Podcast Notes Playlist: Business

• Understand the difference between work and play: work is anything that is energy-depleting, while play is energy-regenerating
• In life, there is a big difference between what you are good at and how you are wired
• If you do not love what you do, you will probably not stick with it even if you excel at it
• No amount of pleasure from lifestyle inflation can offset a lack of purpose
• What minimalism is to your things, slow living is to your time
• Concepts of intentional living include voluntary simplicity, downshifting, minimalism, digital minimalism, decluttering, financial independence, and lifestyle design   
• Epiphanies happen when you read something that you intuitively knew, but aren’t unable to put into words until then 
• Always consider the second and third-order effects of an action, and try to make that action positively reinforce other goals that you have
• As you psychologically develop, how you relate to what you know changes
• Quality is a byproduct of quantity; you will get better at something the more that you do it 
• A synthesizing mind is a mind with the capacity to take in a lot of information, reflect on it, and then organize it in a way that is useful to you that also proves useful to others
• When you reflect on a situation or period of time, oftentimes you realize things that you did not realize when you were in the midst of it
• Having awareness of your thoughts and understanding that you are not your thoughts changes your relationship with them

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• Many of the high-margin software businesses have no impact on society, and sometimes can even have a negative impact on society 
• Founders in the dynamism category are creating teams that are mission-oriented and interested in more than just making money; they want to build techno-optimist solutions for strategically important problems 
• It is important for society’s best players to choose good quests
• It is best to lean into your passions and overinvest in them 
• We must encourage people to be “spikey” instead of only encouraging them to be “well-rounded”  
• In his early days at Founder Fund, Trae was looking to invest in a 21st-century reboot of Lockheed Martin; it did not exist, so he started it 
• If a company is going to work, each team member must leverage their own superpower to achieve the company’s audacious goal 
• The adversary must know that Anduril’s product will prevent their offensive from happening and that the defensive cost to prevent it is far lower than the offensive cost to launch it  
• “The DoD has done a really good job at creating theater around their innovation efforts.” – Trae Stephens 
• The big defense primes are effectively government agencies that respond to the incentives presented to them 
• Mimetic desire is the primary motivation for conflict in society because we are all going after the scarce resources that other people want  
• Working and learning about an industry in a supporting role is 100x better than graduate school
• The first question that Trae Stephens asks in every pitch meeting is: “What is the origin story of this business?”
• Ask yourself what you are uniquely suited to do to contribute to a greater good
• We lose the wonders of virtue when we rely on ourselves as the source of all truth 

My guest this week is Trae Stephens. Trae is a partner at Founders Fund and co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril. Trae’s philosophy can be boiled down to finding good quests, which has led him to investing in businesses that work closely with the government on societally important issues. Clearly, that extends to co-founding Anduril and I would highly recommend listening to my Business Breakdowns episode on Anduril if you haven’t already. In this conversation, we discuss the importance of lobbyists, why the high-tech defense firms of the past became stale, and how he hunts for disagreeableness in founders. Please enjoy my conversation with Trae Stephens.

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

Listen to Founders Podcast

Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder

Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren

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Show Notes

[00:03:17] - [First question] - Why Trae thinks most high-margin businesses are bad for society

[00:04:28] - What would he change to impact energy technology most if he were in charge

[00:06:18] - His investing focus on dynamism and mission-driven tech companies

[00:09:42] - Analyzing why relatively few people strive to make society-level advancements

[00:11:35] - What he’s done as a parent to enable his kids to develop passions

[00:12:41] - The most noteworthy adventures in his career

[00:14:41] - Founding Anduril and what it taught him about the tech industry

[00:18:40] - The cutting-edge of defense technologies today

[00:21:29] - What Shyam Sankar of Palantir taught him about defense tech

[00:23:34] - Why some of the biggest defense tech companies have stopped innovating

[00:28:29] - What he and Anduril have learned about sales and scaling in the public sector

[00:32:12] - Where lobbyists and decision makers play in to defense tech business models

[00:35:22] - His take on Peter Thiel’s notion that competition should be avoided

[00:38:24] - The importance of being psychologically disagreeable when building a start-up

[00:39:54] - The origin story that stands out the most from companies he has interviewed

[00:41:12] - How he developed an investor mindset on his unorthodox path to the venture world

[00:43:57] - What he has learned from playing supporting roles and aligning with great leaders

[00:46:11] - Important but uncommon lessons about entrepreneurship

[00:48:21] - Venture investing lessons he’s learned from Lauren Gross

[00:50:00] - His first VR project and aspirations for the future of VR

[00:54:50] - The role of religion and spirituality in his business philosophies

[00:59:13] - Why he tries to capitalize on morality as opposed to sin

[01:03:57] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

• Check Out the Learning Leader Show Episode Page & Show Notes

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David Lieberman, Ph.D., is a renowned psychotherapist and the author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestsellers Get Anyone to Do Anything and Never Be Lied to Again. He has trained personnel in the U.S. 

• Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” A person looks at the world as a reflection of themselves. If they see the world as corrupt, they feel on some level that they are corrupt. If they see honest working people, that is frequently how they see themselves.
• “How someone treats you is a reflection of their own emotional health and says everything about them and nothing about you.”
• Speaking negatively behind someone’s back orients you to look for the negative in others. Wouldn’t we rather spend time with people who seek the greatness in others?
• “The less emotionally healthy a person is, the more they denigrate the world to accommodate their own insecurities.”
• Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is a tool. How it is wielded makes all of the difference. Real power is the responsible application of knowledge.
• Word usage: Let’s take the example of giving a compliment. A woman who believes what she’s saying is more likely to use a personal pronoun. For instance, “I really liked your presentation.” However, a person offering insincere flattery might say, “Nice presentation,” or “Looks like you did a lot of research.” In the second case, she has removed herself from the equation.
• The Art of reading the bluff - When a person is bluffing, they are managing others’ impressions to convey the “right” effect and serve a personal agenda. Conversely, the authentic person is not interested in how they come across because they are unconcerned with their image.
  • “People who bluff habitually overcompensate, so you can uncover a bluff instantly by noticing how someone tries to appear.”
• Relationships: Whenever David speaks to couples, he's always on the lookout when the word we is conspicuously absent from the conversation.
• We are attracted to positivity. It reflects humility.
• "Humility connects you to the ownership of mistakes."
  • Humility can recognize a weakness in self.
• The difference between a sociopath and a psychopath:
  • A sociopath has no conscious. They are very dangerous.
  • A psychopath's wiring is off. They were born that way.
• Life and career advice: Find a passion that contributes to the world.
  • Don't get too caught up in image or ego.
• "You can be anything. you're good at. as long as they're hiring." -- Chris Rock

• Check out the Knowledge Project Podcast Episode Page & Show Notes

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In this episode, Dakin and Peter discuss tips for new entrepreneurs, how to build a successful company and the power of venture capital for the economy.

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Dakin Sloss is a venture capitalist, founder, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder and General Partner of Prime Movers Lab, a VC startup that’s become the world’s leading partner in breakthrough scientific startups.

Learn more about Prime Movers Lab.

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