A message from Chai. Warm Intro A conversation, not an interview. Warm, sometimes weird, conversations with interesting people doing big things. Warm Intro is a video podcast. We're available on every major podcast app and YouTube. YouTube: @warmintro Instagram: @warm.intro Hosted by Chai Mishra Chai is the Founder of The Essential, an ethical commerce company funded by the leading lights of Silicon Valley. Chai served on the board of UNICEF, and has advised cities, universities, nati...
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A message from Chai. Warm Intro A conversation, not an interview. Warm, sometimes weird, conversations with interesting people doing big things. Warm Intro is a video podcast. We're available on every major podcast app and YouTube. YouTube: @warmintro Instagram: @warm.intro Hosted by Chai Mishra Chai is the Founder of The Essential, an ethical commerce company funded by the leading lights of Silicon Valley. Chai served on the board of UNICEF, and has advised cities, universities, nati...
A message from Chai. Warm Intro A conversation, not an interview. Warm, sometimes weird, conversations with interesting people doing big things. Warm Intro is a video podcast. We're available on every major podcast app and YouTube. YouTube: @warmintro Instagram: @warm.intro Hosted by Chai Mishra Chai is the Founder of The Essential, an ethical commerce company funded by the leading lights of Silicon Valley. Chai served on the board of UNICEF, and has advised cities, universities, nati...
Congressman Mike Lawler holds a seat that no other Republican had held since the year he was born (he is a 39-year-old Republican from deep-blue New York). The reason he was able to win — and keep — that seat is the same reason he's been ranked one of the most bipartisan members of Congress: he understands the assignment. He knows politics is about persuasion, not purity. It's about talking to people you disagree with and finding areas of agreement so you can make progress. Join us for our ...
Matt Flannery’s work has uplifted over six million families across a hundred countries. That’s because Matt is one of the godfathers of microfinance. His creations, Kiva and Branch, have delivered billions of dollars in small loans to some of the most forgotten and overlooked people in the world. But Matt doesn’t see himself as a philanthropist. In fact, he’s pretty down on the concept of nonprofits altogether. Join us for a deeply honest conversation about Matt’s religious childhood, how ...
Nick Tommarello has probably helped fund more American founders than almost anyone alive. But Nick’s not a businessman — he’s a founder. That distinction matters a lot to him and it defines everything about him. See, Nick loves risk and he thrives on uncertainty and chaos. He’s good at helping founders because he literally can’t imagine having a regular job. Join us for a loose conversation about Nick’s childhood working at his dad’s nightclub, how his dad become a millionaire and we...
Ethan Agarwal is the youngest and strangest candidate running for Governor. Ethan’s not a politician, he’s a founder. And a very successful one. He grew his first company to $100M in revenue, and then sold it. He then raised $50M for a second company — which he then also sold in 2025 Within months of that exit, he launched a run for governor as a proud capitalist and meritocrat (his words) to restore the entrepreneurial dream of California. Join us for a freewheelin’ conversation about how...
Todd Masonis makes the best chocolate in America—but he took an unexpected path to get there. Todd co-founded a startup with Sean Parker (yes, that Sean Parker from The Social Network). After selling it for over $150 million, he walked away from Silicon Valley to make chocolate in his friend’s garage. Seventeen years later, that experiment became Dandelion Chocolate—considered by many to be America’s best chocolate maker (not just a chocolatier, mind you). In this conversation, we talk abo...
Fnnch is San Francisco's Banksy; the most loved and hated artist in the city. People who love him believe that he made the city a more joyous, beautiful place to be. His haters think he is an outsider who helped gentrify the city. One thing is for sure — Fnnch is opinionated and controversial. He is a thoughtful, whip-smart and incredibly prolific. Join us for a whirlwind conversation about the purpose of art, getting death threats for painting honey bears, and how he might just be t...
How do you find a mission actually worth spending your life on? Are most startup “mission statements” complete BS? Niles Lichtenstein wants everyone to own a home and he’s dedicating his career to making it possible. Niles lost his dad at 13. His mom rented out rooms to make ends meet. As a result, he grew up with a revolving circus of people living in his home, with his family. Decades later (and after several successful startups) Niles has turned that experience into an incredible company. ...
What is the point of a business? Is it exclusively to make money? Or could there be more variables in this equation? Sana Javeri Kadri is on a mission. She started a company at 22 to build an entirely new model for one of the oldest trades in the world. Her company, Diaspora Co is building a new Silk Route for spices. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation about what someone’s pantry tells you about them, the sheer insanity of the modern spice trade and if you were a spice, which one...
Harrison Cheney might be the best chef of his generation. His restaurant (Sons and Daughters) recently earned its second Michelin star and a green star, and Harrison himself won the Michelin Guide’s Young Chef of the Year award. He has worked in some of the world’s greatest kitchens, from Gastrologik to Quince. And he has done all of this in record time. Harrison is just 32. At 16, he sold his Xbox to work in a fine dining restaurant. In the 16 years since, he has risen to the top of the in...
What should you work on as a young person? The smaller, achievable thing that builds your track record? Or the big bold thing that probably won't work? Saikat Chakrabarti is running to unseat Nancy Pelosi — the most powerful, feared, and respected democrat in the country. Saikat is less than half of Pelosi's age but he has big ideas and a track record to back them up. Before this, Saikat recruited AOC to run for congress, wrote the Green New Deal, ran tech for Bernie's presidential campaign a...
Hey! This is Chai. I'm a founder in Silicon Valley and I've spent a third of my life running my company. In all those years, I found that the only cure for the pain of building something big is talking to others who are doing the same thing. I've been lucky to have a lot of these conversations and I wanted to find a way to bring them to more builders. That's how we came up with Warm Intro. These are honest conversations with interesting people who are building big things — f...
A message from Chai. Warm Intro A conversation, not an interview. Warm, sometimes weird, conversations with interesting people doing big things. Warm Intro is a video podcast. We're available on every major podcast app and YouTube. YouTube: @warmintro Instagram: @warm.intro Hosted by Chai Mishra Chai is the Founder of The Essential, an ethical commerce company funded by the leading lights of Silicon Valley. Chai served on the board of UNICEF, and has advised cities, universities, nati...
