Episode description

Joe Lonsdale is the Founder and Managing Partner at 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm managing over $6 billion in capital. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies. Since then, he has founded over a dozen companies, including Addepar, a wealth management platform helping investors manage over $5 trillion, and OpenGov, recently sold for $1.8BN.

In Today’s Episode with Joe Lonsdale We Discuss:

The Making of a Multi-Unicorn Founder:

• What was Joe like as a child? How would his parents and teachers have described him?
• What does Joe know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career?
• How does Joe view the importance of luck and skill in success?

America’s New Dawn: Navigating Frontiers and Accountability

• What did Joe mean by describing America as a “frontier nation”?
• How does Joe contrast America’s frontiers with Europe’s social safety nets?
• How does Joe propose restoring America using the “scalpel over the sledgehammer” approach?
• How can America introduce accountability to non-profit institutions? What role do for-profit prisons play?

Woke Mind Virus

• Why does Joe consider the Woke Mind Virus a “Bad Postmodern Religion”?
• Why does Joe see Elon Musk as a key figure in challenging “woke minds”?
• Why does Joe believe the education system is a core problem? What needs to change?
• Is it too late to reverse the current state of “woke mind virus”?

TikTok, China, Israel:

• What does Joe believe is the right solution for TikTok’s ownership?
• To what extent is TikTok a danger to American national security?
• What does Joe predict will happen to China from here? What needs to change?
• How does Joe predict the next 24 months for the conflict in Israel and Gaza?

Investing Lessons: Wish, Palantir and more

• What are Joe’s biggest takeaways from the failing of Wish?
• What did Joe learn from the failed project with Lady Gaga?
• How does Joe reflect on when is the right time to sell?
• How does Joe reflect on his own relationship to money?