Catalyst by Camber Creek

Camber Creek
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Camber Creek invests in entrepreneurs who are reshaping entire industries. Our podcast Catalyst features interviews with leaders of this caliber in the startup world and far beyond. These are conversations that spark something, insights from some of the most interesting people we’ve met and want to get to know, leaders we admire, business executives, and diverse experts with something to say about why the world should be just a little bit different. But they don't stop at ideas; they have the know-how to make it happen. www.cambercreek.com

  1. One Community, Three Segregated Churches, and an Experiment in Democracy

    3 DAYS AGO

    One Community, Three Segregated Churches, and an Experiment in Democracy

    In 2013, Jason Green left his position at the White House—a position he had worked most of his life to obtain—to sit with his terminally ill grandmother and be an audience for the stories she knew about their family and the community they all grew up in. If you stop the description there, it may sound quaint and commendable. But what he learned was that the person he thought of as “Sweet Grandma Green” was a community organizer—and a bit of a radical—who helped merge three churches, two white and one Black, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jason thought he would be the family archivist. Instead, he became convinced that the ordinary people he loved and grew up with had something urgent to teach us about the unfinished work of American democracy. His new book is Too Precious to Lose: A Memoir of Family, Community, and Possibility. We spoke a few weeks before its publication. 1:18 Jason’s book is about hope rooted in lived experience rather than abstract optimism. 2:40 Jason’s multifaceted background and his time in the White House. 4:40 Jason recounts working on local and national political campaigns, including witnessing Barack Obama’s 2004 DNC speech and deciding to support his presidential run. 6:10 Jason’s uncynical view of politics 10:00 Leaving a “good government job” 11:00 Money can be a catalyst rather than a corrupting force 16:30 The power of intergenerational conversations 18:50 Quince Orchard, its farming roots and segregated history 21:00 The Black and white Methodist congregations in Quince Orchard lived parallel but largely separate lives for decades. 23:00 Economic decline and shrinking membership force the congregations to confront the possibility of merging. 24:20 The impact of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination 27:00 Jason’s initial disbelief upon learning that his own grandmother helped lead what he now recognizes as a radical act of integration 29:00 The real miracle was not simply coming together but the decades-long commitment to staying together. 36:00 Civic infrastructure and small relational bridges make large-scale reconciliation possible when crises strike. 40:00 Jason’s 102-year-old great-uncle still drives weekly to the integrated church.

    47 min
  2. We Need a “Do-Something” Moment for Energy Affordability

    11 FEB

    We Need a “Do-Something” Moment for Energy Affordability

    Energy costs keep rising. In October 2025, at least four states saw utility revenue per kilowatt hour jump more than 20% year over year, and more than 10 states saw increases in the double digits. Most Americans haven’t seen headlines like this since the oil embargo during the Carter administration. Heather Reams knows what it will take to fix this. As President and CEO of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, she leads an effort to find solutions that Republicans can say yes to. She’s a Republican talking to Republicans about meeting others in the middle on issues like climate change and sustainability. The good news is that while bipartisanship is hard, Heather has proof that compromise solutions are more durable. The bad news is that she believes we may need a “do-something moment”—an acute crisis—before there’s enough focus and political will to fix the electricity grid. 1:30 The mission of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES). Why engaging Republicans on climate and energy policy is central to durable reform. 5:30 Heather has seen Republicans become more willing to acknowledge climate change. 6:40 Meeting lawmakers where they are, using state-specific economic and employment realities 8:20 Solar and clean energy have gained Republican support in regions where they create local economic benefits. 11:43 Advocacy organizations help count votes and build coalitions. 16:40 The US has abundant energy resources but struggles with transmission, permitting, and grid constraints. 22:00 In Heather’s view, divided government often produces better bipartisan solutions on major issues. 22:30 Energy transmission reform may require compromise on states’ rights and federal authority. 23:00 Heather introduces the idea of a “do-something moment,” a crisis forcing policymakers to act 27:00 How the business community fits into energy and climate policymaking. 35:02 CRES’s biggest accomplishments

    44 min
  3. AI is Biased. Latimer Wants to Fix That.

    4 FEB

    AI is Biased. Latimer Wants to Fix That.

    ChatGPT is biased. So are Claude, Gemini, Grok, and even non-computer-based reasoning systems—that is, people. Computers have inherited and amplified many of our blind spots. But is it okay to acknowledge that? And if it is, what should we do about it? John Pasmore is answering that question. John is founder and CEO of Latimer, a model that can work on its own or in concert with larger foundation models to create more robust and accurate results for queries that require an understanding of Black history. Latimer has traction with educational institutions and a partnership with Grammarly—early signs of success. But what is the right metaphor for Latimer’s function? If it’s relevant only for specific queries, maybe it’s a microscope. But if foundation models simply aren’t comprehensive enough, then tools like Latimer are more like glasses or contact lenses—something people need to use far more often. Which analogy customers agree with may determine the company’s trajectory. 3:20 How dissatisfaction with corporate banking culture motivated John to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. 3:50 Growing a nightlife guide into a profitable print magazine and ultimately leaving banking to focus on media. 6:40 Getting Russell Simmons’ attention and bringing him on as a partner 7:30 Present at the creation of hip hop’s boom 12:10 Wanting a deeper understanding of how technology actually works so much that he pursued another degree 15:30 John describes identifying bias in AI as both a moral issue and a commercial opportunity. 20:00 Partnering with universities, including HBCUs, to digitize and activate archival materials 22:10 Latimer plans to create a marketplace where content owners can license data on their own terms. 25:00 How Latimer measures and benchmarks bias-reduction in AI outputs. 27:30 Political resistance complicates conversations about bias and inclusivity in AI. 28:30 Latimer’s relevance in healthcare 32:30 John explains why he is not interested in selling Latimer to a large tech company. 35:50 John confirms that the company is approaching cash-flow positivity and preparing for a major announcement.

    47 min
  4. Behind the Scenes of Owning Manhattan

    28 JAN

    Behind the Scenes of Owning Manhattan

    This is a very special episode of Catalyst, one that offers privileged access to information that was not revealed on one of Netflix's most popular shows. Owning Manhattan is a reality TV series about SERHANT., one of the fastest-growing real estate brands on the planet. Season 2 dropped on December 5, 2025, and within days reached Netflix’s global top-10 list. SERHANT. is a Camber Creek portfolio company combining media and technology to drive sales. At first glance, it’s not obvious why a venture capital firm would invest in a company that is the focus of a reality TV show. But SERHANT.’s founder Ryan Serhant explains better than anyone why this makes perfect sense. Most people think a widget—it could be a Corvette, or a toothbrush, even a house—is the product. But for Ryan and his team, attention is the product. Earn people’s focus. Let them in on who you are and what you’re building—and everything, including, potentially, their next home purchase, will flow from that. Camber Creek General Partner Jeffrey Berman led the investment in SERHANT. and is the catalyst for the cliffhanger that ends season 2. He sat down with Ryan in late December to talk about the show, how very real some of those reality TV moments are, and SERHANT.’s future. Should we prepare for Owning Madrid? Or Owning Dubai perhaps?

    41 min
  5. What Happens When You Insist Work Should be Anything But Boring?

    21 JAN

    What Happens When You Insist Work Should be Anything But Boring?

    How much money would you give up to make your job a lot more interesting and fun? A few thousand dollars? Tens of thousands? For Atit Jariwala, the answer might be millions. Atit is the founder and CEO of Bridgeton, a real estate company that creates and manages distinctive properties, including boutique hotels. Each Bridgeton property starts from scratch: a new concept, a new location, and a backstory that informs countless decisions. The effort and resources Bridgeton puts into a single building could easily produce three or four cookie-cutter branded hotels that reliably generate revenue. But Atit thinks that’s boring. And he’s convinced the 1,500 people who work at Bridgeton to do things the hard way—or, as he sees it, the fun way. He spoke with Lionel Foster and Camber Creek General Partner Jeffrey Berman about why it’s worth it. 1:15 Atit explains his personal philosophy of building businesses he genuinely enjoys and stepping away when work stops being interesting. 2:05 Bridgeton’s operations include boutique hotels, restaurants, and office buildings 3:10 The difference between true boutique hotels vs. “independent” hotels 4:05 Real estate with a point of view 6:44 Atit details Bridgeton’s scale, including roughly $2 billion in assets under management and more than 60 properties. 8:01 Each property is designed to stand on its own with a distinct identity rather than a uniform brand template. 15:00 Atit’s love-hate relationship with online travel agencies (OTAs) 16:35 How Bridgeton avoids hospitality’s usually high staff-turnover rate 25:30 Many Bridgeton projects are “Mission Impossible” deals that are hard to finance and execute. 26:10 Waiting 10 to 15 years before you can break ground 33:30 Atit explains why his “rifle, not shotgun” investment style prioritizes individual properties over portfolio uniformity. 42:50 Automation, the future of service work, and the rising value of genuine human hospitality. 45:30 Lionel pitches a White Lotus-inspired immersive hotel experience with a live murder mystery. 49:40 Atit’s fintech startup, Erithmitic. 51:30 Using technology, including artificial intelligence, to modernize underwriting and asset management workflows. 53:35 Is Erithmitic a true venture-scale opportunity or a durable cash-flow business?

    57 min
  6. Identify What Works Then Tune Out Everything Else

    14 JAN

    Identify What Works Then Tune Out Everything Else

    Brad Hargreaves has built his career and several businesses on learning how to act on feedback about what's working while tuning out everything else. The lessons that helped him make thousands of dollars at a time selling furniture as part of a side hustle when he was an undergrad at Yale also helped him build a company that eventually sold for $412 million. There have been big losses along the way too. Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. If it looks like Brad is having fun, and it definitely does, it may be because he's learned to not lose his head during any of the twists and turns. 1:00 Brad is a serial entrepreneur 3:31 Discovering Yale’s surplus card catalogs and turning a $50 purchase into a $3,000 eBay sale 8:43 Founding General Assembly. Graduating into the global financial crisis led Brad to identify a gap between overeducated workers and unmet digital skills demand. 11:25 Explosive growth and a lucrative exit 13:38 Brad explains that success comes less from perfect foresight and more from fast iteration and learning from early signals. 17:25 Founding Common: how housing challenges for students and employees inspired the idea behind co-living 19:20 Intense investor interest in co-living during the WeWork era and the rapid influx of capital. 21:10 The 2022 sale of Common and its eventual bankruptcy 25:15 What it’s like operating at the red-hot center of intense venture capital attention 29:00 Venture capital is jet fuel. If used incorrectly, you can blow yourself up. 35:15 Major successes and failures can affect your sense of identity. 38:32 How writing and publishing led organically to founding Thesis Driven. 40:20 Thesis Driven’s model: audience-first product development across data, education, and capital markets. 44:30 Surpassing $2 million in annual recurring revenue 46:10 How “building in public”, in plain view of potential customers, builds trust and engagement

    48 min
  7. How Top Performers in One Field Become Owners Instead of Employees

    7 JAN

    How Top Performers in One Field Become Owners Instead of Employees

    In many industries, top performers make other people far more money than they get to keep themselves. Think about professional athletes—millionaires playing for franchises owned by billionaires. In other fields, the value a top salesperson drives for a brand is often only a fraction of what they earn in commissions. That’s because building and running the infrastructure of a company pulls them away from what they do best. But what if that weren’t the case? What if someone offered all that infrastructure as a service, so you could become the brand, the owner, and your own boss? That’s what Guy Gal, Co-Founder and CEO of Side, is building for real estate agents across the country. Side handles back-office operations and partners with agents on marketing with the explicit goal of empowering agents to build and own their own brands. It may be the largest brokerage you’ve never heard of. Guy discussed all of this with Camber Creek General Partner Jeffrey Berman and Head of Platform Lionel Foster. 1:53 A “$24 billion invisible brokerage” 3:05 Most productive agents already run businesses but do not own them, because brokerage infrastructure distracts from client service. 5:02 How Side collaborates with agents 8:07 Side’s unusually high gross margins 11:30 Why Side’s churn is so low 15:10 Guy says most brokerage-built marketing stacks serve the brokerage’s interests, not the agent’s. 18:15 Reducing agent workload and brokerage costs per transaction 23:40 Delivering same-day commissions 25:30 Guy shares stories of agents completing offers and amendments entirely from their phones while traveling. 26:05 Up next: voice-driven contract amendments and hands-free transaction management 29:05 Why agents working with Side are notoriously difficult for competitors to recruit 31:20 The two main reasons partners leave Side 36:27 Guy explains why Side should be valued as a technology company rather than a traditional brokerage 44:10 Managing customer acquisition costs in a highly fragmented real estate industry 48:00 Why Side chose sustainable growth during market contraction despite pressure to accelerate. 50:35 Jeffrey asks Guy to forecast the future of real estate brokerage over the next decade. 51:25 Guy argues the industry is structurally biased toward part-time agents and explains why that model is breaking down. 52:45 Guy outlines a future with fewer, more professional agents handling more transactions through apprenticeship-style pathways. 54:10 Guy explains how recent rule changes governing commissions may accelerate consolidation toward experienced professionals.

    56 min
  8. This Grammy-Winning Orchestra Conductor Wants You to Stop Being Afraid of Classical Music

    31/12/2025

    This Grammy-Winning Orchestra Conductor Wants You to Stop Being Afraid of Classical Music

    In this episode, we are going to do something extraordinary. We are going to demystify classical music with the help of a Grammy-winning maestro, because Catalyst listeners deserve only the best. James Blachly is an orchestra conductor. He loves the three Bs: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. But he's winning acclaim for reintroducing the world to outstanding composers whose scores might literally disintegrate if not for the excavation work he and his collaborators perform. And he's making it okay to dance like a maniac to the Rite of Spring. Any industry like classical music that is designed to consistently produce peak performance can feel imposing. Excellence requires a great deal of effort. But James reminds us that all that effort isn't worth anything unless it builds connections between people. 1:15 The surreal experience of winning a Grammy over Zoom 2:45 The M word 5:10 Elitism within classical music 6:00 James is proud to be a bridge into classical music and describes orchestral listening as one of the most profound shared human experiences. 11:30 What hearing a great orchestra in a great hall and attending a Major League Baseball game for the first time have in common 12:40 An orchestral performance is uniquely designed to produce peak human experiences on a regular basis 16:16 Jame’s upbringing. He did not grow up in a castle. 20:28 Experiential Orchestra lives up to its title 22:10 The Rite of Spring dance party 23:28 A lot of classical music was originally written as dance music, not for passive listening. 27:45 Imagining music from someone else’s ears 28:35 Historical concert practices differed dramatically from today’s expectations. There was food and conversation. Plus: the origin of the encore. 31:36 James’ Grammy-winning work expanding the classical canon. 39:05 Building and maintaining a career as an artist 41:00 Conductors get better with age. 43:53 How the Grammy changed James’ career

    57 min
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About

Camber Creek invests in entrepreneurs who are reshaping entire industries. Our podcast Catalyst features interviews with leaders of this caliber in the startup world and far beyond. These are conversations that spark something, insights from some of the most interesting people we’ve met and want to get to know, leaders we admire, business executives, and diverse experts with something to say about why the world should be just a little bit different. But they don't stop at ideas; they have the know-how to make it happen. www.cambercreek.com

Information

  • Creator
    Camber Creek
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Camber Creek
  • Show Website
    Catalyst by Camber Creek