The Dao of Capital: Austrian Investing in a Distorted World
, subject: Austrian investing, tail risk, and the roundabout use of time and capital.
Senra treats Spitznagel’s book as a strange, indirect argument about how time, capital, and patience create later advantage.
About the book
Published by Wiley in 2013, the book connects Austrian economics with Daoist thought, conifer ecology, military strategy, and entrepreneurial production. Spitznagel uses those examples to explain an indirect, time-aware approach to risk and capital; Ron Paul contributes the foreword.
Why read it
Best if you want David on a book he says changed how he sees investing, patience, capital, time, and the roundabout path
Key themes
- Roundabout Advantage
- Capital And Time
- A Strange Synthesis
Evidence and original sources
Senra calls the book strange, unique, and worldview-shifting, and says it may be one of the ten most important books he has read.
- Billy Durant (Creator of General Motors) — David identifies Spitznagel as the subject of Founders #70 and applies his resilience idea to Mark and Billy Durant.
- Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey — David connects a passage about a giant rainforest tree to Founders #70 and The Dao of Capital's conifer-tree chapter.
- Michael Jordan: The Life — David names The Dao of Capital and Founders #70 before applying its Robinson Crusoe example.
- Edward L. Bernays (Public Relations, Advertising, & Persuasion) — David says he read this book on Founders episode 70.
- Mark Spitznagel: The Dao of Capital — Senra identifies The Dao of Capital by Mark Spitznagel as the book he is covering in this episode.
- Jeff Bezos' Shareholder Letters — David says he is reading The Dao of Capital and points listeners back to the prior week's coverage.
Unofficial listener-built companion, not affiliated with or endorsed by David Senra or Founders Podcast.