Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
01:00:46 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[01:00:46] S0: Because AI produces prodigious amounts of new text and writing so easily, I think the value of extraordinary writing is going up, that can cut through the CF slop. How would you define extraordinary writing, having done quite a bit of it yourself? [01:01:04] S2: Again, you're too flattering and kind about that on that particular topic. It's hearing the unmistakable voice of the author. [01:01:12] S0: How do you do that as a writer? [01:01:14] S2: It's the same with the journey through life. The toughest thing I think for an individual, whether it's guiding them through what it is they want to do in life, or what they want to put on paper. It's being in touch enough with your inner feelings and inner voice to allow those to conquer the pressures of the expectations of others. [01:01:39] S0: Joseph Campbell said the privilege of a lifetime is becoming who you are, but also that that's the hardest thing to do. [01:01:45] S2: I wish I'd been clever enough to say that. I completely agree. I think that's the struggle everybody has. And it's also the struggle when you put things down on paper. [01:01:56] S0: Is there a moment in your own life that was the most important in becoming who you were, like the hardest part of doing it? It's so valuable to do and it's so hard to do. It makes me wonder about what the hardest part was for you. [01:02:10] S2: I don't think I've done it. [01:02:11] S0: Why not? What's the barrier that's left between you and who you are? It's one of
01:02:11 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[01:02:11] S0: Why not? What's the barrier that's left between you and who you are? It's one of [01:02:16] S2: my many weaknesses. I've always been too prone to live up to the pressures or expectations from the outside or from others than to let myself run free. Is it a [01:02:28] S0: goal of the remainder of your life to do so? [01:02:30] S2: I'll try. [01:02:31] S0: I'm so struck by how unbelievably self aware you seem, but then you're giving yourself poor grades that seem like objectively wrong. What is that? I'm just still struggling to understand. [01:02:45] S2: I don't know. Maybe it's the specter of my mother. [01:02:49] S0: Can you say more about her? We didn't talk too much about her other than her doom prophecies. I [01:02:54] S2: owe her many things. She aroused my interest in art and variety of things, but she would always find fault no matter how good things or what I had done. I remember there was some newspaper coverage years ago in Britain when Yahoo became public and there were some stories about me in the British press. I mean, she was convinced I was a crook. She was absolutely convinced that this police should come for me because there was no possible way that I could have participated in anything like this that could possibly be legal. [01:03:32] S0: Did that hurt? [01:03:33] S2: No. By that point, I was more amused by it than anything else. [01:03:38] S0: Early did it hurt that nothing you did was satisfied? No. [01:03:42] S2: Because it was just a fact of life. [01:03:44] S0: And yet it seems to have echoed.
01:03:44 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[01:03:44] S0: And yet it seems to have echoed. [01:03:46] S2: Yeah. You never get the boy out of [01:03:48] S0: the man. What is the experience of stepping back from sequoia because you were sick? What has that taught you?
01:03:56 · Michael Moritz, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[01:03:56] S2: Well, first of all, I don't think leaders should stick around. If they have decided for whatever reason not to lead, they've gotta get out of the way. So I went cold turkey, even though I tried to help Sequoia in what ways I could and was involved with a variety of companies, but it was as a individual contributor. But it was not as leadership. I got out of there as quickly as possible because I didn't think it was fair for someone to linger in those sorts of meetings. I'd lived through that myself. So it's allowed me to do things. When I was running Sequoia, it was talked about monomania and obsessions. I mean, that was it. It was everything every single day of the week. So it allowed me to do things. I could write. My wife and I, about twenty five years ago, we started a foundation. So we spent more time on that. In recent years, I spent more time on trying to help San Francisco, which is where I've lived pushing fifty years, not quite, but to turn around and flourish along with a wonderful co founder, Griff Gaffney. I started a media business there as well, which is fun and I hope contributes to the life of the city called the San Francisco standard. And then I'm involved with what used to be called Sequoia heritage in a sort of advisory capacity, so there's plenty of stuff to do, which is fulfilling and unfulfilling at the same time because while there are a whole variety of things, it's not the obsessive monomaniacal focus on one thing. [01:05:26] S0: Do you miss it?
01:05:26 · Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Michael Moritz
[01:05:26] S0: Do you miss it? [01:05:27] S2: Yeah, there are aspects of it. But I miss aspects of it, but I know full well that I would not want to return to that way of life. [01:05:36] S0: Is it the flow state of it that you miss? The feeling of total immersion and forgetting yourself? [01:05:41] S2: Maybe, I get that when I'm painting. It's a simpler life. You don't have to make decisions about how you allocate your time, because your calendar is commanded by some other force. The difference between having your calendar dictated by others and being in complete control of your calendar yourself. It's night and day. [01:06:03] S0: What's your hope for the standard? What are the principles that guide it? [01:06:07] S2: Griffin, I didn't set it up as a not for profit. One of the things that we wanted to do was to show that local journalism can be a profitable business, number one. Number two, it's to have a vibrant, interesting, diverting, but reliable source of information for people in San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area, for people who care about that sort of stuff. Number three, I've been very clear from day one that news coverage, there's no proprietorial thumb on the scale when it comes to news coverage. Some of the stories in The Standard I've been mentioned and referred to in ways that I wouldn't necessarily write myself. So that's fair game. But in the ideas and opinions area, it's center of right of center. And that's what this is, and that's a much needed voice in San Francisco.
01:06:07 · Michael Moritz, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[01:06:07] S2: Griffin, I didn't set it up as a not for profit. One of the things that we wanted to do was to show that local journalism can be a profitable business, number one. Number two, it's to have a vibrant, interesting, diverting, but reliable source of information for people in San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area, for people who care about that sort of stuff. Number three, I've been very clear from day one that news coverage, there's no proprietorial thumb on the scale when it comes to news coverage. Some of the stories in The Standard I've been mentioned and referred to in ways that I wouldn't necessarily write myself. So that's fair game. But in the ideas and opinions area, it's center of right of center. And that's what this is, and that's a much needed voice in San Francisco. [01:07:03] S0: As I think back to the book, and I put it down and wondered about what's gonna last in me having read this. The thing I keep going back to, it's obviously selfish and context dependent, is parenting. I have two young kids. [01:07:16] S2: How old are they? [01:07:17] S0: They're 12 and 10. They're approaching the end of that window where you describe them as being impaired. [01:07:22] S2: You've already done the damage, Patrick. They're impaired for life. [01:07:27] S0: So I wonder if you turn the whole exercise of exploring your own history and your family's history into how to think about the role of parenting. I'm curious what comes to mind. [01:07:39] S2: I think it's to arm the children with confidence. [01:07:41] S0: Simple as that. By doing what?