The Generalist - Modern Meditations: Bryan Pellegrino

Hey friends,

I’m excited to introduce “Modern Meditations,” a new series that asks the most fascinating people in tech the most interesting, unobvious questions we can think of. The goal is to offer a glimpse into the minds of our industry’s most intriguing practitioners and surface perspectives that you haven’t considered or with which you may not agree.

We’re kicking it off with one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met, Bryan Pellegrino. As you’ll discover, not only is Bryan the CEO of LayerZero, one of the most high-profile startups in crypto, he’s an ex-professional poker player, artificial intelligence researcher, and adventurous investor.

To hear his thoughts on civilization-level risks, reward optimization, and competition, jump in below.

Brought to you by FTX US

Last week, FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried summarized the company better than I ever could:

A year from now, there’s every reason to believe that Sam and his team will have added features “g” → “z” to their increasingly comprehensive platform. Already from FTX US, you can invest in crypto, stocks, and NFTs. It has some of the lowest fees in the industry and is a safe and intuitive place to up your investing game.
​
​To get started, download the FTX US app. Use the code GENERALIST, and after you trade $100, you’ll get a special $15 bonus.

MODERN MEDITATIONS: BRYAN PELLEGRINO

Actionable insights

If you only have a couple of minutes to spare, here's what investors, operators, and founders should know about Bryan Pellegrino’s meditations.

• Competition is overrated. Albert Einstein believed competition was pointless. Though a naturally competitive person, Bryan has been mulling over the famous physicist’s perspective.
• Build leverage. Bryan won six-figure purses as a professional poker player, but he came to realize that his work was structurally similar to being a consultant. He was paid only for his time. His subsequent career moves have focused on positions that give him leverage on his efforts.
• Pay attention to the tail risk. While Bryan believes artificial intelligence (AI) is more likely to have a significant positive impact, we should be aware of the tail risk. Though researchers may overestimate AI's danger, Bryan believes society underestimates it.
• Think independently. We are often taught to learn by studying the masters. Bryan disagrees with that approach. Instead of analyzing how others have solved problems, he prefers to think from first principles and construct his own optimization.
• An era of opportunity. Despite the world’s problems – particularly from a political perspective – Bryan believes we live in an age of opportunity. Technology has made it easier than ever to change the world for the better.

***

Bryan Pellegrino is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. Over a few days in March, I got to know the LayerZero CEO and hear his story. Though tech tends to be a magnet for the intelligent and eclectic, Pellegrino stands out all the same.

Today, he is the co-founder and CEO of one of crypto’s most promising startups. LayerZero has raised more than $140 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, a16z, Multicoin Capital, FTX, and Tiger Global to build seamless connections between blockchains.

Bryan has a dazzling set of abilities and interests beyond LayerZero, though. For a time, he was one of the best heads-up poker players in the world, winning purses worth more than $500,000 and finishing second at a World Series of Poker event in 2012. After retiring from the game, he coded a machine learning model that helped better sequence baseball pitches, selling it to an MLB franchise. He then published with Noam Brown, a prolific AI researcher whose work was runner-up for Science magazine’s 2019 “Breakthrough of the Year.” Their collaboration led to the creation of Supremus, the world’s best one-versus-one poker AI.

On a lark, Bryan started buying trading cards in bulk before selling them to retailers at a mark-up. At its peak, that business did a few million in revenue a year, despite being little more than a side-hustle. He has, at various times, invested in startups, venture funds, sports franchises, and even a small Wyoming-based bank that he and a coalition hope to transform into a progressive, tech-forward institution.

It’s not often you meet someone as singular as Bryan. When I do, I often ask myself the same thing: what is the most interesting question I can ask this person? How can we have the most unobvious conversation?

Writer Martin Amis talks about the dangers of “herd words” in his book, The War Against Cliché. Amis argues that phrases like “She rummaged in her handbag” or “The heat was stifling” are empty, necrotic from overuse. Just as there are herd words, there are “herd questions,” too. Anytime we ask someone where they’re from or what they do, we inquire by rote. That is sometimes for the best – after all, we usually only feel comfortable speaking freely after some trust has been built. But, after exchanging niceties, how can we move beyond the herd? What do we need to say to get somewhere genuinely compelling?

To answer these questions, The Generalist is kicking off a new series. “Modern Meditations” asks the most fascinating people in tech the most interesting, unobvious questions we can think of. In addition to giving you a look into the minds of the gigabrained, we explicitly hope to surface perspectives you have not considered and with which you may disagree.

Given Bryan’s story, he is an ideal person with whom to begin. Here are his meditations.

1. What would you be doing if you didn’t work in tech?

I’ve been in love with computers since I was a kid, so it's hard to imagine not working with technology. I would probably try academia. In general, I like learning, and I’ve always been fascinated by math and physics. Those are fields with near-unlimited depth. Whenever I talk to a friend doing a math Ph.D., I feel a twinge of envy.

I would also be interested in scaling a traditional business – real estate development, for example. How do you optimize and scale those systems?

2. Which current or historical figure has most impacted your thinking?

I’ve never had a hero. That probably has something to do with the way I was raised. As the youngest brother in a competitive family, I had to scrap. Whether playing basketball against my dad and older brother or trying to win a board game, I was always at a disadvantage. Those experiences taught me to believe that I could get good at something, anything, as long as I put in the effort. The distance between ourselves and the people we worship – many who have achieved great things – isn’t as vast as we think.

One person that has influenced my thinking recently is Albert Einstein. Reading Walter Isaacson’s book, I was surprised to learn that Einstein hated competition – he thought it was a waste of time. So much so that he wouldn’t even play a casual game of chess with friends. As someone that’s been so driven by competition, that’s made me pause and wonder: when is competition useful, and when can the scenario be adjusted to become purely collaborative or purely knowledge-seeking?

IN A MEME
​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​For the pictorially inclined, here's the whole piece — all 2,800 words of it — in a single meme.

If this doesn’t make you want to read the piece, I don’t know what will.

PUZZLER
​
​​​All guesses are welcome and clues are given to anyone that would like one. Just respond to this email for a hint.

Even the early hour of last week’s send couldn’t catch out Jim W. This newsletter’s winningest riddler was first yet again. He was followed by a crew of other quick-witted readers including Jeb B, Vinish G, Jithamithra T, Chani B, Aaron M, John G, Gregg S, Neil P, Kaitlyn R, Akshay K, Krishna N, Shashwat N, Riley V, Jaey C, Tamar L, Medhi D, Joshua K, Jo E, Niharika N, Chitranjan J, Kerry R, L L, Rune W, Jonathan R, and Aiden L. All sniffed out the conceit in our previous puzzler.

The answer? The letter “o.” Well done to the winners.
​​
​Wishing you all a lovely rest of the day wherever you are in the world.
​
Until next time,
Mario