Founding companies and family | Trae and Dr. Michelle Stephens (parents of 2, Anduril and Oath Care)

In this special Startup Dad (and Mom) episode I interviewed husband and wife team Trae Stephens and Dr. Michelle Stephens. Trae is a partner at Founders Fund, and is also co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems and a co-founder of Sol, a wearable e-reader. Prior to that he was an early employee at Palantir and was an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University.

Dr. Michelle Stephens is the co-founder and Chief Nursing Officer of Oath Care which aims to provide instant answers to all your parenting questions. She has practiced nursing with a focus on pediatrics in Philadelphia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. She has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and received her PhD at UCSF. 

In this episode we discuss:

Their professional background and a shared hobby
What childhood was like (spoiler: very different for each of them)
Their decision to start a family
Navigating miscarriages
Faith and religion in their childhood and family life now
Helpful parenting frameworks
How to take care of yourself and your relationship
How they make it all work with busy careers and busy kids

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Where to find Trae Stephens

Twitter / X:   / traestephens  
LinkedIn:   / trae-stephens-485a811  

Where to find Dr. Michelle Stephens
Twitter / X:   / mddstephens  
LinkedIn:   / michelle-stephens-oath-care  

Where to find Adam Fishman
Newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com
Newsletter: http://startupdadpod.substack.com
LinkedIn:   / adamjfishman  
Twitter / X:   / fishmanaf  
Instagram:   / startupdadpod  

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In this episode, we cover:

[1:53] Welcome to the show!
[2:30] Professional backgrounds
[8:34] Shared hobby
[9:19] Childhood and growing up
[13:25] How they met
[17:40] All about their kids
[18:56] Decision to start a family
[21:47] Navigating miscarriages and support
[23:29] Faith/religion
[27:54] Having 2 kids vs. big family
[30:57] Trae's earliest memory of being a dad
[33:28] Most surprising thing about being a dad
[38:05] Company as “kids” / non-traditional roles
[42:15] Parenting frameworks
[45:44] Where they don’t agree
[47:30] Taking care of yourself/your relationship
[51:28] Pet peeves
[54:30] What a great sleep day looks like
[57:14] Thoughts on hustle culture
[59:30] Awe & wonder with your kids
[1:00:58] How to reach them
[1:01:33] Rapid fire

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Show references:

Trae Stephens Twitter -   / traestephens  

Oath Care- https://www.oathcare.com/

Enneagram Type Eight - https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ty...

Enneagram Type Three - https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ty...

SNOO - https://www.happiestbaby.com/products...

The Intentional Father by Jon Tyson - https://www.amazon.com/Intentional-Fa...

Emily Oster - “Crib Sheet” and “Expecting Better” - https://emilyoster.net/

Magic: The Gathering - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_...

Bluey - https://www.bluey.tv/

Angel's Landing - Zion National Park - https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisi...

Hook - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102057/

Palantir - https://www.palantir.com/

Anduril - https://www.anduril.com/

Founders Fund - https://foundersfund.com/

Philadelphia Eagles - https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/

Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University - https://sfs.georgetown.edu/

Georgetown University - https://www.georgetown.edu/

UCSF - https://www.ucsf.edu/

Wedding Crashers - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396269/

Peter Thiel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_T...

SpaceX - https://www.spacex.com/

PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/us/home

Taekwondo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo

Monty Python and the Holy Grail - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_P...

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Bonus!

If you can figure out Trae's AIM screen name you can DM him for some Founders Fund Swag! 

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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/

Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/