Smart Friends

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:34) - The most effective meme and the midwit curve (00:08:11) - Memes as memetic warfare and communication (00:10:04) - Jason's internet kid origin story (00:13:09) - Building MemeLord and AI agents for memes (00:16:47) - Working with B2B and boring companies (00:17:50) - The arbitrage in funny B2B marketing (00:21:38) - Running multiple meme accounts for distribution (00:25:01) - Owning the distribution with owned pages (00:27:30) - The coming robot meme wave (00:28:59) - The truth about astroturfed virality (00:36:06) - Stop hosting dinners (00:39:04) - The most entertaining outcome is most likely (00:42:15) - The $10k protest in France (00:44:23) - Word of mouth and marketing books (00:46:14) - Build worlds around your company (00:48:34) - Raising capital and leveling up as a founder (00:52:12) - Delegation and leverage as you scale (00:59:56) - Dealing with hit pieces and cancel culture (01:03:15) - Heroes and influences (01:06:00) - Where to follow and closing Links: Eric Jorgenson LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/erjorgenson Twitter / X — https://x.com/EricJorgenson Website — https://www.ejorgenson.com/ Jason on X - https://x.com/iamjasonlevin Jason on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamjasonlevin/ MemeLord - https://www.memelord.com/ Memes Make Millions by Jason Levin - https://iamjasonlevin.gumroad.com/l/memes To support the costs of producing this podcast: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Book of Elon: https://www.elonmuskbook.org/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important. Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

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

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

It's been five years since the Almanack of Naval Ravikant was published. I spent the day with Naval expanding on key ideas from the book. We recorded hours of that conversation to share with you. This episode is a portion of that long conversation that talks about Learning Happiness You can purchase the new expanded edition with nearly 4 hours of new material on Audible here: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant-Audiobook/B0FBCP1JWJ Chapters: 00:00 Happiness as a Skill & Thought Construct 03:00 Peace, Desires & Higher Motives 06:00 Mind-Created Problems & Meditation 09:00 Engagement vs. Peace – Balancing Both 12:00 Health, Wealth & the Pursuit of Truth, Love, Beauty 15:00 Meditation, Silence & Resolving Thoughts 18:00 Love, Creation & Human Flourishing 21:00 Acute vs. Chronic Unhappiness, Ego & Identity 24:00 Choice Theory & Depression as Habit 27:00 Seasons of Life – Wealth, Health & Happiness 30:00 Aging, Compounding Actions & Character 33:00 High Agency Living & Designing Life 36:00 Reinterpreting the Past, Forgiveness & Ego 39:00 Enlightened Teachers, Peace & No-Self 42:00 Relationships, Self-Sufficiency & Truth in Bonds 45:00 Consciousness, Self-Examination & No-Self Realization 51:00 Seeking Enlightenment vs. Chasing Shiny Objects 54:00 Happiness, Motivation & Effectiveness 57:00 Relationships, Obligations & Peer Bonds 60:00 Ritual vs. Genuine Happiness To support the costs of producing this podcast: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend

Naval Ravikant on Building Wealth It's been five years since the Almanack of Naval Ravikant was published. I spent the day with Naval expanding on key ideas from the book. We recorded hours of that conversation to share with you. This episode is a portion of that long conversation that talks about Building Wealth You can purchase the new expanded edition with nearly 4 hours of new material on Audible here: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant-Audiobook/B0FBCP1JWJ 00:00 Defining Wealth 03:00 Knowledge as the True Multiplier 09:00 Ethics of Wealth Creation & Capitalism 15:00 Progress, Optimism & Conjecture 21:00 Scale, Governance & Morality 27:00 Products, Knowledge & Hard-to-Vary Designs 36:00 Closing Reflections To support the costs of producing this podcast: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:46) - Personal updates and new ventures (00:04:06) - The youth sports complex project (00:05:21) - Challenges and strategies in youth sports business (00:09:09) - Community impact and future vision (00:19:00) - Reflections on education and parenting (00:34:05) - The magic of holding a newborn (00:34:32) - The joys and challenges of parenting (00:35:07) - Balancing work and family life (00:37:36) - Exciting company updates (00:38:03) - Success stories in venture capital (00:40:55) - Innovations in space and technology (00:47:19) - The future of asteroid mining (00:54:34) - Revolutionizing construction and robotics (00:59:01) - Battery technology breakthroughs (01:03:59) - Conclusion and next steps Links: Join us in Rolling Fun! Hear our other Rolling Fun eps! To support the costs of producing this podcast: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: Bo is turning around a Youth Sports Complex that was losing millions/year. “Never skip a funeral and always hold a baby” Investment updates across nuclear energy, asteroid mining, robotics, and batteries. Why enthusiasm, networks, and timing matter so much in early-stage investing. Quotes from Bo: "This was like 11 businesses stuffed into one building… and none of them were working yet." "My job right now is teaching people who love what they do how it fits into a business." "We get 2 to 3 calls a week from private equity firms, and I tell them all: don’t do it." "It’s a 600-person organization… a real thing with real complexity." "Maybe it’s a $30 million business—manageable, understandable, and ridiculously high impact." "It’s a cartel-organized market. You need to be a trusted actor to even play in it." "Helping it really succeed is time well spent—for Kansas City, for the kids, and for everyone here." "The youth sports market is a $40 to $80 billion space, and it’s on fire." "There’s not a lot of credible business builders in this space—and I haven’t found another one yet." "In 50 years, this will be even more awesome. I love working on stuff like that." Quotes from Al: "You couldn't just copy-paste this business into another city. You need deep trust and local knowledge." "This is a fun community challenge. If you get it right, you leave a real legacy." "I texted Bo—‘We did it’—because Eric and Jeannine had a baby. That’s how we all felt." "The bond between dad and baby isn’t immediate. But it grows—and it’s worth it." "I fixed the cheeseburger at Home Field before Bo was even involved." "Once you have a baby, every infant photo becomes magic." "The best underappreciated part of being an entrepreneur? You can get your kids working early." Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important. Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.

Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:37) - The Netflix documentary: Misrepresentation and struggles (00:03:19) - Writing the memoir (00:08:47) - The challenges of independent publishing (00:12:40) - The creative process and future plans (00:35:23) - Impact of the book on readers (00:36:04) - Scripted series and unused content (00:36:36) - New docuseries and correcting the narrative (00:37:04) - Psychological analysis in documentaries (00:40:13) - Challenges and rewards of writing (00:41:36) - Unexpected positive outcomes (00:45:38) - Vulnerability of publishing a memoir (00:49:44) - Future aspirations and business rebuilding (00:53:54) - Experience with Scribe Publishing (01:02:59) - Advice for aspiring authors Links: People: Andrew Huberman — https://hubermanlab.com/about David Goggins — https://davidgoggins.com Eric Jorgenson — https://www.ericjorgenson.com Mary Karr — https://english.utexas.edu/people/mary-karr Paul Millerd — https://www.pathlesspath.com Sarma Melngailis — https://thegirlandtheduck.com Tim Ferriss — https://tim.blog Podcasts: Huberman Lab — https://hubermanlab.com The Tim Ferriss Show — https://tim.blog/podcast Companies: Scribe — https://scribemedia.com Websites / Tools / Platforms: Scrivener — https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview The Girl and the Duck (Sarma’s memoir site) — https://thegirlandtheduck.com To support the costs of producing this podcast: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/ >> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun >> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter >> Text the podcast to a friend >> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners! We discuss: What the Netflix docuseries got wrong—and how she’s correcting it. The emotional and creative process of writing a 200,000-word memoir over eight years. How storytelling, honesty, and empathy can help others escape manipulative relationships. Quotes from Sam: “I was in a cult of one.” “People very often don't understand how this happens to someone who’s intelligent, who went to a good school, and started a business. But it does happen.” “I started writing immediately after I got out of jail.” “I had no editorial control... They basically changed the reality of what happened.” (on the Bad Vegan docuseries) “I didn’t want anybody telling me what I can and can’t put in there... I wanted to have control over my story.” “The book is long because I needed the reader to go through the psychological experience with me.” “I have all my receipts. I included actual journal entries, G-chats, texts, and emails.” “The writing was therapeutic, but also grueling. Sometimes I felt like I was crawling up the wall and slithering out of my skin.” “I want the story to be useful. That’s what I’ve wanted all along.” “People tell me, ‘I don’t read books anymore, but I read yours.’ That feels amazing.” “Even if you're never going to publish it, writing about what happened to you can bring real relief.” “I turned down a deal with a major studio because I didn’t want to give up control of my story again.” “It wasn’t about power—it was about protecting the integrity of the story.” “Someone told me they left a toxic relationship because of reading my book. That alone makes it all worth it.”