Ashish Doshi

Partner XN | Board Member @wearedream

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

My friend did a cool thing. Check it out!

I especially love the Paul Carmichael profile.

Anyone who is obsessive about some big or little practice will identify with these pieces and find inspiration in them. The best news is that is more or less everyone.

[Gaurav Kapadia @gauravkapadia]

I am thrilled to announce the launch of https://t.co/jzQyNmSSuH.

Totei is a magazine devoted to craft and craftsmanship in all its forms. The name Totei comes from the ancient Japanese word for apprentice.

I have always been inspired by those with a deep devotion to their craft—across every discipline. Making something truly remarkable requires extraordinary dedication, and the creative process behind it is rarely seen.

That curiosity is why I started Totei. My hope is that everyone who reads it feels the same sense of inspiration I do when getting inside the minds of exceptional makers.

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

From last week but also excellent.

Anyone who has worked for Tony will be unsurprised by his numeric recall of events from 40+ years ago.

He would read every single thing put in front of him, immediately understand the big picture, but also find the mistake you made on pg 62.

[a16z @a16z]

Tony James on Costco, Starbucks, Blackstone, and Charlie Munger

Tony James is an investor, Chairman of the Board at Costco, and former President and COO of Blackstone. In this conversation, he joins a16z GP David Haber for a conversation on scaling Blackstone from $14 billion to nearly $1 trillion, lessons from 38 years on the board of Costco, the future of private markets, and more.

00:00 Intro
00:45 Starting at DLJ: Getting in on the ground floor
03:05 The LBO revolution & building a merchant bank
09:09 Leading the Series A into Costco & lessons from Jim Sinegal
15:00 38 years on the Costco board & learning from Charlie Munger
25:17 Joining Blackstone: The partnership with Steve Schwarzman
33:44 Blackstone's journey from $14 billion to nearly $1 trillion
44:09 Investment committee culture & the art of robust debate
53:41 The IPO, retail distribution, and building competitive moats
01:05:39 Succession planning & knowing when to step away
01:10:00 The future of private markets
01:15:24 Advice for young people

@dhaber

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

I’m biased, but this was fantastic. Krishna is an incredibly skilled and hard-working executive, and a high-integrity human. That is all on display here.

[Patrick OShaughnessy @patrick_oshag]

Krishna Rao is the CFO of Anthropic, and this is his first podcast appearance.

He joined the company two years ago when run-rate revenue was about $250M. Today it is $30B. He has helped raise ~$75B and is responsible for the procurement and allocation of compute.

I feel lucky we get to hear what it is like to sit inside a company this consequential at a moment this pivotal.

We discuss:
- The cone of uncertainty
- How he allocates compute across Trainium, TPUs, and GPUs
- What investors misunderstand about model companies
- Why the returns to frontier intelligence keep rising
- Platform vs application and where Anthropic builds its own products
- How Anthropic uses Claude internally

I have asked my closing question about the kindest thing more than 500 times. Krishna's answer is one I have never heard before.

Enjoy!

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
2:38 The Compute Canvas
6:51 The "Cone of Uncertainty"
11:58 Why the Returns to Frontier Intelligence Are So High
16:45 Recursive Self-Improvement
20:20 Scaling Laws
23:30 Sourcing $100 Billion in Compute
28:05 Platform vs. Application Strategy
32:52 Pricing Dynamics
38:48 How Anthropic’s Finance Team Uses Claude
43:24 Raising Capital & Overcoming Investor Skepticism
52:32 Public Perception, Risks, and Government Regulation
57:25 Mythos Release
1:12:33 What Could Derail the AI Revolution?
1:13:47 Biotech and Healthcare
1:15:31 The Kindest Thing

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

I adore this sentence

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

https://t.co/8c70Dy7A4e

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

My amazing wife aka my favorite person ❤️

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@buccocapital @MadsCapital “I’m Anfernee I do things the harder way” man Cam was so fun

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@Srasgon Grandaisy?

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@ModeledBehavior You’re good, East Pete gets a pass

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@rsandler21969 @patrick_oshag Wish more people knew this story. Also gave rise to creditor lawsuits in which a young Latham attorney named Arne Sorenson would represent MAR. He would go on to be MAR’s CEO, separate the timeshare biz and buy Starwood.

HLT did not spin PK for another 25 years!

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@KunalTandon Serena x Off White Blazer Mids

[DREAM @wearedream]

Today marked the official ribbon-cutting for DREAM Charter School at 20 Bruckner! Accompanied by so many members of the DREAM family, we formally welcomed-in the next phase of DREAM. Thank you to all those that made this moment possible and helped us get where we are today.

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@buccocapital @franchisewolf It’s never one thing with stories like this. But common themes include over-expansion / densification, declining franchisee returns, and deteriorating franchisee relations

https://t.co/BjA8SO0IaF

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@buccocapital Beautifully written memoir. Appropriate for anyone who has made deep friendships, experienced loss, searched for who they are, struggled with impermanence. Basically everyone.

Not required, but especially resonates if one is a child of immigrants.

https://t.co/rnRpCBCtwU

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@gauravkapadia @vermontgmg Outstanding. One of the 3 articles I re-read every year on 9/11. To remember how awful it felt, how scary it was, and how there are heroes among us.

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@buccocapital https://t.co/wOIs223IFz

[modest proposal @modestproposal1]

One of the craziest ledes to a sell side report. Incredible energy here.

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@treiner5 I think what you’re seeing from $BKNG is definitely a push to secure share, esp in US where the bar is lower for them. And some belief that Connected Trip => app downloads leads to more direct booking and higher LTV over time.

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@treiner5 I agree that ADRs are volatile but the performance marketing engine doesn’t optimize for nights, it optimizes for ROI. Which is a function of both conversion and $ per conversion. If the latter falls, I think the base case reaction would be to adjust spend accordingly.

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@buccocapital Evergreen tweet. Plus a vote for 99 Luftballoons.

https://t.co/Cz0nWPVgS6

[Ashish Doshi @FreeAshFlow]

@BazCap Return of the Mack goes harder than almost any song on this list?

Honorable mention: Walking in Memphis