Claim OwnershipSmart Humans with Slava Rubin
Subscribed: 6Played: 273
Subscribe
© Vincent
Description
Smart Humans explores the world of alternative investments. From Venture to Collectibles, NFTs to Real Estate, Art to Debt and beyond - we discuss a new world of investment opportunities and the catalysts that impact their demand. Join our host Slava Rubin as he talks with entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders across the diverse ecosystem.
Any data, text, or other content on this page is provided as general market information and not as investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future results. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital.
Any data, text, or other content on this page is provided as general market information and not as investment advice. Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future results. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital.
92 Episodes
Reverse
Ben Miller is Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise, America's largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment manager. Fundrise’s mission is to use technology to build a better financial system for the individual investor, one that is simpler, lower cost, more reliable and transparent.Since launching America’s first online real estate investment platform in 2012, Fundrise has now become the largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment manager in the country. From private credit to real estate private equity to growth-stage venture capital, Fundrise offers investors exposure to some of the most prized asset classes in the world.Prior to Fundrise, Ben has decades of experience in real estate and finance. As Managing Partner of WestMill Capital Partners and President of Western Development Corporation, Ben was responsible for acquiring, developing, and financing more than $500 million worth of property.
Recorded 10/15/25Vincent's Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discuss the current state and future prospects of SpaceX, exploring its growth trajectory, revenue streams, and the impact of its Starlink internet service. The discussion also covers the technological advancements with Starship, the competitive landscape in the space industry, and the investment opportunities and risks associated with SpaceX.
Vincent CEO Eric Cantor and ARK Invest's Cathie Wood, EquityZen's Atish Davda, and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund explore the evolving landscape of private markets and venture capital, focusing on how individual investors can navigate these opportunities. The panel discusses emerging pre-IPO companies, innovations in fintech, national security, and the future of space exploration, as well as the potential of quantum computing. Insights are shared on investment strategies, product risks, and the importance of understanding market dynamics.
Recorded 8/13/25Vincent co-founder Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discuss the design startup Figma's recent IPO, its competitive landscape, financial metrics, and the impact of AI on the design software market. They explore Figma's core products, growth potential, and the risks associated with its valuation. The conversation also touches on the broader implications of AI in the design space and the future projections for Figma as a public company.
Sanford Blumenthal has been active in the fields of commercial real estate and investment finance for over 15 years. At Lightstone, Sanford has closed over $3 billion of completed acquisitions, developments, and financings. Mr. Blumenthal is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, deal structuring, and due diligence across the residential, hospitality, office, industrial, retail, and land sectors. During his tenure at Lightstone, Sanford has been instrumental in the strategic development of lifestyle-oriented hotels in major gateway markets, with a primary focus on the Moxy brand. Sanford specializes in opportunistic deals with intricate capital structures.
Arjun Sethi is co-CEO of Kraken, one of the most secure and enduring cryptocurrency platforms. He is also Chairman of Tribe Capital, a leading venture capital firm managing $1.7B in assets, with investments in Block, OpenAI, Rippling, Slack and xAI among others.Previously, Arjun was a Partner at Social Capital, where he led the venture team. He co-founded two startups—LOLapps (acquired by 6waves) and MessageMe (acquired by Yahoo). He joined Yahoo’s executive team to lead data and analytics teams and run mobile and emerging products. He also served as a Board Observer, helping to oversee the investment in Alibaba. Arjun has also incubated and co-founded Termina.ai, Kapital, and Foundation Robotics.
Mike Sall is the founder and CEO of Heron Finance, an SEC-registered investment advisor, making investing in the world's leading private market funds more accessible. Earlier in his career, Mike led product analytics at Coinbase, served as Head of Data Science at Medium, and worked in analytics and product roles at Adobe and Deloitte. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tim Draper founded Draper Associates, DFJ and the Draper Venture Network, a global network of venture capital funds. Funded Coinbase, Baidu, Tesla, Skype, SpaceX, Twitch, Hotmail, Focus Media, Robinhood, Athenahealth, Box, Cruise Automation, Carta, Planet, PTC and 15 other unicorns from early/first rounds.He is a supporter and global thought leader for entrepreneurs everywhere, and is a leading spokesperson for Bitcoin and decentralization, having won the Bitcoin US Marshall’s auction in 2014, invested in over 50 crypto companies, and led investments in Coinbase, Ledger, Tezos, and Bancor, among others.He is regularly featured on all major networks as a proponent for entrepreneurship, innovative governance, free markets and Bitcoin, and has received various awards and honors including the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s “Entrepreneur of the World,” and is listed as one of the top 100 most powerful people in finance by Worth Magazine, the top 20 most influential people in Crypto by CryptoWeekly, #1 most networked VC by AlwaysOn, #7 on the Forbes Midas List, member of the Global Guru 30 Startup Gurus in the world, and #48 most influential Harvard Alum.
Recorded 6/12/25Slava Rubin, Jan-Erik Asplund and Christine Healey explore the investment landscape surrounding Elon Musk's companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI. The discussion also covers the risks associated with investing in Musk's ventures, and the unique characteristics of the Musk ecosystem.
Vincent’s Slava Rubin, Grayscale’s Zach Pandl, and Fundstrat’s Sean Farrell discussed the future of digital assets beyond Bitcoin, looking at the rise of digital asset treasuries, the implications of tokenization, and the growing importance of stablecoins in the financial ecosystem. The experts also provide insights into how to access crypto investments, the challenges of pricing and valuation, and make predictions for the future of the crypto market.
Dr. Nicole Paulk is the CEO, Founder, and President of Siren Biotechnology and has dedicated her career to advancing the field of gene therapy. With nearly two decades of expertise, Nicole has been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge advances to propel the field of gene therapy forward for a wide range of diseases. Nicole has held various leadership positions in academia and industry and most notably was an Assistant Professor of AAV Gene Therapy in the UCSF Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics before leaving to found Siren. Nicole has a B.S. in Medical Microbiology, a Ph.D. in Viral Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine from OHSU and completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship and Instructorship in Human Gene Therapy at Stanford University prior to starting her lab at UCSF. Nicole is a pioneer in the development of next-generation AAV platforms for gene repair, gene transfer and gene editing, directed evolution for novel engineered capsid evolution, and comparative multi-omic approaches to interrogate translational AAV biology.
Mark Klein is the Chairman, President, and CEO of SuRo Capital, a publicly traded investment fund that seeks to invest in high-growth, venture-backed private companies. A director of Learneo (formerly Course Hero) since 2020, Mr. Klein is also a current board member of a New York Stock Exchange-listed special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”), Churchill Capital Corp VII, for which he has served since February 2021. Additionally, since 2012, he has been Managing Member and Majority Partner at M. Klein & Company, LLC, an investment banking and advisory firm. Before joining SuRo, Mark held positions including Chairman and CEO at several public and private companies and served on a variety of corporate boards. He earned a bachelor’s degree with high distinction in Business Administration from Emory University and an MBA from the J. L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Blake Hughes is currently Managing Director at InfraHub Compute and Vice President of Investment Sales at NexGen Cloud.
Originally recorded on 4/22/25Slava Rubin of Vincent, Josh Kampel of Worth Media, and Jan-Erik Asplund, co-founder of Sacra, discussed how investors should approach the emerging AI ecosystem and its most promising companies.
Atish Davda is the co-founder and CEO of EquityZen, a marketplace for private investments, where he has driven product development, built the leadership team, and led operations since its founding 12 years ago. Previously, he was VP of Product at Ampush, launching its New York office, and began his career at AQR Capital Management, helping manage the firm’s $4B Global Stock Selection strategy.
Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Marcelo Ballvé of Sacra discuss the evolution and current state of Stripe, the $90 billion payments company. They explore Stripe's business model, revenue streams, competitive landscape, and future growth potential, including the impact of stablecoins and AI on its operations. The discussion also includes Christine Healey of Healey Pre-IPO who discusses investment opportunities in Stripe and the dynamics of accessing shares in the company.
Christine Healey is the Founder of HEALEY PRE-IPO, a concierge Pre-IPO broker service helping people invest in private tech stocks – the simple, personal way. Previously, Christine was the Head of Private Markets at Destiny and the Portfolio Manager of Destiny’s Pre-IPO fund (NYSE:DXYZ), as well as early employee and Senior Director at Forge (NYSE:FRGE), working in both San Francisco and Hong Kong. Christine has closed ~$600m+ of private tech unicorn transactions to date and has spent close to a decade specializing in Pre-IPO investments. See healeypreipo.com for more information or to sign up for mailing list.This discussion is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an affiliation with or endorsement of any company, and does not constitute a recommendation, offer to sell, or solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Investments in private companies are offered only through appropriate offering materials and accreditation requirements apply as defined under SEC Regulation D. Investments in private companies involve high risk, including the risk of complete loss of capital. These investments are illiquid, through a variety of structures including SPVs, may be difficult or impossible to resell, and may not ever result in an IPO or other liquidity event. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The speaker may receive compensation in connection with certain transactions discussed. There is no guarantee these private companies will achieve any specific valuation, and returns can vary widely and may underperform public markets. They may also involve additional risks not present in public market investments.
Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund discuss Klarna, a leading buy now, pay later (BNPL) company, exploring its business model, revenue streams, competitive landscape, and future outlook as it approaches a potential IPO.
Recorded 3/18/25Vincent founder Slava Rubin and Sacra's Jan-Erik Asplund break down CoreWeave, the AI infrastructure powerhouse about to IPO at a $35B valuation. They discuss that upcoming IPO, the competitive landscape, and CoreWeave’s future prospects. They also analyze the company's rapid growth, its relationship with NVIDIA and its unique market position.Since the discussion CoreWeave has gone public and seen its share price rise by 160% as of August 4.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States