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David Senra

David Senra

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 Conversations with the greatest living founders.© 2025 Senra Show LLC Ökonomie
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  • a16z's First Employee on the History of a16z, Venture Capital & Fixing the Government | Scott Kupor

    a16z's First Employee on the History of a16z, Venture Capital & Fixing the Government | Scott Kupor
    Nov 4 2026
    Scott Kupor is the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which serves as the HR and talent agency for the federal government's roughly two million civilian employees. He worked with Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz at Loudcloud and Opsware, which sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2007. In 2009 he became the first employee of Andreessen Horowitz, where he spent 16 and a half years as managing partner, building the firm's operations and later investing in later-stage healthcare companies. Scott explains how a16z adapted Michael Ovitz's CAA model to venture capital, how the Skype deal and a willingness to market in an industry that considered it taboo accelerated the firm, and why he had to set his ego aside as the firm grew. He also shares why he left for government, why its incentive structure is "completely screwed up," how OPM is changing performance ratings and promotion rules, and how programs like Tech Force aim to bring young talent into government. He also tells the story of the underground mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania, where federal retirement paperwork was processed by hand for decades. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/scott-kupor Made possible by Ramp: https://ramp.com Deel: https://deel.com/senra AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra Chapters (00:00:00) Quitting HP mid-financial crisis to join a16z (00:01:37) His first day (00:04:00) How a16z copied Michael Ovitz's CAA playbook (00:10:18) After-hours bourbon in Marc Andreessen's office (00:13:31) The Skype deal that returned half the first fund (00:18:37) Why VCs thought marketing was beneath them (00:21:48) Swallowing his ego as a16z grew (00:27:12) Why he left a16z to run the government's HR (00:30:37) Why government is afraid to take any risk (00:33:24) Why 99.7% of federal employees get a passing grade (00:36:13) Recruiting 1,000 engineers into government (00:38:37) Only 7% of the federal workforce is under 30 (00:40:31) Why "a job for life" is the wrong pitch (00:43:09) Why the government would never have hired Big Balls (00:46:39) Why DOGE had to be a big bang (00:48:56) The underground mine with 400 million pages of paper (00:55:28) Why government has to accept some failure (00:57:14) How young people can join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 Min.
  • High School Dropout to Multi-Billionaire: The Relentless Drive of Rafael Vivas

    High School Dropout to Multi-Billionaire: The Relentless Drive of Rafael Vivas
    Nov 1 2026
    Rafael “Raf” Vivas is a founding team member of AppLovin, the digital advertising and marketing company led by Adam Foroughi, where he has worked since 2011 in roles spanning business development, eCommerce and growth marketing, and co-founded the game publisher Lion Studios. He started in performance marketing at 14 working for his older brother, dropped out of high school, and at 17 built his own mobile ad platform, where Adam was one of his customers. When Adam decided to build a competing ad network, he recruited Raf as his first business hire in 2011, and Raf's one condition was that he live in the office. Raf explains how a small, unfunded team beat VC-backed rivals by going all in on technology, why he started Lion Studios to beat one of AppLovin's own partners and grew it to over $250 million in revenue in two years, and why he walked away at 28 and came back after the IPO as the stock collapsed. He also shares why AppLovin is against delegation and keeps its team small, how his mentor Mark Rosner taught him that every detail matters, and the best advice he ever received. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/rafael-vivas Made possible by Ramp: https://ramp.com Deel: https://deel.com/senra AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra Chapters (00:00:00) Kicked out of his house at 16 (00:06:42) Starting his own ad platform at 17 (00:09:58) “Don't be mad, but I'm going to compete with you” (00:11:06) His one condition: living in the office (00:15:40) Turned down by VCs while already profitable (00:21:00) Why he's against delegation (00:24:15) Two years of persistence to land one customer (00:30:42) Lion Studios: built to kill a Cheetah (00:38:41) Walking away from AppLovin at 28 (00:44:13) The IPO that brought him back (00:45:44) The stock buyback that made $50 billion (01:01:01) The mentor who redlined the NDA (01:03:54) “Do you want to be Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods?” (01:05:46) The best advice he ever received: stay in the game Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 Std. und 7 Min.
  • From a $27,500 Charter Company to a $4 Billion Private Jet Giant | Kenn Ricci, Flexjet

    From a $27,500 Charter Company to a $4 Billion Private Jet Giant | Kenn Ricci, Flexjet
    Oct 28 2026
    Kenn Ricci is the chairman and largest shareholder of Flexjet, a fractional private jet company that operates more than 360 aircraft and is the largest Gulfstream operator in the world. A former Air Force-trained pilot, Kenn bought a small Cleveland charter company in his twenties so he could keep flying, built it into Flight Options, lost control of it to Raytheon in 2002, and bought it back during the 2008 financial crisis before acquiring Flexjet from Bombardier in 2014. He explains how Warren Buffett’s purchase of NetJets unlocked his financing, why he avoids mergers, why he has kept Flexjet private, and why he gave his children their wealth early through a family limited partnership. He also shares the advice from Notre Dame’s Father Ted Hesburgh that shaped his idea of a life of significance, and why every Flexjet employee can fix a customer’s problem without approval. Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/kenn-ricci Made possible by Ramp: https://ramp.com Deel: https://deel.com/senra AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra Chapters (00:00:00) Kenn's son had never flown commercial (00:02:34) Giving your kids their wealth while you're alive (00:07:03) Charlie Munger: "You give them the money" (00:15:57) The rule his kids made to avoid jealousy (00:25:36) Buying a failed charter company for $27,500 (00:35:05) Turned down by every bank until Buffett bought NetJets (00:39:33) $100 million in sales in 3 months (00:41:36) Why he hates mergers (00:42:58) Losing his company: the worst day of his life (00:52:15) Buying his company back in the financial crisis (00:56:08) The $600 million problem that led to Gulfstream (01:03:01) Father Hesburgh's 3 rules for a life of significance (01:05:47) Why he gave away everything he owned (01:09:57) Why any employee can comp a $300,000 trip Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 Std. und 11 Min.
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