Remembering Jim Rutt: A Life Lived at the Ragged Edge

Remembering Jim Rutt: A Life Lived at the Ragged Edge

From The Vance Crowe Podcast by Vance Crowe

June 16, 2026 · 1h 7m · Episode 487

About this episode

This episode is a tribute to Jim Rutt, showcasing his remarkable life and conversations with Vance Crowe.

Jim Rutt was a working class kid from the suburbs of Washington DC who somehow ended up at MIT, spent years hitchhiking around the country, stumbled into the world's first consumer online service, and eventually became CEO of Network Solutions and chairman of the Santa Fe Institute. He was a relentless reader — 100 books a year since age 10 — and one of the most genuinely curious people Vance ever sat down with. He died recently after a period of illness, and this episode is a tribute.  What you'll find here is a compilation of the conversations Vance and Jim had together over the years, including sessions recorded in virtual reality — because of course Jim was one of the first people to order a VR headset and try a podcast in it. They covered everything: the origins of the Internet, complexity science and the Cambrian explosion, Game B and how humans organized before hierarchy existed, the risks of artificial superintelligence, machine consciousness, and what it feels like to watch something you built learn on its own.  Jim knew he was dying. Vance had the chance to sit with him for a Legacy Interview — a full recording of his life story — and to talk with him right up…

People in this episode

Host: Vance Crowe

Guest: Jim Rutt

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Network Solutions, Santa Fe Institute, Articulate.Ventures, IBC LegacyInterviews.com

Places: Washington DC

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