With the holiday season upon us, and thrifting a major trend, we’re sharing an episode of Harvard Business School’s Climate Rising podcast that’s focused on extending product life, reducing waste, and the growing role of resale in the circular economy.

Climate Rising is all about what businesses are doing, can do, and should do to confront climate change. In this episode, “Extending Apparel Lifespan,” HBS Professor Mike Toffel talks to ThredUp CEO James Reinhart about why ThredUp chose to build a national logistics and technology platform for resale. They also talk about how the company partners with big brands to run their own resale channels and how AI and automation are reshaping the industry. It’s an insightful conversation for anyone interested in sustainability or circular business models.

Jenny Wolfram founded BrandBastion in 2013 after noticing that many companies’ social media pages were teeming with spam, hostile messages, and unanswered comments—all of which chipped away at customer trust. She built an AI-powered platform, supported by human moderation, to help brands manage comment sections at scale, respond quickly to customers, and protect their reputation.

Tata Power stood at the forefront of India’s energy transition. The firm’s long history was deeply intertwined with the country’s development. As Mumbai’s power needs increased, Tata Power built out thermal assets across India, and while thermal power generation remained Tata Power’s mainstay, the firm slowly started diversifying. By 2024, Tata Power was India’s largest private power producer by installed capacity with annual revenues of $7.4 billion. In 2020, Tata Power boldly announced a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, concurrent with a complete phase-down of thermal capacity. It later brought this commitment forward to 2045.

To prepare for declining revenues from thermal power generation, it was actively expanding its renewable business, but stakeholders had concerns about Tata Power’s ambitions. Was the firm’s decision to sacrifice potentially high returns in thermal power generation financially imprudent, or did it position the firm well as India inevitably accelerated its energy transition?

In this episode, host Brian Kenny welcomes Harvard Business School Professor Vikram Gandhi and Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha to discuss the case Tata Power and India’s Energy Transition, and how India’s largest private power producer is reimagining its future.

They explore how the legacy energy company should allocate capital between proven thermal assets and emerging renewable technologies, and what lessons the company’s journey offers for leaders navigating disruption, investor expectations, and the balance between profits and purpose.

In April 2024, writer, podcaster, and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss—known for his hugely popular podcast “The Tim Ferriss Show” and NYT-bestselling books like The 4-Hour Workweek—found himself at a crossroads. Although his podcast was generating millions annually, he questioned the sustainability of podcasting and his own competitive advantage given the increasingly saturated market and the advent of AI tools and video-centric formats. Plus, he had built his career on anticipating cultural shifts in knowledge work, health, and media consumption while making early angel investments in companies like Uber, Shopify, Facebook, and Twitter. But his podcast’s reliable cash flow also funded his science-focused foundation, so making any shifts would be very consequential.

Senior Lecturer Reza Satchu and Tim Ferriss joined Cold Call host Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “Tim Ferriss: What Might This Look Like If It Were Easy?” in front of a live audience on October 7, 2025 in Harvard Business School’s Klarman Hall auditorium. Using “The Founder Mindset” framework from the course created by Satchu, they explore testing assumptions, calibrating risk, and how to choose the next path in the face of multiple options—which can often lead to inaction.

For 35 years, Dollar Tree, a discount retail chain selling general merchandise, had held its fixed price point steady, pricing all of its household items, food, stationery, books, seasonal items, gifts, toys, and clothing that made up its diverse and ever-changing assortment at $1.00. While all other dollar store chains had raised prices over the years to keep up with inflation, Dollar Tree had never budged on its price. However, in late 2021, the company announced that Dollar Tree was “breaking the buck” and raising prices on all goods to $1.25.

In the winter of 2023, Lyft was facing declining market share and financial pressures. Enter new CEO David Risher, who took the helm amid low morale and limited resources. His challenge: reignite innovation, refocus the culture, and find new ways to stand out in an industry dominated by Uber.

Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Lyft 2023: Roads to Growth and Differentiation.” They explore how Risher led during a strategic crossroads, making bold decisions, putting the customer front and center, and shaking loose old habits. Gulati also shares insights from his new book, How to Be Bold, illustrating how courage becomes a competitive advantage in times of uncertainty.

How do you scale innovation in a system where critical pieces are out of your control? That is the challenge Highland Electric Fleets faced as it worked to replace diesel school buses with electric vehicles across the United States. While Highland provided financing, infrastructure, and fleet operations, success depended on external partners, including manufacturers, utilities, and districts. Delays and disruptions forced the company to stay nimble and deliver under pressure.

In 2020, Atlassian committed to a fully distributed model, allowing employees to work from anywhere, permanently. While many tech peers later reversed course on remote work, Atlassian optimized its approach, developing data-driven routines, rethinking office spaces, and reshaping team rituals for its 12,000 employees in 13 countries.

By 2024, these practices had moved beyond HR policy to become central to the company’s strategy. Lessons from Atlassian’s internal experiments began to shape its collaboration software, turning its workforce into an innovation lab. But selling these practices to enterprise customers posed a new challenge: unlike Atlassian’s traditional self-serve model, distributed work transformation required hands-on support, strategic advising, and cultural change, capabilities the company had not previously built into its go-to-market approach.

Harvard Business School Associate Professor Ashley Whillans joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Designing the Future of Work: Atlassian’s Distributed Work Practices” and the questions Atlassian’s leaders face: how to scale what works without losing flexibility, how tightly to integrate practices into products, and how to guide customers through a distributed work transformation that requires more than software alone.