The Generalist - What I Learned from Reid Hoffman
Hey friends, A couple of weeks ago, we officially wrapped up our first season of “Letters to a Young Investor.” In case you missed it, that series featured a correspondence between me and the legendary investor Reid Hoffman, focused on the craft of investing. Here are a few things I learned:
As we prepare to launch our second season (the letters have already started ;)), I wanted to share all four editions of Season 1 here for easy access. I’ve also included a short description of the topics covered in each edition. While we’ve included generous free previews of all four editions, the full conversation and all of Reid’s insights and strategies are exclusive to our premium tier, Generalist+. If you haven’t joined yet, today is the perfect moment. Not only will you unlock the entirety of this series, you’ll get access to more special series designed to make you a sharper investor and better technologist. We’ve designed this product to be fun but highly tactical (and expensable). We have a lot more coming up – I’d love for you to join us: Letter 1: The Theory of the GameI kicked off the conversation by asking Reid to share the major lessons he’s learned during his decades of investing. That led to an interesting discussion about having a “theory of the game” as an investor, how scar tissue from PayPal resulted in missing Stripe, and why Reid was willing to bet on Airbnb against a colleague’s advice. Letter 2: Finding Exceptional FoundersWhat makes an exceptional founder? Over the years, Reid has worked alongside and invested in many of the great entrepreneurs of the past and current generation, including Elon Musk, Brian Chesky, Sam Altman, Max Levchin, and many others. What traits does Reid look for? What tends to be predictive? We dig into these subjects in our second correspondence. Letter 3: Separating Signal from NoiseThe tech sector is prone to hype cycles. What seems like a priceless world-bending innovation one day can fall out of fashion the next. As an investor, that poses real complications and severe risks – how do you separate signal from noise? What should you do to avoid becoming a lemming-capitalist? Reid reflects on the difference between technological “oases” and “mirages” in our third letter. Letter 4: The Best Possible FutureReid is one of the leading voices on the topic of artificial intelligence. In our final installment, we discuss how AI will remake our world, how to think about its real risks, and what humanity needs to do to ensure the best possible future. Many of the best investments (and biggest misses) will likely come from this sector for investors – understanding its potential is pivotal. All in all, this series was one of my favorites we’ve ever run at The Generalist. I think you’ll really like it. To unlock all of it, support our work, and level up your investing acumen, join Generalist+ here: See you soon, Mario |
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