Latest Interviews

Deborah Jackson and Davida Herzl: Advancing the Future of Women Entrepreneurs

Deborah Jackson, Davida Herzl, Stephanie Cohen

Plum Alley Investments, founded by Deborah Jackson, targets Series A female-founded technology companies like Davida Herzl's Aclima by providing capital and strategic support to address the systemic capital gap for women in hard tech. This venture capital firm prioritizes ventures with validated products and societal impact, operating with an investment thesis that diverse leadership correlates with superior financial returns and global innovation. Through an active partnership model where members commit $1.5 million or more annually, Plum Alley aims to establish a replicable template proving that women-led investing and companies can achieve both massive market impact and exceptional profitability.

Ken Griffin: How Talent and Technology Are Shaping the Markets

Ken Griffin, Raj

Citadel leverages a synergistic framework of fundamental, quantitative, and market-making strategies to manage approximately $30 billion, prioritizing human judgment augmented by robust technology over artificial intelligence for generating alpha. The firm sustains its competitive edge through a rigorous meritocratic culture that focuses on global talent acquisition and an 18-year pipeline for grooming associates into portfolio managers, while using advanced diagnostic tools to shift decision-making from defensive risk management to offensive positioning. This operational model, which emphasizes resource allocation and rapid infrastructure scaling, enabled the firm to navigate the 2008 crisis and maintain superlative performance despite a modest 52% hit rate in idiosyncratic stock picking.

Finance as Strategy: When and How Startups Should Build a Finance Function

Caroline Moon

This event argues that establishing a robust finance function early alongside HR significantly boosts survival odds by treating financial planning as a strategic roadmap comparable to product development. Through case studies of companies that failed due to poor unit economics, cash flow mismanagement, or hiring junior staff, the presentation demonstrates how dedicated financial leadership prevents catastrophic runway depletion and unnecessary dilution. The discussion further outlines a specific hiring framework recommending outsourced full-stack CFO services for early-stage startups to ensure granular data accuracy and strategic oversight before transitioning to senior in-house leadership at scale.

Dr. Paul Farmer: Reshaping the Global Health Community

Dr. Paul Farmer, Christina Minnis

Dr. Paul Farmer and co-founders established Partners in Health in 1987 based on a mission to build university teaching hospitals in resource-poor settings, differentiating the organization as an academic NGO focused on long-term capacity building over temporary relief. The network achieved critical global health milestones, including the mobilization during the Ebola crisis and the success of PEPFAR which saved millions of lives, while simultaneously demonstrating in Rwanda that community-based care could eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission at rates surpassing U.S. standards. Farmer contrasts these outcomes with the U.S. healthcare system, arguing it functions as an illness care model lacking the integrated community support necessary to prevent patients from being lost to follow-up.

Can technology save the rarest creatures on the planet?

Douglas McCauley, Doug

UC Santa Barbara marine science professor Douglas Macaulay is deploying a NASA-derived facial recognition algorithm to non-invasively identify individual giant sea bass through unique spot patterns, successfully cataloging 115 of the roughly 500 remaining individuals. This "Facebook for fish" system provides critical evidence of anthropogenic injuries and migration routes that expose the inadequacy of current marine protected areas covering only 3.7% of the ocean. By bridging marine biology and Silicon Valley computer science, Macaulay aims to generate the robust data necessary to advocate for expanded conservation zones and secure a long-term future for this near-extinct species.

Can a cure for diabetes be found through surgery?

Peter Hansel, Professor Francesco Rubino

Despite the global surge of Type 2 diabetes affecting one in ten people by 2040, Professor Francesco Rubino's research demonstrates that gastric bypass surgery can induce immediate remission by correcting duodenal hormone signaling rather than relying solely on weight loss. While only 0.1% to 1% of eligible patients currently access this life-saving procedure, Rubino is leading clinical trials on non-invasive alternatives and driving updates to international guidelines that recognize surgery as a primary treatment option. This work provides critical biological evidence that challenges the "lifestyle disease" narrative, offering a pathway for future pharmaceutical cures to address the epidemic without requiring invasive intervention.

El Salvador's violent gang members are finding God in prison

Wilfredo Gómez

Following his deportation from the U.S. to El Salvador in 1996, former 18th Street gang member Wilfredo Gómez founded a Christian prison ministry that expanded to house over 900 inmates within a violent, overcrowded system. While the program offered temporary sanctuary and social mobility through a segregated religious zone, its long-term success remains limited as societal stigma and a lack of employment opportunities prevent most converts from maintaining their faith outside prison. Ultimately, the initiative highlights a critical gap between individual rehabilitation within the jail and the structural barriers preventing former gang members from achieving permanent reintegration into Salvadoran society.

When thoughts control machines

Brain-computer interface projects led by entities such as the U.S. Brain Initiative, Kernel, Neuralink, and DARPA are rapidly advancing from controlling prosthetics to decoding entire neural circuits with the goal of restoring motor function for paralyzed patients. As these technologies evolve to read and write neural codes, experts highlight critical ethical imperatives regarding neuroprivacy and the prevention of a societal capability gap between enhanced humans and artificial intelligence. The immediate focus remains on medical recovery, while long-term aspirations address the profound necessity of co-evolving with machines to ensure equitable access and safeguard human autonomy against the rapid pace of technological development.

Online to Offline 2.0: Experiments and Examples from China

Connie Chan, Peter van de Ven

Peter van de Ven outlines the emergence of Online-to-Offline 2.0, a bidirectional retail ecosystem where physical spaces feed consumer data back online to create a continuous cycle of personalized experiences. Major players like Alibaba, Walmart, and Amazon drive this transformation through technologies ranging from frictionless checkout systems and facial recognition to emotion-detecting shelves, establishing a mobile-only model that treats smartphones as primary identity bridges. This convergence of sensors, machine learning, and "super apps" aims to deliver a seamless digital society where every physical interaction becomes a data input for hyper-targeted marketing and automated inventory management.

U.S. Navy, Retired Admiral James Winnefeld, Jr.

James Winnefeld, Jr., James "Sandy" Winnefeld, Jr., Gary Giglio

Retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Winnefeld co-founded the organization SAFE following the heroin overdose death of his son, Jonathan, to address systemic failures in mental health care and pharmaceutical oversight that contributed to the nation's escalating opioid crisis. By citing CDC data that frames annual overdose fatalities as a catastrophic national security threat, Winnefeld advocates for immediate reforms including stricter prescription limits and the removal of stigma surrounding addiction treatment. The Admiral further extends this philosophy to global security, urging a complex diplomatic approach to North Korea while emphasizing that effective leadership requires holding individuals to high standards while providing essential support.

Ireland: divided by abortion

On May 25th, Irish voters will decide whether to repeal the Eighth Amendment, a 1983 constitutional provision that currently bans abortion except when the mother's life is at risk. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and pro-choice advocates, citing the unsafe nature of current cross-border travel and shifting public sentiment, support legalization up to the twelfth week, while pro-life campaigners warn that removing the amendment permanently prevents future legislative control. With recent polls showing the electorate is nearly evenly split, this referendum represents a definitive test of Ireland's transition toward a secular society or its retention of traditional conservative values.

Exploring and protecting the Antarctic

Dr. Susan Lockhart, John Hosevar

Dr. Susan Lockhart and co-pilot John Hosevar achieved the first human submersion in the Antarctic Weddell Sea, where their observations of fragile ecosystems like deep-sea sponges contradicted assumptions that the deep seabed was barren. Their data revealing the extreme vulnerability of these communities to industrial fishing underscores the urgent need to expand global ocean protection beyond the current 3.7%. This evidence is now poised for a critical Antarctic Commission vote in July 2018, where unanimous consensus from member states could establish the region as the world's largest no-fishing zone despite historical delays in such approvals.

Remarks by Senator Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio, John F.W. Rogers, Kevin McCarthy, Tyler Perry, Danny Meyer, Sarah Kauss, Wilbur L. Ross, Sara Blakely, Michael Bloomberg, Gina Raimondo, Rick Snyder, Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett

This analysis outlines a strategy to revitalize the American economy by dismantling regulatory barriers that favor large corporations while fostering grassroots entrepreneurship. It addresses the critical disconnect between traditional education and modern labor demands, advocating for expanded vocational training and targeted support for displaced workers aged 45 and older. Ultimately, the proposed framework envisions a prosperous future where the government facilitates a supportive ecosystem but allows the private sector to drive innovation and job creation.

Gov. Gina Raimondo (RI) and Gov. Rick Snyder (MI): Small Businesses Catalyzing the Future Economy

Gina Raimondo, Rick Snyder, Dane Holmes, John F.W. Rogers, Kevin McCarthy, Tyler Perry, Danny Meyer, Sarah Kauss, Wilbur L. Ross, Sara Blakely, Michael Bloomberg, Marco Rubio, Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett

Governors Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan implemented distinct fiscal and cultural reforms to elevate their states' business climates, with Michigan achieving the sixth-largest national job creation record and Rhode Island improving its unemployment tax ranking from 50th to 23rd. Both leaders prioritized workforce development through initiatives like mandatory computer science education and the "First Customer" program, which directly connected small suppliers with large enterprises to drive economic growth. Their shared strategy emphasizes immigrant entrepreneurship, digital literacy investments, and a governance model that treats government as a convener and connector to help small businesses scale from local operations to national impacts.

Remarks by Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg, John F.W. Rogers, Kevin McCarthy, Tyler Perry, Danny Meyer, Sarah Kauss, Wilbur L. Ross, Sara Blakely, Gina Raimondo, Rick Snyder, Marco Rubio, Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg chronicled the analog origins of his firm and argued that the American "ethic of trying again" remains the primary driver of economic resilience. He sharply criticized current U.S. immigration and regulatory policies for threatening the small business sector, which historically serves as the incubator for future large-scale corporations and employs millions of immigrant-owned enterprises. Bloomberg concluded with a direct call to action, urging entrepreneurs to aggressively lobby elected officials for open immigration and reduced red tape to ensure sustained economic growth.