Founder Payal Kadakia on Building ClassPass into a Billion Dollar Company, Living a Plan A Life and Achieving Your Potential
Learn how Payal Kadakia built a start up into a billion dollar unicorn in her 20’s, despite many setbacks, and what her most important decisions were. Payal shares what living a Plan A life means, how the moment that enabled her to launch her life was one of the lowest moments of her career, and what leadership characteristics enabled her to succeed.
Payal is the founder of ClassPass, the world’s largest health club aggregator with over 30,000 health clubs in 28 countries. ClassPass offers a revolutionary membership that lets members use health clubs and book unlimited fitness classes for a subscription fee.
Payal is also the author of LifePass: Drop Your Limits, Rise to Your Potential: A Groundbreaking Approach to Goal Setting.
Why Platform Companies (Facebook, Amazon, Airbnb and Uber) Are the Opposite of Traditional Companies, Why They Become So Enormous, and How They Can Be Effectively Regulated: Marshall Van Alstyne
Marshall Van Alstyne shares why platform companies dominate traditional businesses and why 7 of the 10 largest companies in the world are platform companies. Learn how they outcompete traditional companies while employing just a tiny fraction of the number of people, how they are completely different from companies of the past, and why platforms beat products all the time.
Boston University professor Marshall Van Alstyne is the co-author of the international bestseller Platform Revolution and he is one of the world's experts on network business models.
The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business: Setting the Table with Union Square Hospitality Group Founder & CEO Danny Meyer
Danny Meyer shares how to deliver outstanding hospitality, how he thinks restaurants will be different post pandemic and what continues to get him excited each day.
Danny is the founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, which comprises some of New York’s most beloved and acclaimed restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack, The Modern, Maialino, and many more.
Danny and USHG’s restaurants have won an unprecedented 28 James Beard Awards, including Outstanding Restaurateur, several three Michelin stars, and a Julia Child Award. He has also been recognized by Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America and TIME 100 “Most Influential People”.
”You may think, as I once did, that I’m primarily in the business of serving good food. Actually, though, food is secondary to something that matters even more. In the end, what’s most meaningful is creating positive, uplifting outcomes for human experiences and human relationships. Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.”
Always Be Learning: The Top 10 Takeaways of 2021 From Our Guests
This week on the podcast we are highlighting the Top 10 Takeaways of 2021. With guests ranging from CEOs and founders, to best-selling authors and even the Director of the U.S. Secret Service. These individuals left us feeling motivated and inspired!
Harvard Business Review Editor in Chief Adi Ignatius: The New World of Work and the Biggest Trends in Business
Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief of Harvard Business Review, shares the biggest trends in the business world right now and how he sees the new world of work – including the future of the workplace, innovation and leadership.
As Editor in Chief he oversees editorial activities at HBR, HBR.org, and HBR's book-publishing unit. He was previously deputy managing editor of Time and bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal in Beijing and Moscow.
Adi is the editor of two books: "President Obama: The Path to the White House" and "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang." Both made the New York Times' bestseller list. He is the host of the Harvard Business Review video series “The New World of Work” - candid conversations on talent, tech, and the future of business.
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: On the Future of Sports, Sports as Entertainment, Enhancing the Audience Experience and How the NBA Engages over 2 Billion People
NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum shares on the future of sports, enhancing the audience experience, virtual reality, gaming and e-sports.
People are interested in what their favorite athletes and teams are doing off the court as well as on. Mark shares how entertainment driven strategies enhance the overall experience while growing the audience.
Under Mark’s leadership, the NBA has formed NBA Africa, launched NBA Academies around the world, and created the Jr. NBA Global Championship.
In 2016, Mark was named to Forbes’ list of the Top 25 Most Influential Minorities in Sports.
How to Build an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time: Square Co-Founder Jim McKelvey
Learn how Square Co-Founder Jim McKelvey successfully created and built Square, how (as a start-up) Square beat Amazon, and other tips he has for the 3 Takeaways audience. Jim shares why sometimes doing nothing is the best response.
Jim McKelvey co-founded Square, a financial payments company, in 2009 with Jack Dorsey. He is a serial entrepreneur, inventor, philanthropist, artist, and author of The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time.
Building the Largest Asset Management Firm in the World: Co-Founder & Former Vice Chairman of BlackRock Barbara Novick
Co-founder of BlackRock Barbara Novick shares how she and her co-founders built the largest investment management firm in the world with $9 trillion under management and clients in over 100 countries. Learn the keys to BlackRock’s success. Barbara transitioned from Vice Chairman of BlackRock to Senior Advisor in 2021.
An Insider’s Perspective on Venture Capital: Sierra Ventures Founder and Advisor Peter Wendell
Peter Wendell founded Sierra Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has invested more than $2 billion in a wide variety of successful technology companies. Peter co-teaches Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, “Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital” course with former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. He is a trustee of Merck and was chairman of the board of Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO), which manages Princeton University’s endowment.
Peter provides an insider’s perspective on venture capital. Find out how start-ups can secure funding and grow to become unicorns – start-ups valued at over $1 billion. There are currently more than 800 unicorn start-ups worldwide.
How Courageous Companies Thrive by Improving the Lives of Everyone They Touch with Former Unilever CEO Paul Polman
Paul Polman is the former CEO of Unilever, one of the largest companies in the world with over 300 brands. Paul helped redefine what being a good company means long before it was acceptable to think about anything besides profits. Paul shares how Imagine, a movement that he co-founded, brings together a critical mass of CEOs across the value chain to move industries toward sustainable impact goals such as climate change and inequality. Learn more about what a good company is and how your business can thrive by giving more than it takes.
Paul is the author of the highly anticipated book Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take.
Cryptocurrencies, Digital Assets, NFTs and the Future of Blockchain, Including Even for Social Good with Galaxy Digital Founder and CEO Mike Novogratz
Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, shares on cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, digital assets, and the possibilities of blockchain. Learn how the first Tweet, a single sentence by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, sold as an NFT for millions of dollars and why it was worth so much. He also shares how blockchain can even be used for social good. In prisons, for example, it could be used to record solitary confinements and make criminal justice more transparent.
Mike Novogratz has made criminal justice reform a focus of his family’s foundation.
This discussion should not be relied on for investment advice.
“The last thing a fish would ever notice would be water.” Seeing the “Water” - A Different View of The World: Gillian Tett
Gillian Tett, Chair of the Editorial Board and Editor at Large, U.S. of the Financial Times uses her perspective as an anthropologist to explain a wide variety of business and cultural phenomena. She predicted the 2008 financial crisis. Discover how she sees the world today including new phenomena such as crypto currencies, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), artificial intelligence and gaming.
Her new book is Anthro Vision: A New Way to See in Life and Business. Anthropologist Ralph Linton said, “The last thing a fish would ever notice would be water.”
Solving the World's Biggest Problem and Creating the Impossible Burger with Impossible Foods Founder Patrick Brown
Meat production is one of the world’s greatest contributors to climate change. Patrick Brown, the creator of the Impossible Burger and the Founder of Impossible Foods, wanted to figure out how to make delicious, affordable meat from plants that is better for the environment and consumers. Learn about his journey from Stanford University professor to creating the Impossible Burger and how he built Impossible Foods into the multibillion-dollar company it is today.
General Catalyst Chairman and Former American Express Chairman & CEO Ken Chenault: Leadership, Race & Creating Diverse Workforces
Former American Express Chairman and CEO and current General Catalyst Chairman and Managing Director Ken Chenault, shares his thoughts on leadership, race, creating diverse workforces, responsible innovation, and his hope for the future. Ken covers his early life, growing up, his experience leading American Express for nearly two decades through crises and digital transformation, and the advice he gives founders and CEOs building innovative, enduring companies backed by General Catalyst.
Upon Ken’s retirement from American Express, Warren Buffett, the company’s largest shareholder stated, “Ken's been the gold standard for corporate leadership and the benchmark that I measure others against.” Ken is recognized as one of the business world’s experts on brands and brand management. He has been honored by multiple publications including Fortune Magazine, which named him as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders in its inaugural list in 2014 and, most recently, in 2021.
Ken serves on the boards of Airbnb, Berkshire Hathaway, Chief, Guild Education, and the Harvard Corporation. He is a co-founder of OneTen, a coalition of leading executives coming together to upskill, hire and advance one million Black Americans over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement. He also serves on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Advisory Council for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Risk vs. Opportunity in the Market: Investing the Assets of Michael Bloomberg with Steve Rattner
Manager of Michael Bloomberg’s personal and philanthropic assets, Steven Rattner, shares what he is investing in now and how he views the opportunities and risks in the market. As a former Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury and former head of Obama’s Auto Task Force, he also provides insights on government.
Steve is also the Economic Analyst for MSNBC’s Morning Joe and a Contributing Writer for the The New York Times Op-Ed page.
What Leaders and Corporate Boards Can Learn From Boeing’s Mistakes: Harvard Business School’s Sandra Sucher
Boeing’s fall from grace didn’t happen overnight. Sandra Sucher shares five key mistakes made by the CEO and the board of directors.
Her upcoming book is The Power of Trust.
Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence & Synthetic Biology To Usher In A New Age of Drug Discovery: James J. Collins
Jim Collins, co-inventor of the technology behind COVID vaccines, shares a revolutionary approach to drug discovery. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, he discovered an amazing new class of antibiotics, which he named halicin after Hal, the murderous robot in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Professor Collins' patented technologies have been licensed by over 25 biotech, pharma and medical devices companies. He is known as one of the founders of the new field of synthetic biology and is a professor at MIT and affiliated with the Broad Institute and the Wyss Institute.
Hard Won Wisdom From An Entrepreneur: Ellen Marie Bennett
Ellen Bennett created a multi-million dollar business with clients ranging from 2 star Michelin restaurants to Martha Stewart and Google, without any design or business experience. She shares her hard won and unconventional wisdom of what worked. Her memoir and playbook is Dream First, Details Later.
How to Get People to Say Yes: The Godfather of Influence Dr. Robert Cialdini
Warren Buffett recommends Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book Influence, which has sold over 5 million copies, as one of the best business books of all time. Dr. Cialdini shares his latest findings on how we can all use the tactics of influence and persuasion to get people to say “yes” to us. He recently published a new version of Influence.
How the World’s Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life: William Green
William Green shares investing and life lessons from the world’s legendary investors. Learn the surprisingly simple rules they follow to stack the odds in their favor in both investing and in life. Discover their common approaches to investing, such as sublime indifference to crowd sentiment. William Green is the author of Richer Wiser Happier.