Smart Friends

It's been five years since the Almanack of Naval Ravikant was published.

I spent the day with Naval expanding on key ideas from the book. We recorded hours of that conversation to share with you.

You can purchase the new expanded edition with nearly 4 hours of new material on Audible here:

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant-Audiobook/B0FBCP1JWJ

Chapters:
00:00 - Building Wealth
37:49 - Building Judgement
01:12:30 - Learning Happiness
02:15:17 - Saving Yourself
02:50:17 - Philosophy

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

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:43) - Heroes and inspirations

(00:07:14) - The rise of Chinese electric vehicles

(00:12:13) - The Tesla experience

(00:31:04) - Tesla's rapid development and industry impact

(00:32:54) - The culture of speed and frugality at Tesla

(00:34:10) - Elon's leadership and pressure tactics

(00:37:22) - Transitioning from Tesla to Waymo

(00:39:43) - Waymo's organizational structure and challenges

(00:43:35) - The future of autonomous vehicles

(00:54:34) - Founding Light Source and addressing procurement issues

(01:00:23) - Conclusion and final thoughts

Links:

LightSource - https://lightsource.ai/

Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spenpenn/

Preorder the Book of Elon - https://a.co/d/02huhEee

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!

Quotes from Spencer:


“It was the most fun I never want to have again.” (Describing his time at Tesla during the Model 3 production ramp)


“The Model 3 seat feel is attuned directly to Elon’s butt.”


“I’m not an Elon fanboy, but I’m also not a critic. I’m an optimist.”


“Speed wins. After seeing both Tesla and Waymo, that’s my belief.”


“We were the underdog. Eventually, it does end up feeling like you’re on the winning team.”


“You couldn’t go into a meeting with Elon and show up empty-handed.”


“This opportunity we’re pursuing at LightSource should have disappeared 20 years ago.”


“ERP is the finance system of record. What’s Salesforce in reverse? That’s LightSource.”


“The thing that surprised me: every company still runs procurement on spreadsheets and email.”


“Tesla built their own ERP system from scratch. That’s not normal.”


“There are things that are just core to the P&L of every business… and yet completely orphaned in the tech stack.”

Title: #100 Interviewing Your Parents, Writing Through Fear, and One's First Book (Kyle Thiermann)

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:47) - The birth of a book: from idea to reality

(00:04:01) - A pandemic epiphany: interviewing my dad

(00:07:51) - The journey of a professional surfer and journalist

(00:10:48) - Writing a book: challenges and insights

(00:17:04) - The emotional depth of interviewing parents

(00:22:40) - Balancing humor and vulnerability in writing

(00:34:39) - Creating unique value in a book

(00:41:59) - The power of a good title

(00:44:31) - The importance of a book title

(00:49:10) - Balancing writing and marketing

(00:57:56) - Long-term marketing approach

(01:10:16) - Navigating the publishing process

(01:19:45) - Unexpected outcomes and reflections

Links:

One Last Question Before You Go - https://amzn.to/49JVWg2

Scribe Media - 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!

Quotes from Kyle:


“The interview process can be a kind of empathy drug.”


“Write as if you are already dead.”


“The ideas that won't go away are the ones worth chasing.”


“I wanted to write the book that only I could write.”


“Most people live their lives being rewarded for having the right answer, not the right question.”


“Books are like malaria nets—people use them in ways you never expect.”


“If I tell you to interview your parents, I have to show you what happened when I did.”


“Marketing is an act of consideration and generosity.”


“A lot of how-to books could be a one-page PDF. I refused to do that.”


“Live events aren’t about selling books. They’re about making you feel like a winner as an author.”


“The best advertisers I know create a mood shift immediately.”


“Make fun of yourself. That’s how you earn the right to critique others.”

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:30) - Who are your heroes?

(00:09:26) - The infancy and evolution of Athena

(00:15:12) - Inflection points

(00:18:14) - Jonathan’s reasoning for going public with interviews

(00:20:08) - How do you pick countries to work in?

(00:22:41) - Who is the core Athena customer?

(00:28:09) - Jonathan’s 6 EAs

(00:32:13) - Surprising things Jonathan’s delegated

(00:35:42) - Broadening your scope of what’s possible with assistants

(00:42:05) - A day in the life with multiple EAs

(00:45:41) - Delegation within EAs

(00:50:31) - Family dynamics with EAs

(00:54:07) - The 2050 version of Athena

Links:

Athena - https://www.athena.com/

Rolling Fun — https://www.rolling.fun

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 Jonathan developed calm under extreme startup pressure


Athena’s evolution from side hustle to billion-dollar vision


Why great delegation is a skill, not magic


Surprising personal and family delegation use cases


Combining humans and AI for exponential leverage

Quotes from Jonathan:


“My mind is an inner citadel. I’ve got a good mind, a wife that loves me, and everything else is gravy.”


“I started Athena with the sole goal of generating income for my wife and I to live off of.”


“The vision of ​Athena​ is the best human assistants powered by the best AI.”


“Humans are good UX. We’ve evolved to like humans.”


“You don’t build the first Tesla without a steering wheel.”


“We're building something that watches assistants work, not to replace them, but to augment them.”


“Delegation is a J-curve. It's slower at first, but compounds.”


“The cardinal sin of delegation is thinking, ‘It’s faster to do it myself.’”


“You can think of an assistant as a cognitive prosthesis.”


“Belief is the first limiter. Most people don’t believe time freedom is possible.”


“Ask yourself: If I had a hundred more hours a week, what would I do?”

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

(00:03:46) - Deep dive into the Thiel Fellowship

(00:07:04) - Success stories and impact of Thiel Fellows

(00:11:04) - Challenges and controversies

(00:16:01) - Evolution and future of fellowship programs

(00:18:39) - Early days of building the Thiel Fellowship

(00:23:36) - Traits of a Thiel Fellow

(00:33:24) - Nurturing genius

(00:39:57) - Screen time & children

(00:40:30) - Big screens vs. small screens

(00:43:12) - Quality time and engaging activities

(00:45:42) - Emotional depth and resilience in young founders

(00:54:02) - The traits of innovators

(01:04:08) - The journey of 1517 Fund

(01:10:05) - Join the 1517 community

Links:

Rolling Fun — https://www.rolling.fun

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:


The founding story and long-term vision behind the Thiel Fellowship


Common traits among exceptional young founders, including curiosity, hyper fluency, and “dog on a leash” energy


Lessons from supporting early pioneers like Vitalik Buterin, Dylan Field, and Laura Deming.


How 1517 Fund backs young builders and “Wily weirdos” working on sci-fi-level ideas


Danielle’s philosophy on education, parenting, and fostering genius in children

Quotes from Danielle:


“We weren’t looking for startup founders—we were looking for people on a mission.”


“Dog-on-a-leash energy—that’s what we look for. We’re here to cut the leash.”


“Hyperfluency is the ability to geek out with geeks, and still explain your work to your grandma at Thanksgiving.”


“These people are kind of mutants—they don’t fit in typical systems.”


“All kids under five are geniuses. The system just squashes it out of them.”


“The most shocking thing? People publicly attacked the Fellows. Not just the program—the people. Teenagers.”


“Crazy, crazy awesome—we can’t tell if they’re insane or brilliant, and it’ll take years to find out.”


“Big screens good, small screens bad.”


“In the future, I want to be funding 11-year-olds. The world won’t be ready, but I will be.”


“We just want to talk to wily weirdos who want to be around other wily weirdos.”