Josh Wolfe – The Tech Imperative – [Invest Like the Best, EP.130]
My guest this week is Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing
partner at Lux Capital. I had Josh on the podcast last year which was one of
the most popular episodes in the shows history. This is a continuation of our
ongoing conversation about investing in the frontiers of technology. My
favorite thing about Josh and the way that he invests is the mosaic that he and
his team at Lux are constantly building to understand the world and where new
companies may fit in. We cover a crazy variety of topics from business model
innovation, roles of a CEO, the military, the death of privacy, and arrows of
human progress. Please enjoy round two with Josh Wolfe.
Show Notes
1:22 – (First Question) –Ability to tackle massive scale
problems
4:05 – Key roles of leaders and his checklist for evaluating
them
5:55 – Common traits among founders that make them
incredible storytellers and leaders
10:22 – The concept of ill-liquidity
14:53 – Thoughts on the types of companies going public
16:41 – Most innovative business models
19:14 – Advice for LP’s
23:51 – Common devil
24:01 – The
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
25:09 – Big internal debates at his firm, starting with
price discipline
28:45 – The value debate internally
33:34 – CRISPR from an investment standpoint
36:50 – Edge cases they are looking at
46:52 – How they target ideas in a single concept
50:01 – The
Coast of Utopia: Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage
51:04 – New theses that they chase
56:31 – Recent adventure with special operations guys
