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Cold Call

Cold Call

By: HBR Presents / Brian Kenny
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Cold Call distills Harvard Business School's legendary case studies into podcast form. Hosted by Brian Kenny, the podcast airs every two weeks and features Harvard Business School faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.Copyright 2026 President and Fellows of Harvard College Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership Marketing Marketing & Sales
Episodes
  • Are We Entering a New Age of Creativity with the Help of AI?

    Are We Entering a New Age of Creativity with the Help of AI?
    Jul 7 2026
    In March 2024, The Atlantic announced a strategic content and product partnership with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI. OpenAI would license The Atlantic’s content to train its models and respond to user queries, while The Atlantic would receive a fee, privileged access to OpenAI’s technology, and “premium” positioning within the tech giant. The Atlantic’s journalists, however, were incensed, concerned that partnering with OpenAI was “a devil’s bargain.” Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire owner of The Atlantic, had to consider what was in the magazine’s best financial interest and what impact a continued partnership could have on the magazine’s journalism—and more broadly on the ideas landscape as a whole. Was Jobs undermining The Atlantic’s reputation, or was she bringing a new business model to bear on an industry facing major headwinds? Harvard Business School Professor Caroline Elkins joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “The Atlantic and OpenAI.” They explore the question, “Is AI creative?” and how the answer affects not only journalism as we know it, but considerations for whether we can harness AI to enter an age of increased creativity for humankind.
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    30 mins
  • How School of Rock Created Structure in Order to Scale with Agility and Creativity

    How School of Rock Created Structure in Order to Scale with Agility and Creativity
    Jun 23 2026
    In the summer of 2021, School of Rock was a youth-oriented music education company with 291 franchise- and company-owned schools globally. Before Rob Price became CEO in 2017, School of Rock’s nonconformist culture led to variability in teaching styles, educational outcomes, and risks for copyright violations. One of Price’s major initiatives to aid better standardization was the Method App which provided a structure to empower and guide work at the school branches, featuring nearly 100 show programs and 1,000 copyright-compliant song choices tagged with the associated skill levels, musical concepts, and corresponding show programs. When the app launched in 2019, it struggled to gain traction. Some franchisees felt the functionality was flawed; others worried that the app threatened their pedagogical independence. Harvard Business School Professors Tatiana Sandino and Jeffrey Rayport joined host Brian Kenny and School of Rock leaders Stacey Ryan, President, and Rob Price, Former CEO for a live taping of Cold Call on the HBS campus. They discussed the case, “School of Rock: Tuning into Structured Empowerment,” and explored how they chose to drive adoption of the Method App across its franchisees without reigniting tensions with the corporate office.
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    37 mins
  • The Founder Mindset: Tim Ferriss on Experiments, Risk, and Freedom

    The Founder Mindset: Tim Ferriss on Experiments, Risk, and Freedom
    Jun 9 2026
    What does it take to be a founder? In this episode of The Founder Mindset, produced by Harvard Business School Foundry and hosted by Senior Lecturer Reza Satchu, Satchu sits down with writer, podcaster, and investor Tim Ferriss to discuss his blueprint for nimble decision-making and actionable success.
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    33 mins
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