Latest Interviews

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 7 – Going Public (1999)

Hank Paulson

Facing a severe 1994 financial crisis and the strategic necessity of funding global expansion, Goldman Sachs leadership concluded that a public capital structure was essential to sustain a stable balance sheet and unlimited liability risk controls. On May 4, 1999, the firm executed the second-largest initial public offering in financial history at the time, raising capital primarily to distribute equity among existing partners and employees rather than diluting ownership to external investors. This transition, led by senior partners such as Henry Paulson and John Corzine, allowed the institution to scale operations into new markets while maintaining its unique biennial partnership elections and collaborative corporate ethos.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 6 – Going Global (1989)

In the 1980s, Goldman Sachs strategically pivoted from a U.S.-centric firm to a global powerhouse by establishing London as its European hub and securing the British Gas privatization to link local markets with international capital. Under the leadership of John Weinberg, who demonstrated unwavering client commitment during the 1987 Black Monday crash, and successors like Bob Rubin and Stephen Friedman, the firm modernized its operations by integrating quantitative risk management and recruiting top-tier mathematical talent. This transformation, supported by a flat, collaborative culture and a focus on hiring diverse talent, established a three-pillar framework of people, culture, and strategy that defined the firm's dominance in global finance over the following three decades.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 5 – Takeoff (1976)

John Whitehead, John Weinberg

Since 1985, the firm has navigated six or seven orderly CEO transitions, a succession pattern John Whitehead and John Weinberg established by codifying core principles to scale from a partnership of 800 employees to a global institution of 8,000. Their 1976 co-leadership era successfully separated strategic development from client relationship management while maintaining a "white knight" reputation for defending clients against hostile takeovers. This enduring culture prioritizes long-term trust and the client-first ethic as the primary assets ensuring the organization's 150-year longevity.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 4 – Changing Times (1969)

Gus Levy, Sidney Weinberg, Bob Mnuchin, Bob Rubin, Steve Friedman

In the early 1960s, Gus Levy redefined Goldman Sachs by transitioning it from a conservative investment bank into a trader-led market maker capable of handling massive institutional volume. His innovative block trading strategies and a culture of relentless accessibility navigated the firm through a 1970s liquidity crisis, establishing a legacy of institutional leadership that endured beyond his 1976 death. This structural shift not only secured the firm's position as a Wall Street hub but also instilled a permanent culture of vigilance and high standards that continues to shape Goldman Sachs' operations.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 3 – Recovery (1930)

Sidney Weinberg

Following the 1929 stock market crash, Sidney Weinberg rose from a janitor to lead Goldman Sachs through two decades of financial adversity, personally restoring client trust and building a network of high-profile corporate clients. Under his centralized control, Weinberg prioritized long-term relationships over immediate gains, orchestrating the landmark 1956 public offering for Ford Motor Company to cement the firm's status as a premier investment bank. His leadership legacy, characterized by "controlled ambition" and integrity, survived him after he stepped back from daily operations in 1963, leaving behind a client list and reputation that sustained the firm for decades.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 2 – Hubris (1929)

Henry Goldman, Waddill Catchings, Walter Sachs

During the 1920s, leadership under Waddell Catchings pivoted Goldman Sachs toward aggressive leverage and the creation of the highly risky Trading Corporation, a move that nearly destroyed the firm following the 1929 market crash. Although the catastrophic collapse of the Trading Corporation reduced its stock from $326 to $1.75 and triggered a $100 million lawsuit from 42,000 stockholders, the legal separation of the entity from the main partnership allowed the original family-controlled firm to survive the Great Depression. This near-failure ultimately cemented a culture of constitutional pessimism and risk aversion, ensuring that future decision-making would prioritize long-term institutional stability over short-term profit maximization.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 1 – Beginnings (1869)

Emily Beynon

Founded in 1869 by immigrant Marcus Goldman and later expanded by his son-in-law Samuel Sachs and son Henry Goldman, the firm evolved from a niche commercial paper dealer into a dominant investment bank through a unique leadership dynamic and aggressive market innovation. Pioneering critical financial practices such as the underwriting of non-utility retailers and the development of the Price-to-Earnings ratio, the partners successfully floated major companies like Sears and Macy's while navigating competition from established giants like J.P. Morgan. This strategic combination of calculated risk-taking and client-focused ingenuity transformed the organization from a basement operation into a globally influential institution that maintained its core values despite significant operational changes over the first century of its existence.

Founding Stories: Anchorage

Chris Dixon, Diogo Monica, Nathan McCauley, Katie Haun

Founders Nathan and Diogo, previously instrumental in scaling security at Square and Docker, established Anchorage Digital to address the operational limitations of traditional cold storage for institutional crypto assets. The firm deploys a crash-resistant custody architecture that enables active on-chain participation, including staking and governance voting, while simultaneously serving as a founding node operator for the independent Libra Association in Geneva. This dual strategy aims to legitimize the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem by combining regulated fiduciary safeguards with a decentralized blockchain designed for global scalability and mass adoption.

The Economics of Term Sheets

Scott Kupor

This presentation dissects economic term sheet mechanics using hypothetical venture firms Haiku and Indigo to illustrate how varying liquidation preferences and option pools directly impact founder ownership. By contrasting Haiku's participating 1x preference with Indigo's non-participating structure, the analysis demonstrates that while Indigo offers less immediate dilution, Haiku's smaller capital injection and option pool size yield a different risk-reward profile for the founding team. The session concludes by framing the choice between these competing $2 million versus $4 million offers as a strategic calculation of runway extension versus long-term upside, pending a future discussion on governance rights.

Secrets of the deep ocean

Karl

Scientists aboard the Australian Government's RV *Investigator* are surveying unexplored Tasmanian seamounts to assess deep-sea ecosystems at depths exceeding 1,000 meters. While Marine Protected Areas established in the 1990s show positive signs of recovery with returning urchin populations and anemones, the data reveals that the foundational stony coral matrix damaged by bottom trawling has not reformable over the past two decades. These findings will guide future conservation policies and promote sustainable fishing practices by highlighting the long-term resilience limits of these unique habitats.

Toward a Healthier Future

Will Durant, Mike Milken, Tanisha Carino, Michael Milken, Francis Collins, Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Bernard J. Tyson, Seema Verma, Sue Desmond-Hellman

Representatives from the Gates Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, CMS, and NIH converged to outline a unified strategy shifting global health systems from reactive treatment toward proactive prevention and precision medicine. Leaders highlighted specific breakthroughs in gene therapy, AI-driven neural decoding, and data interoperability while proposing structural reforms to align financial incentives with long-term population wellness and disease eradication. The consensus among these major institutions emphasizes that future economic prosperity and reduced healthcare costs depend on integrating community infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and innovative financing models to address challenges ranging from mental health crises to rare genetic disorders.

Does YC Fund Solo Founders? - Jared Friedman

Jared Friedman

Y Combinator actively funds solo founders, reserving at least 10% of its batches for single-leader ventures despite a general preference for co-founding teams. History supports this inclusion, as successful entities like Dropbox and Zenefits were solo-led upon application before later acquiring co-founders. Although the program advises that co-founders improve success odds, joining with a partner after acceptance remains optional rather than mandatory.

Ian Bremmer: President and Founder of Eurasia Group

Ian Bremmer

Ian Bremmer's *Us Versus Them: The Failure of Globalism* diagnoses the rise of populism in advanced democracies as a structural result of economic inequality, automation, and information fragmentation rather than a singular political event. The analysis details how U.S. unilateralism is eroding alliances, specifically through trade tensions with China and security failures in the Middle East, while highlighting China's strategic pivot toward controlling semiconductor supply chains and exporting digital authoritarianism. Despite these geopolitical recessions and regional flashpoints in Mexico, Iran, and Europe, Bremmer concludes that global human capital and technological innovation may ultimately catalyze new solutions to these existential challenges.

Jeremy Rossmann of Make School on Income Share Agreements and the Future of College

Jeremy Rossmann, Craig Cannon, William Triska, Vikram Malhotra, Evan Ward

MakeSchool, an accredited San Francisco institution founded by Rossman, delivers an accelerated two-year Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science through a project-based curriculum featuring live mentorship and an income share agreement that eliminates upfront tuition. This model targets lower-to-mid-income students by combining technical training with liberal arts skills to secure placements at major tech firms like Google and Tesla, contrasting with traditional four-year degrees and self-directed learning. By operating under new outcome-based regulations and validating its approach with five years of operational data, the school aims to reshape higher education incentives and prepare graduates for a future of lifelong learning.

Envisioning the Future of Media and Entertainment

Julia Boorstin, Jeffrey Hirsch, Gale Anne Hurd, Charles D. King, Asif Satchu, Jeremy Zimmer, Jeff Hirsch

Industry leaders project a fragmented streaming landscape where major consolidators like Netflix and Disney+ coexist with premium add-on services, driven by a shift in creator leverage toward aggressive upfront deals over traditional backend participation. While writers face income compression due to shortened production cycles and structural residual gaps, the market is simultaneously evolving toward data-driven meritocracy that could reinstitute performance-based royalties. This evolution extends globally, with content featuring underrepresented demographics and non-U.S. productions becoming central to international revenue growth alongside a compressed theatrical window strategy.