Eric Jorgenson

Smart Friends

Business EN ↓ 124 episodes

Casual conversations with founders, technologists, investors, and artists about building a brighter future, together. Welcome to our digital living room. With science, technology and entrepreneurship we can *continue* to create unfathomable leaps in quality of life. We show you how to find, apply, build, and invest in technologies to change your life and the world. When we have smart friends, we do smart things. When we do smart things, we save the world. No matter who, where, or when you are – now you have smart friends, too. Outside this podcast, I’m the author of The Almanack of Naval R...

Author

Eric Jorgenson

Episodes

#066 World-Changing Potential of Next-Gen Batteries with Eli Dourado and Ethan Loosbrock (Ouros Energy) 11.07.2023 52:01

Links: Center for Growth and Opportunity Where’s my Flying Car by J. Storrs Hall Eli on Twitter Eli’s Substack Ethan on Twitter Ouros Energy Episode #32 of Smart Friends: book recap of Where’s My Flying Car? Episode #34 of Smart Friends w/ J. Storrs Hall Episode #58 of Smart Friends w/ Brett Kugelmass Timestamps: (00:04:09) Eli Dourado & Ethan Loosbrock’s backgrounds (00:05:53) Impact of Next-Gen...

#065 David Senra + Mitchell Baldridge #3: Recap Capital Camp, Lunch with Sam Zell 27.06.2023 2:16:16

Links: David on Twitter Mitchell on Twitter Founders Podcast Stuff mentioned: Jocko Go Drink Capital Camp People mentioned: Jeremy Giffon on Twitter Brent Beshore on Twitter Clayton Dorge - CEO of Capital Camp Books mentioned: Setting the Table by Danny Meyer Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Per...

#064 The Synthesis of Media and Ecommerce with Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening 13.06.2023 1:08:49

Links Epic Gardening Kevin Espiritu on YouTube Creator Capitalists post from Eric Kevin’s first appearance on Smart Friends Scribemedia.com/consult Timestamps (00:04:23) Kevin’s career leading to content (00:14:00) What did raising capital unlock for you? (00:20:36) Attaching a dollar value to your niche (00:27:08) What is your high-leverage work today? (00:28:24) What do you see for Epic Gardenin...

#063 Turning Discoveries Into Companies with Sam Arbesman of Lux Capital 25.04.2023 1:13:59

Topics: (00:04:26) - Who are your influences? (00:08:57) - When Facts Expire: The Half-life of Knowledge (00:22:57) - The Playbook behind Boston Dynamics and DeepMind (00:28:36) - Research Orgs other than Academia, Govt, and Industry (00:31:00) - DARPA and Speculative Technologies (00:39:08) - Ink & Switch (00:41:13) - Challenges of University Tech Transfer Offices (00:47:42) - Transforming the f...

#062 Meeting Charlie Munger and Starting RE Costseg with David Senra and Mitchell Baldridge 11.04.2023 1:59:34

Links: David on Twitter Mitchell on Twitter Founders Podcast Invest like the best How to Take Over the World Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire Joe Lonsdale - Lessons from Peter Thiel Topics: (5:51) - David’s dinner with Charlie Munger (29:33) - The power of Podcasting, Chris Powers, and innovation (36:21) - How to make a successful Podcast (47:42) - The Scarcity of GREA...

#061 How CEOs Build with AI - Sean Devine of XBE 04.04.2023 1:46:34

Links: XBE Sean on Twitter & LinkedIn ChatGPT ChatGPT-4 BarelyKnown.com OpenAI CoPilot Ben’s Bites newsletter BaeKayla.com Support our Sponsor: Bread: https://www.madebybread.com/ Topics: (5:04) - Setting the stage: Sean’s company & programming background (20:38) - Part 1: Individual Contributor AI Applications: ChatGPT 4 (44:23) - Part 2: Product Improvement AI Applications (1:11:40) - Part 3: Or...

#060 Making Data Honest (and Valuable) with Omar ElNaggar (Weavechain) and Zach Pettet (Money20/20) 28.03.2023 1:29:15

Topics: (4:21) - Introducing Omar & Zach (nerds) (5:30) - Why will Web3 data take 100% of the market? (7:22) - What are data flows? (14:40) - Does the whole world need to be on Web3 to execute your vision? (18:02) - Is there a gamification to this whole approach? (25:05) - Are you seeing finance being the first industry to adopt Web3 Data flows? (34:29) - CryptoPoops.com (Finest shit on the intern...

#059 Rolling Fun #5: Investing in Nuclear, Ecommerce Data, and AI Productivity 14.03.2023 1:06:10

Helpful Links: The Rolling Fun(d) Al on Twitter Bo on LinkedIn Matt Loszak on Twitter Midjourney ChatGPT Portfolio companies Mentioned: FasterBetter Solve.io Sponsors: Athena: Get a free first month (Worth $3k!) when you sign up with my code: athenago.me/eric-jorgenson Listen and Learn more about Athena here: Creative EA Delegation with Athena on the Podcast Topics: (3:49) - Life Updates: Buying a...

#058 Scaling Nuclear Energy, Saving The World – Bret Kugelmass of Last Energy 28.02.2023 59:00

Links: Bret Kugelmass on LinkedIn Last Energy Titans of Nuclear Podcast Energy Impact Podcast Marc Andreesen regulatory capture podcast episode The Energy Impact Center Decouple Podcast Invest your money alongside ours in high-tech, high-growth startups: Rolling.fun Rolling Fun Podcast episodes: Rolling Fun Ep. 1 Rolling Fun Ep. 2 Rolling Fun Ep. 3 Rolling Fun Ep. 4 Sponsors: Athena: Get a free f...

#057 Startup To Scale, What CEOs Learn - Austen Allred (Bloomtech) and Al Doan (Missouri Star Quilt Co) 14.02.2023 1:27:03

Links: Austen on Twitter Al on Twitter Bloomtech (Formerly Lambda School) Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe Rolling.fun Rolling Fun Podcast episodes: Rolling Fun Ep. 1 Rolling Fun Ep. 2 Rolling Fun Ep. 3 Rolling Fun Ep. 4 Creative EA Delegation with Athena on the Podcast Sponsors: Athenago.com MadeByBread.com Topics: (6:29) - Warming up & Austen escaping San Francisco (13:35) - Catching up on Bl...

#056 New York Times’ Radical Distortions and Fabrications with Ashley Rindsberg, Author of “The Gray Lady Winked” 31.01.2023 1:07:50

Links: The Gray Lady Winked by Ashley Rindsberg Ashley on Twitter Ashley on Substack Ashley’s writing Sponsor: MadeByBread.com GiveWell.org Topics: (5:02) - The impact of Balaji’s love for your book (6:54) - When did you realize this book needed to be written? (10:35) - Rejected by publishers (11:44) - What changed? How did this get published? (13:51) - The research and writing process (18:01) - E...

#055 Crypto Business Banking and Long-Term Blockchain Applications with Grace Guo of Domo and Mitchell Baldridge 10.01.2023 1:17:53

Links: Domo.so Grace on Twitter Mitchell on Twitter Domo on Twitter Jorgenson’s Soundbox #38 with Athena Jorgenson’s Soundbox #52 with Zach Pettet Sponsor: Athenago.com Givewell.org Topics: (5:21) - Introducing Grace and Mitchell (5:58) - Who are your heroes? (8:27) - How did you discover there was a need for Domo? (17:22) - How are you thinking about incorporating fiat-based compani...

#054 Engineering an Acquisition, Grant Funding, and Nanotech Pharma with Maria Flynn 27.12.2022 1:19:11

Links: Ambiologix Rolling Fun SBIR requirements Participating governmental agencies State funds for SBIR Topics: (6:00) - Maria’s origin story & the founding of Orbis (12:03) - What is this technology? (13:46) - What was Corey’s breakthrough? (16:06) - How many months of burn did you have from the seed round? (17:42) - What was the process of running down your first 4 contracts? (18:49) - When...

#053 Rolling Fun #4: Q4 Portfolio Recap, Crypto Long-view, Uncapped Notes, and Fund Growth 13.12.2022 1:38:46

Links: Rolling Fun #1 Rolling Fun #2 Rolling Fun #3 Portfolio Al on Twitter Bo on Twitter Positive Food Co. Omella Tonic Audio Stell Engineering NSION Gently.com Glyph Terran Robotics Topics: (5:34) - Crypto has imploded, thanks FTX! What’s the long-term play? (21:00) - Life and news updates (23:20) - Q4 Investment updates (1:01:00) - Elon and Twitter (1:06:22) - Discussing the pros and cons of an...

#052 Money 20/20, Fintech Innovations, and Interviewing Legends with Zach Anderson Pettet 29.11.2022 1:49:15

Links: Zach on Twitter & LinkedIn Money 20/20 For Fintech’s Sake Podcast TripleBlind Rule 1033 Propel Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Topics: (4:25) - Recap the last episode with Zach and Eric (5:34) - Fintech Industry Overview (15:21) - Money 20/20 – the Biggest Fintech Conference in the world (24:02) - Regulation looms over Fintech, always (27:12) - The “Off The Record” Stage at Money 20/20 (...

#051 AI Evolution: ComputerVision, Olfactory Computation, and Neural Nets with Max Olson 15.11.2022 1:35:07

Topics: (5:29) - Max’s background and career (14:15) - Is it reasonable to use Neural Net, Deep Learning and Machine learning interchangeably? (26:37) - The Future of AI (39:18) - Google & AI Writing (49:42) - Hiring AI for help in our personal lives (55:02) - How Improvements in Robotics will massively push things forward (57:12) - Computers being able to smell and taste (1:04:56) - Scarier futur...

#050 Growing Podcasts, Bookkeeping Biz, and Creator-Led Companies with David Senra and Mitchell Baldridge 01.11.2022 2:38:24

Topics: (4:12) - David on how to grow a podcast & Mitchell as a connector (13:32) - David on changing the structure of his podcast (15:58) - Creator-Led Business, Kobe Bryant, Arnold Schwarzenegger & Balaji (36:49) - The genius of Berkshire Hathaway & The power of Twitter (51:24) - Creator Economics & Story time with David Senra (1:06:38) - Eric’s impact on David (1:09:48) - Mitchell’s career mode...

#049 Rolling Fun #3: Q3 Portfolio Recap and Life Updates: Crafting, Smart Kitchens, the API for the Auto Industry 18.10.2022 57:32

Topics: (1:05) - Life updates and catching up from Al’s Quilting Capital: Hamilton, MO (20:08) - Fund updates for end of Q2 (25:15) - Fund updates for Q3: Omello, Ohm, Driv.ly & Glyph (49:35) - Closing out Q3 (50:28) - Updates on old portfolio companies: StableCoin, Terran, Gently (55:23) - How to get involved with Rolling Fun! Links: Rolling Fun #1 Rolling Fun #2 Portfolio Al on Twitter Bo on...

#048 Balaji’s Most Epic, Personal, In-Depth Interview Ever (Transhumanism, Investing, and more) 04.10.2022 3:56:26

Topics: (5:53) - Start of Balaji Interview (6:24) - How would you introduce yourself to a stranger? (8:19) - Do you think of your work as “whatever it takes” to advance your ideology? (10:05) - What would you like to see most achieved? (13:14) - What are the things you believe you are the best at? (20:52) - What are the ideas you are most confident telling others that you know for certain? (30:2...

#047 Track Zach Marshall #4: The Services Trap, Firing Customers, Chicken-and-Egg Problems 20.09.2022 1:13:22

Topics: (7:05) - Updates from Zach: hiring, firing, building software, and finding PMF (13:41) - What drove the decision to focus more on the marketplace rather than services? (20:18) - How different was it working with a fund rather than angels? (23:03) - Cost cutting measures (24:35) - What was it about services that made them not repeatable or scalable? (37:00) - Fear mongering (38:19) - Region...

#046 Finding Your Peak of Productivity: Ultraworking with Sebastian Marshall 06.09.2022 1:30:51

Topics: (1:46) - Who are your heroes? (7:25) - Sebastian’s affinity for studying history, sports, art & professional gamers (11:30) - How do you take lessons learned from these studies and apply them to entrepreneurship? (13:01) - Why do you approach life and work with a lens of ruthless optimization? (18:12) - Breaking down the concept of ‘productivity’ (26:56) - Non-value producing w...

#045 The Future of Nuclear Energy: Politics, Culture, and Technology with Mark Nelson 23.08.2022 1:35:10

Topics: (3:15) - Mark’s career & background (4:40) - Do you think there is a popular renaissance behind Nuclear Energy? (6:27) - Realizing the regulatory problem holding back energy advancement (15:35) - The costs behind Nuclear (18:06) - The Nuclear customer & Europe’s approach to Nuclear (31:46) - France’s energy price crisis (37:00) - The history of Nuclear Power (51:07) - The n...

#044 Brainstorming Bologna with Matt Ferrel and Ben Bator 09.08.2022 2:03:57

Topics: (5:14) - Matt & Ben’s friendship origin (8:42) - Starting Texts From Last Night (18:17) - Matt’s early career with Google, Coachella & Lafayette American (43:33) - Mille Mitten (58:34) - Tik Tok, Ads and Algorithms (1:06:55) - Elon Musk & Twitter (1:15:38) - Fixing Movie Theaters & car charging infrastructure (1:38:07) - Fixing conferences (1:50:50) - Exercise: Rebranding...

#043 Automation and Delegation to buy $500 million+ of real estate, with Rohun Jauhar of JT Capital 26.07.2022 1:32:01

Links: Rohun on Twitter JT Capital The Sovereign Individual by James Davidson CBRE JLL 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss Loom Maven The Fear Setting Exercise - Tim Ferriss Topics: (6:10) - Why Eric and Rohun Should have been friends 10 years ago (8:30) - Rohun’s Heroes & family dynamic (15:44) - Journeying into Real Estate (20:52) - Getting Reps: Underwriting Deals (26:57- The importance of scale (3...

#042 Black Swans, The End of Jobs, and Long Volatility with Taylor Pearson of Mutiny Fund 12.07.2022 1:20:47

Topics: (6:21) - What is your specific knowledge? (7:20) - Taylor’s career (12:38) - Transaction Cost Economics (20:02) - The work behind Taylor’s first book: The End of Jobs (21:20) - Was publishing that book a major inflection point in your career? (23:53) - Taylor’s writing on the crypto space and work in investing & finance (29:03) - Mutiny Funds (32:57) - The Long-Volatility S...