Village Global Podcast

Joe Edelman (@edelwax), philosopher, social scientist, designer, and founder of Human Systems, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Why the internet didn’t achieve its promise of connecting people on a deeper level. - Why we’ve become very good at shopping and networking around goals and preferences but not around values, and how this manifests in the differences between Couchsurfing and Ai...

Erik is joined on this episode by Paul Bohm (@paulsbohm), investor and entrepreneur. They tackle a variety of topics on this wide-ranging episode, including: - How Paul became fascinated with self-perpetuating systems. - Why the European startup scene is problematic, why he is short Silicon Valley, and the idea of importing law from one jurisdiction to another (as companies do with Delaware C Corp...

Erik is joined by John Vervaeke (@vervaeke_john), a psychology and cognitive science professor at the University of Toronto. They discuss: - How John has been working on bridging the gap between cognitive science and spirituality. - Why he says that we need to “awaken” from the meaning crisis, not “solve” it. - What he wants people building virtual reality and social media platforms to know. - Why...

Erik is joined by Charles Eisenstein (@ceisenstein) on this episode. He is the author of Climate: A New Story and The Ascent of Humanity, among others. They discuss: - The main thread that runs throughout Charles’s works. - Why technological utopias and the age of leisure have been widely predicted but have never actually come about. - How humanity shaping its environment has caused problems for h...

Erik is joined on this episode by Bonnitta Roy (@bonnittaroy), philosopher, author, organizational consultant, and insight guide. They discuss: - The new way of looking at the world that she advocates for. - Why she says that scientific thinking does not serve humanity well in all situations. - Why people take approaches to problems that result in increasingly complex systems over time. - The limi...

Joining Erik on this episode are Laura Deming (@laurademing), creator of Longevity Fund, and Will Eden (@williamaeden), entrepreneur in residence with Errik Anderson at Ulysses and formerly of Thiel Capital. They talk about: - The history of biotech and the big trends and companies in the space over the past several decades. - The breakdown of the different areas within biotech. - The new business...

Jordan Hall (@jgreenhall) joins Erik on this episode. He is founder of Neurohacker Collective and an influential thinker about Game B. In this episode they discuss: - His frustrations with Silicon Valley and what he wishes entrepreneurs understood better about the system in which they are working. - Why he thinks Steve Jobs’ talents could have been put to better use. - The relation of software eat...

Jim Rutt (@jim_rutt) joins Erik on this episode. He is an entrepreneur, technologist, research fellow, and host of The Jim Rutt Show. Note that this episode contains adult language and may not be suitable for listening in all situations. They discuss: - The change in the ethos of business over the last several decades, and why it’s now the case in Jim’s opinion that “honesty and good faith is a su...

Erik is joined on this episode by JD Ross (@justindross) and Sean Linehan (@seanlinehan). JD is co-founder of Opendoor and Sean is co-founder of Placement and former VP of Product at Flexport. They discuss: - What Sean is doing with Placement and his personal story for where the idea came from. - How they “navigated the idea maze” and what they learned from the ideating they did. - What has led to...

Andrew Kortina (@kortina) joins Erik on this episode. He is the co-founder of Venmo and Fin. They talk about: - How he became interested in the US tax code and what changes he might like to see made to it. - The insights from his examination of how the US government spends its money. - Capitalism, inequality, and how to ensure everyone can live a life with dignity. - Status signalling through cons...

Zachary Stein (zakstein.org) joins Erik on this episode. He is a writer, educator, and futurist. They discuss: - Why he says that all institutions are fundamentally educational institutions. - The crises that humankind is facing and how to make our way through them. - The new educational paradigms he foresees. - What it means to be psychologically sovereign. - The history of measurement and the fa...

Erik is joined on this episode by Bryan Caplan (@bryan_caplan), economist and author. They have a wide-ranging discussion on a number of different topics. They discuss: - The case for open borders and the underappreciated benefits of immigration. - His responses to some of the common arguments against increased immigration. - Why he thinks that universal basic income is a “terrible idea.” - His th...

Taylor Pearson (@TaylorPearsonMe), joins Erik on this episode. He is an author, entrepreneur, and investor. On this episode they talk about: - The basics of the thesis that markets are eating the world and how Taylor became interested in the idea. - The implications of markets becoming more prevalent in every aspect of life. - How smart contracts and the blockchain enable markets to eat the world....

Samo Burja (@SamoBurja), founder of Bismarck Analysis, joins Erik for this episode. You can find him on Medium at medium.com/@samo.burja. They talk about: - Whether capitalism and democracy are incompatible and what the future holds for democracy. - Why economists need to look inside companies to learn from their cultures, not just at the relations between companies. - Why the grey hoody is as muc...

Erik is joined by Tiago Forte (@fortelabs), creator of Building a Second Brain, founder of Forte Labs, and writer at Praxis. They talk about: - Why productivity is not an end in and of itself. - Why content creation (not just consumption) is integral to your career. - How to better deal with the 11 hours of media a day that the average person consumes. - Why the “average human life is now too comp...

This is a special live episode that was recorded at Village HQ in San Francisco on June 14 2018. It originally aired on July 4 2018. The event was put on in partnership with Xoogler, a network of former Googlers who have come together to help each other with their startup ambitions. Village Global co-founder Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) chatted with Jo Varshney (@jo_getter), founder and CEO of...

Erik interviews Elliot Olds (@elliot_olds) on this episode. He is a thinker on AI, crypto, economics and prediction markets. (Remember — applications for the winter vintage of our network catalyst accelerator are due September 20 — make sure to apply before then. Check out more info below.) They talk about: - The merits of prediction markets, and why they can be thought of as a “meta solution” aki...

We apologize for the audio quality of this episode — we had technical difficulties during recording. Remember: applications for the winter vintage of our network catalyst accelerator are due September 20 — make sure to apply before then. Check out more info below. Erik is joined on this episode by Dr. Cameron Sepah (@drsepah), founder, investor, entrepreneur, and a clinical psychologist. They talk...

Erik is joined on this episode by Richard Craib (@richardcraib), founder of Numerai and Erasure, and Riva-Melissa Tez (@rivatez), part of strategy at Intel. They discuss: - What Richard is working on at Numerai, a hedge fund that gives away its (anonymized) data for free. - The Erasure protocol and the value of information marketplaces. - Whether prediction markets for stocks can work. - Whether t...

Remember: applications for the winter vintage of our network catalyst accelerator are due September 20 — make sure to apply before then. Check out more info below. Venkat Rao (@vgr), joins Erik on this episode. He writes at Ribbonfarm, Breaking Smart, and The Art of Gig. They talk about: - Why the ambient humour level fluctuates in a society and the “seriousness bubble” in Silicon Valley before 20...

Erik is joined by David Gornoski on this episode. He is an entrepreneur, speaker, and writer. They talk about: - How David came to be interested in René Girard’s work. - The explanation for why human desires are usually borrowed from each other. - Mimesis and society’s role models. - How Christianity has influenced society. - The human fascination with conflict and drama. - What religion can teach...

Robert Cottrell (@robertcottrell), editor of The Browser, joins Erik on this episode. They talk about: - The two main errors that publications made in the shift to online after the advent of the web. - Why paywalls are not an effective model. - The bond that readers have with individual writers rather than publications, and how business models could change to accommodate that. - Why long form writ...

Jeff Morris Jr. (@jmj), Director of Product, Revenue at Tinder, and investor at Chapter One, joins Erik on this episode. We sincerely apologize for the audio quality of this episode. We had technical difficulties with the recording. They discuss: - Using tech to bridge online and offline experiences. - The idea of wellness as a status symbol. - What $10B companies may have emerged ten years from n...

Erik is joined on this episode by PJ Kershaw (@pjkershawnz), early stage investor and crypto thinker. They discuss: - Why PJ says that the current model of companies with shareholders has “reached its zenith.” - How DAOs will change the world. - How public goods can be better delivered using new models. - Lessons from Singapore. - The future of venture capital in the age of crypto. - How VC fund s...

Erik is joined on this episode by Lawson Baker (@lwsnbaker), head of special projects at TokenSoft. He’s also working on a new company. They talk about: * Bitcoin as the future not just of finance, but also of work. * What the internet and the future of work looks like ten years out. * The “de-evolution of the firm” and how corporations will become less important in business. * Where Lawson would...