This Is Working with Daniel Roth

When Justin McLeod decided he had to reboot Hinge, three years after he had founded the dating app service, he had his doubts. It took a member of his team to remind him: "You're the CEO. What's stopping you?" At the same time — and for many the same reasons — McLeod decided he needed to reboot his company: to create a transparent environment where colleagues were invested in their work and each o...

This is Quick — the lightning round of This is Working. Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod speaks to LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth. Among the reveals: The unusual requirement for McLeod's first job — and why he got fired The "dramatically different" thing he'd be doing if he wasn't running the #1 downloaded dating app in 10 countries. What was on a list of do's and don'ts he carried like a...

"You would not replace a person with a robot, but a piece of the work a person does."  Roland Busch has a remarkable perch as CEO of Siemens, a massive multinational whose hardware and software touch nearly everything. In this second part of LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Dan Roth's wide-ranging conversation Busch laid out his vision of how AI would not replace but liberate highly-skilled professionals,...

"We were never going to miss one again … We were never going to deny a transition was happening." Cisco is one of the handful of companies from the dawn of the digital age that is still going strong. But as Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins told LinkedIn Editor in Chief Dan Roth, it isn't Cisco's many successes that propels him now, at the dawn of the AI age — it was missing the cloud wave. That was the...

It could be that the best person for a tough job is the one who thinks she isn't. That's what people like Google CEO Eric Schmidt and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki thought when they prodded their founding EMEA marketing head, Lorraine Twohill, to be a big fish in a big pond: Cross the pond to become Chief Marketing Officer. More than two decades later, the matter is settled.  It wasn't the first time...

On this week's rapid fire Q&A, Google CMO Lorraine Twohill shares about career paths and what she’s learned from Gen Z colleagues — and what they should learn from her, the importance of trying a few roles on for size — “Life and places like Google are more like a jungle gym than a career ladder" — and why it really is OK to nap at work. 

We’re offering a little something different for anyone seeking inspiration at the new year - a bonus episode featuring LinkedIn Editor in Chief Dan Roth on Suzy Welch’s new podcast, Becoming You. If you’ve ever been curious about how exactly Dan landed at LinkedIn, this is the episode for you. And if you’re pursuing your own career pivot, check out Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts. The...

As we wind down 2024, the This is Working team is starting to dream big for 2025. Of course that means we have AI on our minds. And we’re not alone. AI has more than one spot on LinkedIn’s recent Big Ideas list. Who better to learn from than Fei-Fei Li, AI pioneer? Dr. Li is an AI researcher and professor at Stanford University and serves as Co-Director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute. I...

On this week's rapid fire Q&A, Bridgewater Founder and Chief Investment Officer Ray Dalio advises starters in the finance industry to just dive in — "know what you don't know" — wants Gen Z to know that pain plus reflection equals progress (and why everyone should meditate), the gigantic early career error that made him stronger, and much more.

When Ynon Kreiz took over as CEO of Mattel, he became the company's fourth chief executive in four years. His three predecessors had all resigned. The storied, 80-year-old toy company was still a top brand, but it was fraying at the edges and it needed a fresh start, some new ideas, and someone who was willing to take some risks. Already a board member and a three-time CEO "drawn to perhaps maybe...

On this week's rapid fire Q&A, Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver tells LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Dan Roth why she completely unplugs — without fail — for 24 hours every week, why her mentors are all "old dead white guys," and why you should always — always — go with your gut.

Fawn Weaver had a story to tell — and then she became the story. It started as a passion project, to make sure that the story of the first known African-American master distiller would no longer be lost to time. But while righting that historical wrong the serial entrepreneur got an idea so crazy that it just might've worked. It did. Her plan to make sure that Nathan “Nearest” Green would finally...

On this week's rapid fire Q&A, Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant tells LinkedIn Editor-in Chief Dan Roth why he considers his employees' work/life balance "mandatory," how art appreciation helps him get unstuck, how to decide how to upskill, and how observing his customers customized their orders changed his "go-to" meal.

Brand awareness is one thing. Brand nostalgia is quite another. Creating is hard enough. Maintaining it may be even harder. But it's second nature to Sean Tresvant, the brand-new CEO of Taco Bell, who cut his teeth in key marketing positions at Nike, Sports Illustrated and PepsiCo. That said, there is nothing ordinary about the challenge of nurturing and maturing this 60-year-old brand. It takes r...

On this week's rapid fire Q&A, super sports agent Rich Paul shares how he built his first business ironing clothes, how he finds inspiration when he's stuck, and why patience is something he hopes Gen Z will embrace. The founder and CEO of Klutch Sports group also reveals his toughest negotiation — and it might surprise you.  Have questions you want to hear on This is Quick? Share a post or commen...

What do LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Draymond Green have in common? Well, THAT, of course. But they are also all represented by Rich Paul, arguably the most driven, innovative and influential sports agent in the game. It didn't come easy. Raised in a tough Cleveland neighborhood, Paul leaned on and learned from a wise dad who provided, as Paul puts it now, a solid foundation. But the author of...

On this week’s rapid fire Q&A, Steve Ells talks about his journey from studying art history to founding Chipotle Mexican Grill and how being open to the unexpected paved the way for his success. Ells also shares his secret to staying productive — keeping a highly structured morning routine and allowing for “spontaneity and chaos” as the day progresses — and he discusses the importance of bringing...

Steve Ells created a new standard for fast casual dining when he launched Chipotle 31 years ago. He’s looking to transform the sector once again with his latest venture Kernel — a plant-forward restaurant powered largely by robots. LinkedIn editor in chief Dan Roth talks to Ells about the novel hub and spoke system he’s deploying to streamline food prep and reduce human error and turnover. Ells di...

Offering a unique blend of baseball and whimsical entertainment, the Savannah Bananas are selling out stadiums across the country with their Banana Ball games. On the latest This is Working, the team’s owner Jesse Cole talks to LinkedIn editor in chief Dan Roth about his fan-first business strategy of eliminating friction points and constantly innovating the experience. Cole also discusses the qua...

On the latest This is Working, Francisco Veloso, dean of top-ranked international business school INSEAD, talks to LinkedIn editor in chief Dan Roth about overhauling the curriculum to include sustainability and spur students to think about their decisions in terms of global impact as part of a mission to better prepare the next generation of tech and business leaders. Veloso also shares his thoug...

This week on our rapid fire Q&A, Francisco Veloso, the dean of INSEAD business school (#2 on LinkedIn’s Top MBA list), applies the Heisenberg uncertainty principle to explain how an early love of physics bought him time to figure out a career plan. He also talks about picking up social media skills from Gen Z, learning from Mary Meaney’s effective mobilization on behalf of Ukrainian refugees, and...

This week on our rapid fire Q&A, TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett explains why she thinks “work-life balance is a lie,” and how she instead frames her life like a diversified portfolio — recalibrating when necessary to outperform over time. She also talks about how practicing gratitude helps her stay productive and the importance of being open to feedback and inspiration from all different sources....

As the CEO of TIAA, Thasunda Brown Duckett makes a point of showing the human impact of the investment advisory firm’s work. On the latest This is Working, Duckett talks to LinkedIn's Editor in Chief Dan Roth about the creative leadership methods she employs to foster genuine feedback and motivate her workforce to share her mission to fix America’s $4 trillion dollar retirement savings gap. Ducket...

This week on our rapid fire Q&A, Avelo Airlines founder & CEO Andrew Levy shares his tips for managing a busy schedule, including prioritizing time for deep thinking every day. He also talks about learning to trust his gut when it comes to going all-in on major business decisions, and he imparts his best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to follow in a similar path. Have questions you wan...

Andrew Levy shocked a lot of people when he resigned as CFO of United Airlines in 2018 to create a new airline. On the latest This is Working, the Avelo Airlines founder and CEO talks to LinkedIn's Editor in Chief Dan Roth about why he launched a startup in an already saturated industry of giants — seeing an opportunity to tap underserved markets with lower-cost, short-haul flights through smaller...