Latest Interviews
Showing 901–915 of 1,030 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs20 min
Robert Rowland Smith: Exploring "What It Means to be Human"
Robert Rowland Smith, Dennis Coleman
Former Oxford fellow Robert Roland Smith explores the essence of humanity in his book *Autobiophilosophy* by contrasting transient data-driven identities with deep human experiences like fate, generational time, and group belonging. Smith critiques how artificial intelligence and social media fragment personal perspective, arguing instead that true existence requires navigating the tension between global complexity and manageable tribal limits defined by Dunbar's Number. Through autobiographical anecdotes ranging from personal failure to geopolitical analysis, the work posits that genuine mindfulness and humility are essential for resisting the reduction of individuals to mere data subjects in a transactional society.
- Goldman Sachs20 min
Dana Canedy: The Pulitzer Prizes and the Power of Storytelling
Dana Canedy, Sarah Marie Martin
Dana Kennedy, the first person of color to lead the Pulitzer Prizes and former New York Times partner, addresses critical shifts in journalism, including the industry's delayed progress on diversity and the transformative global impact of its MeToo reporting. She highlights the historic unanimous decision to award a Pulitzer to Kendrick Lamar as a pivotal moment for genre recognition while emphasizing the erosion of shared truth as the sector's most pressing modern challenge. Kennedy further connects these professional insights to her personal legacy as an author and producer, noting how her work adapting *Journal for Jordan* with Denzel Washington has inspired a broader movement among military fathers to document their stories for future generations.
- Goldman Sachs20 min
Ken Langone on Values, Culture and Founding The Home Depot
Following a Wall Street career marked by military service and the collapse of his first venture, Ken Langone co-founded Home Depot in 1974 with former J.C. Penney executives Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, providing the crucial $2 million seed capital and strategic guidance that propelled the retailer to a $230 billion market capitalization. Langone attributes the company's return of $110 billion to shareholders to an "inverted triangle" management philosophy that empowers frontline employees to drive innovation, a cultural model he continues to advocate for at NYU Langone Medical Center. This approach balances strict ethical accountability with a deep commitment to respect and recognition, allowing individual initiative—such as the successful implementation of store-level display experiments—to flourish without fear of punishment.
- Y Combinator18 min
Mariya Nurislamova, Founder of Scentbird at the Female Founders Conference
Sunbird successfully transformed from a failed recommendation algorithm into a subscription fragrance rental service after pivoting to a $15 monthly model inspired by Y Combinator's Michael Seibel. The company overcame early operational hurdles and significant fundraising rejections by leveraging a scarcity strategy to secure $150,000, eventually achieving acceptance into Y Combinator and raising a total of $25 million in capital. This strategic evolution enabled the team to scale operations to 250,000 users and expand internationally while adopting a high-performance hiring philosophy.
- The Economist8 min
Women and the Saudi revolution
Zanny Minton Beddoes, Noor Shabib, Hoda al-Halaissi
Led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is executing a rapid top-down modernization strategy that lifts social restrictions like the ban on women driving while simultaneously centralizing political power and suppressing dissent. Although these reforms aim to diversify the oil-dependent economy by integrating the majority-female university graduate workforce, they face significant risks from religious puritans, rival royals, and a volatile youth population whose aspirations remain unmet by the regime's refusal to democratize. The success of this delicate balancing act is critical, as a stable, moderate Saudi Arabia could significantly enhance regional security and offer a counter-narrative to extremist interpretations of Islam globally.
- Goldman Sachs14 min
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.
- Goldman Sachs15 min
Ken Griffin: How Talent and Technology Are Shaping the Markets
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.
- Goldman Sachs18 min
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.
- Goldman Sachs19 min
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.
- Goldman Sachs7 min
Sara Blakely: Fireside Chat
Sara Blakely, Kathy Elsesser, John F.W. Rogers, Kevin McCarthy, Tyler Perry, Danny Meyer, Sarah Kauss, Wilbur L. Ross, Michael Bloomberg, Gina Raimondo, Rick Snyder, Marco Rubio, Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett
Sarah Blakley founded Spanx with $5,000 to solve the issue of visible panty lines for women wearing white pants, despite lacking formal business training or industry connections. After facing initial skepticism from manufacturers, she leveraged a childhood culture that rewarded failure to build a company culture centered on public error disclosure and challenging industry norms. Her strategy of deviating from standard practices enabled the creation of a footless pantyhose product that revolutionized the hosiery market and generated significant breakthroughs.
- Goldman Sachs15 min
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.
- Goldman Sachs13 min
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.
- Goldman Sachs16 min
Boyan Slat: Combatting Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans
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.
- Goldman Sachs17 min
Daniel Schwartz: The Millennial CEO Changing the Fast Food Industry
Daniel Schwartz, Jennifer Coppola
Daniel Schwartz, CEO of Restaurant Brands International, leads Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes by applying 3G Capital’s meritocratic ownership model to revitalize operations and accelerate young leadership. This strategy includes mandatory frontline shifts for executives, streamlined menus to boost profitability, and equity incentives that replace tenure-based promotion with performance-driven advancement. Under Schwartz’s direction, the parent company has shifted its product focus toward authentic ingredients while leveraging a generational mindset to drive technological self-disruption across the global foodservice sector.
- a16z8 min
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.