New episodes every Wednesday
Previously on Divot
#53 Part 2: Charlie Rocket on Manifesting Backwards, Winning Streaks & Making Impossible Dreams Real
Charlie Rocket believes your dream may already be done; time just has not caught up yet. In Part 2 of this conversation, the Dream Machine Foundation founder explains how the things that light you up can become a signal, a direction, and a reason to move before the world gives you proof.
#53: Overcoming a Brain Tumor, Losing 120 Pounds & Becoming a Nike Athlete: Charlie Rocket’s Delusional Optimism Formula
Charlie Rocket helped create major cultural moments in hip hop, working with artists like 2 Chainz, contributing to Grammy-winning campaigns, winning an Emmy, and managing some of the biggest names in music. But after facing obesity, depression, burnout, and a brain tumor, Charlie reinvented everything: he lost 120 pounds, became a Nike athlete, ran across America, and turned Dream Machine Foundation into a global movement for impossible dreams.
#52: He Built a 22M Media Empire by Interviewing Tom Cruise, Shaq, Brady & 52 Billionaires
James Dumoulin built School of Hard Knocks into a 22M-follower business media empire by turning street interviews into a new form of financial education. By 23, he had interviewed 52 billionaires and major icons like Tom Cruise, Tom Brady, and Shaquille O’Neal, after once posting hundreds of times with almost no audience.
#51: Justin Kan on Success, Happiness & Why Achievement Never Feels Enough | Twitch Founder
Justin Kan helped build Twitch into one of the most influential companies in internet history, changing gaming, streaming, and creator culture forever. After selling the company for nearly $1 billion to Amazon, becoming one of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable entrepreneurs and investors, Justin realized something uncomfortable: achievement alone does not create fulfillment.
#50: Claude, AI Agents & the End of Traditional SaaS | Navin Chaddha
Navin Chaddha is the Managing Partner of Mayfield, one of Silicon Valley’s most legendary venture capital firms with over $3B under management and more than 120 IPOs. A 17-time Forbes Midas List investor, Navin was an early backer of companies like Lyft, HashiCorp, Poshmark, SolarCity, and Nuvia, which sold to Qualcomm for $1.4B.
#49: Success, Loneliness, Ambition & Why High Performers Never Feel Enough | David Spinks
David Spinks spent years building one of the most respected communities in Silicon Valley, co-founding CMX, advising top companies on belonging, and helping define an entire industry around community building. But beneath the success, achievement, and ambition, he still felt empty.
#48: Wiz, Datadog & The Mindset Behind Billion Dollar Companies | Shardul Shah Index Ventures
Shardul Shah has backed some of the most important technology companies of the last decade. From Datadog to Wiz, his investments have helped shape the future of cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software.
#47: The 5 Types of Wealth & Why You’re Chasing the Wrong One | Sahil Bloom
Sahil Bloom grew up with one scoreboard: money. He worked his way into top private equity firms, built a career most would envy, and still felt hollow, until he started questioning what wealth actually means.
#46: Elder Neil L. Andersen (Faith Conversation with a Latter-day Saint Apostle, My Dad)
Before becoming a global spiritual leader, Neil L. Andersen was a farm boy learning discipline, responsibility, and faith long before the world ever knew his name. For Derek Andersen, this isn’t just another interview, it’s a conversation with his father.
#45: The Mindset That Builds Champions | BYU Athletic Director Brian Santiago
Brian Santiago is the Athletic Director at BYU, one of the most respected leaders in college sports. Over nearly three decades inside BYU athletics, he rose from the coaching staff to Athletic Director, helping lead one of the most competitive and values-driven programs in the country into the Big 12 and national relevance.
#44: Why You Feel Disconnected, How She Built a 600k+ Global Community | Creative Mornings Founder
Tina Roth-Eisenberg is one of the most influential community builders in the world, founder of Creative Mornings (25,000+ people, 70+ countries), and the creator behind multiple iconic products like Tattly, TeuxDeux, and CreativeMornings’ global movement. Often called the Michael Jordan of community, she has spent nearly two decades building brands, products, and spaces that bring people together at scale.
#43: Success Won’t Fix You (What a $4B CEO Learned Too Late)
Before leading a $4B company, Adam Edmunds spent years trying to prove he was good enough. From cold emailing CEOs as a student to building his first company, his journey started with uncertainty and a relentless need for validation.
#42: How Crumbl Founder Built a $1B Cookie Empire From One Cookie
Before building Crumbl, Jason McGowan was a tech founder focused on virality, creating products used by over 120 million people. He then made a bold move: leaving tech to start a simple cookie business.
#41: Stanford Negotiation Expert Reveals the Psychology of Winning Any Negotiation
Before teaching negotiation at Stanford, Stan Christensen spent decades advising leaders on high-stakes negotiations around the world. From corporate finance on Wall Street to the consulting arm of the Harvard Negotiation Project, he has worked across more than 75 countries helping leaders navigate complex negotiations where the outcome can shape companies, careers, and international relationships.
#40: How Filevine Founder Ryan Anderson Built a $200M Legal AI Platform
Before building one of the fastest-growing legal technology companies in the United States, Ryan Anderson was a practicing lawyer frustrated by deadlines, paperwork, and systems that made it easy to miss critical details. Instead of accepting the chaos of legal operations, he decided to build a better system.
#39: How Master Mechanic Dave Bell Built an 8M-Follower YouTube Empire
Before becoming one of the most respected independent mechanics in the United States, Dave Bell was a young man battling addiction, jail time, and the fear of losing everything. Over the past 36 years, he rebuilt his life the same way he rebuilds engines, with discipline, precision, and relentless ownership.
#38: Building Great Products, Product Leadership & the Future of Work with Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn)
Recorded at LinkedIn headquarters in Mountain View, this episode features Tomer Cohen, former Chief Product Officer of LinkedIn and one of the product leaders behind how over one billion professionals connect, work, and create economic opportunity at global scale.
#37: AI, Venture Capital, Faith & The Future of Work with Mamoon Hamid (Kleiner Perkins)
Recorded on Sand Hill Road at the iconic offices of Kleiner Perkins, this episode features Mamoon Hamid, one of the most influential investors of this generation. Mamoon has backed category-defining companies, including Slack, Figma, Box, Yammer, Glean, Intercom, and more, and now serves as a partner stewarding one of Silicon Valley’s most historic venture firms.
#36: AI Shopping, The Future of Commerce & Why Trust Matters More Than Tech
Before becoming a leader at the intersection of fashion, retail, and technology, Julie Bornstein built her career through persistence, curiosity, and conviction. Early on, she broke into the industry by reaching out directly to designers she admired, setting the foundation for a career that would later span Nordstrom, Sephora, Stitch Fix, and multiple consumer technology companies shaping how people discover what they wear.
#35: Investing Before Consensus, The AI Shift & What Makes Great Founders Win
Before becoming one of the most respected early-stage investors in Silicon Valley, Niko Bonatsos was an immigrant from Greece navigating academia, visas, and uncertainty while searching for opportunity in the United States. Over the next 15 years, he became a Managing Director at General Catalyst, investing in iconic companies like Snap and Discord and backing technical founders long before their ideas became obvious to the world.