Jason Calacanis explains how to read people by watching their dress, mannerisms, and follow-up behavior. He uses poker as an analogy and emphasizes pattern recognition to understand what someone actually wants versus what they say.
Chapters
Line up behind him so we can do— Yeah, line up.
Yeah, right.
Thank you, Jason. Um, it seems to me that reading people is one of your biggest strengths as an angel investor. Correct. So, but reading people really sometimes is really difficult, it seems to you. Do you bring this from like playing poker? Yes. And what kind of a condition you, you train yourself about reading people? What does poker mean?
Well, with poker you have partial information and you're studying somebody over a number of hands and how they behave. And, you know, for some people, you know, you're wearing $200 shoes and, uh, your name is Xiaolin?
That's right.
Xiaolin, Shanghai, Taiwan, where are you from?
Chengdu, in China as well.
Yeah, and I can start the reading process already. Short hair, very tight, expensive glasses, care very much about how you look. You're diligent. You probably sleep 6 hours a night or less, and you read a lot. I can start— I can stop whenever you tell me I'm wrong, but tell me if I'm wrong on any of that. Did I get any of that wrong?
You almost were right. I can keep going.
You are wearing a perfect sweatsuit in a business event. You would only wear a sweatsuit in a business event if you had a massive degree of confidence in your ability. It's a bold choice, and you've had the pants hemmed. You don't hem sweatsuit pants unless you are very detailed. Those aren't cuffed up. You had them hemmed, didn't you? Yeah. Would you like me to continue?
Well, that's good. I just, I really want to learn from you, like from a secret, like how do you want to read people? Because I'm—
You have to come to Dagobah.
Yeah, I definitely come to read the book.
No, Dagobah. Yoda. Okay, it's Jedi training. You have to be careful because a lot of Jedis, they lose a hand. You have to be willing. To lose a hand. It's very serious stuff. But anyway, over years of being present and being perceptive and hearing what people say and what they don't say, how they dress, their mannerisms, how they follow up, you see patterns. You learn patterns, right?
Yeah, that's the same as poker.
Yeah, same as poker, right? If you get your hair cut every 5 weeks—
