Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital

We’re back—kicking off our 2026 season live from SXSW Austin with the Ayana Foundation.

Featuring:

Allison Ellsworth on scaling Poppi from kitchen experiment to a $1.95B sale to Pepsi;
Rachel Roy on creative control, brand ownership, and navigating legal battles;
Theresa Fette on the identity shift after exit—and choosing yourself over the title.

From Shark Tank moments to hard decisions behind the scenes, this is a candid look at what happens after the spotlight.

If you're building, scaling, or thinking about your next move—this one’s for you.

Timestamps/Key Takeaways
00:00 Panel Introduction: Women of the New Frontier
01:40 Meet the Panelists: Origins in Soda, Fashion, and FinTech
04:14 The Poppy Story: From Oil & Gas to Probiotic Soda
06:16 Launching in a Pandemic: The Rebrand and the Power of TikTok
09:19 Why Embarrassment is a Secret Weapon for Success
10:20 Rachel Roy on 25 Years of Creative-First Design
12:22 Lessons from a Namesake Brand: Why Names Matter in Business
15:25 Theresa Fette on Luck, Law, and the 50% Opportunity
18:28 Understanding Self-Directed IRAs and the Bitcoin IRA Pivot
21:05 Fighting for Your Name: Rachel Roy’s New York Supreme Court Battle
25:26 The Shark Tank Turning Point: Getting the Deal with Rohan Oza
27:14 Founder Advice: Knowing Your Value and Staying the Face of the Brand
31:36 Negotiating the Exit: Turning a $27M Offer into $100M
34:48 Choosing Partners: Aligning Core Values and Saving Your Soul
37:19 The Power of the Board Seat: Retaining Control vs. Valuation
40:45 Can You Scale and Stay Authentic? The Future of Poppy and Pepsi
43:08 The Identity Crisis After an Exit: Life as an Intuitive Leader
48:42 Audience Q&A: What Investors Really Look for in a Founder
51:21 Testing for Resilience: The Number One Marker for Success
53:14 Advice to a Younger Self: Navigating Stress, Lawsuits, and Motherhood
56:04 Final Takeaways: Why Failure is Inevitable and Fun is Fuel

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About the speakers

Allison Ellsworth is the founder of Poppi, a prebiotic soda brand she scaled from her home kitchen to a massive $1.95 billion exit to Pepsi.

Rachel Roy is a world-renowned designer and the founder of her namesake brand, Rachel Roy Design, who has spent over 25 years navigating the complexities of creative control and brand ownership.

Theresa Fette a serial entrepreneur and tax attorney who pioneered the self-directed IRA space in FinTech, successfully exiting three companies and currently leading Bitcoin IRA and Digital Trust.
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Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global Venture & Business Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network

Conversations with billionaires, unicorn founders, and the world’s leading funders.

Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, Billion Dollar Moves examines how enduring companies — and the capital behind them — are built.

Through long-form conversations, the show explores decision-making under uncertainty, capital allocation, and the inflection points that shape category-defining businesses. From early platform backstories to allocator frameworks used across private markets, the focus is on judgment, incentives, and long-term value creation — beyond headlines and hype.

New episodes weekly.
Built for those who take the long view.

PODCAST INFO:

⁠Podcast Website⁠ |⁠ Watch on Youtube⁠ |⁠ Join the Community⁠

FOLLOW SARAH:

⁠LinkedIn⁠ |⁠ Instagram⁠

The future of food and climate resilience in Southeast Asia is being shaped as much in cassava fields and starch factories as it is in boardrooms.

In this episode of Billion Dollar Moves, Ho Ren Hua, CEO of Thai Wah Public Company Limited, joins Sarah to unpack how he is reinventing a 77-year-old family starch business into a regional agri-food and bio-materials platform built on “innovation and sustainability from farm to shelf.”

We go inside his operator playbook: leading 3,500 people through crisis with the principle “I can lose money, but I cannot lose a life,” transforming legacy vermicelli and tapioca products into higher-value ingredients and using distribution as a moat across Asia and beyond.

For investors, founders, and family-business leaders thinking in decades, this is a rare look at what long-term, values-led execution really takes.

Timestamps/Key Takeaways02:10 – Legacy, trees & being “rooted”06:10 – Stepping into a 77-year-old family business12:32 – F4 framework: Farm, Factory, Family, Food15:15 – Making circularity real: factories, water, solar & biogas19:48 – Managing talent across China & Southeast Asia + AI workforce23:24 – From noodles & starch to circular-economy platform26:51 – Innovation & ROSECO: building new revenue engines28:26 – Rockefeller Foundation, deployment & blended finance32:19 – Time horizons, synthesis & “go slow to go fast”

--About Ho Ren HuaHo Ren Hua is CEO of Thai Wah Public Company Ltd, a leading Southeast Asian starch and consumer foods group founded in 1947, now expanding across multiple markets in Asia.

Previously, he was Executive Director and Country Head, China for Banyan Tree Holdings, helping cement its position as a leading luxury hospitality brand in China, and began his career at Bain & Company in New York, Hong Kong, and China in private equity and strategy.

He has served on boards including UN Women Singapore and Wharton China Alumni Club, and currently sits on the boards or advisory councils of Banyan Tree Holdings, the Asia Pacific Agri-Innovation Summit, and Singapore Management University. He holds a BS in Economics (Hons) from The Wharton School and is a graduate of the CEIBS Advanced Management Programme.

--Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network

In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies.

From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond.

Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder.

This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook.

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter

The biggest industrial transformation of our lifetime is happening now and it’s not AI. It’s climate industrialism.

Shawn Xu, Partner at Lowercarbon Capital (founded by Chris Sacca), discuss how Lowercarbon backs outlier founders, why “cheaper, better, faster” wins over green premiums, and where the biggest opportunities are emerging: energy, carbon removal, fusion, materials, resilience, and the AI-power bottleneck.

If you’re an investor, founder, or operator ; or just tracking where smart money is moving- this episode is a must-watch.

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Join Venture Nordics, the top investor program in Europe, designed for international GPs, LPs and Family Offices eager to explore opportunities in the New Nordics (Scandinavia & Baltics). Taking place in Helsinki, Finland, alongside Slush, the world's largest venture capital gathering. The 7-day program offers:

Exclusive networking with Finnish and Nordic investors

Deep insights into the Finnish startup and venture ecosystem

Complimentary Slush ticket with access to curated side events

A cottage getaway with the fellow participants to further bond and create long-lasting connections

The program is free of charge, powered by Helsinki Partners (backed by the City of Helsinki). Participants only cover their travel and accommodation.

Only 10 investors will be selected. Register your interest now at www.venturenordics.vc to be the first to know when applications open.

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Timestamps / Key Takeaways

03:36 – The climate industrial revolution & “unfuck the planet”

12:30 – AI, energy demand & the $500 billion program

17:00 – From Silicon Valley kid to VC

23:23 - Becoming a climate investor in a trillion dollar market 

37:32 - “Greedy capitalist” & a Series A $900M fusion round

44:54 - 40-Page memo, the biggest lessons on conviction

57:41 - Q&A: The one “billion dollar move” takeaway

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About Shawn Xu

Shawn is a Partner at Lowercarbon Capital, focused on backing audacious founders building bold solutions to the climate crisis.

An accomplished early-stage investor, he was previously a Partner at On Deck’s venture fund and accelerator, backing companies across 20+ countries and earning a founder NPS of 100. He also invested at Floodgate and First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund, was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Venture Capital), and has partnered with ~50 companies, helping founders go from zero to one—from ideation to product-market fit.

Follow Shawn:

https://lowercarbon.com/team/shawn-xu/

Resources:

Chris Sacca — How to Succeed by Living on Your Own Terms | Tim Ferriss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIBo69EsAzw

Chris Sacca Interview (Full Episode) | The Tim Ferriss Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqaXz2BPsfY

Chris Sacca: Drifting Back to Real | Dialectic with Jackson Dahl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acwhhgGGdX8

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Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network

In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies.

From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond.

Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder.

This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook.

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter

In this Billion Dollar Bite, Joel Sandhu (Co-Founder of Top-Tier Access; Partner at Investors Capital) breaks down the forces reshaping private markets. 

From the great normalization post-2021, to how LPs actually underwrite managers, to why family offices are rewriting their approach to access and alignment. We unpack the real liquidity picture, the rise of GP-led secondaries, and why the “elastic mid-market” may be the most compelling place to generate outsized returns in the decade ahead. 

If you’re a GP, LP, or allocator navigating this cycle, this is a must-listen.

Watch the full episode here:

https://billiondollarmoves.com/podcast-episode/from-family-offices-to-private-equity-power-plays-w-joel-sandhu-top-tier-access/

Timestamps / Key Takeaways

0:00 - Intro

01:40 - Key Takeaway #1: The market reset & picking managers

11:09 - SCS’s takeaway: Underwriting & selection is KEY

12:48 - Key Takeaway #2: The Family Office advantage & why they need a new model

18:18 - Key Takeaway #3: The future of venture, secondaries & the “elastic” mid-market

28:48 - Closing remarks

About Joel Sandhu

Joel is co-founder and Partner at Investors Capital, a Riyadh-based fund of funds. With an investment strategy primarily focused on buyout, the platform offers investors across the globe access to top decile funds that is well-diversified.

Prior to this, Joel co-founded TTA, a Brussels based fund of funds in Private Equity. TTA brings institutional grade PE to the family office and HNWI segment.   

FOLLOW JOEL: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelsandhu/ 

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Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network

In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies.

From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond.

Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder.

This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook.

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter

In this episode, we sit down with Chris Rynning (AMYP Ventures; Piëch/Porsche family office) and Anulika Malomo (HarbourVest & impact advisor) to unpack what it really takes to future-proof portfolios in 2025 and beyond.

From AI’s existential risks to global liquidity crunches, China’s DeepSeek shock, secondaries, midstream renewable opportunities, and the rise of long-term family office strategies — this conversation cuts through hype and surfaces where capital and opportunity are truly misaligned.
If you’re an LP, GP, family office, or allocator thinking long-term, this is a must-listen.

Timestamps / Key Takeaways

0:00 - Intro: A modern Piëch/Porsche family office and PE global investment lens

04:26 - Why future-proofing portfolios matters in 2025 and beyond 

09:14 - How LPs and family offices are navigating liquidity crunch: Secondaries, IPO freeze & new exit pathways and timeframe

16:49 - Capital vs. Opportunity: Where the biggest disconnects lie

21:07 - Impact vs. Harm (e.g., the crypto-climate paradox)

24:14 - Practical guide on how to allocate capital while “future-proofing” 

26:37 - Are we optimistic? The Next-Gen & AI dilemma

28:19 - Q&A: What they’re NOT investing in?

Panelists:
Chris Rynning, Managing Partner, AMYP Ventures
Anulika Malomo, Non-Executive Director, HarbourVest Global Private Equity

Hosted by:

Sarah Chen-Spellings, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Beyond The Billion

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Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global VC Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network

In venture, every move can make—or break—a billion-dollar outcome. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, award-winning entrepreneur, investor, and venture insider, Billion Dollar Moves pulls back the curtain on the strategies, stumbles, and breakout moments that define the world’s most iconic companies.

From boardroom power plays to investor backchannels, you’ll hear the untold stories behind iconic companies like YouTube, Canva, and Vimeo, and go inside the minds of those moving capital at firms like Sequoia, Lightspeed, and beyond.

Whether you're chasing your first $10M—or your next billion—this show is your front-row seat to how the smartest founders and funders win. Think raw, unfiltered, no-BS insight—designed to help you move faster, smarter, and bolder.

This isn’t just another business podcast. This is your billion-dollar playbook.

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast Website | Watch on Youtube | Join the Community

FOLLOW SARAH:

LinkedIn | Instagram | X/Twitter