BROADCASTS.com

Published: Oct. 3, 2022, 4:28 p.m.

Peter Bell has quite literally done it all in business. He began his career in 1986 at a growing startup EMC, as Employee #81. After spending 10+ years at EMC, Peter became an entrepreneur co-founding Storage Networks and later taking the company public and serving as its CEO. Afterwards, Peter became a venture capitalist working at Highland Capital Partners, a $3 Billion venture capital firm, for 12 years.

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After Highland, Peter helped launch Amity Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on partnering with founders of technology companies to build category-defining businesses and serves as Amity's Chairman. Based in San Francisco, CA, the partners at Amity have invested in over fifty companies across all stages of company growth throughout their years in business together.

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In this interview, we talk about:

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- Peter's corporate journey with EMC - being a part of a growing startup, getting an MBA at Harvard Business School

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- Peter's entrepreneurial journey with Storage Networks, taking the company public and serving as a public company CEO

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- Peter's academia journey - being an Adjunct Professor at MIT's Sloan School and Boston College

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- Peter's venture capital journey with Highland Capital Partners and now his own venture firm Amity Ventures

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- Peter's personal journey - meeting his wife at BC, managing work-life balance, and fatherhood/parenting

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Peter's Socials:

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Amity's Ventures: https://www.amity.vc/

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Peter's Twitter: https://twitter.com/peterwbell

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Peter's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwbell/

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Grateful Living Info:

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Bo0LHtRJJNJBUYIceg27w

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Hn4ttttmbWfVqAhWh4Jhi

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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1503185956

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My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aroy81547/?hl=en

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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gratefulliving4

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Medium: https://gratefulliving4.medium.com/

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Time Stamps:

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0:00 Intro

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0:55 Can you talk about your childhood and what type of kid you were?

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4:14 What was your relationship with business?

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8:17 You met your wife in college. Any advice on love?

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14:06 You left PWC 2 months into starting the job. Was that a hard decision?

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18:21 Are there lessons from your early business career at EMC?

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21:55 How did business school come about?

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26:04 EMC grew a lot over the years. Any leadership lessons from Dick and Roger?

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32:30 You started Storage Networks after EMC. Can you talk about Storage Networks?

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35:12 Any words of wisdom on taking a company public?

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39:07 How was your work life balance as a public company CEO?

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42:07 You sold Storage Networks. Any advice on selling a company?

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45:28 Getting into academia after selling your company, how was that?

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50:50 You joined Highland Capital Partners in 2006, how was that process?

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53:51 young people going straight into VC

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59:33 Starting Amity

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1:02:25 Raising a fund?

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1:07:06 Managing all aspects of running a VC?

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1:11:21 Any traits for becoming an entrepreneur? Any good way to prepare?

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1:20:19 How do you keep up with trends and markets?

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1:25:08 How have you managed parenting your kids as someone whose found a good amount of success?