1/ Mike Malloy went bankrupt at 30, a year into being an Entrepreneur in Residence at Georgetown. He asked Jeff Reed to fire him. Jeff said he was now more qualified. New EIR Live episode with Mike, founder and CEO of Malloy Industries. podcast.eir.live
4/ Generosity, per Mike: keep a helpful resources folder, send one a week instead of seventeen at once, and "don't expect the person you help to be the person who then pays you back." Roughly 600 fractionals in his network suggest it works.
5/ Weekly check-in: one to ten personally, one to ten professionally, no sevens allowed. "I was my business. My business was me. I was a one in both." Mike Malloy, on EIR Live with Terrance Orr and Ilya Tabakh. transistor.fm/shows/eir-live…
ICYMI: Ramya Swaminathan on spinning out of Google X, raising $120M+ for hard tech, and why every pivot comes too late.
One of our most packed episodes yet.
Full conversation →
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2TBj8Z…
Others: podcast.eir.live
ALT Episode cover art for Episode 16 which has Ramya Swaminathan's image and episode name.
"There are many more good technologies than get commercialized. Some of the reasons are heartbreaking."
Ramya Swaminathan on why great tech fails.
Hint: it's rarely the technology.
@LiveEIR → podcast.eir.live
"Balance of plant is more than 50% of the cost. People are experts in the widget, not what it plugs into."
This blind spot kills hard tech companies.
@LiveEIR co-host @IlyaTabakh on the hidden costs founders miss.
Full ep with Ramya Swaminathan → podcast.eir.live
"For the first time in decades, we have load growth. That's placing a twin crisis of reliability and affordability."
Ramya Swaminathan on why the grid urgency creates opportunity for innovation.
Full episode → podcast.eir.live
@LiveEIR @engineventures
NEW EPISODE
"There is no pivot I've made that I shouldn't have made sooner." Ramya Swaminathan spun Malta out of Google X and learned the hard way why founders resist change.
Her Gollum analogy is unforgettable.
Full episode → podcast.eir.live
@LiveEIR @engineventures
ICYMI: Our last episode of 2025 with @Vic_Muchiri
Kenya → Construction → Fintech → VC → one of the only EIRs in construction → @BuildVisionTech
🎧 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2TBj8Z…
Leave us a review if you enjoy @LiveEIR!
"EIR roles, you really can't apply for them... they are really created."
@Vic_Muchiri wrote a memo proposing his own EIR position at Barton Malow. That experience now fuels his work at @BuildVisiontech.
@LiveEIR Episode 15: podcast.eir.live
"It's a bit of a Rorschach test... you see a bunny and I see a duck."
Same data. Different conclusions. @Vic_Muchiri on why the best EIRs are translators, not advocates. He now brings this skill to @Buildvisiontech
@LiveEIR Episode 15: podcast.eir.live
"I am not going to be that superintendent... that just did not come natural to me."
@Vic_Muchiri 's career took off when he stopped forcing a bad fit. Honest self-assessment is underrated.
@LiveEIR Episode 15: podcast.eir.live
"I can't create a new ASML. That's just too hard."
@Vic_Muchiri isn't chasing moonshots. He's building where he can actually win.
That's not small thinking. That's strategic thinking.
Full episode with @LiveEIR: podcast.eir.live
Tomorrow on @LiveEIR: @Vic_Muchiri went from Kenya to construction sites to fintech to venture capital to becoming one of the rarest EIRs in the industry.
His path? Completely unconventional.
New episode drops 8 AM CT.
ICYMI: Episode 14 is live.
Peter Winton on 50+ years of manufacturing experience, becoming an "accidental" EIR, and why universities need to rethink commercialization.
@LiveEIR → podcast.eir.live
95% of startups fail.
So why are universities afraid of matching the existing track record?
Peter Winton on why fear of failure kills innovation.
@LiveEIR Episode 14 → podcast.eir.live