Cyrus is General Partner at rational.fund. He podcasts and writes at rationalvc.com. He is currently working as a Software Engineer at Tesla. He has co-invested alongside Founders Fund, Jim O'Shaughnessy, YC, a16z, Sam Altman et al. The podcast has reached the top 25 charts on several occasions, and the essays have 3,000+ subscribers.
Previously, Cyrus operated my own indie startups (some failed, 2 sold) or worked in VC-backed startups (and advised several). Prior to that he was part of a founding team for Silicon Valley Bank in London after university where he managed a $200MM portfolio in his early 20s.
Interests: reading (preferably Lindy), podcasting, writing, polymathy, learning new skills, indie hacking, asymmetric bets, lifestyle design, sovereignty, mentoring ambitious immigrants, barbell training, martial arts, flâneuring the oldest inhabited cities, architecture, hiking, meditating, and Achaemenid history.
Timestamps:
00:29 Cyrus's Background
08:08 Cyrus's Values
12:11 Escaping corporate
13:28 Leveraging code, media & capital
18:35 Self teaching software then joining Tesla
21:03 Making Small Bets
27:51 What is Lindy knowledge and why will it change your life
34:07 Is code or media a better form of leverage?
46:57 The Mayfair music scene
48:59 Should you optimise for work rate or exploration?
01:01:27 Why people should be bored more
01:04:29 Will AI eat software devs?
01:14:04 What it takes to be a top performing CEO / Founder
01:18:03 The problem with 30 under 30 & other status games
01:21:07 Don't build SaaS
01:24:03 How to get people more interested in quality content
01:35:50 The story of David Senra & Chris Williamson
01:40:48 Starting your life's work before having financial runway
01:46:22 Lifestyle design
01:49:40 Do people have a tendency to over prepare?
01:54:06 Is Charlie Munger right to be anti-crypto?
Cyrus Yari:
https://cyrusyari.com/ Ollie Allen Fox:
https://www.weboaf.com/
https://twitter.com/ollieallenfox
020 Cyrus Yari: Finding your life's work, avoiding F30u30 & Lindy Ideas