Latest Interviews
Showing 1141–1155 of 1,549 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs25 min
Julie Sweet: Chief Executive Officer of Accenture
Accenture North America CEO Julie Sweet leverages her legal background and a culture of continuous learning to drive an innovation-led business model, currently prioritizing "natural curiosity" among her 500,000 global employees. Following strategic pivots from a historic earnings miss to a 2014 branding error, she has championed organizational agility and deep diversity initiatives to foster an inclusive environment. Sweet further guides the firm's digital transformation by emphasizing AI adoption, blockchain pilots, and 5G readiness while advising future leaders to master storytelling and embrace calculated risks.
- Goldman Sachs26 min
Rosalind Brewer: COO and Group President, Starbucks
Roz Brewer, the first Black and female leader of Sam's Club, transitioned from organic chemistry to executive leadership at Kimberly-Clark, Walmart, and Starbucks, where she famously championed the business value of diversity despite facing public backlash. As Starbucks CEO during a 2018 racial bias crisis, Brewer personally apologized to arrested patrons and orchestrated the closure of 8,000 stores for mandatory internal bias training, a response that solidified her reputation for decisive crisis management. Following her tenure at Starbucks, Brewer joined the Amazon board of directors and continues to advocate for the normalization of Black women's presence in high-level corporate governance while urging the next generation to pursue their goals with perseverance.
- Milken Institute26 min
Across Sectors and Borders | Part 1: Building Tomorrow's Global Workforce
Mina Al-Oraibi, Jeff Maggioncalda, Solveig Nicklos
Established to address the region's 31% youth unemployment, the Abu Dhabi School of Government (ADSG) partnered with Coursera to deploy a localized, mobile-accessible platform delivering 3,000 courses from elite institutions to 60,000 government employees. This initiative integrates competency-based learning into performance management systems and extends "stepping stone" programs to reskill non-government job seekers, aiming to foster a culture of adaptability for future workforces. By shifting focus from static degrees to modular credentialing, the project aspires to serve as a scalable global model for upskilling workforces against rapid technological and economic shifts.
- Goldman Sachs34 min
Bret Stephens: "New York Times" Op-Ed Columnist
Bret Stephens, Jake Siewert, Brett Stevens
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Brett Stevens, a former Jerusalem Post editor with a background in political philosophy, delivered a speech titled "The Dying Art of Disagreement" warning that political certitude and the erosion of free press threaten liberal democracy. Stevens critiqued the isolationist trends in U.S. foreign policy, condemned the Republican Party's failure to check executive overreach, and highlighted the dangers of media algorithms creating thought silos. He argued that healthy democracies require robust disagreement and contrarian voices, urging both journalists and voters to reject the toxic "certitudinousness" that fuels extremism and undermines global security.
- Y Combinator21 min
YC's Director of Events Domonique Fines with Elpha CEO Cadran Cowansage
Domonique Fines, Cadran Cowansage
Dom, the sole proprietor directing all public events at Y Combinator, spearheads a strategy to democratize the startup ecosystem by partnering with organizations like Code 2040 and visiting institutions such as Morehouse College to challenge elitist perceptions. Drawing on a non-linear career path that moved from law to nightlife management and tech operations, she applies a problem-first mindset to dismantle barriers for underrepresented communities while actively cultivating diversity through high-profile partnerships. To sustain this high-impact work, she enforces strict burnout prevention tactics including digital detachment and restorative "staycations," ensuring her leadership remains effective without compromising personal well-being.
- Milken Institute20 min
Across Sectors and Borders | Part 2: Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Social Investing
Rich Ditizio, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Richard D'Atizio
Bronfman outlines a transformative economic landscape where technology disrupts traditional music distribution, while the Endeavor Global network leverages mentorship to sustainably scale entrepreneurship across 33 countries. Simultaneously, he argues that addressing climate change requires moving beyond emission reduction to mass-scale Direct Air Capture, utilizing modular technology to economically sequester billions of tons of CO2 annually. Together, these strategies exemplify an impact investing philosophy that rejects the compromise between social good and profit, insisting that scalable solutions must generate financial returns to drive global transformation.
- a16z21 min
What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Kouki Harasaki, Nate Chang, Frank Chen
Driven by urgent patent cliffs and $150 billion in available capital, the 2019 biopharmaceutical landscape saw major corporations like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Takeda pursue $94 billion in M&A deals to secure platforms in gene therapy and manufacturing. Buyers increasingly favored strategic acquisitions that offer shared R&D infrastructure and supply chain security, while simultaneously utilizing early-stage licensing to mitigate risk before committing to late-stage assets. Startup executives are advised to secure internal champions and negotiate for standalone operational autonomy to align with shifting commercialization models that prioritize long-term value over traditional full integration.
- Y Combinator34 min
Karn Saroya on the Capital-Light Way to Start an Insurance Business
Co-founder Karn Soroya and his team launched Cover, a national property insurance entity that utilizes TensorFlow-based computer vision to automate underwriting and verify asset values through customer photography. The company strategically pivoted from failed e-commerce ventures to secure licenses in 49 states and partnerships with 30 carriers, avoiding balance sheet risk by operating as a capital-light distributor and underwriting filter. Cover achieved rapid market dominance by leveraging app-based acquisition strategies and utility-driven tools like defensive driving schools, ultimately raising $3.2 million at YC Demo Day in 2016 to scale its operations across the United States and Canada.
- Goldman Sachs32 min
Van Jones: A "First Step" in Criminal Justice Reform
Van Jones transformed his early disillusionment with media sensationalism into a decades-long crusade for criminal justice reform, leveraging grassroots activism in the Bay Area and high-level political alliances ranging from the Obama and Trump administrations to launch major policy victories like the First Step Act. Building on bipartisan support that secured overwhelming legislative passage and targeted the opioid crisis, he recently founded the Reform Alliance with $50 million in capital from co-founders Jay-Z, Meek Mill, and Robert Kraft to dismantle the probation and parole systems driving recidivism. His work continues to focus on removing employment barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals and expanding green job initiatives to reintegrate millions into the economy while reducing the racial disparities inherent in the current justice system.
- Milken Institute27 min
A Conversation with Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, Facebook, and the Parker Foundation
Sean Parker, Hadley Gamble, Katie O'Reilly
Milken Institute leaders and entrepreneur Sean Parker convened at the annual MENA Summit to outline strategic economic initiatives, including upcoming events in Japan and Los Angeles, while addressing critical intersections of healthcare, technology, and ethics. Parker detailed his $400 million commitment to cancer immunotherapy and warned of impending societal crises driven by CRISPR accessibility, predicting that the U.S. will allocate 50% of its GDP to healthcare by 2080 due to aging demographics and biological complexity. The dialogue further examined contrarian investment opportunities in underserved markets, the accelerating convergence of AI and life sciences, and the urgent need for regulatory frameworks to govern germline editing and data privacy.
- a16z34 min
a16z Podcast | Gaming Goes Mainstream
Bobby Kotick transformed Activision from a struggling publisher into the global entertainment giant Activision Blizzard by leading the 2008 merger with Vivendi Games to acquire Blizzard Entertainment. Under his strategic direction, the industry has evolved from a niche hobby into a worldwide cultural phenomenon driven by mobile accessibility, augmented reality, and the tribal dynamics of esports. Kotick further solidified market dominance by championing cross-platform engagement models like Fortnite's serialized seasons and the city-based structure of the Overwatch League.
- a16z38 min
a16z Podcast | Voting, Security, and Governance in Blockchains and Cryptonetworks
A security analysis highlights how blockchain voting systems face unique vulnerabilities to automated vote buying and the emergence of "Dark DAOs," which enable private cartels to manipulate outcomes without detection. These attacks exploit the permissionless nature of on-chain governance to foster plutocracy and facilitate sophisticated economic strategies like transaction front-running, consensus subversion, and asset shorting. Researchers from the Project Chicago initiative warn that as the ecosystem scales, these inherent incentive misalignments could fundamentally undermine the security guarantees of decentralized networks unless robust identity verification and pricing reforms are implemented.
- a16z27 min
a16z Podcast | Stories and Lessons in Enterprise Sales
Mark Leslie outlines a framework for entrepreneurial success that prioritizes foundational authenticity, founder-led sales execution, and the strategic management of organizational trust. He details specific operational tactics, such as simplifying compensation plans to align with core revenue metrics and utilizing crisis moments to forge deeper team loyalty. The discussion further distinguishes between the resourceful "delta force" required for early-stage startups and the structured processes of mature sales organizations, while noting that high-stakes deals often demand intense, persistent client engagement.
- a16z36 min
a16z Podcast | Connecting Hearts, Bodies, and Networks to Cure Cancer
Amy Abernethy, Christina Lopes, Jorge Conde, Sonal
Amy Abernethy has been selected as the new Principal Deputy Commissioner of the FDA, where she aims to advance personalized medicine and accelerate evidence generation following her tenure at Flatiron Health. Her appointment aligns with the growing adoption of One Health strategies, a platform co-founded by Cristina Lopez that leverages spontaneous canine cancer data to validate human therapies. By treating dogs as natural clinical models with fully functional immune systems, this initiative promises to save costs in drug development and improve outcomes for both veterinary and human patients through shared real-world evidence.
- a16z42 min
a16z Podcast | Pulse Check on Consumer Tech Trends 2019, CES and Beyond
Benedict Evans, Steven Sinofsky
CES functions as a tripartite ecosystem where major tech giants occupy half the floor without driving innovation, while grassroots startups and a critical component supply chain generate raw creativity and assemble the building blocks for future products. Display technology has shifted toward flexible OLEDs and modular walls to enable arbitrary screen shapes, whereas content fragmentation is intensifying as creators pull rights away from aggregators to launch proprietary platforms. Simultaneously, the smart home sector is transitioning from simple connectivity to chip-level integration, though widespread adoption remains stalled by the complexity of user automation scripts and the risk of platform divergence.