Corporate Venturing Insider
“Steady as She Goes”: Intel Capital Veteran Tammi Smorynski on Boards, Down-Cycles, and Why She’s Teaching the Next Generation
Interviewed August 14, 2025
Nicolas Sauvage interviews Tammi Smorynski—24-year Intel Capital veteran and now GCV Institute instructor—on her winding path from J.P. Morgan to venture and why great CVCs must balance strategic impact with financial discipline. She shares boardroom best practices (say the hard thing first, observers can be powerful, use her eight-slide handover pack) and lessons from Intel Capital’s leaders summed up by Les Vadasz’s mantra: “steady as she goes.” Smorynski compares past downturns to today’s uncertainty, offers guarded optimism for deep-tech hardware, and urges aspiring CVCs to find mentors, treat failures...
What Kind of Investor Do You Want to Be? A Conversation with Mike Smeed of InMotion Ventures
On July 21st, 2025, Corporate Venturing Insider welcomed Mike Smeed, Managing Director of InMotion Ventures, the CVC arm of Jaguar Land Rover.
In conversation with Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, Mike shared how InMotion balances strategic alignment with entrepreneurial agility through its evergreen structure, fast decision-making, and clear corporate engagement. The episode explores the central question guiding his journey: what kind of investor do you want to be?
How Game Theory, Gut Instinct, and Long-Term Thinking Shape Great Venture Capitalists: A Conversation with Matt Rhodes-Kropf
Tune into our conversation with Matt Rhodes-Kropf, Managing Partner at Tectonic Ventures and Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Interviewed on March 28th, 2025
Boundary Rules & Breakthroughs from Temple Fennell from Clean Energy Ventures
Interviewed May 5th, 2025
In Episode 108 of Corporate Venturing Insider, Nicolas Sauvage sits down with Temple Fennell, cofounder and managing partner at Clean Energy Ventures. Temple shares his journey from systems engineer to climate-focused investor, offering insights into launching the CREO Syndicate and building Clean Energy Ventures. He breaks down his investment framework—like boundary rules and watch mode—and reflects on the evolving role of CVCs in climate tech. This episode is packed with strategic lessons for investors, founders, and innovation leaders.
Bridging Founders and Funders: Lessons from Angela Lee of Columbia Business School and 37 Angels
Tune into our conversation with Angela Lee, Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Business School.
Interviewed on April 15th, 2025
In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, Nicolas Sauvage sits down with Angela Lee, founder of 37 Angels and professor at Columbia Business School, to unpack her unconventional path from founder to investor and educator. Angela shares how she built 37 Angels to close both the knowledge and diversity gaps in angel investing, while offering frameworks for diligence, decision-making, and founder evaluation. The conversation also explores the evolving role of corporate venture capital, including its strategic potential, pitfalls...
A Liberal Arts Approach to Private Equity and Venture Investing with Gustavo Schwed of NYU Stern and Princeton
Tune into our conversation with Gustavo Schwed, Professor of Finance and Professor of Management Practice at NYU Stern School of Business.
Interviewed on March 4th, 2025
https://cv-insider.com/
Flying Solo: How Bonny Simi Launched JetBlue’s Venture Arm—and Landed Joby
Join Bonny Simi, President of Operations at Joby Aviation and former founder of JetBlue Ventures to discuss her corporate venturing career.
Interviewed March 19th, 2025 at GCVI 2025 Summit in Monterey, CA.
Hosted by Nicolas Sauvage
Find the Full Episode here: https://cv-insider.com/
Chasing the Future with Steve Westly, founder of The Westly Group
In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, Steve Westly—Founder and Managing Partner of The Westly Group, and former Controller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the State of California—joins Nicolas Sauvage for a wide-ranging conversation on investing, innovation, and leadership.
Recorded live at GCV Monterey on March 20, 2025, Steve shares hard-earned lessons from his journey through public service, IPOs, and nearly two decades of venture investing. From early bets on Tesla and Luminar to his views on AI, cost curves, and the role of corporate LPs, Steve offers actionable advice for fund managers, founders, and corporate leaders alik...
How Megann Watters Turned Science-First Investing into Strategic Wins at LabCorp
Interviewed on March 19th, 2025
Megann Vaughn Watters shares her journey from biomedical engineering to one of healthcare's most strategic corporate venture funds at LabCorp. She and Nicolas Sauvage discuss lessons in sourcing innovation, managing a fund of funds, partnering with startups, managing a growing portfolio, and scaling strategic value across the enterprise.
The Global Edge: Joe LiPuma on CVC’s Strategic Role in International Expansion
Tune into our conversation with Joseph LiPuma, Associate Professor In Global Business, Strategy And Innovation at the Boston Questrom School of Business.
Interviewed on March 6th, 2025
From Private Equity to CVC: Steven N. Kaplan, One of the Galaxy’s Top Experts, Shares His Research
Tune into our conversation with Steven Kaplan, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Interviewed on March 3rd, 2025
Jeff Bussgang Talks AI-Forward Strategies, CVC Best Practices, and Flybridge’s Road to Success
Tune into our conversation with Jeffrey Bussgang, General Partner and Co-Founder, Flybridge Capital Partners; Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School, Author of the new book The Experimentation Machine.
Interviewed on February 6th, 2025
The Power of Ecosystem: Victoria Slivkoff on Juggling Three Full-Time Roles
Tune into our conversation with Victoria Slivkoff, Executive Managing Director of Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) and later the Head of Ecosystem at Walden Catalyst,
Interviewed on February 28th, 2025
Intel, Apple, and Europe's 50-Year VC Revolution: A Conversation with Oxford's Thomas Hellmann
Tune into our conversation with Thomas Hellmann, Professor at the University of Oxford's SaĂŻd Business School.
You can also read his case study from Stanford on Apple's CVC in the 80's or read the article on the interview here.
Interviewed on January 14th, 2025
From Finance to Philanthropy: Lisa Hehenberger on the Rise of Venture Philanthropy and Impact Investing
Tune into our conversation with Lisa Hehenberger, Associate Professor and Director a of the Esade Center for Social Impact.
Interviewed on January 16th, 2025
Melbourne’s Next Big Leap: Unlocking Australia’s Venturing Potential with Colin McLeod
Tune into our conversation with Colin McLeod, Professor and Executive Director of the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre at The University of Melbourne
Interviewed on January 15th, 2025
90% Exploration: How GTT Strategic Ventures Finds the Future of Maritime Innovation with Hélène Loncin
Tune into our conversation with Hélène Loncin, Head of Venture Capital at GTT Strategic Ventures.
Interviewed on December 13th, 2024
Unlocking 'the Venture Mindset' Beyond CVC: Insights from Ilya Strebulaev
Tune into our conversation with Ilya Strebulaev, the The David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and author of "The Venture Mindset", a bestselling book on corporate innovation.
Interviewed on October 29th, 2024
From Horseback to Carbon Curves: Decarbonizing with Diane Frachon of SLB New Energy
Tune into our conversation with Diane Frachon, Director New Energy UK & Corporate Ventures for SLB.
Interviewed on November 29th, 2024
Sailing to Scaling: Investor Alejandro Solé's Journey in Energy Transition
Tune into our conversation with Alejandro Solé, CIO of TechEnergy Ventures.
Interviewed on November 4th, 2024
To Sit or Not to Sit with Sophie Dingreville of bp pulse
Tune into our conversation with Sophie Dingreville, Global Product Partnerships & Innovation Director of bp pulse.
Interviewed on October 28th, 2024
Failure, Hobgoblins, and M&A: Dr. Dennis Charlebois on the Start-up Journey
Tune into our conversation with Dr. Dennis Charlebois, Professor of entrepreneurship at the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business.
Interviewed on October 18th, 2024
Wishlist to Wins: Empowering Founders with a Proactive Platform Team
Tune into our conversation with Galina Ozgur, Vice President of Platform for H/L Ventures.
Interviewed on September 30th, 2024
Investing with Purpose: Inside the Gates Foundation’s Strategic Investment Fund
Tune into our conversation with Archana Srivatsan, Head of Investment for South & South-East Asia for the Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund (SIF).
Interviewed on September 12th, 2024
Catalyzing Innovation & The Dotted Line with National Grid Partners
Tune into our conversation with Swati Dasgupta, former Director at National Grid Partners
Interviewed on July 15th, 2024
Beyond the Golden Triangle: Exploring UK Innovation with Future Planet Capital
Tune into our conversation with Sakura Holloway, Investment Director at Future Planet Capital
Interviewed on June 18, 2024
The Voice of the Entrepreneur
Tune into our conversation with Conrad Burke, Managing Partner of MetaVC
Interviewed on April 29, 2024
The Art of the Fresh Look: From Chips to Cloud
Tune into our conversation with Rohini Chakravarthy, Managing Partner at NewBuild Venture Capital
Interviewed on April 23, 2024
Special Episode | Corporate Venturing Insider
Listen to James Mawson of GCV, Bedy Yang of 500 Global, Claudia Fan Munce of NEA, Nicolas Sauvage of TDK Ventures, and Phoebe Wang of Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund during this special episode hosted by Alastair Goldfisher, former editor of the Venture Capital journal for Reuters.
Special Episode | Corporate Venturing Insider Webinar
Listen to James Mawson of GCV, Bedy Yang of 500 Global, Claudia Fan Munce of NEA, Nicolas Sauvage of TDK Ventures, and Phoebe Wang of Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund during this special episode of hosted by Alastair Goldfisher of EON.
The Person Behind the Builder
Tune into our conversation with David Lee, Executive Vice President at Samsung Next
Interviewed on April 11, 2024
Swisscom Ventures: Wielding Autonomy to Create Partnerships
Tune into our conversation with Jennifer Webb, Investment Director at Swisscom Ventures
Interviewed on March 14, 2024
Touchdown Tech: Accelerating the Future of the Sports Experience
Tune into our conversation with Jenna Kurath, Vice President at Comcast NBCU SportsTech
Interviewed on March 14, 2024
Beyond the Pitch: Citi Venture’ Arvind Purushotham Talks CVC Credibility and Goal Alignment
Tune into our conversation with Arvind Purushotham, Head of Ventures at Citi Ventures
Interviewed on March 13, 2024
Renaissance Woman: Lessons in Adaptability and Mentorship with Cargill Ventures’ Erin VanLanduit
Tune into our conversation with Erin VanLanduit, Head of Corporate Ventures at Cargill Ventures Interviewed on March 13, 2024
The Intrapreneur Mindset: Talia Abramowitz on Founding of Deloitte Ventures
Tune into our conversation with Talia Abramowitz, Managing Partner at Deloitte Canada
Interviewed on February 22, 2024
Energizing Tomorrow: Talking with a CV Tsar
Tune into our conversation with Sarit Soccary, Managing Partner at Delek US Holdings
Interviewed on January 04, 2024
Scattered to the Wind: From Enron to EnBW
Tune into our conversation with Crispin Leick, Managing Director at EnBW New Ventures GmbH
Interviewed on December 21, 2023
Following the Thread: Navigating Fund of Funds
Tune into our conversation with Nicole LeBlanc, Partner at Woven Capital
Interviewed on November 14, 2023
Taking a Dive into Corporate Venturing Mechanisms
Tune into our conversation with Julia Prats & Josemaria Siota, Professor & Executive Director at IESE Business School
Interviewed on November 03, 2023
