Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Shyam Sankar
[00:00:00] S0: You mentioned your dad earlier in the conversation. There's this visceral story where I think he's held up at gunpoint or something early in his life. Went through a lot. I'm curious for you to reflect on the nature of fatherhood in this whole story. Your relationship with your dad seems like such a key part of your story from the outside and you're a dad yourself. Would you be willing to just reflect on that a little bit? [00:00:00] S1: It would be hard to overstate the impact that dad and his example had on me. You had such a selfless man who just gave everything to his family, could weather any humiliation in service of his children and his wife. And I think when you're a kid, you learn this stuff subconsciously. Any normal kid – this thing dad did is annoying. You don't fully appreciate it, but it's like the culmination of all these events over time actually profoundly shape who you are. And I hope I can set an example that inspires my kids to do the same sort of thing. And I think a lot of fatherhood is being a man that inspires your family to be better. [00:00:00] S0: Great place to close. When I do these, my closing question is the same for everybody. What is the kindest thing that anyone's ever done for you?
· Shyam Sankar, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:00:00] S1: The greatest thing, which is covered in the story is, Miss Ethel Danhof was the head of admissions for this private school in Orlando. My dad took me for a tour of the school, having learned that it's the best school. And that was the other fixation my dad had, that education was how you were going to achieve some prosperity. I'm going to give my son every opportunity I possibly can. Turns out, we'd missed the admission window by a mile and everything was done. And I was actually very reluctant to go even on this trip and see the school. I was very happy with the school I was at. But when I saw the science facilities there, I was like, "I need to go here. I need to learn this stuff. This is inspiring." So now I was all spun up and excited. And of course I'm learning, hey, you totally screwed this up and you'll have to wait a year. And Miss Danhof – no data – it's not like I had some standardized test scores or something. She's like, "Give this kid the admission test. Just do it." And maybe she had a modicum of data after that test, but we were a family that needed financial aid. So it's like, here it is, let's admit a kid that we're going to have to subsidize to come here. And that opened the entire future. And I think – if you look later in life, okay, maybe people have cynical reasons to help you, you’re further along, they think there might be something – there was nothing in it for her. It's just a profound act of kindness that fundamentally changed my life. [00:00:00] S0: Great place to close, Shyam. Thanks for your time. [00:00:00] S1: Thank you.