Latest Interviews
Showing 2701–2715 of 2,999 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Y Combinator23 min
Apoorva Mehta at Startup School NY 2014
Founded by former Amazon engineer Apoorva Mehta, the San Francisco-based platform Instacart operates as a software-only service connecting customers with crowdsourced shoppers to facilitate rapid grocery delivery without owning inventory or logistics infrastructure. The company validated its model through intense manual execution, including founder-led deliveries and manual store cataloging, which enabled admission to Y Combinator and fueled a twenty-week streak of 10% week-over-week growth. Today, Instacart serves ten U.S. cities with hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily revenue, having recently closed a $44 million funding round while solving complex operational challenges to offer same-day delivery for retail partners.
- Milken Institute20 min
Overview 2011 State of the State Conference
The California Center, under the leadership of Kevin Clowden and advisory chair Scott Minard, recently presented a comprehensive analysis of the state's economic recovery, highlighting a job growth surge of 250,000 private sector positions and a rebound in manufacturing and construction driven by public infrastructure investment. The report emphasized California's sustained dominance in venture capital, which captured 57% of national placements in 2010, and its strategic export focus on Asia, while addressing challenges such as housing market stagnation and human capital retention. Concluding the session, the event honored Steve Jobs' legacy through a tribute to his integration of engineering and artistry, reinforcing the state's commitment to fostering innovation in technology and biomedical sectors.
- Milken Institute1h 15m
The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited
Author and journalist Louisa Lim presented at the Milken Institute Forum to analyze how the Chinese government has enforced a state-sponsored amnesia regarding the June 4, 1989, crackdown. Her research details a comprehensive strategy that includes erasing historical records from education and digital platforms, suppressing public commemoration through detention, and obscuring parallel violent incidents such as the Chengdu massacre. Lim highlights the severe human costs of this censorship, noting that families and survivors often feel compelled to collude with the silence to avoid persecution, effectively severing the nation's connection to its recent history.
- Milken Institute1h 19m
The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State
John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge, Skip Reimer
John Micklethwaite and Adrian Wooldridge argue that the West faces a critical Fourth Revolution in governance driven by fiscal unsustainability, technological stagnation, and intense competition from an increasingly efficient Chinese state. They propose replacing the bloated "nanny state" with technocratic safeguards, consumer choice mechanisms, and private sector management techniques to restore democratic legitimacy and economic vitality. Without adopting these reforms to shrink and modernize government, the authors warn that Western nations risk losing the ideological contest for freedom and liberty to rival authoritarian models.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Undercover Bosses: Getting to Know Your Business Better
Sheldon Yellen, Jen, Chris Carlson, Eli Holzman, Steven J. Klubeck, Dina Dwyer-Owens, Jeff Platt, Tony Guido, Anthony Wedo, Michelle, Scott, Mary Thompson, Dean, Randy, Brock
The global phenomenon *Undercover Boss* features nearly 60 corporate leaders who surrender creative control to anonymously work alongside employees for eight days, resulting in a historic 38.7 million viewers for its premiere. Participants like Tony Guido and Steven J. Klubeck have implemented substantial operational reforms and financial support systems, including a $4 million POS upgrade and a $1 million crisis fund, directly addressing identified bottlenecks and employee welfare issues. These unedited interactions have shifted corporate cultures from transactional to value-driven while generating tens of thousands of job applications and establishing long-term charitable foundations across diverse international territories.
- Milken Institute1h 12m
Textbooks, Tablets and Teaching: Reinventing How We Learn
This initiative drives a fundamental shift in education by replacing static, time-based curricula with dynamic, competency-based digital platforms that accelerate student learning speeds by a factor of ten. Currently deploying across major districts like Los Angeles and Guilford with millions of students, the program addresses critical infrastructure gaps through FCC E-Rate revisions and transitions funding models from textbook contracts to flexible technology packages. By enabling real-time curriculum updates, personalized assessment, and external skill validation, the movement aims to dismantle traditional barriers to graduation and prepare a globally competitive workforce within the next decade.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
A Conversation on Haiti with Sean Penn and Denis O'Brien
Sean Penn, Denis O'Brien, Mindy Silverstein, Margaret Brennan, FEMALE SPEAKER 1, MARK BLYTHOUSE, JOHN MCCURRY, JOHN MCDOUGALL, DAVID LEONHARDT JR., DAVID ROCKEFELLER JR., ERIC SCHMIDT
At the Milken Institute's Global Conference, a panel of investors and officials highlighted Haiti's robust 3.6% annual economic growth and its strategic value as a manufacturing hub under the U.S. Hope and Help Act. Speakers detailed significant strides in post-earthquake reconstruction and human capital development, citing the $100 million Heineken investment and the shift toward sustainable artisan tourism as evidence of a "mini-Brazil" trajectory. Despite political gridlock delaying the release of $300 million in aid and legislative hurdles regarding land tenure, the consensus emphasized that private sector engagement, rather than traditional NGO aid, is essential to transforming Haiti into a stable, high-return market.
- Milken Institute1h 26m
The California-Israel Innovation Project (audio only)
Jerry Brown, Benjamin Netanyahu, Glenn, Tom Soto, David Nahai, Shlomo Labet, Yariv Cohen, Nathan, Martha Amram, Jagdeep Basher, Lee Wallach, Eric Green, Sean Landris, Gil Galanos, Yair
California and Israel formalized a historic government-to-government partnership targeting water security, climate resilience, and biomedical innovation through strategic collaboration between state agencies and anchor entities like IDE and Netafim. Key outcomes include a planned Los Angeles task force to deploy Israeli leak detection technology within the LADWP, the proposal of a $20 billion joint super bio fund to address capital gaps in deep-tech sectors, and a shift toward utilizing California physicians for clinical training in Israel. Future initiatives prioritize establishing shared data platforms for health and agriculture while aligning regulatory frameworks to facilitate long-term infrastructure investment and global market scaling.
- Milken Institute1h 4m
Collaboration 3.0: Partnering for More than Money
Caitlin McLean, Steve Woodhead, Kerry Stever, Natalie Revelle, Efrat Peled, Rick Leach
The Milken Institute convened leaders from Chevron, Aris, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Arison Investments, and World Food Program USA to examine how public-private partnerships are reshaping infrastructure, health, and energy sectors amid shrinking public budgets. These panelists detailed strategies ranging from Aris's IP sourcing for tuberculosis vaccines to the Gates Foundation's volume guarantees that de-risk private market entry, while Chevron and Arison emphasized leveraging corporate expertise to solve systemic issues like water leakage and STEM education gaps. Collectively, the discussion highlighted a strategic shift from traditional philanthropy to sustainable, scalable business models that address long-term development goals through rigorous metrics and cross-sector collaboration.
- Milken Institute1h 23m
Lunch Panel - Gary Becker and Mike Milken on the Marketplace of Ideas
Gary Becker, Mike Milken, Skip Reimer
Governor Brown's absence due to recent surgery necessitated venue reallocations for the Business of Sports panel while the Milken Institute recognized key partners and outlined a 2011–2012 global conference calendar. Nobel laureate Gary Becker utilized the forum to advance arguments for small government, universal economic principles, and structural reforms in education and retirement, specifically advocating for a $50,000 visa fee to reverse brain drain and a raise in retirement age to address demographic shifts. The panel concluded by resolving historical debates on capital structure and highlighting global trends where market liberalization in China and India has reclaimed historical economic dominance despite the failure of centrally planned systems.
- Milken Institute1h 9m
Leaders on Leadership: An Intimate Conversation
Mike Milken, Howard Marks, Janet Napolitano, Steve Wynn
Nearly 1,000 women convened at a marathon-style global conference where leaders like Janet Napolitano, Steve Wynn, and Howard Marks addressed themes of strategic risk, transparent authority, and second-level thinking across 160 sessions. The event highlighted how decisive actions, such as CVS Caremark's removal of cigarettes or Wynn's irreversible capital commitments, require balancing immediate financial pressures against long-term organizational missions. By synthesizing historical parallels with modern investment principles, the gathering framed bold leadership as the deliberate choice to accept calculated risks to secure sustainable economic and societal growth.
- Milken Institute1h 4m
Pan-African Business
Jonathan Berman, Ahmed, Baron, Phillips, Padre, General, Paul Hicks
A pan-African economic forum highlighted that the continent's 1 billion-person market is driven by regional blocs and a demographic shift of Western-educated returnees rather than a homogeneous unit. Speakers emphasized that overcoming structural barriers like high logistics costs and capital mismatches requires patient, long-term investment horizons and localized operational strategies to leverage the region's emerging energy and manufacturing sectors. The event concluded by calling for enhanced US engagement through credit enhancement mechanisms to diversify funding sources beyond existing European, Asian, and Chinese dominance.
- Milken Institute59 min
Theory to Practice: A New Generation Transforms Impact Investing
Dave Chen, Nicole Chavez, Laura Bremmerkines, April Mendez, Alex Friedman
Co-hosted by the Milken Institute and Morgan Stanley, the 2023 Sustainable Investing Challenge narrowed 39 global business schools to four finalists who presented impact investing strategies evaluated by hundreds of industry professionals. The winning team, a joint submission from Yale's School of Forestry and Business School, proposed the Fresh Coast Forest Fund to generate 6–11% returns by planting hybrid poplar tree farms on 5 million acres of U.S. brownfields for phytoremediation. The 10-year project targets $50 million in initial capital to remediate soil at 80–90% lower costs than traditional methods while producing timber and carbon credit revenue, with the team currently seeking mentors and strategic investors to launch a pilot site.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Art 360: Passion, Wealth and the Business of Art
Michael Govan, Linda Resnick, Larry Gagosian, Maurice Marciano, Gabriel Kreiman, Linda Barron, David Rockefeller Jr.
This event detailed the robust economic growth of the Los Angeles art scene, highlighted by LACMA's recent expansion which generated $500 million in economic impact and created 700 jobs. Prominent figures including Linda Resnick, Maurice Marciano, and Larry Gagosian shared strategies on collector psychology, gallery expansion, and the necessity of balancing personal passion with investment potential. Furthermore, the discussion emphasized the critical role of museums in shaping visual culture and addressed the urgent need for improved arts education to counter declining literacy rates while navigating a rapidly globalizing market.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Money Goes Virtual: The Bitcoin Bourse
Gavin Andreessen, Megan Burton, Charlie Lee, Brock Pierce
Representatives from organizations including the Bitcoin Foundation, Coinbase, and CoinX convened to define Bitcoin as a decentralized, trustless ledger that solves the double-spend problem through cryptographic Proof of Work and a strictly capped 21 million coin supply. The panel detailed how this architecture enables global financial inclusion and instant cross-border transfers while addressing critical security concerns, such as the Mount Gox collapse which resulted from corporate governance failures rather than protocol flaws. Looking toward a future with billions of users, speakers predicted that Bitcoin will eventually replace traditional payment rails like SWIFT and become a ubiquitous, deflationary utility similar to the internet.