks episode, Aloe takes us back to his teenage years, telling us the defining moment when he went from corporate America to landing a record deal and then he offers advice for how young people should feasibly follow their passions. Later in the episode, he very interestingly touches on the current intersection of technology clashing with music and what he thinks the future of streaming will be like. “I THINK ANYTHING THAT YOU LOVE TO DO; YOU SHOULD ALWAYS JUST CONTINUE TO DO IT BECAUSE (IT WILL) FULFILL YOURSELF, (AND) YOUR PROFICIENCY IN THAT ACTIVITY WILL GROW.” Aloe Blacc (@aloeblacc) always loved music; he just didn’t think he had a future in it while in high school or even college. After being laid off from a corporate job, Aloe began to dedicate himself to his music and shifted from a rappe

RIP Jordan Feldstein. Thoughts & prayers go out to his family. He was an inspiring leader in the music industry who will be very missed  It’s with a heavy heart but much gratitude that I was able to interview Jordan a few weeks before he passed.  ---- This week, Cory speaks to prolific music manager Jordan Feldstein, who is best known for being the founder and CEO of Beverly Hills-based Career Artist Management overseeing 16 clients — among them: Maroon 5, who has sold 12.4 million albums and 48 million digital songs in the United States alone. In this weeks episode, Jordan talks about what inspired him to go into the music business, what his high school and college experience was like, his favorite part of being a manager, what artists should do now to build a fan base and the hardships that came along with managing what would become one of the biggest bands in the world. “IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A STATEMENT THAT’S ARTISTIC, MAKE THAT STATEMENT FEARLESSLY.” Music manager and producer Jordan Feldste

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant, who is best known for having founded Angel List, a platform where you can find a great startup job, invest in a startup, or raise money. He’s also an active angel investor and has invested in more than 100 companies, which includes Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Postmates and more. In this weeks episode, Naval talks about the perfect way to find what you’re good at, how to get started in learning about cryptocurrencies, what’s most exciting about the effects of blockchain, the startup ecosystem for both vc’s and founders and also what he’d change about the current education system. “FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU’RE THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT, AND THEN GO SEE IF THE WORLD NEEDS THAT THING.” In addition to being one of the most well-known and respected investors in Silicon Valley, Naval is the CEO and Founder of AngelList, “where the world meets startups,” and a mentor to many founders and young entrepreneurs. Cory Levy talked with Naval Ravikant on OFF RCRD about

This week, Cory speaks to singer-songwriter and record producer Mike Posner, who is best known for having multiple Billboard Top 100 hits while also writing chart-topping songs for other artists such as Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Pharrell Williams and more. In this weeks episode, Mike tells us details on how he got started and what he did early on to become a success, what new artists should focus on when creating a project, how music distribution has changed and how up and coming artists should decide to release their music. “DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING TO BE POPULAR. SPEND YOUR TIME TRYING TO BE GOOD OR GET BETTER.” Singer-songwriter Mike Posner (@MikePosner) knows that nothing worth doing is easy–you have to keep working at it. But when he signed his first record deal, he thought things would change. “I really thought that when I got that record deal, that my experience of life would change, that I would be happier and I’d be in the ‘promise land’, that just my experience of life would be exponentially bett

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneur, founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg, who is best known for have founded Automattic, which is behind brands WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, Simplenote and more; reaching more than a billion people a month. In this weeks episode, Matt talks about how he got into technology, what his high school and college days were like, being young and in a position within a big company to leaving and risking it all to become a founder, what’s his trick to meet great people to work with or invest in and the great story of how he misplaced a half million check! -- At the age of 20, Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt), launched Automattic–the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and others. Now 33-years-old, Matt is still working at the company he built, helping it change the landscape of websites and blogs throughout the world and give nearly anyone the ability to create and manage their web presence. In the interview with Cory Levy on OFF RCRD, Matt discusses founding the company

This week, Cory talks to music management veteran Paul Rosenberg, who famously became Eminem’s manager and recently the CEO of record label giant Def Jam. Paul describes his humble beginnings as a pre-med student and how he experienced a 180 turn into a profession that’d change his life forever. He talks about the risks of starting his own management company, insights into what he did differently to stand out from the crowd and a behind the scenes of what led his company to skyrocket to success. -- No successful person makes it to the top without surrounding themselves with talented and trustworthy people. Music manager Paul Rosenberg (@rosenberg), who is also the CEO of Def Jam Records, is best known for the large role he’s played in one of the careers and lives of one of the most successful artists of all time–Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem. As explained in his interview with Cory Levy on OFF RCRD, Paul first started working with Marshall as his lawyer. After building up trust with Marshall and lear

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneur, founder and CEO Sean Rad, who is best known for creating the revolutionary dating app Tinder, which has made more than 20 billion connections, garnered more than 50 million active users across 195 countries and was recently valued as a public company worth a staggering $6 billion dollars. In this weeks episode, Sean talks about how he got into technology, advice to non-technical people getting started at building technology companies, he takes us back to the very moment the idea of Tinder was born, what he did to get it on the map, early day controversies, the moment he knew it would be transformative to society, and the evolution of its users. --- Entrepreneur Sean Rad (@seanrad) is Founder and Chairman of Tinder, the world’s most popular app for meeting people. While Tinder is one of the most successful apps of all time, Sean cautions young entrepreneurs who come up with app “ideas.” “A mobile app is just the delivery mechanism, that’s not an idea,” says Sean. His ide

This week, Cory speaks to business woman and social leader Aria Finger, who is best known for her role as the CEO of DoSomething.org, which is one of the world largest organizations for young people and social change, boasting over 5 million members in over 131 countries. In this weeks episode, Aria talks about her 12-year journey from joining as an associate to becoming the CEO, she also shares her method of overcoming hard decisions, the importance of transparency and her thoughts on the future of non-profit organizations. -- Aria Finger (@AriaIrene) joined non-profit DoSomething.org in 2005 as an associate with a dream of changing the world, a tongue ring, and a resume that she posted on idealist.org. Ten years later she became the organization’s CEO and has led DoSomething to engage millions of young people in making positive changes in the world. DoSomething.org uses tech and a growing team of passionate employees to reach and activate youth in activities from clothing the homeless to sending happy Rama

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneur, actor, investor and social media creative and mogul Jake Paul, who’s well-known for founding modern-day media conglomerate TeamDom, the talent incubator Team 10, starring in Disney’s Bizaardvark, partner and co-founder of venture capital firm TGZ capital and is currently one of the biggest YouTube stars, boasting over 11.2 million subscribers and over 2.6 billion views, at only 20 years of age. In this weeks episode, Jake talks about how he first started in social media, what made him stand out, the various controversies throughout his career and what you can do to get your content seen. -- Jake Paul (@JakePaul) is a 20-year-old with a massive following and influence. The actor and YouTuber has over 11.4M subscribers on YouTube and his videos have been viewed more than 2.6B times. Jake, an Ohio native, is also the founder of Team 10 and starred on Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. Jake’s biggest competition is his own brother Logan Paul, who has over 12.6M YouTube subscribe

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneur and investor Kevin Hartz, who’s well-known for co-founding the leading global self-ticketing platform Eventbrite. In this weeks episode, Kevin talks about how he got started as a 26-year-old founder, gives advice on how to connect with brilliant people, the moment he knew he was onto something big, the best way to attract and retain talent and much more. -- Eventbrite Co-Founder and investor Kevin Hartz has always placed a significant amount of importance on learning. While earning a Master’s Degree in British History from Oxford University seems like an odd path for a tech entrepreneur, Hartz says that it “was an opportunity to learn how to learn.” Kevin has used that ability to grow a company that in 2013 surpassed $2B in sales. In the early days of Eventbrite, Hartz and the Eventbrite team shared offices with other entrepreneurs and startups including Clickster (acquired by Warner Brothers), Tripet (acquired by Concord), and Zynga. “Mark (Pincus) had his first office

This week, Cory speaks to entrepreneurial executive and investor Keith Rabois, who is best known for his early-stage startup investments in YouTube, Airbnb, Palantir and also his operative roles in building PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide and Square. He is also currently a partner at Khosla Ventures and the co-founder and executive chairman at Open Door. In this weeks episode, Keith talks about how he transitioned from law to tech, what convinced him to leave the safe path into the uncertain times of the dot-com era, the early PayPal days, the hardest role to fill in a company today and how to discover a hidden talent. ---- Keith Rabois (@Rabois) is a highly respected tech entrepreneur, investor, and business leader. He’s most widely known for his involvement in PayPal, LinkedIn, Square, Yelp, and YouTube. Keith is now a partner and investor at Khosla Ventures. Keith got his start in tech in February 2000 after friends convinced him that he needed a career change. He dropped off of his career path at the time, which

This week, Cory speaks to venture capitalist, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Ashton Kutcher, who has famously transitioned from a successful A-list actor to starting venture capital firms A-grade Investments and Sound Ventures with a portfolio including Spotify, Uber, Airbnb and many more. Alongside he has founded non profit foundation Thorn, which drives technology innovation to fight the sexual exploitation of children. In this weeks episode, Ashton talks about how he transitioned from acting to tech, what he learned from working with some of the worlds best entrepreneurs and investors, his insights into the future of jobs and a reflection on his teenage years and more. -- Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) got his start in the entertainment industry as a model and then as Michael Kelso in That ‘70s Show. Aston is now widely recognized as a successful actor, tech investor, producer, entrepreneur, and activist. Ashton is the Founder of nonprofit Thorn and co-founder of venture capi