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#780: Cyan Banister — From Homeless and Broke to Top Angel Investor (Uber, SpaceX, and 100+ More)

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Nov 27, 2024

Guest

Cyan Bannister

Cyan Banister, a general partner at Long Journey Ventures and early investor in giants like Uber and SpaceX, shares her inspiring journey from homelessness to success. She discusses the importance of resilience shaped by her background on a Native American reservation. Cyan reveals unique investment insights, especially regarding Uber's challenges, and highlights serendipity in discovering opportunities. The conversation also touches on personal growth through embracing randomness and exploring spirituality, illustrating how transformative experiences can reshape one’s worldview.

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ANECDOTE

Early Life and Homelessness

Cyan Bannister grew up on the Navajo Reservation and faced homelessness from age 13.
She became a ward of the state at 15 after refusing to lie for her mother in court.

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ANECDOTE

Learning Self-Reliance

Cyan learned street survival from other homeless people and developed self-reliance.
A near-death experience with hypothermia during a hitchhiking trip solidified her desire for independence.

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ANECDOTE

Early Entrepreneurial Efforts

To earn money, Cyan sold items from donation centers and made hemp jewelry.
She credits meeting Chris Collins, who introduced her to computers, as pivotal.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

From Homelessness to Angel Investor: A Journey of Resilience

05:45 • 2min

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From Innocence to Resilience

07:42 • 30min

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Curiosity-Driven Investment Insights: The Uber Story

37:26 • 3min

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Navigating Opportunities through Serendipity

40:45 • 19min

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Navigating Investment Pitfalls and Personal Narratives

01:00:08 • 13min

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Hereticon: A Celebration of Radical Ideas and Open Debate

01:12:47 • 3min

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From Childhood Curiosities to Creative Expressions

01:15:36 • 20min

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Embracing Randomness: The Joy of Dice Decisions

01:35:58 • 11min

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Spiritual Awakening through Esoteric Exploration

01:46:32 • 18min

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A Journey Through Stroke and Self-Discovery

02:04:42 • 4min

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Awakening Through Spontaneity and Connection

02:08:32 • 22min

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Surreal Encounters in Boston

02:30:12 • 14min

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Gratitude, Kindness, and Weekly Discoveries

02:44:18 • 2min

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Health and Sleep Innovations for a Better Lifestyle

02:46:36 • 5min

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The 4-Hour Body

An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

Tim Ferriss

In 'The 4-Hour Body,' Tim Ferriss shares the results of over a decade of self-experimentation and research, involving hundreds of elite athletes, dozens of MDs, and thousands of hours of personal testing. The book covers more than 50 topics, including how to lose weight quickly, gain muscle without steroids, sleep less and perform better, and improve sexual health. Ferriss emphasizes the importance of finding the smallest changes that produce the biggest results, making it accessible for readers to achieve significant improvements in their physical health and performance.

Cyan Banister (@cyantist) is a general partner at Long Journey Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on early and new investments. Cyan was an early investor in Uber, SpaceX, DeepMind, Flexport, and Affirm and has invested in more than 100 companies. Prior to that, she was at Founders Fund, a top-tier fund in San Francisco. Subscribe to Cyan's Substack at uglyduckling.substack.com.

Sponsors:

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Timestamps:

[00:00] Start

[06:16] Early life and education as a white minority on a Navajo reservation.

[11:18] Strained family dynamics and a cycle of neglect.

[18:20] The intervention of Officer Pratt and becoming a ward of the state at 15.

[22:46] Crusty punk survival strategies and life on the streets.

[32:02] The positive influence of Cyan's "second" mother.

[34:17] Crass, Chris Collins, and computers.

[38:03] An unorthodox path to angel investment beginning with Uber.

[48:13] Niantic/Pokemon GO.

[56:27] How stalking Garrett Langley led to a Flock Security investment.

[01:00:07] GameCrush, activist investors, and lessons learned.

[01:07:00] Sales lessons from the street.

[01:10:08] A mindful approach to questioning narratives.

[01:15:35] The pre-OnlyFans story of Zivity.

[01:24:44] Views on sex and relationships.

[01:28:47] Magic glasses, esoteric rabbit holes, and rolling the dice.

[01:44:02] How Aleister Crowley and Bill Murray paved a path to ex-atheism.

[02:02:21] Cyan's billboard.

[02:04:41] Enduring a stroke and its aftermath.

[02:08:31] Meditation, throat-singing, and philosophy.

[02:17:50] The Boston spiritual experience and duck boat baptism.

[02:40:53] A book in the works, the Ugly Duckling Substack, and parting thoughts.

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

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