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Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Conversations with the best investors and business leaders in the world. We explore their ideas, methods, and stories to help you better invest your time and money. Hear stock market and boardroom insights you can't find anywhere else. If you're a professional investor, CEO, entrepreneur, or business strategist, this is for you. Explore all our episodes and learn more at https://www.joincolossus.com
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Now displaying: March, 2021
Mar 30, 2021

My guest today is Kanyi Maqubela, co-founder of seed-stage VC firm Kindred Ventures, which he started with his partner Steven Jang in 2019. Before founding Kindred Ventures, Kanyi was a general partner at Collaborative Fund. In our conversation, we discuss the parallels between today and the Roaring ’20s of the last century, the misunderstood risk curve of seed investing, and dive deep into how Kanyi evaluates founders and businesses at the earliest stage of company formation. We also discuss Kanyi’s experience teaching the Design Your Life class at Stanford and how some of those principles convinced him to take the leap to start his own fund. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kanyi Maqubela.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

------

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.

 

With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

------

This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. NordVPN is the best VPN to keep your internet experience private.

 

It has over 5,500 servers in 60 countries to ensure super-fast internet while protecting your information no matter where you are. As working from home and remote work become more prevalent, now is the time to protect your personal and business information without any data logging.

 

NordVPN works on all popular platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and supports up to 6 simultaneous connections across your devices.

 

To get started, go to nordvpn.com/patrick or use code PATRICK to get a 2-year plan plus 1 additional month with a huge discount and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

------

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes


Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:04:11] - [First question] - Understanding the roaring 20s and their potential resurgence

[00:06:14] - Seed-stage investing today compared to a few years ago

[00:09:02] - Lessons learned from studying the 1920s 

[00:11:52] - Supply chain infrastructure in the 21st century

[00:14:49] - His investment philosophy and what influenced it

[00:17:47] - Defining the risk curve and early-stage divergence

[00:21:31] - Assessing risk in seed-stage investing

[00:23:32] - Other moments that influenced Kanyi’s investment philosophy

[00:26:50] - Assisting early-stage companies as a VC 

[00:29:31] - How he approaches VC differently than traditional US VCs

[00:31:55] - Non-consensus ways and unique views when evaluating founders

[00:35:19] - Domain insight and its importance

[00:36:53] - What he looks for in a company when considering investing in them

[00:38:17] - Assessing a team in whether or not they have characteristics of longevity

[00:40:59] - Questions he most enjoys asking people

[00:42:24] - What makes for a good problem space

[00:44:26] - Early-stage crypto investing

[00:47:27] - How the crypto space and NFTs will change and influence other sectors

[00:50:37] - Emerging trends that are catching his attention

[00:54:20] - The potential for upward mobility in the coming decade

[00:56:30] - Teaching the Design Your Life course

[01:01:21] - Advice for modern investor-operators

[01:03:26] - If he could change one major thing in the industry

[01:06:57] - The biggest lesson learned from Obama’s campaign

[01:07:44] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Mar 25, 2021

My guest today is Roxanne Petraeus, co-founder and CEO of Ethena, a modern compliance platform for businesses. Roxanne’s background is pretty incredible, before starting Ethena she was a Rhodes Scholar, served in the US Army, and worked at McKinsey. In our conversation, we cover the lessons Roxanne ported over from her military career to building a business, how she’s trying to make compliance training not suck, and the woeful state of funding female founders in VC today and what can be done about it. Far from a boring conversation about compliance, this was an incredible discussion with one of the best founders I’ve met recently. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Roxanne Petraeus.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. 

 

See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders

-----

This episode is brought to you by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean provides founders and creators with the platform they need to get their website and apps off the ground, all with low-bandwidth pricing to save them money over other cloud providers.

 

If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders.

-----

 

Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:29] - [First question] - What Ethena does

[00:06:31] - Lessons from her military career

[00:09:13] - Good and bad elements of leadership training from the military 

[00:11:35] - The problem of what sucks in compliance training

[00:14:33] - The enablement of bad behavior among people with power

[00:17:56] - The original idea for Ethena and bringing it to market

[00:21:15] - Determining who is the right person to serve first 

[00:24:03] - Lessons for building good software 

[00:26:21] - How they have adapted to working in and around regulation

[00:29:31] - Getting other companies to buy into the product

[00:34:45] - Creating effective content and measuring that effectiveness

[00:38:13] - Darker sides of growing the business and raising money

[00:39:57] -  How ‘the Motherhood Penalty’ Plays Out for Startup Founders

[00:43:12] - Fixing the problems with bias in venture capital investing

[00:46:57] - What is the outlook and long-term vision for the business

[00:50:38] - What has her most excited for the future

[00:51:53] - Most interesting about the Rhodes Scholar program

[00:54:02] - Kindest thing anyone has done for her

 

Mar 23, 2021

My guest today is Jesse Walden, the founder of Variant, an early-stage venture firm investing in crypto networks and platforms building the ownership economy.

 

With all the hype surrounding NFTs, I wanted to talk to Jesse about them, given his background in the music industry and his focus on the creator and ownership economy. The conversation did not disappoint. We discuss the basics of what an NFT is, what new creative paradigms they might unlock, and where we are in the NFT hype cycle.

 

This episode is the first in what will likely become its own show we are calling Primers. Our goal for primers is to bring investors and operators from a zero to a seven understanding of a topic, concept, or industry. The goal here is for the education around these topics to be fast and entertaining. I hope you enjoy this discussion with Jesse Walden and hopefully the first of many Primers to come.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

------

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.

 

With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

------

This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. NordVPN is the best VPN to keep your internet experience private.

 

It has over 5,500 servers in 60 countries to ensure super-fast internet while protecting your information no matter where you are. As working from home and remote work become more prevalent, now is the time to protect your personal and business information without any data logging.

 

NordVPN works on all popular platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and supports up to 6 simultaneous connections across your devices.

 

To get started, go to nordvpn.com/patrick or use code PATRICK to get a 2-year plan plus 1 additional month with a huge discount and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

------

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes


Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:04:19] - [First question] - Simple definition of an NFT

[00:05:22] - What distinguishes NFTs from each other 
[00:06:24] - The value chain of a song, and who owns it

[00:12:07] - Monetization and royalties on traded tokens

[00:15:02] - Consumer incentives for purchasing NFTs

[00:19:19] - Long-term passive income and media legos

[00:22:23] - Technical breakdown of minting, hosting, and storing tokens

[00:24:28] - Verification of token ownership on the blockchain

[00:25:58] - NFT marketplaces and aggregators

[00:27:06] - Opensea.io 

[00:27:21] - Foundation.app 

[00:29:46] - Innovations inspired by the NFT explosion

[00:31:01] - Mirror.xyz 

[00:32:26] - NBA Topshot

[00:32:57] - Crypto Punks

[00:23:24] - Nifty Gateway

[00:34:30] - Physical cultural assets in the digital landscape

[00:36:02] - Legacy brands exploring digital goods and tokenized ownership

[00:38:37] - NFTs becoming the port of entry of all media
[00:39:39] - An ownership economy in second generation internet platforms

[00:41:02] - Uniswap
[00:42:41] - The “hype cycle” of NFTs and incoming market correction
[00:44:18] - Lessons for investors in the NFT space

[00:45:15] - Lessons for buildings in the NFT space

[00:45:54] - Resources to continue learning about NFTs
[00:45:54] - NFTs make the internet ownable by Jesse Walden
[00:46:20] - NFTs and a thousand true fans by Chris Dixon
[00:46:13] - A beginner’s guide to NFTs by Linda Xie

Mar 18, 2021

My guest today is Jonathan Goldberg, the founder, and CEO of Carbon Direct, a company focused on advising and investing in carbon removal at scale. Jonathan started his career in the commodities division of Goldman Sachs and then went on to start a commodity hedge fund, BBL Commodities. In our conversation, we cover the state of the carbon problem today, the importance of global carbon standards and carbon taxes, and the future of carbon capture and removal technologies. This was a masterclass on all things carbon-related. Please enjoy my conversation with Jonathan Goldberg. 

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. 

 

See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders

-----

This episode is brought to you by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean provides founders and creators with the platform they need to get their website and apps off the ground, all with low-bandwidth pricing to save them money over other cloud providers.

 

If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders.

-----

Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:25] - [First question] - Overview of his career

[00:06:02] - The start of his commodities trading strategy and its evolution 

[00:09:08] - Key strategies for making money as a commodities trader

[00:10:41] - Opportunity to trade commodities today 

[00:11:39] - Making the shift to carbon capture work

[00:15:04] - Range of consequences for elevated carbon emissions and biggest buckets of carbon

[00:18:52] - An outline of the Paris Climate Accord and other agreements on climate change

[00:20:26] - Ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere

[00:23:46] - The technology to remove carbon and incentives to invest in this technology

[00:26:19] - Corporate participation in the carbon trade 

[00:28:35] - Balance of natural vs man-made solutions 

[00:31:53] - Making money without the altruistic goals

[00:33:43] - Trends in the fossil fuel industry 

[00:36:41] - Convenient ways for consumers to switch to clean energy products

[00:39:57] - The geopolitical will to shift towards cleaner energy

[00:41:58] - Primary consequences of not making this shift

[00:44:25] - The important role of regulation 

[00:46:01] - Thinking through the investing side of combating climate change

[00:48:59] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him

Mar 16, 2021

My guest this week is Marissa King, a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. I was fascinated by Marissa's work after coming across her book, Social Chemistry: Decoding the Elements of Human Connection, earlier this year. Our conversation covers the three types of social networking styles, the surprising impact of COVID on social networks, and what her research tells us about building high-performing teams. This episode covers many topics I haven't explored before that I find fascinating. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Marissa King.   

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

------

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.

 

With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

 

------

This episode is brought to you by NordVPN. NordVPN is the best VPN to keep your internet experience private.

 

It has over 5,500 servers in 60 countries to ensure super-fast internet while protecting your information no matter where you are. As working from home and remote work become more prevalent, now is the time to protect your personal and business information without any data logging.

 

NordVPN works on all popular platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and supports up to 6 simultaneous connections across your devices.

 

To get started, go to nordvpn.com/patrick or use code PATRICK to get a 2-year plan plus 1 additional month with a huge discount and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

------

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes


Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:04:04] - [First question] - Origin of her career and topics she is focused on

[00:04:06] - Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection

[00:04:09] - Priya Parker Podcast Episode

[00:05:41] - Why the focus on Autism and some of the trends around it

[00:08:07] - Prevalence of mental health and substance abuse vs. raised awareness

[00:09:16] - The eureka moment for her in this research

[00:10:16] -  Pattern in growing large social movements

[00:11:43] - The Expansionists group and their role in large social movements

[00:14:31] - Acid test for the Brokers group

[00:15:35] - How she developed the categories of people that drive social movements

[00:17:35] - Most memorable moments of discovery in the development of these categories

[00:18:58] - Important categories for overall network science

[00:20:20] - Behavioral changes we can make to improve the nature of our social connections

[00:23:21] - The pitfalls for each group and how they can invest in their own network

[00:25:29] - Conveners and what they need to improve 

[00:26:34] - Downside of being a broker

[00:27:58] - The attachments styles of secure, anxious, or avoidant

[00:30:07] - Velocity of interactions possible today and what it means for research

[00:32:02] - How men and women develop networks differently

[00:33:55] - What is unique in organizational behavior through the lens of her research

[00:36:19] - Best practice for creating high output interactions

[00:37:33] - Putting together the perfect team

[00:38:42] - Largest pitfalls in putting together a good team

[00:40:00] - Role of conversation in effective network building

[00:41:15] - Being a great listeners and distractions

[00:42:47] - Eric Maddox Podcast Episode

[00:43:41] - Good policy for running a network, being attentive to the network

[00:46:40] - The power of touch

[00:48:39] - How movements become societal and what role technology has played

[00:52:46] - How this applies to a business

[00:53:34] - Biological underpinnings of Dunbar’s number

[00:57:13] - Kindest thing anyone has done for her

 

Mar 11, 2021

My guest this week is Jonathan Neman, the co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen. Sweetgreen is a fast-casual restaurant chain that Jonathan co-founded in 2007 during their senior year at Georgetown when he realized they couldn't find a healthy, affordable, and convenient place to eat. Today, Sweetgreen operates in 11 markets and will have about 160 restaurants across the US by the end of 2021. In our conversation, we cover the origins of Sweetgreen and how it builds a direct relationship with its customers, how Jonathan thinks restaurants should work with marketplaces like DoorDash, and the economics of operating restaurants. While Sweetgreen is primarily a restaurant concept, Jonathan brings a tech-first mindset to the food industry, focusing less on single-store economics and more about customer lifetime value and the importance of owning the relationship with the customer. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jonathan Neman.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. 

 

See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders

-----

This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. With LinkedIn, you get access to an active community of professionals with more than 722 million members worldwide. LinkedIn is the easiest place in the world to post a job and message qualified candidates. Getting started is easier than ever, and now you can do this all from your mobile device. 

 

When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/fieldguide to post a job for free. Terms and conditions apply. 

-----

Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:04] - [First question] - The origins of Sweetgreen

[00:05:47] - Something they did from a position of naivete, working their supply chain

[00:07:18] - Most common reason restaurants go wrong

[00:08:35] - Building the first restaurant and lessons along the way 

[00:12:22] - Effective menu building

[00:14:36] - The Sweetgreen network and how they view the restaurant as a network

[00:21:05] - What their digital business means compared to other restaurant businesses

[00:23:55] - How they have improved at converting people into their ecosystem

[00:27:40] - Creating win-win partnerships

[00:29:12] - The pros/cons of the marketplaces in the food industry

[00:32:58] - The general economics of a restaurant

[00:36:58] - Allocating capital differently when the focus is the customer and not the store

[00:39:36] - How tech trends aimed at improving personal health plays into Sweetgreen’s plans

[00:45:11] - Their focus on sustainability for the business

[00:47:56] - The core values of ‘Add the Sweet Touch’ and ‘Live the Sweet Life’

[00:50:18] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him

[00:51:38] - Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

Mar 9, 2021

My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas, better known as T2. Josh is the co-founder and General Partner at Lux Capital. T2 is now a venture partner alongside Josh at Lux Capital, after serving for almost 40 years in the US military and becoming a 4-star general and the 11th Commander of US Special Operations Command. Our conversation focuses on the technology frontier in defense as well as the geopolitical threats that the US faces. We talk about everything from semiconductors and autonomous weapons systems to the moral dimensions of investing in defense technology. I hope you enjoy this fascinating conversation with Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

------

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.

 

With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

------

This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company – also known as MITIMCo, the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term. MITIMCo doesn’t care how small, new, or un-institutional your firm is if you have the potential to generate amazing results that support MIT’s pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation.

 

Despite their willingness to invest early, they do not ask for GP economics and they commit their initial capital for ten years.  

 

Visit www.mitimco.org and their new emerging managers page to learn more.

------

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes


Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:46] - [First question] - Overview of Tony Thomas’s career

[00:06:36] - His focus on the information wars and truthiness

[00:08:50] - How Josh and Tony met

[00:12:27] - Experiencing the slow pace of technology growth within the Department of Defense

[00:15:51] - History of businesses selling to and engaging with the government

[00:23:52] - Consensus of the threats we face today 

[00:28:55] - Most important competitive frontier today 

[00:35:09] - The lessening of kinetic warfare

[00:46:51] - State of the drone technology and industry 

[00:52:56] - Mapping the arctic and the geopolitical ramifications

[00:54:31] - The frontier of space 

[00:59:26] - What shouldn’t be unmanned technology 

[01:02:31] - The cutting edge of simulation technology 

[01:06:50] - The most important thing to know about the future of semiconductors

[01:11:36] - The moral lens of working with and investing in defense companies

[01:20:53] - Traits of the most exceptional soldiers he’s served with

[01:23:53] - Kindest thing anyone has done for Tony

Mar 4, 2021

My guest today is Matteo Franceschetti, the founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, a smart mattress company. I’m a customer of Eight Sleep and this was one of the most unique founder conversations I’ve had on the show, in both the focus on the product and the exploration of sleep. We talk about which biometrics matter, how hard it is to start a hardware company and launch manufacturing overseas, how Matteo manages his own sleep, and the massive potential for preventative health companies like Eight Sleep may have in the future. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Matteo Franceschetti. 

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

-----

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for ecommerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. 

 

See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders

-----

This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. With LinkedIn, you get access to an active community of professionals with more than 722 million members worldwide. LinkedIn is the easiest place in the world to post a job and message, qualified candidates. Getting started is easier than ever and now you can do this all from your mobile device. 

 

When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/fieldguide to post a job for free. Terms and conditions apply. 

-----

Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:36] - [First question] - Origins of the Eight Sleep business

[00:03:21] - Designing and testing the original product

[00:04:17] - Goal of the product

[00:05:19] - How temperature can improve sleep

[00:06:28] - Accuracy of the sensors in this product

[00:08:30] - Valuable inputs for health that they measure, HRV (heart rate variability)

[00:09:59] - Amount of research on the variables they measure and impact on health

[00:11:45] - Hardest data for them to measure in their mattress

[00:14:03] - Early challenges to launching the business

[00:15:27] - Lessons from the early manufacturing process

[00:16:50] - Working through the potential business models

[00:17:56] - Goal of less sleep and reducing light sleep

[00:19:45] - Behavior changes he’s made as a result of understanding his sleep more

[00:21:08] - How alcohol/caffeine impacts sleep

[00:22:01] - How food impacts sleep

[00:23:01] - Why glucose spikes are bad for sleep

[00:23:40] - Challenges in the business after the crowdfunding stage

[00:25:34] - Marketing lessons from a high price point and infrequently purchased product

[00:26:42] - Most exciting day in the researching phase

[00:27:48] - Turning an infrequent purchase into a frequent sale

[00:28:54] - What it’s like to work with his wife

[00:30:03] - Future of the quantified self-movement

[00:31:23] - The hardest challenge in the business

[00:32:13] - Most valuable things he’s learned as a fan of Formula 1 racing

[00:33:41] - Future of the mattress business

[00:35:28] - Other businesses he has learned from

[00:36:40] - Lessons from the data part of the business

[00:38:26] - Collecting more data from their customers without being intrusive

[00:39:56] - What he’s learned through Apple Health 

[00:41:39] - What has him excited for the long term future of Eight Sleep

[00:42:32] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him

Mar 2, 2021

My guest today is Jack Clark, head coach of the University of California Varsity Rugby team. Jack has one of the highest winning percentages not only at the collegiate level but in sports history, winning an incredible 90% of games since his start as a coach in 1984. That includes a 98 game winning streak from 1990 to 1996 and a 115 game winning streak from 2004 to 2009. In our conversation, we dive into how Jack builds high-performing teams, the shared vocabulary he creates across his organization, and his work with companies applying what he's learned on the field to operating businesses. Please enjoy this conversation with Jack Clark. 

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company. MITIMCO is the endowment office of MIT. New and small investment funds listen up. MITIMCO is looking to find investors starting funds today.

 

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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes


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Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:44] - [First question] - Overview of his playing and coaching career

[00:06:02] - The importance of creating a set of values for a team

[00:07:53] - Why selflessness is such an important trait he looks for in teams

[00:09:20] - Examples of selflessness in the teams

[00:10:06] - The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players

[00:10:24] - Lessons on gratitude and entitlement

[00:11:34] - Being a meritocracy on the team

[00:12:55] - Rewarding merit as a coach

[00:14:18] - Improving a team today, the power of the basics and fundamentals

[00:15:29] - Defining toughness for players and teams

[00:17:29] - Mark Bingham, the epitome of toughness

[00:18:33] - Why he created and how he uses a glossary

[00:22:09] - Creating a high rate of conversion in recruiting

[00:25:01] - What qualities did the teams that beat him share

[00:27:22] - Take on pride and something he is exceedingly proud of

[00:29:17] - Translating the concepts from the court into the business world

[00:32:20] - Where companies have room to improve

[00:33:16] - Changing a company culture

[00:34:21] - Coaches he has learned from 

[00:36:00] - The power of non-cognitive grit

[00:38:45] - Advice for companies creating a value set

[00:40:40] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him 

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