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SBF
@SBF_FTX
Replying to
@SBF_FTX
17) Over the last few years, there are a number of times we’ve faced a decision. And often, that decision is: do we want to go out on a limb? When we founded FTX, we had no idea how to get customers. We didn’t know if we would ever know how.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
18) The thing that convinced us to try it was: Value of FTX = (probability we get customers) * (probability we build a good product) * (value of top exchange)
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
19) And so we wrote down some numbers: 20% * 75% * a lot When we first started FTX, we thought it would probably fail. We did it anyway, because 15% of a lot is… a lot.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
20) In the end, we got there, because we tried hard, and learned what we could, and put ourselves in the best position we could to succeed. And because 15% isn’t actually all that low.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
22) Ok, so those are a few anecdotes. But how about more generally? Almost all startups fail. Is it really correct to think big, even if you’re risk neutral?
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
23) And this, really, is the heart of the matter. 15% is a lot different than 0.15%. What can you do to have a 15% chance of success?
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
24) I’ve known a lot of smart people. Many have gone on to do good things with their lives. Some have gone on to do great things. They were bright, sure; but that wasn’t the only thing they shared. They also all made the same choice.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
25) They all chose upside over certainty. There are a number of people in the crypto community that I respect. But there’s no community I have more respect for than the effective altruism (EA) community.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
26) And the most impressive parts of the EA community are the ones full of people who chose, very intentionally, to end up there. nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/ Together they’re discovering big problems; scoping out approaches; and generating hundreds of millions of dollars for them.
nytimes.com
2 Young Hedge-Fund Veterans Stir Up the World of Philanthropy (Published 2007)
Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld rank charities by analyzing the numbers in much the same way they did at their investment management company.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
Replying to
@SBF_FTX
28) And we’ve seen the same thing at FTX: the people who think the biggest and try the hardest to get there and give the most to it often do amazing things.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
29) Because the truth is, most people just don’t try that hard; maybe it doesn’t make sense to, if you don’t care much about the tail cases.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
30) And so if you do push yourself--you do motivate yourself to do everything you can, and you do think strategically, and you do identify massive opportunities--maybe the odds of success aren’t all that low.
Quote Tweet
Stuart Young
@StuartYoung95
Linear wealth utility functions (conveniently driven by effective altruism!) are a form of edge in markets where most are log... twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status…
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
31) And so that brings us back to the Bank of America lobby. It was a detail, a mundane task that anyone could have done, theoretically. But in fact, very few people did it. Most of our competitors didn’t.
Quote Tweet
Evan Moore
@evancharles
One of our most memorable lessons from YC was "do all the things." We came with a list of 20 ideas for how to grow, and asked the YC partners which to prioritize. I think it was @paultoo who said something like "How would I know? Do all the things."
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
32) And you might think it was because we thought to hire a low-level employee to sit in a bank all day. But as it turned out, it was our COO. Maybe it “shouldn’t” have been him, I don’t know. What I do know is that if you think that way, instead it’ll be no one.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
33) Sometimes the only thing standing between what is and what could be is the will to get there, whatever it requires.
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