Today’s Article is inspired by this quote:
“I just want everybody to get to know my squad, Remy Boyz” -Fetty Wap
When I was 22 years old living in San Francisco with hardly any credible clue to what venture capital was, nor what Silicon Valley was, nor who the heck Tim Draper was…. I joined Draper University.
It forever changed my life. At Draper U, I made some of the best relationships with friends and mentors I could ever ask for. Four of them are Hemant, Chase, Ben, and Manoj (although Manoj is apparently too cool to show up for the podcast).
So every two weeks, the four (or maybe one day five) of us are getting together for 90 minutes to talk about the world, business, investing, and life.
I invite you to tune in to Episode 2 of the DayOne Pod.
Chase loves Trump, Ben loves Main Street, Hemant loves UK, I love capitalism. Yet we are all very rational and funny. That is what we share in common: a love for entrepreneurship, business, adventure, tech, startups, and conversations about the future. The mix is great together, fun debates, thoughtful points, and I really enjoyed re-listening to the convo (starts at 14:00 once we stop goofing off). We’ve been having conversations like these for almost 10 years straight now.
CONVO TOPICS
1. The Stock Market Is Booming: So Why Does the Main Street Economy Feel So Bad?
12:48–22:45 — skip ahead to the start of our convo, here.
We debate the giant disconnect between a booming stock market and the much harsher reality facing small businesses around the world.
Ben points to the rise in commercial real estate bankruptcies, while Chase and Hemant discuss the global shift in economic power—and whether wealth inequality is truly getting worse or merely feels worse because social media puts everyone else’s wealth directly in our faces.
2. Is Traditional College Still the Best Path?
24:42–32:30
Chase introduces us to Alpha Schools, which leads to a broader conversation about how we should educate the next generation.
Should kids spend years memorizing material they’ll forget…? Or should they be learning trade skills, investing, entrepreneurship, and other crafts they’ll actually use in the real world?
3. The Data Center Boom and the Infrastructure Bottleneck Nobody Talks About
34:00–44:14
Chase shares what he’s seeing professionally inside the data center boom: insane demand for high-value chips, massive development opportunities, and the very real constraints created by permits, electricity, and power infrastructure.
I thought Chase’s insight into the actual bottle neck in datacenter was the most fascinating part of the convo.
4. My Game of Thrones Theory About Oil, War, and American Power
44:20–47:50
I lay out my Game of Thrones-style theory about US energy policy.
What if conflicts involving Iran, Russia, and Ukraine are not only geopolitical battles but also part of a much larger struggle over who controls the world’s energy supply?
And what if America’s long-term strategy is to become the dominant global exporter of oil and natural gas?
And what if this has been a plan in the work for decades?
Sounds like a fun imaginative exercise.
5. Using Fibonacci Retracements to Analyze Tesla Stock, and my thesis on Elon being an Alien
56:06–1:03:52
I show everyone how to use Fibonacci retracements to identify potential buy zones, resistance levels, and sell-off targets for Tesla. I learned these initially from Lance Roberts.
We finish by deciding to track Tesla together and revisit the stock in future episodes… so we can see who was right, who was wrong, and who quietly pretends they never made a prediction.
Bonus: Is the Market Way Too Complacent Right Now?
2:00–11:14
Before the main conversation, I share a video from investment strategist Lance Roberts, who manages roughly $2 billion and believes investors may be getting far too comfortable.
We discuss the unusually low VIX, the market’s current bullishness, and whether the apparent lack of fear is itself a reason to be worried.
How to Watch?
Watch on YouTube:
Watch on X:
HAVE A GREAT MONDAY AND WEEK!
Thanks for reading!
~Don
