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.colossus.com

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

My guest today is Christina Cacioppo, founder and CEO of Vanta, which helps more than 16,000 companies manage security and compliance. 

Five years after our first conversation, we discuss how Vanta became a category leader, what it takes to reinvent a successful software business in the age of AI, and why Christina is betting on agents to do the work rather than simply assist users. 

We also explore the changing economics of software, the war for exceptional talent, AI's impact on cybersecurity, and what it takes to build an enduring company in Silicon Valley's rapidly changing environment. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Christina Cacioppo.

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

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Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) How Vanta Won a Crowded Category

(00:03:12) Living Through the Software Selloff

(00:05:41) Building an Agent-First Product

(00:07:39) Why Vanta Eats the Cost of AI

(00:10:35) The Search for Outcome Pricing

(00:14:31) Getting People to Actually Use AI

(00:17:46) Why Comp for Top People Is Up 10X

(00:22:13) Valuations, Tenders, and the Endgame

(00:24:20) What’s Overhyped and Underhyped

(00:27:54) The Problem With FDEs

(00:29:34) Why French Startups Use Chinese Models

(00:30:22) Vanta as a Security Company

(00:36:57) What Makes a Great Talk

(00:40:14) Where She Would Invest Today

(00:45:19) The Billboard War

(00:49:35) The AI Trust Crisis

(00:51:39) Security Five Years From Now

Christina Cacioppo - Building an Enduring Software Company in the Age of AI - [Invest Like the Best, EP.496]

David Vélez is the founder and CEO of Nubank, which serves 140 million customers across Latin America. 

David believes the industry is still in its Blockbuster era, with most of the world's banking still running through branches and incumbent banks, and that AI will make digital banks dramatically more efficient than the incumbents they compete with. 

He explains how Nubank rebuilt its entire organization around AI after missing the moment the technology started working, and why he is now bringing Nubank to the US, a market he says is still dominated by big incumbent banks. 

Please enjoy my conversation with David Vélez. 

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Banking Is Still In Its Blockbuster Era

(00:02:52) 140 Million Customers, 10,000 Employees

(00:04:53) What Banks Could Do in Five Years

(00:06:31) The $600 Billion Tax on Deposits

(00:08:06) A Private Banker for Everyone

(00:12:21) How a Startup Would Attack Nubank

(00:14:56) When Nubank Took AI Seriously

(00:17:08) Data as a Moat

(00:21:29) How Global Finance Will Change

(00:25:20) Stablecoins and the End of Cash

(00:28:45) Creating Creditworthiness

(00:32:35) Where Fintech Opportunities Remain

(00:34:19) Nubank Comes to the US

(00:41:11) Lessons From Disney and Amazon

(00:43:44) How to Sell AI to Nubank

(00:46:51) Agents as a Customer Segment

(00:48:39) How AI Changed Nubank

(01:01:33) What Motivates Him Now

(01:06:21) Founder Versus CEO

(01:14:01) What Latin America Needs

(01:15:40) The Bear Case for Nubank

(01:19:42) Finding the Right Mission

David Vélez - Building Nubank and the Future of Global Banking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.495]

Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford, the host of the Huberman Lab podcast, and the author of Protocols.

Most of our conversation is about where neuroscience goes next. For decades the field has focused on reading from the brain, and Andrew believes the next era is about writing to it with precise control over specific brain states. 

He explains why he thinks the leading AI companies are really building toward this, and why understanding our waking brain states is the problem he most wants to see solved.

Please enjoy my conversation with Andrew Huberman.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Energy as the Bottleneck for Top Performers

(00:06:20) How to Downshift and Fall Asleep

(00:14:06) Neurotech for Sleep and Focus

(00:17:57) The State of Public Health Discourse

(00:22:07) The Biggest Problem in Neuroscience

(00:23:30) Why AI Companies Will Become Biotech Companies

(00:26:18) How We Read Brain Activity

(00:42:07) Crossing the Cyborg Line

(00:43:30) Measuring the Nervous System Directly

(00:57:34) The CRISPR Babies Story

(01:00:24) Embryo Screening and Genetic Engineering

(01:03:01) Understanding Waking Brain States

(01:06:12) Technologists Becoming Neuroscientists

(01:09:35) The Kindest Thing

Andrew Huberman - The Frontier of Neurotechnology - [Invest Like the Best, EP.494]

My guest today is Noah Shinn. Noah is the founder of Instinct, a personal assistant that you text, call, or email the same way you would a person. It has its own phone and its own computer, and it can do almost anything on your behalf that you would do yourself online. Instinct is about a year old, still invite-only, and growing roughly 10% day over day without any marketing spend.

We discuss the surprising ways people are already using Instinct, the trusted network that lets two people's agents coordinate directly, and what Noah has learned about how long it takes users to trust an agent with their credit card, inbox, and calendar. He explains why he refuses to build an ad model and why he believes a personal agent should never influence users against their own interests.

We also cover the take rate model behind the more than $1 billion a year now flowing through the platform, how travel and food delivery businesses should prepare for a world of agents, why he spends 40% of his time thinking about compute, and why he believes all of software will eventually collapse into one simple interface.

Please enjoy my conversation with Noah Shinn.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) The Most Exciting Software Race Ever

(00:00:49) What Instinct Is

(00:04:11) The Wildest Things Users Have Done With Instinct

(00:07:15) The Instinct to Instinct Trusted Network

(00:13:24) How Agents Will Reorder the Internet

(00:14:44) Reinventing Restaurant Reservations

(00:17:23) Travel and $1 Billion in Transaction Volume

(00:21:00) How Users Learn to Trust an Agent

(00:23:25) Keeping Sensitive Data Safe

(00:26:08) Alignment and the Business Model

(00:31:07) Take Rates and the Payments Stack

(00:34:52) When Incumbents Push Back on Agents

(00:40:46) How Businesses Should Prepare for Agents

(00:44:43) Designing for Understandability

(00:48:15) Taste Versus Data

(00:50:03) Invite-Only Growth at 10% a Day

(00:54:46) How Far Ahead to Buy Compute

(00:56:58) The Cost to Serve Each User

(00:59:24) How Much Compute Proactive Agents Will Need

(01:02:30) Thoughts on Muse

(01:03:59) Mistakes and Staying Proactive

(01:05:34) The Future of Security

(01:08:32) Where the Interface Goes Next

(01:12:35) Agents That Pursue Goals

(01:14:35) Personality and the Movie Her

(01:16:27) Why It's Called Instinct

(01:17:34) Allies, Enemies, and Distribution Channels

(01:18:43) Raising Capital

(01:20:34) The Kindest Thing

Noah Shinn - Building Instinct: The Personal Agent - [Invest Like the Best, EP.493]

Gabe Stengel is the co-founder and CEO of Rogo, the AI platform for finance. He believes the best investors will spend the next several years reinventing their firms around AI, and Rogo is trying to build the infrastructure that allows them to do it.

We discuss how Rogo evolved alongside the frontier models, why the last mile and the harness around the models matter so much, what happens when every portfolio manager can deploy thousands of agents against a problem, and how AI could transform the way capital is raised, assets are priced, and deals get done.

We also cover which investing skills become more valuable as AI improves, the move from seat-based to outcome-based pricing, Rogo’s internal company brain called Shrek, the 40 investor rejections Gabe received before his Series A, why building in applied AI requires extraordinary aggression, and what it takes to become a black hole for talent and capital.

Please enjoy my conversation with Gabe Stengel.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best

(00:01:24) The Model Eras of Rogo

(00:04:15) Why the Last Mile Mattered

(00:06:14) Who’s Using Rogo Right Now

(00:10:55) Which Investor Skills Still Matter

(00:12:23) Inside Rogo's Data Stack

(00:14:33) Competing With the Frontier Labs

(00:16:57) Why the Harness Matters Most

(00:18:05) What Makes a Vertical AI Winner

(00:22:00) How Firms Buy AI Software

(00:23:43) From Seats to Outcome Pricing

(00:31:19) Auditability Beats Accuracy

(00:32:55) Scaling Enterprise Sales Fast

(00:34:48) Meet Shrek, Rogo's Company Brain

(00:35:49) The Pitch to Great Talent

(00:39:37) What Chewing Glass Feels Like

(00:42:18) Forty Investor Rejections

(00:47:41) Finance's Innovator's Dilemma

(00:50:22) Questions Every Firm Should Ask

(00:53:09) What Remains Most Uncertain

(00:56:46) Becoming a Black Hole for Talent

(00:57:56) The Kindest Thing

Gabe Stengel - Building Investing Superintelligence - [Invest Like the Best, EP.492]

Michael Moritz led Sequoia Capital for nearly two decades and backed some of the defining companies of the internet era. 

In his new memoir, Ausländer, he turns his attention to his own family, Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany and rebuilt their lives in Wales. 

We discuss the imprint his parents left on him, the method he used for decades of asking founders about their childhoods and the Time profile that ended his relationship with Steve Jobs. 

We also also cover Lee Iacocca, why Don Valentine hired him, Alex Ferguson's approach to managing players, Elon Musk, and why Mike still struggles to feel proud of anything he has done.

Please enjoy my conversation with Michael Moritz.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best

(00:02:16) Where Does One Person End?

(00:11:15) The State of the World Today

(00:15:08) The Unlived Life of Parents

(00:17:33) Lee Iacocca, Eternal Outsider

(00:21:03) His Most Revealing Question

(00:26:03) Resisters, the Silent, and Collabos

(00:33:30) The Profile of Steve Jobs

(00:38:04) Frank Auerbach's Total Obsession

(00:41:04) Why Don Valentine Hired Michael

(00:46:44) Building Sequoia

(00:49:49) What Michael Learned from Alex Ferguson

(00:52:57) The Great Man Theory

(01:00:36) Defining Extraordinary Writing

(01:03:40) Stepping Back From Sequoia

(01:06:54) A Philosophy of Parenting

(01:09:00) The Next Book: Iran

(01:11:44) The Kindest Thing

Michael Moritz - Lessons From 40 Years of Investing and Writing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.491]

My guest today is Walter Russell Mead. Walter is a columnist at the Wall Street Journal and the author of Special Providence and God and Gold, two of the best books written on American power. 

He has spent decades studying how the United States came to dominate the world, and our conversation is about whether it can keep doing so. 

Walter lays out the five step playbook that carried the Dutch, then the British, then America to global leadership, and why the same pattern keeps beating centralized continental powers. 

We discuss how Trump turned fame into power, the four schools of American foreign policy and the rise of the tech Hamiltonians, what the drone war in Ukraine means for the Pentagon, and why the erosion of deterrence is the deeper story in the Middle East. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Walter Russell Mead.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:02:16) America and the World Today

(00:05:34) Trump’s Method of Power

(00:09:43) Why America Keeps Winning

(00:12:25) The Five-Point Plan for Global Dominance

(00:20:11) China and American Power

(00:22:10) The Risk of American Isolationism

(00:25:50) Technology and Global Power

(00:28:42) Riding the Technological Wild Horse

(00:34:29) Four Schools of American Foreign Policy

(00:40:22) The Rise of Tech Hamiltonians

(00:43:51) India and the Next Great Powers

(00:48:54) The Risks of the Information Revolution

(00:51:30) How Technology Is Changing War

(00:55:06) Taiwan

(00:57:20) The Future of American Society

(01:00:44) What It Means to Be American

(01:03:25) Iran and the Middle East

(01:06:28) The Erosion of Deterrence

(01:08:53) America’s Role in the Next 20 Years

(01:12:08) AI and Global Power

(01:14:26) Reasons for Optimism

(01:16:33) The Kindest Thing

Walter Russell Mead - How America Keeps Winning - [Invest Like the Best, EP.490]

My guest today is Sarah Guo, founder and managing partner of Conviction, the venture firm she built to back AI-native companies from their earliest days. 

Sarah has become one of the most sought-after early-stage investors in AI, often the first check into the companies defining the frontier. 

In this conversation, we go inside that frontier: what the small group of people actually building AI believe right now, why some of the field's best researchers are wrestling with their own sense of purpose, and how close we are to robots in the home and a genuine acceleration in scientific discovery. 

At the center is Sarah's conviction that no single company will own the future of AI, and what that means for founders, investors, and anyone allocating their time and resources in a world moving this fast.

Our managing editor Dom Cooke wrote a profile of Sarah for Colossus, "Sarah's Wager," on how she built the firm closest to the AI frontier and why she's now betting against its biggest companies. 

Please enjoy this conversation with Sarah Guo.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

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Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

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⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:02:16) Investing Without a Backtest

(00:03:31) The AI Wager

(00:06:16) Building the Best Investment Firm

(00:08:37) Finding Non-Obvious AI Opportunities

(00:11:00) The Frontier AI Talent Race

(00:13:50) Compute as the Constraint

(00:19:10) The Future of Robotics

(00:22:15) Making Investment Decisions

(00:26:13) How Sarah Spends Her Time

(00:28:15) Raising a Venture Fund

(00:30:49) Lessons From Her Parents

(00:34:38) The Case for Open Source AI

(00:39:01) Abundant Intelligence Isn't Inevitable

(00:40:55) Compute Independence

(00:43:14) Debates Inside Conviction

(00:45:27) AI's Opportunity in Biology

(00:48:58) Why Conviction

(00:50:31) Finding Truth and Taking Risk

(00:54:16) What Changes in the Next Year

(00:56:46) The Kindest Thing

Sarah Guo - Funding the Frontier - [Invest Like the Best, EP.489]

My guest today is Neil Movva, founder of Sail. Sail is building what Neil calls a token factory, an inference company designed for a specific kind of future, one where AI agents run in the background for hours or days at a time rather than answering a human in real time. 

In that world, latency matters less and cost matters more, and Neil has built the whole company around driving the cost of a token as low as it can possibly go.

What makes this conversation special is that it is one of the most detailed tours I have ever done through the full stack of intelligence, the software, the chips, and the power, and how all three connect. 

Along the way we cover the trade-off between speed and cost that lives inside every GPU, his scavenger strategy for buying the chips and power nobody else wants, his contrarian view on Nvidia, and why the premium the frontier labs charge for being three to six months ahead may not last. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Neil Movva.

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

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Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

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Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best

(00:02:20) Neil Movva

(00:03:22) Building a Token Factory

(00:05:32) The Rise of Long-Running Agents

(00:08:47) Deep Research and Cybersecurity

(00:15:12) The Full Stack of Intelligence

(00:20:03) Throughput Versus Latency

(00:24:58) The Future of AI Chips

(00:33:19) Why Transformers Work

(00:36:43) The Future of Data

(00:44:05) The Market for AI Chips

(00:47:56) Is the AI Boom Different?

(00:51:08) Reinventing the Data Center

(00:56:43) Scavenging Power

(01:01:04) Where Compute Is Most Inefficient

(01:07:02) Open Versus Closed Models

(01:10:37) A Trillion Tokens a Day

(01:12:42) The Contrarian Case on NVIDIA

(01:14:38) Advice for AI Hardware Founders

Neil Movva - Making AI 10x Cheaper - [Invest Like the Best, EP.488]

My guest today is Ben Thompson, the founder and author of Stratechery. Ben is one of my favorite business thinkers and I love talking to him about everything happening in markets and technology. 

We go through every important company, including OpenAI, Nvidia, Intel, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. We also discuss why he thinks it would be dangerous for the United States to win the AI race outright, what container shipping and the railroads of the 1870s tell us about the buildout, and why the binding constraint on all of this may be capital rather than compute. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Ben Thompson.

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

-----

Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠.

-----

⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

-----

Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠. 

-----

WorkOS⁠ is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel.

-----

Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest.

-----

⁠Ridgeline⁠ has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgeline.ai⁠.

-----

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best

(00:02:16) Winning the AI Race With China

(00:08:28) Timing, Capital, and the Railroads

(00:11:34) Berkshire, Google, and Absolute Profits

(00:14:23) Verifiable and Unverifiable Domains

(00:20:20) Aggregation Theory in the AI Era

(00:22:06) The Real Cost of Inference

(00:25:40) Why Consumer AI Needs Advertising

(00:30:08) Compute Shortages and Commodity Markets

(00:35:46) Memory Cycles and Boom Bust Dynamics

(00:42:08) TSMC, Intel, and Where Risk Goes

(00:44:51) The Best Setups in Big Tech

(00:52:14) The Frontier Model Contenders

(00:54:27) Microsoft's IBM Playbook

(01:00:45) Meta, Attention, and Advertising

(01:07:29) NVIDIA, Commodities, and Power