What Makes a Good Startup Investor?

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Daniel Treisman: What makes a good investor is very different for when makes a good founder. He says founders are too optimistic, which they should be; investors need more red wine to regulate the mood. "Both are in the people that want more stimulants as opposed to depressants," he says.

How can one identify and predict talent? On a search to answer this question and others like it, Tyler Cowen joined venture capitalist and entrepreneur Daniel Gross to explore the art and science of finding talent in their new book Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World. In a panel discussion hosted by Shruti Rajagopalan, Cowen and Gross discuss the applications of their new book, particularly how lifestyle characteristics can indicate an individual is capable of great creativity and talent.

Daniel and Tyler also discuss undervalued talents and skills, what talents they look for in the start-up and investment world, why there is no good chocolate ice cream to be found in San Francisco, what their exercise preferences indicate about their personalities, how they approach identifying talent in different countries and industries, how immigration impacts entrepreneurialism, the short-comings to Zoom interviews, what a messy desk reveals about a person, and more.

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Recorded June 29th, 2022 Other ways to connect

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