Invest Like The Best
Episode 289 Focus
Invest Like The Best

Episode 289: Focus

Invest Like The Best

Episode 289

Focus

Ravi Gupta is a partner at Sequoia. We cover the importance of keeping the main thing the main thing, why the best leaders are both demanding and supportive, and how mentorship works within Sequoia's culture.

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[00:02:34] - [First question] - Why it’s important to keep the main thing the main thing

[00:04:59] - His first exposure to this idea; How Will You Measure Your Life

[00:07:50] - Thoughts on the conflict of the main thing for a business and a person

[00:11:45] - The most painful episode of enacting this philosophy at InstaCart 

[00:16:13] - How this concept has manifested in his life as an investor at Sequoia 

[00:19:16] - Amazon’s 14 leadership principles vs. his concept of focus

[00:21:55] - What good main things share in common and their attributes; Frank Slootman Episode

[00:24:48] - Whether or not the feedback loop for things that work are very short 

[00:26:04] - The nature of joy and competitiveness in company culture 

[00:29:01] - How he assesses the depth that motivation runs through people and companies

[00:32:43] - Analysis of his own motivations in life 

[00:35:34] - Differences and shortcomings of virtuous and vicious motivators 

[00:37:15] - How to accurately figure out someones motivators in a short period of time

[00:40:22] - Being Demanding and Supportive; Why these words pair so well together

[00:45:55] - What he’s looking for in companies given all of the ideas discussed so far

[00:51:11] - How his ideology manifests inside of Sequoia 

[00:58:44] - What it’s like to mentor an apprentice and how to do it well

[01:02:40] - Adjusting behaviors to meet current markets where they’re at 

[01:06:13] - Defining what a great product is

[01:07:56] - What he did to turn around InstaCart by narrowing their focus

[01:12:28] - The things that most drove the switchover at InstaCart

[01:14:53] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Focus

Introduction

Patrick
My guest today is Ravi Gupta. Ravi spent a decade in private equity at KKR before joining Instacart as their first CFO and COO. He navigated them through a critical moment in their history and returned to investing in 2019, as a partner at Sequoia. Our discussion gets to the heart of what it means to build and invest in great businesses, and we talk a lot about the personal side of the journey, which tends to get overlooked. Please enjoy this great conversation with Ravi Gupta.

"Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing"

Patrick
Where to begin this conversation? I think our favorite idea, you and I talk about all the time, is this beautiful, elegant sentence, keep the main thing the main thing. People have heard this before. I'm sure that people like the idea at its surface level. I'd love to spend the first part of this conversation really convincing people that this is an idea worth holding dear and taking very seriously. I have personally made this mistake, to not keep the main thing the main thing, so many times I can't even count and I've regretted it every time. It seems like one of those lessons you can only learn by a firsthand experience, but we're going to do our best to really ram this point home. So give me your opening salvo on this beautiful idea and why you take it so seriously.

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