From the Microsoft boardroom to Harvard to Ukraine’s economic recovery, Penny Pritzker has held one of the rarest vantage points in business and public life. She sits on Microsoft’s board at a defining moment for AI, helps lead Harvard, served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and was the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery. She’s also the co-founder of Inspired Capital alongside Alexa von Tobel.

Alexa and Penny’s relationship started more than a decade ago, when Penny built the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship program from scratch as Commerce Secretary and invited Alexa to serve. A shared belief in founders turned into a friendship, and eventually into Inspired Capital.

In this episode, the two sit down together and Penny shares what it was like growing up as her family built Hyatt, the letter to her grandfather that got her into business, and the framework she leans on when the stakes are highest.

They also talk about what makes Inspired different, from the hustle and the network to the intensity and care the team brings to every founder, and why, with the firm’s $450M Fund IV, they’re only getting started.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:49 Welcome to Inspired
1:19 Growing Up in the Hyatt Family
5:00 Taking Hyatt International
5:44 Losing Her Father at 13
9:14 The Letter to Her Grandfather
12:45 From Harvard and Stanford to Building Businesses
14:03 Starting a Senior Living Company at 27
16:48 Early Mistakes and Learning to Fire Someone
17:45 Why Building Businesses Is Noble
20:11 Seven Companies and Becoming Secretary of Commerce
22:16 Promoting Entrepreneurship Around the World
25:25 American Ambition and Risk-Taking
29:16 “Oh My God, I Work Here”: Life at the White House
31:51 Listening to American Businesses
33:11 Diplomacy, Privacy Shield and the CHIPS Act
36:17 A Fist Bump from President Obama
37:17 Helping Rebuild Ukraine
41:01 How to Make Hard Decisions
43:48 Life Is a Team Sport
45:33 Inside Inspired’s Culture
48:34 Closing Fund Four and Portfolio Results
51:49 Inside the Microsoft Boardroom on AI
55:07 AI and the Future of Work
57:40 Inspired’s Big Bets
58:48 Closing Thoughts