Michael Moritz - Lessons From 40 Years of Investing and Writing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.491]

Michael Moritz led Sequoia Capital for nearly two decades and backed some of the defining companies of the internet era.

In his new memoir, Ausländer, he turns his attention to his own family, Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany and rebuilt their lives in Wales.

We discuss the imprint his parents left on him, the method he used for decades of asking founders about their childhoods and the Time profile that ended his relationship with Steve Jobs.

We also also cover Lee Iacocca, why Don Valentine hired him, Alex Ferguson's approach to managing players, Elon Musk, and why Mike still struggles to feel proud of anything he has done.

Please enjoy my conversation with Michael Moritz.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best

(00:02:16) Where Does One Person End?

(00:11:15) The State of the World Today

(00:15:08) The Unlived Life of Parents

(00:17:33) Lee Iacocca, Eternal Outsider

(00:21:03) His Most Revealing Question

(00:26:03) Resisters, the Silent, and Collabos

(00:33:30) The Profile of Steve Jobs

(00:38:04) Frank Auerbach's Total Obsession

(00:41:04) Why Don Valentine Hired Michael

(00:46:44) Building Sequoia

(00:49:49) What Michael Learned from Alex Ferguson

(00:52:57) The Great Man Theory

(01:00:36) Defining Extraordinary Writing

(01:03:40) Stepping Back From Sequoia

(01:06:54) A Philosophy of Parenting

(01:09:00) The Next Book: Iran

(01:11:44) The Kindest Thing