William Hockey - Building the Operating System for the Dollar and Silicon Valley Heresy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.463]

About this episode

William Hockey discusses his unique approach to entrepreneurship and the implications of owning a company without outside capital.

William Hockey is the co-founder of Plaid and the founder and CEO of Column, a software company that owns a bank and powers Ramp, Wise, Bilt, Mercury, and others. He funded Column by borrowing against his Plaid shares and has never raised outside capital. William talks about what owning 100% of his company allows him to do that other venture-backed founder cannot and the personal risk he took to do so. He shares how Silicon Valley's consensus culture produces consensus founders, and why becoming a founder has become too safe. He believes the best builders are specialists and explains with unusual clarity what it takes to become the best in the world at one specific thing. William also spends a lot of time in emerging markets which has given him a unique perspective of the power of the US dollar. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠. ----- ⁠Ramp’s⁠ mission is to help companies manage their spend in a…

People in this episode

Host: Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Guest: William Hockey

Topics covered

• entrepreneurship
• fintech
• Silicon Valley culture
• emerging markets
• ownership
• risk-taking

Keywords

• Plaid
• Column
• Silicon Valley
• entrepreneur
• US dollar
• risk
• ownership
• fintech

Sponsors

Colossus, Ramp, Vanta

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Plaid, Column, Ramp, Wise, Bilt, Mercury

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