Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
Today is a special episode because it marks five years since I released the first episode of Invest Like the Best. Over those years, I’ve learned so much from so many investors and builders, but today’s guest may have taught me the most.
Daniel Ek is the CEO and founder of Spotify, and I find him to be one of the most thoughtful business leaders in the world. Daniel is the perfect guest for this special occasion because he exemplifies the curiosity, humility, leadership, and dogged determination that I think characterizes the best investors and operators.
In our conversation, we discuss the differences between the world of bits and atoms, how Daniel gets up to speed in challenging new fields, and why Europe might be a sleeping giant about to wake. We then bring the discussion back to Spotify, the evolving creator ecosystem, and Daniel’s frameworks for leading the business into its next chapter of growth.
Over the past 5 years, we’ve produced more than 300 of these shows and reached nearly 30 million people. I am deeply thankful to the guests who’ve been willing to share their knowledge with us all and even more thankful to everyone who has taken the time to listen and learn alongside me. This has truly been the greatest pleasure of my career, and I don’t plan on ever stopping this journey.
Now, Please enjoy my conversation with a great friend, Daniel Ek.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, and Ben Thompson.
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Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
[00:03:37] - [First question] - Building atoms versus bits and if we’re destined to return to atoms
[00:08:04] - What makes early-stage atoms companies more challenging to build
[00:10:20] - Whether or not we’re starting to see cross-pollinating of infrastructure companies into other sectors
[00:13:00] - His process for learning about new fields when he knows nothing
[00:16:12] - Big and interesting problems that we will need to solve
[00:19:35] - The nature of healthcare’s technological adoption compared to other sectors
[00:24:13] - Downstream unlocks of collecting and observing big pools of data
[00:30:00] - What he has found effective about taking an idea from 0 to 1
[00:33:40] - Lessons learned about compounding change and staying patient
[00:37:17] - History of European technology and its unique regional characteristics
[00:42:40] - Cultural and continental traits that may make Europe a technological leader
[00:45:42] - Characterizing the major lessons learned from his time at Spotify
[00:50:31] - How artists are changing the ways they connect with their fans via Spotify
[00:55:44] - What he would change about the legacy music industry given today’s tools
[01:00:15] - The influence global exposure has on internet companies and creatives
[01:03:02] - Interesting observations about the recent explosion of podcast popularity
[01:07:36] - Working with, carrying, spreading, and maintaining Spotify’s sacred source
[01:12:37] - Ways we can improve and sharpen our decision-making skills
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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