The Exchanges

Q it. Let's get some more interceptors out there capturing the plastic for our kids. That's, that's really cool, Joe. I want to ask about, you know, optimism for the future. A lot of people in our country are cynical. They're pessimistic. You know, what, what are the best reasons to tell young people that they should be more optimistic about what's going on? Why are you optimistic about our future?

A I'm optimistic probably because of something a professor at RISD told me when I was a student studying industrial design is they said, look around you to us In my class to me, and I said, everything that you see has been designed by somebody who was no smarter than, than you. Uh, you know, who at one time was also a student just like you are. And everything around us has been a decision, a design decision by somebody. This table, these microphones, the camera, our clothes, like, the architecture that we're in was all made by creative people. And, and they, they went on to say that You can influence that. You can participate in designing the world around you. And for me, that was a massive unlock. That you could actually apply creative thinking and you could actually not just say like, oh man, I wish it could be better. I wish that thing over there was better, but actually flipping that and saying, I can fix that. Like I can actually contribute to making that better.

AI assessment note: “I'm optimistic probably because of something a professor at RISD told me”

Q Were there certain things that particularly offended you or certain battles that were really important?

A Yeah. Look, I think there's a couple of things I've spoken about the border before. I think having a border that was really just wide open, where as I dug more and more into it, I started asking questions back in Seeing these headlines of, you know, tens of thousands of people every week coming into our country, um, unvetted. Um, you know, we put more effort into having people pass through, uh, customs at the airport than we do with, you know, multiple times that amount coming across our border on the south. I thought, this is odd. What's going on here? Um, I should look into this more. And that led me down a path of, um, talking to people on the left, talking to people on the right, And I felt like I got a lot more direct answers from people on the right, um, who were just much more forthcoming about what the issues were, why they were happening. And lo and behold, you know, we had a lot of excuses in the last administration about why the problem couldn't get solved. Oh, you gotta wait on this, that, and the other. And in the first couple months of the Trump administration, it became very clear that the power to solve this problem was entirely in the hands of the president.

AI assessment note: “I think there's a couple of things I've spoken about the border before.”

Q I have to ask, because President Obama did bring in tech talent, but this stuff didn't get done. Like, what's the difference is letting President Trump and you fix this? Is it just your leadership and his leadership? Or like, what's, what's, is there a cultural difference? Like, what's happening? Why is it working now?

A I think this is working because it's a presidential initiative. I think it's working because we are really pulling in veterans out of Silicon Valley. From a talent perspective. I think it's working because this president really deeply cares about how things look, because he knows that aesthetics matter. When I was with him in the Oval Office, we got into the topic of design. We talked about the, the Cracker Barrel brand fiasco. He said, oh, Joe, what would you do with that? And I said, well, Mr. President, um, I think they have one option, which is to roll back. They stripped the soul out of their brand. Yeah. Uh, and so they just have to go back to what they had, which Actually, they end up doing that, and we had a good laugh about that, and then he pulls out the drawings for the ballroom design, and we're leaning over his big desk in the Oval Office, and he's showing me all the details. Oh, Joe, look at the circular window, just like the White House with the trim, the color, and the paint. I said, Mr. President, I think you and I have the same care for detail.

AI assessment note: “I think this is working because it's a presidential initiative.”

Q Were there certain things that particularly offended you or certain battles that were really important?

A Yeah. Look, I think there's a couple of things I've spoken about the border before. I think having a border that was really just wide open, where as I dug more and more into it, I started asking questions back in Seeing these headlines of, you know, tens of thousands of people every week coming into our country, um, unvetted. Um, you know, we put more effort into having people pass through, uh, customs at the airport than we do with, you know, multiple times that amount coming across our border on the south. I thought, this is odd. What's going on here? Um, I should look into this more. And that led me down a path of, um, talking to people on the left, talking to people on the right, And I felt like I got a lot more direct answers from people on the right, um, who were just much more forthcoming about what the issues were, why they were happening. And lo and behold, you know, we had a lot of excuses in the last administration about why the problem couldn't get solved. Oh, you gotta wait on this, that, and the other. And in the first couple months of the Trump administration, it became very clear that the power to solve this problem was entirely in the hands of the president.

AI assessment note: “I think having a border that was really just wide open”

Q I have to ask, because President Obama did bring in tech talent, but this stuff didn't get done. Like, what's the difference is letting President Trump and you fix this? Is it just your leadership and his leadership? Or like, what's, what's, is there a cultural difference? Like, what's happening? Why is it working now?

A I think this is working because it's a presidential initiative. I think it's working because we are really pulling in veterans out of Silicon Valley. From a talent perspective. I think it's working because this president really deeply cares about how things look, because he knows that aesthetics matter. When I was with him in the Oval Office, we got into the topic of design. We talked about the, the Cracker Barrel brand fiasco. He said, oh, Joe, what would you do with that? And I said, well, Mr. President, um, I think they have one option, which is to roll back. They stripped the soul out of their brand. Yeah. Uh, and so they just have to go back to what they had, which Actually, they end up doing that, and we had a good laugh about that, and then he pulls out the drawings for the ballroom design, and we're leaning over his big desk in the Oval Office, and he's showing me all the details. Oh, Joe, look at the circular window, just like the White House with the trim, the color, and the paint. I said, Mr. President, I think you and I have the same care for detail.

AI assessment note: “I think this is working because it's a presidential initiative.”

Q And now we have socialists and communists. So why did you decide to step up and serve in DC? Like what, what led? So this is one thing to get involved in the election. That's a civic duty. I did that as well. Uh, I'm really impressed though. Cause you've done a lot more. You've actually come here and you're, and you're serving in DC. How did that happen?

A This was not my cards whatsoever. And so, you know, I, I, As a supporter of Bobby Kennedy, Secretary Kennedy, um, just super excited about what he has been doing for our nation. Um, and before he even got to office, um, was excited about his pro, the prospect of what he could do, which is here you have a guy who has big, bold ideas about how to improve the health of our country. And right now, the health of our nation's in the gutter. Um, you know, 70% of people have chronic disease. It's, uh, it's kind of insane. You know, at all, all age ranges. Um, and it's like, we spend the most on healthcare, yet we have the most disease. And there's, there's a, something that's like very wrong with that.

AI assessment note: “As a supporter of Bobby Kennedy... just super excited about what he has been doing”

Q You thought you could trust him based, based on that?

A Well, yeah. And I felt like, you know, if you just keep repeating what you've been doing, how are you going to get any different results? So if it's just a revolving door of industry coming in out of that position, I think he comes really from the outside and has a really bold policies. And so I came to DC back in January for his, uh, his swearing in, uh, his confirmation hearings in the Senate. Which were incredible. Like what I felt like as a part of history, you know, you're in those, those beautiful old rooms and, uh, you know, there's also all the decoration and it's like the media and it's like, it was standing room only. It was like, you could, it was like, felt like history was unfolding in front of you. And, uh, I got a text from Elon around that time, uh, around that time of the day. It said, Hey, I heard you in DC. Want to come hang out with the Doge team? I thought, Well, I got a flight tomorrow back to Austin, but why not? And, uh, ended up spending the day with, uh, with that team, and saw some of the things they were working on, saw the speed with which they were moving, and I go, wait a second, this is, this is not the DC that I've, I remember. This is, this is moving at, at tech speed. This is moving at Silicon Valley speed. Um, and they're actually getting stuff done. They're actually shipping things. And that, um, after my time with them, they, they asked me …

AI assessment note: “Well, yeah. And I felt like, you know, if you just keep repeating”

Q You thought you could trust him based, based on that?

A Well, yeah. And I felt like, you know, if you just keep repeating what you've been doing, how are you going to get any different results? So if it's just a revolving door of industry coming in out of that position, I think he comes really from the outside and has a really bold policies. And so I came to DC back in January for his, uh, his swearing in, uh, his confirmation hearings in the Senate. Which were incredible. Like what I felt like as a part of history, you know, you're in those, those beautiful old rooms and, uh, you know, there's also all the decoration and it's like the media and it's like, it was standing room only. It was like, you could, it was like, felt like history was unfolding in front of you. And, uh, I got a text from Elon around that time, uh, around that time of the day. It said, Hey, I heard you in DC. Want to come hang out with the Doge team? I thought, Well, I got a flight tomorrow back to Austin, but why not? And, uh, ended up spending the day with, uh, with that team, and saw some of the things they were working on, saw the speed with which they were moving, and I go, wait a second, this is, this is not the DC that I've, I remember. This is, this is moving at, at tech speed. This is moving at Silicon Valley speed. Um, and they're actually getting stuff done. They're actually shipping things. And that, um, after my time with them, they, they asked me …

AI assessment note: “Well, yeah. And I felt like, you know, if you just keep repeating”

Q Good there were some positive ones, it's sad there were negative ones, but it sounds like it hasn't affected you. What was the end result for the, for the retirement program? Is it now working for everyone?

A Absolutely. So I pulled in, um, Silicon Valley engineers, a couple of ex-Airbnb guys, Um, pulled in some amazing designers, and we got to work. You know, we did a design process, which is, usually starts by deeply understanding the problem, and the best way to understand the problem is by talking to the people who are living it every day. And so we spoke to a whole range of retirees, both upcoming and those who had just retired and gone through the existing process. We talked to people in HR, we talked to people in payroll, and we really started to understand this ecosystem Around what does it mean to retire in the federal government? And through these conversations, you'd hear repeating patterns. You'd hear simple things like people had no idea what the next step was or what setting expectations would go a really long way to help people along the process.

AI assessment note: “Absolutely. So I pulled in, um, Silicon Valley engineers”

Q I heard earlier this year you spent an hour with President Trump talking about design, actually. You actually, you think you probably said it was probably the greatest birthday present you've ever gotten. What do the media and critics not understand about him and that interaction? Would you inspire him with this when you spent that time together?

A Yeah, we had an amazing session in the Oval Office where I was able to give the pitch that I had honed over the previous couple months and was able to talk with him about this initiative and what it would mean for him to, um, to take this on as, as a presidential initiative. And one of the things I share with him is that it's not the first time in U.S. history that a president has Seeing design as a way to improve society. What I discovered in my research is that President Nixon in the 19 seventies created a presidential initiative to improve society through better design. And so, because it was a national initiative, it attracted the best and brightest talent of the era.

AI assessment note: “where I was able to give the pitch that I had honed”

Q Good there were some positive ones, it's sad there were negative ones, but it sounds like it hasn't affected you. What was the end result for the, for the retirement program? Is it now working for everyone?

A Absolutely. So I pulled in, um, Silicon Valley engineers, a couple of ex-Airbnb guys, Um, pulled in some amazing designers, and we got to work. You know, we did a design process, which is, usually starts by deeply understanding the problem, and the best way to understand the problem is by talking to the people who are living it every day. And so we spoke to a whole range of retirees, both upcoming and those who had just retired and gone through the existing process. We talked to people in HR, we talked to people in payroll, and we really started to understand this ecosystem Around what does it mean to retire in the federal government? And through these conversations, you'd hear repeating patterns. You'd hear simple things like people had no idea what the next step was or what setting expectations would go a really long way to help people along the process.

AI assessment note: “Absolutely. So I pulled in, um, Silicon Valley engineers, a couple of ex-Airbnb guys”