Patrick OShaughnessy
@patrick_oshag
2.5K Following 360.5K Followers
My conversation with Gabe Stengel (@GabeStengel), founder and CEO of Rogo.
For years, Gabe and I have talked about how much of an investor's job AI will eventually do and how he is building Rogo toward that future.
Today, Rogo helps some of the world's largest financial institutions research companies, run diligence and execute M&A.
But Gabe's ambition is much bigger. He is building toward investing superintelligence, where Rogo does much of the work inside investment banks and firms and becomes the venue where they do their deals.
It's a fascinating business and has been so fun watching Gabe build it.
We discuss:
- 10,000 agents searching for one great investment idea
- Which investing skills will still matter
- Why Anthropic/OpenAI won't win finance
- "Chewing glass"
- Why the harness around the models matters so much
- Getting rejected by 40+ investors
- Building an AI native Bloomberg
- Becoming a black hole for talent
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
2:38 Building Rogo
6:12 10,000 AI Agents
12:02 Skills That Still Matter
17:31 Beating OpenAI and Anthropic
28:35 Bloomberg of the AI Era
37:37 Rogo’s Company Brain
44:19 Chewing Glass
53:34 AI-Native Finance
59:21 What Humans Still Do Better
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Just watched this.
Unlike most technology and investing interviews, there is something unique about Michael Moritz linked to:
- his ability to pick words
- his understanding of psychology
- never being totally satisfied…
…except maybe when painting. Highly recommended
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In 2014, Sequoia-backed companies accounted for 20% of the Nasdaq.
Today, it's more than 30%.
Michael Moritz on what he looks for when investing in startups:
So good
that feeling when they say AI killed saas but keep buying your CRM
A great regret is that I did not overlap much with @moritzKBE. His internal writing and oratory was just as insightful, incisive and enjoyable.
Once (and I think only once), a meeting landed on my calendar with MM as host. I had zero context. I joined him and we sat down for an hour, opposite an individual (a founder? recruit? who knew?).
The next 60 minutes was exactly as advertised. A charming, detailed exploration of the person's background and childhood. I think by the end of the meeting, we had arrived at the person's entrance to adulthood.
We warmly wrapped the meeting and walked back to our desks. I was still confused but suspected this had been a founder meeting. Nothing (AFAICR) was uttered about his present company or its prospects.
As we sat back at our desks, MM turned and said "well, that was pretty interesting, wasn't it?"
One of my core lessons from venture is a bastardization of the opening of Anna Karenina.
Mediocre investors are all alike; every great investor is great in their own way.
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my first week at sequoia many years ago: i go to the kitchen to grab coffee. sir @michael_jmoritz is there pulling an espresso shot. i ask him about the machine and he teaches me how to pull my own. he then leaves the kitchen.
craft is everything.
a minute later, @dougleone walks in. he sees me steaming milk on my own and goes, "kais, we didn’t hire you to make friggin cappuccinos in the middle of the day. go call companies."
hustle is everything.
both were right! sequoia is a beautiful firm full of beautiful contradictions.
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i had the good fortune to be mentored by “mm” when i joined sequoia, shadowing him my first year and learning more than i imagined. working alongside him was a privilege, occasionally intimidating, and often a joy. props to patrick for drawing out the wit, charm and heart of sir michael. left me smiling and misty-eyed. well worth a listen. @sequoia
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Why Don Valentine hired Michael Moritz (a journalist with no technical background) when four other firms rejected him
My conversation with Michael Moritz, one of the great venture investors of the last 40 years.
Michael joined Sequoia in 1986 and co-led the firm with Doug Leone (@dougleone) from 1995 to 2012. His investments include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Stripe.
His new book, Ausländer, traces his parents' escape from Nazi Germany and helps explain his lifelong interest in what shapes exceptional people.
We discuss:
- The infamous Steve Jobs profile
- Why Don Valentine hired him
- The question he finds most revealing when interviewing people
- Monomania and the cost of greatness
- Why he has never felt good at anything
- Writing, journalism and AI
- What he learned about himself writing Ausländer
I'd recommend watching this one if you can. Michael was incredibly thoughtful and reflective throughout, particularly when talking about his parents, childhood, and the more difficult parts of his personal story.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:53 Family History & Identity
7:03 Survival & Outsider Instinct
18:53 Studying Exceptional People
33:50 Self-Doubt & Success
41:17 Steve Jobs & Obsession
52:50 Joining Sequoia
1:03:22 Leadership & Alex Ferguson
1:08:25 Elon Musk & AI
1:17:12 Becoming Who You Are
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Moritz spends a lot of time talking about the imprint parents leave on their children, and how it shapes them for the rest of their lives.
Ravi Gupta (@GuptaRK22) tells a story about Michael interviewing him for Instacart, spending an hour and a half asking about his parents and where his motivation comes from.
"The only thing that endures is the intrinsic motivation, and I think understanding the source of that is critical. Why does it matter if you succeed? What is the thing that keeps you going?"
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this is a masterpiece
Michael Moritz on the importance of storytelling in business.
Sir Michael Moritz is a true legend. My first week at @sequoia, my first partner meeting, and I feel completely clueless. The discussion revolves around a chip design company, which I literally know nothing about. Then and now. Michael asks me what my point of view is, and I reply that I know nothing about it. At the end of the meeting, Michael approached me and said softly, "You were hired for your opinions, not your knowledge," then walked away.
My first VC learning. One of many I learned from Michael.
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One of Michael Moritz's best stories on obsession is about the ride he got from Bill Gates when Microsoft was still private.
"Bill Gates gave me a ride to the airport in his car. The radio was missing in the car, a big, gaping hole in the dashboard.
I said, Bill, what happened to you, did you get ripped off?
And he said no, I had it taken out.
Why'd you have it taken out?
Well, I drive from my home to the office, which is 7 minutes and 32 seconds, and then I'll drive from the office to the airport, which is however long.
And he said if I've got the radio, I'm afraid that I'll switch it on and I won't be thinking about Microsoft.
That's obsession."
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My conversation with Michael Moritz, one of the great venture investors of the last 40 years.
Michael joined Sequoia in 1986 and co-led the firm with Doug Leone (@dougleone) from 1995 to 2012. His investments include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Stripe.
His new book, Ausländer, traces his parents' escape from Nazi Germany and helps explain his lifelong interest in what shapes exceptional people.
We discuss:
- The infamous Steve Jobs profile
- Why Don Valentine hired him
- The question he finds most revealing when interviewing people
- Monomania and the cost of greatness
- Why he has never felt good at anything
- Writing, journalism and AI
- What he learned about himself writing Ausländer
I'd recommend watching this one if you can. Michael was incredibly thoughtful and reflective throughout, particularly when talking about his parents, childhood, and the more difficult parts of his personal story.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:53 Family History & Identity
7:03 Survival & Outsider Instinct
18:53 Studying Exceptional People
33:50 Self-Doubt & Success
41:17 Steve Jobs & Obsession
52:50 Joining Sequoia
1:03:22 Leadership & Alex Ferguson
1:08:25 Elon Musk & AI
1:17:12 Becoming Who You Are
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This episode has generated more texts from industry legends than maybe any other
It’s wild how much respect and admiration there is for Moritz
Clearly the “idol” for many of the greats who came after him
Michael really showed up for this interview, too
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Mike Moritz is a f***king legend, and he's being humble here.
He was our lead VC at my first startup in 1996.
He was amazing then and would be amazing now.
Michael Moritz on @elonmusk:
"I'm a great believer in the great person theory. He may well be the greatest industrialist in the history of America.
It's impossible for me to understand how one individual has been able to achieve what [he's achieved] — and I know he's a controversial figure, but I'm just looking at him through the lens of history and through an investor's lens.
I'm completely gobsmacked by the scale of his achievements in a variety of different industries, which is the thing that sets him apart from others."
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My conversation with Michael Moritz, one of the great venture investors of the last 40 years.
Michael joined Sequoia in 1986 and co-led the firm with Doug Leone (@dougleone) from 1995 to 2012. His investments include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Stripe.
His new book, Ausländer, traces his parents' escape from Nazi Germany and helps explain his lifelong interest in what shapes exceptional people.
We discuss:
- The infamous Steve Jobs profile
- Why Don Valentine hired him
- The question he finds most revealing when interviewing people
- Monomania and the cost of greatness
- Why he has never felt good at anything
- Writing, journalism and AI
- What he learned about himself writing Ausländer
I'd recommend watching this one if you can. Michael was incredibly thoughtful and reflective throughout, particularly when talking about his parents, childhood, and the more difficult parts of his personal story.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:53 Family History & Identity
7:03 Survival & Outsider Instinct
18:53 Studying Exceptional People
33:50 Self-Doubt & Success
41:17 Steve Jobs & Obsession
52:50 Joining Sequoia
1:03:22 Leadership & Alex Ferguson
1:08:25 Elon Musk & AI
1:17:12 Becoming Who You Are
Show more
Michael Moritz in 2013: "You could have put a chimpanzee in Silicon Valley in 1986 and it would have been successful in the venture business."
Michael Moritz on why he doesn't think he'd succeed in venture today.
"The venture business that I got into way back when is very different from the venture business today. I think it's become much more difficult.
We had a variety of benefits back in the '80s and '90s that don't exist today.
One of them being imperfect information. Pre-internet, unless you were very close to things, you didn't know what was happening. Today, everybody's got access to more or less the same information.
Number two, there are just so many more entities of all stripes. Individuals, two or three people banding together in a small firm, and at the other end of it, huge mutual funds pouring money into it.
40 years ago, it was possible to form a real relationship, a close relationship, with the people that you were getting into business with. That doesn't exist today. There are just too many intermediaries in between.
I think a moderately intelligent 14, 16-year-old who had his or her wits about him would've been able to succeed in the venture business in the mid-'80s."
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My conversation with Michael Moritz, one of the great venture investors of the last 40 years.
Michael joined Sequoia in 1986 and co-led the firm with Doug Leone (@dougleone) from 1995 to 2012. His investments include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Stripe.
His new book, Ausländer, traces his parents' escape from Nazi Germany and helps explain his lifelong interest in what shapes exceptional people.
We discuss:
- The infamous Steve Jobs profile
- Why Don Valentine hired him
- The question he finds most revealing when interviewing people
- Monomania and the cost of greatness
- Why he has never felt good at anything
- Writing, journalism and AI
- What he learned about himself writing Ausländer
I'd recommend watching this one if you can. Michael was incredibly thoughtful and reflective throughout, particularly when talking about his parents, childhood, and the more difficult parts of his personal story.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:53 Family History & Identity
7:03 Survival & Outsider Instinct
18:53 Studying Exceptional People
33:50 Self-Doubt & Success
41:17 Steve Jobs & Obsession
52:50 Joining Sequoia
1:03:22 Leadership & Alex Ferguson
1:08:25 Elon Musk & AI
1:17:12 Becoming Who You Are
Show more
Despite being widely regarded as one of the best venture investors of all time, Michael Moritz says he's never once felt like he was good at something:
"I've never felt I'm really good at something. That's not false modesty on my part.
Everybody is plagued by doubts and competitiveness.
And it's a failing on my part. I have a very difficult time celebrating good things and celebrating success.
I think I've always felt everything is unfinished and could be improved. None of it's ever been perfect.
Sometimes when I paint and compare a painting to what I might have been able to paint 10 years ago, I see a road to improvement, but then you go to MoMA or the Met and you're diminished, and you're reduced to being an insignificant speck."
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My conversation with Michael Moritz, one of the great venture investors of the last 40 years.
Michael joined Sequoia in 1986 and co-led the firm with Doug Leone (@dougleone) from 1995 to 2012. His investments include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Stripe.
His new book, Ausländer, traces his parents' escape from Nazi Germany and helps explain his lifelong interest in what shapes exceptional people.
We discuss:
- The infamous Steve Jobs profile
- Why Don Valentine hired him
- The question he finds most revealing when interviewing people
- Monomania and the cost of greatness
- Why he has never felt good at anything
- Writing, journalism and AI
- What he learned about himself writing Ausländer
I'd recommend watching this one if you can. Michael was incredibly thoughtful and reflective throughout, particularly when talking about his parents, childhood, and the more difficult parts of his personal story.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:53 Family History & Identity
7:03 Survival & Outsider Instinct
18:53 Studying Exceptional People
33:50 Self-Doubt & Success
41:17 Steve Jobs & Obsession
52:50 Joining Sequoia
1:03:22 Leadership & Alex Ferguson
1:08:25 Elon Musk & AI
1:17:12 Becoming Who You Are
Show more
My conversation with Michael Moritz, one of the great venture investors of the last 40 years.
Michael joined Sequoia in 1986 and co-led the firm with Doug Leone (@dougleone) from 1995 to 2012. His investments include Google, Yahoo, PayPal, and Stripe.
His new book, Ausländer, traces his parents' escape from Nazi Germany and helps explain his lifelong interest in what shapes exceptional people.
We discuss:
- The infamous Steve Jobs profile
- Why Don Valentine hired him
- The question he finds most revealing when interviewing people
- Monomania and the cost of greatness
- Why he has never felt good at anything
- Writing, journalism and AI
- What he learned about himself writing Ausländer
I'd recommend watching this one if you can. Michael was incredibly thoughtful and reflective throughout, particularly when talking about his parents, childhood, and the more difficult parts of his personal story.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:53 Family History & Identity
7:03 Survival & Outsider Instinct
18:53 Studying Exceptional People
33:50 Self-Doubt & Success
41:17 Steve Jobs & Obsession
52:50 Joining Sequoia
1:03:22 Leadership & Alex Ferguson
1:08:25 Elon Musk & AI
1:17:12 Becoming Who You Are
Show more
