• Distribution was so scarce not too long ago: The Unabomber killed all those people so he could get an op-ed in the Washington Post; today, he could have published his manifesto on Substack

• Founders should go directly and build their distribution channel 

What really caused the breakdown between tech and media—and what comes next?

Erik Torenberg sits down with Balaji Srinivasan (entrepreneur, investor, and author of The Network State) to explore the long-building conflict between Silicon Valley and legacy journalism. Balaji explains how the collapse of traditional media business models gave rise to political capture, clickbait, and adversarial coverage of the tech industry.

They discuss why “going direct” is no longer optional, how tech became the villain in establishment narratives, and what it would take to build a new truth infrastructure - from decentralized content creation to cryptographic verification.

This episode covers power, distribution, and the future of media, with a signature mix of historical insight, social analysis, and Balaji’s forward-looking frameworks.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction 

1:26 The Media vs. Tech Conflict

2:11 The Collapse of Journalism Revenue

2:39 Rise of Wokeness and Political Realignment

6:50 State vs. Network: A New Framework

9:00 The Power Structure of Media Institutions

19:25 The Role of Distribution and the Internet

29:20 The Social War: Red vs. Blue America

30:05 X Day and the Shift in Social Media Power

42:56 Strategies for Technologists: Go Direct

48:36 The Importance of Individual Creators

1:10:00 Decentralized Truth and the Ledger of Record

1:36:00 The Future of Media, Democracy, and Equality

1:37:08 Conclusion & Final Thoughts

Resources

Find Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis

Stay Updated: 

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

• FarmBot is a robotic farmer for your garden, designed to take care of your garden by performing functions such as planting seeds, watering, weeding, and monitoring
• Simply being open source is not enough. For a project to be genuinely useful, it must also have extensive, clear documentation and use open, affordable file formats
• Today, the vast majority of food that people eat is grown very far away and in ways that is not great for the food or environment

• We have very little control over the food production system, which is vital to our existence  
• Let us get back to the smaller scale, more diverse polycrop system of food production; many follow-on benefits will result 

On this episode of Crazy Wisdom, Stewart Alsop speaks with Rory Aronson, CEO of FarmBot, about how his open-source hardware project is transforming home gardening into a more automated and accessible practice. Rory explains how FarmBot works—essentially as a CNC machine for your garden—covering its evolution from Arduino-based electronics to custom boards, the challenges of integrating hardware and software, and the role of closed-loop feedback systems to prevent errors. They explore solarpunk visions of distributed food systems, discuss the importance of “useful source” documentation in open-source hardware, and imagine a future where growing food is as easy as running a dishwasher. For more on Rory and FarmBot, check out farm.bot and the open-source resources at docs.farm.bot.

Check out this GPT we trained on the conversation

Timestamps

00:00 Rory explains FarmBot as a CNC machine for gardens, using Arduino and Raspberry Pi, automating planting, watering, and weeding.

05:00 Discussion on the hardware stack evolution, open-source electronics roots, and moving to custom boards for better integration.

10:00 Stewart shares his Raspberry Pi experiments, Rory breaks down the software layers from cloud apps to firmware, emphasizing complexity.

15:00 Conversation shifts to closed-loop feedback with rotary encoders, avoiding 3D printer-style “spaghetti” errors in outdoor environments.

20:00 Rory explores open-source challenges, highlighting “useful source” documentation and hardware accessibility for modifications.

25:00 Solarpunk vision emerges: distributed food systems, automation enabling home-grown fresh food without expert knowledge.

30:00 Raised bed setup, energy efficiency, and FarmBot as a home appliance concept for urban and suburban gardens.

35:00 Small-scale versus industrial farming, niche commercial uses like seedling automation, and user creativity with custom tools.

40:00 AI potential with vision systems, LLMs for garden planning, and enhancing FarmBot intelligence for real-time adaptation.

45:00 Sensors, soil monitoring, image analysis for plant health, and empowering users to integrate FarmBot into smart homes.

50:00 Rory describes community innovations, auxiliary hardware, and open documentation supporting experimentation.

55:00 Final reflections on solarpunk futures, automation as empowerment, and how to access FarmBot’s resources online.

Key Insights

1. Rory Aronson shares how FarmBot began as a DIY project built on Arduino and Raspberry Pi, leveraging the open-source 3D printing ecosystem to prototype quickly. Over time, they transitioned to custom circuit boards to meet the specific demands of automating gardening tasks like seed planting, watering, and weeding, highlighting the tradeoffs between speed to market and long-term hardware optimization.
2. The conversation unpacks the complexity of FarmBot’s “stack,” which integrates cloud-based software, a web app, a message broker, a Raspberry Pi running a custom OS, and firmware on both Arduino and auxiliary chips for real-time feedback. This layered approach is crucial for precision in an unpredictable outdoor environment where mechanical errors could damage growing plants.
3. Aronson emphasizes that being open source isn’t enough; to be genuinely useful, projects must provide extensive, accessible documentation and export files in open, affordable formats. Without this, open source risks being a hollow promise for most users, especially in hardware where barriers to modification are higher.
4. They explore the solarpunk potential of FarmBot, imagining a future where growing food at home is as effortless as using a washing machine. By turning gardening into an automated process, FarmBot enables people to produce fresh vegetables without needing expertise, offering resilience against industrial food systems reliant on monoculture and long supply chains.
5. Aronson points out that while FarmBot isn’t designed for industrial agriculture, its modularity allows it to support niche commercial use cases, like automating seedling production in cleanroom environments. This adaptability reflects the broader vision of empowering both individuals and small operations with accessible automation tools.
6. The episode highlights user creativity enabled by FarmBot’s open hardware, including custom tools like side-mounted mirrors for alternative camera angles and pneumatic grippers for harvesting. These community-driven innovations showcase the platform’s flexibility and the value of encouraging experimentation.
7. Finally, Aronson sees great potential for integrating AI, particularly vision systems and multimodal LLMs, to make FarmBot smarter—detecting pests, diagnosing plant health, and even planning gardens tailored to user goals like nutrient needs or event timelines, moving closer to a truly intelligent gardening companion.

• We will have artificial superintelligence by 2035: “Superintelligence” implies intelligence that is beyond the sum of what humans can do  
• As important as nuclear fusion and fission may be for the future, they will not arrive soon enough to meet the immediate surge in global power demand driven by AI and data infrastructure
  • Learning machines accelerate to their natural limit, and the current limit of AI systems is electricity
  • Greater energy infrastructure is essential to support the intellectual capacity required for a superintelligent abundance
• We will have specialized savants in every field, within five years; the real question is, once we have all these savants, do they unify? Do they ultimately become superhuman? 
• The emergence of superintelligence comes with huge proliferation issues: Competitive issues, China vs. the US issues, electricity issues; we do not even have the language for the deterrence and proliferation aspects of these powerful models  
• The “Mutually Assured AI Malfunction” geopolitical competition framework: If one nation races ahead to develop superintelligent AI, rivals may sabotage their progress (through cyberattacks or strikes) to avoid destabilizing power imbalances
• Whatever enables faster learning loops is the business moat of the future 
• “The real risk is not Terminator, it’s drift. AI won’t destroy humans violently, but might slowly erode human values, autonomy, and judgment if left unregulated or misunderstood.”  – Eric Schmidt 
  • The tools change, but the structure of humanity will not 
• When superintelligence emerges, every person will have the sum of Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci in their pocket; how humans choose to use their polymath is the question 
• “We don’t know what artificial general intelligence will deliver, and we don’t know what artificial super intelligence will deliver, but we know it’s coming.” – Eric Schmidt 

Get access to metatrends 10+ years before anyone else - https://qr.diamandis.com/metatrends  

Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google. 

Dave Blundin is the founder of Link Ventures

–

Offers for my audience: 

Test what’s going on inside your body at https://qr.diamandis.com/fountainlifepodcast  

Reverse the age of my skin using the same cream at https://qr.diamandis.com/oneskinpod    

–-

Connect with Eric: 

X: https://x.com/ericschmidt 

His latest book: https://a.co/d/fCxDy8P  

Learn about Dave’s fund: https://www.linkventures.com/xpv-fund  

Connect with Peter:

X

Instagram

Listen to MOONSHOTS:

Apple

YouTube

–

*Recorded on June 5th, 2025

*Views are my own thoughts; not Financial, Medical, or Legal Advice.

• The view of American businesses in the late 1990s was to get into China, outsource manufacturing, and reduce trade barriers between countries; this evolution was celebrated as the start of a new industrial era

• It has since turned into a national security issue for the United States
• China’s unique blend of socialism, totalitarianism, and entrepreneurship enabled this to materialize 

What if the rise of Apple also built modern China?

a16z’s Erik Torenberg is joined by board partner and former Microsoft Windows chief Steven Sinofsky to unpack how Apple’s pursuit of design excellence and supply chain scale catalyzed China’s manufacturing superpower status - and why that partnership is now under intense scrutiny.

Inspired by the book Apple in China (but not a book review), the episode dives deep into:

• The early days of Apple’s shift to Chinese manufacturing 
• What experts got wrong in 1999 about trade, globalization, and China’s trajectory
• How Tim Cook’s operational playbook reshaped the global tech industry
• Behind-the-scenes stories from Microsoft’s own hardware battles and Surface launch
• Why Apple’s entanglement with China may now be a strategic liability
• What COVID revealed about fragile global dependencies — and where innovation goes next
• How national policy, intellectual property, and AI intersect in the new industrial era

The episode opens with a few reactions to WWDC: Apple’s new UI, the iPad’s evolving role, and why Apple’s AI story still feels unfinished - before zooming out into one of the most consequential tech and geopolitical stories of our time.

TImecodes:

00:00 Introduction

00:37 Guest Introduction: Steven Sinofsky

00:49 WWDC Reactions and Apple's AI Story

02:27 WWDC Highlights: Liquid Glass and iPad Updates

05:16 Apple's AI Strategy and Market Dynamics

06:34 Meta's AI Moves and Market Implications

13:30 Apple's Manufacturing Evolution: From Garage to Global

20:50 The Rise of ODMs and Global Manufacturing

26:32 Microsoft's Struggle with Piracy in China

27:19 Apple's Revolutionary MacBook Air

29:30 Challenges in PC Manufacturing

31:05 The Rise of Chinese Manufacturing Skills

32:07 The Point of No Return for Apple and China

32:59 Global Trade and Intellectual Property Issues

37:04 COVID-19's Impact on Global Manufacturing

41:19 Future of Innovation and Manufacturing

47:10 Navigating Intellectual Property in the AI Era

48:55 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Resources:

Find Steven on X: https://x.com/stevesi

Find Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

• Check out the episode page

Most people protect their identity. Andy Grove would rewrite his, again and again. He started as a refugee, became a chemist, turned himself into an engineer, then a manager, and finally the CEO who built Intel into a global powerhouse. He didn’t cling to credentials or titles. When a challenge came up, he didn’t delegate, he learned. This episode explores the radical adaptability that made Grove different. While his peers obsessed over innovation, he focused on something far more enduring: the systems, structures, and people needed to scale that innovation. Grove understood that as complexity rises, technical brilliance fades and coordination becomes king. 

You’ll learn how he redefined leadership, why he saw management as a creative act, and what most founders still get wrong about building great companies. If you’re serious about getting better—at work, at thinking, at leading—this is the episode you’ll be glad you didn’t miss. 

This episode is for informational purposes only and most of the research came from The Life and Times of an American by Richard S. Tedlow, Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove, and Tom Wolfe’s profile of Robert Noyce available here.

Check out highlights from these books in our repository, and find key lessons from Grove here — ⁠⁠https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-andy-grove/⁠

(05:02 ) PART 1: Hungarian Beginnings(06:48) German Occupation(09:27) Soviet Liberation(11:01) End of the War(12:35) Leaving Hungary

(14:10) PART 2: In America(16:50) Origin of Silicon Valley(20:04) Fairchild

(22:54) PART 3: Building Intel(25:15) Becoming a Manager(29:39) Intel's Make-or-Break Moment(31:35) Quality Control Obsession(34:41) Orchestrating Brilliance(37:49) The Microprocessor Revolution and Intel's Growth(40:32) Intel's Growth and the Microma Lesson(30:51) The Grove Influence(47:00) The Birth of Intel Culture(49:42) ​​The Fruits of Transformation(50:43) The Test Ahead

(53:07) PART 4: Inflection Points(55:23) The Valley of Death(58:26) The IBM Lesson(01:01:18) CASSANDRA’s: The Value of Middle Management(01:04:09) Executing a Painful Pivot

(01:08:25) Reflections, afterthoughts, and lessons

Thanks to our sponsors for supporting this episode:

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What I learned from reading The Red Bull Story by Wolfgang Fürweger and Red Bull's Billionaire Maniac by Duff McDonald. 

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Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes

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Come and build in-person relationships at the Founders Only conference

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(1:30) "In literal financial terms, our sports teams are not yet profitable, but in value terms, they are," he says. "The total editorial media value plus the media assets created around the teams are superior to pure advertising expenditures."

(2:30) "It is a must to believe in one's product. If this were just a marketing gimmick, it would never work."

(5:00) He doesn't place a premium on collecting friends or socializing: "I don't believe in 50 friends. I believe in a smaller number. Nor do I care about society events. It's the most senseless use of time. When I do go out, from time to time, it's just to convince myself again that I'm not missing a lot."

(7:30) The most dangerous thing for a branded product is low interest. (Edwin Land: The test of an invention is the power of an inventor to push it through in the face of the staunch-not opposition, but indifference-in society. (Indifference is your enemy)

(9:00) Nike, Adidas and Vans episodes:

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight. (Founders #186)

Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and The Family Feud That Forever Changed The Business of Sports by Barbara Smit. (Founders #109)

Authentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans by Paul Van Doren. (Founders #216)

(11:00) The lines between Red Bull, Red Bull athletes, and Red Bull events are blurry on purpose. To Mateschitz, it's just one big image campaign with many manifestations.

(12:00) He has no plans to sell or take Red Bull public. "It's not a question of money. It's a question of fun. Can you imagine me in a shareholders' meeting?”

(13:00) Red Bull’s Billionaire Maniac https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-05-19/red-bulls-billionaire-maniac

(16:00) He is universally described as a person with great charisma.

(16:30) The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig by Jerry Shields. (Founders 292)

(17:00) He has a fierce desire for privacy. He buys a society magazine to make sure he never appears in it.

(22:00) There is no market for Red Bull. We will create one.

(24:00) Estée Lauder: A Success Story by Estée Lauder.  (Founders #217)

(30:00) the NEW Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charlie Munger. (Founders #329)

(31:00) Gossip and malicious rumors are worth more than the most expensive publicity campaign in the world.” — Dior by Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior (Founders #331)

(36:00) Control your costs and maintain financial discipline even when making record profits.

(38:00) Cult brands have their own laws, otherwise they would not be cultish.

(38:00) Red Bull is Dietrich Mateschitz and Dietrich Mateschitz is Red Bull.

(38:00) Many companies outsource their marketing and advertising activity. Red Bull consistently took the opposite route: It outsourced production and distribution and takes care of sales and advertising itself.

(40:00) Charlie Munger and John Collison on Invest Like The Best #355 

Rolex: Timeless Excellence on Invest Like The Best 

(41:00) If you are making a physical product make it look different from its competitors from the start.

(43:00) Everything is marketing.

(45:00) Never do anything that compromises your survival.

(46:00) He keeps his empire constantly in motion

(46:00) All corporate projects like Formula 1, football, Air Race, and media serve the core business: the sale of the energy drink.

(47:00) This is a battle for attention.

(49:00) Red Bull owns their events. They never relinquish media rights to any event. They invest in making the content and then they give their content to other media distributors for free. A very clever way to multiply their advertising and marketing spend.

(52:00) The Bugatti Story by L’Ebe Bugatti. (Founders #316)

The Dream of Solomeo: My Life and the Idea of Humanistic Capitalism by Brunello Cucinelli. (Founders #289)

(54:00) Why he moved Red Bull’s headquarters to a little village on a lake: The aim was to create a more pleasant working atmosphere.

(54:00) On why fitness is so important to him: “Everything that gives me pleasure in life is connected with a certain physical fitness and physical well-being. I like going to the mountain, I like skiing, I like sailing, I like riding a motorbike, I like fooling around - and everything is connected with a minimum of physical agility, motor skills, dexterity, strength, stamina. In order to enjoy it outdoors, I need the indoor program.”

----

Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes

----

Come and build in-person relationships at the Founders Only conference

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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested, so my poor wallet suffers.” — Gareth

Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

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Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here. 

----

“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth

Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

• Time is the best filter: History’s top entrepreneurs were completely focused over a long period
• The essential maxims from the episode
  • It does not matter the pursuit; what matters is having a mission
  • A great business takes time 
  • Find a simple idea and take it seriously – Charlie Munger 
  • Do one thing, and do it better than anyone else – Todd Graves 
  • Learning is not memorizing information; learning is changing your behavior 
  • The reward for great work is more work – Kevin Kelly  
  • The hard way is the right way – Jerry Seinfeld  
  • Be less interested in timely and more interested in timeless 
  • Overpay for talent because you really cannot overpay for talent 
  • Limit the amount of details, then make every detail perfect 
  • Pay attention to the nickels because the nickels turn into quarters 
  • Mediocrity is invisible until passion shows up and exposes it – Michael Ovitz 
• The most successful businesses go ridiculously far in maximizing or minimizing one or a few variables 
• Great entrepreneurs find opportunity in catastrophe 
• Learning about history’s most ambitious people stretches your imagination for what is possible in life 
• “You think what you want is money, but what you really want is meaning.” – David Senra
• Just keep going; you will figure it out – have the self-belief and keep going 

My guest today is David Senra. David is the host of Founders podcast and a dear friend. This is our third time doing Invest Like the Best together and we have conversations like this one all the time. In today’s episode, David distills wisdom from 400 entrepreneur biographies into a single word: focus. He reveals why exceptional builders like Todd Graves and James Dyson create billion-dollar empires through obsessive dedication to simple ideas—whether perfecting chicken fingers or designing vacuum cleaners—while rejecting conventional growth timelines and investor pressure. David challenges us all to find the one thing we’d pursue even without recognition or reward, or what I like to call your life’s work. We discuss the concept of “anti-business,” raising capital as a founder, and decades-long commitment. Please enjoy this discussion with David Senra. 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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This episode is brought to you by Ramp. Ramp’s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to Ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

– 

This episode is brought to you by AlphaSense. AlphaSense has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at Alpha-Sense.com/Invest and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegus help you make smarter decisions faster.

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This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Head to ridgelineapps.com to learn more about the platform.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:05:43) The Essence of Focus in Entrepreneurship

(00:09:20) The Value of Long-Term Commitment

(00:17:41) The Importance of Simplicity and Mastery

(00:37:11) The Miracle of Entrepreneurship

(00:44:56) James Dyson's Journey to Success

(00:47:03) The Importance of Passion in Business

(00:49:12) Critique of Modern Consumerism

(00:52:18) The Value of Craftsmanship

(00:56:36) The Drive for Excellence

(01:04:06) The Importance of Hiring Top Talent

(01:09:54) Creative Financing Strategies

(01:19:35) Defining a Founder

• Everything is an issue of agency; agency is the most valuable skill for any founder
• Work from a creative mindset by actively applying your sense of agency: Write down the value, how you can display it, and then do the thing 
• Getting Ted Lasso’d: When a Brit with twice the intelligence and knowledge gets outperformed by the American who has 10x the agency and confidence
• Pay attention to your ideas that make you laugh; if they elicit this type of emotion in you, then you might be onto something 
• If you wait for the news, you will be wrong or late
  • What is ignored by the media today that will be studied by future historians?  
• Leverage on high agency has never been higher, thanks to modern AI tools 
• Some people let reality happen to them and then use words to describe it, while others use words to edit and shape their reality 
  • Language shapes the world around us
  • Minimize “should” from your vocabulary and start doing!
  • The best way to increase your agency is to hang around people with high agency
• Ideas are avocados: they are perishable – there is no time like the present to work on your idea 
• The high-agency approach to problem solving: Ask “Why, Why, Why?” and continue to drill down on the problem until you arrive at the fundamental issue upon which you can take action today 
• Speed is negotiable: Mobilize your army, which is your ideas, your resources, and your intention, to achieve your goal in much less time than you perceive to be possible 

Episode 703: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to George Mack ( https://x.com/george__mack ) about high agency. 

—

Links:

• Steal Sam's guide to turn ChatGPT into your Executive Coach: https://clickhubspot.com/wec

• High Agency - https://www.highagency.com/ 

• Nick Mowbray episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pHcxoZ0j9A 

—

Check Out Shaan's Stuff:

Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd

—

Check Out Sam's Stuff:

• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/

• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/

• Copy That - https://copythat.com

• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth

• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/

My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano

• Check out the episode page

Most accelerators fund ideas. Y Combinator funds founders—and transforms them. With a 1% acceptance rate and alumni behind 60% of the past decade’s unicorns, YC knows what separates the founders who break through from those who burn out. It's not the flashiest résumé or the boldest pitch but something President Garry Tan says is far rarer: earnestness. In this conversation, Garry reveals why this is the key to success, and how it can make or break a startup. We also dive into how AI is reshaping the whole landscape of venture capital and what the future might look like when everyone has intelligence on tap. 

If you care about innovation, agency, or the future of work, don’t miss this episode. 

Approximate timestamps: Subject to variation due to dynamically inserted ads.

(00:02:39) The Success of Y Combinator

(00:04:25) The Y Combinator Program

(00:08:25) The Application Process

(00:09:58) The Interview Process

(00:16:16) The Challenge of Early Stage Investment

(00:22:53) The Role of San Francisco in Innovation

(00:28:32) The Ideal Founder

(00:36:27) The Importance of Earnestness

(00:42:17) The Changing Landscape of AI Companies

(00:45:26) The Impact of Cloud Computing

(00:50:11) Dysfunction with Silicon Valley

(00:52:24) Forecast for the Tech Market

(00:54:40) The Regulation of AI

(00:55:56) The Need for Agency in Education

(01:01:40) AI in Biotech and Manufacturing

(01:07:24) The Issue of Data Access and The Legal Aspects of AI Outputs

(01:13:34) The Role of Meta in AI Development

(01:28:07) The Potential of AI in Decision Making

(01:40:33) Defining AGI

(01:42:03) The Use of AI and Prompting

(01:47:09) AI Model Reasoning

(01:49:48) The Competitive Advantage in AI

(01:52:42) Investing in Big Tech Companies

(01:55:47) The Role of Microsoft and Meta in AI

(01:57:00) Learning from MrBeast: YouTube Channel Optimization

(02:05:58) The Perception of Founders

(02:08:23) The Reality of Startup Success Rates

(02:09:34) The Impact of OpenAI

(02:11:46) The Golden Age of Building

Newsletter - The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at fs.blog/newsletter

Upgrade — If you want to hear my thoughts and reflections at the end of the episode, join our membership: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership⁠⁠ and get your own private feed.

Watch on YouTube: @tkppodcast

• AI is not thinking-as-a-service but collaboration-as-a-service: The wrong way to approach AI is to sit back and see what it comes up with; the right way is to tinker with it and poke it in different ways so that novel patterns emerge
• Banning AI in schools is like stopping humans from using fire because they might burn themselves
  • After discovering how to use fire, we created fire departments, firemen, and fire exits; the same thing will happen with AI
  • “AI is a mirror, not a mold.” – Jim O’Shaughnessy 
• Creation is fundamentally about choices: The choices reflect what the creator considers; the creation is the result of what the creator decides
• The best writers use the best prompts – the same skills that make them great writers help them get the best from AI
• “A lot of things that are revolutionary in the history of technology have taken something that was encoded into the substrate and then made it an abstraction.” – Nathan Baschez 
• AI in 2025 is roughly where the internet was in 1995: So even if there is an AI ‘crash’, value creation will take place post-crash just as it did with internet companies following the Dot Com Bubble
• Understanding cumulative cultural evolution: Recognizing cultural shifts before others do gives you a competitive edge in both life and business 
• The thinking that you should let the world pull companies out of your creative projects may be wrong; the vast majorities of successful businesses were started by people who wanted to create a successful business  
• Do not fall victim to the “Disney Princess Co-Founder” Fallacy: Instead of waiting to start because you have not found the perfect co-founder, just start on your idea!
• A common misconception about writing is that it is not only a way to communicate our thoughts, but also a way to formulate our thoughts 
• Learn more by doing: Set aside preconceived expectations and follow your curiosity

Nathan Baschez is the cofounder and CEO of Lex, an AI word-processor. He also cofounded Every, was the first employee at Substack AND co-created Product Hunt.

Suffice to say, Nathan knows a thing or two about building on the internet.

He joins the show to discuss how AI is changing writing, why it’s time to rethink the article, the rise of solo founders and MUCH more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.

Important Links:

• Lex
• Twitter
• Substack
• LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Lex: Your Spotter In the Writing Gym
• Letting People Into Your Creative Process
• Collaboration-as-a-Service
• Creation Is Fundamentally About Choices
• What Will Become of the AI Holdouts?
• AI Is Like the Internet In 1995
• Can AI Unfuck the Government?
• Blindspots While Working In Organizations
• Rethinking The ‘Article’ As A Medium
• Memes Are Dense Information Packets
• It’s Time for Solo Founders
• Why Learning About Cumulative Cultural Evolution Is Vital
• What’s Next for Lex?
• Writing As A Way To Design Thoughts
• Nathan As World Emperor

Books Mentioned:

• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life; by George Saunders
• The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous; by Joseph Henrich
• The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter; by Joseph Henrich