Welcome to The Kurty D Show, a podcast presenting unique perspectives shaping the world. This week, I'm excited to share my conversation with my friend, Ed Wilson, a Co-Founder, and Managing Partner at Impulsum Ventures—a seed-stage venture capital fund and product studio based in Santa Monica, California. Prior to Impulsum, Ed was an investor at Anthos Capital. Ed studied at Occidental College in LA (where Barack Obama went to undergrad), and Ed got his Master's at Columbia University in New York City. This is a super fun show. We had lots of laughs including remembering the time Ed and I ran into Wim Hoff, The Iceman, on the beach in Venice. Ed gets real about overcoming some personal challenges as he shares an inspiring story about how his semi-professional skateboarding journey has been a key to finding his ikigai. Ed is one of the most soulful, thoughtful, and smartest friends, so I am thrilled to be able to share this conversation. This show has a lot to offer to anybody interested in self-awareness, tech startups, investing, skateboarding, surfing, and the Southern California tech market.
What we covered:
01:33 – Kurt welcomes to the show, Ed Wilson and gives his background
03:55 – Ed & Kurt recall their first meeting at Ed’s Santa Monica office with a sublime Pacific Ocean view
08:00 – Ed talks about his growing up and school journey
11:11 – Ed shares about the transformative learnings he got from school which propelled him to where he is today
28:09 – Ed talks about their thesis and deals in Impulsum Ventures
28:49 – Background on an Impulsm investment— Care Connections Network
39:35 – Ed shares how his semi-professional skateboarding journey has been the unlock for his Ikigai
51:23 – Ed talks about what’s hard about being an investor
53:41 – Ed shares about the hurdles he went through and what he had gained from them
59:35 – Ed spills a fun fact about him
1:04:24 – Kurt thanks Ed and expresses his appreciation to him
Episode Sponsor:
Tweetable Quotes:
“But I'd also say on the flip side, there are bigger funds out there as well, that actually still love co-investing with people. Because I think there is this idea that if you're bringing more kind of smart people around the table, people who have different skill sets, it only kind of accelerates the business's chance of success.”
“Through the development studio, we build constantly. So, we know what the latest technology is, we know what's happening right now. And being able to advise companies with that information is so beneficial.”
“And you know, you get older and think more about what really matters at the end of the day- it's how you spend your time and who you spend it with.”
“I love the neuroscience side of things. I've always been interested in the brain. When I was in the fourth grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. And so began this process of discovery, understanding, and celebration about what makes us different. What makes us think differently. What are the positives? What are the negatives?”
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