
Podcast Notes Playlist: Startup
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Mar 18, 2025 • 1h 28min
Kelly Granat - Investing At Lone Pine - [Invest Like the Best, EP.414]
Invest Like the Best
Key Takeaways The best investors get excited during periods of extreme change Key traits for being a successful investor: Be (1) wildly competitive and (2) incredibly curiousCollaboration is key: Once an investment research team grows beyond 20 people, silos form and collaboration decreases Design your organization in a way that encourages dialogue, debate, information sharing, and people to push one another Traits of a Perfect Business1. Incredible leadership 2. Really strong unit economics 3. A solid moat around the business 4. Excellent value proposition to the customer 5. The ability to grow organically without investing meaningful capital 6. A huge runway for growth that can last for many years without being disrupted The optimal portfolio should consist of several things that you are excited about and that have idiosyncratic drivers Certain market backdrops are conducive for different investing styles: Certain investors play a different game from everyone else and there are certain investors who play the popular game bestHire self-aware and curious people who love to learnBonus points if they competed in sports at a high level; these people understand hard work, failure, disappointment, and achievement Do not fall victim to paralysis by analysis: Recognize that there is always the opportunity to learn more, but know when you have enough information to make a decision Investing is a pattern-matching business and the gap between winners and losers is widening How to live a rewarding life: Figure out who in your life matters to you, figure out what matters to them, and then show up for them in all the ways that matter to them Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMy guest today is Kelly Granat. Kelly is the Co-Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director at Lone Pine Capital, one of the most storied and successful hedge fund and investment firms of the last several decades. We explore how investing has evolved since Kelly joined the industry and she shares insights into Lone Pine maintaining its edge through deep fundamental research and a collaborative culture. We discuss what makes great businesses and great investments, how leadership can transform companies, and Kelly’s perspective on evaluating management teams and identifying opportunities around corporate change that the market often misprices. Please enjoy my conversation with Kelly Granat.
Subscribe to Colossus Review.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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This episode is brought to you by Ramp. Ramp’s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Ramp is the fastest-growing FinTech company in history, and it’s backed by more of my favorite past guests (at least 16 of them!) than probably any other company I’m aware of. Go to Ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.
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This episode is brought to you by AlphaSense. AlphaSense has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Imagine completing your research five to ten times faster with search that delivers the most relevant results, helping you make high-conviction decisions with confidence. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at Alpha-Sense.com/Invest and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegus help you make smarter decisions faster.
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This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. I think this platform will become the standard for investment managers, and if you run an investing firm, I highly recommend you find time to speak with them. Head to ridgelineapps.com to learn more about the platform.
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Show Notes:
(00:00:00) Learn About Ramp, Alphasense, & Ridgeline
(00:06:09) Market Structure Evolution
(00:08:39)The Impact of Passive Investing
(00:10:21) Collaboration & Team Dynamics
(00:13:48) Excitement in Periods of Extreme Change
(00:14:21) The Role of Competition & Curiosity
(00:22:00) Fundamental Research & Data Integration
(00:27:34) Investment Philosophy
(00:35:31) People-Centric Investing
(00:42:24) Succession Planning
(00:49:32) Facing the Pressure of Early Success
(00:50:31) Burnout & Rediscovery
(00:57:08) Learning from Industry Leaders
(00:58:04) Evaluating Talent and Competition
(01:11:29) Lessons in Investment
(01:27:27) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Kelly

Mar 17, 2025 • 1h 31min
#382 Who Is Michael Ovitz?: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Most Powerful Man in Hollywood
Founders
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Key Takeaways Best Michael Ovitz quotes: “Insecurity and ambition make a powerful cocktail.” “I didn’t want to be standard in any way.”“I would have been much happier if I hadn’t been so determined to appear all-knowing and invulnerable.”“Everyone stopped. I didn’t stop.” Lew Wasserman’s five rules that created his Hollywood empire 1. Tend to the client 2. Dress appropriately 3. Never divulge information about the firm 4. Do your homework 5. Never leave the office without returning every single phone call Michael Ovitz’s founding principle for CAA1. All founding members get even equity 2. Get big fast 3. Share all clients and serve them as a group; no turf wars and no silos 4. Tell the truth 5. Create opportunities instead of waiting around for them Belief comes before ability: “I believe that nobody wants to be treated just as they are. People want to feel encouraged to become more than what they are, to become the best versions of themselves.” CAA poached talent by assumption: The firm behaved as if the talent was already their client, then made their dreams happen before ever even signing them
Do the job before you are hiredKnow your customer’s problem and present yourself as the solutionRealize that your “good times” are now: Thirty years from now, you will probably regret how you spent your time Channeling Charlie Munger: Your goal in life should be to build a seamless web of deserved trust; work with the people in this web, and do life with these people – it is all about the people Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgAt the core of Michael Ovitz's success is his relentless work ethic and commitment to mastering his craft. 50 years ago he founded Creative Artists Agency. CAA starts out as just five young guys in a run down office and eventually becomes the most powerful agency in the world. Ovitz's autobiography explains how that happened. As the Wall Street Journal wrote: When the history of Hollywood is written, few people will have played a larger role than Michael Ovitz. This episode is what I learned from reading (for the 2nd time!) Who Is Michael Ovitz?: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Most Powerful Man in Hollywood by Michael Ovitz. ----Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. ----Vesto: All of your company's financial accounts in one view. Connect and control all of your business bank accounts from one dashboard. Go to Vesto and schedule a demo with the founder Ben. Tell him David sent you. ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book
----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Mar 2, 2025 • 1h 11min
Doug Leone - Lessons from a Titan - [Invest Like the Best, CLASSICS]
Invest Like the Best
Key Takeaways Identify and invest in outliers: The best venture capital investors recognize outlier potential when they see it and have a curiosity to discover what makes the outlier tick and WHY they tick that way On being a VC or a founder: Inherent builders should be in the field – they should be building companies, not coaching other builders Debug problems as far upstream as possible; take the rocks out of the river so the water can flow as fast as possible Black magic is reserved for founders; every other area of the company-building process is mere mortal stuff Stewardship over ownership: The goal is to leave your creation in a better place for the next generation It is okay to choose the parallel tracked path of banking or consulting, and it is okay to take risks, but it is not okay to do one and spend your life thinking you did the other The most common mistake that investors make is doing something contrary to the best interests of the founder Traits of the best investment memos:(1) Clearly state the one or two strongest reasons to invest(2) Two to three pages max(3) Present clear data from the opposing side(4) argue why the investment should happen despite the opposing dataSuccess starts at the foundational layer: Great culture is downstream of getting the foundation right and fostering internal belief, which is all a firm needs to be successful Performance is the cultural component that matters mostRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgWelcome to this classic episode. Classics are my favorite episodes from the past 10 years published once a month. These are N of one conversations with N of one people. There's nobody I've met quite like Doug Leone.
Doug led one of the world’s most successful venture firms, Sequoia, for over 25 years after he was given responsibility for the firm by its founder, Don Valentine, in 1996. Alongside Mike Moritz, the pair managed its expansion from a single $150m early-stage fund into an $85 billion global powerhouse. It was a privilege to sit down with Doug and learn from him.
We talk about his tough start at Sequoia, get into the technicalities of great go-to-market motions, and survey his advice for other investors in the industry. A key theme that will stick with me from this conversation is Doug’s insistence on keeping things simple and clear.
I listen to this at least once a year. I hope you enjoy it.
Subscribe to Colossus Review.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
[00:00:00] Welcome to Invest Like the Best
[00:05:21] What Don Valentine’s heart was like
[00:08:30] The most productive and unproductive parts of Don’s toughness
[00:12:55] Why it’s so important to understand someone’s core motivations
[00:18:44] The most formative experiences he had prior to becoming an investor that impacted his investing the most
[00:22:37] What venture looks like to him today relative to his prior career
[00:28:37] Whether or not he’d go into venture today if he was in his late 20s
[00:34:10] Helping companies circumnavigate mediocre positioning
[00:39:15] How interacting with companies early on has changed over the ears
[00:43:12] Whether or not new entrants into venture should build firms with enterprise value
[00:48:14] Sussing out the killer gene in somebody
[00:51:04] How successful people can instill the lessons learned from hardship into their children
[00:54:30] Whether or not competitive advantage can be architected ahead of time when building a company
[00:57:21] The early 2000s clawback at Sequoia and what navigating that period was like
[01:01:06] What he’s learned about picking the right LPs and partnering with them
[01:04:18] Making sure that performance is on everyone’s minds all the time
[01:09:59] The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Feb 23, 2025 • 3h 51min
#171 Palmer Luckey - Superhuman Soldiers, AI Missiles and Exoskeletons in Warzones
Palmer Luckey, an entrepreneur renowned for founding Oculus VR and Anduril Industries, dives into the intersection of technology and modern warfare. He passionately discusses the implications of AI-driven missile systems and exoskeletons for soldiers in combat. Luckey emphasizes the urgency of U.S. military preparedness, particularly regarding a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. With a humorous yet critical take, he explores the myths around conspiracy theories and advocates for innovation in defense to ensure national security and accountability.

Feb 9, 2025 • 2h 17min
Graham Duncan - Talent Whisperer - [Invest Like the Best, EP.409]
Invest Like the Best
Key Takeaways “My appetite for finding the best person in the world to do the thing instead of me doing it is almost infinite.” – Graham Duncan Desire wants what it wants; get in tune with your desire Leverage your comparative advantage: Most investing strategies are downstream of the simple goal of (1) making money and (2) not losing too much
In investing, the goal is to make money – not be right or feed the go Navigating the Principal-Agent Dynamic: The principal should set the condition that tells the agent that it is okay to make mistakes; if the agent feels that he cannot make mistakes, then he probably won’t take sufficient risks Peter Keonig on Source Dynamics: All organizational dysfunction can be traced back to disagreements about the Source; messing with the origin in any subtle way can affect the entire trajectory of the thing in ways that you wouldn’t think Mastery involves “becoming source” of your own style of investing – it involves coming into your own and not playing the game as others have played it, but truly playing it in your own idiosyncratic way Traits of the best investors: (1) Decisiveness (2) Open-mindedness with a point of view
Be opportunistic and flexible so that you can flow with emergent market dynamics instead of getting stuck in them Be Like Toranaga: When everybody else is losing their minds, hold – just holdFollow Your Bliss: Trust the universe that if you get in touch with the thing that you are compulsive about and love, the world will come to you Quiet Ego as a Superpower: The principal should focus on making money and be less concerned about making the idea their ownOn wandering during a wilderness period in your life: Have patience and don’t overweight any one thing; don’t over-index on “where you are in the system” or become too concerned with being “relevant” “My appetite for finding the best person in the world to do the thing instead of me doing it is almost infinite.” – Graham Duncan Focus on the intersection of what the world wants from you and what you actually want Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMy guest today is Graham Duncan. This conversation will make you think about your life in new ways. This is a two-hour segment of a 4.5-hour interview I did with Graham last year. It stands alone as remarkable, but those who subscribe to Colossus Review will gain access to the full conversation. This will be true in future issues, too.
In 2006, in his early 30s, Graham convinced Stuart Miller, CEO of home construction company Lennar, to let him manage $50 million of his family's wealth. A year later, Miller gave him the rest of his capital outside of Lennar. That investment turned into East Rock, where Graham built an incredible investing track record managing billions for a select group of families by focusing on people.
Our conversation explores a wide range of topics—from what makes a great investment partnership to the power of positive feedback loops to starting a restaurant.
I’m thankful to Graham for showing me the way so many times and for being willing to be so incredibly open in this conversation. Please enjoy this discussion with Graham Duncan.
Subscribe to Colossus Review.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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This episode is brought to you by Ramp. Ramp’s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Ramp is the fastest-growing FinTech company in history, and it’s backed by more of my favorite past guests (at least 16 of them!) than probably any other company I’m aware of. Go to Ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.
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This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. I think this platform will become the standard for investment managers, and if you run an investing firm, I highly recommend you find time to speak with them. Head to ridgelineapps.com to learn more about the platform.
–
This episode is brought to you by Alphasense. AlphaSense has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Imagine completing your research five to ten times faster with search that delivers the most relevant results, helping you make high-conviction decisions with confidence. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at Alpha-Sense.com/Invest and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegus help you make smarter decisions faster.
-----
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Show Notes:
(00:00:00) Learn about Ramp, Ridgeline, & Alphasense
(00:09:40) Intro to Graham
(00:10:24) Launching Colossus Review
(00:12:25) The Principal-Agent Dynamic
(00:15:17) Navigating Financial Crises
(00:17:52) The Right Grip in Investing
(00:22:02) Seeding and Investment Strategies
(00:26:07) Defining 'Commercial' and Its Implications
(00:31:01) The Role of Laziness and Prolific Output
(00:32:50) Finding the Right People and Positive Feedback Loops
(00:41:51) Navigating Career Transitions and Motivations
(00:47:35) Understanding Source Dynamics
(00:54:37) Key Criteria for a Great CIO
(01:04:13) Structuring Relationships with CIOs
(01:08:10) Managing Ambiguity and Protecting Mental Clarity
(01:19:39) The Importance of Source in Business
(01:22:19) Designing Physical Spaces for Success
(01:27:18) Launching a Restaurant: A Casting Exercise
(01:34:47) Taking Over and Transforming Existing Ventures
(01:37:38) Macro Investing and Adaptability
(01:40:36) Hierarchy of Investment Mastery
(01:48:40) The Art of Referencing
(01:56:38) Formative Experiences and Personal Growth
(02:04:44) Building a Business and Taking Risks
(02:12:16) The Origin of East Rock

Jan 23, 2025 • 1h 41min
#376 Jensen Huang: Founder of Nvidia
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Key Takeaways Greatness does not come from intelligence; it comes from character, which can only be earned from overcoming adversities and developing perseverance Strategy is not words; strategy is action The Mission is the Boss: Nvidia exists to serve a mission and not for the sake of perpetuating its existence Refuse to be outworked and be unapologetically extreme in your dedication; working long hours is a necessary prerequisite for excellence Do what is natural and organic to you so that you enjoy it and can do it for a long period The Speed of Light Framework for project execution: Instead of judging performance based on past performance or against the competition, judge yourself against the theoretical maximum of what can be achieved in the minimum amount of time; the law of physics should be your only constraint Jensen tortures people into greatness: “The work” is the most important thing, not people’s feelings Hone the sword by seeking conflict: Opportunity handled well leads to more opportunity Innovation is a necessity, not an optionNvidia has a flat organizational structure that (1) Enables employees to act with more independence and (2) Filters out low-performing employees who are unaccustomed to thinking for themselves Ship the Whole Cow: Nvidia found ways to package and sell hardware that it previously would have discarded; this helped it mitigate low-end market competition and insulate itself from the innovator’s dilemma Complacency kills: The enemy is not the competition, but the company falling victim to complacency – both real and imagined Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgWhat I learned from reading The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim.----Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. ----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast
----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Jan 20, 2025 • 60min
Tyler Cowen - the #1 bottleneck to AI progress is humans
The Lunar Society
Key Takeaways While the AIs will be smart and conscientious, they will still face human bottlenecks, such as bureaucracies and committees at universitiesWe may not notice AI productivity gains on shorter timeframes: Even if they only boost economic growth by 0.5% per year, that is a massive productivity gain over 30-40 years! “There are going to be bottlenecks all along the way. It’s going to be a tough slug – like the printing press, like electricity. The people who study diffusion of new technologies never think there will be rapid takeoff.” – Tyler CowenOpposition to AI will only increase as the technology starts to change what the world looks like There is increasing variance in the human distribution: Young people at the top are doing much better and are more impressive than they were in earlier times. The very bottom of the distribution is also getting better. But the “thick middle” is getting worse.Since humans are an input “other than the AI”, then humans will rise in marginal value, even if we will have to learn to do different thingsOn Popularity and Progress: There is a danger that as a thing becomes more popular, at the margin it becomes much worseThe Tyler Cowen Investment Philosophy: Buy and hold, diversify, hold on tight, make sure you have some cheap hobbies and can cook Tech diffusion is universally pretty slow: While people in the Bay Area are the smartest, most dynamic, and most ambitious, they tend to overvalue intelligence On progress: War should always be the main concern during a period of rapid technological progress; throughout history, when new technologies emerge, they are turned into instruments of war – and terrible things can happen Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgI interviewed Tyler Cowen at the Progress Conference 2024. As always, I had a blast. This is my fourth interview with him – and yet I’m always hearing new stuff.We talked about why he thinks AI won't drive explosive economic growth, the real bottlenecks on world progress, him now writing for AIs instead of humans, and the difficult relationship between being cultured and fostering growth – among many other things in the full episode.Thanks to the Roots of Progress Institute (with special thanks to Jason Crawford and Heike Larson) for such a wonderful conference, and to FreeThink for the videography.Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Read the full transcript here.SponsorsI’m grateful to Tyler for volunteering to say a few words about Jane Street. It's the first time that a guest has participated in the sponsorship. I hope you can see why Tyler and I think so highly of Jane Street. To learn more about their open rules, go to janestreet.com/dwarkesh.Timestamps(00:00:00) Economic Growth and AI(00:14:57) Founder Mode and increasing variance(00:29:31) Effective Altruism and Progress Studies(00:33:05) What AI changes for Tyler(00:44:57) The slow diffusion of innovation(00:49:53) Stalin's library(00:52:19) DC vs SF vs EU Get full access to Dwarkesh Podcast at www.dwarkesh.com/subscribe

Jan 13, 2025 • 54min
#375 The Single Biggest Individual Financier In The World. The Richest Woman In America: Hetty Green
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Key Takeaways Hetty Green’s business maxims: 1. Seek out every piece of information on an investment before deciding on it2. Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves 3. Generally, in business, do not close a bargain until you have reflected on it overnight4. Before making a deal, if anyone is foolish enough to offer you the full amount, take it!5. Buy when everyone wants to sell and sell when everyone wants to buy A defining character trait of Hetty: She lived by her own rules and did not care what other people thought; by casting off the societal norms of her time, she freed herself to do as she pleased and to live a life on her terms The secret to all successful businesses and a simple strategy for wealth generation: Buy when prices are low and nobody wants them, and keep them until they go up and people become crazy to get them Hetty was self-sovereign, very frugal, and very paranoid: She did not tell other people what she owned or how much she was making, and commonly bought property and stocks under fictitious namesGreed does not drive the world, envy does; cure yourself of envy because envy is a weakness Some things on Hetty Green’s list of things to NOT do in business:1. Do not cheat in business or you will find yourself in an early grave2. Do not fail to be fair in all things and do not kick a man when he is down 3. Do not envy your neighbors 4. Do not forget to be charitable and never falsify When it comes to living your life, you will inevitably have to neglect some things; if you try to do too much, you will never get anywhere Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgHetty Green bailed out New York City. Her decisions on what interest rates to charge moved markets and were reported in major newspapers. She was a one woman bank and the single biggest individual financier in the world. She took no partners and ran her own money. She built a financial empire of stocks, bonds, railroads, and real estate. She battled the great men of her day and kept a gun on her desk. She did all of this alone. Defiantly independent and ferociously intelligent she built a vast, liquid fortune at a time when women couldn't even vote. She used her intelligence to increase her wealth, her independence to live as she wished, and her strength to battle anyone who stood in her way.This episode is what I learned from reading Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America’s First Female Tycoon by Charles Slack and The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age by Janet Wallach. ----Ramp gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save more. ----Vesto: All of your company's financial accounts in one view. Connect and control all of your business bank accounts from one dashboard. Go to Vesto and schedule a demo with the founder Ben. Tell him David sent you. Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast
----Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here. ----“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — GarethBe like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Dec 22, 2024 • 1h 32min
Micky Malka - Building Ribbit - [Invest Like the Best, EP.400]
Invest Like the Best
Key Takeaways Knowledge, money, and power are connecting in ways that we have not seen for the last 500 years “This moment is probably the most interesting moment of the last 100 years in terms of the opportunity set that is going to come from it.” – Micky Malka There is no winning and losing if you are playing an infinite game; once you are ahead, you have to change the rules of the game so that you will fall behindThe game is better played when you are trying to get ahead and not when you are ahead and trying to prevent people from passing you Every time money becomes better, people live better lives Burn the bridge that got you here; whatever got you here will not get you to the next phase Be more concentrated and have more conviction Life and business principles from Micky Malka:1. Never forget where you came from 2. Fewer decisions is best 3. Be genuine to yourself and those around you How to build a strong team: Instead of identifying a job title and then looking for a person to fill it, just look for amazing people that you want to work with, then hire them We will need streaming data and streaming money to enable automated services; people who understand both of these fields can build paradigm-shifting technologies Returns are an output metric; focus on the input and let the output take care of itself How to create magical outputs: (1) Create a team that is passionate about meeting others, engaging, and learning, and (2) Ensure that the inputs to the team’s machine will make the world better Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMy guest today is Micky Malka. Micky is the founder of Ribbit Capital, a global venture capital firm that focuses exclusively on financial technology investments. He is a renowned investor for his adaptability and visionary approach and a believer in killing the thing that got you to where you are in pursuit of what’s next. We discuss his perspective on fintech’s evolution and why his firm boldly declares that “fintech is dead.” We dive into his theory of the "grid," which examines how knowledge, wealth, and power are being transformed by technological changes, particularly through the rise of AI, cryptocurrency, and network states. And we also explore Micky’s deep interest in digital art and NFTs, which he sees as early indicators of broader cultural and technological shifts. You’ll soon hear how he is truly taking a generative approach on all fronts. Please enjoy this in-depth conversation with Micky Malka.
My guests today For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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This episode is brought to you by Alphasense. AlphaSense has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Imagine completing your research five to ten times faster with search that delivers the most relevant results, helping you make high-conviction decisions with confidence. AlphaSense provides access to over 300 million premium documents, including company filings, earnings reports, press releases, and more from public and private companies. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at Alpha-Sense.com/Invest and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegas help you make smarter decisions faster.
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This episode is brought to you by Ramp. Ramp’s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Ramp is the fastest-growing FinTech company in history, and it’s backed by more of my favorite past guests (at least 16 of them!) than probably any other company I’m aware of. It’s also notable that many best-in-class businesses use Ramp—companies like Airbnb, Anduril, and Shopify, as well as investors like Sequoia Capital and Vista Equity. They use Ramp to manage their spending, automate tedious financial processes, and reinvest saved dollars and hours into growth. At Colossus and Positive Sum, we use Ramp for exactly the same reason. Go to Ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Show Notes:
(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best
(00:06:37) The Rebel Spirit of Ribbit
(00:07:36) Ribbit's Unique Structure and Philosophy
(00:08:07) The First Fund and Institutional Partners
(00:09:03) Founding Principles and No Labels Approach
(00:13:44) Early Investments and the Crypto Angle
(00:16:42) The FinTech Evolution and Market Dynamics
(00:22:30) Navigating Challenges: The Robinhood Story
(00:28:57) The Global Digital Grid Concept
(00:36:09) The Future of Digital Identity and Tokenization
(00:41:00) The Role of Stablecoins in the Modern Economy
(00:50:16) The Challenge of Adaptability
(00:53:05) The Role of Heart in Business
(00:55:19) The Walmart Partnership Story
(01:00:07) Lessons from NuBank
(01:02:49) Building a Strong Team
(01:09:28) The Importance of Brand
(01:11:52) Art and Its Future
(01:17:20) The Impact of Better Money
(01:19:27) Reflections and Future Plans
(01:28:03) Handling Crises and Embracing Movement
(01:31:40) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Done For Micky

Dec 16, 2024 • 1h 25min
Satya Nadella | BG2 w/ Bill Gurley & Brad Gerstner
BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley
Key Takeaways The basics of business strategy: Recognize your structural position in the market, understand where you have permission in the market from your partners and customers who want you to win, and then do those obvious things first “I think the company of this generation has already been created, which is OpenAI.” – Satya Nadella To properly evaluate the AI arms race, you have to analyze it structurally by layer The year 2025 will be the year of infinite AI memory; the next 10x function of ChatGPT is its having a persistent memory combined with it being able to take action on our behalf Increasingly, Mag-7 capital expenditure resembles industrial companies more so than traditional software companies Continued advancements in the AI tier may collapse the traditional application categories How model capability will increase: Pre-training and test-time sampling create the tokens that can go back into pre-training, which creates even more powerful models that can then run on your inference How to be successful in life and business:Pattern-match periods in which you are successful and in which you are not, then do more of the behaviors that you did during your successful periods Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgOpen Source bi-weekly convo w/ Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner on all things tech, markets, investing & capitalism. This week they are joined by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, to discuss becoming Microsoft’s CEO, Advice for CEO’s, Microsoft’s Investment in OpenAI, Legacy Search, Ten Blue Links, Consumer and Enterprise AI, The Future of AI Agents, Infinite Memory, CoPilot, Microsoft’s Capital Expenditure, Open AI’s future, AI safety & more. Enjoy another episode of BG2.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:31) Becoming Microsoft CEO(06:42) Satya’s Memo to CEO Committee(10:42) Satya’s Advantage as a CEO(11:34) Advice for CEOs(15:01) Microsoft’s Investment in OpenAI(19:42) AI Arms Race(23:55) Legacy Search and Consumer AI(28:07) The Future of AI Agents(38:32) Near-Infinite Memory(39:47) Copilot Approach to AI Adoption(50:26) Leveraging AI within Microsoft(56:03) CapX(01:00:20) The Cost of Model Scaling and Inference(01:15:15) Open AI Conversion to Profit(01:18:05) Next Steps for OpenAI(01:19:43) Open vs. Closed and Safe AIProduced by Benny BeausoleilMusic by Yung SpielbergAvailable on Apple, Spotify, www.bg2pod.comFollow:Brad Gerstner @altcapBill Gurley @bgurleyBG2 Pod @bg2pod#BillGurley #BradGerstner #Bg2Pod