E72: Keith Rabois: On Identifying Talent [Classic Interview]

This episode of Turpentine VC was recorded in front of a live audience in San Francisco in October 2018.Keith Rabois discusses his frameworks for identifying talent, sharing anecdotes about notable operators and companies like PayPal, LinkedIn, and Square. He emphasizes the importance of talent assessment, strategic thinking, and offers career advice while reflecting on his own experiences and observations.

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

🎙️This Won't Last

Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:

• "You don't want to be the best at what you do. You want to be the only one who does what you do." This was a key lesson Keith learned from a Pat Riley book.
• Great talent can be found in unexpected places, as demonstrated by Keith's hiring of successful executives like David Han, Jared Fleisler, and Brian Gastronomy who came from non-elite schools without technical backgrounds.
• You should only start a company if you have a specific idea you're deeply passionate about - Keith doesn't believe in starting companies just for the sake of being a founder.
• Working at a high-growth company for two years is valuable because the constant flow of problems creates unique learning opportunities, but you hit diminishing returns after about two years.
• The identification of talent often comes from seeing unique "sparks" - like when Taylor Francis solved the complex smoothie delivery problem at Square in an innovative way.
• When evaluating people, Keith tests them by continuously expanding their scope of responsibilities until they show signs of struggling.
• Strategic thinking means understanding how different parts of the business connect to each other - like understanding how turning different "knobs" affects the entire system.
• The best market opportunities exist in industries with low NPS scores that are highly fragmented and can be improved through vertical integration and simplification.
• Good judgment means understanding your limitations and knowing when to ask for help before getting in too deep.
• Getting adequate sleep (8 hours) is crucial for maintaining high performance and making good decisions - Keith believes most human problems stem from lack of sleep.
• A venture capitalist can effectively handle about 8-10 meetings per day before their energy and creativity begin to decline.
• Reading should combine both professional necessity and serendipitous discovery, with Keith still valuing physical bookstores for finding unexpected insights.