Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Martín Escobari
[00:00:00] S0: What is your unfinished business professionally? [00:00:00] S1: I could not think of a better activity than working in growth equity at General Atlantic for the next 10 years. Global growth equity in the middle of the AI revolution with the seniority that I have and the dry powder? Pinch me, pinch me because I hope I don't die on a plane crash because it's going to be great. After that, I think you have to start thinking, I've been active mentoring entrepreneurs through Endeavor, which is a not-for-profit. I'm on the board and I've been doing this for 25 years. I actually started mentoring, which is an interesting tidbit when my business was running out of cash. Dotcom sounds exciting, but there was a death, the dark valley of death. And Linda Rottenberg, the founder of Endeavor, says, "It is precisely at your darkest moment that you mentor because it's a sign of you have something to give in the darkest moment of the night." Which is interesting concept, the Hope: AA, I have friends who were in AA, the body system is so valuable because even at your darkest moment, you have enough light to help someone and that gives you the strength to make it through. So I'm a huge believer in mentoring. That's something I will do for the rest of my life. The unfinished business, I think as I get older, I want to help in higher education in the US. I think we've lost our way and I saw the impact scholarship to Harvard did to a young kid from Bolivia. I love that institution. I love education and I think it's in a moment that it's lost its way and we can find it back.
· Martín Escobari, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:00:00] S1: I could not think of a better activity than working in growth equity at General Atlantic for the next 10 years. Global growth equity in the middle of the AI revolution with the seniority that I have and the dry powder? Pinch me, pinch me because I hope I don't die on a plane crash because it's going to be great. After that, I think you have to start thinking, I've been active mentoring entrepreneurs through Endeavor, which is a not-for-profit. I'm on the board and I've been doing this for 25 years. I actually started mentoring, which is an interesting tidbit when my business was running out of cash. Dotcom sounds exciting, but there was a death, the dark valley of death. And Linda Rottenberg, the founder of Endeavor, says, "It is precisely at your darkest moment that you mentor because it's a sign of you have something to give in the darkest moment of the night." Which is interesting concept, the Hope: AA, I have friends who were in AA, the body system is so valuable because even at your darkest moment, you have enough light to help someone and that gives you the strength to make it through. So I'm a huge believer in mentoring. That's something I will do for the rest of my life. The unfinished business, I think as I get older, I want to help in higher education in the US. I think we've lost our way and I saw the impact scholarship to Harvard did to a young kid from Bolivia. I love that institution. I love education and I think it's in a moment that it's lost its way and we can find it back. [00:00:00] S0: Can you teach me mentoring? How does one mentor well?
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Martín Escobari
[00:00:00] S0: Can you teach me mentoring? How does one mentor well? [00:00:00] S1: My strategy, there's many ways to do it. I don't have time to be someone's mentor for six years or to see them maybe as part of Endeavor, I'll see them twice, so I have to hurt them. For the mentoring to be impactful, I have to make it so obvious that it's so stupid they haven't yet focused on this, that they're like, "I'll show him." And then they act on it. My mentoring sessions are very uncomfortable. I do it with a smile in my face. [00:00:00] S0: Yeah, of course. [00:00:00] S1: But it works. It's like crash therapy, like three years of therapy, one hour, no time for both. We're going directly for the sensitive points and I've learned to do it in a way that's not damaging or disrespectful in any way, but it is very scathing, saying this is clearly an opportunity. Come on, wake up, smell the coffee. And sure enough, and now I have a couple billionaire friends who are like, "You really hurt me, but thank you." [00:00:00] S0: I'm always curious about literal process. If you're meeting someone for the first time, is the format you ask them a bunch of questions and then you quickly do the aggressive, why aren't you doing this thing?
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Martín Escobari
[00:00:00] S0: I'm always curious about literal process. If you're meeting someone for the first time, is the format you ask them a bunch of questions and then you quickly do the aggressive, why aren't you doing this thing? [00:00:00] S1: I'm married to a shrink, psychoanalyst, so as a condition to our marriage, I have to do psychoanalysis and it's a wonderful thing I wrote. It's one of the three things I wrote about therapy and meditation and one of my favorite, he's now deceased, but he was a philosopher, writer, an incredible Italian Brazilian guy, very famous in Brazil. You would go to this one-hour weekly session and he would look at you in silence and didn't say anything. After a while, you just say is translating and so, and let you take it. The most powerful way to start a conversation with someone you're trying to get to know is silence. You tell me. What do you want to talk about? What do you want to talk about? Simple. I'll give you another one. I asked, "What's the most important question you need the answer to from the universe?" The answer to that question is so powerful because vocalizing that which you most want the answer to is liberating. [00:00:00] S0: My traditional closing question for everyone is the same. What is the kindest thing that anyone's ever done for you?
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Martín Escobari
[00:00:00] S0: My traditional closing question for everyone is the same. What is the kindest thing that anyone's ever done for you? [00:00:00] S1: Daniela taught me how to love. As we establish, my heart's not very developed. My gut and my brain are very developed and she's such a loving, wonderful woman, being loved by her and learning from her how to love back and then learning from her how to love our daughters and the way that they need to be loved, and she's so smart, and loving me because sometimes it would be very hard. [00:00:00] S0: A beautiful place to close. Thank you for the reminder to laugh a lot in these conversations. Thanks for your time.