Giant Ideas

Giant Ventures
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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. Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang: AI Needs Universal Basic Income

    1D AGO

    Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang: AI Needs Universal Basic Income

    Today on the Giant Ideas podcast we are joined by Andrew Yang. When Andrew Yang, a political outsider, ran for US President in 2020 his campaign hinged on a warning: he predicted that a huge number of jobs would be lost by automation. His solution was a monthly universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000, designed to offset the job losses. Now, six years later, it appears Yang might have been onto something.  Dario Amodei, CEO of AI Giant Anthropic, has predicted that half of entry level white collar jobs will be eliminated in the next 3-5 years - spiking US unemployment to over 10%. So, is UBI still the answer? Would UBI create a dystopian world of state-supported benefits, and loss of meaning? Or could UBI lead to more purpose, hope and a sense of buy-in to the American economy? Listen to find out more about UBI, why 'elite oversupply' causes social unrest, why people are severely underestimating how disruptive AI will be compared to past industrial revolutions, and why he thinks we should redesign the economy around human flourishing, not just GDP... Andrew is also the founder of a nonprofit called Humanity Forward, and he co-founded the Forward Party, a new political party in America aiming to bridge partisan divides. Today his focus is on his new company - launched in late 2025. With Noble Mobile, aiming to cut out the middle man and make mobile data cheaper for Americans. 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.

    33 min
  2. 'Sometimes People Get Confused Between Ego and Rigour': PsiQuantum Co-Founder, Jeremy O'Brien's Wisdom

    JAN 29

    'Sometimes People Get Confused Between Ego and Rigour': PsiQuantum Co-Founder, Jeremy O'Brien's Wisdom

    We welcome back Jeremy O'Brien, co-founder and CEO of PsiQuantum, a quantum computing company on a mission to deliver the first commercially useful quantum computers to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. O’Brien has dedicated 25 years to this mission and was previously a Professor of Physics & Electrical Engineering at Stanford and Bristol University. This is an episode for anyone curious to understand the person behind the technology with a goal is to unlock problems that are fundamentally out of reach today, and reinvent whole industries. In this episode, we talk about founding a company with 4 co-founders, how to keep morale high when you're in stealth for so long, his 3 photos that define his working life, and the secret to his success... 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.

    20 min
  3. PsiQuantum Co-Founder, Jeremy O'Brien: Quantum Is Sooner Than You Think

    JAN 15

    PsiQuantum Co-Founder, Jeremy O'Brien: Quantum Is Sooner Than You Think

    Today on the Giant Ideas podcast we welcome Jeremy O'Brien, co-founder and CEO of PsiQuantum, a quantum computing company on a mission to deliver the first commercially useful quantum computers to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. O’Brien has dedicated 25 years to this mission and was previously a Professor of Physics & Electrical Engineering at Stanford and Bristol University. This is an episode for anyone curious to peer into the fascinating world of quantum computing, to understand the radical changes it will have on the world if it scales - and the opportunities to transform healthcare, climate technologies, finance, transportation, security and beyond. Their goal is to unlock problems that are fundamentally out of reach today, and reinvent whole industries. In this episode, we talk about what quantum computing actually is, how soon it is coming, and what will happen when it scales. 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.

    32 min

  4. JAN 8

    Succession and HBO-hit Industry Writers Talk with Henry Mance about Writing, Power, and Corruption

    Welcome back to Giant Ideas! Happy new year. We return to normal scheduling next week, but this week we are sharing an exclusive conversation with some of the best television writers in the world right now: Succession writer Lucy Prebble, and the creators of the HBO hit Industry, Micky Down and Konrad Kay. This was conversation was recorded last year - chaired by the legendary Henry Mance, the FT's chief features writer - and was one of my favourites from our Giant Ideas event in London last year. In this conversation they get to the core of the 'character of bad business’ -  what it's like to write about the worst characters in business? What draws them to these people? Is there is an inevitability to the moral descent of business leaders with too much power? And - perhaps most importantly - how can you, our audience, avoid becoming the next Kendall Roy? 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.

    25 min
  5. "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

    12/18/2025 · 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
  6. Immad Akhund, CEO at Mercury: The Reality of Building a Unicorn (and Why it's Worth the Pain)

    12/11/2025

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

    12/04/2025

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

    11/27/2025

    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
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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 - 2026
  • Episodes
    50
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Giant Ideas
  • Show Website
    Giant Ideas

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