Top Of The Game

The tables get turned on me once more - from host to guest - this time with Jonathan Sposato, a remarkable person who is one of Seattle's loudest and most effective cheerleaders. This is a re-release of the original published on September 25, 2025. His podcast is the aptly named: The Seattle Podcast. Jonathan interviews the leaders and experts behind the innovative thinking that makes Seattle a world-class city. From politics and science, to sports, music, and culture. He himself is one of those leaders. Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and media executive. He is the chairman and co-founder of GeekWire, an American technology news website, and owns and publishes Seattle magazine and Seattle Business magazine. Jonathan was the first person to sell not one, but two profitable companies, Picnik and Phatbits, to Google and subsequently sold a third to Shutterstock. Awesome conversation moderated by a real pro and amazing human being.

ALEJANDRO GRAJAL  Alejandro has lived and breathed the amazing natural ecosystems that make up our beloved planet. He is also an accomplished  and prolific author that currently leads Woodland Park Zoo, one of the largest zoos in America with a legacy of 126 years and one of the most important cultural and most visited institutions in Seattle.  He is internationally known for his vision to define a new relationship between humans and nature by helping to restore the deep, affective bond between people and animals. He advocates for zoos as the best community institutions to create a social movement for conservation, to foster science learning beyond the classroom, and to ensure that all people have access to nature, regardless of socioeconomic background. Before joining the zoo, Alejandro served as senior vice president for conservation, education and training at the Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo, where he headed the Center for Conservation Leadership, oversaw field conservation and research programs for the Center for the Science of Animal Welfare, and supervised education programs. Previously, he had served as executive director of international programs for the National Audubon Society and director of Latin American programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. A noted author, Alejandro’s publications include 45 peer-reviewed books, chapters, and scientific and popular articles covering topics which span the psychology of conservation, measuring the impact of environmental education, the sustainable use of natural resources and ornithology, among others. He leads the Climate Literacy Zoo Education Network (CliZEN), a coalition of zoological institutions, universities and NGOs.  In 2016, Trustees of the Chicago Zoological Society awarded him the prestigious George B. Raab Medal for Conservation Leadership, recognizing his lifelong contributions to environmental and species protection, and inspiring future generations of scientists and leaders to tackle big questions about living harmoniously with all beings on the planet.  In his spare time, he is an accomplished wildlife artist whose work has been exhibited in galleries in major cities. He currently serves on the boards of Wild Welfare, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and World Trade Center Seattle. Alejandro earned his undergraduate degree in ecology from Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela and his PhD in zoology from the University of Florida. GENERAL INFO| TOP OF THE GAME: Official website: https://topofthegame-thepod.com/ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/topofthegame-thepod/feed.xml Hosting service show website: https://topofthegame-thepod.podbean.com/ Javier's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/javiersaade  SUPPORT & CONNECT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/96934564 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551086203755 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOPOFGAMEpod Subscribe on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/vLKLE1SKjf6G Email us: [email protected]   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING – AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS

This week is America's 249th birthday and there are few things more quintessentially American than football. So we have a special treat for you, a conversation with Marissa Solis. She is the steward of the NFL brand and serves as SVP of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing. The National Football League is by far the most valuable sports league in the world. She has been instrumental in widening the aperture and appeal of the game and the enterprise. Demographics made this an imperative, technology made it possible, and with them business of sports - which is as much about playing games as it is about media and entertainment. Exhibit One (of many): the most recent NLF draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Marissa has had a remarkable career managing global brands at companies like Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo and holds degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Georgetown University.  

TOD LEIWEKE Tod is a remarkable human being, full stop. His journey’s genesis is rooted in very humble beginnings in one of the poorest counties in Missouri, punctuated by two tragedies, to becoming one of the most prolific sports executives in the United States over the last four decades. He  is currently part-owner, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Seattle Kraken and was instrumental in building the world’s first carbon neutral stadiums and a beloved institution in the city, Climate Pledge Arena. Before his current roles, he served as NFL as Chief Operating Officer running day-to-day operations of the league including football operations, media, marketing, NFL International, communications and social responsibility. Prior to rejoining the NFL, Tod  was Chief Executive Officer of Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment, which included the Tampa Bay Lightning and Amalie Arena and in his last season the team was a Stanley Cup Finalist accentuating a remarkable turnaround of the franchise.   Prior to joining the Lightning, Tod served as CEO of the Seattle Seahawks (NFL) and Vulcan Sports & Entertainment for seven years. During his tenure in Seattle he revived the Seahawks 12th Man brand, and assisted in building one of the NFL's finest 200,000sf waterfront practice facilities including access for fans to attend training camp. Concurrently he  also provided oversight of the Portland Trail Blazers (NBA) as acting President. Tod also served as first ever team President of the Seattle Sounders FC (MLS) helping set in motion the team that is now regarded as one of the model franchises in Major League Soccer then averaging over 40,000 fans per match. He is part-owner of the Sounders FC.   Preceding this, Tod was President of the Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Sports & Entertainment. He also held an executive position with the PGA TOUR and  held early career positions with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, the NBA's Golden State Warriors and a short stint as President of the Houston Rockets. TOD RELATED LINKS Wikipedia Kraken’s Future  Sounders  Downtown Seattle Association GENERAL INFO| TOP OF THE GAME: Official website: https://topofthegame-thepod.com/ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/topofthegame-thepod/feed.xml Hosting service show website: https://topofthegame-thepod.podbean.com/ Javier's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/javiersaade  SUPPORT & CONNECT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/96934564 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551086203755 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOPOFGAMEpod Subscribe on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/vLKLE1SKjf6G Email us: [email protected]   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING – AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS  

LYNDEE FLETCHER Lyndee Fletcher is CEO of VCheck GLobal and she is one of the foremost experts in the public record and reputational due diligence industry. Since joining VCheck Global in 2016 as the company's sixth hire, she has been an integral part of Vcheck's operations and technology evolution enabling Vcheck to grow 2500%.  Lyndee is by far the youngest CEO in the industry (at 30 years old) and served as President of the company in her late 20’s. She also happens to one of the only female CEOs of an institutionally backed financial and business services company.  She is passionate about transforming the speed, quality, and process by which companies mitigate risk by embracing a human-led, tech-enabled approach to diligence and investigations - from IPOs to massive real estate developments to blockbuster leveraged buy-outs to sexy venture capital investments to bank loans, structured credit, limited partner interests, law firm financial diligence and everything in between. The company serves some of the most respected, largest and sophisticated capital allocators, investment firms and financial institutions in the world   Lyndee spearheads a team focused on a human-led, technology-enabled approach to risk mitigation in the industry with strategic use of automation and AI to make diligence faster, more efficient, and higher quality - ultimately a human endeavor enabled by innovative tools. Homeschooled by her mom in a small town in Florida and starting college at 16, she embodies a new kind of leadership in this interesting and important, yet obscure, corner of the economy. Her smarts coupled with her grit and competitive drive are outsized and put her at the top of the game. Disclaimers: (1) I serve as an independent board member of the company. (2) The introduction was generated by Google’s Notebook LM. GENERAL INFO| TOP OF THE GAME: Official website: https://topofthegame-thepod.com/ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/topofthegame-thepod/feed.xml Hosting service show website: https://topofthegame-thepod.podbean.com/ Javier's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/javiersaade  SUPPORT & CONNECT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/96934564 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551086203755 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOPOFGAMEpod Subscribe on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/vLKLE1SKjf6G Email us: [email protected]   THANK YOU FOR LISTENING – AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS