HBR IdeaCast

Introducing The Founder Mindset: Tim Ferriss on Experiments, Risk, and Freedom

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s uncertain world? How do you balance risk, decision-making, and curiosity? We’re sharing an episode from The Founder Mindset with Reza Satchu, the new podcast from Harvard Business School Foundry about what it truly takes to be a founder now. Hosted by Harvard Business School senior lecturer Reza Satchu, the show features intimate conversations with some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, including Reese Witherspoon, Kevin O’Leary, Galen Weston, and more. Satchu himself has built multiple high-profile companies and mentored thousands of students and founders as they start and scale ventures, and he pushes his guests to break down exactly how they commit, decide, and build for impact. In this episode, Tim Ferriss—entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, and host of one of the world’s most influential podcasts—reflects on experimentation, calibrated risk-taking, decision-making under uncertainty, and why curiosity and learning have shaped nearly every chapter of his career. Listen to more episodes of The Founder Mindset with Reza Satchu, follow the podcast here: https://play.megaphone.fm/zbmkcqmbqhymul1logpega

What Makes Chinese Companies So Competitive?

To compete in business anywhere today, leaders at all levels need to learn about the culture and mindset that sets Chinese businesses apart. Stanford research fellow Dan Wang argues that they’ve built an edge that goes well beyond lower labor costs or government subsidies. He explains how dense manufacturing ecosystems, relentless internal competition, deep process knowledge, and an engineering-first mindset have helped these companies become global leaders; what those in the United States and Europe can learn from them; and where they still fall behind. Wang is author of the book Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future.

Leadership Summit 2026: Inspiring Grit and Growth Amid Unprecedented Change

Most leaders are asking the same question about AI: Will it make their teams more productive—or slowly erode the very skills they’re trying to build? In this special episode, as part of the recent HBR Leadership Summit 2026, University of Pennsylvania’s Angela Duckworth says her long-standing research on grit—and the fact the most successful people aren’t simply persistent, they stay committed to long-term goals while adapting their tactics as the world changes—is more relevant than ever in the age of generative AI. Rather than replacing human capability, she explains, AI can become a powerful coach that accelerates learning, if people treat it as something to learn from, not simply something that does the work for them. Duckworth’s new book is Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best.

Why Great Leaders Need More Than Good Judgment

What if the key to success in today’s business world wasn’t about making difficult decisions quickly—but about broadening the scope through which you make decisions? Leaders Alliance CEO Cornelia Choe and executive coach Marshall Goldsmith argue that being open to more perspectives can help leaders navigate an increasingly complicated world and lead better. They share their framework for this mindset shift, and examples of leaders who have done this well. Choe and Goldsmith are the authors of the book The Panoramic Leader: How Great Leaders See Differently.

Leadership Summit 2026: AT&T CEO John Stankey on Developing Technology and Talent in the AI Era

How do you reinvigorate a legacy company without losing what made it great? In this special episode, as part of the recent HBR Leadership Summit 2026, AT&T CEO John Stankey shares how he refocused AT&T’s strategy on connectivity and simultaneously transformed its culture. He explains how he encouraged team members to adopt a more customer-led, market-driven mindset, integrate AI to reshape their products and performance, and embrace in-person collaboration.