Data-center veteran Kervin Pillay walks us through the coming AI infrastructure boom. Pillay argues the U.S. is about to sink 10x the capital it took to create the Interstate Highway System into new data center capacity, racing toward “hundreds of gigawatts” of compute—each gigawatt-scale campus drawing more power than a major city. — For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast. Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us...
Jul 09, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 49
Rob Nishihara is the co-creator of Ray, the open-source software now used by OpenAI, Amazon, DeepSeek, and Nvidia as part of the essential stack for building AI at scale. Rob offers a rare insider’s view of the bottlenecks, breakthroughs, and practical limits shaping AI today. The discussion ranges from the philosophical to the technical—covering synthetic data, future policy, career resilience, and how AI might ultimately make us think better, not just faster. — For a deeper dive into these ins...
May 27, 2025•54 min•Ep. 48
He helped break the British pound and Swedish krona alongside George Soros, Stanley Druckenmiller, and now–Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Rob Johnson shares extraordinary insights into currency warfare, reflects on his time inside institutions of power, and assesses the Trump administration’s bid to rebalance the global economy. You can also listen to Rob’s first appearance on Onward episode #19: How we broke the British pound, with Rob Johnson – March 17, 2023 — For a deeper dive into these ...
May 08, 2025•56 min•Ep. 47
Months before trade policy was on anyone's radar, Stephen Miran—now Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Trump—quietly published "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System." In this episode, Ben and Cardiff dive into Miran’s roadmap and assess how Trump's policies in practice have diverged from Miran’s original vision. Ben and Cardiff explore three key scenarios for the future trajectory: Best Case : International dealmaking leads to a breakthrough, reduci...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 46
Anna Wong is the Chief US Economist at Bloomberg and previously worked at the Federal Reserve, White House Council of Economic Advisors, and US Treasury Department. I can imagine few people in the world better suited to analyze and forecast the impact of the tariffs. — For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast. Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com. Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-...
Apr 07, 2025•52 min•Ep. 45
Tal Kerret is the President of Silverstein Properties, the company behind the historic rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York City, and on the board of directors of Fundrise. Tal provides an in-depth look into the challenges and triumphs associated with redeveloping this iconic site, emphasizing its immense logistical complexity, symbolic importance, and economic impact. He shares his journey from the tech industry into real estate, discussing lessons learned about innovation, risk man...
Mar 10, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 44
As a serial tech entrepreneur, VC investor, and expert in data-driven businesses, Auren Hoffman has been a player in Silicon Valley for nearly 30 years. Auren reflects on the pivotal decisions behind selling LiveRamp, the evolution of data companies, and how AI is reshaping industries. From the lessons learned in entrepreneurship to predictions about the future of technology, this episode is packed with insights for business leaders, tech enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 43
Over his 36-year career, Simon Ziff, President of Ackman-Ziff, has overseen more than $100 billion in transactions and witnessed the dramatic evolution of the real estate industry brought about by the Savings and Loan Crisis. Simon shares his journey from joining Ackman Brothers in the 1980s to seizing the opportunities created by the rise of CMBS and private equity in the 1990s. From personal anecdotes to expert insights, this episode is packed with an insider’s experience navigating market cyc...
Jan 02, 2025•43 min•Ep. 42
The most important decision President Trump may face is how to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). Neil Chilson, Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute, is a policy insider with nearly two decades of experience inside the halls of power. Neil walks us through how to think about the tradeoffs and approaches to capturing the enormous potential upside of artificial intelligence while protecting against the downside risks. — Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at O...
Dec 20, 2024•51 min•Ep. 41
The data revolution is transforming every business in the world, and Tristan Handy sits near the center of it. Starting with a simple idea, he and his team built dbt Labs into a multi-billion-dollar tech company by understanding how technology is changing the world and what that meant for how people should change with it. This episode dives into Tristan’s journey, his thoughts about entrepreneurship, and the lessons he learned while leading one of the most central companies in the industry. From...
Nov 15, 2024•47 min•Ep. 40
Build-to-Rent (BTR) may be the biggest innovation in real estate this decade and NexMetro Communities is arguably the originator. Since 2010, NexMetro has been developing BTR projects, with over 55 projects across the U.S., offering cottage-style homes specifically designed for renters. Hartmann provides insight into BTR’s growth, his unique business strategies, and the challenges in reshaping real estate for a new generation. Understanding Build-to-Rent Hartmann explains BTR as homes designed e...
Oct 30, 2024•55 min•Ep. 39
A couple hundred people in San Francisco may be on the cusp of inventing artificial general intelligence (AGI). Yet most people are not paying close attention, are skeptical, and are certainly not in the room. Dwarkesh pulls back the curtain so that the broader public can understand what people who are actually building AI think is going to happen. The conversation begins with Dwarkesh drawing parallels between the current AI revolution and past technological shifts, like the Industrial Revoluti...
Jul 30, 2024•53 min•Ep. 38
John Burns is a renowned expert on the housing market. In this episode, John unravels the complexities of today’s economic climate and housing trends, providing a comprehensive analysis of the housing market, demographic shifts, homebuilding industry, and rental sector. Whether you're a homeowner, investor, or simply interested in economic trends, this episode offers valuable perspectives on the current state of the housing market and what lies ahead. --- Have questions or feedback about this ep...
Jul 23, 2024•58 min•Ep. 37
Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize warfare and reshape geopolitics. Professor Andrew Wilson, professor of Strategy at the US Naval War College, explores the transformative power of military technology throughout history and its implications for the future. In this episode of Onward, host and Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and Professor Andrew Wilson explore how technological advancements not only transform warfare but also reshape political, social, and economic landscapes. Seem...
May 29, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 36
Although each major technology wave is unique—mainframes, the personal computer, internet, mobile, cloud, and now AI—the way they have played out has been surprisingly consistent. The core financial, product, and economic patterns repeat each innovation cycle and help define which companies go on to win or lose. In this episode, Ben and Cardiff identify and discuss the five most significant patterns: 1) waves, 2) bridging, 3) democratization, 4) centralization-decentralization, and 5) the 3x mul...
May 15, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 35
Two roads diverged before the US. One the way of growth and the other the way of a debt spiral. In this episode, Cardiff Garcia and Ben Miller look at the state of US dynamism vs. indebtedness, and the narrow path that would lead to a prolonged US boom. They scenario plan three potential futures: the continuation of current growth trends, a major recession, and a surprise development. The discussion spans historical debt trends, the impact of AI and technology on growth, and the influence of int...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 34
On the latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by Ali Wolf, Chief Economist at Zonda and one of the smartest people we know for analyzing and understanding housing and the economy. As we’re still in the early weeks of 2024, Ben and Ali’s conversation focuses on lessons learned from the past year, when a confluence of factors resulted in an economic period that still demands attention and deciphering: What happened to the recession that most economists believed was all but ine...
Feb 06, 2024•44 min•Ep. 33
In this final Onward episode of 2023 co-hosts Cardiff Garcia and Fundrise CEO Ben Miller kick things off by discussing Ben’s major market call: The conclusion that the real estate market has hit bottom. After 18 months of escalating interest rates punishing the real estate industry, small businesses, and regional banks, we’ve entered a new period where we expect the move to falling rates to propel strong positive performance. Ben walks Cardiff through his view of the state of the economy, both m...
Dec 30, 2023•47 min•Ep. 32
In the modern tech landscape, there are few topics more critical — or, unfortunately, more frequently overlooked and misunderstood by laypeople — than data security. Luckily Vanta has developed a revolutionary solution for how other companies can address the problem of data security compliance, with enormous subsequent benefits for how those businesses can operate safely — and access new market share as a result. In this latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by Christina Ca...
Dec 07, 2023•47 min•Ep. 31
People outside of the real estate investment industry may be unaware, but the market is currently navigating a period of turbulence comparable to what it experienced during the 2008 financial crisis, with cap rates and pricing down as much as 50%. In this episode of Onward, co-hosts Ben and Cardiff look at some behind-the-scenes market data that Ben has been analyzing, thanks to his on-the-ground insights through managing the Fundrise portfolio. Of particular concern has been the startling uneve...
Nov 29, 2023•54 min•Ep. 30
Rick Caruso’s real estate projects have defined how a generation of LA residents live in and experience the city. When you truly collaborate with communities, Rick explains, you get more than reliable financial success — you get momentum behind your project, you get political capital, and you get the satisfaction that comes from knowing people appreciate and enjoy the spaces you’ve contributed to the city. In this latest episode of Onward, Rick joins Fundrise CEO Ben Miller for a behind the scen...
Nov 17, 2023•42 min•Ep. 29
As our host, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller, observes in this latest episode of Onward, the amount of hype surrounding AI has become extraordinary… to the point that it’s become difficult for many people to distinguish the reality of its potential from vaporware. Luckily, coinciding with the Fundrise Innovation Fund’s investment in Theory Ventures, we have the opportunity to chat with Tomasz Tunguz, Theory Ventures General Partner, whose experience provides a critical perspective in analyzing how new t...
Oct 18, 2023•49 min•Ep. 28
As artificial intelligence has dominated headlines over the past year, it’s become increasingly critical for everybody to understand AI, due to its likelihood to impact each and every one of us. In this latest episode of Onward, join Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia for a conversation that aims to reveal some of the big picture ideas driving AI’s current growth, along with the potential ramifications of those changes — and why it really is worth getting excited over. In terms o...
Sep 29, 2023•54 min•Ep. 27
In our latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by David Carmen, founder of the Carmen Group and one of the top lobbyists in the nation. He has worked on some of the most important issues of the past nearly half century — from 9/11 to Softbank’s $22B acquisition of Sprint. With increasing polarization and political dysfunction, many may feel that our democracy is at risk. Most people don’t know why, let alone how we might fix it. With nearly 40 years as a Washington-DC-insider...
Aug 25, 2023•52 min•Ep. 26
In this latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia give us a tour of the economic landscape that was once the status quo: a world where local lending institutions called S&Ls — or thrifts — were the primary way individuals saved for and financed home ownership. However, due to a confluence of events, including rocketing inflation similar to the past 18 months’, S&Ls found themselves in a period of acute insolvency. As Ben and Cardiff explain, a series of...
Aug 18, 2023•58 min•Ep. 25
In the latest episode of Onward, Ben and Cardiff work through one of the most confounding questions currently poised for the economy: What do we make of two seemingly contradictory data sets, where one is telling us that the economy is generally healthy, while the other says we remain precisely on track for a full-blown recession, according to all historical precedent? This source of cognitive dissonance recently sent Ben down a path of research, which has led to a critical observation: Before e...
Jul 05, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 24
Noreen Harrington’s background in finance has involved working on everything from running Treasuries for Goldman Sachs to helping manage the creation of the Euro. In this latest episode of Onward, she joins Fundrise CEO Ben Miller to help us better understand why the upcoming debt ceiling crisis in the United States is a serious threat to economic stability. Today, there are a number of macro crosswinds in play including China’s challenge to SWIFT banking and the rise of digital currencies. Thes...
May 15, 2023•54 min•Ep. 23
If you’ve listened to Onward regularly, you know that Fundrise’s CEO Ben Miller has been a perennial contrarian when it comes to assessing the outlook for the economy, especially as markets have overheated and behaved irrationally. So, this latest episode of Onward might surprise you, as Ben gives the floor to co-host Cardiff Garcia, who treats us to a fundamentally different perspective — a full-throated case for economic optimism, as we look ahead to 2024. Ben and Cardiff’s conversation begins...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 22
In this bonus episode, our host Ben Miller interviews a special guest, the science writer Amanda Gefter, to discuss some of the most intriguing and consistently mind-blowing ideas from her book about cutting-edge physics and cosmology, Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn. Departing from Onward’s usual topics — the economy, what’s happening in the markets, and Fundrise — Ben asks Amanda to explore a few of the fundamental (but deeply unintuitive and surprising) ideas that underlie the architecture of ...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 21
In the weeks since Silvergate, Signature, and Silicon Valley Banks’ respective failures, observers around the world have found ways to classify each collapse as the result of specific, isolated circumstances. But our hosts at Onward see something much different: a systemic, likely global crisis in the financial markets, playing out very close to what we projected in our November 2022 episode, “ The Great Deleveraging ” ( https://fundrise.com/education/onward-episode-10 ). In a direct follow-up t...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 20
