“Silicon Valley places a premium on intellect and intellect alone with the idea that, if you get a group of smart people together, you’re likely to win,” he told me. “Detroit’s success is a function of that, but it is also a function of tenacity, grit, perseverance, and belief.”

Krishna’s goal has been to blend the best of both. He’s come to appreciate the loyalty and commitment that characterizes Rocket’s culture. In Silicon Valley, he says, “you start to realize a lot of the talent is job hunting every 18 months.” But given that he estimates it can take five years to build something that’s truly transformative, loyalty is the virtue he’s trying to cultivate. “People work here because they like the culture. Mortgages are more the how, whereas the what is around home ownership.”

At Rocket, “data and evidence win all arguments,” Krishna says, pointing to Rocket’s acquisitions of Redfin and Mr. Cooper for $16 billion last year as examples of big bets. The company’s recent alliance with Compass to bring more than 500,000 new listings to the Redfin platform and transform the seller experience is another example.

And what can Detroit learn from Silicon Valley? A lot. “The beauty of Silicon Valley is you have this extremely high density of brain power, this mix of startups, venture capital and education,” he says, adding that it’s also the environment of meetups, incubators, late-night dinners, and constant learning. “We have to create that kind of environment, to get more of that sort of youthful entrepreneurial energy here.”

Half of Krishna’s leadership team came from places like Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Boston. “It’s not just about doing everything in kind of the homegrown way, but it’s about blending it together with outside talent. And that culture is a function of one man.” He’s of course referring to Rocket founder Dan Gilbert who has “invented and reinvented this company.”  

I’m thrilled that Gilbert will be joining us as a speaker at the Fortune 500 Innovation Forum in Detroit on November 16 and 17.  Other speakers include General Motors President Mark Reuss, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright, Corning CEO Wendell Weeks, Craig Newmark of craigslist, Penny Pennington of Edward Jones, Macy’s chief Tony Spring, Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur, NYSE’s Lynn Martin, Dave Bozeman of C.H. Robinson, Ford Foundation’s Heather Gerken and many more. You can learn more here.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

Top leadership news

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Trump bets blockade will crush Iran’s economy

After deciding against renewing all-out war against Iran, President Donald Trump signaled that he will continue applying economic pressure on the regime. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, he said “we are low keying it” and only “semi-negotiating” with Iran. Trump claimed Tehran can’t pay its troops and described Iran’s economy as being in “very bad shape,” arguing that the U.S. naval blockade has worsened the economic crisis.

AI changes work faster than data can keep up

No one can agree on whether AI is taking away jobs or not. AI’s effect on jobs has been difficult to measure, and the picture is blurred by corporate whiplash: CEOs blame AI for layoffs one month, then hail it as an engine for new job creation the next. Untangling AI’s true impact could take years.

The markets

S&P 500 futures are up 0.14% this morning. The last session closed up 0.62%. The STOXX Europe 600 was down o.2% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.29% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.08%. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.65%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.16%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.05%. India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.09%. Bitcoin was at $65K.

Around the watercooler

With broad bipartisan support, Congress is about to give Trump ‘unchecked authority’ to impose new tariffs of up to 100% on top trading partners by Jason Ma

Bill Ackman’s $35 billion hedge fund has under 50 employees and all of them — from janitors to receptionists—own millions in company stock by Preston Fore

This nuclear startup and Halliburton repurposed oil-drilling tech in a bid to solve America’s radioactive waste problem by Jordan Blum

How Scott Bessent used financial engineering to finance the $2 trillion deficit while leaving it untouched—and created a $1.45 trillion shortfall by Eva Roytburg

Why every company wants an AI model router right now by Sharon Goldman

CEO Daily is curated and edited by Joseph Abrams, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.