Latest Interviews
Showing 3601–3615 of 4,778 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs24 min
Brad Katsuyama – CEO of IEX
Brad Katsuyama, Michael Lewis, Brian Levine
Brad Katsuyama established the Investor Exchange (IEX) in 2013 to counteract latency arbitrage and multi-tiered market structures that favored high-frequency traders by implementing a mandatory 350-microsecond speed bump to level the playing field. Despite facing intense industry hostility and public scrutiny following Michael Lewis's *Flash Boys* and subsequent congressional testimony, the exchange achieved profitability by 2015 while generating $15 billion in daily volume with a revenue model focused solely on trading fees rather than data sales. This strategy has driven the Securities and Exchange Commission to propose regulatory pilot programs eliminating payment for order flow, signaling a broader industry shift toward the execution quality and transparency principles pioneered by Katsuyama.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Taking Travel, Leisure, and Transportation to the Next Level
Carol Massar, Michael Flaskey, Glenn Fogel, Josh Giegel, Caryn Seidman-Becker, Rob Wiesenthal
Representatives from Booking Holdings, Clear, Blade, Virgin Hyperloop, and Diamond Resorts detailed industry shifts toward unified digital ecosystems that leverage AI and biometrics to eliminate friction in travel, while simultaneously addressing legacy regulatory hurdles and data sovereignty concerns. The panelists highlighted strategic pivots aimed at younger demographics and mass markets, such as flexible vacation contracts, democratized helicopter transport, and high-capacity hyperloop transit, alongside aggressive plans to deploy infrastructure for future autonomous mobility. Ultimately, the discussion underscored how emerging technologies and adaptive business models aim to transform fragmented travel experiences into seamless, secure, and accessible end-to-end journeys.
- Lex Fridman58 min
Paola Arlotta: Brain Development from Stem Cell to Organoid | Lex Fridman Podcast #32
Harvard professor Paola Arlotta leads research utilizing patient-derived brain organoids to model the complex, time-dependent developmental processes of the human cerebral cortex, which differ fundamentally from murine models due to distinct cellular sequencing and mechanical forces. This work employs single-cell profiling to identify the molecular and structural origins of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism while simultaneously addressing ethical boundaries to ensure these systems remain disease models rather than attempts to engineer consciousness. Arlotta's findings highlight the brain's intrinsic plasticity and suggest that evolutionary adaptations, such as reduced myelination in newer neurons, enable the flexibility necessary for integrating with evolving technologies and artificial intelligence.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
First Step, and Not the Last: Criminal Justice Reform
Nicholas Kristof, Phil Bryant, Susan Burton, Mark Holden, Valerie Jarrett, Nicholas Turner, Clara Wu Tsai, Nick Turner
A bipartisan panel of political leaders, activists, and business executives collectively identifies mass incarceration as a systemic failure, highlighting the specific legislative failures of the 1994 Crime Bill and the limitations of the 2018 First Step Act. Drawing on data from Mississippi's "Fresh Start Act" and private sector initiatives, the discussion details how reforms ranging from expungement laws and Pell Grant restoration to vocational coding programs have successfully reduced prison populations, saved millions in state costs, and slashed recidivism rates. Ultimately, the consensus underscores a strategic shift toward preventative investments in education and early childhood programs to dismantle the racial and economic disparities perpetuated by current punitive policies.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
Cecile Richards - Co-Founder of Supermajority
Former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards and co-founders Alicia Garza and Ai-jen Poo launched the advocacy group Supermajority to drive gender equity through grassroots organizing that has already attracted 100,000 members. Drawing on her mother Ann Richards' political legacy and her tenure as Deputy Chief of Staff to Nancy Pelosi, Richards champions bottom-up strategies to expand the electorate and link reproductive rights to broader economic stability. The organization aims to mobilize the 55% of voters who are women by training them to host conversations on issues like equal pay and affordable child care across diverse communities.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
John Fallon – Chief Executive of Pearson
Seventy-five years after pivoting from construction to education, Pearson has transformed into a global learning technology firm by replacing costly textbook sales with affordable rental and digital access models while leveraging AI tools like the AIDA app to personalize calculus instruction. The company now partners with institutions such as Arizona State University and the BBC to deliver low-cost, industry-aligned degrees and is applying research on workforce adaptability to address stalled social mobility in underperforming regions. Through this integration of secure, AI-driven platforms and strategic alliances, Pearson aims to democratize learning outcomes by making education more accessible and adaptable to the changing demands of the 2030 workforce.
- Lex Fridman58 min
Kevin Scott: Microsoft CTO | Lex Fridman Podcast #30
Microsoft's Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott outlines a strategic vision where artificial intelligence serves as a democratizing platform to empower individuals and organizations while addressing ethical challenges like data dignity, face recognition bias, and deep fakes. Through partnerships with researchers such as Glenn Weil and Jaron Lanier, the company is pioneering radical market mechanisms and cryptographic solutions to ensure transparent compensation for data contributions and verified content origins. This approach supports Microsoft's broader mission to deploy invisible AI infrastructure across productivity tools, mixed reality, and global problem-solving sectors, aiming to solve critical issues ranging from climate change to workforce management before regulatory frameworks fully adapt.
- Y Combinator24 min
Adora Cheung - How to Set KPIs and Goals
This framework defines Key Performance Indicators as quantitative feedback mechanisms where startups must select a single primary metric, such as monthly recurring revenue or active user growth, to validate product-market fit. Founders are advised to pair this core metric with three to five secondary indicators while aiming for a weekly growth rate of 5% to 10% to ensure exponential progress. By tracking these targets visually and treating weekly misses as diagnostic data rather than failures, entrepreneurs can rapidly iterate on their strategies to achieve sustainable scaling.
- Milken Institute31 min
A Conversation with Mark Bradford and Michael Govan
Art critic and curator Bradford discusses his evolution from abstract expressionism to politically charged installations that challenge institutional norms and address social inequities. The conversation highlights his co-founding of Art + Practice, a non-profit transforming a former beauty parlor into a hybrid gallery and foster youth center in Leimert Park to serve marginalized communities. Through strategic partnerships with LACMA and a rejection of the "colonizing model," Bradford advocates for an integrated approach where artistic practice drives systemic change and resource redistribution.
- Goldman Sachs16 min
Esera Tuaolo: Retired NFL Player and LGBT Advocate
Esera Tuaolo, Lindsay Druckerman
Former NFL player and singer Essara Tuololo recently joined Goldman Sachs' Consumer Retail Group to discuss his career spanning multiple teams and his pivotal decision to come out as gay in 2000 to protect his adopted children. He detailed the psychological toll of living in the closet and how his 2006 memoir, *Alone in the Trenches*, catalyzed his transition into advocacy through his non-profit, Hate Is Wrong. Since its founding, the organization has raised nearly $40,000 for local anti-bullying initiatives by hosting annual Super Bowl Inclusion Parties that keep all proceeds within the host cities.
- Goldman Sachs32 min
Jim Hackett: President and CEO of Ford Motor Company
Ford CEO Jim Hackett outlines the company's strategic pivot toward a "propulsion portfolio" of electric and hybrid vehicles, leveraging a global alliance with Volkswagen to fund over $100 billion in capital commitments for autonomous technology. Hackett emphasizes an "S-curve shift" in the industry, arguing that survival requires abandoning internal combustion virtues while maintaining consumer vehicle ownership through software-defined ecosystems. Rooted in his leadership philosophy of integrity and clear point of view, Hackett predicts that Ford will achieve carbon neutrality within 12 years by blending technologies rather than mandating an immediate, total transition to electrification.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
Rebecca Minkoff: Fashion Designer
Rebecca Minkoff transformed a $4-per-hour internship into a global lifestyle brand by pioneering the "Morning After" handbag and surviving the economic recession through strategic price adjustments that fueled 546% growth. Beyond product innovation, she established the Female Founders Collective to support over 5,000 women-owned businesses while leveraging RFID technology to revolutionize retail experiences and committing to zero-waste production models. The company now focuses on systemic industry change by targeting diverse representation, expanding into home and beauty sectors, and creating an educational platform to close the gender pay gap.
- a16z51 min
Founding Stories: Synapse
Sankaet Pathak, Angela Strange
Founded by Sanket Patak after facing banking exclusion as an international student, Synapse operates as a modular infrastructure platform that automates compliance and identity verification for fintechs and traditional institutions. The company resolves complex regulatory barriers by standardizing KYC, AML, and transaction monitoring across multiple partners, effectively replacing labor-intensive manual processes with an AI-driven "autopilot" model. This approach enables non-bank entities to securely launch financial products for underbanked demographics while allowing sponsor banks to mitigate operational risk and scale without linear cost increases.
- Y Combinator58 min
Startup Hiring Advice from Lever CEO Sarah Nahm with Holly Liu
Sarah Nahm, Holly Liu, Craig Cannon, Eva Zhang
Former Google executive Holly founded Lever in 2012 to address the competitive necessity of talent acquisition in the software era, eventually stepping into a CEO role after a rigorous Series A fundraising round in late 2014. The company distinguishes itself through aggressive outbound recruiting strategies that source 81% of engineers and a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion framework that replaces traditional job descriptions with impact-focused assessments. By prioritizing cultural alignment over technical gatekeeping and treating hiring as a core leadership function, Lever has cultivated a high-performing workforce capable of navigating complex remote work dynamics while maintaining strong internal equity.
- The Economist9 min
How China is crushing the Uyghurs
The Chinese government is executing a systematic campaign in Xinjiang against the Uyghur minority, employing mass surveillance, cultural erasure, and the detention of an estimated one million individuals to secure the region's role in the Belt and Road Initiative. Initiated after 2001 and escalated by leadership such as Chen Chenguang in 2016, this strategy combines extreme security budgets with policies that ban religious practices and force assimilation into Han Chinese identity. These measures have resulted in widespread family separation and the alleged erasure of Uyghur culture, raising international concerns about human rights violations and the future of the ethnic group.