Sachin and Adam
00:14:35 · Sachin, Adam
[00:14:35] S1: Yeah. Like, it... It's a Bezos framework. It's like the regret minimization, like, way of looking at life. And, like the way I remember it is that we started having this conversation of like we're about to turn 25. This is realistically the last time where we will be able to go into something, live in the same place, go home and live with our parents so we can fund this thing and live around the world. Yeah. Like, this is realistic last time because let's say you went into venture, I moved to New York, we're back in Sydney in our early thirties or something like that. It becomes a lot harder. [00:15:12] S0: Yeah. And at that point, you'd crafted that argument and you really believed in it, but I didn't. I didn't at all. Because for me, it was still the thing like, I've only done, like, a year or two at Deloitte, and now I'm going off to take a year off to do podcasting. I was like, what is my future career? What am I doing? And so I wasn't bought into it all because it wasn't big enough. Like, I either... I wanted to go all in on the next thing I was doing. Like, I wanted to move to San Francisco and work hundred hour weeks for, like, the top VC or whatever. Just, like, do whatever I could. I think there was an insecurity driving me of, like, I hadn't done enough in my career at
00:15:12 · Adam, Sachin
[00:15:12] S0: Yeah. And at that point, you'd crafted that argument and you really believed in it, but I didn't. I didn't at all. Because for me, it was still the thing like, I've only done, like, a year or two at Deloitte, and now I'm going off to take a year off to do podcasting. I was like, what is my future career? What am I doing? And so I wasn't bought into it all because it wasn't big enough. Like, I either... I wanted to go all in on the next thing I was doing. Like, I wanted to move to San Francisco and work hundred hour weeks for, like, the top VC or whatever. Just, like, do whatever I could. I think there was an insecurity driving me of, like, I hadn't done enough in my career at [00:15:44] S1: that point. And I think that was, like, a bit of tension between us at that point. Yeah. Because you felt that, like, I was more derisked maybe because I've had that experience. And I think we had a lot of discussions about that because it was like, for me, it's maybe like I've done the dream role in Venture and like maybe like I've had that experience I want to have, but I feel like because you were a year behind in your career Yeah. You felt like you hadn't had that yet. [00:16:09] S0: Yeah. And we had a bunch of arguments at that stage. Like, not bad arguments, but you could feel this tension of, like, this really deep
00:16:09 · Adam, Sachin
[00:16:09] S0: Yeah. And we had a bunch of arguments at that stage. Like, not bad arguments, but you could feel this tension of, like, this really deep [00:16:18] S1: two beliefs coming at each other from different ways. And that... And, like, I think, like, rightly so because that was gonna be the trajectory of the most important years of potentially our lives. Like these next five to ten years when you've had a few years working under your belt, you still have the energy of your mid twenties and nothing really holding you back. Like, I think we both believe that these are, like, exponential years.
00:16:40 · Adam
[00:16:40] S0: Yep. And so that, like, decision of where to put them is actually extremely important. Big, big believer that special things happen in these years, and these are the years when you go really all into things. And so I didn't wanna waste time. And so for me, I was like, no. I'm gonna pursue other things. And I basically already, like, decided on that, but I had a moment. And the moment was working... Walking to work. And I was walking to the Deloitte office, and this is when it was a moment of clarity. Like, I don't think I was listening to a podcast. I think it was just... Phone was off, just walking to work, thoughts in my head. And the clarity of this decision came to me. It was like, you know, we could do something together or I'd move to The States and that's sort of the end of the story. And within that thirty minute work, I got walk. I got so much inspiration. Like, everything came to me at one stage. I was like, wait. We're not just... We don't just have to start a podcast. Why don't we start, like, something that can be worth, like, over a $100,000,000 one day and impact millions of people? Like, why is this one podcast? Why isn't this a big media company for tech? Like, who else is doing this in Australia and Asia Pacific? Why is it just shows started by us? Why don't we recruit other people and start shows? We've talked heaps about EdTech ventures. We've talked before about, like, customer intelligence platforms that you can build off media. Like, why don't we do all this? Like, why don't we create this into a massive media and basically data company? And at the time, you know, people sort of in The States that were starting to pursue this. And I was like, why are we just thinking of doing a podcast in one year one year? Why don't we turn this into, like, a very, very serious startup endeavor? And I think I remember voice messaging you all that, and I was like, dude, like, why don't we
00:18:16 · Sachin, Adam
[00:18:16] S1: do something really, really big? Mhmm. Like, listening to that, it, like, surprises me that we weren't thinking that mindset initially. [00:18:25] S0: And, like scared? I think we're scared. I I think
00:18:25 · Adam, Sachin
[00:18:25] S0: And, like scared? I think we're scared. I I think [00:18:28] S1: for me personally, like, growing up, I always wanted to start a company. Like, that was my dream. If I close my eyes and imagine my dream life, like, it really looks like, you know, surfing in the morning with Sunrise and leading a big team towards an impactful goal. Like, that's what I've always thought, then Venture kind of changed that a little bit. But I always knew that, like, we wanted to build a fund together, and part of the reason we wanted to build a fund together is because we want to build something big. Right? The fund was just a vehicle of building something big and getting to impact. I think, like, my dad started a company about four years ago, and if I reflect on that, that probably made me a bit more fearful of starting something. It made me realize how hard it was and the effects it has on our family. And also when you meet so many founders in a VC position, it's very easy to start thinking about why things don't work. And I think like a good investor will always have like, why can this work? But you see so many people, they mortgage their houses, they lose their relationships that, you know, have all sorts of kind of ill things happen to them with... Like, the truth is with a business that probably won't work. And I think that really scared me and never really made me doubt my own capability, but it... For some reason, it scared me. And I think there was also this artificial constraint that we'd created in our minds was like, we'd have to bootstrap this thing.