Giant Ideas

Giant Ventures
  • 5.0 (13)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

Giant Ideas invites leading minds from tech, business, politics and beyond to explore the giant ideas that use technology as a force for good. Giant Ventures, founded by Cameron McLain and Tommy Stadlen, backs purpose-driven founders solving the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

  1. "A BILLION dollars came in to Mercury in a few hours" Mercury CEO on Lessons from SVB's Failure & How To Lead Through a Crisis

    18/12/2025 · BONUS

    "A BILLION dollars came in to Mercury in a few hours" Mercury CEO on Lessons from SVB's Failure & How To Lead Through a Crisis

    Immad Akhund is the Co-founder & CEO at Mercury - one of the most widely used business banking platforms globally. He is also an active investor in Silicon Valley - as an active investor in 350 startups at their earliest stages including Airtable, Substack, and Rappi.  In this episode we talk about the three photographs that define Immad's life so far, the fateful weekend of the Silicon Valley Bank failure, and his leadership lessons learnt in a time of crisis. Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    17 min
  2. Immad Akhund, CEO at Mercury: The Reality of Building a Unicorn (and Why it's Worth the Pain)

    11/12/2025

    Immad Akhund, CEO at Mercury: The Reality of Building a Unicorn (and Why it's Worth the Pain)

    Immad Akhund is the Co-founder and CEO at Mercury - one of the most widely used business banking platforms globally. He is also an active investor in Silicon Valley - as an active investor in 350 startups at their earliest stages including Airtable, Substack, and Rappi.  This year he announced that Mercury raised $300 million at $3.5 billion valuation. He also announced his $26 million fund to back early-stage startups.  In this episode we talk about why founders make the best venture investors, his experience with investors at Mercury, and what it takes to scale a unicorn. Stay tuned next week to hear episode 2 about Immad's life so far and how he dealt with the panic of the weekend Silicon Valley Bank failed. Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    30 min
  3. Bjarke Ingels Wisdom: Your Home Should Be a Portrait of You

    04/12/2025

    Bjarke Ingels Wisdom: Your Home Should Be a Portrait of You

    Today on the Giant Ideas podcast we welcome back visionary architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of  @BIGSOLUTIONS (Bjarke Ingels Group), whose work includes Google’s Silicon Valley campus, the Danish Maritime Museum, and 2 World Trade Center.  In this episode, Bjarke shares his philosophy on how your home should be a portrait of who you are. He also reflects on the three photographs that have defined his life, how his early love of drawing shaped his path to becoming an architect, and his unique design philosophy: embracing challenges and diverse demands (“Yes, is more”) to create innovative architecture. Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    16 min
  4. Turning Architectural Dreams Into Reality, with Global Architect & Founder Bjarke Ingels

    27/11/2025

    Turning Architectural Dreams Into Reality, with Global Architect & Founder Bjarke Ingels

    Today on the Giant Ideas podcast we welcome visionary architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), whose work includes Google’s Silicon Valley campus, the Danish Maritime Museum, and 2 World Trade Center.  In this episode, Bjarke shares his philosophy of “utopian pragmatism,” the inseparable link between form and function in architecture, and his thoughts on why architecture matters. Bjarke also discusses collaborations with fellow visionary Thomas Heatherwick, the economic and societal forces shaping our built environment. We discuss his ambitious “Mindfulness City” project in Bhutan, his concept of “hedonic sustainability”: designing cities and spaces that are irresistible and joyful. Tune in for a fascinating exploration of how architecture can shape a better world, insight into the Danish approach to design and sustainability, and why balancing contradictions is needed more than ever. Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    26 min
  5. Doug Bernauer Wisdom: SpaceX & Elon Musk's Secret to Ambitious Leadership

    20/11/2025 · BONUS

    Doug Bernauer Wisdom: SpaceX & Elon Musk's Secret to Ambitious Leadership

    Doug Bernauer, founder of Radiant (one of Giant’s most exciting growth investments) joins us again on the Giant Ideas podcast. We backed Radiant in their Series C round to mass produce portable nuclear reactors. The founder, Doug, worked with Elon Musk for 12 years at SpaceX - including their reusable rocket prototype and the Mars Colonisation project. In this episode, he shares the 3 photographs that define his life, what he learnt from SpaceX, and why good companies need 'unreasonable' leaders.  Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    10 min
  6. Nuclear Reactors In A Box (Radiant Founder, Doug Bernauer)

    14/11/2025

    Nuclear Reactors In A Box (Radiant Founder, Doug Bernauer)

    Today we are joined by Doug Bernauer, founder of Radiant – one of Giant’s most exciting growth investments. We backed Radiant in their Series C round. Their vision is to mass produce portable nuclear reactors. But their vision goes far beyond that. They want to first manufacture nuclear reactors for Earth - giving clean energy to remote areas. And they then want to use this profit to develop a reactor for Mars, to send it on a Starship to power the potential future civilisation of Mars. It’s a giant idea - both on this planet, and beyond. The founder, Doug, worked with Elon Musk for 12 years at SpaceX - including their reusable rocket prototype and the Mars Colonization project.  In this episode, we talk about why nuclear power’s time has finally come, how Radiant’s approach is unique, and his long term vision to deploy nuclear power on Mars. Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    39 min
  7. Halle Tecco Wisdom: Choosing a Life Partner & Prioritising Adventure

    06/11/2025 · BONUS

    Halle Tecco Wisdom: Choosing a Life Partner & Prioritising Adventure

    What are the moments that defined you? Last week we had an in depth conversation with star investor Halle Tecco about creating massively better healthcare in the US. Today, she joins us to talk about the 3 moments that defined her and the wisdom gained so far in life. From choosing a life partner, to deciding whether to have children, to choosing to leave your home town and prioritise adventure. About Halle Tecco: Halle Tecco is an entrepreneur and investor passionate about fixing the healthcare system. She is the co-founder of Co-fertility - a company rewriting the egg freezing and egg donation experience. She is also the founder of Natalist and Rock Health, one of the pioneering digital health early-stage venture funds. Now, as Course Director at Harvard Medical School and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, she supports future healthcare leaders through teaching. She is also the creator of The Heart of Healthcare Podcast, the #1 podcast in health tech, and is about to release a book, “Massively Better Healthcare: The Innovator's Guide to Tackling Healthcare's Biggest Challenges”. Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    12 min
  8. Massively Better Healthcare (Star Investor Halle Tecco)

    30/10/2025

    Massively Better Healthcare (Star Investor Halle Tecco)

    Today on the podcast, we are excited to be joined by Halle Tecco - an entrepreneur and investor passionate about fixing the healthcare system. Halle is the co-founder of Co-fertility - a company rewriting the egg freezing and egg donation experience. She is also the founder of Natalist and Rock Health, one of the pioneering digital health early-stage venture funds. Now, as Course Director at Harvard Medical School and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, she supports future healthcare leaders through teaching. She is also the creator of The Heart of Healthcare Podcast, the #1 podcast in health tech, and is about to release a book, “Massively Better Healthcare: The Innovator's Guide to Tackling Healthcare's Biggest Challenges”. We talk about: Why the US healthcare system is inefficient (from middlemen to bad incentives).Why even with more insurance coverage, many people still can’t afford care because of high deductibles.How big healthcare companies block change by using legal and regulatory power.How new ideas succeed by either working outside insurance or partnering with existing players.AI's potential to personalise medicine and lower costsBuilding a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc. Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

    27 min
See All (46)

Trailer

5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Giant Ideas invites leading minds from tech, business, politics and beyond to explore the giant ideas that use technology as a force for good. Giant Ventures, founded by Cameron McLain and Tommy Stadlen, backs purpose-driven founders solving the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

Information

  • Creator
    Giant Ventures
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Giant Ideas
  • Show Website
    Giant Ideas

You Might Also Like