Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
· Palmer Luckey, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
I'm not sure that a nuclear-equipped Iran is less spooky than an AI-bioweapon-equipped Iran, mostly because the way you stop them from deploying either of those capabilities isn't actually tied to the technology itself. It's tied to everything around it. [00:00:00] S0: I sincerely wish I had two more hours with you. This has been so much fun, but I'm forced to ask my traditional closing question, what is the kindest thing that anyone's ever done for you?
· Palmer Luckey
[00:00:00] S1: I'm going to split it into two areas. There are a lot of people who have very directly given me access to the resources I have today and where it's very clear that without them believing in me that I would not be anywhere. This is one of the reasons I like Peter so much. Founders Fund was really critical for Oculus. And if they had not been an investor, I don't know exactly how things would have gone. Is that kindness? Now, that's what I'm struggling with. Is it kindness to invest in something that seems like an unlikely thing? From their perspective, maybe it's just pure crave in capitalism. But from the perspective of me, 19-year-old kid starting his first company, meeting with people who knew they were going way out on a limb, it sure seemed quite kind. And then, I guess, the only other thing is my wife put up with me not proposing to her for over 10 years. My wife and I met when we were teenagers. We met at a debate camp in Maryland, policy debate. The first time that we met, she actually cried because it was my debate team versus her debate team. And I'll be candid, they did a very poor job. We beat them so soundly that they started crying during the debate. It's funny how that then turned into, "Now we're getting married." There was a lot of kindness in her putting up with me, not proposing and getting married because it's like, "Hey, I've got too much going on with Oculus. It's just absolutely crazy." And then I'd say, the worst part was some people, they take a break. They end one company, spend some time with their family, maybe get a marriage out of the way and then start something. But because I've been fired from Oculus, I was just in rage. I had 100 chips on my shoulder. I was waking up with my fists clenched every day. I said, "I'm going to prove to them that I'm somebody. I am not a one-hit wonder. They haven't seen the last of me." One of the kindest things that I think anyone has done has been my wife, who I had told, "Hey, when I'm done with Oculus and we get through the consumer launch of the Rift, then that's going to be the right time." Her saying, "You are clearly not in a good head space to get married. You're out on the war path," and her being willing to let me start Anduril, do that for a few years. And then finally, we started dated when she was 15. So to say, I waited 15 years, that's a pretty kind thing to do.
· Palmer Luckey, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Now that stacks up against all the other kindnesses in my life, but that's one that sure seems pretty kind to me. Beyond reasonable, I would say. Is there anything kinder than someone doing something for you and doing it very much against what they want because they know that it's what you need to do? I don't think so. [00:00:00] S0: I've asked this 400 times or something now. It's now rare that I get a unique answer. That's an amazing and unique answer. This has been so fun and interesting. [00:00:00] S1: Well, if it wasn't for that, Anduril wouldn't be where it is today. I think there was a power to Anduril being started in a fire of passion. And I feel like if I would have done what she originally wanted, which was take off a year, relax a little bit, two things would be different. First of all, Anduril would not have started with that passion. And two, Anduril today would be a year behind where we are now. And with the situation in Taiwan being so critical, with countries like Israel and Ukraine going through what they're going through, I can't imagine being a year behind where we are now. I would feel really bad about it. I wish I had started a year earlier. [00:00:00] S0: Palmer, I've loved our time together. Thank you so much for the time. [00:00:00] S1: Thank you. This is going to blast.