Across The Lines

Sriram Krishnan is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, investing in early-stage startups. He is also a social media product veteran who previously held leadership roles at Twitter, Snap, and Facebook. Along with his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy, he hosts the "Good Time Show" on Clubhouse which covers interesting people in the world of technology, sports, and entertainment. He also publishes "The Observer Effect".

In this episode we spoke with Sriram about the following:

• How he navigated being a rebel in a conformist culture
• What he learned working alongside Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey
• Why he believes creating content and building a personal brand online is an infinite game

If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Sandro Roco is the Founder & CEO of Sanzo, the 1st Asian Inspired sparkling water made with real fruit and no sugar. Prior to founding Sanzo, Sandro spent 5 years as head of growth and then chief-of-staff at Bombfell, a twice venture-backed personal styling service for men. He previously worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan and as a nuclear power engineer for Exelon.

Sandro is also a board member and founding member of Naturally New York, which brings people, products and passion together to strengthen and build the New York natural products community.

In this episode, we spoke with Sandro about:

• Why the biggest thing he learned in his twenties was how to reframe risk
• How he thinks about the idea of authenticity for Sanzo
• Why it’s detrimental for founders to be massive generalists when trying to build a successful startup

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Neha is the CEO and Founder of Contentstack, a platform adopted by brands including Best Buy, Chase, Miami HEAT, Shell, and Walmart to manage their content experience. Previously, Neha was the Founder and CEO of Built.io, which was acquired by Software AG in September 2018. Alongside her work with Contentstack, Neha is the Host of the Dreammakers, a podcast that hosts conversations between trailblazing female leaders.

In this episode, we spoke with Neha about:

• Why she thinks resilience is the most important trait for entrepreneurs
• How helping others helped her develop the confidence to overcome setbacks
• Changing her subconscious thinking to not allow herself to feel like an imposter

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh is the Executive Vice President of Global Success and Strategy at Salesforce, focused on creating sustainable customer success. Neeracha also serves as Executive Advisor for the Salesforce Women’s Network and is the executive sponsor for Asiapacforce, the employee group for members of Asia-Pacific origin and their allies.

Before joining Salesforce in 2009, Neeracha held various leadership roles at Oracle. She currently also serves as a board member for both the Girl Scouts of Northern California and for Safe & Sound, a San Francisco nonprofit focused on the eradication of child abuse.

In this episode we spoke with Neeracha about the following:

• How growing up as the oldest daughter of Thai immigrants impacted how she showed up in the workplace early in her career
• Why one of the best pieces of advice she received was to state her own needs and ask for what she wants
• How she code switches when she’s doing business in the US versus in Asia

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Jessica is the Founder and CEO of Soulcast Media, a business communications agency, where she provides high-touch strategies to elevate people's speaking and authority.

Prior to starting Soulcast Media, Jessica was a broadcast television journalist. She has been awarded an Emmy-Award for her work at ABC 10News and multiple Associated Press Awards. Jessica is also a top LinkedIn Learning Instructor where her communications courses have been watched by over 1 million learners.

In this episode we spoke with Jessica about the following:

• Defining humility for herself in order to become a more confident and effective communicator
• How being one of the only Asian American women discussing communications gave her the energy and courage to found Soulcast Media
• How the primary communication challenges she coaches her clients on varies based on cultural background

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Eric currently serves as the CFO for the LA Clippers, where he leads the organization’s financial operations, including establishing and implementing a long-range financial strategy, policies, and goals and leading financial project management for all Clipper's operations.

Before joining the Clippers, Eric served as CFO for The Bouqs Company and Loot Crate, where he received the Los Angeles Business Journal CFO Rising Star Award. Eric also previously served as the Senior Vice President of Finance at Mattel Inc., where he oversaw financial and operational matters across brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, and American Girl.

In this episode we spoke with Eric about the following:

• Why the notion of never showing others your weakness was one of the biggest things he had to unlearn
• How a references check from someone he had previously let go helped him land a job as the CFO of the Clippers
• Why he transitioned from diminishing his Asian identity to embracing and leaning into it in his professional life

If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Dave is currently the CEO of Liucrative Endeavors, a strategic consulting and investment firm to high-growth companies. He previously spent almost 25 years at Jefferies, where he progressed from Analyst to Managing Director, co-running all Digital Media and Internet investment banking activities.

Dave is also an artist and writer who publishes a career advice column called “Breaking Bamboo,” and a cartoon series called “The ABC Life.” Dave recently published a book, The Way of the Wall Street Warrior, a humorous and irreverent guide where he captures the lessons he’s learned about conquering the corporate game from his time on Wall Street.

In this episode we spoke with Dave about the following:

• Experiences early in his career that compelled him to unlearn some of the Confucian values he grew up with
• How behavioral economics, and prospect theory in particular, influenced how he approaches his career
• Why thinking about himself as a unique durable good helped him advance to Managing Director at Jefferies

If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Nick Mehta is the CEO of Gainsight, the leading Customer Success company. Prior to Gainsight, Nick was the CEO of LiveOffice, where he led the Inc. 5000 company’s profitable growth and successful sale to Symantec. He is also the co-author of Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue. Nick has been named one of the Top CEOs of 2018 by Comparably, was a finalist for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and holds one of the highest Glassdoor approval ratings for CEOs.

In this episode we spoke with Nick about the following:

• The story of why he goes by “Nick” instead of “Nikhil”
• Having his visible identity be represented in tech but not feeling like he completely belonged
• Why going through similar experiences is an antidote to loneliness

If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Seema Kumar is the CMO of New Relic, the leading observability platform that helps engineering teams improve the usability of their software. Prior to New Relic, Seema spent 18+ years leading product marketing, brand, events, and demand generation at companies like ServiceChannel and Salesforce.

In this episode we spoke with Seema about:

• Why she tried to fit into the model minority stereotype while growing up
  
• How she learned to embrace vulnerability as a leadership superpower by letting go of the focus on external perception she was raised with
  
• How she shifted from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset
  

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Episode resources:

Seema’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seemaxkumar/

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Eric is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Goodwater Capital. Goodwater is a venture fund founded in 2014 and manages over $1.1B across its funds. They were early inventors in companies like Musical.ly, Coupang, and Kakao; all massive exits for the firm. Before Goodwater, Eric was a Managing Director at Maverick Capital, and a Business Analyst at McKinsey.

In this episode we spoke with Eric about the following:

• Unlearning the association between achievement, acceptance, and self-worth
  
• Raising capital for his firm, Goodwater, one of the few venture capital firms founded and led by Asian Americans
  
• Why it’s more important now than ever for Asian Americans to serve their community rather than prove their worth through achievement
  

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Episode resources:

• Eric’s post supporting the AAPI community: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6778472588139204608/
  
• Eric’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erickim37/
  

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Dave Lu is the Founder and Managing Partner of Hyphen Capital, a syndicate that invests in pre-seed companies founded by Asian Americans. He is also a seasoned operator (ex Yahoo, eBay, Cisco) and a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Pared (staffing marketplace for the restaurant industry) and FanPop (bootstrapped entertainment website with 35M+ monthly visitors). Dave is a steadfast advocate of Asian American entrepreneurship and recently rallied the community around an initiative to publish an open letter in the WSJ in response to an uptick in violence against the AAPI community.

In this episode we spoke with Dave about the following:

• Conflating what he thought his parents wanted for his career with what he truly wanted, and how he broke out of that thinking to start his own company
• Why it’s crucial for Asian American leaders to advocate for themselves and “have more swag”
• Encouraging the next generation of AAPI entrepreneurs to overcome the bamboo ceiling by building their own houses

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Episode resources:

• Hyphen Capital: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hyphencap/
• Dave's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davelu/
• The $10M commitment to support AAPI organizations: https://www.kqed.org/news/11867492/thousands-of-business-leaders-commit-10m-to-aapi-organizations-fighting-racism

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Dini Mehta is the CRO of Lattice, an employee success platform that enables people leaders to build engaged high-performing teams, inspire winning cultures, and make strategic decisions. Dini previously led winning Sales teams at Quantcast and Drawbridge and is one of the few female Asian American revenue executives in tech.

In this episode we spoke with Dini about the following:

• Growing up as an ambitious South Asian woman within a conservative extended family
  
• Running your own race by serving your why versus seeking to impress others
  
• How psyche management has helped her succeed in her career in sales
  

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Episode resources:

Dini's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nandinimehta/

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Joseph (Joe) Nguyen is a State Senator for the Washington State Legislature as well as a Program Manager at Microsoft.  As the son of Vietnamese refugees, Joe grew up in an immigrant community and was raised by a single mother. Joe is also one of the few Asian Americans within the State Senate and is passionate about reducing barriers to civic engagement for younger generations.

In this episode we spoke with Joe about the following:

• How he responded to colleagues who mocked his last name in a speech on the Senate floor
• Why there’s no space for Asian Americans and other communities of color to settle for mediocrity in systems that have historically excluded them
• Breaking out a scarcity mindset and embracing an abundance mindset as a child of refugees

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Episode resources:

Joe's Twitter: https://twitter.com/meetjoenguyen?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Joe's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/meetjoenguyen/

Joe's announcement to run for King County exec: https://southseattleemerald.com/2021/04/27/state-senator-nguyen-announces-run-for-king-county-executive/

Joe's article on being the AOC of the Washington Senate: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/04/09/39853684/joe-nguyen-is-an-aoc-of-the-washington-senate

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Ajay Agarwal is a Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, where he focuses on seed and Series A software investing. Ajay’s portfolio includes investments in leading SaaS companies like Gainsight (acquired by Vista Equity), Clari, and SendGrid (IPO and then acquired by Twilio). Prior to BCV, Ajay led Product and Sales as an early employee at Trilogy, an enterprise software pioneer, where he grew annual revenue from $1M to $300M.

In this episode we spoke with Ajay about the following:

• How the entrepreneurial journey of creating something from nothing is analogous to the immigrant experience
• The parallels between his experience delivering newspapers while growing up in Pittsburgh and his early career in enterprise sales
• Startups as a vehicle for rekindling the American Dream through more equal opportunity

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Episode resources:

• Ajay's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajay_bcv
• Ajay's LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajay1agarwal/
• Bain Capital Ventures: https://www.baincapitalventures.com/

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.

Christine Tsai is the CEO and Founding Partner of 500 Startups. 500 Startups is a global venture capital firm with over $600M in capital under management and 2400+ portfolio companies across 77 countries around the world. Notable investments include Credit Karma, Talkdesk, Canva, Grab, Twilio, and many others. Before founding 500 Startups, Christine spent time as a Product Marketing Manager at Google and grew up in the Bay Area.

In this episode we spoke with Christine about the following:

• How she built up the muscle for taking risks in her career despite being raised to seek security
  
• Embracing her unique style as an introverted leader who’s also a ferocious “mama bear”
  
• Differences in cultural / business norms between the United States and many of the global markets 500 invests and operates in
  

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Episode resources:

• Christine's Twitter: https://twitter.com/christine_tsai
• Christine's LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinesltsai/
• 500 Startups: https://500.co/startups

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If you enjoyed today’s conversation about the intersection of work and Asian American identity, please subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review to spread the word. We’d really appreciate it!

Learn more about the show at acrossthelinespodcast.com and follow us @acrossthelinespodcast to get the latest updates.