Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:34:25 · Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:34:25] S0: I... You know? [00:34:26] S1: Well I also worked on cybersecurity. The beginning days of... We put together a blueprint that actually the Trump administration, the first term, used for cybersecurity. We also did all the groundwork for the CHIPS Act, basically. We were very early in in terms of understanding what was coming. You know, today we take Waymo or things like that, autonomy in vehicles or in drones and things for granted. But in order to... Actually, for those things to function, you need access to the airwaves. You need all kinds of infrastructure that has to be put in place. We worked on all of that. So it was fun and exciting, but it was also opened my aperture to the technologies that we're living with today.
00:35:20 · Alexa von Tobel, Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:35:20] S0: Truly, basically, you're building the policy such that we could have the things that we have today happening in this country. A few things I want to make sure I say. As The US Secretary of Commerce, your job was basically to be able to dialogue and be in touch with every major CEO, not just in The United States, but around the world. And that access is pretty wild if you really think about it. And I feel like as your partner, I've seen some of that access being just profound, how quickly people... And and and I think there's something to that, which is that people really do wanna help. And the response time to people that are trying to do really good things is very quick often. And being alongside you, I've seen that. Just how quickly people wanna reply and help. I'm going to move on, but I want to quickly confess one fun thing, which is I remember when you invited me to come to the White House, I obviously picked my fanciest dress. And I was going to get to meet President Obama in the Oval Office. And we're all standing in there, and it was these incredible other CEOs, and I did feel like sort of a younger CEO in the room. And President Obama gets in front of me, and it's my time to [00:36:34] S2: get to meet him. And he gave me a [00:36:36] S0: fist pump, and I almost just died of how cool [00:36:39] S1: that moment just like the president of The United States just fist pumped me. And I [00:36:43] S2: was just like, what a cool guy. And I don't get nervous often. And that was probably one of the only times I've been nervous in the last decade.
00:36:43 · Alexa von Tobel, Alexa von Tobel
[00:36:43] S2: was just like, what a cool guy. And I don't get nervous often. And that was probably one of the only times I've been nervous in the last decade. [00:36:52] S0: I want to move on before we get to some of the things that you've been tackling in just the last few years. But not only after being US Secretary of Commerce, you know, you joined the Microsoft board, you chair Harvard's board. But I just wanna take a minute. You did some really important work on Ukraine. And I remember when you called me and said, hey, Alexa, I'm gonna, you know, I just wanna inform you I'm gonna take a short term role where I'm gonna help the Ukraine... Help Ukraine rebuild, which is pretty wild if you think about that after such a, you know, tragic time to be asked to go and do that on behalf of our country. Can you just like share one thing you learned about seeing a country through devastation have to think about rebuilding? I mean, there... That's resilience on a different level. And what did you learn?
00:37:49 · Penny Pritzker, Alexa von Tobel
[00:37:49] S1: Well, so I was a special representative. I... During that time, it was about ten or eleven months, I went to Ukraine six times. But what I learned was a couple of things. What I learned about our government is is when we put our mind to helping a country, and this was basically... I was asked to help them with their economic resilience. So everything from helping to figure out how do you open the Black Sea up to how do they get their exports out to, frankly, you're seeing today, I'm really... You know, feel proud of The United States that we did this, and I was very much involved in this. We've helped them stand up their defense industry. And I think if you... You know, when Ukraine is done with this war, it will be one of the great defense industry centers in Europe, if not the number one center. But what I saw was... So one thing I learned was air defense is essential for security, is essential for prosperity. [00:39:07] S0: Yep.
00:39:07 · Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:39:07] S0: Yep. [00:39:08] S1: In other words, if you can protect your skies, and then you can do all the things that we think about that are commerce, whether it's digital or it's analog, if you will. So figuring out how to deal with air defense was a big thing that I worked on. And you see now the problem that they're having because they're running out of air defense and we don't have... The world doesn't really have extra air defense right now, I don't think. And so that's a real problem. But what I saw up close and personal was the ingenuity of the Ukrainian people down, not just their leadership, down to the average person, whether it was creating the drone industry that they created. I went to a number of drone factories in places where you were not allowed to tell anybody where you were, where they were producing the drones that are allowing them to have the success that they've had in the war. To the amputees creating prosthetics because you now have a huge need because of the bombing for many more prosthetics than one would need in let's call it a normal population and a normal existence. And so the advances that they're making because of the commitment of their people and frankly, the great education system and their ingenuity is really remarkable. And frankly, there's a lot for us to learn from them.
00:40:52 · Alexa von Tobel, Alexa von Tobel
[00:40:52] S0: A few years ago, I remember in a very short window of time, it was roughly ninety ish days. And I, as your business partner and co founder, having a moment where I was like, wow. Penny has been in some of the most interesting conversations happening on this planet. You're on the board of Microsoft when all of the dynamics around OpenAI were happening, where there was that... I believe it was a weekend where it was like a Sam in the seat. Is he not in the seat? What happens? Fast forward a short period of time when Harvard had to decide to stand up to the US government. And as an alum, I remember having a moment thinking, wow, that probably felt like a big, hard, hairy decision. And I remember you telling me actually the values there were so clear. And then at the same time, you were using your free time to try to help rebuild the Ukraine. And I just remember being like, oh my god, how is like three totally different dynamics and then still answering all my little phone calls for building businesses and doing all the things that we do here. [00:42:01] S2: You have been in some [00:42:02] S0: of the most complicated rooms solving some of the most complicated problems. And I know we could talk just on this topic for a day and still not answer it, but can you just give us a sense of what you've learned? Like, you had to step back and think about in your career, you've even in more rooms that people can't be in and seen crazier hard choices and decisions.