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#News #Government #The Institute of Current World Affairs #Europe #Foreignpolicy #Centraleurope #Democracy #Transatlanticalliance #Transatlanticrelationship

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In this episode of The Innovators & Investors Podcast, host Kristian Marquez sits down with Brian Armstrong, Managing Director of Ensemble Innovation Ventures, to explore the dynamic world of healthcare venture capital. Brian shares how Ensemble focuses on investments in health tech and tech-enabled services that enhance both patient care and backend operations across healthcare stakeholders including payers, providers, and pharma. They delve into the fund’s hybrid corporate venture structure, investment criteria, and syndicate partnerships, emphasizing financial returns balanced with meaningful healthcare impact and strategic alignment. The conversation also covers Ensemble’s approach to deal sourcing—combining inbound co-investor networks with proactive early founder engagement—and their commitment to a diversified investment portfolio across the U.S. Brian discusses how AI is transforming both healthcare innovation and their internal venture processes, enabling more efficient diligence and portfolio management. Drawing from his extensive career beginning in the late ’90s, he reflects on the cyclical nature of venture capital, current industry challenges like geopolitical uncertainty and policy shifts, and the rapid evolution driven by technology. Throughout, Brian highlights the importance of authenticity, resilience, and mission-driven investing that goes beyond financial returns to truly impact healthcare outcomes. Listeners gain a comprehensive view of the complexities and opportunities inside health tech investing, the evolving venture landscape, and key lessons for founders and investors eager to engage effectively in this fast-changing space. Learn more about Ensemble Innovation Ventures' work at: https://eivfund.com Connect with Brian on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briantarmstrong/ Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://finstratmgmt.com/innovators-investors-podcast/ Want to learn more about Kristian Marquez's work? Check out his website at https://finstratmgmt.com…

The Cable

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The Cable with Gregory Feifer - saving democracy one podcast at a time! We address the threats to democracy in Europe and the transatlantic relationship, with a particular focus on backsliding countries in Central Europe.

64 episodios

The Cable

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updated hace 4 años

Series en casa•Feed

64 episodios

#News #Government #The Institute of Current World Affairs #Europe #Foreignpolicy #Centraleurope #Democracy #Transatlanticalliance #Transatlanticrelationship

Todos los episodios

The Cable

1
Do Russians really want war? 31:34

hace 4 years31:34

31:34

With reports that Ukraine is surrounded by some 140,000 Russian troops, the possibility of a major military conflict in Europe is closer than ever since the end of World War II. There’s been no lack of speculation about whether President Vladimir Putin intends to invade Ukraine again and why. But is what he wants the same as what most Russians want? The answer is complicated, with serious implications for the Western response. Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, the country’s only independent polling agency, joins The Cable from Moscow to explain.…

The Cable

1
Is time running out for American democracy? 30:49

hace 4 years30:49

30:49

With vital voting rights legislation stalled in the Senate and Republican politicians continuing to cast doubt on President Biden’s election, the United States is heading into pivotal midterm elections later this year. Liz Hempowicz and Bruce Stokes join The Cable to discuss the danger America’s democratic institutions face and what must be done to protect them. Liz Hempowicz: Director of Public Policy, Project on Government Oversight Bruce Stokes: Visiting GMF Senior Fellow; Executive Director, Transatlantic Task Force: Together or Alone? Choices and Strategies for Transatlantic Relations for 2021 and Beyond…

The Cable

1
There's a new democracy playbook. Will anyone use it? 35:11

hace 4 years35:11

35:11

President Joe Biden is set to host the first-ever Summit for Democracy, part of his promise to reassert democratic values around the world. But with Russia and China panning the very idea of values-based diplomacy, can the event’s more than 110 participants prove them wrong? Norman Eisen and Alina Polyakova are co-authors of a new democracy playbook released December 6, together with The Cable’s co-host Jonathan Katz. They talk to Gregory Feifer about their action plan and what chances they believe the summit has to succeed.…

The Cable

1
Lithuania is punching above its weight. Will it matter at Biden’s Summit for Democracy? 36:15

hace 4 years36:15

36:15

Lithuania shares a border with two hostile autocratic neighbors, Belarus and Russia. If that weren’t enough, the small Baltic democracy is taking on China, too. It’s a role model for confident, democratic leadership in the 21st century, and wants to play an important role at the Summit for Democracy in early December. But will the United States and other powerful democracies come together with tangible support even as authoritarians and populists seem to be on the rise? Lithuanian Vice-Minister Mantas Adomėnas and US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Kara McDonald joined The Cable to discuss the challenges and hopes for the summit. Transcript here: https://www.icwa.org/the-cable-podcast-lithuania-democracy/…

The Cable

1
We have the Pandora Papers…Now what? 31:18

hace 4 years31:18

31:18

The Pandora Papers leak exposed some of the shadowy offshore finances the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people use to hide vast fortunes. But it only scratched the surface of an entrenched global financial system rife with loopholes. So what must be done to combat the illicit practices helping drive massive inequities and shake liberal democracies around the globe? Karen Greenaway, who investigated financial crimes at the FBI, and Drew Sullivan, founder of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), join The Cable to explain.…

The Cable

1
Fiona Hill: "We're dealing with our own authoritarians" 43:10

hace 4 years43:10

43:10

Fiona Hill made global headlines when she testified during an impeachment inquiry against then-President Donald Trump in 2019. Now the former senior director for European and Russian affairs on Trump's National Security Council has published a new memoir tracing her journey from a hardscrabble childhood in northeastern England to the White House. She joins Greg and Jonathan to describe what her experiences, including in the Trump Administration, reflect about the most pressing questions facing liberal democracy today.…

The Cable

1
Why Leonid Volkov is optimistic about Russia's future 27:54

hace 4 years27:54

27:54

When Russians vote in parliamentary elections later this week, the results are expected to be a foregone conclusion. Still, opposition groups are campaigning across the country despite the Kremlin’s unprecedented crackdown on civil society, independent media and free speech, including the imprisonment of the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. His former chief of staff Leonid Volkov—one of the architects of Navalny’s “smart voting” strategy—joins Greg and Jonathan to explain what’s at stake for the country and the future of President Vladimir Putin’s regime.…

The Cable

1
Transatlantic trends 46:12

hace 4 years46:12

46:12

Joe Biden is seeking to renew the transatlantic relationship during a number of major summit meetings in Europe on his first foreign trip as US president. But after four years of Donald Trump’s assault on Washington’s closest alliances, what does public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic think about the future of US leadership, and what does it mean for hopes of addressing some of Western countries’ biggest joint challenges? Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer and Irene Bramm join Greg and Jonathan to discuss their new Transatlantic Trends survey from the German Marshall Fund.…

The Cable

1
Can the transatlantic alliance recover? 41:32

hace 4 years41:32

41:32

President Joe Biden has been busy with his overarching foreign policy aim of mending ties with America’s closest allies. Progress has been made during a series of summit meetings in Europe, but what are the underlying challenges ahead? We recorded two important conversations before the summits: Constanze Stelzenmüller speaks to Greg about the transatlantic alliance's fundamental issues, followed by a discussion with Erik Brattberg and Jonathan about a democracy agenda and other priorities.…

The Cable

1
Russian-Czech relations blow up, but for how long? 30:31

hace 4 years30:31

30:31

When the Czech Republic accused Russia last month of staging an explosion at an ammunition depot in the country that killed two people in 2014, it provided shocking new evidence of the Kremlin’s secret war against its perceived rivals in the West, prompting a major rift in Czech relations with Russia. The scandal broke just days after the sacking of Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, who frequently warned against risks posed by the Kremlin. He joins Greg and Jonathan to discuss the fallout from latest developments and what Europe and the US must do to address the challenge.…

The Cable

1
Domestic extremism spreads its wings 32:23

hace 4 years32:23

32:23

“The most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to the homeland today.” That’s how US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has described domestic extremism. It’s a mounting threat to democracy and security in Europe, too, and elsewhere as hardline views enter the mainstream. Susan Corke—Intelligence Project Director at the Southern Poverty Law Center—joins Greg and Jonathan to describe the fast-evolving threat and how to address it, together with Sasha Havlicek, a pioneer in combatting hate, conflict and extremism.…

The Cable

1
Repression in Russia 48:23

hace 5 years48:23

48:23

The last few months have seen unprecedented repression in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, with a wave of arrests and disappearances among Kremlin critics and international alarm over the deteriorating health of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny. At the same time, Russian troops are massing on the border with Ukraine, sending Western countries scrambling to figure out Moscow’s intentions. Those developments are playing out ahead of parliamentary elections set for September, amid the government’s dismal response to the coronavirus pandemic and plummeting public opinion ratings for the Kremlin’s United Russia party. The leading opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza joins Jonathan and Greg to explain what’s taking place in Russia, priorities for the opposition and what Western countries must do to address Putin’s mounting threat.…

The Cable

1
Congress and advancing democracy at home and abroad 33:23

hace 5 years33:23

33:23

With the Biden administration promising to advance democracy at home and abroad after four years of backsliding, what’s Congress’s role? Congressman David Price and Ambassador Norm Eisen join moderator Reta Jo Lewis in an important conversation about strengthening the US democracy agenda, including President Biden’s proposed 2021 democracy summit. This podcast was recorded from a live GMF webinar broadcast on March 11.…

The Cable

1
Crisis in Georgia 37:50

hace 5 years37:50

37:50

The US and European Union are struggling to respond to a mounting political crisis in Georgia that boiled over in the former Soviet republic with the arrest of the opposition leader Nika Melia last month. Leading former diplomats, including The Cable’s Jonathan Katz, have issued a statement calling for his release. The Georgian parliament’s former First Deputy Chair Tamar Chugoshvili joins Jonathan and Greg for an important conversation explaining the crisis and what to do about it with former US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly, who’s co-authored a new report on the case for supporting Georgia.…

The Cable

1
Who's afraid of Alexei Navalny? 28:21

hace 5 years28:21