Scott Plank—who helped build Under Armour from the ground up, was the largest angel investor in WeWork, and is a seed investor in Fundrise—joins us to share what it really feels like to bet everything, lose big, win bigger, and keep moving forward.

In this conversation, Scott traces his path from building homes as a carpenter and selling bracelets in Guatemala to helping Under Armour grow from a family startup into a billion-dollar public company. He explains the financing strategies that kept the company alive in its early days, the lessons of scaling operations under intense pressure, and why he believes Under Armour couldn’t be founded the way they did in today’s world.

Scott also shares his experience as the largest angel investor in WeWork, unpacking why he saw value where others didn’t, and how he navigated both the spectacular rise and fall of the company. Along the way, he reflects on risk—when to push all in, when to shut things down, and how entrepreneurship is often about knowing when the world has changed.

Finally, he discusses his ongoing work in real estate and technology, including data centers and community development, and offers advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs. For Scott, the throughline is clear: success depends not just on grit, but on aligning values, timing, and the willingness to evolve when circumstances demand it.

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

Data-center veteran Kervin Pillay walks us through the coming AI infrastructure boom. Pillay argues the U.S. is about to sink 10x the capital it took to create the Interstate Highway System into new data center capacity, racing toward “hundreds of gigawatts” of compute—each gigawatt-scale campus drawing more power than a major city. 

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

Rob Nishihara is the co-creator of Ray, the open-source software now used by OpenAI, Amazon, DeepSeek, and Nvidia as part of the essential stack for building AI at scale. Rob offers a rare insider’s view of the bottlenecks, breakthroughs, and practical limits shaping AI today. The discussion ranges from the philosophical to the technical—covering synthetic data, future policy, career resilience, and how AI might ultimately make us think better, not just faster.

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

He helped break the British pound and Swedish krona alongside George Soros, Stanley Druckenmiller, and now–Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Rob Johnson shares extraordinary insights into currency warfare, reflects on his time inside institutions of power, and assesses the Trump administration’s bid to rebalance the global economy.

You can also listen to Rob’s first appearance on Onward episode #19:

How we broke the British pound, with Rob Johnson – March 17, 2023

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

Months before trade policy was on anyone's radar, Stephen Miran—now Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Trump—quietly published "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System." In this episode, Ben and Cardiff dive into Miran’s roadmap and assess how Trump's policies in practice have diverged from Miran’s original vision.

Ben and Cardiff explore three key scenarios for the future trajectory:

Best Case: International dealmaking leads to a breakthrough, reducing tariffs globally, restoring trade relations, and strengthening US manufacturing sectors.

Base Case: A partial rollback of tariffs prevents catastrophic damage, yet still triggers an economic slowdown, accompanied by an interim inflation shock.

Worst Case: Continued tariff escalation triggers a severe recession, persistent stagflation, and prolonged economic and geopolitical turmoil.

The episode concludes with "surprise scenarios" that could rejuvenate growth despite an adverse economic environment. The hosts emphasize the high stakes and overwhelming uncertainty inherent in America's current economic trajectory.

For those who want to read the full, original roadmap:

Stephen Miran, A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System, November 2024

https://www.hudsonbaycapital.com/documents/FG/hudsonbay/research/638199_A_Users_Guide_to_Restructuring_the_Global_Trading_System.pdf

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

Anna Wong is the Chief US Economist at Bloomberg and previously worked at the Federal Reserve, White House Council of Economic Advisors, and US Treasury Department. I can imagine few people in the world better suited to analyze and forecast the impact of the tariffs.

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

Tal Kerret is the President of Silverstein Properties, the company behind the historic rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York City, and on the board of directors of Fundrise.

Tal provides an in-depth look into the challenges and triumphs associated with redeveloping this iconic site, emphasizing its immense logistical complexity, symbolic importance, and economic impact. He shares his journey from the tech industry into real estate, discussing lessons learned about innovation, risk management, and leadership. Tal also highlights the crucial role of supportive board dynamics and culture in business success, reflecting on personal experiences in venture capital and entrepreneurship. This conversation offers valuable insights into building enduring projects and resilient teams.

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

As a serial tech entrepreneur, VC investor, and expert in data-driven businesses, Auren Hoffman has been a player in Silicon Valley for nearly 30 years. Auren reflects on the pivotal decisions behind selling LiveRamp, the evolution of data companies, and how AI is reshaping industries. From the lessons learned in entrepreneurship to predictions about the future of technology, this episode is packed with insights for business leaders, tech enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of innovation and strategy.

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For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

Over his 36-year career, Simon Ziff, President of Ackman-Ziff, has overseen more than $100 billion in transactions and witnessed the dramatic evolution of the real estate industry brought about by the Savings and Loan Crisis. Simon shares his journey from joining Ackman Brothers in the 1980s to seizing the opportunities created by the rise of CMBS and private equity in the 1990s. From personal anecdotes to expert insights, this episode is packed with an insider’s experience navigating market cycles.

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Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.

The most important decision President Trump may face is how to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). Neil Chilson, Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute, is a policy insider with nearly two decades of experience inside the halls of power. Neil walks us through how to think about the tradeoffs and approaches to capturing the enormous potential upside of artificial intelligence while protecting against the downside risks.

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Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected]. 

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada. 

About Fundrise 

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button. 

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s). 

Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.