What’s on the Agenda for Brainstorm Tech 2019: Term Sheet
Good morning from Aspen! Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference kicks off today. You can watch the mainstage panels here starting at 2 p.m. Mountain Time (4 p.m. EST), and you’ll hear from:
— Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart: As the world’s largest retailer, what do you do to stay there? Online, digitally enabled brick and mortar stores, organic food, pick-up and delivery, massive advertising—how do you keep up?
— Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring: Ring went from Shark Tank rejection to Amazon acquisition. The CEO, who, during his “midlife entrepreneurial crisis” created the first Wi-Fi video doorbell in his garage, will share what he’s learned along the way.
— Katrina Lake, founder and CEO of StitchFix: In 2017, Katrina Lake took her company public. But first she spent years building her business, wisely leveraging data in the fickle retail and fashion worlds, and developing a sustainable new model in a highly competitive industry. How does she keep honing it to stay ahead?
… and many more. I’ll provide a synopsis tomorrow for those who are interested in reading further.
LIBRA HEARINGS: Politicians haven’t exactly welcomed Facebook’s Libra project with open arms. Politicians on both sides have expressed skepticism that Facebook can be trusted with a digital currency. Even President Donald Trump tweeted that Libra could threaten the power and dominance of the dollar.
Facebook has said repeatedly that it plans to work with regulators to get Libra off the ground, and David Marcus, the Facebook executive who has spearheaded the Libra effort, will testify before multiple congressional committees this week. Marcus is scheduled to testify before the Senate banking committee on Tuesday and the House financial services committee on Wednesday. He will likely be asked about privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and the stability of the financial system, all issues lawmakers say Libra raises.
Marcus wrote in a blog post last week that he wants to “ensure that Libra helps with the kinds of issues that the existing financial system has been fighting, notably around money laundering, terrorism financing, and more. Stay tuned because this will be one story to watch closely.