Latest Interviews

Breaking Down the Dollar’s Rise

Kamakshya Trivedi, Alison Nathan

Goldman Sachs analysts project further U.S. dollar appreciation driven by America's overheating economy and the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes, which contrast with the constrained monetary policies of the ECB, BOJ, and PBOC. While this strength aids U.S. inflation goals, it forces non-U.S. economies into a difficult trade-off between accepting currency depreciation or risking domestic growth through aggressive tightening, with emerging markets facing severe debt vulnerabilities. Exceptions like the Brazilian real and Mexican peso have resisted these trends by initiating earlier rate hikes, yet analysts anticipate the dollar's dominance will persist until U.S. inflation peaks and global growth stabilizes, unlikely before 2023.

Brazil’s elections: The Economist interviews Lula

Lula, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Jair Bolsonaro, Sarah Maslin

In the volatile 2022 Brazilian presidential election, challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leads polls against incumbent Jair Bolsonaro amidst unprecedented violence and deep polarization. Lula pledges to forge a broad post-election coalition, govern strictly under the constitution, and reindustrialize the economy by restoring development banks and prioritizing infrastructure to create jobs. Simultaneously, he refuses to apologize for past corruption allegations while promising rigorous investigation procedures and a "zero priority" focus on food security for the nation's poor.

Alli Webb, Founder of Drybar & President of Canopy

Alli Webb, Allison Mass

Former Goldman Sachs executive Allison Mass founded Drybar to address salon inconsistencies by offering exclusive, affordable blowouts, a model that rapidly scaled to over 160 locations through viral traction and a rigorous focus on sensory branding. The company successfully pivoted to develop a proprietary product line that dominated retail before being sold to Helen of Troy for $255 million, an exit strategy driven by the need to separate the service and product divisions. Following this success, Mass has applied these operational lessons to launch new ventures like the franchise-based massage concept Squeeze and various consumer goods startups, emphasizing strategic delegation and specialized leadership.

Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman at UFC 279

Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Shane Gillis, Anthony Cumia

UFC President Dana White discussed the intense atmosphere of upcoming weigh-ins, noting the rare absence of visible fear among fighters while highlighting the high-stakes potential for chaos in the newly scheduled bout between Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson following Hamza Chamayev's massive 8.5-pound weight miss. This significant miss forced a complete reorganization of the fight card, pitting Chamayev against Kevin Holland in a challenging physical test and elevating the Diaz-Ferguson matchup to a main event spot that has generated considerable analyst speculation. Concurrently, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe shared his personal journey from a sheet metal worker to a prominent voice in comedy, using his expertise in pool to illustrate the complex balance between analytical precision and intuitive muscle memory required for mastery.

Will Slaying Inflation Require Recession?

Jan Hatzius, Olivier Blanchard, Alison Nathan

Olivier Blanchard and Jan Hatzius present conflicting views on whether the post-pandemic labor market can rebalance through reduced vacancies without triggering a recession, with Blanchard predicting unemployment must rise to 6–7% to tame inflation while Hatzius forecasts a modest 4.2% increase by late 2024. Blanchard attributes current structural mismatches and wage-price spirals to a higher natural rate of unemployment requiring severe economic contraction, whereas Hatzius attributes high vacancies to temporary supply constraints that are now resolving through decelerating growth rather than layoffs. The debate highlights divergent recession probabilities, with Blanchard viewing a downturn as inevitable under current Fed tightening and Hatzius estimating a 30% chance over the next year as the economy navigates a potential soft landing.

What is the future of the British monarchy?

Zanny Minton Beddoes, Catherine Nixey

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III assumes the throne amid a rapid surge in domestic approval ratings and significant global concern regarding the future cohesion of the Commonwealth. The monarch faces the immediate challenge of overcoming a legacy of personal controversies and establishing a distinct constitutional identity while attempting to distance himself from the monumental stature of his mother. Despite widespread speculation about slimming down the royal family, the institution is expected to endure as the transition solidifies Britain's status as a mid-sized nation with a shortened reign ahead.

Is the war in Ukraine nearing its end?

On September 6th, Ukraine launched a surprise counterattack supported by an unprecedented flow of Western intelligence and weaponry, liberating over 8,000 square kilometers of territory and collapsing Russian defenses around Kharkiv. This strategic reversal has forced the Kremlin into defensive silence while exposing internal vulnerabilities, including rising nationalist discontent and a direct threat to Vladimir Putin's legitimacy. Although the offensive has shifted Ukrainian war aims toward reclaiming all pre-2014 borders, experts maintain that while military victory remains achievable, the immediate collapse of the Russian state remains unpredictable.

What Basic Game Theory Teaches Us About Startups

Dalton Caldwell, Michael Seibel

This analysis defines zero-sum games as extractive scenarios where one participant's gain equals another's loss, contrasting them with positive-sum activities that create enduring value through mutual benefit. The discussion highlights how cognitive biases and systemic incentives often drive individuals toward high-risk zero-sum behaviors like gambling and leveraged trading, resulting in catastrophic failures rather than sustainable learning. Ultimately, the framework argues that societal progress and personal well-being depend on prioritizing positive-sum interactions that solve real problems, as reliance on extraction leads to long-term instability and unhappiness.

Will Trump be president again?

Trump

Despite internal party fractures and ongoing legal challenges, Donald Trump's grip on the Republican Party remains unshaken following the 2022 defeat of prominent critic Liz Cheney, a result that has silenced opposition and consolidated his base. As Trump prepares to leverage his legal prosecutions as political grievances to secure the 2024 nomination, analysts project he may lose the national popular vote while remaining competitive enough to win the presidency through the Electoral College. This trajectory raises significant concerns regarding election integrity, particularly as Trump-endorsed officials in key states may utilize their positions to dispute or falsify results should he achieve a narrow victory.

The Better Customer–Startups or Big Enterprise?

Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel, Brad Flora

Top YC companies like Stripe, AWS, and Gusto demonstrate that selling to early-stage startups can serve as a validated "bottoms-up" strategy for eventual enterprise scaling, provided the product fits the specific constraints of small organizations. Conversely, founders frequently commit strategic errors by applying enterprise-grade solutions to startups without budget or scale, mistaking accessibility for genuine market fit or underestimating the high-maintenance nature of early customers. Successful transitions from startup adoption to enterprise dominance require acknowledging that while engineers can drive initial evangelism, large deals ultimately demand formal sales infrastructure and a deliberate product evolution aligned with customer growth stages.

How are offices changing?

Faye Wong, Ben Hamley

Multinational corporations are transforming offices into social hubs and adopting hub-and-spoke models to meet a global demand for flexibility, where 76% to 86% of workers across major regions now prioritize remote options over traditional in-office presence. This shift has triggered significant urban vacancies in major city centers and compelled companies to transition from presenteeism-based management to performance-driven evaluation. While this evolution supports mixed-use urban planning and reduces commuting, it simultaneously risks exacerbating gender inequalities, particularly for working mothers in Asian markets.

Lex Fridman plays chess with Demis Hassabis

Lex Fridman, Demis Hassabis

British Chess Champion Natasha Regan and Matthew Sadler co-authored a book that reveals AlphaZero's development notebooks and introduces its revolutionary chess concepts, including deliberate piece sacrifices for positional control. The publication has been endorsed by International Master Danny Carlson, who has already integrated these strategies into his own gameplay to enhance his competitive edge. Through this collaboration, the authors provide unprecedented access to the hidden methodologies of the AI, bridging the gap between theoretical innovation and practical application for serious players.

Investing with KKR’s Tara Davies

Tara Davies, Alison Mass, Alison Nathan

On March 17, 2022, KKR Partner Tara Davies outlined a strategic pivot toward inflation-resistant real assets, emphasizing infrastructure's ability to hedge rising costs through revenue pass-through mechanisms while navigating a competitive market landscape. Davies detailed KKR's sector-agnostic approach to classifying assets by complexity rather than industry, prioritizing pricing power to protect margins amid supply chain disruptions and operational risks. The discussion further highlighted the firm's commitment to decarbonizing existing "brown" assets through granular operational improvements rather than divestment, alongside a leadership philosophy that values constructive debate and people skills over pure analytical modeling.

Lessons From The Founders Scaling Their Startup In A War Zone

Stacy Pavlyshyna, Roman Sevast

On February 28, just four days after the full-scale Russian invasion began, Isomic co-founders Stacy and Roman narrowly survived a missile strike near their Kyiv residence while executing emergency evacuation protocols for their distributed design workforce. Despite the immediate danger and subsequent psychological trauma from reports of atrocities in Bucha, the company maintained uninterrupted 24-hour operations, deliberately choosing to remain in Ukraine to generate foreign currency and support the national economy. The founders implemented specialized safety measures, including hiring expert drivers to navigate active combat zones, while fostering a united outlook on long-term societal resilience and economic rebuilding.

Y Combinator Is Back In Person

Dalton Caldwell, Michael Seibel

The Summer 2022 YC batch transitions to hybrid operations with a Sonoma kick-off retreat and San Francisco meetups while maintaining core remote components for its global cohort. This cycle features a revised standard deal delivering $500,000 in immediate capital, which has attracted a more technical, motivated applicant pool and enabled founders to raise seed rounds with reduced dilution. Additionally, a distinct geographic trend sees founders returning to major tech hubs like the Bay Area to leverage dense ecosystems, supported by YC's direct economic guidance that encourages data-driven decision-making over fear-based reactions.