Crazy Wisdom

Having previously developed Postmark as well as Beanstalk, entrepreneur Natalie Nagele (@natalienagele) joins me for a light-hearted, honest and open conversation about the process of building Wildbit, a fully self-funded, hybrid software company. In this episode, we mention: Deep work Leadership in business Loneliness in remote work Hard work vs. Smart work Fundraising and profitability Meditation and mental clarity Building a meaningful business Remote work, in the early days Values, and their constant evolution Productivity software that can do more harm than good Timeline: (04:57) What is Wildbit? How did it start off? (09:32) Pioneering remote work: Pros and Cons (17:24) Slack, and anxiety: the effects of micro-managing expectations (22:58) Remote work: how big of an issue is loneliness? (26:17) Which should you do: work hard or smart? (32:13) Fundraising, VC control, and Profits (37:01) Meditation: Natalie's practice, and company culture (43:50) How is writing therapeutic?  (46:47) How procrastination obstructs your mental space (50:11) 'Trillion Dolar Coach', and the lost secret of leadership (55:50) Technological innovation: what is next?  Please support us by subscribing and leaving a rating + review on Apple Podcasts. You can also help spread the word by sharing this episode with friends and family!    

After the last two episodes of setting up the exact problems we are facing with our oceans, I interview Bren Smith of Green Wave about his insightful company and what they are doing in order to provide protein to the world with low environmental impact. 

Andreas Klinger (@andreasklinger), currently Head of Remote at AngelList, is a product-centric startup founder. Previous to AngelList, Andreas was founding team member and CTO at ProductHunt, as well as VP of Engineering at CoinList. In this episode, we discuss: Remote-work! Benefits of traveling while working The phenomenon of globalization Product ideas for remote teams Uploading our consciousness Andreas' meaning for life Innovation and sci-fi The spirituality trap Job automation Timeline: (04:35) What is Andreas' notion of spirituality? (10:30) Andreas' meaning for life (14:40) Globalization, and decentralized cultures (19:40) The inevitability of remote work  (23:15) Consciousness, computers and the 'Bobiverse' (29:15) Technological evolution: are we living in a sci-fi scenario? (30:10) Remote work: from hype to banal (38:15) Market solutions for the upcoming demands of remote work (43:50) Slow travel: how you can make the most of remote work (50:45) Striking a balance between in-person and remote work (54:00) The trap that Silicon Valley has fallen for (01:00:03) Jet-lag: how do you deal with it?   If you've made it all the way down here, please support us by subscribing and leaving a rating + review on Apple Podcasts. You can also help spread the word by sharing this episode with friends, family or just about anyone who'd find it interesting. Thank you.  

Norland Téllez is an Artist, teacher, and mythologist with a background in film animation. Grounding himself in classical painting and drawing, his core artistic and intellectual life centers around the study of the Popol-Vuh, a classic of Mayan mythology. In this episode, Norland shares what it means to be a visual artist whose work centers around the Popol-Vuh, the Mayan epic of creation and perennial wisdom. Having this cultural masterpiece as our guiding thread, we explore different facets of life such as: Language and other artistic forms of human expression The intersection between psychology and mythology Happiness, Pleasure, and Hedonism Creativity and self-destruction The quest for the unknown The meaning of dreams Non-linearity of time (un)Consciousness The Hero's journey Find out more about Norland and his work at norlandtellez.com Timeline: (00:04:01) What is the Popol-Vuh? (00:04:57) What contribution did the Mayans make to the world? (00:10:35) How does Mayan wisdom approach our biases? (00:17:14) Jumping into the unknown, spirituality and psychology (00:20:14) Language, artistic expression, and the layers of human experience (00:28:27) How can we bridge the gap between the conscious and the unconscious? (00:32:52) In what way has the study of Mayan wisdom influenced Norland's life? (00:40:46) Myth or Ideology: what is the line that separates them? (00:45:59) What's the Mayan story of human creation? (00:52:26) Jouissance, Creativity & Death-drive (01:07:00) The Hero's Journey: from selfhood to self-divestment If you made it all the way down here, don't forget to subscribe and please take the time to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

I sat down with Daniela to talk about Ocean Health and her organization: The Sustainable Ocean Alliance (@SOAalliance).  We talked a lot about plastics in the oceans, in the fish, and in our freshwater supply. If you are interested in solutions to solve some of the major problems we are facing with our oceans then check out this episode or her organization.

Gregory Wendt is a veteran wealth advisor, CFP and economist who works at the forefront of sustainable and responsible investing. As a social entrepreneur, Greg has founded several non-profit community organizations by applying a multi-disciplinary approach to financial innovation. Greg is by all means a natural conversationalist and will not disappoint even the most demanding of listeners. In this episode, we cover two main topics - the universe and the world of economics - with a hint of science, spirituality as well as philosophy. Check out the preview of this talk below. Visit Greg at https://www.gregwendt.com/ Timeline: (00:03:27) Business and Hippiedom: Greg's story (00:08:37) The collision of Spirituality with Science (00:13:05) Capital markets and the concept of cosmos (00:14:28) Natural laws vs. Social Dynamics - how groups can destroy your innate potential (00:17:30) Epigenetics: how does the environment affect your genes and your worldview? (00:23:55) What's the point of predicting the future? (00:27:19) Technological paradigm vs. Biomimicry (00:31:13) The specialization epidemic (00:33:39) What are the limitations of (economic) theories? (00:35:24) Social Darwinism vs. Cooperation  (00:38:03) Win-Win games in the economic context (00:41:02) Earthlings: our human and cultural evolution  (00:48:40) Bioregions and how Greg is working to make this concept a reality (00:53:47) Building resilient, smart cities across the world (00:58:03) How Greg is moving capital away from destructive industries into Bioregions (01:05:49) Venture Capital funding, alternatives, and creating systemic solutions to connect the dots  Please subscribe to Crazy Wisdom wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.    

Lawrence Wang works as a software engineer at MakerDAO, a decentralized project that operates within the Ethereum blockchain.  This interview was special. Lawrence has a way of putting things so clearly and concisely that you'll be left speechless. From spiritual surrender to cryptocurrencies, this one's all about learning to navigate the turbulent waters of modern society with wisdom and clarity. More on MakerDAO at https://makerdao.com   Timeline: (03:20) - What is MakerDAO? (04:20) - How does Lawrence work with stress? (07:16) - How can we adapt to the increasingly large networks of people in our lives? (10:26) - Signal vs. noise (13:20) - What's recently changed Lawrence's life in a meaningful way? (14:36) - The sweet spot between optimism and pessimism (16:00) - How is ignorance a form of freedom? (18:02)- What's the impact of technology on principles? (20:25) - What is actually going to save us (the world)? (23:39) - Co-dependence vs. Interdependence (25:38) - Anti-fragility, and the spiritual equivalent of "FU-money" (29:09) - Establishing (energetic) boundaries (32:12) - Lawrence on Meditation and the role of Technique (39:00) - What are Stablecoins? (44:42) - Cryptocurrencies' biggest promise (48:20) - Remote-work: the future of human connection?   Please subscribe to Crazy Wisdom wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

I did a special interview series about humanity's largest creative asset: the ocean, and how we are putting huge stresses on it and what we can do to fix it.

Kirill Zubovsky is the founder of SmashNotes, a website that curates highlights from millions of podcasts in the form of Q&As. Be it science, business, startups, education, news, or anything in between, they've got you covered. He also hosts his own podcast called Rad Dad. In this episode, Kirill shares the insider knowledge he's collected both as a founder in the growing podcast industry and also as a YCombinator alumnus. From life lessons to startup culture, you will leave this one feeling a little wiser and more well-informed about the way our world operates. Timeline: (02:38) - What is SmashNotes? (05:25) - Why podcasting has blown up (07:07) - Kiril's podcast experience as a host (10:56) - Is it counter-productive to share show notes?  (12:55) - Out of thousands of podcasts, which is Kiril's favorite? (14:24) - Short-term future of AI (18:13) - Biggest life lesson that Kiril has learned from working in YCombinator (22:38) - What recent piece of information got Kiril excited? (25:15) - Crazy Wisdom's evolution and expected trajectory (29:56) - Where does the name 'Crazy Wisdom' come from? (35:13) - Seeking advice selectively (38:41) - How can you monetize your podcast? (43:09) - Remote-work and the upcoming worldwide decentralized networks Please subscribe to Crazy Wisdom wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a rating and review in Apple Podcasts.

Hiten Shah (@hnshah) is a startup investor and the co-founder of FYI, a company that has developed research-based software to help people find their documents as quickly as possible. In this talk, we explore the connection that is gradually flourishing between two seemingly distinct worlds: Technology and Spirituality. Hiten has a lot of insights to share and is keen to delve into the many different ways in which computers, the human condition, and business intertwine with each other. If you're interested in either of these topics, you can't miss this one. Follow along: (04:33) - Is the human experience necessarily a spiritual one? (08:20) - Hiten's personal experience with the internet (12:06) - What is Hiten's view on the relationship between technology and spirituality? (16:57) - Shadow work: what is it? (22:45) - Samskara, energy body and the essence of observation (29:18) - Judgment vs. Discernment (33:07) - What is Hiten most excited about right now? (37:05) - Start, Grow, Scale - the changing nature of a business (42:22) - How relevant is memorization in the face of unlimited digital storage? (48:27) - What does Hiten think about predicting the future impact of technology? (51:42) - What projects is Hiten currently working on? (54:17) - Hiten's relationship with stress and creativity Please subscribe to Crazy Wisdom wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a rating and review in Apple Podcasts.