EIRLive

🎙️ EIR Live: Unveiling Entrepreneurial Journeys. Join us for dynamic insights & real-world stories from diverse EIRs. Explore. Engage. Empower.

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

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: https://t.co/tHQHksK6EY
Spotify: https://t.co/qmCh6xtMIT
Others: https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"By being there, by observing, you are yourself a participant. You are changing the nature of the interaction."

Ramya Swaminathan on how anthropology shaped her infrastructure leadership.

Participant observation applies everywhere.

@LiveEIR

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"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 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"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 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"I've never been educated for anything I've done professionally. I say that as a statement of hope for everybody."

Anthropology → Investment banking → Hydropower CEO → Google X spinout → Board member

Ramya Swaminathan on why credentials matter less than learning.

@LiveEIR

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"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 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

@LiveEIR @engineventures

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

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 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

@LiveEIR @engineventures

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

ICYMI: Our last episode of 2025 with @Vic_Muchiri

Kenya → Construction → Fintech → VC → one of the only EIRs in construction → @BuildVisionTech

🎧 Apple: https://t.co/tHQHksK6EY
🎧 Spotify: https://t.co/qmCh6xtMIT

Leave us a review if you enjoy @LiveEIR!

[EIRLive @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: https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"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: https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"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: https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"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: https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

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.

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

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 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

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 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

After 2 years as an EIR, Peter Winton thought he'd accomplished "not a lot."

Year 3 changed everything.

Why EIR terms need to be longer than most programs allow.

@LiveEIR Episode 14 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

At Rolls-Royce, the competitor was GE.

At universities, it's the professor next door.

Peter Winton on the insight that changed his EIR approach.

@LiveEIR Episode 14 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"The most powerful three words in the English language: I don't know."

Peter Winton on why intellectual honesty matters more than having all the answers.

@LiveEIR Episode 14 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

"The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth."

Peter Winton chose breadth over height. That decision shaped everything about his EIR approach.

@LiveEIR Episode 14 → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9

[EIRLive @LiveEIR]

NEW EPISODE: Peter Winton spent 50+ years in manufacturing before becoming an "accidental" EIR.

Watch him transform dense academic language into a pitch anyone gets.

Full episode with @LiveEIR → https://t.co/psH8KS03P9