#164 Ravi Gupta: The Realities of Success

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

Shane Parrish

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.7 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2023

⏱️ 104 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the main jobs Ravi Gupta has as a partner at venture capital giant Sequoia Capital is to help founders see the difference between fantasy and reality. On this episode of The Knowledge Project, Gupta dives deep into a wide range of topics that will help you better understand the realities of success, decision making, why it’s crucial to practice doing things you don’t want to do, the best advice he ever received, and the value of quality over quantity.

Gupta has served as a partner at Sequoia Capital since 2019. Prior to joining the world of venture capital he served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Instacart, and he also spent a decade working in private equity with KKR & Co.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	One of the things that I think about is sort of the speed of reality, how quickly does reality hit you?
0:05.9	And what is the impact of reality?
0:08.5	Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up and knows if he doesn't outrun the slowest gazelle, he's gonna starve.
0:13.3	So he wakes up running.
0:15.3	Reality hits very fast every minute of every day and the cost of not facing reality is death.
0:23.0	Obviously that's not quite the same for any of us sitting in our offices or whatever.
0:27.4	But I do think understanding that reality does hit you every moment and that not embracing it does have a cost.
0:33.6	I think that's really important and valuable.
0:52.6	Welcome to the Knowledge Project. I'm your host, Shane Parish.
0:56.5	This podcast is a bit mastering the best of what other people have already figured out.
1:00.8	So you can apply their insights to your life.
1:04.0	Don't miss out on exclusive content early access to your favorite podcast by joining our membership at
1:09.7	fs.blog slash membership.
1:11.9	You'll unlock special episodes unavailable anywhere else and edited transcripts from each conversation and support the podcast you love.
1:20.4	Visit the show notes for a link and upgrade your listening experience.
1:24.5	Today my guest is Ravi Gupta, who has mastered the art of balancing quality and
1:29.7	quantity in both investing and life. From his time at KKR to steering InstaCart through pivotal moments
1:35.8	and now as a partner at Sequoia, Ravi is not only accumulated insights but as you'll see he's put them into practice.
1:42.0	After talking with Ravi on the phone a few times I felt myself coming back to parts of our conversation
1:46.5	over and over again and I wanted to know more.
1:50.3	In this episode we dive into the best advice he's ever received, the importance of keeping the
1:54.8	main thing the main thing and the reasons even exceptional people fail. Get ready to be inspired and
	...

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