The IVY Podcast: Recent Episodes
IVY: The Lifelong University
From IVY: The Lifelong University, comes The IVY Podcast —Supercharge Your Life & Career with the Leading Minds of Our Time to Elevate Your Leadership, Performance & Wellbeing. The IVY Podcast is your hub for key learnings from diverse minds specifically curated for entrepreneurs and creative professionals no matter what career level. New episodes every week. For more information about the IVY community, and getting your leadership involved, visit www.IVY.com.
We’re thrilled to connect you with Dr. Kira Banks for an important and actionable conversation on how we can achieve transformative success through diversity by creating a truly inclusive organization. In a dynamic discussion moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, Dr. Banks will outline steps to develop a diversity and inclusion strategy that can serve our teams and our stakeholders throughout our careers. She’ll share how organizations should best navigate past diversity related failings and their internal and external repercussions, and how leaders can foster healthy discussions about race in the workplace. Dr. Banks' approach incorporates extensive diversity work in corporate and academic settings with cutting-edge experience design in order to meet organizations where they are and catalyze lasting change. We’ll discuss what steps leaders and companies need to take to move from statements of support to action that will create lasting change beyond this moment and be felt in the everyday experience. As a diversity, inclusion and equity consultant working with a wide range of international firms in corporate, non-profit, educational, and community settings for over 20 years, Dr. Kira Hudson Banks is highly skilled at facilitating difficult dialogues and designing customized, impactful, and long-term diversity solutions. She is passionate about helping leaders make every workplace an inclusive workplace and believes inclusive workplaces make for more engaged, productive, innovative, and happy employees—and more successful organizations.
We are thrilled to connect you with Jeff Lawson, the globally-renowned Co-Founder & CEO of Twilio, with over one billion in revenues, for a high impact conversation on how we can best harness the power of software developers and win in the 21st century! With nearly every industry turning digital, companies need the best software to win the hearts and minds of customers. Lawson argues that developers are the creative workforce who can solve major business problems and create hit products for customers—not just grind through rote tasks. Lawson will share the three critical actions that leaders who build industry-changing software products consistently are doing well when onboarding software developers as partners. As a software developer and public company CEO, Lawson is the perfect guide to helping us bridge the language and tools executives use with the unique culture of high performing, creative software developers. Jeff is also the author of Ask Your Developer: How to Harness the Power of Software Developers and Win in the 21st Century. In a dynamic conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, we will learn Lawson’s playbook for unleashing the full potential of software developers in any organization, showing how to help management utilize this coveted and valuable workforce to enable growth, solve a wide range of business problems and drive digital transformation.
We are excited to connect you with Aron Ain, Aron Ain, CEO and Chairman of UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) and bestselling author of WorkInspired, who built a 3 billion-dollar company by embracing employee development and engagement as a growth strategy. This will be an invaluable opportunity to learn how to build an organization where everyone loves to work! Imagine a company where employees feel not just “satisfied” but truly cared for, respected, and energized, where everybody loves to work. Think of the impact this would have on recruitment, retention, customer satisfaction, innovation, and overall performance. As a leading global provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions, Ain believes that anything is possible when people are inspired. In a dynamic conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, we will discover UKG’s highly admired WorkInspired culture, and the surprisingly simple rules to follow to replicate that success. Ain’s inspiring guide reveals the best practices that have earned UKG distinctions on coveted lists, such as Glassdoor’s 100 Best Places to Work and Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. This will be an amazing opportunity to learn how to build a winning culture and we hope you will join us!
Join us with the leader of Bain & Company’s Global Innovation Practice and renowned business researcher Darrell Rigby to learn how to do agile right and lead transformation without chaos. For decades business leaders have been painfully aware of a huge chasm: They aspire to create nimble, flexible enterprises. But their day-to-day reality is silos, sluggish processes, and stalled innovation. Today, agile is hailed as the essential bridge across this chasm, with the potential to transform a company and catapult it to the head of the pack. According to Rigby, agile teams can indeed be powerful, making people's jobs more rewarding and turbocharging innovation, but such results are possible only if the method is fully understood and implemented the right way. In a thought-provoking conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, the myths and misconceptions that have accompanied agile's rise to prominence will be dispelled as Rigby lays out a road map for what really matters when leading the transition to a truly agile enterprise. The key focus, as Rigby argues, is balance. Every organization must optimize and tightly control some of its operations, and at the same time innovate. Agile, done well, enables vigorous innovation without sacrificing the efficiency and reliability essential to traditional operations.
We’re thrilled to connect you with the Academy Award–winning legendary American icon Matthew McConaughey! In this once in a lifetime exclusive digital gathering, McConaughey will personally share with us the “outlaw wisdom” he's accumulated over his remarkable life. We’ll learn first-hand from his most important life challenges, and hear his inspiring, often funny, and uniquely McConaughey take on topics universal to the human experience; How to be fair. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good person. How to have meaning in life. McConaughey recently collected his key learnings from decades of personal journals which he beautifully shared in his highly acclaimed new memoir, Greenlights, which he describes as “not a traditional memoir, or an advice book, but rather a playbook based on adventures in my life,” and a guide to achieving a state he calls “catching greenlights.” Moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, this will be a unique opportunity to connect with one of the most brilliant storytellers of our time, a man who has grappled with the lessons of his life with passion and discovered how to live truly fully. We are excited for McConaughey to be your personal guide to catching more greenlights in life, and hope you can join us!
Join us with Tara Schuster, Author, Playwright, and Vice President of Talent and Development at Comedy Central for some bracingly honest, often hilarious, hard-won lessons in learning to love and care for yourself from a creative executive called “ahead of her time” by Jordan Peele and praised by Chelsea Handler, Adam Grant, and Glennon Doyle. By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara was a rising TV executive who had worked for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and helped launch Key & Peele to viral superstardom. By all appearances, she was thriving. But beneath that veneer of success, she was a chronically anxious, self-medicating mess. No one knew. Tara will share hard-won lessons from her celebrated new book, "Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies", the story of her path to re-parenting herself and becoming a “ninja of self-love.” In a conversation with IVY CEO Beri Meric, Tara will share the simple, daily rituals she used to transform her mind, body, and relationships. She calls her approach of learning to love yourself in a non-throw-up-in-your-mouth-it’s-so-cheesy way. She’ll tackle topics so many of us struggle with, including self-criticism, emotional baggage, gratitude, and self-limiting beliefs, with humor and understanding. Tara’s candid, practical insights will help create a life you truly love and feel more confident in your choices, no matter where you are in your life.
We’re very pleased to connect you with Professor Omid Safi, renowned Duke University professor of Islamic studies, for a deeply impactful conversation about timeless lessons we can learn from Rumi and Sufism, with lasting relevance and transformative power in our time. In this thought-provoking conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, Safi will guide us through Sufism’s tradition of “radical love”--love for the divine and for our fellow humans--and how it can serve us in challenging times. Safi will relate how Rumi’s wisdom on selflessness, standing with those that are suffering, and learning to accept the more painful parts of life rather than trying in vain to escape them can be a healing, guiding force. In our discussion, Safi will draw from his fascinating work linking the American Civil rights Movement and Rumi’s teachings--two traditions that he believes uniquely bind love and justice. A deeply respected scholar who has delivered the keynote for the annual Martin Luther King commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum, Safi grew up in Iran and the American South. He is a nationally sought-after speaker on the teachings of Muslim mystics, or Sufis, and the poet Rumi. This will be a wonderful opportunity to reflect and find opportunities for deeper meaning in our daily lives.
We're excited to connect you with Afdhel Aziz, globally renowned founder of the influential brand purpose consultancy firm Conspiracy of Love, to learn how to do away with outdated marketing models and embrace environmental, civic, and economic issues in a way that will grow our brand awareness and business, while still insisting on cutting-edge products with on-trend design. Bringing in insights from a new generation of marketers, social entrepreneurs, and leaders of brands like Zappos and The Honest Company, as well as culture creators working with artists like Lady Gaga, Pharrell, and Justin Bieber, Aziz will chart a path for how to change a business and change the world for the better. In this special conversation hosted by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, we will explore Aziz’s 7 principles, ranging from “Treat People as Citizens, Not Consumers,” to “Lead with the Cool”--distilled from his new book Good Is The New Cool, to provide us with actionable steps toward a new business model for the twenty-first century After a life-changing experience during the devastating tsunami in his native Sri Lanka, Aziz left a comfortable corporate job to focus on purpose. Now he works with Fortune 500 brands like Adidas, Facebook and Microsoft, focusing on the link between purpose and success, and how to revolutionize marketing to serve the increased social responsibility Gen Z and millennials demand from brands.
Join us with world-renowned author, entrepreneur, and 5-time CEO Margaret Heffernan for a thought-provoking conversation on how leaders can best navigate and shape our uncertain future. We are addicted to prediction, desperate for certainty about the future. But the complexity of modern life won’t provide that; experts in forecasting are reluctant to look more than 400 days out. History doesn’t repeat itself and even genetics won’t tell you everything you want to know. Tomorrow remains uncharted territory, but Heffernan will enable us to learn how we can forge ahead with agility. Drawing on a wide array of people and places, our conversation will trace long-term projects that shrewdly evolved over generations to meet the unpredictable challenges of every new age. Heffernan will also share radical exercises and experiments that redefined standard practices by embracing different perspectives and testing fresh approaches. We’ll see how preparing to confront a variable future provides the antidote to passivity and prediction. Ranging freely through history and from business to science, government to friendships, this important conversation will challenge us to mine our own creativity and humanity for the capacity to create the futures we want and can believe in. Heffernan's book Willful Blindness was named one of most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times. Following her career as the CEO of several multimedia companies, Heffernan has become one of the most influential thought leaders on organizational psychology and leadership topics working today, her TED talks having been seen by more than nine million people.
Join us with the legendary Bode Miller, the most decorated male skier in U.S. history with 33 World Cup wins, two overall titles, four world championships, and six Olympic medals, for an inspiring session on How to Perform & Keep Improving Like an Olympic Gold Medalist. Bode Miller innovated a racing technique that was uniquely matched to his athletic strengths and fearless style. Miller’s risk-taking and keen ability to correct mistakes by adapting in real-time – at full speed – are characteristics that made him an unparalleled competitor on the world ski stage, and now as a disruptive entrepreneur and business leader who has collaborated with noteworthy apparel and ski companies including K2, Atomic, Kjus, Nike, Head Alpine Equipment, Fischer, Rossignol, and Bomber Ski. The retired Olympic champion’s go-for-broke, risk-taking style is now breaking down barriers for the next generation of athletes by partnering with the Institute for Civic Leadership Academy to launch a Bode Miller Winter Sports Academy - a first-of-a-kind, full-time online private school for students who are pursuing outdoor sports. Miller is also a key voice in a groundbreaking new documentary, The Weight of Gold, which examines the mental health challenges endured by world-class athletes, and how stigmas around mental health and performance can be overcome. In a dynamic conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, Miller will share lessons from his tenacious career both on and off the slopes to help us navigate the most difficult sections in the course of our lives. This conversation will leave us inspired, motivated, and ready to perform like an Olympic gold medalist in our own organizations.
We're thrilled to invite you to join us with the legendary Kim Malone Scott, New York Times Bestselling Author and Former Google & YouTube Executive, to explore lessons from her own management experience and award-winning book, Radical Candor that is reshaping modern management. Scott earned her stripes as a highly successful manager at Google and then decamped to Apple, where she developed a class on optimal management. She has earned growing fame in recent years with her vital new approach to effective management, the “radical candor” method. Radical Candor is about caring personally and challenging directly, about soliciting criticism to improve your leadership, and also providing guidance that helps others grow. It focuses on praise but doesn't shy away from criticism―to help you love your work and the people you work with. In a wide-ranging conversation with IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, we’ll learn Scott’s three simple principles for building better relationships in the workplace: make it personal, get (sh)it done, and understand why it matters. Through actionable lessons, Scott will distill why radically candid relationships with team members enable bosses to fulfill their three core responsibilities: create a culture of Compassionate Candor, build a cohesive team, and achieve results collaboratively.
We’re thrilled to connect you with Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, for an inspiring conversation about leadership, innovation, and humanity’s journey to the stars. As a key member of the team that launched, rescued, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope, Sullivan personally shepherded an innovation that has revolutionized our understanding of the universe, revealing thousands of new galaxies, planets and moons, transforming our knowledge of black holes, and allowing us to actually measure how fast the universe is expanding. In a wide-ranging discussion, we’ll hear from Sullivan on how she approaches life and work, and what allowed her to succeed as one of the first six women to join NASA's storied astronaut corps. In addition to a fascinating insider’s look into what it’s like to travel and innovate in space, this conversation, moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, will be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what sets great leaders apart, as well as the practical and symbolic import of the space frontier.
We are proud to connect you with John Mackey, legendary co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods and co-founder of the nonprofit Conscious Capitalism. This will be a deeply inspiring conversation that will challenge us to look past conventional business wisdom, and imagine a bright future with a thriving, purpose-driven, sustainable economy. Mackey started a movement when he founded Whole Foods, bringing natural, organic food to the masses, leading his company to become a $15.7 billion Fortune 500 company with more than 460 stores and 87,000 team members in three countries. Mackey cut his pay to $1 in 2006 and continues to work for Whole Foods because of his passion for seeing the company exemplify a way of doing business that is grounded in ethical consciousness. In an exclusive conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO New York Metro Chapter Chair Beri Meric, we’ll learn the critical takeaways from Mackey’s leadership journey, and his vision for a more innovative, value-based leadership—in business and in society. We’ll also distill the key lessons from his new book Conscious Leadership, and break down the strategies that have helped Mackey shepherd Whole Foods through four decades of incredible growth and innovation and become internationally renowned as one of the most inspiring business leaders of our time. This conversation will be an empowering call to action for entrepreneurs and trailblazers to step up as leaders who see beyond the bottom line.
We’re excited to connect you with Jim Kwik, World’s #1 Brain Coach for Will Smith, Google, SpaceX, Nike, Virgin, Zappos, GE, Harvard, United Nations and more! A world-renowned expert in brain optimization, accelerated learning, and memory improvement, Jim will enable us to learn how we can all master the most powerful technology in the world and train our brains for optimal performance. In this invaluable a conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, we’ll learn specific techniques to form high-reward routines, break negative patterns, eliminate mental fog, vanquish the “super-villains” that hijack our attention and slow us down, and tap into an unlimited source of motivation in order to reach our goals. Despite what others may have told us, and whatever our age or background, our potential is infinite when we know how to use your brain. For more than 25 years, Kwik has coached top CEOs, athletes and super-achievers from all walks of life to unlock their true capabilities with science-based practices and field-tested techniques. We hope you will join us for this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Join us for a crucial conversation on how we can revive dialogue in a polarized time with the legendary Irshad Manji, prize-winning professor, New York Times bestselling author, winner of Oprah's "boldness" award, and founder of the Moral Courage Project! Manji believes America’s true founding genius is diversity of thought. Having experienced censorship and prejudice in her own life, Manji brings her experiences as a refugee from Africa, a Muslim immigrant to the U.S., and a scholar of moral courage to her passionate advocacy for turning disagreement into engagement. In the United States, discord appears to be hitting emergency levels. Yet for Manji, it isn’t cultural or racial differences that make an enterprise more or less successful. "Honest diversity" recognizes that we are all multifaceted and worthy of being heard, not herded. In a conversation moderated by IVY CEO and YPO Metro NY Chapter Chair Beri Meric, Manji will share key lessons to overcome tribalism and why we can never win by labeling those who disagree with us. This will be a taboo-busting conversation about identity, power, and finding common ground even while standing one's ground. Together with Manji, we’ll chart a path for how to open the hearts of opponents for the sake of sustainable progress.
We’re honored to invite you to connect and learn with legendary Harvard Business School Professor Frances Frei in a transformative conversation on How We Can All Become Better Leaders By Empowering Others! Through inspiring stories from ancient Rome to Silicon Valley, we’ll discover the origins of great leadership, showing how the boldest, most effective leaders use a special combination of trust, love, and belonging to create spaces where other people can excel. You’ll leave with practical battle-tested tools—based on their work in companies such as Uber, Riot Games, and others--for unleashing greatness in other people and, ultimately, in yourself. When leaders seek out advice, they’re often told to fix themselves. In this conversation, we’ll imagine a modern leader who succeeds not by turning inward to address their own strengths and flaws, but with an unrelenting focus on other people’s potential. We’ll dig into the key concepts from Frei's new book Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You, in which Frei argues that the most important thing you can do as a leader is build others up. Leadership is about how effective you are at empowering other people—and making sure that this impact endures even in your absence. Frei is a star professor at Harvard Business School, and recently served as Uber’s first SVP of Leadership and Strategy, helping the company navigate a very public crisis in leadership and culture. Frei is a world-renowned expert that has worked with early-stage tech founders to Fortune 50 executives to public-sector leaders.
We’re thrilled to invite you to connect with the world’s leading networking expert Keith Ferrazzi to learn how to master the future of work relationships! Keith is the NYT bestselling author of ‘Never Eat Alone’ and ‘Who’s Got Your Back’. According to the legendary Peter Diamandis, Founder of XPrize, “Keith Ferrazzi is that rare speaker who combines an infectious energy with inspiration and great stories to lift the audience. No matter how engaged people are when they enter the room, Keith grabs their attention immediately and takes them on a ride where they will leave wanting not only to transform their teams, but transform their lives to be more honest, open and of service to others. I always know we’ll have an amazing experience when Keith speaks.” The tools we have at our disposal have dramatically changed the ways in which we can work. No longer tied to a desk or even a location, we are now able to collaborate across countries and disciplines with only our imagination holding us back. With years of experience working for and with Fortune 500 companies, Keith is uniquely positioned to help our organizations transition from a top-down hierarchy focused on incremental growth and limited flexibility to one where innovation thrives as departments and disciplines work in concert to raise the entire organization higher. Though the course of our conversation, we’ll learn how to:
- Collaborate and align to make every team in your organization more responsive to the market and your customers
- Transform high-performing individuals into a high-impact team leaders that take responsibility for every member’s success
- Empower internal service and indirect sales teams to become trusted advisors who shape customer experience
- Turn your people leaders into coaches who work with the specific strength and style of each team member
- Grow large strategic accounts faster by aligning your sales ecosystem behind the deepening of key relationships
We have exciting news! After a hiatus we’re excited to announce that the podcast is back! We’re committed to bringing you weekly episodes from amazing thought leaders on topics ranging from how to enhance your leadership skills and performance, to navigating global trends, to maximizing your personal wellbeing. Things look a little different and we sit down with IVY’s Chief Learning Officer, Jeff Hittner, to learn what you can expect in future episodes of this podcast.
Sebastian Terry, famed author and motivational speaker, started out on a crazy journey to accomplish small seemingly unimportant things that made him happy, which led him on great adventures to the ends of the earth. What started as one man’s journey to find purpose in life has grown into a global movement of people chasing their dreams and helping others do the same. In this podcast listen to him speak about how he took these small things and used them to make a huge impact and how you can too! This podcast is presented by Convene.
At 27 years old, Tiffany Pham redefined the term “mogul” after founding her company, Mogul, a social empire that connects women from across the globe. The platform provides them education, employment opportunities, and information access. And her accomplishments haven’t gone unnoticed. Not only was she named in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and Business Insider’s “30 Most Important Women Under 30”, but IVY recognized her talents early on, awarding Tiffany an IVY Innovator Award in 2014. In this podcast, Tiffany shares her story and the lessons she’s learned about forging your own path and following your passions. Discover the secrets to breaking through the noise in this age of disruption. This Podcast is presented by Convene.
Eric Spencer isn’t your average hedge fund CFO. He’s also an ultramarathon runner -- meaning he runs an unbelievable hundred miles or more during each race. In this podcast, Eric shares stories of the challenges he’s faced while running 14 ultra marathons and breaks down six invaluable life lessons he’s learned from each story. They say, “life is like running a marathon,” and you’ll find that the challenges he faced while running parallel challenges we all face in our personal and professional lives. Learn what it takes to successfully overcome any challenge or reach any goal.
What happens when a rapper teams up with a neuroscientist? Leading neuroscientist Dr. Heather Berlin and rapper Baba Brinkman joined IVY to explore the links between cognitive functioning and creativity in order to teach practical ways to be a more creative, innovative, and revolutionary thinker.
While happiness should always be a top priority, it is the small moments that bring us joy that we can measure -- like getting a whiff of freshly baked cookies or a story that makes you laugh uncontrollably. At our IVY Happiness Masterclass with Ingrid Fetell Lee, Founder of The Aesthetics of Joy and author of Joyful, teaches us how these joyful experiences can increase your overall happiness. This Masterclass is presented by Convene.
Stress is all around us and has a tremendous impact on our well-being. In a powerful and vibrant masterclass, Dr. Catherine Sanderson breaks down the power of the mindset in our daily lives as well as the substantial influence thought patterns have on our psychological and physical health. Dr. Sanderson tackles the myth that all stress is negative by showing how to tweak the stress mindset to facilitate personal growth and live longer.
The world-renowned Vishen Lakhiani, founder of three companies, CEO of Mindvalley, and author of best-selling The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, takes IVY Members through his history, discussing his successes and pain, to teach us how we can all live a more fulfilling and productive life. Lakhiani speaks about his radical philosophy to wake up the consciousness of the human species by changing education, business, religion, and politics in order to rebuild our planet, and in turn, rebuild ourselves into a happier and more unified community.
Unlike most children who pick up an instrument for “fun”, renowned Jazz Musician Ted Nash first picked up a clarinet at age 12 and decided in that moment that music would be his passion and profession. Fast forward decades later and Ted Nash is a Grammy winner and one of the most well known saxophonist and composers in the Jazz world.
Leadership is at the heart of everything we do -- from how we drive our teams towards success professionally to how we manage our personal responsibilities. Harvard Professor and author of Leading with Dignity, Donna Hicks joins IVY to discuss the fundamentals of becoming a great leader, drawing on her extensive experience working on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, US/Cuba dialogues and dignity restoration projects in Syria and Libya, to name a few.
Senior Program Director of Executive Education at Northwestern University Robert Hughes challenges IVY Members to finish this sentence: As a leader, I am... By understanding who you are and what guides you is just as important as the skill set you need to be a great leader -- from how you deal to failure to who your roles models, it's important to know what has shaped you to be a leader.
Drew Dudley joins our IVY Leadership Masterclass to share his inspirational views on leadership by showcasing the problems with how society has made it taboo to identify ourselves as leaders. He lists the key strategies members can use to lock down their leadership values, celebrate their successes, and learn that being a leader is up to them, not others.
Drawing on her own experience and a life-altering decision to move halfway across the globe, motivational speaker, Kirsty Spraggon, has the ability to help the audience connect with themselves and others in a deeper, and more meaningful way. Her videos have been watched by more than 1.7 million people in 120 countries and she’s been featured in everything from Fox Business, Women’s Health, Forbes, and The Today Show to name a few. She is taking her passionate work directly to the people by organizing a first of its kind event series, Truth Telling for Truth Seekers. Spraggon challenges the traditional approach to leadership by insisting the first step is understanding your own authentic self. To be a great leader is to be a great person and to be a great person you have to first do the deep inner work.
It is the belief of Former Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen that as leadership challenges get more sophisticated, a different set of strategic and interpersonal skills is required of leaders — one that takes inner work-to thrive in a constantly shifting workplace. Based on his work with hundreds of leaders and organizations, Hillen explains how to overcome these challenges, not with more tools, data, or analytics, but by radically changing their mindset, behaviors, and skills to reinvent themselves as a “sophisticated leader.” Presented by Convene.
At our IVY Leadership Masterclass, famed speaker, Sheryl Alonso, discusses learning how to not only become great leaders, but authentic ones as well. Drawing from extensive experience as an Academic Director and Vice President for many years at Mercy Hospital in Miami, Sheryl guides members on their path to professional development as authentic leaders who not only build successful teams, but make a difference while doing so.
The digital world has become integrated in all of our careers and its rapid progression means we not only have to quickly adapt, but also find ways to be on the cutting edge. Founder and CEO of Cheddar Jon Steinberg joins this IVY Ideas Night to discuss how to develop a culture of innovation in your team. Presented by Strayer University's Digital Entrepreneurship MBA with Cheddar.
Clearing your mind, whether it be through mindfulness or a good night’s sleep, is beneficial to every facet of our lives. At this IVY Ideas Night, sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus and Lunya sleepwear founder Ashley Merrill will discuss the secrets of sleep, mindfulness and tips you can use to improve your daily life
From subway cars to taxis. Bikes to scooters and segways. Now, Boosted Boards are in. The future of local transportation is rapidly evolving. Jeff Russakow, the CEO of Boosted, joins this IVY Ideas Night to discuss the future of transportation, the evolution of rideshare programs, regulation within congested cities, ownership versus shared, and Boosted’s role within the future of cities.
As founder of Africa Rising Foundation and the Mandela Project, Ndaba Mandela is carrying on his grandfather Nelson Mandela’s legacy. Ndaba joins this IVY Ideas Night to discuss the lessons he learned growing up with his grandfather and his new book, Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons From My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela.
We're constantly hearing about blockchain and cryptocurrency, but do you know the full potential of each? Managing Director of Swick Capital, Adam Swick, joins this IVY Ideas Night to delve deeper into what blockchain and cryptocurrency are and the future applications of each in the business landscape.
Paul English, co-founder of Kayak, Lola and GetHuman, wants to make an impact, and is putting his knowledge, experience and money where is mouth is. Paul discusses how he turned his business success into charitable endeavors, including MLK Boston, and his mission to create a new memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Boston.
Moran Cerf, world-renowned neuroscientist joined this IVY Ideas night to discuss the brain science behind business and the decisions surrounding it. By applying methods from neuroscience to understand our psychology, behavior change, emotion, and decision making, Cerf teaches members how we can best use our brain in business.
Spencer Lyon, Community & Strategic Partnerships Director at RealDAX, is on a misson. He wants to improve industries by joining them with the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. He joins this IVY Ideas Night to bring blockchain and cryptocurrency to life as he will shed a light on what they are and what they are not, their evolution, where they are heading, and how to apply them in the business landscape, focusing on the real estate industry.
Al Roker, America’s favorite weatherman, broadcaster, and media executive, took the stage at this IVY Ideas Night to discuss his latest work, Ruthless Tide. The book focuses on the deadliest flood in United States history and the heroes and leadership lessons that emerged from it. Roker also took us on the journey of his career, offering lessons into how to merge and balance passions with careers. This IVY Ideas Night is presented by smartwater®.
High-profile thought leader Priya Parker joins this IVY Ideas Night to shift our focus from the details, such as our table setting and powerpoint slides, to the people at our events if we want to foster meaningful connections. Whether it is a team meeting, conference, birthday party, wedding, or anything in between, Parker shares her innovative approach and guiding principles into lessons that are essential for effecting change, creating lasting connections, and fostering remarkable collaboration. This IVY Ideas Night is presented by smartwater®.
Society tells us we must constantly balance sleep, work, friends, family, fitness, and more. Randi Zuckerberg a founder, executive, mother, media personality, and best selling author, joins our IVY Ideas Night to dispute this idea. In conversation with Juju Chang, Emmy-award winning co-anchor of ABC News' "Nightline,” Zuckerberg uses her latest work, Pick Three: You Can Have It All (Just Not Every Day), to guide members in choosing three areas of life to focus on at once. Instead of a “well-balanced” life, she guides members to strive for a “well-lopsided” life. This IVY Ideas Night is presented by smartwater®.
Apolo Ohno, legendary 8x Olympic medalist, joins this IVY Ideas Night with cryptocurrency pioneer & Tether Co-Founder, Reeve Collins to dive into the world-changing field of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Together, their combined expertise will lead members in understanding the current state of this technology and what we can expect to see in the not-so-far-off future, especially when it comes to how it will impact our world.
Ken Jennings, the longest-running Jeopardy Champion and bestselling author, joins an IVY Ideas Night as he traces the evolution of humor and what it means to be funny now. In this talk Jennings argues that throughout human history, characteristics like strength and education were hallmarks of success, whereas now, using humor gets you a lot further than productivity and innovation. Now that our society expects everything from safety videos to news headlines and presidential campaigns to be funny, Jennings offers members with insights into what we can expect from here.
It is not everyday that we see passion projects turn into a successful business. Seth Browarnik, a photographer who captures the magic behind Miami's world-renowned social scene, did as he watched his once small photography projects grow to become a go-to for high-profile celebrity photography. Over the course of this IVY Ideas Night, Browarnik discussed his journey and to gave members valuable lessons in how to pursue passions to dominate niche markets. This IVY Ideas Night is presented by smartwater®.
With an overwhelming amount of news coming from mainstream media, blogs and social media, Jim Newton, a former LA Times Editor at Large and professor of Public Policy at UCLA, joined us for an IVY Ideas Night. Among many other topics, he touches on the evolving industry of journalism, using insights from his experience and personal journey. Though social media and blogs are essential to mainstream media succeeding, he claims nothing can take the place of true reporting, as there is a difference between fact and opinion. That being said, they must coexist in order for the other to be successful.
John Hillen, a business professor, former Assistant Secretary of State, and former U.S. Army officer, joins IVY to discuss how leaders must grow along with their companies. In this talk, he identifies the common stalls or warning signs to look out for and provides the tools necessary for overcoming them. Through his work with hundreds of leaders and organizations, he has taught members how to combat these challenges by radically changing their mindset, behaviors and skills to reinvent themselves as a “sophisticated leader” rather than using more data or analytics.
In this episode of the IVY Podcast, father-son duo Pierson and Peter Krass join an IVY Ideas Night for an honest conversation about the emotional hurdles of the entrepreneurial experience such as the failure, stress, anxiety and depression that professionals can struggle with. The pair then provided members with the best practices to operate at an optimal level emotionally, mentally, and physically, all based on wisdom and research from interviews with top entrepreneurs, researchers, and doctors.
Sally Kohn, a highly regarded author and CNN political commentator and columnist, joins IVY to discuss the findings from her recent work, The Opposite of Hate. Kohn conducted extensive research in a search of discovering why we hate and how we can stop it in a time when we are facing an epidemic of incivility and hate—with divisive political speech, online trolling, and hate crimes escalating. In this talk, she dives into the evolutionary and cultural roots of today’s rampant anger and hatred, giving members powerful examples, and offering rich food for thought on how each of us can help contribute to a more peaceful society.
Emily Chang, a Harvard University graduate and five time regional Emmy award winning journalist currently working as Bloomberg Technology’s anchor and executive producer, joins IVY to discuss her new book Brotopia. An exposé into how Silicon Valley’s sexist, aggressive, and misogynistic culture creates an environment where women are subject to toxic workplaces and sexual harassment despite the utopian ideals and moral high ground that the Valley claims to hold. In her book, she continues to discuss how to fix this culture: bring down the Brotopia.
In this episode of the IVY Podcast, Dominic shares his rich insights and experiences in the world of experiential marketing, discussing the relationship between content, media, and audience engagement in the era of branded entertainment.
As the former Dean of Parsons School of Fashion and founder of the Fashion Culture Design “Unconference,” Simon Collins is a renowned fashion expert with extensive industry knowledge working with brands like Polo Ralph Lauren, Zegna, and Nike.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, Simon sits down with IVY’s Arts & Culture Director, Phil Chan, to discuss the notion of beauty, how to design the life you always wanted, and the role design plays in nearly all aspects of culture.
David Keith has some big ideas for the planet.
A Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard, David is leading a team of researchers focused on the science and public policy of solar geoengineering, a field that yields innovative ways to manipulate our environment. David and his colleagues believe that solar geoengineering can go a long way toward mitigating the effects of climate change.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, David offers his insights on the technologies, risks, experiments, and governance associated with this field, and what is needed to save the earth.
Chris Gladwin knows how to stay ahead of the curve. His digital music distribution service, MusicNow, launched five years ahead of iTunes and over a decade prior to Spotify. His tablet came out twenty years before the iPad, just as his company Cleversafe, a cloud storage company, burst onto the scene well before “cloud” technology became a trendy topic.
Now, Chris and his new company, Ocient, are building solutions for data-analytics problems that companies will face a few years down the road.
We talked to Chris to hear his thoughts on what it takes to innovate, disrupt, and promote a powerful vision to tackle problems before they’ve even arisen.
As extremist groups surrounded his apartment in Aden, Yemen, Mohammed Al Samawi made a last-ditch appeal for help from his Facebook network. Amazingly, over the course of two weeks, four near-strangers devised a daring mission to lead him to safety — an improbable journey that spanned six technological platforms and ten time zones.
Al Samawi shares his moving story in the new book The Fox Hunt, which was picked up last year for a film adaptation by La La Land producer Marc Platt and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Spotlight, Josh Singer.
Al Samawi joined IVY for a live conversation in NYC to tell the tale of his miraculous escape to freedom from war, rebel fighters, and Al-Qaeda extremists.
Energy is a hot topic and a critical issue in politics, business, and society at large. And it doesn’t look like this will be changing any time soon.
On the forefront of this discussion is clean energy, and, particularly, the rise of solar-powered technology.
To get a better understanding of why this is the case and what that means for our world, we held a conversation on The Future of Solar Technology with climate and energy expert Varun Sivaram. Varun authored the recent book, Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet.
In a live conversation moderated by David Livingston — who serves as the Deputy Director of Climate and Advanced Energy at The Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center — Varun offers insights on the innovations that are powering our world and the role America is playing in harnessing clean technology.
Daniella Yacobovsky, the co-founder of the rapidly growing e-commerce company BaubleBar, is transforming the way women shop for jewelry and accessories. With its “fast fashion” approach to women’s jewelry, BaubleBar provides its customers with on-trend products at an affordable price.
Evidently, it’s working: Daniella and her co-founder, Amy Jain — who both come from investment banking backgrounds — raised $20 million in funding during their Series C round in 2016. The two have been recognized by Inc., Fast Company, and TechCrunch, among others, as the “Most Influential Female Founders.”
We invited Daniella into the studio to hear about the initial startup days of BaubleBar, the process of raising significant venture-capital funding, how they scaled without hampering their entrepreneurial spirit, and more.
IVY held a conversation in Chicago with Mindy Mackenzie, the highly accomplished speaker, CEO advisor, and author of the new book The Courage Solution. This is our second conversation with Mindy as part of a larger series on the power of authenticity in the workplace.
Mindy, who oversaw Beam’s $16-billion acquisition by Japan’s Suntory Holdings in 2014, talks about how to bring your true self to work, speak unpopular truths, and engage in every aspect of your business.
Jenny Dearborn is the Chief Learning Officer at the software giant SAP and has been recognized as “one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology.” She believes that being data-oriented leads to more than just success in the marketplace — it fosters better leadership and creates happier organizational structures.
Drawing on insights from her latest book, The Data Driven Leader, Jenny discusses how we can use data to solve important leadership challenges and overhaul work cultures for the better.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, we talk to Paul Bloom, a Yale University professor of psychology and cognitive science. Bloom calls into question our culture’s current focus on empathetic thinking and argues that it distorts our judgment in every aspect of our lives.
The Harvard Business School Class of 2010 graduated in the midst of the worst economic crisis in the United States since the Great Depression. These students realized they'd have to take matters into their own hands to tackle the problems they wanted to solve. In the years since, they've generated the most successful cohort of startups Harvard Business School has ever seen, including IVY.
Now, IVY is talking with these founders and entrepreneurs to hear how they managed to emerge from the economic crisis with thriving businesses, and what lessons they've learned on leadership and the power of community along the way.
Please enjoy the first conversation in this series of interviews, featuring the co-founder and CEO of Plated, Josh Hix.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, we talk to serial entrepreneur, corporate advisor, and IVY Thought Leader, George Swisher. A former ad agency executive who has founded five startups of his own, this expansive conversation covers how to get comfortable in your panic zone, why you should learn to love mistakes, the importance of emotional vulnerability, and more.
Mindy Mackenzie has walked the walk: as the Chief Performance Officer of Beam, she oversaw the company’s $16-billion acquisition by Japan’s Suntory Holdings in 2014. Widely regarded as the “Velvet Hammer,” Mindy was known for being a highly effective executive, but one who led her team with compassion and empathy.
Now, as a coveted executive advisor and the bestselling author of The Courage Solution, Mindy joined IVY for a discussion on courageous leadership. Among other questions, Mindy addresses why some managers are more effective than others; the right way to approach conflict in the workplace; how to strike the balance between being feared and being liked; and how to create lasting, world-changing businesses.
The following discussion features Harvard Business School Professor, behavioral scientist, and IVY Thought Leader, Francesca Gino. Gino’s groundbreaking research focuses on judgment and decision-making, and is richly explored in her recent book, Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan.
Gino joined IVY to discuss the psychological reasoning behind why we struggle to hold onto certain decisions, and how to actually best reach our intended goals.
In this episode, we speak with Lavinia Errico, the visionary founder of Equinox Fitness Clubs and the “Inside/Out” movement. A nationally acclaimed fitness and wellness entrepreneur, Errico offers sage advice on topics ranging from entrepreneurship and leadership to nutrition, self-awareness, and emotional balance.
As a sought-after consultant and angel investor in diverse startups, Errico inspires individuals and organizations with her unique, disruptive take on how to create a more powerful, authentic, inspiring, and joyful journey through life.
Press and media outlets are scrutinized as much as the subjects they cover, perhaps now more than ever. With the rise of social media and other forms of mass communication, these organizations are having to rethink the way they operate, and just as importantly, the way they tell the news.
We hosted a conversation with Alexandra Villoch, the Miami Herald Media Company’s President and Publisher, to navigate the ins and outs of today’s shifting media landscape. Alexandra touches on such subjects as current perceptions of media, “fake news,” and the evolving industry of journalism
Through the rocket ship rise of Facebook, Chris Hughes — one of the now-fabled roommates of Mark Zuckerberg who helped bring it to life — came to understand how a select few can become ultra-wealthy nearly overnight.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, we hear Chris’ story — from co-founding Facebook to leading Barack Obama’s digital organizing campaign for President — and his thoughts on how the same forces that made Facebook possible have made it harder for everyone else in America to make ends meet. Chris is the author of the new book, Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn, which tackles how to combat poverty and stabilize America’s middle class based on the idea of a guaranteed basic income.
Today, more than ever, companies like Lyft are striving to become better organizations that reflect the population and communities they are serving.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, we hosted a conversation with Lyft’s Head of Inclusion and Diversity, Tariq Meyers, about how to empower diverse teams that create a culture of belonging. Throughout the conversation, Tariq illuminates just what it means to be truly inclusive, and the role each of us can play in making this happen.
Alli Webb is the founder of Drybar, the popular chain of hair salons specializing exclusively in blowouts — no cuts, no color, just blowouts. Alli started her career in PR, but soon transitioned to training as a hairstylist, sharpening her skills under the late, great celebrity stylist John Sahag. She struggled with her own extremely curly, frizzy hair and was always searching for a great blowout but was often disappointed with the two available options – an overpriced blowout at a traditional salon or a less-than-desirable experience at a discount chain. Hence, Drybar was born — becoming an instant success.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast. we'll learn from Alli about how to take a start-up or side gig to the next level, and how connecting with others is the key to winning in the marketplace.
What do Steve Jobs, Marie Curie, Elon Musk, and Albert Einstein have in common? What makes some people so spectacularly innovative, producing triumph after triumph, often in fields in which they have no specialized training?
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, we’re going to find out from NYU-Stern School of Business Professor Melissa A. Schilling. Drawing upon original research from her latest work, QUIRKY: The Remarkable Story of the Traits, Foibles, and Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World, Schilling delves deeply into the lives of history’s greatest geniuses to identify the traits and experiences that led them to become serial breakthrough innovators.
After discovering that only two out of the three hundred case studies read by first-year MBA students at Harvard Business School featured black executives, Professor Steven S. Rogers took matters into his own hands. According to The Washington Post, “Rogers decided to write his own case studies, and has so far highlighted many black executives in a wide range of industries.” But more than just case studies, Rogers is transforming Harvard Business School’s curriculum.
In this episode of The IVY Podcast, Rogers sheds light on a more complete narrative of entrepreneurship, discussing the legacy of black entrepreneurs and the importance of inclusion in the marketplace.
Chris Ullman, an internationally recognized whistling champion, is the embodiment of work/life balance. Ullman has performed his unique gift for the likes of President George W. Bush, The Tonight Show, thousands of fans at NBA halftime shows, and over 400 people on their birthdays every year. By day, he is Managing Director at The Carlyle Group — an investment firm with $175 billion under management — and board member at The Fund for American Studies.
In a live conversation with IVY, Ullman shares how he’s used his simple gift to touch hearts, change lives, and bridge the gap between personal and professional happiness — all while giving tips for how to up your own whistling game along the way.
What causes certain ideas to rise to the top and get funded? IVY hosted a live conversation to find out from Indiegogo Co-Founder Slava Rubin.
As the world's first crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo revolutionized the way innovations come to market. Rubin reflects on the lessons he learned along the way and provides advice for entrepreneurs to break through the noise, raise money, and find long-term success for projects of any size.
After his father suddenly passed away from a heart attack, Brett David took over his family business at the age of 19. Now, a decade later — as the CEO of the luxury vehicles dealership Prestige Imports — David has sold over $1B in luxury cars, become an active supporter of charitable organizations, and succeeded in the face of overwhelming obstacles.
In a live conversation with IVY, David shares his incredible life story and how he’s built Prestige Imports into the leading Lamborghini dealership in the United States — not by following all of the traditional rules of business, but by breaking them.
Fashion icon and legendary designer Rachel Roy discusses fashion, philanthropy, and how to design the life you wish to live in a live conversation with IVY in Los Angeles. Rachel believes that everybody can take small, actionable steps to incorporate philanthropy into their personal and professional lives, and that entrepreneurs are in a unique position to better society. Roy discusses her path to founding her own brand, and her belief in using our entrepreneurial spirits as a force for good.
Prakash Janakiraman is the Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Nextdoor. Valued at over one-billion dollars, Nextdoor is an innovative and emerging social network that connects users with their neighbors and surrounding neighborhood.
In a live conversation with IVY, Prakash tells the story of building Nextdoor from the ground up and touches on the far-reaching impact of social networks and their potential for bringing out the best in humanity — whether it's finding a last-minute babysitter or sharing safety tips with your neighbors.
Linnea Gandhi is a Behavioral Science Practitioner and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Chicago Booth School of Business. She sheds light on the forces shaping our decisions, suggests some shortcuts, and offers tips on how to design our decisions with wisdom and intent.
Dr. Steven Radelet is a world-renowned economist and global human development expert. He played a central role in shaping U.S. policy under the Clinton and Obama administrations, working as the Chief Economist of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. He now serves as the Director of the Global Human Development Program at Georgetown University, studying the ways in which we can accelerate positive global development.
In this live conversation with IVY, Dr. Radelet outlines the tremendous progress the world has made towards improving global education, health, rates of poverty, and income — and how we can channel these patterns for a more positive future.
West Side Story, Peter Pan, On the Waterfront, Candide — these are just a selection of the Broadway-shaping scores written by the legendary composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein.
A trailblazing musical force, cultural ambassador, and longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein is credited with bringing American classical music to the world stage.
The IVY Podcast hosted Joshua Gersen, the New York Philharmonic’s current Assistant Conductor and former occupant of Bernstein’s chair, to hear an insider’s take on Bernstein’s music and what it’s like conducting the Philharmonic in the year of Bernstein’s centennial celebrations.
To attend Bernstein’s centennial celebrations with IVY, please visit IVY.com/events.
Author and former Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen Magazine, Ann Shoket, draws on her editorial and entrepreneurial experience to show us what it takes to earn respect and build a supporting network. Referencing her most recent book, The Big Life, Shoket reveals how we can all achieve our dreams — be that success in the workplace, or making the world a better place for all.
Rachel Botsman is an award-winning author and expert on trust. Recognized as one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company and as a “Young Global Leader” by The World Economic Forum, Botsman specializes in how we can navigate trust at a time when fake news, polarizing ideas, and limitless information abound.
Botsman joined IVY for a live conversation in Boston, exploring how technology is transforming human relationships, creating a new era of trust, and what this all means for life, work, and how we do business.
This episode of The IVY Podcast is presented by Emerge212, New York City’s premier operator of full-service office suites.
These are uncertain times for the arts. With arts programs habitually cut from public school programs and proposed limitations on tax deductions among other challenges, Americans of our generation are having fewer and fewer opportunities to make art an accessible and everyday part of our lives.
Along with budget cuts comes threats to abolish the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency that has been in existence for 53 years and is full appropriated by Congress, with a budget of 149 million - which serves as an arts stimulus in every congressional district.
IVY sat down with Jane Chu, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who illuminated the foundational role the arts play in shaping a better world.
Chairman Chu described the greater social impact afforded by arts and arts education and illuminated the need for their need in all facets of society, from economic and community development to the military.
World-renowned chef Alex Guarnaschelli has run the gamut of culinary endeavors. The daughter of noted cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli, Alex grew up around the sights and sounds of food.
She went on to study at the esteemed La Varenne Culinary School in Burgundy before launching into a professional career at the Michelin three-star restaurant Guy Savoy in Paris. She has since won Iron Chef America, judged 34 no-holds-barred seasons of Food Network’s Chopped, written two cookbooks, and currently serves as the executive chef at Butter in New York City.
In a live conversation with IVY, Alex brought her impressive credentials and characteristic wit to the stage — offering candid insights into the high-stakes world of restaurants and fine dining, as well as her own personal wins and losses along the way.
The United States Constitution, a document written nearly 250 years ago, continues to dictate politics in 2017. According to the political scientist, author, and University of Chicago Professor, William Howell — this is a problem.
In his new book, Relic: How Our Constitution Undermines Effective Government—and Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency, Dr. Howell argues that the political institutions we inherited from the Founding Fathers were simply not designed to solve the problems we face today.
In a live conversation with IVY, Dr, Howell expands on this argument and explains why it might not be such a bad idea to rewrite the centuries-old Constitution to create a better path forward for 21st-century democracy.
We sat down with national security expert Dr. William J. Parker III, a combat veteran, U.S. Navy Captain, and the Chief Operating Officer at the EastWest Institute.
In a live conversation with IVY, Dr. Parker pinpoints five key threats to national security and sets out a comprehensive vision for addressing these threats to create both a safer United States and a more peaceful world.
Dinosaurs. Nearly 65 million years since the last t-rex or pterodactyl roamed the earth, dinosaurs continue to capture the imagination of the world over — from fans of Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time, to fossil collectors and scientists.
Which is why the IVY Podcast was excited to host Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, one of the leading paleontologists of our time.
Dr. Lacovara believes that by using the latest technology to study dinosaurs, we not only gain an understanding of the past — but can also can gaze into the future of humanity, and consider the promises and pitfalls that come with being the dominant species on earth.
Alec Litowitz is the renowned Founder & CEO of Magnetar Capital, a leading alternative asset management firm with more than $14 billion under management. In this episode, Litowitz offers us unfiltered knowledge and perspective on growing a successful business, and which traits are most useful in attracting success.
He also talks about his work to create the Magnetar Capital UChicago Financial Education Initiative, an innovative high school-based financial education program. Since 2012, the initiative has helped over 10,000 Chicago-area students increase their financial literacy.
For anyone hoping to learn more about investing, entrepreneurship, and the financial services industry, this is an incredible opportunity to do so from a leader in the hyper-competitive field.
Oliver Libby is the Chair & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project, a global nonprofit that identifies and empowers undergraduate students around the world and across the United States. Supported by The Resolution Project’s global network of resources, these students are inspired to launch new social ventures, and comprise a growing generation of leaders committed to social responsibility.
Founded in 2007, The Resolution Project has empowered hundreds of young people to effect local solutions in their communities, impacting over a million people worldwide. He is also co-founding Managing Director of venture firm Hatzimemos / Libby, which gives him a cross-sector view on galvanizing entrepreneurship and building entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Oliver joined the IVY Podcast to discuss his inspiration to co-found The Resolution Project, his belief in the power of collaborative social entrepreneurship, and how students can effect unprecedented amounts of change across the globe.
Within almost any industry or field, it can be easy to feel dissatisfied, trapped, or otherwise locked into the same career path — regardless of your personal goals.
Which is why serial entrepreneur Jeff Hittner founded Your Project X, a social venture dedicated to helping people (re)discover their passions and build careers they love. Using his many years of experience as a consultant and changemaker — including founding IBM’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consulting practice globally — Hittner helps young professionals break free of their old definitions of work and move in a new direction.
Hittner sat down with IVY’s Thought Leadership Manager, Kay Sorin, to discuss the twists and turns of his own career path, and how to develop the skills to unleash your fundamental purpose.
Robert Battle is the third artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the NYC-based modern dance company founded in 1958. Seven years into his term, Robert is at the forefront of a company that has always been an incubator for work that focuses on social justice and social change.
This is most evident in the success of Ailey’s masterwork, Revelations (1960), which was born out of the choreographer’s “blood memories” of his childhood in rural Texas and the Baptist Church. Arguably one of the purest tributes to the resilience of the human spirit, Revelations is still very much alive and relevant today.
In this episode of the IVY Podcast, moderated by IVY’s Arts and Culture Director Phil Chan, we are lucky enough to hear all about it directly from Robert Battle himself.
Why does paying for things often feel like it causes physical pain? Why are we comfortable overpaying for something now just because we’ve overpaid for it before? How do our emotions shape our financial behavior?
These are just a few of the many questions we asked Dan Ariely, the world-renowned behavioral economist, bestselling author, and Duke University professor. Ariely’s work has helped clarify the psychology behind financial decision making — and can help you navigate the psychological pressures of our inherently irrational behavior and spend smarter.
What’s it like to work in the White House as a presidential speechwriter — at the age of 24, no less? That’s what we asked David Litt, who did just that when he entered the White House in 2011, serving as one of President Obama’s speechwriters until 2016. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” David also led the White House Correspondents’ Dinner presentations and had a hand in adding humor to many of President Obama’s speeches.
In a live discussion in Chicago, David talked about what it was like working in the Obama White House, why a President’s words matter, and how he managed the enormity of crafting jokes for the Leader of the Free World.
Please enjoy our conversation with David Litt, moderated by University of Chicago Senior Associate Dean, Jeremy Edwards.
Every day, YouTube garners over one billion views — and every minute, over 300 hours of video are uploaded to the platform by people across the globe. To get a better understanding of what this means for the world’s rapidly changing media industry, IVY hosted an Ideas Night with YouTube’s Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl.
In a live conversation, Robert talks about how YouTube is changing the face of media — and what’s on the horizon for entrepreneurs and leaders in our hyper-connected world.
The travel industry is rapidly changing. Long gone are the days of guidebooks, travel agents, and the quaint bed and breakfast. These days, vast numbers of people turn to social media, celebrity influencers, and sharing economy brands like Airbnb to decide where — and how — to travel.
To learn more about this space, IVY hosted an Ideas Night with three leaders in the industry: Gil Antolin, the Founder of Luxury World Traveler; Bret Lockett, a Partner at M2 Jets and former NFL safety; and Scot Barbour, a board member at Marriott–Starwood and VR Specialist. The three are at the frontlines of the dynamic future of travel — and how changes in our digital world are fueling an expanding global luxury travel market.
Please enjoy our live conversation, moderated by IVY’s Director of Strategic Relationships, Sarah Zapp.
Jarron Collins is a former professional basketball player, and the current Assistant Coach with the Golden State Warriors — one of the most dominant teams in modern sports. On a daily basis, Jarron works to get larger-than-life celebrity stars like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry to bring their best to the court — and maybe even share the ball.
IVY hosted an intimate Salon Discussion with Jarron to hear about his time playing with Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Carl Malone, breaking the best-regular-season record and winning a Championship with the Warriors, and how competing for the Finals applies to success in any endeavor — both on and off the court.
Please enjoy our live conversation with Jarron Collins, moderated by Jarron’s high school basketball teammate and friend, Danny Karubian.
Jane Clementi co-founded the Tyler Clementi Foundation with the mission of ending online and offline bullying. Jane’s son, Tyler, was the victim of a horrible act of cyberbullying at Rutgers University in 2010. Several days after the experience, at the age of 18, Tyler took his own life.
In this conversation, Jane talks about her inspiration to share Tyler’s story and the important distinction between in-person bullying and cyberbullying. According to the Foundation’s polls, an astounding 75-80% of young people knew someone who had been cyberbullied, and over 50% had self-identified that they had been the target of cyberbullying. Jane’s work shows the steps we can take to teach our youth to navigate the complex world of cyberbullying in the age of social media.
Uwe Ellinghaus is the Chief Marketing Officer of Cadillac, a position he took over at the beginning of the biggest transformation in Cadillac’s 115-year history. In a live conversation moderated by IVY’s Co-Founder Beri Meric, Uwe shares insights gained from his years at Cadillac (and previously at BMW) to inform us how to create and market world-class products — while remaining true to your roots.
Uwe’s accomplishments include moving the company’s headquarters from Detroit to NYC, executing a new communications strategy, opening Cadillac House, and showcasing the next generation of innovators in fashion, film, and technology.
When someone says “Opera,” the picture that comes to mind for most is the Valkyrie singing on a grand opera house stage. Then they may think about expensive tickets, geriatric audiences, foreign languages, and the discomfort of not being completely sure what to wear.
Brooklyn-based LoftOpera has turned these stereotypes on their heads — and is rejuvenating this 500-year-old art form in the process. Founded in 2016, LoftOpera brings 11,000 audience members every year into transformed warehouse spaces to experience some of opera’s greatest masterpieces.
Could this be the model the artform needs to jumpstart a new generation of opera buffs? IVY’s Arts and Culture Director, Phil Chan, joined LoftOpera’s General Manager, Brianna Maury, to hear about this new model of presenting Opera.
Creating legendary products and bringing them to market takes expert design conception, extensive research, thoughtful branding, and strong relationships. It's a complex process indeed, yet the innovative, husband-and-wife co-founders of Brooklinen, Rich and Vicki Fulop, seem to have it down pat. Since the company’s founding three years ago, Brooklinen has grown into the leading direct-to-consumer bedding brand.
Rich and Vicki join The IVY Podcast to share the story of their success, teaching us how we all can turn our ideas into actual products by combining tenacity, elbow grease, and a lot of passion to propel dreams into big-time business wins — while prioritizing and scaling along the way.
Real estate holdings are often your largest asset and investment, which means real estate brokers play a strikingly important role in the lives of countless people worldwide — comprising an immensely diverse community of some two million active agents in the U.S. alone.
Robert Reffkin, the Founder and CEO of the real estate startup Compass, is on a mission to empower this massive workforce — and is disrupting the multi-trillion dollar real estate industry in the process. Running on a purpose-driven mission "to help everyone find their place in the world,” the company has raised over $250 million at $1 billion valuation since their launch in 2013.
Reffkin joins The IVY Podcast to discuss his journey to found Compass, drawing on a work background spanning the White House and Wall Street. He also cues us in on the evolution of the industry, how to run a people-focused venture, and the keys to Compass’ growth. Reffkin is joined by Compass agents Howard Spiegelman and Laura Hirschman, experts from the Spiegelman-Rothman Team, which was referred to as one of the “Top Real Estate Teams in NY” by the Wall Street Journal and has garnered over $600 million in closed transactions.
Educational technology — commonly referred to as “EdTech” — is an increasingly dynamic space that fosters innovation in schools and provides solutions to some of today’s most pressing issues.
To learn more about this space and the role venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and investors can play in shaping the future of education, IVY co-CEO Beri Meric sat down with Amit Patel, an education expert and Partner at Owl Ventures. An ed tech-focused venture capital firm, Owl Ventures invests in the world’s leading technology companies, backing entrepreneurs with solutions that meaningfully drive improvement in student achievement.
Amit offered his insights on the importance of education and the challenges that educators face today. He believes the private sector plays a critical role in offering students cutting-edge tools and strategies to improve educational achievement across the board — from early learning and K-12 all the way up to higher education and lifelong learning for our nation’s workforce.
“Politics is about doing what your constituents want.”
According to CIA consultant, political scientist, and NYU Professor Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, that’s just how politics works. Bueno de Mesquita has built complex political algorithms based on this principle — developing mathematical analyses that draw on the logic of self-interest to predict civil wars, coup d'etats, purges, and political reforms. His upcoming book, co-authored with Alastair Smith, offers a new theory on why revolutions happen, and why politicians act the way they do.
He joins The IVY Podcast to provide clarity on the Trump administration’s current actions, and why a U.S. President may have no real political incentive to act in interest of all Americans. He also offers a solution to improving governance that would use computer programs to eliminate gerrymandering.
“Be the hero of your own adventure.”
That’s the motto that digital business entrepreneur and “Chief Dreamer” Samira Sohail lives by, and so far it’s working in her favor. Born and bred in London, Samira had already embarked on successful careers in two industries — as a financial analyst at J.P. Morgan Cazenove, and then a strategy manager for the BBC — when she became frustrated with the traditional career trajectory she was headed down. So she booked a one-way ticket to Bali, taking a nine-month sabbatical to discover the unexplored areas of her life and take a spiritual break. The results have been encouraging.
Since her time in Bali, Samira has launched the now-popular podcast “Samira Stalks” — an interview series with “reckless dreamers” who tell their personal stories of entrepreneurship and impact.
Samira joins The IVY Podcast to tell us why taking a sabbatical can be the unexpected key to advancing your career, and provides tips on how exactly to plan a successful sabbatical. She also shares advice on starting a podcast of your own and succeeding in multiple industries while being a digital nomad.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program puts the United States in striking range. The provocation has sent shock waves around the world, drawing fiery rhetoric and doomsday warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump. What is behind Kim Jong-un’s actions, and why is he fanning the flames of hostility now?
Atul Singh, the Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Fair Observer, joins The IVY Podcast to shed light on the tense internal struggle playing out behind the scenes in North Korea, and to attempt to answer the question — why now? He also discusses the efficacy of Trumpian foreign policy in Asia and what’s at stake for China in the region.
To help fund a life-saving vaccine or send aid in a natural disaster, all you have to do is buy wine. That’s the idea behind ONEHOPE, the California-based wine brand providing people the opportunity to do more good through everyday actions. Their wine, gourmet coffee, and gift sets each support a charitable cause — every case of pinot funds a pet adoption, while every bottle of sparkling helps fund two meals to help end childhood hunger. No one needed another excuse to pour themselves a glass of Merlot, but ONEHOPE makes it all the more appealing.
Brandon Hall, the Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer of ONEHOPE, joins The IVY Podcast to talk about how he and his friends built the socially-conscious brand from the ground up, and their mission of bringing people together to celebrate and serve the world.
Naveen Jain is driven to solve the world's biggest challenges through innovation. His space company, Moon Express, is the first private enterprise to receive formal government approval to land on the moon this Fall — beating Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Naveen has also founded the companies Viome, World Innovation Institute, TalentWise, and Infospace, among others. Those companies goals range from making humanity a multi-planetary society, to rethinking the entire healthcare system from an entrepreneur's perspective, to saving us from extinction — and that’s just scratching the surface. You could say Naveen knows how to dream big.
Naveen joins The IVY Podcast to discuss how entrepreneurs can sink their teeth into today’s most complex problems in order to catalyze original thinking, pursue “Moonshot” initiatives, and create companies that make a true impact.
From the rise of subscription and streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, to the surprising return of LPs, to the continuing decline in sales of CDs and digital tracks — the multi-billion dollar music industry has undergone some massive transformations in the past five years.
In light of all this, one wonders: What will the future of music in the 21st century look like?
If there’s one man who has an idea, it’s six-time Grammy-nominated DJ, singer, songwriter, and producer, Kaskade. The stage name of record producer and remixer Ryan Raddon, Kaskade has released nine studio albums since 2008, created remixes for everyone from Lady Gaga to Beyoncé, and performed hundreds of headlining shows a year for a decade running. His latest full-length album, Automatic, amassed over 50 million streams on Spotify in less than a year’s time.
Kaskade joins The IVY Podcast to reflect on how he exactly he grew into an iconic music producer, speak to the the future of music industry, and give advice to aspiring musicians looking to captivate audiences around the world — both on and off the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Brian Gallagher is the President & CEO of United Way Worldwide, the largest private sector nonprofit in the country, which raises approximately $4 billion dollars annually. It offers leadership support for millions of volunteers and donors and licenses nearly 1800 franchises in 41 countries. In this conversation, Brian describes the successes and struggles he has experienced during his tenure at United Way, explaining how the organization is adapting to engage the next generation of donors. He discusses the prominent role played by the numerous United Way chapters across the globe, describing how the organization's collective impact model engages various stakeholders in communities to solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
What do you do when you’re stuck with a broken business model? You dig deep and reach into an inner reserve of resilience, grit, and perseverance to pioneer a new range of solutions to make your struggling business thrive.
World-renowned fashion icon Tamara Mellon has become a paragon of such business tenacity and savvy. A co-founder of the luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo back in 1996, Tamara left the company in 2011 with a reported $135 million payout. In 2013, she started her own self-named luxury label in New York, which sold through brick-and-mortar retailers like Neiman Marcus. After realizing that her new venture was using an outdated model of luxury, Tamara filed for bankruptcy and relaunched her eponymous brand in Los Angeles in 2016. The new chapter of Tamara Mellon brings the same top quality, Italian handcrafted shoes to women, but does so in a disruptive, direct-to-consumer model, selling only from her website for a fraction of the price of competing brands.
Tamara joins The IVY Podcast to reflect on her rollercoaster journey to founding her own brand, revealing it’s sometimes necessary to break rules and defy expectations to succeed in a competitive industry.
Fashion, like any other artform, is constantly changing and evolving with the times. A reflection of society’s defining spirit or mood at any given moment, fashion provides a unique window through which to grasp larger cultural, political, and ideological forces at play in the world.
Dr. Valerie Steele, the Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, has been an instrumental figure in creating and giving shape to our modern understanding of the cultural significance of fashion. In her two-decade career at The Museum at FIT, Dr. Steele has personally organized more than 20 exhibitions and authored or co-authored more than 20 books on the topic.
Dr. Steele joined The IVY Podcast to talk about how the business of fashion is changing as the millennial generation grows into the industry’s target consumers, as well as the intersection and fashion and technology. If your wardrobe needs some further inspiration, Dr. Steele's got tips for how to develop your personal style.
Trying to raise the serious capital needed to turn your idea into a global company? The process is daunting and complex, to say the least — from identifying sophisticated institutional investors actually willing to back your pitch, to the initial “seed capital” phase, all the way through series A, B, and C funding.
Thankfully, Brian Hirsch is here to simplify your entrepreneurial endeavor. The Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Tribeca Venture Partners — a venture capital firm focused almost exclusively on startups — Brian is an expert at raising early-stage funding for emerging businesses.
In this conversation, Brian reveals practical tools gleaned from his years of experiences helping to build world-class companies. Brian’s insights are what any entrepreneur aiming to secure investments in the earliest stages of their business needs to know.
The global real estate investment market is a multi-trillion dollar industry — a massive investment vehicle that has made the fortunes of magnates across the globe. Yet this behemoth market has largely remained resistant to major technological change, maintaining antiquated processes for those trying to make money from tangible property.
Ryan Williams, the Co-Founder & CEO of Cadre, is on a mission to shake up this lumbering industry. A Harvard grad who worked stints at The Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs, the 29-year-old Williams has built Cadre into a next-generation platform that empowers people to buy and sell real estate more efficiently. Co-founded with Josh and Jared Kushner, Cadre has already closed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of deals on the platform. The New York-based company recently raised $65 million in a Series C funding round, drawing the attention of major real estate players in its plans for global expansion.
Ryan Williams joins The IVY Podcast to discuss next steps for Cadre, and the tenacious work he’s doing to remain at the forefront of the next wave of innovation in the real estate market.
Successful entrepreneurs from Steve Jobs to Peter Thiel have obsessively turned to literature for ideas, unpacking canonical texts as "case studies" for effective leadership, concept generation, conflict resolution, and better understanding diverse cultures.
Joseph Luzzi, the award-winning author and professor of Italian at Bard College, is a champion of this methodology. Luzzi’s perceptive work analyzes how history’s premier minds — from Dante and Machiavelli to Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche — can spark innovative entrepreneurial insights, even in our modern day.
In this conversation, Luzzi delves into the ten timeless leadership lessons of classical literature, mining the time-tested geniuses of the written word for literary test cases geared towards the world of business.
Please enjoy our conversation with Joesph Luzzi.
Picture this: lightning strikes your dreamscape one unexpected evening, stirring you from your slumber with the almighty power of a flawless idea — an idea that will improve people’s lives and solve society’s problems in previously unimagined ways. Bleary-eyed, you type out the concept on your phone and fall back asleep, grinning at your genius.
Morning arrives, and with it a sudden, nagging sense of doubt. Though still confident in the life-altering potential of your idea, the reality of the situation is hitting home — how are you actually going to turn this idea into a reality? What form will your product take in the physical world? How will you convince users of its benefits? When can you launch?
Enter Vanessa Larco. A Partner at the Silicon Valley-based investment firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Vanessa has a passion for helping founders bring their products to life. Her years of experience in product management — including overseeing web and mobile apps at Box, and contributing to the teams on Xbox Kinect and Surface at Microsoft — have left her with clear eyes on what it takes to transform a concept into a real life, functioning product.
Vanessa joins us for a conversation touching on what exactly the role of a Product Manager consists of, and the questions entrepreneurs need to ask themselves to make sure their products will strike the balance between revenue, engagement, and virality.
Please enjoy our conversation with Vanessa Larco.
Many young leaders today know what they want to accomplish — whether it’s creating a company, writing a bestseller, or inventing a new technology. The difficult question is how to accomplish these goals — how to overcome obstacles, strategize exactly what we need to do to accomplish our dreams, and turn that bestseller into a reality.
Fortunately, there are people like Laurie Gerber who have dedicated their entire personal and professional lives to teaching people how to realize their dreams. Gerber is an Expert Coach at Handel Group, where she’s been coaching individuals and groups for over 15 years on how to harness their personal strengths and eliminate the excuses holding them back.
In this conversation, Laurie’s reveals the key techniques needed to maximize your ability to thrive across all areas of life — from health, love, and career, to money, family, and everything in between.
Please enjoy our conversation with Laurie Gerber.
Craig Dubitsky is one of the most creative minds in consumer goods, with a proven track record for identifying and exploiting gaps in competitive markets. He is the "Friendly Founder" of Hello — the “naturally friendly” oral care company whose products are vegan, never tested on animals, and made in the USA.
Prior to Hello, Craig cofounded Eos, a women’s personal care brand known for its ubiquitous lip balm. He also served as SVP of Venture Development at Simon Property Group, leading the initial investment in Method Products — a manufacturer of biodegradable natural cleaning supplies, which was named the 16th “most innovative company in the world” by Fast Company in 2008. Craig himself was named to Advertising Age's Creativity 50 as one of the “Most Influential and Innovative Creative Thinkers and Doers” in 2014.
In this conversation, Craig shares the story of how he founded Hello, and offers advice from his transformative career.
Please enjoy our conversation with Craig Dubitsky.
Joseph N. Sanberg believes that everyone who works – and everyone who wants to but can’t – should be able to afford life’s basic needs and live with financial security. He founded the Golden State Opportunity Foundation to expand financial security to the millions of Californians who work hard yet experience constant financial stress.
Joe has been the leading advocate for the state’s new Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income families. Joe not only lobbied California to pass the credit, but in 2015 when the state didn’t allocate enough money for outreach, Joe created CalEITC4Me. This community organizing program has connected working California families with $2 billion of state and federal Earned Income Tax Credits. This spring, CalEITC4Me led a grassroots organizing campaign that won a massive expansion of California’s EITC so that next year, 3x more working families – 1.7 million in total – will be able to earn the CalEITC.
Please enjoy our conversation with Joseph Sanberg.
Ze Frank is the President of BuzzFeed Entertainment Group. After graduating from Brown University in 1995 with a BS in Neuroscience, Frank became an unexpected internet pioneer, driving traffic to his own personal website via short films, animations and video games. Frank won a Webby in 2002 for Best Personal Website and was featured in Time Magazine’s “50 Coolest Websites” in 2005.
From there, he launched his Youtube channel with the hugely popular ‘True Facts’ series along with other viral shows.
Frank joined BuzzFeed in 2012 to grow and develop its video platform, and he currently oversees the creation of all BuzzFeed video and editorial entertainment content. Ze also built BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, the company’s pioneering and prolific moving image studio.
In this thought-provoking discussion, Frank shares key insights and advice about how to pioneer innovation in the digital world and build a loyal audience.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Ze Frank
Mike is a Founding Partner at Floodgate, a venture capital firm that invests in the extraordinary top ".1%" of companies earlier than anyone else, including Twitter, Lyft, Twitch.tv, and Sparefoot. After earning his MBA from Stanford, he went to Silicon Graphics where he was developing CGI that studios such as Industrial Light and Magic used in their feature films. He then joined his college roommate, Joe Liemandt, at Trilogy Software, which soon after went public and was acquired by IBM. In this compelling conversation, Mike revealed investment tips for entrepreneurs searching for success and shared how proactive businesses can become empires.
Fashion legend Marigay McKee has risen from “lipstick girl” at Harrod’s to a major leader of some of the biggest luxury brands in the world. After working as a retail clerk and teacher for many years, she was offered the opportunity to become an executive at Estee Lauder Europe, and from there, launched a twenty-year career in luxury retailing. She eventually rose to the pinnacle of London’s retail world when she rejoined Harrod’s, this time as a Senior Beauty Buyer, and over a fifteen year period at the helm of buying and product strategy, advanced to become the store's Chief Merchant. Through the implementation of Marigay’s strategic vision and her philosophy on exclusivity, Harrod’s attracted a greater share of high-end luxury clients than ever before.
Marigay subsequently crossed the pond to become President of Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, where she evolved a new vision for the iconic brand’s luxury and positioning platform. She is also an advisor to several emerging fashion brands in the United Kingdom and the United States, mentoring young talent and young entrepreneurs. In 2015, Marigay started her own consulting firm, MM Luxe Consulting, which helps world-class brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Harper’s Bazaar develop winning strategies for marketing, positioning, and growth.
In this conversation with IVY’s Kari Jones, Marigay goes in-depth about what it takes to build a powerhouse fashion brand, and what the future of the industry looks like.
Please enjoy our conversation with Marigay McKee
Marc Leder is the co-CEO of Sun Capital Partners Since co-founding his global private equity firm in 1995, Marc has helped oversee investment in more than 340 companies worldwide with revenues in excess of $45 billion. Prior to his work at Sun Capital, Marc served as a Senior Vice President of Lehman Brothers in New York. Marc gives insight into how we can each make a stellar career out of entrepreneurship and investing. He also shared how he worked his way up from an analyst at Lehman Brothers to a leading player in the private investment industry, engaged in leveraged buyouts, and business operations for more than two decades.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Marc Leder.
Joe Lonsdale is one of the most successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, not to mention a veteran tech entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. In early 2016 he launched 8VC, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that aims to fix core processes for some of the world's largest industries. Previously Joe was a founding partner of Formation 8, which manages over $2 billion across multiple funds. Prior to Formation 8, he founded Palantir, a multi-billion dollar global software company best known for its work in defense and finance.
Lonsdale serves on the boards of several highly successful companies, including Addepar, OpenGov, insurance unicorn Oscar Health, Illumio, Radius, Hyperloop One and Wish, which has a valuation reportedly well above $3 billion as of additional funding in late 2016. In addition to his work in entrepreneurship & venture capital, Joe is also the Chairman of California Common Sense, a non-profit dedicated to opening government to the public & educating citizens about how government works.
In this conversation with IVY’s Co-founder, Beri Meric, Joe explained how entrepreneurship can help fix large industries and solve complex problems in an impactful way.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Joe Lonsdale. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Ben is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience launching and building successful companies, including Rue La La, one of the earliest players in the digital private sale space, and SmartBargains.com, the off-price e-commerce marketplace.
Ben founded his first venture, LIDS Corporation, in 1993 as a junior at Boston University. He eventually sold the company in 2001.
Ben was also the first entrepreneur-in-residence at General Catalyst Partners, a premier venture capital firm that invests in innovative, technology-based companies. In this illuminating discussion, Ben reveals the entrepreneurial tools necessary to pioneer revolutionary concepts across diverse industries and build companies that change the way people shop, think, and live.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Ben Fischman.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Instasleep.
Attaining quality sleep is key to a healthy lifestyle and vital in achieving success. Plenty of research has shown the indisputable benefits of getting a good night’s rest. InstaSleep is a drug-free quick melt sleep aid that is gluten-free, kosher and non-habit forming.
They taste great, and help you fall asleep faster without “morning grogginess”. An indispensable travel essential for busy professionals, frequent travelers and jet-setters alike, InstaSleep helps counter jet lag and sleep deprivation caused by time zone changes.
IVY Podcast listeners get 18% off by using promo code IVYsleep at checkout on Amazon. Learn more on their website www.upgradeyoursleep.com. Upgrade your sleep and take on the day!
In 1976, Caitlyn Jenner broke the world decathlon record at the Olympic Games in Montreal, and earned the title of "World’s Greatest Athlete." Forty years later, she captured the world’s attention again when she revealed that she is a transgender woman during an ABC News special with Diane Sawyer. Caitlyn was named Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating Person of the Year in 2015, runner-up for the 2015 Person of the Year, Out Magazine’s 2015 Newsmaker of the Year and one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year. In April of 2017, Caitlyn shared her story in her memoir The Secrets of My Life, co-authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger.
During an IVY Idea’s Night in Los Angeles, IVY’s Sarah Zapp sat down with Caitlyn to discuss her incredible journey and about life post-transition.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Caitlyn Jenner.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Instasleep.
Attaining quality sleep is key to a healthy lifestyle and vital in achieving success. Plenty of research has shown the indisputable benefits of getting a good night’s rest. InstaSleep is a drug-free quick melt sleep aid that is gluten-free, kosher and non-habit forming.
They taste great, and help you fall asleep faster without “morning grogginess”. An indispensable travel essential for busy professionals, frequent travelers and jet-setters alike, InstaSleep helps counter jet lag and sleep deprivation caused by time zone changes.
IVY Podcast listeners get 18% off by using promo code IVYsleep at checkout on Amazon. Learn more on their website www.upgradeyoursleep.com. Upgrade your sleep and take on the day!
Jason Feifer is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine. A veteran of the publishing world, he has previously worked as an editor at Fast Company, Men’s Health, Maxim, and Boston, and has written about business and technology for New York, Slate, Popular Mechanics, and others. Jason also hosts a podcast called Pessimists Archive, which deals with the history of our unfounded fear of technology.
In this conversation with IVY’s Co-founder, Beri Meric, Jason tells stories from his time at Entrepreneur Magazine, and discusses the common traits he often finds in great entrepreneurs.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Jason Feifer.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Instasleep.
Attaining quality sleep is key to a healthy lifestyle and vital in achieving success. Plenty of research has shown the indisputable benefits of getting a good night’s rest. InstaSleep is a drug-free quick melt sleep aid that is gluten-free, kosher and non-habit forming.
They taste great, and help you fall asleep faster without “morning grogginess”. An indispensable travel essential for busy professionals, frequent travelers and jet-setters alike, InstaSleep helps counter jet lag and sleep deprivation caused by time zone changes.
IVY Podcast listeners get 18% off by using promo code IVYsleep at checkout on Amazon. Learn more on their website www.upgradeyoursleep.com. Upgrade your sleep and take on the day!
Crowned as the Millennial Mentor, Gerard Adams is a serial entrepreneur, branding expert, and philanthropist. In February 2012, Adams co-founded Elite Daily, the online publication known as the Voice of Generation Y. By the end of 2013, the company earned $400,000 in profit and averaged 41 million monthly readers. Gerard sold the company in 2015 to Daily Mail for $50 million dollars. Gerard also launched FOWNDERS, a social-enterprise accelerator and mentorship movement to help others succeed in business. FOWNDERS offers entrepreneurs benefits that include a free workspace, mentorship, and access to funding. In this in-depth discussion with IVY’s co-founder, Beri Meric, Gerard speaks about his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he learned by educating a new generation of founders. He also speaks about the importance of mentors and how to find them.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Gerard Adams. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Academy Award and Emmy award-winning producer, Brian Grazer, has been making movies and television programs for more than 30 years. As both a writer and producer, he has been personally nominated for four Academy Awards®, and in 2002 he won Best Picture for A Beautiful Mind. Over the years, Grazer's films and TV shows have been nominated for a total of 43 Oscars and 162 Emmys for shows such as 24 and Arrested Development. In this fascinating conversation during an IVY Ideas Night, Grazer recounted many illuminating and often hilarious anecdotes from his journey to the top of the Hollywood food chain, and opined about the important connection between entertainment & entrepreneurship.
Please enjoy our conversation with Brian Grazer. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
As the Founder and former CEO of TaskRabbit, Leah Busque has over 15 years of experience building and creating technology products that have reached millions of people around the globe. In 2008, she founded TaskRabbit, the world’s leading on-demand service marketplace, which connects consumers that are looking for help with everyday tasks, with independent workers willing and able to lend a hand. Leah has since expanded TaskRabbit internationally, raising more than $50 million in venture funding, and has inspired legions of startups in the collaborative consumption space.
In 2012, Fast Company named Leah one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business,” and her achievements have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Time.
At an IVY Entrepreneur Night in San Francisco, Leah discussed the entrepreneurial tools necessary to become a creative leader, pioneer revolutionary concepts across diverse industries, and launch a successful business around the world.
Please enjoy our conversation with Leah Busque. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Amanda Signorelli is the CEO of Techweek, a massive media conference whose purpose is to support entrepreneurs and innovators in the tech world, provide them with a platform for networking and collaboration, and ultimately, to spread wealth creation to diverse people and places.
Amanda came to Techweek from a management background at McKinsey & Company, where she saw firsthand how advancements in technology could disrupt large corporations. During her tenure, Techweek has grown to operate in 9 different markets: Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Kansas City, D.C., New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami.
In this illuminating discussion, Amanda revealed how she tapped into the entrepreneurial and tech communities in cities all around the country and mobilized them to come together and share their knowledge and resources to their mutual advantage.
Please enjoy our conversation with Amanda Signorelli. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
One of the true pioneers of Internet commerce, Jed Katz has spent his career developing, advising and investing in early stage technology ventures. Jed is a founding partner and Managing Director at Javelin Venture Partners, which holds investments in some of the most successful startups including Thumbtack, Masterclass and Clutter. Jed’s entrepreneurial journey started as the COO and Founder of Rent Net, the Internet’s first rental and relocation guide, which he eventually sold for over $900 million. In this in-depth conversation with IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric, Jed gives invaluable advice on how to attract venture capital, how to know when it’s right for your venture, and what qualities he looks for in a great entrepreneur.
Please enjoy our conversation with Jed Katz. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
A 24-year veteran of the FBI, Christopher Voss knows a thing or two about high-stakes negotiation. In 2003, he was chosen to be the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator, an elite role he held for four years. Voss has since applied his singular experience to the world of business. In his best-selling book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended On It, Voss reveals the field-tested techniques FBI agents use to talk criminals and hostage-takers around the world into (or out of) just about any scenario you can imagine — and shows how we can all use these strategies to become powerful negotiators both in business and in life. He is also the founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group, a consulting firm which instructs businesses and individuals in the implementation of these techniques.
At an IVY Ideas Night in Los Angeles, Christopher recounted stories from his days at the FBI, and broke down the tactics you can use to become a better negotiator.
Please enjoy our conversation with Christopher Voss. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
From her small start selling goods on eBay, Corri has quickly become a leading expert in the luxury consignment industry with her multi-million dollar business, eDrop-Off, which specializes in the resale of authentic designer handbags, clothings, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. More recently, Corri was inspired by the birth of her daughter Zelda to launch a second site, Glitter and Bubbles, a guide for moms looking for inspiration in fashion, décor, and food. In this illuminating discussion, Corri revealed the entrepreneurial tools necessary to build a company from the ground up and how to unlock your potential by pursuing your passion.
Please enjoy our conversation with Corri McFadden. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Brian Halligan’s background in venture capital helped him become a huge success when he co-founded HubSpot in 2006, growing the business into a leading marketing software company with more than $20 million in profits and over 300 employees. Brian was named Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011, a Glassdoor 25 Highest Rated CEO in 2014 and 2015, and an Inc. Founders 40 in 2016. In this illuminating discussion, Brian drew on his experience as a marketing expert to reveal how to expand your network and build game-changing ventures from scratch.
Please enjoy our conversation with Brian Halligan. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
All Jim Obergefell wanted was to marry John Arthur, his partner of 20 years, before he died of ALS. But in 2013, Ohio would not recognize gay marriage. And so, by fighting to get his union to John legally recognized, Jim unexpectedly changed history. In 2015, Jim became the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage across the United States. Embracing his role as an “accidental activist”, Jim received calls of congratulations from President Obama and Vice President Biden after the historic ruling,
During an IVY Ideas Night in Washington DC, Jim shared his inspiring story, and discussed his continued work as an activist with organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Ohio.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Jim Obergefell. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
A Florida native, David hit it big when he was tapped to create a nightclub in Jeff Soffer’s billion-dollar revamping of the Fontainebleau Hotel, which led to the creation of LIV, now one of the most successful nightclubs in the country. Since then he has gone on to create some of the most well-known venues such as LIV, Story, Komodo, and the recently opened Upstairs at OTLA. David is also credited by Rolling Stone magazine as being one of the most important people in bringing electronic dance music to nightclubs in America after he was inspired by the scene in Ibiza, Spain. In this illuminating discussion on the power of resilience, creativity, and passion, David shared his insights on developing projects that converge at the apex of commercial success and entertainment brilliance.
Please enjoy our conversation with Dave Grutman. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
Bobbi Brown is the legendary founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, which is, to date, the most successful makeup artist brand founded by a woman. After moving to NYC as an aspiring makeup artist in the 80’s, she started mixing her own products. And eventually turned it into a multi-million dollar line of cosmetics that she told to Estee Lauder in 1995. Bobbi has written 8 bestselling books about makeup and beauty, her most recent being Beauty From The Inside Out. In this illuminating discussion, Bobbi demonstrates how tenacity, creativity, and originality can transform a passion project into a world-changing entrepreneurial success.
Please enjoy our conversation with Bobbi Brown. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
Veteran entrepreneur Christian Cotichini is the Co-founder and CEO of HeroX. This revolutionary organization empowers anyone to crowdsource the solutions to their most urgent challenges and incentivizes innovators from around the world to compete to solve them. Through this platform, NASA has already challenged coders to speed up its supercomputer, Land O’Lakes has called on investors to develop drone technology to assist in agriculture, and NBC has sought new designs for its iconic peacock logo, just to name a few examples.
HeroX was co-founded in 2013 by Christian, Peter Diamandis & Emily Fowler to democratize the innovation model of their existing company, XPRIZE, which was designed to offer huge financial incentives for groundbreaking innovations in science, technology, and engineering. In 2004, XPRIZE was responsible for incentivizing the first private suborbital spaceflight, by rewarding the triumphant developers of SpaceShip One with $10 million dollars. Using HeroX, anyone can post a challenge and offer a prize of any size for projects big and small.
Prior to HeroX, Christian had 20 years of experience in the startup and technology worlds. He founded Absolute Software, a leader in computer security and asset management, and subsequently founded MAKE Technologies, which was sold to Dell Computers in early 2012.
In this compelling conversation, Christian spoke with IVY’s Co-founder, Beri Meric, about some of the biggest challenges facing our world today, and how anyone might be the person to find the solution.
Please enjoy our conversation with Christian Cotichini. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
Suki Kim did the unimaginable—she broke all the rules and worked undercover in North Korea for an entire year, documenting her fascinating experience. An award-winning novelist & journalist, Kim has been featured on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, Christiane Amanpour’s Show and Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. She has authored two books, Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Koren Elite and The Interpreter - which have both been tremendous critic and commercial successes. In this illuminating episode, Kim tells her story about her travels abroad as she helps us all understand this elusive
In this illuminating episode, Kim tells her story about her travels abroad as she helps us all understand this elusive world, while addressing the broader social and political implications.
Please enjoy our conversation with Suki Kim.
And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
With a background in both marketing and the military, Australian native Adam Garone's career took a left turn in 2003 when his brother challenged him to grow out a mustache. The two wondered if they could bring the mustache back in vogue and, in the process, both raise awareness for men's health, and fundraise for prostate cancer research. Thus began the Movember movement.
The Movember challenge is simple: men begin November 1st clean shaven and, for the next 30 days, grow out their mustaches while seeking out sponsorship for their efforts. The proceeds go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation as well as Livestrong. In 2011, Movember raised $126 million in 14 countries.
As Movember’s CEO from the start, Adam built the company into one of the most innovative and impactful charities created this millennium, changing the face (both literally and figuratively) of men's health, and in the process, creating a cult brand that inspired a global movement.
As part of an IVY Ideas Night at Movember’s LA office, Adam shared his incredible story with IVY’s Sarah Zapp, and showed IVY members how to draw on their passion and resilience to overcome even the toughest obstacles and make a difference in the world.
Please enjoy our conversation with Adam Garone. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
For the past twenty-five years, Aldo Civico has served as a negotiation adviser and facilitator in armed conflicts in Colombia, the Western Balkans, and Syria. He has also led efforts to curb urban violence in Mexico, Haiti, Italy, and the United States, and advised national governments on the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants. Since 2001, Aldo has been intimately involved in the peace talks between the Colombian government and the insurgent group known as the National Liberation Army.
Though most of us will, fortunately, never be forced to negotiate with terrorists, drug lords, and urban gangs, a close study of these same scenarios, according to Civico, yields lessons relevant for any successful leader -- involving communication, flexibility, and self-mastery.
In this fascinating conversation with IVY’s co-founder, Beri Meric, Aldo led IVY members through several conflict resolution scenarios and unpacked the thinking behind them.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Aldo Civico. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of WordPress and the CEO and founder of Automattic. Matt launched WordPress in 2003, transforming the free blogging software into the most popular publishing platform in the world. More than 27% of the web currently runs on WordPress, making Matt a crucial figure in powering a generation of writers, entrepreneurs, startups, and companies across the globe.
Automattic is also the company behind WooCommerce, and Jetpack, among other products, with more than 500 employees working from more than 50 different countries. In this illuminating conversation, Matt talks about his journey from open source developer to tech tycoon, revealing the entrepreneurial tools necessary to scale a company as large as Automattic, and create world-changing platforms for success.
Please enjoy our conversation with Matt Mullenweg. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
Jeff Rosenblum is an author, documentary filmmaker, and the founder of Questus, a digital marketing agency that has worked with some of the world’s most influential brands including American Express, Apple, Bloomberg, and Capital One, just to name a few.
Jeff is widely regarded as one of the leading innovators in the field of digital marketing. His latest book, Friction argues that brands don't simply need clever messages or new, shiny technologies. They need a fundamental change in strategy.
Jeff further explored these themes as the co-writer and director of a groundbreaking documentary, The Naked Brand, which speculates about the future of the advertising industry and argues that corporations have the opportunity to use their influence to save the planet.
In this live discussion with IVY’s co-founder, Beri Meric, Jeff discusses what it takes to become a ‘passion brand’ and assess friction in every aspect of business and leadership.
Please enjoy our conversation with Jeff Rosenblum.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high-density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
In his final State of the Union address, President Obama asked Vice President Biden to head up the “Cancer Moonshot” to end cancer as we know it. Our next guest, Greg Simon was named the Executive Director of this Initiative, leading a team of professionals to seek out unprecedented advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Greg’s work supported the passage of the “21st Century Cures Act” on December 7, 2016, providing $1.8 billion for the Cancer Moonshot over the next seven years.
In this fascinating discussion, Greg explains the steps necessary to make a Moonshot Initiative succeed by harnessing the resources of government, academia, non-profits, and the private sector in the fight against cancer. Greg illuminates how we can all bring together diverse groups of people to create movements that solve the world’s biggest problems.
Please enjoy our conversation with Greg Simon. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Eight, maker of the Eight Smart Bed.
The Eight Smart Bed is a four layer high density foam mattress paired with a smart cover that goes on the mattress just like a fitted sheet.
This nearly invisible technology layer has multiple sensors that measure the quality of your sleep and deliver a daily sleep report each morning through the Eight app. The Eight cover also has a bed warming feature that warms each side of the bed individually to accommodate different sleeping temperatures. And Eight connects to almost any wifi enabled device in your house.
Coffee makers, blinds, smart lights, did we mention bed warming?
IVY Podcast listeners get $100 off any mattress purchase by entering the promo code IVY at checkout — visit www.eightsleep.com/ivy to start sleeping smarter today!
As a partner at the premier venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Eric Feng focuses on consumer Internet investments and incubations.
Before joining KPCB, Eric was the founding Chief Technology Officer and head of product at Hulu.com. Under Eric’s leadership, Hulu was recognized as the Associated Press Website of the Year (2008), the PC World Best Product (2008), and the TIME Magazine Best Invention (ranked No. 4 in 2008), among other honors. Earlier in his career, Eric was Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore.
Eric was also previously CTO at Flipboard, the personal magazine application for mobile devices. At Flipboard, Eric led the global engineering team as well as strategic partnerships and company strategy, including financings and M&A.
Eric sat down with IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric, and spoke about the role of a venture capitalist outside of just a monetary investment. They also dove into what makes a great entrepreneur and what investors look for in both a company and team.
Please enjoy our conversation with Eric Feng. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Baz Dreisinger is the Founding Academic Director of John Jay's Prison-to-College Pipeline program. The program offers college courses and reentry planning to incarcerated men at Otisville Correctional Facility, and more broadly works to increase access to higher education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Professor Dreisinger moonlights as a journalist and critic, writing about Caribbean culture, race-related issues, travel, music, and pop culture, for outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. She has also produced on-air segments about music and global culture for NPR.
Professor Dreisinger has authored two books focused on criminal justice reform; Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World, and Near Black: White-to-Black Passing in American Culture.
In this compelling conversation with IVY’s co-founder, Beri Meric, Baz illuminates the history of mass incarceration in the United States, and draws on her experience at the forefront of the movement towards restorative justice to reveal how we can fix a broken prison system and generate new opportunities for reform.
Please enjoy our conversation with Baz Dreisinger. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
How are the traditional titans of print journalism adapting to the brave new world of online news? At this crucial turning point in the history of media, Mike Sheehan, the former CEO of The Boston Globe & Hill Holiday, is ready to apply the lessons of the past to the challenges of the future.
Sheehan joined Boston Globe Media Partners a few months after its acquisition from the New York Times and helped the company navigate through some of the most challenging years in the history of print news. Mike's belief that world-class journalism can attract a sizable, premium audience, is validated by the Globe's digital subscription numbers -- the Globe has the most paid digital readers of any major metro daily in America, and during Mike's tenure, the Globe newsroom and editorial pages were awarded four Pulitzer Prizes.
Prior to being named CEO of the Globe, Mike worked for 20 years at Hill Holiday, where he served as Executive Creative Director, President, CEO, and Chairman. In that period, he led the agency's transition from a traditional advertising agency to a digitally focused communications firm.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Sheehan also took a lead role in creating One Fund Boston to support victims of the Marathon bombings. The fund has already raised over $81 million, which has directly benefited over 250 survivors.
At an IVY Ideas Night in Boston, Mike shared stories and insights from his days leading one of the most prolific news outlets in the nation and predicted what lies ahead for both traditional and digital publishers, and how that might impact media producers in every industry.
Please enjoy our conversation with Mike Sheehan. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Sheryl O’Loughlin is the former CEO of Clif Bar and has experienced both the highs and the lows of the startup world. Sheryl’s other career highlights include being the co-founder and CEO of Plum Organics, Executive Director at the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is currently CEO of REBBL super herb beverages.
Her latest book, Killing It: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart, offers insights into how to grow a company without sacrificing your personal growth.
In this illuminating discussion, Sheryl shared insights from her 25-year career as a serial entrepreneur and operational leader, illuminating the tools entrepreneurs need to start their own game-changing enterprises and thrive—both in the office and at home.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Sheryl O’Loughlin. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
As an independent producer, and more recently as President of Phantom Four, Kevin Turen has brought to life a number of enthralling films, including Arbitrage, 99 Homes and All Is Lost.
He’s now working on several new projects, including Miles, Assassination Nation, and the long-anticipated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.
Turen discussed the dynamic nature of dealmaking in Hollywood, the primacy of passion in filmmaking, and the under-appreciated power of listening. He also shared insights from his production work with legendary greats such as Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and Robert Redford, revealing the artistic tools needed to make a successful film in a notoriously competitive landscape.
Please enjoy our conversation with Kevin Turen. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
A longtime investor and operational leader, Nicolas Berggruen was inspired to embark on a mission to transform the philanthropic landscape and the world of think tanks. Founded in 2010, The Berggruen Institute’s mission is to develop foundational ideas and, through them, shape political and social institutions for the 21st Century. In 2015, Mr. Berggruen launched of the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Center, which is dedicated to encouraging new ideas and fresh thinking across culture and disciplines.
Mr. Berggruen is also highly involved in supporting the arts, and spearheads numerous charitable causes. He is the head of the Board of the Berggruen Museum in Berlin, a member of the Los Angeles County Museum, the International Councils of the Tate Gallery in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York
At an IVY Entrepreneur Night, Nicolas shared unparalleled insights about starting a premier philanthropic organization in the age of globalization and technology, while revealing the most crucial global problems for rising leaders to tackle and the necessary tools needed to combat the most pressing issues.
Adam Braun is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and philanthropist. Adam’s latest project, MissionU, looks to redefine the higher education industry with a one-year program that gives young professionals the skills and experience they need to kickstart their careers.
He is also the founder of Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that builds schools and increases access to education for children in the developing world. His book, The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Changedebuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list in 2014. In this discussion with IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric, hear about Adam’s experience in building over 400 schools across the globe, and how it helped inspire his mission to fix our education system back home.
Please enjoy our conversation with Adam Braun. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Live from Blender Workspace!
Sarah Robb O’Hagan is described by the media as everything from “Superwoman undercover” to the “Queen of the Jocks.” Named among Forbes “Most Powerful Women in Sports” and as one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business”, Sarah is an internationally recognized re-inventor of brands.
Sarah’s career includes leadership roles at some of the world’s most iconic brands – including Virgin, Nike, Gatorade, and Equinox, whereas President she led the transformation of the brick-and-mortar health club to an “always on” fitness lifestyle partner.
Prior to Equinox Sarah served as Global President of Gatorade where she was widely known for transforming the business from a declining sports drink into a sports performance innovation company serving nutrition solutions to athletes of all levels.
Sarah’s latest book, Extreme You: Step Up. Stand Out. Kick Ass. Repeat, addresses how she’s had the courage to step up and lead, and how she’s coped with the many challenges of managing an international company. In this compelling discussion, Sarah shared life-changing advice on how to work up the corporate ladder, achieve great success in business and life, and how to lead an extraordinary life.
Please enjoy our conversation with Sarah Robb O'Hagan. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Christopher Gavigan joined forces with Jessica Alba to start The Honest Company, which provides effective, safe, eco-friendly, and affordable household products. Before founding The Honest Company with his business partner Jessica Alba, Christopher spent decades working to improve the health of children around the world. He worked as the CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering parents and protecting children from toxic risks. Christopher is the also the author of the best-selling book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home and frequently blogged for The Huffington Post. During an exciting discussion in LA, Christopher shared his story and his insights on how to build a powerhouse brand with a meaningful mission. Please enjoy our conversation with Christopher Gavigan. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Maureen Chiquet is the former CEO of Chanel. Portfolio magazine credited Chiquet with transforming Chanel into “the single most valuable fashion brand,” which grew to a reported value of $6.2 billion under her leadership.
During an IVY Ideas Night in New York City, Ms. Chiquet shared insights from her journey to success in the entrepreneurial and fashion worlds, revealing how to harness hard work and passion to create a career you love, accomplish your goals, and grow a company at the level of Chanel. She also discussed her new book, Beyond The Label: Women, Leadership, and Success on Our Own Terms.
Please enjoy our conversation with Maureen Chiquet. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Jack & Suzy Welch are two of the leading strategic minds in business today. Jack Welch is the legendary former CEO of General Electric. Under his leadership, GE’s market value increased from $12 billion in 1981 to $280 billion in 2001. Suzy Welch is well-known for being the editor of Harvard Business Review. Her book 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea is a New York Times Bestseller. This power couple co-authored two international New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling business books, titled, respectively, Winning and The Real Life MBA. At an IVY Ideas Night in New York City, they sat down with members to share famous insights on management, growing a business, and dominating the competition.
During their talk, Jack and Suzy went above and beyond to emphasize the importance of collaboration. They believe that a team has to work together—and positively—in order to achieve truly great success.
Please enjoy our conversation with Jack & Suzy Welch.
And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Jake Wood is a former Marine Sniper, and the CEO & Co-founder of Team Rubicon. His organization brings in highly trained military veterans as first-responders to crises around the world, such as devastating earthquakes, floods or wildfires. Not only does the organization brilliantly reintegrate veterans into civilian life, providing them with community, camaraderie, and purpose, but it also brings some of the best performers and leaders from the military to the places that need them most.
Prior to Team Rubicon, Jake served for four years in the United States Marine Corps and graduated top of his class at Boot Camp, the School of Infantry, and the Marine Scout Sniper School. During his service, Jake was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and earned numerous commendations, including the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor distinguishing device. Jake’s book, Take Command, shows how to apply hard-learned lessons in leadership and teamwork, whether you’re on the battlefield or in the office.
Jake sat down with the IVY community and shared powerful insights on how to lead, under even the most trying circumstances.
Please enjoy our conversation with Jake Wood.
And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
As Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners, legendary investor Jeremy Liew has been one of the earliest investors in some of the most successful tech startups of the past decade, including Snap (formerly Snapchat), GIPHY, The Honest Company, Mic, Cheddar, Blockchain and Bonobos. Jeremy has been named to Forbes’ Midas List multiple times, most recently in 2016. Before an IVY Ideas Night in San Francisco, IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric sat down with Jeremy to discuss his story and outlook on the venture capital and tech landscape.
Drawing on a unique personal story and deep industry experience in venture capital, general management, consumer media, internet and technology, Jeremy shares his insights on how we can all become successful investors.
Please enjoy our conversation with Jeremy Liew.
And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Veronica Roth is a New York Times Best-selling author, best known for the Divergent trilogy. Roth was only 22 years old when she penned the first novel in the series. It debuted at number six on the New York Times BestSeller list in 2011. The third installment of the series, Allegiant, became the most-pre ordered book ever issued by HarperCollins.
Based on the tremendous success of the books, the series was turned into three highly successful films. More recently, Roth released her first book out of the Divergent series, Carve The Mark.
At an IVY Ideas Night in Chicago, Roth shared fascinating insights with IVY’s Sarah Zapp about her meteoric rise to becoming one of the most popular authors in America and across the globe. Also revealing how the right combination of hard work and luck following a creative dream can lead to a successful career.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Veronica Roth. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Legendary entrepreneur and branding expert, Daymond John, has counseled hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs as an investor on and off the hit ABC television show Shark Tank, where he is known as "the people's shark".
Daymond started his entrepreneurial journey when he created the fashion label FUBU and grew it from its original $40 investment into a $6 billion dollar company. In 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Daymond a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, a position focused on promoting the power and importance of entrepreneurship on a global scale. His latest venture, Blueprint & Co,is redefining co-working. Blueprint & Co was created for like-minded creative executives to bridge the gap between innovators and corporations.
Daymond has also authored three books, the most recent being the instant New York Times BestSeller, The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage.
Daymond has also been recognized with a long list of awards, including Brandweek Marketer of the Year, the NAACP Entrepreneurs of the Year Award (which he has won twice) and Crain’s New York Business Forty Under Forty Award, just to name a few.
In this illuminating discussion, Daymond drew on his experience as one of the world's leading experts in entrepreneurship to reveal the key tools necessary to craft and lead a global brand.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Daymond John. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Jamie Metzl is a man of many titles and distinctions: he is a novelist, blogger, futurist, member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former White House and Aspen Institute Crown Fellow, with a Ph.D. in Asian history from Oxford, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a magna cum laude Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. As an expert in geopolitics and biotechnology who currently serves as a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, Jamie’s syndicated columns and regular television appearances have been fixtures of the international conversation about Asian economic and political issues.
Jamie has also authored multiple novels, including The Depths of The Sea and Genesis Code, which deal with issues of human genetic enhancement in the context of a future US-China rivalry. His new novel, Eternal Sonata, explores issues relating to extreme human life extension.
As if this panoply of impressive achievements wasn’t enough to characterize Metzl as contemporary Renaissance man, he has also completed thirteen Ironman triathalons, twenty-nine marathons, and twelve ultramarathons.
In a recent conversation with IVY’s co-founder, Beri Meric, Jamie dove deep into everything from the current geopolitical climate, to the future and moral implications of genetic engineering on a global scale.
Please enjoy our conversation, with Jamie Metzl. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Steven A. Cook is an Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an expert on Arab and Turkish politics as well as U.S.-Middle East policy. Cook has published widely in foreign policy journals, opinion magazines, and newspapers, and he is a frequent commentator on radio and television. He also currently writes the blog From the Potomac to the Euphrates. His latest book, False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East will be available May 2017.
In this special edition of the IVY Podcast, Steven joined us at IVY HQ for a live discussion on the current geopolitical climate in Syria and how to achieve peace in the middle east.
And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
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This episode of the IVY Podcast is brought to you by Verst.
What if WordPress, Google Analytics, and Medium had a baby? That baby would be Verst — the first and only website platform built for the unique needs of professional publishers. Hailed by TechCrunch as the “blogging platform with all the optimization tools you need,” Verst makes it easy for you to design, manage, and optimize your website - no plugins, coding, or professional help needed. You can even harness the power of machine learning to help you get more signups, purchases, or whatever your business relies on. Anyone can try Verst free for 30 days, and IVY Podcast listeners get an extra 20% off their first 2 months with code IVY. Additionally, the first 10 IVY listeners to sign up for a paid membership will also get a personal design consultation with Verst.
Keith Ferrazzi is recognized as the world’s premier expert on networking, relational and collaborative sciences. As Chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight and its Research Institute, he works to identify behaviors that block global organizations from reaching their goals and to transform them by coaching new behaviors that increase growth and shareholder value.
Keith is also a New York Times #1 best-selling author of two books, Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back. Both works offer unparalleled insights into the importance of building a strong network of friends, colleagues, advisors and associates.
More recently, in partnership with Zappos’ Tony Hsieh and Groupon’s Brad Keywell, Keith launched Yoi, a digital on boarding tool that drives transparency, improved coaching, and real-time feedback between busy managers and their new hires.
Ahead of an IVY dinner at Keith’s house, IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric lead an interactive discussion with Keith on critical lessons for career advancement and tips for building a powerhouse network. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Keith Ferrazzi. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Google is known around the world as one of the absolute best places to work, and that’s largely thanks to its former Senior Vice President of People Operations, Laszlo Bock. During Bock’s decade-long tenure with the search giant, Google’s workforce grew from 6,000 to over 60,000, and has received over 100 awards honoring the company as an employer of choice. In 2010, Bock was even named “Human Resources Executive of the Year” by HR Executive Magazine. As one of the foremost innovators in the field of people operations, Bock has transformed the way many companies think about their corporate and social culture.
In 2015, Bock’s New York Times Bestseller, Work Rules, was hailed by Forbes as “a true masterpiece.”Drawing on behavioral economics and human psychology, Bock provides teaching examples from a range of industries. He also reveals the secrets behind why Google is consistently rated one of the best places to work, sharing counterintuitive principles that are easy to put into action.
In an IVY Ideas Night, Laszlo shared insights from his new book, and talked about the essentials of good leadership.
Please enjoy our conversation with Laszlo Bock. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
Dr. Richard K. Betts, has a resume that few can equal.
He currently serves as the Director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and as the Director of the International Security Policy program at Columbia University, and he previously served as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and as Director of National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he advised three Directors of Central Intelligence and two Directors of the CIA.
Dr. Betts is also a prolific author, co-author and editor of over 11 books and textbooks, the latest of which are: Enemies of Intelligence and American Force. He has also published numerous articles on foreign policy, for which he has numerous prestigious awards, including the Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association for the best book in political science. He also received the International Studies Association’s ISSS Distinguished Scholar Award in 2005 and MIT’s Doolittle Award in 2012.
At an IVY Ideas Night in New York, moderated by global affairs correspondent at Mic, Natasha Noman, Dr. Betts illuminated how America can successfully face our new and evolving security challenges, and how to tackle some of the most pressing policy questions facing the U.S. today.
Please enjoy our discussion with Dr. Richard K. Betts. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
*recorded in December 2016
After years of searching for quality cosmetics at an affordable price, 25-year-old Toni Ko set out to disrupt the cosmetic industry by providing department store beauty at drugstore prices. She founded NYX Cosmetics, which went on to do $4 million in retail sales in its first year, and ultimately sold to L’Orèal in 2014 for a reported $500 million dollars.
As a serial entrepreneur, Ms. Ko quickly moved on to her next endeavor, Perverse Sunglasses. In Spring 2016, Ko launched the affordable yet highly fashionable eyewear brand, which is poised to disrupt the market just like her last venture. At an IVY Entrepreneur Night, Ms. Ko shared her insights with members and on the power of influencer marketing, as well as the lessons she learned on her entrepreneurial journey from startup to successful sale. The conversation was led by IVY’s Sarah Zapp.
Please enjoy our conversation with Toni Ko. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institution
James ‘JC’ Curleigh joined Levi Strauss & Co. in July 2012 and serves as the President of the company’s global brands, including Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. and Denizen. He is responsible for managing the strategic direction and execution of the company’s brands, focusing on building on the brands’ strong heritage with a commitment to creative design and craftsmanship. With more than 25 years of experience building and expanding consumer brands around the globe, his insights on fashion and business transcend new heights of innovation.
In this illuminating discussion, JC shared his unparalleled insights about building powerhouse brands in a notoriously competitive and fragmented industry, revealing the entrepreneurial tools needed to lead exceptional teams and identify innovative ways to connect with consumers around the world.
Please enjoy our conversation with JC Curleigh moderated by IVY's Sarah Zapp. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Leading food scientist and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, Dr. Christopher Gardner, believes that beyond physical well being, proper nutrition also positively impacts health care, the environment, social institutions, and animal justice. Healthy eating also disrupts a food industry currently dominated by factory farms and fast food.
Recently, his nutritional interests have expanded to two new areas. The first is “stealth health,” which explores motivators other than health for making positive dietary changes, such as climate change, social justice, and animal welfare. The second is to focus on a food-systems- approach to dietary improvements that addresses the quality of food provided by schools, hospitals, worksites, food banks and other institutional food settings.
In this illuminating podcast, Dr. Gardner spoke with IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric about how eating healthy can help a lot more than your waistline.
Please enjoy our conversation with Dr. Christopher Gardner. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Live from Blender Workspace!
How can we better understand the nuances of U.S. foreign policy in our ever changing world?
From Northern Afghanistan to the halls of the White House, Zalmay Khalilzad has had a front seat view to the tumultuous events of recent times. His steady hand has helped shaped American policy on the international stage, in the United Nations, and as Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan. His latest book The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey Through a Turbulent World chronicles his experiences under three presidential administrations with candid behind-the-scenes insights.
In this fascinating discussion during an IVY Idea’s Night in Chicago, Khalilzad argues that America needs an intelligent, effective foreign policy, informed by long-term thinking, and supported by bipartisan commitment.
Please enjoy our conversation with Zalmay Khalilzad, moderated by Mark Leon Goldberg of the Global Dispatches podcast. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
At age 32, Wayne Chang is already one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and renowned for building innovative companies that solve real pain points. His latest venture, Crashlytics, sold to Twitter about a year after it launched—and was valued at ~$300 million at Twitters IPO. But Wayne started his first company much younger: since age 7, he has been building ventures, and he’s played an important role in a wide variety of leading tech companies, including Dropbox, Napster, and i2Hub.
In this fascinating discussion, Wayne shares his unparalleled insights about the evolving art and science of entrepreneurship in a technology-driven society, as well as his advice on how to build game-changing ventures in a notoriously uncertain and competitive landscape.
Besides entrepreneurship, Wayne is also an avid angel investor. He has early investments in companies like DraftKings, Tablelist, SoFi, ZenPayroll, Planet Labs, JetSmarter, and Slash Keyboard. He is a limited partner in several prominent venture funds. Wayne originally dropped out of UMass Amherst as an undergraduate, and he was recently awarded an honorary PhD from his alma mater, recognizing him as a leader who stands to transform the world.
We hope you enjoy this fascinating discussion with Wayne Chang! And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Lisa Sugar is the Founder and CEO of POPSUGAR, the #1 independent media company for women. Lisa started POPSUGAR in 2005, taking her passion for pop culture and transforming it into a successful business that has a global reach of over 100 million consumers and 500 employees. POPSUGAR covers categories such as entertainment, fashion, beauty, fitness, and more. Lisa’s recent novel, Power Your Happy, focuses on how we can best navigate our most overwhelming and confusing days to end up in a place where we can combine your passions and talents for success.
Lisa shared insights from her journey with the IVY Community in San Francisco in a fireside chat with IVY’s Sarah Zapp. We hope you enjoy these invaluable lessons on how to harness hard work, patience, and experience to craft our dream jobs, accomplish our goals, and grow a company with employees who love what they do.
Please enjoy our conversation with Lisa Sugar. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
There is a common misconception that most great entrepreneurs are college dropouts. On the contrary, many of the greatest entrepreneurs start their businesses after years of invaluable experience at existing organizations. In this fascinating episode of The IVY Podcast, Eric Koester enables us to explore how we can take an entrepreneurial path within our existing companies, and how to lead colleagues in a way that enables them to hustle and succeed in an entrepreneurial way.
Currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Georgetown University, Eric Koester has built and exited multiple companies including Learn that Name which was acquired by Blackberry in 2010. One of his earlier ventures, Zaarly, was named by Fast Company as one of the Fifty Most Innovative Companies in the World. Koester’s latest company is Main Street Genome, a new technology startup developing tools for the small business economy. Koester was named one of Washington DC’s “40 under 40” and has written several books on startups and technology, including The Green Entrepreneur Handbook and Starting a High Tech Business Venture. Eric also devotes considerable time to building the startup community, including as a board member of UP Global, Startup Weekend and the DC co-chair of Enstitute.
Please enjoy our conversation with Eric Koester. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Live from Blender Workspace
In 1999, Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban co-founded Broadcast.com, which they eventually sold to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion. On top of being a legendary entrepreneur and businesses man, he's now one of the most impactful and forward-thinking philanthropists in the country. He recently founded The Charity Network, the parent company to three leading digital fundraising platforms: Chideo, Prizeo, and Charitybuzz.
What makes him so special is that he's brilliantly led a variety of successful ventures in a diverse range of fields--from tech to entertainment to philanthropy, and has done so with a keen eye for what makes some ideas last, while others fail.
Wagner joined us in New York City for an IVY Ideas moderated by IVY’s Co-Founder Beri Meric. He shared his personal journey, then some really valuable pieces of advice for any entrepreneur--or, more broadly, for anyone who wants to build anything.
Please enjoy our conversation with Todd Wagner.
Melanie Whelan is the CEO of SoulCycle, the leading lifestyle fitness brand that is sweeping the nation. It’s hard enough creating a lifestyle brand that people want to follow — let alone growing it into a household name. Melanie has done just that.
During an unforgettable IVY Entrepreneur Night, Melanie shared her leadership and life lessons with Beri Meric and the IVY community. In this fascinating discussion, we dive into everything from Melanie’s extensive background in scaling multi-million dollar companies, to tips on building a loyal brand following.
Please enjoy our conversation with Melanie Whelan. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
As the Founder and CEO of Dollar Shave Club, Michael Dubin has build a billion-dollar grooming empire in under five years. And on top of that, he is one of the funniest CEOs of our time.
Little over a year after starting his company, Mike uploaded a hilarious 90-second video to YouTube. The video went viral, prompting 12,000 orders in a two-day span after it was released, and garnering nearly 24 million views as of the recording of this podcast. Harnessing the reach of their marketing campaign, Michael grew his start-up into an enormously successful grooming empire that recently sold to Unilever for a reported $1 billion.
In an intimate fireside discussion, Michael shared his key lessons and reflections with IVY’s co-founder Beri Meric. When asked what makes for a viral marketing campaign, Michael responded: “Resonant ideas, based on our shared experience of humanity.
Please enjoy our conversation with Mike Dubin. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Lauren Bush Lauren is the founder of FEED Projects, a global fashion movement designed to fight world hunger. Proceeds from FEED products help provide lunch to school children worldwide. Since 2007, FEED has donated over 95 million meals to underserved communities. In 2014, Lauren was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs and one of Crain’s 40 Under 40.
We dive into everything from what makes a powerhouse brand to how we can eradicate world hunger. Lauren illuminates the links between entrepreneurship and social responsibility and shares key insights for anyone who wants to change the world.
We hope you enjoy our conversation with Lauren Bush Lauren. Check out IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions. For more information on FEED and to see how you can help end world hunger, visit www.feedprojects.com
As a mastermind and brand-builder, Troy Carter is the brains behind launching some of the world’s most recognizable celebrities, including Lady Gaga, John Legend, & Meghan Trainor. He also has over 80 holdings in top startups, including Uber, Spotify, Dropbox, and Warby Parker.
Carter began his career working for Will Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook Entertainment and joined Bad Boy Entertainment in 1995, where he worked with groundbreaking artists such as Notorious B.I.G.
In all of his endeavors, Troy has shown an incredible ability to understand people. He knows what people are thinking, what they’re feeling, and how to translate these feelings into successful business strategies.
When asked what key factors he attributes to the success of these superstars, Carter acknowledged their ability to rise to the challenges of their circumstances.
Troy Carter is the Founder and CEO of Atom Factory, an entertainment management company defining popular culture globally. On top of that, Carter is the Global Head of Creator Services at Spotify.
Please enjoy our conversation with Troy Carter. And remember to visit IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Dov Seidman is a world-renowned New York Times best-selling author and CEO of LRN. Praised by Fortune Magazine as the “hottest advisor on the corporate virtue circuit,” Dov has built a career around the idea that the most principled businesses are the most profitable and sustainable. In this illuminating discussion, Dov shares surprising insights from his research on the role trust, purpose and values play in a world where machines can now out-think, out-process and out-perform us.
According to Dov, the world is being reshaped and faster than we’ve been able to reshape ourselves, including our institutions, our businesses, and our leadership. The implications are profound and the imperatives are moral in nature. This episode is an amazing opportunity for rising leaders and entrepreneurs to learn how to survive and thrive in what Dov calls a "More Human Economy". The technological revolution of the 21st century is as consequential as the scientific revolution, he argues, and it is “forcing us to answer a most profound question — one we’ve never had to ask before: ‘What does it mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines?’” The answer, according to Dov, evolves around the one thing machines will never have: “a heart.”
Please enjoy our conversation with Dov Seidman. And remember to visit www.IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.
Tim Urban is the author of the popular blog "Wait but Why". Tim is the master of taking big — literally astronomical — questions, and bringing them back down to earth. His blog has attracted millions of readers, thousands of patrons, and famous fans like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, TED Curator Chris Anderson, and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. Combining long-form prose with wry stick-figure illustrations, "Wait But Why" covers everything from procrastination and artificial intelligence to happiness and why we haven’t yet encountered aliens.
Last month, Tim spoke to the IVY community about “The Power of Creative Thinking.” He also sat down for an in-depth discussion with IVY’s Co-Founder, Beri Meric, covering topics from how to build a career doing what you love and how to find your audience on the internet; to the future of human consciousness and how to build a perfect holographic simulation of the universe.
Please enjoy our conversation with Tim Urban. And remember to visit www.IVY.com to enjoy access to a lifetime of learning, growth, and impact through in-person collaborations with world-class leaders, thinkers, and institutions.