Global Innovators in Business

Hosted by Christopher Rathbun

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Nov 2025

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The Global Innovators in Business discovers innovators who have challenged the status quo. We invite some of the most successful leaders to share their thoughts and advice to the younger generation.

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36 recent

November 14, 202549 min

YeePay: Building the Payment Backbone for China's Enterprises – Interview with Chen Yu, the President and Co-Founder of YeePay

YeePay is a leading payment service provider that delivers payment solutions for enterprises across industries, including airline & travel, new retail, fintech, administration & education, and cross-border transactions.Prior to founding YeePay, Chen held various roles at Oracle, John Deere Health Care, and AT&T Bell Labs, and served as a director at the Silicon Valley enterprise SVC Wireless. He also co-founded NetVan, a nonprofit promoting internet adoption in traditional industries, and advised China Central Television’s documentary The Internet Age, where he interviewed leaders such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, Jerry Yang, Vint Cerf, and Kevin Kelly.In this episode, you will hear about: The entrepreneurial landscape in China in the early 2000s: challenges and opportunities of building a startup at that time.How YeePay evolved its business model as WeChat Pay and Alipay entered the market.Broader insights on Web3, cross-border transactions, globalization, and the growing role of AI in the future of the payment industry.

August 30, 202537 min

Claim: Revolutionizing Advertising: A Win-Win for Customers and Merchants - Interview with Sam Obletz, Co-Founder and CEO of Claim

Join us for a conversation with Sam Obletz, co-founder and CEO of Claim. Claim is a marketplace that benefits both customers and merchants: customers get real cash back on food, beverages, fitness products and more, while merchants gain actual or potentially long-term customers at a lower marketing cost. Claim recently raised a $12 million Series A led by VMG Partners, with participation from previous leads at Sequoia Capital and Susa Ventures, as well as new partners, Lightback and Metalab. In this episode, you will hear about:🌟 What inspired Sam to start Claim?💸 How does Claim work and the value it brings to both sides of the marketplace? ‼️ The journey of building Claim from scratch and Sam’s biggest takeaway as a founder.🔆 Sam’s advice to young professionals.💬 What’s next for Claim?

July 4, 202539 min

Alis Biosciences: Unlocking Trapped Capital in Biotech – Interview with Nick Johnston, Founder of Alis Biosciences

Nick Johnston, a former biotech banker and entrepreneur, founded Alis Biosciences to solve one of the biggest challenges that every biotech might face on its road – how to maximize shareholders' value when a public-listed company loses market confidence? Alis creates a safety net for shareholders by giving the trapped capital back and supporting the company with promising science to get back on track. Since its launch in 2025, Alis has identified over 300 small-cap biotech companies representing nearly $30 billion in underutilized capital, and is looking to complete successful take-private deals that can deliver well over 95% of uncommitted cash back to investors - faster and more efficiently than traditional liquidation processes.In this episode, you will hear about:Why Nick started Alis Biosciences, and how his background in healthcare banking shaped the model.How stagnation in capital markets leaves early-stage biotech companies in limbo and how Alis offers an innovative path forward.Why it still makes sense to invest in new science, and how Alis distinguishes between value traps and scientific opportunity.

May 27, 202537 min

Udio: Empowering AI in the Music Industry – Interview with Co-Founder and CEO of Udio, David Ding and Andrew Sanchez

Imagine transforming a simple text prompt into a fully produced song—within seconds. That’s exactly what Udio does. Founded in December 2023 by a team of former Google DeepMind researchers, including CEO David Ding, Conor Durkan, Charlie Nash, Yaroslav Ganin, and Andrew Sanchez, Udio is reshaping how music is made. Backed by industry giants like a16z, will.i.am, Common, Tay Keith, and Steve Stoute’s UnitedMasters, Udio is at the forefront of AI-driven music creation.💡 Noticed our new intro music? That’s right! It was created simply by entering a text prompt into Udio.In this episode, we sit down with David Ding and AndrewSanchez to dive into their journey of building Udio and explore:🎵 David and Andrew’s journey of creating Udio. 🎵 What will AI bring to the music industry? Is Udio a supplement or replacement for the music creation process?🎵 What was the initial funding experience and takeaways? 🎵 Interesting feedback from Udio’s users?🎵 The biggest lesson learned from the past year building Udio.🎵 The biggest opportunity in the music industry. 🎵 Career advice for those still finding their path.

April 16, 202527 min

Aquaria: Solution to the Global Water Crisis - Interview with Brian Sheng, Co-Founder of Aquaria

Aquaria, co-founded in 2021 by Brian Sheng, is dedicated toaddressing the growing global water scarcity problem. Using its cutting-edge Atmospheric Water Generation technology, Aquaria’s products extract water from the air, purify it, and make it suitable for human consumption. This breakthrough provides an alternative water source, especially in regions where traditional methods like desalination or large-scale water treatment are not feasible.In this episode:Brian’s story – from D1 varsity football athlete at Princeton to entrepreneur.What Aquaria does and why it is important in the fightagainst global water scarcity? Why choose “Atmospheric Water Generation” over other ways (desalination) to unlock the alternative water sources for humans?The challenges of starting a business?Brian’s advice to anyone seeking to make an impact on the world.

February 15, 202525 min

Empathy: Innovating Bereavement Support - Interview with Ron Gura, Co-Founder and CEO of Empathy

Ron Gura is the co-founder and CEO of Empathy. Founded in 2020, Empathy aims to provide bereaved families with holistic support, such as emotional guidance through grief, estate settlement, benefits and probate, etc. Empathy partners with employers, life insurance, health plans, and consultants to help people who have lost loved ones through the darkest of their lives. Prior to founding Empathy, Ron was a senior executive at WeWork and eBay, and founded The Gifts Project, a social e-commerce platform for group gifting.In this episode, you will hear about:What does Empathy do and why need Empathy?What inspired Ron to build Empathy? Before Empathy: The Journey with The Gifts Project.Ron's advice to the young generation?

November 17, 202437 min

Permanente Medical Group: The future of American Healthcare: Exploring Value-Based Care with Dr. Maria Ansari, CEO and Executive Director at The Permanente Medical Group

Dr. Ansari started to lead The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in 2023 as the first female CEO of the organization. With over 11,000 physicians and 44,000 staff, TPMG provides care to over 5.4 million Kaiser Permanente members. Dr. Ansari is passionate about addressing physician burnout, improving team-based care, and fostering innovation in healthcare delivery. In this episode, you will hear about: What are Kaiser Permanente and The Permanente Medical Group? What is Value-Based Care? Why is the American healthcare system broken? The biggest challenge in scaling Value-Based Care model in the United States and how to tackle it? Dr. Ansari’s journey in the healthcare industry and her advice for women transitioning into leadership roles. Current AI applications in Value-Based Care system? The future of the Telehealth? Advice for people who are interested in becoming a healthcare practitioner.

October 20, 202452 min

Coursera: Learning without borders- Interview with Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO at Coursera

In this interview with Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, we dive into the inner workings of Jeff to understand how he sees driving impact. Since joining Coursera in 2017, Jeff has helped grow the platform to over 148 million learners worldwide, partnering with morethan 7,000 institutions. He became a CEO for the first time at 27, leading Financial Engines, after graduating from Stanford MBA In this episode, we’ll explore:• How to become a CEO at 27? And the lessons he learned by taking on the role at such a young age. • Hear Jeff’s thoughts on how effort, luck, and privilege have influenced his career path.• What about Coursera aligned with what Jeff hoped to achieve in the world?• Get an insider’s view on how Coursera is expanding education globally, including exciting AI applications like personalized tutors and course-building tools foreducators.• Jeff will also share his top course recommendations on Coursera and advice for those interested in the educational technology field.

August 31, 202456 min

Sendy: Powering Scalable & Affordable Trade in Africa - Interview with Malaika Judd

Malaika Judd, an entrepreneur, angel investor, and previous co-founder of Sendy. Sendy was a one-stop logistics platform for enterprises and merchants, covering delivery needs in the region to help small businesses/side hustles reach their customers more efficiently and cost-effectively.In this episode, you will hear about:🚚 What does Sendy do? 📱 Challenges of Social Commerce (selling local goods online), a rapidly growing branch of e-commerce, and how Sendy helps to solve it?📦 How does Sendy improve efficiency? 💼 What led Malaika to start Sendy? 👩‍💼 Female Entrepreneurship in Developing Markets.🚀 Malaika’s advice to the young generation!

August 17, 202439 min

TLcom Capital: Empowering Tech Pioneers in Africa - Interview with Andreata Muforo

Andreata is a partner at TLcom Capital, a leading tech VC firm based in Nairobi. Locally rooted and globally connected, TLcom has managed in excess of $300M and is currently investing from its TIDE Africa fund, which invests in early to growth-stage companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. TLcom is also famous for its initiatives in building strong technology and entrepreneur-centric ecosystems.🌟 What led Andreata to who she is today?🏢 What does TLCOM do?😮 What has been the biggest shock working with startups in Africa?📈 Major shifts going on in the African economy that could jumpstart other innovators in Africa?👥 TLCOM talent strategy?🛣️ For countries that TLCOM hasn’t focused on, what are the hurdles they need to cross to demonstrate their potential?🌍How does Andreata see the capital flow into Africa?🔮 What’s Andreata’s vision of how Africa will look with new technology in the future?💡 Andreata’s advice to the young generation.