Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
My guest today is Josh Buckley. Josh is the new CEO of Product Hunt and an investor in many breakout companies like Rippling, Lattice, Boom Supersonic, and Relativity Space. In our conversation, we cover how video game companies are at the forefront of new business models, what current companies can learn from video game companies, Josh’s investing philosophy, and the three things he looks for when trying to identify the next legendary startup. Josh’s long experience operating his video game business, Mino Games, gives him such an interesting perspective as an investor, and I really enjoyed exploring that with him. Please enjoy my conversation with Josh Buckley.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
[00:03:56] - [First question] - His start as an entrepreneur in online game
[00:05:09] - His parent's reaction to selling his first company at fifteen
[00:05:57] - Starting a second video game company
[00:07:40] - The video game industry being ahead of the curve in performance marketing, distribution, and operations
[00:08:49] - Notable two year lag between gaming innovation and other consumer sectors
[00:10:50] - What is happening today in gaming that may be a glimpse into the future
[00:12:41] - Key elements for creating a great gaming experience
[00:15:29] - Building a meta game on top of the game itself to maximize engagement
[00:17:23] - Monetizing free to play games through in-game purchases
[00:20:25] - The most portable idea from fifteen years in gaming that can be applied to business
[00:22:02] - A future shift towards usage-based pricing models
[00:23:03] - His overall investment philosophy and strategy
[00:26:45] - Example of small a market with a high growth rate
[00:27:38] - Key elements of system elements and design when evaluating a business
[00:31:07] - What a flywheel looks like and investing in one such as Next Health
[00:33:24] - Working core actions versus giving credit ones that aren’t yet working but may drive desirable outcomes
[00:34:13] - Why don’t more investing firms have a flywheel?
[00:39:04] - Product Hunt as a standalone business and part of a self-reinforcing ecosystem
[00:40:17] - Emerging systems and ecosystem edges in the digital landscape
[00:42:17] - Potential barriers for crypto becoming widely adopted in a variety of ways
[00:44:29] - New frontiers and platform shifts like crypto that may unlock new doors for companies
[00:45:13] - Which person has rewired his brain in his lifetime the most
[00:47:13] - Weirdness around Stripe and Plaid when he first encountered them
[00:48:37] - Meta games people in the industry are playing or should be playing
[00:51:25] - Controversial ideas around the business world today writ large
[00:54:01] - Implications of shifting primarily towards a digital world
[00:54:14] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him
Adam Sandow - The Power of Print Media - [Invest Like the Best, EP.376]
Howie Liu - Building Airtable - [Invest Like the Best, EP.375]
Mark Groden - The Future of Flying - [Invest Like the Best, EP.374]
Dev Ittycheria - The Database Evolution - [Invest Like the Best, EP.373]
Nico Wittenborn - Finding the Adjacent Possible - [Invest Like the Best, EP.372]
Mitch Rales: The Art of Compounding - [Art of Investing, Forever Episode]
Marc Lasry - Making Bucks in Credit and Sports - [Invest Like the Best, EP.371]
Bill Gurley & Michael Mauboussin - Putting Theory into Practice - [Invest Like the Best, EP.370]
Tim Ferriss - Curating Curiosities - [Invest Like the Best, EP.369]
Ken Langone - The American Dream - [Invest Like the Best, EP.368]
Robin Dunbar - Optimizing Human Connection (Dunbar's Number) - [Invest Like the Best, EP.367]
Sean Feeney - Reinventing the Restaurant Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.366]
Dave Fontenot - The Monastery of Code - [Invest Like the Best, EP.365]
Anne-Marie Peterson - The Capital System - [Invest Like the Best, EP.364]
Aravind Srinivas - Building An Answer Engine - [Invest Like the Best, EP.363]
Ali Hamed - Building an Investment Firm - [Invest Like the Best, EP.362]
Cyan Banister - Investing for a Higher Purpose - [Invest Like the Best, EP.361]
Danny Meyer - The Power of Hospitality - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Chuck Akre - The Three Legged Stool - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Alex Telford - Unlocking Innovation in Pharma - [Invest Like the Best, EP.360]
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