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Wolfgang Hammer - The Power of Story - [Invest Like the Best, EP.447]

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Wolfgang Hammer - The Power of Story - [Invest Like the Best, EP.447]

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

2025/11/11
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

2025/11/11
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

My guest today is my friend Wolfgang Hammer. Wolfgang is a successful film producer and executive who helped create House of Cards and ran several major studios, including Lionsgate, CBS Films and Miramax. He’s now building a new kind of film studio with s...

Highlights

In this episode, host and guest delve into the profound role storytelling plays not just in entertainment, but in leadership, innovation, and personal transformation. Drawing from decades of experience in Hollywood and advising top executives, Wolfgang Hammer reveals how narrative shapes our understanding of value, purpose, and progress in business and life.
02:35
Wolfgang Hammer helped create House of Cards and now builds a new film studio with support from Mitch Lasky and Marc Andreessen
05:26
A story works in three layers: external, personal importance, and inner meaning.
09:42
Many great companies struggle to talk about themselves.
12:40
Starting with the familiar can lead to novel discoveries in storytelling
20:16
All stories are about death, and creativity is a response to mortality.
22:48
Stories are either about our desires fulfilled or our anxieties purged.
28:03
Originality is not about being new, but revealing timeless truths in a fresh way
34:42
Action leads to more action and courage.
38:07
A grand unified theory is a technology that communicates ultimate truth in an emotionally understandable way
39:47
Every story is a metaphor that challenges absurd beliefs.

Chapters

Welcome to Invest Like the Best
00:00
Meet Wolfgang Hammer
04:22
How to Tell Your Story
05:25
The Three Layers of Every Story
07:10
What a Good Story Unlocks
10:02
Applying Storytelling Principles to Business
12:39
Lessons From Filmmaking for CEOs
17:24
Everything is a Death Project
22:46
What Makes a Great Story
25:03
The Role of Status
30:54
Building a New Kind of Film Studio
31:48
The Version of Your Story so Big it Terrifies You
35:20
Grand Unified Theory
39:34
The Kindest Thing
42:03

Transcript

Patrick O'Shaughnessy: The best operators have a relentless focus on leverage, finding ways to multiply their impact rather than just working harder. But here's what I see happening in finance teams everywhere. Brilliant people getting buried in expense ma...