Skin in the Game VC Podcast

Steven Walchek: Why the Barrier to Building Tech is Gone

In this episode of Skin in the Game, Saxon Baum sits down with Steven Walchek, Founder & CEO of Liminal, to unpack one of the most unique founder journeys in tech. Steven shares how he went from launching his first company in college—faxing loan documents by hand to building and exiting a venture-backed fintech business alongside his father. But what makes his story different is what came next: solving a problem inside his own company by starting another one. The conversation explores why most founders solve problems in other companies, but rarely their own, and how AI has completely removed the barrier to building technology. Steven dives into the mindset of “I can figure this out” and why it matters more than ever, along with the reality of startup pivots, near failure, and rebuilding from scratch. He also breaks down what Liminal is building today in secure, enterprise-ready AI infrastructure, and why distribution, customer experience, and trust are becoming more important than the technology itself. Steven also shares a powerful perspective on today’s “golden age” for entrepreneurs, where domain expertise combined with AI is unlocking unprecedented opportunity. If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand where technology and entrepreneurship are heading next, this episode is a must-watch.

Eric Ries: The Dark Side of AI and Why Vibe Coding Could Be the Next Chernobyl

In this episode of Skin in the Game, hosts Saxon Baum and Tom Wallace sit down with Eric Ries, the founder and author of the Lean Startup Methodology, one of the most influential business frameworks in modern entrepreneurship. Eric shares his journey from coding in his parents' basement, to dropping out of Yale for a failed startup, to eventually developing the principles that would change how the world builds companies. Eric opens up about his early failures, including his time at there.com, a virtual world startup that had everything going for it except customers. That painful experience led him to co-found IMVU, where he began experimenting with rapid iteration, minimum viable products, and data driven decision making, the core principles that would eventually become the Lean Startup. The conversation takes a sharp turn into today's AI driven world, where Eric offers a refreshingly candid and cautionary perspective. While he acknowledges that AI tools like Claude Code have made it faster and cheaper than ever to build and launch products, he warns that founders are falling into a dangerous trap he calls "dark flow," mindlessly generating code and demos without actually learning, testing, or getting real customer feedback. He argues that the MVP is not the artifact itself, but the experiment and the learning that comes from it. Eric also raises serious concerns about vibe coding, the practice of using AI to generate software that even its creators don't fully understand. He believes this is a ticking time bomb that could lead to a Chernobyl style disaster when AI generated, unreviewable code finds its way into mission critical applications. The episode also covers the state of venture capital in the enterprise AI space, where Eric sees echoes of the dot com bubble, with enormous wealth being generated alongside questionable value creation. He shares his thoughts on OpenAI vs. Anthropic, the future of SaaS, the robotaxi wars, and why he still doesn't understand what Bitcoin is actually for. Eric closes with a preview of his new book, Incorruptible, available May 26th, which digs deeper into principled entrepreneurship and long term thinking in business. Whether you're a first time founder or a seasoned investor, this episode is packed with hard won wisdom from one of Silicon Valley's most thoughtful voices.

Abe Smith on Building Zoom to $4.1B, WebEx's Rise, and Why AI Is Bigger Than the Internet

What does it actually feel like to be inside a company growing faster than anything the world had ever seen? Abe Smith knows. As one of the key leaders at Zoom during the pandemic, he watched the company go from $600M to $4.1B in revenue in just 24 months and 10 million to 300 million active users in four months. Yeah. Four months. In this episode of the FLF Skin in the Game Podcast, Saxon sits down with Abe Smith, Silicon Valley veteran, LP at Florida Funders, and one of the most globally experienced operators in enterprise SaaS to unpack the wild ride of building some of the most iconic tech companies of the last 25 years. From joining WebEx before Cisco's record-breaking $3.2B acquisition, to looking Eric Yuan in the eye and promising $1B in international revenue at Zoom (and delivering it in 18 months thanks to a little thing called COVID), Abe's stories are the kind you don't usually hear from the inside. They also get into what made Zoom's culture so different, why Silicon Valley still matters, what it takes to spot a real founder, and the big one whether the next generational AI company can be built right here in Florida. If you're a founder, investor, or just someone who loves a great business story, this one's for you. 🎙️ Subscribe, like, and share and if you're building something special, you know who to call.

Brian Hollins: From Stanford & Goldman Sachs to Raising an Institutional Venture Fund

In this episode of Skin in the Game, Saxon Baum sits down with Brian Hollins, co-founder of Collide Capital, for a wide ranging conversation on venture capital, institutional fundraising, and the mindset required to build a differentiated early-stage firm. Brian’s story begins just outside Washington, D.C., where he grew up as the oldest of three brothers in a disciplined and competitive household. His middle brother, Mack Hollins, famously received no college football offers, walked on at UNC, and went on to build a nine-year NFL career that includes a Super Bowl championship. His youngest brother served in the Marines. That foundation of resilience, accountability, and high standards continues to shape Brian’s approach to leadership and investing. The conversation traces his path from Stanford, where a culture of ambition and innovation pushes students to think boldly, to Goldman Sachs, where he helped build the Emerging Entrepreneurs Coverage Group. During that time, he learned how to create real value for founders before ever writing a check, including early work supporting companies like Plaid. Those experiences laid the groundwork for how he thinks about venture capital today. Brian also explains why he approached business school intentionally, using it as a strategic platform to build relationships and lay the foundation for launching Collide Capital. The discussion highlights the difference between raising a fund and building a firm, and what it takes to earn long-term institutional LP support. The episode concludes with a look at Collide Capital’s investment focus on fintech infrastructure, supply chain and logistics, and the future of Gen Z in the workforce and why the best founders are relentlessly focused on solving one core problem. A thoughtful and candid discussion on building with intention and playing the long game. Tune in to this episode. You don’t want to miss this one!

Suneera Madhani: The $1B Playbook They Never Taught Women

The founder behind Orlando's first unicorn, Stax, and now, Worth AI, join sus on a new episode of Skin in the Game. Suneera Madhani shares her scrappy story of turning a dream into a billion-dollar fintech business with her brother, exiting their first company together, and how they landed on the idea for their latest venture, an AI-based onboarding & underwriting workflow automation platform, where she currently serves as Chief Evangelist Officer. Suneera also shares about founding CEO School, a podcast and platform giving women the "Have-It-All" formula to scale like real CEOs, and offers some secrets as to why second-time founders move faster. They discuss how AI can enable leaner teams with outsize output and zero in on why Suneera remains deeply passionate about building in Florida.