E53: Wealth tax, inflation as a capital allocator, big tech earnings, paternity leave & more

**Jason Calacanis** (0:00)
Oh, baby. No skin on skin?

**Friedberg** (0:03)
Listen to me.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:04)
Only the best for my daughter. This is 100% Loro Piana Vicuña.

**Friedberg** (0:10)
She's going to puke on it any minute. You're using Loro Piana to wipe her.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:16)
No, this is the sweater that she's got her face on, but this is the softest material, human, I mean, natural material on earth. Really? This is not subject to any supply chain constraints. In fact, when you buy one from Loro Piana, they'll fly one right to you.
Guys, isn't it amazing how people in power can not take any time off and still remain in power and engaged when you have a baby?

**Friedberg** (1:00)
J Cal, what's the reference?

**Jason Calacanis** (1:01)
Okay, our friend Joe Lonsdale, venture capitalist living in Austin, had a tweet that went viral, but maybe not for the best reasons. He said in response to a Dan Primrack tweet, Dan works at Axios, who was talking about Joe Rogan criticizing the amount of time Buttigieg was taking on paternity leave.
And Joe Lonsdale responded, Wow, great for fathers to spend time with their kids and support moms, but any man in an important position who takes six months of leave for a newborn is a loser. In the old days, men had babies and worked harder to provide for their future. That's the correct masculine response. Well, it was an opinion from 1957 That's either his or the way back machine. But Joe's old school. Joe is a unique individual. And he just happened to, I think, in this whole, like, not get canceled debate or don't let yourself get canceled debate, the right is now saying, like, I'm just going to tell you how I actually feel.
And so Joe told us actually how he felt. I don't think he said anything offensive. I think you can have a different opinion than what he said.
But I don't think he said it shouldn't exist. He said, if you're in a position of power, and you check out for six months, it puts everything that you're doing under a lot of pressure.
That's, I think what he said, and he called those very specific people losers. The context is Joe Rogan called out Pete Buttigieg, because Pete Buttigieg had two kids via surrogate.
And I guess it's taking six months or I don't know, I don't even know how much time he's taking off. He's had three months, but nobody knows if he's like working half time, full time. But Rogan had an issue with it. And then Dan Premack basically said, what Rogan doesn't know is at his own company, i.e. Spotify, there's a six month policy. Which by the way, Joe Rogan does not work for Spotify, they license his show. So there is no way for Joe Rogan to know the internal policies. He is not an employee. I mean, Jason, if you want if you want to hang your hat on that little fig leaf, okay. No, I'm just saying it's I'm not defending Joe. But I'm also saying like, how would he know? It's not like he went to HR and was like, hey, what's our paternity? He doesn't work there. Yeah, fine.

**David Sacks** (3:17)
Well, six months is a long time, especially. I mean, that is a long time to take off.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:23)
The word loser is a very strong word. Do you think men who take paternity are losers?

**David Sacks** (3:28)
No, no. I mean, it's their choice.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:30)
You think men who take six months of paternity are losers?

**David Sacks** (3:34)
I wouldn't necessarily call them a loser. I do think that is a long time for somebody who, you know, prioritizes work.

**Friedberg** (3:42)
I mean, if an entrepreneur took six months of paternity, would that influence whether or not you invest in his business?

**David Sacks** (3:49)
Well, look, if you are the principle of a business and you just disappear for six months, that's not going to work. I mean, let's be realistic.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:56)
Unless it does, in which case, then you have other problems.

**David Sacks** (3:59)
Well, or look, if you're at like the stage that Google is at or whatever, the founders can disappear and move to, you know, islands and private islands, and it doesn't matter.

**Friedberg** (4:08)
Basically what they did.

**David Sacks** (4:08)
But look, we all know, I mean, that when you're a startup, you face existential decisions daily, weekly or monthly, you can't just disappear for six months, it's not going to work.

**Jason Calacanis** (4:18)
You might only have six months of runway. So if you did take six months of paternity, there would be no company when you came back in all likelihood. Let me speak for myself. I couldn't ever take six months.