Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
00:01:54 · S1, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:01:54] S1: Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of PositiveSum. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of PositiveSum. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of PositiveSum may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. To learn more, visit psum.vc. [00:02:22] S0: When I was reading your book, one of the lines or the ideas that has really stuck with me ever since is where does one person end and the next person begin? And this deep dive that you took into the impact of one's history, family history, heritage on who a person is. I'm interested in this from so many angles as a parent, as a person interested in history, as a person interested in genetics, nature versus nurture. If I were to sum up the book in that question, what is your answer to that? What did you come away thinking after this deep study of your own family's history?
00:02:22 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[00:02:22] S0: When I was reading your book, one of the lines or the ideas that has really stuck with me ever since is where does one person end and the next person begin? And this deep dive that you took into the impact of one's history, family history, heritage on who a person is. I'm interested in this from so many angles as a parent, as a person interested in history, as a person interested in genetics, nature versus nurture. If I were to sum up the book in that question, what is your answer to that? What did you come away thinking after this deep study of your own family's history? [00:02:58] S2: One of the things that came out of the book, which I didn't really expect, was discovering who I am and why I became whatever it is that I've become. And that was an unexpected gift of the writing. And it came from this exploration of my family's past, in particular, my parents. Going back and excavating the deep memories of childhood, the sort of atmosphere in our home and in the general media in which I grew up, helped me understand a lot about why I am who I am and react to certain things in the fashion that I do. Because unwittingly, obviously, every parent leaves an imprint on a child. That's obviously especially true during the formative years, whatever the formative years are. I'm no sort of child specialist or scientist. But before you turn 12, 13, 14 years old, those imprints that you've absorbed in some manner, consciously or unconsciously, those remain with you. And both the angels and demons, I think, that you deal with for the rest of your life.
00:02:58 · Michael Moritz, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:02:58] S2: One of the things that came out of the book, which I didn't really expect, was discovering who I am and why I became whatever it is that I've become. And that was an unexpected gift of the writing. And it came from this exploration of my family's past, in particular, my parents. Going back and excavating the deep memories of childhood, the sort of atmosphere in our home and in the general media in which I grew up, helped me understand a lot about why I am who I am and react to certain things in the fashion that I do. Because unwittingly, obviously, every parent leaves an imprint on a child. That's obviously especially true during the formative years, whatever the formative years are. I'm no sort of child specialist or scientist. But before you turn 12, 13, 14 years old, those imprints that you've absorbed in some manner, consciously or unconsciously, those remain with you. And both the angels and demons, I think, that you deal with for the rest of your life. [00:04:19] S0: What were yours? I'm so curious that you're performing on yourself the exercise that you're famous for doing with others that you invested in or hired, focusing on these first fourteen years. What new understanding of yourself came out of this exercise? I grew up
00:04:19 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[00:04:19] S0: What were yours? I'm so curious that you're performing on yourself the exercise that you're famous for doing with others that you invested in or hired, focusing on these first fourteen years. What new understanding of yourself came out of this exercise? I grew up [00:04:35] S2: in this family of refugees from Nazi Germany and Wales. Refugees by definition are a minority. Jewish refugees in Wales during the 1960s and 1970s were a further minority. People look at me today and they think, here's this old white man, he's not a minority. And I can understand that, but it's how an individual feels rather than how other people might look at you. It touched me in a variety of ways. My parents, they were never in the camps. They got out of Germany in the 1930s. And they were loath to use the word survivor because they always felt the word survivor denoted somebody who actually had survived the camps, but they were refugees and in their own way had survived. That motive to survive no matter what the odds were, even though the odds that I faced growing up weren't like my parents, I think the need to survive. When you think about surviving, you're thinking about to some extent living by your wits, being very suspicious of the motives of others, wondering where and how bad things will occur and happen and guard against them. I think it gave me in retrospect, I didn't understand it at the time, a sort of drive and grit that I wouldn't have had without that particular atmospheric backdrop.
00:04:35 · Michael Moritz, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:04:35] S2: in this family of refugees from Nazi Germany and Wales. Refugees by definition are a minority. Jewish refugees in Wales during the 1960s and 1970s were a further minority. People look at me today and they think, here's this old white man, he's not a minority. And I can understand that, but it's how an individual feels rather than how other people might look at you. It touched me in a variety of ways. My parents, they were never in the camps. They got out of Germany in the 1930s. And they were loath to use the word survivor because they always felt the word survivor denoted somebody who actually had survived the camps, but they were refugees and in their own way had survived. That motive to survive no matter what the odds were, even though the odds that I faced growing up weren't like my parents, I think the need to survive. When you think about surviving, you're thinking about to some extent living by your wits, being very suspicious of the motives of others, wondering where and how bad things will occur and happen and guard against them. I think it gave me in retrospect, I didn't understand it at the time, a sort of drive and grit that I wouldn't have had without that particular atmospheric backdrop. [00:06:09] S0: When you study it and you think about your own childhood, how did that transfer from your parents to you? Was it the stories they told?
00:06:09 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[00:06:09] S0: When you study it and you think about your own childhood, how did that transfer from your parents to you? Was it the stories they told? [00:06:16] S2: It was definitely not the stories they told because they didn't tell the stories. I didn't really get to know the stories until I sat down and began work on this book. What I did know was the general arc of history, obviously, this miserable, ferocious, catastrophic whirlwind in which they and millions of others were caught up. But they didn't talk about the past in the real detail that I much later when I was thinking about the book became interested in, it was just broad sweeps. I think it was much more the daily behavior, the reaction to events, the reaction to things, the sense that doom was not very far away. The fact that if horrors had occurred in the past, there was a real need to be vigilant and wary about navigating daily life. There's a couple stories in [00:07:13] S0: the book, one in particular where you talk about two separate people, one who decided to stay in Germany and one who decided to leave. Quite a poignant and interesting on this topic of survivor outsider early instinct when things are changing to take notice and not double down and stick around. Maybe tell that story and explain what you learned.