☕Episode #76: Josh Wolfe – This is who you are up against

“Getting a tattoo is like being long regret”

Would highly recommend listening to the episode on your own! Click here.

Engaging: ✭✭✭✭✭✭✩ (6/7)

Utility: ✭✭✭✭✭✭✩ (6/7)

He is the founder of Lux Capital, an unconventional VC firm that funds counter-conventional solutions to the problems that are very prevalent, but often under-discussed.
Can’t lie, this guy is super charismatic. It is incredibly easy to listen to him.
Some of his accomplishments:
- “Josh is a Director at Shapeways, Strateos, Lux Research, Kallyope, CTRL-labs, Variant, and Varda, and helped lead the firm’s investments in Anduril, Planet, Echodyne, Clarifai, Authorea, Resilience, and Hadrian. He is a founding investor and board member with Bill Gates in Kymeta, making cutting-edge antennas for high-speed global satellite and space communications.”

Passion lowers your own cost of capital. When you love something so deeply, it gives you the motivation to work endlessly and dive deeper than anyone else has. It thus makes it EASIER, and therefore more SUSTAINABLE, to work on that given subject, which is why the opportunity cost is lower than people may initially think.
- Personally agree heavily with this concept – some people will ask me why I don’t burn out even though I spent a big chunk of my days “working.” It’s because it doesn’t really feel like work to me, and therefore is super easy to maintain. In fact, I often look forward to it.
Look for things that suck and no one ever talks about. A good example of this is tattoo removal – 40M people have tattoos but people end up regretting it long term. You rarely ever want to hop on the “hype” train – the hype and inflated price create the worst risk-reward dynamics. There is often a psychological effect to be in the thing NOW, when you should have been in it 4-5 years prior.
Minority opinions are often the most successful. Supports the idea that a contrarian view is what leads to the best outcomes, and if there exists a lack of consensus internally at a fund, that may even strengthen how contrarian it is, given there is disagreement even within a firm that has instilled certain principles.

Focus on the things you’re passionate about! Not only are these things easier, but they also end having a higher chance for success, since you’ll go out of your way to make that the case.
Don’t shy away from being the minority opinion. Oftentimes, the contrarian views have the most potential. As a caveat, however, don’t try to be contrarian purely for being contrarian. You want it to come naturally.