Barry Diller: Building IAC

The Knowledge Project

Shane Parrish

Business, Society & Culture, Technology, Education, Self-improvement, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.7 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest this week is Barry Diller, one of America's most successful businessmen. At 83, he chose to publish a deeply personal book and open up about his successes and failures. With surprising candor he details the rules he's lived by: trust first, confront directly, and make the call when the clock starts. In our conversation, he shares why success teaches you nothing, why failure is essential, and why instinct still beats algorithms in a data-obsessed world. This episode is filled with Hollywood lore and business acumen. ----- About Barry: He is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC, and is best known for founding the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and leading Paramount Pictures. Over his career, he has reshaped television, film, and online media. ----- Approximate Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:48) Vulnerability and Writing 'Who Knew' (05:20) Lack Of Confidence & Fake It Until You Make It (17:58) Changes In The Entertainment Industry (22:35) Instinct Vs Data (27:17) AI's Impact on the Entertainment and Travel Industry (42:35) One Dumb Step At A Time (52:39) Accountability During Conflict (55:06) Public Broadcasting Regulation And Fair Reporting (58:04) What Is Success For You ----- Basecamp: Stop struggling, start making progress. Get somewhere with Basecamp. Sign up free at http://basecamp.com/knowledgeproject reMarkable: Get your paper tablet at https://www.reMarkable.com today .tech domains: Nothing says tech like being on .tech https://get.tech/ MINT MOBILE: If you’re still overpaying for wireless, it’s time to say yes to saying no. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no: no contracts, no monthly bills, no overages, no hidden fees, no B.S. Go to mintmobile.com/knowledgeproject ----- Upgrade: Get a hand edited transcripts and ad free experiences along with my thoughts and reflections at the end of every conversation. Learn more @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ShaneAParrish⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Insta ⁠@farnamstreet⁠ LinkedIn ⁠Shane Parrish ------ This episode is for informational purposes only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Success teaches you nothing, but failure sure teaches you a lot.
0:04.8	You've worked with some of the biggest egos in Hollywood and some of the most ruthless tycoons.
0:12.1	I'm wondering if you can spend a few minutes on the lessons you've learned about ego and power.
0:17.9	Barry Diller is a legendary media mogul, businessman, and investor. He is the chairman and senior
0:22.8	executive of IAC and is best known for co-founding the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch
0:27.8	and leading Paramount Pictures. Over his career, he has reshaped television, film, and online media.
0:34.4	He remains one of the most influential figures in business and entertainment today.
0:38.8	We're certainly at the brink of the next revolution. If you were sitting in 1995 or 2000,
0:46.9	at the beginning of the things you did not know, and there were plenty of those, there was nothing
0:52.7	that cracked your mind and astounded you and said,
0:56.8	oh my God, this is beyond me. This is magic.
0:59.9	Google, over the years, was consistently, as it monopoly grew,
1:04.6	was squeezing the people who kind of lived on it as a surf on its land.
1:10.9	But when I found an asset that couldn't be disintermediated by search,
1:15.7	I thought, wow, that wasn't AI.
1:18.4	That was just the characteristics of the Internet environment.
1:21.9	The only thing that will save us is our brands,
1:24.2	and whether our brands and content we make resonates enough directly
1:29.4	for people to recognize a brand and want to be brand involved rather than agnostic.
1:36.4	I believe until the last brat that at 83 you chose to reveal some of those private parts of your life and
1:53.4	you're a super private person why now I can't do the why now it wasn't like I chose
1:58.1	this date or that date it's that I had thought that my life was a good story.
	...

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