It's Not Magic is a podcast about building things, without the pretense. Our host is David Stiepleman, Co-Founder and Co-President of Sixth Street, a leading global investment firm. We talk to founders and industry leaders and get them to explain, in plain English, what they do and how they do it. Building a business is a lot of things, but…It’s Not Magic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode three of It’s Not Magic’s San Francisco Season features Ghazi, Founder and CEO of EMPIRE and Bay Area native. EMPIRE was founded and built in San Francisco and is now the largest independent record label, distributor, and publisher in the United States, working with artists including Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, and Shaboozey. Since launching EMPIRE in 2010, Ghazi has built a global powerhouse, known for its innovation, ...
The second episode of It’s Not Magic’s San Francisco Season features our hometown San Francisco Giants' very own Larry Baer, President and CEO, and Buster Posey, President of Baseball Operations.
In an exclusive conversation at Oracle Park, Sixth Street Co-Founder and Co-President David Stiepleman, Larry and Buster discuss the role of sports as a civic catalyst, highlighting how professional sports franchises ca...
The first episode of the San Francisco Season of It's Not Magic features a wide-ranging conversation between Sixth Street Co-President David Stiepleman and the 46th Mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie.
Recorded at Sixth Street's San Francisco headquarters, the conversation delves into Mayor Lurie's vision for the city's future, focusing on public safety and behavioral health, fostering innovation, and keeping San Francisco "op...
On this episode of It’s Not Magic, Sixth Street Co-Founder and Co-President, David Stiepleman sat down with Kwame Owusu-Kesse, CEO of Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), for a conversation on transformative business leadership and operational standards.
Kwame shares powerful insights into redefining HCZ as a "tax-exempt business" and emphasizes the importance of building a culture of excellence. From their transformative cradle-to-car...
What happens when you put two strangers from across the political divide together, not to talk about politics, but just to get to know each other as human beings? That’s what Dave Isay set out to answer.
From twenty-plus years of running StoryCorps, Dave has shown time and again the importance of recognizing the value of humanity in everyone regardless of their politics, religion, or background, and how the act of listening can...
During Westbound Equity Partners’ Annual Summit, Sixth Street Co-Founder and Co-President, David Stiepleman sat down with award-winning AI researcher and best-selling author Dr. Joy Buolamwini for a conversation about, in the words of her Algorithmic Justice League, getting the world to “remember that who codes matters, how we code matters, and that we can code a better future.”
On this episode of It’s Not Magic, you’ll hear h...
Steve Kerr has won nine NBA championships as a member of three different dynasties: as Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors and as a player for the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls.
Earlier this month at the Sixth Street Offsite, he was gracious enough to spend time with our team and share what he’s learned about leadership and life over the course of his career.
His conversation with Sixth Street’s David Sti...
During Sixth Street’s annual MaSH CxO Summit, David Stiepleman recorded our latest episode with two longtime political experts who have run dozens of statewide and national campaigns for Republicans and Democrats. The conversation was in front of a live audience of CEOs and other leaders from across our growth equity portfolio, and we dove into current political, geopolitical, and macro trends in this election year affecting their ...
Sixth Street Co-founder and Partner Vijay Mohan sat down in our San Francisco office with two accomplished executives in the professional soccer world for a conversation about the power of accessibility in sports and how it can influence communities.
On this episode of It’s Not Magic, Vijay guest hosted a discussion with Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and Danielle Slaton, a former USWNT pl...
Our Sixth Street team plus friends from across our Dallas network came together for a night of conversation to discuss business leadership, culture, and connections. We were honored to be joined by our great friends United States Air Force Major General (ret.), Rod Lewis, True Ventures EIR and Investor Clarence Bethea, and Westbound Equity Partners co-founder Sean Mendy in a discussion led by Sixth Street Founder and Co-President D...
The San Antonio Spurs have 5 NBA championships, but some of their biggest wins and longest-lasting contributions have come off the court. Dr. Kara C. Allen, the first NBA team executive dedicated exclusively to impact, joins to talk about the Spurs’ commitment to ensuring that the community always remains a priority in everything they do.
We learn how values translate into action for a franchise that’s developing the next genera...
Aly Wagner, lead analyst for Fox’s broadcast of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and co-chair of Bay FC, joins us to talk about her career progression from winning gold medals for the U.S. Women’s National Team to announcing the games to co-founding a National Women’s Soccer League expansion franchise.
We ask her about her trailblazing path as the first woman to announce a Men’s World Cup game, and how she’s applied the lessons s...
Recorded live at the Sixth Street offsite in Austin, Texas. Former Golden State Warriors President, NBA Hall of Famer, and Bay FC board member Rick Welts joins our host David Stiepleman to talk about pioneering moments in the history of the NBA, including the inception of the Slam Dunk Contest and All-Star Weekend. Rick and David also discuss the key trends driving the future of sports.
This is a special episode to kick o...
San Francisco has a powerful asset in its fight against its well-publicized civic challenges: its caring community of doers.
Kanishka Cheng, founder and CEO of TogetherSF, is working to revitalize the city by reconnecting its residents with their government. She’s built an organization, with the backing of Sequoia’s Michael Moritz, that provides educational resources and spaces for open dialogue on how to solve the complex issue...
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.