The VentureFuel Visionaries

The VentureFuel Visionaries

Visionaries are defined as having extraordinary foresight and imagination. Those who can see what isn't there. They can imagine the unimaginable and they have the grit to make it happen. Business Visionaries are the change-agents embracing new opportunities to drive outsized results. From the C-Suite to the up-and-coming disruptors, they are blazing new paths, discovering inventive solutions and powering the future. Join us each week as we speak with these Visionaries: the entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders driving transformative change across business and society.

Episodes

July 23, 2025 28 mins
Now in its seventh year, the Real California Milk Excelerator has become a powerhouse for commercializing breakthrough dairy innovations. With over 60 startups and 100+ mentors participating to date, the program continues to elevate the dairy category by fueling scalable, consumer-ready products. In this episode, Bob Carroll, CEO of the California Milk Advisory Board, shares what’s new in the program and why dairy is having a major...
Mark as Played
Fatih Nayebi is the Vice President of Data & AI at ALDO Group where he leads AI initiatives that transform retail operations and customer experiences. He’s also a Faculty Lecturer at McGill University and the author of Foundations of Agentic AI for Retail, the first book on autonomous AI systems in retail. He demystifies agentic ai, federated learning and the promise of A2A (agents to agents) and while these advances will still nee...
Mark as Played
Join our Founder & CEO, Fred Schonenberg, alongside Laura Plunkett, Vice President, Startup Engagement, Head of Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs, and Marc Silberman, Partner at Comcast Ventures, for a fireside chat entitled From Pilots to Portfolios: Comcast’s Integrated Corporate Growth Startup Strategy recorded earlier this year during the Global Corporate Venturing & Innovation Summit 2025. The discussion delves into how LIFT Labs...
Mark as Played
Tahaji Felder, a seasoned social entrepreneur, corporate innovator and community leader. She has over a decade of experience supporting startups and founders to accelerate their emerging brands. Her TEDx on the power of embracing your unique voice is simply awesome. She has launched her own lifestyle brand, is a “Corporate Champion”, has mentored over 150 entrepreneurs, and is a champion of inclusive innovation through program lead...
Mark as Played
VentureFuel’s Visionary of the Year is an honor voted on by peers in corporate innovation for the change agent who seizes new opportunities that drive outsized results. This year’s winner, Charlotte Newman, is the former Global Head of Underrepresented Founder and Investor Startup Business Development at AWS, former founder, and a passionate advocate in the Senate and US House of Representatives for diversity, equity, and inclusio...
Mark as Played
Valentina Assenova is the Edward B. and Shirley R. Shils Endowed Term Assistant Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She is renowned for her insightful research on entrepreneurship and innovation, particularly in how cultural and societal factors influence entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world. She recently released a study “Exploring the relationship between accelerator program design an...
Mark as Played
On today’s show we’re excited to welcome Rick Peng, the Innovation Hub Manager and Digital Licensing Professional at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. We talk about how your organization can build an outside-in, external innovation program to deliver outsized results. Rick breaks down the secret sauce of the MSK Innovation Hub, an accelerator program designed to encourage collaborations between Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer...
Mark as Played
Mark as Played
Since 2019, Kasey has been the President of both the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council and the North American Blueberry Council where he is dedicated to making blueberries the world’s favorite fruit through strategic marketing, industry collaboration, and innovation. He has led initiatives like the "Grab a Boost of Blue" campaign and launched "The Business of Blueberries" podcast to connect and educate the industry. We discuss the ne...
Mark as Played
Ethan Austin is the Founding Partner of Outside VC, a pre-seed venture fund dedicated to backing “outsider” founders. He is a seasoned entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and advocate for financial inclusion. Before Outside VC, Ethan co-founded GiveForward, the world’s first medical crowdfunding platform, which raised over $200 million to help families cover medical expenses and was later acquired by GoFundMe. Today, Ethan shares ins...
Mark as Played
Maija Palmer is the Editor-in-Chief of Global Corporate Venturing (GCV), a community and media platform that helps corporations drive innovation through strategic investments and partnerships with startups., Maija is one of the top leading voices in corporate venturing and we talk about the evolution of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), how corporations best utilize Venture Clienting and the relationship between strategic and finan...
Mark as Played
George Sauter is an accomplished healthcare executive with decades of experience driving innovation to transform legacy systems with meaningful results. As the former Chief Strategy Officer at John Muir Health, George has been at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technologies through impactful partnerships to improve patient care and operational efficiency. His expertise spans clinical transformation, strategic planning, an...
Mark as Played
In this episode, we dive into the breakthrough trends and innovations unveiled at Expo West 2025. Our very own Innovation team members, Katrina Zheleznyak and Beau Bergman break down the highlights from this massive event, which brought together over 65,000 industry professionals and more than 3,000 exhibitors. From game-changing products to sustainable solutions and cutting-edge technologies, they share key takeaways that showcase...
Mark as Played
From Clayton Christensen to Steve Wozniak to Mookie Wilson, we cover a lot of ground with Seth Adler who is the head of IMI Media at Informa and a driving force behind All Things Insights and All Things Innovation. Seth has spent his career bringing people together through dynamic content, including events, podcasts, and written works. He’s also played a pivotal role in shaping conversations at industry-leading events like FEI: Fro...
Mark as Played
Jim Lecinski, Clinical Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, has over 30 years of marketing experience, including a distinguished 12-year tenure as Vice President of Customer Solutions for the Americas at Google. He is a leading expert in marketing strategy and digital transformation, best known for pioneering the concept of the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), which revolutionized how consum...
Mark as Played
Midwest Dairy represents over 4,000 dairy farms across a 10-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma. Their mission is to build dairy demand by inspiring consumer confidence in dairy products and production practices. Sidney Herr, the Research & Innovation Manager at Midwest Dairy, plays a pivotal role in advancing dairy innovation, par...
Mark as Played
Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin, authors of The Insider's Guide to Innovation at Microsoft, delve into the strategies and practices that have driven Microsoft's most groundbreaking innovations over the past 50 years. From the Xbox revolution to the rise of Bing in AI, Dean and JoAnn share behind-the-scenes stories and insights into the company's approach to innovation. We discuss the risks of fast-following, how not to “get Googled,...
Mark as Played
Hans Balmaekers is the Chief of Innov8rs, a global community dedicated to empowering corporate innovators. Hans has spent over a decade collaborating and learning about how to innovate within the world’s top organizations and shares some of his top tips with us, such as how the best corporate innovators have a day job (innovation, the work), a night job (gathering support and buy-in) and a weekend job (transforming ways of working)...
Mark as Played
In this episode of VentureFuel Visionaries, we explore how collaboration drives innovation with five visionary leaders. From AWS’s Charlotte Newman on global founder support to LG’s Marita McGinn on equity-free startup models, we dive into the power of partnerships. MassRobotics’ Sokwoo Rhee shares insights on public-private alliances, REI’s Dan Kihanya highlights community-driven growth, and ExxonMobil’s Kyle J. Basler-Reeder expl...
Mark as Played
On today's show, we have Leslie Shannon, the Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting at Nokia, where she specializes in identifying disruptive technologies that are shaping the future of connectivity. She is an accomplished author of two influential books: "Interconnected Realities," which explores the Metaverse, and "Virtual Natives." We discuss everything from the timeline for GenAl adoption in Hollywood to Al Cat Doors and Autonom...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

    On Purpose with Jay Shetty

    I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

    The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.