Harvard Professor Roland Fryer on Relentlessly Pursuing Truth, ‘Closing Social Gaps with Market Caps,’ and Celebrating Failure

Nov 20, 2024

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On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Roland Fryer, a Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a co-founder of Equal Opportunity Ventures, an early stage seed fund, and several start-ups.

Roland sits on several boards with an emphasis on business analytics, talent management, and product strategy. His research combines economic theory, big data, AI, and randomized social experiments to help design policies that can increase social mobility in America. Roland was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, the John Bates Clark Medal (given by the American

Economic Association to the best American Economist under age 40), the Presidential

Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, among others. He was a member of the

2009 Time 100 (most influential people in the world) and has been twice featured in

Esquire "Genius issue." Roland earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree in economics from

the University of Texas at Arlington and a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from Penn

State University.

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KEY TOPICS

[00:00:00] Intro
[00:02:50] How Did You Meet Your Wife?
[00:05:50] What if the Data and Anecdotes Don’t Match?
[00:07:40] Roland’s Bombshell Paper on Police Brutality
[00:14:22] The Need for Firsthand Experience
[00:17:15] Roland’s Guiding Principle for Truth
[00:20:22] Data And Truth in an Era of AI
[00:23:08] Can Data Cause Change?
[00:25:20] How Harvard Students Have Changed
[00:28:17] Working Odd Jobs as a Kid
[00:31:46] Speaking Out on Harvard Antisemitism
[00:33:55] Is There Still Value in Higher Education?
[00:40:52] How to Incentivize Faculty to be Truthtellers
[00:42:53] The Misapplication of DEI & the Need for Meritocracy
[00:49:50] Is Harvard Safe for Jews and Israelis?
[00:51:20] Why Become a Venture Capitalist?
[00:57:18] Use of AI for Hiring
[01:05:50] Increasing Social Mobility with Forage
[01:14:00] What is the Biggest Problem You Want to Solve?
[01:16:40] What’s Changed in Your Worldview Since Visiting Israel?

RESOURCES

Follow Roland on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-fryer-9889b7183

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CREDITS

Executive Producer: Erica Marom

Producer: Yoni Mayer

Video and Editing: Ron Baranov

Music and Art: Uri Ar

Design: Rony Karadi