The Luba Show

Kevin Zhang: Inside the Mind of an Investor Writing $35M Checks

Today I'm talking to Kevin Zhang, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures. BCV sits inside Bain Capital, a $200 billion investment manager spanning private equity, credit, life sciences, and real estate, and Kevin has been there nearly a decade, leading early-stage bets from seed through Series B across AI, crypto, longevity, and industrials. We talk about confidence, self-doubt, and what it actually takes to back people before it's obvious. Kevin opens up about feeling like there was a pane of glass between him and the people who got to make big decisions — and the slow, honest process of earning his own seat at the table. We cover * "Hyperstition": why enough people believing in something can make it true * Why he thinks imposter syndrome is often just an accurate self-assessment * The BCV Fellowship: a secret program to find star talent years before they start companies * Full stack capitalism: why the most ambitious founders need more than just venture dollars * His dream second career: political talent scout * SO much more! Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:01 The Invisible Glass Ceiling 08:40 Surviving the Almost-Dead Startup 13:40 Full Stack Capitalism 19:24 Bet on People, Not Sectors 23:32 Spotting Greatness Early 27:05 Build Conviction 30:36 Beyond the SaaS Playbook 36:34 Understanding Society 39:21 Why He Stayed at Bain Capital 43:52 Investing in Founders 47:24 Rapid Fire Links Kevin Zhang X: https://x.com/kevinzhang [https://x.com/kevinzhang]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzhang711/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzhang711/] Luba Yudasina Instagram: https://instagram.com/lifeoflubaa X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina [https://x.com/LubaYudasina]  LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

Hiten Shah: The Batman & Robin Rule: Why Your Business Partnership is Failing

Today I'm talking to Hiten Shah, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, and Nira — which he sold to Dropbox. Hiten has been building SaaS companies for over 20 years and has quietly become one of the sharpest operators and thinkers in tech. We go deep on metacognition, self-improvement, and what it actually takes to understand yourself well enough to build great companies and great relationships. Hiten opens up about his process for "poking at the world" to test his own thinking, how he uses Enneagram and Human Design with AI to unlock blind spots, and the mental models that have shaped how he works with co-founders, teams, and his own family. We cover - His "purple bruise" approach to giving advice — and how he trained himself to go from six-month-delayed feedback to next-day impact - The Batman and Robin framework for co-founder relationships, partnerships, and even marriage - Why building faster with AI doesn't mean learning faster — and the companies that have figured out the difference - "Trust takes ten years" — the advice from a relative in India that keeps proving itself right His life philosophy: "It was all a dream" — and what that has to do with presence - SO much more! Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:45 Start Your Year in October 06:15 The Purple Bruise Method 12:23 AI as a Thinking Partner 20:13 Thinking About Your Thinking 25:06 Find Your Triggers First 29:32 Decide Fast With Less 34:50 Entrepreneur Since Age Four 42:17 Shed Judgment, Stay Curious 46:09 When Strengths Become Sabotage 49:56 Batman and Robin Partnerships 52:43 Finding the Right Co-Founder 59:53 Trust Takes Ten Years 1:05:04 Fast Success Hides Lessons 1:11:57 Build Faster ≠ Learn Faster 1:21:31 The Lost Craft of Startups 1:29:38 Follow Energy, Not Goals 1:36:05 The Crisis Nobody Sees 1:44:03 Selling at Peak Value 1:52:00 Know Yourself Through AI 2:07:15 One Idea, Many Posts 2:19:20 "It Was All a Dream" Links Hiten Shah  X: https://x.com/hnshah LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hnshah/ Luba Yudasina Instagram:  https://instagram.com/lifeoflubaa X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

Ankur Nagpal ($250M founder) joins Naval Ravikant to Disrupt Venture Capital

Today I'm talking to Ankur Nagpal - founder of Teachable (nine-figure exit) and Carry (acquired by AngelList), angel investor in 100+ startups, and now a GP at USVC, AngelList's public venture fund. We talk about what it really feels like to sell two companies, why honesty is more powerful than hype, and what Ankur's learned about building, investing, and knowing when enough is enough. He gets refreshingly real about the parts of startup life nobody talks about — from emotional runway to the immigrant lens on America's self-help culture. We cover: - Why most people should never raise venture capital - The three things he looks for in founders (and why the third one is controversial) - From reading Losing My Virginity at 13 to wanting to buy a sports team — and put himself on the roster - SO much more! Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:55 Twice Lucky, Still Humble 05:53 Confidence Is Just Age 08:18 Stress Beats Every Biohack 12:28 Venture Investing for Everyone 19:17 What Makes a Great Founder 23:05 Emotional Runway Kills First 27:53 Don't Raise Venture Capital 30:02 Your Happy Number 34:17 The $20K That Becomes Millions 37:42 Finding Your Zone of Genius 41:59 Read for Joy, Not Optimization 48:23 Maximize Your Surface Area Links Ankur Nagpal X: https://x.com/ankurnagpal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankurnagpal/ Luba Yudasina Instagram:  https://instagram.com/lifeoflubaa X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina LinkedIn:  https://linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

Grant Sanderson (@3blue1brown): The High Cost of Being a Second-Hand Thinker

Grant Sanderson, (@3Blue1Brown) created one of the most beloved math channels on the internet. Grant is a Stanford math grad, Khan Academy alum, and self-taught animator who built his own open-source visualization engine from scratch. From students learning linear algebra for the first time, to researchers, to millions of curious people on the internet, @3blue1brown makes math feel beautiful. Topics we cover * How Grant wrote the "best wedding speech anyone's ever heard" with 24 hours notice * Why he's never felt the burnout other creators describe after 10+ years * His take on the algorithm * The real problem with modern education  * Being a source vs. being a relay and original thinking * Why he's now building a team and rethinking sponsorships Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:05 How to Write a Wedding Speech 07:04 Use Pauses Like a Pro 11:39 Going Full Time on YouTube 17:27 Why I Left Academia 20:51 Explain It vs. Discover It 27:53 Be a Source, Not a Relay 39:00 The Analytics Dopamine Trap 43:23 Your Algorithm = Your Audience 47:36 Fun Work vs. Strategic Work 52:12 Mental Hygiene for Creators 54:15 Write to Think, Not to Publish 56:49 How My Team Changed Everything 01:01:36 New Ways I'm Making Money 01:06:05 The Loneliness of Solo Creating 01:09:37 How Ego Shapes Your Topics 01:11:31 The Beauty of High Dimensions 01:17:36 Pretty Videos vs. Clear Videos 01:23:14 Will LLMs Kill Motivation to Learn? 01:29:32 Don't Niche Down Too Early 01:34:37 Happiness vs. Fulfillment 01:38:01 Growth vs. Serving Your Audience 01:48:37 Teaching Empathy to Kids 01:51:48 Lightning Round I hope you enjoy this one!! Links Grant Sanderson YouTube: https://youtube.com/3blue1brown X: https://x.com/3blue1brown [https://x.com/3blue1brown]  Luba Yudasina Instagram: https://instagram.com/lifeoflubaa X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina [https://x.com/LubaYudasina]  LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

Jay Graber: From Digital Rights Activism to founding Bluesky

Today I'm talking to Jay Graber, founder and former CEOof Bluesky. Bluesky recently announced raising $100M in Series B funding to build a decentralized social protocol that could reshape how we think about online communication. Jay is a blockchain builder who accidentally became the CEO of a social media platform — one the internet cast as a protest movement whether she liked it or not. Jay's story is the opposite of a straight path. She grew up in rural Oklahoma with a Chinese immigrant mother and a Swiss-American father, went to Beijing for a year as a teenager, hitchhiked through Europe, learned to code through a bootcamp, and eventually landed on the mission that defines her work: building social media architecture that protects freedom of expression by removing centralized control. She's the rare founder who can talk equally fluently about the Cultural Revolution, decentralized protocols, Twitter's DNA, and why moderation at scale is a nearly unsolvable problem—because she's actually grappled with each of these. We talk about the relationship between technology and power, and why Jay is convinced that the internet's architecture—not good intentions—determines whether a society stays free. She opens up about the bet she's making on decentralization, the years of research that led to Bluesky, and what it actually takes to rebuild social media from first principles. • How a childhood name became destiny: "Blue Sky" in Chinese, then Jack Dorsey's unannounced Twitter project • The moment she realized: you can't change systems from the outside—you have to know how to code • Why "protocols, not platforms" could solve moderation at billion-person scale • From Zcash experiments to scuttlebutt to designing her own protocol—the long road to Bluesky • What it means to bet your career on decentralization when most of the world isn't ready and much more… Timestamps  (0:00) Introduction  (1:16) Early Life & Cultural Heritage  (5:41) Year Abroad in China  (18:34) Learning Programming & Career Transition  (38:42) Getting into Cryptocurrency  (47:47) Working on Zcash & Privacy Technology  (58:34) Happening.app & Event Platform  (1:08:30) Blue Sky Origins & Early Days  (1:11:18) COVID & the Working Group  (1:24:16) Becoming Blue Sky Lead  (1:33:06) Decentralized Social Media Explained  (1:36:09) Twitter Acquisition & Independence  (1:39:19) Building a Social Media Company  (2:05:17) Leadership & Management Philosophy  (2:13:53) Life Philosophy & Closing Thoughts Links X: https://x.com/arcalinea LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaygraber/ Luba Yudasina Instagram: / lifeoflubaa X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina LinkedIn: / yudasinal