My guest today is Kieran Goodwin. Kieran spent over two decades at the frontier of credit investing. During the global financial crisis, he was a Partner and Head of Trading at King Street Capital, which grew from $4 billion to $20 billion while he was there. He then left to start his own credit hedge fund, Panning Capital Management. In our discussion, we cover the state of private credit today, which forms of alpha he’s most skeptical of, and the blend of EQ and IQ necessary for success and investing. Please enjoy my conversation with Kieran Goodwin. Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Tired of running your own expert calls to get up to speed on a company? Tegus lets you ramp faster and find answers to critical questions more efficiently than any alternative method. The gold standard for research, the Tegus platform delivers unmatched access to timely, qualitative insights through the largest and most differentiated expert call transcript database. With over 55,000 transcripts spanning 22,000 public and private companies, investors can accelerate their fundamental research process by discovering highly-differentiated and reliable insights that can’t be found anywhere else in the market. As a listener, drive your next investment thesis forward with Tegus for free at tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:00) - (First question) - His view of the state of private credit in capital markets (00:06:56) - The notion of ball washing and why it’s important to understand  (00:09:04) - What the worst-case domino effects of ball washing could be  (00:12:21) - Arriving at a place where JP Morgan could borrow so much at the fund level (00:14:20) - Lessons learned from the worst trade he made  (00:16:53) - What could happen in the world of private credit in the next few years and how the bigger players tend to benefit  (00:19:29) - Thoughts on the world of venture capital right now   (00:21:13) - The time he was at the peak of his power as an investor (00:24:03) - From being new at something to incredibly successful seemingly overnight (00:26:42) - What kinds of alpha he believes exists and which ones he’s skeptical about (00:29:30) - Thoughts on income share agreements  (00:31:24) - Why there aren’t more initiatives for new talent to trade their student loans for future earnings  (00:33:13) - The power of EQ over IQ and why it’s important for investor success (00:35:49) - Whether or not now is a good time to get into the field of capital markets (00:37:54) - Key tenants to know when learning credit investing specifically  (00:40:09) - Things people misunderstand about the power of volatility  (00:42:39) - Ways he managed to stretch his own imagination effectively   (00:48:06) - The natural inclination to be short volatility  (00:49:24) - Incorporating long volatility into his portfolio and life   (00:52:20) - Thoughts on synergy in relationships   (00:55:48) - Other interesting lessons learned from sports (00:57:50) - The roles of the multiple coaches that sit in for an NBA team (00:59:42) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Henry Schuck, the founder and CEO of ZoomInfo. I’ve gotten to know Henry over the past year by virtue of him being on the board of Tegus, where I’m a board observer. I meet a lot of people and Henry is one of my favorites. His energy is unmatched and he knows his business down to the tiniest details. He has tenacity and curiosity in spades. ZoomInfo is a go-to-market software and data solution for B2B sales. Henry founded the business as DiscoverOrg in 2007 and bootstrapped it for the first 7 years of its life. Today, it’s an $8.5 billion public company with a database of over 140 million business contacts. We delve into the science of great sales, Henry shares some awesome stories, and we talk about his business philosophy more broadly. Please enjoy my great conversation with Henry Schuck. ZoomInfo Business Breakdown Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors, and provider of Canalyst. Tired of calculating fully-diluted shares outstanding? Access every publicly-reported datapoint and industry-specific KPI through their database of over 4,000 driveable global models handbuilt by a team of sector-focused analysts, 25+ industry comp sheets, and Excel add-ins that let you use their industry-leading data in your own spreadsheets. Tegus’ models automatically update each quarter, including hard to calculate KPIs like stock-based compensation and organic growth rates, empowering investors to bypass the friction of sourcing, building and updating models. Make efficiency your competitive advantage and take back your time today. As a listener, you can trial Canalyst by Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:19) - (First question) - The story of Henry’s famous email about building a championship team (00:07:01) - Dealing with pressure in business (00:09:14) - Applying pressure from the top down as a CEO (00:10:28) - How ZoomInfo’s C-suite was constructed and how it operates (00:13:17) - A high-level picture of their product philosophy (00:19:29) - Rating the effectiveness of the average B2B go-to-market engine (00:21:25) - An anecdote about meeting with the head of commercial banking at one of world’s largest banks (00:23:06) - What separates the good from the great B2B go-to-market strategies (00:27:30) - Specific questions for screening potential salespeople; characteristics to look for (00:31:39) - The story of bootstrapping his startup (00:36:05) - His view on the process of pricing (00:40:54) - The importance of M&A in building the business (00:47:01) - The story of how ZoomInfo was acquired (00:50:06) - The ever-shifting goal posts of mergers and acquisitions (00:53:15) - Anecdotes of hustling in the early days (00:59:34) - Another story from the early days of selling (01:03:40) - Using information to influence a potential lead into a sale (01:04:57) - How companies can prepare for the advent of generative AI (01:12:10) - The stages of what it means to be a CEO (01:13:15) - Learning how to execute M&A (01:16:43) - What it means for a company to work in unison at scale (01:18:26) - His advice on M&A, company core values, and corporate communication (01:26:57) - Tips for going public with a company (01:28:33) - Lessons learned from leading a public company (01:34:47) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s conversation was recorded during last week’s Sohn Conference. I sat down with Karen Karniol-Tambour, Co-CIO at Bridgewater Associates. I hosted Karen on this show two years ago and if you listened to that, you’ll remember she has a rare skill for distilling and analysing complex macro topics. Today’s environment is strikingly different to the summer of 2021 so this is a timely conversation on the big macro variables that are on investors’ minds today. Please enjoy my conversation with Karen Karniol-Tambour. Sohn 2023 | Kiril Sokoloff in conversation with Stanley Druckenmiller Sohn 2023 | Patrick Collison in conversation Sam Altman Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with flexible expert calls you can trust. At a fraction of the cost of traditional expert networks, Tegus customers pay only what an expert charges – with zero markups and no confusing call credits – netting an average 70% savings. Don’t want to conduct a full hour call? Tegus offers the ability to schedule 30-minutes, an offer you won’t find anywhere else. And they don’t stop there. With white-glove custom sourcing for every project and robust compliance measures, including a dedicated 50+ analyst team that vets every call transcript, Tegus ensures your privacy and protection. As the industry innovator for qualitative insights, Tegus helps you find the right experts you need at a quality and speed that can’t be matched. For a limited time, as a listener, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:05) - (First question) - Her take on AI and watching this new technology unfold (00:06:39) - Things she’s watching in the AI space that might lead to taking portfolio action  (00:09:19) - Potentially using AI to inform or make investment decisions  (00:10:17) - Why might it be the case that no one can use AI for investing in macro markets (00:11:14) - What she’d write about regarding the general state of capital markets today (00:13:46) - What pricing is telling us about market sentiment writ large (00:15:47) - Thinking about portfolio positioning in light of the unattractive state of risk assets (00:17:17) - Her perspectives on gold historically and today  (00:20:09) - Big long-term slow-moving macro variables that aren’t quite visible yet  (00:22:09) - The all-weather portfolio and building one in light of so much uncertainty  (00:24:38) - The rise of China, its growing power, and potential conflicts with the US  (00:28:01) - Monitoring for things like the banking crisis beneath the public narrative  (00:31:13) - Non-obvious variables that currently have her attention  (00:33:29) - “Overrated or underrated” rapid-fire questions (00:36:04) - What it’s been like being the CIO of Bridgewater so far  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Fidji Simo, the CEO of Instacart. Fidji grew up in a small town in the South of France and was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Since then, she has had a dazzling career with stops at France’s leading university, eBay, and Facebook. Fidji spent the better part of a decade at Facebook where she led the Facebook App before joining the online grocery platform, Instacart, in mid 2021. We talk about Fidji’s consumer product experiences, Instacart’s role within the grocery ecosystem, and delve into her personal philosophy on leadership. Please enjoy this wide-ranging discussion with Fidji Simo. Apply for the Investigative Research Analyst position at Positive Sum. Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with flexible expert calls you can trust. At a fraction of the cost of traditional expert networks, Tegus customers pay only what an expert charges – with zero markups and no confusing call credits – netting an average 70% savings. Don’t want to conduct a full hour call? Tegus offers the ability to schedule 30-minutes, an offer you won’t find anywhere else. And they don’t stop there. With white-glove custom sourcing for every project and robust compliance measures, including a dedicated 50+ analyst team that vets every call transcript, Tegus ensures your privacy and protection. As the industry innovator for qualitative insights, Tegus helps you find the right experts you need at a quality and speed that can’t be matched. For a limited time, as a listener, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:51) - (First question) - Comparing her experiences with Facebook and Instacart (00:06:22) - The dimensionality of creating great consumer products online (00:07:50) - How Instacart uses AI now and her advice to other companies who are ready to incorporate AI into their business (00:15:41) - What being a pragmatic technologist means to her (00:18:02) - Influences in younger years that led to her career path in technology (00:21:00) - The landscape Instacart seeks to build and how major key players within the industry are involved (00:27:09) - Data algorithms and their role in helping consumers (00:29:24) - Scale around the original core business (00:32:12) - The functional difference between Instacart shoppers and delivery drivers  (00:34:59) - Issues with fully automated grocery store facilities (00:37:32) - Insight into working with brands and consumer brand loyalty  (00:43:16) - Her vision for the future of Instacart (00:49:34) - Her principles for capital allocation (00:52:34) - Common misperceptions about Instacart from prospective investors (00:54:21) - Her philosophy of seeing the magic in team members (00:56:46) - Expanding knowledge while managing a complex business environment   (01:01:01) - When she felt the most helpless in her career (01:03:46) - Insight into generative AI and how it could shape the online grocery experience (01:08:00) - The role of content and its importance for businesses like Instacart (01:12:35) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests this week are Jeremy Levine, Kent Bennett, and Brian Feinstein. They are partners at one of the oldest and most storied venture firms in the world, Bessemer Venture Partners. Our conversation is split into two parts. First, we explore Bessemer itself. It’s over 100 years old and has a unique operating model with lessons for every investment firm in the market. We then discuss Jeremy, Kent, and Brian’s investing styles and outlook. What they look for in businesses, their thoughts on various sectors like vertical market software, and we close with a discussion about AI and defensibility. Please enjoy this great conversation.  Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Tired of running your own expert calls to get up to speed on a company? Tegus lets you ramp faster and find answers to critical questions more efficiently than any alternative method. The gold standard for research, the Tegus platform delivers unmatched access to timely, qualitative insights through the largest and most differentiated expert call transcript database. With over 55,000 transcripts spanning 22,000 public and private companies, investors can accelerate their fundamental research process by discovering highly-differentiated and reliable insights that can’t be found anywhere else in the market. As a listener, drive your next investment thesis forward with Tegus for free at tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:14) - (First question) - The unique history of Bessemer and how the firm stays current (00:08:55) - The role of heritage and cooperative partnership in Bessemer’s model (00:14:36) - How giving each partner autonomy and commissions can lead to better personal and company outcomes (00:17:18) - The extent of freedom a partner has in terms of the style of investments made (00:20:38) - Retro-analyzing the effectiveness of their investment roadmaps and core insights (00:25:10) - What conflict typically looks like in partners’ conversations and how they resolve it (00:27:06) - How they enable their junior staff using apprenticeship and open dialogue (00:31:31) - Their different taste in investment targets  (00:35:11) - How they each evaluate companies based on their unique interests (00:42:32) - Their thoughts on valuations and how they have dealt with with run-ups in the tech market (00:45:46) - What they anticipate in the future of early-stage investing (00:49:43) - The significance of Centaur companies that have hit $100-million in revenue (00:52:38) - The success of Bessemer’s writing and online content (00:55:13) - Where the vertical market software industry is in its life cycle (00:59:12) - How the next wave of innovation may revolutionize software or even depart from it (01:02:33) - Advice they give to companies looking to prepare for future shifts in tech and AI (01:04:46) - What excites them and what scares them within the development of LLMs (01:08:18) - Defensibility of an LLM-based company, given the high level of competition  (01:10:39) - How their firm deals with terminating partners if and when they aren’t a good fit (01:14:53) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for each of them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Alexis Rivas. Alexis is the co-founder and CEO of Cover, which is pioneering a new way of building homes. It’s no surprise to anyone that aspects of our housing market is broken. The market is undersupplied and littered with regulatory issues. The homebuilding process has also not changed for the better part of a century. Alexis is attacking the problem and has taken a leaf out of the car industry’s learnings to create a similar production process for home building. In our discussion, we talk about his idea of lego pieces for homes, how they’re refining production with backyard homes first, and how this may change the way people buy and sell homes in future. Please enjoy my conversation with Alexis Rivas. Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with flexible expert calls you can trust. At a fraction of the cost of traditional expert networks, Tegus customers pay only what an expert charges – with zero markups and no confusing call credits – netting an average 70% savings. Don’t want to conduct a full hour call? Tegus offers the ability to schedule 30-minutes, an offer you won’t find anywhere else. And they don’t stop there. With white-glove custom sourcing for every project and robust compliance measures, including a dedicated 50+ analyst team that vets every call transcript, Tegus ensures your privacy and protection. For a limited time, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:39) - (First question) - Supply and demand situation writ large for housing in the United States (00:06:34) - Lack of workforce growth to meet housing development needs (00:10:23) - Insight into “lego piece” style construction (00:11:41) - The comparison to automotive manufacturing (00:16:15) - Strategic description of a good “lego piece” from Cover (00:20:08) - Utility continuity comparison between panels versus tradition construction (00:21:05) - Potential criticism from skeptical contractors (00:22:53) - The marginal cost for a typical home buyer (00:25:59) - The role of software in the business (00:28:47) - Insight into support model and “The Last Mile” theory in construction and possible solutions to combat errors during assembly (00:30:46) - Support system integration for inevitable repairs (00:32:17) - The changing reality of initial ideas as projects are completed (00:34:27) - Building factories and streamlining production logistics (00:37:28) - Focusing on constraints and an example relatable to real life scenarios (00:38:37) - The value of moving slow to perfect processes early on versus an all in head first approach (00:40:09) - The scope of ambition over the next several decades (00:41:18) - The evolution of homes and how they could change based of consumer wants (00:43:37) - Vertical capabilities of cover panels (00:43:21) - Types of panels that could be introduced moving forward (00:45:14) - Timeline for Cover expansion into new states (00:46:06) - Advice for upcoming entrepreneurs when building similar business models (00:47:58) - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for Alexis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Dr. Peter Attia. I’ve had Peter on the show twice before but it’s been over 5 years since his last appearance. In that period, his work has exploded and today he’s one of the clear leaders on the topic and practice of longevity and health span. He has a new book out called Outlive, which I heartily recommend. You’ll hear us refer to the last chapter of his book early in our conversation but we chose not to reveal the whole story live so you can read and enjoy it. We highlight the big picture in our conversation, including the transition from Medicine 2.0 to Medicine 3.0. I always leave these conversations with Peter full of ideas, and in this case, highly motivated to go outside and move my body in nature. I can think of no better actionable advice. Please enjoy my conversation with Peter Attia. Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with Tegus Expert Calls. Tegus delivers expert calls at a fraction of the cost of legacy vendors, with white-glove custom sourcing for every project at the speed you need to keep your research moving. And we don’t stop there. With rigorous compliance processes baked into everything we do, you can rest assured we’ve vetted every expert to ensure your privacy and protection. Start your next project today with Tegus Expert Calls. As an Invest Like the Best listener, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes Peter on The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast (00:04:15) - (First question) - How Patrick influenced Peter’s decision to launch his podcast (00:05:45) - How Peter has changed in the process of writing this book (00:08:11) - Process of writing the last chapter of this book (00:11:12) - How he stopped dealing with imposter syndrome (00:15:58) - Slow vs. fast death and medicine 2.0 vs. medicine 3.0 (00:22:55) - Doing more early detection screening to avoid slow death (00:27:00) - Impacts of compounding risks (00:31:24) - How do we shift thinking to better lifestyle changes vs. pill popping (00:35:32) - The outsized impact of exercise on health (00:46:18) - Peter’s exercise portfolio (The Comfort Crisis book)  (00:50:55) - Why habitual workouts create euphoria for exercise (00:54:45) - How Peter’s views on nutrition have evolved  (00:59:30) - Measuring metabolic health (01:01:55) - Where Peter hopes the future of healthcare is heading (01:05:40) - Benefits of mindfulness to health (01:12:55) - Defining your purpose in life (01:16:46) - An index card summation of this book (01:19:45) - Lessons learned being a better interviewer (01:21:46) - Frontier of Peter’s curiosity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Scott Davis and Rob Wertheimer. Scott and Rob head up Melius Research and are the authors of a great book called Lessons from the Titans. The book explains what the industrial giants of old can teach the new generation of high-growth businesses about how to survive and deliver shareholder value over multiple decades. Drawing on their experience as industrial analysts, they present case studies on businesses like Danaher, Roper, Honeywell, Boeing and GE to reveal both what does and doesn’t work when it comes to capital allocation and business strategy as a company enters a more mature phase in its lifecycle. Please enjoy my conversation with Scott and Rob. Read Lessons from the Titans Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:20) - (First question) - The intersection between the current tech sector drawdown and the historical track record of industrial titans  (00:07:10) - The most common ways they see companies start to fail and the types of errors they commit  (00:11:01) - The best historical examples of companies that have gone from non-operational excellence to operational excellence  (00:15:04) - Teaching the value of a business system and installing one for longevity  (00:24:06) - Questions they’d ask and points of evaluation to uncover the health of a business (00:31:19) - Thinking about sustainable value creation in a lower growth environment  (00:37:04) - Lessons from operating leverage and the rental industry  (00:39:11) - Ways industrial companies have handled growth CapEx well and badly  (00:43:52) - The line between discovering the future in a lab versus major pivots in reality while trying to solve today’s problems  (00:49:37) - How the best managers nurture a great shareholder base  (00:55:35) - Lessons to learn about business model transitions    (01:00:13) - Further important messages from their book that businesses would benefit from (01:04:30) - The kindest things anyone has ever done for them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode is a little different. Rather than share a new conversation, I have put together a few of my favourites from the past six and a half years of doing this show. I often listen back to these for inspiration, energy, and their timeless ideas on life and investing. Each of these is a significantly shortened version of the original episode. The first conversation you’ll hear is with Sam Hinkie, the second discussion is with Boyd Varty, and the last conversation you’ll hear is with Charlie Songhurst. Sam, Boyd, and Charlie are all exceptional in their own way and I hope you enjoy these condensed versions of our conversations. Sam Hinkie - Find Your People Boyd Varty - The Art of Tracking Charlie Songhurst - Lessons from Investing in 483 Companies For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:04:40) - (Sam Hinkie) (00:05:55) - The most amazing thing he’s seen from someone he has worked with (00:09:51) - His interest in finding “digital breadcrumbs” on his pursuit of knowing a person (00:13:18) - The impactful story of meeting the assistant GM of the Houston Rockets (00:17:22) - Strategies he has developed to avoid transactional people (00:19:22) - How he shapes his career and optimizes from an investment perspective (00:24:06) - The strangest things he has come across in early-stage investing (00:29:47) - (Boyd Varty) (00:33:04) - His early experiences with tracking wildlife and how it applies to investing (00:44:46) - What can be learned about life goals and paths from the experience of tracking (00:47:59) - The influence of culture on decision-making and goal-setting (00:50:39) - His concept of “the ordering of chaos on behalf of others” (00:54:41) - The importance of moving towards the unknown to start approaching goals (00:57:15) - His most memorable tracking experience (01:12:40) - (Charlie Songhurst) (01:15:10) - His diverse career highlights (01:16:29) - His analysis of why startups succeed or fail (01:21:21) - What founders can learn to enable and maintain productivity in their company (01:25:21) - Nature versus nurture as it applies to adept founders, and the controversial “alien founder” concept (01:30:10) - The importance of good recruiting from an early stage (01:33:32) - How founders can make their companies attractive to prospective talent (01:35:53) - Why he is interested in investing in highly boring and highly complex ideas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello everyone. A few days ago, we discussed what we call forever episodes, which are the few episodes of our show that we think will be as popular a decade from now as they are today. When I re-listened to this episode with David Senra, I left wildly energized and wanting to share that feeling. So we are re-releasing it today for anyone who missed it the first time or hadn't yet discovered Invest Like the Best. Please share with your friends and loved ones as I think anyone will benefit from David's perspective and enthusiasm. Have a great weekend and we'll be back with more next week. David Senra has studied history’s great founders and entrepreneurs in more depth than anyone I’ve ever met, and I’d wager more than anyone else alive. In this conversation, we cover many of the most common themes he’s discovered studying hundreds of entrepreneurs like Estée Lauder, John Rockefeller, Enzo Ferrari, and Edwin Land. Please enjoy this great conversation with David Senra.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:01] - [First question] - When he first fell in love with reading [00:07:01] - What’s rooted in his own history that’s made him obsessive about studying history’s great entrepreneurs and founders - Founders Podcast [00:10:34] - The first time he connected with someone as a positive role model that he was reading about  [00:13:45] - How often obsession is apparent in the founders he’s studied across hundreds of biographies  [00:18:08] - What is often behind obsession and how people listening can apply the lessons to their own lives [00:22:45] - The dynamic and relationship between inspiration and perspiration  [00:27:11] - Commonalities between the layers of leadership and support underneath founders [00:31:52] - Where else he’s seen ego rear its head in good and bad ways  [00:38:34] - How often do great founders break the law or enter gray areas of it  [00:41:22] - The role constant learning and listening plays in success [00:45:12] - Talking about how anything worth doing is worth doing to excess  [00:52:18] - Describing the soul of founders and businesses [00:58:39] - What he’s learned about all of these founders as it relates to marketing  [01:04:38] - A common story that process is often art  [01:08:10] - Who his idols are in podcasting specifically  [01:14:55] - Major aspects of people he’s studied that haven’t been discussed yet [01:19:55] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is David Einhorn. David is the President of Greenlight Capital, a long-short hedge fund that he co-founded in 1996. He is a prominent value investor with a reputation for rigorous security analysis. In 2002, he revealed a short position in Allied Capital, which was ultimately proven correct and similarly in early 2008, he told the Sohn Conference he was short Lehman Brothers. Over his near three decades managing money at Greenlight, he has delivered impressive returns but it has not been without challenge. Our conversation covers both the highs and lows, his views on the current banking issues, and how he has evolved as an investor. Please enjoy my great conversation with David Einhorn. The Sohn Conference 2023 Listen to Founders Podcast For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:50) - (First question) - Why he is glad he started his fund in 1996 rather than today (00:05:58) - His view of how companies’ personnel and goals have changed since the 90’s (00:07:01) - His counter-momentum approach to markets and how he views current trends (00:11:17) - The jelly-donut theory of monetary policy (00:14:46) - His outlook on inflation and the Fed from a fiscal perspective (00:16:48) - The evolution of Greenlight’s portfolio and philosophy through history (00:20:11) - Periods in his career that stand out as the most challenging (00:25:58) - How tech advances have influenced his core concept of figuring out worth (00:28:17) - His three-step process to picking investment targets (00:29:10) - The companies he has learned the most from studying (00:30:52) - His experience with investing in Apple (00:33:33) - How he considers the notion of quality in a business (00:35:05) - His views on shorting, concentration, and holding periods (00:38:37) - What he learned from a deep dive on airline businesses (00:40:31) - His perspective on sports franchises as an asset (00:42:12) - His new interest in poker and how he got so good at it (00:45:22) - Applying traditional valuation styles to the modern market (00:47:13) - Cultivating relationships with his limited partner investors and his team (00:54:26) - His perspectives on the insurance space (00:57:33) - The health of the economy and financial infrastructure as he understands it (01:01:51) - How he thinks about housing and the construction industry (01:03:54) - How AI and other high-tech are affecting his investment decisions (01:05:28) - Other topics on his mind, from national politics to social psychology (01:08:22) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Avi Goldfarb. Avi is a Professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare, as well as the co-author of two bestselling books on AI and its economic impact. His most recent book, Power and Prediction, is probably the best piece of content I have read in explaining how AI may reshape business models, systems, and products. We recorded this before GPT-4’s release last week which, if anything, makes Avi’s ideas on AI’s impact all the more poignant. Please enjoy my conversation with Avi Goldfarb.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes (00:03:15) - [First question] - His initial reaction to chat GPT when it first launched  (00:07:08) - Prediction Machines; The impact price has on how much something is used by humans (00:11:07) - The shift from steam powered factories to electric ones and the transition between the two in regards to systems and application solutions; Power and Prediction (00:17:06) - Midpoints between a point solution and a systems solution and applications that are being built in the middle of them (00:19:10) - What application, system, and point solutions feel like today in the world of AI (00:27:03) - The transition from a world governed by rules to one by decisions   (00:30:58) - How the power of prediction moves us from a binary to a decimal framework (00:34:48) - Ways power disruption will occur as we navigate the emerging AI frontier (00:44:33) - Other functions like personalization that entrepreneurs should think about putting into their products and features (00:47:18) - How we should be thinking about the generation of information and data  (00:51:32) - A future where technology either desimates or empowers specific industries (00:54:16) - What he’s most excited and worried about given the emerging frontier of AI  (00:55:41) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Auren Hoffman. Auren is the CEO of Safegraph, which curates data on physical locations. He also founded LiveRamp, a public data connectivity business. Auren knows more about data businesses than almost anyone I know and that is the topic of today’s discussion. We look at the business of data from every angle and finish with a fun masterclass on how to host a dinner party. Please enjoy my conversation with Auren Hoffman.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:16] - [First question] - His 2x2 matrix for categorizing different types of data businesses [00:04:59] - An example of what he calls a religion company in his matrix [00:07:03] - His notion of data currency [00:08:23] - His definition of a great business [00:09:46] - An example of a so-called application religion company in his proverbial matrix [00:11:24] - Co-op and non-profit business models within and outside of the data sphere [00:13:35] - The truth application quadrant of his matrix [00:16:18] - How data has exploded in prevalence for the business world as a whole [00:18:57] - How to think about the end market for data and its demand [00:21:09] - Characteristics of a good data set and how to identify it [00:23:14] - Other factors that impact the usability of a data set [00:24:30] - Optimizing data collection itself [00:26:30] - The slow growth that’s typical of early-stage data companies [00:27:27] - Market share considerations for data businesses [00:30:03] - Common struggles for data entrepreneurs [00:34:01] - The genesis of his business; SafeGraph [00:37:08] - The power of self-maintained and user-maintained databases [00:40:16] - Typical customers and use cases for SafeGraph’s data [00:41:08] - How SafeGraph and other companies protect against data theft [00:42:12] - Frequency of change as a proxy for the value of a given data set [00:45:32] - Categorizing inbound data based on the most important criteria [00:47:07] - The founder personalities he finds in the data industry [00:49:53] - Why he feels the data truth quadrant of his matrix is underdeveloped [00:50:30] - Bloomberg as an important data company to study [00:51:42] - The importance of transparency in business and in data distribution [00:53:07] - Failure modes that he sees most commonly in data-based startups [00:53:53] - Data businesses becoming application businesses and vice-versa [00:57:35] - The great dinner parties he’s known for [00:59:50] - How he makes the dinner parties appeal to introverts [01:03:11] - Dead people he would most like to have as dinner guests [01:04:09] - Questions he would ask the most influential religious figures [01:06:20] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Trae Stephens. Trae is a partner at Founders Fund and co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril. Trae’s philosophy can be boiled down to finding good quests, which has led him to investing in businesses that work closely with the government on societally important issues. Clearly, that extends to co-founding Anduril and I would highly recommend listening to my Business Breakdowns episode on Anduril if you haven’t already. In this conversation, we discuss the importance of lobbyists, why the high-tech defense firms of the past became stale, and how he hunts for disagreeableness in founders. Please enjoy my conversation with Trae Stephens.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   Listen to Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:17] - [First question] - Why Trae thinks most high-margin businesses are bad for society [00:04:28] - What would he change to impact energy technology most if he were in charge [00:06:18] - His investing focus on dynamism and mission-driven tech companies [00:09:42] - Analyzing why relatively few people strive to make society-level advancements [00:11:35] - What he’s done as a parent to enable his kids to develop passions [00:12:41] - The most noteworthy adventures in his career [00:14:41] - Founding Anduril and what it taught him about the tech industry [00:18:40] - The cutting-edge of defense technologies today [00:21:29] - What Shyam Sankar of Palantir taught him about defense tech [00:23:34] - Why some of the biggest defense tech companies have stopped innovating [00:28:29] - What he and Anduril have learned about sales and scaling in the public sector [00:35:22] - His take on Peter Thiel’s notion that competition should be avoided [00:38:24] - The importance of being psychologically disagreeable when building a start-up [00:39:54] - The origin story that stands out the most from companies he has interviewed [00:41:12] - How he developed an investor mindset on his unorthodox path to the venture world [00:43:57] - What he has learned from playing supporting roles and aligning with great leaders [00:46:11] - Important but uncommon lessons about entrepreneurship [00:48:21] - Venture investing lessons he’s learned from Lauren Gross [00:50:00] - His first VR project and aspirations for the future of VR [00:54:50] - The role of religion and spirituality in his business philosophies [00:59:13] - Why he tries to capitalize on morality as opposed to sin [01:03:57] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Doug Leone. Doug led one of the world’s most successful venture firms, Sequoia, for over 25 years after he was given responsibility for the firm by its founder, Don Valentine, in 1996. Alongside Mike Moritz, the pair managed its expansion from a single $150m early-stage fund into an $85 billion global powerhouse. It was a privilege to sit down with Doug and learn from him. We talk about his tough start at Sequoia, get into the technicalities of great go-to-market motions, and survey his advice for other investors in the industry. A key theme that will stick with me from this conversation is Doug’s insistence on keeping things simple and clear. Please enjoy my great conversation with Doug Leone.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:21] - [First question] - What Don Valentine’s heart was like [00:06:30] - The most productive and unproductive parts of Don’s toughness  [00:09:01] - Being the opposite of insufferable and how it was different when he was younger [00:10:55] - Why it’s so important to understand someone’s core motivations [00:14:18] - Questions or topics he returns to when getting to know people  [00:15:31] - How much time he believes it can take to really get to know someone   [00:20:37] - What venture looks like to him today relative to his prior career [00:23:51] - His style of approaching emerging technology markets like AI as an investor   [00:26:37] - Whether or not he’d go into venture today if he was in his late 20s  [00:28:30] - Commonalities between the very best at going to market effectively  [00:31:11] - The key components of great product positioning   [00:32:10] - Helping companies circumnavigate mediocre positioning  [00:33:25] - Generating demand and leads and doing it well  [00:37:15] - How interacting with companies early on has changed over the ears [00:46:14] - Sussing out the killer gene in somebody  [00:47:25] - What high school was like for him when he first came to the US  [00:49:04] - How successful people can instill the lessons learned from hardship into their children  [00:50:45] - The most common failure modes he’s seen for investors  [00:55:21] - The early 2000s clawback at Sequoia and what navigating that period was like  [00:59:06] - What he’s learned about picking the right LPs and partnering with them [01:00:40] - The most interesting question an LP has ever asked him  [01:02:18] - Making sure that performance is on everyone’s minds all the time  [01:04:04] - What the components of a fantastic investment memo are [01:05:00] - Which dinner companions he’d pick to educate a newly successful founder [01:05:29] - What first popped out at him as black magic when he started investing [01:07:59] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m excited to share this conversation with Tim Urban. Tim is, in my opinion, one of the best and most engaging writers of our era. He’s tackled many of the most interesting topics in the world from AI to procrastination. I interviewed him in 2017 in an episode we called “Grand Theft Life”, and it remains one of my favorite episodes ever.   In the 6 years since that episode, he hasn’t published almost anything. That’s because he’s been writing the book we discuss in this episode. The book is called “What’s Our Problem”, in which Tim investigates the big issues facing society.   The reason I love Tim’s writing so much is its density of ideas and ridiculously clear explanations: a rare combo that makes reading a joy. I hope you enjoy this great round two with Tim Urban, and go buy and enjoy his great new book.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   Listen to Founders podcast.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:50] - [First question] - What it’s been like spending seven years thinking about a single topic: Tim's book, What’s Our Problem? [00:05:05] - How he’s come to articulate the big question he’s trying to answer in his book [00:07:58] - A dinner experience where a single question showed just how much of a problem there was to solve [00:09:47] - Group ideology and the different ladder rungs of human thinking  [00:17:28] - The concept of a social golems and genies and their implications for society  [00:23:02] - His favorite genies and golems throughout history and their impact   [00:29:07] - Examples of canonical high functioning genies across history    [00:34:20] - The key ingredients within liberal democracies that allow for and correct golems [00:40:44] - Media’s role in shaping ideas and society and what’s changed about it in today’s media landscape  [00:46:46] - What else is going on that has him worried about modern institutions that are failing as social immune systems [01:01:15] - The gap between what we say publicly versus what we feel privately and the growing pile of unsaid things  [01:07:18] - What’s to be done in order to help society repair itself  [01:14:09] - Whether or not the direction we’re most afraid to run is where we should  [01:17:37] - Thoughts on AI having written extensively on it and the new wave of emerging tools [01:22:13] - The role and impact of leadership in regards to golems and genies  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Dan Rose. Dan is the chairman of Coatue Ventures and has one of the most interesting collections of experiences of anyone I’ve talked to. He spent 20 years at Amazon and Facebook in their early days, working closely with Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg. He’s had a front-row seat to the defining products and founders of our era and his lessons from those experiences do not disappoint. Please enjoy this great discussion with Dan Rose.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:27] - [First question] - The story behind Amazon’s Kindle and the lessons it taught him [00:09:19] - Amazon’s philosophy of working backwards and the most creative solutions he and his team had to come up inside of that framework  [00:13:04] - What he did to convince publishers to get on board with his vision  [00:16:02] - His overall experience of the relationship between innovation and constraints [00:18:43] - Thoughts about the fine line between genius and nutcase  [00:22:02] - What the key points of his theory on partnerships would be  [00:24:28] - When advising portfolio companies becomes relevant  [00:26:09] - The dark arts of building companies that could be adopted by partnerships  [00:28:40] - Why he thinks the best technology companies drive strategy through product  [00:32:23] - Resolving micro management while also giving skilled talent their own space [00:36:07] - Where Javier Olivan fits into his ideal executive team  [00:36:57] - What about growth requires its own expertise  [00:37:35] - What makes Dave Schneider an ideal sales leader [00:39:08] - The most stressful period of time while working at Facebook [00:42:51] - General thoughts on great versus good business models in tech  [00:45:36] - Topics where Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg would disagree the most  [00:47:13] - Defining the platonic ideal of a great investor approaching corporate enterprises  [00:50:25] - Overview of the investing environment we’re in today from coast to coast [00:55:07] - What made Sheryl Sandberg so successful; Lean In [01:00:35] - Why he started his career at Life Mastery selling personal growth seminars  [01:05:47] - What will define the next generation of leaders  [01:07:59] - A product he would build if he could that doesn’t exist yet [01:08:59] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jeff Green, the CEO and co-founder of advertising platform, The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is the second advertising exchange Jeff has built, having sold his first venue to Microsoft in 2007. He started The Trade Desk in 2009 and has built it into a $30 billion public business. In our discussion, we talk about the parallels between The Trade Desk and an equity exchange, why Jeff chose to align with ad buyers not sellers, and how he shapes the culture of his firm. Please enjoy my conversation with Jeff Green.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   Listen to Founders podcast   Founders Episode #136 A Success Story: Estee Lauder    Founders Episode #288 Ralph Lauren Invest Like the Best with David Senra: Passion & Pain   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:09] - [First question] - What he’s learned about human behavior and how it’s impacted his business [00:05:45] - Big differences in generational and perennial behavior  [00:06:56] - The strong link between vulnerability and creativity   [00:07:42] - The necessary preconditions that allowed him to build Trade Desk the way he did [00:10:53] - What it would have felt like as an early stage employee at Trade Desk  [00:12:43] - The hardest parts about maintaining his type of company culture [00:14:05] - How much of his company culture is interwoven systemically or whether it arises naturally based on talent choices [00:15:59] - Defining what talent means to him and the dimensions of it that matter [00:22:03] - What he’s learned about delivering messages effectively   [00:23:49] - The founding story and history of Trade Desk  [00:28:33] - How he thinks about the key stakeholder groups around Trade Desk’s platform [00:30:50] - Figuring out who Trade Desk’s key customers were and identifying them writ large [00:34:55] - The composition of the universe and market of those who buy advertising  [00:36:11] - Practical product implications based on their choice of service  [00:40:16] - Building inventory legibility and its dimensions and importance  [00:47:55] - The time between the first line of code to a multi million dollar revenue stream [00:50:29] - Markers for technology companies he’d look for that could achieve a similar scale  [00:53:35] - How not being able to simulate poverty or hunger translates into his parenting  [00:57:10] - Describing the margin differences between Trade Desk and Google [00:59:00] - What stands out as the defining moment in his firm’s history  [01:01:50] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Carl Kawaja. It’s the second time I’ve had Carl on the show and my first conversation with him is one I go back to often. Carl is a portfolio manager at Capital Group, where he’s quietly overseen a huge portfolio for decades. He is one of the top investors operating today as well as one of my favorite people. The investing world has changed quite a bit since Carl and I first spoke in mid-2021 so this was a great chance to use Carl’s curious mind and wide range of experiences to discuss the regime change taking place across capital markets. In true Kawaja fashion, we go all over the map and discuss Apple, the Amazonian rainforest, baseball, the oil & gas industry, Muhammad Ali, and more. Please enjoy my great discussion with Carl Kawaja.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it's quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] - [First question] - What the market feels like to him today [00:06:00] - The pros and cons of the cost of capital and experimentation [00:09:09] - Things we can learn from Oil & Gas stocks and resource commodities in general [00:14:38] - Pulling apart the key lessons from Berkshire’s purchases of IBM and Apple [00:20:37] - The practical implications of wanting to land more soft-wins in investing that aren’t apparent out of the gate [00:25:52] - How he approaches and considers products and product cycles writ large [00:31:10] - The Systems Bible [00:33:15] - Thoughts about making money from value based strategies  [00:38:31] - His methodology to go about finding the next diamond in the rough  [00:42:48] - A New Innings [00:45:13] - The Arc of Boxing; Lessons from Muhammad Ali fighting Cleveland Williams [00:48:54] - Someone he thinks is an exemplar in both business and the world [00:54:37] - Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes [00:59:41] - The role fossil fuels play in the energy transition and the current regime change  [01:07:35] - What we can learn from uncontroversial transitions in the past Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Daryl Morey, who is President of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers. Daryl is a computer science graduate but has become one of the NBA’s most successful General Managers during his time with the Houston Rockets and the 76ers. Together with my friend and past guest of the show, Sam Hinkie, Daryl pioneered the analytics movement in basketball. He’s been so influential his style has its own name, “Moreyball”, a nod to Michael Lewis’s book about baseball, Moneyball. Daryl is also the co-founder of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which has become the gold standard forum for leaders in sports analytics. I had a blast talking to him about negotiation tactics, systems thinking, hiring, and a ton more. Please enjoy this great conversation with Daryl Morey.   Listen to Founders podcast   Founders Episode #136 A Success Story: Estee Lauder  Invest Like the Best with David Senra: Passion & Pain   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:15] - [First question] - The basic principles of sports and what makes for a great sport [00:09:54] - How resource concentration influences outcomes in various sports [00:13:13] - The degree of certainty in predicting sports outcomes based on existing data [00:16:32] - Using the concept of KPIs to optimize for certain characteristics to win games [00:18:45] - Training teams on specific systems and plays versus leveraging individual talent [00:21:07] - Why superstar athletes are key to success in basketball [00:24:02] - Dealing with constant expected value calculations to appease stakeholders [00:25:30] - Building the organization’s back office to find talented athletes [00:28:32] - How he and other GMs make organization-level decisions [00:34:12] - Why he’s involved with basketball as opposed to other sports [00:36:17] - How he uses his frameworks to figure out systems outside of mainstream sports [00:37:41] - Problems with the rules and economic factors of professional soccer [00:42:54] - Trends he’s observed in the worlds of music, movies, and books [00:45:33] - His perspective on developing one’s own career path [00:48:22] - How challenges in his youth benefited him in the long run [00:49:28] - The person he would call for advice if he was stuck in a foreign prison [00:51:01] - His emphasis on first principles and why he supports free speech [00:52:31] - Takeaways from a Harvard negotiation class he took [00:57:07] - The power of refining the terms and definitions of a deal post-negotiation [00:58:51] - The four people in the world that intrigue him most [01:01:40] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Miles Grimshaw. Miles is in his early thirties and is a General Partner at Benchmark. His experience and success belie his age. He was an early investor in Segment, Benchling, and Airtable, all before they had 30 employees. I have learned a ton from Miles about software investing and that’s why I was excited to have him on the show. We discuss his biological approach to investing, whether pure API companies can be good businesses, and what most has his attention right now. Please enjoy this conversation with Miles Grimshaw.   Listen to Founders podcast   Founders Episode #136 A Success Story: Estee Lauder    Invest Like the Best with David Senra: Passion & Pain   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern Saas platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:57] - [First question] - His notion of the investor as a biologist or a physicist [00:05:24] - Why he seeks out new companies with unique business models [00:07:53] - How his investments are based on present and future needs in the market [00:11:55] - Evaluating the genetics of a nascent or small company [00:13:38] - The half-life of information as it flows through a company or platform [00:17:26] - Unpacking how software companies can survive re-evaluation periods [00:21:03] - The power of environment creation and facilitation [00:25:10] - The importance of user conferences [00:25:45] - A company’s potential for a differentiated second act as a sign of good genes [00:30:21] - Product quality, timing, and reinvention in tech startups [00:33:10] - Why it’s crucial for companies to avoid copying their heroes [00:37:41] - Breaking down market perspective on pure API companies [00:41:29] - His views on software targeted to vertical versus horizontal markets [00:44:29] - Carefully leveraging relationships with core customers [00:48:06] - Operational lessons from his experience with the companies he’s invested in [00:50:26] - His maxim that software development is as much an art as a science [00:51:12] - His idea of a product magician in the software industry [00:52:19] - Effects of new products and categories at the forefront of the space [00:58:21] - How software founders should prepare for 2023 [01:01:41] - How both market structure and product shape the genetics of a business [01:04:32] - The challenge of pricing and packaging for SaaS companies [01:06:42] - Cardinal sins in software investing [01:07:42] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is John Fiorentino. John is a product inventor and entrepreneur who, in the space of a few years, has bootstrapped four products; Gravity Blanket, Moon Pod, Moon Pals, and Birthdate Candles which have collectively sold hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. Our conversation is quite different than normal. Alongside his successful brands, John has had a range of life experiences – from starting as a Jazz musician to working for Justin Bieber - that give him an original worldview. I was especially interested in his points around product positioning, creating magic for consumers, not letting yourself become the product, and how to build enduring brands. Please enjoy this great conversation with John Fiorentino.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:25] - [First question] - The amazing story behind Gravity Blanket [00:08:51] - What he’s learned about positioning relative to product [00:13:17] - How fundamental truths drive creativity in commerce [00:16:17] - Real-world examples of magic as he defines it [00:19:50] - The investability of consumer businesses from his perspective [00:25:25] - His contrarian thoughts on venture-backed startups [00:28:00] - How unique personalities create compelling IP and monetize it [00:38:28] - The fine line between creative power and self-destruction for brand founders [00:45:13] - The importance of consumer business goals being larger than oneself [00:48:45] - The story of the Moon Pals weighted stuffed animals [00:53:15] - How investors undervalue IP and mythology [00:57:20] - Leveraging uniqueness as a founder to boost your brand power [01:00:53] - His eye-opening experience working on Justin Bieber’s team [01:05:20] - How he identifies potential magic-makers and enables them [01:09:16] - An odd commonality between high-level successful people [01:12:14] - Whether or not one could map out their own archetype framework [01:15:23] - The dangers of focusing on one’s own persona and image as the product [01:18:19] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Amjad Masad. Amjad is the founder and CEO of Replit, whose mission is to bring the next billion software creators online. Replit has built a browser-based coding environment that makes coding more fun, collaborative, and approachable. We discuss how that is possible and why the way most of us interact with computers today is suboptimal. We then go into the effects of AI on software creation and its broader impacts on technology. Please enjoy my conversation with Amjad Masad.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes[00:02:18] - [First question] - The Steve Jobs black-pill  [00:06:02] - Speculation on the near future of programming [00:09:38] - Potential convergence of simple software and coding tools [00:11:23] - What an IDE is and how it works [00:12:44] - The definition of REPL and the role of Replit in the space [00:14:21] - Decreasing friction in a programming environment using primitives [00:19:47] - Real-world effects of Replit’s low-friction design [00:23:27] - His perspective on new coding and AI technologies [00:30:29] - Promises and limitations of the user-friendly programming movement [00:33:16] - The dynamic nature of IDE technology and its challenges [00:39:53] - How he’s priming his team to react to new technologies like the upcoming GPT-4 [00:43:58] - Recommended skills and training for the AI world of the future [00:47:21] - The impact of IDE and AI tech innovations on existing tech giants [00:51:56] - His mixed but optimistic views on the trajectory of AI [00:54:40] - Recommendations for the curious listener without a programming background [00:56:50] - The role of smartphones in the IDE movement [00:58:28] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Rebecca Lynn. Rebecca co-founded early-stage investor Canvas Ventures in 2013 and is regularly featured as one of the best VCs in the market. She has deep positioning and go-to-market experience, which she honed during her time at Procter & Gamble, and that's the focus of our discussion. We cover the details of great marketing, why you should say no to customers, and how she has built Canvas. Please enjoy my discussion with Rebecca Lynn.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern Saas platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:37] - [First question] - What she’d do a great job teaching if she could teach a singular 401 level course [00:05:20] - Defining what the umbrella concept is  [00:06:10] - What about her career at P&G applies most to the kinds of companies she spends her time with now  [00:12:06] - What types of questions she asks to help someone building a product understand their marketing angle  [00:15:34] - The top three things people do wrong when running a survey in tactics or strategy [00:19:33] - Categories of questions where surveys are always helpful and effective    [00:21:06] - What the Go-To-Market Council is and what it does  [00:28:21] - The ways that most funnels are commonly broken   [00:31:17] - Defining great positioning and what it accomplishes [00:33:36] - How her knowledge and ideas most impacted the way she built Canvas [00:35:04] - Lessons learned about the world of digital health and the quantified self   [00:39:15] - The base level attributes that most indicate investment potential when she’s investing in a company [00:42:32] - The shifts in the world that most have her attention today [00:46:10] - What has her worried systemically about venture investing  [00:49:37] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Michael Mauboussin. Many of you will know Michael and his work well. He’s Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, one of the sharpest investment minds I know, and a frequent guest on this show. In this discussion, we go deep into his recent work on market share, returns on capital, and capital allocation - all of which are coming under increasing scrutiny for different reasons. Please enjoy this great conversation with my friend Michael Mauboussin.   Listen to Founders podcast   Founders Episode #136 A Success Story: Estee Lauder    Invest Like the Best with David Senra: Passion & Pain   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:46] - [First question] - Overview of Michael’s recent research on market share [00:05:48] - Market share dynamics in modern history [00:08:43] - How market share data is useful for investors [00:12:30] - Investing in early breakout companies from low-concentration markets [00:14:34] - Surprises from his recent research project [00:15:29] - Using the value stick for stakeholder satisfaction [00:19:12] - Examples of value creation using the value stick [00:23:33] - Market power in relation to markups and willingness to pay [00:32:00] - Identifying a company’s real ROIC numbers [00:44:00] - How important absolute ROIC is when picking investments [00:47:07] - Research on capital generation and allocation trends [00:54:25] - Characteristics of great capital allocation strategies [00:59:26] - Surprises in the market since his deep-dive research [01:02:54] - Artificial intelligence and other sources of disruptive innovation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Jeremiah Lowin. Jeremiah has been on the podcast a number of times over the years. He’s one of my oldest friends who has been a sounding board for me throughout my career. Today he is the founder and CEO of Prefect, which helps companies automate and orchestrate their dataflows. In full disclosure, Positive Sum is an investor in Prefect. We didn’t plan this conversation, but when OpenAI released ChatGPT, I called Jeremiah for a primer on what’s happening under the hood and how best to contextualize this product amidst the growing AI movement. We have these conversations often, but this time I decided to record it so we can all learn from someone I consider to be a leading mind in the fields of data science and machine learning. We start off in the weeds and zoom out as the discussion unfolds. Please enjoy this conversation with my friend, Jeremiah Lowin.   Listen to Founders podcast   Founders Episode #136 A Success Story: Estee Lauder    Invest Like the Best with David Senra: Passion & Pain   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:38] - [First question] - What a pre-trained transformer is  [00:06:12] - What latent representation means in the context of AI models  [00:09:57] - Models using math to interpret input data and generate images accurately  [00:11:43] - Whether or not understanding AI complexity in light of the results they arrive at will become a black box scenario  [00:14:13] - A high level history of the companies involved in generative AI [00:17:51] - The precursory technology that makes generative AI art possible [00:21:01] - What people are doing to improve AI models in between versions  [00:26:39] - Things that are literally happening during AI training [00:33:38] - Whether or not AI models might one day function as a utility like electricity [00:36:01] - Coding using GitHub Copilot and what it’s felt like to use it  [00:40:30] - How he’d approach starting an AI company from scratch  [00:44:40] - Developing this technology beyond general and into specific use cases [00:49:44] - The secret sauce for defensibility in the AI model space  [00:53:02] - What he’s watching more closely as the story unfolds  [00:56:32] - Whether or not he thinks that these toolkits will eventually learn how to use other systems like Unreal Engine on our behalf  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Bill Lenehan. Bill is the CEO of Four Corners Property Trust, a listed REIT and one of the leading owners of restaurant real estate in the US. Their portfolio is made up of 982 properties across 47 states. Real estate is something most of us own, whether as an investment or a home, and Bill’s insight into the asset class at this particular moment in time is fascinating to hear. Please enjoy my conversation with Bill Lenehan.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:19] - [First question] - Recent increases in mortgage rates and a frozen housing market [00:08:55] - Projected real estate trends over the next decade [00:13:38] - How a company’s ROI can be more consistent with backing from a real estate firm [00:16:41] - Risk-return rate and risk exposure in real estate compared to other asset classes [00:20:09] - The skills, traits, and circumstances that make a top-level real estate investor [00:22:38] - Stand-out learnings from his time at Farallon Capital Management [00:33:20] - The value of shopping malls and offices in a post-COVID, e-commerce US [00:39:27] - Pros and cons of different types of real estate investments, including REITs [00:43:22] - The impact of climate change on the real estate market [00:45:39] - The role of modern technology in investing and in real estate infrastructure [00:51:10] - Hard costs of building and renovating for the future [00:54:20] - How hard costs and supply levels impact rates of return and housing costs [00:57:17] - How the retail industry is adapting to consumer trends [01:01:23] - Why retailers need to adapt to a changing economy and how they’ll do it [01:04:03] - The relative magnitude of change in today’s real estate market [01:06:51] - The role health and wellness plays in real estate and finance [01:09:28] - What it feels like to be investing in 2022 [01:12:23] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I’m joined by two Hollywood greats, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. They have produced, directed, written, and acted in a number of the most popular films and tv shows ever made, including Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, 24, and Frost/Nixon. Their partnership is one of the longest running in Hollywood, and the business they founded in 1985, Imagine Entertainment, has won 49 EMMY awards, 11 Golden Globes, and 10 Academy Awards. There are few better storytellers in the world and it was a thrill to talk about curiosity, trust, and business building with them both. Please enjoy this great conversation with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] - [First question] - The value of trust and how Ron built it up over time with Brian [00:08:34] - The spark that allowed Brian to trust and work with Ron  [00:14:45] - Ray Stark calling Brian and threatening him over their mermaid movie [00:16:37] - Keeping their creative spark alive as their business scaled and matured  [00:20:20] - Principals like the universality concept that they return to most commonly  [00:23:24] - Seemingly bottomless wells of inspiration that they both pull from [00:26:18] - Curiosity precedes innovation and the curiosity conversations Brian has [00:30:15] - The pitch format Brian uses to try and secure a guest for a curiosity talk [00:32:16] - The role of engaging with conversations or ideas Brian disagrees with  [00:33:56] - How curiosity shapes the nitty gritty of Ron’s directing and producing  [00:37:41] - The biggest mistakes they’ve come across that people make telling stories [00:40:27] - Pinpointing the defining moments of their careers outside of the obvious wins [00:44:27] - Thoughts about how the industry has changed across their careers [00:47:19] - How they’ve gotten better at taking a project from nothing to the finish line  [00:49:53] - The kindest things anyone has ever done for them   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode is a special one, in a format that may turn into a series. It is a conversation between Ravi Gupta and Shane Battier. Ravi is a partner at Sequoia, one of our most popular past guests, and a good friend. Shane is Ravi’s friend, and one of the most successful basketball players ever, having won championships and awards at the high school, college, and NBA levels.   I spent 10 years as a purely quantitative investor, so naturally I was obsessed with data in sports. When I was meeting with prospective investors, Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball—which chronicled the data analytics revolution in baseball—was my go-to analogy to explain what I did… “Moneyball, but for investing.” I used that line for years.   I’ve learned firsthand that it’s wise to follow your curiosity, no matter how strange or different it may be. The podcast is my curiosity tour, and years ago it led me to Sam Hinkie—who is himself on the Mt. Rushmore of analytics in sports. Sam introduced me to Ravi. Then Ravi sent me Michael Lewis’ article written about Shane called “The No Stats All-Star.” I highly recommend you read it.   All this serendipity around friends, data, investing, and sports gave me an idea: why not ask Ravi to interview Shane? Ravi likes the idea of playing for the front of the jersey, not the back. It is hard to imagine someone that lived that more than Shane. Shane shares his story, lessons learned from various coaches, and using data as an advantage. He also explains the four kinds of teams he’s encountered, which I found simple, and memorable.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:53] - [First question] - What people measure in basketball, what matters when it comes to winning, and why he was called a replaceable cog in the No-Stats All-Star [00:08:38] - Some of the plays that impact the overall points during a basketball game [00:14:33] - The power of curiosity and obsessing over details [00:16:16] - Embracing his role and how being a role player applies to life outside of the court [00:20:47] - Where his obsession for winning and being a good team mate comes from  [00:23:23] - Some of the things great leaders and coaches did to inspire him  [00:28:51] - An overview of the four types of teams and fundamental aspects of them [00:34:50] - What a person can do to elevate their team and make it a winning one  [00:37:43] - Antifragility and the letter Shane wrote for Ravi when Amazon bought Whole Foods [00:44:56] - How to get everyone rallied around a long-term shared mission effectively   [00:46:48] - Finding a No-Stats All-Star in a company and what to look for in one [00:52:34] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Parker Conrad, co-founder and CEO of Rippling. I wanted to speak to Parker because he is building Rippling in a way that we don’t come across often. Rather than focus narrowly on one product, he is building a suite of interrelated products simultaneously to carry out the functions of HR, Finance, and IT for companies. He calls it a compound company and we discuss the idea, as well as some of his other non-traditional theories, in detail. Please enjoy this conversation with Parker Conrad.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:36] - [First question] - Overview of what a compound startup is  [00:06:32] - What he’s learned about picking customers effectively  [00:08:48] - Key chapters when it comes to building a compound startup  [00:13:48] - What great looks like at the base level infrastructure of employee data [00:20:15] - His overall philosophy on product development writ large  [00:25:09] - His role as a capital allocator and distributing resources to his teams [00:27:19] - The amount of products they offer and whether or not there’s a tradeoff between time, cost, and quality when building software [00:31:36] - Possibly incorporating an app-like store on top of their existing infrastructure  [00:34:43] - Speed and the kinds of people that can sustain it for long periods of time [00:36:30] - What motivates him on a personal level and harnessing motivation in general [00:42:31] - Whether or not there’s an end to feeling hurt by false public perceptions when building in public [00:44:12] - The intersection of leadership and communication inside of a business and what he’s learned about great communication  [00:48:00] - The paradox of how focusing on non-scalable actions perpetuates growth and productivity and his views on productivity-per-person [00:50:36] - The best example of a moment that required the most grit and perseverance while building his company  [00:52:28] - How to successfully get former founders to come work for him  [00:54:47] - What good private equity investors do  [00:58:31] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Bob Elliott, the CEO and CIO of Unlimited, which creates low-cost index ETFs for alternative investment strategies. Prior to co-founding Unlimited, Bob was a senior investment executive at Bridgewater Associates where he served on their investment committee and led Ray Dalio’s personal research team for a decade. His breadth and depth of experience makes him a great person to assess the current macro landscape. We discuss the relationship between rates, inflation, and asset classes, Bob's approach to identifying data with the most signal, and finish with his view on quantitative strategies in private markets. Please enjoy this great discussion with Bob Elliott.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - The Economic Organization of a POW Camp and key lessons one can learn from the paper [00:07:22] - The way that supply and demand clears a price and how that plays into his thinking about investing across asset classes  [00:09:58] - Whether or not he has a generalized investing worldview or framework [00:11:46] - Deciding on what data is signal and matters most when analyzing markets  [00:15:46] - A crash course on easy money and tight money regimes and the implications of both in a macro environment  [00:20:28] - The rise and role of inflation and what should be done about it [00:24:00] - What the next couple of years will look like if we draw lessons from history [00:30:12] - Why gold could ever belong in someone's portfolio when it doesn’t produce or yield anything back to the investor  [00:35:08] - Supply and demand constraints and the state of the housing market today  [00:40:42] - What might happen in future labor markets given our current macro environment [00:46:27] - Currencies, energy, geopolitics, and what he’s most focused on globally [00:52:19] - What movements in the charts are worrying him the most  [00:56:04] - The original “All Weather” portfolio and what one would look like if he built it today [01:02:05] - How his career has taught him to find talented individuals who might deliver alpha [01:07:19] - Lessons learned from early-stage and venture investing and thoughts on that world now [01:12:41] - Why there hasn’t been an iconic early-stage technology investing firm driven by systematic strategies [01:16:10] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Kirsten Green, founder and managing partner at Forerunner Ventures. Kirsten launched Forerunner in 2012 and has built it into a leading consumer-focused venture firm with early investments in consumer brands like Dollar Shave Club, Bonobos, Faire, and Warby Parker. Our conversation is an exploration of consumer behavior and how to invest behind change in our society. We also discuss frameworks for identifying brands early, how to build deal flow, and the shift in power between buyers and sellers. Please enjoy my conversation with Kirsten Green.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:35] - [First question] - The insights gleaned from studying consumers in the modern era [00:07:02] - Whether or not the shift in consumer behavior is similar to a platform shift like mobile [00:09:58] - Which of her hypothesis going into the research was proven most wrong [00:11:31] - The leading persona archetype that drives consumer spending  [00:13:58] - Thoughts about her investing focus after doing all of this research  [00:16:23] - How much the digital world is good and bad for community [00:18:50] - Positive and negative impacts digital access has on children [00:21:17] - The investing criteria that she and her firm have developed for founders and business models they find desirable  [00:32:00] - The beachhead problem for entry points, encouraging good focus and entry point selection, and who’s done it well  [00:35:33] - The history of the consumer of how they buy and sell and where the shifts in power have been  [00:39:47] - Other interesting trends she’s seeing in the seller empowerment era [00:43:35] - How different her investing models are for linear product businesses [00:46:45] - Frameworks she’s developed for evaluating a brand early on  [00:49:57] - The most defining moment in Forerunner’s history and the hardest lesson she’s had to learn  [00:53:13] - Ways she’s fostered and mentored young investors at Forerunner  [00:54:04] - What the most underappreciated thing is today about the consumer [00:54:50] - User and customer development strategies that work well for early stage products [00:56:26] - Three businesses young investors should study to educate themselves on great consumer businesses; Shoe Dog [00:59:49] - Where they find the companies Forerunner tends to invest in, and how to build and effective deal flow pipeline  [01:05:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jason Droege, a venture partner at Benchmark. Jason’s had a long entrepreneurial career, which most recently culminated in building and leading Uber Eats. He joined Uber in 2014 with a blank piece of paper to grow the business beyond ride sharing. Within six years, he found product market fit with food delivery, refined the service, and scaled Uber Eats to a global $20 billion GMV run rate. Our conversation pulls out the most important lessons learned during that period and how Jason now employs them in his role at Benchmark. Please enjoy this great conversation with Jason Droege.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:52] - [First question] - What it was like at a high level building Uber Eats [00:07:38] - How he would structure entrepreneurial incentives on a platform like Uber for a new leader or team attempting to build on top of it [00:10:17] - What he learned about selecting competitive frontiers and mistakes made while building Uber Eats [00:15:17] - Things that Uber Eats got most right that he’s proud of  [00:18:16] - Constructive mistakes that taught him a lot from his time with Uber Eats [00:20:36] - What made India such a competitive environment  [00:26:13] - What improved the most in his playbook for launching in a new city [00:27:14] - Defining what best means in this competitive sector   [00:29:01] - Dealing with suppliers in different categories and finding an ideal balance [00:32:09] - When monogamy between the buyer and supplier matters and when it doesn’t in a marketplace  [00:36:12] - Defining what founder market fit is and being “fingertippy” [00:37:29] - His views on the relationships between leaders of businesses and their cultures [00:40:26] - Why Uber believed in him more than he did  [00:41:40] - What he learned about marketing to suppliers specifically  [00:45:18] - Differing views he has on the concept of failure   [00:47:31] - Thoughts about ideas versus execution and the relative importance of the two [00:49:10] - Effectively measuring opportunity cost and using it in decision making   [00:58:56] - The most interesting things he’s learned from his time as a partner at Benchmark [01:00:15] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Paul Orfalea. Paul founded Kinkos, the popular copy chain, in 1970. He started with a single photocopy shop in California and grew the business into a $2 billion multinational operation over the course of his 30 years in charge. Paul is a non-traditional leader in the best sense and we discuss his philosophy of business building, from why your subordinates should frustrate you, why you shouldn’t love your business and tips he learned on hiring well. Please enjoy this conversation with Paul Orfalea.    Founders podcast on Paul Orfalea.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:58] - [First question] - What it was like to be a very bad student in highschool [00:04:22] - When he first realized he was unemployable [00:05:02] - The origin story of the very first Kinko’s [00:07:53] - Finding what has worked well in each Kinko’s and coaching managers [00:11:45] - The difference of working on and not in the business [00:13:57] - Why a good salesperson will sell you broke   [00:15:36] - Why he teaches, what he teaches, and his teaching style [00:18:31] - Explaining the Federal Reserve in two minutes   [00:21:58] - The role of anger in his career and something he’s worked on over time [00:22:31] - Where Kinko’s falls on the spectrum of bad to great businesses [00:26:18] - Lessons learned about using the word employee [00:27:21] - The most clever marketing strategy he ever deployed or designed [00:27:45] - Learning to spread the glory instead of the money   [00:28:30] - The state of entrepreneurship today compared to when he started  [00:30:42] - What motivated him across his career [00:31:35] - Why being in it for the money seems odd in today’s lens [00:32:34] - Who he most admired or most admires today  [00:32:51] - Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman [00:33:08] - Preserving the alignment of integrity and action  [00:34:57] - How good he is naturally with numbers and math being dyslexic  [00:38:05] - His parents’ impression of him while he was building Kinko’s  [00:39:56] - The most interesting person he’s ever worked with at Kinko’s [00:40:48] - What he would have done differently if he started from scratch [00:41:24] - Something that is most underappreciated about the United States  [00:43:00] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  [00:43:57] - A big lesson he’s earned in a deeper way that he wishes he could share with others Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Madhavan Ramanujam. Madhavan quite literally wrote the book on how to price products, it’s called “Monetizing Innovations” and his concepts have been used by companies across the world like Porsche, Uber, LinkedIn, and SuperHuman. Our conversation is a masterclass on pricing. We discuss common mistakes when pricing products, why you need to focus on benefits rather than features, and how to pick the right monetization model. Please enjoy my conversation with Madhavan Ramanujam.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern Saas platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:48] - [First question] - How he arrived at a radically different way of building products [00:05:07] - An example of coming up with a price before the product [00:08:35] - Distinctions between a willingness to pay and positive feedback  [00:10:29] - How to make sure you’re talking to the right potential customer in the first place [00:13:32] - Productizing for different customer segments  [00:16:16] - Questions companies should be asking to get accurate feedback [00:21:18] - What he’s learned about the motivations of potential buyers [00:22:43] - What leaders, killers, and fillers are [00:24:37] - Some of the biggest mistakes companies make while following his formula [00:25:35] - A rule of thumb for what is a benefit versus a feature [00:27:35] - Five distinct pricing models for charging a customer [00:30:46] - Whether or not the value piece of all of this revolves around time and money [00:33:27] - What he tells entrepreneurs about pricing their products that most surprises them  [00:35:16] - Defining the first four categories of failure  [00:40:13] - Reasons why so many innovations fail to monetize and pricing being a CEO topic [00:41:51] - Good rules that leaders can use to have a general sense for effective pricing  [00:47:38] - Behavioral changes and observations as the absolute price move up and down  [00:50:36] - Is there a pricing genius we should take note of? [00:53:18] - The single question every leader should ask themselves [00:53:46] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Scott Wilson. Scott is the CIO of Washington University’s endowment, which manages over $13 billion. In this conversation we discuss WashU’s non-traditional endowment model and cover a variety of asset classes and geographies. We talk about the qualities Scott looks for in managers, lessons from investing in Asia and emerging markets, and red flags in the venture space. Please enjoy this conversation with Scott Wilson.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern Saas platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus. -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:38] - [First question] - What he learned about markets from quant fixed income trading  [00:04:42] - How his experience shaped his degree of skepticism of the world [00:05:15] - The story that brought him to Grinnell College  [00:06:45] - What his education was like back in 2010 and what seemed sensible and insane when he arrived [00:09:37] - His philosophy around trying to have more direct ownership [00:12:03] - Lessons learned about choosing good partners and doing it effectively over time [00:13:51] - Things that are most enjoyable about getting to know new managers  [00:16:17] - Why they spend so much time in frontier and emerging markets [00:18:21] - Lessons learned from investing in China and thoughts on it today  [00:23:16] - The worst things he sees from venture investors  [00:24:39] - Whether or not venture investors should care more  [00:27:55] - What percentage of investors in private equity are investors versus just involved to try and engineer returns [00:28:59] - His impressions on hedge funds and the evolution of the hedge fund model [00:31:18] - The role that credit can play in a portfolio like the one he manages now  [00:36:34] - Everything he’s learned about asset managers acting as asset gatherers [00:39:35] - Ways he fights convergence and tracking error overseeing so much capital  [00:41:49] - What it’s like to go through the bad side of tracking error [00:45:43] - What he sees as a normal level of tracking error for endowments and foundations [00:46:59] - Why such big pools of institutional capital tend to look so similar  [00:48:10] - Whether or not real estate sits somewhere between stocks and bonds [00:51:10] - Colliding managers in a fun and spirited way at meetings  [00:52:16] - An investing trip from his career that he finds most memorable [00:52:50] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Julio Vasconcellos and Mate Pencz, who are partners at Canary and Atlantico, leading early-stage investment firms in Latin America. They’re also both successful entrepreneurs. Mate is the co-founder and CEO of Brazilian real estate unicorn, Loft. Julio was Facebook’s first country lead for Brazil, an entrepreneur in residence at Benchmark, and the former founder of Peixe Urbano which sold to Baidu. This conversation was a great opportunity to dive into the state of investing and business in Latin America today, what it looks like on the ground, and cover the most interesting findings from Atlantico's annual report on Digital Transformation in the region. Please enjoy my conversation with Julio and Mate.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:39] - [First question] - A broad perspective on what is interesting in Latin American investing today - Latin America Digital Report 2022 [00:05:15] - What makes up the existing 1.5% tech penetration index in Lat Am [00:06:11] - Florian Hagenbuch, Mate Pencz - Everything Will be Bought Online (Loft); David Velez - Building the Branchless Network (Nubank); How important it is to parse by country when it comes to building businesses in LatAm  [00:08:31] - Overview of LatAm as a microcosm of fintech innovation happening really fast and what is most exciting in that sphere  [00:12:28] - Why the adoption of PIX was so successful and how it maps onto the banking system [00:14:27] - What PIX’s widespread adoption will enable for the coming wave of entrepreneurs  [00:22:30] - Shifting to remote work and how it’ll affect LatAm workers and talent [00:30:06] - What it feels like for an entrepreneur today compared to when Loft launched  [00:32:36] - Deeper themes and what needs to be unlocked for LatAm’s tech sector to look more like the US or China with big tech giants  [00:40:12] - Sources of available funding for venture and private equity   [00:42:54] - What valuations look like and whether or not there’s an entry multiple discount [00:45:12] - Seeking evidence that crypto is used in more valuable ways in emerging markets  [00:48:00] - Areas where LatAm is operating in a future state more so than elsewhere [00:50:28] - What the right amount of global firm participation in capital partnerships looks like [00:52:38] - Big standout lessons from their operating days  [00:55:53] - What is most exciting and concerning about their investing style and investing writ large in LatAm  [00:58:51] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Julio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Trina Spear, a former investor at Blackstone and the co-founder and CEO of FIGS. FIGS is a multi-billion-dollar public company that built a category-leading brand selling scrubs to healthcare professionals. It was a problem hiding in plain sight and FIGS solved it through vertical integration and customer obsession. Trina shares so many interesting, simple lessons that are often ignored in business. Please enjoy my great conversation with Trina Spear.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:28] - [First question] - The original insight that lead to founding FIGS [00:04:28] - Why obvious opportunities can go so long before being seized  [00:06:23] - Key dimensions needed to improve the product and the early days  [00:09:02] - Basic overview of a clothing retailer’s financial profile [00:10:49] - Financing the business and the early stage cash flow cycle  [00:13:04] - Strategies to manage workflow and making sacrifices [00:14:43] - Advice for people trying to build their brands in a hands-on way  [00:17:14] - The biggest calculated risk she took in the first five years [00:19:00] - Building a foundation that allowed for such explosive growth [00:21:44] - The story that allowed FIGS to connect with their customers [00:24:43] - Painting a picture of the size and scope of healthcare apparel [00:26:22] - Things lazy companies do and thoughts on product variety [00:28:54] - Defining SKU productivity and what to do with low productivity products  [00:30:21] - Chip Wilson Book; Lessons learned from reading Chip’s story [00:31:58] - Balancing a healthy relationship with your CFO [00:33:59] - Where she sees the most runway to tackle and continue to execute [00:35:46] - A women-lead industry and her time spent with Meg Whitman [00:38:13] - The most essential jobs she feels she has and shouldn’t do as the CEO [00:40:03] - Thoughts about relationships with investors and messaging  [00:42:14] - What she’d be most focus on in founders if she was just an investor  [00:43:57] - The most stressful thing that has ever come across her desk  [00:44:41] - What types of things bring her the most joy in building FIGS [00:45:27] - Philosophy of hiring given their small team and when it’s okay to hire [00:46:56] - Whether or not there’s a role for non A players in businesses [00:47:48] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are sharing an episode of Web3 Breakdowns with you. My Invest Like the Best conversation with Gabe Leydon last year was one of my favorites and became one of our most popular. Since that conversation, Gabe has become one of the most interesting builders in web3 that I know so I was excited to have him back to share his views of the space and how it might grow. If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to Web3 Breakdowns on your preferred podcast player.   My guest today is Gabe Leydon, who’s episode last year was one of our most popular ever. Gabe has spent the last 20 years designing video games and is one of the most original thinkers I know. He was the co-founder of Machine Zone, which pioneered free-to-play hits like Mobile Strike and Game of War. Over the past year, he has been in stealth mode building a web2 meets web3 video game company called Limit Break, which is founded on a brand new business model that he calls free-to-own. We dive into his vision for the future of gaming, how it could onboard a billion users onto the Ethereum network, and why the LTVs of crypto gamers are so far higher than their web2 counterparts. Please enjoy this conversation with Gabe Leydon.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Coinbase Prime. Coinbase Prime combines advanced trading, battle-tested custody, financing, and prime services in a single solution. Clients have used our comprehensive investing platform to execute some of the largest trades in the industry because they are the only publicly-traded company with experience trading and custodying crypto assets at scale. Get started with Coinbase Prime today at coinbase.com/prime.   -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag    Show Notes [00:02:19] - [First question] - What free-to-own gaming means and why it’s exciting  [00:11:40] - Pre-existing behavior that sets up free-to-own for success [00:12:32] - The progression from PFP NFTs to clubs and the road ahead [00:14:16] - Overview of the business and monetization model for free-to-own games [00:17:51] - The story of DigiDaigaku, their mechanics, the drops, and what lead to their creation [00:22:14] - Balancing supply and demand in a free-to-own market [00:24:35] - Creativity and extensions of the DigiDaigaku NFTs [00:26:13] - Tiering, breeding and the role the Genesis series will play in the Digi universe [00:27:32] - The level of brand marketing NFTs will unlock for businesses [00:29:57] - How free-to-own will be the primary monetization method for brands [00:31:21] - A future with a global marketing shift towards digital property and economies [00:33:06] - Why most of the winning PFP projects are of unique characters [00:35:50] - His Twitter strategy and how he’s created such a fervor around him [00:42:40] - What will define the legendary marketers over the coming decade  [00:43:06] - Interoperability needed to make real-world NFT uses appealing to consumers  [00:44:44] - Whether or not we’ll see more token-gated business in the future  [00:45:40] - Stable Diffusion and his impression of the new AI art generating bots [00:48:56] - What great distribution looks like in a digitally native world [00:50:03] - The emphasis of innovation taking place in the metaverse being a bad thing [00:53:24] - Things he most admires in adjacent games and creators in his world [00:54:25] - Unique game mechanics that Web3 technology unlocks  [00:56:16] - NFTs will be the gateway for people to acquire crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Harley Finkelstein. Harley is the President of Shopify and has been with the company since its early years. He is a lawyer by training but an entrepreneur by calling and that is the focus of our discussion. We discuss the different dimensions of entrepreneurship and Shopify’s role in promoting it, as well as exploring the company’s transition to public markets, and what the last few years have been like. Please enjoy my discussion with Harley Finkelstein.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:26] - [First question] - His interpretation and definition of a person’s life's work  [00:05:50] - The story of the riverstone and the average polished executive  [00:08:36] - The thing he can’t help but do; and focusing on our compulsions [00:13:12] - How he would boil things down to the most simple entrepreneurial formula; Distilled [00:16:38] - What is harder and easier about new business formation today  [00:21:03] - The countervailing forces for small-to-medium business entrepreneurship  [00:24:31] - What he’s learned about operationalizing ideas and mentor lessons [00:29:08] - A piece of fortune cookie advice that he finds terrible [00:30:49] - How Brands Grow; his philosophy on marketing & distribution   [00:35:27] - The most effective distribution strategies he’s seen work in Shopify that might be portable to other businesses [00:38:43] - What it was like getting their first app developer for the Shopify app store [00:41:17] - The state of ecommerce today writ large and what trends are interesting  [00:45:46] - Lessons learned about the digital places that people are buying  [00:49:06] - What it’s been like as an executive working at a company that had their stock price explode over the pandemic  [00:52:25] - Tips for communicating effectively with Wall Street [00:54:14] - An investor that stands out in memory that really impressed him [00:55:10] - Important aspects of his world that are worth mentioning  [00:57:04] - Lessons learned about motivating people through DJing  [00:59:12] - Whether or not reading the crowd can apply to business [01:03:49] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Mitch Lasky. Mitch is a partner at Benchmark and one of the leading figures in the video game industry. Over the last 30 years, he has built, led, and invested in a number of the best gaming companies in the world, including Activision, EA, Riot, Snapchat, and Discord. I couldn’t think of a better person to break down the anatomy of great gaming businesses and Mitch does not disappoint. His insights are remarkable. Please enjoy this excellent conversation with Mitch Lasky.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:31] - [First question] - Why there aren’t more famous gaming investors [00:05:08] - The most important features of the modern gaming business model [00:07:11] - Developing his aesthetic taste and investing decision skill [00:08:03] - What makes a game fun  [00:09:26] - How delivering a pleasurable active user experience differs from passive content and media [00:11:09] - The developers of Doom being the first real modern video game company [00:13:09] - Half-Life’s important role in the development of the gaming industry [00:17:54] - How some of the big game aggregators get started in the first place [00:19:58] - What Riot can teach non-gaming businesses about business writ large [00:21:10] - Ways that the change from physical games to downloads changed monetization [00:31:47] - The impact of Apple’s privacy changes on gaming revenue [00:34:11] - How the access to professional game engines and a lower friction environment will change the industry [00:37:04] - Whether or not there is a step beyond mobile [00:39:42] - Ways platforms like Twitch and Discord have influenced gaming [00:42:26] - What he’s learned about games that allow them to seemingly exist forever [00:45:17] - Signs of a healthy gaming community [00:46:21] - The role of celebrities and influencers and generating retained audiences [00:47:45] - Whether or not crypto will unlock new opportunities for in-game monetization  [00:52:50] - Key categories of motivators that could replace a ponzi-style in-game inflation  [00:54:36] - Contrasting League of Legends versus a Ready Player One style world [00:58:22] - Emerging technologies and trends that may revolutionize the industry  [01:02:41] - The most genius game pattern he’s ever played [01:04:44] - What attributes will define the great game investors in the coming decades [01:06:59] - How much his experience lends itself to investing in other sectors [01:11:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is David Senra. David has studied history’s great founders and entrepreneurs in more depth than anyone I’ve ever met, and I’d wager more than anyone else alive. In this conversation, we cover many of the most common themes he’s discovered studying hundreds of entrepreneurs like Estée Lauder, John Rockefeller, Enzo Ferrari, and Edwin Land. I found this to be one of the most energizing conversations I’ve had in a long time, and one I’ll return to often.   David’s work and extraordinary energy aligns so well with our mission at Colossus that we’re excited to partner with him. You’ll soon be able to find his podcasts and transcripts at joincolossus.com where we hope you’ll learn as much from him as we have. If you like this conversation, be sure to subscribe to David’s podcast called Founders. Now onto our discussion. Please enjoy this great conversation with David Senra.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:01] - [First question] - When he first fell in love with reading [00:07:01] - What’s rooted in his own history that’s made him obsessive about studying history’s great entrepreneurs and founders - Founders Podcast [00:13:45] - How often obsession is apparent in the founders he’s studied across hundreds of biographies  [00:18:08] - What is often behind obsession and how people listening can apply the lessons to their own lives [00:22:45] - The dynamic and relationship between inspiration and perspiration  [00:27:11] - Commonalities between the layers of leadership and support underneath founders [00:31:52] - Where else he’s seen ego rear its head in good and bad ways  [00:38:34] - How often do great founders break the law or enter gray areas of it  [00:41:22] - The role constant learning and listening plays in success [00:45:12] - Talking about how anything worth doing is worth doing to excess  [00:52:18] - Describing the soul of founders and businesses [00:58:39] - What he’s learned about all of these founders as it relates to marketing  [01:08:10] - Who his idols are in podcasting specifically  [01:14:55] - Major aspects of people he’s studied that haven’t been discussed yet [01:19:55] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Robert Smith, the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. An engineer by training, Robert started Vista at the turn of the millennium and built it into one of the world's most successful software-focused investment firms. We discuss the white space left in enterprise software investing, the importance of capital cycles, and what he’s learned building an iconic investing franchise. Please enjoy my discussion with Robert Smith.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:34] - [First question] - What the enterprise software market looks and feels like to him [00:05:52] - Whether or not software is becoming a saturated market and what will drive demand over the coming decades [00:09:42] - Bringing an engineering mindset to enterprise software investing and culture [00:12:36] - A single change he made to a business that stands out most in memory [00:14:33] - Qualities that are most critical in defining a good enterprise software company [00:18:07] - How the profile of companies he’s bought has changed over the years [00:20:33] - Categories of software he tends to gravitate towards  [00:23:56] - Evolving his model for considering what multiple to pay for a business and thinking about p/e growth multiples  [00:27:17] - Lessons learned about customer churn over his twenty two year career [00:29:44] - Capital cycles and how much they truly impact the software world  [00:31:53] - What elements of building Vista have most appealed to him over the years   [00:38:06] - The war for talent and what his senior team would debate most  [00:40:01] - Biggest mistakes Vista has made and what they taught him [00:41:09] - What has him most insecure or paranoid about the platform he’s built [00:43:10] - The advice he’d give on having good relationships with LPs [00:44:57] - The largest risk he or Vista has ever intentionally taken  [00:46:15] - What he’s learned about having a winning negotiations and sales approach [00:49:27] - Who he’d give all of his capital to outside of Vista [00:53:08] - The work he does in the foster world [00:54:49] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Katherine Boyle, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Katherine started her career as a reporter for The Washington Post before moving into VC at General Catalyst. She now leads a practice at a16z called American Dynamism, investing in companies that are solving critical issues in areas like defense, housing, and education.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   The content here is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details, please see a16z.com/disclosures.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:42] - [First question] - The origin and overview of the term American Dynamism  [00:05:01] - Why the shift to a move slow and make sure nothing breaks mentality [00:07:31] - What about the American system today feels broken and stale  [00:09:48] - Becoming a journalist at The Washington Post  [00:11:35] - Describing the power landscape of media as it exists today   [00:12:28] - Major categories of American Dynamism that matter most   [00:14:29] - What matters more or less to her as an investor in these categories  [00:17:31] - Whether or not there’s anything fundamentally broken about our government [00:19:36] - The Systems Bible; What excites her about aerospace and defense and what creates opportunity and demand in these sectors [00:26:01] - An overview of how lobbying works and who does it and why [00:33:09] - The biggest problems that currently exist in the K-12 school system  [00:37:34] - The role immigration will play in range of outcomes in these main categories  [00:39:32] - Key takeaways about housing in light of American Dynamism   [00:42:09] - Her interpretation of the chart that shows inflation in categories over time [00:47:56] - Whether or not expected returns and risk profiles are different in this area  [00:49:55] - Overview of the anatomy of a great story   [00:51:30] - The story she tells founders at this stage so establish a partnership  [00:52:46] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Ravi Gupta. Ravi spent a decade in private equity at KKR before joining Instacart as their first CFO and COO. He navigated them through a critical moment in their history and returned to investing in 2019 as a partner at Sequoia. Our discussion gets to the heart of what it means to build and invest in great businesses, and we talk a lot about the personal side of the journey, which tends to get overlooked. Please enjoy this great conversation with Ravi Gupta.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:34] - [First question] - Why it’s important to keep the main thing the main thing [00:04:59] - His first exposure to this idea; How Will You Measure Your Life [00:07:50] - Thoughts on the conflict of the main thing for a business and a person [00:11:45] - The most painful episode of enacting this philosophy at Instacart  [00:19:16] - Amazon’s 14 leadership principles vs. his concept of focus [00:21:55] - What good main things share in common and their attributes; Frank Slootman Episode [00:24:48] - Whether or not the feedback loop for things that work are very short  [00:26:04] - The nature of joy and competitiveness in company culture  [00:29:01] - How he assesses the depth that motivation runs through people and companies [00:32:43] - Analysis of his own motivations in life  [00:35:34] - Differences and shortcomings of virtuous and vicious motivators  [00:37:15] - How to accurately figure out someones motivators in a short period of time [00:40:22] - Being Demanding and Supportive; Why these words pair so well together [00:45:55] - What he’s looking for in companies given all of the ideas discussed so far [00:51:11] - How his ideology manifests inside of Sequoia  [00:58:44] - What it’s like to mentor an apprentice and how to do it well [01:02:40] - Adjusting behaviors to meet current markets where they’re at  [01:06:13] - Defining what a great product is [01:07:56] - What he did to turn around Instacart by narrowing their focus [01:12:28] - The things that most drove the switchover at Instacart [01:14:53] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Will Thorndike. I first spoke to Will in 2017 about his excellent book The Outsiders and his career in private equity. I titled that conversation: How Skilled Capital Allocators Compound Capital. In many ways this conversation continues where that one left off. Through the lens of his new project, a podcast called 50X, we explore the power of multi-decade holding periods and the shared characteristics of businesses that are able to compound returns at high rates for abnormally long periods of time. Please enjoy this discussion with my friend, Will Thorndike, and if you haven’t subscribed to 50X, I highly recommend doing so.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - How working on The Outsiders project shaped his thinking [00:06:29] - His interest in long-term holding periods and dealing with multi-decade time horizons [00:09:42] - Shared characteristics among compounding machines [00:11:23] - Defining capital efficiency and the return on tangible capital metric  [00:13:02] - An example of an attractive business that requires a lot maintenance CapEx [00:14:22] - Thoughts on the measurement of intangibles and whether or not he’d avoid great businesses that are intangible heavy  [00:15:25] - Tangible ways capital efficiency rolls into compounding capacity  [00:20:32] - Lessons learned about good game selection for companies  [00:25:09] - An example of a decentralized structure and why it works so well [00:30:00] - What the best serial acquirers do for long-term holders [00:31:46] - Advantages of using debt for financing and acquisitions   [00:33:39] - How different the future might be for young CEOs with capital allocator mindsets [00:39:09] - 3 companies that Housatonic Partners has owned for more than 25 years [00:40:29] - What made Karen Moriarty so good for so long  [00:42:36] - The crossover between public and private investing and the virtues of each sector [00:47:10] - What is at the top of his wish list of the companies he wants to explore  [00:50:25] - The development of investor conviction over time and what he’s learned about it [00:52:19] - Lessons learned about producing great media [00:53:43] - What he can teach us about deep research on companies with analysts [00:55:10] - Adjusting his thinking and investing in a high variance world Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alok Vasudev. Alok is an early-stage investor who has been in the crypto space for a very long time. Before co-founding Standard Crypto, he was an investor at Benchmark and S28 Capital. Given Alok's experience and the prevailing mood right now in crypto, this is a particularly interesting discussion on the ecosystem writ large. We discuss whether the bubble can be thought of as productive speculation, his views on skeptics in the space, and look at some big, potentially, underestimated ideas. Please enjoy my conversation with Alok Vasudev.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:31] - [First question] - His history in venture and thoughts on the crypto ecosystem [00:06:06] - What it means to be great at searching for white space as a venture capitalist [00:08:00] - Things his original venture peers would say he was best and worst at [00:09:24] - How he would address crypto skeptics broadly given today’s market [00:13:35] - Whether or not it’s appropriate to look at each crypto token as a stock  [00:15:32] - The pool of demand for Dai and the end use-case itself for the stablecoin  [00:17:01] - What matters to him the most in the world of stablecoins  [00:19:59] - Defining sound and unsound collateral  [00:21:02] - Why the US doesn’t digitize the dollar and how being a government entity would impede some of their capabilities  [00:23:21] - What a community operated computer unlocks compared to a standalone one [00:27:09] - What persistence and resilience from community computers open up   [00:29:30] - Something going on that people aren’t talking about yet in regards to blockchains [00:33:54] - The notion of productive speculation and what it means  [00:36:03] - One of the best historical examples of productive speculation [00:42:29] - How things outside of the blockchain become integrated and connected to it [00:45:43] - Ways crypto will impact the gaming world over the coming years [00:49:10] - Handicapping a potential future where NFTs work and blockchains don’t benefit [00:51:42] - Thoughts on the world of art, IP, NFTs, and its changing landscape [00:54:43] - Whether or not there are companies being built that can streamline and facilitate this form of connection between artists and their fanbases [00:58:13] - Other controversial opinions he holds in the crypto community  [01:03:13] - What he’s most bullish and bearish on right now [01:07:29] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Matthew Ball. Matt is an investor, the former head of strategy at Amazon studios, and one of the brightest minds in the media industry. Through his essays and now his book, which launches today, Matt has established himself as the foremost authority on the Metaverse, which has stormed into the public eye since I first had him on the show two years ago. The Metaverse is the focus of our discussion and I hope you enjoy this encyclopedic tour through all of its details as much as I did.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:37] - [First question] - Which most represents the Metaverse: Minecraft, Ready Player One, Fortnite, or Facebook’s Horizon [00:05:58] - Facebook trying to own the concept of the Metaverse by changing their name  [00:09:22] - Defining what the Metaverse is and a good working definition of it [00:11:33] - The state of the engines behind 3D output and the history of them  [00:16:32] - The role IP played in bootstrapping the first Metaverses  [00:18:32] - Where the ability to create digital environments will lead, and what Unreal 7 could look like compared to Unreal 5 today [00:21:03] - Natural limits of the Metaverse compared to real-world experiences [00:24:16] - Other sensory inputs that will need to be improved for digital immersion [00:26:59] - Why the initial excitement of trying something like Oculus wears off over time, both for casual gamers and those excited about this new frontier [00:31:40] - Changes in technology and new projects that have him most excited that will empower the digital infrastructure for Metaverses [00:37:14] - What interoperability means and why it has its own chapter in his book [00:31:52] - How Roblox connects with Fortnite and how far down we need to go to build a bridge between digital worlds [00:46:13] - What will drive commerce in the Metaverse and the possibility for a singular currency standard [00:51:35] - Considering the demand for the Metaverse and whether or not it will be a constraint on adoption and success [00:57:37] - What the modern equivalent of a lemonade stand will be in the Metaverse [00:59:58] - The lower adoption rates for more participatory media consumption[01:03:19] - Potential pitfalls and the dark side of the metaverse [01:06:14] - Who the categorical winners of the Metaverse might be    [01:14:15] - The top things he would suggest exploring to best understand the Metaverse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are dropping a special episode in the Invest Like the Best feed. You will hear the first episode of 50X – a new series from Will Thorndike and the team at Compounding Labs, in partnership with Colossus. Will’s book, The Outsiders, is one of the best business and investing books you will find. Now you will hear him continuing his work in the hosting chair as he looks in detail at investments that have appreciated at least 50-fold. First up is TransDigm, an aerospace components manufacturer that has returned over 1,750X since its inception nearly three decades earlier. In this episode, Will is joined by Nick Howley, TransDigm’s long-time CEO and Chairman. Make sure to subscribe to 50X in your preferred podcast player.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. The team at Tegus has built a full company intelligence platform aimed at streamlining the investment research process. In preparation for the 50X series, we actively used Tegus to gain qualitative insights beyond traditional reported data. To learn more and enjoy a free trial, visit tegus.co/50x.    -----   50X is a podcast that dissects the anatomy of extraordinary long-term investments. The show is hosted by Will Thorndike and the team at Compounding Labs, and brought to you in partnership with Colossus.   In each episode of 50X, we look in detail at an investment that has appreciated at least 50-fold. From the seat of the professional investor and occasionally the CEO, we explore its origins, evolution, and eventual outcome, studying key themes around long-term value creation ranging from operations, capital allocation, and culture to pivotal buy and sell decisions. To enhance the quality and depth of our interviews, we rigorously study each asset in advance, diving into all available public and private resources.   Learn more and dive into our research at 50xpodcast.com   Follow us on Twitter: @50Xpodcast and @joincolossus   Show Notes [00:00:00] – 50X Introduction  [00:02:00] – Sponsorship: Tegus [00:07:04] – Episode Introduction  [00:09:05] – Nick’s Background pre-TransDigm [00:11:56] – Original Acquisition from Imo Industries in 1993 [00:15:33] – Thesis and Performance under Kelso & Co.’s Ownership [00:18:42] – Genesis of Three Key Value Drivers: Price, Productivity, and New Business [00:21:07] – Building the Management Team [00:24:05] – Early Lessons on Value Drivers [00:27:53] – Capital Allocation under Kelso & Co. [00:28:51] – Sale to Odyssey Investment Partners in 1998 [00:30:26] – Strategy under Odyssey’s Ownership [00:31:51] – Early Acquisitions and Integration Playbook [00:37:26] – Early External Crises [00:41:13] – Snapshot at Conclusion of Odyssey’s Ownership in 2003 [00:43:19] – Building a Decentralized Culture   [00:46:23] – Differentiated Approach to Compensation [00:52:12] – Sale to Warburg Pincus in 2003 [00:55:51] – Shift to Inorganic Growth under Warburg’s Ownership [00:58:08] – Evolution of M&A Process [01:05:37] – Post-Acquisition Expectations and Post-Mortem Process [01:09:48] – Divesting Acquired Assets to Maintain Focus [01:11:29] – Embedding Value-Generative Culture via Hiring and Training [01:13:54] – Quarterly Product Line Reviews [01:20:43] – Recap of Private Investment Returns and Snapshot pre-IPO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alice Bentinck, co-founder of Entrepreneur First. Entrepreneur First, or EF, invests pre-company by systematizing the way that talented individuals find co-founders, develop ideas, and scale into companies. They’re an incubator of teams and ideas on a mission to create impactful companies that, without their help, wouldn’t exist. I first spoke with Alice’s co-founder, Matt Clifford, over two years ago and have been fascinated with EF’s model of investing ever since. Please enjoy my conversation with Alice Bentinck.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:33] - [First question] - Overview of what Entrepreneur First is today [00:05:57] - How she identifies the people to bring into each cohort and convince them to quit their job to join EF for eight weeks [00:10:10] - Categories of the main types of people who join the EF program [00:12:32] - What she’s learned about negative screening at the first stage of recruits  [00:14:07] - Positive signals she looks for in early admissions  [00:17:46] - What the program itself feels like as a participant [00:21:29] - Reasons partners tend to fail and whether or not EF advises equity splits between founders [00:24:49] - How important the idea is that the team will be working on  [00:28:04] - Exercises she enjoys doing with the new cohorts around social norms [00:30:38] - How the experience looks physically in each city  [00:32:57] - Categories of data collected as the cohorts unfold and making investment decisions [00:36:46] - Ways the companies mature after EF and what kinds of investors fund the next stage of their startups [00:40:55] - Why aren’t there ten EF style initiatives or organizations [00:44:26] - Motivations for the change in their holding company structure [00:46:48] - The love of product and ideas she’s playing with right now [00:51:49] - Cities she has her eye on that EF is not a participant in today and criteria that makes a city desirable for EF [00:54:03] - A piece of software that EF could benefit from that doesn’t exist yet [00:55:30] - The keys to her harmonious relationship with her co-founder Matt  [00:59:01] - National and international impediments that directly impact company building [01:01:36] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jess Lee. Jess is a partner at Sequoia Capital as well as their Chief Product Officer. Before becoming an investor, Jess co-founded fashion app, Polyvore, and was an early product manager for Google Maps. Most recently, she founded All Raise, a non-profit that is changing the gender balance in tech. Our discussion ranges from Burning Man to Marvel to Sequoia’s mobile app and I hope that Jess’s passion for delighting users rubs off on you. Please enjoy my conversation with Jess Lee.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:35] - [First question] - Why more investment firms don’t have a product mindset [00:05:22] - How to approach building a productized version of capital  [00:08:00] - Ways Ampersand measures success and judging their own performance  [00:08:49] - Driving reasons that Sequoia wins deals beyond their brand name [00:10:28] - How her work as CPO at Sequoia has changed her investing approach [00:12:28] - Everything she’s learned about community and its relevance to business  [00:17:48] - What the gold standards are for studying strongly built communities  [00:19:42] - What it is about Comic-Con that works so well from a community standard   [00:21:18] - The role that scarcity plays in communities writ large [00:23:10] - Product mindset and customer obsession  [00:24:33] - Knowing when it’s okay to begin expanding  [00:28:12] - Rates of change in her investment progress and dollars going to female founders [00:29:36] - Systemic bias and what’s driving a lack of funds towards female founders  [00:32:26] - How she applies community building lessons to All Raise [00:33:20] - The internal learning culture in Sequoia that others could adopt and benefit from [00:37:01] - Which Marvel superheroes her Sequoia partners would be   [00:39:05] - Seeds of motivation for Arc and what it is [00:44:31] - The best ways she’s seen companies manage and support human capital [00:45:36] - Biggest mistakes made when managing human capital  [00:46:42] - What working on Google Maps taught her about product development  [00:48:42] - Someone she admires and has learned the most from in All Raise   [00:50:02] - Measuring success at Sequoia over the next ten years   [00:52:20] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her [00:53:42] - What it was that made the people who believed in her take a chance on her  [00:55:03] - Things in pop culture today that most has her attention Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Ken Stanley. Ken is a Professor in Computer Science and a pioneer in the field of neuroevolution. He is also the co-author of a book called, Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned, which details a provocative idea that setting big, audacious goals can reduce the odds of achieving something great. We discuss that revelation in detail and how to apply it in our day-to-day lives. Please enjoy this great discussion with Ken Stanley.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex, the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:36] - [First question] - The best way to change the world is to stop trying to change it [00:06:26] - The kinds of goals his work addresses and the ones it doesn’t [00:08:46] - Almost no prerequisite to any major invention was invented with that major invention in mind [00:14:04] - Picbreeder [00:17:21] - How looking for specific results often makes arriving at them a longer process [00:24:00] - The importance of the individual in a web of invention and disruption [00:28:30] - How generations progressed in Picbreeder when consensus mechanisms were inserted into the process  [00:31:24] - Examples of stepping stones that were invented that became something even greater [00:36:02] - What his research means for how we should conduct ourselves writ large [00:44:17] - Thoughts on necessity being the mother of all invention [00:50:08] - The ways that society is arranged is psychologically toxic [00:55:14] - The role that constraints play in creative output and outcomes in general; Brett Victor - Inventing on Principle [01:01:10] - What the constraints are that he sets for himself in AI development [01:04:44] - To know what’s new you need to know what’s not new [01:06:47] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him [01:08:28] - How he would allocate resources to create more innovation in the world Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Lydia Jett, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers. Lydia leads the team’s consumer, internet, and e-commerce investments and has worked with many of the most significant consumer platforms in the world, including as a board member of Coupang and Flipkart. We cover all aspects of e-commerce and explore Lydia’s evolution as an investor alongside Masa Son at SoftBank. Please enjoy my conversation with Lydia Jett.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex, the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:34] - [First question] - What curiosity thread she’s been pulling on thus far in her career [00:05:17] - The biggest felt differences doing things one way for a decade and changing now [00:07:08] - Learning about tailwinds and what the predominant ones are that exist today [00:10:44] - Competitive frontiers that exist today in e-commerce [00:12:14] - What drives companies that grow faster than their competitors [00:13:15] - What areas the world’s most innovative e-commerce companies are focused on [00:16:38] - Unique characteristics that they select for in ecommerce CEOs and founders [00:19:03] - Upside down approaches to e-commerce that aren’t common in America yet [00:23:05] - Lessons learned about business models that don’t work in e-commerce [00:27:47] - What western investors should know about Coupang  [00:30:12] - Everything she’s learned about vertical integration [00:33:01] - Everything she’s learned and cares about in regards to margins [00:37:17] - The most extreme version of efficiency gain she’s seen deployed [00:41:27] - The role the size of assets plays at SoftBank [00:47:42] - Focusing on efficiency and smart allocation first before trying to scale  [00:50:33] - Companies as products that investors buy and defining what great looks like [00:53:16] - The danger of premature optimization around a set of KPIs  [00:55:46] - How important the specific founder is for their given e-commerce company [00:58:18] - Why e-commerce companies tend to start from a worse place than offline ones [00:59:45] - Ways that she’s changed from working alongside Masayoshi Son for a year [01:03:31] - Who comes most to mind as a great investor     [01:05:23] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Chris Power. Josh will be a familiar voice to many of you and is the co-founder and General Partner of Lux Capital. Chris is the founder and CEO of advanced manufacturing start-up, Hadrian. Most of our discussion centers on the need to modernize the factories that supply our space and defense industries. But given the current market environment, we also talk about capital conditions and the responsibility to build products that really matter. Please enjoy this conversation with Josh Wolfe and Chris Power.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex, the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:40] - [First question] - An overview of the precision manufacturing industry writ large [00:08:28] - Why the manufacturing sector has so many great investment opportunities [00:12:58] - Anduril Breakdown; What Hadrian in its final form will unlock for manufacturing [00:16:08] - What the demand side looks like for manufacturers in its current state today  [00:18:29] - How the nature of demand will shift for this style of manufacturing in the future [00:22:51] - Important rare earth materials, supply chain constraints, and the revival of commodities  [00:27:55] - The key set of jobs being done by mom and pop shops that could be innovated on and done within a Hadrian factory  [00:30:35] - What is going on inside of a Hadrian factory and how they will evolve over time  [00:32:10] - Prosecuting diligence on someone's ability to execute on their behalf [00:37:14] - The PhD arrogance trap and how a Hadrian machine will be better in five years from now [00:48:08] - Breadth of ability versus focus and selling parts to buyers early on [00:50:42] - Lessons learned and advice for understanding the focus problem  [00:56:39] - Fat startup vs. lean startups and making the hardest irreversible decision during Hadrian’s early days [00:58:31] - Enduring more schlep work than less being a good signal [00:59:06] - Chris’ thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes [01:03:36] - Josh’s thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes [01:07:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Chris Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Martin Casado. Martin is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he focuses on digital infrastructure. Before joining a16z, Martin pioneered software-defined networking and co-founded Nicira, which was bought by VMware for $1.3 billion in 2012. Martin has studied, built, and invested in digital infrastructure his whole career and is the perfect person to discuss the most interesting aspects of the industry. Please enjoy this great conversation with Martin Casado.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex, the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:43] - [First question] - The state of the digital infrastructure industry today  [00:04:02] - The major stages and eras of cloud technology  [00:06:30] - Overview of Dropbox’s story and the two major trends at the time of its emergence [00:10:12] - Lost margin and lost market cap from big users of the public cloud  [00:12:14] - Whether or not there is a headwind coming for public cloud providers [00:17:33] - How entrepreneurs might go after the biggest public cloud providers [00:19:37] - His view on API first companies and granular monetizable units in growing markets [00:23:20] - Developer facing tools and what works well when going to market  [00:27:12] - The difference between a front-end and back-end developer and what is changing in their responsibilities  [00:28:45] - What he looks for as an investor when he’s processing a new API first company [00:30:31] - Common redflags and disqualifying observations for an API first company  [00:36:35] - Frank Slootman Episode; Snowflake’s offering for their users, their explosive growth, and primitives in their sector [00:39:06] - The history of digital security and potential opportunities as an investor [00:40:19] - How digital infrastructure intersects with the real world and hardware world [00:43:33] - How to screen out people for their potential to deliver transformative technology [00:47:45] - Things he’s most intrigued about by cryptocurrencies as an infrastructure person [00:52:49] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Aswath Damodaran, a Professor of Finance at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Aswath is one of the clearest teachers of investing and finance in our industry and through his blog, books, and YouTube has open-sourced his wisdom for decades. This conversation is a masterclass of key investing concepts. We discuss inflation, narratives, disruption, the evolution of alpha and edge, and his thoughts on ESG. Please enjoy this great conversation with Aswath Damodaran.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:43] - [First question] - How he thinks about inflation as a now dominant force [00:04:33] - Why inflation is so important across the spectrum [00:09:02] - Big lessons from other periods of historically high inflation writ large [00:10:45] - Reasons why equities as an asset class struggle in high inflation environments [00:15:21] - The relationship betweens goods versus services in times of high inflation [00:16:59] - Broader economic implications especially for income inequality [00:19:03] - The Fed taking inflation seriously now when they didn’t and thoughts on the policy response to today’s situation [00:21:05] - How smart companies are defensively adjusting to inflation [00:27:46] - The importance of a capital allocation skill-set for executive team members [00:29:32] - Further historic lessons and how he’s being defensive against inflation [00:33:09] - Lessons learned about Amazon valuing them every year since their inception [00:42:25] - Whenever he sees Thanos in the Avengers he thinks of Amazon [00:44:51] - Thoughts on Facebook, Apple and Microsoft [00:48:26] - The evolution of edge and the search for alpha [00:54:37] - Whether or not there’s utility in studying other investors  [00:57:16] - Skill versus luck and the most common valuation mistakes he’s made [00:59:09] - Assuming long-term growth rates and changing company life cycles [01:02:02] - Momentum and Value investing in today’s market [01:07:24] - Differences between interest rates and discount rates in regards to inflation [01:12:00] - How today’s market affects early stage equity investment [01:14:36] - The growing popularity of ESG and his seemingly contrarian view on it [01:24:03] - Nature of disruption as a force and companies that are protected from it [01:28:24] - Assigning a disruption risk premium when valuing companies [01:32:52] - What he makes of Elon Musk buying Twitter [01:34:24] - Other major topics he has a divergent view on  [01:38:37] - Narrative And Numbers; The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him [01:38:55] - Teaching with a goal of changing mindsets  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are running a special episode of Business Breakdowns. With geopolitics playing an increasingly important role in society again, this episode with Anduril’s CEO offers an inside look at the state of the defense industry and how it is changing. If you enjoy this episode, subscribe to Business Breakdowns on your preferred podcast player, where you’ll find past episodes on Block, Goldman Sachs, AutoZone and many others.   Today, we are breaking down Anduril. Anduril builds high tech defense systems for the US Department of Defense and its allies. Crucially, it does so with speed that emanates from Silicon Valley. Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, who previously built and sold Oculus to Facebook, Anduril has achieved the rare feat of challenging the established order in the defense industry.   To break down Anduril, I’m joined by the company’s CEO and co-founder, Brian Schimpf. We discuss the history of the defense industry, how Anduril’s business is counter positioned against the legacy cost-plus model, and what Brian has learned about selling to the DoD. Please enjoy this breakdown of Anduril.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Daloopa. Daloopa streamlines a major pain point for investors. By capturing all of a company's KPIs and adjusted financials into their database - Daloopa makes it easy to quickly update your models for what matters. Daloopa uses AI to find every KPI disclosed - from charts, to text, and even from footnotes of investor presentations. Daloopa updates these KPIs and data points in your existing Excel models in one click, regardless of your source or format. Test Daloopa for free at daloopa.com/Patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss   Show Notes [00:02:52] - [First question] - The history of defense technology and the technological and competitive landscape when he set out to build Anduril [00:08:22] - What the early experience was like when approaching the government and finding an early adopter [00:12:44] - Necessity being the mother of invention when it came to developing drones [00:16:37] - What it’s like to develop hardware and software products at the same time  [00:24:44] - The state of military technology and military conflict today writ large [00:31:10] - Are we heading to a future where warfare is mostly machine against machine?  [00:33:34] - Comparing the ghost drone system to predator drones [00:38:40] - Guiding principles as a firm and deciding on their product roadmap [00:43:25] - An overview of their product lineup and what they’ve built so far  [00:51:56] - Most difficult decisions he’s had to make through Anduril’s history  [00:53:51] - How he overcame Anduril’s lowest points and biggest challenges  [00:58:38] - Thoughts on effectively compounding hardware innovation  [01:02:23] - A moment he’s most proud of and regrets most in Anduril’s history [01:04:20] - Lessons learned from observing Palantir and SpaceX  [01:08:37] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Tobi Lütke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify. Having first spoken to Tobi at the beginning of the pandemic, just two months into it, this felt an opportune moment to revisit Shopify and the world through Tobi’s eyes. Among many things, we discuss Shopify’s evolution into the world of atoms-based building through Shopify’s fulfillment network, the value of infrastructure writ large, and the impact of market volatility on day-to-day business building. Please enjoy my conversation with Tobi Lütke.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] - [First question] - His interest in infrastructure as a whole and why it’s underrated [00:07:18] - Whether or not we’re currently building enough digital infrastructure  [00:09:45] - Base level principles for decision making around building infrastructure  [00:13:17] - How much room is left for innovation and whether or not we’ll just reinvent basic human instincts [00:15:22] - Ways new ideas are fed into a product funnel at Shopify and greenlit [00:19:34] - Solving eCommerce infrastructure and what he attributes to Shopify’s success [00:24:23] - Overview of the Shopify Network and how it’s evolved over time  [00:31:04] - Lessons learned in an atom-driven world in regards to fulfillment and logistics [00:34:37] - Common ways bits thinkers are often wrong when solving atom problems [00:35:50] - Spreadsheets tend to win meetings and how the ROI on a fulfillment network impacts its ecosystem [00:40:26] - Navigating becoming an aggregator that sits on top of their merchants and whether or not there are plans to participate as a distributor [00:45:45] - Fair market value, what it’s been like managing through such a volatile market, and important takeaways [00:50:54] - Thoughts on capital allocation decisions as Shopify continues to grow [00:53:25] - Advice for company leaders effectively communicating with their teams about stock-based compensation  [00:59:04] - How much COVID altered their trajectory and what he’s most interested in as he looks out to the future [01:03:45] - What he’s learned about blockchains and the crypto space given recent events [01:08:45] - A new idea he’s encountered recently that he’s fallen in love with  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross. Tyler is an economics professor and creator of one of the most popular economics blogs on the internet. Daniel is the founder of start-up accelerator Pioneer, having previously been a director at Apple and a partner at Y Combinator. Both Daniel and Tyler are prolific talent spotters and that is the focus of our discussion and their new book, which is called Talent. Please enjoy this conversation with Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:38] - [First question] - Defining what talent is to them writ large [00:03:34] - The differences between means and ends in regards to talent [00:04:14] - What the Diet Coke idea is and why it’s relevant [00:06:32] - Types of energy that are valuable and the subtle differences between them  [00:07:40] - Thoughts on using a moneyball-like approach to acquiring and evaluating talent  [00:11:49] - The talent market and thinking about pricing talent specifically [00:13:14] - What is seemingly overpriced in today’s talent landscape [00:15:50] - Relationship between experience and/or age when it comes to talent [00:20:34] - Lessons about the utility of intelligence and where they’ve lead them wrong [00:23:35] - What’s beneath being an outsider and why it’s important [00:24:46] - Why what people do in their downtime is worth considering   [00:31:41] - Things to try and get out of a reference call as an objective [00:32:40] - Disabilities and what lead them write that chapter specifically [00:35:01] - Whether or not talented people are happier   [00:38:40] - Lack of contentment and it’s dynamic influence over individuals [00:41:01] - Where they think the other is most talented [00:43:33] - Thinking about the physical side of mental performance [00:45:49] - What was frustrating about writing the book [00:48:25] - How they evaluate talent most differently now after having finished the book [00:50:41] - What makes for a good bat signal and how to cast one well  [00:53:27] - Personality inventories and what they would and wouldn’t recommend   [00:54:15] - Geographical frictions and their role in high success rates [00:56:08] - Antonio Gracias; Existing supply constraints on talent development [01:00:01] - How they would redesign the current attractors of talent that we rely on today [01:01:18] - Assembly line development and how we can improve and scale talent filters [01:02:29] - The biggest open questions for talent today writ large [01:05:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Tyler Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jeff Jordan, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Jeff has one of the most interesting set of experiences of guests that I’ve had on the show. As an operator, he has been the General Manager of eBay.com, President of PayPal, and CEO of OpenTable. As an investor, he was one of the first General Partners at a16z and sits on the board of Airbnb, Instacart, Pinterest, and other notable firms. Given his vast experience, he is the firm’s go-to-expert on all things marketplaces, which is the common thread in our conversation. Please enjoy this great discussion with Jeff Jordan.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:48] - The notion of perfect competition in marketplaces [00:04:31] - How to build a marketplace while thinking about perfect competition [00:05:32] - Promoting price discovery at eBay [00:06:52] - Features of a marketplace he focuses on  [00:08:38] - Best way to do lead generation  [00:10:20] - Red flags for marketplace businesses  [00:11:00] - Major business lessons learned while at Disney  [00:12:10] - Learning to be an operator while at eBay; Leaving It All on the Field [00:14:45] - How he got hired at OpenTable [00:16:22] - Taking OpenTable public and being its first public company CEO [00:17:44] - What they did well in financing OpenTable [00:18:54] - Communications between company leaders and its investors  [00:19:45] - Going from operator to investor [00:22:08] - Lessons from the early years of becoming an investor and pricing companies [00:24:12] - Power of network effects on a startup [00:26:56] - Healthy tensions inside of a network [00:29:23] - When the supply side is the more difficult part of the equation [00:33:30] - The importance of being a perpetual learner as a founder [00:35:36] - When he starts focusing on unit economics and margin profile in a new marketplace [00:37:45] - Increasing convenience for a buyer as a business strategy  [00:42:14] - Categories that could use better marketplace solutions [00:44:36] - Layers of growth inside a business [00:50:26] - Lessons with the unique business model of Pinterest [00:52:03] - Unique aspects of the Andreessen Horowitz business model [00:55:54] - Finding and recruiting talented general partner investors  [00:57:37] - The morning basketball game and community strengthening [01:01:36] - Defining great mentor relationships [01:04:54] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him [01:06:05] - Lessons from his parents Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Eric Glyman, co-founder and CEO of Ramp. Ramp is best known for its corporate cards but it has a range of software products to help finance teams save money and time. Since its founding in 2019, the business has grown rapidly and was last valued at $8 billion. Eric and I discuss Ramp’s initial marketing wedge, how the business has dealt with such fast growth, and why they hold stablecoins on their balance sheet. Please enjoy my conversation with Eric Glyman.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:41] - [First question] - What was most notably awry about the industry before Ramp [00:04:45] - Breakdown of Visa; The business model of the Black Card compared to the business card offering of Ramp [00:08:40] - Causes and what he attributes their early success to [00:11:30] - Description of Ramp’s software in the beginning and the evolution of co-building it [00:16:34] - How he’s gone about building the company and team fast enough to handle their explosive growth curve [00:19:47] - Approaching all aspects of recruiting and acquiring such great talent [00:21:39] - Thoughts on the biggest mistake he’s made while building Ramp [00:24:05] - Lessons learned about marketing that this journey has taught him [00:26:13] - Learning to manage a senior team and advice for managing rapid growth [00:28:58] - Unique aspects of Ramp’s approach to the financing side  [00:32:56] - Why they are storing some of their balance sheet in stablecoins  [00:34:47] - What the idealized end state of Ramp looks like [00:37:26] - How the data and information he sees indicates trends in the economy writ large [00:39:33] - Providing secondary liquidity to employees in a world where companies stay private for longer periods of time [00:43:03] - Aspects of company building that are still unnecessarily hard [00:44:55] - What has him most excited about Ramp in the next 12-18 months [00:46:42] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Dmitry Balyasny. Dmitry is the Managing Partner and CIO of Balyasny Asset Management, otherwise known as BAM. BAM runs a multi-strategy, multi-PM model that aims to produce consistent absolute returns. Since its founding in 2001, it has produced only one negative year and become one of the largest firms of its kind. Please enjoy my conversation with Dmitry Balyasny.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:53] - [First question] - The origin story of his firm and the key stages of evolution [00:06:43] - Describing the difference between good and great in platform hedge funds  [00:10:25] - How a multi-strategy, multi-investor group works and managing capital allocation [00:13:58] - What he’s trying to solve at the end of the day as their CIO [00:16:21] - How close they are to their idealized end-state  [00:18:26] - Typical amounts of leverage associated with these types of models [00:20:22] - Lessons learned about incentivizing talented investors [00:22:39] - Ways he tends to attract risk takers and their levels of variance [00:28:15] - Other characteristics that are common amongst great PMs [00:30:42] - The nature and source of edge and how it’s changed most over time [00:33:19] - Some of the hardest portfolio and business decisions he’s had to make  [00:37:59] - One of his most important business decisions on the firm side [00:40:09] - How they’ve thought about shorting as a firm in general and more recently [00:43:52] - How interest rates affect this style of investing [00:45:29] - His view on the opportunity set in private markets and what does and doesn’t excite him about it [00:49:42] - How reading Ayn Rand most shaped his thinking [00:50:36] - Things Ayn most got right and most got wrong in his mind [00:51:24] - What the war in Ukraine has felt like for him as a Ukrainian-American [00:52:08] - Ways the future still has him excited as he continues to build his firm [00:53:53] - Where his trading instincts draw him today and areas of interest [00:55:11] - His most memorable trade of all time [00:56:37] - In which order the major asset classes will be affected by digital innovation [00:58:13] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Henry Ward, co-founder and CEO of Carta. Started in 2012, Carta helps companies and investors manage their cap tables, equity plans, and ownership. Last year, they launched CartaX, a platform for private companies and their employees to access secondary market liquidity. Our discussion is a detailed exploration of private market infrastructure and Henry’s views on building an enduring business. Please enjoy my conversation with Henry Ward.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:57] - [First question] - The first key mental moment of how Carta came to him [00:05:30] - Initial thoughts on how to position Carta as a business model [00:06:47] - Historical divergence between private and public market infrastructure [00:08:33] - What a price discovery process for primary shares could look like in the future [00:11:09] - The end state Carta is trying to effect in their perfect state [00:13:29] - Why it’s so hard for private company staff to manage their illiquid wealth [00:15:45] - Lessons and challenges in the new market creation business [00:17:57] - The nature and dynamics of supply and demand in this space [00:22:45] - How Carta is mapped onto the success of its customers [00:25:27] - Deciding on what is a good idea and what isn’t when it comes to focus [00:28:07] - Describing the One of N versus N of One market frameworks and principles of this philosophy that manifests in how he runs Carta [00:32:11] - How working at Carta would differ from a payroll-type company [00:35:37] - Characterizing his leadership and management styles [00:37:57] - The types of circumstances that bring out his tough side [00:39:33] - Making hard decisions in a bottom up management model  [00:44:05] - How he spends his time while building Carta [00:45:02] - What a great product looks like to him [00:47:10] - The Systems Bible; Defining what a great team looks like [00:49:13] - What he’s learned about being great at Go-To-Market [00:51:26] - Effective ways to beat competitors and build relationship pipelines [00:53:49] - Things he likes the least about leading a company of this size  [00:55:13] - What he fears most as he thinks about the future of Carta [00:55:45] - Advice for entrepreneurs when thinking about data in modern businesses [00:58:26] - The biggest missing pieces in capital market structure writ large [01:00:17] - What’s next for CartaX and what he’ll be pushing to make it work  [01:02:10] - Lessons learned from serving venture investors  [01:04:25] - Whether or not investment banks are their competitors [01:05:18] - Public market dislocation and how long it will last [01:06:58] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alexandr Wang, the CEO and founder of Scale AI. Alexandr founded Scale in 2016, having been inspired to accelerate the development of AI through his work at Quora and his studies at MIT. Specifically, Alexandr realized there was a lack of infrastructure solutions for producing high quality data, the lifeblood for AI models. Today, Scale provides data solutions to leading AI teams at Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Flexport, the US Air Force, and many others. This time last year, the business was valued at over $7 billion.    Our conversation is a primer on AI. We discuss the building blocks beneath successful artificial intelligence, AI’s role in both the public and private sector, and why data is the new code. We also cover the similarities and differences between AI and software from an investing perspective and what inspiration Scale takes from AWS. Please enjoy my great discussion with Alexandr Wang. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:04] - [First question] - The role that AI and data play in geopolitics and foreign policy [00:07:21] - The end state of a digital arms race akin to nuclear weapons [00:08:53] - Current state of things writ large and how the public and private sectors differ [00:11:33] - The flow and importance of talent when scaling AI and whether it’s more important than software  [00:14:29] - His thoughts on how to communicate categories of what AI can do well and what is still a ways out [00:20:18] - The process of creating an AI model and the stages of development [00:27:16] - Principles of building a great engine for gathering data [00:29:04] - The state of technology around annotating data writ large [00:31:31] - What Scale does as a business and their product lineup [00:35:08] - The Storage and Compute equivalents in the AI space [00:37:08] - How Scale fills the gap in producing better and cleaner data [00:39:52] - What Scale will look like in 10 years if their vision is fully realized [00:41:11] - Where AI is in the S curve of acceleration and where AI and software intersect [00:44:32] - Questions to ask about how to incorporate AI and data sets in your business [00:46:23] - What worries him about the proliferation of technology that makes AI more accessible to the masses [00:48:27] - The most interesting AI model he’s ever come across and collapsing the friction between human intent and programmable outcomes [00:51:51] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Antonio Gracias, founder, CIO, and CEO of Valor Equity Partners. Antonio is perhaps best known for his role at Tesla, as the earliest institutional investor and Director from 2007 to 2021. But he has deep operating and investing experience, having first acquired and managed a number of manufacturing and technology companies during his 20s. And it was during those formative years that Antonio and his team developed the skills that led to Valor, which provides operational expertise to the high growth private companies they invest in.   Our conversation is a deep exploration of the drivers behind Antonio and Valor’s success. We dive into his concept of pro-entropic investing, what he learned as a 25-year-old running a manufacturing business, and trust me when I say, you don't want to miss his answer to the kindest thing ever. Please enjoy this great conversation with Antonio Gracias.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:51] - [First question] - Defining what a pro-entropic company is [00:07:26] - Understanding external forces of chaos and why they’ll continue to increase [00:11:32] - What he’s learned about identifying and investing in pro-entropic companies [00:13:43] - Investing with entropy in mind can be a bet on unchanging aspects of human nature [00:15:08] - Defining durability in contrast with resiliency and entropy [00:18:53] - Coming from a traditional background and the origin of Valor [00:22:05] - The theory of constraints and why it’s so powerful; The Goal [00:26:32] - Transitioning into a private equity structure and Valor’s 2001-2005 era [00:42:02] - Decision making bias and combating bias effectively in practice  [00:44:30] - Where security and control figures into his thinking [00:45:45] - Identity in relation to ego; the tools he uses to combat identity related decisions [00:49:04] - Lessons learned from the Japanese language versus Western languages [00:53:07] - Questions he returns to when he’s getting to know a company [00:56:16] - An episode of operational deployment that most stands out in memory [00:58:54] - Key concepts that most stick with him from working alongside Elon Musk [01:01:32] - Why there aren’t more Musk’s or Bezos’ in the world [01:04:20] - Ensuring Valor invests in the best companies going forward [01:06:06] - How to pass the torch of what Valor is to others when his time is done [01:08:25] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group - one of the largest private equity firms in the world. David has worked in the White House, built a $300 billion investment institution, become a prominent philanthropist, published books, and even hosts his own TV show. It was a thrill to sit down with him and cover the whole spectrum of his experience as a father, investor, historian, and titan of American business. Please enjoy this great conversation with David Rubenstein.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:02] - [First question] - What his perspective on the world today is compared to the last forty years [00:05:35] - The long term implications of the Ukraine war on a global scale [00:07:54] - Concerns and thoughts on the US’s role in a radically different world [00:10:07] - How inflation and reduced globalization impacts business behavior in the US [00:14:11] - His method when interviewing people and how it’s changed over time [00:15:03] - How his interest in leadership as a topic began; How to Lead [00:17:55] - The time he was the most personally in awe of a leader [00:19:05] - The most basic ingredients for strong leadership [00:21:34] - Learning from Oprah and developing his own interviewing style [00:24:25] - His leadership style while running Carlyle and key variables that drove Carlyle’s success [00:28:41] - The ways that were most effective in terms of investment for Carlyle’s brand [00:29:50] - How should a new investor think about the relationship between government and business [00:32:17] - What he’s learned about leadership that he thinks is the most portable for other people [00:34:04] - His interest in masters of leadership and what he has learned from them [00:35:08] - How Carlyle retained their talent and building relationships with LP investors [00:37:20] - Lessons from working in media with what worked and what didn’t; How to Invest [00:38:55] - How he approached writing How to Invest [00:41:13] - The importance of intuition when evaluating backers and why geniuses aren’t always chosen [00:43:04] - Big aspects of American history and why he finds it so interesting; The American Story [00:44:17] - Key drivers of American outcomes and biggest areas for improvement [00:47:00] - Lessons he learned going from humble beginnings to amassing wealth and how he’s teaching his children about it [00:49:20] - The state of private equity and what are its best and highest functions today [00:51:03] - Experience and impressions on the emerging cryptosphere [00:52:25] - What makes for a good chairman and why he is always drawn to that role [00:53:42] - The most interesting system outside of the US that he’s observed [00:55:33] - What he has learned about being a giving pledge signer and philanthropy [00:57:02] - His interest in Monticello and the Magna Carta [00:59:13] - View on how speeches from leaders have changed over the years; Citizenship in a Republic [01:01:24] - What subject he would write his next book on [01:03:58] - Thoughts on the line between giving your life for your country versus your state [01:05:17] - The American Experiment [01:06:10] - Looking back on his career at a time where he felt the most alive [01:08:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Gaurav Kapadia, founder of investment firm XN. Gaurav is a veteran of the investing arena. We cover his lessons while rising to partner at TPG Axon, co-founding Soroban Capital, and his decision to launch XN in 2020. We then discuss his approach to building XN around a culture of rigor and kindness, the importance of relationships in investing, and finding investments that are obvious in retrospect. Please enjoy my great conversation with Gaurav Kapadia.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:05] - [First question] - What lead to kindness and rigor becoming pillars in XN’s company culture [00:05:30] - The types of situations where it’s hardest to be kind or rigorous  [00:07:58] - Asking one question that can stump a founder can be a display of rigor [00:08:58] - An example of looking at a situation and reducing the problem to a single variable [00:12:51] - How he trains investors and team members to consider outcomes that would be obvious in hindsight [00:14:28] - Developing the art of interacting with company management [00:17:54] - Dimensions that typically find their way into his presentations and what tends to create complexity  [00:21:13] - Whether or not rigor has declined in public markets over the years [00:21:55] - Why fewer talented people are going into public markets [00:23:01] - What it felt like when he first started XN and being successful at a young age  [00:28:58] - Being impressed with his peers and rooting for each other [00:30:33] - The nature of public versus private investing today writ large  [00:32:32] - How he gets to know a company when he’s never heard of them before [00:35:20] - Reasons he won’t invest from a personal policy standpoint [00:36:01] - Common problems he encounters that companies are dealing with [00:37:32] - Defining the strike zone of companies to invest in where he can be best-in-class [00:39:10] - The insane valuations of public markets in recent years especially in tech [00:40:42] - Why there are so few great businesses and common attributes of the great ones [00:44:12] - Biggest problems in the investment industry writ large   [00:45:48] - The most remarkable business he’s ever seen   [00:49:22] - How he would teach investors to deploy XN’s operating partner model [00:51:32] - His perspective and thoughts on diversity in the investing industry [00:56:58] - A business or institution he would own outright personally  [00:57:37] - What outside of investing most has his attention lately [00:59:50] - Key touchpoints of coming from Queens and going to Hunter [01:02:15] - What stands out looking back on his relationship with his parents and how hard they worked to build a better life for their family [01:04:10] - Two things that manifest in a system that is seemingly rigged towards the wealthy and the problem with generational wealth [01:05:29] - What has him most excited and optimistic about the future in the investing landscape today [01:08:16] - Investing mentors deserve gratitude for believing in their pupils [01:09:12] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Marko Papic, partner and chief strategist at Clocktower Group, where he leads the firm’s research on macroeconomics and markets. Marko has spent his career at the intersection of finance and geopolitics, making him a perfect person to speak to about current events in Ukraine and their potential impact further afield. Along with Russia and Ukraine, we discuss the Fed, inflation, China, the green energy transition, and the US’s position in the global order. Please enjoy this discussion with Marko Papic.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:48] - [First question] - His thoughts on what’s happened so far between Russia and Ukraine [00:06:18] - The geopolitical motivations for Russia and what they can gain from the conflict  [00:10:52] - How his impressions of warfare have evolved watching this play out [00:13:45] - What to consider about nuclear war and different types of nuclear weapons [00:16:31] - The economic warfare from the West against Russia and its implications [00:21:06] - Whether or not the world is de-globalizing and how interconnected we all are [00:24:45] - How we should view post-covid inflation, specifically in the US [00:30:34] - The ways the Fed’s role has evolved  [00:33:25] - Impacts of liquidity on asset prices and why it’s such a key factor in markets [00:34:16] - China’s positioning and how the Ukraine conflict could alter their plans [00:40:58] - Thoughts on Taiwan and how global supply chains might change [00:44:47] - Why so few people believe that China has peaked; Young China  [00:48:52] - His take on income equality in the US and why it’s the number one issue [00:53:03] - What the US could do to improve itself as a country most going forward [00:55:35] - Having a green energy transition view is crucial and the surrounding politics [00:59:22] - The preconditions for doing well in atoms-based innovation [01:01:13] - What he’s watching most carefully about the conflict in Ukraine [01:02:51] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Garry Tan, founder and managing partner of early-stage venture firm, Initialized Capital. Before starting Initialized, Garry was a partner at Y Combinator, employee number 10 at Palantir, and co-founder of YC backed blog platform Posterous. Our discussion covers what’s missing in the investment world, how to best systematize venture investments, and what he learned from Paul Graham. Please enjoy my conversation with Garry Tan.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - Why he’s interested by software and the global brain [00:06:23] - How the shift from global to local manifests in his investing and company activities [00:11:42] - Ways to increase throughput that would benefit everybody in the investing world  [00:17:13] - What software he would build if there were no limitations and what happens at the systems level of securing deals at Initialize  [00:23:33] - Why there is no objective application process for early-stage capital and how much human judgment we can remove from approving funding [00:26:49] - Shared characteristics amongst new inventions he finds favorable  [00:31:49] - Whether he’s able to evaluate an idea without a prototype [00:33:33] - Why travel planning software was the worst idea of 2012 and what he sees as the bad idea of today [00:36:06] - The most common reasons for failure in these types of businesses [00:39:07] - Is big enabling technology shifts what manifests in successful outcomes? [00:40:37] - The role of media and how it intersects with investing [00:44:29] - What he attributes to the success of his firm and thriving in chaos [00:48:11] - Would he press a button that would have made his childhood easy, and whether he’s met founders who haven’t come across adversity in their lives  [00:50:00] - His thoughts on the world today via the lens of his portfolio [00:53:12] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Eric Mandelblatt, founder and CIO of Soroban Capital, a $10 billion investment firm. While many of my conversations focus on technology and emerging industries, Eric has deep roots investing in the industrial economy, which made this conversation a fun change of pace. We discuss why energy and materials represent such a small share of the market today, how the global push towards decarbonization could have massive impacts on the industrial economy moving forward, and how Eric evaluates this dynamic opportunity set. Please enjoy this deep-dive discussion with Eric Mandelblatt.   Editor’s note: This conversation was recorded on February 15, before last week's invasion of Ukraine.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:01] - [First question] - Soroban’s history and why Eric is qualified to discuss industrial and commodity sectors [00:04:37] - Overview of what their portfolio looks like today [00:05:49] - How much of the commodity exposed equity sectors are owned by hedge funds [00:08:03] - The key history points that makes industrials more interesting today [00:11:17] - Commodity cycles, what drives them, the role CAPEX plays and how this world works [00:17:38] - Thoughts on natural demand and the societal push towards decarbonization [00:22:32] - How deeply one needs to know commodities in order to hold them [00:23:57] - Big categories to explore as decarbonization becomes more accessible to consumers and the lack of nuclear investing [00:28:50] - The resurgence of industrial production in the US [00:32:21] - Rail networks writ large and if we can expect new ones in the future [00:36:17] - The market gap between rail and technology businesses [00:41:38] - Commodities and the ways they differ from railroads  [00:43:47] - Comparing the differences between businesses within the commodity industry [00:46:52] - Walkthrough of Alcoa’s business and how things like a carbon tax might affect an individual business [00:52:55] - What is the portfolio manifestation of the fact it's impossible to forecast commodities historically [00:56:08] - His view of the world in its current state and big things that matter [01:00:25] - Thoughts on inflation as an investor in the commodity space [01:01:42] - Utopian to dystopian takes on what growth looks like for the world [01:04:28] - Juxtaposed positions in big tech against the industrial story [01:08:45] - The kindest thing someone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Sebastian Kanovich, CEO of payments company dLocal. Sebastian founded dLocal in 2016 to bridge the infrastructure gap between payments in developed and emerging markets. Since then, the initially bootstrapped start-up has enabled global merchants like Uber, Spotify, and Google to service billions of emerging market users. And in doing so, dLocal has created $10bn of equity market value, having IPOd last year. Our discussion covers dLocal’s playbook for facilitating payments in emerging countries, what Sebastian has learned about great API building, and how he challenges himself to improve personally. Please enjoy my conversation with Sebastian Kanovich.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Pilot. Pilot handles your startup’s finance, accounting, and tax prep needs, so you can focus on what matters most—building your business. Join over 1,000 startups that rely on Pilot to help them scale. Founder’s Field Guide listeners get 20% off their first six months. Get in touch with Pilot at https://pilot.com/founders.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:13] - [First question] - His take on global payments, what is interesting about this system today, and dLocal’s role within it [00:04:06] - Approaching a country that could benefit from low-friction payments and the playbook for helping them improve their system [00:06:10] - Differences between being an API business versus a protocol one [00:07:13] - What companies handle these systems outside of emerging markets and why they haven’t entered the emerging market space [00:08:59] - A specific example of the steps involved in getting a country integrated into global payments for an app or service provider [00:11:22] - Whether or not they interact with consumers [00:12:09] - The trading and foreign exchange component of global transactions [00:13:16] - Country specific product teams and consolidating their process [00:14:52] - What he would look for in early-stage payment companies to invest in [00:16:23] - Defining excellent when it comes to working with regulators and regulatory environments [00:17:53] - Their role in digital globalization and trends that might arise in the future [00:19:52] - Ways that low-friction payments have helped accelerate regional innovation [00:21:31] - The unit economics and costs of a single payment  [00:24:05] - What the source of cost is to process a payment or transaction [00:25:10] - Variables in currencies that make them desirable to work with [00:26:38] - Lessons learned from distribution and customer acquisition of their service [00:29:23] - Advice he would give to developers building API products [00:31:16] - An example of wanting to build a function into an API that was never built [00:32:40] - How they’ve been able to move and scale so fast [00:34:23] - Ways their business could most improve [00:35:14] - The operating system he uses to run the company [00:36:38] - Ways he’s most improved or gotten better as a CEO over the years [00:37:58] - Why deep humility is such an integral part of his character  [00:38:30] - The biggest mistake they’ve ever made as a business and what they learned  [00:39:20] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Frank Slootman, Chairman and CEO of cloud platform Snowflake. Frank has become one of the most revered CEOs in business. Over the past twenty years, he has three times taken over emerging enterprise software businesses – first Data Domain, then ServiceNow, and most recently Snowflake - and led them across the chasm into large, billion-dollar businesses. Please enjoy this great discussion with Frank Slootman.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best in class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more. -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:33] - [First question] - How he evaluates the team of a company he’s working with [00:04:48] - The pace of decisions made around changing team members  [00:06:10] - Understanding the potential quality of outside leaders being brought into the company [00:08:13] - How he characterizes great and constructive confrontation [00:09:53] - What he’s found to be most effective in convincing senior talent to join a team [00:11:36] - Ways he personally generates energy to sustain himself in this pace of business [00:14:17] - How he fosters and nurtures healthy communication pathways [00:15:36] - Narrowing the focus when evaluating a new product [00:17:58] - Is it possible for a focus to be too narrow? [00:19:31] - An example of a dazzling customer that he’s worked with  [00:21:04] - Working backwards from a problem and building something that solves it [00:23:03] - Building trust between a company and its customers over time [00:25:37] - Overview of the base layer ingredients of trust [00:28:12] - Sequential versus parallel processing and how they affect building trust [00:30:22] - Lessons in successfully translating between engineers and business people [00:32:58] - Crossing the chasm and effective sales organizations [00:35:17] - Working compensation into getting more out of an organization [00:38:45] - How much a sales organization needs to work backwards to serve their product [00:41:40] - Great questions for board members to ask their executive team [00:46:07] - Where the analogy of ‘business as war’ falls down and defining the highlander concept  [00:48:01] - What he feels he could still hone in his skillset  [00:49:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Tim Flannery, co-founder of venture fund administrator Passthrough. Passthrough is removing friction from the manual, time-consuming fundraising process by making investor onboarding as simple and automatic as possible. Their software helps investors fill out subscription documents in minutes rather than hours and allows GPs to easily track LP subscriptions during a fundraise.   In our conversation, we discuss the power of identity as a feature to build products around, the double-edged sword of solving an unsexy problem, and how Passthrough has thought about pricing their software. Please enjoy my conversation with Tim Flannery.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Pilot. Pilot handles your startup’s finance, accounting, and tax prep needs so you can focus on what matters most — building your business. Join over 1,000 startups that rely on Pilot to help them scale. Founder’s Field Guide listeners get 20% off their first six months. Get in touch with Pilot at https://pilot.com/founders.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:08] - [First question] - The push and pull nature of what Passthrough is trying to solve [00:04:17] - What the idealized end state 10 years from now looks like [00:07:33] - A history of friction in investing and what barriers still remain today [00:12:35] - The spark of insight that led to starting this new venture [00:17:45] - Lessons learned from Okta and why identity is so powerful [00:19:39] - Plans to expand this concept deeper into the tech stack [00:22:24] - Adjacent problems that they plan to tackle as they continue to scale [00:24:30] - What it feels like to use their product as an LP today [00:26:10] - Working with service providers without becoming one [00:28:06] - What great sales and distribution looks like to him at the infrastructure level  [00:31:50] - Defining what “bring your collaborators” means  [00:33:19] - His secret to recruiting talent to help solve an unsexy problem [00:37:46] - His love for the intersection between process, pipelines, and efficiency  [00:40:12] - Having a process for designing processes [00:42:11] - How they arrived at their pricing and thoughtful pricing in software [00:45:08] - Lessons from building Passthrough that other builders could benefit from  [00:47:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is IAC’s CEO, Joey Levin. IAC is a unique business in that it’s a holding company which builds world-class digital businesses. Since Barry Diller created IAC over two decades ago, it has produced 11 public companies, including Match Group, Expedia, and Live Nation. Today, the business is comprised of category-leaders like Angi, Dotdash Meredith, and Care.com.   Joey joined IAC in 2003 and became CEO in 2015. We talk about why he tries to avoid centralization between businesses, what he's learned from Barry Diller, how he approaches capital allocation, and so much more. This conversation serves as an excellent reminder that there’s no formula to company building. Everything is idiosyncratic and requires its own best decisions. Please enjoy this great discussion with Joey Levin.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:05] - [First question] - The unique nature of IAC; the business of building businesses [00:05:27] - The first business spun out of IAC and its bottom-up philosophy [00:06:41] - The differences of IAC and how they manifest  [00:09:39] - Agility and history of respecting the core functions of the internet [00:12:36] - Simplified, faster, and larger choice digital experiences [00:15:57] - His thoughts on the shared characteristics amongst their winners  [00:18:26] - Lessons from building competitive products in online dating simultaneously [00:21:37] - Navigating customer acquisition cost and embracing change [00:24:04] - What makes someone great at customer acquisition  [00:26:26] - Fostering a unique approach compared to typical customer funnels [00:27:48] - What most explains his move from a pip-squeak to CEO [00:29:44] - The process he uses to get to know the critical aspects of a new business [00:31:59] - Indications that a leader may no longer be suited to run a business [00:33:13] - Characteristics of vertical markets that he finds attractive to get involved in [00:34:08] - The early stages of incubating a new business and an overview of their process [00:38:10] - Enabling new consumer experiences and infrastructure fading away [00:40:17] - Distilling big ideas down to streamlined approachable consumer products  [00:42:22] - High-level internal conversations around capital allocation [00:45:06] - Quantitative versus qualitative analysis in their decision-making process [00:46:50] - What idea felt the most right but turned out to be a disaster [00:51:26] - Brand rollup versus brand consolidation and when either strategy is appropriate [00:54:03] - Having a good sense of identifying, defining, and positioning categories [00:56:23] - Which aspects of his perspectives have shifted since becoming CEO [00:57:59] - Thoughts on the toolkit available for sourcing and the cost of capital [01:01:08] - What personally brings him the most joy in what he does [01:02:37] - Working with Barry Diller and what it taught him [01:06:39] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Peter Chernin, who’s had a Hall of Fame career in the entertainment business. Peter ran News Corp and Fox for fifteen years between 1996 and 2009 before co-founding The Chernin Group, which has become one of the leading investment firms in the consumer space. Along the way, he has also produced a number of blockbuster films, including Titanic, Avatar, The Greatest Showman, and The Planet of the Apes Trilogy. Please enjoy this wonderful discussion with Peter Chernin.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've ever used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. Using Levels made me realize how little we understand about what's happening in our bodies. And it was the only product that ever made me willing to log food. If you want early access to become a Member of their private Beta, (the waitlist is currently at 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:06] - [First question] - Business and investing lessons from producing Titanic and Avatar [00:06:44] - Defining great content and why James Cameron’s franchises have done so well [00:10:26] - Contributing factors to box-office domination of pre-existing franchises [00:12:56] - Tailwinds in his earlier career and identifying them in time to get behind change [00:16:07] - Identifying Showcase was a subscription business early on, unlike broadcast businesses [00:19:40] - Signals of passion and how powerful niche audiences can be  [00:23:24] - What a phony aggregator is and the slow dissolution of the middle market [00:27:01] - The era of unbundling and direct relationships with superfans [00:30:27] - Lessons learned from building Hulu [00:34:29] - Working with Rupert Murdoch and qualities that separate him from the crowd [00:37:07] - Defining what bravery means in a businesses sense [00:39:22] - A movie he’s made in the past decade that he’s most proud of [00:43:27] - The keys to being an effective partner to creative individuals [00:49:53] - What exists today that may change the future landscape of media writ large [00:52:19] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is entrepreneur and investor, John Pfeffer. John was a partner at private equity firm KKR in the 2000s, Chairman of leading French IT company Groupe Allium in the 90s, and now invests his own money through his private family office, Pfeffer Capital. John is one of the smartest investors I know, and our conversation spans all of John’s experience and investment ideas. We discuss the difference between value creation and wealth creation, why John has made such a big bet on one asset, and why adaptation is more important than ever. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:08] - [First question] - John’s background and the experiences that shaped his worldview and sparked his curiosity [00:07:34] - Aspiring to grow with a lack of inertia  [00:10:31] - Why he invests primarily in technology and technology dependant businesses [00:15:22] - What it’s felt like being a tech investor from 2011 leading up to today [00:19:26] - How he defines good and bad business [00:21:24] - Why good businesses don’t often have technology disruption risks [00:22:26] - An (Institutional) Investor’s Take on Cryptoassets; key points from his paper [00:35:28] - What else is interesting in the crypto space and potentially strong business models that exist outside of Bitcoin  [00:48:46] - How capital has changed over time and what makes capital efficiency or formation superior [00:51:51] - Value creation and why a shift in value can affect your returns [01:01:12] - Whether or not crypto and the founding protocols will fade out of the public eye [01:11:52] - A consensus on store of value in crypto and how it could change [01:18:03] - Why he is so heavily allocated to Bitcoin compared to other tokens [01:25:19] - General take on the nature of buying and selling capital and European markets [01:35:28] - The interconnectedness of the globe and the future of globalism [01:39:46] - Why he doesn’t ask people where they’re from and how he prefers to get to know people that can sometimes be unorthodox [01:41:59] - Market index investing and why it may not be the best strategy going forward [01:47:36] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is the renowned tech author, consultant, and venture partner at Wildcat Ventures, Geoffrey Moore. Geoffrey has spent his career focused on the dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations and his book, Crossing the Chasm, has become a canonical work for young businesses trying to unlock mainstream markets.   This discussion is a masterclass on business strategy. We start with Geoffrey’s more recent work on category-defining businesses, break down his life cycle of adoption framework, and close with the ways messaging should change as a company evolves. Please enjoy this great discussion with Geoffrey Moore.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:08] - [First question] - What he means by a gorilla business [00:07:10] - An example of how companies self-organize into gorillas, chimps, and monkeys [00:09:41] - Why architecture is so important and how it applies to company building  [00:13:11] - How and when businesses should think about open and closed systems [00:14:50] - Ways in which enabling tech companies are superior to application ones [00:16:39] - Thoughts on approaching and hiring a singular use case company  [00:18:23] - Markets underestimate competitive advantage periods for technological gorillas [00:20:38] - The inertia and duration of being the creator of a space’s architecture [00:23:28] - Advice for early-stage companies when creating or dominating categories  [00:25:16] - What he’s learned about identifying trapped value  [00:26:49] - Questions that can identify trapped value, factoring for time, and horizontal uses [00:41:49] - Problems with risk exposure in B2B and applying this model for value creation [00:33:37] - His initial discovery of the life cycles of adoption and its five categories [00:39:29] - Perspective on venture capital funding and going from idea to the chasm [00:44:10] - What good pragmatists in pain look like  [00:47:29] - Successful vertical uses-case sales motions [00:50:03] - Guarding from becoming over-specialized in a singular focused effort [00:50:52] - The Diffusion of Innovations; Ways messages work their way through a company to keep up with category evolution  [00:55:00] - How extensible these ideas are to non-technology businesses [00:56:04] - The race between innovation and distribution  [00:56:44] - What about the world today has changed or influenced his thinking [00:59:17] - Ways big companies can stay competitive in emerging categories [01:02:23] - The company he’s most enjoyed studying over his career  [01:05:25] - Shared characteristics of exceptional leaders he’s met and talked to [01:07:48] - The Gorilla Game, Crossing the Chasm [01:08:14] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is past guest Gavin Baker, managing partner and CIO of Atreides Management. Gavin’s focus is on consumer and tech growth investing, which makes him the perfect person to discuss the bloodbath we’ve seen in many growth equities over the past few months. We also cover inflation, semiconductors, and the disconnect between private and public markets. Please enjoy this conversation with the always great Gavin Baker.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:30] - [First question] - What it’s been like investing over the pandemic  [00:06:14] - The way he thinks about multiples, how they’ve done, and where they’re going [00:09:14] - Themes that most have his attention in our current economic landscape [00:19:25] - The ways in which wage inflation negatively impacts the market [00:25:39] - How semiconductors have evolved and what matters in that subsector [00:32:47] - Software volatility and the roller coaster it's been on lately [00:35:52] - A future state where infrastructure overtakes apps  [00:41:03] - Key differences between internet and software and how they behave [00:43:44] - The coming trend of the metaverse and his reaction to public adoption [00:49:26] - Investor and business opportunities in adopting tech trends [00:53:54] - An unfolding mismatch between private and public market multiples [00:57:17] - How the competitive landscape of venture capital might evolve [01:05:54] - Differences in recruiting and training talent in private and public markets [01:10:20] - Sci-Fi novels that he’s read recently; Dune, A Wizard of Earthsea, Culture, Hyperion  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, my guests are Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, general partners at venture fund, Galaxy Interactive. Having come from the media and finance sectors, respectively, Sam and Richard joined forces in 2018 to invest in their shared thesis that immersive digital experiences would become the dominant way people engage with each other in the future.   Our conversation centers around the evolution of art, finance, and gaming as they proliferate in Web3. Please enjoy my conversation with Sam and Richard.     For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've ever used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. If you want early access to become a Member of their private Beta, (the waitlist is currently at 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK   ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:50] - [First question] - Their thoughts on the digital art market [00:11:33] - What motivates traditional art collectors and what has been carried over into digital art [00:17:27] - Is there an attractive beta opportunity in the digital art space? [00:24:32] - Why investors should do more work understanding NFTs and ways to consider incorporating them into your portfolio [00:27:55] - The history of Galaxy and their thesis writ large  [00:33:09] - Exciting and terrifying aspects of the financialization of everything [00:37:27] - Places where inserting markets could be beneficial with Web3 [00:45:27] - Their perspectives on gaming as a subcategory of Web3 [00:51:38] - Tokenomics and the importance of building great game communities [00:59:18] - What we can learn from successful gaming companies and in-game monetization [01:04:19] - How Diablo 3’s auction house detracted from the core player experience [01:06:36] - Where they disagree with the Web3 investing community [01:10:37] - The kindest things anyone has ever done for them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Ricky Sandler, founder of Eminence Capital. Ricky is a hedge fund veteran managing over $8bn of assets across Eminence's strategies. We cover Ricky's evolution as an active investor, why he thinks this is a stock-picker's environment, and what keeps him competitive after a long and successful career. Please enjoy my conversation with Ricky Sandler.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by: Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. Using Levels made me realize how little we understand about what's happening in our bodies - and it was the only product that has ever made me willing to log food. If you want early access to become a member of their private beta, (the waitlist is currently at 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:42] - [First question] Whether or not great investment firms should be led by a single investor [00:03:25] - Episodes where singular investment power has proven effective and powerful [00:05:06] - Where he finds joy in the investing process on a regular basis [00:06:19] - Ways he’s learned to become better at guiding and helping teams he works with [00:08:14] - The most common types of fool's gold he comes across [00:11:00] - Evolution of the pricing mechanisms in ever-evolving markets [00:16:14] - Common features of a good mispricing opportunity [00:18:42] - How he interacts with other hedge funds and long-only investors [00:21:14] - An investor he often disagrees with but loves talking to  [00:22:13] - The investment he’s most proud of historically [00:25:11] - What the healthy draw that keeps him coming back to investing is [00:28:31] - His opinion on crossover funds and their growing popularity [00:32:09] - What the world in 2022 looks like to him and what both excites and worries him [00:38:19] - Key contributors that influence liquidity and how it flows into equity prices [00:41:26] - A macro view of the healthcare sector and why it’s so interesting today [00:42:59] - Lessons from the Titans [00:43:52] - Advice he’d give to younger investors for stepping into the space  [00:46:45] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Orlando Bravo, co-founder and Managing Partner of leading private equity firm, Thoma Bravo. Thoma Bravo manages over $90bn of assets and is best known for investing in software and technology businesses. It was Orlando who led the firm’s early entry into software buyouts some twenty years ago, and he has overseen more than 350 software acquisitions since. There are few, if any, people better placed to discuss private equity and software investing. Please enjoy this excellent discussion with Orlando Bravo.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:36] - [First question] - His belief about an opportunity/capital mismatch in private equity [00:04:26] - Adjusting his own approach to take advantage of seemingly niche opportunities [00:06:13] - Differences between software businesses they invest in versus traditional ones [00:08:25] - Outline of how he runs their four-hour portfolio meetings [00:09:53] - Overview of the very first deal he ever made in the software sector [00:14:01] - The dissonance between the average SaaS company and the ones they try to manage [00:18:22] - Major contributors that allow for their higher margins [00:20:16] - Common mistakes of companies that mis-invest capital for growth only [00:22:28] - Defining what market leader means writ large [00:23:45] - Why the subsector of cyber security is such a good opportunity set [00:26:25] - The evolving nature of the private equity world in general [00:28:41] - Where returns will come from going forward [00:31:47] - How good the opportunity for returns in this style of investing today is [00:35:32] - Lessons learned on knowing when to exit or sell a position [00:37:59] - How short their holding periods can be and how much influence they can have in such a short time [00:40:04] - Surprising things about deal-making that he’s learned over his career [00:41:20] - Difficulties and points of frictions in deals that still exist for him today [00:43:11] - What part of the deal-making process he loves the most [00:44:30] - If your job title has a C in it you’re not allowed to complain about it [00:46:27] - Deeply held beliefs about operating excellence [00:47:33] - What the word service means to him given everything we’ve talked about  [00:50:27] - How we do a better job of inviting talent into this space [00:52:51] - How decentralization will define the 2020s and beyond [00:55:48] - What is most interesting about Web3 that might affect cyber security [00:57:42] - Where there is a lack in innovation in private equity today [01:00:45] - Advice for young talent for building their careers [01:03:16] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Nick Saltarelli, co-founder of the functional chocolate bar business, Mid-Day Squares. Nick started the company with his wife and brother-in-law a few years ago to build on a simple idea: if the big chocolate bar brands were to start today, what would they look like?   In our conversation, we discuss the importance of Mid-Day Squares’ $100 million revenue target, what’s wrong with the CPG industry today, and how to keep a long-term mindset while making the most of every day. Please enjoy this unique conversation with Nick Saltarelli.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Pilot. Pilot handles your startup’s finance, accounting, and tax prep needs, so you can focus on what matters most—building your business. Join over 1,000 startups that rely on Pilot to help them scale. Founder’s Field Guide listeners get 20% off their first six months. Get in touch with Pilot at https://pilot.com/founders.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:01] - [First question] - What Mid-Day Squares is and how he started the business [00:04:48] - Why they’re so publicly open about their company’s goals [00:09:05] - Major lessons he learned from his father’s early passing and being around very successful entrepreneurs at a young age  [00:16:51] - What long term thinking unlocks for him in short term progress [00:21:05] - Becoming unexpectedly close and learning from Rory Olson  [00:25:44] - What Rory taught him about deal-making [00:28:35] - Lessons from Rory about raising capital [00:33:25] - Opportunities in a seemingly oversaturated market like chocolate [00:42:46] - An example of doing something contrarian that worked out [00:47:11] - Their unique approach to marketing Mid-Day Squares [00:57:33] - Lessons learned about building a manufacturing operation after years in China [01:02:35] - What we can expect from Mid-Day Squares in the near future [01:06:59] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him [01:08:05] - Mid-Day Squares Uncensored Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jenny Johnson, President and CEO of one of the world’s largest asset managers, Franklin Templeton. Jenny joined the business in 1988 and has worked in the organization ever since. In early 2020 she became CEO of Franklin, which now manages some $1.5 trillion. I should, of course, note that I met Jenny as our two firms explored a partnership, which we cemented 3 months ago when we announced that Franklin Templeton would be acquiring O'Shaughnessy Asset Management.   During our conversation, we discuss Jenny’s thoughts on leadership, how she manages the needle-moving problem that afflicts many large companies, and the ways in which she sees private markets becoming more accessible to retail investors in the future. Please enjoy this great conversation with Jenny Johnson.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:19] - [First question] - The four P’s of leadership and what she thinks are the most important roles of a CEO  [00:06:00] - The difficulty of finding and recruiting great people and keeping them invested  [00:07:18] - Things she looks for in her senior leadership team [00:07:59] - Knowing when to be more or less involved as a leader [00:09:30] - Her takeaways from working in a family-owned business [00:11:20] - Advice she’d give to families who are building businesses together [00:12:06] - Thoughts on the role technology will play in the asset management industry [00:16:13] - Costs and frictions that blockchains could alleviate [00:18:17] - General views on disruption and considering ones position when thinking about the future [00:20:09] - Knowing when to start a project internally or acquire an existing project [00:23:10] - The hardest things about effective M&A decisions [00:23:42] - Overseeing a hybrid model of singular focus between multiple investment groups [00:28:26] - The pros and cons of active management against passive adoption [00:31:15] - Costs and fees in the industry and how they might change in the future  [00:33:04] - Talking to clients when they don’t have one specific view on strategy [00:36:10] - Formative experiences in her career that has shaped her worldview [00:38:34] - Managing emotions through seemingly chaotic situations [00:39:13] - The impacts on psychology when being a top performer and an average one [00:41:15] - Managing and adapting strategy when faced with highs and lows  [00:42:55] - Acquiring alternative managers and defining what alternative assets are [00:46:26] - Relevant trends on how capital is pooled and their client base over time [00:47:52] - What is under-discussed in the world of asset management today writ large [00:49:01] - Other leaders she’s met or knows that have had her in awe [00:50:30] - What about Cathie Wood has made her story and approach so successful [00:51:38] - How she runs a great board meeting and ways to improve meetings themselves  [00:53:34] - Lessons learned about time management as the leader of a public company [00:54:52] - What purpose means to her  [00:56:18] - Ways we can incentivize young and new people to start investing [00:59:10] - Her favorite things that her dad has taught her and how she’d describe him  [01:00:57] - What has her most excited about the future   [01:01:34] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Doug Colkitt. Doug has spent his career searching for and trading inefficient markets, first at Citadel’s high-frequency trading group, then for himself, and then as an operator building CrocSwap - a decentralized exchange or DEX designed to bring modern functionality to crypto markets, which is closer to what large traders have come to expect from a modern electronic market like the NASDAQ.    My interest in market infrastructure has continued to grow since my great conversation with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. So my conversation with Doug covers the evolution of market and trading infrastructure. We unpack the trading stack as it exists today, dive into DeFi’s innovations, and explore the new category of single contract DEXs that Doug is creating. After learning so much from Doug about how markets function and how crypto markets should function, I became an investor in his new business via my venture capital firm Positive Sum. Please enjoy this great conversation with Doug Colkitt.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:31] - [First question] - Doug’s career and history working with markets [00:08:55] - Defining what a trading stack is  [00:13:41] - How HFT firms are such reliable money-making models [00:16:27] - What’s at the cutting edge of traditional markets that provides an edge [00:18:45] - The mechanical parts of infrastructure involved in building an exchange [00:21:00] - Classes of data that matter for operating an exchange [00:22:11] - Capacity and what good returns are as an HFT firm [00:28:45] - Overview of the mechanics of an AMM [00:31:53] - Earning a yield as a liquidity provider [00:33:59] - Other ways to think about AMMs and liquidity providers [00:36:42] - Key players in the AMM space and the evolution of them [00:41:20] - How asset holders can approach DEX tools and be liquidity providers [00:42:55] - The function of an exchange’s native token [00:45:25] - Token distribution and how to earn them without buying them [00:48:31] - How you receive payment for providing liquidity [00:51:31] - What CrocSwap will do and what a single contract DEX unlocks [00:57:36] - How CrocSwap is able to do this when other exchanges can’t [00:59:27] - What single contracts will improve for users  [01:00:43] - The impact CrocSwap will have for all participants writ large [01:02:28] - Whether or not CrocSwap will cultivate an ecosystem [01:03:30] - What’s next for CrocSwap in the near future [01:04:58] - The promise of DeFi and the future of blockchain technology [01:07:04] - Whether or not DeFi is a threat to centralized exchanges [01:09:52] - Defining what MEV is and why it’s important for DeFi [01:13:04] - Missing pieces in the DeFi world and how we can address them [01:15:24] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Philip Rosedale and Bill Gurley. Philip created Second Life in the early 2000s and helped build it into the largest virtual 3D world ever created at the time. Frequent listeners will recognize Bill, who was an investor in Second Life via Benchmark Capital. During the conversation, we cover the fascinating story of Second Life and the billion-dollar economy that persists through to this day. Bill and Phillip share their key learnings from the experience, including the importance of usability, their views of the current metaverse opportunity, and what excites them most about the current focus on virtual realities. If you’re curious about what the metaverse might become, these two experts have seen much of this already and are kind to share their lessons with us. Please enjoy my conversation with Phillip and Bill.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:22] - [First question] - The origin story of Second Life and why they created it [00:05:38] - How many people were playing Second Life at its peak, the in-game economy and its growth trajectory [00:06:49] - The interface between the in-game currency and its function for players [00:10:53] - An example of early entrepreneurship and user-created IP in Second Life [00:12:13] - Was technology a rate limiter to success in such an early version of the metaverse? [00:14:35] - What was most exciting about creating it and it’s early-stage potential [00:18:23] - Why Unity isn’t more adopted by creators and players like Minecraft [00:24:42] - Defining what the metaverse means to each of them today  [00:28:50] - What Discord has taught them about aggregating people digitally [00:33:02] - Simultaneously crossing the digital chasm and the uncanny valley  [00:38:16] - Key differences between games and platforms and the role of purpose [00:42:04] - Why cryptocurrencies and blockchains haven’t produced experiences akin to the virtual Travis Scott concert [00:47:13] - Why removing friction and centralizing financial structures can help growth and thoughts on play to earn gaming and user spending [00:53:27] - Digital asset ownership and digital trustless exchanges in the metaverse [00:57:30] - Pros and cons of today’s speculative digital asset valuations [01:01:05] - Interesting pockets of opportunity that could benefit the metaverse ecosystem [01:04:28] - How they’d build and construct an ETF with metaverse exposure [01:07:18] - Thoughts on AR and VR and which holds more promise for public adoption  [01:08:02] - Surprising findings about the role audio plays in digital worlds   [01:10:23] - What they’re watching most closely in this emergent sector [01:11:29] - Limitations of visual and sonic barriers when recreating real-world interactions  [01:12:42] - The kindest things anyone has ever done for them  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Francis Davidson, founder and CEO of the hospitality brand Sonder. Francis launched Sonder in 2013 as an alternative to traditional hotels and rentals with a specific focus on technology and design. During our conversation, we discuss where Sonder fits into the hospitality ecosystem and why design is so key to their offering. We also touch on Francis’s unique views around customer-centric focus, the nuances of hiring a team, and how they approach decision-making. Please enjoy my conversation with Francis Davidson.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:38] - [First question] - Thoughts on the obligation of a business to deliver the best possible customer experience [00:03:43] - Making a decision that actively went against improving the customer experience [00:06:00] - What Sonder is and the key insight that led to building the business [00:08:43] - Ways they cut down costs by leveraging technology available today [00:10:44] - The economic model of the business and where it differs most from other hotels [00:12:15] - The journey of $100 coming in to Sonder and working through the company [00:13:20] - How the building or asset owner is integrated into the business model [00:14:18] - Network density and how he thinks about it when it comes to scaling Sonder [00:16:18] - His philosophy on design and why he thinks it matters in hospitality [00:18:05] - What you can overspend on and underspend on to keep a guest happy [00:21:05] - Making decisions on building in house or partnering to provide a new solution [00:22:29] - Do property owners dress up their own hotels or are there guidelines and retailers [00:23:51] - Lessons learned from working with overseas manufacturers [00:24:44] - The key levers that will drive the growth of Sonder [00:26:59] - What a typical occupancy rate is for them versus other hospitality options [00:28:23] - Category creation and design that influence and change how people behave [00:29:45] - Qualities of a new market and what drives success in attacking it [00:31:15] - His contrarian viewpoint on building a business and talent density [00:33:40] - The features of his job’s product and the interview process [00:36:21] - Does everyone at a company need to be an A player? [00:38:00] - His philosophy on team culture and developing synchronicity [00:41:01] - Ways to build strategic competitive advantage inside of Sonder [00:43:22] - What the most successful version of Sonder will look like ten years from now [00:45:16] - New features and tech improvements that are coming soon he’s excited about [00:46:48] - Trends in hospitality that have been accelerated and changed by COVID [00:48:36] - Growing changes in the glamping and nature-forward guest experiences [00:51:04] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Niraj Shah, the CEO and co-founder of Wayfair. Wayfair started life in 2002 as a collection of independent websites selling category-specific home furniture but became a one-stop-shop for the home category in 2011 when, at $500 million in sales, the team consolidated their 240 websites into Wayfair.com. Today, the business offers 22 million products from 16 thousand suppliers to more than 30 million customers.   During our conversation, we discuss how the competitive frontiers in e-commerce have changed, what it was like to build out a proprietary logistics operation, and what makes the home goods market more attractive than other physical goods markets. Please enjoy this great conversation with Niraj Shah.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   -----   At WatchBox, the world’s finest watches are at your fingertips with an ever-expanding collection of luxury timepieces, all certified authentic and collector quality. WatchBox’s global team of expert client advisors is ready to help you find the watch you’ve always wanted. Step into the collector’s circle at thewatchbox.com/patrick   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:50] - [First question] - The global supply chain and its issues today in 2021 [00:05:13] - Why he finds the ocean leg such a problematic area and how to resolve it [00:07:04] - Overview of the physical goods market around the world [00:10:50] - The role of magazines and devout subscribers in certain sectors  [00:11:50] - Are physical goods trends in flux or fairly steady and less geared to change [00:13:06] - From 240 separate websites into what became Wayfair as we know it today [00:16:36] - The competitive frontier of eCommerce in its early days and why they won  [00:18:29] - Expanded logistics control, developing their brand, and becoming Wayfair [00:21:40] - Aggressively building for the future as a public company with investors involved [00:27:23] - Key differences between Wayfair, IKEA, Restoration Hardware and others [00:34:22] - Other areas of interest and drivers of future investment opportunities for Wayfair [00:38:39] - What excellent marketing means to him and why Netflix does it so well [00:42:02] - The margin profile of Wayfair and all of its major components  [00:47:13] - Lessons learned from major mistakes while building the business [00:49:54] - Company culture and deliberately investing time and money into it [00:51:50] - Evaluating the importance and success of their adapt and grow philosophy [00:53:18] - How he would measure his own improvement as a CEO over time [00:55:17] - Thoughts on the dimension of competition as they scaled [00:56:57] - The most stressful episode of growing the business and what he learned  [01:00:16] - What the best outcome for Wayfair would look like in the future [01:01:38] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, I am excited to share our newest show, Web3 Breakdowns. Similar to our Business Breakdowns series, Web3 will have it's own dedicated feed so make sure to hit this subscribe link or find it on your preferred podcast player. The first episode of Web3 Breakdowns covers Bored Ape Yacht Club. You will hear from guest, Eric Golden, who will also be coming back to host his own Web3 Breakdowns moving forward. We are sharing this first episode to make sure no one misses this launch.  ---- Welcome to our new show, Web3 Breakdowns. We want to be your on ramp into this new decentralized world, and through conversations with builders, creators, and investors, we will do our best to help you understand and navigate this emerging ecosystem. First up, we are breaking down the NFT project and cultural phenomenon, Bored Ape Yacht Club. To help break down Bored Apes, I am joined by Eric Golden, former Portfolio Manager at Fidelity and current Bored Ape owner. Eric and I start with an overview of the Bored Ape Yacht Club and his path to owning an NFT in the collection. We then use Bored Apes as a lens to understand how NFT projects are not just creating rare art but strong membership communities too. Beyond the cultural differences between NFT communities, it was fascinating to hear how projects are differentiating themselves with IP ownership, roadmaps, and DAOs. Please enjoy this breakdown of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----   Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes   [00:02:30] - [First question] - What the Bored Ape Yacht Club is [00:03:39] - Motivations for owning a Bored Ape compared to traditional art  [00:07:46] - The scope of prices, hierarchy, turnover, and trading overview of these NFTs [00:09:51] - Distribution of rarity and why it matters  [00:11:29] - How the project roadmap is managed by the member community [00:16:23] - Who are the members and the key stewards of steering the ship [00:18:08] - An example of a project where the owners don’t own the IP of their NFT [00:20:56] - Underlying fundamentals and utility behind owning a Bored Ape  [00:26:36] - Thoughts on fungible tokens inside of non-fungible projects [00:29:06] - Ways to think about the value proposition of owning an Ape and an Ape token  [00:30:36] - Different options for minting NFTs and their pros and cons [00:34:36] - Literal mechanics of the minting process [00:36:59] - Smart contract mediating of combining NFTs to generate rare ones [00:39:20] - Building a bottom up brand and other examples of this trend [00:41:50] - Are NFTs just gambling, or will they become investable assets like physical art [00:46:09] - Blockchain infrastructure of the NFT space and whether it’ll stay on Ethereum [00:48:48] - What makes the Bored Ape Yacht Club so innovative compared to other projects Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Will Marshall, the co-founder and CEO of Planet. Will founded Planet in 2010 with a small team of NASA scientists to build a constellation of satellites that would image the entire Earth every day. Since then, Planet has successfully built and deployed 450 satellites into space, which the company is using to create a time series of images for every place on Earth.   Our conversation covers the untold space story. How space is going through an internet moment where cost reductions and performance enhancements have led to a seismic shift in what’s possible above our atmosphere, and how that can drastically improve life on Earth through unique datasets like the one Planet is piecing together.   Once you listen to Will speak about Planet’s progress and mission, it’s hard to think of a more underappreciated company in business today.   Please enjoy this great conversation with Will Marshall.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:57] - [First question] - His thoughts on the renaissance of the space industry [00:05:09] - The earliest days of Planet and why he started the business [00:09:22] - Unique data units captured by their satellites [00:13:35] - The real estate of space and interesting angles to consider  [00:15:59] - How customers interface with Planet and their early use cases [00:20:57] - Thoughts on the sovereignty of space and the laws that exist currently   [00:23:43] - Figuring out the dynamics and pricing of Planet’s business model [00:27:34] - Examples of stress and tensions when working in space [00:29:08] - The future of privacy and concerns we should have there collectively [00:30:29] - Five different types of satellites and their functions [00:31:39] - The most sci-fi potential futures that Planet may unlock someday [00:32:54] - Indexing the Earth and using data to train machine learning algorithms [00:34:02] - What he’s learned about Earth that is most surprising [00:37:12] - Contributing factors to a 70% decline in life on the planet in 40 years [00:38:35] - Ways that going public might impact Planet’s long term goals [00:40:23] - The hardware story of building various prototypes of satellites [00:42:18] - How much is built in house versus outsourced to fabricate their satellites [00:43:48] - Complimentary space trends that are compounding beyond imagery [00:45:32] - Whether or not they plan on making their data open-source [00:47:15] - Democratizing their data and allowing other companies to build on top of it [00:48:30] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Roelof Botha, a partner at one of the world’s oldest and most successful venture firms, Sequoia Capital. A few days ago before I sat down with Roelof, he announced Sequoia’s boldest innovation since the firm was founded by Don Valentine in the early 1970s. Going forward, the firm will break from the traditional VC mould of fund cycles and instead restructure around a single, open-ended, permanent structure named The Sequoia Fund.   In our conversation, we first discuss the details of this change from all different angles and then dive into Roelof’s career. We talk about what’s changed over the past twenty years, his days at PayPal, what legendary investors he’s worked with have had in common, and what he’s learned from being involved in businesses like Square, YouTube, and Unity.   Please enjoy this great conversation with Roelof Botha.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:53] - [First question] - What led Sequoia to change their structure [00:05:53] - Parallels between their approach and the problem Square set out to solve [00:07:36] - The mechanics of the new fund and how it’ll affect their clients [00:13:11] - What the future looks like and how public securities could be a dominant force [00:15:02] - Benefits and value-unlocks that the new fund offers that weren’t available before [00:16:55] - Comparing their structure to the current crossover funds we see emerging [00:18:21] - What alignment looks like in this new structure for LPs [00:22:02] - Cost of capital, interest rates, and their impacts on rates of return [00:25:39] - Changes in the industry and founders that he’s noticed [00:28:56] - What matters to him when meeting with young companies for the first time [00:31:47] - The importance placed on value creation over value capture in the early days [00:33:09] - Things that would dissuade him from partnering with a company [00:34:18] - What the growth and leadership at Square has taught him over the years [00:35:44] - Things he’s most excited about for payments looking forward [00:37:34] - How often a company lowering friction with technology appeals to him  [00:38:38] - Thoughts on Unity and its role in the growing trend of the metaverse [00:40:28] - Why the open and decentralized nature of the future is so beneficial [00:42:05] - Lessons learned about content and internet from working with YouTube [00:44:08] - The landscape of developers today and MongoDB's role in it  [00:49:26] - Learning to identify and hunt for crucible moments [00:50:50] - Curiosity is the key ingredient of a great investor [00:52:05] - What makes for a fantastic investment memo [00:53:20] - The most memorable investment memo he’s ever read [00:54:07] - Honing his leadership as his role has changed at Sequoia these past years [00:55:51] - Thoughts on Sequoia’s brand and the scope of his ambition [00:58:05] - What he’s most curious about in the world today [00:58:46] - What technology wants most from people today [01:01:13] - The difference between an accountant and an actuary's mindset and when each one is appropriate to inhabit [01:02:38] - Differences between talent and genius  [01:04:12] - Closing principals about business building he finds important to consider [01:06:17] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Sarah Friar, the CEO of Nextdoor, which connects people in local neighborhoods together. Sarah’s CV sparkles with impressive achievements at interesting businesses, and we spend a lot of time in this conversation thinking through what excellence looks like as a CEO, CFO, equity analyst, and board member. The rest of our discussion is focused on Nextdoor and how the soon-to-be public business is fostering connections between people and businesses in their local areas.   I do this podcast so I get to meet and learn from people like Sarah. I could have talked to her for hours. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Sarah Friar as much as I did.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:03] - [First question] - What makes an excellent equity analyst [00:05:51] - Things Sarah does differently as an operator because she was an investor [00:08:29] - Key factors that make a great CFO [00:09:31] - The role of the CFO in regards to capital allocation as a company grows [00:11:50] - What convinced her to join Salesforce and Square [00:14:45] - The initial spark and appeal that led her to join Nextdoor [00:17:35] - Existing problems with ‘community’ and how they approach fixing them [00:21:36] - Interesting and compelling data points about in-person interactions [00:23:54] - Network density as a driving factor of product quality [00:26:43] - What gives Nextdoor a unique angle against some of its existing competitors  [00:28:51] - Thoughts on platform leakage and user retention [00:30:57] - Successful strategies for deploying Nextdoor in a new country [00:35:32] - Having a feed and trying to avoid creating echo chambers [00:37:04] - Some of the biggest mistakes they’ve made while trying to grow [00:38:49] - Options for a business model and thoughts on advertising  [00:43:25] - The importance of scale, advertising, and their relationship dynamic [00:45:55] - Ways she’s learned to effectively steer the businesses strategy [00:49:48] - Why she doesn’t like titles  [00:51:07] - Key levers that will allow Nextdoor to succeed in the future [00:53:35] - How advertisers evaluate platforms like Nextdoor compared to Google or Facebook [00:57:19] - What a successful board member looks like and how she’s learned to be one [00:59:34] - Leading with transparency and empathy [01:02:00] - An overview of what Ladies Who Launch is and what they do [01:03:57] - Way to educate our children about finance and encourage financial literacy [01:07:51] - Making your platforms welcoming and guiding users away from conflict [01:10:30] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are running a special episode of Business Breakdowns on our Invest Like the Best feed. When we launched Breakdowns, we hoped to cover industries and businesses that we were “well known but poorly understood.” This deep-dive on UMG and the music industry is just that - you will walk away with a whole new appreciation for artists, labels, and what streaming technology has done for a historic industry. If you enjoy this episode, please be sure to subscribe on your preferred podcast player and check out our growing catalog of episodes.   Today we’re breaking down Universal Music Group. As one of the largest music businesses in the world, UMG is home to many of the world’s greatest artists, including Taylor Swift, U2, and The Beatles catalog. A discussion on UMG requires a deep dive into the history of music itself, how it was historically monetized, the shift from physical to digital, and what streaming has meant for the various pieces of the ecosystem. Our guest, Arman Gokgol-Kline, a partner and investor at Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, walks us through that evolution of the music industry before we dive in on UMG.   In our discussion, we first break down the industry pre and post Napster, looking at the ways music was sold historically, and how that led to both record profits and a consumer revolution. We then assess streaming’s impact on the industry and how, contrary to what you might think, labels may be more important in a marketplace where it’s easier than ever for creators to record and release music. Finally, we finish with UMG’s place in the ecosystem. The primary drivers of the business, how they’re able to attract the world’s superstars, and how they think about deploying dollars to acquire new artists and timeless catalogs.   Please enjoy this fantastic breakdown of Universal Music Group.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss   Show Notes [00:04:01] - [First question] - How technology disrupted the music business and it’s evolving history [00:12:44] - What the industry of music labels looks like from the 90s to today [00:21:19] - How it feels as a high-tier artist to engage with a label directly today [00:28:20] - The revenue and business model of an artist akin to Taylor Swift [00:30:44] - The differences between UMG's main sources of revenue; music publishing and recording [00:35:08] - General margins and trends for music publishing [00:36:22] - Ownership and mechanics of monetizing an artist’s Intellectual Property  [00:40:57] - How streaming revenues are divided among stakeholders [00:46:23] - History of the bargaining power of labels and streaming platforms [00:51:25] - Capital allocation, ROI, and acquiring IP and catalogs [00:57:39] - Thoughts on the growth profile of the industry as an investor [01:02:23] - Potential risks to UMG in emerging technology and new creator trends  [01:08:50] - Reasons why an artist would pick UMG over other major labels [01:12:42] - Diversity and how artists are sometimes treated by labels [01:14:02] - A growing increase in music consumption across the world Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alex Rampell, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Alex has a long history in fintech, having co-founded six companies in his career, including Affirm and TrialPay. During our conversation, we cover Alex’s framework for positive selection in investing, why the best investments are often operating systems or systems of record, and Alex’s views on the future of fintech. For those that have listened to our Business Breakdown on Visa with Alex - you know the intellectual horsepower he brings to every discussion. This conversation is no exception.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Hall Capital Partners. Hall Capital is always looking for exceptional investment talent at any stage and size, so if you are raising capital or looking for a career change in the San Francisco or New York areas, you should check them out at hallcapital.com or e-mail at invest@hallcapital.com.    ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:32] - [First question] - Lean into positive selection and avoid adverse selection [00:07:48] - Thoughts on growing capital formation in private markets [00:14:01] - Why it’s useful for investors to think in terms of bonds and call options instead of equity [00:18:39] - Doing more with less and hunting for operating systems to invest in [00:28:08] - His views on infrastructure and the presentation layer conundrum [00:33:32] - The sequencing involved in building an operating system over time [00:40:11] - Rise of the creator class and the coming tailwind post-cloud technology; the rise of the solopreneur  [00:43:32] - The pig joke and his thoughts on the FinTech space [00:47:47] - Big financial services functions that will be embedded in non-financial businesses [00:51:07] - Deciding which functions and financial services models are most attractive [00:57:01] - What a shift towards data and FinTech might unlock for the world writ large [01:02:40] - How to improve payment profits by reducing credit rates [01:04:12] - The threat that Buy-Now-Pay-Later companies pose to Visa and Mastercard [01:12:17] - How the struggle between distribution and innovation continues to change [01:15:04] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of leading cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. In a little over two years, FTX has registered 1.2 million users, grown to facilitate $10.9 billion of daily trading volume, and reached an $18 billion valuation. Prior to FTX, Sam worked at Jane Street Capital before founding a quant trading firm of his own, Alameda Research. At just 29, Sam has packed a lot into a short period of time, and as I’m sure you’ll hear, he has a special ability to harness uncertainty and think deeply across a range of topics.   In our discussion, we cover the building blocks of a perfect market, the key areas of inefficiency in today’s exchanges, and Sam’s north stars of product design and effective altruism. We also talk about fairness in crypto markets, how FTX thinks about user acquisition, and derivatives as key enablers of properly functioning markets.   Please enjoy my great conversation with Sam Bankman-Fried.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:57] - [First question] - What motivates him and what the true north of his vision is [00:07:12] - Evaluating the impact of well-functioning markets and philanthropic spending [00:11:55] - The key functions and building blocks of a perfect market [00:14:59] - Who pays $50 million to access fiat market order books [00:21:49] - What is valuable about having access to order book data [00:25:41] - Assessing and understanding the state of fairness in crypto markets today [00:31:51] - Can crypto only move as fast as the fiat system keeps up [00:32:43] - The advantages and disadvantages of stablecoins and USDT [00:34:46] - How much fiat inflow there is into crypto markets and exchanges today  [00:37:36] - What it is about cryptocurrency exchanges that are so appealing to him  [00:42:21] - Building in a dynamic world and deciding the sequence of problems to solve [00:45:12] - Whether or not the US is on the wrong side of crypto and countries competing for healthy regulatory environments in this emerging asset class [00:47:25] - Thoughts on centralization and what being decentralized unlocks [00:50:22] - Why derivatives are such a key function of properly functioning markets [00:52:38] - The competitive landscape between derivatives and exchanges [00:54:35] - Spending marketing dollars and paid acquisitions for FTX [00:57:30] - The growing trend of user-generated content becoming user-generated assets  [01:02:24] - How many layer one blockchains we’ll need and the competition for dominance [01:05:18] - Thoughts on Bitcoin as the pioneer of the space and how relevant it still is [01:06:26] - Possibly reaching a state where everything happens on-chain [01:08:23] - What he means when he says he has more RAM than hard drive space [01:09:39] - Amassing wealth insanely fast and whether or not it affects him [01:10:26] - Important things to consider in this rapidly growing space [01:12:02] - A decision he made while respecting the power laws that govern us [01:13:10] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Nick Neuman, CEO and co-founder of Casa. Casa helps bitcoin investors and owners keep their digital assets safe from loss or theft by providing managed self-custody services. In our discussion, we cover the history of asset custody from ancient temples to decentralized ledgers, look at the mechanics of how private keys work, and explore why people are better off holding the keys themselves. We then dive into the future of digital wallets as gateways into our virtual lives, what’s interesting about identity authentication more broadly, and whether these innovations may lead to unintended consequences. Please enjoy this great conversation with Nick Neuman.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:23] - [First question] - The history of asset custody [00:07:56] - What private keys are and their role in financial security  [00:12:21] - Overview of storing a token in a wallet and accessing with a private key  [00:15:28] - Thoughts on private keys through the lenses of convenience and safety [00:18:49] - Solving both self-custody of assets and peace of mind [00:21:39] - How the user experience will feel once self-custody is properly developed [00:24:11] - Why asset custody is so interesting and what a perfect scenario unlocks [00:27:05] - Is the DeFi ecosystem an early manifestation of a self-custody financial system  [00:28:57] - Ways Casa is planning to become a convenient and diverse platform for users [00:32:16] - The role wallets will play in the future of a digital world [00:34:56] - Forms of authentication that are most appealing in creating a seamless user experience [00:37:39] - Overview of what hardware wallets are and how they work [00:40:17] - Different security options that Casa offers from the simplest to the most secure [00:44:51] - How many crypto holders there are and how many use self-custody [00:47:31] - The craziest security set up around Bitcoin he’s ever heard of  [00:48:49] - What the most ideal outcome for Casa looks like in the coming decade  [00:51:26] - Thoughts on the competitive landscape and potential growth challenges  [00:53:07] - Important aspects of the crypto ecosystem other than security   [00:55:49] - How empowered people feel when they successfully adopt self-custody [00:57:13] - Whether or not there are ways that the current centralized system is more secure [00:59:58] - Thoughts on offering a way for users to display they are protected by Casa  [01:01:31] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. In a journey that started like many other founders in the space, Devin went deep down the crypto rabbit hole in 2017 and became particularly fascinated with the potential behind digital assets. During our conversation, we touch on the origin story of OpenSea, how Devin differentiates between the spectrum of NFTs in the market, and what he sees as the opportunity in the future for the industry. We also talk about the various risks within a blockchain, from security dynamics to market speculation. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Devin Finzer. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:56] - [First question] - When he first thought up the genesis of OpenSea [00:06:00] - What is listed on OpenSea, assets and volume, and the scope of the platform [00:07:26] - Thoughts on potentially becoming the current era “everything store” [00:09:22] - How they managed to become the main NFT trading platform [00:12:28] - What NFTs are, their various classes, and ways they’re stored on the blockchain [00:15:25] - How much transaction and auction volume happens on-chain [00:17:07] - Profile picture style NFTs and what’s exciting about them [00:19:24] - ArtBlocks and the mass interest in AI-generated art [00:21:22] - What he’s learned and seen about the emerging crypto gaming space [00:24:38] - The user experience of buying an NFT on OpenSea [00:26:45] - How the ownership transfer works between wallets [00:28:04] - Whether or not they have plans to partner with other companies [00:30:32] - How they think about what gets placed on OpenSea and why [00:32:09] - Thoughts on take rate and their 2.5% take rate of transactions [00:33:22] - Why their take rate is so low compared to other sale platforms online [00:34:47] - OpenSea’s relationship with the Ethereum blockchain and other integrations [00:36:50] - Perspective on wallets both as businesses and products [00:39:16] - Potential risks and the dark side of the unregulated NFT space [00:40:48] - The massive boom and bust cycles of crypto and the high prices of NFTs [00:41:59] - Interesting areas of Web3 that are in development today [00:44:19] - The project he’s enjoyed watching grow the most in the crypto world [00:46:42] - What OpenSea might look like in the future if the best-case proves true [00:48:59] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jenny Lefcourt, an equal General Partner at seed-stage venture firm Freestyle Capital, where she manages $450 million in seed investments. Jenny has been engrained in the tech world since the early days of the internet. She dropped out of her Stanford MBA program to co-found online wedding registry startup WeddingChannel.com with classmate, Jessica Herrin, which was subsequently acquired by The Knot. During our conversation, we cover Jenny's investment frameworks, why she believes a deep understanding of the customer is key for founder success, and what makes great go-to-market strategies. We also touch on some of Jenny's favorite market themes around technology for the aging population, the future of work, and the growing low-code/no-code market. Please enjoy my conversation with Jenny Lefcourt.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:24] - [First question] - Her background and some formative experiences that lead her to where she is today [00:08:38] - Common patterns of desirable founders when it comes to customer focus [00:09:50] - Her investing framework for evaluating and deciding which companies to invest in [00:15:11] - The biggest jobs to be done in this space currently today [00:17:33] - Cultural differences in how the West views and treats their elderly [00:21:02] - Business model options for turn-key apartments offered by UpsideHoM [00:22:48] - Other categories and potential opportunities in tech geared towards the elderly [00:24:59] - What you need to do differently when building products for the elderly [00:27:32] - How she learns about a new prospect’s go-to-market approach and reverse engineering an action plan to execute it [00:32:03] - Founders, You Want to Sell Viagra [00:33:33] - Selling transformation and an overview of this idea with BetterUp [00:36:30] - Her thoughts on how the world and the future of work might change  [00:43:24] - The emerging movement of low code/no code tools [00:46:58] - How she as an investor adjusts as the world becomes more digitally connected [00:49:02] - Ways her life has most dramatically changed over the past few years [00:51:33] - Lessons learned from her time at All Raise [00:53:40] - Outstanding and remaining barriers to inclusive and diverse teams [00:58:47] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Dave Girouard, co-founder and CEO of Upstart, a lending platform that leverages AI to make loans more accessible and affordable. Dave started in Silicon Valley as a Product Manager at Apple and later spent eight years at Google, where he built their suite of cloud apps. In our discussion, we cover the lessons Dave has learned about building speed into a habit, the intricacies of training an AI model to predict the future, and what it was like to start a fintech business as an outsider. We also discuss the past, present, and future of lending, why Dave and his team have no plans to build a super app and the differences between public and private market investors from a founder’s perspective. One of the tropes you hear these days is that lending has become a customer acquisition tool for FinTechs, but as Dave explains, the market and opportunity set in lending itself should not be underestimated. Please enjoy this great conversation with Dave Girouard.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Versett. Versett designs, builds, and scales digital platforms for some of the world's most ambitious companies. If you require a high-performance team to tackle a hard or ambitious problem, then Versett is the firm to call. To check them out, visit versett.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:54] - [First question] - Lessons learned about adopting speed as a habit [00:05:39] - Knowing which decisions require your attention and are worth it as a CEO [00:07:00] - What slows down decision-making execution and overcoming it [00:09:34] - Ways to persuade partners to move as fast as you do [00:10:44] - One of his most valuable lessons learned from his time at Google [00:12:20] - The key insight that first lead him to the idea of creating Upstart [00:15:10] - The early days of learning about the financial lending space [00:16:49] - Figuring out how to improve on an age-old rigid and regulated system  [00:20:57] - Overview of building an AI learning model and applying it to loans [00:25:16] - Machine learning algorithms and interwoven programmer bias [00:28:34] - Revenue model and transactions that fund Upstart  [00:31:43] - Who the typical customer is and their user experience [00:35:10] - The biggest hurdle encountered when building Upstart [00:36:55] - How he’s seen the FinTech space in his area change over time [00:38:39] - A pie chart on revenue for financial services today [00:40:24] - Why there are more profits in lending than payments  [00:41:25] - Major loans types and how they might change in the future [00:44:12] - Disruptive aspects of the buy now pay later consumer movement [00:46:09] - How much Upstart could change the future of lending over a decade [00:49:43] - The most important decisions he’s made while building Upstart [00:51:59] - Things to know when building a business that sells to banks [00:52:49] - How it feels to interact with hired CEOs versus founder CEOs [00:55:05] - Thoughts on cryptocurrency and AI writ large [00:57:00] - Areas that have his attention and get him excited lately in FinTech [00:58:58] - State of the art AI growth and what lingers over the horizon [01:00:36] - What he’s learned about being a public market CEO versus a private one [01:02:38] - Differences between public market and private market investor philosophies [01:03:53] - Major battle scars from raising capital for Upstart [01:05:12] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jay Hoag, co-founder of TCV. If you look at Jay’s investment track record, it’s a “who’s who” of tech giants with Airbnb, Netflix, Peloton, Zillow, and a list that does not stop there. Needless to say, Jay has a Hall of Fame career. During our conversation, we talk about his own journey founding TCV, what advice he has for visionaries, and why he sees advantages for private to public crossover investors. Jay has such a wealth of experience that is on display throughout this episode. Please enjoy my conversation with Jay Hoag.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Hall Capital Partners. Hall Capital is always looking for exceptional investment talent at any stage and size, so if you are raising capital or looking for a career change in the San Francisco or New York areas, you should check them out at hallcapital.com or e-mail at invest@hallcapital.com.    ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:13] - [First question] - Some of his early key formative experiences that shaped his worldview as an investor [00:06:29] - How much software businesses have changed since he started investing in them [00:08:28] - The key insight that led him to create TCV [00:11:36] - Generating returns by swinging less and raising your average [00:15:06] - Understanding and evaluating a value proposition in its early stages [00:22:08] - What slightly crazy founders look like and why it’s important for a company [00:25:47] - Whether or not we’re in the golden age of content already  [00:28:27] - Why Peloton was rejected so many times before TCV invested in them [00:32:32] - Things founders often need from him and how he helps them succeed [00:36:15] - Lessons learned from investing in public markets versus private ones [00:41:35] - Advice for founders when it comes to conveying their ideas to investors [00:44:55] - The social dimension of interactive and network building content [00:46:18] - How important maintaining a focus in the early days is for a new company [00:48:07] - The most challenging aspect of executing his strategy today [00:50:48] - One of the most emotionally stressful episodes while launching TCV [00:53:44] - Supporting your founders during the good and tough times [00:55:16] - New potential headwinds and tailwinds in the tech space writ large [00:59:14] - Things people might be overlooking today that could be great opportunities later [01:02:58] - Whether or not internet companies are threatened by the crypto boom [01:04:32] - What most has him most excited about the world today [01:06:20] - Advice for company building in the investing world in general  [01:09:48] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Gina Bianchini, founder and CEO of Mighty Networks, which gives creators a platform to start, grow and own their social communities.   In our conversation, we cover the differences between leadership and management, the lessons Gina learned building a similar business in the 2000s with Marc Andreessen, and the elements that make up a thriving community. We talk about community design, finding ways to connect like-minded people, why it’s so important to create movement, and what the future may hold for creators.   Please enjoy this great conversation with Gina Bianchini.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why brands like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad trust Klaviyo to grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Versett. Versett designs, builds, and scales digital platforms for some of the world's most ambitious companies. If you require a high-performance team to tackle a hard or ambitious problem, then Versett is the firm to call. To check them out, visit versett.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes [00:02:35] - [First question] - A period in Gina’s career of deep intensity that she learned from [00:04:28] - Solving ways to preserve her energy as a high performing entrepreneur [00:08:19] - How much of her day is spent doing things she wants to do  [00:11:24] - What is unique to leadership that differs from management [00:14:49] - The insight that led to what eventually became Mighty Networks [00:27:19] - Enabling features of a community that Mighty Networks offers creators  [00:31:51] - Key symptoms of a healthy online community [00:37:35] - Differences between their emerging communities and the power of belonging [00:41:38] - Turning movement and accomplishment into a software platform [00:47:32] - Tying passion into purpose and the structure of a movement [00:50:20] - The biggest potential risks and challenges that Mighty Networks faces [00:52:56] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Gina  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is David Fialkow, co-founder of General Catalyst. If you are looking for a dose of fun, charismatic energy from a very unique investor then this is the conversation for you. David has a diverse background not only as an investor but also as a philanthropist and filmmaker. He won an Academy Award for his role as the producer of the 2018 documentary Icarus. During our conversation, David and I dive into what makes a great founder, the importance of storytelling, and the value of effectively convening people within your network. After listening to all of his great stories, I think you’ll see why David has so much fun and success helping founders. Please enjoy my great conversation with David Fialkow.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:03] - [First question] - How the process started that led to filming Icarus and becoming a VC  [00:16:01] - Lessons learned about identifying creativity in potential founders [00:19:26] - What it looks like when a founder doesn’t clearly love their product  [00:24:35] - Different aspects of building a successful investment firm [00:28:22] - Features of Ken Chenault that differentiates him from other CEOs [00:30:12] - Applicable lessons for the effective convening of people [00:35:20] - Whether or not he cares about the business model of new companies they back  [00:40:57] - The story of Icarus [00:47:24] - What is David drawn to at the moment [00:51:13] - Key ingredients required to tell a powerful and convincing story [00:53:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Justin Waldron, co-founder and President of Playco. Justin is a pioneer of the social gaming industry after he co-founded Zynga at age 19, and he has continued to build games ever since. In our conversation, we cover how Justin sees the future of gaming as social platforms evolve, how gaming may be the next tool for content creation, and how Playco has approached aligning incentives for game creators and players. As talk of the metaverse becomes more mainstream, it’s fascinating to hear directly from those around it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Justin Waldron.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why brands like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad trust Klaviyo to grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders. -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:47] - [First question] - His thoughts on the metaverse and why it’s so interesting [00:06:07] - The ways hardware and software will shape the future of digital worlds [00:08:23] - Examples of how these digital experiences might look in the years to come [00:10:45] - His background, history, and his life before founding Playco [00:16:31] - Ways content creates human interactions and its role in user retention [00:18:43] - How successful social media platforms encourage user interaction  [00:20:51] - Games becoming a way to create content and being a creation tool [00:23:06] - This history of user-generated content for pre-existing games [00:27:32] - Defining what instant gaming is and how it’s different from traditional gaming [00:30:24] - The technological problems and hurdles in creating games that load instantly [00:34:00] - Parallels between instant gaming and cloud-powered processing [00:36:43] - What types of games are most desirable for games shared via links [00:38:58] - The feel of this model working in real-time and the project that’s furthest along [00:41:37] - Lessons learned about working with and structuring partnerships with social media and content creation giants [00:45:06] - Ways in which social network platforms are evolving [00:48:04] - Playco’s business model and smart approaches to generating revenue [00:50:28] - The role NFTs might play in instant gaming and making crypto mainstream [00:53:03] - Crypto wallets and building one in house versus using a 3rd party wallet [00:54:17] - What the best case scenario will look like for Playco in a decade from now [01:00:44] - Other companies to go check out that leverage and empower individuals  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today is a special episode because it marks five years since I released the first episode of Invest Like the Best. Over those years, I’ve learned so much from so many investors and builders, but today’s guest may have taught me the most.   Daniel Ek is the CEO and founder of Spotify, and I find him to be one of the most thoughtful business leaders in the world. Daniel is the perfect guest for this special occasion because he exemplifies the curiosity, humility, leadership, and dogged determination that I think characterizes the best investors and operators.   In our conversation, we discuss the differences between the world of bits and atoms, how Daniel gets up to speed in challenging new fields, and why Europe might be a sleeping giant about to wake. We then bring the discussion back to Spotify, the evolving creator ecosystem, and Daniel’s frameworks for leading the business into its next chapter of growth.   Over the past 5 years, we’ve produced more than 300 of these shows and reached nearly 30 million people. I am deeply thankful to the guests who’ve been willing to share their knowledge with us all and even more thankful to everyone who has taken the time to listen and learn alongside me. This has truly been the greatest pleasure of my career, and I don’t plan on ever stopping this journey.   Now, Please enjoy my conversation with a great friend, Daniel Ek.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, and Ben Thompson.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes (00:03:37) - [First question] - Building atoms versus bits and if we’re destined to return to atoms (00:08:04) - What makes early-stage atoms companies more challenging to build (00:10:20) - Whether or not we’re starting to see cross-pollinating of infrastructure companies into other sectors (00:13:00) - His process for learning about new fields when he knows nothing (00:16:12) - Big and interesting problems that we will need to solve  (00:19:35) - The nature of healthcare’s technological adoption compared to other sectors (00:24:13) - Downstream unlocks of collecting and observing big pools of data (00:30:00) - What he has found effective about taking an idea from 0 to 1  (00:33:40) - Lessons learned about compounding change and staying patient (00:37:17) - History of European technology and its unique regional characteristics (00:42:40) - Cultural and continental traits that may make Europe a technological leader  (00:45:42) - Characterizing the major lessons learned from his time at Spotify  (00:50:31) - How artists are changing the ways they connect with their fans via Spotify (00:55:44) - What he would change about the legacy music industry given today’s tools (01:00:15) - The influence global exposure has on internet companies and creatives  (01:03:02) - Interesting observations about the recent explosion of podcast popularity (01:07:36) - Working with, carrying, spreading, and maintaining Spotify’s sacred source (01:12:37) - Ways we can improve and sharpen our decision-making skills Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Gabby Dizon, co-founder of Yield Guild Games or YGG. In 2020, Gabby and his co-founders built YGG around the growing “play-to-earn” economy within blockchain-based games. Based in the Philippines, YGG effectively backs players - who might not otherwise be able to afford to play - in exchange for a share of their profits. Today, YGG is paying out over a $1m US dollars a week to players within its community - largely concentrated in their home country of the Philippines.   The play-to-earn model has seen its most rapid growth in the popular NFT-based game “Axie Infinity”. Players earn tokens within the game which can be exchanged into local currencies or be used to purchase more digital assets. For a sense of how this market has expanded, Axie Infinity has already reported over $1.5b in sales over its history- and nearly $900mn over the last 30 days.   The speed at which these games and the ecosystems around them are growing is remarkable. In our conversation, Gabby explains YGG’s decentralized structure, the unit economics of their business model, and how he deals with the volatility of crypto assets when trying to build a durable, long-term business. We also discuss the broader metaverse landscape, how it might evolve, what might derail it, and the technicalities of building a token-based, as opposed to equity-based, business.   I hope you enjoy this wild conversation with Gabby Dizon.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:34] - [First question] - What Yield Guild Games is and what they do [00:04:30] - The growing popularity of play-to-earn games in the metaverse  [00:06:07] - Major categories of digital assets that exist today  [00:08:11] - How players can earn money playing Axie Infinity [00:10:47] - The business model of YGG and what they offer to players [00:12:42] - Potential earnings of playing Axie Infinity [00:15:03] - Possible risks to demand and what the Axie economy could be in a few years [00:17:54] - Evaluating games that are worth investing in [00:19:55] - The kinds of things that will be most valuable across games in the future [00:21:37] - Differences in value between cosmetic and utilitarian in-game purchases [00:23:04] - Key focuses of YGG over the near future [00:29:02] - Ways DAOs are better or worse than traditional equity tables [00:30:11] - The state of YGGs economics today [00:31:16] - The Guild’s player retention and growing their scholars [00:32:54] - Barriers to entry for building a competitive DAO like YGG [00:34:14] - What made Gabby so interested in crypto originally [00:36:38] - His personal journey to crypto games [00:37:53] - Jobs that may carry over from the real world into the metaverse [00:39:36] - Companies that will arise focusing solely on in-game item creation [00:41:18] - Base layers of infrastructure needed to create the best future for crypto gaming [00:44:32] - Shared qualities between games that have a high replayability rate [00:46:40] - Good and bad tokenomic ecosystem designs [00:48:17] - What the biggest risks are for the future success of crypto gaming   [00:49:26] - What factors will ensure the future growth and adoption of crypto gaming   [00:50:25] - How much fiat flows through Axie and the growing value of in-game assets [00:52:05] - Whether or not we’ll see purchasable utility items in the future [00:53:21] - What he’s most excited about for the future of the metaverse [00:54:52] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Scott Malpass. Scott was the CIO of Notre Dame's endowment for 32 years and has always been a pioneer at the forefront of the endowment investing world - leading Notre Dame's early investments into Sequoia as well as some of the premier fund managers in China decades ago. Scott built the endowment into a powerhouse, scaling it from $400 million to over $12 billion of assets under management across 175 managers. In our conversation, we talk about the qualities he looks for in great investors, how asset classes have evolved over his 30 years of investing, and how Scott recruited top talent to work at Notre Dame’s endowment. Scott is clearly on the Mt. Rushmore of institutional investors, and I’m lucky to consider him a mentor and a friend. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Scott Malpass. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:54] - [First question] - Finding his way to investing and Notre Dame [00:06:11] - Key milestones of running their endowment for so long [00:07:58] - What an endowment model is and how it’s evolved [00:10:30] - The ingredients that unite their shared successes [00:11:46] - His philosophy on building a differentiated investing team [00:13:11] - How he approached talent identification when hiring new managers [00:15:39] - The importance of understanding who someone was before they became an investor [00:17:12] - Episode: Steve Mandel, Investing Behind Change [00:17:28] - Whether or not someone has a reliable and solid core [00:19:03] - Differentiating between self-confidence and an over-inflated ego [00:20:27] - Evaluating real investing skills in an individual [00:21:44] - The most memorable major early partner he brought on to the endowment [00:23:14] - What made Don Valentine and Sequoia so special [00:24:21] - Forcing good long-term incentive alignment with a firm [00:26:35] - What makes a GP exceptional in how they treat LPs [00:28:01] - How many managers actually have the ability to create alpha [00:29:24] - His thoughts on venture capital and how he’s seen it evolve [00:32:40] - The role private equity played in his success and how it’s changed over the years [00:34:36] - Why diversify when managing such a large pool of capital [00:35:58] - Public equity as an area of opportunity relative to private and venture capital [00:38:08] - Bonds in an endowment and high net worth family offices [00:39:32] - Whether or not equities are still appealing [00:40:20] - Lessons from investing in China so early in his career  [00:42:59] - What he’s learned about effective leadership from leading the team at Notre Dame [00:44:54] - Advice on building your own basic portfolio [00:47:03] - Portable classroom lessons that lend themselves to effective teaching [00:48:28] - Why it’s important to do team-building exercises and off-sites [00:50:07] - His thoughts on cryptocurrency and how others should think about it [00:51:52] - Students that he’s most proud of across his career [00:54:56] - Ways you should spend your 20s if you want to become a great investor [00:55:49] - What’s on the horizon for him over the coming years [00:57:55] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Mike Maples, co-founder and partner of Floodgate. As a child of the computer revolution, Mike was deconstructing calculators in grade school, writing video games in high school, and inevitably found himself building businesses in Silicon Valley after college. After his success as an operator, Mike eventually transitioned to become a full-time venture investor in the 2000s, and has since built a track record that includes Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Octa, and a long list of successful tech businesses.   I'm not sure I've recorded a conversation with more applicable ideas and advice for company builders. We discussed early insights and secrets, value hypothesis testing, customer development, growth, team orchestration, and a lot more.   This is a masterclass from somebody who has seen it all. Also, do not miss his answer to the kindest thing question at the end of the conversation. I hope you enjoy this great talk with Mike Maples.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:08] - [First question] - His philosophy on the power of forcing a choice [00:04:43] - How he knows when he comes across a team that has an apple quality [00:07:39] - Exploring and hunting new inflections in ever-changing systems [00:10:37] - Why recognizing winning insights allows you to not have to predict the future [00:12:23] - Whether or not the evolving nature of the funding landscape changes his thinking [00:14:18] - An example of his insight framework and stress testing a team’s potential [00:17:21] - Practice reckless optimism [00:18:54] - Commonalities between teams and their ideas when they get inflections wrong  [00:20:12] - What the value hypothesis is and how to test it [00:22:15] - Ways that effective startup teams operate compared to big corporations  [00:25:36] - His involvement post-investment and where outsiders can be most helpful in a companies’ early days [00:28:34] - Lessons learned about finding, convincing, and marketing to their first customers  [00:32:13] - An example of early customer selection done phenomenally well [00:34:09] - Why it was possible for companies like Justin.TV and Lift to pivot so dramatically from their original ideas  [00:38:49] - Customer development and using good customers to your advantage [00:42:31] - Who went from founder to the best growth executive  [00:43:05] - What he thinks his firm will need to do to continue offering an apple to founders [00:46:08] - The most useful stress tests his firm can offer founders [00:46:52] - Defining category design and what the process of category design looks like [00:50:33] - Inflections he’s currently paying the most attention to [00:52:07] - His experience with an HP35 calculator and how it shaped his life  [00:54:41] - What venture capital may look like in the future [00:56:30] - The most difficult things he faces in his career [00:57:52] - Ways he’s learned to manage failure more effectively [00:59:06] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Renata Quintini and Roseanne Wincek, co-founders and managing directors of Renegade Partners. Before launching Renegade, Renata and Roseanne were partners at high-profile VC firms, Lux Capital and IVP.    During our conversation, we explore their careers and what led them to launch Renegade. We cover what it means to invest at the “Supercritical Stage” in venture and dive into a variety of topics around this theme. We then discuss their investing philosophies more broadly, covering what best-in-class talent pipelines look like, what quality revenue means to them, and what worries them most in search of businesses with outsized potential returns. I think this episode highlights that even as competition in venture has intensified - the best VC partners can offer more than just capital.  I hope you enjoy my conversation with Renata and Roseanne.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Hall Capital Partners. Hall Capital is always looking for exceptional investment talent at any stage and size, so if you are raising capital or looking for a career change in the San Francisco or New York areas, you should check them out at hallcapital.com or e-mail at invest@hallcapital.com.    ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:57] - [First question] - What the process of starting a new investment firm was like [00:05:22] - Why the world needs another venture firm [00:06:48] - The biggest takeaway from Renata's experience at a start-up Venture firm [00:07:51] - The inspiration for Renegade [00:11:48] - The most common mistakes made in the early stages of a company [00:15:14] - Key items to look into first when evaluating companies  [00:18:04] - Internal superpowers: helping a founder use their strengths [00:23:46] - Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction [00:24:04] - What makes a good customer call [00:25:44] - How more than one Operating Partner changes the conversation and reveals more [00:27:59] - How businesses have changed in the past few years [00:30:31] - What companies that have good talent pipelines do to set themselves apart [00:35:36] - Lessons learned from working with Coda and its CEO, Shishir Mehrotra  [00:38:12] - Lessons learned from working with MasterClass [00:41:21] - Differentiating between high and low-quality revenue when evaluating a company [00:47:39] - What scares them about investing in outliers [00:51:07] - Improvements made as investors and catalysts for those changes [00:53:48] - Building an organization that will disrupt itself [00:56:43] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for them   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Max Simkoff, Founder and CEO of Doma. Max founded Doma in 2016 after experiencing the pain and manual process associated with title insurance and real estate transactions. With a background in predictive analytics, Max built Doma to bring a digital-first approach to a historically manual and labor-intensive process.    In our conversation, we cover the history behind mortgage closings, where title companies fall into that process, and how Doma is using technology to improve the client experience. We also discuss Max’s formative experiences at his previous venture, Evolv, and the lessons he’s learned from taking Doma from an idea to a public company. There are many great lessons in this episode, and Max’s entrepreneurial energy shines throughout. Please enjoy this great conversation with Max Simkoff. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by SnackMagic. SnackMagic is the only 100% customizable snack and swag service that allows recipients to build their own snack stash. Whether you want to thank your global team, need goodie bags for your upcoming hybrid event or want to stock your office pantry, the menu of over 1,000 types of snacks and sips covers just about every preference. To learn more and get 10% off your first order with code Patrick at snackmagic.com/patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:17] - [First question] - What Doma does and what they do for customers [00:04:38] - What Title is and why it sits at the center of such a large transaction [00:08:41] - Overview of the business economics of this space  [00:13:55] - How the ecosystem works writ large [00:18:05] - The formative business experiences he had that led him to today [00:23:03] - What it means to be great at this whole process [00:26:53] - The thing Doma tries to predict and the inputs that allow them to do so [00:32:50] - Defining his biggest roadblocks and how they’ve changed over time [00:36:02] - Managing stakeholder expectations and perception [00:40:22] - Learning to walk to the line of having a large vision and communicating it [00:42:51] - What his loose screw is as a founder [00:45:06] - The square-peg-round-hole they encountered during the pandemic [00:51:20] - What the counterproductive byproduct of his genius is [00:53:35] - Figuring out where to take the company next  [00:56:52] - The big lessons learned from interacting with capital markets [00:59:30] - Other entrepreneurs he feels are maniacs that he respects [01:00:55] - What will be the biggest contributing factors to their success over the next decade [01:02:44] - The key ingredients for building a winning team [01:04:34] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The intro music you just heard is from my guest today, Suzanne Ciani, an early pioneer of electronic music dating back to the 1970s. As a 5-time Grammy-nominated composer, Suzanne’s music can be heard on her solo albums as well as films, games, and countless commercials. Many have argued her Coca-Cola “pop and pour” changed the sound of advertising forever.    During our conversation, we discuss what it means to be an artist, how to evolve away from the need for approval and validation, and the importance of mentors during the creative process. While many of our guests strive to be lifelong learners - Suzanne seems to take this a step further as a lifelong learner and a lifelong creator. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Suzanne Ciani.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:53] - [First question] - One of her proudest moments early in her life [00:05:18] - What she’s learned about originality and its role in the creative process [00:07:24] - Advice for breaking out of a derivative impulse and finding your character [00:09:27] - Going from a classically trained pianist to exploring modular synthesis [00:13:47] - Performing on David Letterman [00:17:55] - What the Buchla is and the sounds it can make [00:23:03] - How much of playing a modular synth is improvisational versus pre-made [00:24:36] - Ways she would design a creative system for other creatives [00:27:38] - What her interface allows her to do and the mechanics of it [00:29:07] - Describing what the core sound elements are that she manipulates [00:32:30] - The role of women in music and how it’s evolved over time [00:35:06] - What stands out from her mentorship with Ilse Bing [00:38:16] - Later career creative freedom and what it unlocks for artists [00:39:25] - Her thoughts on the creative process writ large and its components [00:42:10] - Commercial sound design and working with Coca-Cola and Atari [00:44:46] - Observations from a creative life that other artists could benefit from [00:46:11] - Unifying factors across her best performances [00:47:53] - What the future might hold for technology and music [00:50:18] - Where to start when exploring her discography [00:51:17] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Sameer Shariff, co-founder and CEO of Cambly. After starting his career at Google, Sameer founded Cambly in 2013 as an on-demand service to learn English. At the touch of a button, Cambly connects its global user base into a 1-on-1 conversation with an English speaker.   During our conversation, we cover the origin story of the business, what Sameer views as the core functions of the two-sided marketplace, and how the team approached scaling a product that was international from day one. Once you hear Sameer talk, you quickly realize the size of Cambly’s market opportunity and why it may have been easy to overlook this problem. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Sameer Shariff.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by SnackMagic. SnackMagic is the only 100% customizable snack and swag service that allows recipients to build their own snack stash. Whether you want to thank your global team, need goodie bags for your upcoming hybrid event or want to stock your office pantry, the menu of over 1,000 types of snacks and sips covers just about every preference. To learn more and get 10% off your first order with code Patrick at snackmagic.com/patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:05] - [First question] - What led him to the original concept of Cambly [00:05:21] - Beginning to learn the scope of the problem and what solving it unlocked  [00:07:58] - What Cambly is and how they started tackling the problem  [00:09:15] - Lessons learned about the challenges of building an alive marketplace  [00:11:41] - Technical challenges and the enabling technologies that allowed it to happen  [00:12:59] - Deciding on what to focus on first when it comes to students  [00:15:24] - Figuring out the formula for unit economics and the pricing structure [00:17:02] - Learning what doesn’t work in their business model [00:18:07] - Setting up quality control measures and moderation [00:21:01] - Tools and services that will improve their experience in the future [00:23:18] - What the 11-star version of Cambly would look like in a decade [00:26:56] - Ways in which their software and concept could be applied elsewhere [00:28:30] - Setting themselves up for success and fine-tuning the matchmaking component [00:30:37] - Driving users to the platform and audience building strategies [00:33:46] - Making the platform feel native to each country it serves [00:35:59] - Surprising lessons learned around distribution and market penetration [00:37:13] - The biggest boss battles faced as a business [00:40:17] - Advice he would give to founders in a similar situation  [00:41:32] - How he’s personally changed the most across this journey [00:43:32] - Ways he’s shifted to a state of letting go and trusting his team more [00:45:14] - Lessons learned from studying Airbnb [00:47:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Sridhar Ramaswamy, co-founder and CEO of Neeva and Venture Partner at Greylock. After a 15-year career building Google’s ad business, Sridhar launched Neeva as an ad-free search engine with a focus on personalization and privacy. During our conversation, we dive into the early days of search and what led to Google’s dominance. Sridhar shares his view on the potential end state for ad-based search engines, and how all of his experiences led him to found Neeva. Beyond a great deep dive into the origins of search, this discussion is filled with great lessons about data-driven decisions, the value of partnerships, and balancing revenue opportunities against user experience. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Sridhar Ramaswamy.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:39] - [First question] - Major chapters of the history of search engine technology  [00:09:21] - The early days of the page rank revenue model prior to ads  [00:16:27] - Reputation and quality and how they were applied in Google’s early days [00:21:10] - Driving variables of Google’s ad model that will drive their business going forward [00:26:48] - Lessons learned about the importance of partnerships while at Google [00:33:26] - What is Neeva and what motivated him to start it in the first place [00:39:11] - Variables in building an ad-free search engine that can compete with Google [00:44:57] - Thoughts on tracking and privacy in the tech world today writ large [00:50:09] - Lessons he’s learned about pricing when it comes to software [00:52:58] - Figuring out finding customers when your addressable market is everyone  [00:56:20] - What he’s learned about leadership over the course of his career writ large [00:58:05] - What he’s learned about identifying candidates and winning them over when it comes to recruiting new talent [01:00:27] - His philosophy on product development in general [01:02:19] - Framing problems in a way that allows you to reach milestones as you build  [01:04:43] - His biggest professional mistake and what he learned from it [01:06:08] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him [01:07:49] - What Bill Campbell brings to mind when he thinks about him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Ernie Garcia, co-founder and CEO of online used car platform, Carvana. Ernie launched Carvana in 2012, and less than a decade later, the business commands a $60 billion valuation while selling a used car every other minute.   Our conversation covered a lot of ground. We discussed effective decision-making, what it means to be a long-term thinker, and what Ernie sees as the defining features of attractive markets. We then went deep on Carvana itself, covering the original insight, logistics operations, and counter-intuitive decisions Carvana took as they set about building the brand. I think you’ll find Ernie’s insights and energy infectious. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Carvana CEO, Ernie Garcia.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by SnackMagic. SnackMagic is the only 100% customizable snack and swag service that allows recipients to build their own snack stash. Whether you want to thank your global team, need goodie bags for your upcoming hybrid event or want to stock your office pantry, the menu of over 1,000 types of snacks and sips covers just about every preference. To learn more and get 10% off your first order with code Patrick at snackmagic.com/patrick.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:10] - [First question] - Defining average decision quality and he weaves it into his business [00:05:40] - How he would assess average decision quality in another company [00:07:04] - What company culture means to him and building it at Carvana [00:08:45] - Key features of a market that is desirable to step into as an entrepreneur [00:10:06] - Various levels of complexity faced in automotive retail [00:13:51] - Reality Has A Surprising Amount Of Detail; The genesis idea that led to Carvana [00:17:52] - Critically new things delivered to customers when buying a used car [00:20:43] - Dealership unit economics vs logistics platform economics and what drives gross profit per unit [00:24:47] - What is an IRC center, the hub and spoke model, and the skeleton of Carvana [00:28:44] - The size and scope of one of their fulfillment centers and cost savings involved [00:30:29] - How the spoke component works and ways it will be improved over time [00:32:39] - Defining what being a long term thinker means to him [00:35:50] - The story behind the Carvana car vending machine [00:39:49] - His thinking on the dual-layer nature of customer experience and communication [00:41:59] - Mistakes and failures made while learning to become good communicators [00:44:21] - Great companies get a lot done very fast [00:48:56] - Infrastructure set in place to maintain their pace as they scale  [00:51:50] - The embedded formula used for teams to communicate what they want to do [00:52:50] - What it felt like as a leader going through the pandemic [00:58:24] - Whether or not COVID-19 has permanently impacted the consumer landscape [01:00:03] - Businesses, leaders, and things he’s studied that others could learn from [01:01:55] - Surprising new things arising in the automotive and transport industries [01:05:23] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Karen Karniol-Tambour, Partner and Co-CIO for Sustainability at Bridgewater Associates. You will quickly understand why Ray Dalio described Karen as a “vacuum cleaner of learning” - our conversation covered a variety of market themes, and Karen goes deep on each of them. We touch on inflation, monetary policy, currencies, retail investors, ESG, and how each of these levers has become more important for investors to understand. Karen has a rare skill for making complex ideas seem simple, and I love the frameworks she uses to deconstruct big, important issues. She does such a good job of explaining what’s changed, why it matters, and what to do about it. I hope you enjoy my great conversation with Karen Karniol-Tambour.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:39] - [First question] - How Bridgewater invests and the experiences that led her there [00:06:47] - What working with Daniel Kahneman felt like and learning his perspective [00:08:09] - An example of holding herself to accumulating and stress testing data [00:10:17] - Important variables to consider when seeking returns in large-scale bets [00:14:18] - What we should be thinking about in terms of inflation as we look to the future [00:20:07] - How she thinks about inflation and how she defines it [00:22:57] - Relevant asset classes that can protect or help diversify against inflation [00:26:14] - What still largely confuses her about inflation and its many facets [00:28:05] - Her philosophy and model for understanding the system of currency [00:33:21] - How investors should think about the US dollar  [00:35:50] - Whether or not owning an unhedged global equity index gives you currency exposure [00:37:07] - The fundamental nature of equity markets and household balance sheets [00:41:37] - Ways the growing wave of retail investors will impact prices and returns  [00:43:53] - How she’s evolved her valuation approach given our new investor landscape [00:45:43] - The good and bad roles ESG might play for investors going forward [00:50:36] - Potential concerns around the growing trend of ESG writ large [00:53:51] - Thoughts on the 60/40 portfolio and whether or not it’s still worth using [00:55:32] - Designing a default diversified portfolio in light of markets today [00:57:45] - Aspects of the global market economy today people should be talking about more [01:01:15] - Ways she investigates a new topic and how it has evolved over time [01:04:14] - Variables that matter in investment teams and company cultures [01:06:53] - How she would approach cryptocurrency and what’s interesting about them [01:09:08] - A rosey and gloomy take of what the world could look like in a decade [01:12:37] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for her   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Sebastian Mejia, co-founder and president of Rappi. Founded in Bogota, Colombia in 2015, Rappi set out to create an on-demand convenience store and has expanded into nine countries and over 200 cities. In our conversation, Sebastian and I discuss what differentiates Rappi from US-based delivery apps, how the company evolved early by understanding their customers’ behavior, and how the business balances growth vs. unit economics. I loved hearing Sebastian’s views of the value of brands in an increasingly app-based world, the importance of being hyper-local for any delivery-based business, and how fungibility is a key characteristic of any rewards program. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Sebastian Mejia.   Before we transition to the episode, I also wanted to highlight our newest series, Business Breakdowns. Each week, we do a deep dive into an individual business to understand what makes it tick. Find more information on joincolossus.com or search for and sign up to the Business Breakdowns feed on your preferred podcast player.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Dell Technologies. When you call a Dell Technologies Advisor, they’re focused on you - ready to give advice on everything from laptops to the cloud to keep your small business ready for what’s next. Call an advisor today at 877 ASK DELL, and do more with modern devices and Windows 10 Pro.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Versett. Versett designs, builds, and scales digital platforms for some of the world's most ambitious companies. If you require a high-performance team to tackle a hard or ambiguous problem, then Versett is the firm to call. To check them out, visit versett.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:54] - [First question] - What the Rappi is their current scale and user base  [00:05:30] - The early-stage problems they encountered when building their platform  [00:08:43] - Building the initial network dynamics and unit economics of couriers   [00:12:35] - Solving the data collection and integration needed to power Rappi  [00:15:22] - Defining what local means  and the difference between units and zones [00:17:33] - Other active companies that offer a similar service   [00:18:27] - Thoughts on making money in such a diversified supply chain [00:22:57] - The moment they realized they were starting to feel scale effects for the first time [00:25:11] - Questions they’re asking themselves as they continue to grow [00:28:20] - Streaming consumer goods and how they’ll change consumer behavior [00:31:45] - Impacts on brands Rappi might have with larger user adoption [00:34:34] - Unique attributes and opportunities in Latin American markets today [00:38:45] - Observations of early investors and questions investors as him often [00:40:17] - The value unlock of having a subscription model akin to Amazon prime [00:44:47] - How crypto and blockchain technology might benefit Rappi users [00:47:16] - His perspective on crypto in Latin America today compared to the US  [00:48:09] - Their work in financial services [00:47:30] - Possible reasons why Rappi might not succeed in the future [00:50:30] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s conversation is one of my all-time favorites, with someone I’ve come to respect deeply in the field of investing. My guest is Carl Kawaja, who has served as a portfolio manager at Capital Group for decades. Capital Group is among the most respected shareholders in the world, with over $2T of assets, and listening to Carl, you’ll hear why.   In our conversation, we cover Carl’s criteria for building conviction around long-term holdings, why he views uncertainty and ambiguity as healthy, and why tolerating failure is key to great investing career. Throughout our discussion, Carl connects his lessons through a variety of direct experiences, personal analogies, and broader frameworks. I love his ability to talk in the weeds about his investments in Vale and TSMC and then quickly shift to his broader thematic views like “The Empire Strikes Back.” I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Carl Kawaja.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:38] - [First question] - The two companies he has owned the longest and what they’ve taught him as an investor  [00:16:37] - Discussing his investment style through the lens of simplicity   [00:24:35] - A time where he worked to try and create a simplified equation but couldn’t  [00:30:59] - Discussing his investment style through the lens of echolocation and ambiguity  [00:36:03] - Thoughts on whether buying well or holding well is more difficult [00:40:40] - Capital Group’s history and his river-rafting analogy in regards to the company [00:47:48] - What he means by “The Empire Strikes Back” and relevant market themes [00:54:50] - A brief summary of “The Empire Strikes Back” [00:58:42] - Common reasons that he may have gotten something really wrong  [01:03:34] - Impressions made on him by the poet Rilke [01:09:00] - The work of Brunello Cucinelli and the nature of quality  [01:13:08] - Advice for new investors who want to step into the field and set themselves up for success [01:13:54] - The Visual Display of Quantitative Information  [01:17:39] - What he’s learned about kindness [01:19:54] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Stewart Butterfield, founder and CEO of Slack. Stewart’s 2014 essay “Why We Don’t Sell Saddles Here” had a massive impact on my own business journey, which made this discussion extra special. During our conversation, we discuss the concept of owner’s delusion, how to frame the boundaries between product and market, and the challenge of changing people’s mental models and behavior when introducing innovative products. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Stewart.   Before we transition to the episode, I also wanted to highlight our newest series Business Breakdowns. Each week, we do a deep dive into an individual business to understand what makes it tick. For more information go to joincolossus.com or search for and sign up to the Business Breakdowns feed on your preferred podcast player.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:51] - [First question] - Discussing his essay We Don’t Sell Saddles Here   [00:06:19] - Important contrast between innovation and the product [00:06:46] - Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?  [00:08:07] - His thoughts on marketing from both ends and how he’s gotten better at it [00:10:45] - What across Slack’s history has been the most successful market messaging creation strategy [00:13:43] - The 5K contest and how it taught him about the design unlock of limitations [00:17:44] - How limitations and constraints can power and incentivize innovation  [00:21:21] - Why both of his attempts to build videogames ended up as consumer software [00:27:55] - Whether or not there is still white space in digital communication software [00:30:15] - The dynamic between effective communication and building communication tools [00:34:02] - A future of digital-first companies and what that might look like [00:40:15] - Leadership and Self-Deception and what self-deception means to him [00:43:39] - Examples of self-deception he underwent that he was able to learn from [00:46:59] - Mastery and its importance in the world of business [00:48:59] - Why hippies and APIs may have a tighter correlation than we think  [00:54:01] - Whether or not technology is fundamentally amoral  [00:56:10] - Interesting and open questions about the future that remain unanswered  [00:58:33] - His current creative outlets that he engages with the most  [00:59:24] - Yahoo Resignation Letter and why he wrote it the way he did [01:00:31] - Lessons for investors and builders that he’s learned from building Slack [01:03:07] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him  [01:04:27] - Why a philosophy primer would be beneficial for virtually everyone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Steve Mandel, founder of Lone Pine Capital, one of the most successful hedge fund and investment firms of this generation. In our conversation, we discuss how the investing business has evolved since Steve’s start in the 1980s, why it’s so difficult to drive alpha by shorting stocks today versus 20 years ago, and why Steve still loves to get into the guts of a business. Steve shares his lessons through a variety of great stories, which made this such a fun experience. Please enjoy my conversation with Steve Mandel.   Before we transition to my interview with Steve, I’d also like to highlight the newest Colossus show, Business Breakdowns. If you like Steve’s idea of getting into the guts of a business, this is the show for you. Please find a list of our episodes at joincolossus.com and subscribe to Business Breakdowns on your preferred podcast player.   I hope you enjoy my conversation with Steve Mandel.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:36] - [First question] - His first encounter with Walmart [00:05:51] - What about Sam Walton made him worth idolizing  [00:08:14] - The juxtaposition of business to management quality [00:10:57] - Why a career in retail influenced the lens he sees the investing world through [00:11:23] - What bad company culture in retail looks like [00:12:33] - Aspects of Walmart’s culture that could be applied to other companies [00:13:54] - Defining the core essence of retail company culture [00:15:02] - How long it used to take for a stock to properly reflect new information [00:16:40] - The nature of edge and what it looked like back then [00:21:09] - Investing behind change and assessing trends [00:23:06] - Scars and stories from just how vicious short markets can be [00:26:32] - Thoughts on building an enduring firm and how it’s evolved over time  [00:32:14] - The process and decision to remove himself from the day-to-day operations [00:33:55] - Lessons learned over time about what separates good from bad analysts [00:34:42] - Where to start looking when getting into the guts of a business [00:36:31] - What is most exciting when you’re inside the guts   [00:39:19] - Interesting aspects about payments today writ large [00:42:15] - Broad trends around change in consumer trends  [00:43:02] - How he views software businesses looking forward as an investor [00:45:14] - Great managers and their emphasis on analyzing their competitive advantage [00:48:02] - Ways that pace as a variable has changed in importance [00:49:27] - What he thinks we’ll look back on as silly in how markets currently operate [00:50:33] - Whether or not all markets becoming 24/7 will be a good thing [00:51:59] - Big iconic business stories that newcomers should study [00:56:06] - Whether or not business building is an art form [00:57:38] - Key levers that typically always matter for a business [00:59:53] - Other major aspects of the world that are important to consider [01:01:13] - How his personal motivations morphed over the years and what has changed [01:02:55] - Valuable lessons learned about the inputs and outputs of education [01:04:15] - Advice for would-be future investment analysts [01:05:46] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Spenser Skates, CEO and co-founder of Amplitude Analytics. Spenser founded Amplitude in 2012 with a thesis that building the best product requires, deep cross-functional understanding of customer behavior. During our conversation, we discuss Spenser’s long history in programming and how his early experiences tie into his work today. We also explore the nuances of equity compensation, how different VCs can play a role in the success of a startup, and Spenser’s desire to see more direct listings vs. IPOs. While many founders follow the path of others, it is clear Spenser takes time to challenge the status quo.   Before we transition to the episode, I wanted to highlight our newest series, Business Breakdowns. In this episode, you will hear how Spenser’s team worked with the meditation app, Calm, to optimize for customer growth. It was particularly interesting to hear this story after listening to the Calm breakdown. Find episodes of Business Breakdowns on your preferred podcast provider or on joincolossus.com   I hope you enjoy my conversation with Spenser Skates.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to by Dell Technologies. Upgrade your business during Dell Technologies’ Black Friday in July event. Get savings up to 50% off AND take your office with you with Windows 10 Pro. To learn more, call a Dell Technologies Advisor at 877-ASK-DELL or check out the deals at https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/deals.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:15] - [First question] - How he won the Battlecode tournament at MIT twice [00:06:43] - A few key insights that helped him win the tournaments [00:08:34] - Lessons learned at MIT and the road to starting Amplitude [00:13:57] - A typical customer experience when using Amplitude  [00:17:17] - How their platform extrapolates key data points in user data that others don’t [00:19:03] - His most productive mistakes made while building the company  [00:21:10] - The strange history of equity and his thoughts on how it should be used  [00:28:08] - The recent changes in the vesting schedule for newly issued equity  [00:29:59] - Lessons learned from working with some of the best investors out there [00:36:20] - His thoughts on the IPO process and going public writ large [00:41:04] - The role the SEC plays and his perspective on SPACs  [00:44:01] - Differences in direct listings compared to traditional IPOs  [00:48:36] - His thoughts on dual-class structures and corporate governance  [00:50:11] - Hopes for Amplitude as he looks five years into the future [00:52:03] - The potential value unlock of smart software for end-users   [00:55:08] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is David Sacks, General Partner at Craft Ventures and founding COO of PayPal. During our conversation, we explore what differentiates Enterprise SaaS from DTC subscriptions, what makes for a magical product launch event, and what key growth metrics David uses to measure success. David has written extensively on his idea of operating cadence, and we explore how that applies to the various functions within an organization. As time goes on, I am more and more impressed at the talent that existed within the original PayPal mafia, and I couldn’t help but ask David to highlight the superpowers for a few of his early partners. This was an incredibly informative conversation with fun threads throughout. Please enjoy my conversation with David Sacks.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Robinhood, Marqeta, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:30] - [First question] - Defining what it means when a company can explode [00:05:39] - What it would look like if a company didn’t have what it takes to explode [00:06:17] - Key factors that make for a strong product hook [00:08:51] - Whether or not there has been a divergence at the early stage of B2B investing compared to B2C [00:11:36] - Reasons why products that make people collaborate are always stronger [00:14:14] - Nuances between team subscriptions and team product use [00:15:37] - Describing the burn multiple metric and how it can be applied to companies [00:18:18] - The gross margin problem and issues for businesses in this area writ large [00:22:34] - Common practices amongst sales programs that have and haven’t worked [00:24:22] - What about new founders makes him most excited [00:25:58] - Explaining cadence and why he groups product and marketing as one bucket and sales and finance as another [00:30:44] - The anatomy of a great product launch  [00:32:17] - Ways in which external dependencies can be landmines for growing companies [00:34:06] - Whether or not he’s willingness to invest in a business with regulatory variables [00:36:59] - What he’s seen in company culture that breaks a company as they scale [00:39:55] - Things a founder actually does in order to reign in and tame their culture [00:42:08] - Unique traits of founders who are both investors and operators [00:44:12] - Peter Thiel’s superpower  [00:44:57] - Max Levchin’s superpower [00:45:38] - Elon Musk’s superpower [00:46:07] - Roelof Botha’s superpower [00:47:15] - Reid Hoffman’s superpower  [00:47:43] - Keith Rabois’ superpower  [00:48:41] - What zones of change in the world have his attention writ large [00:51:43] - Why teams want to be pushed and how we can apply that to business [00:55:25] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, the world’s largest digital bank with over 40 million customers. In our conversation, David talks about his venture capital background at Sequoia and how that led him down an entrepreneurial path in Latin America. We also talk about the pros and cons of building a digitally native business and what gets him most excited about innovation and technology in emerging markets.   Before we start the episode, I would also like to highlight our newest Colossus show, Business Breakdowns. Since launching in early April, we have published over 15 Breakdowns and continue to release a new episode weekly. To learn more, check out joincolossus.com. I hope you enjoy my conversation with David Vélez.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to by Dell Technologies. Dell Technologies and Windows can help you upgrade your business tech with its Small Business Month specials. Save up to 45% on PCs with Windows 10 Pro— plus business docks, monitors & more. To learn more, call a Dell Technologies Advisor at 877-ASK-DELL or check out the deals at https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/deals   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:55] - [First question] - Why Berkshire Hathaway took such an interest in Nubank [00:04:46] - Key differentiators between Nubank and other incumbent banks [00:07:11] - Onboarding user experience and overview of customer acquisition [00:10:38] - The original problem Nubank wanted to solve and how they approached it [00:15:32] - Lessons from working at Sequoia about great FinTech businesses [00:19:18] - What parts of his personality and life experience worked its way into NuBank [00:23:18] - Obstacles that needed to be overcome in order to serve the Brazilian public [00:27:52] - Transparency and patience needed to overcome a complicated problem [00:31:11] - Nubank’s business economics compared to other banks [00:34:46] - Overview of rewards programs and why customers like them so much [00:37:27] - Best questions asked that explained Nubank’s market opportunity [00:42:02] - Second layer unit economics of the company and where to look for them [00:45:51] - How far we are into the Latin American technological ecosystem’s development [00:47:24] - Lessons learned from some of the worst decisions he’s made as a founder [00:51:30] - What he’s most excited about for the future [00:54:19] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Balaji Srinivasan, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. Balaji is known to challenge conventional wisdom, and he lives up to his reputation in this conversation. We discuss a wide variety of topics, including advancements in health tracking, ways to evaluate your own information diet, and how technology is driving decentralization and what that could mean for countries, corporations, and individuals.   Before we transition to the episode, if you enjoy this conversation with Balaji, I’d recommend the Ethereum episode on our newest show, Business Breakdowns. You can find that episode and more on your favorite podcast player or at joincolossus.com. Please enjoy my conversation with Balaji Srinivasan.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Marqeta, Oatly, Grab, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick".   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:30] - [First question] - Thoughts on information diets and how they influence individuals [00:21:37] - Ways to optimize your diet by reading the source material and consuming less news [00:26:40] - Understanding the informational supply chain and tracing data back to the origin [00:41:07] - Modern cities, the nature of a group of individuals, and what sovereignty may mean in the coming years [00:53:52] - Key ingredients and main components needed for a successful startup city [01:11:35] - Social impacts from everyone becoming an investor and how it ties into everything [01:25:49] - Recommendations and a personal prescription for longevity, health, and wealth [01:37:32] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today Michael Mayer, is the founder and CEO of Bottomless, a company that automatically replenishes your coffee supply where I am both an excited investor and customer. Today’s conversation is about tactical lessons Michael has learned while building the business. We talk about identifying an addressable problem, how to avoid solving for bottlenecks that don’t yet exist, and how to iterate through problems before scaling. As yet another example of a self-taught entrepreneur, it’s inspiring to hear Michael’s mindset for problem-solving. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Michael Mayer.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to by Dell Technologies. Upgrade your business during Dell Technologies’ Black Friday in July event. Get savings up to 50% off AND take your office with you with Windows 10 Pro. To learn more, call a Dell Technologies Advisor at 877-ASK-DELL or check out the deals at https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/deals.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - How he got into this space in the first place and found the problem Bottomless would eventually solve [00:08:43] - What he would do better the second time if he had to find a problem and narrow his focus all over again [00:09:49] - The most notable lessons learned about data legibility beyond the scale [00:10:15] - Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed [00:13:01] - Overview of building the first Bottomless hardware prototype  [00:14:29] - First steps of physically assembling the first scale and learning fabrication [00:17:40] - Roughly how long it would take to build scales in the beginning [00:18:30] - How long the company was bootstrapped  [00:20:41] - Making the pivot to seeking out investor support [00:29:03] - The often overlooked role of social capital as a startup founder [00:31:00] - Importance of following niches and passions [00:32:15] - His philosophy in successfully scaling the production side of the company [00:34:45] - Lessons learned from bottlenecks and their utility in founder growth [00:36:52] - The problem of supplier legibility and improving it [00:40:14] - Understanding USPS predictability as a product input [00:43:03] - Always problems to solve and the fractal nature of them [00:46:13] - Challenges of hiring staff in the tech space [00:50:15] - Lessons learned about personal bottlenecks and the need to evolve alongside your company [00:52:21] - Monitoring your informational inputs and their role in shaping your mindset [00:55:58] - Closing thoughts on the business boss battles founders face [00:57:38] - Why society writ large should perceive starting a company as status-enhancing [00:59:44] - What bottlenecks for Bottomless may present themselves in a year from now   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Silicon Valley icon, Marc Andreessen. Before co-founding the legendary venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, Marc was an early pioneer of the internet. At age 22, he built Mosaic, the first widely adopted web browser and the technology that underpinned Netscape Communications. Marc was an early proponent of cloud computing, social networks, and the software business model. In each case, Marc seemed to be well ahead of the crowd. During our conversation, we explore how software is making the world better, how slow sectors like education, healthcare, and housing are eating the economy, and Marc’s vision of the future for A16Z. Please enjoy my conversation with Marc Andreessen.   Before we transition to the episode, I wanted to highlight our newest series, Business Breakdowns. Each week we do a deep dive into an individual business to understand what makes it great. Find more information on joincolossus.com or search for and sign up to the Business Breakdowns feed on your preferred podcast player.                                           For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:04:10] - [First question] The ways in which software is eating the world [00:06:25] - The power of transitioning from atoms to bits and its impacts [00:09:57] - Potential downsides and credible concerns as we shift into an automated world  [00:16:00] - Major impediments of productive growth over the coming decades   [00:23:12] - Real change versus false change due to COVID-19 writ large  [00:30:06] - Thoughts on the rising cost of post-secondary education in light of the internet [00:37:03] - Why doesn’t Google have their own university and if they might in the future [00:41:30] - Whether or not an entrepreneurial focus on generally slower sectors may produce excess returns [00:44:17] - Thoughts on hardware, its unit economics, and its role in shaping society [00:47:52] - How to think about investing in immensely complicated, large-scale projects [00:54:10] - What they’re building at A16Z, a new crypto fund, and where their sights are set [01:03:09] - East coast investing styles and things we can borrow from them [01:06:01] - Potential plans to step into the public equity space  [01:11:09] - Defining why it’s time to build and the imperative it sets [01:15:13] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Will Ahmed, founder of fitness wearable company WHOOP. What started as a business plan in 2011 has evolved into the 24/7 health-tracking device you’ll often see on athletes across professional sports. During our conversation, Will and I discuss how his own backstory ties into the founding of WHOOP, the key design decisions they made in the ultra-competitive wearables market, and how the company grew slowly before inflecting in recent years. Will shares awesome details on health tracking and what it might look like in the future as a preventative tool rather than simply a tracking tool. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Will Ahmed.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad, to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick."   -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - The founding story of WHOOP [00:05:45] - Narrowing in on the problem to focus on solving  [00:08:58] - Overview of analyzing and quantifying recovery, strain, and sleep [00:15:52] - Downsizing the problem set to deliver an affordable solution [00:18:48] - What he’s learned about hardware product road mapping [00:21:43] - How many people wear their WHOOP all-day [00:22:05] - Early lessons from taking their wearable tech product to market [00:26:25] - Ways in which they landed their first high-profile athletic brand ambassadors [00:27:55] - Interesting methods that proved successful in their marketing tactics [00:32:06] - Observations of making the switch to a subscription service [00:34:00] - Why big apparel companies failed where WHOOP didn’t [00:35:20] - Changes in behavior from users who learn about their habits using WHOOP [00:40:18] - His philosophy on business partnerships and how he developed it [00:44:56] - How he ended up with a paddle from the Navy Seals [00:47:13] - Ways WHOOP stays ahead and upcoming trends in the wearable tech space [00:50:13] - Data beyond HRV that will become more accessible and affordable to track  [00:51:09] - The extent that data and software relative to hardware are a key part of WHOOP [00:53:06] - Lessons learned about effective leadership on a personal level [00:56:13] - Notable differences in his leadership style from then compared to now [00:57:34] - Thoughts about business defensibility in such a competitive space [00:59:44] - Reasons behind why WHOOP products don’t have a screen [01:02:13] - Valuable lessons for other entrepreneurs when studying WHOOP’s story [01:05:03] - Systems in place that allow for their speed and pace of growth [01:06:31] - What makes a day of work fun for him [01:08:39] - Why we shouldn’t measure our steps [01:10:01] - What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Howard Marks, co-founder of Oaktree Capital, a leading investment manager, and one of the world’s largest distressed debt investors. In our conversation, we discuss takeaways from the market selloff and rapid recovery in 2020, the importance of assessing both quantitative and qualitative factors in markets, and the benefits Howard has realized from a career of writing. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Howard Marks.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick.   ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:40] - [First question] - Ideas he has that he feels will stand the test of time [00:04:39] - Defining the difference between risk and uncertainty and a frame of mind to have around uncertainty as an investor [00:05:31] - Equity and debt investing as the businesses of what could go right or wrong [00:07:01] - How exciting equity up runs can lead to analytical blindspots [00:09:10] - Ways in which the last 18 months stacked up against his market experience [00:11:57] - Ways we can change our model of the world going forward to avoid a crisis [00:15:04] - Why psychology is important to consider over data during market extremes [00:17:46] - Reflections and lessons from discussing the concept of value with his son [00:27:33] - Spirited disagreements he and his son continue to have about markets [00:31:46] - What he’s learned about writing well and the utility of doing so [00:40:39] - Lessons that are better experienced in investing than reading about them [00:43:35] - Daring to be great and the willingness to be wrong, alone or different [00:50:24] - Embracing mystery and the joys it can bring [00:53:28] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Christina Cacioppo, founder of Vanta, a security and compliance software business founded in 2017. In our conversation, Christina brings to life the idea of “finding a problem that exists and fixing it.” We dive into the experiences that led her to launch Vanta, the strategy she took to build, price, and distribute the product, and we touch on her lessons from running a growing organization. I always admire the drive that founders have when they set off to build something -- Christina fits that mold, and you will hear about how she embarked on a self-taught journey early in her career. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Christina.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] - [First question] - How she first found her interest in business [00:04:09] - Early days exploring business for the first time [00:07:09] - Lessons learned from USV that have been applied to Vanta [00:07:42] - The next stage of her learning journey after USV [00:09:20] - Making a massive pivot in life and teaching herself to code [00:10:53] - The four-year road that lead to building Vanta [00:12:39] - First encounters with the software security problem space [00:15:21] - Origins of SOC 2, what it means, and what it does [00:17:11] - What software security means writ large [00:19:32] - Who demands a SOC 2 and why [00:20:57] - How Vanta improved a broken process and productized it [00:23:33] - What V1 of Vanta looked like [00:26:30] - Understanding the value of using spreadsheets first [00:27:48] - From static to streaming and finding product-market fit [00:29:22] - Monitoring whether or not a company is SOC 2 compliant in real-time [00:32:19] - Auditors that still exist in the compliance space today [00:33:39] - The pace of onboarding new clients onto the Vanta software  [00:34:53] - Figuring out a price point for the service Vanta offers [00:37:06] - Developing the business model and scaling it [00:39:18] - Lessons learned and innovations created about effective sales organization [00:41:52] - Hardest hills to climb in building Vanta [00:43:17] - Building competitive advantage into the framework of the business [00:46:07] - Overview of the frontier of software security [00:47:43] - General thoughts on competitive advantage as a whole [00:49:43] - Quality control of decision making in Vanta [00:50:40] - Downstream effects of structural and organizational business design [00:52:30] - Hard lessons learned going from being academic to pragmatic [00:53:36] - What the future could look like for Vanta based on its current trajectory [00:54:26] - What her information diet consists of lately  [00:55:27] - Areas she’s interested in currently but learning more than being proficient  [00:56:59] - Ways in which she’s become a better leader [00:57:46] - Unique factors about what makes Vanta tick [00:58:45] - Negative advice to would-be founders out there [01:00:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her [01:02:44] - Major insights learned from living in Rwanda, Thailand, and Uganda   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is John Harris, Managing Partner of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, where the flagship Sequoia Fund has an incredible 50-year track record running a highly concentrated portfolio of equities. In our conversation, we cover John’s approach to finding businesses that can be owned for the long-term, what goes into their diligence process, and the importance of resilience for investors. I think many of the stock pickers will enjoy many of the points on good management, good businesses, and using imagination. I hope you enjoy my conversation with John.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------ This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick.   ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:48] - [First question] - How markets undervalue long-duration growth of companies [00:07:21] - Why should one even do DCFs at all [00:10:01] - Defining homework when studying a business and what getting better as you do your homework tends to look like [00:12:24] - How the market still underestimates how the quality of a company reduces risk [00:15:09] - Reinvestment opportunity and risk and why they’re important for long term returns [00:17:14] - Lessons learned owning Google stock options for over a decade [00:22:02] - Skill versus luck when it comes to investing psychology [00:24:32] - Perspectives on big market cap companies in a portfolio when success often comes from smaller-cap non-linear growth  [00:26:47] - Features of the current market landscape that he finds interesting [00:31:24] - What buying behavior looks like in the demand side of the business equation [00:34:10] - Discovering a company that served the customer and was a delight to discover [00:37:58] - Analysing getting one's hands dirty to get a competitive advantage in serving the customer [00:39:24] - The hardest episode of his investing career and what he learned from it [00:43:03] - Reasons why a company succeeded after doing a deep dive but not buying in [00:43:54] - One of the CEOs he finds most remarkable [00:47:20] - Examples of businesses where scale isn’t the driver of competitive advantage [00:49:50] - A company they owned that did well but didn’t have the strongest company culture [00:50:56] - His view on the investment industry today writ large [00:52:16] - Ways investors could expand their imagination when analyzing businesses [00:53:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Florian Hagenbuch and Mate Pencz, co-founders of Loft. Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Loft is a digital platform designed to bring Latin American real estate into the e-commerce age. The 3-year-old startup scaled to over $150mm in annualized revenue in 2020 and is on track for multiples higher this year. We dive into the market opportunity in Brazilian real estate and how that differs from the US market, the value proposition for iBuying across the US and Latin America ecosystems, and touch on the potential for Loft to expand from real estate into adjacent services such as mortgages. Florian and Mate are second-time founders and have some great lessons shared throughout the episode. Please enjoy my conversation with Florian and Mate.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad, to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick." -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:52] - [First question] - Why Latin America currently presents such a unique opportunity for modern technology companies [00:04:38] - What the market looked like when they started Loft [00:07:20] - How they approached gathering data that wasn’t available or accessible in order to develop the company infrastructure [00:09:39] - How the process of buying a home used to be in São Paulo versus today [00:12:19] - What Loft’s hard work unlocks for consumers and home buyers [00:14:06] - What iBuying feels like writ large and more specifically in real estate [00:18:07] - Analysis of an iBuying real estate transaction from start to finish [00:20:09] - The role machine learning plays in property valuation and building that feature   [00:22:50] - Defining their business model and being a fulfillment center aggregator  [00:24:47] - Notable characteristics of the iBuying market in the United States  [00:27:00] - How they think about the competitive advantage extensions of Loft  [00:29:53] - Exciting opportunities for the FinTech broadly in Latin America  [00:32:47] - Deciding on what it is they want to tackle next as they grow the company  [00:34:13] - Thinking about the value proposition to customers and how they market it  [00:35:50] - Lessons learned about building businesses early on that were applied to Loft [00:40:12] - What led them to finding their early product-market fit  [00:42:48] - Calibrating and defining their ambitions for Loft out of the gate  [00:45:05] - Important and interesting trends in the business world today writ large  [00:48:43] - Further lessons and key challenges around building and scaling Loft  [00:52:24] - The kindest things that anyone has ever done for them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest is Gabe Leydon, who is the co-founder and former CEO of MZ, also known as Machine Zone, the company behind huge games such as Mobile Strike and Game of War. Gabe has spent the last 20 years designing video games and is one of the most original thinkers I have talked to in a long time. In our conversation, we cover why great design can be a bad sign that we’d run out of ways to innovate, the most important lessons from human psychology for building games and products, and why products which are busted or breaking but still booming can be great investment opportunities. This conversation rewired my brain on many levels, so I’m excited for you to listen. Take the red pill with us, and please enjoy my conversation with Gabe Leydon.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:59] - [First question] - Thoughts on the importance of design and the role it plays in capitalism writ large [00:07:26] - Huxley’s vision of the future versus Orwell’s - Amusing Ourselves to Death [00:10:49] - A question about game design in interviews that no one can answer well [00:18:27] - What about his early experiences that allowed him to be good at answering that question when others could not [00:26:35] - Another example to further explain the nature of meta software design mechanics [00:29:44] - Characteristics of what drives players to spend money in games [00:34:46] - Defining heroic spending and the group dynamics of spending gamification [00:38:18] - Skill set required to design an economy and what makes it so difficult [00:41:27] - Cosmetic purchases as a revenue stream in North American video games [00:43:56] - What he’s learned about human psychology through his design work [00:45:48] - How the technological infrastructure developed in building video games overlap in performance marketing [00:48:44] - His experience with the RT platform and some of the technologies he’s built [00:55:49] - Celebrity NFTs and a shift to becoming virtual manufacturers in the future [00:59:58] - What businesses can do now to prepare for and adapt to NFTs [01:01:03] - Why we need AI more than think we might [01:04:32] - What he plans to do with his skillset if the world becomes increasingly gamified [01:05:40] - Companies with poor design may be indicative of an attractive acquisition [01:08:11] - How differing cultural perspectives on video game design permeate into NFTs [01:08:46] - Defining the Chinese item box approach to in-game player rewards [01:11:24] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Assaf Wand, CEO, and co-founder of Hippo, a homeowner insurance startup founded in 2015. In March 2021, Hippo announced a SPAC merger, valuing the business at over $5bn. In our discussion, we cover how Hippo approached innovation in the highly regulated insurance industry, unique strategies for building brand trust, and how direct relationships with homeowners has opened up Hippo's business model to a wide range of opportunities. I was excited to speak with Assaf, given his experience as a serial entrepreneur, and he did not disappoint. Please enjoy my conversation with Assaf Wand.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad, to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick." ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] - [First question] - His philosophy on business [00:04:04] - His first experience in entrepreneurship [00:05:03] - Lawyers vs entrepreneurs [00:07:03] - Major lessons taking risk in entrepreneurship [00:11:14] - Importance of speed in business [00:15:02] - Increasing urgency into the business as a leader [00:18:59] - What the insurance sector was like at the start of Hippo [00:24:49] - Steps he took to bootstrap trust [00:27:03] - Convincing partners [00:29:04] - Building the products and distribution [00:32:49] - Thoughts on innovators dilemma [00:35:00] - Flaws within the insurance industry [00:34:57] - Vision for the firm  [00:37:44] - Importance of culture in company building [00:41:19] - Storytelling as an essential piece of company building [00:41:50] - Building and managing a roadmap [00:43:19] - What does it mean to respect the customer [00:46:11] - Defensibility of the insurance industry [00:49:34] - Rewards of the trench warfare of entrepreneurship [00:53:33] - The feeling of getting wealthy  [00:55:29] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Dennis Lynch, Head of Counterpoint Global, where he oversees over $100bn in AUM and boasts one of the strongest track records of any public investor. In our conversation, we cover Dennis's unique approach to building a research team, how misclassification of companies often creates the highest upside opportunities, and how Dennis has adapted his investment process over the past 20 years. I think Dennis defines what it means to be intellectually honest, and you will hear that in his answers throughout our discussion. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dennis Lynch.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   (for me-  )   ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term.   MITIMCo is also searching for an exceptional new teammate to join their internal investment team. Visit mitimco.org to learn more – click “Join” to learn more about the Global Investor Role on MITIMCo’s team or and click “Emerging Managers” to learn more about their emerging manager activities. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:47] - [First question] - How he would teach potential students to be investors [00:04:26] - The Money Game [00:04:40] - Moneyball [00:05:59] - Pros and cons of volatility when investing [00:08:55] - Emotional response to volatility [00:12:44] - Training to have a better temperament [00:14:20] - What is his investing game [00:15:17] - The Ethical Algorithm [00:16:44] - How time horizon impacts their investment strategy [00:20:53] - Assessing a company’s earnings power [00:26:12] - Shifting business models vs. evolving within a business model [00:32:32] - Understanding how to invest in disruptive businesses [00:35:26] - Why he’s skeptical on Growth and Value investing strategies [00:38:42] - Expectations Investing [00:38:55] - How his view of assessing businesses has changed [00:43:56] - Defining unit economics [00:45:41] - Taking on uncertainty risk in the portfolio  [00:50:38] - The business that taught him the most; Amazon [00:53:32] - Dealing with massive amounts of change [00:56:01] - The Big Short [00:59:46] - Interest in psychedelic research [01:01:02] - What has changed the most in investing from when he started [01:04:19] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Henrique Dubugras, co-founder and CEO of Brex, an all-in-one finance account for businesses. Brex recently raised funding at a valuation of over 7 billion dollars despite being founded only four years ago. In our conversation, we cover Brex’s transition from a credit card for start-ups to the central account for businesses, why building that central account was orders of magnitude more difficult than expected, and the difference between building a business in Brazil and the US. We also discussed Henrique’s term horizon for building Brex and how that impacts his decision-making for the business. Please enjoy my conversation with Henrique Dubugras.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:53] - [First question] - The state of the B2B financial world before Brex [00:06:29] - How such a high margin space was generally underserved [00:08:24] - What the first version of the Brex card looked like [00:10:48] - How long it took to build and launch their infrastructure [00:11:13] - Why market penetration is so low for cards in B2B businesses [00:13:14] - How he thinks about this landscape in Brazil versus the US [00:14:55] - What interchange and high margins allows him to pass on to the consumer [00:16:23] - Brex’s first revenue event [00:17:38] - What the biggest hurdle was to overcome when they launched [00:19:02] - Key marketing strategy early on and what made it successful [00:21:16] - Continued distribution lessons they learned from their initial success [00:22:39] - Building an effective sales force to push their product [00:24:41] - What makes the current landscape so fertile for fintech businesses [00:27:12] - Analysis of their unique funding round dynamics [00:28:42] - Their second product and the insight that lead to that decision [00:31:05] - Darkest moments while trying to build their central account [00:31:50] - What their central account allows them to facilitate writ large [00:35:27] - Notable differences between entrepreneurship in Brazil versus the US [00:38:55] - Observations on inefficiencies in the US startup space [00:40:16] - Pros, cons, and costs of being largely remote [00:41:50] - Keys to building a successful hiring pipeline [00:44:05] - Lessons learned about decision making and optimization [00:45:39] - Developing an effective skill set to convince other people of anything [00:47:35] - What excites him about being a part of Brex lately [00:49:13] - What excites him about the future in general [00:50:39] - His business philosophy and the set of principles that guide him  [00:52:03] - Nuances that make focusing on a single problem so attractive [00:53:51] - Long term infrastructure decisions that will pay off in the end [00:55:12] - Thoughts and hi perspective on cash flow in general [00:58:18] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Justin Fishner-Wolfson, founder of 137 Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on providing liquidity solutions to founders, investors, and employees of private businesses. In our conversation, we discuss what early career experiences led Justin to start 137 Ventures, the counter-intuitive information asymmetry between public and private markets, and the interesting trend of digitization in the physical world. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Justin.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:47] - [First question] - Why he started 137 Ventures and what’s unique about it [00:05:31] - Overview of secondary equity markets in the tech sector [00:07:06] - Step by step process of how a secondary market investment works [00:09:37] - Scale of secondary transactions in markets today [00:10:19] - Valuations of secondary transaction rounds versus primary ones [00:11:37] - Defining great in private market investments and the competitive landscape [00:13:13] - Why there seems to be more information available in private markets [00:16:23] - How better capital allocation may result from less asymmetry [00:19:14] - What excites him about companies when meeting them for the first time [00:20:34] - Example of applying his philosophy of investing in a defensible business [00:22:20] - Counter positioning and inversion models to gain an advantage [00:24:17] - Lessons learned from Palantir about unlikely competitive advantage  [00:25:57] - Building good businesses when selling them to the government [00:26:59] - What technology means in the current era [00:28:34] - Methods for evaluating potential sources of defensibility and a lack thereof [00:30:30] - Considering focus and expansion when scaling [00:32:52] - Shared qualities of entrepreneurs who build these types of businesses [00:33:50] - The business that individually taught him the most writ large [00:35:01] - Defensabilities that might appear beyond the seven powers framework [00:36:21] - Thoughts on what seems to be craziest in the world today [00:37:15] - What’s surprising on the low end of the valuation side [00:38:11] - Interesting business models and ones he’s averse to  [00:40:31] - Constructing a portfolio with companies that have a customer focus [00:41:21] - Additional companies in their portfolio that aren’t of a similar model  [00:42:08] - Lessons learned from SpaceX’s growth [00:44:46] - Watching a SpaceX launch in person [00:46:03] - Advice for entrepreneurs when seeking capital and capital partners [00:48:04] - Investors he finds most impressive that he knows well [00:49:26] - Defining the cost of capital and what it means to him as a venture investor [00:50:56] - Is giving entrepreneurs too much money dangerous? [00:54:14] - What great capital allocation looks like to him [00:55:29] - Accelerating learning curves with tighter feedback loops [00:55:57] - Useful metrics for customer acquisition and retention [00:57:06] - Whether or not investing firms can and should behave defensibly [00:59:13] - What is going in the world that has his attention lately [01:02:06] - Key factors that have allowed him and his firm to succeed [01:03:47] - What he thinks about when his mind isn’t focused on investing [01:04:08] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Peter Reinhardt, co-founder and CEO of Segment, the market-leading data customer data platform that was acquired by Twilio last year. In our conversation, we cover the fascinating journey of Segment from an education feedback tool to the business it is today, Peter’s sales philosophy on meeting the customer where they are and not where you think they should be, and why revenue operations, or RevOps, is underrated for any business. This was an incredibly honest conversation on company building that any builder can learn a lot from. Please enjoy my conversation with Peter Reinhardt.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:47] - [First question] - What Segment currently does for its customers [00:03:37] - How this industry looked before Segment came along [00:04:30] - Overview of a simple data flow and the utility of capturing user data [00:05:55] - Insights that lead to developing the structure for a central data pipeline [00:07:52] - Why other companies don’t just build their own data collection API [00:10:04] - Early days of building the company and finding success outside their initial idea [00:12:29] - Pivoting from classroom software to providing software the world needed [00:16:17] - What Technology Wants  [00:17:06] - Sign that validated becoming a B to B software company [00:19:49] - Challenging moments trying to scale Segment after bootstrapping the startup [00:24:58] - Getting customers to articulate your value proposition helps grow your sales [00:26:42] - Deciding what would be sold and what would remain open source [00:28:05] - Structuring and developing an enterprise sales team and sales model [00:30:23] - Overview of a 2 million dollar per sales person contract and how it’s allocated [00:31:38] - How it feels to be participant in the SaaS industry [00:34:02] - Lessons learned about revenue operations and how underappreciated it is [00:36:39] - Backwards efficiency and companies who use products to bootstrap scale economics [00:38:51] - Focusing on customer acquisition cost to maximize scale efficiency [00:40:52] - Potential disruptors to economies of scale [00:42:21] - Lessons learned from achieving massive scale and being acquired by Twilio [00:45:40] - Behind the curtain view of current data use trends [00:48:49] - His perspectives on the data privacy landscape and their implications writ large [00:51:48] - Legitimate businesses that will be hurt by changes in data privacy standards [00:53:11] - How data privacy standards may affect everyday merchants [00:54:03] - The worst advice he’s heard given to new entrepreneurs [00:56:20] - Impactful advice received along the way when growing Segment [00:56:47] - What has him most excited about the future [00:57:13] - Lessons learned about leadership from Jeff Lawson and his own experience [00:58:51] - The hardest changes he’s had to make as a leader [01:00:20] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Brent Beshore. For those that don’t know Brent from his frequent appearances on this podcast, he runs Permanent Equity Fund and has been a close personal friend for the past five years. Brent and I revisit our conversation from the heart of COVID to touch on key lessons learned and where that leaves us today. Brent sits at a unique touchpoint of the economy, so I particularly enjoyed his anecdotes on inflation and how to operate around these dynamics. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Brent.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Coinbase, Roblox, Qualtrics, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:52] - [First question] - Why last year ended up being so bullish [00:07:14] - Deal dynamics of the current landscape [00:09:54] - Lessons learned about managing a team through the pandemic [00:14:39] - Observations on the housing market and the pool industry [00:18:56] - Current labor force dynamics of trades  [00:21:18] - Considering labor dependency when investing in new businesses [00:23:10] - His perspectives on the future of tech through his investment lens [00:25:50] - Seeking out traditional businesses that reinvent age-old frameworks  [00:27:50] - Key stages of the art and science of evaluating and acquiring a company [00:31:45] - How much information he wants to know before making an initial offer [00:34:25] - Psychology of structuring and aligning incentives post-acquisition  [00:37:41] - What defines a great deal negotiator [00:40:05] - His most creative act when structuring a deal that didn’t work out as well [00:42:17] - Hist most creative structuring act that proved useful for the upside [00:43:34] - Notable changes in large-cap private equity markets [00:45:41] - Skills he feels he can improve on over the coming five years [00:48:30] - Coaching small companies on how to recruit top tier talent [00:52:49] - How to effectively get people to say yes to job offers and openings [00:54:19] - Absolute and relative changes in the opportunity set of small to mid-cap markets [00:57:40] - Lessons learned from strong support networks and onramps of upward mobility Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jeremy Cai, founder, and CEO of Italic, a subscription marketplace for consumer goods that works directly with manufacturers. I was introduced to Jeremy by my friend Blake Robbins and was dying to better understand the Italic business model. In our conversation, we discuss the Italic business model, the evolving role of manufacturers in supply chains, and the concept of building the next generation “everything store.” I love learning and discovering new business models, and this was fun to dig into. Please enjoy my conversation with Jeremy Cai.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to by Dell Technologies. Dell Technologies and Windows can help you upgrade your business tech with its Small Business Month specials. Save up to 45% on PCs with Windows 10 Pro— plus business docks, monitors & more. To learn more, call a Dell Technologies Advisor at 877-ASK-DELL or check out the deals at dell.com/en-us/work/shop/deals. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick." ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - Overview of Italic’s business model [00:04:51] - Why comparing Italic to Costco isn’t completely accurate [00:10:06] - His initial experience with manufacturers and how that world works [00:15:21] - Direct to consumer commerce and the power of a brand’s story [00:20:06] - Where manufacturers find the cash to effectively manage their inventory [00:25:26] - How design and R & D are handled by manufacturers in the current era [00:29:36] - Educated consumers and emotional versus rational buying decisions  [00:31:12] - Analyzing Italic’s five-step master plan and what needed to be built first [00:35:42] - Becoming more than just an aggregator and a platform [00:38:01] - Lessons learned from building Italic so far [00:39:02] - Other modern business models he finds interesting [00:43:26] - What Not Pot is and lessons learned from building it [00:44:51] - Observations about consumer behavior in his managed marketplace [00:48:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Eli Dourado, economist and senior research fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University. In our discussion, we touch on the ongoing stagnation in labor productivity, the system constraints, and some of the innovative technologies that could reverse this trend. While Eli identifies as an economist, his wealth of knowledge on biotech innovation, alternative energy, and the space opportunity are sure to leave you craving more. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Eli.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:28] - [First question] - Why he’s interested the great stagnation [00:05:41] - Is a fair analog for total factor productivity technology? [00:07:29] - Leading theories for the stagnation in TFP [00:09:05] - Analysis of why growth is good, and stagnation is bad [00:10:19] - Rate limiters that are a key part of calculating stagnation [00:11:43] - Signs that we may be returning to a higher degree of TFP returning [00:12:24] - Exciting developments like MRNA in biotech that may lead to an explosion of innovation [00:16:16] - Functions of a protein and their role in advances in biotech [00:17:55] - What CRISPR is and what it unlocks for the future of humanity [00:19:31] - The pace of progression when rolling our clinical trials of cellular engineering [00:21:36] - How biotech may play a role in TFP as a proxy for progress and growth [00:22:51] - Interesting observations about potential innovation in the energy sector [00:24:10] - What currently requires energy that could be optimized if they had a lower energy cost [00:25:34] - Sources that could provide cheaper and more efficient energy [00:27:13] - Sage Geosystems and the future of the geothermal space [00:27:43] - The importance of batteries in the modern era [00:29:02] - Why energy should be a more pivotal focus in our future [00:29:41] - What’s interesting in the world of transportation writ large [00:31:02] - Boom’s story, supersonic air travel, and why concord shut down [00:34:55] - Mach 5 and March 12 supersonic air travel [00:36:19] - Second-order effects of reducing the time cost of air travel [00:38:19] - Liftoff, SpaceX, and the future of the space sector [00:43:07] - Other key players in space people could study; Blue Origin and Relativity Space [00:45:15] - What will we do in space once we can travel there cheaply [00:46:39] - What he’s most curious about in IT that could drive productive societal growth [00:50:07] - Ethereum and how a decentralized blockchain could change the world  [00:51:19] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is James Reinhart, founder, and CEO of thredUP, an online thrift marketplace. thredUP’s online store is distinct in the way the company touches every product, processing every piece of clothing at their own facilities instead of focusing solely on being a marketplace connecting buyers and sellers. We talk about the competitive advantages of building processing plants from the ground up, how James turned thredUP from having negative gross margins to very strong unit economics, and the future of retail more broadly. I hope you enjoy this conversation with James Reinhart.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to by Dell Technologies. Dell Technologies and Windows can help you upgrade your business tech with its Small Business Month specials. Save up to 45% on PCs with Windows 10 Pro— plus business docks, monitors & more. To learn more, call a Dell Technologies Advisor at 877-ASK-DELL or check out the deals at dell.com/en-us/work/shop/deals. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick." -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:47] - [First question] - An overview of thredUP [00:03:44] - Origination of the idea [00:04:43] - Initial reactions to the concept [00:05:22] - Early days trying to acquire the first customers [00:07:32] - The evolution of their margins [00:11:04] - Providing convenience for the customer [00:13:01] - Lessons on working capital and inventory  [00:14:27] - How consumers use the money they receive within the platform [00:15:47] - The evolution of the operations of the business and scaling [00:20:20] - When it’s time to shift from human capital to automation [00:22:00] - The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time [00:22:39] - Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance [00:23:15] - Removing the hurdles for acquiring more buyers  [00:27:19] - Convincing investors on this concept [00:30:44] - The most difficult time for him psychologically in creating the business [00:31:56] - How he thinks about capital allocation [00:32:12] - The Startup Way: How Modern Companies Use Entrepreneurial Management to Transform Culture and Drive Long-Term Growth [00:33:51] - Overview of the clothing landscape and what would surprise most people [00:38:00] - Expanding their business from here  [00:40:36] - Improving how the raw material is sourced for apparel [00:42:45] - The nature of work  [00:42:56] - Dustin Moskovitz Podcast Episode [00:49:04] - What he’s most excited about for the future [00:50:35] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Andrew Sugrue, co-founder, and partner at Avenir Growth Capital. Avenir is a growth equity firm focused on backing category-defining businesses. In our conversation, we cover Andrew’s investing career, what he learned from Julian Robertson, how counter-positioning could drive unique distribution, and the difference between good and bad growth. We also spend time examining the business model of two of Andrew’s portfolio businesses, SavageXFenty and Latch. There are so many great lessons for investors and operators to take away from Andrew. Please enjoy my conversation with Andrew Sugrue.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Coinbase, Roblox, Qualtrics, and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick. ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company – MITIMCo, the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term.    MITIMCo is also searching for an exceptional new teammate to join their internal investment team. Visit mitimco.org to learn more – click “Join” to learn more about the Global Investor Role on MITIMCo’s team or and click “Emerging Managers” to learn more about their emerging manager activities. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:31] - [First question] - His journey leading up to his current firm [00:05:55] - Lessons learned from time spent with Julian Robinson [00:07:54] - The chip on his shoulder that helped keep him driven [00:08:40] - Transforming his early motivators into a sustainable career-long fuel [00:10:46] - The first things in mind when approaching a new business or person [00:14:00] - Analysis of Savage Lingerie and learning about how that sector operates  [00:20:27] - Amazon producing a one-hour special Savage infomercial  [00:23:16] - Lessons learned from Savage that can be applied to other direct to consumer brands [00:25:04] - Having a celebrity at the forefront of your brand [00:26:41] - Levers and overview of apparel company income statements and how they can shape the way you grow and operate the business [00:30:08] - Apparel companies always being tied to identity [00:31:03] - Analysis of Latch and learning about the relationship between hardware and software [00:33:40] - How Latch works and why you might need it [00:38:56] - Other businesses that may benefit from understanding the events that drive demand and using it as an opportunity for customer acquisition [00:40:12] - The concept of density of demand and the power behind it [00:41:33] - Other areas of operations density of demand could be applied  [00:44:11] - Shared components that unite Avenir’s portfolio companies  [00:46:14] - How he thinks about the world of private investment, having lived such a diverse career  [00:50:22] - Developing relationships growing such a concentrated portfolio [00:51:35] - Macro thoughts on the state of investing today [00:52:59] - Defining and identifying characteristics of bad growth [00:54:05] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alyssa Ravasio, co-founder and CEO of Hipcamp, a platform to discover and book your next camping trip. I was excited for this conversation as it combines two of my favorite passions – the outdoors and internet marketplaces. In our discussion, we cover how Alyssa bootstrapped demand in the early days of Hipcamp, the importance of creating not just great experiences but magical ones, and the evolution of Hipcamp’s business model. After listening to this episode, I’m sure the first thing you’ll want to do is get outside in nature. Please enjoy my conversation with Alyssa Ravasio.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2 report at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.   ----- This episode is brought to you by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean provides founders and creators with the platform they need to get their website and apps off the ground, all with low-bandwidth pricing to save them money over other cloud providers.   If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes [00:02:57] - [First question] - The original insight that led to founding Hipcamp [00:06:15] - What she studied in college and primary lessons learned there [00:08:18] - Specific features of studying the internet that influenced her trajectory [00:10:14] - Deciding what to attack first when developing Hipcamp’s infrastructure [00:14:12] - Dimensions and market size of the outdoor industry [00:15:48] - Organizing fragmented data into a useable schema and data set [00:18:24] - What customers cared about most in the early days of Hipcamp [00:20:00] - Managing focus and liquidity of the initial marketplace [00:22:58] - Helping landowners manage the logistics of their property placements [00:25:16] - Liability insurance in the outdoor industry [00:27:35] - The biggest challenge faced in developing an outdoor marketplace [00:30:03] - Amplifying and accelerating naturally grooved distribution [00:32:32] - Identifying the top correlates of making magic happen [00:34:55] - An ideal future for Hipcamp five years from now [00:38:28] - What bad supply looks like and creating quality standards  [00:42:08] - Their business model and revenue stream [00:44:45] - Deciding on their take rate and the debate around booking fees [00:46:14] - Lessons learned along the way as a leader [00:47:42] - Unit economics from the host’s perspective [00:52:33] - The most interesting businesses built on top of Hipcamp [00:53:35] - Why is Hipcamp’s mission so important to her [00:57:11] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Josh Buckley. Josh is the new CEO of Product Hunt and an investor in many breakout companies like Rippling, Lattice, Boom Supersonic, and Relativity Space. In our conversation, we cover how video game companies are at the forefront of new business models, what current companies can learn from video game companies, Josh’s investing philosophy, and the three things he looks for when trying to identify the next legendary startup. Josh’s long experience operating his video game business, Mino Games, gives him such an interesting perspective as an investor, and I really enjoyed exploring that with him. Please enjoy my conversation with Josh Buckley.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:56] - [First question] - His start as an entrepreneur in online game [00:05:09] - His parent's reaction to selling his first company at fifteen [00:05:57] - Starting a second video game company  [00:07:40] - The video game industry being ahead of the curve in performance marketing, distribution, and operations [00:08:49] - Notable two year lag between gaming innovation and other consumer sectors [00:10:50] - What is happening today in gaming that may be a glimpse into the future [00:12:41] - Key elements for creating a great gaming experience [00:15:29] - Building a meta game on top of the game itself to maximize engagement [00:17:23] - Monetizing free to play games through in-game purchases [00:20:25] - The most portable idea from fifteen years in gaming that can be applied to business [00:22:02] - A future shift towards usage-based pricing models [00:23:03] - His overall investment philosophy and strategy [00:26:45] - Example of small a market with a high growth rate [00:27:38] - Key elements of system elements and design when evaluating a business [00:31:07] - What a flywheel looks like and investing in one such as Next Health  [00:33:24] - Working core actions versus giving credit ones that aren’t yet working but may drive desirable outcomes [00:34:13] - Why don’t more investing firms have a flywheel? [00:39:04] - Product Hunt as a standalone business and part of a self-reinforcing ecosystem [00:40:17] - Emerging systems and ecosystem edges in the digital landscape [00:42:17] - Potential barriers for crypto becoming widely adopted in a variety of ways [00:44:29] - New frontiers and platform shifts like crypto that may unlock new doors for companies [00:45:13] - Which person has rewired his brain in his lifetime the most [00:47:13] - Weirdness around Stripe and Plaid when he first encountered them [00:48:37] - Meta games people in the industry are playing or should be playing [00:51:25] - Controversial ideas around the business world today writ large  [00:54:01] - Implications of shifting primarily towards a digital world [00:54:14] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Thomas Tull, the founder of Tulco LLC, an investment holding company that invests in businesses with high growth potential and helps them apply machine learning and data analytics. Thomas is also the founder and former CEO of Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind the Dark Knight, Hangover, Inception, 300, and many more iconic movies which he sold in 2016. In our discussion, we cover the movie industry’s value chain, the recipe for trying to make a successful movie and how Legendary pioneered the use of data analytics to improve those odds, and Thomas’ concept of the new physics of business and why it matters for what he’s now building at Tulco. Please enjoy my conversation with Thomas Tull.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes [00:03:06] - [First question] - His overarching career philosophy and theme [00:04:07] - Attacking a previously established industry in a new way [00:05:20] - The origin story of Legendary and stepping into the film industry [00:07:56] - Stakeholders involved in producing a movie and pre-existing profit pools when Legendary was founded [00:12:44] - Topline and downstream revenue distribution of intellectual property from then versus now [00:19:46] - Lessons learned about intellectual property writ large   [00:19:03] - What makes Chris Nolan such an exceptional storyteller [00:23:42] - Power and defensibility of cinematic universes and transmedia storytelling [00:22:21] - Applying quantitative data analysis to film production and marketing [00:25:55] - Competitive frontiers in movie studios and his advantageous skillset [00:28:10] - Potential investment opportunities in media or media adjacent businesses [00:29:26] - Interesting new tools that could be developed in entertainment technology [00:31:00] - His favorite mind-blowing and awe-inspiring movies [00:32:41] - Telling Jackie Robinson’s story in the film, 42 [00:35:30] - Jackie Robinson and Chadwick Boseman’s quiet dignity [00:36:56] - Building the holding company Tulco  [00:39:02] - The new physics of business that can’t be ignored [00:42:40] - Modern velocity in the current era of business [00:46:03] - Interweaving an antifragile mindset into the company culture [00:47:55] - Who Tulco Labs is and what they do [00:49:12] - What gets him most excited about exploring a new business for the first time [00:50:48] - Unique characteristics he seeks out in a management team [00:52:31] - Trends that make him feel worried about the future [00:57:47] - Trends that make him feel optimistic about the future [00:58:49] - An important lesson learned from his career on a personal level [01:00:15] - The kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Paul Enright, managing partner at Krainos Capital, his family office. Before running his own family office, Paul worked on the buy-side at Viking Global for over a decade managing their consumer and technology portfolios and before that at Morgan Stanley on the sell-side.   I thought Paul would be the perfect person to help me demystify the world of high finance – explaining the difference between the buy-side and sell-side, how long/shorts differ from long onlys, and walking through the various jobs in the investing world. In addition to setting that foundation, we also cover the evolution of the buy-side, what makes someone a great researcher verse a great stock picker, and various portfolio construction methodologies. Paul brings such a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. I think this episode will be enjoyable for investing novices and professionals alike.   Please enjoy my conversation with Paul Enright.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:39] - [First question] - His history in both the buy and sell side [00:05:20] - Different types of roles on the buy side and sell side [00:06:48] - Interest sets that best align with being a buyer or a seller [00:07:57] - The emotional experience of being on the buy side and exposed to risk [00:08:53] - How the nature of buying and portfolio construction has changed  [00:10;15] - What Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) is [00:12:46] - Key terminology and definitions of long-only and long-short funds [00:17:40] - Varying clusters of long-short funds and defining each type [00:21:48] - Differences in exposure between a platform model versus a traditional long-short stock picking sense [00:25:16] - Skill sets that are most important to have when navigating this space [00:29:03] - What is good and what is great when it comes to “digging” [00:31:20] - Why the quality of one’s analysis matters [00:33:10] - Having a potential edge when deciding based on someone else’s analysis [00:35:19] - Foundational building blocks of an effective pitch  [00:37:20] - Finding wrongly identified stocks and reaping the rewards [00:40:49] - Overview of good portfolio construction and lessons learned over the years [00:44:06] - Why hedge funds tend to traffic heavily in T.M.T. and consumer sectors [00:45:53] - Elements that strike him as great in a business [00:48:05] - A business that once seemed great but has since faded away [00:49:22] - Why hedge-fund managers seem to always make the most money [00:53:50] - What a well run firm looks like [00:56:39] - Characteristics that may make you well suited for a career in fund management [01:00:23] - Why quality mentors and portfolio managers are so important when deciding where you want to work [01:01:38] - What interests him mosts in markets today [01:05:20] - Useful frameworks and formulas used when approaching a new business [01:08:15] - Interesting features about telecom businesses and what defines them [01:10:45] - The future of the modern world’s internet infrastructure [01:14:44] - Abundance vs zero-sum and fixed vs growth mindsets  [01:18:12] - The kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Trevor McFedries, the founder of technology startup Brud and the creator of virtual pop star Miquela, a Gen Z icon with millions of fans worldwide. Trevor’s background is fascinating - he worked as a DJ and producer, toured with Katy Perry, worked at Spotify, and done just about every interesting thing I can imagine. In our conversation, we discuss the music-industrial complex, the creation of Miquela, and what Web 3.0 will mean for creators and builders in the future. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Trevor McFedries.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:54] - [First question] - What unites the diversity of his career [00:03:39] - What inspired him to pivot away from football and step into creative arts [00:05:50] - Lessons learned from being a touring DJ and producer that apply to the creative tech sector [00:07:40] - A view of the music industrial complex from the inside [00:08:57] - How the internet deciding who becomes popular affected already established artists [00:10:57] - Interesting opportunities in the music landscape in 2021 [00:11:40] - Time spent at Spotify and the spark of insight that led to founding Brud [00:16:02] - The sequence of creating a digital artist like Lil Miquela [00:19:02] - What it feels like to be “othered” [00:20:24] - Embracing one's intersections and applying it to a business model [00:21:18] - The team behind Lil Miquela and her design process [00:25:49] - Ingredients required for building a great narrative  [00:28:35] - What social media platforms matter today, and the state of the social landscape [00:32:21] - Expanding Lil Miquela’s world and digital media monetization [00:36:32] - Differences between web 2.0 and 3.0 that may directly affect creators [00:38:27] - Ways innovations like NFTs make spawn new network participants [00:39:49] - Programmable art and media experiences [00:41:03] - The most cutting-edge ideas in the digital persona space [00:43:21] - Technology that wasn’t available that had to be built to enable new experiences  [00:45:49] - One of the hardest decisions he’s had to make in Brud’s history [00:47:16] - The furthest they’ve ever pushed the envelope [00:48:06] - What’s the thing that keeps him going every day [00:50:12] - Finding cultural white space and inventing a character that could speak to investing to inspire new generations [00:52:01] - Units of media contribution and creative container experimentation [00:53:27] - What has him the most excited about the future of his industry [00:54:32] - Missing technological components that could inspire new digital creatives [00:56:53] - Work ethic through the lens of developing a jump shot [00:59:00] - One business lesson that he believes in deeply [01:00:05] - The kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Chris Dixon, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Chris is a prolific investor and thinker, having been an entrepreneur, angel investor, and is now focused on investing in the crypto and blockchain space for Andreessen. Our conversation focuses on Chris's overall thesis for investing in the cryptocurrency space, the opportunities and limitations of blockchain applications, and why this is the most interesting area for investing and building over the next ten years. What's exciting to me is blockchain technology's ability to help us re-imagine old business models and catapult them into the 21st century – and we cover a lot of them. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Chris Dixon.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Coinbase, Roblox, Qualtrics and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:56] - [First question] - His overall crypto investing philosophy [00:06:37] - New opportunities presented by blockchain technology [00:15:31] - Permanent limitations and shortcomings of blockchains [00:18:32] - Evolution of DeFi and crypto currencies [00:21:11] - Whitepapers: Bitcoin, Ethereum, MakerDAO  [00:22:08] - How to take out a loan using the Maker protocol [00:23:22] - Utility of Dai and stablecoins [00:29:14] - How the DeFi network will reinvent the future [00:39:53] - Uniswap, tokens, and fundamentally redefining leverage [00:36:29] - The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea [00:38:00] - Developer and entrepreneurial incentives for building blockchain technology [00:39:46] - BitClout, Rally and the early days of social tokens [00:46:38] - Demand curve and value creation efficiency in a digital creator economy [00:47:24] - NFTs and a Thousand True Fans [00:54:49] - Polkadot, Solana, Cosmos and programmable blockchains [00:58:03] - The most exciting moment for him in the last year [01:00:19] - Decentralized autonomous organizations [01:02:46] - The single thing that has him most excited about the future of this space [01:05:18] - The Next Big Thing Will Start Out Looking Like a Toy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the first episode of our newest show, Business Breakdowns, featuring deep-dive conversations on individual businesses. In each episode, we will dissect a new company with investors and operators that know it best.    We’ve already released the first three episodes on Shopify, Chipotle, and Alibaba. Subscribe to Business Breakdowns through the podcast player of your choice:  Apple Spotify Google Overcast Amazon   Leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts if you like the show!   -----   Today we will be diving into Shopify. Shopify was founded in 2004 by Tobi Lütke and Scott Lake around their original problem of why it's so hard to build an online business when they struggled to open an online snowboard equipment store. Today, Shopify's goal is to make commerce better for everyone, and it's used by more than 2 million merchants to run their online businesses. It's essentially an on-ramp for people looking to sell online.    To help us break down Shopify, I'm joined by co-host Zack Fuss and our guest Alex Danco, who works on the Money team at Shopify.   To really understand Shopify, you have to understand its different business units -- Core, Merchant Services, Ecosystem, and the new Shop platform -- and the role they each play in making commerce easier and better for merchants. We begin this breakdown by covering each of those business units and how they compare to Apple's business lines. We then dive deep into how Shopify makes money through the first and second derivative of their merchant success and how Shopify thinks about friction in e-commerce. We close with an incredible analogy of Shopify and StarCraft and the tools that Shopify has built into the still-nascent world of e-commerce.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss   Show Notes [00:04:03] - [First question] - What Shopify is as a product [00:05:58] - Product pillar 1: Core[00:07:58] - Product pillar 2: Merchant services[00:10:02] - Product pillar 3: Ecosystem [00:12:04] - Product pillar 4: Shop [00:14:08] - The evolution of commerce with the rise of the internet [00:21:01] - Differences between high and low trust commerce [00:25:48] - The role of friction and trust in stakeholder variety [00:30:18] - Overview of all four product pillars’ business models [00:33:10] - Shopify App Store [00:34:16] - How Shopify competes and partners with their competitors [00:36:53] - Shop Pay expands to Facebook and Instagram [00:38:49] - Key areas where Shopify will continue to grow across their product pillars [00:42:52] - Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay [00:43:56] - Potential pitfalls of having such a high self-imposed quality bar  [00:45:12] - Conway’s law[00:45:12] - Aggregators versus platforms [00:53:35] - Unique marketing aspects for Shopify’s sales and marketing with their subscription model  [00:56:37] - Shopify: A StarCraft Inspired Business Strategy   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Tony Xu, co-founder, and CEO of DoorDash. Tony started DoorDash 7.5 years ago, and today it is one of the largest food delivery and logistics platforms globally, with operations in the US, Canada, Australia. In our conversation, we discuss the initial problem that DoorDash set out to solve, DoorDash’s counterintuitive approach to building their product, and the surprising benefits of capital constraints in DoorDash’s early days. DoorDash’s business model is an equal parts logistics nightmare and a human coordination problem, or as Tony puts it, a human and math problem. After talking to Tony, I feel his personality makes him a great candidate to solve those problems.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2 report at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick. ----- This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. With LinkedIn, you get access to an active community of professionals with more than 722 million members worldwide. LinkedIn is the easiest place in the world to post a job and message qualified candidates. Getting started is easier than ever, and now you can do this all from your mobile device.   When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/fieldguide to post a job for free. Terms and conditions apply. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:07] - [First question] - The catalytic moment that inspired Tony to build DoorDash [00:06:33] - Network density and its role in scalability [00:09:15] - Solving a math and sales problem simultaneously [00:11:33] - Becoming aware of multiple problem sets for restaurant owners [00:14:34] - Designing a team to quantify friction and turn it into useable data [00:16:49] - How to approach difficult problems and compartmentalize them in a practical way [00:18:38] - Accounting for high-level variance in long-term goals [00:21:54] - Factoring in time horizons for variance and planning for the future [00:23:08] - Slowing down an action process to minimize a high-consequence decision [00:26:48] - Generating demand after completing their software infrastructure [00:28:15] - Strategic choices between network health and unit economics [00:30:32] - Why DoorDash struggled to raise financing in their seed-stage [00:32:23] - Solving a small fraction of a larger logistics problem [00:35:00] - Differences between local commerce and distribution centers  [00:36:44] - Creating the DashPass subscription service and how premium experiences influence user behavior [00:38:34] - Advantages and potential diminishing returns in servant leadership [00:40:41] - His broader philosophy on leadership and how it’s changed over the years [00:44:55] - Creating an incentive-aligned culture of ownership at scale [00:47:02] - The most surprising lessons learned about company building [00:50:38] - Unexpected positive outcomes that may emerge in other areas due to DoorDash’s growth in the coming years  [00:53:44] - Will DoorDash’s presence change behavioral patterns in where people choose to live or start their business? [00:55:36] - What has him most excited for the future [00:56:55] - Kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests this week are Jesse Jacobs and Mike Kerns, co-founders and partners at The Chernin Group, TCG, a multi-stage investment firm dedicated to building consumer businesses. Many think of TCG as some of the best media investors in the world, and in this discussion, you’ll quickly see why. In our conversation, we cover how TCG identifies creators that they can help build businesses with, how established companies should think about influencers and media today, and what innovations they are most excited for in the creator space. As I become more heavily involved in building new media properties, Jesse and Mike are always my first point of call for advice, and I’m so excited to share this with you. Please enjoy my conversation with Jesse Jacobs and Mike Kerns. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs and SPACs these days, Canalyst has models on Coinbase, Roblox, Qualtrics and everything in between. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/patrick. ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company – also known as MITIMCo, the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term. MITIMCo doesn’t care how small, new, or un-institutional your firm is if you have the potential to generate amazing results that support MIT’s pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation. Despite their willingness to invest early, they do not ask for GP economics, and they commit their initial capital for ten years. Visit www.mitimco.org and their new emerging managers page to learn more. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:32] - [First question] - The history of TCG  [00:04:30] - iFilm (Discontinued) [00:07:08] - Full Screen [00:07:13] - Crunchyroll [00:10:46] - Uniting properties across all of TCG’s brands[00:11:14] - Barstool, MeatEater[00:12:00] - Headspace, Food 52, Hodinkee, Surfline [00:14:03] - Accidental businesses and pre-commercial success[00:14:53] - Exploding Kittens [00:16:05] - Evaluating the potential of a new pitch [00:19:12] - Testing, tracking and understanding media brand conversions [00:21:13] - The most important things happening in media in 2021[00:25:12] - Analysis of MeatEater from content to commerce [00:27:22] - First Lite [00:29:21] - Replacing your own sponsors with owned companies [00:30:11] - Analysis of Hodinkee from content to commerce [00:33:42] - What sparked the resurgence of interest in collectibles [00:38:05] - Hands on investing in the intersection of media, finance and tech  [00:40:05] - Comcast  [00:41:02] - Surprising discoveries in the sports collectibles space [00:43:06] - NFTs and their role in generating capital for media companies [00:44:25] - Sorare [00:45:22] - JPG File Sells for $69 Million, as “NFT Mania” Gathers Pace [00:47:23] - How to adapt to the NFT space as a business seeking equity [00:51:12] - The valuation landscape of today [00:55:25] - Defining success when working with an influencer [00:58:48] - Upcoming trends they’re most excited about in the world [01:01:40] - Roblox [01:02:00] - Mr Beast, Beastburger [01:02:47] - Pokemon Go [01:04:01] - The kindest things anyone’s ever done for them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Business Breakdowns, a new Colossus podcast featuring deep-dive conversations on individual businesses. In each episode, we will dissect a new company with investors and operators that know it best. We believe every business has secrets and lessons to learn from, and these conversations are designed to deliver that content in an entertaining and narrative format.   The series launches today with Shopify, so check out the links below and give it a listen.    Subscribe to Business Breakdowns via:  Apple Spotify Google Overcast Amazon   Leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts if you like the show.    With each new episode, we will be releasing full episode transcripts, show notes, and the best content we could find on that business from across the internet. Check out www.joincolossus.com for more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jesse Pujji, the Founder & CEO of Gateway X, a holding company that builds, buys, and invests in companies that are driving the direct-to-consumer landscape. Prior to Gateway X, Jesse was the CEO and co-founder of Ampush, a performance marketing business helping power customer acquisition across some of the world's biggest brands. Jesse is my go-to person for all things performance marketing and customer acquisition, so we decided to record this episode to bring his incredible lessons to a wider audience. It also dovetails nicely into the series of episodes we are making called Primers, where we take our audience from a 0 to a 7 on just about any topic. In this Primer with Jesse, we dive into how revenue mechanics affect ad campaigns, why long sales funnels often offer the greatest opportunities for differentiation, and the various channels and strategies available for performance marketing. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jesse Pujji.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2 report at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick. ----- This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. With LinkedIn, you get access to an active community of professionals with more than 722 million members worldwide. LinkedIn is the easiest place in the world to post a job and message qualified candidates. Getting started is easier than ever, and now you can do this all from your mobile device.   When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/fieldguide to post a job for free. Terms and conditions apply. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:58] - [First question] - Overview of Jesse’s career and starting Ampush [00:12:11] - Red Ventures [00:13:11] - The four components of performance marketing [00:17:47] - Time and other variables in between impressions and revenue events [00:23:12] - Understanding the dimensions of a business and their offering [00:25:32] - Common misunderstandings businesses have about their marketing [00:27:17] - Major changes in the Facebook and Google digital marketing ecosystems [00:29:27] - Direct response marketing vs brand marketing[00:35:08] - The importance and impact of effective messaging [00:37:28] - The differences between good and bad conversions [00:40:56] - Does alpha still exist, is it worth looking for, and does beta have a place [00:43:25] - Fundamentals of a high performing marketing organization [00:50:04] - Attention aggregators of marketing agencies[00:50:18] - Nerdwallet - Thumbtack  [00:51:22] - Product channel fit [00:52:11] - PebblePost[00:53:58] - Lessons learned from working with Uber [00:55:42] - Retention marketing [00:57:31] - Upcoming frontiers of performance marketing [01:01:15] - Overview of Nerdwallet [01:03:36] - How Jesse’s time at Ampush has shaped his investment lens[01:07:20] - Lessons from bootstrapping a business vs venture capital funding [01:17:05] - The entrepreneurial execution loop and operating cadence  [01:29:20] - Kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Kanyi Maqubela, co-founder of seed-stage VC firm Kindred Ventures, which he started with his partner Steven Jang in 2019. Before founding Kindred Ventures, Kanyi was a general partner at Collaborative Fund. In our conversation, we discuss the parallels between today and the Roaring ’20s of the last century, the misunderstood risk curve of seed investing, and dive deep into how Kanyi evaluates founders and businesses at the earliest stage of company formation. We also discuss Kanyi’s experience teaching the Design Your Life class at Stanford and how some of those principles convinced him to take the leap to start his own fund. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kanyi Maqubela.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:04:11] - [First question] - Understanding the roaring 20s and their potential resurgence [00:06:14] - Seed-stage investing today compared to a few years ago [00:09:02] - Lessons learned from studying the 1920s  [00:11:52] - Supply chain infrastructure in the 21st century [00:14:49] - His investment philosophy and what influenced it [00:17:47] - Defining the risk curve and early-stage divergence [00:21:31] - Assessing risk in seed-stage investing [00:23:32] - Other moments that influenced Kanyi’s investment philosophy [00:26:50] - Assisting early-stage companies as a VC  [00:29:31] - How he approaches VC differently than traditional US VCs [00:31:55] - Non-consensus ways and unique views when evaluating founders [00:35:19] - Domain insight and its importance [00:36:53] - What he looks for in a company when considering investing in them [00:38:17] - Assessing a team in whether or not they have characteristics of longevity [00:40:59] - Questions he most enjoys asking people [00:42:24] - What makes for a good problem space [00:44:26] - Early-stage crypto investing [00:47:27] - How the crypto space and NFTs will change and influence other sectors [00:50:37] - Emerging trends that are catching his attention [00:54:20] - The potential for upward mobility in the coming decade [00:56:30] - Teaching the Design Your Life course [01:01:21] - Advice for modern investor-operators [01:03:26] - If he could change one major thing in the industry [01:06:57] - The biggest lesson learned from Obama’s campaign [01:07:44] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Roxanne Petraeus, co-founder and CEO of Ethena, a modern compliance platform for businesses. Roxanne’s background is pretty incredible, before starting Ethena she was a Rhodes Scholar, served in the US Army, and worked at McKinsey. In our conversation, we cover the lessons Roxanne ported over from her military career to building a business, how she’s trying to make compliance training not suck, and the woeful state of funding female founders in VC today and what can be done about it. Far from a boring conversation about compliance, this was an incredible discussion with one of the best founders I’ve met recently. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Roxanne Petraeus.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.    See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.  ----- This episode is brought to you by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean provides founders and creators with the platform they need to get their website and apps off the ground, all with low-bandwidth pricing to save them money over other cloud providers.   If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders. -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:29] - [First question] - What Ethena does [00:06:31] - Lessons from her military career [00:09:13] - Good and bad elements of leadership training from the military  [00:11:35] - The problem of what sucks in compliance training [00:14:33] - The enablement of bad behavior among people with power [00:17:56] - The original idea for Ethena and bringing it to market [00:21:15] - Determining who is the right person to serve first  [00:24:03] - Lessons for building good software  [00:26:21] - How they have adapted to working in and around regulation [00:29:31] - Getting other companies to buy into the product [00:34:45] - Creating effective content and measuring that effectiveness [00:38:13] - Darker sides of growing the business and raising money [00:39:57] -  How ‘the Motherhood Penalty’ Plays Out for Startup Founders [00:43:12] - Fixing the problems with bias in venture capital investing [00:46:57] - What is the outlook and long-term vision for the business [00:50:38] - What has her most excited for the future [00:51:53] - Most interesting about the Rhodes Scholar program [00:54:02] - Kindest thing anyone has done for her   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jesse Walden, the founder of Variant, an early-stage venture firm investing in crypto networks and platforms building the ownership economy.   With all the hype surrounding NFTs, I wanted to talk to Jesse about them, given his background in the music industry and his focus on the creator and ownership economy. The conversation did not disappoint. We discuss the basics of what an NFT is, what new creative paradigms they might unlock, and where we are in the NFT hype cycle.   This episode is the first in what will likely become its own show we are calling Primers. Our goal for primers is to bring investors and operators from a zero to a seven understanding of a topic, concept, or industry. The goal here is for the education around these topics to be fast and entertaining. I hope you enjoy this discussion with Jesse Walden and hopefully the first of many Primers to come.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:04:19] - [First question] - Simple definition of an NFT [00:05:22] - What distinguishes NFTs from each other [00:06:24] - The value chain of a song, and who owns it [00:12:07] - Monetization and royalties on traded tokens [00:15:02] - Consumer incentives for purchasing NFTs [00:19:19] - Long-term passive income and media legos [00:22:23] - Technical breakdown of minting, hosting, and storing tokens [00:24:28] - Verification of token ownership on the blockchain [00:25:58] - NFT marketplaces and aggregators [00:27:06] - Opensea.io  [00:27:21] - Foundation.app  [00:29:46] - Innovations inspired by the NFT explosion [00:31:01] - Mirror.xyz  [00:32:26] - NBA Topshot [00:32:57] - Crypto Punks [00:23:24] - Nifty Gateway [00:34:30] - Physical cultural assets in the digital landscape [00:36:02] - Legacy brands exploring digital goods and tokenized ownership [00:38:37] - NFTs becoming the port of entry of all media [00:39:39] - An ownership economy in second generation internet platforms [00:41:02] - Uniswap[00:42:41] - The “hype cycle” of NFTs and incoming market correction[00:44:18] - Lessons for investors in the NFT space [00:45:15] - Lessons for buildings in the NFT space [00:45:54] - Resources to continue learning about NFTs[00:45:54] - NFTs make the internet ownable by Jesse Walden[00:46:20] - NFTs and a thousand true fans by Chris Dixon[00:46:13] - A beginner’s guide to NFTs by Linda Xie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jonathan Goldberg, the founder, and CEO of Carbon Direct, a company focused on advising and investing in carbon removal at scale. Jonathan started his career in the commodities division of Goldman Sachs and then went on to start a commodity hedge fund, BBL Commodities. In our conversation, we cover the state of the carbon problem today, the importance of global carbon standards and carbon taxes, and the future of carbon capture and removal technologies. This was a masterclass on all things carbon-related. Please enjoy my conversation with Jonathan Goldberg.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.    See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.  ----- This episode is brought to you by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean provides founders and creators with the platform they need to get their website and apps off the ground, all with low-bandwidth pricing to save them money over other cloud providers.   If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:25] - [First question] - Overview of his career [00:06:02] - The start of his commodities trading strategy and its evolution  [00:09:08] - Key strategies for making money as a commodities trader [00:10:41] - Opportunity to trade commodities today  [00:11:39] - Making the shift to carbon capture work [00:15:04] - Range of consequences for elevated carbon emissions and biggest buckets of carbon [00:18:52] - An outline of the Paris Climate Accord and other agreements on climate change [00:20:26] - Ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere [00:23:46] - The technology to remove carbon and incentives to invest in this technology [00:26:19] - Corporate participation in the carbon trade  [00:28:35] - Balance of natural vs man-made solutions  [00:31:53] - Making money without the altruistic goals [00:33:43] - Trends in the fossil fuel industry  [00:36:41] - Convenient ways for consumers to switch to clean energy products [00:39:57] - The geopolitical will to shift towards cleaner energy [00:41:58] - Primary consequences of not making this shift [00:44:25] - The important role of regulation  [00:46:01] - Thinking through the investing side of combating climate change [00:48:59] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Marissa King, a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. I was fascinated by Marissa's work after coming across her book, Social Chemistry: Decoding the Elements of Human Connection, earlier this year. Our conversation covers the three types of social networking styles, the surprising impact of COVID on social networks, and what her research tells us about building high-performing teams. This episode covers many topics I haven't explored before that I find fascinating. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Marissa King.      For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:04:04] - [First question] - Origin of her career and topics she is focused on [00:04:06] - Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection [00:04:09] - Priya Parker Podcast Episode [00:05:41] - Why the focus on Autism and some of the trends around it [00:08:07] - Prevalence of mental health and substance abuse vs. raised awareness [00:09:16] - The eureka moment for her in this research [00:10:16] - Pattern in growing large social movements [00:11:43] - The Expansionists group and their role in large social movements [00:14:31] - Acid test for the Brokers group [00:15:35] - How she developed the categories of people that drive social movements [00:17:35] - Most memorable moments of discovery in the development of these categories [00:18:58] - Important categories for overall network science [00:20:20] - Behavioral changes we can make to improve the nature of our social connections [00:23:21] - The pitfalls for each group and how they can invest in their own network [00:25:29] - Conveners and what they need to improve  [00:26:34] - Downside of being a broker [00:27:58] - The attachments styles of secure, anxious, or avoidant [00:30:07] - Velocity of interactions possible today and what it means for research [00:32:02] - How men and women develop networks differently [00:33:55] - What is unique in organizational behavior through the lens of her research [00:36:19] - Best practice for creating high output interactions [00:37:33] - Putting together the perfect team [00:38:42] - Largest pitfalls in putting together a good team [00:40:00] - Role of conversation in effective network building [00:41:15] - Being a great listeners and distractions [00:42:47] - Eric Maddox Podcast Episode [00:43:41] - Good policy for running a network, being attentive to the network [00:46:40] - The power of touch [00:48:39] - How movements become societal and what role technology has played [00:52:46] - How this applies to a business [00:53:34] - Biological underpinnings of Dunbar’s number [00:57:13] - Kindest thing anyone has done for her   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Jonathan Neman, the co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen is a fast-casual restaurant chain that Jonathan co-founded in 2007 during their senior year at Georgetown when he realized they couldn't find a healthy, affordable, and convenient place to eat. Today, Sweetgreen operates in 11 markets and will have about 160 restaurants across the US by the end of 2021. In our conversation, we cover the origins of Sweetgreen and how it builds a direct relationship with its customers, how Jonathan thinks restaurants should work with marketplaces like DoorDash, and the economics of operating restaurants. While Sweetgreen is primarily a restaurant concept, Jonathan brings a tech-first mindset to the food industry, focusing less on single-store economics and more about customer lifetime value and the importance of owning the relationship with the customer. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jonathan Neman.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.    See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.  ----- This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. With LinkedIn, you get access to an active community of professionals with more than 722 million members worldwide. LinkedIn is the easiest place in the world to post a job and message qualified candidates. Getting started is easier than ever, and now you can do this all from your mobile device.    When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/fieldguide to post a job for free. Terms and conditions apply.  ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:04] - [First question] - The origins of Sweetgreen [00:05:47] - Something they did from a position of naivete, working their supply chain [00:07:18] - Most common reason restaurants go wrong [00:08:35] - Building the first restaurant and lessons along the way  [00:12:22] - Effective menu building [00:14:36] - The Sweetgreen network and how they view the restaurant as a network [00:21:05] - What their digital business means compared to other restaurant businesses [00:23:55] - How they have improved at converting people into their ecosystem [00:27:40] - Creating win-win partnerships [00:29:12] - The pros/cons of the marketplaces in the food industry [00:32:58] - The general economics of a restaurant [00:36:58] - Allocating capital differently when the focus is the customer and not the store [00:39:36] - How tech trends aimed at improving personal health plays into Sweetgreen’s plans [00:45:11] - Their focus on sustainability for the business [00:47:56] - The core values of ‘Add the Sweet Touch’ and ‘Live the Sweet Life’ [00:50:18] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him [00:51:38] - Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas, better known as T2. Josh is the co-founder and General Partner at Lux Capital. T2 is now a venture partner alongside Josh at Lux Capital, after serving for almost 40 years in the US military and becoming a 4-star general and the 11th Commander of US Special Operations Command. Our conversation focuses on the technology frontier in defense as well as the geopolitical threats that the US faces. We talk about everything from semiconductors and autonomous weapons systems to the moral dimensions of investing in defense technology. I hope you enjoy this fascinating conversation with Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company – also known as MITIMCo, the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term. MITIMCo doesn’t care how small, new, or un-institutional your firm is if you have the potential to generate amazing results that support MIT’s pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation.   Despite their willingness to invest early, they do not ask for GP economics and they commit their initial capital for ten years.     Visit www.mitimco.org and their new emerging managers page to learn more. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:46] - [First question] - Overview of Tony Thomas’s career [00:06:36] - His focus on the information wars and truthiness [00:08:50] - How Josh and Tony met [00:12:27] - Experiencing the slow pace of technology growth within the Department of Defense [00:15:51] - History of businesses selling to and engaging with the government [00:23:52] - Consensus of the threats we face today  [00:28:55] - Most important competitive frontier today  [00:35:09] - The lessening of kinetic warfare [00:46:51] - State of the drone technology and industry  [00:52:56] - Mapping the arctic and the geopolitical ramifications [00:54:31] - The frontier of space  [00:59:26] - What shouldn’t be unmanned technology  [01:02:31] - The cutting edge of simulation technology  [01:06:50] - The most important thing to know about the future of semiconductors [01:11:36] - The moral lens of working with and investing in defense companies [01:20:53] - Traits of the most exceptional soldiers he’s served with [01:23:53] - Kindest thing anyone has done for Tony Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Matteo Franceschetti, the founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, a smart mattress company. I’m a customer of Eight Sleep and this was one of the most unique founder conversations I’ve had on the show, in both the focus on the product and the exploration of sleep. We talk about which biometrics matter, how hard it is to start a hardware company and launch manufacturing overseas, how Matteo manages his own sleep, and the massive potential for preventative health companies like Eight Sleep may have in the future. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Matteo Franceschetti.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.      Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:36] - [First question] - Origins of the Eight Sleep business [00:03:21] - Designing and testing the original product [00:04:17] - Goal of the product [00:05:19] - How temperature can improve sleep [00:06:28] - Accuracy of the sensors in this product [00:08:30] - Valuable inputs for health that they measure, HRV (heart rate variability) [00:09:59] - Amount of research on the variables they measure and impact on health [00:11:45] - Hardest data for them to measure in their mattress [00:14:03] - Early challenges to launching the business [00:15:27] - Lessons from the early manufacturing process [00:16:50] - Working through the potential business models [00:17:56] - Goal of less sleep and reducing light sleep [00:19:45] - Behavior changes he’s made as a result of understanding his sleep more [00:21:08] - How alcohol/caffeine impacts sleep [00:22:01] - How food impacts sleep [00:23:01] - Why glucose spikes are bad for sleep [00:23:40] - Challenges in the business after the crowdfunding stage [00:25:34] - Marketing lessons from a high price point and infrequently purchased product [00:26:42] - Most exciting day in the researching phase [00:27:48] - Turning an infrequent purchase into a frequent sale [00:28:54] - What it’s like to work with his wife [00:30:03] - Future of the quantified self-movement [00:31:23] - The hardest challenge in the business [00:32:13] - Most valuable things he’s learned as a fan of Formula 1 racing [00:33:41] - Future of the mattress business [00:35:28] - Other businesses he has learned from [00:36:40] - Lessons from the data part of the business [00:38:26] - Collecting more data from their customers without being intrusive [00:39:56] - What he’s learned through Apple Health  [00:41:39] - What has him excited for the long term future of Eight Sleep [00:42:32] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jack Clark, head coach of the University of California Varsity Rugby team. Jack has one of the highest winning percentages not only at the collegiate level but in sports history, winning an incredible 90% of games since his start as a coach in 1984. That includes a 98 game winning streak from 1990 to 1996 and a 115 game winning streak from 2004 to 2009. In our conversation, we dive into how Jack builds high-performing teams, the shared vocabulary he creates across his organization, and his work with companies applying what he's learned on the field to operating businesses. Please enjoy this conversation with Jack Clark.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company. MITIMCO is the endowment office of MIT. New and small investment funds listen up. MITIMCO is looking to find investors starting funds today.   MITIMCO is partnership-driven, long-term focused, and has an extensive history of backing investors early in their careers. These partners are key in delivering the outstanding investment returns required to support MIT's pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation. MITIMCO is focused on finding and partnering with the best investors across the globe, no matter the market environment. No firm is too small, too young, or too non-institutional.   If you or someone you know is currently in the process of starting a fund or recently launched, please email partner@mitimco.org or discover more on their website at mitimco.org/partner. ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:44] - [First question] - Overview of his playing and coaching career [00:06:02] - The importance of creating a set of values for a team [00:07:53] - Why selflessness is such an important trait he looks for in teams [00:09:20] - Examples of selflessness in the teams [00:10:06] - The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players [00:10:24] - Lessons on gratitude and entitlement [00:11:34] - Being a meritocracy on the team [00:12:55] - Rewarding merit as a coach [00:14:18] - Improving a team today, the power of the basics and fundamentals [00:15:29] - Defining toughness for players and teams [00:17:29] - Mark Bingham, the epitome of toughness [00:18:33] - Why he created and how he uses a glossary [00:22:09] - Creating a high rate of conversion in recruiting [00:25:01] - What qualities did the teams that beat him share [00:27:22] - Take on pride and something he is exceedingly proud of [00:29:17] - Translating the concepts from the court into the business world [00:32:20] - Where companies have room to improve [00:33:16] - Changing a company culture [00:34:21] - Coaches he has learned from  [00:36:00] - The power of non-cognitive grit [00:38:45] - Advice for companies creating a value set [00:40:40] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Ryan Petersen, founder and CEO of Flexport. Flexport is a technology platform for global trade. In this conversation, Ryan takes us through the fragmented world of international freight shipping, and we dive deep into the history and inefficiencies of the system. We also cover how shipping containers were standardized, how new protocols get adopted internationally, and the challenges of doing business in the “no man's land” of international waters. Ryan is the type of entrepreneur I enjoy talking to most: he has incredible domain knowledge, high energy and is tackling an enormous global problem. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ryan Petersen.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies, on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:24] - [First question] - Overview of what Flexport does [00:04:49] - His introduction into the world of shipping [00:06:49] - Difference between parcel and freight [00:08:53] - Market cap of the overall shipping industry [00:12:52] - Worst parts of the shipping world [00:15:34] - Improving the tech behind the shipping container [00:19:06] - Why the shipping container changed the world [00:19:07] - The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger [00:21:27] - Teams and outsider perspectives in solving problems [00:22:34] - How their business could make shipping more efficient and reduce costs [00:25:24] - Where the margins and profits are made in shipping [00:25:49] - Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger [00:27:11] - The finance side of shipping [00:28:56] - Maritime law and the ocean [00:30:57] - How much is left in the digitization of shipping [00:32:48] - The perfect state of shipping using Flexport [00:38:19] - Investing in hard assets to expand the business [00:41:03] - Lessons about building a business and global coordination [00:43:15] - Multidisciplinary thinking among their team [00:44:04] - Global supply chain issues in light of Covid and ocean policing  [00:44:15] - Peter Zeihan Podcast Episode [00:47:59] - Testing out demand in the beginning [00:50:28] - The process of testing out new ideas and killing off losers [00:52:33] - Important lessons/themes for founders [00:54:51] - Hardest learned lesson, fundraising [00:58:06] - Other opportunities in shipping [00:59:47] - Lessons for creating a new standard [01:02:22] - Using their standardization to improve global relief work [01:04:40] - Creating synchronicity in a company [01:07:09] - What he’s excited about for the future [01:07:53] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Jeremy Grantham. Jeremy is the Long-Term Investment Strategist and Co-Founder at GMO. Jeremy has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of markets, which made it such a pleasure to have him back on the show. In this conversation, we discuss the three key signs of a bubble, why Jeremy believes we are in a bubble right now and how it’s being led by retail rather than institutional investors. We close with the important role that demographics and productivity will play over the next few decades across the world. Please enjoy my conversation with Jeremy Grantham.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest-growing fintech startups. I discovered Koyfin earlier this year when I asked Twitter for the best Bloomberg alternative, and the overwhelming winner was an intriguing new product called Koyfin.  Koyfin has tons of high-quality data, powerful functionality, and a nice clean interface. If you’re an individual investor, research analyst, portfolio manager, or financial advisor, you should definitely check them out. Sign up for free at koyfin.com.  ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company. MITIMCO is the endowment office of MIT. New and small investment funds listen up. MITIMCO is looking to find investors starting funds today.   MITIMCO is partnership-driven, long-term focused, and has an extensive history of backing investors early in their careers. These partners are key in delivering the outstanding investment returns required to support MIT's pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation. MITIMCO is focused on finding and partnering with the best investors across the globe, no matter the market environment. No firm is too small, too young, or too non-institutional.   If you or someone you know is currently in the process of starting a fund or recently launched, please email partner@mitimco.org or discover more on their website at mitimco.org/partner. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:03] - [First question] - His view on the markets today  [00:03:07] - Jeremy Grantham’s Podcast Episode [00:08:00] - Proliferation of SPAC’s and how he views them as a potential bubble [00:10:20] - Could SPAC’s help to improve the IPO process [00:14:30] - How he viewed the Gamestop story through his historical context  [00:18:24] - Is investor education possible  [00:19:50] - How the increasing role of retail investors impacts bubbles [00:24:15] - Attitudes towards market bears in bubbles [00:28:52] - Long term view on the economy and the forces pushing it higher [00:41:50] - Returning to a hard money standard for the US economy [00:49:39] - Would a finite supply of money change market trajectory [00:51:02] - Best ways to improve the infrastructure of the economy and people’s willingness to work [00:53:52] - What should one do if they believe we are in a bubble [00:58:14] - What he is excited about in his green investments [01:02:28] - Advice to young investors   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev. AB InBev is the world’s largest brewer of beer and maintains a portfolio of hundreds of beer brands across the globe. Our conversation focuses on AB InBev’s culture of ownership, how Carlos balances organic growth with acquisitions and managing disruption as an industry incumbent. I loved hearing about Carlos’ story from growing up in Brazil to now running one of the largest businesses in the world. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Carlos Brito.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ----- This episode is brought to you by NetSuite. NetSuite allows founders to centralize their payment systems, ditch old spreadsheets and Quickbook tools, and finally gain visibility and control over their financials, HR, inventory, eCommerce - all in one place, instantly.Whether you are doing a million in revenue or hundreds of millions in revenue - see why over 22,000 companies are using NetSuite today. Schedule your free product tour at netsuite.com/invest. ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:12] - [First question] - His career path and how he got to where he is today [00:11:02] - Culture building lessons throughout his career [00:14:52] - Maintaining ownership of company culture as businesses grow  [00:16:47] - How and why they avoid wasted resources [00:18:49] - Why conserving resources is so beneficial for a company [00:21:18] - Spreading culture into new members of a team [00:25:26] - Lessons from managing a large portfolio of different brands [00:27:58] - Biggest mistakes he has seen within brands [00:29:38] - Navigating changes/threats in the beer industry, starting with craft beers [00:32:56] - Lessons from the production and distribution side of the business  [00:36:02] - How to assess and decide to move into a new market [00:37:12] - Role of data in deciding how to allocate resources and capital [00:40:34] - The evolution of marketing over his career [00:44:32] - Implementing the meritocracy to keep the right people in the company and move them around [00:47:59] - Feedback he needed to hear [00:49:16] - How other leaders can decide on whether to focus on inorganic or organic growth [00:51:41] - What he’s most proud of from his career [00:53:13] - Passion for the product [00:54:12] - Most memorable beer in his life [00:54:56] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Scott Belsky. Scott was the co-founder and CEO of Behance, the world's largest creative network, and a prolific angel investor, having made early-stage investments in Pinterest, Uber, Carta, and Airtable. His company was acquired by Adobe in 2012, where he is currently the chief product officer. In this conversation, we cover the importance of focusing on the first mile of a customer's experience with your product, why every user is (at first) either lazy, vain or selfish, and what the rise of creativity tools means for creators and investors in the future. We also cover the major trends that Scott thinks will dominate for the next decade. This was one of those conversations where I was left with 10 great lessons that will stick with me for a long time. Please enjoy my conversation with Scott Belsky.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:24] - [First question] - Philosophy for building great products [00:04:52] - Starting the journey of building a great product  [00:06:08] - Making the first mile better [00:08:12] - Understanding user progress in product building  [00:10:25] - Getting to awareness and attention and interest in a product  [00:12:41] - The concept of window dressing [00:14:24] - Taking an idea and turning it into a high-value product  [00:14:42] - The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture and Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality [00:16:49] - Keeping rewards structure in place for teams to stay engaged [00:19:56] - Using his knowledge in product building to invest in other companies [00:24:00] - The concept of object model [00:25:52] - User psychology concepts they keep in mind when designing a product [00:27:51] - Implementing all of these strategies into a product [00:29:25] - The era of eduployment [00:31:05] - How this will impact colleges [00:33:27] - The evolution of the talent/audience relationship [00:35:32] - Decentralization and the companies of 1 [00:37:44] - How that decentralization will impact his investment thesis [00:39:21] - How increased productivity tools could help with more creativity in the workplace [00:42:04] - Training people to be more creative in the workplace [00:44:33] - Future of user interfaces [00:44:58] - The Interface Layer: Where Design Commoditizes Tech [00:48:10] - Good design principles [00:49:51] - The future coming out of Covid [00:52:09] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Matt Mullenweg, co-founder and CEO of Automattic, the company on top of the open-source project WordPress that Matt helped start. Today, WordPress powers 40% of all the websites in the world. Our wide-ranging conversation covers the state of the internet when Matt first started WordPress, the symbiotic relationship between open source and proprietary projects, and how the most successful companies are really master world builders. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Matt Mullenweg.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.  ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:15] – [First question] – What the internet felt like when he first started building Wordpress [00:05:11] – What was wrong with his impression of the internet then [00:06:50] – Being a connoisseur of things overlooked  [00:08:34] – How permission less publishing and open source software shaped the internet [00:12:30] – Balance between centralization and decentralization and where we are in the cycle [00:14:08] – The cycle between direct-to-consumer and having intermediary [00:16:32] – New opportunities and challenges of the internet today [00:18:49] – Potential of cryptocurrency to enable big changes on the internet [00:21:22] – The idea of distributed work via the internet and the utopia of it [00:21:38] - Sam Harris podcast with Matt Mullenweg [00:24:31] – Advantage of having a team distributed across geographies and timezones [00:26:46] – What he learned from the Amazon’s API mandate [00:29:12] – Landmines of distributed work [00:31:13] – Interesting lessons learned building Wordpress [00:34:55] – Company building as world building [00:35:52] – Lessons from Microsoft on platform building [00:38:53] – Key ingredient to world building within your company [00:41:09] – Lessons from Wix and Shopify  [00:42:23] – How to decide what to do next in resource and capital allocation [00:47:00] – How to engage with other stakeholders in a platform business [00:50:06] – The continued connectivity created by the internet [00:53:14] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Michael Dempsey, General Partner at Compound. Michael invests in a broad range of areas but has a unique talent for combining brand building and direct customer relationships with technically demanding sectors. Our conversation covers the rise of virtual influencers, robotics, and how to best identify key inflection points in the evolution of new technologies. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Michael Dempsey.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest-growing fintech startups. I discovered Koyfin earlier this year when I asked Twitter for the best Bloomberg alternative, and the overwhelming winner was an intriguing new product called Koyfin.  Koyfin has tons of high-quality data, powerful functionality, and a nice clean interface. If you’re an individual investor, research analyst, portfolio manager, or financial advisor, you should definitely check them out. Sign up for free at koyfin.com. ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company. MITIMCO is the endowment office of MIT. New and small investment funds listen up. MITIMCO is looking to find investors starting funds today. MITIMCO is partnership-driven, long-term focused and has an extensive history of backing investors early in their careers. These partners are key in delivering the outstanding investment returns required to support MIT's pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation. MITIMCO is focused on finding and partnering with the best investors across the globe no matter the market environment. No firm is too small, too young, or too non-institutional. If you or someone you know is currently in the process of starting a fund or recently launched, please email partner@mitimco.org or discover more on their website at mitimco.org/partner. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:54] – [First question] – Early stages of his career [00:05:13] - What are inflection points and how he views them as a source of opportunity  [00:07:40] - Real vs fake inflection points  [00:12:19] - Creativity as a key component of inflection points  [00:12:33] - On Inflection Points [00:15:01] - Generative Adversarial Networks [00:18:02] - History of animation and the innovation we are seeing there today  [00:20:12] - Animation is Eating the World [00:24:11] - The concept of a digital celebrity and their scale [00:29:17] - Characteristics of digital celebrity creators [00:31:12] - Longevity and consistency of these personalities [00:33:11] - Future of gaming and potential for investments in the space  [00:37:49] - The landscape for robotics and what has him excited [00:41:07] - The exploration of space and the opportunities there. [00:44:35] - Computational biology and the investment potentials. [00:48:11] - How 2020 has changed the ability to solve scientific problems [00:51:32] - The idea that Cyberpunk is now [00:53:32] - Sam Hinkie podcast episode [00:53:51] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder and CEO of Asana, a team-centric product management tool used by over 1.3 million users around the world. Dustin started Asana in 2008, 4 years after co-founding Facebook. In this conversation, we dive into Dustin's belief about the diminishing returns of hard work, the shocking amount of productivity lost in doing "work about work", and Dustin's philanthropic investment strategy around leverage and maximizing ROI. I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging conversation with Dustin Moskovitz.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/88012555/moskovitz-eliminating-work-about-work ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. Visit https://www.tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta.  Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.  ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up at https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter.   Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:19] – [First question] – Balancing hard purposeful work and too much work that leads to burn out [00:05:41] – What led to this way of thinking [00:06:54] – Regulating hard work through culture [00:08:25] – False tradeoffs and how Asana represents this [00:09:43] – Origins of Asana [00:13:22] – Organizing the chaos of a project [00:18:09] – Change vs discipline of the mission [00:19:55] – Transferring good ideas from one company to another [00:23:19] – Instilling leverage as a concept in an early company [00:25:21] – New learning curves in building Asana [00:26:52] – Hardest boss battle during his time at Asana [00:28:43] – The role of the work graph [00:31:46] – The proliferation of the work management space and the overall landscape [00:32:56] – The idea of radical inclusiveness [00:36:31] – Best reasons to start a new company [00:37:47] – What will lead to Asana’s continued success [00:38:59] – Lessons building the product [00:41:13] – Work with the Open Philanthropy Project [00:43:44] – Work on pandemics and biosecurity [00:46:11] – Where he sees the future of artificial intelligence [00:50:47] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Chamath Palihapitiya, the founder and CEO of Social Capital, whose mission is to advance humanity by solving the world's hardest problems. I didn't know where this conversation would take us given Chamath's wide-ranging activities and interests but I think it provides an interesting glimpse into some of his core beliefs and the source of his drive. In our wide-ranging discussion we cover potential paths to closing the income inequality gap, how to manage one's personal psychology, his perspective on "value investing", and tackling climate change. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Chamath Palihapitiya.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/33654465/palihapitiya-the-major-problems-facing-the-world. ----- This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest growing fintech startups. I discovered Koyfin earlier this year when I asked Twitter for the best Bloomberg alternative, and the overwhelming winner was an intriguing new product called Koyfin.  Koyfin has tons of high-quality data, powerful functionality, and a nice clean interface. If you’re an individual investor, research analyst, portfolio manager, or financial advisor, you should definitely check them out. Sign up for free at koyfin.com. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. Visit https://www.tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up at https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter.   Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:13] – [First question] – His experience with debt and how he approaches personal finance [00:09:13] – Attacking the problem of perpetual income inequality [00:12:06] – Reaching the right people to fix the problem [00:15:04] – A for profit business to solve the problem of income inequality [00:19:18] – Traps he has beaten and hasn’t beaten in his finances [00:22:15] – Chamath’s focus on family, friends, memories, and legacy [00:25:01] – Big issues of our time; inequality, climate change, improving education [00:29:28] – Lessons learned from Social Capital 1.0, allocating funds for himself and others [00:32:33] – The balance between data and the qualitative analysis of companies [00:35:26] – Insights into businesses beyond the investments he makes [00:40:29] – Absurdities in the value investing style [00:43:32] – Benefits of SPAC investing and opportunities for late-stage entrepreneurs [00:45:06] – Traits in managers that he invests in [00:47:20] – What he’s learned about combatting climate change [00:51:40] – Thoughts on the supply chain, specifically as Americans [00:54:35] – Company life cycles and innovation [00:57:15] – What is most broken in the capital markets system [00:58:58] – Fixing healthcare [01:01:36] – Fixing climate change as President for a day [01:02:06] – Messaging effectively [01:03:14] – Is he a “main character” in the investing world [01:04:06] – Tweeting a picture of himself as a kid [01:04:42] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My Guest today is Ali Ghodsi, founder and CEO of Databricks, a data analytics platform for data scientists and developers. He's also the founder of Apache Spark, the open-source project that Databricks is built on, and is an accomplished researcher at UC Berkley's computer science department. Our conversation ranges from the origins of distributed computing to modern data infrastructure, how companies can leverage their massive datasets, and the transformation of Databricks through its phases of growth as a business. While technical, it's exactly the kind of conversation I like to have on this show. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ali Ghodsi.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/4919706/ghodsi-the-past-present-and-future-of-big-data    This episode of Founder's Field Guide is sponsored by Klaviyo.  Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for ecommerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. See why Klaviyo's trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial check out https://www.klaviyo.com/founders.    This episode is also sponsored by Vanta.  Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week.  Sign up here - https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:48] – [First question] – What is Databricks [00:03:34] – History of distributed computing [00:05:35] – Hardware that made this all possible [00:07:20] – Early challenges in building out these systems [00:09:43] – What has made networking technology better [00:10:35] – Doing something in storage vs with memory [00:11:45] – Origins of Hadoop [00:12:42] – Use cases of distributed data in 2010 that weren’t possible in 2000 [00:13:35] – Origins of Spark [00:15:25] – Early Spark and then the transformation into Databricks [00:16:50] – Early uses cases [00:17:37] – Their relationship to the open-source project [00:21:07] – What customers need in order to work with Databricks [00:23:11] – Their customer interaction [00:26:27] – How they think about making investments [00:28:24] – Their competitive advantage [00:30:13] – Other companies in moving the needle in building distributed computing industry [00:32:10] – Walls that need to be broken down today [00:34:02] – Best practices for companies when it comes to their data             [00:34:13] – Jeff Lawson Podcast Episode [00:38:47] – Lessons being a CEO [00:39:53] – Working at the University of Berkeley’s AMPLab [00:41:56] – What excites him about the future [00:43:29] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Joost van Dreunen, an investor in the gaming space, professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, and former CEO and co-founder of SuperData Research, a data-driven gaming firm that was acquired by Nielsen. He also recently authored One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games, a great book on the business game industry and why I reached out to speak with him in the first place. Our conversation covers the rise and decline of GameStop, what parts of the value chain actually make money in video games, the evolution of video game business models from Nintendo to Fortnite, and what other industries can learn by studying the video game industry. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Joost van Dreunen.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/14574831/van-unlocking-value-in-gaming   This episode of Invest Like the Best is sponsored by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis.  If you’re a professional equity investor and haven’t talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.     Invest like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week.  Sign up here - https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:38] – [First question] – First chapter of the modern gaming business [00:06:28] – The product era of video games [00:10:11] – The different pieces that take place in creating and selling a game [00:12:25] – The story of GameStop [00:18:45] – The transition to digital platform-based gaming [00:22:55] – How the breakdown of platforms has changed [00:27:35] – Free-to-play vs free-to-win in digital gaming [00:31:27] – How the revenue models are changing the type of games that are made [00:35:07] – Socializing games and the future there [00:38:14] – Who is making money in the modern gaming world [00:43:33] – The zones of opportunity to invest in within gaming [00:47:12] – Why the business models can be more powerful than new tech [00:53:52] – Strategies from gaming that the non-gaming industries can learn from [00:57:05] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Ilkka Paananen, Founder and CEO of Supercell, a mobile game developer based in Finland. Supercell has built hugely successful games like Clash of Clans and Clash Royale that have reached over 100 million daily active users. What interests me most about the company is Supercell's unique culture built on decentralized, autonomous teams with nearly total creative control. Ilkka and I talk about how Supercell hires and designs teams, why they incorporate as little process as possible, and the rise of global, social games. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ilkka.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/72273479/paananen-superpowering-teams    This episode of Founder's Field Guide is sponsored by Klaviyo.  Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for ecommerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. See why Klaviyo's trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business.   For a free trial check out https://www.klaviyo.com/founders.    This episode is also sponsored by Vanta.  Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week.  Sign up here - https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter.   Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:51] – [First question] – Why he is the “least powerful CEO in the world.” [00:04:03] – His career prior to Supercell [00:07:53] – Lessons from his prior career that he brought to Supercell [00:11:49] – What he looks for in identifying and recruiting the best people [00:13:46] – The funnel of getting great people into the business through the rest of the team [00:15:44] – The Supercell recruitment team [00:17:33] – Interviewing and screening applicants [00:18:39] – Building teams and how they are the driving force behind the company [00:21:29] – The culture of trust throughout the company [00:24:13] – Ensuring teams know when to kill a project [00:26:11] – Celebrating after a project gets shutdown [00:28:15] – Why retention is such an important focus of the company [00:30:40] – How reach and depth lead to a game’s success [00:32:21] – The teams outside of development and how they operate             [00:33:36] - LOST & CROWNED | A Clash Short Film [00:34:53] – His day-to-day [00:35:49] – Biggest surprises within Supercell since its founding [00:36:38] – What makes for a good game [00:37:59] – The notion of infinite games [00:39:28] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Claire Cormier Thielke, Managing Director of Asia Pacific for Hines, the largest private real estate investment, development and management firm in the world with over $144 billion in assets under management. Claire responsible for acquisitions, development, and new business generation for Hines APAC and was also recently appointed to the board of Zillow. I was first introduced to Claire two years ago and have wanted to have her on the podcast ever since.  Her personal story is fascinating - Claire finished Stanford undergrad in 2.5 years and now teaches there - on the intersection of tech and real assets, she was a professional track and field athlete - competing for USA Track and Field, and she's run a marathon on Everest, which we discuss. Aside from her personal story and some of her amazing achievements, in the episode, we dive into the world of real estate investing including how to use pattern recognition to unlock real alpha in real estate, the ingredients that make a city special, and the surprising ROI of public art.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/72331821/cormier-the-future-of-cities-and-real-estate   This episode of Invest Like the Best is sponsored by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis.  If you’re a professional equity investor and haven’t talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.     Invest like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week.  Sign up here - https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter.   Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:01] – [First question] – Overview of her career and her passion for real estate [00:05:32] – The impact of Gerry Hines on her life [00:07:30] – Her theory of and what she thinks about cities [00:09:47] – Cities rhyming with each other [00:12:03] – How the highway act led to growth in cities [00:13:31] – How cities compare around the world [00:15:42] – Airplanes as time machines [00:18:42] – Overview of a building project and how it differs from investing in equities [00:23:15] – Rebuilding a city from scratch [00:25:45] – Major real estate changes we’ll be seeing in the US [00:28:30] – Real estate trends that fascinate her in Asia [00:30:10] – Real estate plugging into other industries [00:32:11] – Trends in Asia that could be ported to the US [00:34:08] – Where to see the best of cities today (post-pandemic) [00:37:28] – The ROI on public art [00:38:33] – Her time in track and field [00:41:59] – The concept of tomorrow time [00:42:49] – Cultivated other part of her training [00:45:07] – Her marathon on Mount Everest [00:46:26] – Replicating the extreme performance piece of herself in a professional setting [00:48:18] – Lessons from being a professor [00:49:53] – Joining Zillow’s board, what she wants to bring and get [00:52:17] – Her childhood and her parents, how that influenced her [00:56:26] – How one person can be actionable             [00:58:30] – Brad Gerstner and Rich Barton podcast episode [01:00:32] – Kindest thing anyone has done for her Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Oliver Hughes, the CEO of Tinkoff, the leading online commercial bank based in Russia. I found this conversation fascinating and think it will be essential for anyone who wants to understand online financial services or the next generation of fintech. Our conversation touches on how Tinkoff used direct mail campaigns to become the largest online banking provider in Russia, their last-mile delivery platform that combines couriers with door-to-door salesmen, and how they build profitability into every aspect of the business. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Oliver Hughes.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/72486324/hughes-the-secret-fintech-giant   This episode of Founder's Field Guide is sponsored by Klaviyo.  Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for ecommerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. See why Klaviyo's trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial check out https://www.klaviyo.com/founders.    This episode is also sponsored by Vanta.  Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week.  Sign up here - https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter.   Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] – [First question] – The origins of Tinkoff [00:06:18] – How they started and stayed profitable, and lessons learned [00:08:18] – Bringing Visa to Russia and what he took with him to Tinkoff [00:10:02] – Overall Credit card and Tinkoff's specifically business model [00:12:35] – Running an effective direct mail acquisition campaign [00:15:45] – Branching off from the original core credit card business into other spaces [00:18:45] – How he thinks about when to make competing investments [00:21:00] – Embedding into new businesses and how it goes wrong [00:24:50] – How they became a large door-to-door business in Russia [00:27:55] – Why that door-to-door business makes it hard to compete with them [00:29:38] – Challenges in the payments business [00:32:25] – Using content to help them grow their business [00:35:29] – Competitive frontiers for Tinkoff and how often they shift [00:38:45] – What the future of Tinkoff might look like and the Russian business environment [00:41:55] – State of the market in Russia today [00:45:27] – Recruiting talent and building culture [00:47:55] – What he enjoys most about his job [00:49:14] – Failures and lessons from them [00:52:00] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices