Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Karim Atiyeh
[00:00:00] S0: Last question for you. What are you most proud of at Ramp? [00:00:00] S1: Caliber of people we've been able to attract, and the sum total of not just Ramp, but I think the great companies that will come out of Ramp and the diaspora of amazing people who have spent some time at Ramp and in some cases have decided to go on to start other companies. I still tell people who join us that I would love for Ramp to be the last job that they ever have to apply for. And that's been very true for a lot of people. And that can mean a lot of things. It can mean that people left and right will just try to approach them because they've been at Ramp, and it's very easy to want to try to avoid that by hiring people who are purely incredibly loyal. And I don't think that's a good idea. I see it as a sign that we're hiring the right people if we keep doing that. So I'm excited to see the sum total of amazing things that the people who have ever set foot at Ramp or worked with us will do over their lifetime. Incredibly in awe at talent that we have. Even this past summer, one of our interns, while he was interning at the company, won a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad. It's just incredible what some of the people at Ramp have been able to achieve. Very proud of that talent. [00:00:00] S0: I think you know my traditional closing question. What's the kindest thing that anyone's ever done for you?
· Karim Atiyeh
[00:00:00] S1: The one that's been most impactful on the rest of my life probably happened early on when I was going through the Research Science Institute at MIT and I was 16 and first time in the US away from my family. War breaks out in Lebanon, the airport's closed. And I had become really close with my best friend today that I had met at that camp, Zach, who you know quite well, we're together at the Research Science Institute. And he just immediately tells me, he's like, oh, don't worry about it at all. Camp is ending in a week. You could just come with me and be in New York. And my family is amazing. I already told them about you. They're very excited to meet you. This is going to be great. And little did I know that that same day I heard that a couple years later from Zach's mom. I think he called his mom and was like, mom, don't ask any questions. My friend Karim is going to come live in New York with us as soon as the camp is done. And I think his mom couldn't even be in New York around that time. And Zach had something else to do. And the day I met his mom, she welcomed me with open arms and everything, told me that she would make sure that I had a great experience staying with them. And I show up at their house in the city and I remember the experience being amazing. I just opened the door that had hidden the key for me because they couldn't be there. And I opened the door and I go into the kitchen and there's meals labeled for every day of the week. There's pocket money on the side in case I need it for transportation. A list with all the numbers that I could call if I needed any help. I was like, wow, this is amazing. I don't even know these people and they're already treating me like family. And to this day I think of Zach and his family as my second family in the US and spend a lot of the holidays together and has really become part of my family in many ways. But the fact that they were willing and able to do this very quickly for someone who was a stranger in retrospect, is kind of crazy.
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Karim Atiyeh
[00:00:00] S0: Pretty amazing story about a person who maybe or probably is the best investor of his generation. Pretty wild. Amazing closing story. Karim, thanks so much for your time. [00:00:00] S1: Thank you, Patrick.