Liberty's Highlights

You love reading. You’re always looking for great things to read? 📖 📚Me too! *high five* 🙏Today, I’m talking with my friends Tinkered Thinking and Dylan O’Sullivan about ‘White Mirror’, a book written by the former, edited by the latter, and published by OSV’s Infinite Books (full disclosure: I was involved in the publication of this book, but we wanted to publish it because it’s great, we don’t think it’s great because we published it. The order matters!).It’s a wide-ranging conversation aimed at those who HAVEN’T yet read the book, so don’t worry. We go down all kinds of rabbit holes 🐇 and tangents, including:* From a tweet to 31 stories, the wild origin of White Mirror* The intersection of technology & human experience* Reclaiming childlike imagination and a sense of wonder as an antidote to pessimism* Simulation theory, meditation, and the nature of reality* Literary architecture and chiastic structures* Predictions in the book that are coming true, and startup ideas hidden in the stories* The craft of writing fiction vs. non-fiction* Status games, adulthood, and missing rituals and rites of passage* Writing science fiction as someone who doesn’t read much scifi* …and much more🏆 Giveaway: 5 Signed Copies of White Mirror! 🪞📚✍️Thanks to Tinkered’s generosity, I’m giving away five signed copies of White Mirror. If you want to participate, the instructions are simple:* If you’re a paid supporter and are interested, send me an email to let me know you’d like one (you can just reply to any of the newsletter emails or this podcast email). Send this before December 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST. That’s it.* On December 3, 2025, I’ll draw names out of a hat, or buy one of those bingo machines with the balls bouncing around, or use randomizing software, whatever, and pick 5 winners. When you win, I’ll email you to ask for shipping details.* If you’re NOT yet a paid supporter, but would like to become one before December 1, no problem, you can participate. Hit the subscribe button, and then drop me an email that mentions you’re interested in the signed book (I’ll also send you a link to the private Discord and to Zoom Q&As I do with supporters).There aren’t that many of you, and not all will enter, so if you do put your name in the hat 🎟️ 🎩 your odds of getting a signed book are very good.But you don’t have to wait for that to buy it. And if you win, just keep the signed copy and give the regular one to someone else. 🎁🛒 Best Place to Buy the Book 👇You can buy White Mirror on Amazon, but the real pro move is to get it from Infinite Books because, for the same price, you get the deluxe paperback of the book + the audiobook + the ebook (DRM-free).The book is a beautiful artifact, we spent a ton of time obsessing over the details. 🔍 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

One of my very favorite annual traditions is conducting this interview with my friend David Kim, aka Scuttleblurb (🕵📝).His investment research journal/company deep dives/business explorations were a key inspiration for this 🚢 steamboat. While the format is different, I hope there are similarities in the spirit. And I know that he has influenced and inspired many others — especially the good ones!In our conversation this year — the fifth one! — we explore the State of Scuttleblurb 📊, his analyses of key industries and companies from the past year 🏭, and our perspective on the market looking back at 2024 and heading into 2025 🔮. We also discuss the evolution of his research process and the new tools he's adopted 🛠️.I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed having the conversation!Photo: David and his brother Rich.If you missed them, here are the previous four annual interviews I did with David:* 📄 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2020)* 📄 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2022)* 🎧 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2023)* 📄 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2024) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Mark Nelson is back for Part 2!(If you missed it, here’s part 1)Another wide-ranging conversation: We discuss the implications of the new U.S. administration on energy policy, particularly focusing on Chris Wright, the incoming Secretary of Energy.We explore Wright’s background in the oil and gas industry, his connections to the nuclear sector through his board position at Oklo, and what his appointment might mean for both conventional and advanced nuclear power in America.We also get into the dynamics between different energy sources, including the relationship between nuclear power and electric vehicles, the future of LNG exports, and the complex economics of oil and gas production.Don’t miss the under-discussed love story (💞) between nuclear and batteries. ☢️🔋We also touch on recent regulatory challenges facing Big Tech companies’ nuclear power initiatives and how the energy landscape might evolve in the coming years.We close with why it’s time to build (again). 🏗️ ⚛️ 🚧👷‍♂️🛠️ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

🚨 Note: The first part of the podcast is spoiler-free. The spoilers only start after a warning 🚨What happens when six film enthusiasts dissect Christopher Nolan's most ambitious and polarizing puzzle box? 🧩We dive deep into TENET — exploring and deconstructing the film's twisted timeline, inverted action sequences, and reality-bending concepts. 🕰️ 🧠🌀What worked? What didn’t? Do we love it, hate it, or love/hate it?Our distinguished panel of inverted time-travelers assembled to discuss this crazy film is composed of:* 🗣️ Jim O’Shaughnessy* 🗣️ Jack Connor* 🗣️ Tinkered Thinking* 🗣️ Ed William* 🗣️ Dylan O’SullivanAlong the way, we venture into Nolan's other films and rank our faovrites, and somehow end up in Deadwood territory 🤠 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Mark Nelson is back! (our first conversation is here)We discussed how AI's massive power needs are reshaping energy policy in unexpected ways.For years, Big Tech claimed to run on '100% renewable energy' while quietly relying on nuclear and fossil fuels. But now, as companies race to build massive AI computing centers requiring gigawatts of reliable 24/7 power, that pretense is crumbling. Starting with Microsoft's Three Mile Island deal for the revival of a shutdown nuclear plant, we explore how Silicon Valley's desperate hunt for steady power is forcing an energy policy reset across the industry and how that may impact anti-nuclear NGOs and policymakers everywhere.We dive into Germany's nuclear situation, Taiwan's power challenges, and how the world's richest companies went from being part of the problem to potentially part of the solution. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

I’m excited to share with you one of my favorite podcasts that I’ve recorded! 🎧🥇I hope you enjoy it and will ➡️ subscribe to ‘Cost of Glory’ ⬅️ (listen on: Spotify or Apple Podcast) and follow Alex’s explorations of the greatest stories from Roman and Greek antiquity.It’s like a time machine for the mind, and might inspire you to read some of the great books we recommend near the end of the podcast!In this episode, Alex and I discuss why the Romans and Greeks of Antiquity were 𝕤𝕠 𝕒𝕨𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 and his journey following in Plutarch’s footsteps — telling stories of real heroes and learning from their lives. Except Alex does it with a podcast instead of with a reed pen (I had to look up what they used to write in antiquity…)There’s a lot to love about this one. One of my favorite parts is when we do a lightning-round through a bunch of big names from the era, and Alex gives a highlight on each. We discuss people like Alexander the Great, Sulla, Hannibal, Scipio, Julius Caesar, Pompey, Cato the Elder and Cato the Younger, Xenophon, etc.It gave me a lot of context about names I recognized but didn’t know much about — I feel better equipped to dig deeper! I hope it’ll do the same for you.Enjoy! 💚 🥃👇 Other Great Links For You* Cost of Glory Substack 📩📫* Cost of Glory Free eBook on Oratory 📙🗣️* Alex’s Guide on How to Read All of Plutarch's Lives 📖📚* Alex’s Interview w/ Nat Friedman on the Mysteries of the Scrolls 📜🤖* Follow Alex on Twitter/X 🐦 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

On his eighth appearance on the podcast, MBI (🇧🇩🇺🇸) joins me to discuss one of humanity’s most impressive achievements: The semiconductor industry.Of course, we can’t talk about everything, and this isn’t meant to be a structured primer (for that, see below). It’s just a mostly unstructured conversation among friends, discussing whatever we find interesting in the space.We focus mostly on TSMC and Texas Instruments because that’s the two companies that MBI has researched more deeply, but we touch on ideas and concepts that apply more broadly.The goal is mostly to make you curious about this magic sand and encourage you to go down that rabbit hole too (we have book recommendations at the end if you don’t know where to start).We also brainstormed an interesting proposal to create a US alternative to TSMC (USSMC?). 📄🕵️‍♂️ MBI’s Semiconductor Deep Dives 🩻🔍* Semiconductors: "To see a World in a Grain of Sand" (sub required 🔐)* Texas Instruments: Leading the Analog Chips Industry (sub required 🔐)* TSMC: The Most Mission-Critical Company on Earth (sub required 🔐) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Here’s something a little different. A fun — but dark! — one.I’m a big fan of Denis Villeneuve, and I was due for a re-watch of ‘Sicario’ (2015, written by Taylor Sheridan).It was the perfect opportunity to nerd out about the film, so I recruited my OSV colleagues Ed William (🇬🇧) and Dylan O’Sullivan (🇮🇪) for that task. (You should follow them on Twitter, and while you’re at it, sign up for the OSV Substack so you don’t miss the cool stuff we’ve got coming.)The things you love are always better when you can share them with others and this is exactly what we do here. We go over every aspect of the film, from the writing, the acting, the cinematography, the music, the metaphors, and scene-by-scene analysis.But mostly, we have fun and I hope that you do too!If you’ve never seen the film, watch it before listening, as the podcast is one giant 🚨SPOILER🚨 — and if you’ve seen it but haven’t rewatched it, I hope we can convince you to do so and that you’ll notice a bunch of new cool details this time around.🎧 Listen on SpotifyIf you prefer to listen on Spotify, here’s the feed:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast feed on Spotify🎧 Listen on Apple PodcastsHere’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast on Apple📺 More Film & TV Podcasts 🎥* 🎧 The Last of Us: Going Deep on HBO's Amazing Show with Matt Reustle and Tinkered Thinking 🍄* 🎧 'Severance' Season 1: Going Deep with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)* 🎧 David Senra on Deadwood (also: founders, entrepreneurs, civilization, Henry Singleton, Walt Disney, David Ogilvy, etc)💚 🥃 Enjoyed this? Want more? 👇You can become a paid supporter to get 1-2x additional editions/week + access to the private Discord + support the recording of more podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Today, I’m joined by my friend Trung Phan! He’s multi-talented, funny and smart, a great writer, podcaster, and just overall good dude 👍In this conversation, we cover a lot of things from the Trung Expanded Universe, from the network effect at companies like Twitter/X and Facebook to Chernobyl and partying in Vietnam, we talk about creating online and how he got so good at solving the Twitter puzzle, what we learned from Rick Rubin and our mutual love of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Christopher Nolan, writing a newsletter, doing a podcast, how AI is changing things and why he’s building Bearly.AI, and how ambitions of becoming a screenwriter morphed into something else thanks to the permissionless internet.I had a lot of fun recording this, and I hope it translates when you listen! 💚 🥃Here’s the podcast with Bill Simmons that Trung recommends about 45 minutes into our conversation:* 🎧 How I Built This with Guy Raz — The Ringer: Bill Simmons🎙️ More from Trung 📩Make sure you subscribe to Trung’s newsletter (📩). It’s a mix of long-form features about various companies, products, technologies, entrepreneurs, and funny short-form memes and jokes.The same issue could cover both the science and engineering that went into making iPhone glass more shatter and scratch-resistant using space-age tech AND a meme about wealthy vampires because of compound interest.If you need even more Trung, please make sure to subscribe to ‘Not Investment Advice’, the hilarious and educational podcast that he co-hosts with Jack Butcher and Bilal Zaidi. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

On his sixth appearance on the pod, MBI joins me to discuss the most polarizing of the Big Tech companies: Meta Platforms (the artist formerly known as Facebook).Of course, it’s impossible to talk about it without talking about Mark Zuckerberg, so we try to better understand how he thinks about the company that he founded when he was 19, and how he compares to other founders.There was a lot to cover, and I think we touched on most of the big things: Facebook, Messenger, Whatsapp, Instagram, Reality Labs (AR/VR), AI, Threads, regulators, competitors, high-variance founders, and even cage matches (😬)…It was a fun conversation for me, I hope you have as much fun listening to it (and learn a few things about Meta too)! 💚 🥃For more on Meta, check out MBI’s excellent coverage at MBI Deep Dives. He has 10 posts on the company, but I’m going to highlight 5 of them:📄 MBI Deep Dives — META Coverage 🔐* Meta's Moat* Meta's Achilles Heel(s)* Meta 2Q'23 Earnings Update* Meta Needs A Decade Of Efficiency* What’s embedded in Meta’s stock price? (2022)🗄 More podcasts with MBI 🕵️‍♂️* 🎧 Microsoft: Going Deep with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI) 🕵️‍♂️🩻* 🎧 Big Tech Compensation: Going Deep with MBI* 🎧 Going Deep on Cloudflare and Datadog with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)* 🎧 Going deep on Payments with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI): Adyen, PayPal, Stripe, Square, Amazon, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard!* 🎧 'Severance' Season 1: Going Deep with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)* 🎧 Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

I’m excited to share with you another fun conversation with my good friend MBI (💎🐕). This marks his sixth appearance on the podcast, putting him in the lead ahead of David Senra with four (not that anyone’s counting!).Our starting point is his Deep Dive on Microsoft, which I strongly recommend:* 📄 Microsoft: The Quintessential Technology Company (sub. required)It’s an excellent primer and even if you’ve been following Microsoft for a while, I bet you’ll learn a few things!In the podcast, we dive deep into Microsoft and draw parallels with other Big Tech companies and their founders. Particularly between Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, but we also discuss Google, Meta, Amazon, and Apple.We also talk about the company’s history of spectacular profitable growth, the Gates era, the Ballmer era, and the ongoing Nadella era. We also look at how Microsoft is positioned in the cloud market against Amazon's AWS and Google’s GCP. ☁️☁️☁️ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Over the years, I have gotten to know Jim through one-on-one conversations and by listening to Infinite Loops and other podcasts where he was a guest.My goal with this podcast is to help you get to know Jim better, from his origin story to his early career in finance and quantitative investing, the writing of his influential book, all the way to the seeds of the idea that became O’Shaughnessy Ventures (OSV) where I now work (more on that below) and how we see the past and future of the Media space.I hope that you will enjoy our conversation and learn a few things even if you’ve been following Jim for years. If this is your introduction to him, I hope you’ll come out on the other side feeling like you have a good understanding of who he is, what his North Star is, and what he’s building. 🏗️🛠️For more context about my joining OSV, see this piece that I wrote about it:* Why I took the job of Head of Infinite Media at O'Shaughnessy Ventures! (OSV) 💡Also, make sure to add Infinite Loops to your podcast player and subscribe to the Infinite Loops substack to keep track of what comes next! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

I had the great pleasure of talking with someone I admire a lot: Kevin Kelly!He not only influenced my life directly through his works & ideas but he’s also cited as an inspiration and influence by many of the people that I admire, so I’m sure there’s an indirect influence too!Among other things, we discuss his new book (order your copy today!), creativity, the impact of AI, how to create family traditions and rites of passage, Universal Personal Interns (UPIs), what is scarce in the universe, making friends with older and younger people, and more.Please enjoy my wide-ranging conversation with the inimitable K.K.! 💚 🥃 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

🚨 SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS 🚨 If you haven’t seen the show, bookmark this and come back after you’ve seen it. It’s a show worth seeing without spoilers!I’m very pleased that my friends Matt Reustle (🎧🎙️) and Tinkered Thinking (✍️📚) joined me to discuss what may very well turn out to be my favorite TV shows of the year.Above is one of my fave shots. I’m mad that I forgot to mention it in the podcast!Context: Joel wakes up in a panic because he fell asleep during his night watch. He turns around and Ellie is watching over him with the rifle.🎧 Listen on Spotify 🍄If you prefer to listen on Spotify, here’s the feed:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast feed on Spotify🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🍄Here’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast on Apple📺 Watch on Youtube 🍄💚 🥃 For more, please subscribe:🗄 More from the Archives 🍄* 🎧 David Senra and Jimmy Soni: 'The Founders' Book Club on the PayPal Mafia 📖* 🎧 Big Tech Compensation: Going Deep with MBI* 🎧 'Severance' Season 1: Going Deep with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)* 🎧 David Senra on Deadwood (also: founders, entrepreneurs, civilization, Henry Singleton, Walt Disney, David Ogilvy, etc)* 🎧 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2023 Edition: Exploration as a Service)* 🎧 Going Deep on the Energy Crisis and Nuclear Power with Mark Nelson (Part 1 of 2) 🔌⚡️💡* 🎧 Claude Shannon fan club with Jimmy Soni and David Senra 📖* 🎧 Podcast #6: Jimmy Soni on the PayPal Mafia (Musk, Thiel, Levchin, etc), startups, tech, the research process, and much more* 🎧 David Senra of Founders Podcast (Podcast #11)* 🎧 Cedric Chin: What Operators can Teach Investors, the Study of Expertise, Knowledge Shields, and More (Podcast #10)* 🎧 Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)🐕🎠🕹️🌳🦒🦒 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

I’m very happy to share with you this conversation with my two very good friends, Jimmy Soni (📚✍️) and David Senra (🎙📚).We discuss Jimmy’s excellent book The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, while taking 57 different tangents and detours into things that we find interesting or that are indirectly connected to the main story.I hope you enjoy this special Book Club edition!📃 Full transcript (human-corrected and everything!)* Transcript: David Senra and Jimmy Soni: 'The Founders' Book Club on the PayPal Mafia 📖🎙 Previous Book Club on Claude Shannon 📘📗📕🐁* 🎧 Claude Shannon fan club with Jimmy Soni and David Senra 📖💚 🥃 Enjoyed this? Want more? 👇You can become a paid supporter to get 2x additional editions/week + access to the private Discord + support the recording of more podcasts:Subscribe to Liberty’s Highlights This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

What could be more exciting than carefully reading through Big Tech proxy statements to look at management incentives, comparing them across companies to see what’s similar and different, what we like and don’t like, and how they rank from best to worst..?If this is not your bag, you’re in luck! MBI did this work for you and shared his findings in a post.But that’s just a starting point: In today’s episode, we go deep into Big Tech compensation, and MBI shares additional thoughts and analysis based on feedback he received after publishing his work. We discuss Apple, Google/Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta.For a lot more good stuff from Mostly Borrowed Ideas (💎🐕), sign up for MBI Deep Dives (now is the best time to sign up, because prices are going up on March 1st, 2023).🎧 Listen on SpotifyIf you prefer to listen on Spotify, here’s the feed:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast feed on Spotify🎧 Listen on Apple PodcastsHere’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast on Apple📺 Watch on Youtube📃 Full transcript of the podcast* Transcript: Big Tech Compensation: Going Deep with MBI🎙 More podcasts with MBI:* 🎧 Going Deep on Cloudflare and Datadog with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)* 🎧 'Severance' Season 1: Going Deep with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)* 🎧 Going deep on Payments with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI): Adyen, PayPal, Stripe, Square, Amazon, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard!* 🎧 Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)🗄 More Podcasts from the Archives* 🎧 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2023 Edition: Exploration as a Service)* 🎧 Going Deep on the Energy Crisis and Nuclear Power with Mark Nelson (Part 1 of 2) 🔌⚡️💡* 🎧 Claude Shannon fan club with Jimmy Soni and David Senra 📖* 🎧 Podcast #6: Jimmy Soni on the PayPal Mafia (Musk, Thiel, Levchin, etc), startups, tech, the research process, and much more* 🎧 David Senra of Founders Podcast (Podcast #11)* 🎧 Cedric Chin: What Operators can Teach Investors, the Study of Expertise, Knowledge Shields, and More (Podcast #10)💚 🥃 Enjoyed this? Want more? 👇You can become a paid supporter to get 2 additional editions/week + access to the private Discord + support the recording of more podcasts: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

David Kim is the author of Scuttleblurb (now also on Substack! More on that new development in the podcast).This is the third time I have interviewed David — he’s that interesting! For more context, you can find the previous two interviews linked below.In this one, David shares his journey as an investor, talks about how Scuttleblurb started and how it’s doing these days, and who inspired him to get started (if Scuttleblurb is the grand-daddy of a lot of current ‘deep dive’ newsletters, who’s the great-grand-daddy?).It’s a two-way conversation, so we also talk about what I’m doing.We also touch on some businesses: Carvana (😬), Texas Instruments (🐜), Sherwin-Williams (🎨), and Transdigm (🛩️).David has a great riff about the various approaches to investing and the trade-offs inherent to each. He also discusses the EQ aspects of investing, which can sometimes be overlooked in favor of the IQ side of things (where there’s also a fluid vs crystalized intelligence dynamic at play over time).David also talks about the two kinds of errors in investing, with examples for each (Twitter & Coinbase!), and when more information can help and when more information can potentially hurt you.📃 Full transcript of the podcast* Transcript: Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2023 Edition)🗣️ More interviews with David Kim* 📄 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2020)* 📄 Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2022 Edition) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Let’s go deep into season 1 of Severance (2022, Apple TV+), a thriller with science fiction elements created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle. It was nominated for 14 Emmys!🤫 🚨NOTE ON SPOILERS 🚨🤐This podcast has a SPOILER-FREE INTRO.The spoilers only start after the “spoiler horn” about 11 minutes into it (you can’t miss it 📢).So even if you haven’t seen the show, you can listen to the first part — I hope it piques your curiosity and convinces you to check it out!For more of my thoughts on Severance, I also wrote about it in edition #354 (with both a spoiler-free intro and then spoilers).I hope you enjoy it.Covering a TV show is a bit different (David Senra and I discussed Deadwood). But MBI and I still end up talking about Google, Warren Buffett, technological disruption, capital allocation, value creation vs value capture, and workplace productivity. So it’s still us. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯We also run a few thought experiments: Would we ever consider getting severed ourselves? Can we imagine scenarios where that would be convincing? If this were offered, what percentage of the population would do it?What about you?The podcast even has some trivia near the end with a Claude Shannon connection! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

First, something to keep in mind: This is a conversation about these companies not an interview of MBI. We both talk about equally and ask each other questions. I want to mention it upfront just so you don’t expect a different format going in.I had a great time discussing these two very interesting companies with my friend MBI (💎🐕).When I saw on his 2022 deep dive calendar that he was going to write about Cloudflare and Datadog, I knew we had to find time to talk about them at some point, since I had independently studied both and had a few things to say.We discuss the businesses, technology, products, and management.We also analyze the rise and fall of cloud software stocks over the past few years, issues with stock-based compensation, competition for engineers from Big Tech, how profitable can these companies be at maturity, and a bunch of other related topics and companies.📃 Full transcript* Going Deep on Cloudflare and Datadog with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (Transcript)🎙 More podcasts with MBI:* 🎧 Going deep on Payments with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI): Adyen, PayPal, Stripe, Square, Amazon, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard!* 🎧 Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

I’m very happy to share with you this conversation I had with my two very good friends, Jimmy Soni (✍️) and David Senra (🎙📚).We got together for a very special occasion. To talk about this man:Claude Shannon was both a genius and a very authentic human being, and I think more people should learn from him — understanding his masterwork, Information Theory, helps to understand the digital world, but I also strongly believe that reading about how he lived his life can help steer us to a deeper, more satisfying life for ourselves.Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman wrote an excellent biography of Shannon, and this book is the starting point for today’s episode.But in our usual fashion, we don’t stop there and make all kinds of connections to all kinds of other things and people (Ed Thorp, Henry Singleton, Warren Buffett, Vannevar Bush, Dee Hock, Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, Alan Turing, Albert Einstein, etc).💚 🥃 Enjoyed this? Want more? 👇If you enjoyed this and would like more, you can become a paid supporter to get 2x extra editions/week + access to the private Discord + support the recording of more podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe