Yesterday I was thoroughly inspired @Forbes Iconoclast. This event felt like the Fin Serv equivalent of 4 days of Cannes, instead wrapped into 1 day, 8 hours, and tons of air conditioning. Some of my favs: 1. Dambisa Moyo - Don’t bet against the US. In an increasingly siloed world w/ sluggish int'l return landscape, the US keeps calm and carries on. - With AI in particular, try not to use regulation as a synonym to risk mitigation. 2. Mary Callahan Erdoes - If you're not afraid, you're not excited enough. The speed at which int'l markets (China) are growing, even if scary, proves there are opps to be won. - Every leader should have a young, AI whisperer in ear encouraging the use of new tech and solidifying your ability to compete. 3 - Michal Katz - On IPO market revival, the real question to ask clients is what are you solving for? Which market serves you the best? If looking for financing, going public is the way to go. If looking for scale and a broader platform to operate then perhaps M&A is a better solution. - Japan is ripe for corporate investing opportunities and as a Japanese bank, who better to help broker…?! 4. Michael Anderson - When it comes to philanthropic investing, the issue isn’t lack of solutions, rather lack of understanding of how to get funding to the right orgs. The ability to create wealth doesn't make you an expert in giving. - Trust based philanthropy encourages a different pov. You can't put investment KPIs in place for charitable giving. And that is okay. 5. Jon Gray - The world has evolved from Richard Gere chopping companies into pieces. They don't break them; but hold, build & continue to grow. - Reinforced idea of 'patient capital' and taking time to lean into opps- ie Hilton 2007. - On real estate, "the worst of the storm has passed in commercial, but the wreckage still takes time to work its way through the system." Bottom line: get in before it clears up. - From bringing stories to life w/ sound in Ancestry.com and other portcos, to owning, building and operating $100 billion worth of data centers, Blackstone is all in on AI. The demand from tech firms for capacity, in addition to loans for building data centers, they have a lot going on. - Speed-round on India as a successful zone for PE/real estate investment. Why? B/c India’s GDP is 1/5th of China that has a pro-growth gov't making strides in building physical & capital infrastructure. They're expanding ways for foreign ownership, consumer spending is up, increasing exports of products/ services, bolstered by 400+ million English speakers. In my Indian/Italian household, there is a lot of excitement about their recent cricket victories in NY, and I plan to match that enthusiasm with some of these economic nuggets. Bonus: ran into exec-moms from my hood, former colleagues, clients & friends Lisa M. Shalett, Andrew Brandman, Troy Debroux, Margaret Immordino Borner Jennifer Justice Nihal Mehta Doris Meister W. Christine Choi
So glad you were able to attend.
YOU are a true icon! Great summary. Thanks for sharing.
So great seeing you there!!!
great stuff. Keep it up!
Great recap, Marisa. Always great to see you.
Marisa Ricciardi thank you for sharing your insights.
Marisa Ricciardi what a fantastic event Maneet Ahuja organized. Iconoclast is absolutely #iconic! So great to see you and so many other friends!
Marketing Professor, Chief Marketing Officer, Board Member
2moThanks for sharing your key takeaways. Sounds like a fantastic event.