Gabe Whaley - Building MSCHF - [Invest Like the Best, EP.397]
Episode publishedPodcast: Invest Like the Best with Patr...Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
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2 fun facts about our newest sponsorship partner, Ramp. 1st, they are the fastest growing Fintech company in history, reaching a level of revenue in 5 years that I can't quote exactly, but is eyebrow raising. 2nd, they are backed by more of my favorite past guests, at least 16 of them when I counted, than probably any other company that I'm aware of. A list that includes Ravi Gupta at Sequoia, Josh Kushner at Thrive, Keith Raboy at Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, Patrick and John Collison, Michael Ovitz, Brad Gershner. The list goes on and on. These facts demand the question, why? Having be
Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of Positive Sum. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Positive Sum. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of Positive Sum may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. To learn more, visit psum.vc.
My guest is Gabe Whaley, founder and CEO of Mischief. What began with viral Internet pranks in 2014 has evolved into one of the most singular creative companies I've encountered. Mischief's work ranges from microscopic handbags, literally the size of a grain of salt, to tax software that helps you file your returns by going on virtual dates with anime characters. Every 2 weeks, they release something new that challenges our assumptions about art, commerce, and culture. Mischief is hard to define, but Gabe says its goal is to monopolize a feeling where subversion is the rare constant. Their mos
Cool.
I wonder how you would describe in more than a sentence what mischief is, just a level set for anyone that hasn't heard of it.
It really depends on who I'm talking to because mischief means so many different things to so many different people. I think selfishly for me, it is my excuse and my friend's excuse to make whatever it is that's in our heads at any given moment. But if you ask someone in, like, the art world, they're gonna compare it to, for better or worse, Banksy or Warhol or Duchamp, all of whom I've learned a lot about in the last few years. If it's someone in the fashion world, they'll make comparisons to, like, Supreme or Balenciaga or Loewe. Also things that I've learned a lot about in the last few year
way of asking it would be, what do you do over and over again? Maybe even spend some time getting into the structured process for creativity. One of the things you told me when we first met that I found fascinating was how far in advance some of these things are baked. But maybe just describe, like, the repeated action that you take. If you really
had to think about, like, what we're doing here, we're manufacturing cultural output. And so with that statement alone, that sort of removes the need for, like, sticking to a category or having these arbitrary lines set up that dictate and define what you do over a long period of time. For us, it's just purely cultural output. How can that live in whatever format, medium, device makes sense to resonate the most in culture, both now and like in the future? And so if you look back at our body of work, what that has yielded is everything from most obviously very viral pieces of footwear to maybe
It's so funny when you literally walk into the building. On your left hand side, you see lots of computer monitors, some code. It feels almost like a startup. On the right hand side, you see, like, Willy Wonka's creative I
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