Going Direct Conversations

Jordan Wolfe
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Going Direct explores the decentralization of the real economy and how new technologies can bring us closer to the products we buy and the people who make them. goingdirect.substack.com

  1. #58 Aaron Feigelman: A New Model for Food Distribution in America

    6 天前

    #58 Aaron Feigelman: A New Model for Food Distribution in America

    I sit down with Aaron Feigelman, the head of food systems at Cultured Supply, to discuss the hidden monopoly of broadline food distributors and the need to reimagine wholesale food distribution from the ground up. We discuss why the current supply chain forces suppliers to kill the nutrients in our food, High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology, and how the company we’ve been incubating, CS Juice, is using AI to build a decentralized distribution network for food service. Enjoy! Watch/listen on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts Recording date: March 25, 2026 Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:19 Aaron's Interest In Improving The US Food System 05:12 Taking A Full-Stack Approach 07:23 Introducing CS Juice? 10:54 Understanding Broadline Distribution 14:44 High Pressure Processing (HPP) Technology 17:17 HPP vs. Heat Pasteurization 18:45 HPP Products In The Food Industry 20:10 Why New Local Food Distributors Keep Failing 26:19 The Production Layer & Vertical Integration 30:44 Why Vertical Integration Is Not Common In Food 40:24 Importance Of Going Direct 42:45 70% Margin Or Die In Traditional Retail 45:27 Why Software Alone Doesn’t Work 48:56 Americans Pay A Lot For Low Quality Product 52:26 Reimagining The Food System From First Principle 53:40 Amazon vs Etsy 59:28 Customer Service & Building Loyalty * Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe * Connect with Aaron: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronfeigelman/ * CS Juice: https://www.csjuice.com/ Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    1 小時 5 分鐘
  2. #57 Scott Porter: America Runs on This $80 Billion Industry

    3月24日

    #57 Scott Porter: America Runs on This $80 Billion Industry

    I sit down with Scott Porter, founder of Dynamic Green Products (DGP), to unpack an overlooked, unsexy corner of the real economy that literally keeps everything moving: industrial lubricants. Nearly 99% of lubricants today are petroleum-based. They’re part of an old, centralized system built on commodity inputs, distributor choke points, and entrenched incumbent brands. DGP is building high-performance, bio-based lubricants made from American-grown plants and soybeans. They are engineered to be drop-in replacements that outperform petroleum. But this conversation goes beyond oil. It’s about: * Changing how professionals buy lubricants by going direct * Disrupting a distributor-dominated industry * Competing with entrenched incumbents * Rebuilding domestic supply chains from the ground up Enjoy. Listen/watch on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts Recording date: January 29, 2026 Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:18 What’s Wrong With Industrial Lubricants 06:23 Dynamic Green Products Overview 11:42 Performance: Why Plants Can Beat Petroleum 16:38 People: Operator Health And Safety 19:22 Planet: Using American-grown Plants, Not Petroleum 20:09 Working With World’s Largest Equipment Brands 24:07 Applying The Going Direct Framework To DGP 26:11 Pillar #1: Production 30:41 Pillar #2: Wholesale Distribution 34:30 Amazon vs Bricks-and-Mortar Retail 45:49 Pricing Strategies for Bio-Based Products 49:02 Supporting American Farmers And Building Domestic Supply Chains 54:01 Reconnecting Production And Consumption 55:03 Creators And The Future of Buying Lubricants 01:01:26 Importance Of Knowing Your Customers 01:06:13 Rapid Fire Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe Scott & DGP Links: * Website: https://dgpworks.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-porter-a09644b/ Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    1 小時 9 分鐘
  3. #56 Andra Keay: 5 Ethical Laws of Robotics & The Future of Automation

    3月17日

    #56 Andra Keay: 5 Ethical Laws of Robotics & The Future of Automation

    I sit down with Andra Keay, a researcher on human-robot culture and head of Silicon Valley Robotics. We discuss the importance of ethical design in robotics, why humans form deep emotional bonds with physical machines, her 5 ethical laws of robotics, and how we can design robots that are actually good for humans. Enjoy! Recording date: March 10, 2026 Watch on YouTube; listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:30 About Silicon Valley Robotics 08:49 Designing Robots That Are Good For Humans 17:51 Why We Treat Robots Like Humans 21:46 Children And Robots 25:36 Creating Robots That Emulate Humans 30:38 Ethics And Incentive Structures In Robotics 34:51 Andra’s Five Laws Of Robotics 42:55 Policy And Regulation In Robotics 44:26 Community Building In Robotics 45:46 Andra’s Work At Singularity University 48:48 Rapid Fire Follow Jordan on X * https://x.com/jrwolfe Connect with Andra Keay * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andra-keay * Substack: robotsandstartups@substack.com * Silicon Valley Robotics: https://www.svrobo.org/ Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    54 分鐘
  4. #55 Toby Shorin: Financialization & The Death Of Culture

    3月10日

    #55 Toby Shorin: Financialization & The Death Of Culture

    I sit down with Toby Shorin, a researcher, writer, and technologist, to discuss his popular essay “Life After Lifestyle.” We dig into why the lifestyle brand era has ended, how culture is being “eaten” by financialization, and why Toby is starting to abandon culture as the main lens for understanding what’s happening now. Enjoy! Recording Date: February 18, 2026 Watch on YouTube; listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:36 Understanding The Going Direct Economy 05:07 Brands Structure Our Relationships 06:09 Life After Lifestyle Article 08:37 The Era Of Lifestyle Brands 16:31 Culture As A Concept Is Only 200 Years Old 17:29 Culture vs. Tradition: A New Perspective 20:20 The Financialization Of Everything 26:15 Will AI & Robotics Create More Centralization? 34:19 Controlling Production = Controlling Minds 35:36 Defining The Cultural Production Service Economy 36:24 From Making Goods To Making Culture 44:21 Why Toby is Abandoning "Culture" 48:37 Closing The Door On The Past 59:39 Toby's Background Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe Links to Toby’s Work: * Website: https://tobyshorin.com/ * Email: toby@otherinter.net * Essay: “Life After Lifestyle”: https://subpixel.space/entries/life-after-lifestyle/ * Essay: “After Authenticity”: https://subpixel.space/entries/after-authenticity/ Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    1 小時 6 分鐘
  5. #54 Saman Farid: America Doesn’t Have a Robot Problem. It Has a Deployment Problem.

    2月24日

    #54 Saman Farid: America Doesn’t Have a Robot Problem. It Has a Deployment Problem.

    I sit down with Saman Farid, founder of Formic, to get real about what it takes to deploy industrial robots in practice. We go deep into robotics-as-a-service, how we can make manufacturing more productive, and the labor reality for small/medium-sized manufacturers in the United States. If you want a dose of robot reality beyond flashy demo videos, you will enjoy this episode. Among the topics we discuss are: * Deployment gap in the robotics * Hidden labor crisis * Robotics as a Service (RaaS) * China vs U.S. manufacturing culture * How Formic turns automation from CAPEX to OPEX for their customers * Scale through coordination vs consolidation Watch on YouTube; listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Enjoy. Recording date: February 11, 2026 Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:49 Why Factory Tours Should Be Mandatory 09:08 State Of US Manufacturing 16:36 Chinese vs American Approach To Manufacturing 18:57 The Labor Debate 25:40 Breaking Down Robotics-As-A-Service 35:37 Importance Of Geographical Density 37:47 Financing Automation 40:55 Scale Through Coordination vs Control 45:45 Challenges In Robotics Adoption 51:40 Formic Capital Strategy 56:26 Formic Longer-Term Vision 58:13 Rapid Fire Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe Connect with Saman Farid: * X – https://x.com/samanfarid * LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanfarid/ * Website – https://formic.co/ Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    1 小時 4 分鐘
  6. #53 Jan Liphardt: The Battle Over Who Controls The Robots

    2月17日

    #53 Jan Liphardt: The Battle Over Who Controls The Robots

    I sit down with Jan Liphardt, founder of OpenMind and Stanford professor, to discuss an important question that will shape the future: who should control intelligent robots? As AI and robotics converge, our economic and societal trajectory may hinge on whether robots become closed, black-box systems or open platforms that anyone can build on, audit, and deploy locally. Jan and the team at OpenMind are building OM1: an open-source, AI-native software stack for robotic systems. Think of it as Android for humanoids, with an App Store where developers can ship new skills to robots in the real world. Enjoy! Watch on YouTube; listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Recording Date: January 23, 2026 Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:15 Different Views On The Main Bottleneck In Robotics 09:50 OM1 - An AI-Native Operating Systems For Robots 14:51 Building The Connective Tissue 20:16 Future Of Dexterity 24:03 Openmind’s Hardware-Agnostic Approach 28:32 Vertical Integration vs. Open Collaboration 30:31 Building An App Store For Humanoids 38:26 Long Tail Of Robot Training Data 43:49 Data Utilization Challenges 46:13 Edge AI And Hardware 52:37 Working With OEMs and Enterprises 59:58 Why Start A Company Now 01:07:06 Rapid Fire Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe Jan & OpenMind Links: * Website – https://openmind.org * GitHub – https://github.com/OpenMind/OM1 * Email – jan@openmind.org Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    1 小時 13 分鐘
  7. #52 Meta Prime: Rebuilding The Social Structure in America

    2月11日

    #52 Meta Prime: Rebuilding The Social Structure in America

    I sit down with Meta Prime, a writer and online network builder whose work I discovered on Substack. Meta Prime and I do a deep dive into a recent essay he wrote titled, “The Necessity of Rebuilding the Social Structure in America.” We explore how and why America’s social fabric broke down, what rebuilding it looks like in practice, and how the Going Direct economy can play a central role in restoring it. Enjoy! Watch on YouTube; listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Recording Date: January 08, 2026 Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 04:51 Meta Prime’s Essay: The Necessity For Rebuilding Social Structure 12:11 Defining Social Structure 20:31 How To Start Rebuilding The Social Structure 27:23 Meta Prime Project Background 35:42 Building Parallel Systems 42:50 Going Direct And Rebuilding The Social Structure 47:16 Building Strong Networks In The Digital Age 49:58 Decentralization And The Future Of Systems 01:00:53 Building Practical Solutions 01:04:41 Understanding Fraternal Networks 01:08:27 Rapid Fire Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe Links to Meta Prime’s Work: * Website – https://metaprime001.com/ * Substack – https://substack.com/@metaprime001 * X (Twitter) – https://x.com/MetaPrime001 * Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/@metaprime001 Resources Mentioned: * Area 2 Farms – https://www.area2farms.com/ * Article: “On The Necessity of Rebuilding Social Structure” - https://metaprime.substack.com/p/on-the-necessity-of-rebuild-social Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    1 小時 16 分鐘
  8. #51 Sam Lessin: A VC’s Take On Why Decentralization Is Inevitable

    2月3日

    #51 Sam Lessin: A VC’s Take On Why Decentralization Is Inevitable

    I sit down with Sam Lessin, Cofounder and General Partner at Slow Ventures, to unpack why he believes decentralization is inevitable. Sam is an original thinker and really fun to talk to. He and the Slow team have built an impressive track record of being early and right. They’ve made early investments in Robinhood, Pinterest, Nextdoor, Solana, Airtable, and more. In this wide-ranging and entertaining conversation, we discuss: * How the Internet ironically became the greatest centralizing machine ever * How the, “Physics of Technology” make centralization and decentralization inevitable cycles * Why capitalism serves dollars, not people * Why Slow Ventures invests in unpopular ideas and refuses to be specialists * The brittle food system * VC’s broken incentives Enjoy! Watch on YouTube; listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Recording date: December 17, 2025 Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:44 Slow Ventures Approach To Investing 04:41 The Role Of Content In Venture Capital 07:41 Is Decentralization Inevitable? 15:24 Why The Internet Centralized Everything 17:43 Technology As Leverage To Decentralize 23:59 Incentive Structures In Decentralized Models 31:23 Early Facebook Days 32:09 Current Narrative In Silicon Valley 34:54 Delusion Of Greatness in Tech 37:09 Birth Of Slow Ventures 39:01 VC Challenges In Funding Decentralization 42:45 How AI Is Changing Seed Investing 45:47 Concept Of Memetic Warfare 49:33 Slow Ventures Etiquette School 51:32 Rapid Fire Follow Jordan on X: * https://x.com/jrwolfe Links to Sam’s Work: * X – https://x.com/lessin * Slow Ventures – https://slow.co/ * The Slow Ventures Guide to Etiquette – https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Etiquette-Technology-Finance-Society/dp/B0G43P4PBD Resources Mentioned: * Meme Lord – https://www.memelord.com/ Remember to go direct! Jordan P.S. Build with love This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goingdirect.substack.com

    55 分鐘
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簡介

Going Direct explores the decentralization of the real economy and how new technologies can bring us closer to the products we buy and the people who make them. goingdirect.substack.com

資訊

  • 創作者
    Jordan Wolfe
  • 活躍年代
    2025年 - 2026年
  • 集數
    54
  • 年齡分級
    兒少不宜
  • 版權
    © Jordan Wolfe
  • 節目網站
    Going Direct Conversations

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