00:27:07 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:27:07] S0: I think Matt Mahan is now running for People are clearly gonna circle around him. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, hope the Democrats don't mess it up. You know, I think if it's abundance oriented, positive mindset, just the California tax, while I'm fine with taxing billionaires, taxing unrealized gains is such a disaster that then having these taxes floated, even though I know it's sort of like, you know, some union puts on some ballot initiative, but it really feels like it could plausibly pass in California. That stuff is I hard to take, you [00:27:42] S1: don't think it will pass, and I also don't think it would stand up to like a court challenge. But like, yeah, the wealth tax idea in that way is really stupid. I think the like actually right way to do that is get rid of the step up in basis, which is basically like a reintroduction of the estate tax, And then the second thing is like come up [00:28:02] S0: with some Ideally on a national level so people aren't And state [00:28:06] S1: do some approach to taxing the like buy, borrow, die strategy. [00:28:11] S0: Right. And then give people health care. Yes. I think if the tax is for something, it's easier to sell. Sometimes when Democrats are talking about it just as a tax without saying this is the policy we want to pay for, it just feels sort of mean spirited and anti capitalist.
00:28:11 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:28:11] S0: Right. And then give people health care. Yes. I think if the tax is for something, it's easier to sell. Sometimes when Democrats are talking about it just as a tax without saying this is the policy we want to pay for, it just feels sort of mean spirited and anti capitalist. [00:28:27] S1: Mean, I think what's happened in New York is actually like a really encouraging version of what this could look like, which is New York introduced congestion pricing, which is functionally a consumption tax. Instead of talking about it as a victory of how much revenue we've generated, I think Kathy Hochul in particular, like, done a really good job of talking about the outcomes that it's been I [00:28:49] S0: know, was such a hater. I know, me too. She's so much better She's than I yeah, just wait until after the election, like, do it in a much Yeah, more politically valuable Get some seats for Democrats, like she's totally right. She's she's [00:29:03] S1: a badass. [00:29:03] S0: She's a political...
00:29:03 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:29:03] S0: She's a political... [00:29:04] S1: It's like it's like not my like vibe and aesthetic, but like she's fucking knocking it out of the park. And and part of it is like she has been very, very... She had a really hardcore message discipline about not talking about how much money they've raised, but instead talking about the outcomes and what they're spending the money on, which is, like, you know, improvements to the subway system and, hey, look at all of the outcomes we're achieving in terms of, like, shorter commute times and lower air pollution, and less noise pollution, and you know, more shoppers on the street, and you know, all of these things are like awesome and real and we have proof of, and like it is just that is a positive way of talking about government intervention that is exciting, and you make a case for how you're gonna make people's lives better instead of making a case about how you're gonna make their enemies' lives worse. [00:29:54] S0: All right, so talking about the business of venture capital. Talk a little bit Oh, that? Yeah, our job, you know, your job and sort of the main thing [00:30:03] S1: I write about. I think probably like all of, you know, the rest of my team is They're skipping to this moment. Yeah, they're fucking God, he's done. [00:30:11] S0: We'll have a little link where people can just join us. Like, oh, yeah. They're done with politics. Talk about business. Yoni and [00:30:17] S1: Eric living out for twenty minutes.
00:30:17 · Yoni Rechtman, Eric Newcomer
[00:30:17] S1: Eric living out for twenty minutes. [00:30:20] S0: Give us give us your articulation in classic spicy slow fashion of what Slow's Slow Ventures philosophy is.
00:30:28 · Yoni Rechtman
[00:30:28] S1: Yeah. Look, we are a very decentralized partnership, so it's four partners investing in seed fund, and I think we often... It's like 80% alignment with the last 20% being language. What I always say is like, we need to find really awesome people with weird takes on important stories, and it's... That's it. The the really awesome people thing is like self evident. We talk about what awesome people look like, what really, really exceptional people look like, but by and large, everyone buys the premise. You need awesome people. I think where most people in venture get wrong is they just look for really cool stories, and they forget the second part of it, which is like weird takes they're on. So my belief very deeply is that we need to find things that are a little bit like off kilter, out of center, obvious, non consensus. Basically, need things that are like unique inputs to achieve unique n of one outputs, and like that's it. That's the entire business. There's nothing else. If you believe in power laws, like don't invest in things that are obvious or same same. So I am a generalist. I think I can find those kinds of weird takes and and important stories in a lot of different places, but really try and, like, constrain myself to companies that can sort of be articulated through these, like, big if true statements, or really feel like when you first hear it, you're like, that's fucking stupid. And then if you think about it for a little while longer, it kind of starts to... It grows on you. There's a creeping realization. So how do
00:32:02 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:32:02] S0: you invest around AI? Yeah. Are you in foundation models? [00:32:06] S1: No. No, we're not in any foundation Big mistake. [00:32:09] S0: What? That's a big mistake on some level, alright. Look, on