Katherine Boyle: belief

Transcript context

…What is it about the American way that fires you up and says we should have a lot more of this for a lot longer time? I think America is the greatest experiment in human history. The vast majority of Americans come from somewhere else. My grandfather drove a truck, didn't have an eighth grade education. The fact that I'm sitting here is a miracle. The fact that I get to do this job is a miracle. The thing that has always motivated me and the thing that's very clear is that something like 50% of unicorn founders in this country are foreign-born. They are sometimes the greatest testament (I think) to what it means to live the American dream. It's the same thing of why I'm so excited to live in Miami, because people are enthused about what this country stands for, about what you're able to achieve here, what you're able to build. If you go to any other country as a venture capitalist or as a founder and you talk to people, whether it's elected officials, or you talk to people who are also working on civic technology, the question you get is, how do we become like you? How do we do this? How do we create this unique thing? I do think the founders experience in this country looks a lot like what the founders did in this country, where it is just a rejection of everything they have known to build something new. Usually, it's these people who are misfits, contrarians doing something that (say) no one else can do. It is an American experience and it's an American type of investing. Even the model for venture capital is something that is deeply part of the Silicon Valley story. There's just something so part of the history of this country of what we're doing. I think when you look at other countries and other ecosystems that are emerging using this model, which is exciting, extraordinary, and it's something I think we're all excited about, it's following a story that was created here. Totally. We tell it on Acquired almost every episode. I'm thinking of Jensen and NVIDIA. Where else could somebody come from? His dad was an air conditioner engineer and not of this country, and then Jensen ended up going to a reform school. Now he's Jensen. That is a pretty uniquely American story.…

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