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Pattern Recognition, Humility, and the YouTube Deal That Changed Everything — Sean Dempsey
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In 2005, Sean Dempsey tried to buy a tiny video startup on behalf of Google.
The founders laughed him off.
Eighteen months later, Google paid $1.65 billion for that same company… and the entire industry mocked the decision. Analysts called it reckless. Wall Street rolled its eyes.
Today, that acquisition is worth over $300 billion.
In this episode, Sean — now co-founder of Merus Capital and an investor in multiple unicorns — breaks down the real story behind the YouTube deal and the deeper lessons it reveals for founders and investors:
We get into:
- Why the best investors change their minds faster than everyone else
- How to update your beliefs when the data shifts
- Pattern recognition vs. prediction
- Why humility compounds longer than “genius”
- The mental models that separate long-term winners from one-cycle blowups
- Lessons Sean carried into building Merus Capital and delivering 4.2x+ fund multiples
If you care about decision-making, inflection points, and developing an investor’s mindset, this conversation is a masterclass.
👉 Watch the full interview on YouTube here
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