In this episode of the Say It Skillfully® podcast, Molly sits down with Noel Moldvai—entrepreneur, CEO, and co-founder of Augment—for an inspiring conversation about resilience, emotional intelligence, and what it truly means to lead. Noel shares his journey from leaving Yugoslavia as a young boy to navigating life as a first-generation immigrant in Canada and California, learning English as his third language, and finding his path from Berkeley to Google to Rubrik before taking the leap into founding his own company. He opens up about the hard-won lessons that shaped him as a leader: why EQ matters more than IQ, how he learned to manage his own emotional reactions before trying to lead others, and the near-death moments at Augment that tested everything he had. He also shares the surprisingly personal origin story behind Augment (a platform now being called the Robinhood for private markets) born out of his own frustration trying to access locked-up startup equity just to buy an engagement ring and a home. Honest, grounded, and deeply human, this episode is a reminder that naiveté can be both a blessing and a curse, and sometimes, it's exactly what it takes to build something the world has never seen. Chapters: 0:00 EQ, IQ, and the importance of people 0:33 Molly introduces Noel Moldvai and Augment 2:34 Noel’s earliest memory and leaving Yugoslavia 3:52 Leaving family behind and starting over 6:28 Learning English in Canada 8:03 School, math, physics, and childhood mischief 11:05 Belonging, family traditions, and growing up between cultures 13:12 Returning to Hungary and Serbia 14:24 College, self-motivation, and finding his path 19:23 Becoming a self-starter and learning to build teams 21:41 Google, Rubrik, and realizing he wanted something different 28:00 Why EQ matters more than IQ 30:42 Managing emotional reactions and making better decisions 33:53 Meditation, exercise, and creating stillness 35:37 The backstory behind Augment 36:57 Unlocking private equity and the problem Noel wanted to solve 40:52 Building the Robinhood for private markets 41:29 Co-founding Augment and learning from differences 47:52 Respect, empathy, and high-performing teams 48:43 Ego, rejection, and the pain of startup life 50:48 Reducing risk one step at a time 52:49 Hobbies, family, ice baths, reading, and motorcycles 53:42 Introversion and heavy metal 54:53 Noel’s do-over: taking it easier in college 55:55 Rapid-fire: next life, nicknames, and favorite food 56:42 Noel’s top takeaway: the blessing and curse of naiveté 57:03 What it was like for Noel to share his journey 57:58 Molly’s closing reflections 58:29 Final thought: people and the connections among them 58:58 Say It Skillfully closing message
Show More
Show Less
59 mins