Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Jaksot

• Dan Loeb - Lessons from 30 Years of Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.475] 28.05.2026 1t 3min

  My guest today is Dan Loeb, the founder and CEO of Third Point.  Dan started Third Point in 1995 with a few million dollars, and today the firm manages over 24 billion across equities, corporate and structured credit, venture, and insurance.  He is best known for his activist work at companies like Sotheby's, Sony, and Yahoo, and for the public letters he has written to boards over the years. What I find most interesting about Dan is how much his approach has evolved across thirty years.  He came up as a credit and event-driven investor at Warburg Pincus and Jefferies, built Third Point, then layered in quality investing, thematic technology investing, and now a very large credit business that sits alongside the hedge fund. We cover how he thinks about the AI stack and the companies inside it he believes matter most, the difference between good and bad governance, what FTX taught him about due diligence, the Sony and Sotheby's stories, and the power of writing. Please enjoy my conversation with Dan Loeb. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Dan Loeb (00:03:21) Mental Models Information Overload (00:06:50) Dan's Identity as an Investor (00:11:24) The End of Classic Event-Driven Investing (00:13:52) Evolving Strategy Over 30 Years (00:17:48) Return Opportunities in Today's Market (00:21:12) Sources of Alpha for Fundamental Investors (00:22:10) Good vs. Bad Governance (00:26:17) Writing as an Investing Tool (00:27:29) The Sotheby's Story (00:30:04) Activism Opportunities Today (00:31:03) Third Point's Evolution to 60% Credit (00:36:10) Dan as Sole Portfolio Manager (00:38:09) Value Investor Perspective on Today's Market (00:39:23) Investing Outside the US (00:40:33) The Sony Activism Story (00:43:59) Lessons from 30 Years of Investing (00:46:26) Danaher and Operational Excellence (00:48:48) Building the Insurance Liability Business (00:51:19) The FTX Story (00:53:07) Leading a Team Through Uncertainty (00:54:29) Where Third Point Is Most Contrarian (00:56:22) What Makes a Great Analyst Today (00:58:12) The Next 10 Years (01:00:24) The Kindest Thing
• Darren Farber on Iran, China, and the Rise of Neoprimes - [Invest Like the Best, EP.474] 26.05.2026 46min

  My guest today is Darren Farber, and this is his second appearance on the show. Darren is a Managing Partner of Albion River, a defense-focused investment firm and he previously served as a special advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. We recorded this conversation in the middle of the Iranian contingency, and we spent most of our time on what winning actually means in a theater like Iran. We discuss why magazine depth matters for the American industrial base, lessons from Ukraine, and what the rise of neo-prime defense companies will require from Congress. Please enjoy my second conversation with Darren Farber. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Darren Farber Intro (00:02:59) Defining What Winning Looks Like in Iran (00:12:16) The Strait of Hormuz (00:13:27) Eisenhower vs. Taylor: Two Military Doctrines Explained (00:17:12) US Military Readiness vs. the Pentagon Era (00:20:05) America's Magazine Depth (00:21:36) China's Vulnerability (00:25:28) Trading Freedom for Security (00:27:31) Today's Industrial Base (00:29:30) Lessons from the Ukraine War (00:31:11) Impact of Iran Conflict on Taiwan Risk (00:33:02) What Neo-Prime Defense Companies Need to Succeed (00:39:53) Can We Win Without Full Regime Change in Iran? (00:45:46) AI's Impact on Modern Warfare
• Gavin Baker - Watts and Wafers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.473] 20.05.2026 1t 16min

  My guest today is Gavin Baker, founding partner and CIO of Atreides Management, and this is our sixth conversation. The central theme is watts and wafers, the two physical constraints that in Gavin's view will dictate the next phase of AI. On power, he thinks the near-term shortage starts to ease in 2027 and 2028 as new sources of energy come online, and that orbital compute solves it in the long term. On wafers, he explains what is different this time from the dotcom bubble and why TSMC’s capacity decisions may be the single most important variable to watch. We also discuss Elon’s Terrafab, the disaggregation of GPUs, the role of new chip companies, and whether the economic value of AI will keep accruing to frontier models. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Gavin Baker Intro (00:03:32) Anthropic's Record ARR Growth (00:11:49) Should OpenAI and Anthropic Raise at a Much Higher Valuation? (00:13:23) How Elon Preserves Investor Trust (00:14:00) Watts & Wafers (00:15:45) Data Centers in Space Explained (00:20:51) Orbital Compute’s Impact on Terrestrial Data Centers (00:26:24) TSMC Supply Discipline & Bubble Risk (00:30:50) Demand for Frontier Tokens & The Bitter Lesson (00:35:33) Continual Learning & Memory (00:40:01) New Chip Companies & Startups (00:42:49) Prefill vs. Decode Disaggregation (00:48:40) AI-Native Founders: Different & Hard (00:51:27) Token Path & Application Layer (00:56:13) How Gavin Uses AI in Atreides (01:00:06) Signs of a Diversity Breakdown (01:05:42) Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft (01:11:42) Broader Knock-On Effects of AI
• Krishna Rao - Anthropic's CFO on Compute, Scaling to $30B ARR, and the Returns to Frontier Intelligence - [Invest Like the Best, EP.472] 13.05.2026 1t 16min

  My guest today is Krishna Rao, the CFO of Anthropic. The center of our conversation is how he navigates the decision around procuring and allocating compute, which he describes as the canvas on which everything else gets built. We talk about what he calls the cone of uncertainty, the three chip platforms Anthropic uses fungibly across Trainium, TPUs, and GPUs, and the daily meetings they run to allocate compute between model development, internal use, and serving customer demand. He explains why the returns to frontier intelligence keep getting higher, especially in enterprise, and how Anthropic thinks about the line between platform and application and why they choose to build their own products like Claude Code. Krishna has such a unique seat watching one of the fastest growing businesses in history, and he is generous in sharing what he has learned since joining the company two years ago. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Episode Intro: Krishna Rao (00:03:14) Compute as Anthropic's Lifeblood (00:05:17) Three Fungible Chip Platforms (00:07:31) The Cone of Uncertainty (00:09:08) Competing Ways to Allocate Compute (00:10:36) What Drives Compute Efficiency (00:12:38) Why Frontier Returns Are So High (00:16:32) How Claude Code Writes Its Own Code (00:18:46) Will Talent Become Obsolete? (00:20:07) How Scaling Laws Are Holding (00:21:54) Exponential Thinking (00:23:17) The Layer Cake of Compute (00:26:36) How Anthropic Deploys New Compute (00:27:53) Platform v. Application Layer (00:32:42) Why Model Pricing Has Stayed Stable (00:35:26) Measuring Return on Compute (00:37:22) Working With Chip Providers (00:38:32) How Anthropic's Finance Team Uses Claude (00:41:32) The Jevons Paradox for Labor (00:43:08) Anthropic's Fundraising & Growth Journey (00:47:31) The Exponential Revenue Curve (00:49:02) The Hardest Thing to Explain to Investors (00:52:15) AI's Public Perception Problem (00:55:38) Mythos (00:57:31) Relationship With Government (00:58:51) Inside Anthropic's Culture (01:03:48) The Next Frontier: Virtual Collaborators (01:06:22) How Leaders Scale With a Business (01:10:55) The Biggest Risks to Continued Progress (01:12:09) What Krishna is Excited About  (01:13:45) The Kindest Thing
• Brian Chesky - AI Founder Mode - [Invest Like the Best, EP.471] 05.05.2026 1t 15min

  My guest today is Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. Our conversation traces the path from his early training as an industrial designer at RISD through the pandemic moment that forced him into founder mode.  He explains why he thinks AI founder mode will demand even more attention to the details and why founders are rarely good early CEOs. He walks through his eleven-star exercise, which is a way of imagining the most absurd version of a customer experience to achieve product market fit.  We also talk about what changed for him when he stopped chasing adulation and started making things for the love of making them.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Episode Intro: Brian Chesky (00:03:07) Studying Industrial Design at RISD (00:08:30) Why Founders Don't Make Good CEOs (00:09:02) Founder Mode (00:12:51) AI Founder Mode (00:14:41) The End of Pure People Managers (00:18:42) Consumer AI (00:21:45) Project Hawaii (00:25:49) Make the Problem as Small as Possible (00:29:46) Becoming a Good CEO (00:32:11) What Brian Learned From Hiroki Asai (00:36:32) The Eleven-Star Experience (00:38:48) AI and Creativity (00:41:44) Making Things for the Love of It (00:43:36) The Adulation Trap (00:46:38) The Ham Sandwich Paradox (00:52:38) Why Founder-Led Businesses Endure (00:55:14) The Person as the Atomic Unit of Airbnb (00:59:40) Disrupting Yourself With AI (01:02:11) Lessons from Bodybuilding (01:07:55) Hiring as the Most Important Job (01:09:16) Are Founders Born or Made? (01:11:04) The Motivation of an Artist (01:11:47) The Kindest Thing
• Paul Tudor Jones - Lessons From 50 Years in Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.470] 28.04.2026 1t 6min

  My guest today is Paul Tudor Jones. Paul is the founder of Tudor Investment Corporation and one of the greatest macro traders of all time, known for calling and profiting from the 1987 crash and compounding capital at extraordinary rates over more than four decades. Paul is also one of the most entertaining and interesting people I have ever met. He is full of stories and hard-earned lessons from a lifetime in markets that feels like several lifetimes compressed into one. In this conversation, he shares how he thinks about trading as a constant battle of risk management and patience, why he still wakes up in the middle of the night to watch global markets, and how he identifies the rare moments where he can take a truly big swing. We discuss whether we are in a bubble, why he sees AI as one of the greatest risks in history, and why he believes Bitcoin is the best inflation hedge. We also spend time on the difference between trading and investing, the importance of passion and discipline, and the ideas that have shaped his life both inside and outside of markets. Please enjoy this conversation with Paul Tudor Jones. This conversation was recorded in mid-February 20, 26 weeks before the geopolitical conflicts now shaping the global economy. Please enjoy this great conversation with Paul Tudor Jones.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Episode Intro: Paul Tudor Jones (00:04:44) Paul’s Incredible Kindest Thing Story (00:06:50) Discovering a Passion for Philanthropy (00:13:12) Paul's Commencement Speech Address (00:15:24) Trading v. Investing (00:19:23) Lessons from Warren Buffet (00:23:48) The AI Industry Lacks Proper Risk Management (00:26:54) The One Regulation AI Needs (00:28:51) What Paul Learned from Eli Tullis (00:30:39) Why Trading is Like Boxing (00:32:16) The Bull Case for the Yen (00:34:30) Why Bitcoin is the Best Inflation Hedge (00:36:06) Lessons from Historical Bubbles (00:38:57) Are We in a Bubble? (00:42:10) Paul's Daily Routine (00:44:12) Managing Information Overload (00:45:35) What Exquisite Execution Means (00:46:37) Paul’s Love of Games (00:48:13) The Secret to Longevity (00:50:51) Starting Robin Hood After the 1987 Crash (00:55:33) The Importance of Studying Journalism (00:57:12) Communicating Effectively in Today's World (00:59:13) The Four Components of a Great Life (01:01:10) Paul’s Relationship with God and Nature (01:03:53) Kill ‘Em With Kindness
• Dylan Patel - The Infinite Demand for Tokens, Claude Mythos, and Supply Constraints - [Invest Like the Best, EP.469] 23.04.2026 45min

  This is my second conversation with Dylan Patel. Dylan is the founder and CEO of SemiAnalysis, where he tracks the semiconductor supply chain and AI infrastructure buildout. This conversation is about the supply and demand of tokens. On demand, Dylan describes something completely explosive. He explains why the frontier model is the only model anyone wants, and willingness to pay for it is nearly unbounded. His own firm has gone from tens of thousands of dollars in AI spend last year to seven million this year. On supply, we walk through the bottlenecks across memory, logic, and fab equipment that will determine how fast any of this can scale. We also cover Claude Mythos and what the leading labs need to do to fix their growing public perception problem. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Intro: Dylan Patel (00:03:09) Semi Analysis AI Spend: Zero to $7M (00:05:16) Real-World Examples of Claude Code (00:11:41) Token Demand: “Completely Explosive” (00:14:48) Why Everyone Wants the Frontier Model (00:15:36) Mythos: Biggest Model Capability Jump in Two Years (00:20:54) Fear of Rapid Model Progress (00:23:45) Robotics as the Next Demand Wave (00:26:03) Scaling Laws & Compute Efficiency (00:27:24) OpenAI vs. Anthropic (00:31:33) Supply Side: Bottlenecks Across the Stack (00:33:26) TSMC CapEx Could Cause a Shortage (00:36:45) CPUs, ASICs, and FPGAs (00:40:12) Tokenomics (00:42:20) Protests & AI Backlash
• Alex Karnal - The Trillion-Dollar Health Revolution - [Invest Like the Best, EP.468] 21.04.2026 1t 32min

  My guest today is Alex Karnal. Alex is the co-founder and managing partner of Braidwell, a life sciences investment firm he built after spending 15 years at Deerfield Management. The frame we use throughout the episode is the health stack. Alex talks about how most of the diseases that will claim most of our lives are already addressable with medicines that exist today. We work through the five layers of what a defensive health strategy looks like, why GLP-1 medicines represent the first commercial proof that people are ready to be proactive about their health, and why PCSK9 inhibitors may ultimately be the more important drug class even though they get far less attention. We also get into the science and business of drug discovery itself — why most of the published literature that AI companies are training on cannot be replicated, what it would mean to have a truly agentic scientific lab running 24 hours a day, and why Alex believes we are now on a deterministic curve toward scientific superintelligence in biology. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠Rogo⁠ is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:29) Intro: Alex Karnal (00:03:15) State of the Union: GLP1s and Life Sciences (00:07:01) The Health Stack Framework (00:12:49) Breaking Down the 5 Defensive Layers (00:21:18) GLP-1: What's Driving the Inflection (00:28:28) Diet vs. Drugs: Is Food Enough? (00:31:15) Barriers to Access: Complexity, Cost & Compliance (00:35:04) PCSK9: The Closest Thing to a Free Lunch (00:44:10) Alzheimer's & Neurodegenerative Disease (00:46:59) Cancer: Early Detection & New Treatments (00:54:49) Body Imaging & Diagnostic Trade-offs (00:56:31) How Drugs Are Discovered (01:02:39) AI in Drug Discovery (01:10:57) The Automated Lab of the Future (01:13:05) Peptides & Citizen Pharmacology (01:16:45) Alex's Background (01:28:25) Braidwell's Investment Approach (01:30:39) The Kindest Thing
• Scott Nolan - SpaceX, Founders Fund, and Rebuilding American Uranium Enrichment - [Invest Like the Best, EP.467] 14.04.2026 1t 15min

  Scott Nolan spent 12 years at Founders Fund looking for the most important problems that no one else was funding. Then he found a problem so critical, and so ignored, that he couldn't find a company to back. So he started one. General Matter is rebuilding US uranium enrichment. The United States was the world leader in enrichment through the 1980s and then stopped entirely. Today roughly a quarter of US enriched uranium comes from Russia, a ban on those imports takes full effect in 2028, and the advanced reactors everyone is counting on to power the next wave of data centers have no reliable domestic fuel source. Scott believes enrichment is the single bottleneck to a nuclear future, and that the window to solve it is narrow. The conversation covers how Peter Thiel influenced him, why being in love with an idea is dangerous for investors but required for founders, and what it actually takes to rebuild an industrial capability the country let atrophy for 40 years. Please enjoy my conversation with Scott Nolan. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:45) Guest Intro: Scott Nolan (00:03:36) SpaceX, Founders Fund & General Matter (00:08:04) What Scott learned from Peter Thiel (00:10:05) The "Avoid Trends" Concept (00:10:55) Finding Important Problems No One Is Working On (00:17:32) Gut v. Intuition (00:18:49) Valuation, Competition & Capital Intensity (00:20:20) Founders Fund Strategy (00:21:06) The Steeper the Up Round, the Greater the Undervaluation (00:21:41) Being in Love with the Problem (00:26:07) Governments, Technology & History (00:28:54) Lessons from SpaceX and Elon (00:29:42) Vertical Integration (00:33:07) The Role of Energy in Civilization (00:37:36) State & Direction of US Energy (00:38:58) Why Nuclear? (00:42:20) Taxonomy of Advanced Reactors (00:45:33) The BYOE Concept (00:46:50) What Could Make Advanced Reactors Fail? (00:48:04) General Matter: Product, Business & Company (00:50:12) Enrichment & Weapons-Grade Uranium (00:56:45) North Star Metric (01:01:05) Building a Great Enduring Company (01:04:01) How Scott Runs the Company (01:06:11) Overcoming Irrational Fears About Nuclear (01:08:25) Why Aren't There More Founders Funds? (01:10:03) Operating vs. Investing (01:11:56) Kindest Thing
• Alan Waxman - Private Credit and the Modern Financial System - [Invest Like the Best, EP.466] 08.04.2026 1t 2min

  My guest today is Alan Waxman, co-founder and CEO of Sixth Street, a $130B global investment firm. Private credit is one of the most discussed topics in markets right now, and there is a lot to make sense of. The current discourse is almost entirely focused on symptoms. Alan Waxman has spent the time diagnosing the root cause. Alan thinks about the financial system the way a historian would, studying the incentives, guardrails, and market structure that determine how things play out. In this conversation, he traces the evolution of American finance from the 1929 crash through Glass-Steagall, the GFC, and Basel III to explain how we arrived at what he calls the factory model, the industrialization of liability-gathering and asset deployment that he believes is the root cause of everything happening in private markets today. This is my second conversation with Alan, our first one is one of my favorites from last year.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- 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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vanta. Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit vanta.com/invest.  ----- This episode is brought to you by ⁠WorkOS⁠. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit ⁠WorkOS.com⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- 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. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:43) Intro: Alan Waxman (00:04:35) Financial System Guardrails & Incentives (00:05:56) System 1: Pre-1933 to 1999 (00:07:39) Glass-Steagall Legislation (00:10:46) Deregulation & Rise of System 2 (00:12:27) Leverage, GFC, and System 2's Collapse (00:14:25) Basel III, Dodd-Frank, and System 3 (00:15:32) Why System 3 Could Be the Best Ever (00:19:04) Behavioral Shifts Starting in 2018 (00:19:52) The Factory Model (00:24:33) Acceleration of Factory Model (00:28:25) FRE Multiples and GP Incentives (00:34:59) Wealth Channel & Asset-Liability Mismatches (00:36:15) Why This Won’t be the Next GFC (00:45:31) AI, Creative Destruction & Opportunity  (00:49:35) Alan’s One-Sheet Brain System (00:55:01) Lessons by Decade: Hui (00:59:28) Face the Tiger
• Sergey Levine - Building LLMs for the Physical World - [Invest Like the Best, EP.465] 31.03.2026 1t 6min

  My guest today is Sergey Levine, a professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of Physical Intelligence. The company is building robotic foundation models designed to control any embodied system to do any task in any environment. Sergey argues that solving robotics at full generality is the right path, and that building systems that learn across many robots, environments, and tasks may be the more scalable approach than building narrow specialists. We discuss how these models can perform new tasks without being trained on them directly, and why everyday human actions remain the hardest problems in the field. He also reflects on how human trust and acceptance may matter as much as technical breakthroughs in determining when robots become part of daily life. Please enjoy my conversation with Sergey Levine. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: Sergey Levine (00:03:29) Why Bet on Generality Over Specialization (00:07:24) What if PI succeeds? (00:09:05) Pros and Cons of Humanoid Robotics (00:11:02) Timeline of Major Milestones in Robotics (00:15:47) Sergey's Personal Journey (00:18:22) Making General Intelligence Happen (00:19:57) Understanding Robot Data Collection (00:22:12) Most Surprising Discovery at Physical Intelligence (00:24:48) The Science of Common Sense (00:25:36) Long-Range Tasks in Robotics (00:27:24) Why Wouldn’t We Have A Robot in Our Kitchen by 2050 (00:31:21) Other Interesting Approaches (00:32:38) Cool vs. Useful in Robotics (00:36:48) Form Factor Innovation (00:38:22) Physical Intelligence Analogy (00:39:30) Economic Transformation from Robotics (00:40:48) Controversies in the Robotics Community (00:42:16) Arguments Against End-to-End Learning (00:42:34) Compositional Learning Explained (00:43:25) Last Tasks Robots will Conquer (00:44:30) Dark Parts of the Robotics Brain (00:47:05) What Makes a Great Researcher (00:50:15) Manufacturing and Scale Challenges (00:51:17) How Companies Should Prepare for Robotics (00:53:38) Boston Dynamics' Demos (00:55:43) Converging Technologies Enabling Robotics (00:56:47) How to Stay Up To Date in Robotics (00:59:51) Near Term Objectives (01:00:49) Confidence Level Among Researchers (01:03:31) Google's Experimentation Culture (01:04:24) The Kindest Thing
• Mitchell Green - Lessons from Cold Calling 10,000 Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.464] 24.03.2026 54min

  My guest today is Mitchell Green. Mitchell Green is the co-founder and managing partner of Lead Edge Capital, a growth equity firm that has spent 15 years building one of the most disciplined investment machines in the business.  Unlike most firms chasing power law outcomes, Lead Edge is designed to deliver consistent returns by talking to thousands of companies a year, applying a rigorous eight-point criteria to filter down to a handful of investments, and leveraging a uniquely constructed LP base of world-class executives and entrepreneurs.  In this conversation, Mitchell walks through every component of the machine, from how they source and evaluate companies to how they think about selling, building culture, and staying competitive in a world being reshaped by AI. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:00:53) Episode Intro: Mitchell Green (00:02:01) Cold Calling 10,000 Companies (00:03:54) Building the Lead Edge Machine (00:06:15) Lead Edge’s LP Profile (00:09:22) Hitting Doubles and Triples (00:11:39) Knowing When to Sell (00:15:08) Lead Edge’s Eight Buying Criteria (00:18:12) The Opportunity in Enterprise Software (00:24:54) Using Criteria for Filtering, Not Prediction (00:27:11) Building Relationships with Entrepreneurs (00:29:16) Improving the Investment Machine at Scale (00:31:59) Lead Edge’s Culture (00:35:08) Mitchell’s Schedule (00:36:37) The Mount Rushmore of Investment Machines (00:38:40) The AI Readiness Score (00:40:50) Overhyped, Frothy Markets (00:42:16 When AI Will be a Good Opportunity (00:44:29) Lessons from Competitive Skiing (00:47:33) Starting a Fund & Keeping Score (00:49:15) The Kindest Thing
• William Hockey - Building the Operating System for the Dollar and Silicon Valley Heresy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.463] 17.03.2026 1t 10min

  William Hockey is the co-founder of Plaid and the founder and CEO of Column, a software company that owns a bank and powers Ramp, Wise, Bilt, Mercury, and others. He funded Column by borrowing against his Plaid shares and has never raised outside capital.  William talks about what owning 100% of his company allows him to do that other venture-backed founder cannot and the personal risk he took to do so. He shares how Silicon Valley's consensus culture produces consensus founders, and why becoming a founder has become too safe. He believes the best builders are specialists and explains with unusual clarity what it takes to become the best in the world at one specific thing. William also spends a lot of time in emerging markets which has given him a unique perspective of the power of the US dollar. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: William Hockey (00:03:49) Column: A Software Company That Owns a Bank (00:06:46) Finding Ideas in Emerging Markets (00:11:58) Why Constrained Societies Are More Innovative (00:16:02) What’s Wrong With Silicon Valley (00:19:28) Building a Business Without Raising Money (00:22:48) What Venture-Backed Companies Can't Do (00:28:39) Getting Margin Called (00:31:41) Starting Companies Has Become Too Safe (00:34:23) Why Employees Take More Risks Than Founders (00:37:09) A Maniacal Commitment to Research (00:39:09) Finding Boring Problems to Solve (00:41:45) Why Building a Second Company is Easier (00:42:36) Missionary vs. Mercenary (00:45:49) Funding a Company with Cash Flows (00:50:04) Perspective on the Venture Ecosystem (00:52:48) The Dominance of the US Dollar (00:58:37) The Future of Financial Services (01:02:06) Why Big, Inefficient Brands Win From AI (01:06:29) The Opportunity for Non-Consensus Founders (01:08:03) The Kindest Thing
• Shyam Sankar - Celebrating Heretics - [Invest Like the Best, EP.462] 10.03.2026 1t 21min

  My guest today is Shyam Sankar, the CTO of Palantir Technologies. In this conversation, we explore the ideas that shape how Shyam thinks about technology, talent, and national power. We discuss the origins of Palantir’s forward-deployed engineering model and the lessons he learned from Alex Karp about identifying people's "superpowers". We also talk about Shyam’s fascination with the "heretics" of American history, the unconventional builders who challenged bureaucracy and created many of the systems that powered America’s military and industrial success. Shyam argues that the United States must reindustrialize after decades of moving production overseas, and explains what we can learn from America’s industrial past. In a new Colossus profile, our Editor in Chief Jeremy Stern tells the story of how Shyam became one of the most important but largely unseen figures behind Palantir, tracing his journey from immigrant roots to employee #13 and the architect of the company's success and distinctive culture. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠Rogo⁠ is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit⁠ rogo.ai/invest⁠. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: Shyam Sankar (00:03:24) Defining Heretics in US Military History (00:05:01) The Story of Hyman Rickover (00:09:55) Formative Experiences & Worldview (00:14:50) Components of American Greatness (00:17:56) How to Unlock Talent (00:25:56) Palantir's Distinct Culture (00:28:15) Origin of Forward Deployed Engineering (00:34:24) What Does Palantir Actually Do? (00:36:19) Example: Airbus (00:40:20) State of the US Military Today (00:47:33) The U.S. Needs to Reindustrialize (00:52:19) Perspective of China (00:55:56) Our Key Asymmetric Advantages (01:00:57) Executive Orders for a Day (01:02:37) Negative Aspects of US Culture (01:04:47) Managing Rapid Pivots (01:09:17) Where Will AI Value Accrue? (01:12:37) Undeclared State of Emergency (01:15:45) Surprising Aspects of Palantir (01:17:50) To Do or To Be (01:18:50) Reflecting on Fatherhood (01:19:46) The Kindest Thing
• John Arnold - China, Energy Markets and Fixing America's Systems - [Invest Like the Best, EP.461] 04.03.2026 1t 15min

  My guest today is John Arnold. John is probably the most famous energy trader of all time and certainly the most successful. One of the things John talks about is cultivating the best seat in your industry – the seat with the best perspective, the most information, the best systems..  John has been closely watching China's convergence in robotics, AI, and EVs, and shares his perspective from his recent trip to the country. We talk about the state of energy markets today – the misaligned goals and incentives, the NIMBYism that prevents building in America, and what he actually thinks about the wave of nuclear energy startups that everyone seems excited about.  John is also one of the most innovative philanthropists working today, applying that same analytical rigor to diagnosing structural failures across America — in healthcare, criminal justice, education, and beyond For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- 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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit vanta.com/invest.  ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit ⁠WorkOS.com⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- 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. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:43) Episode Intro (00:03:43) Learnings from John’s Trip to China (00:06:28) The EV Industry in China (00:08:43) How Subsidies Create Intense Competition (00:10:54) US-China Relationship (00:12:42) The Cost of Greatness (00:14:52) Creating the Best Seat in the Market (00:19:30) Baseball Card Arbitrage (00:23:03) Trading Natural Gas Futures (00:24:59) Energy Market Making Explained (00:27:11) Why Energy is Exciting Again (00:31:14) Meeting the Increased Demand for Energy (00:32:53) Why Policy is the Biggest Threat to Progress (00:36:28) Fixing Energy Infrastructure in the US (00:39:29) Advanced Nuclear Technology (00:42:05) The Prospects of Energy Startups (00:43:44) Input Costs in Solar & Batteries (00:47:54) Geothermal Energy: The Most Exciting Sector (00:50:57) Housing Reform in the US (00:53:39) The Role of Philanthropic Foundations (00:57:00) Reforming the Criminal Justice System (01:03:48) Social Outcomes Downstream of Education (01:07:20) Misaligned Incentives in the Healthcare System (01:12:08) Journalism as a Public Good (01:14:17) The Kindest Thing
• Dan Sundheim - The Art of Public and Private Market Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.460] 24.02.2026 1t 15min

  My guest today is Dan Sundheim. Dan is the founder and CIO of D1 Capital Partners. He thinks about markets and businesses constantly, and has built a career entirely around that obsession. He manages over $30B across both public and private markets, with investments in SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, and a public portfolio of names you may never have heard of. Dan shares the story of the short case he wrote on Orthodontic Centers of America and posted on Value Investors Club, which crashed the stock, and helped him land his first job. He shares why he backed Anthropic at a moment when many people told him it was the Lyft to OpenAI’s Uber, what reading Dario Amodei’s essays reminded him of Jeff Bezos, and how he thinks about LLM business models through the lens of Netflix and Spotify. We spend time on the extraordinarily stressful moment in early 2021 when GameStop hit the firm, and what Dan believes is the single biggest tail risk facing the global economy right now. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠Rogo⁠ is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: Dan Sundheim (00:03:58) The State of Public & Private Investing (00:07:32) Investing in OpenAI and Anthropic (00:10:22) LLMs Business Model (00:14:13) How LLMs are like Netflix and Spotify (00:17:08) Focus v. Scope (00:22:43) The Bear Case for Hyperscalers (00:26:36) The Software Sell-Off (00:31:08) If Scaling Laws Stopped (00:32:18) Advice to a 12-Year-Old Investor (00:33:54) GameStop: D1’s Darkest Hour (00:37:14) The Pivotal Dinner with LPs (00:40:56) Staying Calm and Confident (00:42:08) Economic Optimism vs. Societal Uncertainty (00:44:26) Investing on SpaceX and Rivian (00:48:09) Why Dan Loves Shorting (00:48:51) Sources of Inefficiency in Today’s Markets (00:51:45) The Importance of Loyalty (00:53:11) Dan’s Group Chat for Founders (00:55:39) What Motivates Dan (00:57:28) Posting on Value Investors Club (01:01:46) What Dan Learned at Viking (01:04:22) The Beauty of Art (01:06:49) Under-appreciated Parts of the Global Economy (01:08:00) The US-China-Taiwan Collision Course (01:12:10) Good Leaders vs. Good Businesses (01:13:15) The Kindest Thing
• Josh Kushner - Concentration and Conviction - [Invest Like the Best, EP.459] 18.02.2026 1t 3min

  This is my second conversation with Josh Kushner, founder and managing partner of Thrive Capital. I recorded this conversation in October after publishing the Colossus cover story about him and Thrive. Given the overwhelming response, we created some breathing room before releasing it. Josh started Thrive in 2011. The firm now manages approximately $50 billion with a very small investment team. What makes Thrive different is how concentrated they are and how involved they get with their portfolio companies. We cover the iconic investments that defined Thrive: Instagram, Stripe, GitHub, and spend a lot of time on OpenAI. Josh explains how Thrive thinks about investing today and the three categories they're currently focused on. Josh also talks about building the firm, why they keep the team small, and what he's learned from A24 about enabling artists to do their best work. He shares personal stories that shaped him, including his grandmother's experience surviving the Holocaust, and lessons from Stan Druckenmiller, Jon Winkelried, and others at formative moments in Thrive's history. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: Josh Kushner (00:03:46) How Thrive Has Changed Since 2023 (00:05:18) Thrive’s Entrepreneurial Culture (00:12:22) The Power of Small Teams (00:13:35) Sponsors (00:14:35) Concentration as Differentiation (00:16:16) The Github Deal (00:18:08) Lesson from Stan Druckenmiller (00:20:37) Leading Stripe’s $50 Billion Round (00:23:16) Instagram: Doubling an Investment in Days (00:25:43) Isomorphic: Thrive as an Enabling Technology (00:27:04) Thrive & A24 (00:28:19) OpenAI: The Product Josh Couldn’t Unsee (00:32:09) Pricing the OpenAI Investment (00:33:40) OpenAI and Power (00:35:26) Finding Joy in Hard Work (00:39:15) Inside View of the Tech & AI Landscape (00:42:28) Three Investment Categories Thrive is Focused On (00:44:37) Thrive Holdings: Inside-Out Disruption (00:48:54) Competition in Venture (00:50:49) Sponsors (00:51:48) Thrive’s Immutable Values (00:54:21) A Family Story of Survival (00:56:43) The American Dream (00:58:03) What Artists Can Teach Investors (01:00:26) Never Compromise Your Values (01:01:33) The Story Behind Josh’s Forever Watch
• Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz - Inside 3G Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.458] 10.02.2026 1t 35min

  My guests today are Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz, Co-Managing Partners of 3G Capital. 3G has built one of the most distinctive firms in investing around a simple idea: there are only a handful of truly great businesses and even fewer great CEOs. Their model is to raise capital with the intention of making just one investment per fund, commit meaningful amounts of their own money alongside their partners, and focus all of their time and best people on that single opportunity.  Their approach has produced a series of iconic deals, including Burger King, Tim Hortons, Hunter Douglas, and Skechers. They have also become known for developing talent early, giving young leaders real responsibility and ownership, and holding an unusually high bar. I highly recommend you read our in-depth profile on them and 3G Capital. They gave our managing editor Dom Cooke unprecedented access and the outcome is an excellent profile about the fifty year history of 3G and how the model began with Jorge Paulo Lemann in Brazil. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- ⁠WorkOS⁠ is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠Rogo⁠ is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Episode Intro: Daniel Schwartz & Alex Behring (00:04:03) The “One Investment Per Fund” Model (00:08:22) Great Businesses Own the Relationship With Their Customers (00:11:23) The Unique Structure of 3G Capital (00:13:36) How a Transaction Takes Shape (00:17:04) Why Hunter Douglas Was Appealing (00:21:34) The Advantages of Staying Small (00:23:58) Alex’s Railroad Story (00:26:36) Ownership is Key (00:30:26) Centralize the What, Decentralize the How (00:31:55) The “Burger King is Run by Children” Story (00:34:21) Negotiating with Tim Hortons (00:40:39) Never Compromise on Quality (00:42:01) Talent Over Tenure (00:50:26) 3G’s Operating System (00:57:14) When a Brand is Bigger than the Business (01:00:17) Why Burger King Was Undervalued (01:03:15) The Beauty of the Franchise Model (01:06:24) Kraft Heinz: A Case Study in Concentration Risk (01:09:07) Skechers: Great Product Meets Great Distribution (01:16:07) Finding Forever Businesses (01:17:52) Zero-Based Budgeting & When It Works (01:21:10) The Current State of Capital Markets (01:25:23) Misconceptions About 3G (01:32:01) The Power of Patience (01:33:39) The Kindest Thing
• Ben Horowitz - Backing America’s Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.457] 03.02.2026 55min

  My guest today is Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. Since its founding in 2009, a16z has grown into one of the most influential firms in venture capital, reshaping how technology companies are funded and how power and ideas move through Silicon Valley and around the world. This conversation focuses on sides of Ben’s story you don’t often hear. Ben reflects on the people who shaped him, including Nas, Andy Grove, and his father, and shares why he chose to personally fund new technology for the Las Vegas Police Department. We also talk about how he thinks about a16z’s responsibility in shaping the trajectory of America, the scale of his ambition for the firm, and what he sees as the biggest risk facing the country. Please enjoy this great and unique conversation with Ben Horowitz. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- 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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Vanta. Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit vanta.com/invest.  ----- ⁠Rogo⁠ is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by ⁠WorkOS⁠. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit ⁠WorkOS.com⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Episode Intro: Ben Horowitz (00:03:27) The State of America Right Now (00:06:06) How Policy Could Destroy America (00:08:29) AI Changes the Laws of Company Building and Investing (00:11:40) Why AI Researchers are Paid $100M (00:13:16) Thoughts on Growing Inequality (00:18:07) Societal Challenges Due to AI (00:19:56) Ben’s Scope of Ambition for the Next 20 Years (00:22:48) Andy Grove’s Influence on Ben (00:27:44) Starting Andreessen Horowitz (00:32:53) Early Mistakes (00:36:17) What Capital Markets Are Missing (00:37:44) Why VC and Not PE (00:40:03) Tradeoffs with Scale (00:41:10) A Culture is Not a Set of Ideas, it’s a Set of Actions (00:43:05) Lessons from His Father (00:45:03) Exciting Use Cases of AI (00:46:46) Ben’s Friendship with Nas (00:50:05) Funding New Technology for the Las Vegas Police Department (00:54:07) The Kindest Thing
• Gokul Rajaram - Lessons from Investing in 700 Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.456] 29.01.2026 1t 16min

  My guest today is ⁠Gokul Rajaram⁠, Founding Partner at Marathon Management. Gokul is one of the most prolific product builders and investors of the last twenty years. He has built the core ad and product businesses at Google, Facebook, Square, and DoorDash, working at each company during its most formative scaling periods. Alongside his operating career, Gokul has invested in more than 700 companies, giving him an unusually broad view into how products are built and scaled. This conversation is about how product building is changing with AI. We discuss the one thing Gokul believes is truly future-proof in AI, why companies like Zendesk and Slack are more exposed than Salesforce or NetSuite, and the only sources of defensibility.  We also talk about everything Gokul has learned from helping build the most important ads businesses, including the only three ways an ad business can make money, how those constraints shape product decisions, and what consumer behavior change threatens every major platform. Gokul shares lessons from working closely with Larry and Sergey, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Tony Xu. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- 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. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Vanta⁠. Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  -----⁠ Rogo⁠ is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠ ⁠WorkOS⁠⁠. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- ⁠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. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:00:53) Meet Gokul Rajaram (00:02:05) How Product Development is Changing with AI (00:07:32) Philosophy of Product Management (00:10:19) What is Future-Proof in AI Era (00:11:25) Building AI Applications Today (00:15:03) Systems of Record vs Agent Companies (00:16:58) Which Legacy Software Companies Are Most Exposed (00:22:15) Stickiness in the AI Era (00:24:10) Learning from Larry Page and Sergey Brin (00:28:15) Learning from Mark Zuckerberg (00:31:31) Learning from Jack Dorsey (00:35:40) The Art of Great Product Design (00:36:49) Weekly CEO Communication (00:40:27) Three Ways to Succeed in Advertising (00:44:27) What Should Scare Major Ad Platforms (00:48:24) North Star Metrics (00:50:09) Self-Serve Products (00:54:50) Careers in the AI Era (00:59:03) Stay Long Enough to Have Impact (01:00:10) Founder Authenticity and Superpowers (01:02:21) Navigating the Idea Maze (01:03:42) Role of Boards (01:06:31) Excellence in Customer Acquisition  (01:09:11) The Kindest Thing