The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal Archiv

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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What separates the world's most successful business people from everyone else? Intelligence, charisma, connections, or something less obvious?

Neil Plumridge and Robert Nason are co-founders of RAYN Group and authors of Rainmaker (available here), bringing decades of global leadership experience across Kearney, EY, PwC, KPMG and Telstra. Robert shares his unlikely journey from leaving school at 15 to helping transform Telstra, while Neil reflects on the pivotal moments that shaped his international career.

In this conversation with Vidit, they unpack why exceptional performers are made, not born, how major business deals are won long before the pitch, and the five levels of trust that separate good performers from extraordinary ones. From a hair-raising motorbike ride through Mumbai to turning one idea into 14 global consulting engagements, they reveal the hidden habits behind lasting success and why AI could make human relationships more valuable than ever.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

Purchase Robert and Neil's book, Rainmaker: How the Best Consultants Think, Act, and Win in an AI-Accelerated World: https://www.amazon.com.au/Rainmaker-Consultants-Think-AI-Accelerated-World/dp/1394440677

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

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet the Rainmakers: Neil Plumridge & Robert Nason

01:40 First jobs and the unsung high flyers

07:45 Robert: From school dropout to global business leader

10:45 Taking on the 'worst corporate job' at Telstra

12:00 Neil's ife-changing US move

14:00 Climbing the ranks at Kearney, EY and PwC

16:15 How a LinkedIn post became the book Rainmaker

19:00 Writing a book together: Harder than expected

28:15 A terrifying Mumbai motorbike ride and a business revelation

31:15 Are rainmakers born or made?

35:00 How the world's biggest consulting deals are won

39:15 The five levels of trust that separate the best

41:15 How one idea became 14 global deals

44:30 The mistakes even top performers make

48:00 Why networking isn't really about networking

50:45 Building RAYN Group and the secret to high performance

54:30 Will AI upend the consulting industry?

57:00 Rapid fire: Burnout, reinvention and life beyond work

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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 200, originally released in April 2025— one of our most loved classics.

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Malcolm Turnbull is one of the most fascinating figures in modern politics and business. He served as Australia's 29th Prime Minister (2015–2018), and previously built a career as a Goldman Sachs partner, successful technology investor, entrepreneur and lawyer. Earlier in his career as a barrister, he famously defeated Margaret Thatcher's British government in the landmark Spycatcher legal battle.

In this uniquely candid conversation, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joins Vidit to share his remarkable journey from a difficult childhood to the highest office in the country. He reveals how he became the trusted lawyer to billionaire Kerry Packer at just 28, defeated Margaret Thatcher's British government in the landmark Spycatcher case, and what working with powerful figures like Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch taught him about standing up to bullies.

They also explore the personal setbacks that nearly broke him, the lessons from losing political power, why financial independence mattered more than becoming a billionaire, and how his relentless curiosity shaped his career across law, business, technology and politics.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Meet Malcolm Turnbull

01:39 – Life after politics

04:30 – A difficult childhood and school bullies

08:00 – Growing up without his mother

13:45 – The ambition to conquer the world

15:30 – Becoming Kerry Packer's lawyer at 28

20:30 – Standing up to Packer and Trump

24:30 – Does ruthlessness drive success?

27:00 – Mentors and the power of curiosity

30:00 – Why he never chased billions

32:30 – Defeating Margaret Thatcher's government

37:00 – Taking on the British establishment

40:30 – Lessons from his 250,000-word memoir

43:00 – His darkest political setback

45:00 – Bringing innovation into government

47:00 – What Australia gets right and wrong

50:00 – AI, leadership and habits

51:15 – Watching Packer gamble away millions

53:00 – How to become Prime Minister

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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Aleks Spaseska is the CEO of Kmart Group, an A$11.8 billion (US$8 billion) retail giant behind Kmart, Target and the global Anko brand, operating 445 stores with over 48,000 employees. This is a rare in-depth interview with Aleks.

In this rare public conversation, Aleks Spaseska joins Vidit to share how she went from struggling to find her confidence at school to becoming CEO of one of the region’s largest retailers. She reveals the career move that changed everything, how she returned from maternity leave into a bigger leadership role, and what really helped her stand out from her peers.

They also explore the realities of running a retail giant, the leadership mistakes that shaped her, why she never had a 10-year career plan, and how her childhood continues to influence the decisions she makes as CEO.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Aleks Spaseska

02:20 Why store managers are underrated leaders

05:50 Growing up in Macedonia

08:45 No English

10:15 Why she never planned her career

11:15 How childhood shaped her view of affordability

13:10 From university to a finance PhD

17:45 The career move that changed everything

20:50 Lessons from her early Wesfarmers years

25:30 Taking uncomfortable career risks

28:00 Transforming Target's business

33:50 Learning empathy as a leader

37:15 Maternity leave, relocation and COVID

39:15 Making decisions without rigid plans

41:20 How Kmart operates within Wesfarmers

46:00 From CFO to CEO of Kmart

49:10 The Anko business model and global expansion

54:00 Kmart's next chapter of growth

56:40 Rapid fire round

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), Aleks Spaseska (CEO, Kmart) David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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Venky Ganesan is a Partner at Menlo Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest venture capital firms, where he has helped lead its push into AI and backed companies including Anthropic, Abnormal AI and Palo Alto Networks. He has spent 20+ years in venture capital, after starting his career as an entrepreneur and co-founding Trigo Technologies, which was acquired by IBM in 2004.

In this rare public conversation, Venky joins Vidit to unpack a journey that began in India before he moved alone to rural Washington State at 16. He shares the culture shock of arriving in America, working through college, choosing a $39,000 McKinsey job over a far more lucrative offer, and eventually becoming an entrepreneur — co-founding Trigo Technologies and selling the company to IBM in 2004.

They also explore Venky’s 20+ years in venture capital, from backing Palo Alto Networks early in its journey to becoming a Partner at Menlo Ventures and helping drive the firm’s push into AI. Venky shares what separates good founders from great ones, why “propensity for action” has become one of his strongest signals, how he thinks about position sizing and why VCs often end up with more money in their worst companies than their best. He also unpacks today’s extraordinary AI market, investing in Anthropic, and why he believes the industry is moving from innovators to “imitators and idiots.”  

Venky reflects on the role his wife has played in his life, the stroke that nearly killed him and changed his perspective, what more than two decades of investing have taught him about ambition, and more.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

01:17 — The 15-year-old who talked his way into a job

03:21 — Growing up in India with big ambitions

08:08 — An unexpected lesson from Nelson Mandela

10:05 — Leaving India alone at 16

14:10 — Why technology became his path to freedom

22:41 — McKinsey, entrepreneurship and selling to IBM

31:13 — From founder to venture capitalist

39:57 — The signal Venky looks for in great founders

44:02 — How he backed Palo Alto Networks early

47:00 — Reinventing Menlo for the AI era

53:14 — AI’s “innovators, imitators and idiots”

59:25 — The most disorienting market of his career

1:06:05 — The stroke that nearly killed him

1:08:20 — Rapid fire

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), David Schneider (Growth Fund Co-Lead Partner, Coatue), Venky Ganesan (Managing Partner, Menlo Ventures), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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David Schneider is a General Partner at Coatue, where he co-leads the firm’s Growth Fund. Previously, he was President at ServiceNow, helping scale the company from roughly $100M to $5B in revenue, after helping take another software company in Data Domain from zero customers to more than $1B in revenue. David is widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most successful go-to-market, sales, revenue and business building executives of all time.

In this rare public conversation, David joins Vidit to unpack a career spent building some of enterprise software’s defining companies. He shares how he was initially rejected by Data Domain for not being “aggressive enough”, only to join when it had zero customers and around 18 employees and help scale it beyond $1 billion in revenue — revealing the intensity, hiring philosophy and relentless focus on execution that shaped him as a leader.  

They also explore David’s decade at ServiceNow, where he helped scale the business from roughly $100 million to $5 billion, what he learned working alongside legendary CEO Frank Slootman, and the painful customer failure that fundamentally changed how he thought about leadership. David then opens up about leaving operating at the height of his career to become a General Partner at Coatue, where he now co-leads its Growth Fund, and the surprisingly difficult transition from being the person making decisions to the investor sitting beside the founder. Along the way, he reflects on building exceptional sales teams, spotting future leaders, the future of enterprise go-to-market, flying 250,000–350,000 miles a year, the impact that ambition had on his family, and why curiosity has remained a constant throughout his life.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Left Field Questions

01:24 – The founder David is betting on

04:01 – Growing up in Silicon Valley before the boom

08:25 – How David became obsessed with winning

24:45 – Rejected by Data Domain for not being “aggressive enough”

28:40 – From zero customers to a billion-dollar business

40:00 – What David learned working with Frank Slootman

50:23 – The customer failure David never forgot

52:25 – How David helped scale ServiceNow from $100M to $5B

59:04 – Why he walked away from operating

01:00:29 – From operator to investor at Coatue

01:08:00 – What David looks for in breakout companies today

01:11:00 – 350,000-mile years

01:13:30 – Left-field questions: grit, pet peeves and what matters now

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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Paul Grosmann is the CEO of R.M.Williams, the 94-year-old heritage bootmaker whose handcrafted leather boots have become one of Australia’s most recognisable cultural exports, worn from the outback to boardrooms around the world. He is leading the next phase of growth for the business, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, expanding it as a global premium brand while preserving its manufacturing roots in Adelaide. Before R.M.Williams, Paul built an unusually international career across PwC and McKinsey, before leading strategy and digital growth for Nike in Greater China.

In this rare public conversation, Paul joins Vidit to unpack an unusually global career, from Sydney to New York and China, including quitting his job and spending a year learning Mandarin to earn a role with McKinsey in Shanghai. He shares what he learned working inside Brett Blundy’s private business group, how he pitched his way into Nike and helped lead its retail and digital growth across Greater China, and why decision-making changes across public companies, private businesses and founder-led organisations.

They also explore Paul’s return to Australia to lead R.M.Williams, the 94-year-old heritage brand whose handcrafted boots have become one of the country’s most recognisable cultural exports. Paul explains how the company has doubled its production capacity and created 350 Australian jobs, while expanding online, attracting younger and female customers, and building an international retail presence through an unconventional UK strategy. Along the way, he reflects on cold emails, considered decision-making, living across cultures, balancing ambition with family, and the role his wife Sophie has played throughout the journey.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Cold emails

04:32 Growing up in a loud Italian family

07:35 Becoming a global citizen

13:55 Quitting work to learn Mandarin

18:29 Learning to operate in China

20:31 Choosing mentors over promotions

22:11 Paul’s cold-email playbook

23:57 The leadership power of pausing

27:09 Why Paul left McKinsey

28:57 Learning retail from Brett Blundy

34:28 Public versus private companies

40:39 Rising rapidly at Nike China

45:38 Pitching for the R.M.Williams CEO role

47:51 Returning to China during COVID

49:12 The partner behind the career

50:24 Rebuilding an Australian icon

53:53 Taking R.M.Williams global

55:47 Winning younger customers

58:00 Rethinking women’s footwear

01:00:44 The unconventional UK expansion strategy

01:03:30 Rapid-fire lessons and quirks

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Paul Grosmann (CEO, RM Williams), Rob Giglio (CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian), Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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Mike Vernal is a General Partner at Conviction and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected operator-turned-investors. He joined Facebook very early, spent eight years there working closely with Mark Zuckerberg and ultimately became VP of Product and Engineering, before becoming a partner at storied venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, where he backed companies including Notion, Rippling, Clay and Statsig.

In this conversation, Mike joins Vidit to unpack the journey from Microsoft to joining Facebook when it was still only a few hundred people, helping scale it through one of the most important periods in technology, and later becoming a partner at Sequoia before joining Conviction. He shares what he learned working closely with Mark Zuckerberg, why Facebook’s obsession with speed became such an advantage, how he learned to spot exceptional founders, and why ambition remains one of the traits he values most.

They also explore why Mike believes people risk “overfitting” to a job after seven years, what Sequoia taught him about great businesses, why he came back to venture after some of the most enjoyable years of his life with his family, and what changes when the cost of creating software starts approaching zero. Along the way, Mike shares the habits, quirks and principles behind his reputation as a “nerd’s nerd”, from obsessive curiosity and inbox zero to the belief that the best leaders make the people around them better.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — The Nerd’s Nerd

04:00 — Growing Up in New York

08:00 — Power, Internet and Caffeine

13:00 — Working at a Startup in High School

14:00 — Why Harvard Became the Goal

18:00 — Meeting His Wife

24:00 — What Microsoft Taught Him

31:00 — Why Strategy Can Go Wrong

33:00 — How Facebook Built High-Impact Teams

37:00 — The Moment Facebook Felt Different

43:00 — Facebook’s Speed Advantage

49:00 — Why Mike Left Facebook

54:00 — Why Sequoia

56:00 — Learning What Makes a Great Business

59:00 — Why He Doesn’t Take Notes

01:01:00 — What Mike Looks for in Founders

01:07:00 — Leaving Sequoia

01:09:00 — Why He Joined Conviction

01:14:00 — How Mike Spots What’s Next

01:16:00 — When Software Costs Approach Zero

01:18:00 — What Makes Products Go Viral

01:20:00 — Coaching His Kids

01:22:00 — Inbox Zero and Productivity

01:25:00 — What Mike Is Experimenting With

01:27:00 — The Advice That Changed His Career

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

Welcome to the 14th episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations (CAIR), spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport.

Other guests in this series include BHP's CFO Vandita Pant, Bank of America's Head of Capital Commitments Gautam Chari, Austrade's GM for South Asia Mukund Narayanamurti, Renowned Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Australia's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan Dowling, Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, Sports Journalist Bharat Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and CAIR's CEO, Ryan Neelam, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at the most senior levels.

________

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more.

________

Amit Singh is Managing Partner of Mandala, a global economics, data and policy research firm. He has advised three Australian Prime Ministers, served as Uber’s Global Head of Economic Policy in San Francisco, and more. Today, he leads Mandala and serves on several prominent government and public-policy boards.

In this conversation with Vidit, Amit shares his journey from growing up amid political instability in Fiji and moving to Australia as a teenager, to running a $20 million organisation with 200 employees at just 21 — before going on to work at the highest levels of Australian government.  

He reflects on going from Freehills to Kevin Rudd’s office in the space of two days, subsequently working for Julia Gillard and briefly Anthony Albanese, and the experience of technically losing his job five times during his political career. Amit also shares the equal-pay decision he is proudest of, which delivered a 23–45% pay increase for 150,000 predominantly female care workers.  

Amit also explains why he left government for technology, what moving to San Francisco and working at Uber taught him about ambition and taking risks, and how those experiences ultimately led to building Mandala as a globally focused economics and policy firm.  

They also explore Amit’s Fijian-Indian identity, why he believes the Australia–India economic relationship remains underdone despite decades of intent, the opportunity across technology, AI and services, and why changing Australians’ understanding of modern India could unlock a much deeper relationship.  

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Who is Amit Singh

01:28 From selling limes in Fiji to building Mandala

03:43 Growing up Fijian-Indian amid political instability

04:31 His parents’ sacrifice — and the values they passed down

08:11 Navigating identity after moving to Australia

11:42 Finishing high school at 16 — by accident

13:12 Running a $20M organisation at 21

16:13 Law, Freehills & an unexpected career path

17:52 From lawyer to Kevin Rudd’s office in two days

21:51 What working closely with Prime Ministers taught him

23:21 The decision that changed pay for 150,000 workers

26:10 Leaving government for Uber and Silicon Valley

28:57 From playing it safe to “shoot your shot”

31:38 The hardest parts of Amit’s career

33:36 What Uber taught him about managing exceptional people

35:22 Building Mandala

37:22 Why Australia–India remains underdone

42:13 Why no one is truly self-made

43:24 Rapid fire

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

Ryan Beiermeister is a Partner at Founders Fund, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms. Before becoming an investor, she held senior roles at three of the most consequential technology companies of the past decade: VP at OpenAI leading AI safety work, Product Director at Meta across election integrity and social issues, and VP at Palantir, where she helped lead development of Gotham. At College, Ryan was the #1 ranked college policy debater in the US and won top speaker at the 2012 national championship, becoming only the fourth woman since 1946 to do so.

In this conversation, Ryan joins Vidit to unpack the unconventional path from Houston and elite college debate to Palantir, Meta, OpenAI and now Founders Fund, including why Palantir took a chance on her at 22, what she learned building products for governments and billions of users, and why she believes there is still “no replacement for human judgement” in the age of AI.

They also explore the risks of building technology and simply “throwing it over the wall”, the developmental impact of AI on young people, what makes humans uniquely valuable in an increasingly automated world, and Ryan’s early lessons from making the leap from operator to venture capitalist.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

TIMESTAMPS

01:28 From Palantir to Founders Fund

04:00 The mentor who changed everything

07:05 Growing up in Houston

10:00 Feeling different at an elite school

12:00 Why high-performing women are different

14:00 Nolan Ryan

17:00 When debate became her superpower

20:00 Why Meta used her whole brain

22:00 Books, empathy & social justice

25:00 No master plan 

27:00 How Palantir bet on a debate champion

32:00 From user empathy to building Gotham

34:00 Learning to double down on strengths

37:00 Trae Stephens

41:00 Breaking the VC pattern-recognition playbook

41:40 Can AI replace human judgement?

44:00 What AI could do to young minds

47:00 Why human imperfection matters

51:00 Leaving Palantir for Meta

56:00 When products meet the real world

59:00 Why Ryan finally became a VC

1:02:00 Why OpenAI felt impossible to ignore

1:04:00 Building safety systems for AI

1:05:00 The operator-to-investor mindset shift

1:10:00 Her first deal at Founders Fund

1:12:00 Why authenticity is an investing edge

1:19:00 Ryan’s one-hour reading habits

1:24:00 Ryan’s favourite interview questions

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

Ellen DaSilva is the Founder and CEO of Summer Health, the pediatric healthcare company that served 30,000+ families before being acquired by Doctronic in 2026. Earlier, she was employee #8 at Hims & Hers and worked at Twitter during its hyper growth years. She is an active angel investor and Sequoia Scout, and earned her MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.

In this conversation, Ellen joins Vidit to unpack the ambition behind her extraordinary career, the leap from Wall Street to scaling Twitter during its hyper gowth years, why she nearly became a Hims competitor before joining as employee #8, and what happened when she finally took the founder leap with Summer Health.

They also explore how consumer software has changed, what makes great companies feel “inevitable”, why Ellen is “incapable of turning off founder mode”, and the philosophy behind living life on “maximum mode” and lots more. 

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Ellen’s “hot take” on consumer AI

02:00 From Barclays to selling Summer Health

05:00 Growing up ambitious in New York

09:00 The family behind Ellen’s drive

11:00 “CEO of Coca-Cola” at age five

13:00 Politics, Bloomberg & an early obsession with change

15:00 Why Ellen studied English literature

18:00 Raising three intensely curious kids

19:00 China vs Wall Street

23:00 “I knew I was going to marry him”

26:00 Discovering tech from a Wall Street desk

29:00 The 10-day leap from Barclays to Twitter

31:00 Scaling Twitter during hypergrowth

33:00 Why “every job becomes sales”

35:00 How Twitter shaped Summer Health

38:00 HBS, ambition & “colouring outside the lines”

42:00 How Ellen spots exceptional companies early

45:00 The startup she nearly built before Hims

47:00 employee #8 at Hims to IPO

48:00 Building healthcare like consumer software

49:00 Why Summer Health removed the interface

51:00 Why text-based products may win

52:00 What Ellen would build next

54:00 Why Summer Health sold to Doctronic

57:00 Ellen’s fundraising playbook

01:02:00 The 5 people in her "hall of fame" room

01:08:00 The hardest period of her career

01:11:00 “I’m incapable of turning off founder mode”

01:13:00 Parenting without slowing down

01:14:00 Living life on “maximum mode”

01:17:00 Food, health & learning Mandarin

01:18:00 Vibe coding, robotics & what Ellen wants to learn next

01:19:00 “Where are you an outlier?”

01:20:00 Ellen’s pet peeve

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Shiv Rao (CEO, Abridge), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

Dr. Shiv Rao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Abridge, one of the world’s leading healthcare AI companies, turning clinician-patient conversations into clinical intelligence across 300+ health systems and 100M+ conversations annually. A practising cardiologist, Shiv previously worked across healthcare technology and investing at UPMC before founding Abridge in 2018.

In this rare in-depth conversation, Shiv joins Vidit to unpack his unconventional path: moving from Pittsburgh to India at nine, skateboarding, programming synthesizers, selling records in Japan and nearly quitting medical school before becoming a cardiologist.

He shares how a seemingly perfect career across medicine, technology and investing left him “incredibly restless”, eventually leading to Abridge. But success was far from immediate: Shiv spent nearly four years as a “languishing founder” before generative AI arrived, “the sky just opened up”, and Abridge made its pivotal move into enterprise healthcare.

They also explore why “pressure makes diamonds”, the family sacrifices behind building when “every minute matters”, what changes when a company passes 500 people, why Shiv still practises medicine, and what he’s learned from unlikely influences including Jensen Huang and Rick Rubin.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Shiv Rao

02:00 Living on planes 

04:55 Xero

07:00 Pittsburgh and India

12:00 Identity, India & belonging

17:00 Skateboarding, music & creativity

19:00 The moment that led Shiv to medicine

23:00 Selling records in Japan

25:00 Nearly quitting medical school

28:00 Medicine’s complicated relationship with technology

30:00 Teaching himself to code & early product-market fit

35:00 Why “pressure makes diamonds”

39:00 Medicine healthcare investing

44:00 Leaving the “dream job” to build Abridge

48:00 Family sacrifice & the reality of building

50:00 Why “every minute matters” in AI

54:00 Abridge’s years as a “languishing” startup

59:00 When “the sky just opened up”

1:01:00 Abridge’s YOLO move into enterprise

1:03:00 The first customer “Love Stories”

1:10:00 Why enterprise healthcare is so defensible

1:15:00 Building AI that enterprises can’t replicate

1:21:00 Hiring, loyalty & scaling the team

1:23:00 Leading 500+ people

1:26:00 Lessons from Jensen Huang & Rick Rubin

1:30:00 What everyone is missing about AI

1:32:00 Rapid fire

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

John Willett is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Rogo, one of the fastest-growing AI companies in global finance, used by leading institutions including Lazard, Jefferies, Rothschild & Co, Moelis and Nomura. Rogo has raised more than $300 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Thrive and Khosla, was valued at $2 billion in 2026, and John now leads its expansion across Europe and APAC.

In his first in-depth interview ever, John joins Vidit to tell the story behind Rogo and the person behind the company. He reflects on growing up in Connecticut in a family of engineers, being academically far ahead of his peers, meeting co-founder Gabe Stengel at Princeton, and experimenting with AI for finance years before ChatGPT made the category obvious.

John shares how early investor Kevin Ryan convinced them to quit investment banking and go all in, why Rogo spent its first two years with little external validation, and how ChatGPT changed enterprise demand almost overnight. He also explains how Lazard became the first major customer, what it took to earn the trust of global banks, and how Rogo evolved from an early product into a platform tackling some of finance’s most complex workflows.

They also unpack John and Gabe’s co-founder dynamic, why Gabe became CEO, how Rogo recruits former bankers into operating roles, and what John has learned scaling the company from roughly 40 to 200 people while building out Europe and APAC.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – The Real John Willett

04:33 – Xero

06:01 – The Family of Engineers Behind John

11:11 – Meeting Gabe at Princeton

12:22 – The Idea Before Rogo

17:16 – Building AI Before ChatGPT

18:46 – The Investor Who Told Them to Quit Banking

20:11 – Rogo’s First Fundraising Deck

24:31 – Two Years Nobody Wanted Rogo

27:16 – The ChatGPT Inflection Point

29:16 – Landing Rogo’s First Major Customer

34:11 – When Enterprise AI Started to Click

38:11 – Why Big-Name Customers Matter

43:10 – Deciding Who Should Be CEO

45:22 – Convincing Bankers to Join a Startup

50:09 – US vs Europe vs APAC

55:04 – Scaling Rogo From 40 to 200+People

01:00:04 – Becoming a Better Manager

01:02:44 – Rapid Fire

________

The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers.

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

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more.

________

Mukund Narayanamurti has spent more than two decades at the intersection of business, government and Asia. Based in New Delhi, he leads Austrade across six South Asian markets, including India, after previously leading its work across Southeast Asia. Earlier, he founded and led Asialink Business and spent more than a decade at KPMG advising companies across Asia. Born in Bengaluru, Mukund moved to Australia as an international student at 18, later earning an MBA from MIT Sloan and pursuing a PhD at Melbourne Business School.

In this conversation with Vidit, Mukund shares his unlikely journey from a cricket-obsessed teenager in Bengaluru to moving to Australia alone at 18 — where he struggled so badly that he almost left after his first year — and ultimately returning to India as a senior Australian diplomat.

He reflects on working on an $8.5 billion deal at 23 that “broke” him, losing business pitches for nearly three years before the wins finally came, and being initially dismissed as too young before becoming Asialink Business CEO at 34.

Mukund also explains why he still pursues a PhD despite a demanding career, what 55 pieces of “scathing” academic feedback taught him about staying humble, and the leadership lessons he learnt across 750 consultations with Nicholas Moore.

They also explore why India offers a front-row seat to global competition, the rapidly growing commercial relationship between India and Australia, and what Mukund has learnt from building a career across some of Asia’s most important markets.

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,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

________

TIMESTAMPS

00:16 — Meet Mukund Narayanamurti

03:10 — Australian Government Message

04:10 — Bengaluru, Cricket & Growing Up “Unfocused”

09:10 — Leaving India Alone at 18

14:40 — Feeling Lost & Almost Going Home

18:15 — The University Year That Changed Everything

25:00 — Why Senior Leaders Need Brutally Honest Feedback

31:15 — The $8.5B Deal That “Completely Broke” Him

34:15 — Returning to India & Betting His Career on Asia

37:50 — Three Years of Losing Every Business Pitch

40:15 — Why India Is the Ultimate Test of Global Competition

50:00 — The Surprising Scale of Australia–India Business

54:10 — Leaving KPMG to Build Something From Scratch

58:10 — Dismissed as Too Young, Then CEO at 34

01:07:55 — 750 Meetings With Former Macquarie CEO Nicholas Moore

01:13:30 — International Student to Australian Diplomat in India

01:16:30 — “Work Is Worship”, Family & What Drives Him

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Welcome to the 13th episode in our special series with the Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India Relations (CAIR), spotlighting the growing Australia–India relationship across technology, business, media, culture and sport.

Other guests in this series include BHP's CFO Vandita Pant, Bank of America's Head of Capital Commitments Gautam Chari, Renowned Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Australia's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan Dowling, Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, Sports Journalist Bharat Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and CAIR's CEO, Ryan Neelam, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at the most senior levels.

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India). 

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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Keith Rabois is Managing Director at Khosla Ventures and one of Silicon Valley’s most influential technology investors and operators. He held senior roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide and Square, co-founded Opendoor and OpenStore, and has backed more than 15 companies that have gone public, including YouTube, Palantir, Airbnb and DoorDash. A perennial Forbes Midas List investor, Keith has ranked as high as #4 in the US and #8 globally.

In this unusually personal conversation with Vidit, Keith goes back to the beginning: growing up in a middle-class Jewish family in Edison, New Jersey, reading the encyclopedia cover to cover and becoming what he calls a “high-credentialist kid.” He explains how that pursuit took him through Stanford, Harvard Law School, a federal appellate court clerkship and Sullivan & Cromwell before he abandoned the path “cold turkey” at 29 to join a startup almost nobody remembers.

Keith reflects on the people who changed the direction of his life, including Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Sam Altman. He shares why Peter’s criticism forced him to become more quantitative, why he waited to join LinkedIn until the company needed his particular strengths, and what the rarely discussed Slide chapter taught him about platforms, pivots, organizational design and failure.

He also reveals how he identifies top 1% talent, why hiring exceptional people matters more than becoming a better manager, and why “the team you build is the company you build.” Keith explains why he still takes every note by hand, refuses laptops in meetings and measures how he invests every hour of his time.

They also explore venture capital in the AI era: how to separate real product-market fit from corporate curiosity, why rapid revenue can conceal a fragile company, and why enduring advantages matter more than momentum. Keith also explains why his greatest edge remains becoming the first institutional investor in exceptional founders, and why launching a competitive venture fund today may require at least $500 million.

Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.

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

Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more. 

Show notes and more episodes here

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website

This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers. 

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – The Real Keith Rabois

02:51 – His Online Persona

03:25 – Childhood and family

05:45 – Spotting Talent Before Everyone Else

06:50 – Xero

07:40 – The Parents Who Shaped Him

11:05 – The Ultimate Credentialist Kid

13:00 – Why Tech Was Never the Plan

16:10 – Becoming a Lawyer at Six

19:00 – Stanford, Harvard and Status

24:00 – Quitting Law at 29

28:05 – Growing Up With Peter Thiel

31:00 – Learning From Tech’s Best

36:00 – Between PayPal and LinkedIn

39:00 – Peter Thiel’s Career-Changing Criticism

42:00 – Talent Beats Management

44:00 – Finding the Top 1%

47:00 – His Executive Assistant Mistake

51:00 – No Laptops, One Pen

53:00 – The Lessons From Slide

57:00 – Vinod Khosla’s Best Advice

59:00 – Is AI Revenue Built to Last?

01:02:00 – Real Demand or Corporate Curiosity?

01:05:00 – Building a VC Fund Today

01:08:00 – Does Focus Still Win?

01:09:00 – Rapid Fire

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The High Flyers Podcast 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), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures), Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci (CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder, Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP), 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), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), 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) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High Commissioner to India).