Beyond the Case
A podcast where global leaders from the Harvard Business School Owner/President Management (OPM) community join in a personal capacity and share the real decisions, failures, and mental models behind building enduring companies.
This podcast is independent and not affiliated with Harvard Business School.
Episodes
88 episodes
The Early Lesson That Made Me Rethink Wealth, Success, and Happiness - Pedro Thompson
Pedro Thompson's life philosophy was shaped long before he became a CEO, investor, or entrepreneur. Growing up in a family that had once been wealthy but lost everything taught him an early lesson that external success is fragile, while charact...
Building With Family: Our Greatest Competitive Advantage - Minh Wilson
At first glance, Minh Wilson's story is about martial arts. In reality, it's about family.The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Minh grew up watching her parents sacrifice everything to create a better future for their children. When a ma...
From One Idea on a Napkin to South America's Largest Independent Research Firm: An Insight Into the Mind of Dato Netto
Dato's journey began at age 14 when he took a job at a parking lot and learned accounting simply because he wanted to understand how profits were calculated. From there, he built a successful career in finance, M&A, and investment managemen...
What Happened When I Finally Bet on Myself - Sumit Sood
For 15 years, Sumit Sood built a successful career in global software sales, leading markets across the Middle East and India. By most standards, he had stability, a strong income, and a clear career path ahead of him.But at age 40, he m...
From Rap Battles to Boardrooms: The Road to 2 Grammys and 15 Investments - Djo Moupondo
Djo Moupondo shares his journey from rapper to entrepreneur, investor, and business builder across multiple continents. Starting in the music industry, Djo learned early lessons about creativity, conviction, and spotting talent, skills that wou...
Don't Fall in Love With the Trade - David Halabu
David Halabu's career has been defined by disciplined reinvention. Starting as a trader, he learned to make decisions under pressure, manage risk, and separate emotion from outcomes. After recognizing that the post-financial-crisis environment ...
From Water Phobia to Kazakhstan's National Water Polo Team - Kaiyr Kochshigulov
Kaiyr Kochshigulov shares an inspiring story of transformation, resilience, and leadership. Unable to swim until the age of 10 due to a fear of water, Kaiyr challenged himself to learn, discovered water polo, and eventually represented Kazakhst...
What Do You Leave Behind Besides Money? - Koby Jones
This conversation is ultimately about the tension between achievement and alignment.Koby’s story begins as a classic success arc: high performer in global financial markets, top-ranked derivatives professional, climbing the corpor...
From Risk-Averse Lawyer to Entrepreneur - Lewis Ho
Lewis Ho’s journey is a story of reinvention, from a 25-year legal career built on risk management to entrepreneurship, robotics, and AI. Trained as a lawyer and eventually becoming partner at major firms, Lewis spent decades advising li...
Designing an Intentional Life - Lauren Cohen
A special thank you to Professor Lauren Cohen for taking the time to join me on Beyond the Case and for continuing to inspire so many of us through the
A Resident of This Planet - Rishikkes Pawar
This conversation with Rishikkes Pawar, Founder & CEO of DigitalZone, moved far beyond entrepreneurship and into identity, curiosity, resilience, and the philosophy behind how he lives. Despite ...
Trust Yourself, Trust the Process - Pablo Murra-Farrus
Pablo Murra-Farrus is a second-generation Mexican entrepreneur and CEO of Grupo Artec, a diversified automotive and paint distribution company based in Torreón, Mexico. The conversation blends operatio...
The Quiet Principles Behind Building Businesses That Outlast You - with Zsolt Nagy
Truly enjoyed this conversation with Zsolt Nagy where beneath all the businesses, acquisitions, and scale was a much quieter philosophy about life and entrepreneurship. Zsolt spoke less about chasing growth and more about building things that c...
From Trauma-Driven Hustle to Purpose-Driven Leadership - Saleema Vellani
Saleema Vellani shares the deeply personal story behind her entrepreneurial journey, from childhood trauma and feelings of rejection to building a life rooted in purpose, impact, and leadership.Saleema reflects on losing her mother at 16...
The Mindset That Turned Rejection Into Opportunity - Gevorg Shahbazyan
In this episode, Gevorg Shahbazyan shares a story shaped by rejection, resilience, and relentless ambition. Despite earning a master’s degree, speaking multiple languages, and completing internships in Washington D.C., he was rejected by nearly...
Gratitude, Growth & the Pursuit of Freedom - with Caio Zapata
This conversation with Caio Zapata was particularly refreshing because it blended entrepreneurship with deep introspection and philosophy. Beyond discussing business growth and leadership, Caio spoke thoughtfully about freedom, gratitude, adven...
They’re Solving Mental Health at Scale Using AI & HBS Is Taking Notes - Marc Goldberg & Christine Carville
In this episode, Marc Goldberg and Christine Carville share their journey from individual entrepreneurial paths to co-founding Resilience Lab and now leading at Cerebral. Christine’s career evolved from early entrepreneurship into clinical psyc...
Wisdom from an Unconventional Life - Isa Lorenzo
Isa Lorenzo’s story is anchored in three powerful ideas: stay endlessly curious, view failure as timing rather than defeat, and continually rediscover your purpose. She believes curiosity has been the driving force of her life, pushing her to e...
Meeting Warren Buffett & Bill Gates Taught Me the Truth About Wealth - Elie Nour
A defining moment in Elie Nour’s journey came from attending the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, where he met Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. That experience shaped two core beliefs: humility at the highest levels of wealth and t...
From Empires to AI: How Power Is Shifting Globally - Caroline Elkins
Caroline Elkins is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author and one of the world’s leading historians on empire, power, and institutions.We explored a central question: How s...
The First Rule is Don't Lose - Sherry Li
How many of us can genuinely reinvent our skill set as our business demands it? From Wall Street finance to hands-on real estate investing, and now to building AI-powered technology, Sherry Li has done exactly that. But what makes her evolution...
30+ Years of Executive Coaching: Patterns & Frameworks Behind Leadership Success - Linda Miklas
Working with Linda Miklas, my executive coach during the OPM program at Harvard Business School, was...
The Hidden Math Behind $1B Growth: Unit Economics That Matter - Judy Liu
Judy Liu begins with an unexpected insight: her thinking today is deeply influenced by Buddhist philosophy and introspection, which help her navigate leadership, ego, and the different roles she plays across life. From that foundation, she shar...
Awareness: The First Step to Wisdom - Pàdraig O Céidigh
When you compete on a global stage for Entrepreneur of the Year and lose to Narayana Murthy, you don’t just come back with a trophy or a ranking - you come back with perspective.That experience shaped how Pàdraig O Céidigh thinks about e...
CEOs Don’t Have All the Answers: Leading a 750-Employee Autism Company Through Uncertainty - Ronit Molko
Ronit Molko shares her journey from growing up in South Africa during apartheid to building and scaling a national autism services company in the United States. After moving to the U.S. to study psychology and specializing in autism, she starte...
