Latest Interviews
Showing 211–225 of 757 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- Sequoia Capital10 min
From Early Failures to ‘Clash of Clans’ and ‘Brawl Stars’ - Supercell ft Ilkka Paananen
Ilkka Paananen, Maya Hoffree, Joost van Dreunen, Roelof Botha
Supercell established a unique corporate structure known as "cells" that empowers individual game teams with startup-like autonomy, a strategy that enabled leaders to cancel their initial €8 million investment in the Facebook title *Gunshine* to pivot successfully toward mobile platforms. This bold approach fostered a culture where project failures are celebrated as learning experiments, ultimately leading to the creation of industry-defining hits like *Clash of Clans* and *Hay Day* that currently command 60% of total industry playtime. Now fifteen years old, the company continues to navigate the high barrier of launching new titles by embracing increased risk-taking, aiming to emulate the century-long legacy of Nintendo or LEGO while maintaining operational excellence.
- Goldman Sachs18 min
China's Economy: Reasons for Optimism
The October 30 Trump-Xi summit established a reciprocal trade truce marked by U.S. removal of fentanyl tariffs and pauses on semiconductor rules in exchange for China halting rare earth restrictions, effectively shifting from previous U.S. dominance to a negotiation based on equal leverage. This de-escalation, combined with resilient high-tech exports and a revised 15th Five-Year Plan prioritizing technological self-reliance, prompted Hui Shan to revise China's real GDP growth forecasts upward to 4.8% for 2026 and 4.7% for 2027. While the agreement leverages mutual dependence to stabilize the economic relationship, its durability remains contingent on reconciling conflicting official reports and resolving the structural uncertainty between advanced manufacturing gains and immediate household consumption growth.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
A "Blow-Off Top" Ahead?
Following the September rate cut, Federal Reserve Chair Powell removed the certainty of a December reduction, prompting a market repricing that shifts probability from 95% to 60% and dampens expectations for aggressive easing. While 55% of S&P 500 companies recently beat earnings estimates, these gains resulted in a 32 basis point underperformance rather than the historical norm, signaling crowded positioning in high-performing stocks. Institutional investors are maintaining a net long exposure of only 70% amidst gross risk levels at five-year highs, concentrating aggressive buys in the AI complex while shorting energy and consumer sectors ahead of a potential year-end rally driven by the cyclical rotation.
- The Economist10 min
Former IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath’s warning for rich world economies
Former IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath assessed the global economy from 2019 to 2025, highlighting how emerging markets demonstrated unexpected resilience against the pandemic, war, and inflation thanks to improved fiscal governance and diversified borrowing. Despite this stability, she warned of looming systemic risks including a fragile US financial sector, the opacity of non-bank lending, and a projected global debt-to-GDP ratio exceeding 100% by 2030. Addressing these challenges requires advanced economies to confront structural fiscal imbalances and aging demographics, though necessary adjustments to retirement ages face significant political resistance.
- Goldman Sachs19 min
Regeneron CEO Dr. Leonard Schleifer on Science-Driven Success
Dr. Leonard Schleifer, John Waldron
Founded in 1988 by MD-PhDs Leonard Schleifer and George Yancopoulos, Regeneron rejects top-down target selection to pursue science-driven therapeutics, enduring two decades of losses before achieving profitability in 2011. The company currently employs 15,000 people and markets Dupixent as its flagship treatment for diverse allergic conditions while leveraging genomic data from 3 million individuals to advance research in areas like obesity and cancer. Under Schleifer's unique leadership style that eschews quarterly earnings guidance, Regeneron is expanding its genetic sequencing efforts to 50 million people and integrating AI to refine diagnostic precision without compromising its "do well by doing good" ethical mandate.
- The Economist8 min
Kaja Kallas: can the European Union survive in an era of strongmen?
Representative Kaya Kalas reported that Chinese leadership intentionally prolongs the war in Ukraine to divert U.S. attention from China, while European nations struggle to leverage their market power due to fragmented coordination and a failure to deploy their Instrument to Counter Economic Coercion. Kalas argued that the West's slow democratic decision-making processes create a structural disadvantage against the rapid, unilateral actions of authoritarian leaders like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Consequently, the proposed European strategy focuses on building diversified supply chains across the Global South to reduce dependency on Chinese exports and consolidate internal unity to effectively counter geopolitical rivals.
- Goldman Sachs14 min
Gold, Oil, and Rare Earths: Commodities on the Move
Daan Struyven, Alison Nathan, Don Stroyven
Goldman Sachs analysts outline a market landscape defined by U.K. sanctions on major Russian oil producers, which could raise prices by $20 per barrel if OPEC+ fails to offset the disruption, while simultaneously projecting Brent crude to decline to the mid-$50s by 2026. The report highlights critical supply chain fragilities in the rare earth sector, where China's 92% refining dominance and decade-long Western build-out timelines create geopolitical leverage that investors must hedge. To mitigate these risks, the strategy recommends a structural reallocation toward gold, with a target of $4,900 per ounce, as a primary defense against fiscal debasement and resource weaponization alongside silver's volatile, liquid-dependent profile.
- The Economist9 min
How will Japan's prime minister change her country?
Noah Sneider, Rosie Blau, Rosie Bloor
Sanae Takaichi has become Japan's first female Prime Minister, marking a strategic rightward pivot for the Liberal Democratic Party that has already fractured its long-standing coalition with Komeito. Her agenda combines aggressive defense spending, a revival of "Abenomics," and strict social conservatism, while navigating delicate tensions with the United States and historical disputes with Asian neighbors. Although her administration aims to address domestic inflation, the survival of her government faces significant uncertainty due to internal party fractures and public skepticism regarding her right-wing populist appeal.
- Goldman Sachs8 min
Can the China Rally Continue?
Stratford Dennis, Chris Hussey
Stratford Dennis outlines a bullish strategy for Chinese equities and Brazil, anticipating a 30% upside in Chinese tech driven by attractive valuations and a 15% yield advantage in Brazil due to an upcoming interest rate cycle. While policymakers target 5% GDP growth despite US-China trade tensions, Dennis warns that a potential data vacuum from the US government shutdown could eventually widen risk profiles for emerging markets. To capitalize on these conditions, the firm is hedging against trade deal failures and executing specific trades in Brazilian equity upside calls while maintaining a light global position in Brazil.
- The Economist13 min
Steve Bannon: Trump will have a third term
Steve Bannon, Trump, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Ed Carr
Steve Bannon articulates a vision for a MAGA revolution that replaces corporate control with an "entrepreneurial capitalism" dominated by populist nationalists, asserting the movement must seize and permanently defend state institutions regardless of legal or economic pushback. He predicts Donald Trump will secure a third presidential term in 2028 by redefining constitutional constraints and positions the United States as the catalyst for a global wave of right-wing victories in nations like the UK, France, and Germany. This strategy frames the current era as an existential political war where the movement will not compromise, arguing that radical action is necessary to avoid elite-managed decline and ensure the preservation of national sovereignty.
- Sequoia Capital17 min
Reinventing Delivery with Instant Drone Transport ft Zipline's Keller Cliffton -
Keller Cliffton, Roelof Botha, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oxenhorn, Maggie Jim, Alfred Lin
Zipline CEO Keller Clifton transformed his company from a failed consumer robotics venture into the world's largest autonomous logistics network by pivoting to medical supply delivery in Rwanda, where a partnership with the government addressed critical health crises caused by poor infrastructure. After securing NASA collaboration and achieving a historic U.S. regulatory milestone for nationwide Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights, the organization scaled to serve over 5,000 facilities globally while introducing a novel string-based urban delivery system. This evolution, driven by the founders' persistence through early investor skepticism and technical failures, established a resilient infrastructure that now connects remote hospitals and urban centers alike.
- Goldman Sachs20 min
Making Sense of Weak Job Growth Alongside Solid GDP Growth
Despite tariffs reaching eight times 2019 levels and a three-week government shutdown subtracting from growth, U.S. GDP resilience is maintained by a depreciating dollar, stable stock markets, and a productivity rebound to historical averages. Core inflation is projected to normalize toward the 2% target as supply chains recover, supporting the Federal Reserve's current expectation of three consecutive 25-basis-point rate cuts through the end of the year. While immigration drops have constrained labor supply and AI adoption remains limited to specific sectors, policymakers anticipate maintaining a moderate expansion path unless post-shutdown data reveals significant deviations from current forecasts.
- The Economist8 min
Why are so many Chinese bosses disappearing?
Don Weinland, Rosie Blau, Rosie Bloor
China's "Liu Zhi" extra-judicial detention system, which allows the anti-corruption agency to hold individuals without court oversight for renewable eight-month cycles, has expanded from government officials to include private sector leaders. This mechanism has contributed to a projected record of one million corruption cases by 2024, with local authorities increasingly conducting cross-border "deep sea fishing" operations to seize assets from business networks connected to high-ranking probes. The resulting economic pressure has degraded business sentiment, added 200,000 individuals to credit blacklists, and triggered five high-profile suicides among entrepreneurs despite official efforts to signal private sector support.
- Goldman Sachs11 min
The Bubble Question
Following a trade war-induced volatility spike that triggered a brief S&P 500 drawdown, market resilience was demonstrated by record retail options activity and strong third-quarter earnings from major U.S. banks and luxury firms. Analysts reject systemic bubble narratives, noting that current valuations are supported by genuine earnings growth and projected $520 billion in retail net demand through 2026 rather than irrational expansion. While a modest 5–8% correction is considered plausible before the year-end, the market is underpinned by robust corporate buybacks and upcoming fiscal stimulus expected to sustain consumer spending.
- Goldman Sachs19 min
The Rise of Secondaries: Unlocking Liquidity in Private Markets
Harold Hope, Alex Blostein, Allison Nathan
The global secondary private markets reached $650 billion in assets under management with a 15% annual growth rate, driven by $200 billion in projected transaction volumes and shifting demand for liquidity among institutional and retail investors. Market dynamics now favor a 50-50 split between LP-led and GP-led continuation vehicles, as general partners across the top 200 managers increasingly utilize these structures to retain trophy assets and mitigate vintage risk. While a $200 billion supply of dry powder currently creates a favorable supply-demand imbalance, the sector is evolving from a tactical tool to a core allocation strategy expected to accelerate further as turnover rates mature over the next decade.