Big Hearted Indy - The Citizen 7 Podcast
Sep 1, 2026 · 37 min · 10 segments
Speed City gives Indianapolis a broader claim than racing: a city where ideas, careers and businesses can move quickly because people reduce friction and act with conviction. Moderator Dave Neff…
Matt MindrumPanelist
Kristian AndersenPanelistDrew KellyHostDavid McKissicPanelistDoes one of you want to touch on, we've got a number of Lilly alum in this room, and I think we need to talk about the role of Eli Lilly and company, Lilly Endowment in this city.
You guys need to charge your microphones before the next one.
It's dying.
But what was Dave Rick's mantra when he took over? Speed.
It was speed, right? Speed is where it is.
So, Christian, we've talked about this.
I don't know if you want to kind of elaborate just on what that company and the ripple effect across the city and how it's impacted our state.
I
mean, when when people ask me, like, what company are you most excited about in Indy? They typically expect me to talk about a startup.
And it may not be a very fashionable answer or sound necessarily like heterodox or provocative, but it's Eli Lilly.
A, what Dave has done in his tenure is absolutely extraordinary, moving that company from a sleepy little number three or number four in the category to number one and number one with a bullet.
But beyond just its impact in the industry, it's become kind of a lodestone, even a bellwether in the broader tech conversation from coast to coast.
If you think about their aggressive partnership there, with the Frontier Labs, with NVIDIA in particular, in the investments they've made in remaking that business as a technology company.
And at the end of the day, we all need to be rooting for that business to continue to flourish, to continue to grow.
But more profoundly, or more importantly, I think, it's a metronome that kind of sets the pace for what our city is capable of.
And the largesse, you know, another like unfashionable term I think, perspective is if you really want to move the needle on a city, you need an absolute breakout wealth-creating juggernaut.
If you look at Austin, Texas, there is no Austin the way we think of it today without Michael Dell building workstations in his dorm room in the 80s.
Does one of you want to touch on, we've got a number of Lilly alum in this room, and I think we need to talk about the role of Eli Lilly and company, Lilly Endowment in this city.
You guys need to charge your microphones before the next one.
It's dying.
But what was Dave Rick's mantra when he took over? Speed.
It was speed, right? Speed is where it is.
So, Christian, we've talked about this.
I don't know if you want to kind of elaborate just on what that company and the ripple effect across the city and how it's impacted our state.
I
mean, when when people ask me, like, what company are you most excited about in Indy? They typically expect me to talk about a startup.
And it may not be a very fashionable answer or sound necessarily like heterodox or provocative, but it's Eli Lilly.
A, what Dave has done in his tenure is absolutely extraordinary, moving that company from a sleepy little number three or number four in the category to number one and number one with a bullet.
But beyond just its impact in the industry, it's become kind of a lodestone, even a bellwether in the broader tech conversation from coast to coast.
If you think about their aggressive partnership there, with the Frontier Labs, with NVIDIA in particular, in the investments they've made in remaking that business as a technology company.
And at the end of the day, we all need to be rooting for that business to continue to flourish, to continue to grow.
But more profoundly, or more importantly, I think, it's a metronome that kind of sets the pace for what our city is capable of.
And the largesse, you know, another like unfashionable term I think, perspective is if you really want to move the needle on a city, you need an absolute breakout wealth-creating juggernaut.
If you look at Austin, Texas, there is no Austin the way we think of it today without Michael Dell building workstations in his dorm room in the 80s.
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