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25 episodes

The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal

by Vidit Agarwal · English

Founded 6.5+ years ago by Vidit Agarwal, The High Flyers Podcast is a global top ranked show exploring the personal and professional journeys behind the most relatable role models shaping our world. Enjoy 275+ in-depth (and often rare) conversations with the world’s most influential and relatable role models in business, tech, finance, government and sport -- going beyond the headlines to explore their life and work including their formative years, inflection points, industry insights, and how they think, lead and build. Episodes are listened to by CEOs, C-Suite Executives, Investors, Founders, and Government Leaders across Australia, USA, India, UK, Singapore, Canada and New Zealand. Alongside the podcast, we host an annual High Flyers Growth Summit in Sydney and San Francisco. This podcast is one of five products under our parent company, Curiosity Centre. We're proud that more than 60% of our 275+ guests have trusted us for their first-ever public interview — or to go in-depth on their personal story for the first time. These include: Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (CEO, BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Keith Rabois (MD, Khosla Ventures), Alan Joyce (CEO, Qantas), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Cotaue), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Ryan Beiermeister (Partner, Founders Fund), Jesse Zhag (CEO, Decagon), Samir Kaul (Founding Partner, Khosla Ventures), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), Mel Silva (MD, Google), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures), Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis), Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle (CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica), Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador to India), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear) and more. Engage with us via: Email: [email protected] Website: https://highflyerspodcast.com X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/vidags10 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast/ Follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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#291 Samir Kaul: Vinod Khosla's Longtime Partner on Why VCs Chase Hype, Losing Millions and Finding His Identity

Samir Kaul, longtime partner at Coastal Ventures, discusses how VCs chase hype, the cost of doing so, and how his scientific background and mentors shaped his investing and identity.

10 Nov 2026 · 1h 18m · 24 chapters

#290 Grace Brown: The 26-Year-Old Challenging Silicon Valley's Robotics Giants With a Radically Different Vision for AI

Grace Brown, founder/CEO of Andromeda Robotics, explains how her company builds “Abby,” a humanoid robot for aged care, arguing that the next competitive advantage in robotics/AI is “social…

5 Nov 2026 · 1h 18m · 36 chapters

#289 Alan Joyce Unfiltered: Former Qantas CEO on What He Got Wrong, Blind Spots and His Untold Personal Story

Alan Joyce, former CEO of Qantas (and earlier CEO of Jetstar), discusses his leadership philosophy, personal background, and decision-making under pressure, plus aviation crisis examples and his…

2 Nov 2026 · 1h 35m · 39 chapters

#288 Justin Lopas: Midwest Roots, Building SpaceX’s Starbase, Anduril Lessons, Co-Founding Base Power with Zach Dell

Justin Lopas (co-founder/COO of Base Power) discusses his Midwest upbringing, early career at SpaceX, lessons from Anduril, and how those experiences shaped Base Power’s culture, hiring, and…

28 Oct 2026 · 1h 15m · 31 chapters

#287 Unpacking the DNA of "Rainmakers" with Global Business Leaders Neil Plumridge & Robert Nason (EY, Kearney, PwC)

The hosts unpack the “DNA of Rainmakers” in consulting—how exceptional deal origination, trust, and routines drive winning in an AI-accelerated world.

26 Oct 2026 · 1h 8m · 29 chapters

#286 Malcolm Turnbull: Australia's 29th Prime Minister on Confronting Bullies, Defeating British Govt & Being Raised by His Dad

Malcolm Turnbull (Australia’s 29th PM) discusses growing up in Sydney, being bullied at boarding school, learning to stand up to bullies, and how those experiences shaped his leadership.

20 Oct 2026 · 55m · 23 chapters

#285 Aleks Spaseska: Kmart's CEO on Her Macedonian Upbringing, Taking Uncomfortable Career Risks and Why Retail Is Rewarding

Aleks Spaseska, Kmart Group managing director (overseeing Kmart and Target in Australia/NZ and building global Anko operations), discusses her Macedonian upbringing, moving to Australia as a shy…

13 Oct 2026 · 1h 1m · 28 chapters

#284 Venky Ganesan: Menlo Ventures Partner on early Anthropic investment, moving from India to rural America at 16 and more

Venky Ganesan’s life and VC philosophy—moving from India to rural Washington at 16, founding a tech company during the late-90s internet boom, then becoming a Menlo Ventures partner and investing in…

29 Sep 2026 · 1h 11m · 25 chapters

#283 David Schneider: Co-Leading Coatue’s Growth Fund, Scaling ServiceNow from $100M to $5B, Why Frank Slootman changed his life

David Schneider’s career and operating playbook—how he scaled Data Domain and ServiceNow, what he learned from early failures, and how he thinks about enterprise go-to-market and venture investing…

25 Sep 2026 · 1h 16m · 34 chapters

#282 Paul Grosmann: R.M.Williams CEO on learning Mandarin, cold emails, rising through Nike and how to listen well

Paul Grosmann (CEO of RM Williams) discusses how he built his career through cold emails, international moves, learning Mandarin, and developing “listening” skills; he contrasts private vs…

22 Sep 2026 · 1h 7m · 20 chapters

#281 Mike Vernal: Early Facebook with Zuck to Sequoia Investor to Conviction | Why This Tech Wave Is Different

Mike Vernal’s journey from early internet/networking curiosity to founding-era Facebook and later Sequoia investing, arguing that the “tech wave” (today’s AI era) differs mainly because startups can…

18 Sep 2026 · 1h 13m · 25 chapters

#280 Amit Singh: Fijian-Indian Roots, Inside Two Prime Ministers’ Offices & Why He Built His Own Research Firm

Amit Singh’s journey from Suva, Fiji (Fijian-Indian roots) to Australia and then into Australian politics, tech (Uber), and founding Mandala, an economics research firm advising on public policy and…

16 Sep 2026 · 49m · 28 chapters

#279 Ryan Beiermeister: Founders Fund's Partner on Building for Billions, Human Judgement & How Debate Changed Her Life

Ryan Beiermeister (Founders Fund partner) discusses her path from Houston debate champion to tech operator (Palantir, Meta, OpenAI) to VC; how “excellence is a habit” shaped her; and why she believes…

14 Sep 2026 · 1h 9m · 32 chapters

#278 Ellen DaSilva: Scaling Twitter, Hims Employee #8, Sequoia Scout & building Summer Health on “Maximum Mode”

Ellen DaSilva discusses her career arc from Barclays to Twitter, then early employee at Hims (employee #8), building Summer Health, and selling it to Doctronic.

11 Sep 2026 · 1h 13m · 35 chapters

#277 Shiv Rao: Abridge’s CEO on Skateboarding, “Languishing” Founder Pressure & Reinventing How Doctors Work

Shiv Rao, co-founder/CEO of Abridge, discusses building an AI healthcare company that helps doctors by turning clinical conversations into computable data, the “languishing” early product-market-fit…

10 Sep 2026 · 1h 8m · 36 chapters

#276 John Willett: Rogo’s COO on Princeton, Being Ignored for Years to Winning the World’s Biggest Banks

John Willett (Rogo COO/co-founder) discusses his path from Princeton to building Rogo, an AI partner for large banks, including why early sales were slow, how ChatGPT changed enterprise urgency, and…

7 Sep 2026 · 55m · 24 chapters

#275 Mukund Narayanamurti: From $8.5B Deals to Diplomacy, Brutal Feedback & What He Learned Across Asia

Mukund Narayanamurti’s journey from Bangalore to Australia and then into international tax, Asia-focused M&A, and finally diplomacy with Austrade in New Delhi; he also discusses what makes India…

2 Sep 2026 · 1h 10m · 34 chapters

#274 Keith Rabois: One of Silicon Valley’s Most Influential Investors and Operators in His Most Personal Conversation Yet

Keith Rabois’ personal career arc from law clerk to Silicon Valley investor/operator, plus his approach to judgment, hiring, time management, and learning; includes reflections on upbringing,…

31 Aug 2026 · 1h 6m · 29 chapters

#273 Kevin Hartz: Studying with Peter Thiel, Founding Eventbrite, Spotting the PayPal Mafia Early & Building A*

Kevin Hartz, venture capitalist and former CEO/founder, discusses his path from Berkeley/Orinda to Stanford and Oxford, early tech and PayPal connections, building Zoom and Eventbrite, and how he now…

26 Aug 2026 · 59m · 34 chapters

#272 Dylan Babbs: Profound’s CTO on the New Rules of AI Marketing, Maps Obsession & “Swimming Downstream”

Episode #272 features Dylan Babbs, co-founder and CTO of Profound, discussing his path from maps and design to building an AI marketing company, plus how aviation and “extreme ownership” shape his…

24 Aug 2026 · 1h 16m · 37 chapters

#271 Damien Lewke: Pro Football to CrowdStrike, Why the Best Cybersecurity Still Fails + Building Nebulock Alone

Episode #271 is a career-and-company conversation with Damien Lewke, founder/CEO of Nebulok, about how cybersecurity fails, why “seams” between tools matter, and how agentic threat hunting can be…

19 Aug 2026 · 1h 21m · 36 chapters

#270 Luke Anear: Burnout to CEO Again, Reinventing SafetyCulture as Mitti, and Why He's Flying Helicopters

Luke Anear (CEO of SafetyCulture, now MITI) discusses burnout and returning to the CEO role, rebranding from SafetyCulture to MITI, and how AI is reshaping product building, vertical expansion, and…

17 Aug 2026 · 1h 22m · 35 chapters

#269 Flavia Tata Nardini: The Italian-Australian Leading an $800M Space Company Finding Critical Minerals Beneath Earth

Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO/co-founder of Fleet Space Technologies, explains how an Italian-born space engineer built an Australian “space + mining” company that uses satellites and AI to map the…

11 Aug 2026 · 1h 18m · 36 chapters

#268 Mel Silva: Google's MD on Losing Her Dream Job, Trusting Her Instinct and Making Yourself Replaceable

Mel Silva (Google Australia & New Zealand VP/Managing Director) discusses her career path from a small-business upbringing in Sydney to senior leadership at Google, emphasizing “saying yes,” building…

4 Aug 2026 · 1h 31m · 33 chapters