• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns

2

Melinda French Gates' advice to new IPO millionaires: 'Give half your money away'

3

Anthropic disables Fable and Mythos AI models after U.S. government bars it from giving foreigners access

1

Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns

2

Melinda French Gates' advice to new IPO millionaires: 'Give half your money away'

3

Anthropic disables Fable and Mythos AI models after U.S. government bars it from giving foreigners access
Tech

Wisdom From Wrestling Royalty and Other Lessons From Brainstorm Tech

Barb Darrow
By
Barb Darrow
Barb Darrow
Down Arrow Button Icon
Barb Darrow
By
Barb Darrow
Barb Darrow
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 25, 2017, 10:01 AM ET

Reverbs from last week’s Fortune Brainstorm Tech keep popping up. Going through notes from last week’s confab in Aspen, Colo., here are a few more lessons worth noting.

1: If you want to succeed in TV programming, hire Elisabeth Moss

This lesson came from Charlie Collier, president of both AMC and Sundance TV, and Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins. Moss—in case you’re not a fan of high-quality television—portrayed the long-suffering Peggy Olson in AMC’s hugely successful Mad Men series and more recently anchored Hulu’s breakthrough hit The Handmaid’s Tale.

Going back a few years, Moss also played Zoey Bartlet, daughter of President Josiah Bartlett (Martin Sheen) in NBC’s (NBC) The West Wing. She also got rave reviews for Sundance TV’s Top of the Lake crime series, directed by Jane Campion. Season two kicks off later this month.

Related: How Media Execs Navigate Changing Landscape

2: Learn from professional wrestlers

The WWE’s Pro-wrestling events may be fake, but they compress drama and conflicts between good and evil acted out by heroes and villains into a story line that plays out in the ring in a set amount of time. That has real appeal, said Stephanie McMahon, chief brand officer for WWE. She and her husband, WWE executive vice president Paul Levesque, otherwise known by his wrestling moniker Triple H, also talked about the WWE’s ability to pivot, as evidenced by its jettisoning the term “diva” when it was no longer appropriate to women’s wrestling.

When reminded on stage that he married into an interesting family—his in-laws are Vince McMahon, the flamboyant CEO of WWE and Linda McMahon—the equally colorful former CEO, who now leads the U.S. Small Business Administration, Levesque shook his head, noting: “You don’t know the half of it.”

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

3: Don’t sweat cannibalization

The notion for a chewable ice maker option for freezers had been floated by the R&D unit at GE (GE) Appliances for a decade. But concerns that adding the option might hurt sales of existing freezers and confuse the sales channel meant it didn’t get traction, said Slava Rubin, co-founder and chief business officer of crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

Rubin knows this because GE decided, instead of making new freezers with the unit built-in, to first validate the idea by putting a standalone “chewable ice maker” on Indiegogo. The resulting Opal standalone ice maker raised nearly $2.8 million on the site, and GE Appliances now plans to offer chewable ice as an option in some freezer models going forward.

Related; Five Takeaways From Brainstorm Tech

4: Learn but don’t shrink from failure

Two years ago, Microsoft released its Tay chatbot in the U.S. only to find that the bot, which had done well in Asia, was quickly trained by users to make racist and sexist comments. It was a PR nightmare. But instead of slamming the Tay team, Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella encouraged them to keep working, said Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of business development for Microsoft.

Tay morphed into Zo, another chat bot that learns more about you via conversing—although presumably not about hate speech. Johnson said she converses with Zo quite often. “She’s my friend,” Johnson said.

5: Be self-aware

Members of a roundtable discussion on how to avoid toxic work environments, was chewing over recent sexual harassment scandals in the tech industry when one panelist stunned the room into silence by noting: “I thought this was supposed to be about diversity. Why are we talking about women?”

About the Author
Barb Darrow
By Barb Darrow
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

SpaceX went from three consecutive rocket explosions and near-bankruptcy in 2008 to the biggest IPO in history
Startups & VentureSpaceX
SpaceX went from three consecutive rocket explosions and near-bankruptcy in 2008 to the biggest IPO in history
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 14, 2026
4 hours ago
A 1% mistake costs $10 billion: Inside the impossible math of managing Elon Musk’s trillionaire SpaceX wealth
Personal FinanceElon Musk
A 1% mistake costs $10 billion: Inside the impossible math of managing Elon Musk’s trillionaire SpaceX wealth
By Sydney LakeJune 14, 2026
4 hours ago
Whop CEO Steven Schwartz
SuccessMillionaires
The Gen Z cofounder of $1.6 billion Whop says his platform has minted over 650 millionaires—he wants to make work fun and money worries obsolete
By Emma BurleighJune 14, 2026
6 hours ago
nexstar
CommentaryAntitrust
Nexstar CEO: big tech swallowed local newspapers. Local TV could be next
By Perry A. SookJune 14, 2026
7 hours ago
The hottest debate on Wall Street right now: Does the flood of mega-IPOs and new shares signal a downturn ahead? That depends
InvestingIPOs
The hottest debate on Wall Street right now: Does the flood of mega-IPOs and new shares signal a downturn ahead? That depends
By Jason MaJune 13, 2026
16 hours ago
You can ignore AI giants like SpaceX, but your 401(k) won’t
Investingindex funds
You can ignore AI giants like SpaceX, but your 401(k) won’t
By Stan Choe and The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
18 hours ago

Most Popular

Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
Real Estate
Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
By Sydney LakeJune 13, 2026
1 day ago
Melinda French Gates' advice to new IPO millionaires: 'Give half your money away'
Startups & Venture
Melinda French Gates' advice to new IPO millionaires: 'Give half your money away'
By Emma HinchliffeJune 13, 2026
1 day ago
Anthropic disables Fable and Mythos AI models after U.S. government bars it from giving foreigners access
AI
Anthropic disables Fable and Mythos AI models after U.S. government bars it from giving foreigners access
By Jeremy KahnJune 13, 2026
1 day ago
SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen quietly engineered its historic IPO and became an overnight billionaire
C-Suite
SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen quietly engineered its historic IPO and became an overnight billionaire
By Sasha RogelbergJune 13, 2026
1 day ago
Trump expects to sign a deal with Iran on Sunday, but Tehran may want to avoid giving him a gift on his birthday
Middle East
Trump expects to sign a deal with Iran on Sunday, but Tehran may want to avoid giving him a gift on his birthday
By Jason MaJune 13, 2026
19 hours ago
'It's not a jailbreak' — Research leading to U.S. export restrictions on top Anthropic models was for defense, cybersecurity CEO says
AI
'It's not a jailbreak' — Research leading to U.S. export restrictions on top Anthropic models was for defense, cybersecurity CEO says
By Jason MaJune 13, 2026
22 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.