Many of us can remember when Captain Sully Sullenberger landed a U.S. Airways Airbus on the Hudson River.

How would you react if you were on the plane that day? Rick Elias, who's a super successful venture capitalist, was on that plane.

I wanted to talk to him to understand the lessons he learned from a near-death experience

and how it transformed him. This is a bit of optimism.

I wanted to start January 15th, 2009, Flight 1549 from LaGuardia to Charlotte.

This is the plane that landed on the Hudson River, and you were on that plane.

And one thing I know, because you've talked about it, is how that experience changed you.

Can you tell us what happened that day and how it affected you?

Yeah, listen, it was January 15th, so it was very cold in New York. I had had a good dinner the night before for work. I got up early, went to play hoops on the Upper West Side.

And I remember walking, it was snowing this big flakes.

And I'm like, I was so beautiful.

I'm just going to walk to the gym.

And I had a couple of meetings, went to LaGuardia.

It was coming home.

I've taken that flight a hundred times.

And I was coming home and I had my son's basketball game when we landed

and I needed a coach.

And that was that was it.

I was coming home.

It was a normal day.

It was gloomy and rainy and cold in New York City.

But to get to the crux of it, I was given the ultimate gift, Simon.

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