In The Arena is where entrepreneurs and leaders share stories of the biggest crises of their careers and lives – and how they made it through. Host (and founder herself) Jesse Genet goes beyond the headlines to interview leaders about the most challenging moments they've ever faced – from total business collapse, to public scandals, even being sentenced to prison. Along with special guest co-hosts, In The Arena revisits the crucible experiences and reveals what it was actually like in the room. Most importantly, leaders share how they bounced back from the brink, offering advice, mental frameworks, and earned wisdom for any aspiring leader. In the Arena is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co
"In The Arena"
Claim This Podcastby Turpentine
4.8(16 reviews)
11 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas Sponsors
Podcast Overview
In The Arena is where entrepreneurs and leaders share stories of the biggest crises of their careers and lives – and how they made it through. Host (and founder herself) Jesse Genet goes beyond the headlines to interview leaders about the most challenging moments they've ever faced – from total business collapse, to public scandals, even being sentenced to prison. Along with special guest co-hosts, In The Arena revisits the crucible experiences and reveals what it was actually like in the room. Most importantly, leaders share how they bounced back from the brink, offering advice, mental frameworks, and earned wisdom for any aspiring leader. In the Arena is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
6/23/2023
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Recent Episodes
August 23, 2023
E10: Match Group’s Sam Yagan on Unexpectedly Becoming the CEO of the Public Company that Acquired You
Today we are thrilled to have Sam Yagan, co-founder of OKCupid and ultimately the CEO of Match Group through its rapid growth and IPO. Sam takes us behind the scenes of OKCupid’s gripping acquisition process (including phone calls from the delivery room). He also dives into his unlikely journey of being selected successor to his acquirer -- becoming the CEO of publicly traded Match Group. Jesse is joined again by special co-host Ryan Caldbeck: a startup founder and CEO himself, who is also well known on tech Twitter for discussing founder mental health. Don't forget to catch up on Ryan Caldbeck's In The Arena episode, “Terrifying Growth”, Managing Mental Heath, and Radical Sharing- linked below. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e7-ryan-caldbeck-on-terrifying-growth-managing-mental/id1691530886?i=1000623146998 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7H9Q0Cbudh3DeIKTzjTHBc?si=5HyYcAXRTxemSGNP9tzZ4Q -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhova kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod -- The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix’s culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics TIMESTAMPS: (01:00) Episode Preview: Sam Yagan (03:30) The day Sam is about to sign a term sheet to sell OKCupid (16:37) “Am I gonna miss my kid’s birth?” (19:50) A last-ditch effort (23:44) The deal is on! Sam’s reflections on dealmaking and unmaking (35:30) The state of the co-founders and exec team prior to selling (44:55) Would Sam have done things differently if he had traditional venture backing? (48:00) Failure feelings about getting out (58:18) Sam’s best advice (1:04:00) After the deal: Sam stays on with OKCupid and then catapults to CEO of Match Group (1:13:53) Match’s wartime CEO (1:20:15) Individual relationships in business matter, even as companies scale X: @samyagan (Sam) @ryan_caldbeck (Ryan) @jessegenet (Jesse) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @inthearena_pod
August 16, 2023
E9: Ryan Hudson of Honey on Being Targeted by a Tech Giant, Getting Acquired for $4B, and the Great Personal Struggles Founding a Company No One Will Fund
Ryan Hudson, the co-founder of Honey (which sold to PayPal for $4B in 2019) sits down with Jesse Genet and Ryan Caldbeck for a rare interview about his rollercoaster trajectory, so emblematic of the startup struggle - but with an M&A ending. Ryan dives into what it was like at the startup's early days when Honey was unattractive to investors, the great personal risks he undertook to keep working on the company, the chaos of being directly targeted by Amazon in the weeks leading up to closing the PayPal deal, and gives us a revealing look at what it's actually like getting acquired. Ryan Caldbeck, guest on episode 7 of In The Arena, is the perfect co-host for this conversation: a startup founder and CEO himself, who is also well known on tech Twitter for discussing founder mental health. -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Check out Modern Relationships, where Erik Torenberg interviews tech power couples and leading thinkers to explore how ambitious people actually make partnerships work. Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov and researcher Nadia Asparouhova kick off the series with an unfiltered conversation about their relationship evolution. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1786227593 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5hJzs0gDg6lRT6r10mdpVg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernRelationshipsPod -- The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix’s culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics Catch up on Ryan Caldbeck's episode: “Terrifying Growth”, Managing Mental Heath, and Radical Sharing Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e7-ryan-caldbeck-on-terrifying-growth-managing-mental/id1691530886?i=1000623146998 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7H9Q0Cbudh3DeIKTzjTHBc?si=5HyYcAXRTxemSGNP9tzZ4Q TIMESTAMPS: (01:00) Episode Preview (04:15) Honey under siege from Amazon (11:07) Could the Amazon action endanger the Paypal acquisition? (17:15) Was Ryan lucky or unlucky to have closed an M&A deal right before the pandemic (21:00) How do you tactically handle the moment conversations turn to a potential acquisition? (23:19) How do you set a price? (26:00) Honey didn’t want to sell (29:30) Smoothest exit in history? (36:40) Co-founder relationship tested during the stressful moments (38:55) Leaving as Honey’s co-founder to go be a Product Manager at another company (41:24) $5,000 in the bank and supporting 3 kids (47:09) How Honey finally began earning revenue (52:57) How to design a deeply aligned Co-Founder relationship (57:24) What to look for in a co-founder (01:03:00) Why firing employees is such a painful practice in fast-growing companies (01:09:30) Controversial influencer marketing strategy and crisis comms X: @ketau (Ryan Hudson) @ryan_caldbeck (Ryan Caldbeck) @jessegenet (Jesse) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @inthearena_pod
August 9, 2023
E8: Oren Aks on Marketing the Fyre Fest, the Infamous Cheese Sandwich, and Why Our Culture Can’t Look Away from Colossal Failure
Oren Aks was a designer at Fuck Jerry Media, the agency behind the signature marketing of the now-infamous Fyre Festival of 2016. In this episode, Oren recounts his ground-level realization that the festival was a fraud, sharing new details about the debacle chronicled in two documentaries. Oren also tells us about the backlash he experienced after the festival, shares his well-earned lessons around trust, and offers perspective about our cultural fascination with failure. Jesse Genet is joined by a special guest co-host Matty Mo, an artist who made headlines for putting on a fake fire fest as satire in Los Angeles. -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️ Unpack Pricing - Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg -- Catch up on host Jesse Genet’s own crucible moments from her entrepreneurial story in Episode 6: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HQKu4vbaIuAvhgKLBuyYk?si=UYb2aGlJTxynO_B8UzMkUQ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e6-host-jesse-genet-on-selling-her-startup-lumi-while/id1691530886?i=1000622369978 TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode preview (03:00) How Oren and co-host Matty first met (04:35) Oren relives landing at Great Exuma for Fyre Fest (13:30)The social distortion field Oren witnessed at Exuma (17:00) Distraction efforts and the angry mob (20:55) Things take a turn (34:20) Processing the failure while Oren was on the island, and then back in NY (44:30) The documentaries (45:25) The red flags in hindsight (49:00) Financial breadcrumbs (54:00) The orange square and power of social proof (01:00:20) Billy McFarland’s new thing (01:05:18) Why the Fyre Festival has lasting power in the zeitgeist of colossal failures LINKS REFERENCED: Oren Aks agency Atomic Milk: http://www.atomicmilk.com/ Matty Mo's site: https://www.themostfamousartist.com/ X: @fyrefestival (Oren runs this now) @jessegenet (Jesse) @mostfamousartist (Matty) @inthearena_pod
11 total episodes available
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- What is "In The Arena"?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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