Ben Gilbert

100% agree.

Every episode now going into recording day feels like a high wire act because we haven't fully scripted it out.

I'm like, I think this is going to come together.

But we had to add this thing called a production meeting about six months ago, one week before recording.

we are required to get together and share, agree on an episode structure, but not share any details.

Because we got so into this like improvisation thing that some of our episodes would sort of end and you're like,

That had no flow to it.

Like you guys had two completely different ideas for the episode.

Well, I think in the first 10 episodes, first five episodes, we got feedback saying, you guys need to disagree more.

But I don't think we quite realized that we should reveal surprises for each other until five years ago, four years ago.

What you're hearing too is like, I'm supposed to be doing financial analysis as someone who's never been taught how to read a financial statement.

Right.

And so you're also hearing a little bit of like- Imposter syndrome.

I can't get over enthusiastic because I'm afraid David's going to catch me and be like, you don't know what you're talking about.

We went from acquisitions to IPOs, which was unbelievable timing in 2017, 18, when Uber, Pinterest, Slack, there was like eight IPOs in a row of tech companies that everyone had been following.

And then it went really for two years and kind of culminated at the end of 2020 with DoorDash and Airbnb, which we recorded and released one day apart.

Because we wanted to be there on IPO day.

Once again, you're constraining yourself unnecessarily.

So it was acquisitions, IPOs, then it was broad histories and strategies of tech companies, and then broad histories and strategies of companies, period.

And people.