College dropout Austin Russell founded and runs automotive sensor firm Luminar Technologies, which went public in a SPAC merger in Dec. 2020. An optics prodigy, Russell developed the idea for Luminar when he was just 17 and studying physics at Stanford University. He dropped out of college in 2012 after receiving a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, a program funded by billionaire Peter Thiel to nurture entrepreneurs.

Following Luminar's listing on Nasdaq, Russell became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 25. Luminar competes with laser lidar makers like Velodyne and Aeva, which make high-tech sensors to help self-driving vehicles "see" their surroundings.

00:00 Luminar’s Founding Story
1:55 The Safety Of Self-Driving Technology
3:25 Russell On LiDAR Technology
5:55 Russell On Luminar’s Breakthrough Technology
7:42 Starting A Disruptive Company
10:12 Building A Company From The Ground Up
12:26 The Challenges Of Starting A Company
13:52 Russell's Favorite Part Of Building A Business
15:42 Why Luminar Shouldn’t Exist
16:48 Lessons Learned From Building A Business
18:36 Why Russell Decided To Take Luminar Public
20:35 What It Felt Like To Become A Billionaire
24:30 What Was More Difficult: The First Million Or The First Billion?
26:51 Why Russell Doesn’t Have A Social Media Presence
27:38 Good Habits That Have Led To Russell's Success
29:28 Russell On Dropping Out Of College
30:46 Russell's Influencers Early In Life
32:31 What Russell Wants HIs Legacy To Be

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