lystn

One of the biggest issues permeating the business and political landscape in America today is that of student debt. More than 44 million Americans collectively have over $1.5 trillion in student debt, $521 billion more than total credit card debt. We recently wrote about this issue on Harvard Business Review, and today we had a chance to talk to David Chang, the CEO of Gradifi, one of the companies that's actively working to reduce that massive number.  David has an impressive background. He's been a leader at Goldman Sachs, Paypal, TripAdvisor, and several other enterprises. He's also invested in over 40 companies, and has worked with student entrepreneurs at some of the top business programs in the world - Harvard Business School and Babson College. This work lead him to realize that students and recent graduates today are at an unfair disadvantage, and when the opportunity to lead Gradifi (a First Republic company) came he decided to stop all of his other projects to focus on the opportunity help remove this unfair disadvantage.  In our episode we talk through David's dynamic career and what he's learned from being part of 5 acquisitions. We also dig into what affects someone's decision to start a company, and what angel investors look for in startup founders before deciding to give them money. Finally, we attempt to breakdown how the problem of rising student debt can be curbed, and what options are currently available for those that need debt relief. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.