019: Alamdar Hamdani on "the Mama Rule", entrepreneurial civil service, and the most underrated risk in the US

Khurram's Quorum

Alamdar Hamdani is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, one of the most important jurisdictions in the country. What I love about his story is that it’s the classic American story of how the son of poor immigrants in small-town Texas became the US attorney for one of the most important jurisdictions in the country.

But I discovered another equally American part of this story I hadn’t heard elsewhere - the story of the entrepreneurial civil service that led him to where he is today.

• (16:00) - the decision that changed his career
• (19:00) - how selling Sesame Street books led to the decision that changed his career
• (39:30) - how the South Asian bar led Alamdar to the US Attorney’s Office.
• (42:30) - the shocking story of how Alamdar accepted his role as Assistant US Attorney
• (47:00) - what role does taking big risks in your career
• (58:00) - the lawyers Alamdar met early in his career
• (01:11:30) - the “Mama rule”
• (01:27:30) - what’s the most underrated risk the US faces
• (01:32:30) - what are national trends in enforcement