Alibaba is one of the world’s most dynamic and powerful digital brands today, and yet it originates not from Silicon Valley but from China. As a former Vice President at the business, Porter Erisman had front-row seats to the development of Alibaba from Jack Ma’s apartment into what it is today. In his book, ‘Alibaba’s World’, Porter details the rise of the company against the backdrop of China’s digital revolution and the challenges faced by US web giants trying to crack the local market. In our conversation, we discussed how Jack Ma wrote the operating system for e-commerce to work in China, what brands can learn from the innovative ways that Chinese sell things online, and how everything from wealth management to insurance will soon be re-invented by these new digital platforms as they move from retail to financial services.

Bryan Kramer is one of the most social people around - not only in person, but with over 300,000 fans and followers, a maven in the personal branding and marketing space. His latest book, “Shareology: How Sharing is Powering the Human Economy”, explores the history, art and science of sharing, and illustrates why sharing is what gives us a unique competitive advantage as individuals and brands. In a unique sharing experiment conducted in his recent TED Talk @ IBM titled “Why Sharing is Reimagining Our Future”, Bryan witnessed the true power of sharing when inspiration combined itself with reach and technology. The results were stunning – 21 million impressions in just 4 hours, spanning the globe to over 10 countries. We caught up to chat about why remembering human values is so important for brands and leaders, as they try and design authentic communications.

Adam Alter is the author of the New York Times bestseller ‘Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave’, which examines how the world shape our thoughts and feelings beyond our control. I met up with him at NYU Stern, where he is an Associate Professor of Marketing with an affiliated appointment in the New York University Psychology Department. We spoke about his research on judgment and decision-making and social psychology, as well as his new book, which asks why so many people today are addicted to so many behaviors, from incessant smart phone and internet usage to video game playing and online shopping.

Cindy Gallop is one of the most brilliant and controversial minds in advertising today. Starting as a theatre publicist in the UK, she went on to forge a 30 years career in brandbuilding, marketing and entrepreneurialism, as well as launching a number of provocative platforms including IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn. Never shy to throw a few punches, her Twitter bio reads simply: ‘I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business.’ From the elevated surroundings of her New York penthouse apartment, I was to find out just how many industries, companies and professions were, according to Cindy, long overdue a serve of disruption and re-invention.

Alex Rosson is a legend in the music business, having founded one of the world’s best headphone brands, Audeze, and is now responsible for starting up a new audio division for Detroit based watch and lifestyle brand, Shinola. I met up with Alex at the famous Village recording studios in West Los Angeles. The Village has been home to most of the greatest names in rock, from The Doors to Guns N’ Roses, Coldplay to Lady Gaga. The room we recorded this interview in was the same used to produce the classic album, Aja by Steely Dan. Alex and I talked about the origins of digital cinema, the rise of the head-fi movement, why listening to analogue music is good for you, and his plans for the launch of Shinola Audio. Listen out for the fun cameo from Alex’s uncle (the owner of the studio) and who makes a grand entrance at the end of the interview.