How did you do it? Alternative investment manager Sixth Street Partners poses the question to executives in its podcast "It's Not Magic."
Hosted by David Stiepleman, San Francisco-based co-founder, co-president and co-chief operating officer of Sixth Street, the podcast recently launched its second season of biweekly conversations with a diverse slate of executives in a variety of industries to discuss the often-unexpected paths to their current positions.
The podcast's new season launched Nov. 7 with an interview with Stacy Brown-Philpot, former CEO of TaskRabbit Inc., who also spent over a decade with Google where she led operations for its consumer products as well as its operations in India.
In an interview, Mr. Stiepleman said much of the podcast's aim is to build awareness of the firm and provide a potential pipeline of future deals.
"When we reach out to a management team, and they need capital or other kinds of assistance, it's great if they know our name and they've read about us," Mr. Stiepleman said. "It's even better if they think of us: 'Hey, those folks are thoughtful. They're good partners. They're good at having respectful debates.'"
He said the conversations are meant to provide insight on the paths many of these executives have taken.
Ms. Brown-Philpot, one of the few high-profile Black women executives in Silicon Valley, began her career in banking.
"How did she go from being a generalist banker to knowing how to run these companies?" Mr. Stiepleman asked.
Other guests have similar unlikely paths in their career. One guest from the debut season, Michael A. McFaul, is a professor of international studies in the department of political science at Stanford University and was U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.
"How do you go from being an academic to running an embassy?" Mr. Stiepleman asked.
Other guests in its debut season included Janice Chen, co-founder and chief technology officer at Mammoth Biosciences, and Igor Rozenblit, managing partner at Iron Road Partners, who helped the shape the SEC's regulatory approach toward private capital markets.
More information on the podcast along with links to individual episodes is available on Sixth Street's website.
