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  • Sal: Well, I just wanted to introduce everyone

  • to Angela Ahrendts.

  • Just as a little bit of background

  • on how all of this happened.

  • You all know I was just in England two weeks ago,

  • and as part of that, you came to the talk

  • at the London School of Economics.

  • And then the next day we met at Heathrow Airport.

  • Angela: Yup.

  • Sal: I had my $6 Old Navy shirt feeling very insecured

  • the entire time. (Angela laughs)

  • Both Esther and I were there, and you inspired us

  • when you said you're going to be in this area

  • we're like, well, we would love you to do

  • the same thing with the team.

  • Just talk about what you're doing etc, etc.

  • If you could talk a little bit about just how you...

  • I mean, fashion, the world of fashion, is this world...

  • I mean, it's not obvious to most people

  • how does someone get in to it,

  • and especially get to the level that you've gotten.

  • How did you start, and what kind of...

  • at least at the early stages, allowed you to get here?

  • Angela: I mean, honestly, it's not a dissimilar story

  • to yours, right?

  • My thing is, you...

  • I think the greatest thing that anybody can do

  • when they're young is discover their passion

  • and what they love.

  • I know it sounds really, really terrible,

  • but I love stuff, and I love to shop,

  • and I love fashion magazines, and I love to sew and create.

  • It was the only industry I had to get in to,

  • but I went to university

  • and signed up for all these design classes,

  • and realized I really wasn't that creative.

  • But I had a really strong opinion

  • on what everybody else was doing.

  • I had a professor say that, "we call you a merchant."

  • I'm like, "Okay," and so then I signed up

  • for a lot of merchandising and marketing courses.

  • So my university degree is in merchandising and marketing.

  • In the world of what we do, I always say

  • I'm the monkey in the middle.

  • We have Christopher Bailey who's the chief creative officer,

  • and he is so creative and so brilliant,

  • and his whole creative team does all those videos.

  • But then, and so that's on my right,

  • and on my left, we have the chief financial officer,

  • we have our chief operating officer,

  • we have a number of our teams

  • that have just arrived as well.

  • You have this balance so I will say I'm a 50, 50.

  • I am half left brain analytical,

  • I am half right brain creative,

  • and that was actually one of the reasons

  • that I wanted to chat with Sal.

  • Because I said, "Someday, as you guys

  • start to take over the world,

  • you're going to have to also

  • start to introduce some right brain curriculum.

  • And the Burberry Foundation would be honored

  • to help you start creating some of those things

  • when you're already down the road out there."

  • Sal: Yeah, and now we're already starting a little bit,

  • and we could talk more about that.

  • No, absolutely, and I think ...

  • I mean, say you're not creative,

  • I mean that, I think you're really underselling your

  • Angela: Yeah, the design creative.

  • Sal: But you obviously had a very strong aesthetic,

  • you had a sense for what connective

  • Angela: Yeah, again I'm absolutely a merchant,

  • and I will tell you the reason Christopher and I

  • created the foundation is this,

  • because we are both creative thinkers.

  • Sal: Right.

  • Angela: We feel very strongly that the curriculum

  • specifically in America has become so left brain,

  • so much of the arts and things have been cut out.

  • But it is... I think for where the world's going

  • we need creative thinkers.

  • We need... and so many times they're getting lost

  • out of the system, so we created the Burberry Foundation.

  • We give 1% of our profits into the Burberry Foundation,

  • and what we do is, we try and pick up the youth

  • that is starting to fall out of the system

  • because they think they're dumb, because they don't.

  • Hopefully, we can help turn them on to you guys

  • to help them.

  • If they're still just not left brain

  • but they're incredibly creative thinking.

  • We bring as many of them as we can.

  • We show them a whole another world

  • that companies like us need,

  • and that's been our calling.

  • Sal: Yeah, I know it's incredible.

  • I mean, you yourself, you said,

  • "Okay I'll be a merchant."

  • A professor tells you this,

  • and you just go to New York,

  • and then you're not even 30,

  • and you're the president of Donna Karan?

  • (Angela laughs) Is that right?

  • Angela: Yeah.

  • Sal: How does that happen?

  • Is that normal?

  • Are there a lot of 20 something's

  • running a major fashion houses in the world?

  • Angela: Probably not, and I will tell you I'm really guilty

  • because I'm not great talking about myself.

  • I'm just not. Because I'm only as good always

  • as the great teams that are around me,

  • and no different than you guys.

  • Yes, I think what happens always

  • is when you discover who you are,

  • and you discover your passion,

  • and then it's not work at your life,

  • and so you just get in to that zone.

  • I was so fortunate that I met the right people,

  • things fell into place,

  • absolutely worked my butt off because I was single,

  • alone in New York, and why not.

  • It's all I did was.... But I found my zone, I found

  • Sal: Was there a moment where

  • I just find if a member of my family says "Hey,

  • I'm going to go to New York,

  • and I'm going to go work in fashion."

  • Like, "Okay, I'll see if I can help support you

  • at some point or…"

  • Just the left brain, the left brain side of me.

  • I mean, how did you break in

  • and then obviously left such a big mark with people

  • that by the time, you weren't even 30,

  • you're a president of a major fashion organization?

  • Angela: It's funny, I don't think of any different

  • than a great athlete, or a musician, or a…

  • I think that what happens

  • is this is all what I've ever done.

  • I've always just stayed in my lane,

  • and then you become ...

  • Whether you're a footballer or whether you're ...

  • I didn't jump around, this is all that I've done,

  • and I have always been so passionate about it.

  • I think when you direct your energy,

  • and you become so passionate,

  • and you unite people, right?

  • You lead people all around believing in something,

  • and then things just fall into place.

  • I know that, and when I say things,

  • the revenue, the profit, right?

  • I never went in saying, "I'm going to do this."

  • I went in saying, "What if we did this?"

  • I've always been a dreamer.

  • My father used to always say,

  • "Take off your rose-colored of glasses."

  • and I would always say "No."

  • Now I don't have to, I can keep dreaming,

  • but the important thing I've learned is though,

  • I have to get enough people, right?

  • I have to surround myself with enough people

  • that can help execute that dream now.

  • And that's all that I've ever done.

  • I don't want to over simplify it,

  • but I found my zone,

  • I absolutely love what I do,

  • it is not work at all.

  • I have never once woke up in the morning said,

  • "Oh God, I got to go to work."

  • It's not work, this is my life.

  • Everywhere that I've been...

  • because it's not work,

  • and the Monterey at Burberry

  • or anywhere that I've been

  • because the stronger companies get,

  • then the more they can do,

  • and the bigger influence they have.

  • At Burberry, we've always said

  • that, we have the power to touch and transform lives

  • through the power of our performance.

  • The bigger and the stronger we get,

  • the more we can do,

  • and that's just always been...

  • I'm from the heart of Midwest,

  • real strong family faith upbringing,

  • and I have been raised to give.

  • That's how I was raised,

  • and so why wouldn't you apply that back in business?

  • And so it just...

  • Sal: I think you are underselling yourself a little bit. But I'll give you a pass on that.

  • Angela: Thank you.

  • But I do want... Because the interesting thing about this

  • and why we video them is I think

  • just the Khan Academy user base,

  • there's a lot of young people out there

  • who would say, "How do I do that?"

  • If you had advice for someone who's 16 years old

  • or 20 years old, and they find this world intriguing,

  • what should they develop in themselves?

  • How should they think about the world?

  • And what should they do?

  • Angela: Well, and I always say

  • that the fashion industry is deceiving

  • because everybody just thinks it's only this creative part.

  • Where in a company like Burberry,

  • there are 18 different departments

  • that comprise the company.

  • We need, we hire a lot of people from Silicon Valley.

  • We need great... We have 130 people

  • just in the IT department in the company.

  • People don't realize that so we need extreme right,

  • and we need extreme left.

  • I think sometimes the fashion industry gets a short,

  • it's the short stick sometimes when they think

  • "It's just fashion, it's just..."

  • In order to create... And here's my thing.

  • I always say that what we're doing

  • is we're creating a great brand and a great company,

  • and we happen to be in the business of fashion.

  • We didn't set out to create a really great fashion,

  • we set out to create a great brand.

  • I say that because there's a part of me that says,

  • "That is your mission as well."

  • Sal: I mean, following on that,

  • I do want to think about...

  • Well, what in your mind is... what does a brand mean?

  • I've heard multiple definitions of a brand,

  • and how would you view Burberry's brand?

  • And how would you view our brand? In the same...

  • they're very similar.

  • (Angela laughing)

  • Exploring a line of overcoats.

  • Angela: To me, a great brand... And here's my thing.

  • Think of yourself and when you interact with products.

  • What coffee do you drink every morning,

  • or you might walk into Starbucks,

  • or you might walk in to...

  • You might have Apple products, you might...

  • How do you feel about..

  • And so you want to be a part of that brand

  • because you're proud to be a part of that brand,

  • because that brand makes you feel a certain way.

  • You trust that brand, and it's authentic,

  • and it doesn't ever let you down.

  • It exceeds your expectations

  • so you want to engage with it, right?

  • Those are all of the attributes of a great brand,

  • honesty, integrity, authenticity, quality,

  • but always doing what yo

  • To have a great engagement, or what's the word ...

  • great brand presence.

  • There has to be a very trusting relationship

  • with your constituency.

  • In that way, we are absolutely...

  • Because your users

  • they have to trust what you're telling them.

  • I mean, and if you're wrong… (laughs)

  • Sal: Yes, happens every now and then.

  • (Angela laughing)

  • Angela: To me, it's a part of what a great brand is,

  • and in Burberry's case, that's how we measure it.

  • Sal: How do you think about these things?

  • You joined Burberry in 2006.

  • I guess in the previous 5 or 10 years,

  • Burberry had kind of been rejuvenated.

  • If you could talk a little bit about that

  • rejuvenation before you got there,

  • and then when you took over the job,

  • and what do you tell yourself?

  • How are you going to steer the ship?

  • Angela: What I think happens...

  • And again we're 158 years old, and you guys ar ...

  • What you're building right now...

  • No, but, so we had gone through a lot,

  • and so we got the whole management team together.

  • You're starting out that way, but we got the team together

  • and said, "What is our core?"

  • "What is our core product proposition?"

  • And, "What's our core purpose?"

  • We realized that 158, it's 150 years then,

  • but 158 years ago now, we were born from a coat.

  • We had our own weaving facility in the North of England,

  • we had our own factory to produce all of those coats.

  • It's interesting we were driving innovation everywhere else

  • but in our core product.

  • Whenever we talked about global warming,

  • and they gave me all the reasons

  • why we couldn't do that.

  • It was kind of like, "No, no, no, every great brand..."

  • What would Starbucks be without coffee?

  • I mean, "Every great brand has to have a core."

  • And I think people get bored with that.

  • As you grow bigger and bigger, what is your core

  • products proposition? And don't ever lose it.

  • Keep innovating that core

  • because people get bored really easy.

  • Then also what is your core purpose?

  • And because I don't believe people just want to work,

  • I think people all want deeper meaning in their lives.

  • It was hard for us, people don't just want to make stuff.

  • People want to make stuff that has meaning

  • and has a purpose, and so we created our core values

  • which are to protect, explore, and inspire.

  • We didn't come up with those,

  • we took those out of a book that Thomas Burberry wrote

  • 158 years ago when he was 21 years old

  • and he founded the company.

  • We always say his spirit lives on, and it should,

  • because it was his company, it was his vision,

  • and he created that waterproof gabardine fabric

  • to protect the military in the trenches,

  • that's why he created the trench coat, etc.

  • We said, that is our core,

  • that's what he founded the company on.

  • How do we make the trench coat

  • the most cool, relevant, hip thing in the world?

  • That's what we are born from.

  • Nobody else can say that but us.

  • To revitalize and transform the company,

  • we simply went back to the basics.

  • We went back and revitalized our core,

  • and we took that category

  • which was about 22% of the business,

  • seven and a half, eight years ago.

  • Today, it's half of the business.

  • When you watch a runway show,

  • nearly every item that goes down

  • has some type of a trench coat or some type of....

  • The innovation that we've driven in that core,

  • and that has single-handedly...

  • Harvard Business reviewed the great article on

  • just that topic revitalizing the core.

  • Sal: I mean, how do you decide on that?

  • Is that just a gut instinct, I mean or do you ...

  • Is there some data that you look out...

  • We look at all the brands that have a core

  • versus don't have a core.

  • On that and then as you move

  • and continue to innovate and get new products,

  • I'm sure everyday someone comes to you,

  • "Hey, we should have a line of whatever it might be."

  • How do you decide?

  • How much of it is analytically driven?

  • And how much of it is gut or whatever else driven?

  • Angela: It's a great question.

  • I'm going to answer it in three ways.

  • One is we always say that, we are a creative thinking company,

  • and everything we do is driven by intuition.

  • Then we can fuse ourselves with facts.

  • But we always live with intuition.

  • Because we always say that we do value

  • feeling over knowing.

  • Because if we only focused on knowing,

  • we'd never move forward,

  • because you can't prove something

  • that hasn't been done before.

  • We are... And that is a part

  • of being a creative thinking culture.

  • I forgot my other two.

  • Because I told you there were three, and I …

  • Sal: Well, you say you confuse yourself with facts,

  • I mean, what does that mean?

  • Does that mean that, you feel, or collectively not just you,

  • the whole organization,

  • feels like something is the right direction

  • but what if someone says, "Hey, but look,

  • everyone who's gone in to this phase before

  • has failed, or there's 800 players already in that market,

  • that they got zero margin on what they're doing.

  • It's a commodity." Do you ignore that?

  • Do you sometimes ignore that?

  • Do you say, "No, we still feel good about it."

  • And you move ahead?

  • Angela: Seven years ago,

  • came up with all the hard, we call them hard strategies,

  • and those are all the ones that are very fact based.

  • When we talked about retail led growth,

  • brought in the consultant company,

  • told that, I said, "Tell me every key market in the world

  • that has... where are peers have at least two stores

  • and we have none."

  • Then tell me their productivity per square foot.

  • So, we had a strategy, put all the hard metrics behind it,

  • and... but the gut

  • Our instincts were, and we were 75% wholesale

  • when I started, today we are 75% retail on

  • our own stores direct to consumer.

  • Our instincts said, we had to go direct to consumer,

  • we had to control the brand, the environment, everything.

  • Again brought in the firm,

  • we did that on every strategy,

  • and they would reaffirm, etc.

  • Then I put them in front of the board.

  • Very first been in the company,

  • six months strategies are done,

  • everything's outlined, we know exactly where we're going.

  • At the very end, they told the board,

  • and we said, "At that point in time,

  • we would double the revenue and the profits in five years."

  • They, the guy, that I won't mention the company on video,

  • but the guy sense up at the end of the meeting,

  • and the board says, "Well, how do you feel

  • about this going through it?"

  • He says, "There's about a 5% probability

  • that they will do this".

  • Sal: Who's this guy?

  • Angela: Well he works for a huge consulting firm

  • and I'm not going to mention the firm.

  • Sal: Okay, all right.

  • Angela: We had them come in and for six months.

  • We had them work with us on validating these strategies.

  • Sal: Right, and so the strategy was based through

  • as a number strategy

  • where you're looking at the retail density

  • in different geographies,

  • and how productive those stores are.

  • That is what you used to decide where you're going to go?

  • Angela: Yeah, again there's always both.

  • There's always the

  • Well, and that was the other part of the thing I just forgot.

  • So, one was intuition but the other is balance.

  • Sal: Right.

  • Angela: Right?

  • We talk a lot about the right and the left, a lot.

  • When... we had five hard strategies,

  • and we had five soft strategies.

  • The foundation was a soft strategy,

  • the culture was the soft,

  • all of the company band, free lunch,

  • the benefits for all of these stuff,

  • or all the soft strategies,

  • and we said that these will enable those.

  • Just focusing on these, we may not get the job done.

  • The consulting firm didn't work with us on the soft things,

  • they only worked with us on the hard.

  • When they told the board there's only 5% probability,

  • the board kind of like we're nuts

  • but we actually achieved the plan a year early.

  • Sal: They thought it was a 5% probability

  • because they've advised on a lot of fact part

  • Angela: They thought

  • we were being far too aggressive.

  • Sal: On the aggressive, when you said

  • you're going to double your revenues, you said?

  • Angela: And profit in five years. Sal: And profit

  • in five years, that was the part that they were giving you

  • Angela: Absolutely.

  • Sal: They said, "I'm sure you'll grow etcetera, etcetera."

  • But to really

  • The soft things are just stuff that felt right?

  • Angela: The soft things were that we knew,

  • I knew that we would be as good as our people.

  • That we had to build a team,

  • we had to unite and connect this culture

  • and they had to believe in the dream, right?

  • This is leadership

  • and they had to lead everybody.

  • We were 3,200 people then

  • and some of them, we had people then

  • with the 30 years, 40 years right?

  • How do you get everybody united around a new vision,

  • a new dream?

  • The thing is they have to believe,

  • every single person has to believe you can do this.

  • That's the positive energy

  • that comes around something

  • when you are breaking new ground

  • or trying to do something transformative like you are.

  • If they don't believe, and I told them upfront

  • after that six months I said, "If you do not believe"

  • "that we're going to do this,"

  • "then maybe you should go now."

  • Because we knew we wanted to do something

  • really big and transformative.

  • We used our instincts, we confused ourself to the facts

  • and then we build a very balanced strategy,

  • hard and soft, very balance teams.

  • We need creatives but we need operational excellence

  • and the strategies were built that way.

  • I always say in every single store we have,

  • we need left brain and we need right.

  • in every country, in every region

  • because I don't think you'll build a great brand

  • that resonates and touches people without both.

  • You need the engagement but you need the reach

  • and they're very different.

  • Sal: The projection of doubling

  • and there's no precedent for this?

  • I mean that's why it was, that's probably why

  • Angela: Well the precedent was, they had done it before.

  • Sal: I see.

  • Angela: The probability of a company doing it twice

  • was what really took the odds down.

  • Sal: Right, I mean through that process

  • were there moments where you yourself were like

  • "Gee, I don't know if this is going to happen."

  • I've got

  • Angela: Never.

  • Never.

  • Sal: That's why I am too, I never doubt.

  • Angela: Never.

  • Sal: I'm always doubting.

  • Angela: You are not.

  • Sal: Not really.

  • Angela: No, you're not.

  • No, I think he's a bigger dreamer than I am.

  • Sal: Maybe, we can compete.

  • Angela: Yeah but you have to because you are on,

  • you are disrupting a sector that is so overdue

  • to be disrupted, it is so overdue.

  • The next generation is in your hands

  • and they need you to do this,

  • the country needs you to do what you're doing.

  • You got to do it and you got to keep going

  • and you got to get your reach out there,

  • you are engaging.

  • I mean the fact that 30,000 teachers

  • are using your content in schools.

  • I don't know, it's unbelievable.

  • Get it to 100, get it to 200, I mean just don't stop.

  • Sal: Can you Skype in to our company updates,

  • it would be very … (people laughing)

  • Let's do this.

  • Angela: That's how I feel.

  • Sal: Yeah.

  • Angela: I mean that is how I feel

  • and if you, and it's not going to be easy but don't stop.

  • Sal: Yeah.

  • Well that by itself is really powerful advice if you'd ...

  • I mean what would you tell us as we go,

  • I mean you're 158 years old, we're 158 weeks old.

  • (people laughing) How do we

  • Any advice for

  • I mean beyond that just kind of ultra focus,

  • believe, power through.

  • Angela: Definitely focus

  • and we still do the same thing today.

  • We always say that every year

  • we only do three new things.

  • That's it,

  • because they take ...

  • We call them big brand moments

  • whether it was launching burberry.com.

  • I mean it took us a year to unite thousands of people

  • around the world.

  • We said that we had to do this

  • and we had one chance to change 150 years of perception.

  • We knew that and this year they'll be pretty close

  • to 100 million people that go into burberry.com

  • and you guys we're up to, a lot

  • but for a luxury brand that's a lot.

  • Sal: Well that's pretty good.

  • Angela: It's a lot and not all buying

  • but engaging and spreading

  • what the brand's about, etcetera.

  • Three things a year

  • and we still hold on to that

  • no matter how big we are.

  • Sal: That's not individual products,

  • that is new initiatives like burberry.com.

  • Angela: Exactly three big brand things

  • that we unite 10,000 people around the world to do.

  • Sal: Right, and what's next in the queue?

  • What are the three things you are doing now?

  • Angela: It's probably no surprise

  • that we are aggressively working on our ...

  • Continuing to work on our digital platform

  • and specifically when it comes to mobile.

  • I mean the whole world is becoming mobile

  • and it's crazy all the metrics of the consumers

  • that are engaging

  • and that's probably a challenge to you guys too.

  • Because that is where you'll get your kid,

  • that is where, on the mobile device.

  • Not just a phone but any mobile device,

  • I mean the whole world ...

  • It's just so heavy investment,

  • lot of focus going there, so digital mobile etcetera.

  • We always have operational or internal initiatives as well.

  • We do as we get big, areas get sloppy

  • so we still have to drive a lot of efficiencies

  • out of the business.

  • We call it commercial procurement we're building,

  • we build tons of stores a year

  • so we've hired some additional expertise

  • to make sure we're doing that in the most efficient way in.

  • I mean right now if you ask any of our executives

  • around the world,

  • they know those are the three things

  • that we're focused on this year.

  • If we do those right, we will put up the results

  • that we budgeted, etcetera.

  • Sal: Wow and you're all growing fast.

  • I mean for a large company,

  • you all grew 24, 25% last year?

  • Angela: Yeah. Sal: That's fairly dramatic.

  • Angela: We just put up this year's results.

  • We just did our trading update a couple weeks ago

  • and our retail business was up 13%

  • on a really, really big base and

  • Sal: That's not what global retail is doing today?

  • Angela: No, no, our largest competitor

  • put up a 3% retail business

  • and they're the biggest in the sector.

  • Now we're absolutely continuing to our perform

  • but I will tell you because it's the people.

  • Because there are 10,000 people around the world

  • that are so passionate about this company

  • and so passionate about our performance

  • and creating again a great brand,

  • a really great company

  • but they also know that every time

  • we open a flagship store ...

  • Because again it's shallow luxury retail, right?

  • That always bothered Christopher and I

  • because it's not where we came from, right?

  • We love what we're doing

  • and that's what we've been focus on,

  • a great company.

  • Every time we open a flagship store,

  • we partner with a local institution.

  • In Chicago we partnered with [Hype]

  • and we gifted them a million dollars.

  • We created a program to help the youth

  • in the Chicago area

  • with our programs Burberry Beyond, etcetera.

  • We've done it in New York, we've done it in Beijing,

  • we're getting ready to do it in Shanghai.

  • Anytime we open up this huge luxury store

  • which could come across a little, elitist if you will,

  • we always make sure that the company also,

  • like in New York we said

  • we're lighting up Manhattan with a store.

  • Well we're also going to light up people's lives

  • when we gave the million dollars

  • to the Robin Hood Foundation

  • and put our program in place

  • for the chartered schools, etcetera.

  • That's a big part of the balance

  • and that's a part of being a great company.

  • Sal: When you look at the organization,

  • you must be looking at people

  • "Oh, look at him, look at her."

  • "She's got some potential, he's got some potential."

  • "Hey, that could be the next CEO."

  • What are you looking at?

  • What are the traits that you're seeing in those people

  • that are really striking you

  • as someone who might be able to one day

  • step into your shoes?

  • Angela: It's a great question.

  • We look at it honestly in all levels of the company

  • and I would even say probably less my shoes, right?

  • Because that would mostly be

  • a lot of my [direct report], etcetera

  • so I would tell you at every level of the company

  • and we hire for it as well.

  • It sounds terrible but we culturally compatible.

  • We always say we don't want tissue rejection

  • because it's tough to bring people into your culture.

  • Sal: Tissue rejection like skin grafting or ...

  • Angela: Yeah. Sal: Yes, yes

  • Angela: We just don't want that.

  • People go to such rigor

  • before we bring them into the company.

  • We always said, "Are they culturally compatible?"

  • "Do we trust them?"

  • Do we like them obviously but do we trust them?

  • Do we believe them?

  • Do they believe in our mission,

  • in what we're doing?

  • Because we can't afford to make a mistake.

  • I would tell you with anybody going to the next level,

  • there is transparency, trust, our core values,

  • all those soft things we talked about.

  • When they reach a certain level it's a given their smart.

  • It's a given they have high IQ

  • but we need high EQ.

  • I always say that everybody in the company

  • needs a little right and left brain, right?

  • Two extremes because then they don't feel.

  • We always say that we can teach people anything

  • but we can't teach them to care,

  • we can't teach them to feel

  • and when you're in a human business

  • and you're communicating like we're communicating,

  • they have to be authentic.

  • We have a leadership council

  • which is the next generation talent.

  • We spend hours just helping them understand

  • who they are.

  • Who are they, right?

  • Because then only if they really know who they are,

  • can they build very balance teams around them

  • and it's a real self-reflective phase

  • that they go through

  • but they will become better leaders

  • having peace and confidence with who they are

  • and to thy self be true.

  • That is a part of our talent plan.

  • I always say no different than me.

  • I tell investors you would be so surprised

  • at every decision I don't make everyday.

  • (Sal laughs)

  • But you can't.

  • I have to try trust the people we brought in

  • and I have to give them very simple clear messages.

  • The three things we're going to do this year

  • and all the metrics behind it

  • and uniting everyone

  • but it is trust, intuition, great communication,

  • authenticity, people have to feel them

  • or they will never rise as a leader in the company.

  • Sal: Right.

  • I mean is it something that you think you can ...

  • I mean you talk about personality fit and cultural fit,

  • do you trust them,

  • but is there some way that you can screen for that?

  • For that balance of the whole brain.

  • I read the whole book now.

  • Angela: Fascinating. Sal: Very good book.

  • Angela: Did you really read it?

  • Sal: I did, I read it on plane, it's a long flight.

  • Angela: I gave him a copy of Daniel Pink's book.

  • It's called the Whole Mind,

  • Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World?

  • Sal: One thing that I pointed out to you

  • because one thing that I did react to that book.

  • It's funny because in that book it says,

  • "Oh, we don't need programmers anymore,"

  • "we need inventors."

  • I said, "What's a programmer? It's an inventor."

  • It is a fundamentally a right-brained activity.

  • I actually most strong ...

  • When people say, "Khan Academy stem ..."

  • I was like stem is, it should be a right-brained activity.

  • I mean in my mind the learning to factor a polynomial

  • or to do the basics of algorithm,

  • that's like a painter learning how to paint.

  • The real expression is when you actually create something

  • so I actually think we're more similar

  • Angela: I think so too

  • but I think that's what you've unlocked.

  • I think that's your unique brand positioning.

  • Sal: Right, the creative

  • Angela: You're taking what most people would take

  • as a traditional left-brain

  • and you're adding fun to it,

  • you're adding energy to it.

  • You're making it, you're combining,

  • you're making it more of a right, left brain exercise

  • not just an analytical exercise.

  • Sal: Yeah, no and how are we doing on time now?

  • Voiceover: I think we only have, like three more minutes.

  • Sal: Okay, three more minutes.

  • I will ask you again because it was so inspiring

  • in the Dopamine, just start,

  • we're talking about Dopamine earlier

  • and you got us all very excited.

  • Angela: (laughs) I won't ask.

  • Sal: Yeah, we were talking about, well and other things.

  • I mean, just parting words, advice for the team here

  • and people look good greater Khan Academy community.

  • Thoughts on just what we should be doing

  • and how we should approach life.

  • Angela: Yeah, you are

  • It's funny because I had the honor

  • right before the Olympics.

  • Mr. Bill Gates was in London

  • and had a wonderful luncheon.

  • We'd met a couple of different times

  • and I had the honor of sitting next to him

  • at the luncheon table.

  • He was talking about all of his

  • different philanthropic efforts etcetera

  • and to the who's who of the UK if you will.

  • He had mentioned the Khan Academy

  • and I was so excited, why ...

  • At the very end he simply said, "Is there anything else?"

  • I said, "Well what are you plans for the Khan Academy?”

  • He looked at me like how did I know about this

  • and nobody in the room knew about it

  • and these are huge big executives running Glaxo

  • and every big company in the UK.

  • He then went on to share with them

  • what you were doing

  • and why that he felt strongly

  • and his foundation was investing, etcetera.

  • Then the luncheon broke and then he looked at me

  • and he goes, "What would you do?"

  • I said, "You created"

  • "the greatest brand in the world, Microsoft."

  • "You were so laser and you had such a vision.”

  • I said, "It is absolutely"

  • "no different with the Khan Academy."

  • "I believe you have the ability to create"

  • "one of the greatest brands"

  • "and one of the greatest companies in the world."

  • I told him, I said, "When you did it, there was a need"

  • "and you filled that need."

  • There is a tremendous need and you are filling that need

  • and it's in a different way

  • but you're using and you're leveraging the technology

  • that exist today, as he did.

  • He then sent a follow up note afterwards saying,

  • "Could we continue the conversation,"

  • "I found it fascinating, etcetera."

  • I shared this with you

  • because at this young age that you are,

  • to have someone of his vision and his caliber

  • believe in you, you know you're on the right track.

  • I just think that I am absolutely nothing

  • in comparison to the people that are watching you,

  • the people that are following you,

  • the lives that you're impacting.

  • You're impacting teachers lives,

  • you're impacting the next generation.

  • You are actually impacting people

  • who didn't finish their education.

  • Who are going on and learning now.

  • You will create a phenomenal brand,

  • you will create an amazing company

  • and you are in the mist of disrupting a sector

  • that is so desperately in need of being fixed.

  • You're doing it in such a modern way,

  • leveraging everything that exist today

  • and my counsel to you is just don't stop

  • and don't slow down.

  • Stay focused, keep the right pace

  • but do truly understand that what you're doing

  • has far greater meaning

  • than anything you've ever done in your lives before.

  • Not just that America need you to do this,

  • the world needs you to do this.

  • Education is the biggest issue

  • that inhibiting future economies all over the world.

  • I am so honored to be here to chat with you

  • and just I am so thankful for what you're doing,

  • I really am.

  • Sal: Well I feel like going back to work now.

  • (people laughing)

  • No, thank you so much.

  • I mean this was, I mean for me personally

  • when we met in Heathrow with my $6 shirt on,

  • that by itself was a really powerful.

  • I mean Esther was there too and we were like

  • She’s amazing!”

  • Esther is the number one search result on

  • Olympic attitude on Google.

  • (people laughing)

  • She has authority here but we were transfixed

  • and blown away by meeting you then

  • and this I think I could speak for everyone

  • where this was incredibly inspiring and motivating

  • for all of us so thank you so much.

  • Angela: No, you are more than welcome.

  • Keep up the great work.

  • (clapping)

Sal: Well, I just wanted to introduce everyone

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