Podcast
David Senra
Hosted by David Senra · EN
60episodes
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Ed Thorp: A Man for All Markets
Oct 14, 201900:11:27Tap to summarizePart 1 Why did you write this book [A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market]? The way I think about things is somewhat different than almost everybody that I meet. And that has been very helpful to me. Maybe I can get that across in this book. That motivated me to tell my story and hopefully do some good for other people. [2:00]I was born in Chicago during The Great Depression. As a kid I went to a bad school. I was interested in science, math, physics, astronomy, electronics and so on. So I started teaching myself. [3:45] When did you know that you were smarter than other people? I don’t think of myself or other people that way. Everybody is good at something. Any person knows something some other person doesn’t know. I don’t think in those terms. [5:40]You perfected counting cards in blackjack. It is now very common because you wrote the best selling book: Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One. Why? Mathematicians had spent a couple hundred years developing probability theory. With the theory they showed almost no gambling game could possibly be beaten. I thought it was a math problem worth telling people the answer to. That is how I got into it. [11:42] When I was doing most of my playing, Las Vegas was mobbed up. People were being beat up, kicked out, cheated, drinks drugged. I had my drink drugged. They rigged the brakes of my car. I couldn’t stop the car with the brakes. I put on the emergency brake, shifted down, and turned off the key. I got the message. [15:50]How did you go from Las Vegas to Wall Street? For the first time in my life I had some savings. I made some investments. They did terribly. I was an idiot. I had to think about this if I didn’t want to lose money. So I started educating myself about investing.[18:11] I realized the lessons from gambling was a better training ground for understanding how to be a good investor. That seems surprising since investing is supposedly so complicated. You learn discipline. You learn money management. You learn to compute with numbers and probabilities. [19:00]Paul Wilmot [a quant and author of the book The Money Formula: Dodgy Finance, Pseudo Science, and How Mathematicians Took Over the Markets] said it best. What happened was once the quantitative revolution got started on Wall Street a lot of people with mathematical training, but not a lot of street smart sense, began using models and formulas the didn’t have good thinking behind them. Example: Collateralized Mortgage Obligations. [20:33]Full video: A Man for All Markets Part 1 Part 2 [While Ed was teaching at UC Irvine] Ralph Girard —the dean of the graduate school — was in investor in Buffett Partners Limited. Buffett Partners Limited was shutting down in 1968. Girard wanted another place to put his money. He invited me to dinner with Warren Buffett. We hit it off. Buffett asked me a bunch of questions and I answered. Girard decided to invest with me. [2:20]Is Buffett a really bright guy? Yes. He is very smart. Much smarter than you would imagine. He talks a mile a minute. He is clever. He has good math skills. He is very comfortable with numbers. He can do a lot of computing in his head. [3:31] What was your encounter with Bernie Madoff? Back in 1991 I was asked by a big international consulting firm to look at their portfolio. They had money with Madoff. When I saw it I said: What this guy is doing should only produce returns that are about like the stock market. When the market is up he should be up. When the market is down he should be down. But he’s never down. [4:30] I noticed that there was a strange trade that would occur when the market should have taken him down. So he is making a profit every single month. For years. I said he is either a genius or a fraud. Odds are he is a fraud. [5:35]I looked at his confirmation slips and went to see if the trades actually happened. Half of them never happened. These are fake confirmation slips. I tried going to Bernie Madoff Investments and they said the would not let me in the front door. [6:26] Did you ever think I should go to the authorities with this? Bernie Madoff had been a chairman of NASDAQ. He was the biggest 3rd market trader in the US. He was on all types of committees. He was the establishment. The SEC checked him and gave him a rubber stamp of authenticity. This happened year after year after year. [7:30]Investing is kind of like the Super Bowl. If you want a good Super Bowl team you need a good offense and a good defense. And a good defense keeps other people from taking your money. [8:41] I started the first quantitatively based market neutral hedge fund [Princeton/Newport Partners] back in 1969. We only lost money in 3 months out of 230 months. . . Rudy Giuliani wanted my partner to give him dirt on Goldman Sachs and Michael Milken. My parter wouldn’t cooperate. So Giuliani raided our office. The trial dragged on for years at a great expense. The government ended up dropping prosecution of most people on most counts. [9:18] How rich are you? [His fund returned almost 20% for 20 years] That is a question I don’t answer. Best to stay mute. [16:40]You are 84 years old. You are amazingly fit. Do you have a secret to that to? I try to stay aerobically fit. I try to keep good muscular strength. I get frequent checkups at the doctor. I try to eat fairly well. I weigh myself every morning and I write it down. That automatically changes my behavior. Awareness leads to change. If my weight starts creeping up I find myself eating less without even thinking about it. [18:31] You end your book [A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market] with things that anybody can grasp. You are saying marry well and be surrounded by friends and family. What do you have to say about that? What really matters in life isn’t how much money you make or the things you have. It is who you spend your time with and who you are close to. Family, spouse, good friends. Life is really about spending time well. [20:05] Full video A Man for All Markets Part 2 Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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An interview with Mr. Beast: Finding success on Youtube
Oct 11, 201900:04:05Tap to summarizeBenefits of Mr Beast’s company being in North Carolina: Less taxes, less rent, less cost of employees. If my warehouse [where he shoots his videos] was in LA it would be 8x the cost. It wouldn’t be feasible. [3:00] In North Carolina a 7 room office is $1800 a month. The office they are recording this podcast is in L.A. The rent is $3000 a month for 2 rooms. [4:19] The more we talk the more you’ll realize I do YouTube and that is about it. I like to delegate everything else to other people so I can focus on it. [4:40] You asked me about my shirt. I didn’t buy this. I had someone shop for me. I suck at fashion. I suck at anything that is not YouTube. [4:43] You outsource everything that is not video making? At the moment - since we are blowing up - it is optimal to spend the time doing that. [5:03]Two years ago I didn’t have a single employee. [5:26]If you are a YouTuber it is about opportunity cost. If you can pay someone a few hundred dollars to free up time to put towards a video that is getting millions of views— that is a no brainer. [6:18] I edited my first 800 videos. I remember thinking no one will ever to able to match my style. All that other crap everyone else says. Then you get an editor and it is like I was stupid. You could put that time into making your next video. [7:00] From 12 years old until now all I did was YouTube. My friends make movie references I don’t get. I only grew up on YouTube. [10:33] I was grinding everyday for years. Not getting anywhere. There was so many times when I went to bed wondering if I was wasting my time. [11:00]I think most people have more time. They just convince themselves they don’t. Anyone listening to this probably spends an hour plus a day on Instagram and Twitter. If you cut that out your life would be no worse off and you would have a free hour to do whatever you want. [16:30] I love when people grind for a year or 2 and then give up and say it’s impossible. Those are rookie numbers. [17:15] People over complicate the Youtube algorithm. If people click on your video and watch your video- what the f**k else does YouTube want? They don’t care about comments or likes. None of that matters. They just want you to click and watch. [21:38]Full video here: Mr Beast on H3H3 Podcast. Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Uncommon Knowledge: Peter Thiel on The Straussian Moment
Oct 10, 201900:04:13Tap to summarizePeter on his essay The Straussian Moment: Instead of violent wars there could be violent video games. Instead of heroic feats there could be thrilling amusement park rides. Instead of serious thought there could be intrigues of all sorts as if in a soap opera. It is a world where people spend their lives amusing themselves to death. [6:44]Advice Peter would give to the 18 year old version of himself: Think a lot harder about the future. Don’t think of education as a substitute for the future. Try to think concretely about what you want to do. There is something about the tracked educational system - it gets packaged as a form of thought. But it’s a substitute for thought. It’s a substitute for the future. [44:10] You probably don’t want to do the things that are hyper-competitive that everyone is doing. [44:44][A good question to ask yourself] What’s a good career that other people aren’t pursuing? The politically incorrect career is petroleum engineering. It’s super lucrative. For ideological reasons not enough people go into it. [45:21]At this stage of your life what are you trying to accomplish? It sounds too ambitious and grandiose but I would like our society to get back to the future. To get back to a society that is progressing in all these important dimensions. [46:11] The future arrives. It will be different from the present. If we don’t think about it, it is much less likely to be a good future than if we worked to craft it. [46:50]Full video here. Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Distributed with Matt Mullenweg: Stephen Wolfram on 28 Years of Remote Work
Oct 7, 201900:08:58Tap to summarizeI developed this area of science called complexity theory. I decided to start a company that will build the tools that I want for myself. These tools are useful to lots of other people in the world. [3:28]We started the company in Champaign, Illinois. That is probably not people’s first choice as to where to start a technology company. [3:46] We got off to a very quick start. I was injecting ideas into the company at a very high rate. I was getting more and more frustrated that these things weren’t getting done. Just a few years ago we completed our 1991 to do list. [4:11] I decided to step back and spend most of my time doing basic science. I was the main person to start working off site [This is when he starts working remotely]. [5:05] Did you raise venture capital? No outside money. . .Not having venture capital is great. I don’t have a boss. I recommend it. [6:07]I think of myself as pretty average at business. [6:50] We’ve been profitable every year for 31 years now. That is achieved by a very simple process: spend less than you make. [11:32] To me the focus is can you be productive? Where you live is your independent business. [13:47] Tips for remote collaboration: We never use video conferencing. It’s always screen sharing and voice. [16:37] Stephen’s blog post: Seeking the Productive Life: Some Details of My Personal Infrastructure. It is a very comprehensive view of Stephen’s entire personal operating system. [18:00] Stephen live streams his internal meetings: I started live streaming the meetings because I thought they were fascinating. It is a shame for them to just go off into the ether. [18:33] Some of the cracks that are happening in the technology industry come from a lack of alignment. Who are the actual customers? The actual customers are the advertisers, not the people. [21:45] I see a large part of my role [in the company] as matching the talented people we have with the projects we want to do. [27:10]Unique way to ask for a job: I’ve been reporting bugs in your software for 6 or 7 years now. I want to come and help fix them. [37:57]Traits that make people successful: Independence of mind. Keep your thinking apparatus engaged at all time. Don’t b******t. [38:08] Full podcast here: Distributed with Matt Mullenweg: Stephen Wolfram on 28 Years of Remote WorkLearn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Kobe Bryant at USC
Oct 3, 201900:03:34Tap to summarizeThe trick is finding what you love to do. We talk about hard work all the time. If you gotta get up every morning and remind yourself how hard you have to work you probably need to choose a different profession. That shouldn’t be there. I wake up in the morning excited to get to it. If I am not training I am missing it. There is no place I’d rather be. If you have that feeling then you are doing what you were put on this earth to do. [7:45] The best way to prove your value is to work. To learn. To absorb. To be a sponge. You always want to outwork your potential. As hard as you believe you can work? You can work harder than that. [8:54] I had a competitive nature, work ethic, and curiosity. I asked a lot of questions. I would always sit down with all of the Lakers’ greats and ask them questions about certain games I had studied growing up. [9:52]Dreams should be pure. We are born into this world and we wind up going backwards. The more we mature the more responsible our dreams become. The more governors we put on ourselves and our ability to dream. Make sure your dreams always stay pure. If you protect your dreams and your imagination the world seems limitless. [11:34] What was your articulated competitive philosophy? My philosophy was very simple. Rudy was one of my favorite films growing up. After watching that film I came to understand that if I could work that hard everyday –what would my career be? I made a promise to myself that I was going to work that hard every single day so when I do retire I had no regrets. Leave no stone unturned. Get better every single day. If I lived that way then over time I would have something beautiful. If you live your life to get better every single day and you do that for 20 years–– what do you have? [17:36] As a leader of a team it is your responsibility to elevate the rest of the team. The way to make them better is to get them emotionally to want to be better. To get them to an emotional space where they wake up every morning driven to be the best version of themselves. [21:35]How did you deal with teammates who weren’t as dedicated as you were? My response may sound a little tough but I’d kill them. I’d bury them. That mentality is not tolerated. If you show up and lallygag through this scrimmage or this drill, I am going to beat you. I am going to let you know I beat you. And I am going to want you to reconsider your professional life choice. [24:31]If you are lazy I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to deal with you. You are going to make me feel dumber. You are going to lower my level. I don’t think so. [25:42] How you create something that lasts forever: Pay everything that you have learned forward, to the next generation to come. Inspire one, who inspires the next, who inspires the next, and on and on you go. [39:54] Full video here.Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Bill Gurley – Direct Listing vs. IPOs | Invest Like The Best #144
Oct 1, 201900:04:46Tap to summarizeFamous Warren Buffett quote: If you’ve been playing poker for a half hour and you still don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy. [1:27]The CFO of Spotify started in on this idea that the way we go about pulling off an IPO was designed 4 centuries ago. [1:57]It hasn’t been updated for modern technologies. As a result there has been $171 billion of underpricing. Silicon Valley has been the patsy. The companies are getting the short end of the stick. [2:13]It would be like selling your house and then finding out the next day that the broker resold your house to someone else for 80% more. Why would you celebrate that? [3:08]The reason that mispricing can happen over and over again is because of a massive frequency mismatch. A founder does one IPO in their lifetime. The investment banks and the buy side are doing 20 to 40 a year. [4:18]In game theory they have this thing called flow. In games where one side has way more experience than the other player, the less experienced player has anxiety. . . If you are anxious, you are more likely to fall back on tradition because it is the safest bet. [5:09]Another crazy thing that happens is the company is told the ultimate goal is to be 10 to 20 times over subscribed. That is a euphemism for we are about to ignore 95% of demand. [10:12] With a traditional IPO the decisions are all made by hand. Some human is going to guess what the share price should be and who should get the shares. [11:25] In the last 18 months there has been $12 billion in mispricings. The deficit to the founder’s pockets— in just two companies [Elastic and Zoom]— was $200 million. [14:42] [Bill favors direct listing instead of a traditional IPO] What should be happening is an algorithmic match. Line up supply, line up demand and then you match the people. [17:45] It goes back to the pageantry of an IPO. The minute your are done —and your stock is popping —they put you on a pedestal, ring bells, throw confetti, and tell you what a wonderful job you did. I think it is all to make you feel good about something you shouldn’t feel good about.[22:02] One of the great things about a direct listing is it just simplifies so much of this stuff. [28:11]Direct listings means there is no lockup so you have more liquidity day one. [31:24] Sequoia’s Mike Moritz said that the things that separate companies from doing direct listings are intelligence and courage. I think you need both. I don’t dismiss how hard that might be. [44:16] Full podcast here: Invest Like the Best, EP.144 Bill Gurley – Direct Listing vs. IPOsLearn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Interview with Wade Foster, CEO and Co-Founder of Zapier
Sep 26, 201900:05:06Tap to summarizeWhat’s one thing you wish you would have learned earlier as a leader? I think I’ve found throughout the years that people really just enjoy working with leaders who have a little more intellectual honesty. Leaders that are real when they don’t know the answers. But also confident when they do. When you do this well, the organization just gets better at solving problems, because they’re able to be more honest with each other. If you as a leader are willing to say, “I don’t know the answer. There’s going to be times in the future where I continue to not know the answer. I’m not the best in the world at this job. That’s just how it is.” [2:06] Get rid of this façade of we’re all going to be great, and just get to the reality of the situation. We’re all flawed people, our skill sets are all imperfect in some way. It just cuts out a lot of this theater around working and gets straight to the heart of the problem. How are we going to fix this? [3:15] For founders in particular, I think we tend to be wired in a certain way where we feel like we can just figure things out. We feel like we don’t need a manager to coach us. And so you start to say, our organization doesn’t need management, or we don’t need these types of things. I didn’t need it. I figured it out on my own. Why does anyone else in our company need this? So you start to tell yourself that story. And I think it takes a little while to just unwrap that belief. Not all managers are bad. It took me a while to make that transition. [7:55]Something that helped Wade learn how to become a better manager: There’s a really great podcast called Manager Tools. It’s two West Point grads who worked at PNG for a long time. They have this very no nonsense, sort of practical approach to management. [9:32] It took me a while to figure out that management is a skill I have to work at just like any other skill you might have to develop in running a company. [11:34] Your initial instincts about management may be wrong: Someone comes to you and says, “I have a problem.” And you’re like, I’m the manager, I’m the boss. My job is to solve the problem. So you jump in and solve the problem. But when you do that, you’re actually mistaking your roles. You’ve hired this person to solve problems. . .You’re missing out an opportunity to help them level up and be better. [13:26]I do not want all decisions to run through me, and all problems to be solved through me. [14:25] How does one’s leadership style have to adjust to running a remote company versus in person? I think the core psychology of management is the same, no matter if you’re in an office or if you’re remote. The principles still apply. You’re still trying to empower people to solve problems. You’re still there to provide feedback. You’re still there trying to help the organization hit its goals. All those things are the same. There’s just no differences. [16:30] I occasionally will freak the team out because my communication style is short and direct. I don’t flower up my messages. When I onboard people into the team, I have a whole guide for how my communication style is. Here’s how to understand when I say certain things. [21:38] How Wade improved how he gave feedback to employees: I think the realization for me that made it stick was, if you care about this person, and if you understand what their ambitions are, what their dreams are, what their goals are – if you notice something that you think would help them achieve those things, and you hold that back, that’s actually not a very nice thing to do. [26:36] One of the thing we’re trying to do is we’re just trying to be faster in our go-to-market, and faster in how we respond to our customers. I think a lot of orgs are trying to just generally be faster. [29:42] Full podcast here: The Heartbeat Podcast #33 Interview with Wade Foster, CEO and Co-Founder of Zapier.Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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A Decade of Learnings from Y Combinator
Sep 23, 201900:08:00Tap to summarizeEven though we have had a lot of success, I would argue that we are far more successful in understanding failure. We are experts in failure. I’m going to talk about how we see companies fail. I have a top 10 list. [1:00] Assuming that raising a successful seed round means you reached product market fit. This is extremely common. Founders tend to think that because investors want to invest in their company that their company must be amazing. That their company will go on to be the next big thing. That is rarely the case. The vast majority of the best investors have invested in dozens of companies that you’ve never heard of that have died. [1:30] Hiring too quickly. Founders think they have to hire 8 to 12 people once they’ve raised an angel round. It is cargo culting what a successful company is supposed to look like. When you have that many employees, the primary job of a CEO switches to management. But for a pre-product/market fit company the primary job of the CEO should be to focus on achieving product/market fit. You can see the disconnect. A lot of the advice we have to give is you need to let some of these people go because you are running low on money. You didn’t find product/market fit. [3:22] Not understanding your business model. We have a ton of B2B companies. The most common mistake they make is they don’t know if they can afford the process they need to do to acquire customers. Don’t just pursue the strategy that interests you. Pursue the strategy that is commensurate with how much you charge and who your customers are. [5:06] Not understanding when it is the right time to sell into a tech startup. This depends on what you are selling. If you are selling key components the startup is less likely to rip it out [cancel]. [Using Stripe as an example] If your payment system works you are not going to rip it out. [You might be better off selling to existing businesses] There are some advantages and disadvantages to not selling to startups. Existing businesses have more money. They are less likely to churn. But if you are selling to a larger company you are often selling to an executive. You won’t know what their budget and decision making ability is. [6:02]Assuming investors will be a large differentiator. The best advice I got as a founder was simple. An “A Investor” give you money, signs your paperwork, and shuts the f**k up. That is an A. There is a lot of room below an A. There is not a lot of room above. Founders often believe their investors will do far more for them then they actually end of doing. [8:40] Not establishing best practices around hiring. You need to set up an intelligent hiring process that good candidates will enjoy going through. You need to have good, open communication about equity. You need to set clear expectations about what an employee’s role is going to be. And most importantly don’t over believe in your ability to hire great people. Founders always say their team is the best. Clearly not every team is the best. Companies should be trying to minimize their non-essential employees. You should not believe you are great at hiring. If someone is not an essential employee within 3 months that is a sign that you didn’t make a good hiring decision. [10:45] Not establishing best practices around management. This is extremely common. Early stage management isn’t that complicated. What is missing is consistent 1 on 1s [between managers and employees]. Some type of all hands meeting. Getting employee buy in on strategy and tactics. If you are bringing in amazing, smart people into your company, why wouldn’t you want their opinion on what you are building? [12:42] Not clearly defining roles between founders. After you raise money and have a few employees suddenly there are some hard decisions to make. Who is going to lead product? Who is going to lead tech? Who is going to lead sales? Who will be responsible for recruiting? It is often the case that teams will not make these decisions. [15:05] Not having level 3 conversations within the founding team to relieve conflict. There will always be conflict within the founding team. There will always be the need for changes in roles and responsibilities. Great startups have a system to have hard conversations. Bad startups bottle it in. Bad startups get into constant fights. [16:35] Assuming the series A will be as easy to raise as the angel round. Founders tell me every week that they can raise a series A with a $1 million run rate [There is no guarantee that is true]. I tell founders they should think about this differently. Think about it like a video game. If you have to fight a level 20 boss you have 3 options. [1]You grind up to level 10 and get your ass kicked 20 times in a row. [2]Grind up to level 20 and you have a 50/50 shot of winning. [3]Grind up to level 30 and you kill the boss every time. Which would you rather do? You need to go into a series A conversation with high amounts of leverage so you get the terms you want. Most people aren’t special. They need leverage. [17:54] Full video here: A Decade of Learnings from Y Combinator by Michael SeibelLearn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Colin Angle: iRobot CEO | Lex Fridman Podcast #39
Sep 22, 201900:05:02Tap to summarizeWe need robots to helps us continue to improve our standard of living. The average age of humanity is increasing very quickly. The number of people young enough to care for the older demographic is inadequate. [3:55] Today the role of robots is to make our lives a little easier, cleaner, healthier. But in time, robots will be the difference between a decline in our ability to live independently, and a future where we have more control of our lives. [4:24] iRobot has narrowed its focus to the home as a place where we want to innovate. We want to deliver tools that will help a home be a more automatically maintained place. A healthier place. Today we vacuum and mop. Soon we will be mowing your lawn. [6:01] The direction iRobot is working towards: The robot is supposed to be your partner. Not just this automaton that goes and does what a robot does. [10:31] Example: If you tell the robot, “I just dropped some flour next to the fridge in the kitchen. Can you go deal with it?” Wouldn’t it be awesome if the right thing just happens based on that utterance? [10:35] [To accomplish that] The robot would have to listen to you. Understand the context of the sentence. Map it against its understanding of the home it lives in, and know what to do. [10:47] Before Roomba I was a high tech entrepreneur building robots. It wasn’t until I became a vacuum cleaner salesman that we had any success. The point is technology alone doesn’t equal a successful business. You have to find the compelling need. [14:32] We are just about none of the way to achieving what the potential of robots could be. [17:17] I expect there to be at least one iRobot robot in every home one day. We have sold 25 million robots. We are in about 10% of home in the US. That’s a great start. [26:50]Full podcast here. Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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Steve Jobs at 26 years old
Sep 19, 201900:04:45Tap to summarizeSince Apple was founded five years ago its sales have skyrocketed from $100,000 to $100 million. Steven Jobs helped builded the first Apple computer in his garage. He is now 26 years old and is Chairman of the Board. He sees his computer’s future as the future of mankind. Steve: This is the 21st century bicycle. It amplifies a certain intellectual ability that man has. I think after this process has come to maturity the effects that it is going to have on society are going to far outstrip those that the petrochemical revolution has had. Ted Koppel: There is a sense that many of us have —those who really don’t understand how computers work — that we are becoming controlled by the computers. Is there any danger of that happening? Steve Jobs: The product we manufacture— many people see it for the first time and they don’t think it is a computer. It is about 12 pounds. If the relationship doesn’t go well you can throw it out of the window. The process of the technological revolution we are all in is a process of taking very centralized things and making them very democratic. Very individualized. The definition of bicycle for the mind: I read a survey in Scientific American that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet and it ranked them. The condor won. It took the least amount of energy to get from point A to point B. Man was unimpressive about a third of the way down the list. Somebody had the idea to test the efficiency of man riding a bicycle. Man riding a bicycle was twice as good as the condor. This really illustrated man’s ability as a tool maker to fashion a tool to amplify an inherent ability that he has. That is what we feel we are doing. To amplify the ability of a certain type of intelligence. When you watch kids interact with these computers what you see is an instantaneous reflection of a part of themselves. The creative part of themselves being expressed. It is very difficult to portray that as something very harmful. It is actually quite democratic. In the personal computer area we have already reached 1 out of every 1000 households. I think over the next 5 or 6 years that figure will be 1 out of 10. Ultimately it will be 1 out of 1. Full video here. Learn from founders who came before you. Every week I read a biography of a founder and tell you what I learned on Founders podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidsenra.substack.com
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