On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Joe Lonsdale, a venture capitalist, serial founder and philanthropist.

Joe Lonsdale is the Founder and Managing Partner at 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm managing over $6 billion in capital. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR), a global software company known for its work supporting US and its allies’ defense and intelligence. Since then, he has founded more than a dozen prominent companies, including Addepar, a wealth management platform with about $5 trillion, and OpenGov, the leading cloud software provider for local governments. He continues to create and scale companies through the 8VC Build program.

As an investor, Joe was an early backer of companies like Anduril Industries, Oculus (acq. FB), Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH), Oscar (NYSE:OSCR), Illumio, Wish (NASDAQ:WISH), JoyTunes, Blend (NYSE:BLND), Flexport, Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY), Orca Bio, Qualia, Synthego, RelateIQ (acq. CRM), Yugabyte, and others.

Joe and his wife Tayler are active in a variety of philanthropic and institutional pursuits. In 2018, they founded the non-partisan Cicero Institute, which crafts and advances policies to promote effective and accountable governance, and is now successfully battling special interests with teams in over a dozen states. In 2021, Joe became the founding chairman of the board of the University of Austin (UATX), a new university dedicated to restoring the pursuit of truth in higher education. He also sits on the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute.

Joe, Tayler, and their four daughters live in Austin, TX.

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KEY TOPICS

[00:00:00] Intro

[00:01:36] - Founding University of Austin

[00:06:02]- Is America a Liberal Society?

[00:08:53] - AI’s Relation to Liberty

[00:14:00] - Can the Wealthy Speak Their Mind?

[00:17:30]- The Heroes of Today

[00:19:28]- Has American Exceptionalism Eroded?

[00:23:05] - Founding OpenGov

[00:27:12] - The Role of Government and its Incompetency

[00:34:40]- Why Austin is Better Than San Francisco

[00:37:45] - Having Daughters Changed Joe’s Perspective

[00:39:55] - Boom of Modern Defense Companies

[00:45:18] - How to Improve Defense Innovation

[00:48:30] - Government Efficiency and Accountability

[00:51:05] - Solution to American Healthcare System

[00:53:50] - AI Services Wave

[00:57:55] - Politics Hold back innovation

[01:05:25] - Joe’s Wokest View and Final Questions

RESOURCES

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CREDITS

Executive Producer: Erica Marom

Producer: Sofi Levak & Yoni Mayer

Video and Editing: Ron Baranov

Music and Art: Uri Ar

Design: Rony Karadi