Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:00:00] S0: How did you get to that price at the time? In the original round.
· Josh Kushner
[00:00:00] S1: The hesitancy around the company had more to do with the fact that the idea of investing in private companies at these prices was not something that people in our industry were meant to do. We've done things a little bit differently, in that we have tried our best to imagine the world in the way in which we thought it should be as opposed to the way in which it had always historically been. The criticism that we faced for a couple of years was predominantly around this idea that LLMs would get commoditized, the world would move towards open source, all the value would get created at the application layer. I think this was more the industry trying to fit in a narrative around the ecosystem that would play to the way in which the industry was meant to operate. Our general framing was we're living in a time in which there are multi-trillion dollar companies, $3-$4 trillion, and those companies will likely by the end of this decade be $7 to $10 trillion companies. So the idea that there would be private companies today that could be worth half a trillion or a trillion dollars is not inconceivable. Especially the most important category defining companies within those ecosystems. So, it was more a mental shift for people to actually lean into the market in that way, whereas it's very obvious to us based on the fact that a disproportionate amount of value that has accrued in the public markets has accrued to less than 10 companies. We believed that the same thing would happen in the private markets as well.
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Josh Kushner
[00:00:00] S0: You mentioned that working with OpenAI specifically has taught you things that you didn't know before, about what it takes and how to operate. What has it taught you from working so closely with them? [00:00:00] S1: It's been extraordinary to get exposed to the people who are operating at the company, but I also think in many respects it's been a fascinating human experience. There is so much perception of power and value associated with this company that it's exposed me to how the world thinks around these things and how people act in certain situations. And I've been very proud of how the company has handled itself, despite many people not acting in as appropriate ways. To use the Lord of the Rings analogy – Sam, Greg, OpenAI have the ring and everyone is willing to do whatever they can to take it. [00:00:00] S0: Do you think power corrupts in some general sense? [00:00:00] S1: Yes. [00:00:00] S0: How have you felt that? How have you avoided it yourself? You're now in a position of quite a lot of power.
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Josh Kushner
[00:00:00] S0: How have you felt that? How have you avoided it yourself? You're now in a position of quite a lot of power. [00:00:00] S1: My personal experiences have taught me that everything can disappear very quickly. Many people respond to these situations where they start to believe things about themselves or the situations that they're in, in somewhat unrealistic ways. The opportunity to make an impact is a privilege that people shouldn't take for granted, and it's important to handle these moments with gratitude and humility. True power doesn't shout, it acts quietly and decisively. There's this great line from Denzel Washington from American Gangster, "The loudest person in the room is always the weakest person in the room."
· Josh Kushner, Patrick O'Shaughnessy
[00:00:00] S1: My personal experiences have taught me that everything can disappear very quickly. Many people respond to these situations where they start to believe things about themselves or the situations that they're in, in somewhat unrealistic ways. The opportunity to make an impact is a privilege that people shouldn't take for granted, and it's important to handle these moments with gratitude and humility. True power doesn't shout, it acts quietly and decisively. There's this great line from Denzel Washington from American Gangster, "The loudest person in the room is always the weakest person in the room." [00:00:00] S0: I was talking to Sam Altman about your and his, and Thrive and OpenAI’s relationship. And I said something to the effect of – I know some of the big stories that we've told already – but I said, tell me a really small story, like a tiny vignette or story. And he said at one point he was recruiting an engineer, probably up against one of the other lab companies. It was very competitive. And that he called you at two in the morning and somehow you were awake or heard the phone ring or whatever, picked up and got on the phone with the engineer from 2 to 3:30 in the morning, just directly, like an IC engineer, and the guy signed. I thought that was such an awesome story and it brings up a question for me, which is can you describe just how hard you work? I feel like it gets a little bit glossed over. Some of these things look amazing in hindsight. It just seems so incredibly intense and I'd love to hear how you might describe it.
· Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Josh Kushner
[00:00:00] S0: I was talking to Sam Altman about your and his, and Thrive and OpenAI’s relationship. And I said something to the effect of – I know some of the big stories that we've told already – but I said, tell me a really small story, like a tiny vignette or story. And he said at one point he was recruiting an engineer, probably up against one of the other lab companies. It was very competitive. And that he called you at two in the morning and somehow you were awake or heard the phone ring or whatever, picked up and got on the phone with the engineer from 2 to 3:30 in the morning, just directly, like an IC engineer, and the guy signed. I thought that was such an awesome story and it brings up a question for me, which is can you describe just how hard you work? I feel like it gets a little bit glossed over. Some of these things look amazing in hindsight. It just seems so incredibly intense and I'd love to hear how you might describe it. [00:00:00] S1: If you have to pick between the most educated person, the most experienced person, or the person who wants it the most, you always pick the person who wants it the most. Thrive has built a culture of the people who want it the most. We are willing to do whatever we need to do to be in service to those that we work with. I don't think of it as work because I love what I do, but it is my job to do whatever I need to do to support those that we're fortunate enough to be partnered with.