The Future Fountain Podcast

In this episode, Eli Pollak, Founder and CEO of Kenyan-based agtech platform Apollo Agriculture, talks to Orrick partner Samir Bakhru about his startup journey and learnings for all founders around building customer trust, attracting top-tier talent, and staying true to your vision.

The European tech ecosystem has roared past an impressive milestone, surpassing the $3 trillion mark across public and private markets. In the first few months of 2022, investment in European tech surged 50 percent even as the number of IPOs declined, according to Tom Wehmeier, a partner in the venture capital firm Atomico. In this episode, he discusses the evolution of Europe's tech ecosystem and looks around the corner to the next State of European Tech, an annual report Atomico publishes with support from Orrick and others. Wehmeier also talks about the rise of remote work, a growing focus on mission and purpose, and the challenge underrepresented founders continue to face accessing capital. He says the ecosystem's growth underscores a founding belief of Atomico: that great companies can spring up anywhere, and that no region has a monopoly on talent or ideas. Listen as Wehmeier talks with Orrick partner Chris Grew about how the war in Ukraine, inflation, supply-chain disruptions and the pandemic have affected European tech this year – and why he sees a bright future, despite some headwinds. 

In this episode, Anik Guha, a partner in Orrick's Technology Companies Group, talks with Kelly Erhart about what Project Vesta sees as one of the cheapest permanent carbon-removal solutions today. They also discuss the broader carbon-capture and carbon-credit markets, why planting trees alone isn't enough to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and why she's optimistic about our ability to fight climate change.

With millions of job applications submitted to companies each year, vendors of AI software promise to democratize and speed up screening and hiring. But using machines is not without challenges. The potential damage from an algorithm that predicts the wrong outcome or excludes diverse candidates is significant. What can companies do to mitigate discrimination in AI hiring tools? In this episode, Orrick Employment Law Partner Lisa Lupion talks with Hilke Schellmann, an Emmy Award-winning reporter and journalism professor at New York University, about the promises and pitfalls of AI tools and how companies can mitigate risk in the workplace of the future.

Dollar vans have long been the only option for people who live in "transit deserts" – underserved communities in urban areas that aren't close to any subways or trains. These informal ride share networks are sometimes the only affordable way to get to work or school – but they were ripe for innovation. Su Sanni, Founder and CEO of Dollaride, who grew up in a transit desert in Brooklyn, has built a game changing mobile app, making the experience far more accessible for van drivers and riders. In this episode, Su talks about his journey as a Black entrepreneur, the importance of founders finding mentors and prioritizing mental health, and why he prioritizes "moving at the speed of trust" when partnering with governments, regulators, customers and communities to drive innovation forward.

As companies work to assure consumers and regulators of the importance they place on data privacy, Numina is taking an innovative approach to designing products with transparency and customer trust in mind. Numina, a company that aggregates data to measure and draw insights about street-level activity in more than 25 cities, never collects personally identifiable information, but is still able to share meaningful insights that help urban planners and government agencies improve pedestrian and traffic safety. Hear from Tara Pham, Founder and CEO of Numina, on how the privacy landscape is changing, the inherent privacy risks associated with smart cities, and her predictions for the future of urban mobility.

As of last year, two hundred Fortune 500 companies had greater than 40% board diversity – a four-fold increase compared to a decade ago. However, these numbers also indicate there's still more work to do. All Raise, a startup nonprofit on a mission to amplify the voices of female founders and funders, is helping to lead the transformation. The organization has launched Board Xcelerate, a 90-day program that taps into All Raise's diverse network of founders, investors and operators to add talented underrepresented executives to the boards of high-growth, private tech companies. In this episode, All Raise CEO Pam Kostka talks about the value of board-ready vs. board-proven, how greater board diversity can drive better business performance, inclusivity and belonging within tech companies, and how adding underrepresented groups can lead to wealth creation.

Social impact startups have a lot to balance – including staying true to their mission and achieving high growth and profitability. No one understands this better than David Helene, founder and CEO of Edquity, a NYU Tandon Future Labs graduate and first-of-its-kind education technology provider that works with colleges to provide emergency financial aid to students. In this episode, Helene shares his journey from the financial sector to social entrepreneurship, how social entrepreneurs can get creative about monetization without diluting their impact, and how solving issues within higher education can narrow the intergenerational wealth gap, particularly in communities of color.

Kathryn Harrison, Founder and CEO of DeepTrust Alliance — a nonprofit global coalition of stakeholders that creates solutions to build more trust in news and information — shares how technology is transforming how we communicate, why regulation isn't enough to address the rising tide of disinformation, and considerations for how the tech ecosystem can work together to collectively tackle misinformation, disinformation and deepfakes.

Jabari Hearn, SVP of Marketing & Entertainment at Westbrook Media, shares the key things mentors and mentees must do to get the most out of their relationship.