Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
My guest today is Samo Burja. Samo is the founder of consulting firm, Bismark Analysis, and has dedicated his life’s work to understanding why there has never been an immortal society. His research focuses on institutions, the founders behind them, how they rise and why they always fall in the end. As you’ll hear, Samo has an encyclopedic grasp of history and his work has led him to some fascinating theories about human progress, the nature of exceptional founders, and the future of different societies across the world. Please enjoy my conversation with Samo Burja.
Listen to Founders Podcast
Founders Episode 311: James Cameron
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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Show Notes
(00:02:52) - (First question) - The core thesis behind the Great Founder Theory
(00:06:40) - Great ideas inevitably being discovered at some point in history
(00:08:45) - The historic implications of a global adoption of the Great Founder Theory
(00:10:51) - The different possible directions of future trends
(00:17:08) - Distinctions between great founders versus live players
(00:22:15) - Common misconceptions about what qualifies one as a great founder
(00:24:38) - Noteworthy great founders in the United States
(00:28:34) - Recurring observable traits and common themes of great founders
(00:31:29) - Using caution when projecting a mythic lens onto great founders
(00:37:53) - Social technology as the upstream effects of prior material technology
(00:43:32) - Whether or not institutions play a role in propagating the work of great founders
(00:49:08) - The role of power and differences between owned and borrowed power
(00:56:51) - Additional ideas that play an outsized role in shaping the world
(01:01:09) - A differing worldview to his own that he finds interesting
(01:04:53) - Whether or not capital allocators can benefit from the Great Founder Theory
(01:07:37) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him
Dr. Peter Attia - The Portfolio to Live Longer - [Invest Like the Best, EP.325]
Scott Davis & Rob Wertheimer - Lessons from the Industrial Titans - [Invest Like the Best, EP.324]
Sam Hinkie, Boyd Varty, Charlie Songhurst - Trail Magic - [Invest Like the Best, EP.323]
David Senra - Passion & Pain - [Invest Like the Best, Forever Episode]
David Einhorn - The Long and Short of Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.322]
Avi Goldfarb - The Economic Impact of AI - [Invest Like the Best, EP.321]
Auren Hoffman - A Deep Dive on Data - [Invest Like the Best, EP.320]
Trae Stephens - Find Good Quests - [Invest Like the Best, EP.319]
Doug Leone - Lessons from a Titan - [Invest Like the Best, EP.318]
Tim Urban - Idea Labs and High-Rung Thinking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.317]
Dan Rose - How Stunning Founders Operate - [Invest Like the Best, EP.316]
Jeff Green - Modernizing Advertising - [Invest Like the Best, EP.315]
Carl Kawaja - Dealing with Regime Change - [Invest Like the Best, EP.314]
Daryl Morey - Systems Thinking in Sports - [Invest Like the Best, EP.313]
Miles Grimshaw - The DNA of Software Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.312]
John Fio - Creating Magic for Consumers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.311]
Amjad Masad - The Future of Software Creation - [Invest Like the Best, EP.310]
Rebecca Lynn - Finding Your Customers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.309]
Michael Mauboussin - Sharpening Investor & Executive Toolkits - [Invest Like the Best, EP.308]
Jeremiah Lowin: Explaining the New AI Paradigm - [Invest Like the Best, EP.307]
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