Latest Interviews
Showing 1201–1215 of 1,932 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs27 min
Crypto: A New Asset Class?
Allison Nathan, Michael Novogratz, Nouriel Roubini, Mathew McDermott, Mike Novogratz
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz and Goldman Sachs representatives argue that cryptocurrency is transitioning into a recognized asset class driven by institutional infrastructure and a sophisticated investor base, with Bitcoin serving primarily as a digital store of value while stablecoins and Ethereum facilitate payments and DeFi. Conversely, NYU Professor Nouriel Roubini rejects the classification of crypto as currency or a reliable inflation hedge, citing its high volatility, lack of fundamental value drivers, and failure to solve trust issues compared to traditional finance. Despite this regulatory and philosophical divergence, market participants acknowledge a symbiotic relationship is forming where traditional banks are integrating digital assets to meet client demand for diversification and portfolio efficiency.
- a16z23 min
NFT Uses for Today (and Tomorrow)
Devin Finzer, Katie Haun, Arianna
OpenSea, currently hosting over four million digital assets across more than 200 categories, functions as an interoperable marketplace that enables immediate trading for assets regardless of their originating project. This ecosystem supports a broad spectrum of tokenized goods, ranging from digital art and virtual real estate in worlds like Decentraland to physical items secured via blockchain, thereby facilitating direct creator-to-consumer revenue models and new job categories. While high Ethereum gas fees initially posed scalability challenges, the platform's integration of Layer 2 solutions like Polygon is increasingly lowering transaction costs to support complex gaming and metaverse applications.
- a16z21 min
NBA Top Shot and the Flow Blockchain
Founded by Dapper Labs co-founder Dieter Shirley, the Flow blockchain was engineered to solve the scalability and usability barriers that limited consumer adoption on Ethereum, specifically by enabling frictionless onboarding for mass-market applications. This architecture successfully powered the launch of NBA Top Shot, a flagship platform that integrates iconic NBA moments as limited-edition NFTs while prioritizing seamless fiat integration and non-custodial user experiences over immediate interoperability. Despite facing ongoing challenges regarding ecosystem fragmentation and long-term standardization, Flow continues to focus on sustainable, utility-driven consumer assets rather than speculative trading.
- a16z21 min
NFTs and the Creator Economy
Foundation, a decentralized platform on the Ethereum blockchain, recently facilitated $60 million in artist sales and $250 million in bids by enabling non-custodial NFT minting and transparent global auctions. The event highlighted transformative market shifts through high-profile milestones, such as the $7.5 million Snowden collaborative auction won by a DAO and significant earnings for creators like Raphael Rosendahl and Ethiopian artist collectives. By leveraging immutable on-chain provenance and royalty standards, the platform is establishing a new ecosystem where creators bypass traditional gatekeepers while fostering collective investment and cross-platform interoperability.
- a16z21 min
The Future of NFTs
Chris Dixon, Dan Boneh, Ariana
Chris Dixon and Dan Bonet discuss how NFTs fundamentally shift web architecture by enabling true digital ownership and allowing creators to bypass centralized intermediaries through programmable royalty structures. The conversation details how technical advancements like the ERC-721 standard facilitate financial innovation through DeFi composability, enabling assets to be tokenized, collateralized, and traded across interoperable ecosystems. Furthermore, the speakers address long-term security protocols and storage solutions necessary to preserve these digital assets indefinitely while noting the current adoption barriers faced by regulated institutional collectors.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
Dr. Dambisa Moyo, Economist and Author of "How Boards Work"
Dr. Dambisa Moyo, John Waldron
Dr. Dambisa Moyo warns that the global economy faces a precarious rebound rather than a true recovery, driven by structural threats such as human capital shortages, inequality, and a credibility crisis for the Western capitalist model compared to China's strategic approach. To address these challenges, she proposes radical governance reforms inspired by Singapore, including extended public terms with performance-based penalties, alongside a shift toward data-driven investment in infrastructure and social outcomes by institutional asset owners. Her advocacy further emphasizes that diverse leadership and initiatives like the "One Million Black Women" program are essential to unlocking capital access and correcting the market failures that currently threaten long-term growth.
- Goldman Sachs41 min
Malcolm Gladwell, Author and Staff Writer at "The New Yorker"
Malcolm Gladwell, Stephen Chirr
Malcolm Gladwell traces the rise and fall of the "Bomber Mafia," a 1930s group of American aviators led by Haywood Hansell who sought to revolutionize warfare through precision bombing, only to have their doctrine discarded by Curtis LeMay in favor of mass firebombing that killed one million civilians. The narrative uses this historical pivot to argue that intellectual revolutions require the spontaneous, in-person collisions of a physical "crowd," a thesis Gladwell applies to critique modern remote work and highlight the transformative power of immersive audio formats. Ultimately, the story contrasts LeMay's remote execution of destruction with the Bomber Mafia's failure, underscoring how technological detachment alters the psychological and political thresholds of modern conflict.
- Goldman Sachs29 min
John F. Crowley, Chairman and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics
Amicus Therapeutics Chairman John F. Crowley leveraged his military background and personal family history with Pompe disease to guide the company through a strategic pivot that led to FDA-aligned pivotal trials for its candidate ATGAA. The therapy demonstrates significant clinical benefits in muscle strength and respiratory function, positioning the firm for a global launch to treat this underserved patient population. Building on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, Amicus aims to expand its portfolio of rare disease treatments by replicating the accelerated collaboration and regulatory agility established during that crisis.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
Fostering Innovation Within Companies: An Inside Look at GS Accelerate
Tanya Baker, Hasan Malik, Daniel Kovenat, Allison Nathan
Launched 3.5 years ago to validate cross-divisional innovations lacking a clear home, Goldman Sachs' GS Accelerate program has selected 15 investments from nearly 2,000 employee submissions to create seven live products. Co-led by Tanya Baker and Hassan Malik, the initiative empowers independent teams with patient capital and senior sponsorship to transform internal assets, such as the enterprise software ClearFactor, into external market solutions. Operating under themes of Financial Cloud, Digitization, and Sustainability, the program enforces a strict two-year tenure to ensure rapid validation before integrating, spinning out, or partnering ventures.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
The Exit Interview: Jake Siewert on the Media, Communications and the Role of Podcasts
After a decade-long tenure transforming Goldman Sachs' external narrative, Global Head of Communications Jake Seward is stepping down from his role and the "Exchanges at Goldman Sachs" podcast in favor of Senior Strategist Allison Nathan. Seward's departure follows a strategic era where the firm shifted from silence to a proactive, direct-to-consumer media model that utilized deep-dive conversations to bridge the gap between internal culture and public perception. Under the new leadership, the program continues to evolve by bypassing traditional gatekeepers to serve niche industries while prioritizing employee engagement and expert interviews over daily market commentary.
- Goldman Sachs25 min
The Evolution of LGBTQ+ Rights in Japan: A Conversation With GS Advocates
Hiroki Inaba, Masakazu Yanagisawa, Akiko Koda, Jake Seward, Masa Yanagisawa
Following a landmark Japanese court ruling that declared the failure to recognize same-sex marriage unconstitutional, a panel of corporate leaders and activists discussed the resulting legislative momentum and shifting public sentiment. Highlighting data from Dentsu indicating 80% support among citizens aged 20–59, the conversation detailed how major firms like Goldman Sachs, Sony, and Panasonic have expanded inclusive benefits to attract global talent and address workplace inequities. With industry participation rising from 87 to 183 companies between 2017 and 2020, these stakeholders expressed confidence that ongoing legal and cultural transformations will soon mandate nationwide marriage equality in Japan.
- Goldman Sachs26 min
Reflation Risk
Allison Nathan, Jan Hatzius, Dominic Wilson
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Goldman Sachs' Jan Hatzius debated whether U.S. fiscal stimulus will trigger a 1970s-style inflationary spiral, with Hatzius arguing that a 6% output gap and temporary spending measures justify the Federal Reserve's tolerance for average inflation targeting. While bond market strategist Dominic Wilson noted that recent yield increases reflect growth acceleration rather than policy surprises, the consensus suggests a rotation into cyclical assets as investors anticipate Fed rate hikes beginning in early 2022. Goldman Sachs projects tapering in early 2022 with a first rate hike in 2024, advising investors to favor cyclical equities and non-gold commodities over rate-sensitive growth stocks during this transition.
- Goldman Sachs26 min
How Healthcare CIOs Are Investing Capital Through a Public Health Crisis
Paget MacColl, Stefan Strein, Jake Seward
Recorded on February 16, 2021, Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Paget McCall and Cleveland Clinic CIO Stefan Strein discussed how non-profit health systems navigated 2020 pandemic volatility through strategic liquidity management and accelerated AI adoption. The dialogue highlighted the clinic's $100 billion investment portfolio, which supported global expansion and $1.16 billion in community benefit spending while shifting toward lower-return expectations and enhanced ESG integration. Participants emphasized the critical role of cognitive diversity and specialized technology deployment in sustaining mission-driven outcomes amidst near-zero interest rates and operational uncertainty.
- Milken Institute32 min
A Conversation with US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar
Health Secretary Alex Azar and federal officials address the current U.S. pandemic surge, which shows a 14% weekly case increase driven by indoor gatherings and mitigation fatigue, while firmly rejecting national mandates in favor of public education and declining to pursue a herd immunity strategy. Clinical and operational updates highlight a mortality rate drop for adults to below 10% due to improved therapeutics and a phased vaccine rollout targeting vulnerable populations by December under Operation Warp Speed, with regulatory approval authority reserved for independent FDA scientists. Despite clinical trial pauses for some candidates to ensure safety, the administration confirms adequate state funding, broad jurisdictional planning, and commercial-scale manufacturing commitments from major pharmaceutical firms to support the upcoming distribution schedule.
- Milken Institute32 min
A Conversation with California Governor Gavin Newsom
California Governor Gavin Newsom addressed the state's unprecedented challenges, including the loss of 1.62 million jobs, historic wildfires, and a severe homelessness crisis, while defending its resilience as the world's fifth-largest economy. Despite admitting early reopening errors, his administration implemented aggressive testing expansions, waived environmental regulations for housing, and launched a $617 million homeless shelter initiative to stabilize demographics and infrastructure. Newsom concluded by advocating for direct democracy reforms and maintaining the state's global innovation leadership despite claims of business flight and political polarization.