Sunday Service: Lessons from Sir Tony Blair.
Policy over publicity. Ambition and reality. Conspiracy of distraction.
I’ve been thinking more about politics these past few weeks, and this led me to a podcast interview with the former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair. It wasn’t just election season that drew me in. The host of the podcast is a remarkable 24-year-old who is known for conducting “deeply researched interviews.”
Intrigued by the episode, I hit play. To my surprise, the discussion had at least half a dozen compelling lessons that are relevant to a venture capital career. Here are three highlights from the show.
Flashy Surface. Intellectual Core.
“Though politics at one level is very crude — you’re shaking hands, kissing babies, making speeches, devising slogans, attacking your opponents,” says Blair, “when it comes to policy, it’s a really intellectual business.”
The parallels to venture capital are clear. Investors spend a lot of time networking at events and building relationships with LPs, founders, and corporates. However, the real work of investing is deeply intellectual. Crafting and implementing an effective investment strategy requires long stretches of effort, depth, feedback, and iteration.
Don’t Confuse Shallow Trends & Ideas with Rigour
Investors often shift from one trend and investment theme to another as markets change. Yet, when investing in a theme or a thesis, you must go beyond shallow trends. Consider the quote below from Blair. Replace “ambition” with “investment trend” and replace “policy” with “investment strategy”.
“People confuse ambitions with policies. Often, I will speak to a leader and I’ll say, “So what are your policies?” And they’ll give me a list of things, and actually, I say to them, “Those aren’t really policies. They’re just ambitions. Ambitions in politics are very easy to have because they are just general expressions of good intention.” - Sir Tony Blair
Later, Blair adds that if politicians only have ambitions, “then they haven’t really undertaken the intellectual exercise to turn those into policies.” He admits that “policies are hard” and that “it’s hard to work out what the right policy is.”
This rings true for investors, too. Interest in an investment theme is vastly different to having a well-thought-out investment strategy that goes beyond buzzwords.
Resist the “Conspiracy of Distraction”
When asked about obstacles that get in the way of a leader who takes on good advice but struggles to get better at what they do, Blair gives two reasons. The first is that change is hard. The second, perhaps more interesting reason, is that government work is a “conspiracy of distraction.”
Politicians constantly deal with a barrage of events, unpredictable crises, and other public and private demands. “The most difficult thing is to keep focussed when you’ve got so many things that are diverting you from that core task,” Blair notes.
VCs also face a conspiracy of distractions: conferences, speaking engagements, ceaseless inbound investment opportunities, and general information overload. However, like successful politicians, savvy investors excel by ruthlessly prioritising and staying focused on what truly matters.
Takeaways
Recognise what the real work is.
Make time for deep, intellectual thinking.
Ruthlessly prioritise.