The Gstaad Guy Podcast

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Harry Stebbings, founder of 20VC and one of the most prolific investors and podcasters in Europe, to explore what separates the people who say they want it from the people who genuinely cannot do anything else. Harry started a podcast from his bedroom at seventeen with no university and no network, built it into an audience of millions and a fund with around a billion dollars under management, and reflects on a career defined by seeing early that media would become venture capital's real differentiator. The conversation gets into the specific signals he looks for in founders and why the usual answers about resilience and discipline tell you nothing. Harry is candid about the costs that come with real commitment, from the friends and birthdays missed to the dissatisfaction he thinks founders have to make peace with, and he is clear about where he draws his own line. He makes the case for Europe over the US, explains why he would rather be relevant than rich, and lays out what he believes is coming next with AI. Fast, unguarded, and willing to be challenged on every point, it is a conversation about ambition, honesty, and what you are actually prepared to pay. Filmed at The Peninsula London. This episode is brought to you by Zapp, London's premium grocery on-demand delivery app. Zapp brings a curated range of everyday essentials and luxury brands to your door in minutes, 24/7. Visit: https://www.justzapp.com/ (00:00) Intro 🎙️✨ (01:44) Weakness Leaving Your Body 💪🔥 (03:15) If I Were You, I'd Do This 👆💡 (04:21) Insight Developments 🔍📈 (05:10) The Scene In The Social Network 🎬💻 (06:36) Three Ways We Make Money 💰🔑 (09:11) The Signals I Look For 👁️🎯 (10:44) Nobody Great Comes Out Of McKinsey 🏢😏 (12:25) Teach Your Children To Tell Stories 👶📖 (15:08) Fifty Thousand DMs At Two In The Morning 📱😮 (16:22) At Peace With Dissatisfaction 🧘⚖️ (18:33) Found On The Kitchen Floor 🍳😔 (21:20) There Is No Cheat Code 🎮💡 (23:23) The Coffee Bar In Milan ☕🇮🇹 (25:52) Betting A Career On Europe 🇪🇺🎲 (28:41) Why Founders Now Want To Build Here 🏗️🌍 (31:47) A Unicorn Isn't Enough Any More 🦄📈 (32:54) A Hundred Million Beats A Billion 💰⚖️ (35:09) Fame Is The Watch ⌚👀 (36:57) Founder Porn 💻🔥 (40:04) The Parent Problem 👨‍👩‍👧💭 (41:26) Four Hobs, Two Burners 🔥⚖️ (43:06) Where AI Actually Is 🤖🔍 (49:55) Build An AI School 🤖🏫 (51:50) Education, Romance, Housing 📚❤️ (55:32) The Friend Zone Is A Lie 💭❌ (58:50) Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing 🎯💡 (1:00:51) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (1:07:41) A Message For The Twenty Somethings 💌🌟 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Éric Martel, CEO of Bombardier, at the company's completion centre in Montreal with the Global 8000 behind them, to explore how a snowmobile inventor from a small Quebec town became the foundation of one of the world's great aerospace companies. Éric reflects on a career that began on the factory floor and a company whose defining trait is a willingness to take on things it has never done before, from building metro cars without ever having built a train to inventing the regional jet. The conversation gets into what actually separates one aircraft from another once you are past the specification sheet, and why the company still gathers the people who built each plane to meet the family taking it home. Éric is candid about the supply constraints no amount of demand can solve, the buyers now arriving in their twenties and skipping straight to the flagship, and what he looks for in the people he hires across engineering, design and everything in between. Warm, precise, and unmistakably proud of where it is all made, it is a conversation about craftsmanship, national identity, and the pursuit of perfection at scale. Filmed at the Bombardier Completion Centre in Montreal. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (03:41) It Started With A Snowmobile 🏔️🛷 (05:46) He'd Never Built A Train 🚂😮 (07:28) Canadair, Learjet And The Regional Jet ✈️🇨🇦 (12:01) A Family Business At Twenty Thousand People 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🏭 (14:27) The Ceremony Room 🏛️✨ (16:50) Ten Days To Become An 8000 🏔️💪 (17:59) Why You Land Rested 😴✈️ (19:24) Four Countries, Four Days 🌍⚡ (20:32) The Wing Is The Secret Weapon 🛩️🔑 (22:47) Thirty Minutes Or Two Days ⏱️🗺️ (24:07) What Bombardier Means To Canada 🇨🇦🏆 (29:22) Hydropower And Perfect Stitching 💧🧵 (30:41) The Craft You Can Touch 🤲✨ (32:51) We Invented The Winglet ✈️💡 (34:15) Inside The US Market 🇺🇸📈 (36:13) They're Knocking At Twenty Seven 🚪⏳ (38:11) How To Be A Good Guest On Board 😊✈️ (40:06) The Pen That Popped 🖊️✨ (42:46) From The Factory Floor To CEO 🏭👔 (47:17) The Plane That Calls Ahead ✈️📞 (51:04) Everyone Wants Theirs First 🏆⚡ (53:10) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (53:52) Luxury That Actually Works 💎✅ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Ted Gushue, founder of ERG Media and Editor-in-Chief of Type 7, who publishes hand bound books in the most digital era in history. Having once declared print dead and been proved comprehensively wrong, Ted has built a career around people who care too much about one thing, on the conviction that making something for two thousand obsessives beats selling fifty thousand copies to the indifferent. The conversation gets into where taste comes from and why the objects people love say more about them than anything they say out loud. Ted is candid about the discipline of looking at your own work honestly, about why he has never taken a cut for an introduction, and about the one quality he has found impossible to teach. Warm, generous, and full of opinions he has actually earned, it is a conversation about craftsmanship, obsession, and building things designed to outlive you. Filmed at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. Intro ✨🎙️ (02:52) The Cheat Code Of Being An American In Europe 🇺🇸🇪🇺 (05:54) Books Are Dead, I Was Wrong 📚🔄 (08:09) Printing It Out In Lockdown 🖨️🏠 (11:18) Jazz Kissa And The Audience Of Two Thousand 🎷🎧 (15:04) Porsche Was The Architect's Car 🏎️📐 (19:32) Building A Community, Not An Advert 🤝📣 (25:29) Fax Machines And Flying Cars 📠🚗 (29:22) Otaku, And The Beauty Of Being Obsessed 🇯🇵🔍 (33:40) What Coolness Actually Looks Like 😎✨ (35:15) I've Never Been A Broker 🚫💼 (40:12) No Door Is Closed In America 🚪🇺🇸 (44:33) DJ, Gossip Columnist, Consultant 🎧🗞️ (48:22) Learning To Say This Ain't It ✋🎯 (49:59) Why Milan Breathes 🇮🇹🌬️ (54:58) Bite The Bullet, Open The Company 🏢🚀 (58:33) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (01:05:03) You Can't Teach Work Ethic 💪🏆 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a reversal of the usual format, Alex Ikonn, founder of Intelligent Change, turns the microphone on The Gstaad Guy to explore what actually constitutes a life well lived. From repeating a private joke among college friends to a video that circulated by WhatsApp through Gstaad, Monaco, Aspen and New York, The Gstaad Guy traces a path he describes as entrepreneurial rather than creative: not an artist waiting to be heard, but someone watching for the one thing that worked well enough to run behind. The conversation gets into why he spent two years nurturing the character before leaving Apple, and why he rejects the rhetoric urging young people to quit and chase the dream. He is candid about what he has learned from observing people who have achieved extraordinary success, and how consistently their regrets turn out to be human rather than professional. He makes the case for dating your best friend, argues that legacy is a self-serving word, and explains why he would risk his financial success for his family's unity but never the reverse. Reflective and unusually direct about the cost of ambition, it is a conversation about balance, perspective, and voting with your screen time. Filmed at The Peninsula London. Chapters: (00:00) Intro 🎙️✨ 01:54) Before The Deals, Still At Apple 💻🍎 (02:43) The Joke That Became The Gstaad Guy 😂🏔️ (04:04) Stopped On The Street A Month Later 👀🌍 (06:03) An Entrepreneur, Not A Creative 💼🚀 (07:50) Earning The Right To Quit 💪🎯 (11:47) Advice For Anyone Sitting At A Desk With A Dream 💡🌟 (13:50) What The Most Successful People Have In Common 🏆🔍 (16:21) Living In The Grey Area ⚖️🌫️ (17:26) Filling A Void Versus Building A Tower 🏗️💡 (20:55) Date Your Best Friend ❤️🤝 (23:20) The Rich Guys Who Replace Instead Of Fix 💰🔄 (25:34) What Social Media Did To Love 📱❤️ (27:29) Guiding The Algorithm Instead Of Being Guided 🧭📱 (30:45) Building A Subculture By Choosing Friends 🤝🌍 (35:00) The Question That Made Him Define His Values 🔍🏛️ (39:39) What Money Is Actually Well Spent On 💰✨ (41:47) Where Meaning Fits In 🧭❤️ (47:26) Why Legacy Is A Lame Word 🏆💭 (49:37) The Happiest Marriages Are The Least Social 💍🌿 (53:52) Swiss Values And De-Glamorising Excess 🇨🇭⚖️ (55:41) Grateful For The Law Of Attraction 🙏✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with David Grutman, founder of Groot Hospitality and the man many consider to hold the keys to Miami, to explore what it really takes to build places people never want to leave. From working the door to opening Komodo in a space his own friends called dead on arrival, David reflects on a career defined by reading people, spotting trends before they surface, and the conviction that the real reward is not the money but the look on someone's face after a great night. The conversation gets into why festive beats formal in a restaurant, what makes someone a great guest, and how he tells the difference between genuine warmth and someone working an angle. David speaks candidly about playing the long game with people who let him down, the investments that failed alongside the ones that worked, and the wife who calls him a broken butterfly for the boundaries that keep him whole. Warm, perceptive, and refreshingly honest about his own ambition, it is a conversation about hospitality, loyalty, and why taking it personal might be the whole point. Filmed at David Grutman’s Miami home. Chapters: (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:34) Holding The Keys To Miami 🌴🔑 (03:26) Reading People And Spotting The Angle 👁️🎯 (06:43) Setting Trends By Watching The Underground 🔍📈 (08:48) Komodo, Brickell And A Restaurant Everyone Called Dead On Arrival 🐉🍽️ (12:55) Why Festive Beats Formal In A Restaurant 🎉🍽️ (15:59) Mentors, And Why He Refuses To Be One 🚫🎓 (17:50) Take It Personal, And Playing The Long Game 📖⏳ (20:54) How To Be A Great Guest 😊🌟 (22:35) FOG, Friends Of Grutman, At The Door 🚪🤝 (24:16) Ambition, Marriage And The Broken Butterfly 💍🦋 (32:25) Investing In Olipop, Symbiotika And The Deals That Failed 💰📉 (37:35) Writing The Book And Learning Gratitude 📖❤️ (42:35) The Verbal Tip Nobody In The Industry Wants 🗣️😏 (45:07) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Edgar Bronfman Jr, former CEO of Warner Music Group, and now co-founder of the venture firm Waverley Capital, to explore what it takes to back your own judgement when almost nobody around you agrees with it. From producing his first film at sixteen to running a family business he eventually sold at the top of the market, Edgar reflects on a career defined by early conviction, an instinct for where value was moving before others saw it, and the belief that it does not matter who got you in the door, only what you do once you are in the room. The conversation gets into the years of bad press he absorbed while trading a chemicals stake for the entertainment industry, the difference between unanimity in word and unanimity in spirit inside a family, and why the customer is never wrong about what they want. Edgar speaks candidly about the personal cost of the job and what he gave up to do it, the standard he sets for anyone about to get married, and what he would do differently for the family member who never wanted the company to go the way he took it. Measured, unsentimental, and full of stories he tells without embellishment, it is a conversation about judgement, legacy, and recognising value where others miss it. Filmed at Casa Cipriani New York’s Liberty Corner Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:55) Anything But Summer Camp 🏕️😏 (04:21) Why Don't You Produce It? 🎬💡 (06:11) Forty Thousand Pounds Of Bad Cheques 💸😬 (08:31) Learning Lyrics To Get A Date 🎵❤️ (09:27) The Dinner He Had To Pay For 🍽️😅 (10:54) Three Conditions For His Father 👨‍👦📋 (12:50) The File Marked LSD 📁😏 (14:22) It's All On You Once You're In The Room 💪🎯 (15:37) The Script His Team Passed On 📝❌ (17:56) Turn The Car Around 🚗🔄 (20:11) Recognising What You Already Have 👁️✨ (24:06) Unanimity In Word, Not In Spirit 🗣️⚖️ (27:53) Two Kinds Of Consumer Company 🏢🔍 (30:04) The Loophole Worth 1.6 Billion 💰🔓 (36:19) Competing With Disney 🏰⚔️ (41:05) Selling At Forty Six, Not Fifty Six ⏳💼 (43:52) I Gave Up Friends 😔🤝 (46:26) When They Invented Marriage, People Died At Thirty 💍⏳ (50:03) What The Internet Did To Distribution 🌐📦 (54:09) Why Celebrity Spirits Rarely Stick 🥃⭐ (56:24) The Customer Is Never Wrong 🛍️✅ (58:10) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Silvio Campara, CEO of Golden Goose and one of the most unconventional operators in luxury, to explore what it really takes to build a brand that people feel they belong to rather than simply buy from. From joining a small Venetian sneaker company to leading one of the most recognisable names in the industry, Silvio reflects on a career defined by instinct over convention, an obsession with the people behind the product, and the conviction that imperfection is a position of strength rather than a compromise. The conversation gets into why he believes traditional luxury's reliance on desire is its greatest failure, how culture replaced money as the currency of status, and what a brand actually owes the customer beyond the transaction. Silvio speaks candidly about running a company with no employees but dreamers, why he refuses to let anyone stay one version of themselves, and why he calls himself the chief emotional officer rather than the chief executive. Warm, contrarian, and openly critical of the industry he leads, it is a conversation about ambition, belonging, and why the flaw is the point. Filmed at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:28) Chief Emotional Officer ❤️👔 (03:02) A Founder Selling A Mission 🚀💡 (06:23) Betting Everything On Sneakers 👟🎲 (08:36) Customers Become The Designers 🛍️🎨 (11:50) Imperfection As Strength 💪✨ (15:07) A Binary Phone Has No Shades 📱⚖️ (18:20) Nobody Has Time To Desire ⏰💭 (21:55) Culture Is The New Currency 🌍💰 (25:30) Handmade To Break 🤲💥 (27:09) Disney, Ferrari And Icons 🏰🏎️ (31:43) Ninety Golden Goose Babies 👟👶 (36:24) No Employees, Only Dreamers 💭✨ (41:31) Why 70% Are Women 👩🔍 (44:18) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (48:41) A Message For Students 📚💌 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Rampa, producer, DJ and entrepreneur, to explore what happens when the thing you made becomes bigger than you are. Sixteen years on from a shared basement studio and a dream of never going back to the car wash, Rampa reflects on the strange arithmetic of scale: waking up one day with the tickets sold and the visibility earned and no real idea how to hold it, and discovering that most of the people far more famous than him feel exactly the same way. The conversation gets into what skate culture taught him about belonging before the internet made it easy, why he agrees with a fair amount of his own criticism, and the economics nobody explains about who actually pays for a night in the jungle. He is candid about the two days a year Keinemusik spend with a coach protecting a friendship the scale had drowned out, about the freedom of an unfinished song and the worry that starts on release day, and about the blind date he was dragged along to that turned into TEILE, the speaker and carpentry company he now runs with twenty two people. Increasingly drawn away from the stage and towards engineering, workshops and the young builders he sees there, it is a conversation about creating rather than having created, and why he would not tell his younger self a thing. Filmed at the Keinemusik Studio in Berlin. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:30) Rampa On Stage, Greg Off It 🎭🎵 (03:02) The Car Wash Dream 🚗💭 (09:31) Skate Culture And The Hunt 🛹🔍 (13:46) Waking Up Famous ⭐😮 (16:38) When The Happy Few Stop Being Few 🎉📈 (20:14) The Prep Beats The Show ⚙️🎤 (23:35) Who Pays For The Party 💰🎉 (27:17) Phones Up For The Hits 📱🎵 (29:39) Where The Whoop Came From 🗣️✨ (34:47) Abundance Over Scarcity 🌿⚖️ (36:59) A Tinder Date That Built A Factory 📱🏭 (44:48) Chasing The Flow State 🌊🧘 (48:59) Safer In The Process 🛡️🔄 (53:08) What Berlin Gave Him 🇩🇪🎵 (59:00) Therapy With Your Best Friends 🤝❤️ (1:08:21) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Jack Goldburg, founder of Jack's Dining Room & and Yes Chef Group, whose videos have been watched billions of times and whose food festivals now sell out in a couple of Instagram posts, to explore what separates a viral moment from a business that survives it. From editing until 3am while still employed at PwC to a chance conversation with a stranger at the next table, Jack reflects on a rise built on tunnel vision, a refusal to say anything negative about a restaurant, and the conviction that going viral has never been the hard part. The conversation gets into what a single video can do to a family business, why he and his co-founder wore their own hat in every clip from the very beginning, and the framework he now builds against: content, community, experience, product. Jack is direct about what he tells people who ask how to start, which is to hold onto what they have for as long as they possibly can, and equally direct that there is no formula waiting behind the question. He speaks candidly about telling his team they are building rather than working and what that costs him outside the office, and about why he has never traded a restaurant's reputation for a bigger number. Warm, practical, and refreshingly unimpressed by virality for its own sake, it is a conversation about attention, taste, and what you do with both once you have them. Filmed at The Maybourne Beverly Hills Garden Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:34) Studying The Menu Three Days Early 📖🍽️ (04:07) The Couch He Could Not Fit On 🛋️😅 (06:03) The Stranger At The Next Table 👀🍽️ (09:04) A Month Of Double Paychecks 💰😮 (10:47) Don't Jump Too Fast ⏳💡 (16:50) Never About One Viral Video 📱🎯 (20:34) Why They Made Their Own Hat 🧢💡 (22:48) Nine Stores In Madrid 🇪🇸🏪 (27:02) Abundance Over Extraction 🌿⚖️ (30:44) A Michelin Guide For Everyone Else ⭐🌍 (32:05) The Golden Triangle 🔺✨ (35:12) Three Products That Failed ❌🔍 (38:36) The Couple Who Met Over A Joke 😂❤️ (44:48) You Think I Eat Sandwiches All Day 🥪😄 (45:36) We're Building, Not Working 🏗️💡 (50:26) Four Seconds To Earn Attention ⏱️👁️ (51:12) Sneaking Into The Drake Suite 🚪😏 (59:23) The Sushi And Pizza Problem 🍣🍕 (1:02:29) The Art Of Ordering 🍽️✨ (1:04:14) Not A Service Snob 😊🍽️ (1:06:09) Food As A Love Language ❤️🍽️ (1:12:20) Five Restaurants Worth Travelling For ✈️🍽️ (1:16:42) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (1:18:58) A Message For Anyone Starting Out 💌🌟 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Henry Cookson, the polar record holder turned founder of Cookson Adventures, to explore what actually constitutes a life well spent. Henry left a prime brokerage desk at Goldman Sachs with no cold weather experience, entered a race to the magnetic North Pole against Arctic warfare instructors and Everest veterans, and won it. He went on to lead the first team in history to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility using human power alone, and built a company designing frontier expeditions for people with the means to fund science while they travel. The conversation moves from the trading floor on 11 September to the statue of Lenin at the centre of Antarctica, from lion collars and the discovery of an unknown species of orca to a hard look at greenwashing and the kind of company money attracts. Henry argues that being a rich guy is no longer a legacy because someone bigger always follows, explains why he deliberately got out of the elevator on the third floor, and makes the case that a crappy fishing boat with people you like beats a 150 metre yacht with people you do not. He is equally direct on the commercial side, describing why bespoke travel is a terrible business model and why he turned down a family who had sent the same five year brief to three of his competitors. Filmed at The Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:07) Discovering An Unknown Species Of Orca 🐋🔍 (02:47) Goldman Sachs, Kenya And The 9/11 Trading Floor 📈🌍 (06:25) An Overweight Banker Wins A Polar Race 🏔️❄️ (09:02) The Pole Of Inaccessibility And The Statue Of Lenin 🧭🗿 (17:08) The Anticlimax After The Record 🏆😔 (18:55) Prince Harry, Sycophancy And The First Big Break 👑🎯 (20:26) Funding Lion Collars & The Birth Of A Model 🦁💡 (26:14) Greenwashing & The Friends Money Attracts 🌿💰 (31:35) Losing Local Culture To Globalised Luxury 🌍💎 (33:40) True Nourishment 🌱🛗 (39:49) Advertising, Rolex Scarcity And 72% Of Wildlife Gone ⌚🦁 (42:18) Being Rich Is No Longer A Legacy 💰🔮 (53:20) Why Bespoke Travel Is A Terrible Business Model ✈️💭 (58:58) How A Frontier Trip Gets Designed 🗺️🔍 (1:03:41) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Danny Yeung, co-founder and CEO of IM8 and one of Asia's most accomplished serial entrepreneurs, to explore what it truly means to identify a gap in human health and build a best-in-class product to fill it. From founding Prenetics to partnering with David Beckham, Danny reflects on a career defined by hands-on execution, an instinct for opportunity, and the conviction that most people are massively underinvesting in their own foundation of health. The conversation gets into what longevity really means beyond the buzzword, why the word supplement fails to capture what IM8 is actually trying to do, and how AI is beginning to reshape what is possible in personalised medicine and healthcare innovation. Danny speaks candidly about the realities of running a public company, what it takes to build teams that can move at the speed of a founder, and why being AI native is no longer a competitive advantage but a baseline requirement. Direct, driven, and refreshingly unpretentious about the business of health, it is a conversation about building with purpose and why your daily non-negotiables might matter more than anything else you do. Filmed at Casa Cipriani New York's Premier River View Suite. Explore IM8 with 10% off your first order: https://www.im8health.com/GSTAAD10 (Or Use Code: GSTAAD10) Chapters: (00:00 Intro ✨🎙️ (00:58) IM8 💊🌟 (02:24) Embarking On A Journey 🛤️✨ (03:09) Background 📖🌱 (04:38) Being A Serial Entrepreneur 🚀💼 (05:35) Starting Prenetics 🔬💡 (09:59) Meeting David Beckham 🤝⚽ (12:28) Friendship Turn Partnership 🤝❤️ (14:50) The Word "Supplement" 💊🔍 (16:24) What Does "IM8" Stand For? 🔤💡 (17:40) The Topic Of "Longevity" ⏳💪 (24:58) Easy Steps Towards A Healthier Life 🌿✅ (26:50) Health Non-Negotiables 💪🔒 (27:52) IM8 Positioning 🎯📈 (31:27) Pros & Cons Of A Public Company 📊⚖️ (35:24) Building Robust Teams 👥🏆 (38:36) AI Agents 🤖⚡ (42:03) AI Positively Impacting Medicine 🤖❤️ (44:20) DNA 🧬🔬 (46:55) The Future 🔮🌟 (51:37) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Charlotte and Peter Fiell, the design historians, authors and curators behind Taschen's Ultimate Collector series, to explore what separates objects that endure from objects that end up as decoration. Across 35 years and a body of work that includes 1000 Chairs and an 11 kilo, 200,000 word volume on watches, the Fiells reflect on a career spent among the world's greatest collections, and on a publishing brief that has never changed: create the best book there has ever been on the subject. The conversation moves from the psychology of collecting and the specific neurotype the Fiells keep encountering among serious collectors, to the quartz crisis that nearly ended Swiss watchmaking and instead gave rise to the independents. They argue that design began 2.3 million years ago rather than at the Bauhaus, that constraints make designers better rather than smaller, and that the value of an object lies in the quality of its connections. Charlotte also recounts the moment ChatGPT invented an entire book for her doctoral research, complete with author and ISBN, making the case for scholarship, editorial rigour and physical things in an age spent almost entirely on screen. Filmed at the TASCHEN London bookstore. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (04:26) The Phone Call From Benedikt Taschen 📞✨ (07:21) Why These Are Not Coffee Table Books 📖🔍 (10:01) What The World's Top Collectors Have In Common 🏆🔍 (16:10) The Neurotype Behind The Urge To Collect 🧠🔮 (22:53) Design Began 2.3 Million Years Ago 🪨⏳ (24:25) A Thousand Chairs And A Unified Theory Of Design 🪑💡 (31:11) Constraints, And Where Design Ends And Art Begins ⚖️🎨 (37:50) Nobody Actually Needs A Mechanical Watch ⌚💭 (39:52) Feeling The Soul Of The Watchmaker ⌚❤️ (46:32) The Quartz Crisis That Remade Swiss Watchmaking 🇨🇭⚡ (50:23) Why Physical Things Ground Us In A Digital Age 🌿💻 (53:10) Why Only One Publisher Can Make Books Like This 📖👑 (56:26) When ChatGPT Invented A Book That Did Not Exist 🤖📖 (58:58) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Matteo Franceschetti, co-founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, the company that has quietly become one of the most powerful sleep labs in the world, to explore what happens when Silicon Valley obsession meets the most underinvested area of human health. From his early days as a fitness-obsessed entrepreneur to building a medical-grade platform trusted by everyone from elite athletes to Formula One drivers, Matteo reflects on the vision, data, and relentless focus on performance that made Eight Sleep impossible to ignore. The conversation gets into the science of temperature cycles, what a billion hours of sleep data can actually tell you about human behaviour, and why AI is turning what was once a passive nightly ritual into an active tool for recovery and longevity. Matteo speaks candidly about the pace of technological change, what it means to build and live with your life partner, and why hospitality's next great shift will be towards wellness rather than aesthetics. Forward-thinking, data-driven, and genuinely revelatory, it is a conversation about optimisation, ambition, and why the most productive thing you can do is sleep better. Filmed at Faena Miami Beach, Premier Oceanfront Corner Suite. Explore Eight Sleep and get up to $350 off your first order: https://www.eightsleep.com/gstaadguy (code: GSTAAD350) Chapters: (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (02:13) Background 📖🌱 (04:19) Becoming An Entrepreneur 💡🚀 (05:32) Silicon Valley 💻🌉 (06:01) Bringing Technology To Sleep 🛏️💡 (08:10) The First Product 🛏️✨ (09:28) Temperature Cycles For Perfect Sleep 🌡️😴 (12:27) Evolution Of Eight Sleep 📈🛏️ (17:09) Mass Data 📊🔍 (19:21) Discovering Sleep Patterns 😴🔬 (21:40) Consistency ⏰💪 (23:53) Offices Around The World 🌍💼 (26:26) What AI Can Do 🤖💡 (29:11) How Preventative Can Sleep Technology Be? 🛏️🔮 (34:40) Brand Positioning 🎯📈 (37:52) Charles Leclerc 🏎️🌟 (39:48) Working With Your Life Partner 🤝❤️ (45:00) The Pace Of AI ⚡🤖 (50:21) AI Exceeding Human Output 🤖📈 (53:04) Becoming A Generalist 🧠🌍 (55:58) Being AI Native 🤖✨ (59:08) The Eight Sleep Community 🤝😴 (1:01:39) Status & Substance 💎⚖️ (1:06:26) Price Per Sleep 💰😴 (1:07:52) Hospitality Should Become Wellness First 🏨🧘 (1:11:59) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Jade and Grant Goulden, the siblings behind Jaded London, the boundary-pushing fashion brand that has built a devoted global following by moving at the speed of culture and refusing to wait for permission, to explore what it truly means to turn instinct into a business. From running operations on WhatsApp to personally delivering clothes to Kylie Jenner, theirs is a story of agility, nerve, and an unwavering focus on product above everything else. The conversation gets into what it means to identify a trend before it has a name, why trust between co-founders who are also family is both the greatest asset and the greatest test, and how the distinctly London approach to style became the brand's most powerful currency. Jade and Grant speak candidly about hiring the customer, the discipline of doing things differently when the industry pulls towards convention, and why moving fast without a plan is only reckless if you do not know what you stand for. Energetic, unpretentious, and sharply observed, it is a conversation about boldness, timing, and what happens when two people back each other completely. Filmed at The Twenty Two (London), Gingko Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (02:03) Marketing At The Speed Of Culture ⚡🌍 (02:38) Awareness Of Culture 👁️🌍 (04:25) One Unified Team 🤝💪 (07:39) From Idea To Product 💡👔 (09:21) Starting A Fashion Brand 👗🚀 (18:04) The "London Look" 🇬🇧👔 (21:48) "Hiring The Customer" 🛍️💡 (25:06) The Jaded Woman & Man 👩👨 (27:39) Family Business 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦💼 (29:18) Working With A Sibling 🤝❤️ (36:50) Designing The "Parachute Pant" 👖✨ (39:14) Personally Delivering Clothes to Kylie Jenner 🚗👗 (41:21) "We Didn't Have A Business Plan" 😅🚀 (43:10) Agility & Hustle ⚡💪 (48:48) Collaborations & Influencer Marketing 🤝📱 (55:00) Fashion Trends 👗📈 (58:37) Stepping Into The Fashion World 👔🌟 (1:03:03) Doing Things Differently 🔀✨ (1:06:15) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Vito Cinque, owner of Il San Pietro di Positano, one of the most beloved and enduring family-run hotels on the Amalfi Coast, to explore what it truly means to build a place where guests do not just return, they belong. Rooted in a deep love for the region, its produce, and its people, Vito reflects on a life shaped by the belief that doing what you love, and doing it with complete sincerity, is the only philosophy worth running a business on. The conversation moves through the meaning of family in both the personal and professional sense, the quiet complexity behind experiences that appear effortless, and why substance has always mattered more than status at Il San Pietro. Vito speaks about the farm to table philosophy that connects the hotel to its land, what it takes to earn the kind of loyalty that brings guests back year after year, and why the next generation of hospitality will be defined by those willing to go bespoke in a world pulling towards the generic. Warm, grounded, and full of quiet wisdom, it is a conversation about excellence, identity, and what it really means to show up every single day. Filmed at Palazzo Santa Croce in Positano. Chapters: (01:33) Owner & Operator 🏨👔 (03:31) Reoccurring Guests 🔄❤️ (05:28) Early Life 👶🏻🌱 (07:45) Il San Pietro di Positano 🌊🏨 (10:15) Food Of The Region 🍋🍽️ (11:42) Farm To Table 🌿🍽️ (12:28) History Of The Property 🏛️📖 (16:27) Joining The Business 🤝🏻🤝💼 (20:22) The Meaning Of "Family" ❤️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 (24:19) Working With Your Brother 🤝🏻 ❤️ (27:49) Why Guests Keep Coming Back ❤️🔄 (31:04) Doing What Feels Right 🧭❤️ (32:45) Types Of Hotels 🏨🔍 (35:14) Preservation 🏛️🌿 (43:36) Making The Complex Seem Simple ✨⚖️ (47:10) "Why Do You Show Up Everyday?" 💪🏻🌅 (49:26) Hotel Gift Shops 🎁🛍️ (52:06) What It Takes To Be An Exceptional General Manager 🏆👔 (54:53) "How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything" 🎯✨ (57:38) Next Generation Consumer 👶🏻📈 (1:02:56) Italy 🇮🇹❤️ (1:05:29) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Aaron Levant, CEO of Complex and one of the most conviction-driven figures in modern media and culture, to explore what it truly means to build something at the intersection of taste, access, and community. From the early days of street culture to architecting ComplexCon into one of the most distinctive live experiences in the world, Aaron reflects on a career built not on following trends but on understanding them before anyone else does. The conversation gets into the art of thinking laterally, why being a generalist in a world of specialists is an underrated advantage, and what it really takes to democratise cultural experiences without diluting what makes them matter. Aaron speaks candidly about the stigma of trying and failing, the discipline of having strong conviction when the room disagrees, and why the future of retail belongs to those who can make people feel something. Restless, sharp, and deeply knowledgeable about how culture actually moves, it is a conversation about hustle, belonging, and what happens when good taste meets genuine dedication. Filmed at The Maybourne Beverly Hills Garden Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:06) Backstory 📖🌱 (03:28) Thinking Laterally 🧠🔀 (06:04) Wearing The Same Outfit 👔🔄 (09:14) What is Complex? 🤔💡 (11:37) ComplexCon 🎪🌍 (14:04) A Sense Of Belonging 🤝🏻❤️ (15:08) Typical Complex Consumer 👥🎯 (21:30) Taking A Bet 🎲💪🏻 (28:05) Democratising Experiences 🌍✨ (31:35) Art 🎨🖼️ (33:38) A Generalist In This Day & Age 🧠🌍 (36:16) Cultural Meshes 🌍🔀 (39:09) Street Culture 🏙️👟 (40:36) The Business Of Complex 💼📈 (45:10) Curation As A Form Of Innovation 🎯💡 (49:02) Creating Partnerships 🤝🏻🤝🌟 (51:27) Collectibles 🏆✨ (53:59) Headlines vs. Real Depth 📰🔍 (58:33) Sneaker Culture 👟🔥 (1:02:01) Design & Function 🎨⚙️ (1:06:19) The Future Of Retail 🛍️🔮 (1:10:05) Streamers & Live Shopping 📱🛍️ (1:13:10) Next Generation Of Hires 👶🏻💼 (1:17:45) Being A First Mover 🚀🌟 (1:19:01) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Jens Grede, co-founder and CEO of SKIMS and one of the most instinctive brand builders of his generation, to explore what it means to connect products with culture in a way that feels both inevitable and enduring. From his Swedish upbringing and the philosophy of lagom to a career that has taken him from Mr Porter to FRAME to one of the most talked-about consumer brands in the world, Jens reflects on a professional life built on honesty, minimalism, and an obsession with getting the product right. The conversation moves through the tension between being timely and being timeless, what American culture taught him that Europe never could, and why working with people who share your values is the only foundation worth building on. Jens speaks openly about the decision to back himself, the meaning of genuine partnership, and why family, far from being a counterweight to ambition, has always been its greatest source of purpose. Grounded, forward-looking, and refreshingly direct, it is a conversation about integrity, pop culture, and what happens when you care more about the work than the noise around it. Filmed at The Maybourne Beverly Hills Garden Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (00:40) Gstaad 🏔️❄️ (02:41 )Notion Of Family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦❤️ (04:30) Timelessness & Essentialism ⏳✨ (06:50) Value Retail 🛍️💡 (07:53) The Culture of "Lagom" ⚖️🧘 (10:30) Becoming A Founder 💡🚀 (13:35) Social Media 📱🌍 (14:41) Working With A Best Friend 🤝🏻❤️ (17:04) Moncler 🧥🏔️ (19:25) FRAME 👖✨ (20:06) SKIMS 🩱💡 (21:30) Remo Ruffini 👔🏔️ (22:41) "Making A Simple Product Great" ✨🏆 (25:58) Love vs. Passion ❤️🔥 (27:46) The American Dream 🇺🇸🌟 (30:50) The Greatest Partner 🤝🏻💎 (25:05) Making Decisions ⚖️💡 (36:56) Kim Kardashian 📱👑 (40:06) America 🇺🇸🌍 (41:33) American vs. European Culture 🇺🇸🇪🇺 (47:41) Definition Of "Timelessness" ⏳💎 (51:01) Pop Culture 🎤🌍 (56:33) The Modern Consumer 📱🛍️ (58:55) Shared Values Within A Team 🤝🏻❤️ (1:03:27) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Anna Nash, President of Explora Journeys, the ultra-luxury ocean travel brand rewriting what it means to experience the sea, to explore what happens when the finest hotel sensibility meets the freedom of open water. From the legacy of seafaring that runs through the MSC family business to the guest-centric philosophy that shapes every detail on board, Anna reflects on the vision, curiosity, and conviction required to challenge an entire industry's perception of itself. The conversation gets into why the stigma around cruising has persisted for so long and what it genuinely takes to dismantle it, the idea that true luxury is not about abundance but about freedom of choice, and why time, more than any amenity, is what the most discerning travellers are really seeking. Anna shares what she has learned from guests who arrive sceptical and leave converted, the particular dynamics of leading within a family-owned business, and why the next generation of leaders will need curiosity above all else. A wide-ranging and genuinely compelling conversation about hospitality, the sea, and the art of giving people an experience they did not know they needed. Filmed in the Manor House at Rosewood London. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:52) Explora Journeys 🚢🌊 (03:45) Hotel Experience 🏨✨ (07:53) A Cruise Experience 🛳️🌅 (10:29) Voids In The Industry 🔍💡 (12:52) Family Owned Business 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🏛️ (15:45) A Family Business Is Like A Monarchy 👑🏰 (20:21) The Onboard Experience 🍽️🌊 (23:42) Freedom, Choice & Variety 🗺️✨ (27:09) Destination Choices 🌍🧭 (33:53) Luxury Spending 💎💰 (38:17) Abundance Of Choice 🎯🌟 (43:18) Next Generation Leaders 👶🏻📈 (47:11 À) La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (50:00) Most Memorable Hospitality Experiences ❤️🏆 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Marianna Hewitt, co-founder of Summer Fridays and one of the earliest and most instinctive voices to emerge from the first wave of Instagram and lifestyle blogging, to explore what it truly takes to turn cultural momentum into something that endures. From her early days in fashion to becoming a first mover in the content creator space, Marianna reflects on the decisions, values, and relentless consistency that laid the foundation for one of skincare's most beloved modern brands. The conversation gets into the thinking behind Summer Fridays, why great skincare should never feel intimidating, and what it really means to build a brand with genuine cross-generational appeal. Marianna speaks honestly about the realities of life as a founder, the difference between good friends and old friends, and why decisiveness, not luck, is the quality that separates those who last from those who fade. Grounded, direct, and full of hard-won perspective, it is a conversation about community, longevity, and what it means to build something real in an industry that moves very fast. Filmed at The Maybourne Beverly Hills Garden Suite. (00:00 Intro ✨🎙️ (02:21) Starting Social Media 📱✨ (03:48) Love For Content ❤️🎨 (04:04) Fashion World 👗✨ (07:12) Being A First Mover 🚀🌟 (10:00) Why "Summer Fridays"? ☀️🧴 (13:38) Skincare Can Be Intimidating 😰🧴 (15:21) Effective Branding & Marketing 📢✨ (19:46) Remaining Excited & Motivated 🔥💪🏻 (21:14) "There Are No Quick Wins" ⏳💡 (25:22) Role Of Founder & CEO 👔🏆 (29:54) Forging Strategic Partnerships 🤝🏻🌟 (33:25) Creating A Social & Digital Brand 📱🌍 (36:14) Cross-Generational Products 👴🏻👶🏻 (39:00) Seeing People Use Your Product 😊❤️ (41:14) Message To Your Younger Self 📝🪞 (44:10) Old Friends vs. Good Friends 👥❤️ (45:34) Being A Decisive Person ⚡✅ (47:05) Key Skills That Drive Success 🔑📈 (49:38) Values 🏛️❤️ (53:16) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Enrico Buonocore, Founder and CEO of Buonocore Hospitality Group, and Alessandra Maestroni, Group Strategy Manager, the founders behind Langosteria, Milan's most quietly coveted restaurant and one of the defining expressions of contemporary Italian hospitality, to explore what it truly means to build something extraordinary without a plan, guided entirely by vision, instinct, and an uncompromising sense of what feels right. Partners in business and in life, they reflect on the rare alchemy of working alongside someone who shares both your values and your ambitions. The conversation moves through the philosophy that built Langosteria from the ground up: the importance of locality, the details that most people never notice but always feel, and why understated excellence will always outlast noise. Enrico and Alessandra share what Italian cooking means to them in an era when it has been recognised as Unesco cultural heritage, how Milanese luxury differs from everywhere else, and why passion, not strategy, has been the truest compass throughout. Honest, warm, and deeply considered, it is a conversation about building something that lasts by never losing sight of why you started. Filmed at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:28) Langosteria 🦞🍽️ (03:25) Italian Passion 🇮🇹❤️ (06:38) PEPE Barra Italiana 🍹🇮🇹 (07:25) Building A Team 👥🤝🏻 (08:38) What's Right For The Business 💼⚖️ (09:50) Starting New Projects 💡🚀 (11:39) Langosteria A Casa 🏠🦞 (13:55) Understanding The Customer 👂🏻🎯 (16:16) Italian Excellence 🇮🇹🏆 (22:14) Types Of Consumer 👥🔍 (24:00) How Milanese Luxury Differs 🏙️💎 (26:20) The Details 🔍✨ (30:15) Running A Successful Restaurant 🍽️🏆 (37:13) The Truth Behind Table Reservations 📋🤫 (39:55) Working With Your Partner 🤝🏻❤️ (43:28) Passion Driven 🔥❤️ (44:05) Path & Strategy 🛤️🧭 (51:10) Langosteria DNA 🧬🦞 (55:24) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (1:01:05) Spending Time With Family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices