Tag

siliconvalley

Mar 26
Love25

Eric Hayden

By Business, Podcast No Comments

This week on Here’s What We Know, we welcome Eric Hayden, founder and CEO of Urban Catalyst, a company that’s helped drive billions of dollars in development across Silicon Valley. He was also named the 2025 Silicon Valley Business Journal Newsmaker of the Year.

That’s the resume. But that’s not the story. Because this conversation goes beyond real estate and development. It’s about how someone goes from selling sand dollars as a kid… to helping shape an entire city.

And really, when you strip it all down, it’s about how we think, how we build, and how we show up in the world.

This episode is sponsored by:

Be sure to tell them Gary sent you!

In This Episode:

  • Why housing is so expensive, and why it’s not an easy fix
  • What it really means to “win” at school, work, and life
  • What it actually takes to build in places like Silicon Valley
  • The hidden systems behind growth, cities, and opportunity
  • How curiosity and creativity can shape a career in unexpected ways
  • And why success has a lot less to do with intelligence than people think

Quotations:

“You just have to prioritize time management and do the work and do it good, do it better than they expect. “ – Eric Hayden

“Supply and demand. The neighbors love complaining about height, density, traffic, and parking. Those are their big four anti-development things. “ – Eric Hayden

“You need people. You want to have success in retail and restaurants and all that stuff, you need people to actually go there. You need the population.“ – Eric Hayden

Bio:

Eric Hayden is the Founder and Managing Partner of Urban Catalyst. Responsible for developing more than $3.5 billion in real estate projects, including over 2,300 residential units in the California Bay Area, Mr. Hayden has experience in acquisition, contract negotiation, due diligence, risk assessment, financing, construction, and disposition of multifamily, single-family, and large mixed-use and master-planned developments. He maintains relationships with a broad network of property owners, enabling him to identify and acquire prime investments. Mr. Hayden also has expertise in navigating projects through the entitlement process by working with elected officials, community groups, and political organizations to gain support and get projects approved.

Guest Contact Info:

Website: https://www.facebook.com/urbancatalystfund/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikhayden/

Dec 11
Love15

Raymond Watt

By Leadership, Personal Growth, Podcast No Comments

This week on Here’s What We Know, join us for an insightful conversation with Raymond Watt, a remarkable leader balancing multiple roles as Chairman at Rimar.ai, Co-founder and CEO of Omnislash Inc., and Chairman Emeritus of YPO. Discover Raymond Watt’s incredible journey from his roots in South Africa to leading global businesses in the heart of Silicon Valley. His story is one of gratitude, strong family values, and an unwavering passion for helping others thrive.

This episode is sponsored by:

(Be sure to tell them Gary sent you so you can save 20%!)

In this Episode:

  • Follow Raymond’s transformative journey and the powerful lessons he picked up along the way.
  • Discover how his unique upbringing shaped his leadership style and parenting philosophies.
  • Go behind the scenes of YPO’s mission to build better leaders and create lasting impact in businesses, families, and communities.
  • Raymond shares practical tips for raising kids grounded in integrity and empathy—no matter how much success surrounds them.
  • Learn why exposing kids to diverse cultures is one of the greatest gifts you can give.
  • Raymond’s unexpected journey into the entertainment world as a member of the Television Academy will leave you inspired and curious!

Quotations:

“The beauty of being raised in Africa, as a backdrop and a canvas for me growing up, I think is probably the biggest gift that I ever could receive.” ~ Raymond Watt

“I think we need to recognize that most religions have a huge component of gratitude built into the doctrine, which I think is beautiful.” ~ Raymond Watt

“We do not pray to ask for things. We pray to recognize and say thank you for things.” ~ Raymond Watt

“There’s a huge part of the business that’s just linked to the actualization of other humans, whether it’s your clients or whether it’s your employees or whether it’s your shareholders. If you truly are passionate about them finding success and getting to the point where they wanna be, it sort of makes you a good-ish businessman.” ~ Raymond Watt

“The idea of peer learning and sitting and listening actively to people around you and listening and learning from them, which is the base of YPO, is why I love this organization because it helps me to become better. But I would definitely not list businessman as one of my greatest skills.” ~ Raymond Watt

“Business leadership is definitely one of those mechanisms of hopefully making the world better.” ~ Raymond Watt

“If you really don’t want your clients to be unhappy, if you don’t want your employees to be unhappy, and you don’t want your investors to be unhappy, you’re sort of treading the line towards being a good businessman.” ~ Raymond Watt

“If you dream it, you can really achieve it.” ~ Raymond Watt

“I still learn from so many people.” ~ Raymond Watt

“I think the narrative is what drives humanity. And the better we can understand which stories people connect to, the better, you know, probably we can use the word successful, that the more successful we become.” ~ Raymond Watt

Bio:

Raymond Watt is the Chairman of Rimar.ai, a big data analytics company that develops quantitative models for its own hedge funds and managed accounts, and Co-founder and CEO of Omnislash, Inc., a data-aggregation platform transforming the esports and gaming space, and is the Chairman Emeritus of YPO. Raymond received his B.Sc. in Computer Science from NorthWest University and an MBA in Information Technology from Bond University in Australia.

Guest Contact Info:

Website: https://www.ypo.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondwatt/