Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
My guest today is Cyan Banister. Cyan’s life story is remarkable. She was homeless at a young age, dropped out of high school, and five years ago she suffered an extremely rare stroke. Yet, in spite of everything, she is one of the most optimistic and curious people you can hope to meet. Cyan is also one of the great angel investors of this era, having invested early in SpaceX, Uber, Postmates, and Deepmind to name a few winners. She became the first female investing partner at Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and now invests at Long Journey Ventures.
Our conversation is as much about investing as it is about the essence of life and how connecting with that will help us in our professional pursuits. It is also full of awesome stories about people and companies like SpaceX and Bill Murray. Please enjoy this great conversation with Cyan Banister.
Listen to Founders Podcast
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. 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, Ben Thompson, and many more.
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Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Show Notes:
(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best
(00:04:03) First question - Spirituality as an Investable Category
(00:06:51) Journey to Founders Fund
(00:12:13) Overcoming Adversity and Embracing Optimism
(00:14:28) The Power of Authenticity and Curiosity
(00:25:28) The Skill of Feeling in Business
(00:30:26) Investing in Uber
(00:36:18) The Changing Dynamics of Early-Stage Investment
(00:39:07) The Philosophy of 'Set it and Forget It'
(00:42:24) The SpaceX Story: A Leap of Faith
(00:48:02) Cyan’s Spiritual Awakening
(00:61:34) Her Story of the Violin Kid
(01:05:36) The Art of Trusting Your Gut in Business
(01:07:47) The Spirit of Founders Fund and the Future of Venture Firms
(01:15:16) What She Would Do With 1 Trillion Dollars
(01:24:05) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Cyan
Michael Simanovsky - A Platform Approach to Real Estate - [Invest Like the Best, EP.344]
David Senra - In Service of Founders - [Invest Like the Best, EP.343]
Will England - A Primer on Multi-Strategy Hedge Funds - [Invest Like the Best, EP.342]
James Cameron - The Futurist - [Founders, Forever Episode]
Lee Ainslie - Hedge Fund Maverick - [Invest Like the Best, EP. 341]
Nick Kokonas - Know What You Are Selling – [Founder’s Field Guide, Forever Episode]
Des Traynor - Real Talk about AI and Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.340]
Samo Burja - The Great Founder Theory of History - [Invest Like the Best, EP.339]
Chris Paik - Venture Investing Frameworks - [Invest Like the Best, EP.338]
Josh Kushner - Building Thrive Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.337]
Jeremy Giffon - Special Situations in Private Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.336]
Dave Yuan - A Primer on Vertical Market Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.335]
Kevin Kelly - Be Generous and Unique - [Invest Like the Best, EP.334]
Justin Mares - The US Health Crisis - [Invest Like the Best, EP.333]
Scott Goodwin - Know The Names - [Invest Like the Best, EP.332]
Rolex: Timeless Excellence - [Business Breakdowns, Forever Episode]
Kieran Goodwin - Imagination, Volatility, and the Pursuit of Alpha - [Invest Like the Best, EP.331]
Henry Schuck - Building ZoomInfo - [Invest Like the Best, EP.330]
Karen Karniol-Tambour - Macro Headwinds vs. Tech Tailwinds - [Invest Like the Best, EP.329]
Fidji Simo - Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences - [Invest Like the Best, EP.328]
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