Talk Cocktail

How Silicon Valley Buys Its Future: The Stanford Within Stanford

September 2, 2026·29 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Theo Baker arrived at Stanford University at the age of 17 wanting in. What he found, as he recounts in our recent California Sun Podcast and in his new book “How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University,” was a machine: venture capitalists scouting freshmen, “pre-idea funding,” yacht parties, and a secret elite — all riding on a culture of cutting corners that influenced everyone from his classmates to the university president. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe

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