Stanford GSB: View From The Top (StanfordGSB)

"For me, the thing that stood out was my difference. I wasn’t chasing the thing that others were chasing. I was chasing the things that lived with my values." In this View From The Top interview, Tristan Walker MBA ’10, founder and CEO of Walker & Company, sits down with James Yan, MBA '23, to talk about his journey from Stanford GSB to entrepreneur. Walker shares a story from day he'll never forget: when he found a cafe, and sat down to write down his values. From that day forward, Walker says, built his business and life accordingly. 

In 2018, Walker merged his brand with Procter & Gamble, becoming the first Black CEO under the P&G umbrella in the company’s 180-year history. He is also the founder and board chairman of CODE2040, a program that matches high performing Black and Latino undergraduate and graduate coders and software engineering students with Silicon Valley start-ups for summer internships. 

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"Figure out what the big moments where you can bring your teams together are. It cures a lot of ills. It really helps with morale. It's incredible for team building."

In this episode of View From The Top, the podcast, Gwynne Shotwell, the president and COO of SpaceX, sits down with Christopher Stromeyer, MBA '22, to discuss risk-taking, feedback, and her pre-launch ritual.

Watch this interview on YouTube.

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“It wasn’t luck. I worked every single second of the day – I was obsessed with it. I wanted independence for myself, for my family, and I didn’t want to go back to Jacksonville.”

In 2022, Daniella Pierson was named the youngest, wealthiest, self-made BIPOC woman in the world by Forbes. The 28-year-old grew her first company, The Newsette, to a $200 million dollar valuation without taking on a single investor. As a one-woman operation, she advertised through word of mouth and ran the company from her college dorm room.

She wasn’t just working against a full college course load. Pierson also battled OCD and ADHD diagnoses. Her mental health experiences would help inspire the mental fitness startup Wondermind, confounded with Selena Gomez in 2022. Two years later, Pierson is already onto her next project: Breadwinner, a financial literacy brand dedicated to helping young visionaries turn their barriers into building blocks. 

In this View From The Top interview, Pierson sits down with Zach Doherty, MBA ’24, to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, work life balance, and what’s next for Breadwinner. “This is my ecosystem of everything that I have proven in my story. None of my businesses have ever been me first.”

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"My number one priority is to make sure Zoom employees are happy. I believe if you have happy employees, you’re going to have happy customers." Eric Yuan, SEP '06, founded Zoom in 2011 to "deliver happiness and bring people together" in a frictionless video environment. In 2019, Eric led Zoom to one of the highest-performing tech IPOs of the year. But it was the next year that really made his company a global verb. In January 2020, the Zoom app averaged about 56,000 daily downloads on the Apple App Store. Within two months, as the COVID-19 outbreak forced a tectonic shift in the way people communicate, those downloads surpassed two million per day.

In this episode of View From the Top, the podcast, Kathleen Schwind MBA '23, sits down to interview Yuan about what how he creates company culture, how he strives for work-life balance, and the few things he can't live without. 

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Founding Member of the SB Opportunity Fund and Former CEO of TaskRabbit, Stacy Brown-Philpot, MBA ’02, is leading the charge on diversity by trusting her gut. In this View From The Top conversation at Stanford GSB, Stacy discusses her childhood in Detroit and how community has given her grit and influenced her career journey with Jess Lawson, MBA ’21.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In April and March of 2020, as shelter-in-place mandates swept the globe and travel halted, bookings on Airbnb plummeted. With an 80% revenue loss, the company had to lay off nearly a quarter of its workforce. 

"When you’re our size, and the business drops by 80 percent in eight weeks, it's is like being in an 18-wheeler going 80 miles-an-hour, and then you slam on the brakes," Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said. Chesky was interviewed by James Yan, MBA '23, for View From The Top, on the Stanford GSB campus.

"This is weeks after we were preparing for what was supposed to be one of the hottest IPOs in years. It was completely bewildering." Chesky was called upon to provide answers, guidance, and business decisions at a time when uncertainty ruled. But when there's only a blank slate, he says, it's time to deploy creativity.  

"The hardest thing to manage in a crisis is your own psychology. People look in your eyes, and if you think you’re screwed, they see it in your eyes. You need to be optimistic. But it can’t be optimism that’s delusional. ... The optimistic mentality is the mentality you need to be creative. And you need to be creative because, in a crisis, you often have no good solutions."

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In a candid conversation with Kailash Sundaram, MBA ’25, Roelof Botha, MBA ’00 — leader of one of the most influential venture capital firms in the world — reflects on his journey from South Africa to Sequoia Capital. 

From meeting his wife and partner Huifen Chan, MBA '00, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, to lessons about ambition and failure, Botha reflects on his life and career so far — and why he believes he’s still “not at the top."

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Rosalind Brewer has a remarkable ability to see the big picture. She has led major organizations such as Sam's Club and Starbucks and identified major growth opportunities by tapping into her education in chemistry and data analytics. In this View From The Top interview conducted by Joy Wong, MBA ’21, the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and former COO of Starbucks shares why you should find your voice and always speak up. “Don't be silent in the room,” she says. “Even if you think you're gonna make a mistake, that's better than sitting there quiet because you begin to suffocate… So just get it out there and feel like you have value.”

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Alexandra Eitel, MBA ’22, sits down with Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of 23andMe to discuss breaking down inequality through genetics and how leaders should build trust by being unabashedly honest. “The guiding principle for 23andMe is transparency and choice. It’s the choice whether you want to get your genetic information, the choice if you want to participate in research, the choice that you don’t want to do all these things. And I think that’s one of the issues I have in healthcare — most times you’re not provided choice and you’re not provided transparency.”

Wojcicki also recounts stories from the early days of 23andMe to how she’s navigating hybrid work today. “Everything is about being redefined,” she says. “Work environments are never going to be the same. And so, how do you really have a hybrid environment? And even at different policies, talking to companies about what are you doing for return to office, or are people coming in. How do you manage vaccinations? Everything has been nonstop of helping manage.”

Watch this interview on our YouTube channel.

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“You have to be very humble if you want to be an entrepreneur…know what you know and know what you don’t know.” In this episode of View From The Top, the podcast, Jessica Alba, founder of The Honest Company, sits down with Alexandra Eitel, MBA '22 to discuss how entrepreneurs have to trust their gut.  

View From the Top is drawn from the dean’s speaker series in which prominent leaders from around the world join MBA students for a conversation on effective leadership, core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

Find more episodes on Stanford GSB's website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this View From The Top interview, Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of TIAA, recalls her childhood experience moving from New York to Texas in a car packed with everything her parents and two siblings owned and why she knew from a young age that she had the power to make progress. In her conversation with Adriann Negreros, MBA ’21, Duckett talks about how to change social inequities by believing in “the art of possibility.”

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"Entrepreneurship is in my DNA. In my own life journey, I've come to appreciate the significance of entrepreneurship in transforming communities, in transforming countries, societies, and humanity." Tony Elumelu, a Nigerian businessman, billionaire, philanthropist, and champion of African entrepreneurs, is a steadfast believer that the private sector has a role to play in developing countries across Africa.

After a career running United Bank of Africa, Elumelu says he has decided “to commit the second phase of my life to helping democratize the luck that I had growing up, to help expand access to opportunities.” And he has done just that, funding thousands of early-stage startups and empowering more than 15,000 entrepreneurs across 54 African countries to solve the continent’s biggest problems.

In this View From The Top interview on Stanford campus, Chisom Obi-Okoye, MBA '22, interviews Elumelu about his career path, philosophy of African capitalism, and vision for the future of the continent.

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MercadoLibre e-commerce, the eBay of Latin America, is a $28 billion company. At its roots are three friends who met at Stanford GSB.

In this View From The Top speaker series, MercadoLibre founders Marcos Galperín, MBA ’99; Hernan Kazah, MBA ’99; and Stelleo Tolda, MBA ’99 discuss the team dynamics of starting a company with classmates and the contrarian views that helped them succeed.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“You know what kind of culture you have by how your employees are feeling on Sunday night when they think about getting ready to go back to work on Monday morning.”

When Cynt Marshall was hired as the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks in 2018, she presented her vision: that the organization would become a global standard for inclusion and diversity. “I truly believe if you have an inclusive culture and a diverse group of employees, you can get anything done," Marshall says. "I’ve lived it. There’s a bottom line impact to having diversity, and having equity in your organization, and an inclusive culture.”

In this View From The Top interview, Marshall sits down with Sankalp Banarjee, MBA ’23, to share stories of how she stepped into her authentic self as a leader, how she navigated personal and professional challenges, and how she keeps burn-out at bay.  

“A lot of times people ask the question, ‘What keeps you up at night?’ I say, ‘No, to me, the question is, ‘What gets you up in the morning?’” 

Marshall was named one of 15 of the world’s most inspiring female leaders by Forbes in 2021. In March 2020 and several times prior, she was selected as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise magazine.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the CEO of Gap Inc., Sonia Syngal’s brand is to create with audacity. In this View From The Top conversation with Adriann Negreros, MBA ’21, Syngal discusses her career, from her start in the auto industry to her recent experience guiding a major retailer through the pandemic. “It's like that Apollo 13 moment when you just have to get it done and the situation requires us to step into the leadership required,” she says. “That's what happened and you have to believe that we're all here for a reason I was in that role at that time to lead.”

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Born in a log cabin in British Columbia, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield studied Philosophy in college, taught himself to code, co-founded Flickr, and then co-founded a videogame startup that evolved into Slack. Along the way, he learned a lot about innovating in the face of failure, considering all voices in decision-making, and creating a company culture that “walks the walk” when it comes to diversity.  

Listen to Butterfield in conversation with Tylon Garrett, MBA ’20, on this View From The Top podcast episode: 

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"If you want to build the future, don't look to the future. Look to something that's in the corner in the present." In this episode of View From The Top, the podcast, Andy Dunn MBA ’07, founder and CEO of Bonobos, sits down with Cyerra Holmes, MBA '23, to talk about his journey building a clothing company while a student at Stanford GSB. He also shares stories from his recently released memoir, "Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind," which explores the intersection of entrepreneurship and mental illness. Andy's next business venture is a social media app that aims to detoxify digital culture.

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"You have to encourage innovation. Companies become more conservative in decision making as you grow...be okay with failure and reward effort, not outcomes."

In this episode of View From The Top, the podcast, CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, speaks to Archana Sohmshetty, MBA '22, about the impact of access to technology, humanity's challenge to harness it, and how Google is sustainably defining the future of work. "When you see the appetite and the desire for people to make their lives better by gaining access to technology, that is what compels me to go beyond." says Pichai. 

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Tony Xu, MBA ’13, says that immigrating from China at the age of five and moving around as a young kid taught him one of the keys to success — how to adapt to new environments. Influenced by his entrepreneurial and hardworking parents, Xu started Doordash in his apartment while attending Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this View From The Top interview conducted by Joy Huang, MBA ’21, the cofounder and CEO of Doordash explains why problem solving means focusing on the smallest details, like working out logistics issues by making deliveries yourself. “If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, I would say find something you're obsessive about,” he says. “Because the journey to building anything of meaning, I believe, will take years, maybe decades.” 

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"What I've found with our players, is that the guys who have the most balance in their lives, are the ones who know how to handle all this stuff the best," said Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, in a View From The Top interview on campus. "Work-life balance is just crucial."

Interviewed by Rustom Birdie, MBA '22, Kerr compared leading on the court to leading at home. "I think I lead my team a little bit like I raised my children," he said. "My wife and I did that together, and we always sort of gave them a lot of rope, but they kind of knew they were responsible for that freedom. I believe in the same kind of leadership with the team."

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"You can learn how something can be done and then go back to first principles and ask yourself, 'Given the conditions today, given my motivation, given the instruments, the tools, given how things have changed, how would I redo this? How would I reinvent this whole thing?"

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, started his career washing dishes at Denny's. He then worked his way to busboy and, eventually, founded what is one of today's most valuable companies on Wall Street. In this interview at Stanford GSB's View From The Top event, founder and CEO Jensen Huang, MS '92, shares the stage with Shantam Jain, MBA '24, to detail his experience founding NVIDIA, funding it, and, finally his views on AI.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1,216. That’s the total number of NCAA games won by Tara VanDerveer, making her the all-time winning coach in college basketball history. In addition to coaching for 38 years at Stanford, she led the U.S. Women’s team to Olympic gold in 1996 – finishing with a flawless 16-0 record. “Coaching is teaching. It’s really trying to help people go to places they can’t go themselves,” says VanDerveer. “There’s nothing more rewarding than a great team.”

It’s hard to believe that the legendary coach was once barred from playing herself. In the seventh grade, VanDerveer was her school basketball team’s mascot. By the time she was in ninth grade, she still wasn’t allowed to play – even though the coach told her she was the best among both the boys and girls. Since then, the iconic trailblazer for women in sports has changed the game. In this episode of the View From The Top podcast hosted by Shannon Beckham, MBA ’24, VanDerveer shares moments from her legendary career and reflects on what it means to be a great teammate – on and off the court. 

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"The secret sauce of being a successful creator on the platform is just being true to yourself. And that sounds sort of very cliché, but I wish somebody had given me that advice early in my career because nothing rings more true."

Neal Mohan, MBA ’05 and the CEO of YouTube, visited the Stanford campus as part of View From The Top. Mohan sat down with Shannon Beckham, MBA ’24, to discuss his background in tech, his time at Stanford GSB, and why he is an optimist about AI.

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"People will give you credit, but 99% of it is not you,” said Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani, in a View From The Top interview on campus. “It's the environment that you created.” 

Interviewed by Alexandra Eitel, MBA ’22, Ulukaya also discussed how businesses can benefit from hiring and training refugees in their community. "Refugees can come into society and a community. It’s very simple, as a CEO: hire them, train them; you will benefit greatly and so will they.” 

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"My first piece of advice is only take the role if you are really interested in it. Startups are hard," says Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox. "And when it's tough, you find a way, you make a way, you back up the boat, you reassess, you pivot. And so if you don't have that irrational belief and pull, don't do it."

Aicha Evans took the role of CEO at autonomous vehicle company Zoox in 2019. And in 2020, she led the company's acquisition by Amazon for $1.3B.

Evans visited Stanford Graduate School of Business for View From The Top and was interviewed by Katie Harris, MBA '24. In their conversation, Evans addressed the challenges of leading in a highly dynamic industry, the nuances of navigating corporate transitions and acquisitions, and the principles guiding her leadership in a future-focused company. 

For a full transcript of this conversation, visit the podcast webpage.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"Now also in that meeting, I asked her, 'Could you introduce me to a few of your friends? I’d love to meet with them and talk about this idea.' Because every meeting has to get you to three other meetings. Never leave a meeting with someone without asking them for that introduction." In this View From The Top interview, Rent the Runway founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman shares stories from her first meeting with fashion-giant Diane Von Furstenberg and how she's worked to foster and maintain relationships with more than 1,000 retail brands. 

"If you’re an entrepreneur, effectively you are a salesperson. That’s your number one skill that you need to have," Hyman says.   

Interviewed by Cyerra Holmes, MBA ’23, Hyman talked about how growing up with a sibling with a disability helped her become relentlessly optimistic in the face of insurmountable odds. And, just twelve years after business school and those first meetings with fashion designers, Hyman took Rent The Runway public, becoming the 30th woman to complete an IPO in the history of U.S. markets.

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As the CEO of Land O'Lakes, Beth Ford connects her working-class Midwestern childhood with her success running a farmer-owned cooperative . In in this View From The Top episode, Ford talks to Adriann Negreros, MBA ‘21, about being the first openly gay female CEO of a Fortune 500 company and how she’s succeeded in a male-dominated industry. “You want to have humility, but you can’t be shy to make clear to your supervisors, your leaders, whomever, what your aspiration is,” she says. “Otherwise, people are going to just guess. Nobody, I promise you, cares more about your career than you do.”

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"If there are two things that have been foundational to my journey, it's been learning, and it's been the importance of taking risk."

Hemant Taneja, managing partner and CEO of General Catalyst, shares his insights on leadership, innovation, and the evolving role of venture capital in this episode of View From The Top, the podcast. 

In his conversation with Shantam Jain, MBA '24, on the Stanford GSB campus, Taneja reflects on his personal journey from a low-income household in Delhi to becoming a prominent figure in the venture capital world. 

The conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities in various sectors, including healthcare, defense, and AI. Taneja discusses the role of venture capital in fostering transformative companies. He also highlights the importance of aligning profit with purpose and the necessity of engaging with policymakers to navigate the complexities of emerging technologies.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund.

During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

For a full transcript, visit the episode's page on the Stanford GSB website.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this View From The Top interview, Priscilla Chan, cofounder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, shares the story of her refugee family fleeing Vietnam and what it was like for her growing up as an Asian American in the Catholic suburbs of Boston. In a conversation with Rex Woodbury, MBA ’21, Chan discusses how the values she learned as a young girl have given her the optimism to always do better and the confidence to tackle problems that others aren’t tackling. “I’m sure many of you are very good at identifying problems and going to the authorities,” she says. “The only problem is, eventually you’ll find that there is no authority and that you’re the grown-up in the room. You’re the only one who cares enough about this problem to do something about it.”

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“In companies, you don’t want just the product team thinking about the product; the finance team thinking about finance ... You want everyone all the time feeling like they’re an owner, and they can have a point of view on any part of the company.”

In this View From The Top interview, Sarah Friar, MBA ’00, CEO of Nextdoor, sits down with Zack Doherty, MBA ’24. During their conversation at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Friar shared her unique perspective on taking strategic career risks, how social media can effect positive change in society, and the value of bringing people together through human connection and community.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Outdoor retailer Patagonia is known for its outspoken environmental activism, and Rose Marcario is the driving force behind that message. She left behind a lucrative career in private equity to join the company in 2008. Now, as CEO, she’s working to cultivate the “self-examining” culture that drew her to Patagonia in the first place. Her priorities include promoting long-term thinking, instituting sustainable practices at all levels of the business, and encouraging competitors to do the same. 

During a visit to Stanford GSB in February of 2020, Marcario joined Tara Hill, MBA ’20, in a conversation on how Patagonia is setting a new standard for environmental stewardship. 

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When David Vélez, MBA '12, moved to Brazil in 2008 to open a regional office for a private equity fund, he didn’t expect one of his biggest challenges to be getting a bank account. The process took five months.

Five years later, he was in São Paulo after working as a partner for Sequoia Capital, a venture firm, and has just graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business. To him, Brazil’s financial services sector seemed ripe for disruption. So in May of 2013, with seed funding from Sequoia Capital and Kaszek Ventures (a firm founded by two Stanford GSB graduates), Vélez launched Nubank, a fintech bank which has grown to be the largest in Latin America. 

Vélez shared the story of his path to entrepreneurship with students at a recent View From The Top event on Stanford GSB campus. 

"You want to position yourself in the scarcity of the market, not in the oversupply," he said. Vélez was interviewed by Christopher Stromeyer, MBA '22, and shared how his drive to continuously be challenged played a large part in his drive to reinvent a part of the banking system. "Why would you wait decades to solve issues if you can now?"

Prominent leaders from around the world join MBA students for a conversation on effective leadership, core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. View From The Top, the podcast, is based on the dean’s speaker series at Stanford Graduate School of Business. It is produced by Michael Reilly, Jenny Luna, and the theme music was composed by Lily Sloan.

Show notes

How Stanford GSB alums created one of the most valuable startups in Latin America, Stanford GSB Insights

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Ruth Zukerman discovered spinning at a difficult crossroads in her life, and she was thrilled when it turned into her next entrepreneurial endeavor: opening her own spin studio. This new venture, however, didn’t come without its own uncertainties and challenges, which Zukerman overcame through persistence and a newfound sense of confidence. In her View From The Top conversation at Stanford GSB, Zukerman discussed all this and more with Michael Lewis, MBA ’20. 

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“If you can create unreasonable expectations, people amaze you with their creativity.”

In this View From The Top interview, Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO of Adobe, spoke with Sankalp Banerjee, MBA ’23, about his personal evolution as a leader, including the last 16 years as CEO. Narayen discussed the importance of innovative thinking across multiple scales, seeking opportunities in setbacks, and finding creative inspiration. He also shared his perspective on the future of technology and digital experiences, including the impact of generative AI and data transparency. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"I've seen unbelievable change happen in places that the world sees as not investible. Part of storytelling is doing the work of investing so that people can tell their own stories because of the changes they've made."

In 1986 Jacqueline Novogratz quit her job on Wall Street and moved to Rwanda to help open the country's first microfinance institution. She then came to Stanford GSB in 1989, and, in 2001, founded Acumen, a nonprofit impact investing fund.

"We look at poverty always in terms of income, but poverty is so much more than income. Poverty is a lack of choice, it's a lack of opportunity, it's a lack of agency, it's a lack of feeling that you can contribute. Dignity is the opposite." 

In this View From the Top interview, Novogratz sits down with Kathleen Schwind, MBA ’23, to talk about her journey into impact investing and how the industry has grown in the last decade.  

"We are in this moment of just extraordinary technological acceleration. Our challenge is to ensure that our moral reasoning, our moral imagination, our moral courage keeps pace with that acceleration." 

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You may think you know Steph Curry the basketball player, but the star of the Golden State Warriors has been working to build an important legacy both on and off the court in supporting his family foundation, building a company, and raising his three young children. While he gives a lot of credit to his faith and support system for his success, his hard work has earned him a place as one of the country’s most respected athletes and leaders.

In February of 2020, Curry visited Stanford GSB and was interviewed by Tylon Garrett, MBA ’20.

Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Having lived in 4 countries by the age of 12 and growing up the only Ghanaian family in a predominantly white town in Colorado, Bozoma St. John had an expansive worldview at a young age. In this View From The Top interview conducted by Jessica Lawson, MBA ’21, the chief marketing officer of Netflix discusses the importance of not comparing yourself to others and how content can spark curiosity and connection. “I think that entertainment has a very, very, very big role in changing societal norms,” she says. “If we are able to use entertainment as a way to normalize experiences across the board, then we have a much better shot at being just better human beings.”

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“My story is not an exceptional story. It could have been the story of any girl if their fathers and brothers had allowed them to speak out.”

In this View From The Top interview, activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, shares her mission mission to ensure that all 130 million girls who are out of school can have access to education.

“My goal is to meet these girls, but also uplift their story so leaders listen to them rather than me. And this is my goal in every meeting ... to say ‘let’s listen to these activists. They have something to say to you. You have been ignoring their voices, so hear from them and they will tell you what the issues are in this country for girls and women.’”

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"If you talk about and comment on everything, your voice becomes background noise ... It's important [for brands] to be clear what matters most to us and why. What's our purpose? Why do we exist?"

In this episode of View From The Top, the podcast, Dara Treseder, MBA '14, Peloton's global head of marketing, communications, and membership discusses how she found her purpose as a leader and why the journey to success is not linear. "Remember no matter how high you are, be humble. No matter how low you are, be hopeful," she says. 

This podcast is drawn from Stanford GSB's speaker series in which prominent leaders from around the world join MBA students for a conversation on effective leadership, core values, and lessons learned throughout their career.

Watch the video.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you follow through with a goal when you're mid way there and motivation waivers? How can wellness trackers help you achieve your goals? Stanford professor Szu-Chi Huang and Stanford Insights sit down to talk about her research on goal setting. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Consumers really care about authenticity, but what makes something the real deal? Stanford professor Glenn Carroll and Stanford Insights sit down to talk about his research on authenticity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does the end of privacy look like? Stanford GSB professor Michal Kosinski shares with Stanford Insights his optimistic vision of a world with less privacy but more tolerance. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Diverse teams lead to more innovation. Stanford professor Margaret Neale talks with Stanford Insights about why it's so hard to create and maintain diverse teams. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2017, Sheryl Sandberg advised students against making a strict plan for their careers, because "you’re going to miss all the good stuff — all the good stuff hasn’t been invented yet!" Sandberg also spoke openly about the sudden loss of her husband, Dave Goldberg, in 2015. “When Dave died, I didn’t think I was capable of anything. I could barely go to work and not cry. I was parenting two grieving children,” she says. Listen to Sheryl Sandberg in conversation with Julie Sawaya, MBA '17. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When it comes to “moral victories,” Rahm Emanuel, the current mayor of Chicago and former White House chief of staff, will have none of it. “Our party likes to be right, even if they lose,” he says. During a one-hour View From The Top discussion with Ben Kohlmann, MBA '17, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Emanuel sketched his vision for the Democratic Party and offered advice to future business executives on why they should be ruthless when making deals. Listen to the podcast episode from Emanuel's conversation at View From The Top. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff Weiner is intrigued by the future of work and the dramatic changes that have occurred in the workplace in recent years. Weiner has been the CEO of LinkedIn for a decade, and under his leadership the company has grown from 338 employees to over 10,000. Annual revenues now top $3 billion. In his View From The TopView From the Top conversation at Stanford GSB, Weiner spoke with Al El Badry, MBA '17, about immigration in the United States and why he models his management style after the Dalai Lama. Stanford GSB’s View From The TopView From the Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Getting fired while seemingly at the apogee of a career would faze most executives. But it only took Jeffrey Katzenberg eight days to recover after being shown the door at Disney, where he’d headed its motion picture division for 10 years. In just over a week, he teamed with Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg and David Geffen to launch DreamWorks, where they turned out hits including Saving Private Ryan, Castaway, A Beautiful Mind, and Shrek. Listen to the former Dreamworks CEO on an episode of View From the Top, the podcast: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Magic Johnson is known globally for his success as one of the all-time great NBA stars.. The Michigan native played 13 seasons for the LA Lakers before shooting for new ventures like starting a record label, a promotional company, and a chain of movie theaters. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, Johnson joined Kara Hollis, MBA ’16, in a conversation on how he began his career transition well before he was off the court and why his competitive nature drives him to “over-deliver.” Listen to the episode on View From The Top, the podcast. Stanford GSB’s View From The TopView From the Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As CEO of one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company, Ken Frazier has pushed the firm to invest in treatments for serious diseases, particularly those that affect people in developing countries. During a View From The Top conversation at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Frazier discussed how economic inequality breeds political inequality, his early career pivot from law to business, and why it’s vital to do more than just please shareholders. Listen to Frazier in conversation with Geordie Keelan, MBA '18, on this podcast episode: Stanford GSB’s View From the Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. During student-led interviews, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. I See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Almost every entrepreneur in the U.S. knows the story of how Spanx started: Sara Blakely, then 27, was prepping for a party when she realized she didn’t have the right undergarment to wear under white pants. To solve the issue she pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the feet off her pantyhose. Thus, Spanx was born. In April of 2018, Blakely visited Stanford GSB and was interviewed by Sarah AlBanna, MBA '18. Listen to their conversation on this podcast: Stanford GSB’s View From the Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"Stop the crazy mind chatter in your head that tells you that you are not good enough,” said Oprah Winfrey during a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business. She advised students that even when their long-term goals are unclear, the important thing is to banish self-doubt and continue forward, no matter how small the step. "The way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, 'What is the next right move?’ and then, from that space, make the next right move and then the next right move." Listen to Oprah’s conversation with Amanda Facelle, MBA ’14, on leadership, education, and following your “inner GPS.” Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Mitt Romney first talked to Bill Bain about joining Bain & Company, Romney was clear about one thing: “I have to have all day Sunday off. If that’s something the firm can’t accept, then I’m probably not the right guy for the firm.” He ended up getting the job and leading its momentous growth. Romney later co-founded the spin-off company, Bain Capital, which grew to become one of the largest private equity investment firms in the nation. In 2003, Romney entered politics, serving as the governor of Massachusetts for four years. He is the current senator-elect from Utah. “Have more in your life than just work,” Romney tells Stanford GSB students during his View From The Top conversation with Ryan Harper, MBA ’15. “I found that if you take a block of time off for yourself, you may well be more productive than if you don’t.” Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the Dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Selling sneakers from the back of his car, Phil Knight co-founded Nike with his college track coach in 1964. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, Knight talked about the origins of his highly competitive, never-give-up attitude — and how that attitude has played out at Nike over the years. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Diane Von Furstenberg didn’t plan a career in fashion — she just wanted to earn her own money. Staying open to new ideas led to her starting the DVF clothing line. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, Von Furstenberg explained how she got started — and what helped her rebuild her business when she “lost it all.” Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How did a history major with no formal technical training become one of technology’s most successful investors? During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, venture capitalist Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital said it’s critical to be able to process new information and ideas, as well as to communicate effectively. He also discussed how to identify promising companies that may not fit into conventional categories, and the challenges of diversifying the tech industry. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Dara Khosrowshahi fled Iran and arrived in the United States, he was 9 years old, did not speak fluent English, and was unfamiliar with the culture. With the help of sports, he assimilated — ultimately launching a business career. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, he talked about how he cultivated mentors and how he is approaching diversity and inclusion at Uber. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oscar Munoz became CEO of United Airlines in 2015 — and almost immediately suffered a heart attack. He recovered to oversee the airline’s labor negotiations, continue the work of merging United’s corporate culture with that of Continental Airlines, and guide the company through a period of bad publicity. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, he discussed issues ranging from gun control to the airline’s carbon footprint — and why it’s so important to learn to listen. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Investments, the most successful hedge fund in history. But he also made mistakes — and those mistakes helped him learn to balance audacity with humility. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, he talked about the value of a system that allows competing points of view to be heard fairly. Such a system can lead to good decisions in both business and public policy. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ruth Porat has seen two financial crises up close: She had just started at Morgan Stanley in 1987 when the stock market crashed, forcing her to reconsider her focus on mergers and acquisitions. Then, in 2008, she was asked to serve as an advisor to the U.S. Treasury Department during the recession. During a visit to Stanford Graduate School of Business, she discussed how these experiences shaped her career and her view of leadership. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As Microsoft CEO since 2014, Satya Nadella has helped refresh an aging tech giant, pushing the company into artificial intelligence and cloud networking. His tactics have Wall Street’s attention: on Oct. 15 the company’s stock hit an all-time high of $141.57. In his View from the Top discussion at Stanford GSB, Nadella told students that a sense of purpose is invaluable to company success, and how through relationships with others, work becomes more than transactional. Stanford GSB’s View From The Top is the dean’s premier speaker series. It launched in 1978 and is supported in part by the F. Kirk Brennan Speaker Series Fund. During student-led interviews and before a live audience, leaders from around the world share insights on effective leadership, their personal core values, and lessons learned throughout their career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.