Running Through Walls

Bryan Mistele, co-founder and CEO of INRIX, joins Venrock's Brian Ascher to deep dive on the company's use of their Innovation Week to maintain startup-style innovation two decades into their journey. Their conversation serves as a master class for how to foster new ideas from within, from geographic and departmental diversity, to encouraging junior team members to lead, to how they've accelerated implementation with AI. And it's not just morale boosting, they've seen over 70% of projects turn into active deployments and operational improvements for INRIX.

One of the critical questions in our first annual Beyond the Battlefield survey was how we more effectively get technology from the private sector to the battlefield. Who better to discuss that than the man responsible for making those decisions for the US Department of Navy, Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli. He joins Morgan Hitzig for a deep dive on the results and what they mean for the future of our warfighters.

Ezekiel Emanuel joins Venrock's Bob Kocher to talk about his newest book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life and dive deeper on what surprised him and how his own life changed through his research. From the magnitude of the impact of social relationships to how to build new neural pathways and expand your mind to fiber becoming the new protein supplement, their conversation is a fun ride through his New York Times bestseller.

Morgan Hitzig speaks with two of Forterra's leaders, Josh Araujo, CEO, and Scott Sanders, CGO about how they refounded Forterra in flight and their approach to implementing autonomy at scale. Their conversation serves as a roadmap for building in defense tech, from finding investors who understand the market to the right approach to dual-use and shoring up supply chains– and when to light things on fire and start over.

Dominik Schumacher, CEO and co-founder of Tubulis GmbH, joins Venrock's Nimish Shah to dive deeper on the company's ADC technology which specifically targets cancer cells thereby reducing side effects on the rest of the body, dramatically improving outcomes and quality of life for patients. They cover how their chemistry sets them apart from similar ADC treatments, what other diseases their breakthrough can target, and how staying data-driven helped him seamlessly move from the lab to leadership.

Siobhan Nolan Mangini, Bob Kocher and Bryan Roberts delve deeper into their 2026 predictions for healthcare in this special episode of Running Through Walls. They discuss what they've already gotten right on AI, what they see ahead for inflation and TrumpRx, and more. To read all 10 of their annual predictions, plus 2 bonus predictions, check out their article in Fortune Magazine.

Hunter Smith, Rhythm Pharmaceutical's Chief Financial Officer, joins Venrock's Nimish Shah for a conversation about how he manages the financial intricacies of a public company to enable them to change the lives of patients with rare neuroendocrine diseases. They go deep on how Hunter and the rest of the leadership team's journey took the stock from single-digits to over $100 today, how they motivated their team along the way, and the unique considerations for healthcare companies ahead of and after an IPO.  

Matt Holt, Managing Director & President, Private Equity at New Mountain Capital speaks with Venrock's Bryan Roberts and Siobhan Nolan about how the healthcare industry should come together to build a system that optimizes for patient outcomes through the rebuilding of trust on all sides. While there's significant work to do, they're optimistic about how AI can help us get past regulatory complexity and upside down incentive structures faster.

Sam Kulkarni, PhD, CEO and Chairman of CRISPR Therapeutics, joins Venrock’s Nimish Shah for a conversation about how they’re using gene editing to find potential cures so miraculous, it almost sounds like science fiction. Sam shares advice on how to fundraise in the extraordinarily capital-intensive biotech market, having the courage to go after difficult things and face detractors, and how CEOs should find opportunity in volatility.

Dylan Parker, Co-Founder and CEO of Moment, joins Venrock investor Nick Beim to discuss how Moment is transforming the fixed income market, starting with rebuilding execution and portfolio management for some of the largest players in U.S. wealth management. Their discussion ranges from how to win in an industry with a risk tolerance of zero, never letting your talent bar drop, when to diversify from your core product, and beyond.

Ellen Lord, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S) at the Departmet of Defense, joins Venrock investor Morgan Hitzig to discuss the defense tech ecosystem, building resilient supply chains and efficient teams, and making the often conflicting timelines between VC, government, and early stage companies work for industry and our warfighters. Plus, our new favorite piece of advice: “you have two ears and one mouth, use them proportionately.”

The results of our 9th annual Healthcare Prognosis are in and the healthcare experts who took our survey aren’t too optimistic about what’s ahead. Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher sat down to discuss the most interesting findings, their perspective on what it means and what’s ahead, and even offer a few glimmers of optimism.

Punit Soni, CEO and Founder of Suki, joins Venrock partner Bob Kocher for a conversation about how AI will invisibly assume administrative burdens in healthcare, enabling a future where doctors get to do what they love – serving patients. They discuss building companies during generational step changes, advice for getting started in health tech, jumping on high-growth rocket ships, and more.

Charlie Glazer, Head of Healthcare Equity Capital Markets at Jefferies, joins Venrock partner Nimish Shah for a conversation on what will move the needle for the healthcare market in the months ahead. He shares advice on transactions including crossovers, reverse mergers, IPOs and also, his thoughts on what makes a strong management team, and how companies can prepare to impress public investors.

Jonathan Violin, CEO of Crescent Biopharma and Venture Partner at Fairmount, speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah about how the company is keeping a frenetic and exciting pace to generate a new class of drugs while preparing to launch on the public markets later this year.

Cameron Turtle, CEO of Spyre Therapeutics,Inc. speaks with Venrock partner Nimish Shah about Spyre’s priorities for 2025, building a collaborative and productive Board, how culture shines through when the going gets tough, and the best advice he's ever received.  This podcast was recorded in December 2024. Please be advised that comments made during this podcast contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to Spyre Therapeutic, Inc.'s (“Spyre”) expectations regarding Spyre’s product candidates including their potential safety and efficacy, business and clinical trial plans, milestones and timelines. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. For further details concerning these risks and uncertainties, please refe

Bruce Perkins, healthcare advisor and former Humana leader, speaks with Venrock partners Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher about how he built Humana into a juggernaut of Medicare Advantage and his prognostications for the industry amid CMS-HCC model version 28, GLP-1s, margin structure recovery, and ongoing drug price negotiations.

Bob Kocher and Bryan Roberts take the mic for a special episode highlighting their predictions for healthcare in 2025. They go deeper on their thoughts about Medicare Advantage under the new administration, how a resurgence of IPOs and M&A could play out, where Big Tech may actually be good at healthcare, and more. To read all 10 of their annual predictions, check out their article in Fortune Magazine.

Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, speaks with Venrock partners Bryan Roberts and Bob Kocher about the chapters of his career in public health before, during, and after the pandemic. He shares what he got right and wrong during his time as White House COVID-19 coordinator, how he managed 40-50 media interviews a day, where we have work to do on public health issues, and more. 

Elizabeth Pemmerl, Chief Revenue Officer at GitHub, speaks with Venrock partner Ethan Batraski to discuss her nearly decade-long journey with GitHub. Pemmerl shares how she transitioned from working in the public sector to GitHub, go-to-market strategies, balancing developer vs. enterprise needs, changing developer behavior and more.