Hello, I'm Ted Sides, and this is Capital Allocators.

This show is an open exploration of the people and process behind capital allocation.

Through conversations with leaders in the money game, we learn how these holders of the keys to the

kingdom allocate their time and their capital. You can keep up to date by visiting

Capital Allocatorspodcast.com. My guest on today's show is Jeff Hausenbold, a managing director

for the last four years at SoftBank Investment Advisors,

where he led one of the six investment teams that deployed the $100 billion soft bank vision fund.

Prior to joining SoftBank, Jeff worked at 16 companies, including 11 years as CEO of Shutterfly,

four years in the early days of eBay,

four as a special industry advisor to KKR, and one as entrepreneur in residence at Sutter Hill Ventures.

He's also served on the boards of dozens of companies, including Caesar's Entertainment,

Memphis Meats, DoorDash, Compass, Open Door, Wag, and Groupon.

Our conversation starts with Jeff's true rags to riches story and then turns to a whirlwind

of lessons learned as an operator at eBay during its hypergrowth and Shutterfly overseeing

a successful turnaround.

We then dive into the SoftBank Vision Fund, including the original investment thesis,

sourcing ideas, valuation discipline, decision-making in groups, portfolio structure, and results.

We close by talking about the SPAC market, capital market expectations, the characteristics of successful organizations, and succession planning. Please enjoy the countless nuggets of

wisdom in my conversation with Jeff Hausenbold. Jeff, thanks so much for doing this with me. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

I always love to start at the beginning and I noticed, and you seem sure open about it, referencing

a difficult childhood. And we'd love to know what that means in your eyes. Yeah, I think we're

all products of our experiences and I was born into a family of five in

...