# Jack Selby

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/people/jack-selby/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

Real Alpha has cut 6 moments of Jack Selby (Managing Director, Thiel Capital) talking, from an interview on How I Invest published Nov 4, 2026.

- Role: Managing Director, Thiel Capital
- About: Joined PayPal as an original employee, led international operations, and co-founded Clarium Capital with Peter Thiel.

## What Jack Selby said

- [Cheap capital left venture with zombie funds](https://realalpha.app/s/cheap-capital-left-venture-with-zombie-funds/)
  How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026 · 6 min
  > “the industry has done a poor job of returning capital to its investors over the last decade.” — Jack Selby · [32:47](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/?t=1967)
- [AI can produce strong returns without trillion-dollar exits](https://realalpha.app/s/ai-can-produce-strong-returns-without-trillion-dollar-exits/)
  How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026 · 3 min
  > “AI enables companies to be built much more cheaply, achieve revenue much more quickly, get to good outcomes much more quickly” — Jack Selby · [44:28](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/?t=2668)
- [Lower entry prices change the venture return math](https://realalpha.app/s/lower-entry-prices-change-the-venture-return-math/)
  How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026 · 3 min
  > “my math is very, very, very different because my entry point is so much less expensive.” — Jack Selby · [19:38](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/?t=1178)
- [Silicon Valley's edge is capital access, not scarce talent](https://realalpha.app/s/silicon-valleys-edge-is-capital-access-not-scarce-talent/)
  How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026 · 6 min
  > “It is not a human capital network effect. There are plenty of smart people that live in these other places.” — Jack Selby · [10:20](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/?t=620)
- [Mega-funds and early-stage funds need separate benchmarks](https://realalpha.app/s/mega-funds-and-early-stage-funds-need-separate-benchmarks/)
  How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026 · 3 min
  > “I think the mega funds are a different asset class. I'm not saying they're better or worse. They're just in a different bucket.” — Jack Selby · [40:13](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/?t=2413)
- [He screens local founders for venture-scale ambition](https://realalpha.app/s/he-screens-local-founders-for-venture-scale-ambition/)
  How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026 · 3 min
  > “I have to make sure that my entrepreneurs are sufficiently grandiose when they take my money.” — Jack Selby · [46:28](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/?t=2788)

## The episode

- [Peter Thiel's 27-Year Partner on the AI Bubble, the Venture Capital Crisis, and the PayPal Mafia](https://realalpha.app/v/4VjI-3FcHSg/) · How I Invest · Nov 4, 2026