Stuart Miller

And I remember thinking, oh, he's capturing exactly that moment when you see a person do a thing, they're bringing something to it.

And I remember thinking, oh, he's capturing exactly that moment when you see a person do a thing, they're bringing something to it.

So Ian Shapiro, this professor, had done his PhD at Yale in the, I guess, in the 80s together with a guy named Richard Medley, who dropped out of his PhD program and went on and ended up working for Soros and being a partner at Soros, being his kind of in-house political intelligence guy. And so I remember there was this moment. I was sitting in my room senior year.

So Ian Shapiro, this professor, had done his PhD at Yale in the, I guess, in the 80s together with a guy named Richard Medley, who dropped out of his PhD program and went on and ended up working for Soros and being a partner at Soros, being his kind of in-house political intelligence guy. And so I remember there was this moment. I was sitting in my room senior year.

I had already selected all my classes and Ian Shapiro emailed me that there's this interesting professor, visiting professor, and I should check out his class. Actually, I gave him grief for this later. He didn't pound the table on it, but he was like, you might want to check it out. I was in my gym clothes and the class was in like an hour.

I had already selected all my classes and Ian Shapiro emailed me that there's this interesting professor, visiting professor, and I should check out his class. Actually, I gave him grief for this later. He didn't pound the table on it, but he was like, you might want to check it out. I was in my gym clothes and the class was in like an hour.

I remember thinking, okay, do I go to the gym or do I play out this option? And thank God I played out the option. I went to that class. I was like, oh, my God, this guy is in. It was a moment of ignition. This guy is in a world that is extremely interesting to me of financial markets meets politics. I didn't even know this was a thing. And it was a very small class.

I remember thinking, okay, do I go to the gym or do I play out this option? And thank God I played out the option. I went to that class. I was like, oh, my God, this guy is in. It was a moment of ignition. This guy is in a world that is extremely interesting to me of financial markets meets politics. I didn't even know this was a thing. And it was a very small class.

And over the course of it, he offered me a job of after graduation, starting a company with him, which I ended up doing.

And over the course of it, he offered me a job of after graduation, starting a company with him, which I ended up doing.

Larry Summers called us a private sector CIA. I felt like I'd built a business a little bit around a Tom Friedman-like character who was very good at narrating what's going on and a feel for how events might unfold. He was a really good writer. So we had, in essence, a newsletter business. At first, we tried... Different business models.

Larry Summers called us a private sector CIA. I felt like I'd built a business a little bit around a Tom Friedman-like character who was very good at narrating what's going on and a feel for how events might unfold. He was a really good writer. So we had, in essence, a newsletter business. At first, we tried... Different business models.

But I was out cold calling people and trying to sell them these services. And I had a... I think we were charging $400 a month. I wasn't getting any meetings. And on a lark, I decided to try saying, oh, actually, we charge $20,000 a month. And all of a sudden, I got five meetings right in a row. Because they were like... Who the hell has a... 20 grand worth of stuff involved.

But I was out cold calling people and trying to sell them these services. And I had a... I think we were charging $400 a month. I wasn't getting any meetings. And on a lark, I decided to try saying, oh, actually, we charge $20,000 a month. And all of a sudden, I got five meetings right in a row. Because they were like... Who the hell has a... 20 grand worth of stuff involved.

And then eventually we charged even more than that. We built a big business. I remember I started to develop kind of a feel for how information leaks through a system. And I remember we were trying to track what was going on around in 97, 98, around the Russian emerging markets crisis. And...

And then eventually we charged even more than that. We built a big business. I remember I started to develop kind of a feel for how information leaks through a system. And I remember we were trying to track what was going on around in 97, 98, around the Russian emerging markets crisis. And...

What you're trying to do is find people that are in the rooms where stuff is going down and are willing to talk to you. It's like an intelligence operation. You're trying to figure out whether when somebody's telling you something, and they could be a journalist, they could be a professor, they could be a former central bank official, are they overstating what they know?

What you're trying to do is find people that are in the rooms where stuff is going down and are willing to talk to you. It's like an intelligence operation. You're trying to figure out whether when somebody's telling you something, and they could be a journalist, they could be a professor, they could be a former central bank official, are they overstating what they know?

Are they telling you exactly what they know? Because there's an incentive to overstate it. And I realized I was good at finding people who were a credible threat at having access to an information stream that was relevant to a given thing. And in the Russian case, I found a woman who was a documentary filmmaker who just had bizarrely high signal reads of what was going down.

Are they telling you exactly what they know? Because there's an incentive to overstate it. And I realized I was good at finding people who were a credible threat at having access to an information stream that was relevant to a given thing. And in the Russian case, I found a woman who was a documentary filmmaker who just had bizarrely high signal reads of what was going down.