Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital cover art

Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital

Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital

By: Sarah Chen-Spellings
Listen for free

About this listen

 Conversations with billionaires, unicorn founders, and the world’s leading funders. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, a global investor and entrepreneur, Billion Dollar Moves examines how enduring companies — and the capital behind them — are built. Through long-form conversations, the show explores decision-making under uncertainty, capital allocation, and the inflection points that shape category-defining businesses. From early platform backstories to allocator frameworks used across private markets, the focus is on judgment, incentives, and long-term value creation — beyond headlines and hype. New episodes weekly. Built for those who take the long view. Billion Dollar Moves is proud to be part of the Hubspot Podcast Network with 10 million downloads a month as a group.© Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings Economics Personal Finance
Episodes
  • $22M Exit, Broken Deal & Buyback | Jaclyn Johnson, Founder, Create & Cultivate & Co-Founder, Cherub

    $22M Exit, Broken Deal & Buyback | Jaclyn Johnson, Founder, Create & Cultivate & Co-Founder, Cherub
    Apr 23 2026
    Jaclyn Johnson built Create & Cultivate into one of the most recognized platforms for women in business—scaling it to eight-figure revenue before exiting in a multi-million dollar deal. But what happens after the exit is where the real story begins. From navigating private equity, burnout, and the loss of control over the company she built… to making one of the rarest moves in business—buying it back. In this episode, we unpack: * Why selling isn’t always the win * What private equity gets wrong in community-driven businesses * The trade-offs between bootstrapping and raising capital * How to think about ownership, control, and long-term value This is a conversation about capital, consequence—and coming back with clarity. About Jaclyn Johnson With $25 million in successful exits to her name, Jaclyn has mastered the art of bootstrapping businesses, building thriving communities, and driving meaningful results. Recognized as one of Adweek's Disruptors, Forbes 30 under 30 and a WSJ Woman of note, she stands out as one of the industry's leading marketing minds. Her unwavering focus on value creation and community-first marketing has been imitated countless times, yet never truly matched. -- Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global Venture & Business Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network Conversations with billionaires, unicorn founders, and the world’s leading funders. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, Billion Dollar Moves examines how enduring companies — and the capital behind them — are built. Through long-form conversations, the show explores decision-making under uncertainty, capital allocation, and the inflection points that shape category-defining businesses. From early platform backstories to allocator frameworks used across private markets, the focus is on judgment, incentives, and long-term value creation — beyond headlines and hype. New episodes weekly. Built for those who take the long view. PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://billiondollarmoves.com Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves FOLLOW SARAH: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 7 mins
  • From Losing $1M a Month to a $1B Exit — Jim Sorenson on Building Impact That Pays

    From Losing $1M a Month to a $1B Exit — Jim Sorenson on Building Impact That Pays
    Apr 16 2026
    In this rare conversation, Jim Sorenson breaks down what happens after liquidity—when building a company turns into building systems of capital. We start with the moment everything nearly fell apart: losing $1M a month during the dot-com crash, and the unexpected pivot that transformed Sorenson Communications into a near $1B exit—by aligning technology with regulation and real, underserved demand. From there, Jim unpacks how that experience reshaped his approach to investing. From deploying early, risk-tolerant capital through Program-Related Investments (PRIs)… to ultimately rethinking an entire foundation—aligning 100% of its assets toward both financial returns and long-term impact. This isn’t a conversation about philanthropy. It’s about how sophisticated capital actually works—where risk is priced, how systems scale, and why impact and alpha aren’t opposites. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Intro 01:30 – Sorenson Communications 05:30 – Pivoting Under Pressure 09:20 – An Overlooked Community 14:50 – Scale & Capital Design 21:30 – The Mechanics of PRI 27:05 – The 95% Transition 38:40 – ESG & Fiduciary Duty 45:30 – Stewardship After Liquidity About Jim SorensonJames Lee Sorenson (Jim) serves as chairman of the Sorenson Impact Foundation, which funds sustainable, scalable endeavors that maximize positive impact on the lives and societies they touch. Sorenson endowed the Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah. Sorenson is also Chairman of the Board of Village Capital and a member of the National Advisory Board of Impact Investing. Sorenson was instrumental in developing several new industry categories, including digital compression software that helped usher in the online video revolution at Sorenson Media, where he serves as Chairman of the Board and video relay services which transformed opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing individuals through Sorenson Communications. Jim has served on many community boards, including Utah's David Eccles School of Business, University Venture Fund, Art Works for Kids, Gallaudet University, and the Utah Sports Commission.--Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global Venture & Business Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network Conversations with billionaires, unicorn founders, and the world’s leading funders.Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, Billion Dollar Moves examines how enduring companies — and the capital behind them — are built.Through long-form conversations, the show explores decision-making under uncertainty, capital allocation, and the inflection points that shape category-defining businesses. From early platform backstories to allocator frameworks used across private markets, the focus is on judgment, incentives, and long-term value creation — beyond headlines and hype.New episodes weekly.Built for those who take the long view. PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://billiondollarmoves.comWatch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobalJoin the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves FOLLOW SARAH:https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobalhttps://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
  • After The Exit | Ariana Pareja on Building, Selling and Starting Again

    After The Exit | Ariana Pareja on Building, Selling and Starting Again
    Apr 9 2026
    In this episode of Billion Dollar Moves, Sarah sits down with Ariana Pareja for a conversation about exit timing, liquidity, and the difference between valuation and real wealth. Ariana speaks candidly about building and exiting Remine, why she believes “an exit isn’t real until it’s liquid,” and the lesson she learned the hard way: selling before Series B might have created more wealth with less dilution and less exhaustion. We unpack what founders often miss such as the hidden cost of growth capital taken at the wrong moment, how some investors price rounds you’re not meant to hit and why the movie doesn’t end until it ends She also shifts forward into how markets are actually evolving. TikTok as infrastructure, not just culture. Community as the new distribution moat. Bootstrapping as strategic leverage rather than constraint. For those seeking liquidity without delusion, operators transitioning into allocators, and family offices listening for judgment rather than inspiration, this isn’t an episode you’ll want to miss. Watch the full conversation and subscribe for even more discussions at the intersection of capital, governance, and long-term wealth. 00:00 - Intro 02:44 - Maintaining relationships while building a business 03:20 - Advice to my younger self: Buy and hold real estate 03:52 - The golden rule of investing: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is 08:29 - Learning the power of a "pitch deck" as a teenager 11:32 - Getting started in real estate at 18 years old 13:50 - The origin of Remind: Solving the public record data problem 17:33 - Raising $48 million in venture capital through word of mouth 19:01 - Pivoting the revenue model and identifying the right customer avatar 22:54 - Biggest regrets and lessons learned from the series of exits 25:28 - The "200 Million" goal: Why I'm still working About Ariana Pareja Ariana Pareja is an investor and serial entrepreneur dedicated to helping others build wealth and embrace reinvention. As the exited co-founder of Remine, a real estate technology company that sold for $55 million, she has firsthand experience scaling ventures from startup to acquisition. Ariana today is the co-founder of Mighty Minis, a spin-off of the No Sugar Company. Ariana has mentored more than 100 small businesses through programs including Microsoft AI Latam Accelerator and Target Forward Founders. -- Billion Dollar Moves Podcast | The Top Global Venture & Business Podcast for Founders & Funders | Backed by HubSpot Podcast Network Conversations with billionaires, unicorn founders, and the world’s leading funders. Hosted by Sarah Chen-Spellings, Billion Dollar Moves examines how enduring companies — and the capital behind them — are built. Through long-form conversations, the show explores decision-making under uncertainty, capital allocation, and the inflection points that shape category-defining businesses. From early platform backstories to allocator frameworks used across private markets, the focus is on judgment, incentives, and long-term value creation — beyond headlines and hype. New episodes weekly. Built for those who take the long view. PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://billiondollarmoves.com Watch on Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/sarahchenglobal Join the community: https://sarah-chen.ck.page/billiondollarmoves FOLLOW SARAH: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahchenglobal https://instagram.com/sarahchenglobal https://x.com/sarahchenglobal
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
No reviews yet