Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

In World War II, the U.S. government embraced a radical idea: putting scientists and technologists in charge of building advanced weapons. The rest, as we say, is history. What are the radical ideas we need today? And what can we learn from the history of Silicon Valley? This week, we talk with Steve Blank — serial entrepreneur, Stanford professor, and influential author who created concepts that define today's innovation ecosystem. After serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, Steve landed his first job at William Perry's now-famous Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory. He went on to launch several companies, from taking on Intel in microprocessor manufacturing to building early versions of CRM. His book, "Four Steps to the Epiphany," is credited as the intellectual backbone of the lean startup movement. He has also studied the Pentagon for decades, served on the Defense Business Board, and co-founded Stanford's Gordian Knot Center. We start with Steve's entrepreneurial journey and the evolution of Silicon Valley over the past 50 years, from helping end the Cold War to pioneering the computer and internet age. We also examine the devolution of government and its decline from the engine of technology and research in the 20th century to today's slow, bloated bureaucracy.  Steve outlines his bold ideas for reforming the Pentagon and outpacing China in the technology race; he also breaks down the difference between execution and innovation and how the best organizations, like SpaceX, can manage both simultaneously.  Finally, we discuss why Steve had called for a pause in AI research and, given his concerns over China, if we can afford to pause. 00:00 Episode Intro01:40 "Bill Perry was my first boss" 7:43 The Secret History of Silicon Valley12:14 How US govt fell behind SV17:05 SpaceX vs NASA22:00 Radical ideas for Pentagon 26:28 Execution vs Innovation31:13 Lean startup vs fat startup 40:11 Does industrial policy work? 43:40 Why did Steve call for AI pause?  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com

What does political courage look like in action? What does it mean to stand up to special interests? And what are the fights we must take on — and win — to keep America free and prosperous? I recently interviewed Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt at the Cicero Institute's 2024 Courage Awards, where we recognized him and other bold leaders from across the country for taking on cronyism and corruption in the face of great opposition.  Stitt considers himself a businessman governor: he started Gateway Mortage with $1,000 and a computer before scaling it into a national company. He never sought public office before running for governor, and since he's taken charge, he's run it like a business: balancing budget shortfalls, streamlining permitting, and slashing regulations. More impressively, he's demonstrated real courage in standing up to powerful special interests, like the homelessness industrial complex, and others you might not expect, like the police union. Learn how he succeeded in getting real help to the homeless and mentally ill, and why he vetoed a pension increase for police officers. Stitt also explains how woke nonsense and cronyism manifest even in a deep red state — and how to fight it; why politics shouldn't be a career profession; and how he succeeded in passing one of the boldest school choice programs in the nation. Oklahoma has become one of the nation's fastest-growing states under his leadership, and you'll see why. 00:00 Episode Intro01:58 Entrepreneur to governor05:29 Passing school choice8:33 Taking on the homeless industrial complex12:20 Vetoing police pension increase15:45 Slashing regulations19:05 Fixing the nursing shortfall / workforce readiness22:13 Limiting the growth of government This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com

For Episode 100, we have a special conversation with Elad Gil, one of Silicon Valley's great thinkers, builders, and investors. Elad has been involved with many of the leading technology companies of the past 20 years — and likely the next 20 years. Learn how he's backed dozens of unicorns, why he thinks AI is underhyped, and where he sees investment opportunities amid this new wave of disruption.  An early leader at Google, Elad helped build the initial mobile team, before founding MixerLabs, which was acquired by Twitter in 2009. Elad stayed on as VP of Corporate Strategy and became a key "fixer" during Twitter's hypergrowth phase. Later, he co-founded Color Health, a genetic testing company specializing in cancer detection. Over the past decade, he's backed nearly 40 unicorns, including Airbnb, Coinbase, Figma, Instacart, and Stripe. He's also invested in Harvey, Mistral, Perplexity, Pika, and other leading AI startups.  In this episode, Elad takes us behind the scenes of the early days of Google and Twitter, and how Silicon Valley culture has evolved. He explains his three categories of exceptional founders and how he positioned himself to become one of the top angel investors. We also dive deep into AI, from the trajectory of LLMs to frameworks for investing in the AI value stack. Finally, we discuss AI's impact on education and the most exciting possibilities for the decade ahead.  00:00 Episode intro01:16 Building Google’s mobile team06:01 Early days at Twitter11:37 Building Color Health 15:57 How he’s backed dozens of unicorns 21:52 How small clusters of talent change the world25:20 Where are the young people in government?27:25 Where are the young startup founders?30:17 Why AI is underhyped36:40 Will LLMs get exponentially better? 39:10 Investing in the AI value stack41:33 AI and the future of education This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com

The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. The wealthiest among us don't pay their fair share in taxes. The American Dream is disappearing... Are these claims true? What data are they based upon? And does it stand up to scrutiny? This week, we analyze the debate over income inequality and mobility in America with economist and former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm. In his book, "The Myth of American Inequality" (winner of the 2024 Hayek Prize), Gramm lays out the oft-cited data for widening inequality and exposes where it falls short. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the top 20% of earners possess 16.7 times the income of the bottom 20%. However, Gramm reveals that this data excludes nearly all government transfer payments to the poor, like food stamps, and fails to subtract the high taxes paid by top earners. Adjusting for these factors, inequality drops from 16.7X to 4X! Gramm also points out that benefits to the poor have increased from $9,700 per household in 1967 (adjusted for inflation) to nearly $50,000 today. He argues that we suffer, not from extreme inequality, but from welfare-driven equality that encourages huge numbers of low-and-middle income Americans to drop out of the workforce. Senator Phil Gramm served in Washington D.C. for 25 years, first as a Congressman and later as a three-term Senator from Texas. He's an economist by training who taught at Texas A&M before entering public service. His book is a must-read for understanding the inequality debate, the truth about the super-rich, and the state of the American Dream. 00:00 Episode intro 03:32 Is inequality extreme and growing? 10:45 Elon Musk and the super-rich16:19 Is Warren Buffet cheating the government? 22:55 Industrial Revolution — setting the record straight 29:35 Do billionaires pay their fair share? 33:40 Is the American Dream dying? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com