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Scott Wilson is the CIO of WashU, one of the best-performing endowment funds in the world. Under his leadership, Scott has grown the endowment from $8BN to $19BN today. At one point, SpaceX was over 20% of the entire value of the endowment. 

AGENDA: 

00:00 – How WashU Built One of the Best-Performing Endowment Portfolios in the World

04:00 – Scott Wilson's Investment Playbook: Concentration, Conviction and Compounding

05:20 – Why Scott Sold Over 75% of WashU's Portfolio When He Joined

07:15 – How Should You Allocate a $20 Billion Endowment Between Publics and Privates?

10:00 – How WashU Finds Direct Investments That Other LPs Miss

12:15 – How WashU Made Billions From SpaceX and Kept Holding

13:25 – Why Concentration Limits Are Killing Venture Returns

16:15 – Scott's Biggest Investing Mistake 

17:10 – How Much Diversification Does a $20 Billion Endowment Really Need?

19:40 – Why Mega Funds Don't Work for WashU's Investment Strategy

23:15 – How WashU Gets Into the Best Companies Before Everyone Else

25:35 – Are Private Market Valuations Now Completely Detached From Reality?

28:10 – Why Half of Today's AI Companies Could Disappear in 10 Years

30:10 – When Should LPs Sell Their Biggest Winners After an IPO?

32:00 – Why Scott Wilson Walked Away From Sequoia Capital

34:15 – The Number One Reason WashU Fires Venture Managers

35:45 – Should LPs Forgive VCs for Deploying Their Funds in Just 18 Months?

38:30 – Is the AI Boom Heading for a Massive Shakeout?

45:15 – Why European Companies Are So Much Cheaper Than US Companies

47:30 – Why WashU Still Believes China Is a Great Place to Invest

48:30 – Is Government Overreach Actually Worse in the UK Than China?

50:10 – Quickfire: The Venture Funds Scott Wishes He Had Backed

53:00 – The Best Career Advice From a $20 Billion Endowment CIO

Diet TBPN delivers the best of today’s TBPN episode in 30 minutes. TBPN is a live tech talk show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays, streaming weekdays 11–2 PT on X and YouTube, with each episode posted to podcast platforms right after.

Described by The New York Times as “Silicon Valley’s newest obsession,” the show has recently featured Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Mark Cuban, and Satya Nadella.

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• (01:33) - AI Boom Reality Check
• (16:00) - Jobs Boom
• (21:56) - Hedge Fund Selloff
• (24:12) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
• (26:50) - Cybertruck Scrapped
• (38:02) - WSJ Mansion Section
• (46:31) - Praveer Melwani is the CFO of Figma, the collaborative design and software development platform. He oversees the company’s financial strategy, operations, and long-term planning, helping scale Figma through its rapid growth and transition into a publicly traded company. He is also an advocate for using AI to transform corporate finance and automate business workflows.
• (56:36) - Keller Cliffton is the co-founder and CEO of Zipline, the autonomous drone delivery company transforming how medical supplies, food, and consumer goods are transported. Zipline began by delivering blood and vaccines to remote hospitals in Rwanda and has since expanded across four continents, partnering with companies like Walmart and Uber Eats. The company recently raised $1.5 billion at a $21.5 billion valuation. Before founding Zipline, Cliffton studied at Harvard and was a professional rock climber.
• (01:11:45) - Rahul Sonwalkar is the founder and CEO of Julius AI, an AI-powered data analysis platform that allows users to analyze spreadsheets, generate visualizations, and perform complex statistical modeling using natural language. A Y Combinator alumnus and former engineer at Uber and Facebook, he has grown Julius to more than 2 million users and raised $10 million in funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
• (01:20:00) - Max Siegelman is the founder of Siegelman Stable, a luxury sportswear and streetwear brand known for its vintage-inspired hats, apparel, and celebrity following. Launched in 2020 as a tribute to his family's horse racing business, the brand has gained popularity among figures like Kendall Jenner, Justin Bieber, and Aaron Judge, with collaborations spanning major sports teams and fashion. A portion of the brand's proceeds supports equine therapy programs.
• (01:40:05) - D.A. Wallach is the co-founder and general partner of Time BioVentures, a venture capital firm investing in biotechnology, healthcare, and breakthrough medical technologies. He was an early investor in companies including Spotify, SpaceX, and Neuralink, and previously fronted the indie rock band Chester French, which was discovered by Pharrell Williams. He has since become a prominent investor focused on transforming medicine through innovative biotech startups.

TBPN is made possible by:

Ramp - https://ramp.com

Public - https://public.com

Cisco - https://www.cisco.com

Console - https://www.console.com

CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com

Figma - https://www.figma.com

MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com

NYSE - https://www.nyse.com

Railway - https://railway.com

Shopify - https://www.shopify.com

Codex - http://openAI.com/codex

Follow TBPN: 

https://TBPN.com

https://x.com/tbpn

https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235

https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive