Joe Lonsdale is the founder of Palantir, 8VC, a number of other unicorns he’s incubated, and Cicero Policy Institute. In this episode we focus mostly on his policy, breaking down what are the real problems in healthcare, education, crime/police, homelessness and what are the solutions he recommends to fix them. We talk about how the right is focused on the culture war when fixing accountability will actually be a more effective way to change the culture. We talk about the future for the right, why wealth inequality is the wrong metric to measure, and what it means to believe in America in 2023. This episode was recorded in February 2023.
PODCAST INFO:
Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/3z8TldL
Spotify: bit.ly/40letd0
RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:
Moment of Zen: @MomentofZenPodcast
The Cognitive Revolution: @CognitiveRevolutionPodcast
LINKS REFERENCED:
To Save America Restore Our Frontier (https://blog.joelonsdale.com/p/to-save-america-restore-our-frontier)
HIstorian Ronald Syme (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Syme)
TIMESTAMPS:
(2:10) How Joe Lonsdale maximizes his impact
(4:10) The focus of Joe’s public policy org, Cicero
(6:58) Why institutional reform is more effective than fighting the culture war
(9:11) Misunderstandings about education
(11:56) government unions shouldn’t exist
(14:02) Misunderstandings about prison reform and crime
(17:31) Misunderstandings about homelessness
(20:13) Sponsors
(25:52) Explaining our healthcare problems
(31:53) When to reform vs start new institutions
(37:00) What’s the power of a presidency / state reform vs federal reform
(39:54) The frontier vs the core
(42:40) Draining the swamp
(42:50) Wealth inequality
(46:20) Equality of opportunity is a myth
(48:00) Appreciating billionaires
(51:00) Peter Thiel isn’t really focused on politics
(53:00) The future of the right
(57:42) Why be an American optimist
SOCIAL LINKS:
Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg
Joe’s Twitter: @JTLonsdale
Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod
Erik’s Substack: eriktorenberg.substack.com
Joe’s Substack: blog.joelonsdale.com
CLIPS PLAYLIST: @UpstreamClips
Please support our sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire
- Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/
Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention UPSTREAM during your demo to get 20% off your first year.
- Mercury: https://mercury.com/
Now more than ever, startup founders need a safe place to put their cash. Mercury protects your money and also provides the streamlined user experience that great founders expect through partner banks and their sweep networks. Mercury offers up to $5 million in FDIC insurance, which is 20 times the per-bank limit. They also make it easy to invest any cash above the FDIC-insured amount in a money market fund, a hundred thousand startups trust Mercury with their finances. I've been a happy Mercury customer and have found their team incredibly helpful and responsive. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group and involve bank and trust members FDIC.
- MarketerHire: https://marketerhire.com/upstream
MarketerHire is one of my favorite resources for growing startups looking to hire marketers. With 1000s of pre-vetted marketers across a dozen roles, whether you need help with growth, marketing, SEO, lifecycle, content, or any other aspect of growth marketing strategy. Over 5,000 companies already use MarketerHire to hire expert marketers on demand, ranging from top venture-backed startups to the most well-known Fortune 500s.
Go to marketerhire.com/upstream and use code UPSTREAM to get your $1,000 credit for your first hire.