Quote · All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
Bill Maris: How Google Could Crush AI Competitors, Why Small Funds Win, and AI's Atari Stage
Where this was said
Building Google Ventures with data and machine learning
At 8:00 · chapter starts 5:58
The roof of Maris's Vermont apartment-cum-data-center started leaking during a thunderstorm, and with water and servers a lethal combination, he made the only rational (if irrational-seeming) decision: climb up with a mop and a bucket of tar. He tarred himself into a corner while lightning flashed around him, shoes forever stuck to the roof. It's a story he tells with genuine self-deprecating warmth, but the payoff is pointed. Using a series of inauguration photos — from 1989 to 2005 to 2009 — he illustrates how the person in the crowd with a laptop livestreaming, when everyone else just had a camera, is always the one who 'knows a secret about the future that most of us don't believe.' That's what he looks for in founders. [1] — Bill Maris "When the roof of his apartment-cum-data-center leaked during a thunderstorm, Maris climbed up with a bucket of tar — and tarred himself int…" 05:58 [2] — Bill Maris "At a 2009 inauguration where everyone else had a camera, one person livestreamed on a laptop. Maris uses this image to define what he looks…" 08:10
When the roof of his apartment-cum-data-center leaked during a thunderstorm, Maris climbed up with a bucket of tar — and tarred himself into a corner while lightning struck nearby. The lesson: visionary entrepreneurs always look unhinged to the people around them.
At a 2009 inauguration where everyone else had a camera, one person livestreamed on a laptop. Maris uses this image to define what he looks for in founders: they know a secret about the future that most people don't believe yet.
When tasked with creating Google Ventures in 2007, Maris gathered every piece of venture data he could find and ran millions of portfolio simulations using machine learning — though Google refused to let him call it 'AI.' The result was a disciplined, data-driven fund strategy that Google executives thought was crazy.
