In this episode of DisrupTV, Vala Afshar and R "Ray" Wang explore the future of AI, leadership, and collaboration with three groundbreaking thinkers.

Ed Addison breaks down the shift toward AI-first startups and what multi-agent corporations mean for the future of work. Dr. Scott Hutcheson shares how biohacking leadership can unlock stronger signals of warmth, competence, and gravitas. Ruchika T. Malhotra, author of Uncompete, makes the case for collaboration over competition—and why redefining success matters now more than ever.

A fast, insightful conversation on the forces reshaping business, culture, and human potential.

AI, Biohacking & the End of Competition: Rewiring How We Work and Win | DisrupTV Ep. 418

This is an impromptu monologue from me, Zach Servideo, creator/host of Boston Speaks Up, founder of Value Creation Labs, and managing partner at Unicorn Studios. And here's what I'm riffing about on in this emergency podcast --> “Workplace survival in the 2020s basically means becoming an entrepreneur.” <-- That line has been echoing in my head for years now. Every month, every CoFlo coworking session, every client conversation, it gets louder.

Here's a summary of topics I'm riffing on in this episode: 

1. The Portfolio Economy, in Plain English

Economists have a sterile term for what’s happening: the portfolio economy.

I just call it reality.

We are shifting from a world where most people had one job and one employer to a world where people build portfolios of income streams — projects, gigs, advisory roles, side businesses, creative experiments.

If you run the math, independent work has grown at roughly double-digit compound annual rates over the last decade, while traditional W-2 employment has been basically flat by comparison.

We are very quickly heading toward a world where well under half of the workforce is full-time W-2 — and a majority of people have at least one independent income stream.

So if you’re still betting your entire life on one company, one boss, one paycheck…
you’re playing last decade’s game with this decade’s stakes.

2. From “Climb the Ladder” to “Build the Web”

The old script was simple:

Go to school → get a job → climb the ladder at one company.

The new script looks nothing like that.

It’s more like: Build the web.

You start stacking: client projects, short-term contracts, fractional roles, creative experiments, advisory work, side businesses…into a portfolio of income streams that makes you more resilient and more free than any single employer ever could.

This isn’t just a “freelancer thing” anymore. The data shows that a third to nearly half of working adults are already operating this way — whether they use the word “entrepreneur” or not. 

3. Where I’m Seeing It Up Close: CoFlo

One place I see this shift most clearly is through CoFlo, the pop-up coworking community we host around New England.

If you’ve never heard me talk about CoFlo before, here’s the quick version:

We host monthly pop-up coworking days — in places like Beverly, Portsmouth, Weymouth.

People roll in with their laptops, their coffee, their chaos.

And something subtle but powerful happens.

Yes, people show up to get work done. But they also show up with ideas.

In one room, you’ll see: remote workers, creatives, founders, people between jobs, people with jobs they clearly don’t want forever. 

You can almost watch the old model and the new model collide in real time.

Over time, CoFlo has organically become a kind of low-pressure incubator: a place where people can bring half-baked ideas, get honest feedback, meet collaborators, and feel that little jolt of:

“Oh wait… maybe I actually can build something.” 

4. UnicornOS: An Operating System for Humans in This Shift

I’m not saying any of this from an academic distance. I’m in it.

Together with my partners at Unicorn Studios and Value Creation Labs, I’ve been building what we’re calling UnicornOS — an operating system for humans in this new world of work.

CoFlo is one of the ways we’re seeing this in the wild: real humans, real experiments, real proof that people want to build portfolio lives — even if they don’t have the vocabulary for it yet. 

5. A Personal Invitation

You can reach me directly at: zach at unicorn dot love

Entrepreneur or Bust: Zach Servideo Riffs on Workplace Survival

Episode 404 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Sesser, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightHire.

Well this is a first…

It’s common to time my podcast interview around a milestone for a company like a funding announcement.  But, this is the first time that in the span between my interview with the founder to the publishing date that the company announced its acquisition.

Last week, BrightHire announced that the company has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Zoom.  It certainly is a combination that makes a lot of sense.

BrightHire is an interview intelligence platform.  We saw its influence firsthand this past summer when VentureFizz hosted a series of AI job searching events. Talent acquisition leaders consistently mentioned BrightHire as the most-adopted application—a signal that immediately led me to reach out to Ben for this interview.

As Ben shares, when they started, "interview intelligence" was a brand new category in hiring, and they faced plenty of doubters. But fast-forward to today, and much like the success of companies like Gong for sales teams, BrightHire's value is now obvious. But isn't that the case for all great companies in hindsight?

BrightHire's investors include Flybridge, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors, Zoom Apps Fund, and others.

Chapters

00:00 Intro
02:48 State of Hiring in the AI Era
06:51 Ben's Background Story
19:40 Getting Started in the Tech Industry
25:26 Origin Story of BrightHire
33:06 Creating a New Category
35:31 The Value of Video in the Hiring Process
41:17 BrightHire Screen - New AI Screening Platform
45:51 Experience of Raising Capital
48:36 Biggest Lessons Learned
50:22 Common Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring
51:57 Lightening Round Questions

Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 404: Ben Sesser - CEO & Co-Founder, BrightHire

In this episode, Eric Tippetts talks startups, growth, and turning ideas into impact. He shares insights on execution, building strong teams, leveraging feedback, and staying resilient through challenges. Perfect for founders and innovators ready to scale their vision.

Eric Tippetts Talking About Startup Ideas and Growth

Eric Volmar is teaching lead at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford. His work focuses on connecting defense, academia, and entrepreneurship to accelerate innovation for national security, supporting new ventures at the intersection of technology and policy. In this presentation – followed by a conversation with Tina Seelig, executive director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars and director emerita of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program – Volmar advises entrepreneurs about how to navigate a new landscape shaped by a shift to deep tech, blended capital, and governments reengaging with technology innovation.

Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders and other Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations.

CONNECT WITH US
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X: https://x.com/ECorner  
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LEARN MORE
STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ 
eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner 

Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.


Eric Volmar (Stanford University) - A New Entrepreneurship Playbook

Season 2 Episode #1: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Dan Tyre: Angel investor, HubSpot veteran, & start-up trailblazer. With 46 years of experience under his belt, Dan takes us through his journey and the lessons he learned on what it takes to build quality products, develop winning teams, and get angel investor attention.


👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates on future episodes of "Tech Effect," where we bring you the latest news, trends, and expert insights from the world of technology. Together, let's unlock the potential of software solutions and embrace the future of innovation. 

#20 Dan Tyre: Journeys & Lessons For Successful Products & Services

Season 2 Episode #4: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Ģirts Graudiņš: A Latvian-American technology entrepreneur, who is an expert in building and running engineering teams at Silicon Valley startups as well as an active investor in the Baltic early-stage startup ecosystem - individually, as a Venture Partner at Change Ventures, and an Investment Committee member at BADideas.fund. Join us as Ģirts takes us through his journey, gives insights into the what and how a startup can break out of its local market, how smaller startups can gain a competitive edge, and what KPIs to look for.


👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates on future episodes of "Tech Effect," where we bring you the latest news, trends, and expert insights from the world of technology. Together, let's unlock the potential of software solutions and embrace the future of innovation. 


🔔 Follow TestDevLab for more technology & software related content:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/testdevlab/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TestDevLab/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/testdevlablv/#TechEffect 

# 23 Ģirts Graudiņš (Ex-Twilio, Investor & Expert): Breaking Into US & Global Markets As A Startup

Season 2 Episode #5: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Chris Woods. Chris has over 16 years of experience in the delivery of global executive search & selection assignments for high-profile blue-chip clients, having worked for the likes of Santander, Vodafone, Saudi Aramco, Dell, Omio, and BeReal. He has also made the transition from Tech Talent Lead to VP of Operations at Prelude, a company that specialises in advancing SMS and OTP verification infrastructure. Join us as Chris takes us through his journey and delivers his insights on what to look out for when it comes to tech talent, effectively empowering teams with AI, SMS & OTP verification, and how Prelude became such a success.

👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates on future episodes of "Tech Effect," where we bring you the latest news, trends, and expert insights from the world of technology. Together, let's unlock the potential of software solutions and embrace the future of innovation. 

🔔 Follow TestDevLab for more technology & software related content:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/testdevlab/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TestDevLab/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/testdevlablv/#TechEffect 

# 24 Chris Woods (Ex-BeReal, Operations VP at Prelude): Solving Problems For Fast-Growing Companies

Season 2 Episode #6: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Pekka Pönkänen. Pekka has 10 years of experience in software testing and is the QA Competence Lead at Wolt. A Global, Helsinki-based technology company that has developed a local commerce platform that connects people looking to order food, groceries, and other goods. Pekka has been touring Europe, talking at tech conferences to explain how his quality-first mindset has transformed Wolts' mobile release process. So join us in this episode, where Pekka takes us through his testing journey, explains how Wolt is able to maintain quality as it keeps scaling, the importance of integrating QA into the Software Development Life-Cycle, how to combat long release cycles, and the skills QA professionals need in the age of AI.

👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates on future episodes of "Tech Effect," where we bring you the latest news, trends, and expert insights from the world of technology. Together, let's unlock the potential of software solutions and embrace the future of innovation. 

🔔 Follow TestDevLab for more technology & software related content:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/testdevlab/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TestDevLab/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/testdevlablv/#TechEffect 

# 25 Pekka Pönkänen (Wolt): Maintaining Quality While Scaling: Wolt's Experience

Episode 406 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Bill Simmons, serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Orbit.me and DataXu.

I’m going to use the cliché: Bill actually is a rocket scientist. His background is in aerospace engineering, he holds a PhD from MIT, and he worked on 13 space missions. In addition, he was part of a major Government competition for simulating options for space travel to Mars. His team simulated 35 billion possible options to generate 1,100 different Mars missions that were all feasible.

This groundbreaking technology that leverage Big Data, which we now recognize as AI and machine learning, launched his first company, DataXu, in 2008. DataXu became a pioneer in the programmatic ad platform category and raised over $87M in funding. The company scaled as a major player in the Boston tech scene, and was acquired by Roku in 2019.

Now, Bill is tackling a challenge we all likely face with his new startup, Orbit.me. Information is scattered across texts, multiple email inboxes, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and social apps—it’s impossible to keep track of what matters. Orbit.me is a perfect use case for AI, organizing your scattered messages into “Orbits” which are dedicated spaces built around the real contexts of your life, like parenting, work, or other important matters.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
02:41 Current Status of Space Travel & Mars
08:34 Bill Simmons Background Story
10:21 Academic Experience
13:12 Space Missions including Mars Research
17:19 How DataXu Came to Fruition & Focus on AdTech
20:03 Scaling DataXu & Market Strategies
23:15 The Competitive Landscape of AdTech
26:20 The Technology Behind Real-Time Bidding
29:49 Building DataXu’s Culture During Growth
32:51 DataXu Acquisition by Roku
35:54 The Transition to Product Management & Experience at The Trade Desk
37:13 The Details of Orbit.me
43:07 The Team Behind Orbit.me
48:58 The Evolving Role of Software Engineers in the AI Era
52:01 Lightening Round Questions

Episode 406: Bill Simmons - Serial Entrepreneur, Orbit.me & DataXu

TestDevLab's Tech Effect is a podcast where host Josh explores software engineering and tech innovation through conversations with diverse industry professionals. Covering testing, development, and emerging trends, each episode delivers insights valuable for both technical and business roles—ideal for anyone interested in technology's impact across industries.

The team at Stanford eCorner believes in the powerful combination of evidence and imagination. We share original stories from informed leaders in academia and industry that focus on innovation, startups, culture, and strategy. The goal: empower you to bring bold ideas to life. 

Stanford eCorner is led by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center in Stanford University’s School of Engineering.

DisrupTV is a weekly podcast with hosts R "Ray" Wang and Vala Afshar. The show airs live at 11:00 a.m. PT/ 2:00 p.m. ET every Friday. The audience can expect A-list guests, the latest enterprise news, hot startups, insight from influencers, and much more. Tweet questions to #DisrupTV or @DisrupTVShow.

The VentureFizz Podcast is the flagship podcast of VentureFizz.com, the leading authority for jobs & careers in tech. In this podcast, VentureFizz Founder Keith Cline interviews the top founders and investors in the tech industry.

Leaders, entrepreneurs, creators, innovators and artists from all over the globe join Boston Speaks Up to share their stories of inspiration. Recommend a guest: team@valuecreationlabs.co. Learn more and sign up for the newsletter: www.valuecreationlabs.co.

New tracks tagged #StartUps