Sam Altman on the ‘unpopular lesson’ about investing that he learnt from Paul Graham and Peter Thiel

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reflected on the unconventional wisdom he picked from Silicon Valley icons Paul Graham and Peter Thiel. According to a report by Business Insider, speaking on the Invest Like The Best podcast, Altman said that the most valuable investment opportunities are rarely the ones that look popular at the time. “The very best companies, the very best investment opportunities are almost never the ones that look really popular,” he explained. Altman further noted that following trends can yield decent returns, but spectacular success requires backing companies that may seem ‘unpopular’ or contrarian in the moment. “You can do okay just following the trend and being a little early, but to do spectacularly well, you kind of almost always have to do things that are not what everybody else is doing,” he said.