# Alex Karp: Secrets to Starting a Successful Business

*Joe Lonsdale Clips* · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkiL9fAKhtE

## Summary

In this short clip, Alex Karp traces his road to entrepreneurship back to his hidden dyslexia and an upbringing that made him an extreme outsider, while also giving him deep insider access to Western art, science, and culture. He explains how this background led him to view Palantir as a civil liberties juggernaut. He concludes that Western societies, though flawed, are the best at protecting unpopular people, and he sees himself in them.

## Key points

- Alex Karp defines his role as building things that transform key aspects of society, which is what he says Palantir does as software.
- He traces his entrepreneurial road back to his dyslexia, which he hid and which hindered him in some areas while he excelled in others.
- He describes his upbringing as extremely outside the norm: an artist mother in grad school, a heavily Jewish environment, a pro-Israel family, and a black mother.
- Karp says he views Palantir as a civil liberties juggernaut, even if not everyone in the civil liberties community agrees.
- He believed that if fascism came, he would be among the first people on the wall because of how much of an outsider he was.
- He was simultaneously a deep insider, highly educated in art, science, math through his father, and history and culture through his mother, spending every weekend in museums.
- He argues that the only way non-belonging people belong is within a Western society that protects rule of law, free expression, and property rights.
- He says Western societies, though flawed, are still the best at protecting unpopular people, and he sees himself in those people.

## Notes

### Background and Dyslexia
- Alex Karp describes his road to entrepreneurship as beginning with something he did not want and hid: his dyslexia.
- He says he was very good at certain things, even performing at a professional level as a young kid, but was hindered in other areas.
- He believes his brain was structured differently, letting him see the world differently.

### An Extreme Outsider Upbringing
- His mother was in grad school as an artist, and everybody in the family was an artist, placing them outside the norm.
- He grew up in a heavily Jewish environment, was pro-Israel, and his mom is black.
- He says everything about his life was further outside the norm than he realized, and he would have loved to be an insider somewhere.

### Palantir and Civil Liberties
- Karp defines his current role as building things that transform key aspects of society, which is what he says was built at Palantir as a transforming software engine.
- Despite what people sometimes thought about Palantir, he views it as a civil liberties juggernaut, though not everyone in the civil liberties community will agree.
- Before he had attendants or status, he believed that if fascism came, he would be the first or second person on the wall.

### Insider and Outsider at Once
- He was also a deep insider: his family was highly educated.
- He gained an insider's understanding of art, science, math through his father, and history and culture through his mother, spending every weekend in museums and cultural events.
- It took a decade after leaving home before he could even go into a museum again.

### Belief in Western Society
- He refined his understanding of the fundamental structures of Western thought and art in grad school.
- He believes the only way non-belonging people belong is in a Western society that protects rule of law, free expression, and property rights.
- He says such societies, though flawed, are still the best at protecting unpopular people, and he sees himself in those people.

## Transcript

[00:00] I think my road to being an entrepreneur broadly defined. So building things um now I would define my role as building things that are that transform key aspects of society that that's what we built at Palunteer. It's a trans it's software as a transforming engine really began uh with like many things something I didn't want and was not overly uh forward about in public which was my dyslexia which I hid. So I was very good at certain things and I would say still am that other people are not as good at. I legitimately saw the world differently. My brain is was structured differently than other people and I was able to perform at a professional level in certain areas even as a young kid but then really was

[01:01] hindered in other areas. And we had this weird family structure where my mom was a in grad school as an artist uh and everybody was an artist. So they were outside the norm. Was a heavily Jewish environment. My mom is black. We were pro-Israel uh and ve are ariodite, heavily Jewish environment. I everything about my life was further outside the norm than I realized. >> It's like extreme outsider for for >> there's no there's no insider bias with that. >> I would have loved to be an insider somewhere. And the minute I could be an insider, I'm like, I'm dyslexic. So, it's like I used to wonder as a little kid, how could this get worse, you I was like, but you know, I was like, I mean, not I I not in a sense

[01:57] that I was, you know, thought that it was bad, but I was like, this is just like, and I always thought from the beginning, and this is why despite what people thought about Palanteer sometimes, I view Palanteer as a civil liberties juggernaut. That doesn't mean everyone in the civil liberties community will ever agree with us, but I always thought if fascism comes, I will be the first or second person on the wall >> because because you're like the most outside who they're going to talk there's like and this is before I had attendees. So now I was [laughter] like no matter what happens, if something goes wrong in society, I'm done for. And um and you know, America's changed a lot, but it it it just in every

[02:38] environment I went into. Uh but but on the other hand I was also a deep insider. So it's it's this insider outsider you know um my family is just so highly educated. Mhm. >> So it's not just the case that I was an outsider but I was an insider in terms of understanding uh art, science to some extent uh math through my father. Uh but but anything historical or uh cultural through my mom. I spent every weekend in museums at cultural events. It it took it took a decade before after leaving the home before I could even go in a museum because um because I I we just had to spend so much time. And so that insider outsider insider of uh what I would call the the fundamental structures of western thought and art which I then

[03:38] later refined in grad school but while simultaneously not belonging but but at the same time believing and I believe this still the only uh way in which uh non-belonging people belong is in in the context of a western society that protects the rule of law that protects the right of free expression that protects your property rights that de facto protects unpleasant people like that it is the our societies are still the best though flawed at protecting people who are unpopular because of their views because of their habits because of their of who they are and I that resonates with me on all fronts and in fact Um and then uh who make people because I can see myself in all those people.