"I just thought it was so cool to drive. It had great torque," he says of his first electric car. "Wow, did this make me love cars." He and two others started Tesla in late 2002 or early 2003. The company is now worth more than $30 billion.
Molly is joined by Laurie Yoler as they dive into her early experiences in VC before discussing how she became the first investor in Tesla (1:45). Next, Laurie talks about her time at Qualcomm and Playground then they wrap with a discussion about AI and how Laurie’s investments were impacted by the pandemic (30:31).
(0:00) Jason kicks off the show
(1:45) Arriving in Venture
(7:36) Laurie’s first investments
(13:39) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedIn.com/angel and post your first job for free.
(14:49) Investing in Tesla
(21:21) Prenuvo - Get $300 off at http://prenuvo.com/twist
(22:51) Raising money for a car company
(26:22) Finding strategic partners
(30:31) Laurie’s time at Qualcomm and autonomous vehicles
(37:11) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups
(38:42) Joining Playground
(41:29) Leaf Logistics
(45:44) Benefitting from the pandemic
(48:54) Investing in AI
FOLLOW Laurie: https://twitter.com/laurieyoler
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
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