Leandra Elberger

Kate Ryder grew up surrounded by entrepreneurs - her father and grandparents on both sides of the family started their own businesses and set the stage for Kate's future career. When she graduated from college, Kate dreamed of becoming a writer. She made her way through the journalism network, landing jobs at the New Yorker, writing for Hank Paulson, and eventually at the Economist, where she...

When Dan Bloom found himself on the wait list for the fellowship in VFA's early days, he set his calendar to remind him to email the COO every week to express his passion for the program. Dan's persistence paid off when he was invited to join the first class of 2012 and got a job at a startup in Cincinnati. In the two years+ that he spent in the city, Dan saw Cincinnati transform and thrive,...

You might recognize Megan from the interview she did last year about her startup studio, Human Ventures. The very model Megan created for the studio worked for her own idea and today she is working with Sam Gimbel on Clark, an AI assistant for tutors. Megan and Sam were introduced by a mutual friend who realized they were both working on similar projects in the education space. Sam had a tech...

A few months ago we heard from Charlie Kroll about his career and his new venture. This week he joins us again with his co-founder, Sallie Krawcheck, to talk about Ellevest, a company that is redefining investing for women. When Sallie first conceived of the idea for Ellevest she had no desire to bring on a co-founder. When a few people in her network encouraged Sallie to meet with Charlie, she...

Andrew Lowenthal began his career in government with the New York Department of Education, where he learned the vital importance of teaching young people about morality and ethics as early in their education as possible. His passion for social change brought him to Out in Tech, the non-profit that unites the LGBTQ and tech communities. As Executive Director, Andrew’s overseen the election of...

Toby graduated from Georgetown University with plans to work in government and, one day, become Secretary of State. After a change of heart, and as a very audacious 22 year old, Toby landed himself an internship at Gilt by knocking on doors and requesting coffee meetings with anyone who would give him their time. At the end of his internship, with no permanent spot of the Gilt team available,...

Nancy Lublin feels very strongly about law school - "it's where ideas go to die". Yet NYU Law School is exactly where she came up with the idea for Dress for Success, now a global nonprofit that promotes the economic independence of women by providing professional attire and career support. When Nancy turned 30 and Dress for Success was thriving, she left to join DoSomething.org to help them...

Ben Uyeda has always been a builder. From building swords out of car suspension leaf springs as a child to starting an architecture firm directly out of college, his passion for design has been motivated by necessity and accessibility. Ben’s first company, Free Green, creates free energy-efficient house plans and HomeMade Modern, his DIY resource for homemade furniture, gives the average person...

Martin Keen comes from a long line of craftsman. Martin's father was known to build furniture and both his father and grandfather made shoes. It is no surprise that Martin followed in their footsteps. After going to industrial design school and experiencing many injuries in a sailboat, Martin designed a sandal with protective toe gear for sailors. His successful design led to the creation of...

This week Jeremy sits down with Jon Stein, Founder & CEO of Betterment, an automated investing service that helps clients better manage and grow their wealth through smarter technology for a fraction of the cost of traditional financial services. Download this week's episode to hear Jon's journey as a Columbia Business School grad passionate about using technology to better align customers...