Chances are, you have an opinion about Palantir.
“With any person, company, or concept, the general public really only has space in their head for one characteristic of it,” says Palantir alum Marc Frankel, cofounder, board member, and former CEO of Manifest, which creates software and AI “bill of materials”—think ingredient labels for critical software. “Biden: old. AI: scary. Palantir: secretive.“
Frankel worked at Palantir from 2013 to 2018, and whether the one idea in your mind about Palantir is secretive or something else, it likely exists somewhere in this band of public opinion from the past year.
Believers: Palantir’s a “category of one” company, according to Everest Group partner Abhishek Singh in a blog post last year, crediting its forward deployed engineering model where it embeds teams with customers to tailor its products to their business.
Critics: Conservative comedian Tim Dillon calls it a “shadowy military-CIA contractor” building a “digital prison.”
Investing bulls: “They’re the best software company,” concluded Gil Luria, head of technology research at the financial services company DA Davidson, after Palantir’s successful Q3 earnings report, where it closed 204 deals worth $1 million or more in those 90 days, 53 of which were worth more than $10 million as companies flock to build on top of Palantir’s Foundry and AI platforms.
Investing bears: “I just don’t know how this company ever grows into its valuation,” said Dan Nathan, a former trader turned financial media personality on CNBC and podcasts, referring to Palantir’s market cap hovering around $400 billion, or 100 times revenue.
As Frankel adds, whatever your one thing may be, “it just becomes this trope.”
Are you thinking about your feelings about Palantir right now? Good.
Now it’s time to add another idea about Palantir, no matter your beliefs. This is a story about what really underpins Palantir’s success. It’s not its products. It’s not CEO Alex Karp or its other high-profile cofounders.
The idea is Palantir: unmatched talent magnet.
- How has Palantir attracted such an astonishing array of talent?
- How does the company get so much out of its employees?
- How have hundreds of Palantir employees gone on to start their own companies?
- What can any company that wants to build this kind of talent density and financial success do to emulate Palantir?
If your company envies Palantir’s success—financial, cultural, or otherwise—the story of its employees turned founders reveals:
- how to hire the palantir way;
- how to build a dynamic workplace culture that delivers measurable results;
- why traditional corporate structures can be impediments;
- the ultimate secret behind the company’s success.
If you admire Palantir’s missionthis Premium story offers:
- our exclusive list of 315 former employees turned company builders;
- how these founders are advancing and adapting what they learned at Palantir for a new generation of businesses.
If you care about Palantir as an investmentthis story will give you:
- a new way of looking at PLTR and what to look for when considering its future prospects;
- ideas for both private and public-market investments via the comprehensive list of Palantir alumni-led companies.
If you’re not a Palantir fan (to understand how many of its critics feel)this story explains:
- the real sources of the company’s strength;
- exactly how and where the company’s influence is spreading.
