Few Y in the Valley guests have been as insightful, candid, and vulnerable as Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s EVP and GM of Security and Collaboration. This episode spans the gamut — from how to build products with ‘intrinsic pull’ to the disruption of AI, improving remote collaboration, and on a more serious note — how Jeetu is building a relationship with grief and loss. Jeetu’s candor is refreshing, and as a leader at a company with more than 70,000 people globally, it’s clear how and why he’s earned such an influential role. This isn’t an episode you want to miss.

Show Notes

• 1:15: The Con-Man
• 7:39: Navigating the grief journey
• 15:51: ChatGPT’s secret power
• 21:48: Disruption + the need for AI regulation
• 32:09: What sets WebEx apart
• 42:53: Building strong, deep teams…remotely
• 45:50: The Sprint

Dan Bjerke knows a thing or two about driving growth. As the Head of Clover, he’s driven explosive revenue growth, expected to surpass $1.8 billion by the time 2022 winds down. He’s steered Clover’s business to become one of the most formidable players building POS platforms today, managing more payment volume than Square. Clover’s also helped more than 700K small and mid-sized businesses thrive, thanks in part to the POS solutions they offer. So when it comes to growth—Dan knows what it takes. It’s part of the reason Ashish sat down with him: over the course of their conversation, Dan shares what the three primary drivers of Clover’s growth are, his insights for aspiring leaders looking to scale a business the right way, and why it’s crucial to be obsessed about talent as any organization expands. So sit down, strap in and see how the Head of Clover gets it done. 

Show Notes

• 1:37: All in the family
• 5:11: Understanding Clover today
• 8:20: What powers Clover’s explosive growth
• 16:21: Attracting leading talent 
• 25:40: Helping businesses thrive
• 33:27: The importance of failure
• 37:40: The Sprint

It’s September. And like every previous year in recent memory, California is on fire. Again. Evolving problems, though, call for evolved solutions. Enter FIREWATCH— a first-of-its-kind NFT project designed to fund fire prevention in California. Buying one of the pop-art NFTs in this collection of California landscapes delivers 100% of proceeds to forest conservation efforts through the project’s official non-profit partner, One Tree Planted. YML created this NFT experience by building on Solana, an eco-friendly blockchain, ensuring every transaction is carbon-offset. Ashish focuses this episode on FIREWATCH, alongside a pair of guests — Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-Founder of Solana, as well as Matt Hill, Chief Environmental Evangelist at One Tree Planted. Together they unpack the FIREWATCH origin story, the promise of Web3, what the future holds for crypto, and how crucial it is blockchains dramatically decrease their environmental footprint. But they don’t stop there. Matt shares the secrets to One Tree Planted’s massive growth, what it takes to limit the severity of wildfires, and his best tips on building a nonprofit from the ground up.

Show Notes

• 2:25: Welcome to One Tree Planted and Solana
• 5:15: One Tree Planted’s explosive growth
• 6:52: Proof of stake and an energy-efficient blockchain 
• 9:10: The future of crypto 
• 18:20: The promise of Web3
• 19:44: Tackling wildfire today
• 24:28: Launching a nonprofit
• 26:22 The wrap-out