Audience of One

Travis Jamison is a serial entrepreneur and investor. Among other things, Travis owns an SEO agency (Smash Digital), a holding company for cash flowing businesses (Smash.VC), and an online investing community and newsletter (Investing.io). Travis and I talk about how he got his start, all things investing (SMBs, hold co's, crypto, and the macro environment), and what the macro game is he’s playing in life. — (01:00) Getting his start with supplement businesses & AMZ Tracker (04:55) Why he likes agency businesses (09:32) How AI will impact SEO (13:27) The switch to investing & hold co’s (16:18) Why he doesn’t have an investing thesis (17:56) Whether he believes in crypto (26:51) Key things to look for when investing in businesses (30:42) When to build vs invest (34:37) Why he loves online community businesses (36:44) What’s next for Smash.vc (38:16) His superpower (39:21) The macro economic environment (41:25) The macro game he’s playing in life (47:09) His final question for listeners — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/ Travis’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Travis_Jamison Investing.io: https://investing.io/ Smash.vc: https://smash.vc/ Smash Digital: https://smashdigital.com/

James Pierce is a writer and executive coach, and claims to have found enlightenment. We talk about sincerity, surrender, coaching, the ego, and truth. — (02:10) Is enlightenment a binary event or gradual journey? (3:23) The best metaphor for enlightenment (04:24) The role of language (05:22) Our conception of time (06:44) Does the ego go away entirely? (07:06) The greatest misconception about enlightenment (09:04) What’s left of “you”? (09:36) The role of sincerity (10:56) Surrendering (12:46) Intuition (14:27) Enlightenment isn’t intellectual (15:58) Can you force sincerity? (17:46) Relationships (20:32) What do we fear most? (21:40) Why do you participate in society? (23:38) What is truth? (24:36) Can practices like journaling and meditation actually help? (26:15) Why coach & is it actually useful? (28:18) Enlightenment at scale (29:32) Being enlightened and a high performer (33:41) What question should everyone ask themselves? (34:47) What is a true desire? — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/ James’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmpierce James’ blog: https://www.james-pierce.com/

Nicolas Cole is a writer and the co-founder of Ship30for30, a leading online writing program. We talk about self limiting beliefs, building Ship30for30, how to write on the internet, and much more. — (00:24) Nicolas’ background (04:19) Why writing (07:01) Being the top writer on Quora & getting his break (13:57) Impact of AI on writing (17:46) Ship30for30 origin story (20:37) What is Ship30for30 really selling? (23:47) Top self-limiting beliefs of wannabe writers (27:49) Are popular online writing styles inauthentic? (31:57) Long-term thinking & writing forever (34:21) The goal of writing (36:52) Branding, marketing, & community building (40:59) Overlooked opportunities in writing (44:36) Nicolas’ next year and decade (47:17) His question for listeners — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com Nicolas’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nicolascole77 Start Writing Online: https://startwritingonline.com Ship30for30: https://www.ship30for30.com

Jeremy Giffon is the former general partner of Tiny, a holding company for cash-flowing businesses. Jeremy and I talk about Tiny and acquiring businesses, science and religion, the origins of culture, why you shouldn’t take advice, and what he’s working on next. — (00:31) Jeremy’s background (4:52) Starting MediaCore while in high school (7:24) How to get more high schoolers startup-like experience sooner (11:02) What is Tiny & how is it different (14:41) What’s enabled Tiny to be great (19:47) Growing popularity of acquisition entrepreneurship and holding companies (27:29) Qualities of great companies (32:03) Greatest lessons from Tiny’s founders, Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling (38:21) Why advice is overrated (41:48) Why he left Tiny and what’s next (46:22) On the origins of Western culture (51:32) Science and religion (58:59) Pre- and post-fall (01:10:34) What he’s optimizing for in life (01:14:56) His take on enlightenment (01:17:31) His question for listeners (01:18:51) Whether there are “true desires” — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com Jeremy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremygiffon

Henrik Karlsson is a Swedish entrepreneur, poet, programmer, anthropologist, art curator, and most notably, writer of the blog, Escaping Flatland. We talk about writing, creating your milieu, apprenticeships, learning, networks, parenting, and more. — (01:53) How he got started writing (03:23) His “aha moment” writing on the internet (06:57) Wh more people don’t publish (08:57) Helping creators & thinkers get early traction (11:50) Showing the inside of your head (16:33) How to combine the work of masters & your own voice (20:22) Why he left Sweden to homeschool his daughters (24:21) The learning environment he’s trying to create for his daughters (28:22) Have we lost the apprenticeship model? (31:40) Online apprenticeships (37:23) Role of AI in apprenticeships (39:29) What do the next 6 months and 10 years look like for Escaping Flatland? (46:09) One question for listeners — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/ Henrik’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/phokarlsson Henrik’s blog: https://t.co/lw4NzQnt6t

David Perell is a writer and founder of Write of Passage, an online writing school. We talk about writing, building a business, education, religion, commitment, personal monopolies, and more. — (00:24) Why writing (03:09) Balancing writing & building a company (05:22) The next phase for Write of Passage (06:02) Writing a book (07:10) Influence of art & architecture on David's work (10:21) How Write of Passage is different than traditional education (12:33) How to empower more writers & creators (14:39) What’s the number #1 change David wants to see in education (15:57) On religion & spirituality (20:40) Recurring contradictions in David's life (21:59) The battle between discipline & inspiration (24:30) Commitment (37:37) Is building a personal monopoly for everyone (44:28) Marketing your personal monopoly (45:36) Staying true to the craft (48:45) One question for listeners — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/ David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/david_perell David’s blog: https://perell.com/ Write of Passage: https://writeofpassage.school

Rohit Krishnan is a former McKinsey consultant and venture capitalist, and author of the blog, Strange Loop Cannon. We talk about being a generalist, curiosity, futurism, probabilism, granting, parenting, and more. — (00:33) Tradeoffs of being a generalist (08:01) Parenting & curiosity (11:13) Probabilism & uncertainty (16:40) Delta between the future you invest in vs. want to see (24:33) Grants & funds for individuals (32:23) Personal investment strategy (37:22) Rohit’s theory of innovation (43:02) AI unlocking creativity — Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer’s blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/ Rohit’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/krishnanrohit Rohit’s blog: https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/