Boardroom Talks

Bozoma St. John has been a high-profile brand architect and marketing whiz for some of the world’s most innovative entertainment and tech companies. Her resume includes executive positions at Pepsi, Uber, Endeavor, Apple, and now Netflix. But as an African-American woman of Ghanaian parentage, St. John’s ascent up the corporate ladder has involved numerous struggles for rewards worthy of her contributions. Many of her early successes were created behind the scenes, including her notably arranging, while at Pepsi, Beyonce’s memorable 2013 Super Bowl half-time show. In 2016, as Head of Global Marketing for Apple Music, she hit the stage at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. Her presentation became a viral sensation, with Buzzfeed commenting: “Bozoma St. John is the Coolest Person To Ever Go Onstage At An Apple Event.” It elevated St. John’s public profile, and she's now known in the public consciousness as much for being a style icon as a savvy behind-the-scenes corporate marketer. St. John talks to Rich and Gianni about her fall out with Pepsi after the Beyonce half-time show, getting LeBron James and Kevin Durant in the back seat of an Uber for an award-winning campaign, and why Gianni was such a good intern. [Yes, St. John was Gianni's boss for his 1st corporate internship.] She also talks about how she rebounded from tremendous grief after the death of her husband, why she relates so well to tech founders, and why she's so excited about Netflix's future. 

When Arianna Huffington co-founded The Huffington Post in 2005, it created a blueprint for a new kind of digital media company at a time news and social conversation were rapidly migrating from traditional to online media outlets. That success led to a $315 million acquisition by AOL, with Huffington remaining as President and Editor in Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. Five years later, she would start Thrive Global, which helped major companies and their employees build healthy habits through inspirational storytelling and actionable steps to help navigate a stressful world with greater resilience.  Huffington's fascinating backstory is as compelling as her gifts for storytelling. She was born in Greece, but moved to the UK at 16, speaking virtually no english. She earned acceptance to Cambridge, one of the UK's most prestigious universities, where she became a star debater. A prolific author, she penned numerous bestsellers; hired a young Van Jones as her campaign manager in a 2003 bid for California governor against Arnold Schwarzenegger; and then launched her successful media career. Huffington talks to Rich and Gianni about meeting Rich and KD for the first time, and how her unsuccessful campaign for governor led her to the insights that fueled the success of The Huffington Post. She also shares how her relentless entrepreneurial work ethic led to burnout and a 2007 incident that made her realize her work habits were hazardous to her health. The incident inspired the formation of Thrive Global.  

Alex Honnold gained global fame after the release of the film Free Solo, based on his death-defying climb --with no ropes or safety equipment--  of Yosemite Park’s El Capitan. The film captivated audiences, won the 2019 Oscar for Best Documentary, and established Honnold as one of the world's greatest athletes. Though Honnold has not always appeared to revel in the fame the film brought him, he’s made good use of the opportunities. Now, the primary face of his sport, he's expanded the work of his foundation, and has greatly raised awareness for rock climbing. As the upcoming Olympics prepares to feature climbing as an event for the first time, Honnold was likely a big factor in the sport achieving Olympic status. In this episode, Honnold talks to Rich and Gianni about what people get wrong about what motivates elite climbers, why he’s excited about his new podcast series, and the inspiration he's taken from legendary female climber, Lynn Hill. Honnold even invites Rich and Gianni to climb rocks with him in Central Park next time he visits New York City. 

As a Managing Partner at Andreesen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley's most influential Venture Capital firms, Chris Lyons also runs its Cultural Leadership Fund, the first consisting of 100% African American Limited Partners. To date, CLF has invested in over 65 startups at the intersection of culture and innovation, and across multiple industries including consumer, enterprise, crypto, and fintech. Lyons also created Silicon Valley’s first “influencer network,” establishing numerous strategic partnerships between emerging technology companies and seasoned athletes, entertainers, musicians and corporate executives. In 2019, Lyons was named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People. But Lyons has a very atypical Silicon Valley success story. He started his music business career as a sound engineer for Grammy-winning producer, Jermaine Dupri, and initially went out to Silicon Valley for what he assumed would be a short trip. But in 2013, Lyons landed a position as Chief of Staff to Ben Horowitz, the Andreesen Horowitz co-founder, where his smarts, hustle, and well-developed network accelerated his rise through the ranks. In this episode, Lyons talks to Rich and Gianni about how invaluable his music business background has been to his Silicon Valley success; the seeds of his friendship with Rich and KD; how he ended up founding Italian wine brand, Lyons Wine; and his passion for diversifying the ranks of tech entrepreneurs and VC professionals.

Jimmy Iovine’s legendary story was well-chronicled in HBO's 2017 docu-series, The Defiant Ones, but his impact on modern music, the media business, and technology continues to amaze. From his modest origins in Brooklyn, he worked his way up to legendary status as a music producer, working with artists like Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon, then later co-founding Interscope Records where he nurtured artists like Tupac Shakur, Eminem, as well as a subsidiary label, Death Row Records. Iovine would go on to partner with Dr Dre on Beats by Dre, which evolved into Beats Electronics, which was famously sold to Apple for $3 billion in 2014. In this special episode, previously recorded for Boardroom University, Iovine talks about his first music job as a janitor in a recording studio, the time Steve Jobs diagrammed the hardware business for him on a dinner table, his admiration for former Disney exec, Bob Iger, and why the program he and Dr Dre are launching is poised to empower under-served high school students by emphasizing the importance of both technology and design.  *The Boardroom University event was recorded on March 10, ’21, and co-sponsored by USC Annenberg, and USC Iovine and Young Academy.

Ray McGuire, former Vice Chairman of Citigroup, is a trailblazing African-American Investment Banker who’s currently running as a democratic candidate for mayor of New York City. As an advisor to global corporations and boards, McGuire has worked on an estimated $600 billion in total deals, including Time Warner’s $108 billion merger with ATT in 2018. Though McGuire grew up in a single-parent household in Dayton, Ohio, his smarts, work ethic, and vision for his future landed him at Harvard, where he earned multiple degrees. But last year, McGuire, a committed philanthropist, stepped down from his position at Citigroup to enter the brutal arena of New York City politics. His campaign has emphasized his unique qualifications to lead the city at this critical time: “New York is in a financial crisis that has exploded into a whole bunch of crises — educational, health and criminal justice. If there is a moment in history where my skill set can help lead, this is it.” In this episode, McGuire shares with Rich and Gianni his 4 P-s for success: “prayer, preparation, performance and paranoia”; how he navigated his path as a trailblazing African American banker in ‘80s and ‘90s Wall Street; his pride in his happily-blended family, including stepson, Cole Anthony, the Orlando Magic rookie point guard; and his vision for leading New York City into a brighter future.

Dan Porter and Zack Wiener are co-founders of Overtime, the multi-platform digital sports channel that launched in 2016, then blew up in 2017 when, among other highlights, it posted a block from high school star, Zion Williamson. The Overtime website describes its mission as building the “sports network for the next generation of fans,” but Porter has also revealed the company's ambition to be the biggest global sports network on the planet. Currently, Overtime content has 14 billion views a year, and a global audience of 45 million across all platforms. But in its most audacious effort, the multi-media digital sports juggernaut just announced a new venture that may disrupt the landscape of NCAA basketball. They launched Overtime Elite, a professional basketball league for high school prospects that will pay six-figure salaries, offer equity in the league, and provide college scholarships for players who ultimately opt out of pursuing a career in the NBA. Porter and Wiener talk to Rich and Gianni about the motivations behind launching OT Elite, the advice that KD gave them that helped hone the OTE concept, and what it’s like for the unique co-founder duo (Porter is in his ‘50s, Wiener is in his ‘20s) to combine their generationally-distinct perspectives, experience and networks in forming a dynamic digital brand with global ambitions.  

Josh Luber is an entrepreneur, long-time trading card collector, and co-founder of StockX, the on-line sneaker and collectibles marketplace he co-founded with Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Dan Gilbert. Luber talks to Rich and Gianni about his early entrepreneurial leanings, alternating between corporate jobs and startups after getting his MBA/JD from Emory University, creating Campless, a sneaker data company, while working at IBM, and his life-changing meeting with Dan Gilbert where they decided to create a “stock market for sneakers.” Luber also dives into why he thinks it’s a golden age for trading cards, and how that’s led him to the creation of his new venture, Six Forks Kids Club, an alternative asset management company focused on trading cards.

Justin Tuck is a 2x Super Bowl champion and former 2x Pro Bowl Defensive End for the NY Giants. A graduate of Notre Dame, Tuck earned his MBA from Wharton before landing in the Goldman Sachs C-suite. Tuck talks to his good friend, Rich, and Gianni about why he felt so well prepared for a successful career after the NFL, his favorite memories from his Super Bowl victories, what the public gets wrong about why some athletes go broke, and why his former teammate, Eli Manning, absolutely merits induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Mark Jackson is one of television’s best NBA analysts, calling multiple finals for ESPN and ABC, alongside his good friend and former coach, Jeff Van Gundy. A native of New York City, Jackson was a star at St Johns before being selected in the 1st round by the New York Knicks. A 1988 NBA rookie of the year and an All-Star, the elite point guard led several NBA title contenders during a 17-year NBA career. He’s the NBA’s 4th all-time assists leader, ranked right behind Steve Nash, and right ahead of Magic Johnson. Jackson talks to Rich and Gianni about his pride in building a winning foundation as coach of the Golden State Warriors from ’11-’14; his feelings about getting fired by the Warriors before the team went on to win multiple championships; whether he believes there remains an unflattering narrative that’s kept him from getting hired again; and how his father’s example inspired his leadership qualities, resilience and deep faith.