Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:37:40 · Kevin Ryan, Alexa von Tobel
[00:37:40] S0: But we also see we also see that OpenAI is hiring, you know, hundreds of people in New York City, that Google are hiring hundreds of people in New York City or thousands and building it up. They they need to follow the talent, and I have to look this up, but I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, they're almost hiring more people in New York right now than in San Francisco. [00:37:58] S2: Yeah. That's probably... That is a good point. That's a great point. Kevin, I know we have the big thirtieth thirtieth anniversary. And to properly name you, you are the godfather of New York Tech. We're very grateful, and you've been an incredible mentor to me. I can speak, you know, firsthand. You've been a wonderful cheerleader of my career and everything I've done. What do you hope for New York City tech in the next fifteen to twenty years? I wanna go further out than just ten. Like Yeah. What what should we be holding hands and making sure we make happen?
00:38:32 · Kevin Ryan
[00:38:32] S0: No. I think it's gonna be more of the same, you know, except that we're rippling through other industries. So, you know, fifteen years ago, we were not at all present in health tech, and now that is really happening. Five years ago, we didn't have a deep tech practice. We didn't have a robotics practice to speak of. That is really growing. What you're seeing is, you know, frankly, like people like you and me who started... You know, had a company, started a company in one industry, and then either, in your case, went off into VC, but... Or started another company in another space, and so just expand. It's like Adam and Eve have children, and it just keeps expanding and expanding and expanding. You know, I'm sure in your company, it's the same thing, but there are so many companies from Gilt and from DoubleClick, see people who work there who then, you know, started other companies. And we're gonna continue to see that. So I don't have any concern. I think as tech dominates the the world economy, you know, that companies... You know, car companies are now basically tech companies. They're basically creating computers with four wheels as opposed to what they were were really, you know, mechanical engineering projects. That's an example. But that's just ripping through everything. You know? Healthcare companies now are just tech companies. They were looking at data. You used to go to your doctor, and he would actually look at you, or feel your shoulder, or things like that. Now, as you know, he looks at your blood results. It's basically a tech question now. It's analyzing data. So as that happens, we need to have companies that take advantage of every one of those things. We do, and they're gonna continue to grow, and we just need to keep our people here. And so far, that is happening. Everyone worries when a new mayor... When de Blasio came, everyone was worried. Turns out that the crime rate went down under de Blasio, significantly down. So that was much lower than under Bloomberg, which people didn't expect. I hear people worrying about mom Donnie. I feel good about where we are. So we need to just keep doing smart things.
00:40:32 · Alexa von Tobel, Kevin Ryan
[00:40:32] S2: Kevin, before we move to the quick fire round, where we just get a few of your favorite nuggets, my favorite reason to sit next to you at a dinner or a cocktail party or anything is you always have some weird thing that you're kind of thinking about. Because let's be honest, you're really a learning machine. [00:40:48] S0: You [00:40:48] S2: are a very fast, speedy learning machine, which is really what a venture investor's job is is to be good learning machines. Can you just give us any nugget of anything weird or interesting that you're kind of excited about or you've changed an opinion on? What would it be?
00:41:03 · Kevin Ryan
[00:41:03] S0: Not not really. You know, we're spending we're spending time on nuclear. We have a company called Valar that's really interesting there that I'm excited about. I'm still interested. You know, you and I had a conversation about psychedelics years ago. I still think that is gonna be a significant sector even though it takes time. Yeah. More in the robotics space. I don't have anything right now that I think is completely off the the bleeding edge. You know, I'm thinking more about GovTech. Me too. And so I really want, you know, New York City, which has 300,000 employees, to be able to operate with 270,000 employees and give better service to everyone. So do 50% more with 10% fewer people, and we can get through through attrition. So, you know, hoping that things like that occur, that education is influenced through technology, and we're we're in the beginning stages of that. So all these area... Know, the areas... I think when we all look at the charts that show what what has become more expensive in the last twenty years, those are the ones that technology has not played the role in, and still needs to. Education's a big one. Healthcare is a big one. And so far we are utterly failing there. You know, there have been 10,000 companies that have promised to bring down the cost of healthcare, and healthcare costs are not coming down. Now a lot of it's because of government and regulations and things like that, but we're not where we need to be, and our results are not where we need to be. So those are areas that I am I am very, very excited about.
00:42:34 · Alexa von Tobel, Kevin Ryan
[00:42:34] S2: Kevin, quick sigh around. I wanna ask just a few questions. I... Just first thing that comes to your mind, what is the biggest pinch me moment in your career? Like, what's the moment that you will kind of have burned into your brain? [00:42:46] S0: Oh, definitely the realization that the Internet was gonna be big, and at the time, was just a new concept. So I remember, I still remember reading about the Internet in beginning of ninety five, this idea, and I was like, oh my god, if we're all connected, this would be incredible. And that sent me down a path. I was not on a technology path before, and that sent me down a path that I'm still on today. [00:43:09] S2: That's pretty cool. Is there a book that has changed your life? Not a business book. It could be any book, but a book that is like a must read for me. [00:43:19] S0: I don't think I have a one must read book. I should come up with that. I do read a lot. You know, we have a book club. I read about 36 books a year. I'm actually on 36 right now. A combination of fiction. I I don't really read a lot of business books, but I read a lot of nonfiction. I read a lot of biographies. Robert Caro has the best biographies in the world. If there's one thing you should take away, go read the Lyndon Johnson biographies or or the Robert Moses books. Those are unbelievable. [00:43:53] S2: I was talking about Robert Moses with my father-in-law. I just come home yesterday. By the way, I should be invited to your book club. [00:44:00] S0: Yes.
00:44:00 · Kevin Ryan, Alexa von Tobel
[00:44:00] S0: Yes. [00:44:01] S2: A few more quick things. Kevin, is there a mantra or a quote that you think just kind of runs in the back of your mind? [00:44:09] S0: I mean, no. The the the cliched ones, I think it's Will Durant that said, you know, why go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is. And that is sort of what we are doing here. [00:44:21] S2: What's that, Kevin? Kevin would love that. [00:44:23] S0: There's, you know, Grace Hopper, who was one of the first female computer science people in the world, and we we named one of our colleges at Yale after her, said that, you know, ships are safest in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for. And all these things are... You know, we have to we have to get out there and intelligently take risk. And I think one of the things we should appreciate the most about The US economy, which has been true for twenty years, but it's still true. When I'm in Europe, and you go to Europe quite a bit as well, we've had two forty one decacorns in The United States, $10,000,000,000 companies, 14 in Europe. It's not 10 to one, It's closer to 20 to one. And somehow we have a risk taking culture and financing and universities that are supporting that. And so I am worried that we're cutting back on research funding right now, which I think is clinically insane. [00:45:21] S2: I agree.