Tony James on Costco, Starbucks, Blackstone, and Charlie Munger Tony James is an investor, Chairman of the Board at Costco, and former President and COO of Blackstone. In this conversation, he joins a16z GP David Haber for a conversation on scaling Blackstone from $14 billion to nearly $1 trillion, lessons from 38 years on the board of Costco, the future of private markets, and more. 00:00 Intro 00:45 Starting at DLJ: Getting in on the ground floor 03:05 The LBO revolution & building a merchant bank 09:09 Leading the Series A into Costco & lessons from Jim Sinegal 15:00 38 years on the Costco board & learning from Charlie Munger 25:17 Joining Blackstone: The partnership with Steve Schwarzman 33:44 Blackstone's journey from $14 billion to nearly $1 trillion 44:09 Investment committee culture & the art of robust debate 53:41 The IPO, retail distribution, and building competitive moats 01:05:39 Succession planning & knowing when to step away 01:10:00 The future of private markets 01:15:24 Advice for young people @dhaber(a16z)