Latest Interviews
Showing 421–435 of 1,042 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute1h 1m
World-class Healthcare: Investing in Biomedical Innovation
Tanisha Carino, Christopher Hite, Bryan Johnson, Sean Parker, D.A. Wallach
Moderated by Dr. Tanisha Carino in Abu Dhabi, this session analyzed the convergence of global biomedical innovation and market dynamics, highlighted by the historic $92 billion Bristol-Myers Squibb acquisition of Celgene as a catalyst for pipeline stability. The discussion detailed how falling hard science costs and platforms like Ginkgo Bioworks are compressing development timelines, while investment strategies increasingly favor foundational tools over singular disease treatments to address the translational gap between academic research and commercial viability. Despite concerns regarding venture capital concentration in oncology and systemic US healthcare incentives, the event projected that long-term pricing decreases and extended lifespans could emerge from global regulatory evolution and the integration of AI-driven data collection.
- Milken Institute51 min
Sir Richard Branson and Michael Milken in Conversation with Kevin O'Leary
Sir Richard Branson, Michael Milken, Kevin O'Leary, Richard Branson
Speakers Richard and Michael analyze a sharp decline in Western faith in free enterprise driven by student debt, stagnant real estate returns, and wealth inequality, while contrasting this with optimism in emerging markets like Vietnam and China. They argue that successful entrepreneurship now relies on balancing visionary leadership with operational management to navigate deregulation, tax competitiveness, and global capital flows, noting that SMEs have become the primary engines of job creation. Furthermore, the discussion outlines solutions for systemic challenges, including a universal carbon tax to address climate change and for-profit space exploration to ensure both environmental sustainability and human survival.
- Milken Institute50 min
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: What to Expect Next
Staci Warden, Eva Kaili, Mike Novogratz, Charles Noyes
Panelists Mike Novogratz, Charlie Noyes, and Eva Kali analyze the 2017-2018 crypto bubble as an inevitable retail-driven event that, despite regulatory delays and fraud, successfully mobilized capital for building Web 3.0 infrastructure. The discussion outlines a future ecosystem divided into Bitcoin as sovereign digital gold, enterprise-grade blockchain applications, and the tokenization of traditional assets, all driven by maturing custody and compliance solutions. Experts further identify digital identity and supply chain verification as critical use cases while debating whether Bitcoin's value stems from intrinsic scarcity or its function as a unique social coordination network.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Real Estate: Structural and Cyclical Disruption
Hugh Andrew, Megan Walters, Kenneth Gaw, Alex Jeffrey, John Lim
Leading industry experts analyze the global real estate sector's transition into a late economic cycle, highlighting structural risks such as rising public debt and geopolitical tensions while identifying capital flow shifts that see Asia-Pacific moving from a net recipient to a net exporter of funds. Panelists advocate for a "value-add" strategy within defensive residential and logistics sectors, demonstrating successful operational transformations in Beijing and Malaysia that leverage technology to drive asset appreciation and tenant retention. Despite concerns regarding interest rate sensitivity and trade wars, the consensus projects that real estate will remain a primary asset class for the coming century, with future returns driven by arbitrage in infrastructure-heavy regions and the evolution of urban living.
- Jane Street1h 18m
Lindsey Kuper: Abstractions for Expressive, Efficient Parallel and Distributed Computing
Lindsey Kuper, Ron, Laura, Kunle Olokutun, Asante Toney, Neil Conway, Peter Alvaro, Carl, Nikki Vazou
The presentation outlines a unified framework for deterministic parallel computing that utilizes Lattice Variables (LVARs) and Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types to ensure correct distributed executions while enabling high-performance acceleration in Julia and Python through non-invasive domain-specific languages. Complementing these runtime systems, the speaker details a formal verification approach for safety-critical neural networks that employs lazy ReLU splitting within SMT solvers to manage the exponential complexity of non-linear activations. Future research aims to democratize solver development by integrating lattice theories directly into SMT architectures and verifying LVAR constraints through advanced type systems.
- a16z48 min
Better Together: Humanity + Machine Learning
Tanya Cushman challenges the narrative of existential AI risk by presenting evidence that thoughtful machine learning deployment will augment human capabilities across industries, citing examples ranging from Amazon's increased hiring to autonomous medical diagnostics. Highlighting a global surge in investment from entities like Accenture and China's 2030 national goals, the presentation details how AI automates dangerous and routine tasks while fostering new roles centered on creativity and empathy. Cushman concludes by urging organizations to prioritize data integrity and open-source collaboration to ensure these technological shifts strengthen society rather than trigger an arms race.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Money Never Sleeps: Global Investment Outlook
Steve Krouskos, David Bonderman, Michael Carmen, Brian Sheth
Panelists in this investment forum assert that technology-driven productivity gains and the digitalization of industries significantly outweigh current geopolitical risks, citing a 700% ROI for software and a critical shortage of IT talent. The discussion highlights a structural shift where companies remain private longer due to regulatory burdens, while private capital increasingly fills credit gaps for high-growth software firms. Looking forward, experts recommend focusing on long-term AI adoption and emerging markets like India over short-term volatility, while warning of potential near-term recessions triggered by premature Federal Reserve rate hikes.
- a16z1h 7m
Immigration Shifts 2019: Prep & Resources for Startups
This analysis addresses the critical recruitment and compliance challenges facing Silicon Valley employers, where foreign-born talent comprises nearly 70% of the technical workforce yet faces onboarding delays six times longer than domestic hires. The event details specific strategies for navigating high-rate Requests for Evidence in H-1B filings, leveraging alternative visa pathways like O-1 and L-1, and maintaining operations during government shutdowns. It further outlines actionable recommendations for drafting robust internal immigration policies and preparing for upcoming regulatory shifts regarding wage levels and STEM OPT extensions.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Putting Principle into Practice: How to Make Sustainability Profitable
Ryan Brennan, Curt Custard, Hiromichi Mizuno, John Murphy, Hugh O'Reilly, Mark Watson, Hiro Mizuno
Senior executives from major global entities including GPIF, Newton, Coca-Cola, and John Swire & Sons convened to analyze the integration of sustainability into long-term investment and corporate strategy. The panelists established a consensus that divestment is less effective than active engagement, citing empirical evidence that engaged companies generate significantly higher returns while avoiding the "rhetoric" caused by undefined standards. Key outcomes included the adoption of rigorous ESG metrics, the alignment of executive compensation with sustainability goals, and a strategic shift toward cross-sector collaboration to address complex challenges like water scarcity and decarbonization.
- Milken Institute1h 10m
The Evolution of Leadership
Heidi Toribio, Sharanjit Leyl, Marina Mahathir, Michael Owen, Igor Tulchinsky, John Wood
The Milken Women's Leadership Summit gathered industry leaders like John Wood, Marina Mahathir, and Michael Owen to redefine inclusion as active participation and highlight the fusion of data, artificial intelligence, and human resilience in modern governance. Participants addressed the critical need to democratize financial education through initiatives like WorldQuant University while navigating digital scrutiny and leveraging technology to bypass media restrictions in global advocacy. The session concluded with a consensus that future leaders must balance decisive action with long-term ecosystem building, prioritizing transparency and humility as the ultimate measures of character.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
The Rise of Blockchain: How To Trust Strangers
Adam Burden, Cory Johnson, Tianmin Liu, Sopnendu Mohanty, Kaidi Ruusalepp
Moderated by Adam Burden, a panel featuring experts from Ripple, Iki Finn, Funderbeam, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore defined blockchain's shift from theoretical trust mechanisms to production use cases that cut settlement times from days to minutes. The discussion detailed specific implementations where Ripple streamlines cross-border payments, Iki Finn traces agricultural supply chains, and Singapore's Project Ubin tests tokenized currency, while highlighting that high-volume transaction integrity remains a technical hurdle. Experts concluded that while the technology offers significant efficiency gains for financial services, supply chains, and government, its widespread adoption depends on resolving regulatory friction and ensuring that governance structures can evolve alongside the code.
- a16z59 min
a16z Podcast | The Science and Business of Innovative Medicines
Jorge Conde, Vijay Pande, Sonal Chokshi, Vas Narasimhan
Novartis transformed its portfolio through a $50 billion restructuring that divested consumer healthcare to prioritize advanced therapies, data science, and proprietary platforms for cell and gene treatments. Under CEO Vas Narasimhan, the company enforces strict "standard of care" mandates for project approval, integrates market access early in development, and invested $15 billion to own specialized infrastructure while leveraging AI for financial forecasting and pathology analysis. This strategic pivot targets a 10% clinical success rate by shifting from bespoke drug development to modular platforms and dedicated digital innovation centers, positioning the firm to address undruggable targets and future modalities like xenotransplantation.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
How China Is Transforming Southeast Asia
Kirk West, Paul Gruenwald, Robin Hu, Jonathan Woetzel, Francis Sock Ping Yeoh
Panelists analyzed the fragility of South China Sea stability, China's Belt and Road Initiative-driven manufacturing shifts, and severe environmental threats like overfishing and plastic pollution across Southeast Asia. While China projects dominance through massive infrastructure spending and trade expansion, experts highlighted significant friction points including lack of local employment, debt transparency concerns, and ongoing geopolitical posturing with the United States. The discussion concluded that sustainable regional growth requires deprioritizing conflict in favor of accelerated infrastructure development, stricter environmental standards, and renewed U.S. engagement through trade frameworks like the TPP.
- Milken Institute1h 30m
A Conversation with Howard Marks: Mastering the Market Cycle
Investment strategist Howard Marks emphasizes that historical market cycles and human psychology consistently drive asset pricing, challenging the "this time is different" narrative while highlighting the critical importance of valuation over asset quality. His analysis of structural shifts, from the evolution of bond covenants to the rise of passive investing, underscores that risk is cyclically determined by investor sentiment and liquidity rather than economic fundamentals alone. Ultimately, Marks argues that successful capital allocation requires recognizing probabilistic outcomes and maintaining sufficient resources to exploit the extreme fear and pricing inefficiencies that arise during inevitable downturns.
- Milken Institute59 min
Breaking the Bank: How Asian FinTechs Are Redefining Financial Services
Dan Murphy, Kevin Jacques, Donald Lacey, Akshay Naheta, Simon Paris
The event analyzes the rapid divergence between Asian FinTech markets and legacy systems, highlighting a strategic industry shift from consumer-focused models to B2B platformization and embedded finance. It details how insurance and banking sectors are transforming through IoT data, usage-based pricing, and regulatory consolidation, while capital flows increasingly favor late-stage firms with proven unit economics over early-stage valuations. Finally, the discussion outlines critical success factors for founders and incumbents, emphasizing that long-term partnership strategies and deep regulatory expertise are essential to navigate fragmented global landscapes and avoid commoditization.