Keith Rabois | Venture Capitalist and Co-Founder of Opendoor and OpenStore
Summary
TLDRDieses Podcast-Transkript bietet einen Einblick in das Leben und die Karriere von Keith Rabois, einem erfolgreichen Unternehmer und Investor. Von seinem frühen Interesse an Sport und politischen Biografien bis hin zu seiner Karriere in der High-Tech-Industrie, einschließlich seiner Zeit bei PayPal und LinkedIn, teilt Rabois Einblicke in sein Denken und seine Visionen. Er diskutiert auch seine Rolle als Investor, seine Haltung gegenüber Umrisse und sein aktuelles Unternehmen, Open Store, das digitale Brands verbindet und unterstützt.
Takeaways
- 🛋️ 'Outer' ist Markenname für hochwertige Outdoor-Möbel, die für den Einsatz im Freien konzipiert sind und trotz Witterungsextremen wie Regen oder Sonne aussehen wie neu.
- 🎉 Der Podcast-Gast, Keith Rabois, ist ein leidenschaftlicher Leser und hat von jungen Jahren an enzyklopädische Wissen gesammelt, was sein Denken und Handeln prägt.
- 🏋️♂️ Keith legt großen Wert auf Fitness und organisiert seinen Tag um Schlaf und sportliche Aktivitäten, um den Tag erfolgreich zu beginnen.
- 👨💼 Keiths Karriere begann mit einem harvardischen Juraabschluss, einer Clerkship und einer Anwaltslaufbahn in einer renommierten Kanzlei.
- 💡 Seine Karriere wechselte Richtung, als er in die Tech-Branche wechselte, nachdem er von der Wall-Street-Firma in eine Tech-Startup-Umgebung überging.
- 🤝 Keith traf Peter Thiel an seiner ersten Tag an der Stanford University, was zu einer langjährigen Freundschaft und später zu beruflicher Zusammenarbeit führte.
- 🌐 Während der Tech-Bust 2000 wurde Keith in PayPal rekrutiert, was zu einem Wendepunkt in seiner Karriere und zu einem wichtigen Teil der sogenannten 'PayPal Mafia' wurde.
- 🏢 Keith war Teil von Unternehmen wie LinkedIn und Square, bevor er Open Door gründete, ein Unternehmen, das Liquidität für Immobilienbesitzer bietet.
- 🛍️ Open Store, Keiths neuestes Unterfangen, zielt darauf ab, Shopify-Marken zu kaufen und durch Synergien und Skaleneffekte zu einem Online-Department-Store zu verwandeln.
- 💡 Als Investor sucht Keith nach Gründern, die eine nicht-null-Chance haben, die Welt oder eine Industrie zu verändern oder umzuformen.
- 🚀 Keith betont die Wichtigkeit, kontinuierlich herausfordernde Projekte zu suchen, um persönliches Wachstum und Entwicklung zu fördern.
Q & A
Welche Marke von Outdoor-Möbeln wird in dem Podcast erwähnt?
-Outer wird als Marke für Outdoor-Möbel wie Sofas und Esstische erwähnt, die für die Außennutzung konzipiert sind.
Was ist der Name des Podcast-Gastes, der in diesem Skript interviewt wird?
-Der Name des Gastes ist Keith Rabois.
Wie oft pro Woche nimmt Keith Rabois an Berry-Klassen teil?
-Keith Rabois nimmt durchschnittlich an 12 Berry-Klassen pro Woche teil.
Wie sieht Keith Rabois' tägliche Routine aus, um Erfolg im Leben zu haben?
-Keith organisiert seinen Tag hauptsächlich um Schlaf aus, er möchte so nahe wie möglich 8 Stunden Schlaf haben. Er geht früh ins Bett und wacht früh auf, dann geht er sofort zu seiner ersten Workout-Session des Tages.
Welche Sportarten waren in Keith Rabois' Kindheit von Bedeutung?
-In Keith Rabois' Kindheit spielten Fussball, Basketball, Baseball, Football und Tennis eine wichtige Rolle.
Was war das Lieblingshobby von Keith Rabois in seiner Jugend?
-Keith Rabois war ein sehr gelehrter und gieriger Leser. Er las durch Zyklen der Enzyklopädie von Anfang bis Ende, als er jung war.
Welche berufliche Laufbahn plante Keith Rabois sich vor dem College?
-Von der sechsten Klasse an wollte Keith Rabois Lawyer werden. Er konzentrierte sich darauf und optimierte seine extracurrikulären Aktivitäten, um in eine beeindruckende Law School aufzunehmen.
Wie lernte Keith Rabois Peter Thiel kennen und welche Rolle spielte dieser in seinem Leben?
-Keith lernte Peter Thiel an seinem ersten Tag im Freshman Jahr an der Stanford University kennen. Später wurde Peter Thiel eine zentrale Figur in Keiths Karriere, als er ihm half, bei PayPal zu arbeiten.
Was war das Hauptproblem für Open Door, das Keith Rabois ins Leben rief?
-Open Door hatte Schwierigkeiten, als die Zinssätze in einem kurzen Zeitraum erheblich stiegen. Dies beeinträchtigte die Kaufkraft von Häusern für neue Käufer und führte zu weniger Transaktionen.
Was ist das Geschäftsmodell von Open Store, das Keith Rabois gegründet hat?
-Open Store ist ein Unternehmen, das Shopify-Marken kauft und verbindet, um Synergien und wirtschaftliche Skaleneffekte zu nutzen. Sie konzentriert sich auf die Verbesserung von Kosteneffizienz und den Erwerb neuer Kunden durch den Einsatz mehrereer Marketingkanäle.
Was ist Keith Rabois' Ansicht über den Wettbewerb in der Geschäftswelt?
-Keith Rabois glaubt, dass erfolgreiche Unternehmen oder Gründer hauptsächlich durch die Qualität ihrer eigenen Ideen, das Denken und die schnelle Ausführung Erfolg haben oder scheitern, anstatt durch den Wettbewerb.
Outlines
🛋️ Willkommen beim Founder Hour Podcast
Die Einführung in die Episode des Founder Hour Podcasts, präsentiert von einem Sponsor, der Outdoor-Möbel von Outer lobt. Der Sprecher hat diese Möbel über ein Jahr lang getestet und sie sind trotz Witterungsextremen wie Regen und Sonne wie neu. Die Outdoor-Möbel von Outer sind für den Einsatz im Freien konzipiert, was durch ihre langlebige und nachhaltige Materialien und innovativen Lösungen, wie dem Outer Shell Cover, untermauert wird. Zudem wird ein exklusiver 10%iger Rabatt für die Zuhörer angekündigt, der für eine begrenzte Zeit verfügbar ist.
🌞 Leben in Miami und Fitness-Routinen
Der Sprecher diskutiert sein Leben in Miami, das er als Paradies beschreibt, und seine tägliche Routine, die um ausreichend Schlaf organisiert ist. Er betont die Wichtigkeit von einem erfolgreichen Tag zu beginnen, indem er früh aufsteht und an einem Berries-Klasse in Miami teilnimmt. Er teilt auch, dass er versucht, durchschnittlich 12 Berries-Kurse pro Woche zu absolvieren und kürzlich einen 4200er-Kurs abgeschlossen hat. Zudem wird diskutiert, wie er Zeit für zwei tägliche Workouts findet und wie er mit unerwarteten Herausforderungen umgeht, die im Laufe eines Start-up-Geschäfts auftreten können.
🏃♂️ Ein Leben langes Engagement für Fitness und Sport
Der Sprecher erinnert sich an seine frühe Leidenschaft für Fußball, Basketball und andere Sportarten. Er hatte auch eine große Leidenschaft für das Lesen und durchforschte Enzyklopädien. Seine Eltern unterstützten sein Verlangen nach Wissen, indem sie ihm erlaubten, so viele Bücher zu kaufen, wie er wollte. Diese Leidenschaft für Bücher hat sich in die Erstellung einer Bibliothek in Miami übertragen, die er als einzigartig beschreibt.
📚 Einflüsse der Familie und frühe Leidenschaften
Der Sprecher reflektiert über die Auswirkungen seiner Familie auf seine Leidenschaft für das Lesen und wie sie ihm erlaubten, unbegrenzt Bücher zu kaufen. Er erinnert sich an seine frühen Interessen, darunter die Liebe zu Sport, insbesondere Baseball, und seine Hingabe an das Lesen, was er von der fünften Klasse an als unersättlich beschreibt. Außerdem teilt er, dass eines seiner Kinder für sein Lesen in der Schule ausgezeichnet wurde, was ihn sehr stolz macht.
🤔 Überlegungen zum Studium und zukünftigen Beruf
Der Sprecher erzählt, dass er seit der sechsten Klasse darauf hindachte, Anwalt zu werden, und sich auf ein Studium der Rechtswissenschaften vorbereitete. Er war auch an Politik interessiert und beobachtete, wie Anwälte in die Politik einbezogen wurden. Er hatte die Ambition, eine Karriere in der Politik zu beginnen, entweder als Wahlkampfmanager oder als weißer Hauschef des Stabs, anstatt direkt für ein Amt zu kandidieren.
🤝 Die erste Begegnung mit Peter Thiel an der Stanford University
Der Sprecher erzählt die Geschichte seiner ersten Begegnung mit Peter Thiel an der Stanford University. Er traf Peter, als dieser die zweite Ausgabe der Stanford Review verteilte. Sie lernten sich kennen, als der Sprecher an einer Organisationstreffen der Stanford Review teilnahm, für die er schrieb. Später arbeiteten sie beide in derselben Anwaltskanzlei, und obwohl Peter die Kanzlei nach fünf Monaten verließ, blieb der Sprecher länger dort, was er als seine größte Charakterschwäche ansieht.
🏢 Erfahrungen als Anwalt und Wechsel in die Tech-Branche
Der Sprecher teilt seine Erfahrungen als Anwalt in einer renommierten Wall-Street-Anwaltskanzlei, wo er sich sowohl von den Aspekten der Arbeit als auch von der fehlenden Spezialisierung frustrierte. Er beschreibt, wie er und andere Anwälte, die in die Tech-Branche wechselten, mit der Pleite der Tech-Börse konfrontiert waren, als die Börsenkurse einbrachen. Er entschied sich jedoch, nicht zurück in die Anwaltschaft zu gehen, sondern in die Tech-Branche einzutauchen.
💡 Die Idee hinter Open Door und ihre Herausforderungen
Der Sprecher gründet Open Door, ein Unternehmen, das auf die Liquidität von Immobilien zutrifft. Er beschreibt die Idee dahinter, die er seit 2003 hat, und wie die Erfahrung, sein Zuhause innerhalb von 24 Stunden zu verkaufen, ihn inspirierte. Open Door bietet Bargeldangebote für Häuser an und hat in 50 bis 60 Märkten eine Marktpräsenz. Die Herausforderungen durch die COVID-19-Pandemie und die steigenden Zinssätze haben jedoch das Unternehmen getroffen, da die Transaktionen zurückgingen.
🛍️ Die Vision hinter Open Store und die Rolle von Shopify
Der Sprecher erklärt die Vision hinter Open Store, einem Unternehmen, das Shopify-Marken kauft und zusammenführt, um Synergien und Kosteneinsparungen zu erzielen. Er betont die Bedeutung der Einkaufserlebnisse und wie Open Store auf den Erfolg von Shopify aufbaut, indem es den Marken eine größere Reichweite und Effizienz gibt. Open Store zielt darauf ab, Liquidität für die Marken zu bieten und sie effizienter zu gestalten, was sowohl für die Verbraucher als auch für das Unternehmen von Vorteil ist.
🎧 Persönliches Engagement und Zukunftspläne
Der Sprecher teilt, dass er als leidenschaftlicher Leser immer nach neuen Herausforderungen sucht, um zu wachsen. Er reflektiert über seine früheren Karrierewechsel und wie er ständig neue Fähigkeiten erlernt, um sich weiterzuentwickeln. Er betont die Wichtigkeit, sich ständig zu verbessern und nicht in der Komfortzone zu verharren, um sowohl beruflich als auch persönlich erfolgreich zu sein.
🎶 Musik und die Zukunft von Open Store
Der Sprecher bekennt sich zu seiner Leidenschaft für die Musik und teilt, dass er einmal einen erfolgreichen DJ-Auftritt hatte. Er diskutiert auch die Zukunft von Open Store und wie es möglicherweise in den Retail-Bereich expandieren könnte. Er betont die Bedeutung, Talente zu entdecken und zu fördern, und wie er es sich zur Aufgabe macht, Menschen dabei zu helfen, ihre Ziele zu erreichen.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Contrarianism
💡First Mover Advantage
💡E-Commerce
💡Venture Capital
💡Founder-Driven
💡Innovation
💡Sleep
💡Fitness
💡Durability
💡Sustainability
💡Entrepreneurship
Highlights
Sponsor Outer's durable and sustainable outdoor furniture withstands weather conditions and maintains a new look.
Exclusive 10% discount for Founder Hour listeners on Outer's outdoor furniture range.
Guest Keith Boyer's daily routine revolves around sleep, work, and two-a-day Berry workouts.
Boyer's childhood passion for sports and voracious reading habit influenced his personal growth.
Boyer's parents encouraged his reading by providing an unlimited budget for books.
Boyer's admiration for Margaret Thatcher and her influence on his political and career aspirations.
Boyer's transition from prestigious law to the tech startup world during the dot-com boom and crash.
Meeting Peter Thiel at Stanford and the unexpected journey into business and politics.
Boyer's experience at PayPal during its financial crisis and turnaround.
Meritocratic culture and high-density talent at PayPal fostering innovation and success.
Boyer's contrarian views on various topics, including his belief in the importance of sleep.
Contrarianism as a result of the world diverging from Boyer's foundational principles.
Boyer's investment philosophy focusing on early-stage, bold, and impactful startups.
The concept of every great startup starting as a 'cult' with a unique view of the world.
Boyer's return to Khosla Ventures and the reasons behind his decision.
Attributes Boyer looks for in founders, emphasizing the need for a non-zero chance of transforming an industry.
The importance of challenging oneself and the concept of growth through facing difficulties.
Transcripts
welcome to the founder Hour podcast
before we get into the episode just a
quick word about our sponsor outer you
know I've raved about outer before and I
love my outer sofa outdoor dining table
and chairs I've had them for over a year
and let me tell you they've been through
everything from rainstorms to scorching
sun and still look brand new that's
because outer makes outdoor furniture
that's actually designed for the
outdoors from using incredibly durable
and sustainable materials to developing
innovative solutions like the outer
shell cover which protects my sofa and
dining table against d dust debris and
dirt no more soggy cushions or Dusty
tabletops my outer setup is always clean
dry and ready to be enjoyed anytime I
want head to live out.com thee founder
hour to see outer range of outdoor
furniture fire pits and accessories the
founder hour listeners get an exclusive
10% off for a limited time terms and
conditions apply so elevate your outdoor
space with outer that's live
out.com thee founder hour here we go
Keith boy welcome pleasure to be with
you likewise great to great to meet you
uh thanks for coming on the show how's
how's Miami life uh love Miami I feel
like I live in Paradise every day and I
go to work get my work done come back
back in Paradise wake up in the morning
rinse and repeat you you forgot to
mention berries you're wearing a berry
shirt and uh I I heard you're doing
almost two a days these days so how's
that going yeah I try to average 12
berries a week uh so pretty good I just
finished uh last week my 4200 class so
trying to get to 5,000 as soon as I can
that's incredible how do you find time
how do you what's your day look like
right now well I organize my day
primarily around sleep so I want as
close to 8 hour sleep as possible so I
typically go to bed fairly early wake up
um partie that and then as soon as I get
out of bed I do my first workout of the
day so usually I'm taking like a 710
a.m. berries class in Miami and um that
way I'm set for Success the second
workout it's more optional depends how
the day is going how many things I'm
juggling there's always unexpected uh
you know turmoil um startup roller
coaster ride uh so every day is a roller
coaster that's why I like to start with
a workout make sure that the fundamental
you know premise is set everything's
ready to go and then if it turns out
there's more time usually I'll weave one
in in the evening have you always been
into fitness or is this something that
came more so later in life different
kinds of Fitness so I played uh a lot of
soccer uh in some a fair amount of
basketball um and we use that as like
training for that as opposed to just
like aics or life extension you know
sort of different goals uh but I no
longer play very much soccer or
basketball so now it's mostly for either
health or
Aesthetics love it um you grew up uh in
Edison New Jersey I want to kind of take
it back uh a little bit and talk about
young Keith and what he was like you
mentioned being into soccer and
basketball um outside of that what did
you enjoy doing what was like your you
know passion I guess oh I Lov like
baseball and sports both playing foot
baseball football uh tennis it played
almost all sports American Sports and
then um with watch like I listen to like
140 Yankee games a year um was pretty
addicted to the Rangers Nicks um and
reading um so the other thing I was
addicted to is reading I read like in
cycle of the encyclopedia from cover to
cover when I was pretty young um I was
just happy to learn this morning I've uh
two kids one won an award at two years
old in his school for being The Bookworm
of the class and I was extremely proud
extremely excited uh because that's what
I basically did is read read read as was
an extremely voracious reader um maybe
as ear as I can remember but certainly
from fifth grade on yeah what did what
would what did your parents do like what
what kind of influence did they maybe
have on you at a young age well one of
the ways they actually impacted my
reading was you know we were kind of
typical middle class household and we
didn't have a lot of disposable income
and you had to be judicious about what
we invested and spent money on but they
gave me an unlimited budget for books so
as long as I read the books I could buy
as many as I wanted so what did I do I
substituted my shopping into books um
and read them and enjoyed them and you
know that compounds uh so I have a
library I I built when I moved to Miami
I built a custom Library which is
possibly the only authentic library in
Miami so you know I've kind of always
been addicted to reading and love to
read and you know try to inculcate the
habits and friends family everywhere I
can yeah do you remember some of your
other favorite books or topics at that
age well yeah so the first type of uh
genre that got me addicted was actually
what used to be called spy fiction so it
be about like cold war spies you know in
Berlin you know um a lot of uh sort of
Robert uh John
Laren Ken fallen and Robert llam and
people like that and and Tom Clancy a
little bit later just viciously read
their entire repertoire uh so that was
the first kind of genre that I was
passionate about um but I developed you
know reading skills uh through through
the exercise of reading their fiction um
I read non-fiction mostly biographies
and autobiographies uh was kind of my
go-to so I really enjoyed uh that and
was also very intrigued by history and
politics so those are the three areas it
was either an
autobiography politics SL history kind
of a fine line there and um and spy
fiction if you didn't live uh in this
era what other era would you want have
you know want to have lived in and who's
someone in throughout history that you
admire that you would have loved to meet
that you didn't get a chance to meet
well I briefly met her um not
unfortunately a one-1 situation but my
hero growing up was always Margaret
Thatcher and I did have the opportunity
once uh to see her speak um in an
auditorium of about 100 200 people uh
but uh I read consumed everything about
her her biography her
autobiographies three volumes as well as
many other biographies about her so she
was who have always wanted to emulate
and
obviously was too young realistically as
I was growing up to really spend any
quality time with her but you know I
wish I I wish I was maybe a decade older
and had opportunity yeah that's great um
so I presumably you were a good student
you ended up going to Stanford uh
studying polyi what did what did you
kind of want to be before you even got
to college at at a young age because I
know you eventually went um to law
school um and got your law degree but
like did you want to be something else
and then eventually switch paths to law
once you decided maybe this is a
lucrative career or was that something
that was always kind of in the cards for
you that you know I want to grow up be a
lawyer and do this
from the time I was in sixth grade on I
wanted to be a lawyer I I was focused
from then on and how do I be a lawyer
you know like political science classic
pre law sort of curriculum um I
optimized you know s of my
extracurricular activities around you
know getting into an impressive law
school but I I knew I was attracted to
law which also had a blend into politics
So Pro my reading habits you know I've
been intrigued by Pol I was interested
in politics at least since I was in
sixth grade as well and so paid
attention to politics readit viciously
about politics and obviously there's a
long history of American lawyers going
in and out of politics and being
effective and appointed to interesting
jobs roles so I thought that was the
trajectory I was aiming for for you know
pretty much up to the age of 30 wow so
you you thought you might eventually
become like a congressman or or Senator
or run for president not necessarily
directly run for office my goal was you
either be a campaign manager along the
lines of like Jim Baker
um who's a lawyer and then moved into
politics successfully or you know
eventually be like a white house chief
of staff or somebody like that those
there kind of the trajectory I don't
think I ever really envisioned running
directly uh for office but I I
definitely wanted to use kind of play
the Washington lawyer role which there's
a long probably Century long history of
lawyers and DC going in and out of
government and interesting roles yeah so
when you're at Stanford uh you end up
meeting this gentleman named Peter teal
which I know eventually would come into
play in your career and and just life uh
what was that what was that kind of
encounter like you know initially and
and how did you kind of guys become
friends and and sort of
Click yeah so it's it's one of these
like stories that's even more amazing
Than Fiction um literally I met Peter on
the first day of my freshman year
Stanford and the way I met him was I was
sitting in my freshman dorm room and Lin
for this you know Stanford and my door
was open and Peter was running around
the halls delivering the second issue of
the Stanford review by hand and he
happened to throw this under our door
and I picked it up and I was a
conservative already self-identified and
there's this alternative conservative
publication so I happen say oh that's
cool that's interesting chatting with
him he invited me to some meeting you
know some organizational meeting and I
showed up and started writing for the
review and 30 years later I was still
stuck
theer did you feel like at the time that
he was going to be someone that would be
a lifelong friend and and someone that
you would work with eventually like did
you see that sort of spark in him I did
and I thought more in terms of Law and
politics never never never in any sense
I think about business for either myself
or for him but um I did think he would
you know do interesting things in law
politics he wanted to go to law school
Etc um but um he he mised ited one of my
pieces so I got very furious with him uh
so other than that little Saga um yes I
I I envisioned like we wound up going
down the same path he's a little older a
couple years older but he W up uh
clerking as did I and then he W up
working actually at the same Law Firm
the same quintessential Wall Street Law
Firm that I did although you know he was
preent enough to quit after five months
and four days and it took me three and a
half years to figure it out um but way
too long yeah still introduces that as
my biggest character flaw it took that
long to figure out the obvious yeah what
was what was that experience like for
you you know being a lawyer I can
imagine you probably enjoyed some parts
but maybe not others but like you know
what was that like and how were there
any skills that I guess you took away
from those few years that helped you be
a better uh executive entrepreneur
investor yep absolutely so um I actually
did enjoy practicing law or I wouldn't
have lasted you know three and a half
years years after clicking so four and a
half years as a lawyer obviously suggest
I had some energy and excitement around
it it was back in then and certainly my
firm was it was required there were two
flaws or things that were frustrating
one was you had to be a complete
generalist so we didn't allow
specialization so there were parts of
practicing law that I really enjoyed and
parts I really didn't want to do and we
fused them together and didn't allow
them to be disambiguated so I I think
that uh was draining and then
secondarily we weren't we were very
meritocratic but you moved within lock
step per year so you were second year
associate your whole identity was around
your second year associate then you were
a third year associate then a fourth
year associate a fifth year associate
and that was the only way you could
progress within the firm was by annual
by cohorts and so you wanted to be the
best within the cohort but it's still
take seven or eight years to sort of
become a partner uh regardless you know
pretty much independent of your ability
and so that wasn't that exciting to me
my corporate I was a litigator says on
the litigation side but my transactional
colleagues um who became frustrated that
tended to move into investment banking
so they started Sol cwell like I did but
they had more options and they felt that
the banking system like say Goldman
Sachs or something like that entity like
that was more Progressive in terms of
Merit and that there' be more um
separation in terms of career trajectory
and compensation so the V corporate
Associates would typically migrate into
Investment Banking as a litigator I
didn't have any of those options so if I
sort of forg my own path yeah and so you
ended up working in Tech startups right
around the do boom from what I
understand exactly yeah um unfor
unfortunately the boom crashed and
burned six weeks or so after I joined
the tech world uh so maybe I'm a bad
signal a couple different ways one is
the fact that tech companies were hiring
people like me who had no business
skills whatsoever I never built an Excel
spreadsheet in my life uh but the
companies there's so much money in being
invested in technology companies there's
so many startups uh all around like
Silicon Valley Boston New York Etc that
there was a fat basically a famine of
talented people so these new startups
were desperate for talented people so
they'd be willing to williz take a
chance on someone like me so I got
recruited into this startup by a friend
of a friend maybe a friend from Stanford
who had had really had a pretty good run
in the first generation internet bubble
was doing a second company and recruited
me um and I said yes and then six weeks
later the world blew up the world of
technology blew up we were literally in
a you know sort of famine um so I didn't
really know what I was getting myself
into um I don't think anybody did
actually but in March March 28th or so
2000 the market collapsed the Asda
collapse particularly and then six about
two months later in June like right
around June 16th or so 2000 the NASDAQ
collapsed again and then everybody
realized oh wow this is real the world's
this is a completely new world order so
anything you assumed about the future of
the internet is up for grabs again and
it took three to five years to kind of
wash through that um a kind of a talking
point I'll borrow from Peter teal is
actually if you looked at the height of
the NASDAQ just before the market
collapsed it at was around 5,000 or so
as an index and it took uh almost 15
years to you get back to that height so
this is this was like dropping a like
truly dropping like a nuclear bomb on
the technology sector right and I was
like six weeks in and not really didn't
really know how to do anything did you
think I'm gonna go back to law I'm done
with this no no I don't really think
that way and um I was like I first of
all if we in kind of a traditional uh
hierarchical kind of quintessential Wall
Street Law Firm you can't really just
jump in and out so easily um I don't
think my friends or family really
appreciated how much the risk I was
taking because they didn't really
understand it they're like oh you're
Harvard educated lawyer clicked on the
fifth circuit someone's going to want to
hire you but it doesn't quite work that
way at the highend of law firm and the
prestigious law firms so it wasn't so
easy but yes some people did U there
were a few other lawyers who migrated
from prestigious law firms into Tech and
some actually did rebound back and some
quite successfully but I I just decided
I wanted to double down actually the
advice I got that I would enjoy uh this
technology stuff in quotes uh was good
advice I was excited I was invigorated
so I just basically looked to the and
said okay we're gonna have to figure
this out somehow yeah so you eventually
ended up working at PayPal famously
which you know the famous PayPal Mafia
and all that uh had you kept uh in touch
with Peter throughout that time and and
how did you sort of end up there yeah so
it's actually an interesting story about
how I went up with PayPal and uh through
so as my first startup was getting
itself in trouble as the internet you
know Revolution was ending and we had to
evolve very rapidly and our 19-year-old
CEO not being decisive enough to S of
save the company I called up Peter and
basically was just asking for advice
because I knew he'd founded Paypal I
knew he' started to get like some
traction you know Etc from afar I was
like 3,000 miles away on the East Coast
but would read about PayPal hear about
PayPal occasionally bump into him or
David Sachs or you know people like that
that I do from college so I called the
Peter asking for advice like hey this
startup I don't think's going to make it
here's why blah blah blah what do you
think I should do and somewhat
unexpectedly said hey I this is
literally a Verbatim quote like 20x
years ago he said hey I could introduce
you to a lot of people Sil Valley but
you should just come work for us and
this is totally not expected I said well
what would you want me to do and so we
want having a conversation about what he
was unhappy with he about six weeks
earlier had been reading the reinstated
as interim interim CEO of PayPal so
after Elon had been deposed um the board
wasn't confident enough in Peter to give
him the real Co title to give inter Co
title anyway six weeks later this is
September 25th uh 2000 six weeks later I
had this conversation with him and he's
like you should just come work for us
here's the role here's what here's what
I want you to do I thought it was
actually pretty interesting I thought
the company was a mess and it was was
burning like when each took over is
burning like $10 million a month which
back then in 2000 is a lot of money and
the company Dire Straits but he turned
around the company really fast with the
help of people like David Sachs and Max
Leon and rolla um the company did really
um save itself uh very quickly but
anyway I didn't know that I just thought
there'd be like interesting smart people
there and at least the brand people
people heard of theand had heard of the
brand even though we were bleeding money
so I said yes um and moved pretty much
overnight from Washington DC to palala
slept on my friend who's a gsb's sofa
because I didn't have time to find a
place to live and the re reason I had to
do this so fast was Peter was like hey
here's the offer here's the terms here's
the
title and I was like great I'd like to
start in like you know two plus weeks
and he's like nope you got to start
Monday or deal's off I'm like oh wow so
I moved AC cross country I owned a home
had to sell it I'm out I out of
negotiating with Peter which turned into
okay I didn't start Monday I started
Tuesday morning at 10: a.m. in said of
Monday but that's why I was crossing
putting those uh lawyer negotiating uh
skills at work yeah my friend Eric saved
my career by giving me a
sofa you know I'm curious what it was
like being in the room with all these
guys you know clearly you mention
working around talented people some of
the most talented people probably ever
um you know have gone on to start you
know so many successful companies
whether it's Reed Hoffman stoppelman
Sachs like all those guys you know have
you like what was the environment like
being around and and have you seen that
again like any anywhere else so yeah
it's was very meritocratic it was the
density of talent was very Stark I mean
in that this is not just a Ben of
hindsight it was pretty Stark at the
time that wow these people are made
really smart and like a lot of really
smart talented people so the density of
talent I remember rolloff saying
something to me in January of
2001 he he said the average person here
is smarter than the average at either
Goldman or McKenzie places he had worked
um and I actually at first when we said
it I I was in disbelief honestly like
I'd only been there like two months so
but proved to be quite pressant and was
actually by far better than the average
person at Goldman or McKenzie but I
found that shocking at the moment um
what was he basing that off of Just well
he well no he' actually worked at those
places and he's like the median person
here just much better they're smarter
faster um so he was valid comparison and
but I didn't I had it worked to those
places and was just joining pball but
turned out he got that exactly right um
by probably an order magnitude um but in
any event um the the company moved fast
people worked really hard uh were very
passionate about succeeding um very
debate driven culture people who were
very smart put them in all pacher dish
um have very different IDE is under
pressure uh so you had to stand for
yourself you had to debate very
vigorously um and constantly uh for
priorization for tradeoffs um so it's
very very very vigorous debate by email
in person
constantly yeah so you also moved on and
and eventually worked at some other
successful companies like LinkedIn and
square uh how did you go about just
deciding where you worked what you
decided to spend your time doing who you
worked with like what was your sort of
measure you know honestly it wasn't so
intentional um LinkedIn kind of happened
because Reed was starting this cool idea
um there was a professional Network back
before people thought in these terms and
since I had actually probably the most
traditional sort of background of
anybody who worked at PayPal like
actually went to law school and had a
clerkship and worked at a prestigious
firm everybody else's PayPal was
basically a misfit and had have did not
have a traditional resume so LinkedIn
made so much more sense to me than
anybody else he was talking to because
everybody else he was talking to was
like a look Valley entrepreneur type um
so it just intuitive that this should
really be valuable and should really
work so I both Angel invested in when he
was starting the company but was looking
for role there wasn't really a business
role which is my real skill set back
then was like a business person um the
there wasn't really a business need
until he could get the network working
which is a product driven strategy to
create a viral product so there wasn't
really a role until he proved that he
can create a CO a growth coefficient
above one and he could get to some scale
so I wind up jumping in once that
happened but I was intrigued from day
one which why I invested I literally
looked at every single LinkedIn profile
every single day for like a year to see
the quality people the caliber of people
that were joining the network because
there was some concern about would we
have out of our selection Etc uh you
know like recently I was interviewing
Max lein on stage and Max had a quip but
it'll explain the LinkedIn experience
Max said uh you were the the most normal
person at PayPal which both says a lot
about me and PayPal but that's wiely
resonated with me is it's a product for
normal people right right so I want to
talk about contrarianism for a second
because I think it's a it's a really
interesting topic and something that
you've talked about a lot and I know
it's in your Twitter bio or xbio now um
it's in my it's in my X bio although I
should point out that I put it there in
2009 it's not been edited so yeah so
some people are like oh that's so Bland
or whatever BL you know it's so B all
and I was like no I did it before it's
cool yeah no I've been following you on
Twitter or X for a while and I remember
it being there for a long time and um so
I could vouch for that um how do you
view contrarianism and so like in terms
of is it a deliberate effort is it like
a framework is it a set of
principles what is it it's a great
question actually I think that what it
really is is that you have a set of
principles and as the world becomes
tumultuous or goes crazy your principles
are no longer in Vogue so it's not it's
not like a reaction to saying I have to
be different it's a the world over the
last X years has decayed in my view in
many many ways and so since I believe in
first principles and a certain set of
principles that's why I'm a conservative
that's why Margaret thater was my hero I
became a contra because the world
stopped believing in Merit the world
stopped believing in a bunch of like
things that I found fundamental to the
history of human race and so that led to
be a contrary now as it became a VC
which is a lot later I didn't become a
professional investor until 2013 so
significantly after I sort of created
that bio to be a successful early stage
investor you do have to be partially
contrary you have to seek a spark in
people or ideas before other people do
otherwise there's no Alpha so now it's a
little bit more professional but when I
first drafted that profile it was just I
just reject the modern world in some
ways I don't think we're making progress
on some dimensions and so that led me to
feel isolated and hence a
contrarian is it an ongoing process for
you because I can imagine you know when
you know you're contrarian about a
certain thing and then eventually you
end up being right right and other
people realize you're right then it
becomes conventional wisdom right then
now it's like that's the norm now now
now it's like you have to sort of
constantly I guess maybe re-evaluate
your beliefs and and see am I thinking
about this you know how am I thinking
about these things and so how is there a
process for that for you well it's kind
of amusing because what happens is if
you're right eventually the world
catches on like the his the history of
our you know the hardore history does
Bend towards accuracy uh so for example
let's let's talk about one that's very
live um just the last week um I had this
belief from day one that Co clearly
escaped from a lab in China and as a
matter of fact it was so controversial
that people like attacked me constantly
on Twitter like call like nonstop but
Bloomberg which is allegedly a media
Outlet wrote a profile of me in May of
2000 that without citation without
quotation dismisses my quote Fringe
theory that Co emerged from a lap so
that's how radical this was at the time
now I don't there's almost nobody with a
brain that doesn't believe that Co one
way or the other emerged from a laot it
was like so obviously true but you hope
that these things move into the stream
or so for example I'll give you a kind
of more aming one um I've always
believed uh that Apple Maps is a much
better product than Google Maps I agree
wholeheartedly used to drive all my
friends crazy like completely nonstop
they all thought I was like losing my
san yeah then um then I'd run these kind
of funny experiments with them like um I
actually got married at a location that
if you tried to find it on Google Maps
you'd get lost and but on Apple Maps it
worked perfectly
I was like I I actually used that in my
like actual wedding I'm like you all got
here if you tried Google you would never
be at the ceremony right now that's
hilarious but but anyway recently though
um Flo on Twitter um uh shared some
evidence they had in Twitter I mean
start at Uber where they had you know
the best data set ever about directions
between ways Google Maps apple and he
actually you know published this that in
fact Apple Mouse is much Superior so I
send it around to like all my friends um
so I've been on this Crusade for a long
time so like I try to have these
original ideas and then you know prostie
and then hopefully convince people you I
have another actually when I started
this stuff even some of my dedication to
sleep was pretty uh
controversial uh and you know OB after
Matthew Walker wrote this book why we
sleep I could give people copies and he
sort of prized very successfully so very
few people will now debate the
importance of sleep you want to be half
happier healthier wealthier you should
sleep more like that's no longer super
controversial at all but I still have a
few um like I happen to believe that the
more stress you have in your life the
better you're going to be happier
healthier wealthier that's still
moderately controversial um hopefully
people will eventually realize the you
know Brilliance behind that theory um I
have this one about Athletics about why
you shouldn't be stretching that one
drives my friends in crazy about as
crazy as the Apple Maps one um so you
know like I try to find new ones but the
goal is to eventually convince people
that you know My Views are better that's
the whole point and that's why I
postize um and then eventually just get
adopted into mainstream society and you
have to go back to the drawing board
interesting question is how do you go
back to the drawing board and I was
asked this question by one of my
colleagues at open store at a lunch um
about a year maybe two years ago and I
actually thought about it and I realized
that it comes back to my history Legacy
of being a a voracious reader if you
read books and content that other people
don't read you're going to be exposed to
different ideas in different data points
and different anecdotes and that's the
raw material that your brain processes
and trains on that allows you to derive
independently views and then once you
shape them based upon the evidence that
you've marshaled from your reading then
you have a perspective and then you
start sharing the perspective so the
more I read probably the better I do at
develop and devising new
ideas yeah I'm curious what your
thoughts on in in business and
investing first mover versus second
mover advantage or future movers right
because contrarianism I guess could
apply to both because you know the first
mover is like maybe a contrarian take
you know it's like so I'm just curious
like if what you've seen in your career
and how you think about both of those I
don't think there's any uh like
religious rule about giving first or
second what I would say in the business
context particularly around being a
contrarian is every great startup should
start as a cult in a cult by definition
is a secret about the world a view about
the world the rest of the world does not
share so it's very
unique then at some point either with
evidence or otherwise you want to move
into the mainstream because you cannot
become a massive company you cannot
become an iconic hundred billion dollar
company unless you're a very mainstream
idea a mainstream concept so the goal is
to be early and right as bold
early as bold and early as you can as an
investor founder and then transition the
world with you to the barass the idea so
Airbnb people laughed at Airbnb that's
good but eventually to be the pseudo you
know close to hundred billion doll
company that Airbnb is today you need to
move Airbnb into the mainstream so that
normal people wake up and say hey we
should consider staying at an Airbnb or
maybe we should make some more money and
rent our place onbb when we're not home
all of these things you have to
transition so what you really want to do
as a Founder is start with a secret
build the CT and then transition into
the mainstream which is where you're
going to capture the
value customers are rushing to your
store do you have a point of sales
system you can trust or is it a real POS
you need Shopify for retail Shopify POS
is your command center for your retail
store from accepting payments to
managing inventory Shopify has
everything you need to sell in person
get Hardware that fits your business
take payments by smartphone transform
your tablet into a point of sale system
or use shopify's poso mobile device for
a battle tested solution plus shopify's
award-winning help is there to support
your success every step of the way do
retail right with Shopify sign up for a
$1 per month trial period at shopify.com
founder hour once again go to
shopify.com founder hour to take your
retail business to the next level today
so I want to talk about um open store
and what you're working on now um but
sort of the not predecessor but like in
in the name of it is sort of the
predecessors was open door which you
started in you know 2014 which sounds
like it was a similar sort of concept
not obviously you know one is real
estate the other is Shopify Brands but
you so open door you were buying and
selling residential real estate um
making cash offers on homes essentially
flipping them um I buy right which is
like the the word uh what happened there
I know Co probably had a big impact um
on that space But what ultimately was
the um story for with you and Open Door
yeah Open Door is company I founded in
2014 recruited uh three three
co-founders uh who I knew from different
parts of my life and history put them
all together and said we're going to do
this finally i' been working on this
idea since 2003 um and interestingly
enough it might have been sparked at
least subconsciously from this
ridiculous exercise in moving across
country to go work for PayPal in 24
hours so as I mentioned I own a condo in
DC I had to sell it in 24 hours to move
to the Bay Area which I somehow managed
to do so it's not accidental that whole
experience probably has something to do
with my insight that selling a home is
both expensive uncertain and very time
consuming So 20% of homes that list 20%
of homes that go into contract don't
close it takes you 80 to 100 days on
Market depends on the market it's now
moved down blah blah blah but but anyway
um very difficult to get liquidity uh
for your primary asset most people's
major asset in life is their home that
cre their home so I liveed through this
myself we're we're going to do this for
everybody every asset in the world needs
liquidity and there's a premium for
liquidity period so it was like okay now
can we do this can we value the H that
seen blah blah blah everything took
dialed in pretty quickly worked pretty
well it's now in 50 60 markets United
States some markets 5 10 a few markets
even above 10% market share so all home
sold so it's it's been doing great Co
actually helped because it helped
clarify like why you'd actually want to
sell or buy a home um without an agent
which actually is pretty important to
the company but putting aside Co for a
second as everybody knows interest rates
went up in a kind of an unprecedented
way unprecedented in terms of the rate
the sequential rate hikes um going from
a very low R rate environment almost
negligible rate straight by to a very
high one um pretty
quickly the problem with that for Open
Door
specifically is that when interest rates
go up the affordability of a home in the
short term to a new buyer is very low uh
so your monthly payment on a mortgage is
a function of your interest rate it's
like the size of the mortgage times the
monthly payment which is calculated by
the interest rate when the interest
rates are one or 2% feels very
affordable because 7% That's not such a
great check to be writing about most L
people can't afford it so people can't
transact they can't move and so open
door makes money every time someone
moves every time someone tell sell a
house so we went from
5 uh 6 S8 million home Styles a year to
4.1 or two million so like it's pretty
significant drop and so open door is
kind of caught in that World um so you
can almost it's actually funny the stock
price is almost like a tracking exercise
in what people believe about the future
of interest rates so when the Federal
Reserve says something positive about we
might cut interest rates Open Door stock
goes up a few percentage points actually
and when people see inflation which
typically means signs of inflation
typically means interest rates are not
going down anytime in the foreseeable
future Open Door stock you know goes
down I think there's some misleading
elements I don't think the market as a
whole has really understood open door
but I understand why it's so sensitive
to interest rates so when interest rates
normalize I.E when inflation is no
longer top concern of Americans um Open
Door will do really well now the company
hasn't innovated that much in the last
two years I think this was very
tumultuous like as you might imagine
like suddenly your Market sort of
disappears it becomes very difficult all
of a sudden that is very difficult for a
company to cap uh to cope with and I
think the company has got distracted
with a lot of challenges related to that
but fundamentally the company's in good
shape if you look at actually the
cohorts of the profitability per home in
almost all markets profitability of the
home is quite strong right now but
overall the company needs a lot more
transactions it's easier to grow in a
market that's growing than e e grow than
the market that's temporarily
Contracting so let's talk about open
store which is your current business uh
what is the Grand Vision with that so
basically what we realized Shopify was
massive success that almost nobody was
paying attention to like shopi literally
you know went from like zero to $160
billion do market cap in a few years and
by powering e-com director consumer
e-commerce and too many people were were
focused on Amazon where Shopify was
really the growth engine of DDC Commerce
and so what in studying Shopify is this
great economic engine what we realized
is that not everybody who builds a
Shopify brand wants to run that brand
forever they're caught up in capital
constraints it's not like appropriate
for Venture Capital except in very very
rare cases
there's a lot of effort that goes into
running a Shopify Brad because they
don't do many things like customer
acquisition retention marketing
fulfillment for most brands there's a
lot of work for the founder of those
Brands to do so what we decided to do is
say hey there's 2.x million of these
Brands when those businesses want to
sell we're going to give them liquidity
like a little bit like the Open Door
story now the difference is we don't
plan to take the brand take liquidity uh
provide liquidity and then resell it we
want to stitch those Brands together
take advantage of things like Accu uh
accumulating advantages like economies
of scale so for example our cost per
package is quite low in shipping and
fulfilling versus these very longtail
Brands like typically we work with
Brands selling between let's say 400k to
like $5 million worth of sales their
cost of shipping sitting package through
Vex is like rock rate so obviously we
send lot packages so we get discounts so
and just for clarification yeah just for
clarification you mentioned economies
scale so does that mean that you are
essentially wholly owning and operating
these brands or are they continuing to
operate no no no no we buy them
completely so we stitch them together
which creates economies and scale
there's some other advantages too like
we can invest in technology so for
example um we use customer support
classic thing like in e-commerce you
know I order a size medium Berry shirt
doesn't quite fit you know blah blah say
I want to talk to somebody so most these
brands have to invest in Customer
Support Instagram d M Etc we invested uh
probably starting about two years ago in
AI driven customer support so we were
able to take our support cost per order
from like something like eight or $9 to
sub a dollar so most brands are not
going to invest in AI technology period
right not not possible so we can provide
therefore significant cost savings with
faster more immediate and probably more
accurate responses and support so we
keep looking for opportunities to double
and triple down another example when we
buy a brand almost all the ads that
they're using running to generate new
customers is basically Instagram meta
Instagram uh and very rarely are have
that has that brand owner invested in
multiple channels we will then add that
channel add to the channel mix uh Google
which some do do but not not most We'll
add like Snap and and Tik Tok for the
great Brands we're going to add other
things like SEO Etc so we get add to the
CH we invest in more channels which
allow us to acquire customers at a
better Blend or at more scale better
blend at C or more scale and then also
do you also do the Fulfillment as well
for all these Brands we do we do we do
yeah um so it's really important um for
us to do the Fulfillment um we basically
that drives down the marginal cost which
is good for the consumer it's good for
us it's good for everybody yeah so like
I could buy like a from this brand and
then shoes from this other brand and I
could have them both shipped together
same package same box same box yep which
saves a lot saves a lot of money to you
or or and us
actually uh what is your investment sort
of philosophy in terms of the brands
that you are you know looking to acquire
or actually do
acquire we've been horizontal hor we
wanted to match the horizontal breath of
shopie so Shopify is roughly 40% appar
we're roughly 43% apparel Shopify has
you know whole a home section has like
Health and Beauty we want to mirror that
as accurately as we can what are some
trends that you're seeing now you talk
about Shopify being 40% apparel but
moving forward do you see other trends
that are sort of maybe going to overtake
that eventually or what are what are
like the big trends right now in
e-commerce well um one Trend that's
pretty Stark is the CPM on that has been
extremely high in the last two months um
you see this on Twitter and people in
direct consumer Commerce and other
places I don't know the exact driver but
it's it's pretty conspicuous um so
obviously that's going to put strain on
the business models of many people both
on Shopify and elsewhere second uh
because they may not be able to invest
prly in all these other channels you
require expertise you know Etc um
second we don't try to guess like let's
say big macrow waves in Commerce at open
store we do notice certain products at
the very grandular level certain
products you know blow up so like for
example if you if you used Instagram
over the last three years you absolutely
will have noticed that cold plunges for
your home cold plunge pools have
exploded like literally exploded call it
like low single digit millions in sales
to just south of 100 million sales for
like leading companies just two years so
things like that happen wow uh in terms
of the long-term Vision do you ever see
retail being a part of it actually yes
I'm not sure exactly how to sequence
that went but as I've spoken to people
who've built independent businesses Bona
bonus uh Albert uh Warby Parker a lot of
them recommend uh retail and there's
pros and cons to this but I could see
either open store qua open store or some
of our signature Brands uh being in
retail yeah and so do you so you sort of
Envision at least for the shorter term
just building like this online
department store of sorts where people
can just go yeah in the short term in
the short term we'll stitch them
together but I could see a retail
environment probably not showing not in
2024 maybe
2025 uh almost surely by 2026
some
version yeah moving on to another part
of your career which is investing and
and Venture Capital you you you're one
of the most successful VCS probably of
all time you know looking at your
Investments which is very impressive to
see uh you were at Coastal Ventures went
to founder fund and then Founders fund
and then eventually back to Coastal
Ventures why did you why did you go back
what was like the the thing about KV
that you kind of wanted to be part of
again well I think the thesis of KV
resonates a little bit more when me
which is bold early impactful that's our
brand bold early impactful and the
impactful part is critical which is we
really believe that our responsibility
as an investor is to increase the
probabilities of success for the founder
and what that entails can vary by
company by founder by partner but that's
our goal and it's our mission so the
capital is least important than the
Venture part um at Founders fund which
has been very successful more of the
role is to find the most interesting
Founders on the planet and provide them
capital and advice if they ask for and
it's worked extremely well as well um
Founders fund if you just look at the
allocation of dollars is currently about
a $900 billion centure fund and a $3.2
billion uh growth fund KB were the
opposite size so were approximately two
billion between our seed and Venture
fund and only $900 million in our opport
gen fund so we're much more skewed
investing dollars as early as possible
we also love deep technology
breakthrough technology um we have like
something like 10 to 15 phds on our
investment team uh so you take it very
seriously some of the Technologies are
difficult to evaluate without some depth
uh so deep bold early and I also we work
a little bit more um we're a bit more
like a baseball team and less segmented
and less disperate like we debate very
vigorously uh so I learned a lot my
first time actually my first you know
couple years at KB there's very vigorous
debates among the MDS which is our term
for GPS uh
we those dialogues helped shape my
thinking and probably made me almost
sure maybe a better investor and so and
FF I had to make more of my own
decisions for better for worse
um I actually enjoy having people around
critiquing uh My Views they definitely
make me sharper so I used to try to keep
uh my former partners at KB's bra uh
voices in the back of my head and I be
like David will say this Spen would
think that and said this Samir won't
like this but like that asres at some
point so I was like well great we'll go
back um we'll get the voices back in
high fidelity and shocking me VOD still
tells the same stories SM still got the
same jokes uh and so I guess it's a good
thing right yeah it has been it's been
very effective it works better for me I
think it makes me sharper uh and happy
which is important but everybody should
find you know the environment where they
can Thrive the best people different
people can thrive in different
environments uh this really works
extremely well for me I also felt like I
could learn more um so I learned I'm
learning already just five or so months
in I've learned a lot about AI um a lot
like it's getting to some depth uh based
upon the fact that I have somewhere
between three and four colleagues who
really understand Ai and so just
listening to their debates what do they
appreciate about different companies why
do we pull the trigger we probably have
the the broadest definitely have the
best portfolio in AI why do they decide
to invest in certain companies not
others and that is kind of training my
brain uh so don't have to absor I can
absorb and learn through osmosis I don't
have to try to master AI from scratch
which would be a fo's errand so I'm
taking advantage of that um so you know
like there's a lot of learning that I
can deploy plus even when we invest in
deep Technologies just as a curious
person I feel like I'm reading the World
Book Encyclopedia sometimes we'll talk
about Innovation and batteries which I'm
not going to lead an investment almost
surely an Innovative battery company
that's cutting that's pushing the
envelope on Wasa phys and chemistry at
the same time that'd be like a Fool's
eron generally speaking for me but I get
to learn about why are why is battery
difficult and why are we at the you know
precipice of laws of physics in
chemistry you know at the same time like
that's actually kind of cool and
interesting so it it's it's just a
byproduct of watching what we do yeah
you've talked about being a Founder
driven investor uh in terms of you know
Founders that you invest in what what
sort of attributes are you looking for
and what makes for a good investment
well it's very simple um it really can
be still incredibly simply I want
someone who has a non-zero chance of
changing the world or Reinventing an
industry if you like most people I say
most I mean 99 pointx per of the
population have zero chance of
transforming the world or an industry I
just need to find the few people that
have some
chance what is that based on is it just
Instinct like you're in the room with
them you feel like like you know they're
passionate about the topic they know
enough about it sometimes you know
sometimes knowledge about a certain
topic I guess when you look back in
history I mean you can you you can shine
more light on this than me but when you
look at examples like Steve Jobs and
Bill Gates you know obviously anomalies
right like their young kids have never
really worked much anywhere they they
know a little bit about stuff but they
they just had something in them that
they went on and changed the world right
how what is your sort of is it a gut
feeling that when you're in the room
with them for you no I I to be clear
generally at KB and me specifically
don't really like expertise um V note
has a py expression of experts are
generally experts in the prior model
which is not what we're trying to do
build new better security models over
the next 10 20 years uh so generally not
a fan what what I'm looking for is what
I've noticed across the board is people
who transform an industrial
War have a trait that is
extraordinary and that they're in the
top call it 10 basis points in the world
at that trait and so all I'm looking for
and the trait can vary like dramatically
vary actually like sometimes they could
be like the smartest person ever they
could be the most tenacious person ever
they could be the best sales person ever
they could be the best X ever but my ear
just perks and it's like oh my God I
have never seen this before that's
usually a good reason to B le as a seed
round obviously if you look we are
multi-stage VC using kind of the term of
art I don't know if you really like the
term but like fundamentally it's how
most people describe us so we do see
Lead Series a series B's and
occasionally other rounds we want to be
as early as possible when you're talking
about C and series a it's mostly does
this founder have one of those traits
for me like is there something
special and that leads to a nonzero
chance like and I've noticed you know as
I've had the luxury uh meeting people in
other fields have been successful in
athletics politics law Sports uh
music it's kind of similar that the
people who really reinvent those fields
typically have a trait that's pretty
special too um so it's basically that's
what I'm looking for is why does this
person have some chance of succeeding
it's irrational if you think about it
like the proverbial Steve Jobs so like
let's go with your example the Steve
Jobs and Steve wack in a garage in you
know routin or or somewhere around there
um we're going to like create a a
personal computer that nobody else
really understands what a personal
computer is and why you need one that's
kind of irrational and like so the
founders who wake up and say I going to
reinvent Financial Services with my
college roommate or my brother um you
start with a pretty interational premise
and so the chance of succeeding requires
something special is there something
special here and if not I probably am
just going to not invest uh what is a
common mistake you see entrepreneurs
make uh and how how can they avoid it if
at all I mean obviously there's so many
ways to fail you know start very
difficult exercise incredibly
challenging but for among the set of
Founders who are really talented and
quite robust the single biggest mistake
is they worry way too much about
competition I think most companies are
are either going to succeed or fail
based upon the quality of your own ideas
quality of your thinking the refinement
of the thinking the back speed execution
and density of talent you have in your
building and so I mostly obsess on that
and not worry too much about
competition yeah uh I'm not a big fan of
the concept of impostor syndrome but I'm
just curious you've talked about having
to constantly reinvent yourself right
from being a lawyer to an executive in
Tech to an entrepreneur to an investor
like you're constantly having to sort of
be a phoenix right and just like Rise
From the Ashes as something new do you
ever deal with just mentally like the
concept of impostor syndrome or is that
something that you feel like you know
what um no one knows what they're doing
and and I'm just neither neither no no
no I actually believe that you have to
challenge yourself to grow that if
you're not growing you're retarding like
you're literally decaying like you're
either in motion progressing or you're
retarding and so I think the only way to
know of you're challenging yourself is
you're biting off something more
difficult more complicated more comp
more complex you've ever done before and
the way you know is your body actually
can feel it emotionally so I put my
point about sports used to read you know
L about successful athletes turns out
like a lot of athletes who are very very
talented thinking of like Will
Chamberlain Michael Jordan and
basketball would get extremely nervous
and sick and throw up before or Bill
Russell before games because they knew
they were challenging themselves their
body knows that they're challenging
themselves so to me that's the signal
you have to put yourself in place where
you're growing muscles and just like
building muscles too like what do you do
when you lift weights you're actually
breaking down that muscle you're like
putting a lot of stress on breaking it
out and then it'll build back bigger you
know bigger better faster whatever um
and that's what you're trying to do so
I'm always looking for kind of cool new
challenges otherwise I feel like I'm
going to Decay and Decay means mentally
Decay professionally Decay actually I
think healthwise Decay one of the ways
to stay young vibrant sharp is actually
constantly challenging yourself uh so
I'm always looking for new challenges
and hence some of you know the different
things I've done in my life but even
even sometimes I'll push myself in
nonprofessional ways so you may know I
occasionally teach a Barry's class not
in my natural DNA is being you a fitness
influencer um on stage say your next
business should be called open poor
because of all the all the sweat you're
around that doesn't sound that I like
The Branding there um I know I know
you're also into EDM music I think right
yeah um if you had to reinvent yourself
would you ever reinvent yourself as like
a
DJ yes yeah I keep getting threatened
with uh people wanting me to do that um
I Davon sty h no um I I occasionally get
requests um you develop I think that
like what I thing I've learned in is
true when I teach berries is I would
only do it if I was taking it bar very
seriously so when I teach a var's class
I put an incredible lot of effort into
it like more than would be prudent to be
fair um and especially when I was
learning to do it from scratch I like
over studied and overtraining by a
significant margin because I wanted to
be at least as good as the average
barers instructor actually I'm probably
better than the average but but I didn't
know that in the beginning so it was a
real Challenge and took like a month to
prepare for a class where a normal
instructor can prepare for a class and
somewhere between 30 30 minutes maybe 50
minutes max I literally put a month into
my first class um and so if I ever did
do something in music it would require
that level of commitment at time and I
don't I don't currently Envision having
that level of time commitment I do I
have developed some music taste which is
a foundation um like you understanding
which songs are likely to work somewhat
why why some songs don't work um you
know they that that is that is
helpful
and I would need years you know of work
to be happy with my performance and I
don't have years to invest but I I
occasionally um im a treat yeah you
never know DJ R boy it sounds has a good
ring to it I did I've played around a
little bit I did get one drop right
once it's like amateur golfer you hit
like one swing perfectly and you're like
oh my God I'm like quitting like I got
like one swing the ball was perfect
every like okay cool I did one great
amazing drop once and I was like I'm
done that's it hang in my head that's
that's awesome uh in terms of you know
what what does I guess what has always
driven you what ultimately drives you
now and what is perhaps the Legacy you
hope to leave behind when you you know
you look back and say I I'm so happy
that I accomplished
this yeah I mean I think there's two
kind of ways to think about this I
triangulate from impact on people um you
know Bri talked about but finding like
up andc coming talent undercovered
talent and you know partnering with them
to help build something U whether I
partnered with them as an employee
sometimes worked with them as an
investor board member Etc um that's the
most invigorating thing is giving people
some increase in their probabilities of
succeeding with their ambition towards
their ambition and so every time I can
find a new PE a new person
that's you know early in their
trajectory with high potential sometimes
potential that other people will miss um
and help them uh that's incredibly
psychologically rewarding the output
though is I definitely want to be
involved in helping create more iconic
technology companies than anybody else
that's like the the scoreboard version
of the goal I love it well Keith this
has been such a pleasure uh and a
wonderful conversation thanks for thanks
for joining thanks send you some sound
uh music for the background yeah I would
love it I would love it thank you sir
appreciate it okay cool pleasure
[Music]
Browse More Related Video
Adolf Hitlers Aufstieg: Vom „Niemand" zum Diktator
Das Leben von Wladimir Putin
IAS Officer Vs Politicians, Coal Scam, Corruption, India & PM Modi - Anil Swarup | FO184 Raj Shamani
Über KuchenTV zur AfD?
Server, Telefon und Netzwerk: Das Gehalt als IT-Systemadministrator I Lohnt sich das? I BR
Großer LKW, schwere Container, enge Stadt: Das Gehalt als Berufskraftfahrer | Lohnt sich das? | BR
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)