Building A 100+ Year Legacy + Peter Thiel’s Fellowship + Bomb Hi…
About This Episode
Sam and Shaan explore the power of legacy and structured incentives, highlighting how the Nobel Prize and various 'bounties' like the X-Prize drive massive innovation. They also discuss elite hiring frameworks used by tech titans and brainstorm a new grant program for college students to start satirical campus newspapers.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00Alfred Nobel's $266M Legacy
- 6:06Competitions vs. Trusts
- 15:28Idea: XPRIZE but for companies
- 19:15Shaan’s Prize: Win $10K to start a college paper
- 23:07How Barstool Sports started
- 26:47Peter Thiel’s contrarian philanthropy
- 32:30Elon Musks sexy indifference
- 37:22Interview questions designed to repel and attract
- 44:25Be a harsh grader of people
- 47:49Great people are great in the first 2 weeks
Links
Check Out Shaan's Stuff
Check Out Sam's Stuff
Key Takeaways
Utilize 'bounties' or prize-based incentives to spur innovation, as the total investment from competing teams often exceeds the actual prize amount by 10x or more.
Adopt the 'Lucky Person' interview filter to identify high-agency, optimistic candidates who take responsibility for success rather than adopting a victim mentality.
Be a 'harsh grader' in management by recognizing that top-tier talent usually demonstrates their value within the first two weeks, while the cost of keeping a 'maybe' employee is prohibitively high.
Business Ideas Mentioned
The Onion For College Campuses
Content & Media
Corporate Product Acquisition Bounties
Acquisitions