Smart Friends

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:52) - The Founder's book project (00:04:06) - Effort and building relationships (00:11:20) - The value of self-publishing (00:24:00) - Bootstrapping a HoldCo (00:46:05) - Finding natural fit in business (00:47:48) - The role of trust in business (00:49:07) - AI and changing perspectives (00:50:26) - Daily use of AI tools (00:55:49) - The value of deep research (00:57:53) - The future of AI in business (01:16:35) - Avoiding addictive apps (01:18:27) - Collecting and using maxims (01:20:45) - The power of lists (01:24:40) - Collapsing organizational gaps (01:28:05) - The role of AI in reducing friction (01:29:59) - Closing remarks and recommendations Links: Andrew Wilkinson — https://twitter.com/awilkinsonDavid Senra — https://twitter.com/founderspodcastEric Jorgenson — https://twitter.com/ericjorgensonMitchell Baldridge — https://twitter.com/baldridgecpaNick Huber — https://twitter.com/sweatystartup Eric Jorgenson — https://ejorgenson.com Founders Podcast — https://www.founderspodcast.com Better Bookkeeping — https://www.betterbookkeeping.comRE Cost Seg — https://www.recostseg.comScribe — https://scribemedia.com To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: How extreme effort and agency created the opportunity to publish the Founders' book. The economics, longevity, and cultural value of self-published books. Bootstrapping and scaling a HoldCo with multiple service businesses. Practical uses of AI for research, productivity, and creative leverage. The importance of doing the work for its own sake and loving the process. Quotes from David: “You don’t handle the stress—you like it. Or else you wouldn’t be doing this.” “If you want the ups, you have to endure the downs. That’s just a fact.” “This is the best version of my life, whether it’s 300 people at a club or 3,000 in a theater.” “Most people try to keep things even—no extreme highs or lows. But all the exciting shit is in the variance.” “If you have something else you’d rather be doing, then you should go do that.” “Books are so valuable because of how long they take to consume.” “Effort is universal. Doesn’t matter if it’s a garden or a podcast—people respect work.” “AI is going to wipe out the middle. If you’re average, you’re gone.” “Sage remembers things I don’t—and that’s priceless.” “Don’t rush it. Make something great. A good book can sell for 50 years.” Quotes from Mitchell: “I get frustrated at how long this takes—but I want to build something meaningful.” “Turn everything into a car wash. Put the customer into neutral and pull them through.” “The tax code is getting more complex, but the systems are getting better.” “AI is going to destroy everything below the 95th percentile.” “I’m bootstrapping a holdco—and it takes time.” “Send me a customer, I’ll give you $1,000. Send me 1,000 and I’ll mortgage my house for you.” “I don’t want 25 meetings a month—I want results.”

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:45) - Who are your heroes? (00:05:16) - What is something you’ve had to teach yourself that’s become a core part of your identity? (00:07:34) - Taking a sabbatical post-exit (00:09:30) - Going back into entrepreneurship (00:12:52) - How to kill two-factor auth (00:14:34) - When to split a company into two companies (00:18:04) - Who is the customer of iDeem? (00:22:37) - Verified Credentials (00:28:31) - Fighting fraud with technology (00:30:14) - The story of eyeVerify (00:49:09) - The new technology trends pushing iDeem (00:52:01) - The build process of a global start-up from Middle-America Links: Ideem - https://www.useideem.com/ Toby on X - https://x.com/TobiasRush Toby on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiasrush/ To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: Why tying your identity to your company can be both a strength and a liability The critical decision to shut down a beautiful but unused blockchain product—and return investor money How trusted digital IDs could change how we prove who we are—from checking out online to entering a secure facility Why simply having a trusted device could be a stronger way to log in and why invisible two-factor might be the future What it’s like to run a global fintech startup from Kansas City and the cultural learnings that come with it Quotes from Toby: “When the company is dying, that doesn’t mean I’m dying. And when it’s thriving, that doesn’t mean I’m a good person.” “You should absolutely take a window of time when one chapter ends—just having time to yourself is all the justification you need.” “Two-factor authentication is alive and well—it’s just invisible now.” “We reduce friction for the user, fraud for the merchant, and cost for everyone.” “If you’re serving two totally different customers with one product, you probably have two companies.” “The magic moment is at checkout—remove friction there and everything gets better.” “Passwords are terrible. If I can just look at my phone and log in, that’s a win.” “You need friends who can sing your soul’s song back to you when you’ve lost the melody.” “From almost out of money to a $100 million term sheet in five weeks—that’s the startup rollercoaster.” “Authenticity, credibility, and trust are incalculable in value.” “If the thesis is right but the timing is off, you can build something beautiful that no one uses.” “Stop with the techno-babble. We won’t call them NFTs—we’ll just call them useful.” Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro   (00:00:45) - Introducing Nat Eliason   (00:01:27) - Nat's Diverse Career and Writing Journey   (00:01:47) - The Transition from Nonfiction to Fiction   (00:02:13) - The Seven Act Structure and Writing Process   (00:02:44) - Publishing with Scribe and Launching Husk   (00:03:24) - The Rewards and Challenges of Writing   (00:04:29) - Building an Audience and Marketing Strategies   (00:06:54) - Balancing Writing with Other Ventures   (00:09:09) - The Reality of a Writing Career   (00:10:49) - The Importance of Consistency and Commitment   (00:22:37) - Navigating Traditional and Self-Publishing   (00:23:05) - The Journey to Becoming an Author   (00:40:56) - Exploring the Shift from Nonfiction to Fiction   (00:41:40) - The Joy of Storytelling in Fiction   (00:44:00) - Challenges and Rewards of Writing Fiction   (00:47:44) - Outlining and Structuring Fictional Works   (00:57:38) - Marketing and Selling Self-Published Books   (01:10:38) - The Future of an Author's Career   (01:18:18) - Conclusion and Recommendations   Links: Nat on X Nat’s Website Crypto Confidential Husk To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.  Quotes from Nat: “Writing is the one thing I love doing enough to commit to for the next 30 years.” “Traditional publishing taught me how to make a really good book, but I wouldn’t do it again.” “Holding your book for the first time—and shipping it yourself to your first readers—is pure magic.” “The best marketing for your book is writing the next one—that’s the fiction game.” “I used to chase whatever was interesting… now I’m building something I want to last 30 years.” “Fiction lets me explore big ideas without pretending to be an expert.” “The self-pub stigma is fading… especially when the book looks and reads like a trad pub hit.” “Characters start doing things I didn’t plan—then I realize, oh, that’s why they’re here.” “There’s no product in the world like a book—you can sell the same file for 50 years.” “My dream is to have a warehouse full of books I wrote. That’s the romantic version of success.”

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:30) - What’s the most important thing you’ve ever learned? (00:07:23) - Learning to Learn (00:11:20) - How learning changes as you age (00:18:51) - How do you think about your circle of competence? (00:22:21) - The future of book publishing and how authors adapt (00:35:29) - AI disruption in book publishing (00:47:56) - Jim’s inaugural book: Two Thoughts (00:56:46) - LLMs for authors, and UBI Links: Jim on X Infinite Loops Podcast Infinite Books O’Shaughnessy Ventures Margins: Book Tracker To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Here’s what we explored in the episode: "The most important thing I learned was how to learn and unlearn... most people are never taught it. It is something that, almost by definition, you have to do yourself." It’s important for leaders to admit when they are uncertain, and lead a culture of open-mindedness. It’s important to adapt to new environments, not cling to outdated practices. There’s an upcoming shift toward AI-driven, author-friendly publishing models that reduce inefficiencies and empower writers. Jim predicts AI will allow a “tsunami of slop” content and open huge opportunities in curation. In a world of abundant content, good taste and effective curation will be very profitable. Jim shares his evolving views on Universal Basic Income (UBI), arguing for experimentation to address societal shifts caused by technological advancements. Understanding opposing viewpoints to refine one's perspectives helps make better decisions. Jim uses AI to force him to debate and understand his own opinions better. Jim credits his success to a lifelong commitment to curiosity, whether through broad reading or questioning established norms. "Curiosity is a shit starter. It ignited my curiosity to the point where I just voraciously read everything." Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:05:25) - Studying both Medieval History and Engineering (00:09:48) - Founding Speculative Technologies (00:11:25) - Defining “Useful” in Science and Technology (00:13:46) - Building the roadmap of discoveries to unlock futuristic tech (00:17:24) - The need for new institutions (00:25:22) - Why focus on material science and manufacturing technologies (00:46:57) -  The day-to-day work and impact of Speculative Technologies Links: Speculative Technologies Ben on X Ben’s website To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Here’s what we explored in the episode: How studying history helps us see the present and the future more clearly.  Ben’s vision is to work with founders who are not just chasing profits but are driven by the desire to solve meaningful problems. Most successful concepts emerge from multiple rounds of experimentation. As institutions evolve, gaps formed around important research that used to be funded by universities or R&D labs of corporations. Ben is building a non-profit to fill that gap.  Ben shared why he chose to invest in startups rather than founding his own. Ben invests in "physics-enabled" startups that apply scientific principles to solve tough problems. For startups to be successful, there needs to be an alignment of motivations between investors and founders. Founders should approach investors with clarity about their vision and expect honesty and support in return. There are significant global issues that aren't being addressed by startups and opportunity abounds. Leaders must build complementary teams where members fill each other’s gaps, particularly in technical and strategic expertise. There’s a need for effective communication to bridge gaps between technical experts and the broader public. (hopefully some of what we’re doing here!)  If you’re looking for non-profit causes for your philanthropic donations, SpecTech may be among the highest-leverage ways to advance human civilization through donations.  Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:13) - Catching up (00:13:14) - Making Earth (even more) Habitable by Controlling Weather (00:26:54) - Doug Burgum: Next Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior (00:31:30) - Building Rainmaker (00:44:19) - Are we short on clean water in America today? (00:50:37) - Drones, precipitation, cloud seeding, and the future Links: Rainmaker Augustus on X Augustus’ Thread on Doug Burgum To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Here’s what we explored in the episode: Inspired by projects like China’s Green Wall, Rainmaker aims to terraform deserts into lush, habitable landscapes. Water scarcity can be solved by creating more water rather than just conserving to stay in the existing limits.  There are already severely water-constrained communities and farms, especially in the American west and Southwest.  Rainmaker’s cloud seeding program uses custom drones, radar, and safe, common chemical compounds.  Cloud-seeding is decades-old tech. The breakthrough was a new radar to precisely measure the effectiveness of cloud-seeding efforts.  China has more than 40,000 working on weather modification projects. The U.S. can catch up by supporting private sector innovation. Rainmaker is actively recruiting passionate engineers ready to work on cutting-edge tech. Being close to the frontier of innovation naturally drives the creation of new technologies and opportunities. Lots of examples inside Rainmaker.  A commission in the book of Genesis in the Bible to steward the garden and take care of God’s creation is an intrinsic part of Rainmaker's purpose. Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:24) - Watching the moon landing (00:07:32) - Klaus’ career (00:10:08) - Why Klaus wrote Leading To Thrive (00:15:13) - Energy management, not time management (00:19:37) - How do you implement these tactics in business? (00:23:46) - Spiritual energy (00:37:36) - Managing energy for life, work, and family & business (00:54:52) - Instilling purpose as a leader (01:04:59) - How do you approach balancing stakeholders? (01:07:50) - What do you look for when building a team? (01:12:01) - Closing advice Links: Leading to Thrive by Klaus Kleinfeld Klaus on LinkedIn To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Here’s what we explored in the episode: Watching the moon landing as a child from East Germany inspired Klaus’ lifelong belief in the strength of human innovation. Shifting from time management to energy management. Finding your purpose is like "focusing a laser" that channels diffuse energy to achieve extraordinary results. From observing professional tennis players, Klaus learned how mental toughness and micro-recharges help maintain peak performance. Controlled breathing is a simple but powerful tool to manage emotions and maintain focus during high-pressure moments. Klaus helped transform and restore purpose to Siemens’ struggling angiography division with the most impactful team meeting you can imagine.  Aligning a team's work with a meaningful purpose motivates teams and improves long-term performance. His book was born from a desire to share lessons with young leaders, his daughters, and others seeking balance and performance. Creating memorable moments with his family helped Klaus maintain strong relationships despite a demanding career. You can instill urgency and align teams by clearly communicating that a situation absolutely requires change. Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

Links: Scribe Media Paul’s website The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd Good Work by Paul Millerd Paul on X Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:15) - Introducing Paul, and the early days of the publishing industry. (00:06:48) - The earliest days of publishing, distribution of profit, and printing methods. (00:17:46) - The 2014 E-book collusion (00:20:27) - The self-publishing surge, the $4.99 sweet spot, and where authors can optimize. (00:24:47)- The history of paperbacks (00:37:28) - Book deals and agents (00:48:15) - The India market, publisher problems, and compounding disinterest. (01:06:06) - The future of publishing To support this podcast:  >> Explore writing or publishing your book with Scribe: Scribemedia.com >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!  Here’s what we explored in the episode: We dive deep into the quirky history of the publishing industry, tracing it all the way back to the 1400s. In the 19th century, authors could increase their earnings by co-investing in fixed costs, like print plates and bookbinding. Traditional Publishing has always seen hardcovers as “the real books” and sought to protect them and their profits.  Trade paperback was published only after a successful hardcover, with those rights often sold separately.  Self-publishing changed the game for authors, with Amazon enabling print-on-demand and much higher royalty percentages. If you are an author signing with a traditional publisher, realize YOU ARE NOT THE CUSTOMER–book retailers are their customers. Lots of authors who earned big money retained their rights. Stephen King retained his paperback rights an early successful book. After the hardcover version succeeded, he sold those rights for $400,000 Harper Lee made significant earnings from To Kill a Mockingbird by retaining movie adaptation rights. Tom Clancy held on to his film and international rights. This later became highly lucrative as his popularity grew and more of his books got adaptations. Traditional Publishers often prioritize prestige, tradition, and their profits – which doesn’t always align with author’s goals.  Indie authors can now disregard tradition and experiment with pricing strategies to maximize reach, revenue, and their own personal results.    Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

This is a replay of episode 34 of this podcast. Links:  Josh’s Bio - Autogeny.org Where is my flying car? By J. Storrs Hall Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper The Martian by Andy Weir Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Beyond AI by J. Storrs Hall Nanofuture: What’s Next For Nanotechnology by J. Storrs Hall   Other Episode You’ll Like: Solocast #3: Nuclear, Nanotech, and the next Industrial Revolution (Book Recap: “Where is my Flying Car?”) Massive Opportunities w/in Design & User Interface with Cliff Kuang   To support this costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners  >> Name-your-price subscription monthly, annual, or one-time: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa  >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Get in touch about sponsoring this podcast by replying to an email or DMing me on Twitter.

This episode is a replay of episode 22 of this podcast. Links:  Eric’s Blog Eric’s blog post on digital scarcity Eric’s Blog post on The Cost of Trust Technological revolutions and Financial Capital by Carlota Perez Topics: (0:08) - Introducing the Web3 discussion (4:13) - What is the Blockchain? (6:06) - Lowering transaction costs across Web1, Web2 & Web3 (9:46) - Creating cheap, digital scarcity (12:12) - Why does the blockchain matter? Trust & Decentralization (18:50) - What happens when blockchains are deployed? Digital and Physical impacts. (26:26) - Technological Revolutions & Financial Capital by Carlotta Perez (28:23) - DAO: Distributed Autonomous Organization (30:51) - Predictions: The biggest networks will be bigger than the biggest companies (39:03) - Wrap Up: What do you have to do? (42:02) - Web3 is supposed to be fun!

[This is a replay of episode #002] Andrew Wilkinson is the co-founder of Tiny, a venture capital firm that has helped to build over 25 profitable internet businesses over the last 15 years. He got his start founding MetaLab, one of the world’s top design agencies. He has gone from working out of his apartment a little over a decade ago, to today overseeing a group of companies with over 300 employees and tens of millions in revenue. To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:24) - Recapping FoundersOnly Conference (00:36:36) - Helping others first (00:44:32) - Baldridge updates & the power of working hard (01:03:46) - How do you want to spend your time? (01:10:38) - Great book recs, Scribe, and the knowledge gap (01:44:38) - Unethical founders (02:00:56) - Optimizing for usefulness Links: Founders Podcast Mitchell Baldridge on X Get in touch with Mitchell David Senra on X Perplexity AI Books: Hard Drive by James Wallace So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport Born Standing Up by Steve Martin Jerry Seinfeld in GQ Zero to One by Peter Thiel To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!  Important quotes from David Senra and Mitchell Baldridge: "People don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. And so like we could write a book on this two-hour or whatever long conversation we've had and every single person's going to have a different perspective." — David Senra "I'm here to be the best in the world at what I'm doing. And then you get around other people like that. Like we just talked about Mike Ovitz. You think he was optimizing for days on the golf course?" — David Senra “I wake up every day more obsessed to the point where, like, if this continues, we're going to have to be concerned about me. And what I love is I'm really trying to go after it.” — David Senra "Books don't have to make money to make you money." — Mitchell Baldridge "Mute the world and build your own world and it's like part of building your own world you don't want to start from zero like a feral child in the middle of the woods." — Mitchell Baldridge

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:52) - The Gardener of Systems (00:07:43) - Builders vs. Gardeners (00:11:09) - Who are the best farmers of miracles? (00:16:52) - How did you become a “systems” person? (00:23:45) - What does Systems Thinking look like for you? (00:53:09) - Alex’s Slime Mold deck (00:55:12) - The iterative, adjacent possible (00:59:53) - Alex’s experience at Google (01:03:12) - AI uses and potentials (01:17:54) - Book recommendations Links: Alex’s website Alex on X Alex on LinkedIn Emergence by Steven Johnson The Systems Bible by John Gall The Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!  Important quotes from Alex Komoroske: "I think that to really wrestle with systems you have to let go and just dance with the system." — Alex Komoroske "I like the word gardening because it underlines that you are not in control of this system. You are influencing it." — Alex Komoroske "The builder gets immediately to work, but the gardener understands that other things can be alive." — Alex Komoroske "Technology should be about helping people create and use hand-tuned tools to extend their agency in collaborative ways." — Alex Komoroske "If people who are very unlike each other all find it interesting or intriguing, that's a good sign that it will spread out to be a very large audience." — Alex Komoroske

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:04:43) - Russian interpretations of friendship (00:09:28) - Thoughts on the state of society and its rate of technological adoption (00:13:22) - Creating alliances between entrepreneurs, capitalists, and scientists (00:17:17) - Rick Rubin on Creativity in Investing (00:20:55) - Does Taste exist in the world of VC? (00:26:06) - Becoming a better Communicator (00:40:59) - What archetypes do you see in the folks you work with? (00:44:18) - Arkady’s background and career (01:00:34) - Arkady’s thesis and technical due diligence for rpv (01:11:26) - Companies Arkady is excited about (01:16:55) - What important problems are you not seeing pursued? (01:21:11) - How can people get in touch with you? Links: Arkady on LinkedIn Rpv Venture Fund Specialist by Robert Sheckley The Creative Act by Rick Rubin To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!  Important quotes from Arkady Kulik: "Good communication is essential to avoid conflicts and build better relationships, both personally and professionally." — Arkady Kulik "Aligning visions with founders is critical. It’s not just about the business, it’s about shared values and missions." — Arkady Kulik "The alliance between entrepreneurs and scientists is the key to unlocking humanity's transition to an advanced civilization." — Arkady Kulik "Technology is the only source of never-ending growth. Our ability to reshape what we have with a small amount of resources into something fantastic is a never-ending source of creativity." — Arkady Kulik "People who are not true to themselves and lie to themselves are not founder material. The people who don’t lie to themselves and know what they are trying to do are the ones who can actually get there." — Arkady Kulik

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:05:10) - The decision to live in Idaho (00:08:21) - Nathan’s flying hobby (00:15:09) - Building Flywheels (00:46:07) - Incentive compensation and giving people ownership (01:06:39) - Inflection points in building ConverKit (01:14:16) - How to work on a ton of things (01:23:15) - What are the rules of thumb you use the most in life? Links: Nathan Barry on X ConvertKit Nathan’s website Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson Good to Great by Jim Collins Small Giants by Bo Burlingham To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!  Important quotes from Nathan Barry on building audience, wealth, and startups: "If I look back at all the good things that have happened in my career in the last 3 years, they all come from writing. One little habit of writing 1,000 words a day revolutionized my career." — Nathan Barry "ATTENTION IS THE MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE" — Nathan Barry "When you start writing you don’t have to worry about crafting perfect prose. Instead you just need to focus on teaching useful skills." — Nathan Barry Making money is a skill—like playing the drums or piano—that you can get better at over time.  I wouldn’t expect to be able to sit down at a piano for the first time and play a concerto. The same is true for making money.  This is why most first companies fail. — Nathan Barry, Ladders of Wealth Creation