Cyrus Yari

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VCs: please do not contact me. I don't like you.

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About Me

Left comfort, turned down VCs. Building a portfolio of small bets. Independence over everything. Seek sanity, not vanity. "Don't be a sheep." Will be sharing more on my X, you can follow along.What feels like play to me: Rational Founder Podcast (formerly Rational VC). In an age of short-form brain rot, I'm continuing to go the other way: making the most Timeless business content on the internet through two-hour podcasts on enduring texts and Worldly Wisdom. I've been making YouTube videos since 2006 and podcasting since 2016, previously interviewing many guests like Stephen Wolfram and Jim O'Shaughnessy. Relaunching Spring 2026 in solo format. Subscribe here.My specific knowledge: Hacking the tech hiring process and getting people new jobs in tech, irrespective of role and experience level. I work for my customers, not for hype. No boss, no employees, no investors. Just me and my customers.Most recently: I was a Senior Software Engineer at Tesla. I never started my career as a coder. See here for my anti-normie career path and why I'd do such a thing.Past: Lots of senior experience across various fields, building & selling. Former finance bro banker and part of a founding team for Silicon Valley Bank in London after university, where I wore several hats as we expanded, before moving into startups & tech. More about my past on my LinkedIn (#1 normie app).Early life: I was born in post-revolution Iran (Shiraz, the heart of the old Persian empire) under difficult circumstances. We escaped and moved to London when I was five. I grew up lower class, attending some of the worst-rated schools in England. In high school, I ran businesses and worked jobs like cold-calling and door-to-door sales. Then I worked 40+ hours a week in hit-target-or-die cold sales while completing a full-time degree. I always say: "born in Iran, made in England." God save the King. 🇬🇧Interests: reading Timeless texts, autodidactism, trading of ideas, latticework curiosity, sovereignty, asymmetric bets, helping people boost their income, mentoring & helping Iran's youth, Zoroastrianism, steaks after deadlifts, martial arts, architecture, hiking, flâneuring the Alpine region.