Minus One The Man Betting on Institutional Reform | Joe Lonsdale and 8VC
27 snips
Aug 27, 2025 
Joe Lonsdale, founder of 8VC and known for his work with Palantir, discusses his mission to combat institutional decline by supporting ambitious startups. He shares insights on Silicon Valley's competitive landscape and the need for a resilient mindset in the face of AI's challenges. Lonsdale emphasizes the importance of transparency and efficiency in government, the balancing act founders must perform between ambition and management, and the necessity of cultural values that spur innovation.
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Early Nerds, Warrior Mindset
- Joe Lonsdale describes growing up as a math and coding nerd and loving hard problems.
- He says his 'warrior' mindset pushed him to tackle national security work after 9/11 and cofound Palantir.
From Data Hobby To OpenGov
- Joe recounts founding California Common Sense and discovering municipalities lacked accessible data and paid costly consultants.
- That discovery led directly to founding OpenGov to provide SaaS transparency to governments.
Use Contrarian Signals As Opportunity
- When others call your idea crazy, treat it as a signal rather than a deterrent.
- Do the contrarian, less-contested work to avoid competing with mainstream giants.
