Farnam Street

The AI race, the future of AGI, and the inside story of OpenAI. Greg Brockman is the co-founder and President of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and GPT-5. He was the first engineer at Stripe before leaving in 2015 to help start OpenAI. In this rare conversation, Greg goes inside the moments that built, and nearly … The post Greg Brockman: Inside the 72 Hours That Almost Killed OpenAI appeared…

How does one engineer run 40,000 people with 10 daily numbers, zero hobbies, and a $1 billion bet he made in his first year as CEO? Mario Harik is the CEO of XPO, one of the largest trucking companies in the world. He started as employee #3, learned from Brad Jacobs (who built eight multibillion-dollar … The post Mario Harik: Playing to Win appeared first on Farnam Street .

Joe Liemandt is the principal of Alpha School and the founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital. Liemandt dropped out of Stanford to build Trilogy, became the youngest member of the Forbes 400, then vanished from public life for 25 years. But he didn’t stop building. Through ESW Capital, he quietly became one of the most prolific acquirers of software businesses in the world. Now he’s back with…

Harrison McCain learned salesmanship by talking his way into a pharmaceutical job at 22, then spent five formative years under K.C. Irving, absorbing lessons in vertical integration, relentless deal-capture, and “management by suggestion.” Listen and Learn: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Transcript He quit with no plan, two newborn kids, and no income. His brother Bob noticed that New Bruns…

Connor Teskey is CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest investors, managing about a trillion dollars across infrastructure, power, real estate, private equity, and credit. In this exclusive interview, his first as CEO, we explore his approach to capital allocation, isolating variables, and building a business designed for long-term growth. Featured clips Your Work Ethic is…

Bill Marriott built the foundation of the world’s largest hotel company. But he didn’t open his first hotel until he was 55. Everything starts with a nine-seat root beer stand in Washington, DC, and a simple goal: serve people well and build something that lasts. And of course, he didn’t just go from restaurants to hotels; along the way, he started the airline catering industry. This episode expl…

Robinhood’s co-founder reveals the brutal reality of surviving an 80% market crash, going “founder mode” to cut corporate bloat, and what actually happened during GameStop. Featured clips Setting the Scene: GameStop Inside Robinhood Internal AI at Robinhood Deciding What to do Next Vlad Tenev is the co-founder and CEO of Robinhood. Not only did he navigate the unprecedented GameStop crisis, but h…

Phil Knight is the founder of Nike, the brand that reshaped sports and became one of the most powerful companies in the world. What would you do if your bank, your supplier, and your government all turned against you at the same time? Phil Knight didn’t have to imagine it. He lived on the edge of insolvency for nearly two decades. This Outliers episode explores belief, trust, fear, and the price …

Nicolai Tangen is the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. He is responsible for managing $2.1 trillion. That’s roughly 1.7% of every listed company on earth. Featured clips American vs. European Mindset Can You Teach People to Change Their Minds? What’s Gotten Harder in Investing? Slowing Down Decisions In this episode, we explore the intersection …

Michael Ovitz co-founded CAA and helped reshape Hollywood, then took the same playbook into tech investing and advising founders. Featured clips How People Go Wrong Meeting Marc Andreessen Failure The Genius of Patrick Collison Available Now: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | X | Transcript In this conversation, he breaks down the operating rules that kept CAA from losing clients, and the pers…

Ray Kroc turned McDonald’s from a single roadside restaurant into a system built to scale. At 52, after decades of selling paper cups and milkshake machines, he opened the first McDonald’s in 1955 and helped grow it to nearly 8,000 restaurants worldwide. This Outliers episode breaks down how standards, execution, franchising, and real estate created a business machine built to last. Available Now…

Morgan Housel breaks down the exact framework he uses to build wealth, minimize financial stress, and buy freedom. Featured clips Happiness vs. Satisfaction Investing: Can You Beat the Market? Step by Step Investing What Should You Optimize For? What Is Success For You? Available Now: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript | YouTube | X While most financial advice focuses on how to get rich, Morga…

One of the people I’ve learned the most from is Peter D. Kaufman. Peter has been the chairman and CEO of GlenAir since 1977. And he’s got a track record that puts him in the top 0.001% of business leaders during that time. He’s also the editor of Poor Charlie’s Almanack and was one of Charlie Munger’s closest friends for decades. In a talk never meant to be made public, he revealed the secrets of…

James Clear is the author of Atomic Habits, a global bestseller that has shaped how millions of people think about habits, consistency, and long-term change. Featured clips The Role of Identity in Habits The Confidence to Start Maintaining Focus on What You Want What is a Habit? Complexity Vs. Simplicity In this conversation, James explains how habits shape identity, why progress often stays invi…

We released a special episode of TKP this week with Pierre Poilievre. While we don’t often tackle politics on the show, we are trying to improve political discourse by offering a platform for both sides to speak with depth and nuance. Featured clips What is the Role of Government? Second & Third Order Consequences Fighting for Canada Long Term What Role Does the Media Play? Maintaining Hope in Po…

What do some of the greatest outliers in business history have in common? For the past year, I’ve been sharing the stories of history’s greatest outliers like James Dyson, Harvey Firestone, Rose Blumkin, Henry Singleton, Sol Price, and Les Schwab. These are names that deserve to be studied, but rarely are. Available Now: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript This episode explores the mindsets, sy…

The Knowledge Project closes 2025 with a look back at the most meaningful conversations of the year. Featuring insights from some of our most impactful episodes, this collection brings together practical insights on decision-making, leadership, preparation, relationships, trust, and performance. Featured clips Alfred Lin: Inputs vs Outputs – Daily Routines and Priorities Bret Taylor: Founder Mode…

Bernie Marcus is the co-founder and former CEO of Home Depot. This is how he built a culture of ownership, kept going when everyone turned him down, nearly lost it all, and created one of the most successful retailers in history. This episode is based on the book: Built From Scratch. Available Now: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | X | Transcript + Members have access to all of my highlights f…

Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland reveals the formula for persuasion, why people make decisions and how you can use psychology to your advantage. Featured clips AI and Decision Making Why Is Dyson So Effective at Marketing? Warren Buffett’s Approach to Choosing Management How to Write Good Copy Rory is the world’s leading advertising strategist. He spent almost four decades at Ogilvy studying …

How do you get ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results? Mary Kay Ash built a two-billion-dollar company by solving that specific problem. After watching men she trained get promoted above her for double the salary, she quit to build a company based on a radical idea: meritocracy. This episode breaks down how she did it. You’ll learn her twenty-three leadership lessons, why pink Cadillacs…