Vivek Ramaswamy is a 2024 Republican presidential candidate who founded biotech company Roivant Sciences, now public. He has written books about what he sees as the excesses of woke capitalism and started an asset management firm called Strive, meant to be a right-wing competitor with BlackRock. With his presidential campaign, Vivek challenges conventional orthodoxy on several core issues, including affirmative action and climate change. Erik sits down with him to understand how he stands to influence our upcoming election and inject his views into the mainstream.
RECOMMENDED PODCASTS: @MomentofZenPodcast (lively tech discussions) & @CognitiveRevolutionPodcast (AI show)
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Preview of the episode
(03:10) When Vivek changed from founder to presidential candidate
(10:47) Vivek’s presidential platform: Affirmative action, Climate, Fed, Drug crisis
(15:34) Sponsors: Secureframe | MarketerHire
(16:58) Where Vivek overlaps/differs with Silicon Valley: DEI, Free speech, SVB
(24:51) Meritocracy above all else?
(31:32) How to remove politics from corporations
(39:26) Silicon Valley should empathize more with the rest of the country?
(55:56) Defining “woke”
(57:14) What’s it like to run a presidential campaign
SOCIAL LINKS:
Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg
Vivek’s Twitter: @VivekGRamaswamy
Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod
Erik’s Substack: eriktorenberg.substack.com
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