Quotes by Joe Lonsdale - Page 2

If you can make finance more functional, make it a tiny percent better, you create a great deal of resources, which you can use for other things like education and healthcare.
Joe Lonsdale /
Finance
Healthcare
Tiny
Functional
Great Deal
Copy Quote
In my experience, it's common that deep truths exist at both extremes of a dialectic, and the wisest stance on an issue will incorporate 'both of the opposites within itself.'
Joe Lonsdale /
Extremes
Opposites
Stance
Wisest
Dialectic
Incorporate
Truths
Copy Quote
For me, seed investing isn't just a good return area but a big part of how we network in Silicon Valley. A lot of our best deals have come from being active in the seed stage.
Joe Lonsdale /
Active
Deals
Investing
Silicon
Silicon Valley
Best Good Me
Big Part
Network
Seed
Valley
Copy Quote
A true leader must strive towards a grand vision of human progress, but remember that the minor details of her everyday life really matter to those who look up to her as a role model.
Joe Lonsdale /
Everyday
Everyday Life
Human Progress
Strive
Grand
Minor
Role Model
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I have seen a lot of now-great companies at their earliest stages, and these early-stage startups are not built by the senior people who know how to run and scale big-company machines.
Joe Lonsdale /
Machines
Senior
People Know Who
People Know How
Scale
Earliest
Stages
Startups
Copy Quote
It always struck me as pretty cool that people who changed the world often knew each other. After reading them separately, hearing that David Hume and Adam Smith were friends made sense.
Joe Lonsdale /
Adam
Hearing
Cool Always World
Cool World Me
David
Separately
Smith
Struck
Copy Quote
David and Ellen Siminoff are legends in Silicon Valley - they are two of the most influential mentors to top executives and leaders behind the scenes, with long track records of success.
Joe Lonsdale /
Executives
Influential
Legends
Records
Silicon
Silicon Valley
Track
David
Behind
Ellen
Leaders
Mentors
Valley
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A deep concern of mine is that leaders in the technology sector have not developed a culture that insists upon courage, honor, duty, and humility - what we might call a culture of virtue.
Joe Lonsdale /
Courage
Technology
Concern
Honor
Humility
Virtue
Call
Developed
Insists
Leaders
Mine
Sector
Copy Quote
We created Addepar because we saw a place where a multi-billion dollar global platform clearly should exist - but did not yet - to fix many of the challenges that exist in the finance industry.
Joe Lonsdale /
Finance
Fix
Dollar
Platform
Copy Quote
The convertible note is a useful and common financing structure in Silicon Valley. It's a form of debt that is really more a type of equity - one where the valuation hasn't been determined yet.
Joe Lonsdale /
Common
Debt
Determined
Equity
Financing
Silicon
Silicon Valley
Structure
Type
Useful
Convertible
Note
Valley
Copy Quote
Our family is very, very competitive. But it's a fun and inspiring sort of competitive. It makes you proud of what you do and makes you want to work hard and do all your homework so you can win.
Joe Lonsdale /
Inspiring
Homework
Family Work Your
Competitive
Work Hard
Copy Quote
Basically, I think society functions thanks to how certain key industries work - government, finance, healthcare, education, energy. Pretty much all of these have a huge impact on everything else.
Joe Lonsdale /
Finance
Healthcare
Thanks
Everything Else
Functions
Huge Impact
Industries
Copy Quote
America has the greatest military in the world, and it's up to our leaders to set the bar for what a 21st century military culture of innovation with transparent, collaborative leadership looks like.
Joe Lonsdale /
Innovation
Transparent
Bar
Copy Quote
Government officials and citizens care about many causes - and they all require resources. For example, I am personally passionate about ending the human trafficking that still occurs within our borders.
Joe Lonsdale /
Borders
Causes
Citizens
Example
Government Officials
Officials
Passionate
Resources
Trafficking
Ending
For Example
Occurs
Personally
Require
Copy Quote
Traditional hackathons are fun and focused on skill and competition, but we believe that events which focus on the positive social impact of technology engage a wider and more diverse set of participants.
Joe Lonsdale /
Diverse
Participants
Skill
Wider
Copy Quote
Engineering is the art of managing scarcity - it's easy to design and build a massive bridge that will last forever if cost is not an issue. Similarly, to build a new company, you must manage scarce resources.
Joe Lonsdale /
Engineering
Manage
Massive
Scarce
Bridge
Similarly
Copy Quote
Being able to access that Stanford alumni network was huge - I actually interned at PayPal while I was at Stanford and learned a lot. Being in that environment and learning about it as a student was really fun.
Joe Lonsdale /
Alumni
Paypal
Stanford
Network
Copy Quote
In a well-run tech company, small, elite groups who have ownership in the company are given the freedom to define and achieve their tasks in line with a broader mission that they have internalized as their own.
Joe Lonsdale /
Ownership
Tasks
Broader
Define
Elite
Mission
Tech
Copy Quote
While it can be overwhelming to realize how many problems there are to solve in the world, it's always inspiring to see so many talented people willing to spend their time and energy in hopes of making a difference.
Joe Lonsdale /
Inspiring
Making A Difference
Overwhelming
Solve
Willing
Time World Energy
Talented
Hopes
Talented People
Copy Quote
A talented executive whose interests are aligned with the firm's and is confident in her role will always recruit stars who exceed herself in various ways, but one who is worried about her value to the firm will not.
Joe Lonsdale /
Exceed
Firm
Recruit
Worried
Aligned
Talented
Executive
Herself
Copy Quote
CEOs shouldn't worry about their budget all the time - on a day-to-day basis, they should work on managing their company, building an awesome product, developing key relationships, identifying distribution channels, etc.
Joe Lonsdale /
Day To Day
Developing
Distribution
Etc
Identifying
Worry
Awesome
Basis
Budget
Ceos
Channels
Product
Relationships
Copy Quote
Our best and brightest must conceive of themselves as stewards of our society and confront the critical challenges of our time. It's the best bet for our society, for entrepreneurs, and for the investors who believe in them.
Joe Lonsdale /
Investors
Our Time
Stewards
Brightest
Conceive
Confront
Entrepreneurs
Copy Quote
Engineering talent is the most precious resource for any technology company - Palantir and Addepar are successful first and foremost because of their top tech cultures, and the same is true for our best portfolio companies at 8VC.
Joe Lonsdale /
Engineering
Portfolio
Cultures
Foremost
Precious
Resource
Tech
Copy Quote
Private equity firms working closely with venture capitalists and technologists may be able to unlock assets that others have not leveraged and build technology cultures to iterate on solutions that make these assets more productive.
Joe Lonsdale /
Assets
Equity
Solutions
Venture
Capitalists
Closely
Cultures
Unlock
Copy Quote
We founded Palantir in 2003-2004 because we perceived a giant gap between how the defense and intelligence community was harnessing technology to achieve its goals and what we had seen was possible in Silicon Valley over the last decade.
Joe Lonsdale /
Defense
Intelligence Community
Silicon
Silicon Valley
Decade
Gap
Giant
Harnessing
Last Decade
Perceived
Valley
Copy Quote
What would I advise an aspiring young entrepreneur? Certainly I'd say read the works of great entrepreneurs and investors like Ben Horowitz, Peter Thiel, and many others. But what's more important is to get real experience at a great startup.
Joe Lonsdale /
Advise
Entrepreneur
Investors
Peter
Aspiring
Ben
Entrepreneurs
Startup
Copy Quote
The only way to create prosperity is to do more with less. In economic terms, an increase in productivity is an increase in the amount or quality of output generated for each unit of input. Jobs do not make society wealthier - productivity does.
Joe Lonsdale /
Input
Output
Productivity
Unit
Copy Quote
Those who serve in our armed forces do so from a profound sense of duty to secure liberty for their fellow Americans. They enlist to serve their fellow citizens who express their will through elected representatives, not an unaccountable defense establishment.
Joe Lonsdale /
Armed Forces
Defense
Profound
Representatives
Secure
Armed
Enlist
Fellow
Fellow Americans
Unaccountable
Copy Quote
Being a great founder or early team member is a difficult dialectic - you have to be a bit overconfident, and a big ego isn't always a bad thing. To change the world requires pushing really, really hard and believing you and your team know something others don't.
Joe Lonsdale /
Difficult
Hard
Overconfident
Pushing
Team
Change Great World
Bit
Bad
Change Great Always
Bad Thing
Believing
Change The World
Dialectic
Early
Founder
Member
Requires
Copy Quote
Addepar not only helps improve private wealth management workflows so that advisors can do a better job at what they currently do, but it also helps build a data-driven and integrated view on top of the many important financial decisions within a client portfolio.
Joe Lonsdale /
Integrated
Management
Advisor
Currently
Better Job
Portfolio
Client
Copy Quote
A policy of knowing your replacement is one of the best ways to drive a growth culture. It anticipates and eliminates the most harmful politics in leadership for an expanding company and instantly sets the right tone for a high-talent, growth-mindset executive team.
Joe Lonsdale /
Leadership
Expanding
Growth
Policy
Tone
Drive
Executive
Harmful
Instantly
Replacement
Sets
Copy Quote
Palantir owes much of its success to the amazing talent of the first 30-40 technologists who joined the company, as well as to the internal leadership that helped motivate this core group to achieve its ambitious goals and to continue to attract extraordinary people.
Joe Lonsdale /
Ambitious
Attract
Extraordinary People
Internal
Joined
Motivate
Owes
Copy Quote
In their infancy, startups need geniuses who fit their current tight-knit culture and will iterate quickly as they push towards an ambitious vision - and they need a scaffolding of advisors, strategists, early users, and product-thinkers around these savants to guide them.
Joe Lonsdale /
Infancy
Scaffolding
Users
Advisor
Current
Geniuses
Guide
Startups
Copy Quote
Fear is the wrong response to technological unemployment. Focusing on economic flexibility and adaptability - with special attention to eliminating the barriers we've accidentally created to the mobility of the working classes - is the right response to technological disruption.
Joe Lonsdale /
Adaptability
Barriers
Disruption
Flexibility
Mobility
Response
Unemployment
Accidentally
Classes
Focusing
Working Classes
Copy Quote
When I spend a lot of time reading, discussing, or thinking about an area, I'll often really appreciate why a strong viewpoint is true and come to very firm conclusions. But if I am later exposed to a strong opposing view, I frequently find this countervailing view persuasive as well.
Joe Lonsdale /
Discussing
Exposed
Firm
Opposing
Persuasive
Time Thinking I Am
Conclusions
Frequently
Time Reading
Viewpoint
Copy Quote
Hours wasted in traffic represent not only lost wages but enormous amounts of economic activity that might have happened. Congestion indirectly increases consumer prices, makes travel times unreliable for commuters and truckers, and precludes many people from accessing jobs in urban hubs.
Joe Lonsdale /
Activity
Congestion
Enormous
Traffic
Unreliable
Urban
Wages
Consumer
Represent
Economic Activity
Wasted
Increases
Indirectly
Prices
Copy Quote
I am not by any means a philosopher, although I have worked with some talented people in the discipline. But certain philosophical concepts deeply inform the way I think about the world. The idea of 'opposing truths at extremes' is a powerful concept that I came to appreciate in my twenties.
Joe Lonsdale /
Concepts
Discipline
Extremes
Opposing
Philosopher
Twenties
World I Am People
Talented
Inform
Talented People
Truths
Copy Quote
There are people who are better managers than I am. I aspire to be a really good manager, but it's not my natural personality to do the same thing for 14 hours a day. I have a lot of different interests. I really like product and strategy and business strategy, and I think I'm not bad at it.
Joe Lonsdale /
Aspire
Good Manager
Strategy
Manager
Copy Quote
A great leader should make it clear to her team members that as a matter of culture, her job is to replace herself. A new hire should know from the outset that she will ultimately have to bring in new talent to replace herself so that she can personally better herself and achieve loftier goals.
Joe Lonsdale /
Great Leader
Herself
Hire
Outset
Replace
Copy Quote
There are hundreds of millions of people around the globe who could safely repay loans but nonetheless do not have access to a line of credit. Financial institutions in developing economies are broken and inefficient, and hard-working people have not been given the chance to establish a credit history.
Joe Lonsdale /
Developing
Economies
Establish
Hard-Working
Hundreds
Inefficient
Loans
Millions Of People
Nonetheless
Repay
Safely
Copy Quote
Inasmuch as there is a useful purpose to what we do as VCs, I tend to think it's our duty not only to mentor entrepreneurs and executive teams, but also to learn from them and the others involved. We can then pass on lessons to aid the startup ecosystem and help businesses succeed and grow their impact.
Joe Lonsdale /
Impact
Involved
Lessons
Purpose
Succeed
Aid
Useful
Businesses
Ecosystem
Entrepreneurs
Executive
Inasmuch
Pass
Startup
Teams
Tend
Copy Quote
America faces a mounting transportation crisis, and the primary culprit is road congestion. Traffic makes us unhealthy, wastes enormous amounts of time, and cripples national productivity. America needs expanded roads and transportation infrastructure, but traditional gas tax funding is no longer available.
Joe Lonsdale /
Amount
Available
Congestion
Crisis
Culprit
Enormous
Faces
Funding
Gas
Infrastructure
Needs
Productivity
Traditional
Transportation
Unhealthy
Tax
Longer
Mounting
National
Primary
Road
Wastes
Copy Quote
Success gives you a platform for further success - suddenly everybody wants to work with you, and your opportunities and possibilities open up. But at the same time, success is also immensely challenging - it ultimately often creates pride, stubbornness, and sloppiness that beget failure, taking down people and organizations.
Joe Lonsdale /
Stubbornness
Success Time Work
Challenging
Creates
Success Work Time
Further
Immensely
Platform
Possibilities
Success Is
Copy Quote
The reason we have so much talent in Silicon Valley building and investing in for-profit technology companies is that markets richly reward successful ideas, no matter who invents them. But to remain competitive in a free market, companies must exercise discipline to meet quantitative goals and eventually become cashflow positive.
Joe Lonsdale /
Discipline
Exercise
Free Market
Investing
Silicon
Silicon Valley
Talent
Companies
Competitive
Market
Meet
Quantitative
Remain
Reward
Technology Companies
Valley
Copy Quote
A recipe I've seen work in early-stage startups is a small tight-knit group of passionate people who are obsessed with their vision of how to fix a particular industry. Conversely, teams composed of people with a lot of specialized experience at running a large business are not as likely to do very well in the first year or two of a startup.
Joe Lonsdale /
Work Experience Business
Composed
Recipe
Specialized
Startup
Teams
Copy Quote
Marketing is your battle plan for the sales team - it's about defining the landscape. Marketing is doing cohort analysis and understanding exactly what possible customers are out there. It's understanding not only which customers will respond to what messages, but also how customers will become clients if you include certain product features.
Joe Lonsdale /
Analysis
Battle
Clients
Defining
Features
Landscape
Marketing
Messages
Your Will Doing
Respond
Exactly What
Include
Sales
Copy Quote

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Joe Lonsdale Quotes - Page 2

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