Smart Friends

Today my guest is Cliff Kuang, author of a fantastic book called User Friendly: How The Hidden Rules of Design are Reshaping The Way We Live, Work, and Play, which was called a "tour de force" by the New York Times. He was the Design editor of Fast Company, and Editor at Wired Magazine. From there he went on to work at Google as a Senior Staff Designer on an innovations team. Cliff is obsessive about the deepest challenges facing UX design today such as the metaphors that undergird what we do, the future of digital ecosystems, and the future experiences those ecosystems can unlock. Enjoy these topics and many more on this episode of Jorgenson’s Soundbox! Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: What Cliff is doing to change the entire landscape of user interface What a unicorn is within the design industry and why they’re a dying breed The universal problem of design What is “good” design How metaphor and feedback are at the core of user interface How design is empathetic Why we are in the ever-present of user interface Additional Resources: User Friendly Cliff’s Twitter Eric Jorgenson Newsletter Eric Jorgenson Twitter Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed: Eric Jorgenson: Metagames, Feedback Loops and Transcending The Muggle World Sky King: The Next Level of the Internet, Decentralization, and Becoming a Player in the Game of Life Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

Mitchell Baldridge is an accountant and financial planner who also identifies as a libertarian anarchist crypto-degenerate. We talk through the creation of his firm, everything financial planning entails, and how he flipped a Bored Ape NFT for $250k. A little something for everyone today! Mitchell can’t be everyone’s personal planner and accountant, (though he is mine and I’m very grateful for that!) but he offers expertise that can help anyone. Taxes are likely your single largest expense over your entire life, so it pays to understand them. Be sure to tweet or email me so I know what you think of the episode, and be well! Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: Crypto plays in the public markets Wealth-building and preservation strategies 101 resources for people who want to self-educate on financial planning and taxes How web3 could affect accounting and tax over a 20-year time horizon? Mitchell’s business specifically What is the path and what do you learn to become a CFP and accountant When should someone start working with a CFP or accountant? How do you know if you have a good accountant? A good financial planner? Additional Resources: Mitchell Twitter Eric Jorgenson Newsletter Eric Jorgenson Twitter Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed: Eric Jorgenson: Metagames, Feedback Loops and Transcending The Muggle World Sky King: The Next Level of the Internet, Decentralization, and Becoming a Player in the Game of Life Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

Just me and you today, dear listener -- and I’m going to talk through some ideas that have been fascinating me recently, weaving together authors like Rory Sutherland, Eliezer Yudkowsky, and Nassim Taleb. As I reviewed my highlights from books, blogs and articles that I’ve been collecting over the past 10 years the main ideas that jumped out at me are playing the metagame and feedback loops. Both of these are ways to transcend the muggle world and start playing a different game. I hope you enjoy this format -- if you love it (or hate it, actually), please tweet or email me so I know whether to ever do this again. It’s all part of the sandbox experience! Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: What are Metagames How Metagames change the game and allow you to dominate What are feedback loops Why we accept false barriers to cushion our egos Places to intervene in a system The power of transcending paradigms How a system can be destroyed by ignoring feedback How to expand your theoretical fish tank Favorite Quotes: “In any system where there are norms, there are strengths and weaknesses to those norms. If you follow the norms of the system, the results you get are likely to be the norm. When you play a different game, a metagame, you have the opportunity to outperform.” -fs.blog “Play the metagame in your domain too, whether you’re head of an organization or just starting out. Blowout the walls of your fish tank and transcend paradigms.” - Eric Jorgenson “False barriers are accepted because they are the path of least resistance for the ego” -Eric Jorgenson Additional Resources: Alchemy Rory Sutherland Moneyball Michael Lewis Inadequate Equilibria Eliezer Yudkowsky Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life Nassim Nicholas Taleb Systemantics. The Systems Bible John Gall and D.H. Gall User Friendly Cliff Kuang Structures J. E. Gordon Mike Barton Runs England’s Best Police Force. What Sets Him Apart? Readwise Eric Jorgenson Newsletter Eric Jorgenson Leverage Course Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed: Codie Sanchez: Learning Leverage From Drug Cartels, Vanguard, And Goldman Sachs Sky King: The Next Level of the Internet, Decentralization, and Becoming a Player in the Game of Life Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

Codie Sanchez has been a journalist embedded with cartels, worked fancy-pants finance jobs at Goldman Sachs and Vanguard, and now -- she is an independent investor and entrepreneur. She owns a direct interest in FORTY FIVE businesses, with more than 25 cash flows. Codie’s interests include boring businesses (like laundromats and property managers), online media companies, and service businesses. You’ll hear us drop “leverage” a few times in this interview, and though it wasn’t what I’d planned on talking about, I think Codie is a living example of the power of methodically applying leverage. If you want to build an independent career like Codie’s, you’ll love my course+community, called Building a Mountain of Leverage. Check it out at EJorgenson.com/Leverage Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: Putting money to work. (Angel Investing, Permanent Equity, Real Estate, and Stocks.) Leverage: The art of increasing your outcomes (tools, product, people, and capital.) How Codie keeps track of 45 different revenue streams What you can learn from cartels and spec ops organizations The universal language Why EQ is a better indicator for financial success than IQ How to create your own mentor How to build “free” equity How to withstand more than one bullet Favorite Quotes: “Civilize the mind, make savage the body, grow the revenue sheet” -Codie Sanchez “Money is just a tool. The more tools I have the more ability I have to construct the world I want and the world that I think is best for all and for me and for the people that are around me.” -Codie Sanchez “I think plans are normally for fairy tales. I truly believe that if people can follow their curiosity they're gonna end up exactly where they're supposed to be. The only thing you should be focused on is what is interesting to you, what you can get lost in.” -Codie Sanchez Additional Resources: Codie Sanchez Twitter Codie Sanchez Instagram UnconventionalAquisitions.com The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made Eric Jorgenson Newsletter Eric Jorgenson Leverage Course Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed: Andrew Wilkinson: Investing vs. Operating, De-risking Leverage, and The Best Part About Business Nick Huber: How to Leverage Twitter, an Abundance Mindset, and A Love of Chaos Andrew Finn of WaitButWhy: How To Acquire A Free Company And Knowing When To Eat A Shitburger Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

Today, we’re kicking off a new long-term segment, called Track Zach -- my buddy Zach Marshall just founded a company called Conterra, and is about 3 months into the journey. I plan to have a conversation with him every 3 months or so to get a real-time, much more honest, interesting look at startup life. Zach, now in his second career after the Navy SEALs, is setting his considerable will against a new challenge -- starting a venture-backed company to fix today’s outdated, broken system for hiring private security around the world. Enjoy the ride! If you’re not on my email list, fix that asap by going to ejorgenson.com -- I share weekly blog posts, podcast highlights, and new exciting new projects! Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: What drives someone to become a Navy SEAL What is private security? Conterra: the private security marketplace How Conterra is going to revolutionize a $50 billion dollar industry labor marketplace for private security industry The current state of Conterra and where it’s going Favorite Quotes: “In the military you have to learn things extremely fast and not just to pass a test, now you are responsible for these things. For example a skydiver in charge of a civilian drop in a stadium is coordinating all sorts of things and he has 10,000, maybe 5,000 jumps. Meanwhile I had to do the same thing in the service and I had around 65 jumps.” - Zach “In the military you’re just given this massive amount of responsibility so you have to actually pay attention to every detail. Attention to detail is one of those phrases said thousands and thousands of times in the spec ops community and it really is true.” - Zach Additional Resources: Conterra Email Zach: [email protected] Eric Jorgenson Newsletter Eric Jorgenson Leverage Course Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed: Andrew Wilkinson: Investing vs. Operating, De-risking Leverage, and The Best Part About Business Nick Huber: How to Leverage Twitter, an Abundance Mindset, and A Love of Chaos Andrew Finn of WaitButWhy: How To Acquire A Free Company And Knowing When To Eat A Shitburger Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

Today, I’m talking with my new Capital Camp buddy Andrew Finn. He is the co-founder of the blog Wait But Why. Since age 25 he’s been patiently building, buying, and operating small businesses. Now, he and Tim Urban share a portfolio of cash-flowing small businesses. Together we discuss how to get a free company, why it is often easier to buy a company than build it, and when to eat a shitburger. Enjoy these topics and countless others on this episode of Jorgenson’s Soundbox. Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: How to get a “free” business What a $100,000 failure in early stage podcasting looked like Why it’s easier to buy a company than build a company Why “doing it later” is a risk and the opportunity cost that comes with it The importance of judgement and getting experience making ‘real decisions’ How to be a legitimate player in “the game” An illustration of a jobless renegade pirate’s day looks like Eating shitburgers, and how to know when to stop Favorite Quotes: “If I do all this maneuvering, find this company, sell at this price, sell some debt and get some money. In 5 years it’ll be like poof here’s a free company and I get my money back.” - Andrew Finn “Your job is not to win the SMB game, it’s to win the game. It’s to win the game of money in a way that will benefit your life. Like, we’re invested in crypto, and the stock market too.” “All service businesses are chicken, just as much as software. You pay someone $X. Resell their time for $X + $Y. And the entirety of the business is justifying and expanding Y to both customers and workers. Y comes from well managed opex, capex, and organization structure. To do it well, you have to just laser focus on what you're providing in exchange for Y. The market gets pissed long-term if it doesn't feel like you're providing enough, and every day it conspires to ask you the question.” - Andrew’s Twitter Additional Resources: Wait But Why Andrew Finn’s Personal Blog G64ventures - Andrew’s holding company Andrew Finn Linkedin Jorgenson Leverage Course Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed: Andrew Wilkinson: Investing vs. Operating, De-risking Leverage, and The Best Part About Business Nick Huber: How to Leverage Twitter, an Abundance Mindset, and A Love of Chaos Sky King: The Next Level of the Internet, Decentralization, and Becoming a Player in the Game of Life If you enjoy podcasts with Brent Beshore of Permanent Equity or Patrick O’Shaughnessy, you’re going to love this one! Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

On this episode we welcome Index Coop, a DAO focused on building and governing crypto indexes. They want to be the Vanguard of Crypto. In our discussion we explore Simon’s journey from the US Marines to the world of crypto. Simon explains what Index Co-Op is and why it’s the most intense group he’s ever been a part of. Lastly, learn why people all over the globe are quitting their jobs to become a part of DAOs and more on this episode. Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: -What a DAO is and why they are so enticing -How people are making full time jobs out of crypto -How Index Co-op pays via governance tokens -The next generation of intra business communication -How Index Co-op plans to replace Vanguard in the next 10 years Favorite Quotes: ”With DeFi the technical barriers of today will be solved within a month from now, anything is possible.” Additional Resources: Index Co-op Website Index Co-op Forum Index Co-op Discord Jason Hitchcock Episode Sean O’Connor Episode Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

Sean O’Connor is a brilliant writer and marketer who has been working full-time in Crypto since 2016. Sean O’Connor is Head of Strategy at BlockNative, a blockchain infrastructure company. Previously, he was part of ConsenSys, an Ethereum startup studio, where he helped to launch and scale fan engagement dApps. His career has ranged from launching new digital products (big data and open source content), taking Mentored from vision to product in market, coaching for altMBA, and serving as the first Fulbright Scholar posted in Sri Lanka's former war region. Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: -What exactly the different iterations of Web technology have enabled -How Sean helped tokenize the first contract in pro sports with Spenser Dinwiddie -Why the US needs to lean into stable coins to become the internet’s reserve currency -How fan contributions to canon can be recognized and rewarded with blockchain -How crypto is reinventing collateralized debt products to make them safer -The different types of stable coins -Explaining Layer1 and Layer2 (L1/L2) of blockchain Favorite Quotes: “The fun part about crypto is that it’s permissionless and anyone can jump in, the hard part about crypto is that it’s permissionless and no one is gonna tell you to jump in you just have to leap” - Sean O’Connor “Follow your interests because if you're pulling on a thread you're excited about the odds are considerably higher that you’ll contribute in a meaningful way… If you think there's a problem or you see something broken speak up, contribute” - Sean O’Connor Additional Resources: Mental Models Email Series Mindfulness Meditations Book Sean's Website Sean's Twitter Cellarius White Paper Cellarius Universe Guide Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

On today’s episode I host Joe Hertler from the Michigan based funk/soul/pop band, Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers! Joe Hertler recorded his first album "The Hard Times LP" in 2009, in his college dorm room. He later went on to form his band The Rainbow Seekers and never looked back. Listen as we discuss: how the craft of songwriting works, how Joe got started, and why music is a universal language. Learn how a band actually works, what the path to their success looked like, and much more. Additional resources to help enrich your experience below: Topics Covered: -Why music is a universal language -The path to success in the music industry -The craft of songwriting -How Joe got started in the music industry -What makes a good song? -How bands actually work -An inside look at 250 days on tour Favorite Quotes: “Figure out who you are and what brings you joy and pursue that relentlessly”- Joe Hertler “Everybody has moments of genius the difference is how many people pay attention to capturing them and writing them down”- Eric Jorgenson Additional Resources: Live at Red Rocks AudioTree Full Session Live at The Russell First Music Video: Ego Loss on Grand River Avenue Quilted Attic Sessions - Carbon C14 Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage I appreciate your support!

On this episode I welcome Jason Hitchcock, crypto sensei and Principal at To The Moon Capital. Jason (Twitter: @JasonHitchcock) was among the few to be early to Ethereum, Helium, CryptoPunks, Alchemix, and more. He has 12 years of early stage startup experience and previously held a role at Twitch and Bebo. Listen as we explore DeFi, NFTs, intermediate wealth building, the Metaverse and much more. If you are new to the space I wanted to provide a quick glossary of terms and phrases that you might not be familiar with. Check it out here: Crypto Glossary: $ETH - I don’t own any Bitcoin. Bullish on Eth becoming the iOS of crypto. The next few months will be wild as miners are zeroed out, fees get burned, and staked eth yields go up. You cannot own enough eth. Setting up a validator is the easiest path to non trivial passive income $Luna - user friendly Defi gov token that gets more valuable as more $UST is minted $ALCX - self paying loans. ALCX will earn 10% of protocol fees in v2, and grow along with stablecoin demand $HNT - decentralized cellular network with parabolic growth $AKT - A decentralized version of AWS compute. Users pay bills with AKT and fees go to stakers at 56% apy $ATOM- the gov token for the blockchain-in-a-box. Earns fees with every cross-chain transaction on IBC, the standard for interoperability. $crv and $CVX: stake these to earn crazy yield from stablecoin swaps on Curve. $RUNE: cross chain liquidity of native assets. This will truly bring Bitcoin to defi. Insanely hard problem to solve is solved. $OGN - Shopify for NFT drops. OGN is making big deals, pay attention $MATIC - first mover of the L2s has already inhaled billions on liquidity, and launches major integrations every day. $SUSHI - not just an exchange; but offering a full suite of smart contract templates for projects to launch their token economy. And it earns fees when staked $AAVE - the perpetually undervalued lending platform that has an ocean of liquidity. $ETH2x-FLI a token that gives exposure to a perfectly executed 2x leverage strategy on Eth. When eth is up, this goes up double. No liquidations or gas fees! $osmo - osmosis is the uniswap of Cosmos and the first dex. It went to 100m in tvl in 2 weeks. Not bad! It’s the only place in defi to get all the Cosmos tokens. $MOB - mobile coin is the payments token for signal. If it works out, they have millions of users who’d benefit $ARCx - the first onchain credit score system for defi. Not all LPs or borrowers are the same. Protocols can give better liquidation levels or better rates depending on track record $RPL - if you believe staking ETH will be big, then the east staking-as-service will be too Cryptopunks- the first @larvalabs’s innovation predated the ERC-721 token standard and was the inspiration for it. Additional Resources: The Bull Case For Ethereum Bankless Newsletter Suggest People to Follow: -@CL207 -@RyanSAdams -@TrustlessState -@iamDCinvestor -@CryptoCobain (king of CT) Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support!

Nick Huber owns a real estate private equity company (http://boltstorage.com) in the self storage space. He owns 24 properties and over 630,000 rentable square feet in 4 states. He employees a team of 17 individuals and has raised over $10m in outside capital. Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support! Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games. You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant

Andrew Wilkinson is the co-founder of Tiny, a venture capital firm that has helped to build over 25 profitable internet businesses over the last 15 years. He got his start founding MetaLab, one of the world’s top design agencies. He has gone from working out of his apartment a little over a decade ago, to today overseeing a group of companies with over 300 employees and tens of millions in revenue. Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support! Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games. You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant

Sky King is an entrepreneur and podcaster, passionate about creating systems that incentivize authenticity in media. He founded his company Modern Stoa based in Austin, Texas where he helps podcasters like Aubrey Marcus, Paul Saladino, Luke Storey, and more create and monetize sincere media. His new podcast Sky King’s Mental Playground will be launching in late August on Supercast. If you want to be early to the party subscribe at skyking.substack.com Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for his help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking). If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support! Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games. You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant

In the very first episode of Jorgenson’s soundbox Eric Jorgenson sought to use this opportunity to answer some of your core questions around The Almanack of Naval including: What I learned creating the Almanack of Naval? What story is underrated from the Alamanack of Naval? What I have applied from The Almanack of Naval? And of course I answered questions about leverage! At the end of this episodes Erick Jorgenson We also go into what you can expect from Jorgenson's Soundbox. Topics can include DeFi, NFT's, How to put your money to work, education and much more. I hope you enjoy and continue on the journey to Jorgenson’s Soundbox. A huge thank you to Naval Ravikant, Tim Ferriss, Jack Butcher, and everyone who made this book possible. Thank you for helping Eric Jorgenson help others live the lives that they want to live. If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson >> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support! Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games. You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant

This final episode of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant includes Naval’s favorite books, his recommended reading, and more thoughts. This is a great resource to view Naval’s influences, and to find books to read deeper on key ideas from the book: investing, mental models, happiness, philosophy, and science. You’ll notice authors like Matt Ridley, Nassim Taleb, Richard Feynman, and more as well as some blog posts from Naval in this Epilogue. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Books: The truth is, I don’t read for self-improvement. I read out of curiosity and interest. The best book is the one you’ll devour. - Naval Ravikant Read enough, and you become a connoisseur. Then you naturally gravitate more toward theory, concepts, nonfiction. - Naval Ravikant I always spent money on books. I never viewed that as an expense. That’s an investment to me. - Naval Ravikant If you eat, invest, and think according to what the “news” advocates, you’ll end up nutritionally, financially, and morally bankrupt. - Naval Ravikant

Naval shares the biggest, deepest, oldest thoughts in this philosophy episode. What is the meaning of life? It turns out there are 3 answers, from Naval’s perspective. Naval shares the values that he lives by, and “rational buddhism” the foundation of his worldview, which involves science, evolution, and ancient eastern wisdom. At the end of the day, as Naval reminds us… the present is all we have. This very moment of consciousness to enjoy peace and find joy and happiness. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on The Meaning of Life: The real truths are heresies. They cannot be spoken. Only discovered, whispered, and perhaps read. - Naval Ravikant Before you can lie to another, you must first lie to yourself. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Values: Another example of a foundational value: I don’t believe in any short-term thinking or dealing. If I’m doing business with somebody and they think in a short-term manner with somebody else, then I don’t want to do business with them anymore. All benefits in life come from compound interest, whether in money, relationships, love, health, activities, or habits. I only want to be around people I know I’m going to be around for the rest of my life. I only want to work on things I know have long-term payout. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Wisdom and being present: The older the question, the older the answers. - Naval Ravikant Everyone starts out innocent. Everyone is corrupted. Wisdom is the discarding of vices and the return to virtue, by way of knowledge. - Naval Ravikant Inspiration is perishable—act on it immediately. - Naval Ravikant “Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now, and we will never be here again.” —Homer, The Iliad

As Naval says, life is a single-player game. No one else is going to make you rich. No one else is going to make you healthy. No one else is going to make you happy. You have to learn the discipline and clarity of living your own life your own way. Naval shows you the basics he has learned of health, diet, exercise, meditation, and mental strength. This is Naval’s basic blueprint for a happy life and a wealthy life. It starts with how you build yourself -- the foundation of everything. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Choosing Yourself: All you should do is what you want to do. If you stop trying to figure out how to do things the way other people want you to do them, you get to listen to the little voice inside your head that wants to do things a certain way. Then, you get to be you. - Naval Ravikant Your goal in life is to find the people, business, project, or art that needs you the most. There is something out there just for you. What you don’t want to do is build checklists and decision frameworks built on what other people are doing. You’re never going to be them. You’ll never be good at being somebody else. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Choosing To Care For Yourself: When everyone is sick, we no longer consider it a disease. - Naval Ravikant We evolved for scarcity but live in abundance. - Naval Ravikant I’m not an expert, and the problem is diet and nutrition are like politics: everybody thinks they’re an expert. Their identity is wrapped up in it because what they’ve been eating or what they think they should be eating is obviously the correct answer. Everybody has a little religion—it’s just a really difficult topic to talk about. I will just say in general, any sensible diet avoids the combination of sugar and fat together. - Naval Ravikant When it comes to medicine and nutrition, subtract before you add. - Naval Ravikant World’s simplest diet: The more processed the food, the less one should consume. - Naval Ravikant Important quotes from the podcast on Exercise: The harder the workout, the easier the day. - Naval Ravikant What I did was decide my number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health. It starts with my physical health. [4] Because my physical health became my number one priority, then I could never say I don’t have time. In the morning, I work out, and however long it takes is how long it takes. I do not start my day until I’ve worked out. I don’t care if the world is imploding and melting down, it can wait another thirty minutes until I’m done working out. - Naval Ravikant How you make a habit doesn’t matter. Do something every day. It almost doesn’t matter what you do. The people who are obsessing over whether to do weight training, tennis, Pilates, the high-intensity interval training method, “The Happy Body,” or whatever. They’re missing the point. The important thing is to do something every day. It doesn’t matter what it is. The best workout for you is one you’re excited enough to do every day. - Naval Ravikant

Naval has such a following because he is successful financially AND happy, in the sense that he has focused on learning happiness. Naval built happiness habits, reminders and behaviors that create an inner peace. This episode has Naval’s best ideas on how envy, success, and desire can interfere with your innate happiness, and how you can defend it or win it back. It all starts with realizing that happiness is a choice, and happiness is a skill. You can train yourself into happiness through perspectives and Naval’s small changes in thinking habits. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Happiness as a choice: The Tao Te Ching says this more articulately than I ever could, but it’s all duality and polarity. If I say I’m happy, that means I was sad at some point. If I say he’s attractive, then somebody else is unattractive. Every positive thought even has a seed of a negative thought within it and vice versa, which is why a lot of greatness in life comes out of suffering. You have to view the negative before you can aspire to and appreciate the positive. - Naval Ravikant If you believe Happiness is a choice you can start to work on it - Naval Ravikant The fundamental delusion: There is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever. - Naval Ravikant Happiness is being satisfied with what you have. Success comes from dissatisfaction. Choose. - Naval Ravikant Peace is happiness at rest, and happiness is peace in motion. You can convert peace into happiness anytime you want. But peace is what you want most of the time. If you’re a peaceful person, anything you do will be a happy activity. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Success and Desire: When working, surround yourself with people more successful than you. When playing, surround yourself with people happier than you. - Naval Ravikant Tell your friends you’re a happy person. Then, you’ll be forced to conform to it. You’ll have a consistency bias. You have to live up to it. Your friends will expect you to be a happy person. - Naval Ravikant Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Anxiety: I think a lot of us have this low-level pervasive feeling of anxiety. If you pay attention to your mind, sometimes you’re just running around doing your thing and you’re not feeling great, and you notice your mind is chattering and chattering about something. Maybe you can’t sit still…There’s this “nexting” thing where you’re sitting in one spot thinking about where you should be next. - Naval Ravikant It’s most obvious if you ever just sit down and try and do nothing, nothing. I mean nothing, I mean not read a book, I mean not listen to music, I mean literally just sit down and do nothing. You can’t do it, because there’s anxiety always trying to make you get up and go, get up and go, get up and go. I think it’s important just being aware the anxiety is making you unhappy. The anxiety is just a series of running thoughts. - Naval Ravikant How I combat anxiety: I don’t try and fight it, I just notice I’m anxious because of all these thoughts. I try to figure out, “Would I rather be having this thought right now, or would I rather have my peace?” Because as long as I have my thoughts, I can’t have my peace. - Naval Ravikant

Naval says building good judgement is a foundation to building wealth and getting rich. But how do we build judgement? How do we get smarter? Become wiser? Make better decisions? This episode focuses on Naval’s advice for learning to learn, learning to think, learning to see reality. This helps you make good business decisions, investment decisions, and good partnership decisions. We talk about Naval’s favorite books, mental models, and his techniques for reading. By the end of this episode, we hope you are a little calmer, a little wiser, and more assured in your path. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Judgement and thinking clearly: Wisdom applied to external problems is judgement - Naval “Clear thinker” is a better compliment than “smart.” - Naval Ravikant Clear thinkers appeal to their own authority. - Naval The really smart thinkers are clear thinkers. They understand the basics at a very, very fundamental level. I would rather understand the basics really well than memorize all kinds of complicated concepts I can’t stitch together and can’t rederive from the basics. If you can’t rederive concepts from the basics as you need them, you’re lost. You’re just memorizing. - Naval Ravikant Very smart people tend to be weird since they insist on thinking everything through for themselves. A contrarian isn’t one who always objects—that’s a conformist of a different sort. A contrarian reasons independently from the ground up and resists pressure to conform. Cynicism is easy. Mimicry is easy. Optimistic contrarians are the rarest breed. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Wealth, Business, and Entrepreneurship: You don’t get rich by spending your time to save money. You get rich by saving your time to make money. - Naval Ravikant One definition of a moment of suffering is “the moment when you see things exactly the way they are.” This whole time, you’ve been convinced your business is doing great, and really, you’ve ignored the signs it’s not doing well. Then, your business fails, and you suffer because you’ve been putting off reality. You’ve been hiding it from yourself. - Naval The more desire I have for something to work out a certain way, the less likely I am to see the truth. Especially in business, if something isn’t going well, I try to acknowledge it publicly and I try to acknowledge it publicly in front of my co-founders and friends and co-workers. Then, I’m not hiding it from anybody else. If I’m not hiding it from anybody, I’m not going to delude myself from what’s actually going on. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Leverage: In an age of leverage, one correct decision can win everything. - Naval You have to put in the time, but the judgment is more important. The direction you’re heading in matters more than how fast you move, especially with leverage. - Naval Ravikant Charisma is the ability to project confidence and love at the same time. It’s almost always possible to be honest and positive. - Naval I think people have a hard time understanding a fundamental fact of leverage. If I manage $1 billion and I’m right 10 percent more often than somebody else, my decision-making creates $100 million worth of value on a judgment call. With modern technology and large workforces and capital, our decisions are leveraged more and more. - Naval Ravikant

Naval’s famous tweetstorm ‘How to get Rich’ (without getting lucky) was just the start. This episode has all of the chapters from the Building Wealth section of the book of Naval. You will learn the details of specific knowledge, accountability, building equity, finding leverage and how to play the long game. Learn the principles of wealth that tells you how Naval got rich from his startups, Angellist, and his angel investments. These principles explain how millions of people have gotten rich, and give you the ideas that you need to plan your own path to wealth. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue

I built the Almanack of Naval Ravikant or Navalmanack entirely out of transcripts, Tweets, and talks Naval has shared. Every attempt is made to present Naval in his own words. However, there are a few important points. The transcripts have been edited for clarity and brevity (multiple times). Not all sources are primary (some excerpts are from other writers quoting Naval). I can’t be 100 percent certain of every source’s authenticity. Concepts and interpretations change over time, medium, and context. Please verify phrasing with a primary source before citing Naval from this text. Please interpret generously. By definition, everything in this book is taken out of context. Interpretations will change over time. Read and interpret generously. Understand the original intent may be different than your interpretation in a different time, medium, format, and context. In the process of creating this book, I may have mistakenly re-contextualized, misinterpreted, or misunderstood things. As content passed through time, space, and medium, some phrasing may have shifted in flight. Every effort has been made to maintain the original intent, but errors are (very) possible. Interviews have been transcribed, edited, rearranged, and re-edited for readability. I did my best to keep Naval’s ideas in his own words. All brilliance in this book is Naval’s; any mistakes are mine. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue If you don’t have time for the podcast here are a few important quotes from the prologue of The Almanack of Naval. Naval Ravikant has changed my life for the better, and if you approach the following pages like a friendly but highly competent sparring partner, he might just change yours. - Tim Ferriss “Naval is one of the smartest people I have ever met and he is one of the most courageous.” - Tim Ferriss “I’ve learned a few things, and some principles. I try to lay them out in a timeless manner, where you can figure it out for yourself. Because at the end of the day, I can’t quite teach anything. I can only inspire you and maybe give you a few hooks so you can remember.” - Naval Ravikant “Naval is one of the people I call most for advice” - Tim Ferriss “Books make for great friends, because the best thinkers of the last few thousand years tell you their nuggets of wisdom.” - Naval Ravikant “I take Naval seriously because he: Questions nearly everything Can think from first principles Tests things well Is good at not fooling himself Changes his mind regularly Laughs a lot Thinks holistically Thinks long-term And…doesn’t take himself too goddamn seriously. That last one is important” - Tim Ferriss