#840: Bill Gurley — Investing in The AI Era, 10 Days in China, and Important Life Lessons from Bob Dylan, Jerry Seinfeld, MrBeast, and More

Bill Gurley (@bgurley) is a general partner at Benchmark, a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. His new book is Runnin’ Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love. This episode is brought to you by: Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular supportOur Place’s Titanium Always Pan® Pro using nonstick technology that’s coating-free and made without PFAS, otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals”Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail businessCoyote the card game​, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens* Timestamps: [00:00:00] Start.[00:01:43] The book that gave Jerry Seinfeld permission to pursue comedy and inspired Runnin’ Down a Dream.[00:03:59] AI bubble or not?[00:06:33] Circular deals and SPV chaos.[00:12:01] Angel investing in the AI era.[00:14:32] Why you should be the most AI-enabled version of yourself, regardless of field.[00:20:47] China deep dive: Ten days, six cities, high-speed trains, and a Xiaomi SU7 factory tour.[00:22:43] Communism misconceptions.[00:25:40] Lei Jun: The Steve Jobs of China.[00:29:17] Jack Ma, ByteDance’s invisible CEO, and the risks of prominence in China.[00:32:11] America vs. China (Lawyers vs. engineers).[00:41:01] Keys for US competitiveness.[00:43:47] Bill is bullish on these countries.[00:47:30] Matthew McConaughey’s “Don’t half ass it” moment.[00:49:45] Runnin’ Down a Dream thesis: Helping people pursue X instead of A, B, or C.[00:51:03] The 80,000-hour question.[00:52:47] The self-learning test.[00:56:58] Bob Dylan as music expeditionary.[01:00:27] Go to the epicenter where the action is.[01:10:56] Danny Meyer’s pivot.[01:13:30] Working for free.[01:19:37] Never too late: Tito Beveridge started Tito’s Vodka at 40.[01:21:51] AI sanity checks.[01:25:59] AI-proof bets.[01:29:13] Sam Hinkie’s Moneyball moment.[01:32:37] Competitive strategy, avoiding false failures, and regret minimalization.[01:43:46] Purpose, Progress, and Prosperity — the P3 Policy Institute.[01:47:18] Regulatory capture explained.[01:51:55] Why the IPO market is broken.[02:01:52] Stablecoins putting Visa and Mastercard on notice.[02:03:40] Hopes for Runnin’ Down a Dream and parting thoughts.* For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast. For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday. For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts. Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books. Follow Tim: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss  Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.