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November 27, 2024 • 2hr 51min
#780: Cyan Banister — From Homeless and Broke to Top Angel Investor (Uber, SpaceX, and 100+ More)
The Tim Ferriss Show
Cyan Banister is a general partner at Long Journey Ventures and was previously at Founders Fund. She was an early investor in companies like Uber, SpaceX, DeepMind, Flexport, and Affirm, with investments in over 100 companies total. Coming from humble beginnings including homelessness as a teenager, she developed unique perspectives and approaches that helped her succeed as an investor and entrepreneur.
#780: Cyan Banister — From Homeless and Broke to Top Angel Investor (Uber, SpaceX, and 100+ More)
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Key Takeaways
- Early life experiences shaped Cyan's unique perspective and ability to recognize opportunities - growing up on a Navajo reservation as a minority, experiencing homelessness as a teenager, and learning self-reliance through difficult circumstances
- Investment philosophy focuses on pattern recognition, seizing opportunities when they appear, and having the confidence to make direct approaches - demonstrated through successful early investments in companies like Uber, Niantic (Pokemon Go), and Flock Security
- Spiritual awakening during the pandemic led to profound personal transformation, shifting from atheism to embracing spirituality after experiencing what she describes as a Kundalini awakening
- Using randomness through dice rolling as a tool for breaking patterns, making decisions more efficiently, and introducing more serendipity and joy into life
- The importance of questioning narratives we tell ourselves and recognizing that many perceived limitations are self-imposed "suggestions" rather than hard rules
Introduction
Cyan Banister is a general partner at Long Journey Ventures and was previously at Founders Fund. She was an early investor in companies like Uber, SpaceX, DeepMind, Flexport, and Affirm, with investments in over 100 companies total. Coming from humble beginnings including homelessness as a teenager, she developed unique perspectives and approaches that helped her succeed as an investor and entrepreneur.
Topics Discussed
Early Life and Formative Experiences (6:57)
Cyan shares her experience growing up on the Navajo reservation in Northern Arizona as a white minority, which gave her unique perspectives on being an outsider. Her childhood was marked by instability, including:
- Family dynamics - Her mother had difficulty keeping children in the home past age 13, with Cyan's siblings being removed from the home
- Becoming homeless at age 15 and becoming a ward of the state of Arizona
- Learning self-reliance through experiences like selling hemp jewelry and finding creative ways to survive on the streets
Investment Philosophy and Notable Deals (38:46)
Cyan discusses her approach to identifying and securing investment opportunities, including:
- Uber investment - Developed thesis around taxi medallion system inefficiencies, recognized Travis Kalanick's leadership potential at a conference
- Niantic (Pokemon Go) - Personal experience playing Ingress led to recognizing potential, persistence in securing meeting and investment opportunity
- Flock Security - Used technical knowledge to identify founder through WiFi network, demonstrating pattern recognition abilities
Spiritual Transformation (1:45:37)
Cyan describes her journey from atheism to spirituality during the pandemic:
- Catalyst - Deep dive into esoteric philosophy including works by Aleister Crowley and G.I. Gurdjieff
- Kundalini awakening experience while watching The Razor's Edge
- Impact - Improved health, outlook, and energy after embracing spirituality
The Dice Rolling Philosophy (1:36:01)
Cyan explains her practice of using dice to introduce randomness into decision-making:
- Purpose - Reduce decision fatigue and introduce more serendipity into life
- Applications - Used for choosing restaurants, travel destinations, daily tasks
- Rules - Complete commitment to following whatever the dice dictate
- Benefits - More efficient decisions, increased joy, unexpected positive experiences
Questioning Narratives and Personal Growth (1:59:35)
Cyan discusses the importance of examining and challenging personal narratives:
- Self-examination - Need to face uncomfortable truths about oneself
- Unconditional self-love - Learning to accept and nurture oneself
- Breaking patterns - Recognizing and changing limiting beliefs and behaviors
The Boston Experience (2:18:00)
Cyan shares a remarkable series of synchronistic events during a trip to Boston:
- Celtics game - Mediating conflict between fans, receiving unexpected insights
- Hotel anomaly - Strange experience of "not existing" in hotel records
- Duck boat tour - Profound spiritual experience with tour guide sharing wisdom
Conclusion
The conversation reveals how Cyan's unique life experiences shaped her success as an investor and her personal philosophy. Her journey from homelessness to becoming a successful investor demonstrates the power of persistence, pattern recognition, and maintaining curiosity. Her more recent spiritual awakening and experiments with randomness through dice rolling show an ongoing evolution and openness to new perspectives and approaches to life.
The episode offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone interested in personal growth and challenging conventional thinking. Cyan's story illustrates how embracing uncertainty, questioning established narratives, and remaining open to unexpected opportunities can lead to both professional success and personal transformation.