Latest Interviews

Prestige and Purpose: Asia's Luxury Market

Ravi Thakran, Zak Brown, Naomi Campbell, Bruce Rockowitz

Speakers including Bruce Rokovich, Naomi Campbell, and Jack Brown analyze the decade-long pivot of the Asian economy from manufacturing to wellness-driven consumption, highlighting a massive surge in fitness and premium food markets alongside the strategic revitalization of heritage brands like Kenton Kirwan. The panel identifies Singapore as a governance model and emphasizes digital engagement through motorsports and eSports as critical tools for capturing the region's youthful demographic, while noting the urgent need for greater Asian representation in global luxury fashion. Ultimately, the discussion forecasts a thirty-year dominance of the wellness sector driven by changing dietary habits and the cultural normalization of fitness across China and Southeast Asia.

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.

Small Business Financing Tips for 2017: Banks, Family and Additional Resources

Carol Roth, David Burch, Steve Strauss, Gerri Detweiler

Addressing the financing needs of over 50% of U.S. small business owners planning growth, experts including David Burch of Bank of America and Steve Strauss outline strategies to navigate traditional lending and family funding. The presentation details the critical preparation required for the "Three Cs" of credit, emphasizing accurate financial reporting and formal contracts to mitigate relationship risks with family investors. Panelists further advocate for leveraging free advisory networks like SCORE and SBDCs to build robust capital reserves before crises occur, ensuring businesses can transition from informal financing to institutional support.

Matthew Turk

Matthew Turk, John Luther King Jr., Rich

Cognate, a startup founded by researchers presenting new findings, commercializes an augmented reality system called "Being There" to enable remote experts to virtually collaborate with field technicians by reconstructing physical environments into navigable 3D models. The technology addresses critical technical challenges in environment modeling and annotation rendering, allowing users to independently explore scenes and apply spatially registered instructions without relying on live video streams. Currently targeting the 5.5 million U.S. field service technicians, the platform aims to reduce travel costs and equipment downtime by bridging the gap between dwindling expert availability and an increasingly inexperienced workforce.

The Bitcoin Network Effect

The speaker advocates for viewing blockchain entities as autonomous software mechanisms rather than legal corporations, highlighting their distinct lack of liability and governance attributes. While Bitcoin dominates through strong network effects, successful altcoins must offer unique functional advantages to coexist, and regulatory pressure currently targets intermediaries rather than the decentralized protocol itself. Future adoption hinges on resolving transaction latency through layer-2 solutions and mitigating volatility, with international remittances identified as the primary catalyst for non-speculative utility alongside a reevaluation of monetary policy as a fixed-supply asset.

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.

Scaling Growth | Gustaf Alstromer, YC Partner (formerly Airbnb) & Ed Baker (formerly Uber)

Gustaf Alstromer, Ed Baker

Ed Arons and Gustav Sorensen discuss their experience scaling growth teams at Uber, Airbnb, and Facebook, contrasting early viral tactics that exploited platform loopholes with sustainable strategies focused on retention and marketplace liquidity. The speakers detail how successful scaling requires aligning product and engineering functions, adapting paid acquisition to local constraints, and replacing short-term viral hacks with long-term investments in SEO, data science, and user experience optimization. Furthermore, they emphasize the necessity of institutionalizing experimentation to challenge assumptions, citing specific examples like copy adjustments in Japan and WeChat integration in China, while advocating for unified operational models that track acquisition, churn, and re-engagement separately.

The Impact Investing Summit

Matthew Bishop, Lisa Ashford, Mark Campanale, Mark Goldring, Lutfey Siddiqi, Matthew Spencer, Tristram Stewart, Rod Schwartz, Arthur Wood, Mel Tam

In an Oxford-style debate regarding the primary agent for climate action, Lisa Ashford and Mark Campanali argued that investors and bankers can bypass political inertia to drive rapid decarbonization, while Matthew Spencer and colleagues contended that social movements and government policy are essential to establish the regulatory frameworks that make green investment viable. Despite pro-market arguments citing market failures and capital efficiency, the opposition team successfully countered by highlighting historical precedents where moral pressure and state intervention preceded financial shifts. Ultimately, the side opposing the motion won by persuading the audience to view political and social activism as the necessary "generals" that guide the "cavalry" of private capital.

Scaling Product | Fireside with Joe Gebbia and Reid Hoffman

Joe Gebbia, Reid Hoffman

Airbnb achieved product-market fit by abandoning scalable code solutions in favor of manual, non-scalable actions, such as founders personally photographing listings to overcome trust barriers and reduce user friction. To sustain hyper-growth while maintaining culture and empathy, the company institutionalized practices like hiring for future needs, training core values interviewers, and mandating that employees regularly experience the platform as travelers and hosts. This strategic focus on deep user connection and operational realism eventually enabled the expansion from a simple room-rental service to a comprehensive travel ecosystem featuring Experiences and a global network of professional photographers.

Q&A with YC Partners at Startup School SV 2016

Kat, Adora, Tim, Jaredy, Michael, Dalton, Kirsty

This event delivers a comprehensive strategic guide for startup founders, covering critical phases from immediate idea validation and co-founder selection to operational tooling and the YC application process. Key insights emphasize prioritizing genuine passion over impressiveness, balancing product perfection with growth based on specific retention thresholds, and leveraging community support rather than isolating oneself. The session concludes with logistical details for a reception in the sunken garden, offering a direct forum for continued dialogue with the YC partners and staff.

Rewarding Employees & Giving Back to Your Local Community

Carol Roth, Sharon Miller, Steve Strauss, Cali Williams Yost

This analysis of the 2016 Bank of America Small Business Owner Report reveals that post-election optimism has surged as entrepreneurs leverage flexibility and community engagement to enhance employee retention and local economic stability. Key figures including Steve Strauss, Sharon Miller, and Callie Williams-Yost outline strategic resolutions for 2017 that emphasize diversifying profit centers, formalizing remote work policies, and establishing long-term charitable partnerships to drive sustainable growth. The event underscores that balancing operational adaptability with personal well-being is essential for small businesses navigating an uncertain economic landscape.

Reid Hoffman at Startup School SV 2016

Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman outlines a framework for navigating the evolution of human cognition through Artificial General Intelligence while establishing foundational strategies for startup success, such as prioritizing network building and flexible persistence. He details critical venture capital mechanics, including the necessity of trusted referrals for funding, the requirement for credible competition narratives, and the specific structural elements of effective pitch decks. Finally, Hoffman argues that achieving dominant market positions requires "blitzscaling" to sacrifice short-term efficiency for rapid growth, supported by a high-performance corporate culture modeled after professional sports teams.

Spotlight on Issues Affecting Women Entrepreneurs

Carol Roth, Maisha Walker, Erin Andrew, Elizabeth Romero

A joint panel featuring SBA officials and Bank of America representatives highlighted the rapid growth of women-owned businesses, which generate over $1 trillion in annual sales, while addressing persistent barriers such as unequal access to capital and the "glass ceiling." The event detailed strategic initiatives like the SBA's revised underwriting and the "Blink" platform designed to bridge financing gaps, alongside actionable advice on early relationship building with financial institutions and leveraging mentorship networks. Despite historical challenges in federal contracting and supply chain access, the discussion projected continued economic growth driven by women's entrepreneurship and their significant share of U.S. purchasing power.

A Fireside Chat with Serge Pun Building Myanmar

Serge Pun, Staci Warden, Mike Milken, Mahendra Lama, Minseok Lee, Dickey Yuhuiko, Brad Gordon

Expanding from a private interview to a public forum, the Milken Institute session featured Serge Poon and Mike Milken discussing Myanmar's shifting economic landscape following the removal of US sanctions. Poon detailed his forty-year journey from displacement to rebuilding a private banking empire through strict anti-corruption practices, while outlining a strategy prioritizing long-term infrastructure investment over short-term gains. The dialogue concluded with an optimistic five-year forecast for nation-building, emphasizing regional connectivity and the need for investors to support foundational "trunk" projects despite lingering political risks.

Strategies for Navigating the Hiring Process

Carol Roth, Jon Dowst, Stephanie Bevegni, Steve Strauss

Based on Bank of America data, small business owners prioritize unteachable traits like work ethic and cultural fit over formal education when leveraging referrals, job boards, and social networks to recruit talent. To ensure alignment and mitigate legal risks, hiring managers employ behavioral questioning and reference checks while carefully distinguishing between full-time employees and independent contractors. This strategy capitalizes on the growing millennial preference for smaller organizations by offering personal interaction and professional development to secure high-quality, long-term staff.