Stanford GSB: View From The Top

Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA, discusses first-principles thinking, founding NVIDIA from washing dishes at Denny's, pioneering graphics technology, navigating leadership challenges, advancements in generative AI, and rapid-fire questions in an engaging and insightful interview.

Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox, shares insights on leading in a dynamic industry, navigating corporate acquisitions, and the importance of having an irrational belief in startup success. She reflects on the challenges and opportunities in the autonomous vehicle industry, addressing regulatory issues, job security concerns, and the potential impact on driving roles. Evans also discusses the need to clean up the internet before advancing with AI, emphasizing the importance of addressing digital clutter for a safer digital environment. Additionally, she explores managing irritation and relationships at work, highlighting the significance of respect, boundaries, and personal growth.

Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube, discusses the importance of authenticity for creators on the platform, his journey from the Midwest to India, leadership philosophy, and the future of YouTube with AI technology. He shares insights on supporting artists, navigating identity, and personal reflections on advice and memorable moments.

Guest Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor, shares insights on taking strategic career risks, leveraging technology to unite people, and fostering strong communities. She discusses the importance of empowering individuals in companies to contribute diverse ideas and viewpoints, the value of human connection, and using AI to enhance user engagement and promote positive interactions on social platforms.

"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." 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.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.

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."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.

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