Episode #261 features Ameet Bains, CEO of the Western Bulldogs, an AFL club with more than 65,000 members, $100 million in net assets, and a reach spanning elite sport, community programs and one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions.

Ameet reflects on growing up as the son of Indian migrants, embracing both Australian and Punjabi cultures, and the entrepreneurial sacrifice his parents made to fund his education and future.

Vidit and Ameet explore his journey from lawyer at MinterEllison and Toyota to AFL executive, the setbacks and missed opportunities that ultimately shaped his career, and the leadership lessons learned from managing player contracts, building high-performing teams and leading through intense public scrutiny.

They also discuss sustaining success in elite sport, balancing ambition with family, the future of AI in organisations, engaging Australia's rapidly growing Indian community, and why humility, service and long-term thinking matter more than headlines.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-261-ameet-bains-ceo-western-bulldogs]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter [https://twitter.com/vidags10]and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), 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), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), 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/High Commissioner to India), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear) and more.

#261 Ameet Bains: Tatts Lotto Win to Leading the Western Bulldogs as the AFL's First Indian Heritage CEO

Episode #260 features Maxine Minter — Founder and General Partner of the Pre-Seed Venture Capital Fund, Co Ventures.

Maxine reflects on growing up between Australia, Japan and Europe, speaking Japanese before English, and raised by a fiercely entrepreneurial single mother.

Vidit and Maxine explore her childhood, the influence of her grandparents, executive coaching, the idea of “generative ambition”, and the lessons learned from building companies, backing founders and how and why she started her own VC fund, Co Ventures.

They also discuss the specifics of how the best Aussie founders go global, the realities of venture capital, AI, partnership, importance of play, and why the biggest opportunities often come from stepping outside the boxes others expect you to fit into.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-260-maxine-minter-partner-co-ventures]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter [https://twitter.com/vidags10]and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), 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), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), 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/High Commissioner to India), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear) and more.

#260 Maxine Minter: Japanese Before English, Unpacking Generative Ambition and Building a VC Fund Nobody Expected

Episode #259 features Ryan Neelam, CEO of the Australian Government's Centre for Australia–India Relations (CAIR). A career diplomat, Ryan has represented Australia at the United Nations, negotiated global development goals, led through the Hong Kong protests and COVID-19, and spent his career helping Australia navigate an increasingly complex world.

Ryan shares his journey from migrating to Australia as a child from Malaysia, growing up with Indian and Malaysian Chinese heritage, and accidentally finding his way into diplomacy. He reflects on representing Australia at the UN, negotiating alongside countries with vastly different worldviews, leading through the Hong Kong protests and COVID-19, and why luck plays a bigger role in successful careers than most people admit. Vidit and Ryan explore diplomacy as the art of persuasion, how trust is built across cultures, and why understanding different perspectives has never been more important. They also discuss the rise of India, Australia's biggest opportunities with its fastest-growing diaspora, clean energy, innovation, and the future of one of the world's most consequential relationships. Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-259-ryan-neelam-ceo-australia-india-relations]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and mo

#259 Ryan Neelam: Diplomacy, Persuasion, the UN, Hong Kong and Shaping One of the World's Most Important Relationships

Episode #258 features Cristina Cordova — employee number 28 at Stripe, an early hire at Notion, former Partner at First Round Capital, and now COO of Linear.

This conversation is less about startup tactics and more about ambition, identity and operating inside some of Silicon Valley’s most respected companies before they became obvious to everyone else.

Cristina reflects on growing up in Los Angeles with a single mother, becoming fiercely independent from a young age, and navigating worlds that initially felt completely foreign to her own. She shares the emotional complexity of spending more than a decade inside elite tech environments, from joining Stripe in its earliest days to helping scale Notion during its breakout years.

Vidit and Cristina explore what separates companies that become deeply loved from those that simply grow fast, why some people thrive in ambiguity while others struggle as organisations scale, and how her “run through walls” mentality became both a superpower and a source of tension as companies matured from dozens to thousands of employees.

They also discuss partnerships and developer ecosystems at Stripe, community-led growth at Notion, building products with taste and quality, AI and modern software companies, founder psychology, career reinvention, and the challenge of building a meaningful life when work becomes such a large part of who you are.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-258-cristina-cordova-coo-linear-early-stripe-notion]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eig

#258 Cristina Cordova: Catching Taxis Alone to School, 28th Hire at Stripe and Early at Notion & Linear

Welcome to this classic episode. Classics are our favorite episodes from our back catalogue, published as frequently as possible. These are N of 1 conversations with N of 1 people. This is a replay of Episode 217, originally released in July 2025— one of our most loved classics.

Elena Verna is one of Silicon Valley’s most respected growth operators, whose career has spanned companies including Lovable, SurveyMonkey, Miro and Dropbox.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Elena reflects on growing up in post-Soviet Russia during the collapse of communism, immigrating to the United States at 14 without speaking English, learning the language through SpongeBob, and going from rejected university applicant to one of tech’s most influential voices in growth.

She shares the story of obsessively chasing a role at SurveyMonkey that changed her life, lessons from legendary CEO Dave Goldberg, why “not respecting roles and responsibilities” became both her superpower and weakness, and how navigating corporate politics shaped her leadership style.

The conversation also explores AI-native companies, the future of growth, why experienced operators may carry “historical baggage”, how Lovable operates with extreme velocity, and what separates companies that scale from those that stall. Elena also dives into hiring, creativity, accountability, solo entrepreneurship, and why she believes victim mentality is one of the most dangerous traits in modern work culture.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-257-elena-verna-head-of-growth-lovable]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Fo

#257 Elena Verna: Learning English Through SpongeBob and Leading Growth at Lovable in the AI Era

Episode #256 features Shernaz Daver, one of Silicon Valley’s most respected executive advisors and communications strategists, who has worked alongside leaders including Steve Jobs, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla and Waymo/Udacity founder Sebastian Thrun.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Shernaz reflects on a remarkable journey shaped across India, Japan and the United States — from growing up between cultures as part of the small Zoroastrian community to navigating the inner circles of Silicon Valley’s most influential founders and companies.

She shares stories from Motorola, Electronic Arts and Sun Microsystems, the rejection that changed her trajectory, the unforgettable moment Steve Jobs told her she had done a “terrible job” marketing a product, and the lessons she learned working alongside elite founders and operators.

The conversation also explores insecurity, ambition, storytelling, AI, burnout, hype versus reality in Silicon Valley, and what separates visionary leaders from merely successful ones.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-256-shernaz-daver-marketing-leader-silicon-valley]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#256 Shernaz Daver: Growing Up Indian-American, Standing Up to Steve Jobs & Advising Netflix, Waymo and Khosla Leaders

Episode #255 features Andrew Fraser, Chair of Bank of Queensland, Chancellor of Griffith University, President of Motorsport Australia, and former Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Andrew shares his journey — from entering politics young and rising rapidly to the top of Queensland Government, to the very bitter public loss that ended his political career, becoming a stay-at-home dad in the aftermath, and the reinvention that led him to some of Australia’s most significant boardrooms.

He breaks down what that period of collapse taught him about ego, judgment and sustainable leadership, how he now thinks through complex strategic decisions, why he uses sport constantly as a metaphor for teams and performance, the importance of “keeping up the chatter” as a leader, and the revealing question he asks every new hire to test for self-awareness and honesty.

Andrew also unpacks the realities of chairing major institutions, transitioning from operator to governance, and how Australia should think about leadership, sovereignty and long-term competitiveness.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-255-andrew-fraser-boq-griffith-motorsportaus]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#255 Deputy Premier at 30, Political Has-Been at 35, Now Chairing Australia’s Top Institutions | Andrew Fraser

Episode #254 features Jeanne DeWitt Grosser, COO at Vercel, and former Chief Business Officer at Stripe, and one of the most respected go-to-market leaders in tech.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Jeanne shares her journey — from growing up in California with a psychologist mother and tech sales father, to joining Google as an early employee in 2004, to navigating an unplanned career that led her to leadership roles at Stripe and now Vercel.

She breaks down how to manage your energy at work and at home, how she learned to influence effectively in engineering-led environments, why “perfect” careers rarely feel that way, and how those lessons shaped her approach to leadership, decision-making, and company building.

Jeanne also unpacks how to build credibility with engineers, design modern go-to-market systems, transition from founder-led sales, and rethink sales and marketing in an AI-native world.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [https://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-254-jeanne-dewitt-grosser-coo-vercel]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#254 Jeanne Grosser: How I became COO of Vercel and CBO of Stripe by influencing in engineering led companies

Episode #253 features Andrew Fraser, President at Halter, the fast-scaling agritech company using smart collars, virtual fencing and AI to transform livestock farming. Founded in 2016, Halter has raised over US$400 million, with their most recent Series E led by Founders Fund.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Andrew shares his journey — from growing up in Auckland with just his mum, to an unexpected detour as a uranium explorer in Ethiopia that nearly cost him his health and his savings, to becoming one of New Zealand's most respected go-to-market leaders.

He breaks down how Halter rebuilt its sales motion from the ground up, why he abolished the customer success function in favour of account managers with targets, the revenue operations secret behind his success across Vend, Lightspeed and Halter, and how a tight-territory outbound model beat inbound every time.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [http://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-253-andrew-fraser-president-halter]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#253 Andrew Fraser: Uranium mines, malaria, broke in Africa — now President of $2B Halter, backed by Founders Fund

Episode #252 features Ethan Choi, Partner at Khosla Ventures (KV), where he leads their Growth Fund.

In conversation with Vidit Agarwal, Ethan shares his own journey— from growing up in Australia with Korean heritage and often acting as the “mum and dad” in his family, to taking a non-traditional path into investing and earning a seat at one of the world’s most respected firms, Khosla Ventures.

He breaks down how KV actually makes decisions, how Vinod Khosla operates, his learnings from each of the KV partners, why conviction beats consensus, and what it takes to build a growth investing strategy inside a firm known for backing ideas early — including the early bet on OpenAI, and why it didn’t look obvious at the time.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

________

Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Vanta, Allens, Macquarie Capital, City of Sydney and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here [http://curiositycentre.com/the-high-flyers-podcast/ep-252-ethan-choi-partner-khosla-ventures]

Follow us on LinkedIn, [https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehighflyers]Twitter, [https://twitter.com/vidags10]Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast], or YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@thehighflyerspodcast]

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here [https://www.viditagarwal.org/]

Contact us via our website [https://www.curiositycentre.com/#wf-form-Contact-Form]

________

The High Flyers Podcast [https://www.thehighflyerspodcast.com/]features in-depth interviews with the world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance, government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.

Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia), Anil Sabharwal (Global VP, Product at Google), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Stevie Case (Chief Revenue Officer, Vanta), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths),  David Haber (GP, a16z), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Lemieux (CTO, Shopify + Atlassian), Sweta Mehra (EGM, NAB; ex CMO, ANZ), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Sam Sicilia (Chief Investment Officer, Hostplus), Craig Tiley (CEO, US Tennis), John Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Niki Scevak (Co-Founder, Blackbird Ventures), Mike Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Trent Cotchin (3x Premiership Winning Captain, Richmond FC), Peter Varghese (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Matteo Franceschetti (CEO, Eight Sleep), Vivek Bhatia (CEO, MUFG), Sanjeev Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and more. 

#252 Ethan Choi: Meet Vinod Khosla's pick to run the Khosla Ventures Growth Fund | First in-depth interview

Thanks to you, we rank in the top 10% most shared podcasts globally, with listeners in 27 countries. With host Vidit Agarwal, re-imagine the traditional high flyer and celebrate relatable role models, and their journeys from their sunrise to today, across 40+ walks of life around the world! Contact us anytime via: Website: www.curiositycenter.xyz/podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/vidags10 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viditag/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/thehighflyerspodcast/

Vidit Agarwal

Shows