What's the Extra Factorx of Sam Bankmen Freed There?

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

There's a huge amount of power in being quantitative. But doing that in a world where you know you're forgetting an enormous number of factors is really hard to do. So how do you think your early experience as a gamer feeds into what you've ended up doing professionally? You played magic the gathering, right? Yes. How is that game different and how does it relate to how you think about what you do in your business? I think that there is som oe for lops. Before i jumped into crypto and youlat the interview ser looked like game type questions, or framed as games.

Whether it’s scaling an arbitrage opportunity or launching an ambitious philanthropic project, Sam Bankman-Fried has set himself apart. In just a few years, he’s not only made billions trading crypto, but also become a leading practitioner of effective altruism, with the specific aim of making lots of money in order to donate most of it to high-impact causes.

He joined Tyler to discuss the Sam Bankman-Fried production function, the secret to his trading success, how games like Magic: The Gathering have shaped his approach to business, why a legal mind is crucial when thinking about cryptocurrencies, the most important thing he’s learned about managing, what Bill Belichick can teach us about being a good leader, the real constraints in the effective altruism space, why he’s not very compelled by life extension research, challenges to his Benthamite utilitarianism, whether it’s possible to coherently regulate stablecoins, the implicit leverage in DeFi, Elon Musk’s greatest product, why he thinks Ethereum is overrated, where in the world has the best French fries, why he’s bullish on the Bahamas, and more.

Check out Macro Musings. Follow Macro Musings on Twitter. Subscribe to Macro Musings on your favorite podcast app.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded January 6th, 2022 Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Follow Sam on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.