Village Global Podcast

Keith Rabois (@rabois), partner at Founders Fund, joins Erik on this episode. It was recorded live at an On Deck Fellowship event in San Francisco. They discuss: - The kinds of companies and founders he looks to fund, including why he wants half of his VC friends to laugh at how ambitious and ridiculous the companies he’s funding are. - Why going from zero to one involves roughly the same amount o...

Katherine Boyle (@KTmBoyle), investor at General Catalyst, and Bilal Zuberi (@bznotes), partner at Lux Capital, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Their requests for startups in the space. - The current landscape and the types of companies they are looking to invest in. - What implications geopolitics has for the deep tech space. - Their predictions for the next ten years. - Katherine’s th...

Ruben Harris (@rubenharris), founder of Career Karma ( www.careerkarma.com ), and David Phillips (@davj), founder of Hackbright Academy and BloomJoy, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The history and evolution of bootcamps, including how and where they got their start. - Why Ruben thinks that in the long term the cost of education goes to zero. - Whether bootcamps for non-technical skills...

Isaac Morehouse (@isaacmorehouse), CEO of Crash, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - His background and why he started Crash. - What he would change about the incentive structure of the world if he could wave a magic wand. - What kinds of big companies will possibly emerge in the education space. - What self-credentialing and peer-to-peer credentialing would look like. - Why he would like...

Greg Castle (@gpcastle12) joins Erik on this episode. He is managing partner at Anorak Ventures. They discuss: - What the future of computing beyond laptops and phones will look like, the obstacles companies will face, and the cultural challenges ahead. - Why audio will represent the first wave of AR. - Some of the coolest applications he’s seen in the space, including the work some of his portfol...

Adam Draper (@AdamDraper), founder and managing director of Boost VC, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Adam’s early involvement in crypto and how the space has evolved over time. - What he finds unique about the people working in crypto and what he loves about their outlook. - The science fiction technologies that he’s excited about and looking to invest in. - AR and VR and the opportun...

Kelly Chen (@kaychen22), partner at DCVC, and Kane Hsieh (@kane), partner at Root Ventures, join Erik on this episode. They talk about: - What exactly industrial automation is and why it’s such an exciting space. - The market map for industrial automation. - Some of the coolest companies and applications of technology in the space. - Advice for companies pitching their industrial automation produc...

Victor Pontis (@VictorPontis), founder and CEO of Spring, and Michal Naka (@michalnaka), Product at Ride Report, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Comparisons and contrasts between micromobility and rideshare - How regulations have evolved and how cities are getting involved in the space. - The possibilities for autonomy in micromobility. - Possible new form factors. - Which metrics inves...

Julia Enthoven (@JuliaEnthoven), co-founder and CEO of Kapwing, and Justine and Olivia Moore (@venturetwins), investors at CRV, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Why the team at CRV was excited about Julia and Kapwing. - The rise of online video and their analysis of the space. - What it means to be a B2C2B company. - The problems with existing video editing tools. - The confluence of fac...

Delian Asparouhov (@zebulgar), investor at Founders Fund, and Felix Ejeckam (@felixejeckam), CEO of Akash Systems, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The market map of the space space. - The evolution of the industry and how we got to where we are now. - The incredible possibilities that can be enabled by the companies working in space today. - What the “iPhone moment” could be for the ind...

Daniel Schmachtenberger joins Erik on this episode. He is a civilization designer interested in social architecture. They discuss: - The unsustainability of economic growth. - Why what’s best for the long-term is often also best for others. - Asymmetries in markets and why markets are not actually self-correcting. - What a healthy version of social media might look like. - What Daniel means when h...

Comedians Ben Burke and Shiva Kilaru, the creators behind the moderately successful YouTube channel KRAZAM, join Erik on this "unique" episode. They discuss: - The creative process. - Their thoughts on Austrian economics. - Mental models. - Violent communication.  Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses...

Harj Taggar (@harjtaggar), co-founder and chairman of Triplebyte, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Strategies for finding undiscovered talent. - The vision at Triplebyte and what they’re building. - Why the recruiting space hasn’t seen huge companies come out of it. - How building a company has changed over the past decade. - How to think about finding a co-founder. - The biggest recrui...

Balaji Srinivasan (@balajis), angel investor and entrepreneur, and Glen Weyl (@glenweyl), economist, Principal Researcher at Microsoft, and author of Radical Markets, join Erik for a fireside chat. They talk about: - On which topics they agree or disagree. - Some of their favorite thinkers. - Glen’s critique of the libertarian view of the world. - Balaji’s concept of a person’s whitelist, blacklis...

Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo! and founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures, joined us in downtown San Francisco to be interviewed by Village Global co-founder and partner, Ben Casnocha. They talked about stories from the early days of Yahoo! and lessons learned from the experience, what American entrepreneurs can learn from China, and his strategy for early-stage investing. Remember to apply for...

Arnold Kling (@KlingBlog), author and economist, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The future of elites. - The charter city movement. - His thoughts on Austrian economics. - How he would approach regulating finance. - Negative interest rates. - How to solve the problem of high healthcare costs in the US. - Universal basic income. - What an Elizabeth Warren presidency might look like. Rem...

Wolf Tivy (@wolftivy), founder and editor of Palladium Magazine, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The liberal order, including what it specifically entails and the evolution of it over time. - Why what really defines the liberal order is a public story around what is acceptable and not. - The superstructure of non-elected power in society. - Potential alternative systems for order. - Wh...

Andy Matuschak (@andy_matuschak), joins Erik on this episode. He is a technologist, designer and researcher. They discuss: - The key thread throughout his work and what he’s trying to accomplish. - Why people read books despite remembering little of what they read. - What books should look like and the features they should have in the digital age. - Why spaced repetition is so powerful. - His requ...

Martin Gurri (@mgurri), author of The Revolt of The Public, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Martin’s advice for Silicon Valley elites. - How to restore trust in democracy. - Why and how politicians became performers. - The history of information. - What will end the techlash. - The results of government colliding with digitization. … And much more. Remember to apply for the winter vint...

Vinay Gupta (@leashless), CEO of Mattereum, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The effects of overconsumption on the environment. - The breakdown of humanity’s carbon footprint. - Why we need to optimize waste in the same way that we optimize investment and production. - How to reduce the perceived fragility of life for those living in poverty. - Buckminster Fuller’s ambitions and why we’...

Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) joins Erik on this episode for a conversation about friendship, Twitter as a global brain, online communities, fame, how we can better relate to others, and more. Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader f...

Robert Tracinski (@Tracinski) and Jason Crawford (@jasoncrawford) join Erik on this episode. Robert is an author and creator of The Tracinski Letter. Jason is an entrepreneur and runs Roots of Progress, a blog about the ascent of mankind, from the caves to computers and beyond. They discuss: - The idea of a “capitalism appreciation society” akin to an art appreciation society. - The backward persp...

Erik is joined on this episode by Bret Weinstein (@BretWeinstein). He is a biologist and evolutionary theorist. They discuss: - His start in the field of evolutionary biology and how he realized that the big questions everyone thought had been answered actually only seemed that way because the big questions had stopped being asked. - Why two characteristics of a given creature or object cannot be...

Bill Janeway (@billjaneway) joins Erik on this episode. Bill is a venture capitalist and economist and is the author of the classic book Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy. They talk about: - Bill’s keen interest in the interface of markets and government and how that thread has weaved its way through Bill’s career. - Why financialization has gone too far. - The fact that Bill “lived throu...

Sarah Perry (@sarahdoingthing), writer and thinker, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Sarah’s writing career and what it means to “work through your politics” early in your career as a writer. - The purpose of rituals and why democracy is itself a form of ritual. - Why ambiguity increases meaning. - What we as a culture don’t understand about meaning. - The narrative illusion in life, th...