Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 34
November 30, 2021
Andrew Chen — Metaverse, Metrics, and Meerkats (#550)
Illustration via 99designs“Between the early adopters and the early majority you have this chasm where all the nerds will love you but the mainstream market has no clue what it is that you do.”
— Andrew Chen
Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he invests in consumer technology, including social, marketplace, entertainment, and gaming experiences. Today, Andrew serves on the boards of All Day Kitchens, Clubhouse, Envoy, Hipcamp, Maven, Reforge, Sandbox VR, Singularity 6, Sleeper, Snackpass, and Substack.
Andrew is a prolific writer and leading voice on mobile, metrics, and user growth. For the past decade, he’s covered the topic on AndrewChen.com. He is the author of The Cold Start Problem, a book exploring how new startups are launched. He is also a board member and instructor at Reforge, which offers selective, growth-focused programs for experienced professionals in marketing, product, data, and engineering.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.
Brought to you by 80,000 Hours free career advice for high impact and doing good in the world, Wealthfront automated investing, and Helix Sleep premium mattresses. More on all three below.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#550: Andrew Chen — Metaverse, Metrics, and MeerkatsThis episode is brought to you by 80,000 Hours! You have roughly 80,000 hours in your career. That’s 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for 40 years. They add up and are one of your biggest opportunities, if not the biggest opportunity, to make a positive impact on the world. Some of the best strategies, best research, and best tactical advice I’ve seen and heard come from 80,000 Hours, a nonprofit co-founded by Will MacAskill, an Oxford philosopher and a popular past guest on this podcast.
If you’re looking to make a big change to your direction, address pressing global problems from your current job, or if you’re just starting out or maybe starting a new chapter and not sure which path to pursue, 80,000 Hours can help. Join their free newsletter, and they’ll send you an in-depth guide for free that will help you identify which global problems are most pressing and where you can have the biggest impact personally. It will also help you get new ideas for high impact careers or directions that help tackle these issues.
This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront pioneered the automated investing movement, sometimes referred to as ‘robo-advising,’ and they currently oversee $20 billion of assets for their clients. It takes about three minutes to sign up, and then Wealthfront will build you a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs based on your risk appetite and manage it for you at an incredibly low cost.
Smart investing should not feel like a rollercoaster ride. Let the professionals do the work for you. Go to Wealthfront.com/Tim and open a Wealthfront account today, and you’ll get your first $5,000 managed for free, for life. Wealthfront will automate your investments for the long term. Get started today at Wealthfront.com/Tim.
This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, to my dear listeners, Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear an episode about what it takes to start and scale a podcast? Listen to my conversation with Chris Hutchins, in which we discussed how I built The Tim Ferriss Show to 700+ million downloads, advice for starting small and remaining sustainable, backup systems, finding useful technology at a reasonable price, the rewards of podcast monetization versus its costs, getting guests to trust the process, the key to becoming a better interviewer, understanding your audience, and much more.
#538: How I Built The Tim Ferriss Show to 700+ Million Downloads — An Immersive Explanation of All Aspects and Key Decisions (Featuring Chris Hutchins)SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Andrew Chen:The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects by Andrew Chen | AmazonSoftware Is Eating the World | Andreessen HorowitzReforgeMy Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins | AmazonConsumer Packaged Goods (CPG) | InvestopediaMichelin GuideMohr Davidow VenturesMainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore | AmazonThe Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries | AmazonThe Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen | AmazonDropboxHacker NewsBloggerGrowth Hacker is the New VP Marketing | Andrew ChenHow to Deal with FOMO in Your Life | Verywell MindNew Data Shows Losing 80% of Mobile Users Is Normal, and Why the Best Apps Do Better | Andrew ChenBusiness-to-Business (B2B) | InvestopediaViral TikTok Spikes Unsustainable | Andrew Chen, TwitterHow I Designed Distraction Out of My Phone | Fast CompanyVentures of the PayPal Mafia | FleximizeBillpoint | WikipediaWeb1, Web2, and Web3 with Their Differences | GeeksforGeeksThe Oral History of Tinder’s Alluring Right Swipe | WIREDThe Law of Shitty Clickthroughs | Andrew ChenThe Story of Uber | InvestopediaStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | Prime VideoLiDARs for Self-Driving Vehicles: A Technological Arms Race | Automotive WorldThe Coinbase Seed Round Pitch Deck by Brian Armstrong | MediumTake a Look at Uber’s First Pitch Deck from 2008 | VoxTwitch History: From Beginning to Now | Streamers PlaybookY CombinatorLeague of LegendsRemote Job and Startup Job Search | AngelList TalentBest Way for Artists and Creators to Get Sustainable Income and Connect with Fans | PatreonThe Home for Great Writing | SubstackAmerican Kids Would Much Rather Be Youtubers than Astronauts | Ars TechnicaPeople in Philippines Earn Cryptocurrency Playing NFT Video Game Axie Infinity | CNBCA Digital Nation | Axie InfinityDungeon Masters Guide by Gary Gygax | AmazonFiend Folio: Tome of Creatures Malevolent and Benign by Don Turnbull and Chris Baker | AmazonSign Up and Start Having Fun! | RobloxGrand Theft Auto | WikipediaVR Rhythm Game | Beat SaberCreate, Share, Play | VRChatHow Angry Birds Started and Why It Got So Successful | CleverismRiot GamesThe Evolution of Social Media: How Did It Begin and Where Could It Go Next? | Maryville UniversityWhat Is the Metaverse? | The New York TimesWorld of WarcraftWhy Did Facebook Become Meta? | The New York TimesReady Player One | Prime VideoEpic Games CEO Says Company Is “Not Touching” NFTs | HypebeastThe Creator of Ethereum Got into Crypto Because Blizzard Nerfed His Character | PC GamerUber Driver Strike: Gig Economy Workers Are Mad | VoxSaying Goodbye to Carousel and Mailbox | Dropbox BlogWhy Did Google Plus Fail as a Social Network? | Brainium’s BlogDo Things That Don’t Scale | Paul GrahamBrian Chesky | Masters of Scale with Reid HoffmanWhat Is Clubhouse? The Audio-Only Chat App Explained | PCMagMetcalfe’s Law is Wrong | IEEE SpectrumBeyond Metcalfe’s Law for Network Effects, and Towards a Better Model by Andrew Chen | a16z FutureMeerkat | National GeographicThe Lion King | Prime VideoQuantitative Ecology Lab | University of WashingtonSea Otter Cam | Monterey Bay AquariumCannery Row by John Steinbeck | AmazonThe Modern-Day Pacific Sardine Collapse: How to Prevent a Future Crisis | Oceana USAThe “Luckiest” Building in Silicon Valley | Today I Found Out22% Of US Adults Moved Due to COVID-19 or Know Someone Who Did | Pew Research CenterThe Coronavirus Turns Midtown Into a Ghost Town, Causing an Economic Crisis | The New York TimesBloom Institute of Technology (Formerly Lambda School)Why the Stock Market Went Up during the COVID-19 Pandemic and High Unemployment | VoxCommission-Free Stock Trading & Investing App | RobinhoodBuy NFTs and More on Ethereum | OpenSeaYC Demo Days for Everyone | StonksHorsley Bridge PartnersBringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich | AmazonThe Overlooked Levels of the Creator Economy | a16z FutureWhy Building Your Business on Facebook Is a Bad Idea | CIRA1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly | The TechniumNFTS Are Helping Artists Solve a Vital Problem | The GuardianThis Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace | AmazonSHOW NOTESHow did My Life in Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins (written around the turn of the last century) come to be such an influential book for Andrew, and why do its lessons hold up today? [06:37]Who is Geoffrey Moore, and what was it like for Andrew to share an office with him as a 25-year-old newcomer to Silicon Valley back in 2007? [11:38]Who is Sean Ellis? [13:57]What prompted Andrew to start writing, and how did it lead to his first meeting with Marc Andreessen? [16:51]How did Andrew adapt to the attention his writing was getting in the early days to build an even larger audience? [20:26]How long do Andrew’s pieces tend to be, and how does he ensure he’s expressing opinions that his readers will find compelling? [24:30]What does Andrew do to stay focused when he’s writing? [26:46]To what does the title of Andrew’s book The Cold Start Problem refer, and why did he write it? [28:36]Lessons learned from consulting during the early days of Uber. [37:30]An Andrew’s-eye-view of the Twitch origin story, and how the decision was made to focus on gaming. [43:20]How a truly innovative company can create the market that perpetuates its existence. [51:15]Who or what in the heck is a Roblox, and what does it signify for the future of gaming and related technologies? [55:15]What does Andrew think the much-hyped but mostly theoretical metaverse will look like in three to five years? [1:02:02]Decentralized warlocks, open-source ecosystems, and real-world upheavals driven by digital demands. [1:07:47]What questions does Andrew ask entrepreneurs in order to gauge how they think about growth? [1:12:30]How does Andrew suggest startups, companies, or people go about picking the right metrics? [1:16:45]Common mistakes Andrew sees founders making when they’re trying to improve a startup’s growth. [1:21:46]And now for something completely different: here’s the part of the interview where Andrew talks about meerkats and sardines. [1:26:14]The network effects of work in cities where people are choosing to live — and leave — these days. [1:31:32]The startup investment trend Andrew is following keenly, and what novices need to remember about distributing available resources to maximize their chances of coming out ahead. [1:33:58]Thoughts on the current climate of the creator economy: where I fit in, and where I see things headed with the seemingly inevitable mainstream acceptance of Web3, NFTs, and blockchain technologies. [1:43:49]What is Reforge? [1:55:53]Parting thoughts. [1:58:39]MORE ANDREW CHEN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“Between the early adopters and the early majority you have this chasm where all the nerds will love you but the mainstream market has no clue what it is that you do.”
— Andrew Chen
“I’m self-parenting. You know you have too low of an attention span when you have to embrace all of this tooling to manage your time.”
— Andrew Chen
“When I came to the Bay Area, that was one of my express goals: ‘I am going to meet all the PayPal people, and I’m going to try and figure out what it is that they know that I don’t.'”
— Andrew Chen
“How many of the privacy issues that people talk about and the targeting and all the stuff that’s been happening is really because we decided to go with banner ads instead of having people pay each other online?”
— Andrew Chen
“The nice part about working as a startup investor is we’re funding all these companies that will eventually announce their products in two or three years, and so I feel like I have a little glimpse of what it is that the founders want to do.”
— Andrew Chen
“This is just an incredible opportunity for anybody that wants to make a new virtual world, new game experience, or new game studio right now, because you can go and take all these ideas and try to combine them in new, fresh ways that sort of blend together economic game play with visual, classic game design in ways that the world has never seen.”
— Andrew Chen
Andrew Chen — Growth Secrets from Tinder, Uber, and Twitch; Exploring the Metaverse; the Future of Startup Investing; Games as the Next Social Networks; and How to Pick the Right Metrics (#550)
Illustration via 99designs“Between the early adopters and the early majority you have this chasm where all the nerds will love you but the mainstream market has no clue what it is that you do.”
— Andrew Chen
Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he invests in consumer technology, including social, marketplace, entertainment, and gaming experiences. Today, Andrew serves on the boards of All Day Kitchens, Clubhouse, Envoy, Hipcamp, Maven, Reforge, Sandbox VR, Singularity 6, Sleeper, Snackpass, and Substack.
Andrew is a prolific writer and leading voice on mobile, metrics, and user growth. For the past decade, he’s covered the topic on AndrewChen.com. He is the author of The Cold Start Problem, a book exploring how new startups are launched. He is also a board member and instructor at Reforge, which offers selective, growth-focused programs for experienced professionals in marketing, product, data, and engineering.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#550: Andrew Chen — Growth Secrets from Tinder, Uber, and Twitch; Exploring the Metaverse; the Future of Startup Investing; Games as the Next Social Networks; and How to Pick the Right MetricsThis episode is brought to you by 80,000 Hours! You have roughly 80,000 hours in your career. That’s 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for 40 years. They add up and are one of your biggest opportunities, if not the biggest opportunity, to make a positive impact on the world. Some of the best strategies, best research, and best tactical advice I’ve seen and heard come from 80,000 Hours, a nonprofit co-founded by Will MacAskill, an Oxford philosopher and a popular past guest on this podcast.
If you’re looking to make a big change to your direction, address pressing global problems from your current job, or if you’re just starting out or maybe starting a new chapter and not sure which path to pursue, 80,000 Hours can help. Join their free newsletter, and they’ll send you an in-depth guide for free that will help you identify which global problems are most pressing and where you can have the biggest impact personally. It will also help you get new ideas for high impact careers or directions that help tackle these issues.
This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront pioneered the automated investing movement, sometimes referred to as ‘robo-advising,’ and they currently oversee $20 billion of assets for their clients. It takes about three minutes to sign up, and then Wealthfront will build you a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs based on your risk appetite and manage it for you at an incredibly low cost.
Smart investing should not feel like a rollercoaster ride. Let the professionals do the work for you. Go to Wealthfront.com/Tim and open a Wealthfront account today, and you’ll get your first $5,000 managed for free, for life. Wealthfront will automate your investments for the long term. Get started today at Wealthfront.com/Tim.
This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, to my dear listeners, Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear an episode about what it takes to start and scale a podcast? Listen to my conversation with Chris Hutchins, in which we discussed how I built The Tim Ferriss Show to 700+ million downloads, advice for starting small and remaining sustainable, backup systems, finding useful technology at a reasonable price, the rewards of podcast monetization versus its costs, getting guests to trust the process, the key to becoming a better interviewer, understanding your audience, and much more.
#538: How I Built The Tim Ferriss Show to 700+ Million Downloads — An Immersive Explanation of All Aspects and Key Decisions (Featuring Chris Hutchins)SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Andrew Chen:The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects by Andrew Chen | AmazonSoftware Is Eating the World | Andreessen HorowitzReforgeMy Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins | AmazonConsumer Packaged Goods (CPG) | InvestopediaMichelin GuideMohr Davidow VenturesMainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore | AmazonThe Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries | AmazonThe Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen | AmazonDropboxHacker NewsBloggerGrowth Hacker is the New VP Marketing | Andrew ChenHow to Deal with FOMO in Your Life | Verywell MindNew Data Shows Losing 80% of Mobile Users Is Normal, and Why the Best Apps Do Better | Andrew ChenBusiness-to-Business (B2B) | InvestopediaViral TikTok Spikes Unsustainable | Andrew Chen, TwitterHow I Designed Distraction Out of My Phone | Fast CompanyVentures of the PayPal Mafia | FleximizeBillpoint | WikipediaWeb1, Web2, and Web3 with Their Differences | GeeksforGeeksThe Oral History of Tinder’s Alluring Right Swipe | WIREDThe Law of Shitty Clickthroughs | Andrew ChenThe Story of Uber | InvestopediaStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | Prime VideoLiDARs for Self-Driving Vehicles: A Technological Arms Race | Automotive WorldThe Coinbase Seed Round Pitch Deck by Brian Armstrong | MediumTake a Look at Uber’s First Pitch Deck from 2008 | VoxTwitch History: From Beginning to Now | Streamers PlaybookY CombinatorLeague of LegendsRemote Job and Startup Job Search | AngelList TalentBest Way for Artists and Creators to Get Sustainable Income and Connect with Fans | PatreonThe Home for Great Writing | SubstackAmerican Kids Would Much Rather Be Youtubers than Astronauts | Ars TechnicaPeople in Philippines Earn Cryptocurrency Playing NFT Video Game Axie Infinity | CNBCA Digital Nation | Axie InfinityDungeon Masters Guide by Gary Gygax | AmazonFiend Folio: Tome of Creatures Malevolent and Benign by Don Turnbull and Chris Baker | AmazonSign Up and Start Having Fun! | RobloxGrand Theft Auto | WikipediaVR Rhythm Game | Beat SaberCreate, Share, Play | VRChatHow Angry Birds Started and Why It Got So Successful | CleverismRiot GamesThe Evolution of Social Media: How Did It Begin and Where Could It Go Next? | Maryville UniversityWhat Is the Metaverse? | The New York TimesWorld of WarcraftWhy Did Facebook Become Meta? | The New York TimesReady Player One | Prime VideoEpic Games CEO Says Company Is “Not Touching” NFTs | HypebeastThe Creator of Ethereum Got into Crypto Because Blizzard Nerfed His Character | PC GamerUber Driver Strike: Gig Economy Workers Are Mad | VoxSaying Goodbye to Carousel and Mailbox | Dropbox BlogWhy Did Google Plus Fail as a Social Network? | Brainium’s BlogDo Things That Don’t Scale | Paul GrahamBrian Chesky | Masters of Scale with Reid HoffmanWhat Is Clubhouse? The Audio-Only Chat App Explained | PCMagMetcalfe’s Law is Wrong | IEEE SpectrumBeyond Metcalfe’s Law for Network Effects, and Towards a Better Model by Andrew Chen | a16z FutureMeerkat | National GeographicThe Lion King | Prime VideoQuantitative Ecology Lab | University of WashingtonSea Otter Cam | Monterey Bay AquariumCannery Row by John Steinbeck | AmazonThe Modern-Day Pacific Sardine Collapse: How to Prevent a Future Crisis | Oceana USAThe “Luckiest” Building in Silicon Valley | Today I Found Out22% Of US Adults Moved Due to COVID-19 or Know Someone Who Did | Pew Research CenterThe Coronavirus Turns Midtown Into a Ghost Town, Causing an Economic Crisis | The New York TimesBloom Institute of Technology (Formerly Lambda School)Why the Stock Market Went Up during the COVID-19 Pandemic and High Unemployment | VoxCommission-Free Stock Trading & Investing App | RobinhoodBuy NFTs and More on Ethereum | OpenSeaYC Demo Days for Everyone | StonksHorsley Bridge PartnersBringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich | AmazonThe Overlooked Levels of the Creator Economy | a16z FutureWhy Building Your Business on Facebook Is a Bad Idea | CIRA1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly | The TechniumNFTS Are Helping Artists Solve a Vital Problem | The GuardianThis Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace | AmazonSHOW NOTESHow did My Life in Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins (written around the turn of the last century) come to be such an influential book for Andrew, and why do its lessons hold up today? [06:37]Who is Geoffrey Moore, and what was it like for Andrew to share an office with him as a 25-year-old newcomer to Silicon Valley back in 2007? [11:38]Who is Sean Ellis? [13:57]What prompted Andrew to start writing, and how did it lead to his first meeting with Marc Andreessen? [16:51]How did Andrew adapt to the attention his writing was getting in the early days to build an even larger audience? [20:26]How long do Andrew’s pieces tend to be, and how does he ensure he’s expressing opinions that his readers will find compelling? [24:30]What does Andrew do to stay focused when he’s writing? [26:46]To what does the title of Andrew’s book The Cold Start Problem refer, and why did he write it? [28:36]Lessons learned from consulting during the early days of Uber. [37:30]An Andrew’s-eye-view of the Twitch origin story, and how the decision was made to focus on gaming. [43:20]How a truly innovative company can create the market that perpetuates its existence. [51:15]Who or what in the heck is a Roblox, and what does it signify for the future of gaming and related technologies? [55:15]What does Andrew think the much-hyped but mostly theoretical metaverse will look like in three to five years? [1:02:02]Decentralized warlocks, open-source ecosystems, and real-world upheavals driven by digital demands. [1:07:47]What questions does Andrew ask entrepreneurs in order to gauge how they think about growth? [1:12:30]How does Andrew suggest startups, companies, or people go about picking the right metrics? [1:16:45]Common mistakes Andrew sees founders making when they’re trying to improve a startup’s growth. [1:21:46]And now for something completely different: here’s the part of the interview where Andrew talks about meerkats and sardines. [1:26:14]The network effects of work in cities where people are choosing to live — and leave — these days. [1:31:32]The startup investment trend Andrew is following keenly, and what novices need to remember about distributing available resources to maximize their chances of coming out ahead. [1:33:58]Thoughts on the current climate of the creator economy: where I fit in, and where I see things headed with the seemingly inevitable mainstream acceptance of Web3, NFTs, and blockchain technologies. [1:43:49]What is Reforge? [1:55:53]Parting thoughts. [1:58:39]MORE ANDREW CHEN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“Between the early adopters and the early majority you have this chasm where all the nerds will love you but the mainstream market has no clue what it is that you do.”
— Andrew Chen
“I’m self-parenting. You know you have too low of an attention span when you have to embrace all of this tooling to manage your time.”
— Andrew Chen
“When I came to the Bay Area, that was one of my express goals: ‘I am going to meet all the PayPal people, and I’m going to try and figure out what it is that they know that I don’t.'”
— Andrew Chen
“How many of the privacy issues that people talk about and the targeting and all the stuff that’s been happening is really because we decided to go with banner ads instead of having people pay each other online?”
— Andrew Chen
“The nice part about working as a startup investor is we’re funding all these companies that will eventually announce their products in two or three years, and so I feel like I have a little glimpse of what it is that the founders want to do.”
— Andrew Chen
“This is just an incredible opportunity for anybody that wants to make a new virtual world, new game experience, or new game studio right now, because you can go and take all these ideas and try to combine them in new, fresh ways that sort of blend together economic game play with visual, classic game design in ways that the world has never seen.”
— Andrew Chen
November 23, 2021
The Random Show — Biohacking, Tim’s COVID Experience, Holiday Gift Ideas, Favorite New Apps, Bad Science, Quarantine Delights, and a Small Dose of NFTs and DAOs (#549)
Illustration via 99designsTechnologist, serial entrepreneur, world-class investor, self-experimenter, and all-around wild and crazy guy Kevin Rose (@KevinRose) rejoins me for another episode of The Random Show.
In this one we discuss the recent KevKev and TimTim reunion in Marfa, good television for anyone passing time in quarantine, Kevin’s latest biohacking adventures, utility NFTs (including Kevin’s upcoming PROOF drop), donating cryptocurrency for psychedelic research, ketamine therapy, my COVID experience, holiday gifts, financing and budgeting apps, and much more.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the conversation on YouTube here.
Brought to you by Tonal smart home gym, LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 770M users, and Helix Sleep premium mattresses. More on all three below.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#549: The Random Show — Biohacking, Tim’s COVID Experience, Holiday Gift Ideas, Favorite New Apps, Bad Science, Quarantine Delights, and a Small Dose of NFTs and DAOsThis episode is brought to you by Tonal! Tonal is the world’s most intelligent home gym and personal trainer. It is precision engineered and designed to be the most advanced strength studio on the market today. Tonal uses breakthrough technology—like adaptive digital weights and AI learning—together with the best experts in resistance training so you get stronger, faster. Every program is personalized to your body using AI, and smart features check your form in real time, just like a personal trainer.
Try Tonal , the world’s smartest home gym, for 30 days in your home, and if you don’t love it, you can return it for a full refund. Visit Tonal.com for $100 off their smart accessories when you use promo code TIM100 at checkout.
This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.
Using LinkedIn’s active community of more than 770 million professionals worldwide, LinkedIn Jobs can help you find and hire the right person faster. When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit LinkedIn.com/Tim.
This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, to my dear listeners, Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear another Random Show? Listen to my most recent conversation with Kevin Rose in which we discussed the evolving war against elevated blood glucose, recent bad decisions, workouts for the aging, how to avoid getting swindled in the NFT Wild West, emergency preparedness, riding the emotional roller coaster of investment, perceptions of clean vs. “dirty” crypto, DeFi regulation, dollar-cost averaging, tips for better sleep, keeping stress in check, and much more.
#527: The Random Show — Life-Extension Misadventures, Blockchain/Crypto Investing, NFT Experiments, Dogecoin, Zen Buddhism, and Weathering Sharp ElbowsSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Kevin Rose:Website | PROOF | Modern Finance | Instagram | Twitter
Visit Marfa, TexasWhy is Art Blocks in Marfa? by Druid | MediumArt Blocks – Generative NFT Art with Erick Snowfro | PROOFGenerative Art and NFTs | ARTnewsSXSW Conference & FestivalsThe Random Show – Drinking Urine, Exploring Japan, and Figuring Out Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #224Meet Sotol, Tequila’s Northern Cousin | Serious EatsThe Marfa Spirit Co.Mezcal Aquí Nomás | InstagramOaxaca | Visit MéxicoBillecart-Salmon Brut Rose, Champagne | Wine SearcherLALO TequilaLos Altos de Jalisco | WikipediaSuerte | East AustinTequila Casa DragonesThe Chinati FoundationThe Peter Attia Drive PodcastWhat Is Rapamycin? | New ScientistMy Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island | The Tim Ferriss Show #193Dog Aging ProjectThe Random Show — Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Talk Knives, iPhone Apps, Flutes, and Dog Handling | The Tim Ferriss Show #87Once-Weekly Noninsulin | OzempicSaffron Was the Prozac of the Middle Ages | The AtlanticOLLY Hello Happy Gummy Worms | AmazonPYM Health Mood Chews | AmazonGamma Aminobutyric Acid: Uses and Side Effects of GABA Supplement | HealthlineL-Theanine: Dosage, Benefits, and Side Effects | Healthline7 Proven Health Benefits of Rhodiola Rosea | HealthlineTrainspotting | Prime VideoThe psychology of self-tracking — QuartzThe Psychology of Self-Tracking | Quartz60 Easy April Fools’ Pranks for Kids or Anyone | ParadeList of Unproven Methods against COVID-19 | WikipediaComedians in Cars Getting Coffee | NetflixThe Extreme Adventures of Super Dave | Prime VideoTed Lasso | Apple TV+Schitt’s Creek (Uncensored) | Prime VideoSarah Jessica Parker, Graham Norton Enter Wine NFT Market | Whiskey RaidersThe Growing Utility of NFTs | CoinDeskMembers’ Clubs | Soho HouseScreaming EagleHarlan EstateScreaming Eagle ‘The Flight – Second Flight’, Napa Valley | Wine SearcherSupremeYeezy Boost 700 | AdidasAir Jordan | NikeWhat is Web3? The Decentralized Internet of the Future Explained | Free Code CampThe Best Moments in Diggnation History | DiggnationCryptoPunks – The NFTs That Started It All. Their Origin Story and Future Plans | Modern FinanceFlamingo DAO – What You Should Know About Decentralized Autonomous Organizations With Priyanka Desai And Aaron Wright | Modern FinanceOpen Meta DAONeon DAOFriends With Benefits DAODilbert by Scott AdamsChris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3, How to Pick the Right Hill to Climb, Finding the Right Amount of Crypto Regulation, Friends with Benefits, and the Untapped Potential of NFTs | The Tim Ferriss Show #542Platinum Partnership | Tony RobbinsThe Rink | Rockefeller CenterVeeFriends – Gary Vaynerchuk’s New NFT Project | Modern Finance 9Wham-O Slip N’ Slide Wave Rider Double | AmazonHasbro Connect 4 Game | AmazonHasbro Twister | AmazonThe Saisei Foundation Community Fund | EndaomentAccept Crypto Donations | The Giving BlockJapanese Meaning of Saisei | Nihongo MasterPsychedelics 101: Books, Documentaries, Podcasts, Science, and More | Tim FerrissVeterans Exploring Treatment Solutions | TwitterStrength in Numbers Gala to End Veteran Suicide | VETSMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)MDMA for PTSD Clinical Trials | MAPSThe Obstacles to Decriminalizing Psychedelic Drugs Are Political, Not Legal, Say Experts | Harvard Law TodayFuture VenturesThe Ketamine Cure: Is This Unregulated Drug Safe to Use at Home? | The New York TimesPsychedelic Medicine is Here | MindbloomPredator | Prime Video“Together We Will Do Drugs.” | RedditIvermectin Won’t Treat Covid-19 but Demand for Drug Surges | The New York TimesSome Thoughts on Coronaviruses and Seatbelts | Tim Ferriss“After 18+ Months of Dodging…” | Tim Ferriss, InstagramSpectacular Scenes from Formula 1 Weekend’s Thrilling Return to Austin | CultureMap AustinCircuit of The Americas (COTA)Allergies in Austin | Greater Austin AllergyMonoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion | CMSDrip Hydration Mobile IV TherapyHere’s How Austinites Think the City Failed during the Texas Freeze | KUT RadioCommon Antidepressant Slashes Risk of COVID Death, Study Says | NatureFluvoxamine | Drugs.comEnough with the Divisiveness | Smoky Mountain NewsShould I Mix and Match My COVID Booster with My Initial Vaccine? A Doctor Weighs In | NPRCOVID-19 Vaccines and Infertility: Fact or Fiction? | Women’s Health ResearchBad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre | AmazonThe 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss | AmazonStudying the Studies Archives | Peter AttiaGhostbusters | Prime VideoLEGO Ghostbusters ECTO-1 (10274) | AmazonLEGO Ideas Voltron (21311) | AmazonLEGO Porsche 911 (10295) | AmazonBailout Family – CPM-3V Grivory | Benchmade Knife CompanyKershaw Leek Serrated (1660ST) | AmazonCarter CutleryGeneration 3 | Oura RingKarst Stone Paper NotebooksMaui Nui VenisonThe Struggle to Contain, and Eat, the Invasive Deer Taking over Hawaii | Modern Farmer10 Gifts to Make Your Holidays Extra Fun, Relaxing, and Delicious | Tim FerrissThe World’s Most Modern Portfolio Tracker | KuberaSupercharge Your Finances with Insights You Won’t Get from Your Bank | CopilotFree Online Money Management | MintInvesting Is Easy When It’s Automated | WealthfrontGain Total Control of Your Money | YNABSHOW NOTESHow did generative art bring Kevin and me to Marfa, Texas recently, and when was the last time we really got to hang out? [05:59]What have we been drinking? [10:41]Kevin and his best friend Toaster’s latest forays into biohacking. [15:54]Saffron highs and the calming joy of Pym mood chews. [25:56]Bad ideas for conquering COVID and good TV for anyone passing time in convalescence or in need of psychological comfort. [31:14]On wine clubs in high demand, and how NFTs can be used for the purpose of membership allocation. [39:02]Kevin’s own utility NFT announcement, and why he’s devoting so much of his time to the NFT space these days. [45:51]DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) and Dilbert discourse. [49:53]Kevin applies his unique superpowers to how I might best make use of utility NFTs and the wide, wild world of Web3. [52:53]What’s with the adoption of .xyz domains by crypto nerds? [1:01:28]How my non-profit foundation has entered the crypto world, and thoughts on once-unthinkable strides in the mainstream acceptance — from both sides of the political aisle — of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. [1:02:42]Can at-home ketamine treatment work, and is it safe? [1:10:32]My own recent experience with the dreaded COVID: from precautions taken to treatments administered to lingering effects. [1:14:41]Thoughts on the vaccine’s effect on fertility, and a suggestion for anyone trying to make the right decisions around scientific unknowns. [1:43:23]Holiday gifts. [1:49:15]Kevin’s financing and budgeting tools. [1:56:10]Parting thoughts. [2:02:21]PEOPLE MENTIONEDPeter AttiaToaster Pino RoseDarya RoseMolly FerrissZak WilliamsRobin WilliamsJerry SeinfeldBob EinsteinLarry DavidSarah SilvermanGarry ShandlingSarah Jessica ParkerKanye WestMichael JordanScott AdamsChris DixonNaval RavikantTony RobbinsGary VaynerchukErick SnowfroRobbie HeegerZach BronsteinRick PerryRick DoblinRichard M. NixonNick NorrisSteve JurvetsonGenevieve JurvetsonArnold SchwarzeneggerCarl WeathersChris SaccaDylan BeynonKen OnionMurray CarterMatt WalkerAbraham LincolnScrooge McDuckRamit SethiMr. Money MustacheMEDICAL DISCLAIMER: I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on the Internet. Speak with a medical professional before doing anything medical-related.
FINANCIAL DISCLAIMER:I am not an investment adviser. Nor is Kevin Rose. All opinions are mine alone. Or his. There are risks involved in placing any investment in securities or in Bitcoin or in cryptocurrencies or in anything. None of the information presented herein is intended to form the basis of any offer or recommendation or have any regard to the investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any specific person, and that includes you, my dear listener or reader. Everything you’re going to hear is for informational entertainment purposes only.
November 18, 2021
The Lost Presentation That Launched The 4-Hour Workweek — “Secrets of Doing More with Less in a Digital World” from SXSW 2007 (#548)
Illustration via 99designsWelcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.
This is a special episode, which features my very first speech at SXSW in March of 2007! I didn’t know that a recording existed, and it was a great surprise when Cal Newport, author of Deep Work and writer for The New Yorker sent it to me.
He used it as part of his research for a recent article that was published in The New Yorker titled “Revisiting The 4-Hour Workweek: How Tim Ferriss’s 2007 manifesto anticipated our current moment of professional upheaval.”
And the 2007 SXSW speech was really the event that put everything into high gear. Influential tech bloggers who had heard the SXSW talk wrote about The 4-Hour Workweek, which put it on the radar of bigger media outlets. Eventually, the book made it onto The New York Times Best Sellers list, where it stayed, more or less, for the next seven years. It’s been a wild ride.
One last thing: Hugh Forrest, if you’re listening, thank you again for giving me a shot way back in the day!
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Brought to you by “ 5-Bullet Friday ,” my very own email newsletter. More on it below.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#548: The Lost Presentation That Launched The 4-Hour Workweek — “Secrets of Doing More with Less in a Digital World” from SXSW 2007This episode is brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter that every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.
It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear my interview with Ed Zschau, the polymath professor who changed my life? Listen to our conversation, in which we discuss the role of optimism in entrepreneurship, meticulous attention to detail, why career planning is overrated, and much, much more.
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My LifeSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | AmazonSXSW Conference & FestivalsTim Ferriss’ Four-Hour Work Week | WIREDRevisiting “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Cal Newport | The New YorkerDeep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport | AmazonThe Story of “How About Never” | The New YorkerThe 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch | AmazonParkinson’s Law: The ‘Law’ That Explains Why You Can’t Get Anything Done | BBCEmail Autoresponders That Work | Tim FerrissMail Your Child to Sri Lanka or Hire Indian Pimps: Extreme Personal Outsourcing (with A.J. Jacobs) | Tim FerrissModel the ‘Puppy-Dog Close’ Technique | Entrepreneur.comBlackBerryCannondale BikesArthur Jones, MedX, and Nautilus Exercise Principles | Arthur Jones LibraryWhat Can’t Be Measured | HBRPalm Z22 | WikipediaInternational Kendo Federation (FIK)Your Man In India (YMII)Brickwork IndiaSHOW NOTESHow do your decisions and priorities change if retirement will never be an option, and what do you do to avoid becoming a bottleneck when your business outscales you? Here’s why the pursuit of a 4-Hour Workweek isn’t for lazy people. [06:06]Definition: determining what it is that you want to create from a lifestyle standpoint and how much this costs. How Tim applied the 80/20 Rule (aka Pareto’s Principle) to reduce the time he had to spend managing his own business. [13:48]“It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” -Cyril Northcote Parkinson. How to ensure Parkinson’s Law isn’t governing your life. [19:01]Elimination: how you can focus on the crucial few instead of the trivial many, starting with the way you process email. [20:15]Automation: why you should outsource anything that occupies more time than you can afford to pay yourself. [24:14]Liberation: creating mobility and taking advantage of the time that you create. [27:14]The summary: the point of life is to enjoy it and the three currencies — time, income, and mobility — are vehicles to achieving it. [34:03]How do you fire 80 percent of your clients without building bad will within the community? [35:48]What happens when the people to whom I’ve outsourced the bulk of my work read The 4-Hour Workweek? [38:21]How do meetings work in a 4-Hour Workweek scenario? [39:12]How transparent should you be with your customers about how much of your workload is outsourced, and how do you justify increasing rates under these circumstances? [40:59]How do auto-responders fit into relationship management? [43:25]When eliminating, how do you figure out what’s important and what’s not important? [45:11]Tools I used (circa 2007) to leverage my time, and what I consider to be the most valuable skill set you can develop. [48:40]How does someone focus on what’s important in an era when distractions are so abundant? [50:27]How can an employee implement 4-Hour Workweek tactics and strategies when locked into a traditional 40-hour job structure? [53:28]The challenge. [57:40]PEOPLE MENTIONEDCal NewportHugh ForrestRobert ScobleRobert FrostEd ZschauA.J. JacobsDave BarryArthur JonesPeter DruckerThe Lost Presentation That Launched The 4-Hour Workweek — “Secrets of Doing More with Less in a Digital World” From SXSW 2007 (#548)
Illustration via 99designsWelcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.
This is a special episode, which features my very first speech at SXSW in March of 2007! I didn’t know that a recording existed, and it was a great surprise when Cal Newport, author of Deep Work and writer for The New Yorker sent it to me.
He used it as part of his research for a recent article that was published in The New Yorker, which is titled “Revisiting The 4-Hour Workweek: How Tim Ferriss’s 2007 manifesto anticipated our current moment of professional upheaval.”
And the 2007 SXSW speech was really the event that put everything into high gear. Influential tech bloggers who had heard about the SXSW talk wrote about The 4-Hour Workweek, which put it on the radar of bigger media outlets. Eventually, the book made it onto The New York Times Best Sellers list, where it stayed, more or less, for the next seven years. It’s been a wild ride.
One last thing: Hugh Forrest, if you’re listening, thank you again for giving me a shot way back in the day!
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Brought to you by “ 5-Bullet Friday ,” my very own email newsletter. More on it below.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#548: The Lost Presentation That Launched The 4-Hour Workweek — “Secrets of Doing More with Less in a Digital World” From SXSW 2007This episode is brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter, which every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.
It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear my interview with Ed Zschau, the polymath professor who changed my life? Listen to our conversation, in which we discuss the role of optimism in entrepreneurship, meticulous attention to detail, why career planning is overrated, and much, much more.
#380: Ed Zschau — The Polymath Professor Who Changed My LifeSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | AmazonSXSW Conference & FestivalsTim Ferriss’ Four-Hour Work Week | WIREDRevisiting “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Cal Newport | The New YorkerDeep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport | AmazonThe Story of “How About Never” | The New YorkerThe 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch | AmazonParkinson’s Law: The ‘Law’ That Explains Why You Can’t Get Anything Done | BBCEmail Autoresponders That Work | Tim FerrissMail Your Child to Sri Lanka or Hire Indian Pimps: Extreme Personal Outsourcing (with A.J. Jacobs) | Tim FerrissModel the ‘Puppy-Dog Close’ Technique | Entrepreneur.comBlackBerryCannondale BikesArthur Jones, MedX, and Nautilus Exercise Principles | Arthur Jones LibraryWhat Can’t Be Measured | HBRPalm Z22 | WikipediaInternational Kendo Federation (FIK)Your Man In India (YMII)Brickwork IndiaSHOW NOTESHow do your decisions and priorities change if retirement will never be an option, and what do you do to avoid becoming a bottleneck when your business outscales you? Here’s why the pursuit of a 4-Hour Workweek isn’t for lazy people. [06:06]Definition: determining what it is that you want to create from a lifestyle standpoint and how much this costs. How Tim applied the 80/20 Rule (aka Pareto’s Principle) to reduce the time he had to spend managing his own business. [13:48]“It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” -Cyril Northcote Parkinson. How to ensure Parkinson’s Law isn’t governing your life. [19:01]Elimination: how you can focus on the crucial few instead of the trivial many, starting with the way you process email. [20:15]Automation: why you should outsource anything that occupies more time than you can afford to pay yourself. [24:14]Liberation: creating mobility and taking advantage of the time that you create. [27:14]The summary: the point of life is to enjoy it and the three currencies — time, income, and mobility — are vehicles to achieving it. [34:03]How do you fire 80 percent of your clients without building bad will within the community? [35:48]What happens when the people to whom I’ve outsourced the bulk of my work read The 4-Hour Workweek? [38:21]How do meetings work in a 4-Hour Workweek scenario? [39:12]How transparent should you be with your customers about how much of your workload is outsourced, and how do you justify increasing rates under these circumstances? [40:59]How do auto-responders fit into relationship management? [43:25]When eliminating, how do you figure out what’s important and what’s not important? [45:11]Tools I used (circa 2007) to leverage my time, and what I consider to be the most valuable skill set you can develop. [48:40]How does someone focus on what’s important in an era when distractions are so abundant? [50:27]How can an employee implement 4-Hour Workweek tactics and strategies when locked into a traditional 40-hour job structure? [53:28]The challenge. [57:40]PEOPLE MENTIONEDCal NewportHugh ForrestRobert ScobleRobert FrostEd ZschauA.J. JacobsDave BarryArthur JonesPeter DruckerNovember 12, 2021
10 Gifts to Make Your Holidays Extra Fun, Relaxing, and Delicious
Photo by Matteo PezziThis blog post is a very special holiday edition of “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter! For twice the fun, we have twice the number of bullets.
It features ten of my favorite things, all of which make great holiday gifts. I also reached out to brands I love to get special deals for subscribers. I use many of these products on a daily or weekly basis. Each sponsored bullet is indicated with a star at the end of it, just like this sentence.*
I dislike shopping, but I do love finding the perfect gift. Finding that gift, though, gets harder with time. Those damn adults seem to have everything. So… If you’re having trouble thinking up great options, here are some goodies that deliver.
“5-Bullet Friday” is a short email of five bullet points, sent out each Friday, and it has become somewhat famous for crashing websites (AKA “the hug of death,” as one reader put it). Each newsletter describes the five coolest things I’ve found or explored that week, often including books, gadgets, experimental supplements, tricks from experts, and weird stuff from all over the world. If the spirit moves you, subscribe for free here.
Enjoy!
Gadget I’m loving —
Roost – Adjustable and Portable Laptop Stand. On the road, I spotted a coder using one of these in a Starbucks. I crept over and waved to get his attention. Once he’d taken off his headset, I asked him how much he liked the ultralight laptop stand. He answered with a dead-serious stare and a poker face, “I LOVE this laptop stand. My posture has immediately improved, and I complete many more actions per minute.” Gotta love engineers… and he was right. This is a fantastic device. I’m using it in combination with the wireless Apple Magic Trackpad 2 and Magic Keyboard. It’s the perfect size for on-the-go work or travel.
Eye mask I’m loving —
Alaska Bear® Natural Silk Sleep Mask. This was recommended to me by Dr. Peter Attia (@peterattiamd) on his 2019 podcast appearance. He takes one everywhere. I’ve tried many eye masks and was skeptical—aren’t they all basically the same?—but the Alaska Bear is an upgrade. The design checks a couple of basic but critical boxes: (1) it allows you to tighten the head strap, and (2) the soft material blocks light from entering under the bottom edge of the eye mask. If the ridiculous name isn’t enough, you can also choose many ridiculous patterns for your personalized sleep fashion needs.
High-quality meat and fish I’m cooking —
ButcherBox is my go-to trusted source for high-quality meats and proteins (outside of venison). They deliver 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef; free-range organic chicken; humanely raised pork; and wild-caught seafood directly to your doorstep at the frequency you choose. I love cooking with friends and family, and ButcherBox makes it easier to co-create delicious meals, whether a light fish dish or the best ribs you’ve ever had. ButcherBox also cares deeply about animal welfare, supporting the livelihood of farmers, and treating ecosystems with respect. They’re B Corp
certified, which means they prioritize meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. ButcherBox is giving you early access to their best Black Friday deal ever: Sign up and you’ll receive two 10 oz New York strip steaks for FREE in every box you order for a year.*
Coffee I am enjoying —
Four Sigmatic. You’ve heard me talk about these guys for years. I love their mushroom coffee with lion’s mane. It’s delicious, I recommend it, I gift it to my employees, and I give it to my houseguests. It’s my solution when I need to recharge but want to avoid the jitters I sometimes get from regular coffee. Their Reishi Elixir has also been a game changer for sleep. In the spirit of the holidays, Four Sigmatic is giving “5-Bullet Friday” subscribers up to 44% OFF their popular mushroom coffee. Simply visit FourSigmatic.com/Tim44. In previous offers to this newsletter, Four Sigmatic products have sold out in less than 24 hours, so the early bird gets the worm.*
Tech tool I am enjoying —
Logitech BRIO Ultra HD 4K Webcam. I’ve always used my built-in MacBook lens for podcasting, Zoom, and so on. I looked into getting a prosumer setup with a great Sony camera, but I wasn’t motivated enough to fuss with lots of setup on a laptop that is by definition going to move a lot. This BRIO webcam was the middle ground I found, and I love it. What’s most remarkable and surprising is that, although I bought it to improve the other side’s experience, it makes my own experience of video chats much more enjoyable and much easier on the eyes. Here’s the official description: “Brio is a remarkable piece of technology that streams crystal-clear video with superb resolution, frame rate, color, and detail, including autofocus and 5x HD zoom. Brio delivers 4K Ultra HD video at 30 fps, HD 1080p at either 30 or 60 fps, and HD 720p at 30, 60, or an ultra-smooth 90 fps for outstanding clarity, smoothness, and detail.”
Sleep technology I’m using every night —
Eight Sleep Pod Pro Cover. This holiday season, give yourself or a loved one a gift that keeps getting better night after night with the Eight Sleep Pod Pro Cover. Good sleep has been one of my top priorities this year, and the Pod Pro Cover by Eight Sleep has been revolutionary. It’s helped me practically every night of 2021. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. The technology adjusts the temperature of each side of the bed based on your sleep stages, biometrics, and bedroom temperature, reacting intelligently to create the optimal sleeping environment. I like to sleep cool, my girlfriend likes to sleep warm, and this is the best solution I’ve found. Eight Sleep users fall asleep up to 32% faster, reduce sleep interruptions by up to 40%, and get more restful sleep overall. This holiday season, give the gift of better sleep and a present that will keep on giving every day of the year. Go to EightSleep.com/Tim to get $250 off(!) of the Pod Pro Cover.*
What I’m rereading and gifting —
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (@charliemackesy). This short and beautiful book was gifted to me by my mom. “This book is for everyone, whether you are eighty or eight,” as the introduction puts it. It looks like a children’s book, and you can read it in 30 minutes, but it’s replete with wisdom for adults. To give you an idea of how popular this book has become, it has 86,166 ratings on Amazon and an average of 5 stars.
Wine I’m drinking with family and friends —
Dry Farm Wines. I love wine with friends, and I’ll be drinking during the holidays, but I hate hangovers. For that reason, and for the past year, most of the wine in my house has been from Dry Farm Wines. In my experience, their wine means more fun with fewer headaches. Dry Farm Wines only ships wines that meet very stringent criteria: practically sugar-free (less than 0.15g per glass), lower alcohol (less than 12.5%), additive-free (there are more than 70 FDA-approved wine-making additives), lower sulfites, organic, and produced by small family farms. All Dry Farm Wines are laboratory tested for purity standards by a certified, independent enologist, and all of their wines are also backed by a 100% Happiness Promise—they will either replace or refund any wine you do not love. Dry Farm Wines has a special offer just for “5-Bullet Friday” subscribers—an extra bottle in your first box for just one extra penny. Check out all the details at DryFarmWines.com/Tim.*
What I’m putting in my coffee and tea —
Laird Superfood. I love Laird Superfood products, especially their creamers, which turn any coffee or tea into a functional superfood latte in seconds. Laird Superfood creamers are incredibly rich and delicious, completely plant-based, and contain naturally occurring MCTs. These creamers are also shelf-stable, which means they last longer and travel better than your old creamer. They come in a range of amazing flavors, including original, unsweetened, turmeric, pumpkin spice, and cacao. I’m a junkie for turmeric and cacao. Right now and for a limited time, you can get 20% off of your order of $40 or more when you use code TIM20 at checkout. Laird products are real-food fuel and supplements with nothing artificial. Check out LairdSuperfood.com/Tim to see some of my favorite products and learn more. Some exclusions apply, and this offer cannot be combined with other offers.*
Tech gadget that I’m using daily —
Anker Nano II 65W (Amazon, official website). Tired of carrying around that gigantic brick of a MacBook charger? Check out the photos at either of the above links. This tiny replacement is incredible. Huge thanks to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Kevin Rose (@KevinRose)! Description: “Anker Nano II has the power you need to fast charge your phone, tablet, and USB-C notebook from a single, tiny charger. Charge a 2020 MacBook Air in less than 2 hours, a MacBook Pro 13ʺ at full speed, an iPhone 12 up to 3× faster than with an original 5W charger.…”
And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.
Have a wonderful weekend, all.
Much love to you and yours,
Tim
P.S. If you’re looking for good causes to support this holiday season, I just used Endaoment (@endaomentdotorg) to set up my foundation to receive donations in cryptocurrency. Check out some of our projects here.
November 11, 2021
Master Magician David Blaine — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss (#546)
“God is love. Love is the ultimate god, so loving everything and everybody and not being filled with hate or animosity or fear and trying to find love. To me, that’s the ultimate in life.”
— David Blaine
Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.
You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which features my interview with David Blaine from my 2017 TV Show Fear{less}. The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.
Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.
It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my dear listeners. You can find the video of this episode on YouTube.com/TimFerriss, and eventually you’ll be able to see all episodes for free at YouTube.com/TimFerriss.
Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of hit movies including The Internship, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up.
In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act, starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition to Fear{less}, their television credits include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix animated show F is for Family.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#546: Master Magician David Blaine — Fear{less} with Tim FerrissThis episode is brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter, which every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.
It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear an episode with David’s friend and mentor Bryan Callen? Listen to our conversation in which we discuss the craft of comedy, fixing education, habits and tricks for boosting creativity, the process of writing, the general pursuit of excellence, eating corgis, and more.
#47: Bryan Callen on Eating Corgis (Yes, The Dogs) and Improving Creativity SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with David Blaine:Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Tim Ferriss | YouTubeWild West Productions | TwitterBlaine’s Pain – Magic Man Meets Waterlog Waterloo as Breath Bid Fails | New York PostNavy Video Shows SEAL ‘Drown-Proofing’ Exercises | The Washington PostDavid Blaine: How I Held My Breath for 17 Minutes | TEDMEDBicycle Standard Face Playing Cards | AmazonLuggage, Backpacks, Bags & More | TUMIRikers Island | WikipediaDavid Blaine: Street Magic | NetflixR. Paul Wilson On the Real Secret of Three Card Monte Trick | Casino.orgHow Does Cold Reading Work? | Vanishing Inc. Magic ShopThe Nobel PrizeSiddhartha by Hermann Hesse | AmazonAbove the Below | David BlaineEverything You Should Know About Refeeding Syndrome | HealthlineRefeeding David Blaine — Studies after a 44-Day Fast | New England Journal of MedicineDavid Blaine Went on an Epic Quest to Learn How to Regurgitate Frogs | VultureWatch David Blaine Push an Ice Pick Through His Hand for Alec Baldwin | WNYCThe Spooky Effects of Sleep Deprivation | Live ScienceAnishinabe Dreams | Native American NetrootsSleep Deprivation as a Form of Torture | OptalertVertigo | David BlaineEntomophobia: Why You May Be Afraid of Bugs | Terminix BlogYes, Hippos Kill ‘Around 500 People a Year in Africa’ | Africa CheckStoicism for Modern Stresses: 5 Lessons from Cato | Daily StoicRebecca Sings Karaoke | Ted LassoHound Dog by Elvis Presley | Amazon MusicHow To Learn Close-Up Magic Like Ant-Man | BustleThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | AmazonJerry Seinfeld: Comedian | NetflixBrooke Army Medical CenterSHOW NOTESNote from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.
A time when one of David’s public feats went sideways, and why things went awry.How long can I hold my breath?How David’s childhood prepared him to test his superhuman abilities, and what his mother did to encourage his capacity for imagination and support an early interest in magic.How enduring his mother’s fight with (and eventual loss to) cancer and candid advice from someone famous for fighting informed the way David lives his life.David shares what happened the night he got arrested for jumping a subway turnstile and wound up in a holding cell with some rough characters.The generalities that make people easy to read with enough practice, and what magician Harvey Cohen taught David about controlling audience expectations with a simple and understated approach.With his heart set on making a career in magic, why did David go to acting school?What David did to compensate for growing up without a father figure.When did David start fasting, and why?Have any of David’s endurance stunts wound up being more dangerous than he expected they would be?What does magic mean to David, and is it possible to take it too far?Are there any tricks or stunts that David hasn’t yet been able to figure out?Has David learned anything from hallucinations brought about by sleep deprivation?What does David fear?What everyday feats from the mundane world are beyond David’s ken?What is David’s secret reserve of strength for those times he feels his body or mind can’t push through?One of David’s childhood superstitions.How can someone maximize results if they’ve only got 90 days to prepare for a close-up magic performance?What is David focused on learning right now?What does “success” mean to David, and who does he think about when this word comes to mind?What drives David’s continuing pursuit of magic?David performs a couple of tricks for the live audience.What would David’s billboard say?MORE DAVID BLAINE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“God is love. Love is the ultimate god, so loving everything and everybody and not being filled with hate or animosity or fear and trying to find love—to me, that’s the ultimate in life.”
— David Blaine
“When I was five I said to my mom, ‘I’m going to be a magician one day.’ And she went, ‘That’s amazing.'”
— David Blaine
“I’ve been obsessed with fasting since I was a kid, but I think it started when my mother gave me Siddhartha to read, the Hermann Hesse book. I read it when I was 11 years old. In it, he fasts and he stands and he does these things where he sees the world in a different way, and he realizes that he can control his body with his mind.”
— David Blaine
“One night I jumped over a turnstile and that’s when Giuliani was sweeping everybody, so I got locked up. But as I was going there, I kept breaking out of the cuffs for the cops.”
— David Blaine
November 10, 2021
Marco Canora — The Art of Food, Eating, Nutrition, and Life (#545)
Illustration via 99designs“It was deeply embedded in my soul, and I was singularly focused. To this day, I commiserate with my wife: I’m the opposite of a Renaissance man. I have been embedded in the world of restaurants and food and cooking for the entirety of my adult life.”
— Marco Canora
After years working with and training under Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern and Craft, Chef Marco Canora (@marcocanora) opened Hearth in the East Village in 2003, before the neighborhood was a culinary destination. In 2014, Marco kicked off America’s embrace of bone broth with Brodo, serving bone broth in coffee cups out of a side window at Hearth. Over the years, Brodo has been recognized consistently as a bone broth pioneer in outlets such as The New York Times, Time, and Good Morning America. Visit Brodo.com to order some bone broth for yourself, or visit one of their several locations in New York City.
Marco’s first cookbook, Salt to Taste: The Key to Confident, Delicious Cooking was nominated for a James Beard Award. He is also the author of A Good Food Day and Brodo: a Bone Broth Cookbook.
Marco has been profiled in The New York Times, Serious Eats, and Food & Wine. He was a finalist on The Next Iron Chef, a judge on Chopped and Top Chef, and he has appeared on Today, The Chew, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, and Nightline. In May 2017, Marco won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: New York City.
He lives, cooks, and gardens with his wife and two children in Yonkers, NY.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
Brought to you by Vuori comfortable and durable performance apparel, Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, and Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement. More on all three below.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#545: Marco Canora — The Art of Food, Eating, Nutrition, and LifeThis episode is brought to you by Vuori clothing! Vuori is a new and fresh perspective on performance apparel, perfect if you are sick and tired of traditional, old workout gear. Everything is designed for maximum comfort and versatility so that you look and feel as good in everyday life as you do working out.
Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at VuoriClothing.com/Tim. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but you’ll also enjoy free shipping on any US orders over $75 and free returns.
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.
This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.
And now, my dear listeners—that’s you—can get $250 off the Pod Pro Cover. Simply go to EightSleep.com/Tim or use code TIM.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear an episode detailing how another restaurateur changed strategy to survive the pandemic? Listen to my conversation with Nick Kokonas, in which we discussed asymmetric risk-taking, safety steps in uncertain crises, pivoting from fine dining to carryout/delivery, recapitalization, managing supply chain disruptions, common but counterproductive mistakes made in the restaurant industry, Nick’s dad’s three-shoebox business finance model, and more.
#429: Nick Kokonas on Resurrecting Restaurants, Skin in the Game, and InvestingSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Marco Canora: Quality Bone Broth | Brodo Salt to Taste: The Key to Confident, Delicious Cooking by Marco Canora and Cathy Young | AmazonA Good Food Day: Reboot Your Health with Food That Tastes Great: A Cookbook by Marco Canora and Tammy Walker | AmazonBrodo: A Bone Broth Cookbook by Marco Canora | AmazonThe 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss | AmazonCabernet Franc | Wine FollyWhere to Buy 2010 Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot, Loire | Wine SearcherDean & DeLucaThe Culinary Institute of AmericaThe Pros and Cons of Staging in a Restaurant | EaterUse “Mise en Place” to Make Meal Preparation Easier | UNL FoodGramercy TavernYes, You Have Too Many Tabs Open on Your Computer — and Your Brain is Probably to Blame | Mental FlossGourmet Magazine | WikipediaCelebrity Chef Lidia Bastianich Closes Felidia After Four Decades in Midtown | Eater NYPace UniversityTrailing Jonathan Benno’s Restaurant | EsquireContinuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) | Cleveland ClinicMetabolic Fitness Program | LevelsA Short Walk After Meals Is All It Takes to Lower Blood Sugar | HealthlineWalking after Eating – Ancient Folk Wisdom, Modern Science | Institute for Classical Asian MedicineMacronutrients: Learn About Carbohydrates, Proteins & Fats | Inner Body7 Powerful Food Combos to Control Diabetes | Everyday Health12 Glucose-Lowering Strategies to Improve Metabolic Fitness | LevelsContinuous Glucose Monitoring | Dexcom CGMOura RingEight SleepAlcohol and Sleep | Sleep FoundationKetamine Offers Lifeline for People with Severe Depression, Suicidal Thoughts | CNNBanya Hats | EtsyThe Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper | AmazonMetabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine by Robert H. Lustig | AmazonHow Is Canola Oil Really Made? | PreventDiseaseTVThe NOVA Food Classification System | EduChangeBrodo Chef Marco Canora Will Cook From a Window Just For You | La Cucina ItalianaGnocci at Hearth | OzerskyTVThis Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace | AmazonEssentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan | AmazonThe Essential Guide to Riesling Wine | Wine FollyAre Saunas the Next Big Performance-Enhancing “Drug?” | Tim FerrissMedicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin | AmazonPlants of the Gods — Dr. Mark Plotkin on Ayahuasca, Shamanic Knowledge, the Curse and Blessing of Coca, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #508Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat by Marion Nestle | AmazonSHOW NOTESNote from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.
“Pardon my French, but does this Cabernet Franc taste assy to you?”The Mantra.Why would Marco rather hire someone who’s done a year of staging over a fresh culinary school graduate? For that matter, what does he mean by staging?How did Marco get into cooking, and at what point did he consider it his calling?What would people who have worked with Marco consider his superpowers?The most common reasons someone might crumble under the pressure of a New York City restaurant kitchen, and the default stance of mise en place Marco suggests for alleviating this likelihood.The hands-off type of mentorship that allowed Marco to grow and shine in places like Gramercy Tavern, and why Marco was able to thrive under these circumstances where others might literally be going up and down the stairs all day.What type of reading keeps Marco constantly connected to what’s going on in his industry?Why Marco is on a mission to spread the gospel of cooking.How Marco narrowed down the list of restaurants where he wanted to work upon arriving in New York City, what that initial job hunt looked like, and the pitch that got the people he wanted to work for interested in giving him a “trail.”What’s expected of a prospective hire on one of these trails?Why did Marco decide to monitor his blood sugar with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and what did he learn from the experience?“If you walk a hundred steps after you eat, you will live to be 99.”Combine the macronutrients.Why I’m eager to try the new generation of CGMs, and what I’ve learned about the effects of alcohol and temperature on my sleep thanks to the Oura Ring and Eight Sleep.How Marco protected his CGM in the sauna.It’s not what’s in the food, it’s what’s been done to the food. What is the NOVA classification system, how does it aim to make the level of processing through which our food goes more transparent, and why should this concern the average consumer?What is Brodo, how did it help Marco and Hearth survive the pandemic, and what flavors have been popular?How is Brodo now being brought to the masses, and what does Marco envision for the company’s future?What would Marco’s billboard say?Books Marco has gifted the most.“Favorite” failure.One reason you should never underestimate the little nagging things in a relationship — whether it’s personal or professional.Sauna talk.If the science isn’t working as intended, make sure you didn’t just forget to add the crab, that the research funding wasn’t sponsored by special interests, or that the great-great-great-great grandparents didn’t have some since-forgotten but very good reason for planting crops in weird places.Parting thoughts.MORE MARCO CANORA QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“I do believe that we could have a [Brodo] shop for every 50 Starbucks in the world because broth as a hot beverage is incredible. There’s a lot to it, and I would put it up against coffee any day of the week.”
— Marco Canora
“Cook your own food. I think our obsession with convenience and our beliefs that we can outsource something as important as cooking has been one of the main drivers in the ill health of this country.”
— Marco Canora
“Say less because it’s a better test.”
— Marco Canora
“Take a walk after you eat. The power of a walk to reduce the spike of your blood sugar, regardless of what you eat, is extraordinary.”
— Marco Canora
“Cooking is an incredible process that engages all of your senses, that gives you a high reward—from health to flavor, to community, to connectivity, to other people—and it’s really a path to so many of the things that I think we need to be better humans.”
— Marco Canora
November 3, 2021
Legendary Investor John Doerr on Picking Winners — From Google in 1999 to Solving the Climate Crisis Now (#543)
Illustration via 99designs“We invested a billion dollars in a hundred different cleantech companies, and most of them failed. Failures come with the territory in the innovation business. But we stood by these entrepreneurs, and that billion dollars today is worth three billion. What I learned from that experience is that cleantech takes more time, more money, more guts, with longer horizons.”
— John Doerr
John Doerr (@johndoerr) is an engineer, venture capitalist, the chair of Kleiner Perkins, and the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Measure What Matters. His new book is Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now.
John was an original investor and board member at Google and Amazon, helping to create more than half a million jobs. A pioneer of Silicon Valley’s cleantech movement, John has invested in zero-emission technologies since 2006. He’s passionate about encouraging leaders to reimagine the future, from transforming healthcare to advancing applications of machine learning.
Outside Kleiner Perkins, John works with social entrepreneurs who are tackling systemic issues across climate, public health, and education.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Brought to you by ShipStation shipping software; Allform premium, modular furniture; and Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement. More on all three below.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#543: Legendary Investor John Doerr on Picking Winners — From Google in 1999 to Solving the Climate Crisis NowThis episode is brought to you by ShipStation. Do you sell stuff online? Then you know what a pain the shipping process is. ShipStation was created to make your life easier. Whether you’re selling on eBay, Amazon, Shopify, or over 100 other popular selling channels, ShipStation lets you access all of your orders from one simple dashboard, and it works with all of the major shipping carriers, locally and globally, including FedEx, UPS, and USPS.
Tim Ferriss Show listeners get to try ShipStation free for 60 days by using promo code TIM. There’s no risk, and you can start your free trial without even entering your credit card info. Just visit ShipStation.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage, and type in TIM!
This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.
Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.
This episode is brought to you by Allform! If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about Helix Sleep mattresses, which I’ve been using since 2017. They’ve launched a new company called Allform, and they’re making premium, customizable sofas and chairs shipped right to your door—at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores. You can pick your fabric (and they’re all spill, stain, and scratch resistant), the sofa color, the color of the legs, and the sofa size and shape to make sure it’s perfect for you and your home.
Allform arrives in just 3–7 days, and you can assemble it yourself in a few minutes—no tools needed. To find your perfect sofa, check out Allform.com/Tim. Allform is offering 20% off all orders to you, my dear listeners, at Allform.com/Tim.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear another episode with someone committed to saving the world? Listen to my conversation with Conservation International CEO M. Sanjayan, in which we discuss monkey birthday cakes, tips for frequent travelers, subjects crucial to a balanced education, the power of crossing disciplines, storytelling to rule the world, common misconceptions about conservation, why the people of today are in a unique time and place to save the planet, what we can do to cultivate long-term thinking, and much more.
#285: Overcoming Doubt, Battling the Busy Trap, and Enhancing Life — M. SanjayanSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with John Doerr:speedandscale.com | Twitter | Kleiner Perkins | LinkedIn
Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now by John Doerr | AmazonMeasure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth by John Doerr | AmazonIntel at 50: The 8080 Microprocessor | Intel NewsroomThe Traitorous Eight | WikipediaOKRs: How VC John Doerr Sets (and Achieves) Goals | HBRThe Gates FoundationHealthcare Data & Analytics Solutions | NunaVenture Capital | InvestopediaGenentechTandem Computers | WikipediaHow We Started and Where We Are Today | GoogleJohn Doerr’s OKR Presentation | Google SlidesPopular Search Engines in the ’90s: Then and Now | WebFXEverything You Need to Know about Google PageRank | Semrush BlogVisualizing the Quantities of Climate Change | NASAGigaton Carbon Removal and the Paris Climate Agreement | Atlantic CouncilSchool Strike for Climate | WikipediaThe Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells | AmazonIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021XI Says China Will Stop Building New Coal-Fired Power Plants Abroad | NBC NewsCOP26 Aims to Banish Coal. Asia Is Building Hundreds of Power Plants to Burn It | ReutersMeet The Fisker Ocean | Fisker, Inc.Electric Cars, Solar & Clean Energy | TeslaAn Inconvenient Truth | Prime VideoLike Father, like Offspring? Mary Doerr, Daughter of Legendary VC, Launches Inconvenient Youth | VentureBeatIntroducing the Green Premiums | Bill GatesFrom 0 to 70% Market Share: How Google Chrome Ate the Internet | Nira BlogRemarks by President Obama at UN Climate Change Summit | The White HouseGM Will Sell Only Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2035 | The New York TimesBiden Pledges to Double US Climate Change Aid; Some Activists Unimpressed | ReutersSHOW NOTESWhat initially drew John to Silicon Valley? [05:27]Who was Andy Grove, and what were John’s first impressions of him? [07:18]What made Andy Grove a great manager? [10:13]How did Andy deliver honest, tough love without being abusive to its recipient? [11:55]While at Intel, why did John — with all of his technical training and experience as an engineer — request to be transferred from the company’s Santa Clara headquarters to its Chicago sales office? [13:08]What compelled John to get involved in venture capital? [16:09]John shares his first meeting with Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin. [18:23]What was on the slides John used in his pitch to Larry and Sergey, and what effect was he hoping they would have on them? [20:52]Way back in 1999, why were John and his partners confident enough to invest its largest capital commitment in the fledgling Google? [23:28]How does the Speed and Scale initiative plan to bring us back from the brink of an irreversible climate crisis? [28:40]What will it look like if we’re too late? [33:01]Why has there thus far been so little progress on getting closer to net-zero? [36:34]Favorite failures that set the course for successful action. [38:59]What changes have made cleantech investment more appealing in the past 15 years or so? [43:00]What are OKRs, and how do they differ from what many might consider goal setting? John illustrates how Google’s Sundar Pichai used OKRs to make Chrome the most popular browser in the world, along with an example of how he’s applied OKRs to his own personal life. [46:39]On making a life meaningful, and why John wishes he and his wife had started their family about 10 years before they did. [50:32]In what ways does John differ in opinion with Al Gore and Bill Gates on the climate conversation? [56:05]What action steps can we, as individuals, take to help mitigate the climate crisis in a meaningful way? [58:25]Parting thoughts. [1:03:35]MORE JOHN DOERR QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“Cleantech takes more time, more money, more guts, with longer horizons. And the innovators, the entrepreneurs, need to—in Andy Grove speak—be ruthlessly, intellectually honest about where the risks are in their venture.”
— John Doerr
“For me, making meaning is to give a healthy climate to the future generations. I believe we owe it to them for them to enjoy the opportunities in nature and in the lives that we have.”
— John Doerr
“If we have a billion climate refugees, the people least responsible for this problem are going to pay the highest price, and they’re the least capable of dealing with it.”
— John Doerr
“Individual action is not going to be enough. If we’re going to get to net-zero, we need massive, global action.”
— John Doerr
“400 gigatons. That’s the maximum that we can emit to have a decent chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid an irreversible climate disaster.”
— John Doerr
“We invested a billion dollars in a hundred different cleantech companies, and most of them failed. Failures come with the territory in the innovation business. But we stood by these entrepreneurs, and that billion dollars today is worth three billion. What I learned from that experience is that cleantech takes more time, more money, more guts, with longer horizons.”
— John Doerr
“Climate change is the world’s biggest inequality machine.”
— John Doerr
October 28, 2021
Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3, How to Pick the Right Hill to Climb, Finding the Right Amount of Crypto Regulation, Friends with Benefits, and the Untapped Potential of NFTs (#542)
Illustration via 99designs“What the smartest people do on the weekends is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years.”
— Chris Dixon
“Denying and pushing back against NFTs and crypto is basically saying: ‘We’re not going to have a collectively owned future. We’re going to have a corporate-owned future, and we’re going to have a government-owned future.'”
— Naval Ravikant
Chris Dixon (@cdixon) is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where for the past six years he has been an active seed and venture-stage investor.
Previously, Chris co-founded and served as the CEO of two startups, SiteAdvisor and Hunch. SiteAdvisor was an internet security company that warned web users of security threats. The company was acquired by McAfee in 2006. Hunch was a recommendation technology company that was acquired by eBay in 2011.
Chris has been a prolific seed investor, co-founding Founder Collective, a seed venture fund, and making a number of personal angel investments in various technology companies. Chris started programming as a kid and was a professional programmer after college at the high-speed options trading firm Arbitrade. He has a BA and MA in philosophy from Columbia and an MBA from Harvard.
He has written about his theories and experiences as an entrepreneur and investor on Medium and before that at cdixon.org. His a16z Podcast appearances can be found here.
Naval Ravikant (@naval) is the co-founder and chairman of AngelList. He is an angel investor and has invested in more than 100 companies, including many mega-successes, such as Twitter, Uber, Notion, Opendoor, Postmates, and Wish. You can subscribe to Naval, his podcast on wealth and happiness, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find his blog at nav.al.
For more Naval-plus-Tim, check out my wildly popular interview with him from 2015—which was nominated for “Podcast of the Year”—at tim.blog/naval. We also had a second long-form conversation in 2020, and you can find that here. His most recent appearance was helping me interview Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Brought to you by UCAN endurance products powered by SuperStarch®, Theragun percussive muscle therapy devices, and Tonal smart home gym. More on all three below.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#542: Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3, How to Pick the Right Hill to Climb, Finding the Right Amount of Crypto Regulation, Friends with Benefits, and the Untapped Potential of NFTsThis episode is brought to you by UCAN. I was introduced to UCAN and its unique carbohydrate SuperStarch® by my good friend—and listener favorite—Dr. Peter Attia, who said there is no carb in the world like it. I have since included it in my routine, using UCAN’s powders to power my workouts, and the bars make great snacks. Extensive scientific research and clinical trials have shown that SuperStarch provides a sustained release of energy to the body without spiking blood sugar. UCAN is the ideal way to source energy from a carbohydrate without the negatives associated with fast carbs, especially sugar. You avoid fatigue, hunger cravings, and loss of focus.
Whether you’re an athlete working on managing your fitness or you need healthy, efficient calories to get you through your day, UCAN is an elegant energy solution. My listeners can save 30% on their first UCAN order by going to UCAN.co/Tim.
This episode is brought to you by Tonal! Tonal is the world’s most intelligent home gym and personal trainer. It is precision engineered and designed to be the most advanced strength studio on the market today. Tonal uses breakthrough technology—like adaptive digital weights and AI learning—together with the best experts in resistance training so you get stronger, faster. Every program is personalized to your body using AI, and smart features check your form in real time, just like a personal trainer.
Try Tonal , the world’s smartest home gym, for 30 days in your home, and if you don’t love it, you can return it for a full refund. Visit Tonal.com for $100 off their smart accessories when you use promo code TIM100 at checkout.
This episode is brought to you by Theragun! Theragun is my go-to solution for recovery and restoration. It’s a famous, handheld percussive therapy device that releases your deepest muscle tension. I own two Theraguns, and my girlfriend and I use them every day after workouts and before bed. The all-new Gen 4 Theragun is easy to use and has a proprietary brushless motor that’s surprisingly quiet—about as quiet as an electric toothbrush.
Go to Therabody.com/Tim right now and get your Gen 4 Theragun today, starting at only $199.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear my most recent interview with Naval? Lend an ear to our conversation in which we discussed why there’s no such thing as science with a capital S, the problems that arise when jargon masquerades as knowledge, how to get rich without getting lucky, get-rich-quick schemes for losers, anxiety control, cryptocurrency (of course), and more.
#473: Naval Ravikant on Happiness, Reducing Anxiety, Crypto Stablecoins, and Crypto StrategySELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Chris Dixon:Website | Twitter | Medium | a16z
Connect with Naval Ravikant:Website | Twitter | AngelList | Naval Podcast
Software Is Eating the World | Andreessen HorowitzFounder CollectiveVitalik Buterin, Creator of Ethereum, on Understanding Ethereum, ETH vs. BTC, ETH2, Scaling Plans and Timelines, NFTs, Future Considerations, Life Extension, and More (Featuring Naval Ravikant) | The Tim Ferriss Show #504Naval Ravikant on Happiness, Reducing Anxiety, Crypto Stablecoins, and Crypto Strategy | The Tim Ferriss Show #473The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency — Nick Szabo | The Tim Ferriss Show #244Naval Ravikant — The Person I Call Most for Startup Advice | The Tim Ferriss Show #97“Otherwise Do Something Else” | Chris DixonGödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R Hofstadter | AmazonHow Aristotle Created the Computer | The AtlanticBitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto | BitcoinThe Bible | AmazonWhat the Smartest People Do on the Weekend Is What Everyone Else Will Do during the Week in Ten Years | Chris DixonHomebrew Computer Club | WikipediaIBMMoore’s Law | WikipediaThe Geometric Design and Computation Group: History | The University of UtahWhat is Web3? The Decentralized Internet of the Future Explained | Free Code CampCryptoPunks – The NFTs That Started It All. Their Origin Story and Future Plans | Modern FinanceEthereumHashcash | WikipediaThe Alice in Wonderland Omnibus Including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel | AmazonWhat is the Byzantine Generals Problem? | CoinCentralProof of Work (PoW) | InvestopediaBlockchain 101: The Simplest Guide You Will Ever Read | VelotioHypertext Transfer Protocol | WikipediaSimple Mail Transfer Protocol | WikipediaRSS | WikipediaOn Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem by A. M. Turing | Proceedings of the London Mathematical SocietyIntroduction to Smart Contracts | Ethereum.orgNFTs: Blockchain-Powered Art, Trading Cards, Music, and More with Aftab Hossain | Modern FinanceCoinbaseReal Estate Investment Trust (REIT) | InvestopediaHousing Cooperatives: A Unique Type of Home Ownership | InvestopediaIs Spotify’s Model Wiping Out Music’s Middle Class? | The Ringer“Tokens Give Users Property Rights: The Ability to Own a Piece of the Internet.” | Chris Dixon, TwitterOpen-Source Software | WikipediaLEGOThe Composability of Identity across Web2 and Web3 | MirrorAPI | WikipediaDeFi (Decentralized Finance) | InvestopediaWhat Is an Automated Market Maker? | CoinDeskDecentralized Trading Protocol | Uniswap‘Crush Them’: An Oral History of the Lawsuit That Upended Silicon Valley | The RingerLinuxWhere the World Builds Software | GitHubSoft Fork vs. Hard Fork: Differences Explained | CointelegraphSoftware-as-a-Service (SaaS) | InvestopediaStar WarsHow to Get Rich with Naval Ravikant | Akira the Don“Productize Yourself” -Naval | Smart Nonsense, TwitterIllustrations for the Almanack of Naval Ravikant | Jack Butcher, TwitterAlmanack of Naval Ravikant | Eric Jorgenson1,000 True Fans | The TechniumThe Bored Ape Yacht ClubMichigan Brewer Launches Bored Ape IPA to Honor Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT | Travel the MittenBored Ape Yacht Club Sells $96 Million of Mutant Ape NFTs in One Hour | DecryptWhere Stories Live | WattpadThe Official Home of Harry Potter | Wizarding WorldReal Money Starts to Pour into Math-Based Currencies Like Bitcoin | QuartzPonzi Scheme (Fraudulent Investing Scam) | InvestopediaFiat vs. Crypto & Digital Currencies | GeminiHODL | InvestopediaCryptoPunk NFT Holder Offered $9.5 Million In Largest Deal That Wasn’t | International Business TimesFun and Games on the Blockchain | Dapper LabsCollect and Breed Furrever Friends | CryptoKittiesSubstackFoundationGlobal Fantasy Football | SorarePlay to Earn | Yield Guild Games (YGG)Madden NFL | WikipediaFortniteSupercellClash RoyaleLeague of LegendsA Digital Nation | Axie InfinityPlay-to-Earn Gaming with Yield Guild Games | PROOFDecentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) | InvestopediaFlamingo DAO – What You Should Know About Decentralized Autonomous Organizations With Priyanka Desai And Aaron Wright | Modern FinanceRingers by Dmitri Cherniak | Art BlocksArtist Spotlight: Ringers with Dmitri Cherniak | PROOFThe Eternal Pump by Dmitri Cherniak | OpenSeaMark Zuckerberg Is Betting Facebook’s Future on the Metaverse | The VergeAJ: Data Scientist Turned NFT Specialist | Zima RedMoneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis | AmazonNatively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale | Sotheby’sGall’s Law: A Rule of Thumb for Designing Complex Systems That Work by Jorge Arango | PrototyprWhy Steam Should Not Ban NFT Games | Enjin BlogWhat is Skeuomorphism? | Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF)Dude Perfect | YouTubeLoot Is a Viral Social Network That Looks Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen by Casey Newton | PlatformerDom HofmannThe Velvet UndergroundDel.icio.us (Website) | WikipediaFlickrPinterestSnow Crash by Neal Stephenson | AmazonReady Player One | Prime VideoWhat Is a Blockchain Wallet? | InvestopediaZero Knowledge Proof: Explain it Like I’m 5 (Halloween Edition) | Hacker NoonChina Declares All Crypto-Currency Transactions Illegal | BBCChina to Release National Blockchain Standard Next Year, Says Official: Report | CoinDeskClimbing the Wrong Hill | Chris DixonThe Exploration-Exploitation Trade-Off: Intuitions and Strategies | Towards Data ScienceCurrent Crypto DeFi Yield Farming Rankings | CoinMarketCapCFTC Reminds SEC “We Regulate Derivatives Not Digital Assets” | YahooKnow Your Customer (KYC) | Wikipediaa16z Crypto Investments | Andreessen HorowitzCoin CenterHere’s How Austinites Think the City Failed during the Texas Freeze | KUT RadioBitcoin Maximalism | InvestopediaRegulators Want to Break up Facebook. That’s a Technical Nightmare, Insiders Say. | The Washington PostWeb3 Policy | Andreessen HorowitzA Legal Framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations | Andreessen HorowitzAlgorithmic, Autonomous Interest Rate Protocol | CompoundCoronavirus, Record Stimulus Halt Us Dollar’s Show of Strength | DWUS Takes Bitcoin Mining Crown After China Crackdown | WSJUS House Committee on Financial ServicesDotcom Bubble | InvestopediaInteroperability | WikipediaTim Ferriss, the Man Who Put His Money Behind Psychedelic Medicine | The New York TimesNavy SEAL FoundationLabor Theory Of Value | InvestopediaFriends With Benefits DAOTrident Spearmint Sugar Free Gum, 24 Packs of 14 Pieces (336 Total Pieces) | AmazonEmpires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World by Jill Jonnes | AmazonThe Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge | AmazonLimited Liability Company (LLC) | InvestopediaDecentralized Finance (DeFi) | Ethereum.orgSword | Western European | The Metropolitan Museum of Art“If You Can’t See Yourself Working with Someone for Life, Don’t Work with Them for a Day.” | Naval, TwitterNFTs, Generative Art, and Sol LeWitt by Mitchell Chan | MediumTyler Hobbs – Designing NFT Generative Art with a Traditional Touch | Modern FinanceFidenza | Tyler HobbsArt Blocks – Generative NFT Art with Erick Snowfro | Modern Finance 8Manifold‘Clear the Kitchen Table’: How Apple and IBM Marketed the First Personal Computers | The AtlanticDan BricklinDan Bricklin Invented the Spreadsheet — But Don’t Hold That against Him | Quartz10 Secrets of The Mona Lisa | LeonardoDaVinci.netHow Can NFT Ticketing Disrupt the Ticketing Industry? | Leeway HertzSHOW NOTESChris explains his interest in philosophy and the advice given to him by philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett. [07:44]How long is Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper? [11:05]What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in 10 years. How this has been true of the development of the personal computer, and how will this play out with blockchain technologies and cryptocurrency? [12:20]The problems proof-of-work system Hashcash was created to solve, and how it was adopted by we know today as Bitcoin. [17:02]What is the Byzantine Generals Problem, and how does it relate to decentralization? [19:36]What are Web1, Web2, and Web3? [20:20]Digital scarcity, open source, composability, and the real promise of Web3. [27:01]What gives digital assets like altcoins and NFTs value? [41:53]How Web3 rewards creative people in ways Web2 has only robbed them. [50:07]How video games are adapting to the Web3 world. [55:45]Naval expands on the idea of NFTs being more than the sum of their JPGs. [1:01:12]The data science of Sorare. [1:04:28]Don’t have a house to offer as collateral on that loan? Maybe the bank will accept your CryptoPunk. [1:06:16]What Gall’s Law tells us about who will win in the battle between decentralized gaming and centralized gaming. [1:07:35]How skeuomorphic design has been used in the past, and how it will fit into a Web3 world. [1:08:47]A couple of recommendations to prepare you for Web3. [1:15:42]Weaknesses of — and challenges presented by — Web3. [1:16:31]What is hill climbing in computer science, and how can you be sure you’re not climbing the wrong one? [1:22:38]You’re not late to the party (yet): decentralization is still in its early days. [1:26:41]The sticky wicket of regulating decentralization with archaic laws designed to govern the world where our grandparents and great-grandparents grew up. [1:28:33]How mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is held back by the same political divides that are holding back society. [1:32:40]How do novices — especially policymakers — even begin to wrap their minds around what’s going on in the world of crypto and separate signal from noise? [1:34:24]Thoughts on decentralizing the American Dream to preserve the US as a bastion of innovation. [1:35:48]Policymakers who seem to have the right idea about how to coexist with crypto, and what Chris and Naval think sensible regulation should look like. [1:41:24]Streamlining philanthropy, fundraising, and production by blockchain. [1:47:08]Where does Chris rate on the hierarchy of vices with his gum-chewing habit? [1:53:56]Most gifted books. [1:55:04]“Wen Tim Ferriss NFT drop?” [1:59:10]How DAOs can serve communities, organizations, and governments in the real world. [2:00:09]A disclaimer: do not take anything you hear on this episode as financial advice! Support the projects that genuinely appeal to you rather than trying to predict the future and cash out with a fistful of crypto. [2:03:54]The lens through which Chris views NFTs. [2:07:57]Further thoughts on motivations for participating in NFT markets. [2:09:07]How the NFT market has finally made generative art profitable for the artists who create it, and why now may be the greatest time in history for creative people. [2:12:31]Are we in “the kitchen recipe period” of NFTs? [2:16:04]Still don’t get NFTs? Consider, instead, the humble sneaker. [2:19:21]Vetting customers and ticketing with NFTs. [2:20:59]Friends with Benefits and other spiffy DAOs. [2:22:11]Parting thoughts. [2:25:03]MORE CHRIS DIXON AND NAVAL RAVIKANT QUOTES FROM THE EPISODE“We were told the internet is bad for creative people. The internet is not bad for creative people. Web2 is bad for creative people.”
— Chris Dixon
“Denying and pushing back against NFTs and crypto is basically saying, “We’re not going to have a collectively owned future. We’re going to have a corporate-owned future, and we’re going to have a government-owned future.'”
— Naval Ravikant
“As with all sorts of tech things and money involved, there are bad people. It’s just inevitable. It happened in the ’90s; it happened in the 2000s. It happens now. And those people give Web3 a very bad name. We want to get rid of those people.”
— Chris Dixon
“Where we started was we actually decentralized the hardest thing. The hardest thing to decentralize is money. And once you have money decentralized, then you can own private property.”
— Naval Ravikant
“The killer app of the internet is networks. We’ve got a million networks built on this thing now.”
— Chris Dixon
“Any regulator that stops the next generation of artists and musicians and gamers and game developers from owning their platforms and their work is going to go into the wastebasket of history as a villain. It’s that simple.”
— Naval Ravikant
“Step one will be you take the existing artists and they get more money. Step two is you’re going to incentivize a whole new generation to go do these cool things.”
— Chris Dixon
“This should be the greatest time in history for creative people.”
— Chris Dixon
“I really believe very strongly that one of the most important things you can do is just go speak to a lot of people. That’s where I get all of my information is talking to entrepreneurs, talking to people that are smarter than me.”
— Chris Dixon
“I think Web3 is not only better for the world, but it’s also going to beat Web2. It’s going to be more popular because the people get really excited when they actually get to participate.”
— Chris Dixon
