⁠Some people change your trajectory — Bruce Falck changed mine.

⁠In 2019, he greenlit the acquisition of my startup by Twitter.

A few years and one tech rollercoaster later, I sat down with Bruce in San Francisco to record Episode 1 of the OVNI Podcast.

⁠Bruce’s story is wild:

⁠➤ Born in Johannesburg.

⁠➤ Moved to the US without a visa.

⁠➤ Waited tables.

⁠➤ Built a startup from scratch.

⁠➤ Led a $5B ads business at Twitter.

⁠➤ Got fired the week Elon took over.

⁠And now — he's building again.

⁠A startup in the energy mapping space. At 54. With 3 kids. With humility and fire.

⁠We talked about ego death, reinvention, customer obsession, and why being an immigrant made him a better founder.

This episode is personal. Raw. And full of lessons for anyone thinking of starting over — again.

⁠🎧 Listen to Episode 1 here → I know I got a lot out of this hour with Bruce, I can’t wait to hear what your thoughts of this conversation.

#founderstories #resilience #siliconvalley #OVNIPodcast #BruceFalck #exitandstartagain

[00:00:00]: Introduction

[00:00:57]: Bruce Falck's early years

[00:02:10]: Arrival in San Francisco and early jobs

[00:04:42]: Transition from corporate to dot-com projects

[00:07:36]: Learning new tools and getting hands-on

[00:08:10]: Joining Google and initial experiences

[00:11:50]: Transitioning from Google to BrightRoll

[00:12:04]: Challenges of immigration and visa journey

[00:13:50]: Yahoo acquisition and the role of danger

[00:15:01]: Joining Turn and handling leadership challenges

[00:16:19]: Transition from a large company to a startup

[00:20:01]: Becoming a professional CEO and its challenges

[00:22:01]: The competitive landscape with The Trade Desk

[00:24:04]: Joining Twitter and the role of GM

[00:28:18]: Initial excitement about Elon Musk's interest in Twitter

[00:29:02]: Acquisition of Aiden AI and the process

[00:32:54]: The media attention and personal impact

[00:33:03]: Attempting to lead Twitter through chaos

[00:35:54]: The acquisition by Elon Musk and its aftermath

[00:37:00]: Starting Halcyon and the startup journey

[00:39:07]: The decision to start a company and initial steps

[00:41:27]: The founding of Halcyon and its focus

[00:43:34]: The challenge of building a startup

[00:45:32]: Overcoming self-doubt and failure

[00:46:19]: Leadership style and delegation

[00:47:14]: The role of a founder in customer understanding

[00:47:53]: Building as an antidote to cynicism

[00:48:41]: Conclusion