My guest this week is Alex Danco. Alex is a member of the Discover Team at Social Capital, has a background in biology, and has written about all things tech and business. While Alex is only 30, it seems like he has spent decades thinking about all the topics that we discuss, from changing business models, to railroads, to the shift from products to functions, and the rise and fall of asset bubbles. I hope you enjoy this wide ranging conversation.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:15 - (First Question) – A look at his day job on the discover team
2:20 – 40 problems doc
4:27 – How companies get on the list and the turnover
5:21 – Hardest problem they are looking at…housing
11:37 – The investment component that fixes housing
15:35 – Where we are in the technology cycle in the view of abundance vs scarcity
20:54 – Change in distribution and the business vs utility business idea.
28:40 – Bifurcation of small and larger businesses
32:48 – New forms of scarcity today
38:31 – The trend of massive company incumbency
41:07 – The utility of bubbles
49:08 – His favorite bubble
51:18 – Challenges and nuances of bubbles
53:35 – Zero to One Notes on Start-Ups, or How to Build the Future
1:02:22 – Future for VC funding in Silicon Valley
1:04:07 – Advice for business builders
1:08:23 – The Three True Outcomes
1:13:04 – His background in biology and innovation in that space that is coming
1:19:46 – Company examples that are of interest to him and that encapsulate his way of investing
1:24:56 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Alex
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy