It's Not Magic, a Sixth Street podcast

In the final episode of It's Not Magic's San Francisco Season, Tekedra Mawakana, Co-CEO of Waymo, joined Sixth Street Co-President David Stiepleman for a Waymo ride around San Francisco and a conversation at our office about the journey of bringing autonomous driving from an innovative project to a daily reality for hundreds of thousands of riders. As a leader at the forefront of physical AI, Tekedra shares insights on Waymo’s expansion to operating in ten cities, with many more on the horizon, and the rigorous safety standards that have led to a 10x reduction in injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers. A former IP and telecoms lawyer, she reflects on how her background in navigating highly regulated industries and earning stakeholder trust prepared her to lead a company at the intersection of technology, policy, and global operations. The conversation dives into the reasoning capabilities of the Waymo Driver, her vision for wider applications of Waymo’s technology, the future of urban space in San Francisco and beyond, and why being "deliberate, strategic, and focused" is the right approach for safety-critical innovation. Thank you to Tekedra for joining us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic and leader in AI safety and the Claude models. She discusses responsible scaling, rapid capability leaps in models, the role of regulation and human-in-the-loop safeguards, why generalists and specialists need each other, preserving culture during fast growth, and San Francisco’s role in tech and civic responsibility.

Episode three of It’s Not Magic’s San Francisco Season features Ghazi, Founder and CEO of EMPIRE and Bay Area native. EMPIRE was founded and built in San Francisco and is now the largest independent record label, distributor, and publisher in the United States, working with artists including Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, and Shaboozey. Since launching EMPIRE in 2010, Ghazi has built a global powerhouse, known for its innovation, artist-first approach to partnership, and cultural impact that extends far beyond the Bay. Recorded at Sixth Street’s San Francisco headquarters, Sixth Street Co-President David Stiepleman and Ghazi dive into the city’s legacy of technological innovation and entrepreneurship, how Ghazi’s own technical expertise and creativity were foundational to building EMPIRE, and the role culture is playing in San Francisco’s renewal. Ghazi underscores how important it was for him to build his dream in the city where he grew up, asking, “Why do I have to go somewhere else to do something I’m good at?” With EMPIRE's recent acquisition of the historic One Montgomery building, Ghazi shares his plans to build EMPIRE’s new headquarters in San Francisco’s financial district and inspire the next wave of energy in the city. Thank you to Ghazi for joining us for this inspiring conversation.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The second episode of It’s Not Magic’s San Francisco Season features our hometown San Francisco Giants' very own Larry Baer, President and CEO, and Buster Posey, President of Baseball Operations. In an exclusive conversation at Oracle Park, Sixth Street Co-Founder and Co-President David Stiepleman, Larry and Buster discuss the role of sports as a civic catalyst, highlighting how professional sports franchises can drive a positive impact on their communities. As pivotal forces behind the Giants’ success both on and off the field, Larry and Buster shared how the team has built a winning culture—uniting the organization from the dugout to operations to the team’s multi-generational fans and the broader San Francisco community. Thank you to Larry and Buster for joining us for this special conversation. Let’s go Giants! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first episode of the San Francisco Season of It's Not Magic features a wide-ranging conversation between Sixth Street Co-President David Stiepleman and the 46th Mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie. Recorded at Sixth Street's San Francisco headquarters, the conversation delves into Mayor Lurie's vision for the city's future, focusing on public safety and behavioral health, fostering innovation, and keeping San Francisco "open for business." From "doing the little things well" to his commitment to hearing directly from community members and colleagues across the city, Mayor Lurie shared how he believes we can build momentum and advance San Francisco’s revitalization.Thank you to Mayor Lurie for joining us for this insightful and timely discussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of It’s Not Magic, Sixth Street Co-Founder and Co-President, David Stiepleman sat down with Kwame Owusu-Kesse, CEO of Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), for a conversation on transformative business leadership and operational standards.Kwame shares powerful insights into redefining HCZ as a "tax-exempt business" and emphasizes the importance of building a culture of excellence. From their transformative cradle-to-career model to innovative programs like Baby College, HCZ is working to create what Kwame calls the "vaccine to poverty."Discover how intentional decision-making, transparent communication, and talent development drive success—not just for HCZ, but for any high-performing organization.Thank you to Kwame for the important and timely discussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when you put two strangers from across the political divide together, not to talk about politics, but just to get to know each other as human beings? That’s what Dave Isay set out to answer. From twenty-plus years of running StoryCorps, Dave has shown time and again the importance of recognizing the value of humanity in everyone regardless of their politics, religion, or background, and how the act of listening can provide new perspectives and transform lives in unexpected ways. The StoryCorps team took that knowledge to form One Small Step, an initiative that bridges the gap between strangers with differing political views during a polarizing election season. Dave came to San Francisco recently to speak to the Sixth Street team in a conversation with Sixth Street Co-President David Stiepleman about One Small Step and what he’s learned from a career of facilitating human conversations in an increasingly impersonal world.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Joy Buolamwini, an award-winning AI researcher and best-selling author, shares her groundbreaking journey from MIT to leading the Algorithmic Justice League. She reveals how AI systems can perpetuate biases and discusses her innovative project, the Aspire mirror, that highlights identity and representation. The conversation touches on the impact of creative expression on AI awareness, the ethical implications of facial recognition technology, and the importance of diversity in tech. Dr. Buolamwini emphasizes the need for accountability and equity in coding to reshape the future.

Steve Kerr has won nine NBA championships as a member of three different dynasties: as Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors and as a player for the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls.  Earlier this month at the Sixth Street Offsite, he was gracious enough to spend time with our team and share what he’s learned about leadership and life over the course of his career.  His conversation with Sixth Street’s David Stiepleman covered Steve’s approach to leadership, building strong cultures, and performing at the highest level of his craft, including what went through his head when Michael Jordan gave him the ball for the go-ahead shot in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals.  He also walked us through how, after a career playing for legendary coaches like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, he developed his own individual coaching philosophy.  Steve’s message to aspiring leaders was clear: be genuine.  “You can’t be anyone but yourself. Your players will see right through it.” He has nine rings to show for it.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.