Playing With Unicorns

Playing with unicorns is a new weekly show on startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. I cover everything I learned as an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist during the last 22 years, focusing on everything I wished I knew when I first got started as a tech entrepreneur.

Playing With Unicorns is a business podcast hosted by Fabrice Grinda, with 53 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Fabrice Grinda hosts Playing With Unicorns, a business show with 53 episodes published.

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  Episode #53

  #53 Ask Me Anything

  Mar 23, 20261h 40mS1

  <p >It's been a year since my last Ask Me Anything session. A lot has happened since then across AI, marketplaces, macro, and the broader tech ecosystem. Here are the questions we covered:</p> <p > · 4:22 Why does AI feel so widely feared or disliked right now?</p> <p > · 8:48 Why is AI driving massive progress while politics and public systems lag behind?</p> <p > · 13:34 What are the real opportunities in commercializing AI today?</p> <p > · 14:10 Will startups still need human co-founders in an AI-first world?</p> <p > · 17:51 How important is a technical co-founder in the age of AI?</p> <p > · 20:00 Will intell...

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  Episode #52

  #52 Marketplaces in the Age of AI

  Mar 9, 202658 minS0

  <p>Over the past few weeks, a growing narrative has emerged arguing that AI could destabilize the economy and disrupt entire business models. Last week, I published my view that AI is far more likely to be a productivity revolution than an economic collapse.</p> <p>But what does this mean specifically for marketplaces?</p> <p><br /> Many founders are asking:<br /> •    Will LLMs capture discovery?<br /> •    Will AI compress take rates?<br /> •    Will traffic shift away from platforms?<br /> •    How defensible are marketplaces in an AI-native world?</p> <p>In this upcoming episode, I break down:<br /> •    Why most fears around AI disi...

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  Episode #51

  #51 Zach Resnick, Founder & CEO of Ascend

  Jan 19, 202641 minS0

  <p>I had the pleasure of chatting with Zach Resnick, the founder and CEO of Ascend (formerly FlyFlat), a membership program for frequent travelers that eliminates 90% of travel decisions and saves 35% off biz/first class flights.</p> <p><br /> Ascend has been helping my partners Jose and Jeff with all their travels for a couple years now, saving FJ Labs over six figures since we first learned about them.</p> <p><br /> Prior to starting Ascend, Zach opened hundreds of credit cards, manufactured over $100M in credit card spend, and started three other travel companies. In addition, he started a...

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  Episode #50

  #50 Venture Market Trends

  Jun 20, 202548 minS0

  <p>The venture market is in flux. AI is booming while the rest of venture is in the dumps. Venture capital as an asset class is evolving and retrenching. Fewer deals are happening at higher prices. New marketplace types are emerging. AI is impacting marketplaces in unexpected ways and new technologies are coming of age. There is much to discuss!</p> <p>You can follow along live on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.</p> <p>If you are interested in seeing past episodes, including the supporting materials presented during the stream, check out my blog's Playing with Unicorns section.<...

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  Episode #49

  #49 Dan Park and the Incredible Comeback Story of Clutch

  Jun 9, 202552 minS0

  <p>Clutch has had an incredible ride. As the "Carvana of Canada" it was a highflier in 2021. It had a brush with death in 2023 and effected an incredible turnaround. They are now once again on a tear. Dan Park, Clutch's Founder & CEO, joined us to share all the lessons learned along the way.</p>

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