In this solo episode of Very True, Alex introduces a concept he calls Ambient Restlessness, the low-grade mental noise that modern life has wired into most of us, and makes the case that instead of fighting it, we can learn to use it.

Drawing on his own experiences mountain biking, running his first half marathon at the Dead Sea, and driving between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv a decade ago, Alex builds a practical spectrum of focus states and shows how matching the right mental load to the right physical activity can unlock creativity, deepen learning, and replace the exhausted, drained feeling of a YouTube rabbit hole with something that actually feels like an accomplishment.

This one is a departure from the usual startup and finance conversations on Very True, but the underlying framework of awareness, calibration, and turning a liability into an asset will feel very familiar.

Be sure to check out the substack here: https://alexoppenheimer.substack.com/p/the-focus-spectrum

Episode Highlights:

• Introducing Ambient Restlessness: Why your brain's constant need for stimulation isn't a character flaw, and how to redirect it instead of white-knuckling your way through a deep work session you're not ready for.
• The Focus Spectrum: From mountain biking at 100% locked-in to lap swimming as moving meditation, Alex maps out how different physical activities demand different levels of cognitive load and what that means for what you pair with them.
• The Two Failure Modes: Why listening to an emotional audiobook while descending at 30mph is as unproductive as sitting on the couch trying to focus. Finding the sweet spot is the whole game.
• Muted Sessions & Baseline Awareness: The underrated practice of going out in silence, not to be productive, but to understand where you actually are so you can make better decisions about what you're capable of.
• Adding a Layer to Deep Work: Alex respectfully pushes back on the "distractions are evil" framing and proposes a semi-distracted state as a legitimate, powerful mode, especially for people who need creativity before they even know what to do deep work on.

Links & Resources:

• Olo Meditation App: https://www.olo.app
• Get a free WHOOP and one month free when you join with my link: https://join.whoop.com/312F8912 
• Cal Newport's Deep Work: https://calnewport.com/books/deep-work/
• Cal Newport's Slow Productivity: https://calnewport.com/books/slow-productivity/
• Substack: https://alexoppenheimer.substack.com/p/the-focus-spectrum
• Verissimo Ventures: https://verissimo.vc/
• Follow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-oppenheimer/
• About Very True: Hosted by Alex, Very True by Verissimo Ventures explores the honest, unvarnished stories of founders and the real problems they are solving. We look past the hype to find the truth in technology and entrepreneurship.