Latest Interviews
Showing 1861–1875 of 1,930 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs23 min
Talks at GS – Ambassador Christopher Hill: Then & Now – The North Korean Nuclear Crisis
North Korea has shifted from historical negotiation attempts to a strategy under Kim Jong-un that legally enshrines nuclear weapons to decouple U.S. forces from its allies while developing solid-fuel missiles capable of threatening the American mainland. Addressing this evolving threat requires a multi-pronged approach combining stringent U.S.-led sanctions, cyber operations, and renewed diplomatic efforts, all while navigating China's internal conflict between economic interests and security fears of regime collapse. Without sustained global cooperation and military reassurances for South Korea and Japan, the risk of miscalculation remains high as Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear capabilities.
- Milken Institute40 min
Women Leaders’ Summit:A Conversation with Al Gore: How to Inspire a Movement
At a Milken Institute Women's Summit, former Vice President Al Gore discussed his 2000 election concession, his journey into climate advocacy, and the urgent drivers of the current ecological crisis during the screening of *An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power*. Gore highlighted how rapid technological cost reductions and shifting investor priorities are accelerating a global transition toward electrification and renewables in major economies like India and China, while emphasizing that diverse perspectives and authentic passion are critical for effective communication. The event concluded with a call to action for the investor community to leverage capital and inclusive leadership to secure a sustainable future against the backdrop of a rapidly warming planet.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
Talks at GS – Tony Blinken: Diplomacy: The First Response
Former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken outlines a foreign policy philosophy where robust diplomacy serves as the essential first response to prevent conflicts from escalating into costly military engagements. He details critical assessments of recent U.S. strategies, noting that the Iran Nuclear Deal effectively delayed nuclear threats while criticizing the withdrawal from that agreement as a strategic error. Blinken further emphasizes that effective statecraft requires balancing humility regarding intervention limits with a commitment to American values of dignity, as seen in his reflection on the failures in Syria and the complexities surrounding North Korea and China.
- Y Combinator41 min
Elizabeth Iorns on Biotech Companies in YC
Elizabeth Iorns, Craig Cannon, Elizabeth Lyons
Science Exchange founder and CEO Elizabeth Lyons discusses how Y Combinator accelerates biotech innovation by prioritizing technology de-risking and capital access over traditional market validation. The program addresses the surplus of PhDs entering entrepreneurship by guiding scientists through complex intellectual property licensing and connecting them with Silicon Valley investors seeking deep domain expertise. Current strategic focuses include leveraging AI for drug toxicity prediction, advancing CRISPR applications for genetic editing, and navigating the clinical trial design challenges inherent in longevity research.
- Y Combinator43 min
Spotting Ecommerce Trends in Shipping Data - Laura Behrens Wu
Laura Behrens Wu, Craig Cannon
Founded by Laura in 2013 to bridge the technology gap in logistics, Shippo serves as a RESTful API platform aggregating shipping providers for e-commerce merchants from SMBs to enterprise marketplaces like eBay. The company mitigates complex regulatory risks and carrier inconsistencies while offering specialized insurance and tracking features to reduce cart abandonment and support niche product categories. With a global team of approximately 65 employees, Shippo advises B2B entrepreneurs to target inefficient infrastructure problems, having successfully scaled by positioning its "unsexy" shipping solution within the broader high-growth narrative of e-commerce.
- Y Combinator44 min
The CEO Who Pays Employees to De-Locate From the Bay
In March, Zapier launched a "delocation" program offering $10,000 to incentivize employees to leave the Bay Area, a move that attracted 30% more applicants but resulted in zero successful relocations while expanding the company's global reach. Concurrently, the 95-person all-remote organization is navigating its transition from internal promotions to hiring external management talent at the 100-employee mark, utilizing the "Manager Tools" framework and "Airbnb onboarding" to integrate new leaders. This strategic scaling supports the recent launch of a "Teams" product for enterprise clients, leveraging Zapier's extensive integration library and high retention rates to compete against well-funded rivals without relying on venture capital.
- Y Combinator27 min
Founders of Science Exchange, Goldbely, and The Flex Company Discuss Fundraising
Kat Manalac, Elizabeth Iorns, Vanessa Torrivilla, Erica Jensen, Elizabeth Lyons
Hosted by Kat, a panel featuring YC alumni founders Elizabeth Lyons, Vanessa Torribilla, and Erica examined fundraising hurdles across diverse sectors, revealing that initial seed rounds consistently register as the most difficult stage. The founders detailed a strategic shift from vision-based narratives to rigorous data preparation for Series A, while offering specific tactics for overcoming gender bias and managing team resources to prevent metric stagnation. Ultimately, the discussion emphasized the necessity of aligning investor outreach with relevant demographics and maintaining founder well-being to sustain long-term growth.
- Y Combinator30 min
Baidu's AI Lab Director on Advancing Speech Recognition and Simulation
Baidu's Silicon Valley AI Lab, under the direction of Adam Coates, is executing a strategic pivot from traditional search to comprehensive AI by deploying deep learning systems that solve real-world reliability gaps through bleeding-edge research. This initiative has yielded "superhuman" speech recognition models for Mandarin and prototypes like a voice-first keyboard that fundamentally alters user interaction for individuals with disabilities or heavy accents. Simultaneously, the organization is cultivating a new class of "full-stack machine learning engineers" capable of bridging the divide between theoretical breakthroughs and commercial products serving 100 million users.
- Y Combinator24 min
VMware Cofounder Diane Greene with Jessica Livingston at the Female Founders Conference
Diane Greene, Jessica Livingston
VMware co-founder Diane Greene navigated early skepticism and capital constraints to build the virtualization giant while retaining full voting control, later exiting to found Bebop before its 2017 sale to Google. Following her tenure on the boards of Intuit and Google, Greene leveraged her governance experience and strategic relationships to pivot enterprise software automation toward machine learning. She now advocates for cloud market consolidation driven by superior security models and advises founders to prioritize specific board expertise over prestige when constructing their leadership teams.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
Lessons from Lloyd: Advice to Our Summer Interns
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon reflects on his 35-year tenure, tracing his path from a Harvard law graduate who rejected initial offers to a strategic leader who leverages the firm's risk management expertise for its new consumer lending division. He champions diverse corporate policies, including support for marriage equality, while addressing global economic resilience and the market anxieties surrounding an extended economic cycle. Solomon concludes by warning of geopolitical tensions like the Thucydides Trap and emphasizing the importance of a well-rounded background alongside technical acumen for long-term professional success.
- Y Combinator27 min
Emily Weiss on the Insights That Grew Glossier - With Amy Buechler at the Female Founders Conference
Glossier, led by CEO Emily Weiss, leverages its sister publication *Into the Gloss* and a 600% annual growth trajectory to scale its Direct-to-Consumer beauty model while maintaining accidental profitability with $40 million in raised capital. The company prioritizes product quality and community transparency over traditional retail tactics, driving expansion through peer-to-peer recommendations and a strategic shift to physical locations that function as cultural hubs rather than sales counters. As Weiss directs focus toward a new European headquarters, the firm exemplifies a market shift where data-driven community engagement replaces conventional advertising to cultivate brand loyalty among a predominantly female workforce.
- Y Combinator44 min
Making Music and Art Through Machine Learning - Doug Eck of Magenta
Google's Magenta project deploys open-source machine learning tools like NSynth and SketchRNN to assist human creators in generating novel music and art rather than replacing them. By leveraging deep learning architectures such as LSTMs and reinforcement learning, the team enables the interpolation of distinct sounds and the generation of complex long-form structures while emphasizing active user participation through creative coding. As the initiative expands its community via its open-source platform, it aims to refine evaluation methods and integrate with professional workflows to support a future where human artists adapt by focusing on unpredictable, emotionally raw expressions.
- Milken Institute28 min
MIc'd Up | Part 1: A Conversation with Norman Lear and Ava DuVernay
Norman Lear, Ava DuVernay, Alex Witt
Hosted by Alex Witt, legendary television producer Norman Lear and filmmaker Ava DuVernay discussed the role of entertainment as a catalyst for radical justice and the enduring reality of systemic oppression. Lear detailed his strategy for centering Black life through sitcoms like *The Jeffersons* and his recent Latin American adaptation of *One Day at a Time*, while DuVernay explained her vision for Array as a long-term institution challenging Hollywood's distribution barriers with her upcoming film *A Wrinkle in Time*. The speakers concluded that true progress requires moving beyond symbolic milestones, such as the Obama presidency, to actively dismantle intersecting privileges and hold society accountable for equal opportunity.
- Milken Institute35 min
MIc'd Up | Part 2: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Conversation with Katie Couric
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Katie Couric
In an upcoming podcast episode scheduled for May, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recounts his 1985 NBA championship victory over the Celtics, discusses his friendship with John Wooden, and details his 2009 leukemia diagnosis which has intensified his advocacy for social justice. He critically analyzes the Trump administration's tax and travel policies, attributes Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss to Electoral College mechanics, and argues that visual documentation of police brutality is shifting the national dialogue on race. The conversation, which also covers his religious conversion to Islam and the evolution of the NBA, was highlighted by President Obama awarding Abdul-Jabbar the Presidential Medal of Freedom for overcoming systemic biases in basketball.
- Milken Institute22 min
A Conversation with Jamie Dimon
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon argues that U.S. economic stagnation stems from bipartisan policy failures and structural issues like low labor participation and crumbling infrastructure, urging corporate leaders to prioritize national interests over parochial self-gain. He endorses the Trump administration's strategic focus on corporate tax reform, deregulation, and infrastructure investment as essential tools to reverse capital flight and stimulate job creation. While dismissing the prospect of seeking elected office, Dimon highlights JPMorgan Chase's rapid progress in diversity, noting that women and LGBT employees already comprise significant portions of its leadership pipeline.