Freedom, Trust & the Next 250 Years of American Innovation with Keith Krach

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Speaker B: Success transcends cities. As one of the world's most respected business leaders, I know what it takes. Join me now as I sit down with fellow leaders and we share our insights into how you can be successful. My name is Jeffrey Hayslett, and this is All Business. Today's guest is a guy who's built billion dollar companies, reshaped global tech diplomacy, and is now helping lead one of the biggest national initiatives of our time. Keith Kroc has gone from becoming the youngest VP in General Motors history to co founding Ariva, leading DocuSign, serving as the Undersecretary of state, and now spearheading Free Freedom 250, the nationwide movement celebrating America's 250th anniversary. But this isn't just about looking back. Freedom 250 is about reigniting the American spirit through innovation, entrepreneurship, uh, leadership, service, and freedom itself. From mobile museums traveling across the country to bringing together CEOs, founders, educators, creators, communities, and of course, Americans, the initiative is designed to inspire the next generation of American leadership and opportunity. Keith, welcome to All Business with Jeffrey Haysler.

Speaker A: By the way, thanks so much, Jeff, for having me on. I really appreciate that.

Speaker B: Well, I appreciated you giving me the call because we're going to be announcing some stuff a little bit later. We're going to be doing around Voices of Freedom, which is amazing. We're going to ask CEOs to, you know, to dial in, basically, and give us a video, which is going to be great. But I officially, I think I have to announce that you're probably my most frequent guest over the years that I've done the show. We've been on stages together and have done the show numerous times, and it's always a pleasure and just a good friend.

Speaker A: Well, I'll tell you what, I consider that an honor. You know, sometimes I just think my life's been like Forrest Gump. I just end up at these places. And, uh, I really treasure your friendship.

Speaker B: Well, and it's not just luck. It's really, you know, somebody can put as many wins as you put together, you would be the best winningest coach, I think, in the NFL. The jets need you. Could you come and help the chest? That'd be great.

Speaker A: I love it.

Speaker B: I want to talk about you've led transformation in robotics, uh, e commerce, digital transactions, diplomacy, and now initiatives like Freedom250. What's the common thread that ties all of that together?

Speaker A: Well, I think it's, you know, if you look at transformational leadership, it's all about challenging the status quo, but most of all, building a high performance team to get them to do things that you know, they probably maybe never thought was possible. That would leave, uh, an enduring, uh, impact and legacy. I think that's the thing. That's what Freedom250 is all about. As you mentioned, it's kicking off the next 250 years. This is the biggest movement in the history of America, and that is what our goal is.

Speaker B: I mean, can you imagine 250 years? I mean, it is a pretty phenomenal thing.

Speaker A: It is. And you know, when I think about that, I think a one word, I think a great gratitude. And gratitude for our freedom, um, and all those freedoms that we have here in the United States. And we really want to make, um, sure that people, uh, have gratitude to our founders and to the people that came before them. You know, the service, the sacrifice, but then also pride in who we are as a nation and then confidence to go, you know, in the future for the next 250 years.

Speaker B: And there's a lot of looking back and we got to those men, we're not perfect, right? And none of us are perfect.

Speaker A: None of us are perfect.

Speaker B: And I think it's okay for us to kind of look beyond that and say, that's all right. You know, we're better now than we were then. The other thing I heard recently that someone said recently at, uh, Memorial Day, remember, freedom isn't free.

Speaker A: Freedom is not free. And we just had a beautiful Memorial Day observance at the Arlington Cemetery. You know, the service, the sacrifice, and give their lives so that we can keep our freedoms. Because, you know, if you look at the law of physics and the natural order of things, it's the king, the dictator, and the emperor, and you've got to fight every day for those freedoms. And thank God for, you know, our, uh, warriors, uh, our first responders, I mean, everybody like that. So that was a great way to kick things off in terms of honoring our heroes.

Speaker B: And that's important to do. I want to turn it back to business for a little bit, if we can, because you helped turn, turn DocuSign into a global powerhouse. I mean, uh, you'd already co founded Ariba into one of the biggest B2B networks. You exited that at 6 billion. I remember getting on a board with you. We sold the company and then I found out you were on DocuSign, and I immediately called you and said what a great product that was. So what did those two experiences teach you about trust in a business strategy?

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, trust is the most important word in any language that is the basis for your business relationship, personal relationships, all of that. And you know, I would always stand up in front of uh, our employees or at our big user conference and say, we're not in the software business, we're in the trust business. We deal with people's most important documents. Those are the ones that you sign. And you know, with, uh, my experience, uh, serving the country, running US economic diplomacy, that was also the biggest factor is trust and bringing allies in. So there's nothing more powerful than that. And then if you look, I call it T squared transformation to the power of trust. So if you're gonna, uh, create a transformational, uh, endeavor, it's all about building trust.

Speaker B: Well, I say trust is a new currency. Trust is the currency C suite network. We've been talking about that for years. And you talk about trusted technology for business leaders, for those that are listening right now, what does that actually mean in practical terms?

Speaker A: Well, trusted technology means that it, first of all, that it comes from a trusted source. Right. This is one of the things that the Kroc Institute for Tech Diplomacy is doing is the global trusted tech standards. And at a high level, these are things that, um, protect our freedoms and our democracy. Things like respect for rule of law, respect for intellectual property, respect for human rights, respect for sovereignty, a nation, reciprocity, accountability, integrity. Those are the key things. And you know, authoritarian regimes have historically used that against us strategically. And so, um, you know, one of the things we did to the State Department is we flipped it on its back and we actually weaponized the very principles to protect our freedoms, which are those.

Speaker B: You know, do you think business leaders are naive when it, when, when they think about that and technology and trust? I think they are. Because, you know, I remember when I was an executive at Kodak, when we went to China, our phone stayed, we had different communication devices. We assumed that we were always being bugged. We assumed we're always someone's listening. We assume that the people that are serving us in those rooms weren't just working for the restaurant.

Speaker A: You're absolutely correct. And you know, they have a national security law that Any Chinese citizen, um, has to turn over any intellectual property, any data, any information to the Chinese government upon request.

Speaker B: Yeah. They're working for the state.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So there are no secrets that come there. And you see products. I used to see products come off our lines and go somewhere else before they went to us.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So it's amazing to be able to see that. So at the Kronk Institute for Tech Diplomacy, you're pushing the idea that technology must be advanced. Freedom. Why is that message must more urgent today than ever before?

Speaker A: Yeah, because if you, if you look at, um, our authoritarian rivals who want to take away freedom and democracy, they're playing a four dimensional game of chess. Diplomatic, cultural, economic and military. But at the crossroads, it's all about technology. So that, that's the key thing, uh, that has to be focused on. And so technology security is national security. And, uh, it's more important now than ever.

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Speaker B: Wayfair's 4th of July clearance now through July 6th at ah.wayfair.com Wayfair every style, every home. We are back in. Live from the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Jeffrey Hazlett, host of All Business with Jeff Raizod on C Suite Radio. C Suite T talking with Keith Grock. He's the leader of Freedom 250, celebrating the anniversary of the United States of America. And we're talking a little business. Before we get into some of the things around Freedom250, I want to go back to the time in 2016. 17, 18, I think even 19. You were still there. But under Secretary of the Department of State, you worked on what was the Queen Network Alliance. Tell us a little bit about that. You brought dozens of countries together.

Speaker A: Yeah. You know, one of our urgent missions was to defeat China's master plan to control 5G. Right. And 5G. This isn't about the cell phone controls, power grid, sanitation systems, everything, the entire infrastructure. Right, right. And it looked like at one point, Huawei the national champion, most important company, uh, in China, was going to run the table.

Speaker B: Most people don't know. Huge company.

Speaker A: Yeah, huge company. I mean big, big, huge company. And so I, I had brought 12 guys into the State Department from Silicon Valley and we put together a uh, clean network alliance of democracies based on the trust doctrine. And the trust doctrine was composed of those global trusted tech standards. And within less than a year we built an alliance of 60 countries representing 2/3 of the world's global GDP, over 200 telcos, a host of industry leading companies, and we've basically defeated uh, China's master plan to control 5G. And now what that's done is that set a model for all the other emerging areas of technology. One of the things we're doing at the Kroc Institute is building global trusted tech network, which basically includes everything from autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, biotech, which is big.

Speaker B: And when I think about the institute that you've created, I happen to be on the board. So thank you very much.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: And when I attend a meeting, I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm in awe because how many admirals, how many generals, how many former ambassadors that we. You've gone on that.

Speaker A: Prime ministers.

Speaker B: Yeah, prime ministers, elected officials. It's amazing what you pull together. Do you sometimes just like, like pinch yourself and go, holy, holy moly.

Speaker A: I mean seriously, I'll be honest with you, I think every day. And that's why I said I feel like Forrest Gump sometime. I feel like, you know, the most fortunate man in the world and you know, I've been blessed with the American dream. You know, if you would have asked this 12 year old boy when he was welding in his dad's little machine shop in Ohio. In Ohio, yeah. You know, in good times we had five people. In tough times it was just me and him. I would have never dreamed, uh, in my life. And I think only in America can you have that kind of an opportunity.

Speaker B: It is, it's really true to see that kind of success. I mean I remember when you bought the former Russian embassy in San Francisco and I had to go look it up to see really how big it was. And it's pretty big. It's pretty big because I thought, well, man, that's kind of interesting but uh, very historical society. But I'm going to go back one more thing that I want to get to before we kind of get into what I call Freedom250 and the pieces that I think are important. Let's talk about how deeply you are about strengthening the US Taiwan relationship. Yeah, because that's under some stress right now. If we look, you know, in mono, this is right after Memorial Day that we're taping this. But you've been reshoring the semiconductor manufacturing. So how important are they to us?

Speaker A: It's probably the most consequential place on the planet. Um, they literally own advanced manufacturing for semiconductors. You know, when I was under Secretary of State, we looked around. There was not one company in the world that was going to build semiconductor manufacturing in the US And I know because we talked to them. I talked to CEO of Intel Micron, all that. And we figured if we get TSMC to onshore, that not only would they bring their suppliers, but it really kick off a, uh, chain reaction. And indeed it did. It was the biggest onshore in history at the time. It's $12 billion now. Today, $600 billion of investment in the most important industry. Semiconductors and jobs now are in the United States. And that was the catalyst.

Speaker B: Yeah, they're building in Phoenix like crazy, a few other places. It's just amazing. We're talking about millions of square foot of technology and building that they're building out. Right, right.

Speaker A: And all the other semiconductor companies follow.

Speaker B: All right, one last business question. All right. And that's around AI we're seeing a lot of that going on. Where do you think we need to watch out there?

Speaker A: Well, I think, uh, this is a race with China, and it's all about trusted technology. So I think the key is to run the play, and that is to make sure that we get our alliances. You know, there's strength in numbers and there's power and unity and solidarity. You know, we've seen that play before and bringing in the private sector. So, um, it's really about forming a coalition and an alliance, uh, to agree upon standards and to use trusted technology. I think that is, that's critical.

Speaker B: Do you think we're putting enough bumper guards, I refer to it as that we've got to think, think through how it's going to be used. You know, is even where we're doing the Freedom 250 thing. I'm thinking about countries coming in and trying to disrupt our activities. I'm sure you're doing that. We're going to be doing the video stuff. Is it real video? Is it video coming from a real CEO, from a real American company, or is it fake? You know?

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: How do you think we should be doing those bumpers?

Speaker A: Well, I think, uh, it's got to be the private sector working with the public sector. And I know, uh, in the administration, they've got some really talented folks that are working directly on that. But it's got to be done in conjunction with the private sector, so. And, you know, the thing is, we can't slow down. Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, it's got to go fast.

Speaker A: It's got to go fast. You know, speed is the ultimate weapon. Right.

Speaker B: Especially right now with AI. All right, so Freedom250 is obviously centered around America's 250th anniversary, but this feels much bigger than a celebration. What's the real vision and mission behind Freedom 250 as a movement?

Speaker A: Yeah. So the mission is to bring together all Americans. And this is whether it's in schools, you know, youth, universities, institutes, faith organizations, businesses, leaders, corporations, and really bring them together to celebrate the tribe of America spirit and to really appreciate, uh, the service and sacrifice that went on, uh, to really giving us the freedoms that we have. But the most important thing is that next generation, because if freedom isn't something you inherit, freedom has to be earned and protected every single day. It is.

Speaker B: And it's across different disciplines or different groups of people, which I think you mentioned the faith. My brother was there. He's a preacher, he's a pastor. He took his whole family. He was there. I called others that I knew should go there, put him in touch. It's just. It's one of the. You even have mma, which is good, right? Mixed martial arts.

Speaker A: That's the hottest ticket in town.

Speaker B: I would want to get one of those tickets right there on the White House lawn. I mean, who would have thought, if you think of one president that probably would do that, it's him. Right? But it's amazing. What are some of the other things that you guys are pulling out of here?

Speaker A: Yeah, um, you know, that whole sports dimension is absolutely huge. You know, we're doing the, uh, Freedom 250 Grand Prix around the mall in Washington. It will be absolutely iconic. You know, some of the other ones is a big one is the Great American State Fair. So that's going to be on the National Mall in Washington. We're building the pavilions now. All the states, all 50 states are going to have their own pavilion. It's going to be like the World Expo. It's going to go from June 25th to July 10th. Um, and then right in the middle of that, of course, will be the Fourth of July. And by the way, each one of those days, there's a different theme we have over 1000 events and over 100 initiative because we have something for everybody. We want to touch every single American. And it's not just, hey, watch this. Participation is the key. Freedom requires participation.

Speaker B: That's right. That's right. It's not free. It's not free. All right. This isn't free either. I'm going to take a quick break and come right back after this. We are back, and we're talking Freedom250 right here from the New York Stock Exchange live. As the markets are playing out right now as we're sitting here, it's amazing. Able to do it. That's what freedom is about, about the free enterprise system. And one thing that stands out is how Freedom250 is bringing together government, business, education, nonprofits, local, community. Why is it important to make such a national broad statement around freedom rather than just having another kind of campaign?

Speaker A: Well, because when you think about freedom, it is. It is unifying. Right. And to bring in a diagonal slice of, you know, the country, uh, across all these different dimensions, that's where all the synergy, you know, comes.

Speaker B: You don't want to check it off, right?

Speaker A: Oh, I did that.

Speaker B: Right. I did that. We have to really instill it, I think.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: It's amazing because if I look back at your history, you're always reaching down and grabbing great team members. All right.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: And it was amazing when you called. All of a sudden, I see, oh, this DocuSign guy, this DocuSign, all these friends who came out of retirement. Right. Then they could retire because you guys did really well. Okay. And having been on that board, we all did pretty well. You know, it's great to see that. But you're also, you've. You've done a lot of stuff with, you know, training young people, getting a lot more young people. Your chiefs of staff have always been very young. It's amazing.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: I mean, really young.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And, you know, is this also about, you know, getting these young people to see a new America?

Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, one of the things we did is we created the Global Mentor Network, which is the biggest virtual network. But it is. It is about getting the young people because, you know, I saw a study that, uh, they did 1976, for those of us who were young, it kind of imprinted on us. It gave us a lot of pride and a lot of confidence. So that's what we're really trying to do. And, um, have the young people understand the history and understand that freedom does not come for free. Right.

Speaker B: Uh, well, you Know, freedom. It's not just about celebrating America's history. It's about celebrating risk takers, you know, who in business, people who have lost and then rose back up again. And we're going to see some of that too.

Speaker A: Right. You know, in Silicon Valley, the only way to be a failure is not to have failed before. And so the risk taking is key. And sometimes the biggest risk of all is not taking a risk at all.

Speaker B: Oh, that's right.

Speaker A: And so that's what, that's what's great about this company. And we're, we're a country of builders, you know, uh, that's, and that's what we're really trying to celebrate. And that's what we're trying to take out to all Americans across all 50 states.

Speaker B: And you're doing it because somebody called you, right? You got the call. What happened when you got the call?

Speaker A: Well, it's, uh, how would you like to market America on uh, the 250th? Um, and really what got me was creating a movement. That's the objective. And of course I'd say yes. I mean, uh, when I think of what this country has done for my family and me, I mean, it's just, it's payback time. Yeah.

Speaker B: When you think about small business and founders, innovators, they're really the backbone of America. I mean, you take the number of businesses, say there's 32 million businesses in North America.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: 27 million or under a million dollar in revenue. I mean, so that's a, those are moms and pops really getting it started. What do you have to say about, uh, to them about this?

Speaker A: Well, for me it's personal because, you know, my dad was a steel Salesman for like 20 years and then he started his own machine shop and it was the happiest time for him that he had his own thing and he created it from scratch. So that is Americana, uh, you know, the entrepreneurs, the small and medium sized manufacturers. It's the heart of our economic engine. So, um, yes, I mean they are, uh, critical not just to the economy, but to our national security as well. And you know, the thing that I learned from my dad is that if you work hard enough and you're honest, you can do anything you want.

Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. You know, I'm personally along for this ride along with the C Suite network where helping to rally business leaders to post videos and stories about why they are proud to build a business in the United States. Why is it important for Freedom250 to put entrepreneurs and business Owners at the very center of this movement.

Speaker A: Well, because they are really the heart of everything in America. And, you know, uh, when you think about, um, what this storytelling, these entrepreneurs have unbelievable stories and how they did it and the hurdles they had to overcome. People need to hear that. They really do. And it's, it's good. It's inspirational. Good and bad. Oh, yes. By the way. And that's the thing about, you know, being a mentor is, you know, the most important thing if you're a mentor is talk about your failures. Oh, yeah, right. And that's where you learn the most. Yeah.

Speaker B: Uh, I'm just sitting here thinking about one of mine. I used to have a pheasant form farm in South Dakota. I tried to corner the market on pheasants till I realized there wasn't one. Okay. And that's how I lost. There's a reason why they call those birds foul. So you called and said, hey, Jeff, would you lead this thing called Voices of Freedom? Let's talk about that. Because I want to really let every American business know about this.

Speaker A: Yeah. So what we want, uh, is to have leaders and CEOs, uh, and even IndyCar drivers talk about what freedom means to them. Um, and also, how does it manifest itself in their organization? How does it manifest itself in how they raise their children, their personal life? Because I think there's some amazing stories there. You know, one of the guys, uh, I just interviewed, I was at the Indy 500 was David Malucas, the guy who just got edged out by 2/10 of a hundred. And he's a young driver. And he told his story how his family came from Lithuania and started a, uh, trucking business, and now he's driving an Indy 500. He goes, My parents are living their life vicariously through me. And what a cool story. Yeah.

Speaker B: And you've also got some great business leaders. Roger Pinsky. Oh, yeah. You know, uh, who I worked with, um, very closely sponsored his cars both at Indy and in NASCAR as well. So you've got them, you've got all these other things, things going on. But you've also. Jamie, uh, Dimon's cut a video. Mary Barrera's cut a video. You've got the Amtrak CEO. I mean, there's all of these.

Speaker A: We've got the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, CEOs, NASDAQ.

Speaker B: We're asking everybody to cut a 30 to 90 second video. And then they're going to put that up on our site. We're going to push that out there's. Going to be voicesof250.com that's where you're going to be able to go. It's going to be a great place to do it and in a great way. And thank you for being not just a great person, a great friend and a, uh, mentor to not just me, but many other people, but a great American, too, because you're doing your duty and you're doing what you can do. You know, some. Some of our fathers, like my father, served in the military, died of Agent Orange from Vietnam War. And we all sacrifice in different ways, but some of us don't get that opportunity or are called to pick up that gun or to run that software or drive that truck for our country. But this is a great way of doing it.

Speaker A: And you're absolutely right. You do what you can, right, to pay back to the country and keep those freedoms. So thanks so much. I treasure your friendship as well. Keith.

Speaker B: This was a conversation about more than business or technology. It was about leadership, freedom, innovation, and why the American entrepreneurial spirit still has the power to shape the next 250 years. Keith, thanks for being a of part, part of all business with Jeffrey Haisley.

Speaker A: I can't thank you enough. Thank you.

Speaker B: At the end of every show, I like to tell you a little bit about what I learned and what I learned. It doesn't matter whether you're from a red state, a blue state. This is about being red, white and blue. And each of us have a duty because freedom isn't free. We've got to help each other. We've got to reach across the aisle, uh, shake the hand of the person that we might not vote for. We might not always agree, but we need to understand and we need to come together as one country because there's a lot of other people out there, a lot of other countries who don't like us. And that's our duty, is to protect this country. So give to freedom, participate in freedom. 250. We thank you very much.

Speaker A: This podcast is a part of the C Suite Radio Network.

Speaker B: For more top business podcasts, visit c suiteradio.com.