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Smart Friends

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Aug 17, 2021 • 1h 7min

#002 Andrew Wilkinson: Investing vs. Operating, De-risking Leverage, and The Best Part About Business

Andrew Wilkinson is the co-founder of Tiny, a venture capital firm that has helped to build over 25 profitable internet businesses over the last 15 years. He got his start founding MetaLab, one of the world’s top design agencies. He has gone from working out of his apartment a little over a decade ago, to today overseeing a group of companies with over 300 employees and tens of millions in revenue. Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for their help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit the founder up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking).     If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson>> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support!   Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant  Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant  Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.  You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant  The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant
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Aug 10, 2021 • 1h 21min

#001 Sky King: The Next Level of the Internet, Decentralization, and Becoming a Player in the Game of Life

Sky King is an entrepreneur and podcaster, passionate about creating systems that incentivize authenticity in media. He founded his company Modern Stoa based in Austin, Texas where he helps podcasters like Aubrey Marcus, Paul Saladino, Luke Storey, and more create and monetize sincere media. His new podcast Sky King’s Mental Playground will be launching in late August on Supercast. If you want to be early to the party subscribe at skyking.substack.com Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Huge thanks to Modern Stoa (modernstoa.co) for his help on creating and growing this very podcast you’re listening to now. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization, go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on Twitter (@consumersky) or Instagram (@iamaskyking).     If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson>> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support!   Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant  Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant  Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.  You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant
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Aug 3, 2021 • 51min

Almanack of Naval bonus episode and next: Jorgenson’s Soundbox

In the very first episode of Jorgenson’s soundbox Eric Jorgenson sought to use this opportunity to answer some of your core questions around The Almanack of Naval including: What I learned creating the Almanack of Naval?What story is underrated from the Alamanack of Naval?What I have applied from The Almanack of Naval?And of course I answered questions about leverage!At the end of this episodes Erick Jorgenson  We also go into what you can expect from Jorgenson's Soundbox. Topics can include DeFi, NFT's, How to put your money to work, education and much more. I hope you enjoy and continue on the journey to Jorgenson’s Soundbox.A huge thank you to Naval Ravikant, Tim Ferriss, Jack Butcher, and everyone who made this book possible. Thank you for helping Eric Jorgenson help others live the lives that they want to live.If you want to support the podcast, here are a few ways you can: >> Buy a copy of the Navalmanak: www.navalmanack.com/ >> Share the podcast with your friends and on social media >> Give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners >> Make a weekly, monthly, or one-time donation: https://app.omella.com/o/9Bufa >> Follow me on Twitter: @ericjorgenson>> Follow @FirstsFamous on Twitter >> Learn more and sign up for the “Building a Mountain of Levers” course and community: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage >> Join the Course Correctly community: https://coursecorrectly.com/about/ I appreciate your support!   Important quotes from Naval on building wealth and the difference between wealth and money: How to get rich without getting lucky. - Naval Ravikant Making money is not a thing you do—it’s a skill you learn. - Naval Ravikant I came up with the principles in my tweetstorm (below) for myself when I was really young, around thirteen or fourteen. I’ve been carrying them in my head for thirty years, and I’ve been living them. Over time (sadly or fortunately), the thing I got really good at was looking at businesses and figuring out the point of maximum leverage to actually create wealth and capture some of that created wealth. - Naval Ravikant Seek wealth, not money or status. - Naval Ravikant  Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. - Naval Ravikant  Money is how we transfer time and wealth. - Naval Ravikant Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.  You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity—a piece of a business—to gain your financial freedom. - Naval Ravikant  The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn. The old model of making money is going to school for four years, getting your degree, and working as a professional for thirty years. But things change fast now. Now, you have to come up to speed on a new profession within nine months, and it’s obsolete four years later. But within those three productive years, you can get very wealthy. - Naval Ravikant  
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Apr 1, 2021 • 29min

The Almanack of Naval Epilogue: Recommended Reading

This final episode of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant includes Naval’s favorite books, his recommended reading, and more thoughts. This is a great resource to view Naval’s influences, and to find books to read deeper on key ideas from the book: investing, mental models, happiness, philosophy, and science. You’ll notice authors like Matt Ridley, Nassim Taleb, Richard Feynman, and more as well as some blog posts from Naval in this Epilogue. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumerskyArtwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Books:The truth is, I don’t read for self-improvement. I read out of curiosity and interest. The best book is the one you’ll devour. - Naval Ravikant Read enough, and you become a connoisseur. Then you naturally gravitate more toward theory, concepts, nonfiction. - Naval Ravikant I always spent money on books. I never viewed that as an expense. That’s an investment to me. - Naval Ravikant If you eat, invest, and think according to what the “news” advocates, you’ll end up nutritionally, financially, and morally bankrupt. - Naval Ravikant
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Mar 25, 2021 • 15min

Naval on Philosophy

Naval shares the biggest, deepest, oldest thoughts in this philosophy episode. What is the meaning of life? It turns out there are 3 answers, from Naval’s perspective. Naval shares the values that he lives by, and “rational buddhism” the foundation of his worldview, which involves science, evolution, and ancient eastern wisdom. At the end of the day, as Naval reminds us… the present is all we have. This very moment of consciousness to enjoy peace and find joy and happiness.Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValueShownotes:Important Quotes from the podcast on The Meaning of Life: The real truths are heresies. They cannot be spoken. Only discovered, whispered, and perhaps read. - Naval Ravikant Before you can lie to another, you must first lie to yourself. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Values:Another example of a foundational value: I don’t believe in any short-term thinking or dealing. If I’m doing business with somebody and they think in a short-term manner with somebody else, then I don’t want to do business with them anymore. All benefits in life come from compound interest, whether in money, relationships, love, health, activities, or habits. I only want to be around people I know I’m going to be around for the rest of my life. I only want to work on things I know have long-term payout. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Wisdom and being present:The older the question, the older the answers. - Naval Ravikant Everyone starts out innocent. Everyone is corrupted. Wisdom is the discarding of vices and the return to virtue, by way of knowledge. - Naval Ravikant Inspiration is perishable—act on it immediately. - Naval Ravikant “Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now, and we will never be here again.” —Homer, The Iliad
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Mar 18, 2021 • 55min

Naval on Saving Yourself

As Naval says, life is a single-player game. No one else is going to make you rich. No one else is going to make you healthy. No one else is going to make you happy. You have to learn the discipline and clarity of living your own life your own way. Naval shows you the basics he has learned of health, diet, exercise, meditation, and mental strength. This is Naval’s basic blueprint for a happy life and a wealthy life. It starts with how you build yourself -- the foundation of everything.Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValueShownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Choosing Yourself:All you should do is what you want to do. If you stop trying to figure out how to do things the way other people want you to do them, you get to listen to the little voice inside your head that wants to do things a certain way. Then, you get to be you. - Naval Ravikant Your goal in life is to find the people, business, project, or art that needs you the most. There is something out there just for you. What you don’t want to do is build checklists and decision frameworks built on what other people are doing. You’re never going to be them. You’ll never be good at being somebody else. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Choosing To Care For Yourself:When everyone is sick, we no longer consider it a disease. - Naval Ravikant We evolved for scarcity but live in abundance. - Naval Ravikant I’m not an expert, and the problem is diet and nutrition are like politics: everybody thinks they’re an expert. Their identity is wrapped up in it because what they’ve been eating or what they think they should be eating is obviously the correct answer. Everybody has a little religion—it’s just a really difficult topic to talk about. I will just say in general, any sensible diet avoids the combination of sugar and fat together. - Naval Ravikant When it comes to medicine and nutrition, subtract before you add. - Naval RavikantWorld’s simplest diet: The more processed the food, the less one should consume. - Naval Ravikant Important quotes from the podcast on Exercise: The harder the workout, the easier the day. - Naval Ravikant What I did was decide my number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health. It starts with my physical health. [4] Because my physical health became my number one priority, then I could never say I don’t have time. In the morning, I work out, and however long it takes is how long it takes. I do not start my day until I’ve worked out. I don’t care if the world is imploding and melting down, it can wait another thirty minutes until I’m done working out. - Naval Ravikant How you make a habit doesn’t matter. Do something every day. It almost doesn’t matter what you do. The people who are obsessing over whether to do weight training, tennis, Pilates, the high-intensity interval training method, “The Happy Body,” or whatever. They’re missing the point. The important thing is to do something every day. It doesn’t matter what it is. The best workout for you is one you’re excited enough to do every day. - Naval Ravikant
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Mar 11, 2021 • 47min

Naval Ravikant on Learning Happiness

Naval has such a following because he is successful financially AND happy, in the sense that he has focused on learning happiness. Naval built happiness habits, reminders and behaviors that create an inner peace. This episode has Naval’s best ideas on how envy, success, and desire can interfere with your innate happiness, and how you can defend it or win it back. It all starts with realizing that happiness is a choice, and happiness is a skill. You can train yourself into happiness through perspectives and Naval’s small changes in thinking habits. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValueShownotes:Important Quotes from the podcast on Happiness as a choice: The Tao Te Ching says this more articulately than I ever could, but it’s all duality and polarity. If I say I’m happy, that means I was sad at some point. If I say he’s attractive, then somebody else is unattractive. Every positive thought even has a seed of a negative thought within it and vice versa, which is why a lot of greatness in life comes out of suffering. You have to view the negative before you can aspire to and appreciate the positive. - Naval Ravikant If you believe Happiness is a choice you can start to work on it - Naval RavikantThe fundamental delusion: There is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever. - Naval Ravikant Happiness is being satisfied with what you have. Success comes from dissatisfaction. Choose. - Naval Ravikant Peace is happiness at rest, and happiness is peace in motion. You can convert peace into happiness anytime you want. But peace is what you want most of the time. If you’re a peaceful person, anything you do will be a happy activity. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Success and Desire: When working, surround yourself with people more successful than you. When playing, surround yourself with people happier than you. - Naval Ravikant Tell your friends you’re a happy person. Then, you’ll be forced to conform to it. You’ll have a consistency bias. You have to live up to it. Your friends will expect you to be a happy person. - Naval RavikantDesire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want. - Naval Ravikant Important Quotes from the podcast on Anxiety:I think a lot of us have this low-level pervasive feeling of anxiety. If you pay attention to your mind, sometimes you’re just running around doing your thing and you’re not feeling great, and you notice your mind is chattering and chattering about something. Maybe you can’t sit still…There’s this “nexting” thing where you’re sitting in one spot thinking about where you should be next. - Naval Ravikant It’s most obvious if you ever just sit down and try and do nothing, nothing. I mean nothing, I mean not read a book, I mean not listen to music, I mean literally just sit down and do nothing. You can’t do it, because there’s anxiety always trying to make you get up and go, get up and go, get up and go. I think it’s important just being aware the anxiety is making you unhappy. The anxiety is just a series of running thoughts. - Naval Ravikant How I combat anxiety: I don’t try and fight it, I just notice I’m anxious because of all these thoughts. I try to figure out, “Would I rather be having this thought right now, or would I rather have my peace?” Because as long as I have my thoughts, I can’t have my peace. - Naval Ravikant
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Mar 4, 2021 • 44min

Naval Ravikant on How to Build Judgement

Naval says building good judgement is a foundation to building wealth and getting rich. But how do we build judgement? How do we get smarter? Become wiser? Make better decisions? This episode focuses on Naval’s advice for learning to learn, learning to think, learning to see reality. This helps you make good business decisions, investment decisions, and good partnership decisions. We talk about Naval’s favorite books, mental models, and his techniques for reading. By the end of this episode, we hope you are a little calmer, a little wiser, and more assured in your path. Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue Shownotes: Important Quotes from the podcast on Judgement and thinking clearly: Wisdom applied to external problems is judgement - Naval “Clear thinker” is a better compliment than “smart.” - Naval Ravikant Clear thinkers appeal to their own authority. - Naval The really smart thinkers are clear thinkers. They understand the basics at a very, very fundamental level. I would rather understand the basics really well than memorize all kinds of complicated concepts I can’t stitch together and can’t rederive from the basics. If you can’t rederive concepts from the basics as you need them, you’re lost. You’re just memorizing. - Naval Ravikant Very smart people tend to be weird since they insist on thinking everything through for themselves. A contrarian isn’t one who always objects—that’s a conformist of a different sort. A contrarian reasons independently from the ground up and resists pressure to conform.  Cynicism is easy. Mimicry is easy. Optimistic contrarians are the rarest breed. - Naval RavikantImportant Quotes from the podcast on Wealth, Business, and Entrepreneurship:You don’t get rich by spending your time to save money. You get rich by saving your time to make money. - Naval Ravikant One definition of a moment of suffering is “the moment when you see things exactly the way they are.” This whole time, you’ve been convinced your business is doing great, and really, you’ve ignored the signs it’s not doing well. Then, your business fails, and you suffer because you’ve been putting off reality. You’ve been hiding it from yourself. - Naval The more desire I have for something to work out a certain way, the less likely I am to see the truth. Especially in business, if something isn’t going well, I try to acknowledge it publicly and I try to acknowledge it publicly in front of my co-founders and friends and co-workers. Then, I’m not hiding it from anybody else. If I’m not hiding it from anybody, I’m not going to delude myself from what’s actually going on. - Naval RavikantImportant Quotes from the podcast on Leverage:In an age of leverage, one correct decision can win everything. - Naval You have to put in the time, but the judgment is more important. The direction you’re heading in matters more than how fast you move, especially with leverage. - Naval Ravikant Charisma is the ability to project confidence and love at the same time. It’s almost always possible to be honest and positive. - Naval I think people have a hard time understanding a fundamental fact of leverage. If I manage $1 billion and I’m right 10 percent more often than somebody else, my decision-making creates $100 million worth of value on a judgment call. With modern technology and large workforces and capital, our decisions are leveraged more and more. - Naval Ravikant
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Feb 25, 2021 • 1h 32min

Naval Ravikant on How to Build Wealth

Naval’s famous tweetstorm ‘How to get Rich’ (without getting lucky) was just the start. This episode has all of the chapters from the Building Wealth section of the book of Naval. You will learn the details of specific knowledge, accountability, building equity, finding leverage and how to play the long game. Learn the principles of wealth that tells you how Naval got rich from his startups, Angellist, and his angel investments. These principles explain how millions of people have gotten rich, and give you the ideas that you need to plan your own path to wealth.  Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumersky Artwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue
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Feb 2, 2021 • 17min

Prologue featuring Naval Ravikant, Tim Ferriss, and Eric Jorgenson

I built the Almanack of Naval Ravikant or Navalmanack entirely out of transcripts, Tweets, and talks Naval has shared. Every attempt is made to present Naval in his own words. However, there are a few important points.    The transcripts have been edited for clarity and brevity (multiple times).   Not all sources are primary (some excerpts are from other writers quoting Naval).   I can’t be 100 percent certain of every source’s authenticity.   Concepts and interpretations change over time, medium, and context.   Please verify phrasing with a primary source before citing Naval from this text. Please interpret generously.   By definition, everything in this book is taken out of context. Interpretations will change over time. Read and interpret generously. Understand the original intent may be different than your interpretation in a different time, medium, format, and context.  In the process of creating this book, I may have mistakenly re-contextualized, misinterpreted, or misunderstood things. As content passed through time, space, and medium, some phrasing may have shifted in flight. Every effort has been made to maintain the original intent, but errors are (very) possible.  Interviews have been transcribed, edited, rearranged, and re-edited for readability. I did my best to keep Naval’s ideas in his own words.  All brilliance in this book is Naval’s; any mistakes are mine.Huge thanks to Sky King for his help. If you need help with podcast growth or monetization go to modernstoa.co or hit him up on twitter @consumerskyArtwork and illustrations by Jack Butcher of @VisualizeValue If you don’t have time for the podcast here are a few important quotes from the prologue of The Almanack of Naval. Naval Ravikant has changed my life for the better, and if you approach the following pages like a friendly but highly competent sparring partner, he might just change yours. - Tim Ferriss “Naval is one of the smartest people I have ever met and he is one of the most courageous.” - Tim Ferriss  “I’ve learned a few things, and some principles. I try to lay them out in a timeless manner, where you can figure it out for yourself. Because at the end of the day, I can’t quite teach anything. I can only inspire you and maybe give you a few hooks so you can remember.” - Naval Ravikant “Naval is one of the people I call most for advice” - Tim Ferriss “Books make for great friends, because the best thinkers of the last few thousand years tell you their nuggets of wisdom.” - Naval Ravikant “I take Naval seriously because he: Questions nearly everything Can think from first principlesTests things wellIs good at not fooling himself Changes his mind regularly Laughs a lot Thinks holistically Thinks long-term And…doesn’t take himself too goddamn seriously.  That last one is important” - Tim Ferriss

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