Podcast Notes Playlist: Business

Tobi Lütke (Shopify Founder & CEO), Kaz Nejatian (Shopify COO), and Balaji review how Shopify rose from tiny startup to $180B+ global economy, with an annual GMV on par with the GDP of New Zealand. In the process they touch on Hayek, the Hanseatic League, merchant cavemen, the history of the corporation, and the optimal level of platform decentralization.

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Step inside the Group Partner Lounge to hear Y Combinator Group Partners Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel and Brad Flora discuss the many different mistakes founders make when they approach hiring for their startup and how to grow your team the correct way.  

• We are entering an exponential trajectory of technological progress and our antiquated minds cannot possibly keep up unless we change the stories, programming, and hardware
• Technological progress is like a snowball rolling down a hill, picking up more matter and evolving as it goes 
• Today, we are operating on the programming that worked really well in caves and savannas but does not work quite as well in the massive groups that we find ourselves in now   
• Stories can help us overcome the deeply-rooted social wiring that does not always serve us
• Negative storytelling appeals to our base emotion of fear, especially novel fear regarding things that new
• The heretics working on the leading edge of technology must reframe their innovation’s impact with better stories  
• We may fall victim to a self-fulfilling prophecy of a tech dystopia if we do not get the stories right  
• Humans evolved during times of zero-sum conflict, so all of the stories we told around the campfire were zero-sum conflict-based stories
• Upgrading the human operating system will not solve all the world’s problems, but it will create new and better problems that can also be solved 
• Humans control what pumps the gas or slams on the break for the AI, which are control measures that we barely have for ourselves 
• Our current system is optimized for growing GDP, not human flourishing 
• Reduce the flow of negative information into your mind and increase the volume of positive information in the world
• Try to be optimistic about the future, and see yourself as a human on earth instead of being a member of a specific tribe 

Author, CEO of VUDU Marketing and digital nomad Sam McRoberts returns for his second appearance on Infinite Loops. This week, Sam and Jim discuss Sam’s latest book ‘The Grand Redesign’.
Part science-fiction, part operating manual for upgrading human OS, ‘The Grand Redesign’ touches on a number of recurring Infinite Loops themes, and is available for free online (see ‘Important Links’ section below).

Important Links:

• The Grand Redesign
  
• Sam’s Twitter
  
• Sam’s Substack
  
• The Thinker and The Prover
  
• Tinkered Thinking’s winning entry to our ‘White Mirror’ competition
  

Show Notes:

• Why Sam wrote the book
  
• Is the Watcher a reliable narrator?
  
• Interfering with complex systems
  
• An overview of Social OS
  
• Why we need White Mirror
  
• The kindness pledge
  
• Incentives and the Cobra Effect
  
• How do we break the Shannon limit?
  
• Jim’s movie idea
  
• Improving the political and legal system
  
• The opportunities of AI
  
• Optimising our system for flourishing
  
• Finding the hidden geniuses
  
• Sam’s solutions; reaching the tipping point
  
• Sam’s hopes for the book
  
• MUCH more!
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Grand Redesign; by Sam McRoberts
  
• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
  
• Prometheus Rising; by Robert Anton Wilson
  
• House of Cards: Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth; by Robyn Dawes
  
• The Lessons of History: by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
  
• Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine; by Derren Brown
  
• The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future; by Kevin Kelly
  

• “I’m a client guy. No one wants to drink alone. So if he’s drinking, or if she’s drinking, I’m drinking.” – John Mack 
• John came from a small predominantly Baptist town in North Carolina; the party scene of 1970s Wall Street was a culture shock for him 
• Lessons learned from the bond desk: be upfront, focus on your clients, and don’t get drunk at lunch (but occasionally do)
• “At the end of the day, it’s all about trust. And it’s all about delivering on what you say you are going to do.” – John Mack on building business relationships 
• Globalization and technology changed Wall Street more than anything else 
• In the 1970s, Wall Street bankers would go out to lunch for hours and not miss anything; today, bankers can’t leave their desk 
• John Mack tried to create a “One Firm, Firm” culture that reduced information silos and encouraged collaboration 
• Anyone with a personal fiefdom is terrible for a firm trying to create a strong culture
• Advice for college graduates interested in finance: get your foot in the door, figure out how to get to know people in the company that you want to work for, perform well in your current job, and get an accounting degree or an MBA if you want to be an M&A specialist 
• Hold onto the great companies that you invest in 

Bloomberg Radio host Barry Ritholtz speaks with the legendary John Mack, former chief executive officer and chairman of the board at Morgan Stanley. His memoir of his life and 34-year tenure at Morgan Stanley — “Up Close and All In: Life Lessons From a Wall Street Warrior” — was published in October. 

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As 2022 comes to a close and a new year beckons, we are presented with an opportunity to reflect on the past twelve months. Explore new aspirations. And set intentions for the year to come. Allow me to indulge this truth by introducing Part Two of my annual yearbook—an auditory anthology of the year’s most compelling conversations. Enjoy the best of the year.

Guest List + Full Episode Links:

• RRP 692: Malcolm Gladwell
• RRP 723: Mel Robbins
• RRP 715: Casey Neistat
• RRP 718: Whitney Cummings
• RRP 695: Peter Attia, MD
• RRP 678: Gemma Newman, MD
• RRP 702: Dr. Gabor Maté
• RRP 714: Robynne Chutkan, MD
• RRP 703: Max Fisher
• RRP 660: Sylvia Earle
• RRP 701: Ken Rideout
• RRP 694: Colin O’Brady & Jenna Besaw
• RRP 705: Paul Conti, MD
• RRP 670: Earthling Ed Winters
• RRP 681: Chip Conley

Show notes + MORE

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