#274 Jim Clark (Silicon Graphics, Netscape)

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one-time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer, but if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets, they're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high, so I will have at least four shots of espresso or four energy drinks before or during the show so we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today and I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th. As it turned out, the main character of this story had a structure to his life. He might not care to acknowledge it, but it was there all the same. It was the structure of an old fashioned adventure story. His mere presence on a scene inspired the question that propels every adventure story forward.
What will happen next?
I had no idea and neither did he.
Why Jim Clark was so worthy of study was another matter. For now, I'll just say that the quirks in the man's character sent the most fantastic ripples through the world around him. Often starting with the best intentions, or no intentions at all, he turned people's lives upside down and subjected them to the most vicious force a human being can be subjected to, change.
Oddly enough, he was forever claiming that what he really wanted to do was put up his feet and relax. He could not do this for more than a minute. Once he put up his feet, his mind would spin and his face would turn red and he would be disturbed all over again. He thought of something or someone in the world that needed to be changed.
For all I knew, Clark would be remembered chiefly as the guy who created Netscape and triggered the internet boom, which in turn triggered one of the most astonishing grab vests in the history of capitalism.
Maybe somewhere in a footnote, it would be mentioned that he came from nothing, grew up poor, dropped out of high school and made himself three or four billion dollars.
That is an excerpt from the book that I reread and the one I'm gonna talk to you about today, which is The New New Thing, A Silicon Valley Story and is written by Michael Lewis.
Okay, so before I jump back into the book, I wanna introduce you to this episode's sponsors. All of these companies are building services for founders. The first sponsor is Tiny. Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Quick and straightforward exits for cash for founders. If you have a business that you wanna sell now or in the future and you want a no BS solution, go to tiny.com. When you go to the website, you see a master class of product differentiation. I've talked about this on past episodes. Tiny sponsored a bunch of episodes of founders.
On episode 227, The Essays of Warren Buffett, I feel that Tiny is doing something very similar to what Warren Buffett did in his shareholder letters. If you haven't listened to episode 227, go back after you're done listening to this one. When you see the, you can go in the show notes and you can just, and you'll see the timestamp if you just want to listen to that part. The show note says an absolute master class on how to differentiate your product. Under the why sell to us section, I feel the entire Tiny's entire website does this, but if you go to the why sell to us section, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. I've talked to a ton of founders that have sold their business. The process is usually a giant headache. What I love about Tiny, it's just no BS. It's very simple to understand. You go to tiny.com, if you have a business to sell now or in the future, they're gonna give you a response within 48 hours. They'll make an offer in seven days and they'll close in one month. And then from a founder's perspective, check out these three highlights from the website. After the sale, there's no golden handcuffs. Founders can stay or go. There's no in-person meetings. There's no need to do an in-person meeting. That's very reminiscent of Warren Buffett. You and I have talked about that a million times. And then in my opinion, even better than that, straightforward, all cash payments. So if you have a business that you want to sell now or in the future, make sure you go to tiny.com.