Smart Friends

Eric Jorgenson

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

  1. #101 Tesla War Stories, Self-Driving at Waymo, and Building the Salesforce of BOM (Spencer Penn of LightSource)

    2월 3일

    #101 Tesla War Stories, Self-Driving at Waymo, and Building the Salesforce of BOM (Spencer Penn of LightSource)

    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:43) - Heroes and inspirations (00:07:14) - The rise of Chinese electric vehicles (00:12:13) - The Tesla experience (00:31:04) - Tesla's rapid development and industry impact (00:32:54) - The culture of speed and frugality at Tesla (00:34:10) - Elon's leadership and pressure tactics (00:37:22) - Transitioning from Tesla to Waymo (00:39:43) - Waymo's organizational structure and challenges (00:43:35) - The future of autonomous vehicles (00:54:34) - Founding Light Source and addressing procurement issues (01:00:23) - Conclusion and final thoughts Links: LightSource - https://lightsource.ai/ Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spenpenn/ Preorder the Book of Elon - https://a.co/d/02huhEee To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Quotes from Spencer: “It was the most fun I never want to have again.” (Describing his time at Tesla during the Model 3 production ramp) “The Model 3 seat feel is attuned directly to Elon’s butt.” “I’m not an Elon fanboy, but I’m also not a critic. I’m an optimist.” “Speed wins. After seeing both Tesla and Waymo, that’s my belief.” “We were the underdog. Eventually, it does end up feeling like you’re on the winning team.” “You couldn’t go into a meeting with Elon and show up empty-handed.” “This opportunity we’re pursuing at LightSource should have disappeared 20 years ago.” “ERP is the finance system of record. What’s Salesforce in reverse? That’s LightSource.” “The thing that surprised me: every company still runs procurement on spreadsheets and email.” “Tesla built their own ERP system from scratch. That’s not normal.” “There are things that are just core to the P&L of every business… and yet completely orphaned in the tech stack.”

    1시간 1분
  2. Interviewing Your Parents, Writing Through Fear, and One's First Book (Kyle Thiermann)

    1월 20일

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

    Title: #100 Interviewing Your Parents, Writing Through Fear, and One's First Book (Kyle Thiermann) Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:47) - The birth of a book: from idea to reality (00:04:01) - A pandemic epiphany: interviewing my dad (00:07:51) - The journey of a professional surfer and journalist (00:10:48) - Writing a book: challenges and insights (00:17:04) - The emotional depth of interviewing parents (00:22:40) - Balancing humor and vulnerability in writing (00:34:39) - Creating unique value in a book (00:41:59) - The power of a good title (00:44:31) - The importance of a book title (00:49:10) - Balancing writing and marketing (00:57:56) - Long-term marketing approach (01:10:16) - Navigating the publishing process (01:19:45) - Unexpected outcomes and reflections Links: One Last Question Before You Go - https://amzn.to/49JVWg2 Scribe Media - https://scribemedia.com/ To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Quotes from Kyle: “The interview process can be a kind of empathy drug.” “Write as if you are already dead.” “The ideas that won't go away are the ones worth chasing.” “I wanted to write the book that only I could write.” “Most people live their lives being rewarded for having the right answer, not the right question.” “Books are like malaria nets—people use them in ways you never expect.” “If I tell you to interview your parents, I have to show you what happened when I did.” “Marketing is an act of consideration and generosity.” “A lot of how-to books could be a one-page PDF. I refused to do that.” “Live events aren’t about selling books. They’re about making you feel like a winner as an author.” “The best advertisers I know create a mood shift immediately.” “Make fun of yourself. That’s how you earn the right to critique others.”

    1시간 25분
  3. #099 Jonathan Swanson: Scaling Thumbtack, 10x Delegation, and Designing an Ideal Life

    1월 6일

    #099 Jonathan Swanson: Scaling Thumbtack, 10x Delegation, and Designing an Ideal Life

    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:30) - Who are your heroes? (00:09:26) - The infancy and evolution of Athena (00:15:12) - Inflection points (00:18:14) - Jonathan’s reasoning for going public with interviews (00:20:08) - How do you pick countries to work in? (00:22:41) - Who is the core Athena customer? (00:28:09) - Jonathan’s 6 EAs (00:32:13) - Surprising things Jonathan’s delegated (00:35:42) - Broadening your scope of what’s possible with assistants (00:42:05) - A day in the life with multiple EAs (00:45:41) - Delegation within EAs (00:50:31) - Family dynamics with EAs (00:54:07) - The 2050 version of Athena Links: Athena - https://www.athena.com/ Rolling Fun — https://www.rolling.fun To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: How Jonathan developed calm under extreme startup pressure Athena’s evolution from side hustle to billion-dollar vision Why great delegation is a skill, not magic Surprising personal and family delegation use cases Combining humans and AI for exponential leverage Quotes from Jonathan: “My mind is an inner citadel. I’ve got a good mind, a wife that loves me, and everything else is gravy.” “I started Athena with the sole goal of generating income for my wife and I to live off of.” “The vision of ​Athena​ is the best human assistants powered by the best AI.” “Humans are good UX. We’ve evolved to like humans.” “You don’t build the first Tesla without a steering wheel.” “We're building something that watches assistants work, not to replace them, but to augment them.” “Delegation is a J-curve. It's slower at first, but compounds.” “The cardinal sin of delegation is thinking, ‘It’s faster to do it myself.’” “You can think of an assistant as a cognitive prosthesis.” “Belief is the first limiter. Most people don’t believe time freedom is possible.” “Ask yourself: If I had a hundred more hours a week, what would I do?” Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

    56분
  4. Danielle Strachman: What Makes a Thiel Fellow

    2025. 11. 04.

    Danielle Strachman: What Makes a Thiel Fellow

    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:46) - Deep dive into the Thiel Fellowship (00:07:04) - Success stories and impact of Thiel Fellows (00:11:04) - Challenges and controversies (00:16:01) - Evolution and future of fellowship programs (00:18:39) - Early days of building the Thiel Fellowship (00:23:36) - Traits of a Thiel Fellow (00:33:24) - Nurturing genius (00:39:57) - Screen time & children (00:40:30) - Big screens vs. small screens (00:43:12) - Quality time and engaging activities (00:45:42) - Emotional depth and resilience in young founders (00:54:02) - The traits of innovators (01:04:08) - The journey of 1517 Fund (01:10:05) - Join the 1517 community Links: Rolling Fun — https://www.rolling.fun To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: The founding story and long-term vision behind the Thiel Fellowship Common traits among exceptional young founders, including curiosity, hyper fluency, and “dog on a leash” energy Lessons from supporting early pioneers like Vitalik Buterin, Dylan Field, and Laura Deming. How 1517 Fund backs young builders and “Wily weirdos” working on sci-fi-level ideas Danielle’s philosophy on education, parenting, and fostering genius in children Quotes from Danielle: “We weren’t looking for startup founders—we were looking for people on a mission.” “Dog-on-a-leash energy—that’s what we look for. We’re here to cut the leash.” “Hyperfluency is the ability to geek out with geeks, and still explain your work to your grandma at Thanksgiving.” “These people are kind of mutants—they don’t fit in typical systems.” “All kids under five are geniuses. The system just squashes it out of them.” “The most shocking thing? People publicly attacked the Fellows. Not just the program—the people. Teenagers.” “Crazy, crazy awesome—we can’t tell if they’re insane or brilliant, and it’ll take years to find out.” “Big screens good, small screens bad.” “In the future, I want to be funding 11-year-olds. The world won’t be ready, but I will be.” “We just want to talk to wily weirdos who want to be around other wily weirdos.”

    1시간 13분
  5. Brad Feld: Founding Techstars, Giving First, and Mentorship

    2025. 10. 21.

    Brad Feld: Founding Techstars, Giving First, and Mentorship

    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:49) - Heroes (00:10:50) - How do you know when it’s time to step away from something you started? (00:18:37) - Len Fassler (00:32:52) - Mentors and inflection points in life (00:39:07) - Brad’s book - Give First (00:47:58) - The role of books in Brad’s career Links: Scribe — https://scribemedia.com Give First: The Power of Mentorship - https://amzn.to/3KT3IvF To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: The role of heroes and mentors in shaping Brad’s values How "Give First" transformed startup culture How to let go of control while still fighting to the end for what matters Key mentors like Len Fassler and the life lessons they gave him Why reading, writing, and coding all serve as reflective practices  Quotes from Brad: "The best way to fly is to throw yourself at the ground and miss." (Zaphod Beeblebrox quote that Brad uses to describe startups) "I love to help things get started. That’s my favorite part of the journey." "Fight to the bitter end. You try until it doesn’t work anymore." "Some things don’t end. Some things outlive you—which is delightful." "The future does not belong to me. The future belongs to people 40 years younger than me." "Give First is not a religion. It’s a philosophy." "Your VC’s are not in control. The board members are not in control. The CEO is in control." "Books are core to so many things I do. Reading and writing are how I process the world." "I write books to understand better an idea and work out the idea." "Mentorship is about ways of being, not about following a set of rules." "Hibernation from social media gave me the creative space to finish the book I actually wanted to write." "People said, 'Brad’s the king of the Colorado startup community.' I hated that. I don’t want to be king—I want to be just one of the many leaders."

    58분
  6. Cal Riley: Special Ops, Grief, and Why Your Business Needs a Heart

    2025. 09. 30.

    Cal Riley: Special Ops, Grief, and Why Your Business Needs a Heart

    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:07) - Cal's military background (00:13:59) - Transitioning into a family business (00:19:35) - Implementing EOS (00:25:08) - The journey to compassionate leadership (00:36:16) - Prioritizing self-care and meditation (00:37:19) - Journaling techniques and prompts (00:39:02) - Mental health stigma and therapy (00:40:16) - Daily intentions and successes (00:42:28) - Leadership (00:47:28) - Coaching and team building (00:58:45) - Writing a book (01:03:10) - Resources Links: Scribe — https://scribemedia.com Entrepreneurial Compassion: An Entrepreneur’s Journey Through Combat, Suicide, and the Discovery of Compassionate Leadership - https://amzn.to/4nqH6AK To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: How military battle drills shaped Cal’s approach to business leadership How EOS changed about his company and personal life Why compassion is both a moral imperative and a business advantage Tactical ways Cal builds emotional awareness into his leadership habits How journaling, meditation, and presence help fuel resilience and clarity Quotes from Cal: "The more compassion I showed my team, the more profit we made. It’s not soft—it’s smart." "They’ll never care how much you know until they know how much you care." "Every really good unit has this thing called a tactical SOP—just like your business has processes." "EOS gave me the ability to step back, let the team lead, and focus on building the future." "I went from working 90 hours a week in the business to now doing one meeting a week." "The business stops running you, and you start running it." "When we can be driven and compassionate, the sky’s the limit." "As entrepreneurs, we’re good at putting out fires—and if there isn’t one, we’ll start one just to feel busy." "My brother’s death has to mean something—this book is how I make sure something good comes from it." "I want to create a million compassionate leaders and prevent a hundred thousand suicides." "This isn't about monetizing trauma—every cent from the book goes to suicide prevention." Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship   There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant   You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.     Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

    1시간 5분
  7. My Conversation with Naval on Building Judgement

    2025. 09. 23.

    My Conversation with Naval on Building Judgement

    It's been five years since the Almanack of Naval Ravikant was published. I spent the day with Naval expanding on key ideas from the book. We recorded hours of that conversation to share with you. This episode is a portion of that long conversation that talks about Building Judgement You can purchase the new expanded edition with nearly 4 hours of new material on Audible here: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant-Audiobook/B0FBCP1JWJ Chapters: 00:00 The Search for Something Perfect & Permanent 03:00 Timeless vs. Timely Knowledge 06:00 Truth, Reach & Universal Theories 09:00 From Specifics to General Principles 12:00 Learning by Doing – Experience First 15:00 Judgment, Taste & the Role of Reflection 18:00 Investing, Taste & Post-Wealth Choices 21:00 Hard Work, Focus & Breakthroughs 24:00 From Logic to Intuition to Taste 27:00 AI, Information Retrieval & Human Creativity 30:00 Leverage of Software Engineers with AI 33:00 The iPhone as the Greatest Product of the Age 36:00 Entrepreneurs, Creativity & Using AI as a Tool To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend

    35분
  8. My Conversation with Naval on Saving Yourself

    2025. 09. 23.

    My Conversation with Naval on Saving Yourself

    It's been five years since the Almanack of Naval Ravikant was published. I spent the day with Naval expanding on key ideas from the book. We recorded hours of that conversation to share with you. This episode is a portion of that long conversation that talks about Saving Yourself You can purchase the new expanded edition with nearly 4 hours of new material on Audible here: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant-Audiobook/B0FBCP1JWJ Chapters: 00:00 Virtues as Long-Term Selfishness & Cheap Dopamine 03:00 Fixing Local Problems Before Global Activism 06:00 Spreadability vs. Correctness of Ideas 09:00 Truth as Survival in the Multiverse 12:00 Authenticity, Ego & Removing the Mask 15:00 Modern Traps, Hedonism & Religion’s Role 18:00 Finding the People, Work & Place That Need You Most 21:00 Exploration, Investment & Compound Interest 24:00 Learning Through Iterations, Not Hours 27:00 Choosing Your Environment & Adapting It 30:00 Envy vs. Inspiration – Choosing the Better Path 33:00 Heroes, Resonance & The Legacy of Steve Jobs 36:00 Universal Human Potential & Breaking Labels To support the costs of producing this podcast:  >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/  >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage  >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend

    36분

소개

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

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