Latest Interviews

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.

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.

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 The Honorable Wilbur L. Ross

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

The event highlights the pivotal role of small and medium-sized enterprises in generating 63% of new jobs while detailing policy shifts that reduced regulatory burdens and altered tax structures for flow-through entities. Federal initiatives have intensified trade enforcement by 80% and deployed foreign commercial teams in 73 domestic and international locations to overcome export participation barriers that currently limit less than 3% of American businesses. These efforts, validated by case studies like Kaddis Enterprises' 400% growth, emphasize leveraging e-commerce and active marketing to facilitate business succession and global expansion.

Helping Small Businesses Grow: Views from 10,000 Small Businesses

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

Over 100 small business owners across 18 states identified inconsistent regulations, labor shortages, and restricted capital access as critical barriers preventing economic growth and expansion. Participants detailed how bureaucratic complexity and frequent policy shifts force entrepreneurs to liquidate personal assets and divert resources from hiring to compliance, while survey data indicates that doubled financing availability would boost employment by 30%. To address these systemic issues, advocates propose establishing centralized credentialing systems and shifting toward cooperative compliance windows rather than punitive measures.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy: Standing Up for Small Businesses

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

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican with deep roots in the state's energy and agricultural sectors, outlines his journey from early entrepreneurial ventures to crafting bipartisan legislation like the Jobs Act. He argues that small businesses are the nation's primary job creators and urges owners to build direct, sustained relationships with lawmakers to overcome capital and training hurdles. Drawing on historical symbolism from the Gettysburg Address and Washington Crossing the Delaware, McCarthy concludes by calling for cross-party collaboration to address long-term challenges and forge a more perfect union.

John F.W. Rogers: Opening Session Remarks

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

Goldman Sachs is convening 10,000 Small Business Program alumni, including 2,200 current participants, to address critical operational hurdles such as hiring and financing while leveraging the sector's role in employing 60 million Americans. The summit features a strategic "Hill Day" that mobilizes this diverse network to meet with elected officials across all 50 states and nearly all congressional districts to advocate for legislative relief. By uniting these resource-constrained firms, the event aims to bridge the gap between current business expectations and future capabilities through actionable insights and direct policy engagement.

Boyan Slat: Combatting Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans

Boyan Slat, Cliff Marriott

Founder and CEO Boyan Slat's organization is advancing a fleet of 60 passive, U-shaped floating barriers designed to remove 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within five years by leveraging natural ocean currents rather than traditional active fishing methods. Following a rigorous development cycle marked by early prototype failures and a $40 million capital raise, the system has evolved from inflatable chambers to solid pipe structures and is currently undergoing assembly at a facility near San Francisco for a targeted July launch. This initiative addresses an annual economic cost of $13 billion and a threat to 800 marine species by simultaneously targeting legacy accumulation in the Pacific and intercepting the roughly 2 million tons of river-borne plastic entering the ocean each year.

MIT-AVT: Data Collection Device (for Large-Scale Semi-Autonomous Driving)

An MIT-led study utilizes Ryder System's fleet of over 30 vehicles to gather extensive naturalistic driving data, analyzing how humans supervise semi-autonomous systems across more than 320,000 miles. The project employs a specialized hardware architecture to record synchronized video, GPS, and vehicle telemetry with high thermal resilience and precise clock accuracy, generating nearly 300 terabytes of compressed footage for deep learning analysis. Future iterations will transition to NVIDIA Jetson TX2 hardware to enable selective recording of critical edge cases, shifting the research focus toward understanding driver cognitive load and internal behavior.

Consolidation in Healthcare: What to Make of It?

Jorge Conde, Vijay Pande, Jeffrey Low

Leading healthcare entities are pursuing divergent consolidation strategies, exemplified by Walmart's potential acquisition of Humana to create a vertically integrated retail-insurance model, while Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan develop a dispersed employer consortium. Analysts predict that local integration offers more immediate cost reductions than geographically scattered employer alliances, prompting new market entrants to build proprietary pharmacy benefit management capabilities and specialized logistics for complex gene and cell therapies. This sector-wide shift toward vertical monoliths and advanced therapeutic infrastructure is creating entrepreneurial opportunities focused on digital therapeutic reimbursement and friction-free administrative frameworks.

Talks at GS – Magic Johnson On “Over-Delivering” On And Off The Court

Magic Johnson, Earvin "Magic" Johnson

Magic Johnson transitioned from leading Michigan State to an NCAA title and cultivating a legendary rivalry with Larry Bird in the NBA to a distinguished business career driven by strategic mentorship and deep market insight. Following his 1991 HIV diagnosis, he credits his 26-year survival to a regimen of mental resilience, physical training, and medication adherence, while leveraging his public platform to launch ventures like Magic Johnson Theaters and invest in the Los Angeles Sparks and Dodgers. Johnson now focuses his legacy on creating economic opportunities for people of color in urban America, prioritizing societal impact over personal wealth accumulation.

The World Through an API

Martin Casado

Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Martin Casado argues that the computing industry is undergoing a final stage of market disaggregation, shifting from bundled software to an economy driven entirely by Application Program Interfaces. This transition lowers barriers to entry for domain experts by codifying complex logic into machine-readable APIs, a shift Ovum data suggests will expand the total addressable market by a factor of ten. Consequently, the investment landscape is pivoting toward three distinct themes: API-first startups that bypass traditional user interfaces, new infrastructure required to secure and manage this distributed layer, and aggregation marketplaces that help developers navigate the proliferation of specialized services.

Beyond a Zero-Sum Game: Tech Innovation and China

Connie Chan, Jack Ma

The event challenges the zero-sum "US vs. China" narrative by highlighting how multinational corporations like Apple and Volvo have integrated supply chains and ownership across both nations, rendering strict national boundaries obsolete. It details specific cross-border synergies where US lifestyle trends and Chinese innovations, such as QR code payments and AI talent acquisition, flow non-linearly to create mutual economic benefits. Furthermore, the presentation positions Hong Kong as a strategic hub for predicting global trends by leveraging its unique ability to observe and connect these rapidly evolving markets.