What One Billionaire Knows About Outlasting a Dollar Collapse | Michael Saylor | EP 554
From Jordan B Peterson
In this EP 554 episode, Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy and now one of the most prominent Bitcoin advocates, traces his journey from building enterprise software to becoming a leading evangelist for Bitcoin after his 2020 discovery of it. He discusses history's track record of currency debasement, arguing that fiat money tends to lose its value over time, and explores why Bitcoin may offer a trustworthy store of value. The conversation also covers the lessons from his entrepreneurial...
Key Takeaways
- Fiat currencies have historically collapsed every 30 to 40 years, so your store of value will likely be deflated during your lifetime.
- Even the 20th century's 'winning' currency, the dollar, lost 99.9% of its value, which makes it a winner only by comparison.
- When trust in governments, local banks, and each other erodes, a network built to last a thousand years becomes the second-best idea.
- Overexpansion nearly sank a successful company: nine of ten ventures failed because focus was sacrificed for ambition.
- Success in one domain doesn't guarantee success in another, so even a dominant business must resist the urge to conglomerate.
Who is mentioned in this episode?
6 people come up, including Michael Saylor, Thomas Kuhn, Jerome Powell.
- Michael Saylor (Person)
- Thomas Kuhn (Person)
- Jerome Powell (Person)
- Andreas Antonopoulos (Person)
- Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov (Person)
- John Harrison (Person)
Sponsors of this episode
- Shopify (Sponsor)
- Merrick Health (Sponsor)
Mentioned in this episode
- MicroStrategy (Company)
- Bitcoin (Product)
- Alarm.com (Company)
- The Mobile Wave (Book)
- MIT (Company)
- Longitude Prize (Concept)
- Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Book)
- Durant's History of Civilization (Book)
- Club of Rome (Company)
- Bitcoin Standard (Book)