Deb Liu spent years pitching Facebook Marketplace before anyone would greenlight it. When it finally launched, it took multiple failed versions before reaching a billion users. That arc — patient conviction, rapid testing, willingness to be wrong — is the throughline of everything she shares in this episode.

From her time building payments at PayPal and ads at Facebook to leading Ancestry as CEO, Deb has operated at a level of scale most product leaders never reach. She breaks down what actually makes marketplaces work, why the transition from IC to manager breaks talented people, and what the CEO job demands that no one prepares you for. She also shares a sharp framework for how to think about AI adoption right now: we are, in her words, in the 1998 of the internet.

A must-watch for product leaders, founders, and executives who want to build things that last — and lead teams that can actually get them there.

Eric Ries, creator of the Lean Startup methodology and founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, has spent 15 years helping companies build products — and watching those companies get quietly hollowed out. His new book, Incorruptible, is a response to what he's seen: mission-driven companies that get taken over by the gravitational pull of shareholder primacy, one compromise at a time.

In this episode, Eric breaks down the difference between Lean Startup as a set of tactics (which fail when copied blindly) versus the underlying principles — and how that same confusion destroys companies at scale. He shares the two-dimensional framework from Incorruptible: the inner ethos that makes a company trustworthy, and the structural integrity that keeps outside pressure from crushing it. The story of Saul Price — who built what became Costco, only to be locked out of his own office — is a case study every founder needs to hear.

A must-watch for executives who want their company to survive not just the next quarter, but the next generation of leadership.

AI transformation is stalling inside most organizations, not because of the technology, but because of leadership.

Charlene Li, strategist and author of Winning with AI, shares why giving employees access to AI tools without training or protected practice time creates the illusion of progress while leaving most people behind. She introduces the concept of AI fluency, knowing how, when, and when not to use AI, and explains why becoming fluent requires the same deliberate practice as any real skill.

Charlene walks through her portfolio approach to AI initiatives (quick wins, momentum makers, and strategic bets), her "Goldilocks governance" framework for moving fast without going rogue, and the five cultural traits that separate organizations that actually transform from those that just talk about it.

For leaders navigating employee anxiety, resistant departments, and uneven adoption across teams, this episode offers an honest, practical framework for what AI transformation actually requires.