What would you do if you had a six-figure salary? Perhaps you’d never cook another meal or indulge in a monthly Thai massage and a Soho House membership to unwind from the stress that comes with being at your A game.
Here at The Good Life you don’t have to imagine what life at the top looks like anymore: Get real-life inspiration for how the most successful live their lives.
Today Fortune meets 30-year-old Lucy Guo, an entrepreneur worth approximately $500 million.
Guo dropped out of her computer science undergrad program at Carnegie Mellon University to accept a Thiel Fellowship. It was a strong bet. Two years later, in 2016, Guo co-founded Scale AI, a generative AI startup that helps companies build out their own AI systems. Scale AI currently boasts a $14 billion valuation. Guo departed Scale in 2018, but retains 5.99% ownership, which amounts to nearly 47 million Class A shares.
A serial entrepreneur, Guo’s exit from Scale wasn’t the end, and she has no desire to put her feet up. Her next move was co-founding Backend Capital, a venture capital firm that primarily funds early-stage engineering startups. Through her firm, Guo has invested in numerous unicorns, including digital payments platform Ramp.
Today, Guo is CEO of Passes, a platform she founded in 2022 that offers digital creators a suite of monetization tools. Earlier this year, Passes’s Series A funding round garnered $40 million, Fortune reported exclusively.
In a 2023 interview with Fortune, Guo detailed her frugal upbringing, her first money-making endeavor selling Pokémon cards on the school playground, and how she ended up making her first million dollars in high school—only to lose it all.
Here’s how Guo lives the good life.
The finances
Fortune:What’s been the best investment you’ve ever bought?
Private investment: ramp
Public investment: nvidia
And the worst?
Every startup that’s gone to 0.
What are your living arrangements like: Swanky apartment in the city or suburban sprawling?
I have a swanky apartment in Miami and a house in LA which is 5 minutes away from my office.
How do you commute to work?
An electric skateboard or my assistant drives me.
Do you carry a wallet?
I carry my wallet on my phone. I use Amex Platinum for lounges, The J.P. Morgan Reserve Card for points and Atlas for restaurant reservations.
What personal finance advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
To buy more Nvidia.
What’s the one subscription you can’t live without?
Superhuman; it keeps my work life much more organized.
Where’s your go-to wristwatch from?
Audemars Piguet.
The necessities
How do you get your daily coffee fix?
Cold brew machine in the office or a black coffee with chaga from Alfreds.
What about eating on the go?
I eat lunch at my desk while working.
Where do you buy groceries?
I don’t.
How often in a week do you dine out versus cook at home?
I never cook, Uber Eats only.
Where do you shop for your work wardrobe?
Aritzia for work clothes.
The treats
Are you the proud owner of any futuristic gadgets?
i used to have a Lucid Dreaming device but have lost it.
How do you unwind from the top job?
2 Barry’s classes per day as well as house/techno raves.
What’s the best bonus treat you’ve bought yourself?
My cats.
How do you treat yourself when you get a promotion?
Take us on holiday with you, what’s next on your vacation list?
I’ve never really had a real vacation (even when I’m on vacation I’m working at least 8 hours per day). However next on my bucket list is New Zealand.
Here at The Good Life you don’t have to imagine what life at the top looks like anymore: Get real-life inspiration for how the most successful live life.
