Smart Friends - podcast cover

Smart Friends

Eric Jorgensonwww.ejorgenson.com
Casual conversations with founders, technologists, investors, and artists about building a brighter future, together. Welcome to our digital living room.  With science, technology and entrepreneurship we can *continue* to create unfathomable leaps in quality of life. We show you how to find, apply, build, and invest in technologies to change your life and the world.  When we have smart friends, we do smart things. When we do smart things, we save the world.  No matter who, where, or when you are – now you have smart friends, too.  Outside this podcast, I’m the author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant and The Anthology of Balaji. Connect at ejorgenson.com  Laugh and learn with people like Balaji Srinivasan, Naval Ravikant, Andrew Wilkinson, Austen Allred, David Senra, Josh Storrs Hall, Ashley Rindsberg, Zach Pettet, Bret Kugelmass, Omar ElNaggar, Grace Guo, Brett Kopf, Max Olson, Chris Williamson, Shane Mac, Tim Hwang, David Perell, Jason Hitchcock, Natalia Karayaneva, Sebastian Marshall, Taylor Pearson, Mitchell Baldridge and more. Join conversations with my partners in early-stage tech investing, Bo Fishback and Al Doan. Our Rolling Fun Episodes cover our investments and escapades as angel investors and startup helpers. We invest in startups creating the *next* industrial revolution. Learn more at rolling.fun “Surround yourself with people who remind you more of your future than of your past.”

Episodes

#086 Jim O’Shaughnessy: Learning to Learn, AI Disruption, and the Future of Publishing

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 Ve...

Jan 21, 20251 hr 8 min

#085 Ben Reinhardt: How to Discover New Technology, Playing the Longest Game, and Philanthropy in Technology

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’...

Jan 07, 202557 min

#084 Augustus Doricko: How to Terraform Earth, The History of Weather Control, and The Mandate of Heaven

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.n...

Dec 10, 20241 hr 2 min

#083 Klaus Kleinfeld: How to Lead Fortune 500 Companies, Manage Energy, Inspire Teams

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...

Nov 26, 20241 hr 16 min

#082 Paul Millerd: Profits in Publishing, Why Self-Publish, How Authors Make Big Money

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...

Oct 29, 20242 hr 38 min

#081 The Next Industrial Revolution w/ J. Storrs Hall [Replay]

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 T...

Oct 02, 20242 hr 38 min

#080 Solocast #3: Nuclear, Nanotech, and the next Industrial Revolution [Replay]

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 block...

Sep 17, 202454 min

#079 Andrew Wilkinson: De-risking Leverage, Investing vs. Operating, and the Best Part About Business [Replay]

[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 o...

Aug 21, 20241 hr 7 min

#078 David Senra + Mitchell Baldridge #5: David’s Private Conference, Writing Books, and Building Networks

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...

Jul 30, 20242 hr 20 min

#077 Alex Komoroske: Systems Thinking, Builders vs Gardeners, and Working In Large Organizations

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 Linke...

Jul 18, 20241 hr 21 min

#076 The Alliance of Entrepreneurs and Scientists with Arkady Kulik of RPV

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 care...

Jun 26, 20241 hr 25 min

#075 Flywheel Masterclass, Flying Planes, and Building For Creators with Nathan Barry of Convertkit

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 Burli...

Jun 04, 20242 hr 31 min

#74 Rolling Fun #8: New LPs, Mark-ups, Giant Guns for Space Cargo, How to Find a Lead Investor, Software for Manufacturing, AI for Ecomm.

Links: Join us in Rolling Fun! Hear our other Rolling Fun eps! Rolling Fun GPs: Al Doan - Founder of Creativity Inc., a $100m+ collection of e-commerce brands. Founder of Pretzel. BS from BYU Hawaii, OPM at HBS. Makes one hell of a peach cobbler. (Twitter, LinkedIn) Bo Fishback - Founder of Lightspeed Genomics (acq 2008), Orbis Biosciences (acq 2020), Zaarly (acq 2020). BS in Biomedical Engineering from SMU, MBA at HBS. Once drank a whole gallon of milk in an hour. (Twitter, LinkedIn) Eric Jorge...

May 21, 202456 min

#073 Rolling Fun #7: Q4 Updates: Nuclear Fusion, AI for Kids, AI Manufacturing — and how founders can find lead investors

Links: Join us in Rolling Fun! Hear our other Rolling Fun eps! Rolling Fun GPs: Al Doan - Founder of Creativity Inc., a $100m+ collection of e-commerce brands. Founder of Pretzel. BS from BYU Hawaii, OPM at HBS. Makes one hell of a peach cobbler. (Twitter, LinkedIn) Bo Fishback - Founder of Lightspeed Genomics (acq 2008), Orbis Biosciences (acq 2020), Zaarly (acq 2020). BS in Biomedical Engineering from SMU, MBA at HBS. Completed the ‘impossible’ Gallon Challenge, drinking a whole gallon of milk...

May 01, 202450 min

#072 The First Artificial Human Arm with Tyler Hayes of Atom Limbs

Links: Atom Limbs Waitlist Crowdfunding Round - Wefunder Tyler on X Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:19) - Inside building Atom Limbs (00:18:37) - The process of researching what knowledge was needed to build this company (00:27:26) - Feedback loops in prosthetics (00:29:23) - Where is Atom Limbs today? (00:40:48) - Wild, irresponsible speculation: Where do you hope this company will be in 50 years? (00:48:30) - Are there ways for these prosthetics to extend lifespan? (00:52:21) - What’s the pr...

Mar 14, 20241 hr 9 min

#071 Robotic Delivery Tunnels with Garrett Scott of Pipedream Labs

Links: Garrett Scott on X Pipedream Labs Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:00) - Pipedream (00:08:33) - What’s the existing infrastructure for this product? (00:12:55) - Finding geographical partners (00:14:52) - Hyperlogistics, regulations, and long-tail e-commerce (00:30:35) - What are the toughest technical problems? (00:34:32) - The ability to master multiple disciplines (00:37:18) - The challenge of implementation (00:42:20) - Finding partnerships and building trust (00:47:46) - How did you...

Feb 27, 20241 hr 5 min

#070 Rolling Fun #6: Investing in Robotic Prosthetics, 10x Batteries. Al meets MrBeast.

Links: Join us in Rolling Fun! Hear our other Rolling Fun eps! Ouros AltHQ Zencastr Atom Limbs General Fabrication Company Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:57) - Dear Listener (00:09:44) - Eric’s life as a CEO & Scribe (00:17:14) – Rolling Fun Q2 Investments (00:30:21) - Rolling Fun Q3 Investments (00:41:26) - Lessons from playing basketball with Mr. Beast for 3 days To support the costs of producing this podcast: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Antho...

Feb 13, 202453 min

#069 David Senra + Mitchell Baldridge #4: Old Books, New Events, and A Surprise CEO Job

Links: David Senra on X Mitchell on X Founders Podcast Better Bookkeeping Mentioned on the episode: Fiftyyears.com Foundersonly.com Poor Charlie’s Almanac Liar’s Poker Atomic Habits The Pathless Path Morgan Housel books Tren Griffin Blog - 25iq Brent Beshore on meeting Charlie Munger Who is Michael Ovitz? Powerhouse by James Andrew Miller The Eternal Pursuit of Unhappiness Blake Robbins on Twitter Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:53) - David - Product launching machine & the power of building r...

Jan 16, 20243 hr 34 min

#068 Behind the Scenes of a Nuclear Microreactor Startup with Matt Loszak, Founder CEO of Aalo Atomics

Links for Matt’s stuff: Aalo.com Matt on Twitter Aalo on Twitter Aalo Job Board Link to invest alongside Eric in deals like Aalo: rolling.fun Links to stuff mentioned: Decouple Podcast Titans of Nuclear Podcast Nuclear Barbarian Substack Atomic Awakening by James Mahaffey Why Nuclear Power Has Been a Flop by Jack Devanney Topics: (00:03:08) How the popular opinion of nuclear has changed from the 1950’s (00:15:16) The regulation issues surrounding nuclear (00:17:20) Water-based nuclear reactors v...

Aug 29, 20231 hr 8 min

#067 Room-Temperature Superconductors and Nuclear Fusion with Andrew Cote

Links: Andrew on Twitter Andrew’s Substack The AI Salon Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital by Carlota Perez Topics: (00:00:00) Eric welcomes you to the episode (00:03:20) The rocketing popularity of superconductors (00:05:28) The LK-99 Superconductor Breakthrough (00:19:44) How to commercialize room-temp superconductors (00:25:36) The value of superconductors and their impact (00:34:16) When will Nuclear Fusion produce energy? (00:52:08) The overlap of engineering and science (00:57...

Aug 15, 20232 hr 33 min

#066 World-Changing Potential of Next-Gen Batteries with Eli Dourado and Ethan Loosbrock (Ouros Energy)

Links: Center for Growth and Opportunity Where’s my Flying Car by J. Storrs Hall Eli on Twitter Eli’s Substack Ethan on Twitter Ouros Energy Episode #32 of Smart Friends: book recap of Where’s My Flying Car? Episode #34 of Smart Friends w/ J. Storrs Hall Episode #58 of Smart Friends w/ Brett Kugelmass Timestamps: (00:04:09) Eli Dourado & Ethan Loosbrock’s backgrounds (00:05:53) Impact of Next-Gen Batteries on the future: Flying Cars, EVTOL Jets, Electric Vehicles, AR Contact Lenses, Off-Grid Pow...

Jul 11, 202353 min

#065 David Senra + Mitchell Baldridge #3: Recap Capital Camp, Lunch with Sam Zell

Links: David on Twitter Mitchell on Twitter Founders Podcast Stuff mentioned: Jocko Go Drink Capital Camp People mentioned: Jeremy Giffon on Twitter Brent Beshore on Twitter Clayton Dorge - CEO of Capital Camp Books mentioned: Setting the Table by Danny Meyer Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman Sam Walton: Made in America The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Ca...

Jun 27, 20232 hr 17 min

#064 The Synthesis of Media and Ecommerce with Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening

Links Epic Gardening Kevin Espiritu on YouTube Creator Capitalists post from Eric Kevin’s first appearance on Smart Friends Scribemedia.com/consult Timestamps (00:04:23) Kevin’s career leading to content (00:14:00) What did raising capital unlock for you? (00:20:36) Attaching a dollar value to your niche (00:27:08) What is your high-leverage work today? (00:28:24) What do you see for Epic Gardening over the next 10 years? (00:29:43) What other places can this playbook work? (00:37:29) Being *goo...

Jun 13, 20231 hr 10 min

#063 Turning Discoveries Into Companies with Sam Arbesman of Lux Capital

Topics: (00:04:26) - Who are your influences? (00:08:57) - When Facts Expire: The Half-life of Knowledge (00:22:57) - The Playbook behind Boston Dynamics and DeepMind (00:28:36) - Research Orgs other than Academia, Govt, and Industry (00:31:00) - DARPA and Speculative Technologies (00:39:08) - Ink & Switch (00:41:13) - Challenges of University Tech Transfer Offices (00:47:42) - Transforming the future of Education (00:52:20) - Using AI tools in day-to-day life (00:55:40) - Sam’s job at Lux Capit...

Apr 25, 20231 hr 15 min

#062 Meeting Charlie Munger and Starting RE Costseg with David Senra and Mitchell Baldridge

Links: David on Twitter Mitchell on Twitter Founders Podcast Invest like the best How to Take Over the World Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire Joe Lonsdale - Lessons from Peter Thiel Topics: (5:51) - David’s dinner with Charlie Munger (29:33) - The power of Podcasting, Chris Powers, and innovation (36:21) - How to make a successful Podcast (47:42) - The Scarcity of GREAT ideas (55:30) - Self-funding businesses and the philosophy behind Venture Capital (1:14:27) - Mitc...

Apr 11, 20232 hr

#061 How CEOs Build with AI - Sean Devine of XBE

Links: XBE Sean on Twitter & LinkedIn ChatGPT ChatGPT-4 BarelyKnown.com OpenAI CoPilot Ben’s Bites newsletter BaeKayla.com Support our Sponsor: Bread: https://www.madebybread.com/ Topics: (5:04) - Setting the stage: Sean’s company & programming background (20:38) - Part 1: Individual Contributor AI Applications: ChatGPT 4 (44:23) - Part 2: Product Improvement AI Applications (1:11:40) - Part 3: Organizational expectations post-implementation (1:21:26) - What resources would you recommend for peo...

Apr 04, 20232 hr 47 min

#060 Making Data Honest (and Valuable) with Omar ElNaggar (Weavechain) and Zach Pettet (Money20/20)

Topics: (4:21) - Introducing Omar & Zach (nerds) (5:30) - Why will Web3 data take 100% of the market? (7:22) - What are data flows? (14:40) - Does the whole world need to be on Web3 to execute your vision? (18:02) - Is there a gamification to this whole approach? (25:05) - Are you seeing finance being the first industry to adopt Web3 Data flows? (34:29) - CryptoPoops.com (Finest shit on the internet) (36:02) - Being able to verify truth at any point (44:59) - The history of HTTPS (47:41) - The S...

Mar 28, 20232 hr 30 min

#059 Rolling Fun #5: Investing in Nuclear, Ecommerce Data, and AI Productivity

Helpful Links: The Rolling Fun(d) Al on Twitter Bo on LinkedIn Matt Loszak on Twitter Midjourney ChatGPT Portfolio companies Mentioned: FasterBetter Solve.io Sponsors: Athena: Get a free first month (Worth $3k!) when you sign up with my code: athenago.me/eric-jorgenson Listen and Learn more about Athena here: Creative EA Delegation with Athena on the Podcast Topics: (3:49) - Life Updates: Buying a cow, Sous Vide Bacon, and Eric’s book (13:44) - Faster Better & Athena (24:03) - Aalo Atomics (our ...

Mar 14, 20231 hr 7 min

#058 Scaling Nuclear Energy, Saving The World – Bret Kugelmass of Last Energy

Links: Bret Kugelmass on LinkedIn Last Energy Titans of Nuclear Podcast Energy Impact Podcast Marc Andreesen regulatory capture podcast episode The Energy Impact Center Decouple Podcast Invest your money alongside ours in high-tech, high-growth startups: Rolling.fun Rolling Fun Podcast episodes: Rolling Fun Ep. 1 Rolling Fun Ep. 2 Rolling Fun Ep. 3 Rolling Fun Ep. 4 Sponsors: Athena: Get a free first month (Worth $3k!) when you sign up with my code: athenago.me/eric-jorgenson Listen and Learn mo...

Feb 28, 20231 hr

#057 Startup To Scale, What CEOs Learn - Austen Allred (Bloomtech) and Al Doan (Missouri Star Quilt Co)

Links: Austen on Twitter Al on Twitter Bloomtech (Formerly Lambda School) Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe Rolling.fun Rolling Fun Podcast episodes: Rolling Fun Ep. 1 Rolling Fun Ep. 2 Rolling Fun Ep. 3 Rolling Fun Ep. 4 Creative EA Delegation with Athena on the Podcast Sponsors: Athenago.com MadeByBread.com Topics: (6:29) - Warming up & Austen escaping San Francisco (13:35) - Catching up on Bloomtech’s growth (24:34) - Hiring horror stories and strategies (37:02) - A lot of advice is bullshi...

Feb 14, 20231 hr 28 min