Sep 2, 2026
Michael Moritz has written books through every phase of his
life: the first history of Apple and an account of Chrysler's
near-death while he was a journalist at Time, a study of
Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in the middle of his 38 years at
Sequoia, and now Ausländer, a family memoir, after leaving
the firm. Moritz calls himself a dilettante with too many
interests, but listen to him on learning to paint in his 40s, or
the questions he would ask a ten-year-old boy in a German village
in 1890, and you may decide that unsatisfied curiosity is not a
small thing to build a life on.
Tyler and Michael discuss his childhood in Wales, where his love
for visual arts came from, why he disappointed his Latin teacher,
having Thanksgiving dinner with Philip Roth, why children don't
interrogate their parents about their history, what he feels
visiting Germany and why he now holds German citizenship, how a
history major with no technical background talked his way into
Sequoia, his unpublished Don Valentine profile, what people
underrate about Steve Jobs, obsessives versus dilettantes, why
capitalism was more ablaze in China than America, what funding the
Booker Prize taught him about his own ignorance, how to improve San
nonprofits, how an incurable cancer diagnosis changed his calendar,
why Britain’s stuck, what he’ll learn next, and more.
Read a transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video on YouTube.
Recorded July 21st, 2026.
Other ways to connect
- Follow us on X and Instagram
- Follow Tyler on X
- Sign up for our newsletter
- Join our Discord
- Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
- Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:04:57 - On living with difficult art
00:09:44 - On Jewish literature
00:13:00 - On why children don't interrogate their parents
00:15:54 - On returning to Germany
00:23:37 - On stumbling into venture capital
00:28:49 - On obsessives and dilettantes
00:33:03 - On supporting the Booker Prize
00:34:17 - On improving San Francisco's nonprofits
00:37:26 - On controlling your own calendar
00:38:43 - On why Britain is stuck
00:40:06 - On what comes next
00:41:10 - Outro