Caroline Haskins: So one factor that occurred lately is that Palantir had its earnings name. And I feel type of in line with what you noticed, Alex Karp appeared actually exuberant throughout that earnings name. I feel he mentioned that it was the very best earnings for a software program firm in historical past, however the firm is doing reportedly nearly $1 billion in income for the primary time.
It is a prime performer within the S&P 500. And but, one factor that Alex Karp at all times insists on, no less than rhetorically, is that Palantir, or no less than Palantirians, workers, culturally are outsiders, underdogs, et cetera. I used to be questioning the way you type of noticed that within the context of the interview or what you considered the way in which that Alex Karp described that.
Steven Levy: Yeah. I requested him about that. It is my impression that that is one thing that he cultivates, the outsider mentality. And I even tied that again to our shared origins in Philadelphia quoting Jason Kelce, the Philadelphia Eagle, after they gained their first Tremendous Bowl, the place he bought up there and mentioned, “No person likes us, and we do not care.” And I believed that could possibly be a Palantir motto.
He mentioned, “Look, it isn’t enjoyable to be so unpopular, however it’s truly helpful for us.” So he conceded that this outsider mentality works for him, as a result of he says, “4 out of 5 individuals, they arrive and so they say, ‘Gee, I do not need to be unpopular and work for Palantir.’ However the fifth individual will say, ‘You understand what? That is sort of fascinating.'”
At one level, he mentioned that, “I am sort of the sacrifice.” So he sees himself, although he is a billionaire, he is bought a number of houses, he lives on this 500-acre compound in rural New Hampshire, however he feels that he’s an outsider. At one level, I even mentioned to him, “Yeah. You appear to be doing fairly effectively, Alex.”