The Voluntary Life

This episode is a recording of a talk given by Chris Guillebeau about his new book The 100 Dollar Startup. The talk took place in Shoreditch, London on 25th May 2012 and Chris kindly gave permission for me to record it for this podcast. In the talk, Chris shares some of the stories of the many "solopreneurs" and small business owners that he interviewed for the book, all of whom are using creative self-employment to give themselves more freedom in life.

This episode discusses ideas from the book "The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age"by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg. "In The Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg explore the greatest economic and political transition in centuries -- the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. This transition, which they have termed "the fourth stage of human society," will liberate individuals as never before, irrevocably altering the power of government."

How will you finance your startup? This episode presents some thoughts on the issue of financing for entrepreneurs based on my own experience, including: Why bootstrapping your business with revenue finance is the best way to fund your own startup, if you can do it The benefit of having some personal savings and no major financial commitments, if you want to start a business The role that loans can play in funding your venture and how taking out loans for business is a far better use of debt than taking out loans for consumption items Why selling equity in your company (taking investment from VC or others) is ultimately a very expensive way to fund your venture Why Business Development Grants are never "free money" and have serious drawbacks The importance of looking long and hard at whether you really need the money to get going. You probably don't need nearly as much as you think

Every entrepreneur will ultimately exit from their business, in one way or another. Unless you plan to just wind it down, one day you'll probably want to sell your company. In this podcast, Jake talks about his experience of selling a business and answers some key questions about the process, including: Why sell your business? How do you find a buyer? When is the right time to sell? How do you value your business? What happens in the negotiation process? How long does it take? What happens after the sale?

An interview with Laurette Lynn, author, speaker and host of the Unplugged Mom internet talk show. Laurette's work emphasizes the need for families to unplug from mainstream assumptions in learning and living, disconnect from the artificial process of life and discover the freedom and joy in learning and living more authentically. In the interview she talks about freedom from school for kids and families. Laurette explains the choice that she made not to send her kids to school "because they don't need it". She shares her thoughts on how you can raise your kids free from school too.

This episode is about negotiation for entrepreneurs. Some basic practical tips are provided about negotiating, such as: The benefits of writing everything down (even though it seems obvious) Why it's better to be explicit about how you want do business, such as with a simple set of standard terms Negotiating about all the terms and avoiding the pitfall of focussing narrowly on price Some of the deeper principles underlying negotiation are also explained, such as: The concept of your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) and how it determines the dynamic of the negotiation The value of appealing to objective standards and avoiding a "contest of wills" Why win-win negotiations are the only way to get any lasting agreement that will work Why it makes sense to adopt the premise that you'll never be able to rely on enforcing legal contracts The excellent book on negotiation recommended in the podcast is "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In" by Fischer and Ury.

This episode is an interview with Mike, one of the moderators and main contributors to the Permanent Portfolio discussion forum. Mike, or "Medium Tex" as he is known on the board, is an independent investor and co-author of an upcoming book on the permanent portfolio approach to investment. In the interview Mike explains a simple way of understanding all the different economic conditions we might face and how to be financially prepared for any of them as a private investor. You can get more information about the concept of the permanent portfolio in Harry Browne's book "Fail-Safe Investing", on the permanent portfolio forum.

An interview with Jeffrey Tucker about his book "It's a Jetsons World: Private Miracles and Public Crimes" (available online for free). "It's a Jetsons World" is about how we are surrounded by miracles created in the private sector, particularly in the digital universe, and yet we don't appreciate them enough. Meanwhile, the public sector is systematically wrecking the physical world in sneaky and petty ways that really do matter. Jeffrey discusses these themes further in the interview, such as the global communication revolution that we are living through and it's amazing impact on all our lives. He also talks about the destructive role that the State is having during this time of great progress. "We are very fortunate to be living in a social, cultural and economic transition that makes the industrial revolution look like nothing by comparison. The amazing irony is that it is happening exactly at the same time when Leviathan, at least in the developed world, is on the march as never before". Jeffrey Tucker (from the interview) He discusses some of the ideas from the book in more detail, such as the negative impact of Intellectual Property law and the moral hazard that it creates, as IP corrupts the outlook of entrepreneurs. The interview is full of Jeffrey's brilliantly optimistic and positive outlook. "We shouldn't be afraid to read things that are utterly contrary to what think we believe, because it's only going to strengthen us. If we are fearless intellectuals, which we should all be- to the point where we are utterly fearless, then we shouldn't be afraid of any writer, any genre or any political point of view. It just makes us better thinkers." Jeffrey Tucker (from the interview) Show Notes: The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World The Ultimate Resource 2 Steve Jobs: "we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas"

A podcast about freeing your mind to get things done. A big challenge with time management and productivity that I experienced was how to overcome that feeling of being overwhelmed. How do you free your mind from the nagging thoughts of all the things that you need to do, so that you can get on with actually doing stuff? In this podcast I discuss my journey through trying many approaches to time management and the value that I found in David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) approach. Unlike traditional personal productivity systems, GTD helps you harnesses the creativity and intuitive power of your unconscious to work with you, rather than interrupt you. I outline what I think are the most helpful concepts in the GTD approach and how it might help you.

When it comes to friendships, are you investing wisely?

This episode is about the amazing value that comes from tracking your business. Whereas 'business plans' are really just 'business guesses' and can often be a waste of time, tracking the reality of your business is always incredibly useful. The data that you have about each aspect of your business (your sales opportunities, your contacts, your cash-flow and many other aspects) is the most valuable asset that you have.

An interview with Carisa Brewster, author of the Cup of Curiosity blog. Carisa describes herself as a writer, mom and nappy chick with way too many interests. In this interview she talks about the experience of breaking free from religion and choosing to parent and unschool her children free from any religion. Her blog covers many diverse topics from books, natural hair, living in Oregon, interracial issues, breastfeeding/parenting and pop culture. She is also a (self-confessed) huge Star Wars and Star Trek geek, but only a moderate comic book geek.

This episode is about investing inside the Euro zone as an independent individual investor. It is an interview with Marc de Mesel, who runs a blog on investing in Europe in dutch and also an investing blog in english. Marc talks about his experience applying the Permanent Portfolio strategy in a European context. He also provides his thoughts on speculating in gold and other precious metals. The episode is provided as food for thought to encourage critical thinking and independent decision-making in regard to investment: it is opinion only and should not be considered any kind of financial advice. For more information about the concept of the permanent portfolio see Harry Browne's book "Fail-Safe Investing". You can also hear more about the Permanent Portfolio concept in this previous episode. The book that Marc mentions in the episode is "Tomorrow's Gold" by Mark Farber.

Part 2 of the interview with Paul Rosenberg about his novel "A Lodging of Wayfaring Men". Paul shares his thoughts on many of the other themes covered in the novel: sexuality, relationships, the unconscious mind and religion. He explains his view on intellectual property and why he chose to release the novel using the creative commons license. He also gives an insight into his upcoming books.

This Part 1 of an interview with Paul Rosenberg, author of "A Lodging of Wayfaring Men". Instantly named Freedom Book of The Month and a major influence in the Cyber-underground, A Lodging of Wayfaring Men is the story of freedom-seekers who create an alternative society on the Internet - a virtual society, with no possibility of oversight or control. It grows so fast that governments and "leaders" are terrified, and fight to co-opt this cyber-society before it undermines the power of the governing elite. In this interview Paul talks about his intellectual development, his influences and the background to writing the book. He discusses the parallels between the novel and recent developments in crypto-currency, such as Bitcoin. He shares his thoughts on the current state of the internet, prospects for liberty and the potential for developing communities of people with shared values.

This episode is about the freedom in adult life that is gained by achieving financial independence from parents. Jake talks about some of the findings of the book "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley. Dr Stanley surveyed people in America who had become millionaires within one generation and collected data on many aspects of their lives. One finding that he identified was that adult-children who continue to receive economic subsidies from their parents tend to be much less successful in developing wealth within their own lives. Those who don't receive "economic out-patient care" end up wealthier and also have better relationships with their parents.

A podcast for entrepreneurs about getting your business to profitability and making it more and more profitable once you get there. The title of this podcast comes from the saying "turnover is vanity and profit is sanity". Some of the topics covered in the episode include: The unjustly-bad reputation that profit has in our culture and it's origins The other motives (unrelated to profit) that entrepreneurs have and the problems that they cause for their business Profit as the truly rational measure of how healthy your business is Two approaches cutting expenses to increase profit The value of measuring profitability at the project or product level The necessity of measuring all aspects of operations to find out where you make a profit and where you don't

In this podcast, Jake talks about the most important responsibility you will ever have as an entrepreneur: selling. He talks about how to overcome the barriers to selling that most entrepreneurs face: the cultural prejudice against sales, ignorance about what selling really is and the psychological barrier to selling (the fear of rejection). Stages of Selling To Learn More About: Prospecting Contacting Qualifying Presentation Handling Objections Closing Referrals Checklist for New Entrepreneurs: Have you started selling yet? Are you setting aside specific time within each day or week devoted only to selling? Are you measuring everything that you can measure about your selling activity? Show Notes: Glengarry Glen Ross (great movie, but also an example of how negative the representation of selling is in our culture) How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins (a recommended book).

An interview with psychologist and filmmaker Daniel Mackler about the subject of psychological freedom. Daniel shares his thoughts on what psychological freedom means: the healing from past psychological traumas. He identifies the root of trauma in unhealthy parenting and talks about his own journey towards more psychological freedom.

Part 2 in a series of episodes on freedom from politics with special guest Stephanie Murphy, host of the Porc Therapy podcast. Show Notes: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" by Gandhi Penn Gillette on politics School Sucks Podcast on Ron Paul George Carlin on Not Voting Doug Stanhope on Democracy "If Voting Changed Anything They'd Make it Illegal" by Emma Goldman

Part 1 in a series of episodes on freedom from politics. Special guest is Stephanie Murphy, host of the Porc Therapy podcast, co-host of Free Talk Live and Prometheus Unchained, all of which are on the Liberty Radio Network. Show Notes: Hans Herman Hoppe on Marxist and Austrian Class Analysis Harry Browne's book How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World Stephanie's book Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas

This episode is an interview with Michael Fogler about his book "Un-Jobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook". Michael talks about his life experience, having reached the age of 58 without ever having had a single, full-time job. He talks about how his personal experience in "failures" a traditional career-job route led him to discover unjobbing as an alternative approach. He talks about how he came up with the name "unjobbing" and the influences on his ideas, such as Grace Llwellyn's book "A Teenage Liberation Handbook". Michael provides some tips on achieving personal liberation, including the issue of minimising expenses, saving and ensuring that you "act your wage". He talks about the importance of having other people around you who share your values, especially as the unjobbing approach is not considered "normal" by mainstream culture.

Vickie is the author of the Demand Euphoria Blog and Parent-Free By Choice Blog. In this interview we discuss the concept of "Parent-Free By Choice", which is the choice of some adults to voluntarily separate from one or both parents. Vicky talks about why this choice, although quite widespread, is viewed as a taboo subject. Vickie shares her thoughts on whether or not adults who choose to cease contact with their parents are "running away" from issues that they should stay and face up to: "There is this whole stigma about "running away from your problems". It starts with kids and bullying in school where everyone says running away from a bully doesn't do anything, you have to stick in there and face it. That carries over into our family relationships: this idea that "no matter what they do to you they are still your family" and you are supposed to toughen up, figure it out, forgive or whatever. I think that is unfortunate because it allows people to keep treating each other badly. I think running away from somebody who is treating you badly is actually a good thing because you deserve better and you shouldn't put up with it. I think removing yourself from a toxic situation is good for you." Here are Vickie's thoughts on the question of whether people owe their parents anything: "I have often thought about this concept of your parents giving you the "gift of life", but I always think about that word gift and think about how...if it is truly a gift then you don't owe them for it. If they gave you a gift then they shouldn't be charging you for it every day of your life. A lot of parents call it a gift and then make you feel guilty for everything they do for you." Vickie's blog, Parent-Free by Choice, offers a supportive environment for people to anonymously share their own stories about their choices. As Vickie explains; "No matter what happened to them in childhood or how their relationship [with their parents] is now, if they feel like it's not a positive relationship then that is all that matters and they should have the freedom to get out of it."

An interview with Dale Stephens, founder of the Uncollege movement. Uncollege represents a revolutionary approach to education: applying the principles of unschooling to higher education. In the interview Dale talks about opportunities to hack your education and go for self-directed learning. He challenges the notion that going to college is the only path to success and identifies the declining value proposition of traditional college education, as well as the potential of an alternative, self-directed approach.

This episode explores the topic of psychological barriers to personal and political freedom. It is a discussion of the ideas in Eric Fromm's book "The Fear of Freedom" (also published under the title "Escape from Freedom").

An interview with Judd Weiss, entrepreneur and author of the Hustlebear.com blog. Judd has been an entrepreneur since he was 14. He became a millionaire by the age of 24 and has launched successful businesses in diverse industries including selling watches online, commercial real estate brokerage and parking. Judd talks about some of the principles behind successful entrepreneurship. Topics include: How accepting that you start out both ignorant and incompetent can help you succeed Why success normally comes just after the point when most people quit Why you don't have to be interested in the product you are selling What a young startup entrepreneur can use to differentiate themselves from much older and better connected competitors The impact that pursuing entrepreneurial success can have on your personal relationships

Financial Freedom is an achievable goal. But what exactly is it and how does making financial freedom your goal differ from more traditional financial goals? A common approach to personal finance goes something like this: MAINSTREAM ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PERSONAL FINANCE the goal of personal finance strategies is material wealth and comfort; the method is getting a secure job; the measure of how well you are doing is your salary; debt should be used, with caution, to obtain consumption items (mortgage for a house, loans for a new car etc.); provision for the future should be made through a pension. A approach aimed at financial freedom is completely different in every way: ASSUMPTIONS WITH FINANCIAL FREEDOM AS YOUR AIM the goal of personal finance strategies is financial freedom (the level of wealth is optional); the method is entrepreneurship; the measure of how well you are doing is how long before you have to work again, where passive income - expenses > 0 debt should not be used for consumption items, but might optionally be used with caution to further entrepreneurship and value generation; provision for the future is made through creating passive income streams. Thoughts on how to adopt financial freedom as your goal are provided in the podcast. The views expressed are only my opinion about this subject and I am not any kind of financial advisor.

You can still have a lot of freedom if you are working for somebody else. Here are some suggestions of what you can do to transform your job and liberate yourself. The youtube documentary about a Brazilian company that is mentioned in the episode is called "The Caring Capitalist".

This episode is a discussion with startup entrepreneurs including the founders of choreplan.com and knowitapp.com. We talk about the ideas in two great books on entrepreneurship: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki and Reworkby Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

A podcast for those considering starting a business. The episode starts with a look at the value of entrepreneurship as a path to obtaining freedom in your own life and some background to my own experience with entrepreneurship. Two key questions are addressed: how do you choose which project to pursue as a new entrepreneurial venture? Also, how do you overcome the fear of getting started?

Part 3 in a series on about the potential for voluntary, free market solutions to urban planning problems. In this episode we discuss the potential for more voluntary kinds of urban communities, urbanisation in the developing world and the future of cities. The discussion is based around ideas presented in the book The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society edited by David T Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok. Special guests in this episode are Peter Gordon (co-editor of The Voluntary City) and Adam, Stephen and Emily, who are the authors of the blog Market Urbanism.

Part 2 of a series about the potential for voluntary, free market solutions to urban planning problems. In this episode we discuss the potential for voluntary land use planning. The discussion is based around ideas presented in the book The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society edited by David T Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok. Special guests in this episode are Peter Gordon (co-editor of The Voluntary City) and Adam, Stephen and Emily, who are the authors of the blog Market Urbanism.

This is the first of a series about the potential for voluntary, free market solutions to urban planning problems. This discussion is based around the topics covered in the book The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society edited by David T Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok. Special guests in this episode are Peter Gordon (co-editor of The Voluntary City) and Adam, Stephen and Emily, who are the authors of the blog Market Urbanism. In the discussion we make reference to Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and to Robert Moses, the urban planner who's destructive impact is discussed in the book The Power Broker.

A review of Robert Heinlein's libertarian science fiction novel, "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"

A discussion of Ayn Rand's semi-autobiographical novel We the Living. Published in 1936, We the Living was the first novel to emerge in the West that described life in Russia during the communist revolution of 1917 and was written by someone who experienced it.

Part 3 in a series on unschooling. This episode is about implementing an unschooling approach. Special guests are Brett Veinotte, host of School Sucks Podcast, Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio and Debbie Harbeson, unschooling parent and author of "OK Kids, Time for Bedlam"

Part 2 in a series on Unschooling. Special guests are Brett Veinotte, host of School Sucks Podcast and Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio.

Part one of a series of podcasts on Unschooling. This episode is a discussion of one of the most influential books about unschooling: Instead of Education by John Holt. Special guests are Brett Veinotte, host of School Sucks Podcast and Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio. "Education... now seems to me perhaps the most authoritarian and dangerous of all the social inventions of mankind. It is the deepest foundation of the modern slave state, in which most people feel themselves to be nothing but producers, consumers, spectators, and 'fans,' driven more and more, in all parts of their lives, by greed, envy, and fear. My concern is not to improve 'education' but to do away with it, to end the ugly and antihuman business of people-shaping and to allow and help people to shape themselves." John Holt 1976

This episode is a discussion of personal experiences of different stages of unjobbing: barriers to doing it, planning for it, working towards it and achieving an unjobbed life. In the discussion we refer to the book "Un-Jobbing" by Michael Fogler. Other references in the discussion include the book "Vagabonding" by Rolf Potts and Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement speech.

The first of a two part series about "Unjobbing": breaking free of the rat-race to do only things that you love with your life. In this episode we explore the idea of Unjobbing set out in the book "Un-Jobbing : The Adult Liberation Handbook" by Michael Fogler. Other books referred to in the discussion include "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki.

A discussion of Ayn Rand's classic libertarian novel Atlas Shrugged.

This episode is a short discussion and recommendation of Lysander Spooner's great book "No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority". The book is a brilliant critique of the legality of any constitution and the validity of any idea of a social contract.

This episode is a discussion about two different approaches to investment. The first approach comes from Harry Browne's idea of the Permanent Portfolio, which you can find in his book Fail-Safe Investing. The second approach is focussed on investing purely in precious metals as a way to protect your wealth. Both approaches are concerned with investing for financial freedom and protecting your hard earned savings in the context of turbulent economic conditions.

Part 2 of a discussion about Ayn Rand's individualist novel, "The Fountainhead".

A discussion about Ayn Rand's individualist novel, "The Fountainhead". This is part one of a two part series.

Part two of a discussion about the ideas of personal freedom in Harry Browne's book "How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World".

Part one of a discussion about the ideas of personal freedom in Harry Browne's book "How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World".