#022 - Molly Mielke on Career Experimentation, Agency, Introspection vs. Action, & Investing in People

Audience of One

Molly Mielke is a writer and the founding partner of Moth Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm aiming to increase the agency of exceptional individuals through investments and grants. We talk about rapidly "career sunk cost fallacy", increasing agency, investing in people and ideas, off the shelf games vs. creating your own, being famous among friends, freedom, commitment, and the balance between introspection vs. action.

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(02:47) Starting a venture capital firm instead of a startup (05:51) Career sunk cost fallacy & thinking of your life in projects (09:36) Famous among friends, picking people you don't have to explain yourself to (13:29) When to take advice vs. forge your own path (17:27) Increasing agency (22:32) Project-based learning & optimizing for failure (26:32) Breaking out of off-the-shelf games (30:14) Better models for funding people directly (36:02) Investment thesis: vertical SaaS, wealth transfer, AI category creation (41:46) Generalists vs. specialists, T-shaped people (45:46) Balancing the rational & emotional (50:39) Freedom (54:22) Closing the interest gap with commitment, having low expectations (58:14) Introspection vs action (01:01:54) Molly’s final question for listeners

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Molly’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mollyfmielke

Moth Fund: https://www.mothfund.com/

Moth Fund Substack: https://mothfund.substack.com/

Mind Mud Substack: https://mindmud.substack.com/

Milky Substack: https://milky.substack.com/

Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R

Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/