Shaping the Future: Insights on Human Values and Innovation from Silicon Valley and Beyond

In this episode, we're joined by Sunita Parasuraman, a Board Member at Iris Energy and The Baldwin Group. A seasoned finance and venture capital leader, Sunita spent 12 years at Meta (Facebook), where she served as Head of Investments for New Product Experimentation from 2020 to 2023, leading early-stage corporate venture initiatives. She also helped shape Meta's blockchain strategy and built its Treasury team, overseeing capital markets, treasury operations, and insurance with teams in Menlo Park, Dublin, Singapore, and São Paulo. Previously, she was Treasury Manager at Apple. Sunita is also a bestselling author, particularly known for her book The Panchatantra: Wisdom for Today from the Timeless Classic. “Silicon Valley is truly a melting pot, a true meritocracy. And I think any system where you have people with all these backgrounds, you have to measure people by impact and what they do versus how they look like and where they come from, what their connections are. Which is why this place is so successful” Sunita grew up in India and has spent many years living in the US and working in Silicon Valley, blending her unique engineering and finance expertise. She holds a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, where she was the only woman in her class, and a Master in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She also earned an MBA in Finance from UC Berkeley and holds an NACD certificate in Cyber-Risk Oversight from Carnegie Mellon University. In this inspiring conversation, Sunita shares her thoughts on the secrets to innovation, lessons from Silicon Valley, the future of AI, and essential skills for the coming years. She also offers insights into personal growth and how it ties into shaping a clear future plan both for oneself and for being innovative. From fostering innovative interaction and knowledge transfer in diverse environments, highlighting skills AI cannot replace and the role of values in personal and professional growth via values are crucial for both personal development and cultivating an innovative mindset through to the "story within a story" framework promoting multi-perspective thinking, . A key takeaway is that the value of working for world-changing companies and pursuing personal and spiritual growth cannot be measured in dollars; both can thrive together. By the way, what was it like to be in the town hall meeting at Apple when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPod? And who was the child who regularly wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper by snail mail, thrilled each time one was published in the "Letters to the Editor" column? Tune in 😊