#4: Alexander Gilkes - Givers Are Getters

Where do art and commerce collide if not at auction? 

Episode four of At Large brings us Alexander Gilkes, a serial entrepreneur and former chief auctioneer for Philips. At the world’s third largest auction house and as founder of Paddle 8, he hammered in over $1B of art, and adapted what he learned there to the craft of marketing. We’ll hear how his Etonian upbringing and passion for contemporary art led him to a career selling such rarities as a one of a kind album by Wu Tang Clan, and founding Squared Circles, an incubator hatching businesses at the intersection of science and culture. We speak with Alex in his now home city of Los Angeles, on the heels of a $40M fundraise led by L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity firm. 

Beyond what you’ll learn about the art market, hip hop, algae oil, and English boarding schools, perhaps the most important lesson of this episode is about developing the instinct of generosity.

• Adam Grant's book Give and Take (Amazon)
• Eton Mess https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/eton_mess_97585
• Sensation (Art Exhibit) https://magazine.artland.com/shows-that-made-contemporary-art-history-sensation/
• Dean di Simone https://www.gq.com/gallery/dean-desimone-tokyo-bike-new-york-apartment-2014
• A startup that helps startups start up https://kaamranhafeez.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Startups.jpg
• Conscious maximalism https://squaredcircles.com/conscious-maximalism
• Phillips (Auction house) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_(auctioneers)
• Once Upon a Time in Shaolin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Shaolin
• Horiatiki Salad https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-greek-salad-tomato-feta-summer-recipe
• Alex's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gilkesa/

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