Latest Interviews
Showing 1441–1455 of 2,116 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute42 min
A Fireside Chat with Serge Pun Building Myanmar
Serge Pun, Staci Warden, Mike Milken, Mahendra Lama, Minseok Lee, Dickey Yuhuiko, Brad Gordon
Expanding from a private interview to a public forum, the Milken Institute session featured Serge Poon and Mike Milken discussing Myanmar's shifting economic landscape following the removal of US sanctions. Poon detailed his forty-year journey from displacement to rebuilding a private banking empire through strict anti-corruption practices, while outlining a strategy prioritizing long-term infrastructure investment over short-term gains. The dialogue concluded with an optimistic five-year forecast for nation-building, emphasizing regional connectivity and the need for investors to support foundational "trunk" projects despite lingering political risks.
- Bank of America23 min
Strategies for Navigating the Hiring Process
Carol Roth, Jon Dowst, Stephanie Bevegni, Steve Strauss
Based on Bank of America data, small business owners prioritize unteachable traits like work ethic and cultural fit over formal education when leveraging referrals, job boards, and social networks to recruit talent. To ensure alignment and mitigate legal risks, hiring managers employ behavioral questioning and reference checks while carefully distinguishing between full-time employees and independent contractors. This strategy capitalizes on the growing millennial preference for smaller organizations by offering personal interaction and professional development to secure high-quality, long-term staff.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
The State of Small Business in America
Warren Buffett, Lloyd Blankfein, Michael Bloomberg, Jack Dorsey, Savannah Guthrie
Goldman Sachs, Square, and various business leaders convened to address the systemic financial and regulatory hurdles facing established small businesses, noting that traditional banking approves only 10% of capital requests while regulatory costs consume significant operational time. The program highlighted Square's success in approving over 98% of loan applicants through automated repayment models and emphasized a hiring philosophy prioritizing resilience and passion over elite credentials. Strategic insights from Jack Dorsey, Mayor Bloomberg, and Warren Buffett focused on reducing bureaucratic burdens, fostering open organizational cultures, and aiming to delight customers to drive sustainable growth.
- Y Combinator18 min
Q&A with YC at the Female Founders Conference 2016
Jessica Livingston, Kat Manalac, Carolynn Levy, Kirsty Nathoo
Y Combinator partners Jessica Levy and others outline a philosophy that prioritizes founder determination, execution capability, and deep problem ownership over specific stages or demographic profiles, welcoming teams from initial ideas to established companies. Through case studies of Gobble and Airbnb, the discussion illustrates how the accelerator invests in scrappy founders who can clearly articulate their value, while warning against hastening co-founder additions without organic validation. As the program scales to funding approximately 1,000 startups annually, the focus remains on acquiring users and overcoming the "trough of sorrow" to build resilient, domain-expert-led ventures.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Disrupt Aging: A Bold New Path to Living Your Best Life at Every Age
Jo Ann Jenkins, Soledad O'Brien
AARP CEO Joanne Jenkins leverages her extensive federal background to spearhead the "Disrupt Aging" initiative, which aims to reframe the societal narrative around aging as a period of continued vitality rather than decline. Through high-impact campaigns like the viral "What is Old?" video and a $40 million innovation fund, the organization actively promotes policies supporting "freedom to earn," while simultaneously advocating for critical infrastructure changes to ensure financial security and independent living for the 10,000 daily new retirees. This multifaceted approach addresses the economic realities of a population where half of those over 50 rely on Social Security, utilizing a 38-million-member base to influence everything from healthcare funding to workplace flexibility.
- Y Combinator28 min
Fundraising Panel at Female Founders Conference 2016
Talia Frenkel, Katelyn Gleason, Aarthi Ramamurthy, Liz Wessel, Kat Manalac, Caitlin Gleason
Four YC alumni from diverse sectors including healthcare, consumer goods, and job marketplaces share detailed accounts of their capital-raising journeys, which ranged from bootstrapping to securing multimillion-dollar rounds through persistent outreach and strategic narrative framing. The founders emphasize that overcoming investor skepticism requires deep domain expertise, a willingness to educate unfamiliar backers, and the resilience to handle rejection without compromising professional relationships. Ultimately, the discussion underscores that fundraising is an optional strategic tool rather than a mandatory industry norm, urging entrepreneurs to prioritize value creation and self-belief over blind adherence to Silicon Valley conventions.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Reception | Celebrating Activist Women
Susan Santiago, Michael Milken, Shaun Robinson, Cher, John McArthur, Karen Weaver, Gary White, Katie O'Reilly
Hosted by Hyatt's first female SVP of Operations for the Americas, Susan Santiago, this Milken Family Foundation-sponsored event united activists like actress Cher, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, and industry experts to address the U.S. water infrastructure crisis. The panel revealed that approximately 7.3 million lead service lines remain nationwide, costing taxpayers roughly $10 monthly per family to replace, while highlighting the human failures and systemic neglect that drove the Flint tragedy. Participants emphasized that achieving universal clean water access by 2030 requires sustained public funding, strict regulation of private partnerships, and civic pressure to prioritize maintenance over reactive crisis management.
- Milken Institute59 min
A Conversation with Adm. Michael Mullen and Gen. Stanley McChrystal
Adm. Michael Mullen, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Susan Eisenhower, Stanley McChrystal, Michael Mullen
Admiral Mike Mullen and General Stanley McChrystal identify Russia as the primary military threat while warning that the United States faces a more insidious crisis through domestic fiscal insolvency, demographic shifts in the military, and deepening political polarization. The discussion advocates for a structural reduction of the active-duty Army to force public engagement in war and proposes congressional term limits and mandatory meetings to reverse the erosion of bipartisan cooperation. Ultimately, the speakers conclude that long-term national security depends less on military dominance and more on addressing economic inequality, restoring a shared sense of citizenship, and prioritizing diplomatic solutions over purely tactical military interventions.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
How to Sustain Strong Growth in Emerging and Frontier Markets
Marcela Moraes, Joseph Boateng, Cherie Blair
Panelists at the conference projected that emerging markets will drive 70% of global growth in 2016, driven by young demographics and a critical pivot toward women's economic participation. Experts highlighted specific opportunities for investment in Nigeria's tech and agriculture sectors and China's shift to domestic demand, while warning of persistent risks such as the middle-income trap and power deficits in Africa. The dialogue concluded with a consensus that sustainable expansion relies on strong institutions, the rule of law, and the removal of barriers for female entrepreneurs to unlock trillions in potential economic value.
- Milken Institute1h 6m
Priorities for the Next U.S. President
Jeff Green, Tillman Fertitta, Ellen Townsher, Frank Luntz, Mike Milken
Four former presidential candidates—Jeff Green, Tillman Fertitta, Ellen Townsher, and Frank Luntz—discussed hypothetical policy outcomes at the final session of the Milken Institute conference, moderated by Wolf Blitzer and Mike Milken. Each panelist detailed specific legislative achievements in their imagined administrations, ranging from Green's $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan and Guaranteed Minimum Income to Fertitta's elimination of corporate deficits and Luntz's failed VA reform efforts. The discussion highlighted divergent approaches to governance, with candidates sharing contrasting results on economic growth, foreign relations, and the practical challenges of implementing bold structural changes.
- Milken Institute1h 31m
Agent of Change: The California-Israel Global Innovation Partnership
Professor Itzik-Peterborg, Jay Keesling, Uri, Nati, Mark Gold, Yoram Cohen, Clive Kabat-Zinnick, David Blumberg
The California-Israel Global Innovation Partnership, established via a 2014 agreement between Governor Jerry Brown and the Israeli Prime Minister, facilitates the cross-border transfer of expertise in water, energy, and biotechnology to help California transition from a startup-centric to a scale-up economy. Key figures including Prof. Jay Keasling, Prof. Itzik Peterborg, and executives from Netafim demonstrated how synthetic biology, digital health solutions, and precision irrigation can decouple agricultural output from resource constraints while addressing California's fragmented governance and water scarcity crises. This collaboration leverages financial protocols and bilateral fellowships to deploy proven Israeli technologies globally, aiming to create a carbon-negative bio-economy and implement real-time conservation incentives that bridge the gap between policy fragmentation and sustainable infrastructure.
- Milken Institute55 min
Lunch Program | The Future of Humankind
Al Gore, Jennifer Doudna, Guru Banavar, Eric Schmidt
Four global leaders addressed the future of humanity at a "Future of Humankind" session, with Al Gore detailing climate crises and renewable breakthroughs, Jennifer Doudna explaining CRISPR gene-editing capabilities, Guru Banavar outlining cognitive computing collaborations, and Eric Schmidt advocating for ambitious innovation "moonshots." The panel emphasized that despite uncertainties, actionable solutions in sustainability, genetic medicine, and artificial intelligence require collaborative efforts between governments, industries, and individuals. By shifting focus from fear to proactive implementation, the speakers argued that these technologies can drive a sustainable future where human intelligence is augmented by machine capabilities to solve critical global challenges.
- Milken Institute52 min
The Future of Humankind feat. Al Gore, Jennifer Doudna, Guruduth Banavar, Eric Schmidt
Al Gore, Jennifer Doudna, Guruduth Banavar, Eric Schmidt
Al Gore, Jennifer Doudna, Guru Banavar, and Eric Schmidt presented a comprehensive overview of existential climate risks, the transformative potential of CRISPR genome editing, and the synergistic roles of cognitive computing and moonshot innovation. Gore detailed the immediate economic and geopolitical threats posed by fossil fuel dependence and heat accumulation, while Doudna explained how CRISPR-Cas9 functions as a programmable tool for precise genetic modification alongside emerging ethical imperatives. Banavar and Schmidt further argued that AI-driven cognitive platforms and radical technological shifts in energy, transportation, and medicine are essential to solving these global challenges and augmenting human intelligence.
- Milken Institute56 min
Strategic Advocacy: Persuading People to Care
Cheryl Wu-Dunn, Seth Rogen, Lauren Miller-Rogen, Maria Shriver, Jalissa Alvarado, Liz Simons, Carolyn Gallagher, Margaret Brennan, Carolyn Jungermann Bennett, Jennif, David Levinson, John McCurry, Jr., Nancy Kanwisher, Jr., Martha Minow, Kathy Ireland, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Martha Nussbaum
Founded by Cheryl Wu-Dunn and Seth Rogen, Hilarity for Charity leverages comedy to mobilize millennials and young adults, addressing the critical funding gaps and stigma surrounding Alzheimer's disease through high-profile political engagement. Simultaneously, organizations like Save the Children and the YWCA focus on distinct yet intersecting crises, utilizing data-driven campaigns to demand early childhood education investments while advocating for human rights to combat the persistent HIV/AIDS crisis and global human trafficking. Collectively, these initiatives employ a multifaceted strategy combining celebrity influence, legislative pressure, and corporate accountability to force systemic change and secure billions in funding for neglected research and social causes.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Accessing China's Markets
Lucy Colback, Robert Petty, Edwin Wong, Larry Zhang, Patrick Zhong, David Freeman, Rob Hanson, Hong Liu, Brian Kessler, Myron Scholes, FEMALE SPEAKER 1
A panel of financial experts analyzed China's evolving landscape, highlighting regulatory reforms that expanded offshore capital access and the structural shift from heavy industry toward a consumption-driven economy led by a middle class exceeding 100 million people. Speakers distinguished between long-term financial liberalization and tactical management challenges, noting a natural currency hedge from a seven trillion RMB bond market and emerging opportunities in healthcare and distressed assets. The discussion concluded with strategic advice for investors to adopt a five-year horizon, leveraging the gap between domestic and foreign capital managers while navigating communication risks and lease uncertainties.