Conversations with Tyler9 Feb 2022

Sebastian Mallaby on Venture Capital

Venture capital powered the tech revolution, but what powers venture capital? With his in-depth knowledge and coverage of the sector you'd be forgiven for thinking Sebastian Mallaby is a veteran of the Silicon Valley scene. The author of several books on finance and economics, Sebastian takes pride in understanding his subjects intimately (perhaps too intimately, if you ask his critics). His latest book, Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future, sheds light on the small but mighty industry.

Sebastian joined Tyler to discuss why venture capital skills aren't more replicable, the promise of biotech despite increased regulations, why venture capital remains concentrated in the Bay area even after the pandemic, the differences in risk-taking between East and West coast finance, the secret to Mike Moritz's success as an investor, how Peter Thiel's understanding of the power law set him apart, why he isn't interested in becoming a venture capitalist himself, his predictions for the European tech ecosystem over the next ten years, the original sin of "too big to fail," the major failure of Alan Greenspan during his tenure at the Fed, the Darwinian evolution of good hedge fund strategy, what Ray Dalio got right with Bridgewater, the finance topics he feels are undercovered, what it takes to be a good Substack writer, why he's bullish on The Information, reasons to be optimistic about the innovative and entrepreneurial trajectories of Japan, the greatest living British historians, the future of the World Bank once China stops borrowing from it, what's causing the decline in popularity of liberal capitalism, the zany appeal of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and more.

Check out Macro Musings. Follow Macro Musings on Twitter. Subscribe to Macro Musings on your favorite podcast app.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded January 31st, 2022

Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Follow Sebastian on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(288)

Margaret Atwood on Canada, Writing, and Invention (Live at Mason)

Margaret Atwood defines the Canadian sense of humor as "a bit Scottish," and in this live conversation with Tyler, she loves to let her own comedic sensibilities shine. In addition to many other thoug...

24 Apr 20191h 14min

Ed Boyden on Minding your Brain

Ed Boyden builds the tools and technologies that help researchers think about and treat the brain, an organ we still know surprisingly little about. When it comes to how our brains make decisions, for...

10 Apr 20191h 1min

Emily Wilson on Translations and Language

In a recent Twitter thread, Emily Wilson listed some of the difficulties of translating Homer into English. Among them: "There aren't enough onomatopoeic words for very loud chaotic noises" (#2 on the...

27 Mar 201956min

Raghuram Rajan on Understanding Community

Raghuram Rajan thinks a lot about how to empower individuals, both at the community and international level. In his new book, Rajan draws upon experience both as an academic and policymaker to break d...

13 Mar 201956min

Sam Altman on Loving Community, Hating Coworking, and the Hunt for Talent

Founders aren't superheroes, says Sam Altman.They may play extreme sports, respond to emails within seconds, and start billion-dollar companies, but they are rarely the product of extraordinary circum...

27 Feb 20191h 8min

Jordan Peterson on Mythology, Fame, and Reading People

Jordan Peterson joins Tyler to discuss collecting Soviet propaganda, why he's so drawn to Jung, what the Exodus story can teach us about current events, his marriage and fame, what the Intellectual Da...

13 Feb 201953min

Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama on Persecution and Toleration

How did religious freedom emerge — and why did it arrive so late? In their forthcoming book, fellow Mason economists Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama argue that while most focus on the role of liberal ide...

30 Jan 20191h 16min

Larissa MacFarquhar on Getting Inside Someone's Head

As a writer of profiles, Larissa MacFarquhar is granted the privilege of listening to, learning from, and sharing the stories of extraordinary thinkers like Derik Parfit, Noam Chomsky, Hilary Mantel, ...

16 Jan 20191h