Onward, a Fundrise Production
Onward is a podcast from Fundrise, America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. It offers unique insights and perspectives from company co-founder and CEO Ben Miller and guests.
Episodes
59: Life after AI, with Kanika Bahl Founding Trustee at Anthropic
What happens if artificial intelligence becomes as capable as—or more capable than—human beings?Most conversations about AI stop at whether artificial general intelligence will arrive. In this episode of Onward, Ben Miller and Kanika Bahl accept that premise and ask the more difficult question: What happens after?Kanika is the founder and CEO of the AI Access Initiative and a former founding memb
58: What we can learn from the first industry AI took over, with Paul Adams CPO of Fin (Intercom)
Days after ChatGPT launched, Intercom called it an “iPhone moment" and bet a $300 million ARR business that AI was the future of customer service. On this episode of Onward, Ben talks with Paul Adams, Chief Product Officer of Fin (formerly Intercom), about the pivot to AI customer service: why the decision was easier than you might think, why the culture change was brutal, and how the bet ended u
57: This miracle pill could make dogs live longer, with Celine Halioua, Founder & CEO of Loyal
What if the biggest barrier to a longer life isn't science, but the economic incentives of corporations? In this episode of Onward, Ben sits down with Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal — the biotech company on track to earn the first-ever FDA approval for a drug whose only purpose is to extend lifespan. The catch: they're starting with dogs.Celine walks Ben through why the U.S. healthcare
56: Will AI do your job? with Raza Habib, Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic
Raza Habib, Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic (creators of Claude and Claude Code) unpacks what “Artificial General Intelligence” even means, why the pace of AI progress still looks steep, and what that implies for jobs, companies, and public policy. Raza shares how his own “AGI probability” evolved from PhD-era skepticism to today’s conviction that we’re on a transformative trajectory. —For
55: IPO Roadshow: VCX is the public ticker for private tech
IPO Roadshow: VCX is the public ticker for private techThe number of public companies has been cut in half over the past 25 years. The best private companies are staying private longer than ever. As a result, ordinary investors have been locked out of the biggest wealth-creation opportunities of this generation. With AI threatening to drive wealth inequality to new levels, Ben calls this a fairne
54: Real estate AI is a revolution: The launch of RealAI
Real estate is about to get disrupted by technology, again. AI is coming for the core workforce of the industry—acquisitions, underwriting, asset management, market analysis—and it’s going to separate winners from everyone else. If you’re not adopting it, you’re not just missing upside—you’re putting career and company risk.Ben unveils RealAI—a “real estate AI analyst” that Fundrise has been buil
53: Building the largest multifamily lender in the nation, with Willy Walker CEO of Walker & Dunlop
Willy Walker joins Onward to share how he scaled a small, local mortgage shop into a national real estate finance platform—what he got right, what he’d do differently, and the leadership lessons he learned the hard way. We talk about the pivotal decisions that unlocked Walker & Dunlop’s growth, how to lead through a crisis (2008 and COVID), what it really means to be a public-company CEO, and
52: How will AI impact the economy?
Let's move past the tired “Is AI a bubble?” debate and ask the bigger question: What happens after the buildout—when trillions of dollars of AI data centers translate into real economic output. Co-hosts Ben Miller and Cardiff Garcia frame AI as a new kind of factory—massive capex producing tokens that can be converted into real white-collar work. Then Ben grounds it with concrete Fundrise examples
51: Inside Justice: How the System Really Works, with Hallie Hoffman
Hallie Hoffman is a career federal prosecutor, former General Counsel of the DEA and Criminal Chief of the Northern District of California. She knows how the justice system really works behind the scenes.Hallie explains why justice moves slowly, what breaks when massive institutions have to scale, and how individual agents and prosecutors drive the most meaningful cases. She shares lessons from pr
50: The guy behind the guy, with Scott Plank of Under Armour
Scott Plank—who helped build Under Armour from the ground up, was the largest angel investor in WeWork, and is a seed investor in Fundrise—joins us to share what it really feels like to bet everything, lose big, win bigger, and keep moving forward.In this conversation, Scott traces his path from building homes as a carpenter and selling bracelets in Guatemala to helping Under Armour grow from a fa
49: Data centers will be the largest investment in US history, with Kervin Pillay, former CTO of Cisco
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 liste
48: Will AI Surpass Us? with Robert Nishihara, co-founder of AnyScale
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, a
47: How to break a country (and maybe save one), with Rob Johnson
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
46: Trump's Trade Roadmap: From Hidden Plan to Radical Reality
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 scenar
45: How tariffs will impact the economy, with Anna Wong, Chief US Economist at Bloomberg
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 feedba
44: Rebuilding the World Trade Center, with Tal Kerret
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 jou
43: Sell your tech company for $310M or $30B, with Auren Hoffman
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 packe
42: The greatest capital broker in the nation, Simon Ziff
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 ane
41: AI policy under the Trump Administration, with Neil Chilson
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 protect
40: From Bootstrap to Billion-Dollar Business, with Tristan Handy CEO of dbt Labs
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 entrepreneurshi
39: The Rise of Build-to-Rent: A New Era in Real Estate, with Josh Hartmann CEO of NexMetro
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 rea
38: Are we vastly underestimating AI? with Dwarkesh Patel
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 para
37: The Housing Expert Guiding the Homebuilding Industry, with John Burns
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 c
36: Breakthroughs in military technology: Lessons from history and future implications
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 advanc
35: The 5 patterns of technology breakthroughs
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 pattern
34: Race against recession: growth vs. debts in America
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 discussi
33: On the state of housing, with economist Ali Wolf
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 att
32: Buying the bottom
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
31: Building a $1B startup without ego, with Christina Cacioppo
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 sh
30: What happens when there’s no money in real estate markets
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
29: The largest developer in LA, Rick Caruso
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
28: Investing in AI, with Tomasz Tunguz
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, Theo
27: Understanding AI and its implications
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 po
26: The Insider's Lobbyist: How lobbying really works, with David Carmen
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 p
25: The Big Bang: The origin of modern real estate and banking
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’
24: The case for a recession
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 dis
23: Debt ceiling crises, with Noreen Harrington
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 cros
22: The case for optimism, with Cardiff Garcia
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-
21: Bonus Episode: The fundamental nature of the universe, with Amanda Gefter
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
20: The Cascade, the Great Deleveraging’s next chapter
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
19: How we broke the British pound, with Rob Johnson
In the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse last week, Onward host and Fundrise CEO Ben Miller sits down for an interview with the economist and trader Rob Johnson, one of the most experienced investors in the world at the fault line of government and finance. Having served as a Managing Director of the Quantum Fund, Chief Economist of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and currently as presiden
18: The $50B contrarian, Ira Lubert
When it comes to ambitious investing, many people make the mistake of chasing glory and fame — at the expense of sound judgment and real financial results. But not Ira Lubert, chairman and co-founder of Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners, and the guest on our latest episode of Onward. Ira has instead spent decades content to stay out of the limelight, while architecting a fami
17: Inside the VC playbook — After a tech bubble collapse
Mind games and “dirty term sheets.” These are the kinds of potential pitfalls that await tech entrepreneurs and employees in the financial landscape of 2023, especially those particularly in need of fresh infusions of venture capital. In this latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller walks co-host Cardiff Garcia through another set of fascinating — if often unforgiving — complexities arisi
16: On the state of the market, with the creator of a $1T financial innovation, Schecky Schechner
Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by Schecky Schechner, Managing Director and Co-Head of US Real Estate Banking at Barclays Capital, for a wide-ranging and technically insightful conversation in this latest episode of Onward. As Ben points out, Schecky is credited as one of the co-inventors of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) in the wake of the S&L crisis in the late ‘80s, a securi
15: The largest real estate developer in the world, Steve Ross
In the latest episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller gives us the opportunity to listen in on a conversation with one of the most experienced and influential figures in real estate today: Steve Ross, the largest real estate developer in the world. In addition to being the co-founder and chairman of RSE Ventures and owning the Miami Dolphins, Steve is the chairman and founder of Related Compani
14: Year-End Performance in Depth & Investment Strategies for 2023
In anticipation of the upcoming publication of Fundrise’s 2022 year-end letter to investors, CEO Ben Miller is once again joined by Kendall Davis, Head of Investor Relations and Investor Operations, for an in-depth analysis and conversation about the Fundrise portfolio’s 2022 performance. This episode is indispensable to any listener interested in better contextualization of and perspective on our
13: Forecasts for 2023: Scenarios, Systems, and Pattern Recognition
Join your Onward co-hosts, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller and Cardiff Garcia, to wrap up 2022 in the same way we started it: with a session of scenario planning. Ben and Cardiff each share their predictions for what the next year might bring, including possibilities that are both very likely and, admittedly, a little more far afield. We learn the premise and implications of the “80/20 rule” for inflation
12: Owner-Developer of the World Trade Center, Larry Silverstein
Join Ben Miller, CEO of Fundrise, for a conversation with a very special guest on this episode of Onward: Larry Silverstein is the founder and chairman of Silverstein Properties, the owner-developer of the World Trade Center, along with a remarkable portfolio of other major properties that have defined New York City life and the Manhattan skyline for decades. The interview gives us a tour of both
11: Bonus Episode: Investor Q&A November 2022
This week, we have a special treat from Onward: our first bonus episode, dedicated entirely to discussing and answering important questions about Fundrise, sourced directly from Fundrise investors. Kendall Davis, head of investor relations and investor operations, joins Ben Miller, Fundrise CEO, to share some of the topics on our investor community’s minds. As always, discussing Fundrise is just a
10: The Great Deleveraging, a Fundrise market analysis
For months, the hosts of Onward — Ben Miller, Fundrise CEO, and Cardiff Garcia — have discussed the many ways that the current, high inflation environment will impact the broader economy and behavior of investors. In this latest episode, Ben brings a brand new idea to the table: a specific theory outlining how our financial system is on the verge of real crisis and potential collapse. Join us to h
9: Why financial history matters, with Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management
In this month’s episode of Onward, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller is joined by Ben Carlson, Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management, for a wide-ranging discussion that offers fresh, critical thoughts on the state of the market, plus new perspective on our current moment in financial history. Ben C’s additional experience as an author of multiple books and co-host of his o
8: You can’t fight the Fed
As inflation lingers at historical highs, the Fed remains set on taming it, ratcheting up interest rates and inviting a recession. In this new episode of Onward, Ben Miller, CEO of Fundrise, and co-host Cardiff Garcia do a new round of scenario planning, to better assess ten key drivers that directly influence inflation. Together they look back at their very first episode together, On inflation an
7: Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal (VCs and hosts of Acquired): Top investment lessons, what makes the best tech companies, and more
What separates investments in the very best companies from the rest? In this month’s episode of Onward, CEO Ben Miller is joined by the hosts of Acquired, a podcast that looks into the stories and playbooks of history’s greatest companies, to learn where remarkable success in venture capital comes from. Together with Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, the three discuss a range of topics, including:
6: Building homes for rent
In this month’s episode of Onward, CEO Ben Miller and co-host Cardiff Garcia are joined by Fundrise COO Brandon Jenkins to discuss one of the most exciting and fast-growing segments of Fundrise’s real estate investment strategy: built-for-rent single-family housing. Plus, Kendall Davis is back to answer a few hard-hitting questions from investors.Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop
5: Transforming Venture Capital
In this month’s episode, we have something a bit different than our typical programming: Fundrise CEO Ben Miller talks with co-host Cardiff Garcia about a big announcement – the Fundrise Innovation Fund, a brand new investment product and our entry into the world of venture capital, the next financial sector Fundrise aims to disrupt and make available to investors of all types and sizes. Plus, Ken
4: The incoming recession
Coming off a week where inflation hit a 40-year high and consumer sentiment came in at a record low, Ben Miller talks with co-host Cardiff Garcia about our perspective on how we think about navigating an increasingly unpredictable macroeconomic environment by focusing on fundamentals. Plus, hear a new segment where we answer questions from Fundrise investors about the current state of the economy.
3: The future of private equity
Today, Ben Miller and Cardiff Garcia dive deep into the past, present, and future of the private equity industry, including how it grew to become so powerful and why it may be ripe for disruption. If you've ever wanted to better understand the world of private equity investing, this episode is for you.Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com. Onward is h
2: On inflation and uncertainty
On this episode, Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, is joined by Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast). Ben and Cardiff discuss the global economic environment, including the war in Ukraine and rising inflation, before diving deep into how
1: Pilot
In the premiere episode co-hosts Ben Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Emily Peck, Content Director at Fundrise, dive into Fundrise’s Q3 performance — “an overnight success years in the making.” Ben explains why the company is investing in single-family rentals, how millennials think about real estate, and how the commercial real estate market has yet to truly adjust to the changes set i
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