Colossus

The name draws on Tim Urban’s “Human Colossus” metaphor for accumulated human knowledge. The website’s terms identify the company as Colossus, LLC.⁠[4][5]

Patrick O’ShaughnessyPatrick O’ShaughnessyPatrick O’Shaughnessy is an investor and podcast host who has hosted the interview show Invest Like the Best since 2016, founded the early-stage investment firm Positive Sum in 2020 and serves as its CEO, and is also founder and CEO of the media company Colossus.Open the full entry launched Invest Like the Best in 2016, interviewing investors, founders and other specialists about investing and business. The program predates Colossus and subsequently became a central part of its media network.⁠[1]

O’Shaughnessy founded Colossus in 2020 to expand the original podcast into a broader media network. Its public company profile also gives 2020 as the founding year, distinct from the launch of Invest Like the Best.⁠[1][6]

The first Business Breakdowns episode examined Shopify. Dated April 5, 2021 on the publisher’s site, it featured Alex Danco with hosts O’Shaughnessy and Zack Fuss. The program studies individual companies’ products, revenue models and competitive positions, covering both public and private businesses.⁠[7][2]

On August 30, 2022, O’Shaughnessy announced a partnership with David Senra’s Founders in the written introduction to an interview with Senra. Founders centers on entrepreneurs’ biographies; the partnership brought the program and its transcripts into the Colossus network.⁠[8]

Making Media began with a January 30, 2023 episode in which Dom Cooke and Matt Reustle interviewed O’Shaughnessy. Originally intended as a year-end review, the conversation became the opening episode of a program about media businesses.⁠[9]

The website dates the first print issue to November 2024, with Graham Duncan on the cover. It also includes material on Garnett Station Partners, space investing and business leaders. The archive lists subsequent issues in June, September and December 2025 and March and June 2026.⁠[3][10]

The May 2026 Scott Wu interview, The Wu Tapes, carries an editor’s note identifying Cognition as both a Colossus sponsor and a Positive Sum portfolio company. The disclosure records a commercial relationship involving the subject of the coverage.⁠[11]

In September 2026, Colossus published Michael MoritzMichael MoritzMichael Moritz is a venture capitalist, writer, and philanthropist who was a partner at Sequoia Capital from 1986 to July 2023 and long served as a member of the firm’s leadership and as its chairman. He represented Sequoia in investments in and on the boards of companies including Yahoo, Google, PayPal, Zappos, Stripe, and Klarna, and he is involved in San Francisco civic affairs through his family foundation Crankstart, local San Francisco media, and political donations.Open the full entry’s The Wretched Refuse, identified as an adapted excerpt from Ausländer: One Family’s Story of Escape and Exile, used with permission from Pegasus Books. It traces his family’s escape from Nazi Germany and connects that history with his later experience as an immigrant.⁠[12]

In the September 16 Invest Like the Best interview, Moritz likened childhood influences to accompanying “angels and demons.” He referred to experiences before ages twelve, thirteen or fourteen while explicitly disclaiming expertise in child development. He connected his family’s refugee background with his own vigilance and survival instinct.⁠[13][14]

Moritz described childhood inquiry as a way to understand founders, and linked his own dissatisfaction with his upbringing.⁠[14]

Reactions to Jeremy SternJeremy SternJeremy Stern is a journalist, editor and podcast host. As editor-in-chief of Colossus, he writes long-form profiles of technology entrepreneurs and investors. He previously served in the U.S. Army, worked as a senior State Department adviser and held editorial roles at Tablet.Open the full entry’s Zuckerberg profile in Colossus differed. Casey Newton criticized it as overly flattering; John Gruber praised its writing and insight and considered its treatment fair.⁠[15][16]

Colossus also collaborates on specialized series. Created by Will Thorndike and Compounding Labs in partnership with Colossus, 50X studies investments that appreciated at least fiftyfold, examining value creation and the formation and evolution of investor conviction.⁠[17]

Colossus offers print and accompanying private-audio subscriptions alongside commercial sponsorships. Its sponsorship page describes integrating a small number of annual partners across podcasts, the magazine and the network. Episode disclosures identify Positive Sum ties and potential securities holdings.⁠[18][14]

As of October 2026, the masthead lists Patrick O’Shaughnessy as founder and CEO, Alison Davis Riddell as president and Jeremy Stern as editor-in-chief.⁠[4]

Colossus distributes content through its website, @colossusmag on X, its company LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry page and the Invest Like The Best YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel. Visible October 2026 company posts include coverage of David Vélez and Zuckerberg. Individual programs also have their own subscription channels.⁠[3][19][6][14]

Colossus: Official website: https://colossus.com (opens in a new window).⁠[3]