Latest Interviews
Showing 5281–5295 of 5,623 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs15 min
Samantha Power, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations: Talks at GS Session Highlights
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, speaking in partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School and Goldman Sachs, outlined a strategic shift toward gender inclusivity as a critical component of Middle Eastern security and successful peace negotiations. While addressing ongoing challenges in Syria and Iran, Power detailed a preference for targeted "train and equip" operations and diplomatic sanctions over direct military intervention to protect civilians and prevent nuclear proliferation. The discussion further highlighted significant progress in the Ebola crisis, crediting the deployment of U.S. military and health resources for reducing case numbers and mobilizing global cooperation despite lingering cultural and logistical barriers.
- Goldman Sachs14 min
David Miliband, International Rescue Committee CEO: Talks at GS Session Highlights
Amidst a global surge in complex civil wars displacing 52 million people, the International Rescue Committee operates across 30 conflict zones to manage humanitarian crises ranging from Syria's state collapse to Ebola outbreaks in West Africa. The organization leverages data-driven interventions and cross-border aid strategies to address immediate survival needs while advocating for high-level diplomatic cooperation between rival powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia to secure political settlements. By integrating local health innovations with long-term resettlement programs, the IRC argues that sustained international engagement is essential to prevent localized disasters from triggering broader regional instability.
- Y Combinator34 min
Fundraising Panel at Female Founders Conference 2015
Danielle Morrill, Nancy Hu, Mathilde Collin, Susan Johnson, Maran Nelson
Following a dramatic pivot from low-margin services to a software model that nearly forced Mattermark into eviction, founder Danielle Druckenmiller and her team secured a $6.5 million Series A led by Brad Feld after overcoming repeated rejections and a critical liquidity bridge. The panel also featured fellow Y Combinator graduates Susan Johnson, Mathilde Collin, and Nancy, who detailed their successful seed and early-stage fundraising strategies involving rapid meeting volume, strategic mentorship, and targeted PR approaches. These accounts collectively illustrate how early-stage founders navigate high-pressure fundraising landscapes by balancing persistence with operational discipline and transparent team communication.
- Y Combinator26 min
Adora Cheung Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
This presentation details Homejoy's rapid expansion from zero to 30 markets and 200 employees by prioritizing product-market fit and timing within the multi-billion dollar home services sector. The speaker outlines a disciplined scaling framework that balances organic viral growth with strict operational automation while enforcing specific core values like "no job is above any other" to maintain organizational cohesion. Ultimately, the discussion emphasizes the founder's critical role in obsessively managing product quality, recruiting A-plus talent, and protecting strategic time to navigate the chaotic realities of high-growth startups.
- Y Combinator23 min
YC Panel at Female Founders Conference 2015
Kirstine Athu, Elizabeth Irons, Kate Corto, Jessica Livingston, Carolyn Levy, Kat Mignolet
This session outlines Y Combinator's rigorous evaluation of startup applications, emphasizing the need for clear idea articulation, massive market opportunities, and strong execution capabilities across both for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Founders receive critical guidance on optimizing team dynamics, such as establishing distinct roles for spouse-couples and avoiding unequal equity splits, while also learning to overcome common psychological barriers like underplaying personal contributions during pitches. The event concludes by highlighting the diverse founder demographics currently entering the program and announcing that applications for the next batch are open alongside a networking reception.
- Y Combinator19 min
Olga Vidisheva Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
ShopTix, founded by a Wellesley and Harvard Business School graduate, operates a two-sided marketplace connecting independent global boutiques with shoppers after validating demand through 800+ store owner interviews. Following a Y Combinator acceptance and seed investments from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock, the company resolved early scaling failures by replacing co-founders with a professional CTO, which drove a 700% growth rate and turned the venture profitable. Now preparing to launch its mobile application on March 18, ShopTix continues to aggressively scale its infrastructure to capture the market inflection point characteristic of successful multi-year marketplace maturation.
- Y Combinator28 min
Grace Garey Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
Watsi CEO Rachel founded the world's first global crowdfunding platform to connect individual donors directly with patients in need, overcoming systemic inefficiencies in traditional aid by ensuring 100% of donations fund care without administrative fees. Since launching in August 2010, the organization has grown from a $10,000 crisis intervention into a Y Combinator-backed entity that has raised over $3.5 million to treat 4,000 patients across 20 countries. By prioritizing transparency and removing donor restrictions, Watsi facilitates rapid, life-saving interventions for cases such as the siblings in Guatemala and Getu in Kenya while pioneering a universal monthly giving model.
- Y Combinator23 min
Jessica Livingston Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
The event details Y Combinator's evaluation criteria, which prioritize founder determination and character over demographics, resulting in an acceptance rate for female founders that mirrors the applicant pool. It outlines the organization's origin as a non-profit experiment that evolved into a profitable model supported by a familial alumni network designed to mitigate critical issues like co-founder disputes. Key figures emphasize their unique "social radar" interview process and the ongoing commitment to open-source investment tools and founder education to sustain the community's integrity.
- Y Combinator27 min
Tracy Young Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
Founded in 2010 by Tracy Young and Ryan Sutton Gee, PlanGrid evolved from a Y Combinator-backed concept into a construction software platform serving over 10,000 customers and processing 200,000 projects. The San Francisco-based team, currently expanding its 92-person workforce, attributes its resilience and market dominance to a culture of deep mutual support and strategic pivots that turned early hardware limitations into a global digital blueprint repository. Young's leadership narrative also underscores the legacy of late co-founder Antoine Hersen and advocates for increased female representation in engineering sectors through the company's rapid structural scaling from a flat hierarchy to a formalized organization.
- Y Combinator22 min
Kimberly Bryant Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
Founded in 2011 by an accidental social entrepreneur, Black Girls Code launched in the Bay Area to shift girls of color from technology consumers to creators while addressing a sharp decline in their computer science degree attainment. The organization has since expanded to eight chapters across the U.S. and South Africa, training approximately 3,000 students and raising over $125,000 through aggressive fundraising targets to reach its 2040 vision of educating one million girls. By prioritizing culturally sensitive mentorship and hiring teams more skilled than the founder, the nonprofit aims to level the playing field and ensure technology reflects the nation's shifting demographic majority.
- Y Combinator22 min
Ruchi Sanghvi Speaks at Female Founders Conference 2015
The speaker contrasts the successful, first-principles-driven launch of Facebook's News Feed against the strategic missteps taken during her tenure at the startup Go, where she admits to applying inappropriate growth patterns. Upon joining Dropbox, she pivoted from a "move fast and break things" mentality to a quality-focused approach, leading a massive engineering recruitment drive that prioritized cultural fit and reliability. Now launching a new venture, she advocates for strict adherence to fundamental truths and persistent execution despite the psychological toll of entrepreneurship.
- Goldman Sachs14 min
Women's Ski Jumping USA: Talks at GS Session Highlights
Deedee Corradini, Lindsey Van, Sarah Hendrickson
Led by former Salt Lake City Mayor DeeDee O'Donnell and athlete Lindsay Vann, a global coalition fought a two-year campaign against the International Ski Federation and legal hurdles to prove that women's ski jumping met Olympic eligibility standards. Although the 2010 Canadian lawsuit challenging the exclusion under the Charter of Rights failed to secure jurisdiction over the IOC, the litigation catalyzed international support that forced the committee to admit female skiers to the 2014 Sochi Games. This historic victory allowed Lindsey Vann and Sarah Hansen to become the first women to compete in the event, finally dismantling decades of male-dominated barriers within the sport.
- Goldman Sachs23 min
Ray Kelly, Former NYPD Commissioner: Talks at GS Session Highlights
Former NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the first officer to rise from a cadet to the agency's top leadership, details his tenure's establishment of the first municipal counterterrorism bureau and the surveillance of major events like the 2010 Times Square bombing attempt. Kelly critiques a 2011 ruling on racial profiling as evidentiary flawed and warns that current oversight measures and the refusal to appeal could shift policing from proactive crime prevention to reactive responses, a strategy he links to a reduction of 9,300 murders over two decades. With ISIS cited as an escalating global threat, Kelly advocates for the continued use of data-driven security initiatives like the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative while balancing privacy concerns through automatic data deletion protocols.
- Goldman Sachs12 min
Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor CEO: Talks at GS Session Highlights
Endeavor is a nonprofit organization that rigorously selects approximately 1,000 high-impact entrepreneurs from 40,000 candidates across 22 countries to accelerate companies in the scale-up phase. By providing mentorship, networks, and capital to founders like Wences Casares, the organization has helped its portfolio generate $7 billion in revenue and create 400,000 jobs. Co-founder Linda Rotenberg champions a philosophy that views calculated risk-taking as a necessary economic safety net, aiming to shift the global workforce mindset from fear to confident execution.
- Goldman Sachs17 min
Daniella Vitale, Barneys New York COO: Talks at GS Session Highlights
Led by COO Daniela Finkelstein since 2010, Barneys New York executed a strategic pivot that transformed a struggling retailer into a digitally integrated luxury destination by replacing legacy practices with "The Window" editorial platform and omnichannel tools like iPads and mobile POS systems. The company successfully modernized its operations through high-aesthetic technology partnerships, such as the Intel-backed "Mika" wearable, while simultaneously shifting its core philosophy toward hyper-personalized customer experiences to drive conversion and brand equity. This comprehensive overhaul prioritized design integrity over technological novelty and fostered a culture where internal collaboration directly fuels external storytelling and targeted luxury engagement.