In Alex Karp’s world, Palantir is the underdog

Caroline Haskins: One thing that’s happened recently is that Palantir has taken its dividend. And I think consistent with what I observed, Alex Karp seemed really energetic during that earnings call. I think he said this is the best profits for a software company in history, but the company is said to be generating revenue of about $1 billion for the first time.

It’s one of the best-performing companies in the S&P 500. However, the one thing Alex Karp always insists on, at least rhetorically, is that Palantir employees, or at least Palantirians, are cultural outsiders, underdogs, etc. I was wondering how you kind of saw that in the context of the interview or what you thought of the way Alex Karp described it.

Steven Levy: Yes. I asked him about that. I get the impression that this is the thing he develops, the outsider mentality. I also connected that to our shared origins in Philadelphia by quoting Jason Kelce, the Philadelphia Eagle, after they won their first Super Bowl, going up there and saying, “Nobody likes us, and we don’t care.” And I thought this might be the Palantir logo.

“Look, it’s no fun being so unpopular,” he said, “but it’s actually good for us.” So he admitted that this outsider mentality suits him, because, he said, “Four out of five people come in and say, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to be unpopular and work for Palantir.'” But the fifth person will say: You know what? “This is kind of interesting.”

At one point, he said, “I’m kind of a sacrifice.” So he sees himself, even though he’s a billionaire, has several houses, and lives on this 500-acre compound in rural New Hampshire, but he feels like an outsider. At some point, I said to him, “Yes. You seem to be doing well, Alex.”