It's Not Magic, a Sixth Street podcast

During Sixth Street’s annual MaSH CxO Summit, David Stiepleman recorded our latest episode with two longtime political experts who have run dozens of statewide and national campaigns for Republicans and Democrats. The conversation was in front of a live audience of CEOs and other leaders from across our growth equity portfolio, and we dove into current political, geopolitical, and macro trends in this election year affecting their markets and companies. Our guests are John Anzalone, one of the nation’s top Democratic pollsters and strategists, and founder of Impact Research, and Phil Cox, known as a “Republican kingmaker,” long-time political operative and founder of GP3 Partners, one of the largest corporate communications and public affairs firms in the nation. Phil and John helped us separate signal from noise in the upcoming presidential and down-ballot elections here in the U.S., as well as what company leaders and individuals should be watching for as the year unfolds. The conversation sheds light on key challenges, opportunities, and nuances that shape our political discourse and is a key listen for business leaders looking for insight into how to navigate the next nine months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sixth Street Co-founder and Partner Vijay Mohan sat down in our San Francisco office with two accomplished executives in the professional soccer world for a conversation about the power of accessibility in sports and how it can influence communities. On this episode of It’s Not Magic, Vijay guest hosted a discussion with Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and Danielle Slaton, a former USWNT player and co-founding member of Bay FC. During the discussion, Danielle and Ed shared their career journeys at the highest level of soccer, the opportunities and challenges the game has presented both professionally and personally, and the type of legacy they hope to leave behind through their work. Although the conversation focused on soccer, it was clear that they were discussing something much bigger than just a game. This conversation is sure to leave you feeling inspired and eagerly anticipating the rest of the season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During a time of unspeakable evil, there were very few, very brave people who risked their own lives to save others. Richard Hurowitz’s most recent book, In the Garden of the Righteous, brings forward 10 little-known stories of those who went above and beyond to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. An Italian Tour de France champion. A Portuguese diplomat. A circus ringmaster. Why did these people decide to act when others didn’t? Our host David Stiepleman talks to Richard about how he researched and wrote his compelling book, the reaction he’s gotten around the country, and what kinds of environments produce people who are spurred to act and take big risks to do what’s right. National cultures are the aggregation of the rules and norms of our families, schools, towns and businesses, and cultivating those building blocks really matters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two seasoned dealmakers, business builders, and friends of over twenty-five years sit down to have a frank discussion about the evolution of business, law, culture, and management. David Stiepleman, Co-Founder and Co-President of global investment firm Sixth Street, and Michael Gerstenzang, Managing Partner of global law firm Cleary Gottlieb, discuss the art of commercialism, the best ways to get buy-in from high-achieving groups, and the potential for generative AI to upend how lawyers advise clients, just as the iPhone did. David and Michael first met in the late 90s and have been working together in various capacities ever since. Find out all they’ve learned together on this special episode of It’s Not Magic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Sixth Street team plus friends from across our Dallas network came together for a night of conversation to discuss business leadership, culture, and connections. We were honored to be joined by our great friends United States Air Force Major General (ret.), Rod Lewis, True Ventures EIR and Investor Clarence Bethea, and Westbound Equity Partners co-founder Sean Mendy in a discussion led by Sixth Street Founder and Co-President David Stiepleman. Our panelists discussed their remarkable career trajectories, how they set their teams up for success, and how to adapt skills and mindsets for the different seasons of a career. Note: Westbound Equity Partners, formerly known as Concrete Rose Capital Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The San Antonio Spurs have 5 NBA championships, but some of their biggest wins and longest-lasting contributions have come off the court. Dr. Kara C. Allen, the first NBA team executive dedicated exclusively to impact, joins to talk about the Spurs’ commitment to ensuring that the community always remains a priority in everything they do. We learn how values translate into action for a franchise that’s developing the next generation of the Spurs, on and off the court and among the fans, and Kara offers her perspective on the importance and power of sport to bring people together, especially during moments of tragedy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bill Block, CEO of Miramax, joins us to share his approach to successfully running an award-winning film and television production company. Starting as a Hollywood superagent, Bill has gone on to produce hit films like Bad Moms, The Blair Witch Project, District 9, Halloween (2018), Requiem for a Dream, and the more recent He’s All That starring Addison Rae of TikTok fame. Bill and David talk through a lifetime of movie business knowledge. Listen to how Bill transformed the Miramax production business and hear him discuss the value of thoughtful capital in the entertainment industry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aly Wagner, lead analyst for Fox’s broadcast of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and co-chair of Bay FC, joins us to talk about her career progression from winning gold medals for the U.S. Women’s National Team to announcing the games to co-founding a National Women’s Soccer League expansion franchise. We ask her about her trailblazing path as the first woman to announce a Men’s World Cup game, and how she’s applied the lessons she learned playing soccer at the highest level to her post-playing career both in the broadcast booth and now building a professional sports team with global growth ambitions. Aly’s fearlessness and lifelong love for the game of soccer drives it all on this episode of It’s Not Magic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why shouldn’t paying rent on time help you build your credit score?We sit down with Wemimo Abbey, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, to discuss how he convinced credit ratings agencies, landlords, and renters to use Esusu to help build fuller credit profiles. Motivated by his family’s own experience when applying for a loan after immigrating to the U.S. from Nigeria, Wemimo developed a product that boosts credit scores and helps owners and property managers maximize returns, all while creating a win-win experience that is personal and equitable for both renters and landlords. After raising a $130 million Series B round in 2022, Esusu has become one of the few Black-owned companies to reach unicorn status in the U.S. Wemimo walks us through how the company is doing today, Esusu's remarkable beginnings, and the aspirations Wemimo has for the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded live at the Sixth Street offsite in Austin, Texas. Former Golden State Warriors President, NBA Hall of Famer, and Bay FC board member Rick Welts joins our host David Stiepleman to talk about pioneering moments in the history of the NBA, including the inception of the Slam Dunk Contest and All-Star Weekend. Rick and David also discuss the key trends driving the future of sports. This is a special episode to kick off Pride Month as Rick has not only been recognized for the innovative thinking he introduced to the NBA, but for his leadership in advocating for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports by proudly embracing his own identity and encouraging others to do the same. His story about coming out on the front page of The New York Times in 2011 is worth tuning in for. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

San Francisco has a powerful asset in its fight against its well-publicized civic challenges: its caring community of doers. Kanishka Cheng, founder and CEO of TogetherSF, is working to revitalize the city by reconnecting its residents with their government. She’s built an organization, with the backing of Sequoia’s Michael Moritz, that provides educational resources and spaces for open dialogue on how to solve the complex issues faced by one of America’s largest and most culturally significant cities. Join a conversation with our host, David Stiepleman, and Kanishka about the intentional steps TogetherSF is taking to help San Francisco reach its full potential. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 3 of INM opens with Frank Doyle, Dean of Harvard University’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). Frank takes us inside Harvard’s efforts to cultivate interdisciplinary collaboration and to grow an engineering school within the “176-year-old startup.” With his inspiring vision for the future of problem solving, Frank challenges us to think bigger and bolder and to embrace the people around us as the key to unlocking our full potential. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The microchip powers everything we do — from our iPhones, to the cars we drive, to missile guidance systems. Do we take for granted how much the world depends on such a scarce resource? For our Season 2 finale, we are joined by Chris Miller, Professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and author of the Financial Times 2022 Book of the Year, “Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology,” to learn how a group of visionaries brought this world-changing technology into existence, the incredibly delicate supply chain that holds together the most complex machinery humans have ever made, and how America’s perch as the world’s chip superpower may be in doubt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Amy Abernethy is known for modernizing the FDA’s approach to big data. Now as President of Product Development and Chief Medical Officer of Alphabet’s Verily, and a member of Sixth Street’s Scientific Advisory Board, she’s exploring approaches to real-world data and developing tools to bring advanced therapeutics to patients. Amy joins our host, David Stiepleman, as well as Sixth Street’s Vice Chairman, Marty Chavez, as we discuss her contributions to transforming FDA processes and how today’s scientific advancements can lead toward improved public health outcomes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us as we explore the success of STAT – the fast-growing media company delivering trusted news on health, medicine, and the life sciences. After being the first to break the COVID-19 story in January 2020, STAT became a go-to source for information during the pandemic with over 26 million visitors in March 2020 alone. In this conversation, co-founder and executive editor Rick Berke reveals where things have gone right (and wrong) since the company’s founding in 2015 and his ambitions for STAT as it expands to cover the science and policy driving healthcare systems all over the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s it like running one of the fastest growing tech companies in France? Jonathan Cherki, founder and CEO of Contentsquare, joins us from New York to talk about how his company became a global leader in helping brands enhance their customers’ digital experience. We discuss why Jon left his family’s dry legume supply business to found a tech company, the strategy behind Contentsquare’s rapid growth, and what’s next for brands after a decade of ecommerce revolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s it like leading a family business that invests in everything from baseball to robotics to soft drinks? We went to Minneapolis to talk with Jim Pohlad, chairman of the Minnesota Twins and co-head of the Pohlad Companies, about the balance between building for the long-term and the desire to “win now,” the process behind designing the Twins’ much-loved Target Field, and his family’s enduring commitment to their home state and town. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back for Season Two of It’s Not Magic! We’re kicking it off with a woman who epitomizes what it means to be a tech leader: Stacy Brown-Philpot, former CEO of TaskRabbit and founding member of the SoftBank Opportunity Fund. Recorded live from the Concrete Rose Summit in Menlo Park, CA, Stacy walks us through her experience leading TaskRabbit and its community of "Taskers", the advice she received while founding the Black Googlers Network, and her love for Detroit pizza (it's the water!). We loved Stacy’s perspective on the need to leave things better than how you found them, and we hope you do too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our Season One finale, we sit down with Julie Jones, chair of Ropes & Gray, the venerable law firm founded in 1865 that today is a $2 billion enterprise with over 1500 hundred lawyers. Julie is the first woman to lead the firm, and we discuss her elevation to Chair in 2020 just as the world and business leaders faced unprecedented challenges. We talk about how she prepared and marketed herself with intention early in her career on her way to becoming one of the world's preeminent M&A lawyers, her experience as one of the inventors of the reverse termination fee, and how she's adjusted from being a lawyer to being a leader. We also learn about her firm's response to covid, how she approaches speaking authentically on divisive issues, and the advice she received from Lloyd Blankfein. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you build a business in a highly regulated industry? We asked the expert. Clip in to the via ferrata and join us with Igor Rozenblit, Managing Partner of Iron Road Partners and founder and former Co-Head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Private Funds Unit. We learn about what it takes to build something new within a government agency, and we get Igor’s perspective as an entrepreneur from both sides of the regulatory fence. He takes us back to the days at the SEC post-Bernie Madoff, and we get deep on what motivates people. What do regulators care about most? Tune in and find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.