
POD OF JAKE
A podcast for potential-pursuing optimists, for doers who want to make a dent in the universe, for those interested in crypto, longevity, city-building, etc., and for anyone who loves learning the stories of extraordinary entrepreneurs.
Latest episodes

Sep 26, 2024 • 1h 9min
#182 - DARIYA KHOJASTEH
Dariya is a Co-Founder at Layer3, the consumer attention layer for Web3. Previously, he built several apps, sold an Instagram network, and launched Mastermind, a mentorship platform. Follow Dariya on X @DariyaKho
0:00 - Selling Pokemon cards as a kid
7:32 - Building curated accounts on Instagram
15:59 - Being early to Instagram and learning to grow audiences
21:50 - Dariya’s favorite apps he built when he was young
28:51 - Monetizing intangible value with crypto
38:06 - Discovering crypto as a “nerd on the internet”
46:46 - Learning to express creativity in design versus code
48:33 - Making products that make users feel good
55:52 - The origin story behind Layer3
1:01:26 - Layer3’s business model and recent success
1:05:06 - What’s next for Layer3
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/182-dariya-khojasteh
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

Sep 18, 2024 • 1h 10min
#181 - RAC
RAC, a Grammy-winning musician and innovative record producer, discusses his unique blend of music and crypto. He dives into his journey from remixing to creating a remix-as-a-service collective, exploring the role of Ethereum in music. The conversation touches on the importance of permissionless remixes, early efforts to bring music onchain, and the concept of a shared social graph for music. RAC also shares insights into his creative process and the need for a decentralized music platform that fosters community and connection.

Aug 29, 2024 • 50min
#180 - JASON GOLDBERG
Jason is the Founder & CEO of Airstack, a leading Farcaster development company, and the creator of Moxie, a community owned, community-governed Farcaster protocol on a mission to grow the Farcaster GDP.
[0:42] - Jason’s experience working at the White House during Bill Clinton's presidency
[3:30] - Becoming a highly successful tech entrepreneur
[12:18] - Making the decision to go all in on Farcaster
[15:47] - Moving from Twitter to Farcaster after a decade
[18:52] - Flipping traditional social economics with Farcaster
[21:56] - Moxie’s careful approach to monetizing Farcaster
[34:48] - The Moxie airdrop and rewards structure
[41:02] - Moxie 101 and how to get started
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/180-jason-goldberg
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

Aug 14, 2024 • 49min
#179 - NOBODY SPECIAL
Nobody (legal name: Nobody Special) is the founder & CEO of Theopetra Labs. Theopetra aims to build a network state where citizens collectively & equally own both the financial infrastructure of the nation and the real estate it encompasses. Nobody previously has spent several years working in residential real estate and experimenting with concept like microspaces. Follow Nobody on X @Mel_Anic.
[0:42] - Growing up as an immigrant and early entrepreneurial experiences
[4:45] - Introduction to crypto and early Web3 real estate projects
[7:52] - Sourcing early interest in Theopetra
[11:25] - Theopetra’s approach to crowdfunding and community ownership
[17:13] - Using micro spaces to bootstrap Theopetra
[21:59] - Micro spaces as a minimal viable living space to reduce burn
[27:24] - Lifestyles fit for micro space living
[30:44] - The current state of Theopetra and benefits of being a member
[35:55] - The importance of community within Theopetra
[39:14] - Other projects building in the Network State space
[42:43] - Attempting to break the longest live stream world record
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/179-nobody-special
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

Jul 16, 2024 • 54min
#178 - MIKE DEMARAIS
Mike is a co-founder of Rainbow, one of the most widely used wallets in crypto (wowowow). Before Rainbow, Mike started a couple of companies and worked for a few others after dropping out of college following his first semester. Follow Mike on X @mikedemarais and on Warpcast @mikedemarais.eth.
[0:42] - Mike's story from college dropout to crypto founder
[10:31] - Starting companies to fix computers & 3D print toys
[17:24] - Why Mike likes small towns and lower tier cities
[23:53] - The irresistible opportunity to build in crypto
[27:00] - Mike's product and design forward approach
[30:33] - Inflection points in Rainbow’s growth to date
[38:25] - Breaking down Rainbow’s ETH rewards program
[46:25] - The future of Farcaster compared to Twitter
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/178-mike-demarais
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

Jul 2, 2024 • 54min
#177 - JOSHUA BROWDER
Joshua is the Founder & CEO of DoNotPay. He is a Thiel Fellow who has been called "Robin Hood of the Internet" for building products to save people time and money. DoNotPay is an automated service that handles over 200 consumer rights challenges such as cancelling subscriptions, obtaining refunds, and appealing tickets. Follow Joshua on X @jbrowder1.
[0:16] - How Joshua turned his penchant for parking tickets into a successful business
[6:31] - Joshua’s early experiences building iPhone apps
[9:11] - Why Joshua took a careful and patient approach to starting DoNotPay while at Stanford
[14:11] - Why Joshua waited so long to start charging for DoNotPay
[15:51] - Alternative business models for DoNotPay
[19:32] - Joshua's approach to building a lean, efficient team
[24:25] - Operating as a global, in-person, nomadic organization
[26:45] - How the advent GPT has transformed DoNotPay’s services
[35:20] - Joshua’s perspective on the current and future states of AI
[39:16] - Why Do Not Pay issues dividends to its employees and investors
[43:16] - Joshua’s approach for growing DoNotPay from here
[45:43] - Technology’s fast pace of change versus society’s slow pace of change
[48:47] - Wisdom gained from The Thiel Fellowship
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/177-joshua-browder
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

Jun 6, 2024 • 57min
#176 - JEREMY ALLAIRE
Jeremy is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle, the financial technology company behind the USDC stablecoin. Before Circle, Jeremy co-founded several companies, including Brightcove and Allaire Corporation, which was acquired by Macromedia. Follow Jeremy on X @jerallaire.
0:00 - Jeremy’s career growth in parallel to the internet
10:06 - Comparing the first decade of internet adoption to the first decade of crypto innovation
18:37 - Why infrastructure innovation precedes application innovation
25:44 - What happens when the marginal cost of moving value approaches zero
33:59 - Crypto’s potential impact on existing institutions and society at large
43:19 - Jeremy’s thoughts on internet-native currencies
48:07 - The potential impacts of regulating crypto
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/176-jeremy-allaire
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

May 29, 2024 • 55min
#175 - LUCA NETZ
Luca is the CEO of the Pudgy Penguins. Pudgy Penguins is one of the two or three most successful PFP NFT collections in the world by floor price and volume. Since dropping out of high school, Luca has become a serial entrepreneur and successful internet marketer who has built multiple e-commerce businesses. Follow Luca on X @LucaNetz.
[0:00] - How an entrepreneurial mindset allowed Luca to experience early success in brand building, e-commerce, and NFTs
[9:35] - Luca’s entrance into crypto and his fundamental beliefs about the industry
[14:13] - The importance of self-awareness and building the right team for Pudgy Penguins
[20:14] - The unique properties of building in Web3
[26:29] - Luca’s experience building alongside the Pudgy Penguins community
[30:56] - The pros and cons of being a Non-Founder CEO
[34:26] - Why Luca believes IP is the most valuable part of NFTs
[39:55] - The current state of NFTs at large
[42:37] - The future of IP, NFTs, and crypto's impact on value
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/175-luca-netz
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

May 22, 2024 • 51min
#174 - MICHAEL SCHWIMER
Michael is the Founder and CEO of Big League Advantage (BLA), a company that uses deep analytics to forecast future performance of minor league baseball players in which it invests. Prior to creating Big League Advantage, Michael was a Major League Baseball player, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies. Follow Michael on Twitter @mschwimer.
0:00 - Michael's baseball career, and entrepreneurial start
6:21 - Choosing baseball over basketball
10:52 - The challenges of starting Big League Advantage
15:27 - Breaking down BLA’s VC-like model
22:21 - Why players choose to work with or pass on BLA
31:42 - Comparing predictive analytics between sports
36:41 - The key dynamics of BLA deals
41:44 - The progression and development of BLA to date
43:21 - Name, Image, and Likeness deals in college sports
44:40 - How age factors into BLA’s investment decisions
46:40 - Michael’s plans for the future of BLA
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/174-michael-schwimer
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!

May 15, 2024 • 57min
#173 - AUGUSTUS DORICKO
Augustus is the Founder & CEO of Rainmaker, a cloud seeding and weather modification company. The company's objective is to facilitate more precipitation in the American West in the near-term, while terraforming Earth more broadly over time. Augustus previously co-founded another startup and was named a Thiel Fellow in 2024. Follow Augustus on X @ADoricko.
Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/173-augustus-doricko
For more episodes, go to podofjake.com.
Previous guests include Mark Cuban, Vitalik Buterin, Brian Armstrong, Balaji Srinivasan, Keith Rabois, Ali Spagnola, Anthony Pompliano, Raoul Pal, Julia Galef, Jack Butcher, Tim Draper, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Solana, Polygon, AngelList, Oura, and Replit, and investors from Founders Fund, a16z, Union Square Ventures, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.
Thanks to Chase Devens for the show notes and Yiction for the music.
Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at jake@blogofjake.com. Thank you!
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