Podcast Notes Playlist: Startup

• 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

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Offers for my audience: 

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

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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

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*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.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

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Follow our host: https://twitter.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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(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.”

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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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“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. 

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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

• 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.

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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. 

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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 

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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

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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

• Embracing the Founder Persona in America: The founder persona is a unique legacy of America that we should celebrate and embrace 
• Rethinking the Software-Industrial Complex: If software is so great, why does nothing seem to work? Perhaps we need to reevaluate whether the software-industrial complex is genuinely serving society, or merely claiming to 
• Data is not the “new oil”; data is the new snake oil: There is nothing inherently valuable about data – it is only valuable if you can use it to make a decision  

Shyam Sankar is the Chief Technology Officer at Palantir Technologies. A builder at heart, he’s spent over 20 years designing and deploying cutting-edge software and AI for both government and private sector partners. As Palantir’s 13th hire, Shyam helped take the company from scrappy startup to S&P 500 powerhouse.

Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors:

Shyam Sankar Links:

• Necessity is the mother of innovation: “We are putting enough friction into the system that it does theoretically give America an advantage at the cost of creating tremendous incentives for China to develop their semiconductor ecosystem.” – Gavin Baker 
  • Prohibiting China’s access to Nvidia GPUs encourages China to create its own Nvidia, though it may take a decade for it to do so 
• If progress in the AI agent space continues, the only rate-limiting factor to its widespread adoption will be compute power; the days of AI agents competing in all of our daily tasks is a long time away because this will require so much computing, and the capacity does not exist yet 
• Most everybody agrees that deregulation is good: Every time the admin says the word “tariff” it should say “deregulation” three times after
  • The best way to encourage the reshoring of key industries is just making it easier to do business in America
  • The US must figure out the difference between manufacturing and IP so that we can trap the real value of these industries back in America
• The admin is focused on making life better for normal, working-class Americans 
  • The goal of the tariffs is to restore the industries that can be restored into the US; but implementing them may create externalities, such as inflation and retaliatory tariffs 
  • The globalized “free trade” model of the last twenty years has benefitted US knowledge workers, but it has left the everyday American behind 
• On DOGE: While Democrats and Republicans may disagree on where the government spends its money, both sides should want the spending to be efficient 
• Using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the Trump admin has deported 238 alleged gang members to El Salvador’s high-security CECOT prison

• The last use of this act was during World War II under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who ordered the deportation of thousands of Germans, Italians, and Japanese
• Since 2015, El Salvador has slashed its murder rate by 99% through widespread arrests of suspected gang members without due process  

(0:00) The Besties welcome Gavin Baker back on the show!

(1:20) Nvidia balance sheet questions, CoreWeave IPO, M&A/IPO bounce back

(16:22) US vs China in AI: Manus, China building its own Nvidia, and more

(28:37) The Administration's endgame for tariffs

(53:05) Signalgate: context and fallout

(1:09:42) El Salvador deportations

Follow Gavin:

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https://x.com/Jason

https://x.com/DavidSacks

https://x.com/friedberg

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Intro Music Credit:

https://rb.gy/tppkzl

https://x.com/yung_spielburg

Intro Video Credit:

https://x.com/TheZachEffect

Referenced in the show:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/coreweave-planning-cut-us-ipo-size-price-below-range-source-says-2025-03-27

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-adds-dozens-entities-export-restriction-list-2025-03-25

https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-plots-charging-20-000-a-month-for-phd-level-agents?rc=pxkrxo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8wJc7vHcTs

https://x.com/JohnArnoldFndtn/status/1905296181208416744

https://x.com/chamath/status/1904547884877701610

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua

https://www.statista.com/statistics/696152/homicide-rate-in-el-salvador

https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1905034256826408982