Show Notes
Hard work won't get you promoted. Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer on the rules of power nobody teaches you. In this conversation, Jeffrey lays out the real sequence: political skill gets you power, power gets you money, and hard work is optional. He explains how to build a power map, why you have to figure out who to impress before you impress anyone, why nobody has ever been promoted by someone who doesn't know them, and the three ways people turn power into wealth: free stuff, early access and selling your celebrity. He and David also get into why authenticity is "complete bullshit," the right and wrong kinds of vulnerability at work, whether there's a limit to flattery, why you should negotiate for budget instead of salary, how to beat imposter syndrome, and where Trump, Putin, AOC and Martha Stewart rank on the Pfeffer scale of power. Plus David workshops the pitch he used to sign MasterClass's first instructors, and asks for notes. This is the business of power with Jeffrey Pfeffer.
More from Other People's Business
21% of US households now have someone on a GLP-1. PwC's Ali Furman on how Ozempic and other GLP-1s are rewiring the consumer economy. In this conversation, Ali walks through the data PwC pulls from 110,000 households: why apparel is the biggest winner (occasion wear, tailoring, jewelry and department stores are all up), why grocery baskets are shrinking 5.5% while jerky, Greek yogurt and gum are growing, why wine and spirits are seeing double-digit declines, and what over half of GLP-1 users say restaurants are still getting wrong. David also brings in Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu, whose research started with a single ounce cut from United's in-flight magazine and ends with airlines saving billions in jet fuel because passengers weigh less. Plus who's actually on these drugs (it's not who you think), the shift toward wellness travel and Botox, why 60% of consumers now research purchases through AI, and whether David would take one himself. This is the business of GLP-1s with Ali Furman and Sheila Kahyaoglu.
Chris Voss spent 24 years as the FBI's lead international hostage negotiator. He says hostage taking isn't a crime of passion, it's a business. In this conversation, Chris breaks down the business model behind the ransom: who gets targeted and why, the org chart of a kidnapping gang (spotters, grabbers, transporters, negotiators, and a boss who thinks everyone is lazy), why he settled nearly every deal on a Friday, and how he got every hostage in Haiti out for under $5,000 when the asking price was a million. He and David Rogier also get into kidnap and ransom insurance and the K&R consultants who come with it, why Americans became a bad commodity to steal, the Philippines case where one question from the hostage's brother cracked it, ransom drops from helicopters, and the surprising thing that actually gets hostages released. This is the business of hostage taking with Chris Voss.
Martha Stewart built the creator economy before it had a name and made $65M a year in royalties on nearly $2B in merchandise. In this conversation, Martha breaks down the business model behind the empire: the Kmart licensing deal that changed everything, why she spread her content across books, magazines, TV and products, and how she thinks about brand deals, authenticity and staying relevant more than 40 years in. She and MasterClass Founder & CEO David Rogier also get into the billion dollars she says she lost during her legal troubles, why Snoop Dogg quadrupled her audience, what today's influencers get wrong, Kim Kardashian and Skims, social media, her new AI startup HINT, and Martha's rule for building anything: make something people need and want. This is the business of influence with Martha Stewart.
Every industry has a version of itself that never makes the headlines. Every success has a cost that never makes the story. Everything you interact with has a system underneath it, shaping how it works, who profits, and what it actually takes. Other People's Business gets into all of it. The real money. The actual decisions. The machine behind everything you see and don't fully understand. Hosted by David Rogier, Founder and CEO of MasterClass. For more than a decade, he's been inside conversations most people never hear. Other People's Business is built on the questions nobody thinks to ask. And the ones you wish someone would.