On this episode of Giant Ideas, Tommy sits down with Ajaz Ahmed, founder of AKQA and now Studio.One, to decode what truly iconic brands have in common — from Nike, Apple and Disney to Gymshark, and how founders can learn from them.

Ajaz argues that “great brands are great storytellers” with a clear desire to right a wrong in the world. He shares lessons from two decades with Nike, why authenticity and category focus still win, and how founders racing from zero to billions can build brands that feel both familiar and radically new.

Plus, more on his new project Studio.One: an antidote to “multi‑mediocrity” with ownership for everyone, and work that earns its place in culture.

Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.

Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.

Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

In this episode of Giant Ideas, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, discusses how trust, purpose, and community design shaped one of the world’s most used websites. He reflects on three photographs that define his life, Wikipedia’s core purpose and why transparency, clear purpose, and walking the walk are central to trust.

He also shares the trust framework of building trust, and why execution matters more than idea secrecy, and the real‑world costs of living in mistrust.

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Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc

Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.

Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.

Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.

Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.

Why did Wikipedia stay donation-funded and ad-free while OpenAI raced toward billions in GPU spend and a hybrid for‑profit model? In this episode, Jimmy Wales joins Tommy and Cameron to unpack how business models factor in truth, trust, and the future of knowledge online.

Jimmy explains why he has no regrets about keeping Wikipedia a nonprofit, what he’s learned from two decades of volunteer-driven knowledge creation, and how AI changes the way we’ll all consume information.

Key points:

• Nonprofit vs OpenAI’s model – Why Wikipedia could bootstrap on donations while frontier AI can’t be built as a pure charity.
• Incentives and integrity – How avoiding ads and clickbait helps Wikipedia stay mission-driven and globally focused.
• Human motivation – Why Muppet Wiki and gaming wikis prove passion and recognition beat “$1 per article” content farms every time.
• Neutrality and bias – How Wikipedians work towards a neutral point of view, and why he doesn't believe it's “Woke‑ipedia”
• Trust and hallucinations in AI – Jimmy’s “Kate Garvey test” for new models
• Wikipedia in the AI era – From being core training data (next to Reddit) to losing “quick answer” traffic as AI summaries take over.

Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.

Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING.

Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.