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Seed to Harvest
🎙️ Seed to Harvest | Stories from Technical Storytellers
Welcome to Seed to Harvest, the podcast by Behind Genius Ventures.
We talk to early-stage founders, operators, and investors—people building with code and conviction. Each episode is a chapter in their story: from the messy beginnings to the quiet pivots, from planting ideas to growing companies that matter.
Expect:
🌱 Honest conversations on the earliest chapters of company-building
🧠Tactical insights from technical minds with narrative soul
✨ Reflections on resilience, rituals, and reinventing what’s possible
This podcast is for the builders who think in frameworks and metaphors. The ones who whiteboard in wild places. The ones writing their own mythologies—one commit, pitch, or poem at a time.
From spark to story.
From seed to harvest. 🌾
Episodes
98 episodes
What 640 Oxford Founding Partner Adam Gartenberg Learned on 400 Factory Tours| Ep. 97
In this episode, host Paige Doherty sits down with Adam Gartenberg, co-founder at 640 Oxford and former Head of Product & Ops at Uber Rider Innovation. They discuss Adam's 400 factory tours to build unique investment insights, h...
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Alex Bean on Selling Divvy for $2.5B, Early Hustles, & Building Factory for Good | Ep 96
Alex Bean, co-founder of Divvy (acquired by BILL.com for $2.5B), joins us to share his founder journey - from teaching ski lessons at 16 to starting multiple scrappy businesses, to scaling Divvy into a fintech giant. In this episode...
James Evans’ Lessons Learned Building a >$50M YC-Backed Business & Selling it to a Public Company | Ep 95
In this episode, James Evans, co-founder of Command AI (acq by Amplitude), shares his entrepreneurial journey- from childhood ambitions to launching a startup in college and scaling it through YC. He talks about turning a side project into a ve...
Lessons I Learned Writing and Self-Publishing a Children's Book About VC | Ep 94
Hi everyone! In this episode, I’m doing something a little different — walking you through the three phases of self-publishing my first book, Seed to Harvest, a children’s book about venture capital. I’ll share the full behind-t...
Tom McLeod on Startups, Tech, and Creative Financing | Ep 93
Tom McLeod isn’t your typical founder or investor.He bootstrapped a SaaS to 100k users, built a League of Legends app used by millions, sold it to Tencent, and now backs businesses at the intersection of identity, community, and cashflow. T...
NJOY's Journey: From $1B Val to Bankruptcy to $2.75 Billion Dollar Exit | What It Takes Ep 1
In this special series of 'What It Takes,' Paige and analyst Chinwuba interview founders who have sold their companies for more than $1B. Our first episode features Mark Weiss and Jeff Weiss, the founders of NJOY, a billion-dollar e-cigarette c...
The Business of Broadway: Behind the Scenes with Tony Award Winner Sue Gilad | Ep 92
In this episode of 'Seed to Harvest,' hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, delve into the intricate world of Broadway with five-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, Sue Gilad. Sue shares her journey from a childhood love of theater to becoming a...
Tackling Mold Toxicity with MoldCo CEO Ariana Thacker | Ep 91
From Mold Toxicity to Million Dollar Startup: Ariana Thacker's Inspiring Journey with MoldCoIn this episode of 'Seed to Harvest,' host Paige Finn Doherty welcomes back Ariana Thacker of MoldCo. They discuss Ariana's journey from discover...
the technical storyteller: a founder archetype | Ep 90
The Technical Storyteller: A Founder ArchetypeIn our April 2024 Fund II launch, featured in Fortune magazine, we made ...
NYC’s Early Stage Venture Evolution with Lerer Hippeau Managing Partner Ben Lerer | Ep 89
Today, I am joined by Ben Lerer, the Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, an early stage venture firm based in New York that invests in iconic companies that rattle the status quo. Ben shares insights into his journey from founding digital media ...
stitching a sustainable future: Missy Oei on fast fashion and venture capital | Ep 88
In today's episode, Missy Oei, winner of the BGV winter break college essay contest and senior at the University of Dayton studying entrepreneurship & marketing, shares her journey from realizing the significant impact of fast fashion on he...
unlocking the revolutionary potential of multimodal AI | Ep 87
In today's episode, we discuss the transformative world of Multimodal AI, an advanced form of artificial intelligence that integrates and processes multiple data types—text, images, audio, and video—to emulate human-like perception. Unlike text...
reviewing the Behind Genius Ventures winter break college essay contest! | Ep 86
In today's podcast, I'm thrilled to share insights from the Behind Genius Ventures winter break college essay contest, which I launched in December. We received 20 diverse essays from schools like Cornell, Georgia Tech, UNC, SDSU and more. The ...
Exited Founder to Building a Startup Insulator: Brickyard Co-founder Cam Doody | Ep 85
Today, I am joined by Cam Doody, the Co-founder & General Partner at Brickyard, a first-round venture capital firm and residency. In this episode, we explore Cam's transition to the venture side, raising ~ 115 million dollars, his principle...
how to teach a founder to coach themselves with executive coach Jasper Stephens | Ep 84
Today, I am joined by Jasper Stephens, a leadership coach specializing in working with CEOs and executive teams of Seed Series A and Series B companies. In this episode, the focus is on the role of executive and leadership coaches in the growth...
launching the Behind Genius Ventures winter break college essay contest! | Ep 83
In today's podcast, I am thrilled to announce the Behind Genius Ventures winter break college essay contest for college students. Drawing from my own experience of funding education through essay scholarships, I recognize the need for a platfor...
how community led growth resulted in millions in revenue & a wsj bestseller for lloyed lobo | Ep 82
Today, I am joined by Lloyed Lobo, Co-Founder of Boast.AI & Traction, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of "From Grassroots to Greatness." In this episode, Lloyed shares the 4 things he did to make his book a Wall Street Journal ...
Closing a $31 Million Dollar Fund with Rishi Taparia of Garuda Ventures! | Ep 81
Today, I am joined by Rishi Taparia, Managing Partner of Garuda Ventures, who enthusiastically discusses the accomplishment of securing a $31 million fund. Rishi sheds light on the challenges of fundraising, providing insights into Garuda's jou...
using my playlisting methods to build an investment portfolio | Ep 80
In today’s podcast, I talk about the “Spotify Playlist” method, discussing how the approach of naming playlists and creating the right mix extends beyond music curation to impact various aspects of business and content creation. I also explore ...
blending artistry into investment strategy with The Magic Grid | Ep 79
In today’s podcast, I talk about returning from an amazing two-week trip to Guatemala with my mom, thanks to Local Hope and Art Ambassadors for a Colorful World. During the trip, I had the incredible opportunity to contribute to art classes, wi...
answering founder fundraising FAQs | Ep 78
In today’s podcast, we're diving deep into the world of venture capital and pitch deck mastery. Over the last three years, I've assessed thousands of pitch decks and made 39 investments at the pre-seed and seed stage. Today’s episode features a...
Investing in Generative AI with BGV Portfolio Founder Deepak Sekar | Ep 77
Today, I'm joined by Deepak Sekar, Co-Founder and CEO of Prof Jim, bringing content to life with Generative AI. Prof Jim transforms books, websites, and other text into interactive videos — at scale. Deepak has been granted 200+ patents, making...
One Ring to Rule them All: Why We Invested in Lotus with CEO Dhaval Patel | Ep 76
Today, I'm joined by Dhaval Patel, Founder and CEO of Lotus, a Techstars portfolio company, that makes a wearable ring to control objects at home by pointing. Unlike traditional smart home tech - no rewiring, no app, no internet. Lotus' mission...
our approach to investing in early stage AI companies | ep75
In today’s podcast, I talk about AI’s power to automate, optimize, and revolutionize, making AI a goldmine for opportunities. However, because of the rapidly accelerating pace of AI innovation, what seems like a cutting-edge investment today co...
Investing in Micro-Influencer Marketing with BGV Portfolio Founder Kristen Wiley | Ep 74
Today, I'm joined by Kristen Wiley, Founder of Statusphere, a influencer marketing platform that helps brands earn authentic micro-influencer posts at scale in a fraction of the time. With Statusphere, brands save 98% of the time they’d typical...