Naval
x.com/naval
Sat, July 26, 2025
When you truly work for yourself
Transcript: http://nav.al/yourself
Fri, July 25, 2025
In Most Difficult Things in Life, The Solution is Indirect
Transcript: http://nav.al/indirect
Tue, July 22, 2025
If You Want to Learn, Do
Transcript: http://nav.al/do
Fri, July 18, 2025
Life is lived in the arena
Transcript: http://nav.al/arena
Wed, July 16, 2025
Inspiration all the way down
Transcript: http://nav.al/inspiration
Fri, October 11, 2024
The Deutsch Files IV
Connecting the Four Theories into a Unified Whole 0:34 Emergence Is Fundamental 3:18 Constructor Theory Could Transform Multiple Fields 8:30 Innovation Often Emerges Unexpectedly 22:46 Knowledge Evolves Independently Across Universes 29:31 Anti-Rational Memes Hinder Human Progress 31:10 The West Versus the Rest 37:32 Error-correcting Institutions 47:46 The Bucket Theory of the Mind 51:59 Wokeism and the West 1:07:12 — Transcript http://nav.al/deutsch-files-iv
Sat, February 17, 2024
The Deutsch Files III
Proving something about AGI is inherently impossible 0:00 Creativity is not just mixing things together 3:05 The superiority of explanatory knowledge 7:48 Knowledge laden information is more resilient than any physical object 12:36 The problems of cloning people 15:05 Objections to Taking Children Seriously 19:23 “Do what you like” is bad advice 38:17 Creativity versus nature 41:57 Deutsch’s “fanciful” conjectures 47:52 We must give up on the idea of an ultimate explanation 53:06 — Transcript http://nav.al/deutsch-files-iii
Fri, January 26, 2024
The Deutsch Files II
The universality of computation and explanation 0:00 The growth of knowledge begins with problems 4:56 Problems are clashes between ideas 9:57 Evolution is not the survival of the fittest 14:50 Bad philosophy in quantum theory 26:46 Free will is intimately connected with knowledge-creation 33:41 Wealth is not a number, it is a set of transformations 49:03 The principle of optimism 53:27 Constructor Theory 57:21 How to make a better world 1:10:05 — Transcript http://nav.al/deutsch-files-ii
Thu, January 11, 2024
The Deutsch Files I
Good Science Fiction is Hard to Vary 2:08 ChatGPT is Not a Step Towards AGI 5:36 Creativity is Fundamentally Impossible to Define 13:35 The Binary of Personhood and Non-Personhood 23:41 David Deutsch’s Life Philosophy 32:06 The Clash of Civilizations 44:03 — Transcript http://nav.al/deutsch-files-i Discuss on Airchat http://getairchat.com/arjun/deutschfilesdiscussion
Fri, August 11, 2023
David Deutsch: Knowledge Creation and The Human Race, Part 2
Popper’s Impact 0:00 Creative Guesses 2:18 Experiments, Demonstrations, and Measurements 4:25 Taking Theories Seriously 10:25 New Paradigms 15:58 Foundations of Science 23:30 The Enlightenment 25:39 Misinformation 29:45 — Transcript http://nav.al/david-deutsch-2
Sat, February 11, 2023
David Deutsch: Knowledge Creation and The Human Race, Part 1
Introduction 0:00 The Human Race 2:11 Knowledge Creation 12:34 AGI 15:50 Taking Children Seriously 23:30 Good Explanations 27:49 Quantum Computers 36:35 — Transcript http://nav.al/david-deutsch
Thu, April 14, 2022
Vitalik: Ethereum, Part 2
The elder statesman of smart contract blockchains 0:00 The Ethereum community 1:22 The DAO hack 2:34 Vitalik’s finest and worst moments in protocol politics 5:18 Becoming a Twitter memelord 7:45 Vitalik’s influence on Eth today 8:59 It’s getting harder to do big things in Eth 10:38 Goals outside Ethereum 12:17 Crypto needs the good-natured 15:00 Russia 18:06 Vitalik’s lifestyle 19:51 Closing thoughts 22:06 — Transcript http://nav.al/vitalik-2
Fri, April 08, 2022
Vitalik: Ethereum, Part 1
Introduction 0:00 Haseeb’s background 0:22 Vitalik’s background 2:43 A blockchain you can build any app on top of 7:02 Eth trades efficiency for transparency 10:18 Like plain text, Eth is simple and efficient 12:41 Only high-value transactions can afford the blockchain 13:08 Doing away with ‘trusted’ third parties 14:09 Trading performance for security 14:43 ‘Impregnable castles made of math’ 16:23 Ethereum’s limitations are latency and privacy 16:56 There are ways to get back your privacy 19:32 Can Eth provide a high level of decentralization and a high level of scaling at the same time? 20:39 Sharding leads to more centralization 21:49 Verifiability at the expense of scaling 24:00 How much decentralization is the right amount? 25:11 What happens when subsidies to join nodes disappear? 27:07 Stateless clients make it possible to verify the chain with very little on your hard drive 28:18 Staking culture is difficult to cultivate 28:52 New blockchain players tend to go for minimum viable decentralization 29:54 People don’t value privacy until somebody goes to jail over it 30:32 Eth is ‘simple at the base’ 31:12 Social recovery wallets make it easier to be your own bank 31:44 Block space is getting expensive 32:41 There’s not a lot of innovation on Bitcoin, by design 33:35 Blockchain’s ‘free-rider effect’ 34:57 Innovation is slowest at Layer 1 35:34 Layer 2 moves faster because it’s permissionless 36:59 What if we froze Layer 1 today? 37:25 Data for computation trade-off 38:57 Benchmarking blockchains apples-to-apples 40:02 Enshrining decentralization 41:43 Tensions between scaling and preserving value 42:27 There will be multiple stores of value 43:54 — Transcript http://nav.al/vitalik
Wed, December 22, 2021
The Beginning of Infinity, Part 2
Transcript http://nav.al/infinity-1
Mon, December 13, 2021
To a Caveman Very Few Things Are Resources
Transcript http://nav.al/caveman
Fri, December 10, 2021
Knowledge Makes the Existence of Resources Infinite
Transcript http://nav.al/infinite-resources
Wed, December 08, 2021
Groups Never Admit Failure
Transcript: http://nav.al/failure
Mon, December 06, 2021
Making Something Social Destroys the Truth of It
Transcript http://nav.al/social
Fri, December 03, 2021
Free Markets Provide the Best Feedback
Transcript http://nav.al/feedback
Mon, November 29, 2021
The Poverty of Compromise
Transcript http://nav.al/compromise
Wed, November 24, 2021
Innovation Requires Decentralization and a Frontier
Transcript: http://nav.al/decentralization
Mon, November 22, 2021
Don’t Rely on Credibility Stamps
Transcript http://nav.al/credibility
Fri, November 19, 2021
One Einstein Is Worth A Legion Of PhD Drones
Transcript http://nav.al/ einstein
Wed, November 17, 2021
Ideas Are the New Oil
Transcript http://nav.al/ideas
Mon, November 15, 2021
Aliens Would Visit for Knowledge, Not Resources
Transcript http://nav.al/resources
Fri, November 12, 2021
Aliens Might Just Be Too Far Away
Transcript http://nav.al/far-away
Wed, November 10, 2021
If You Can’t Program It, You Don’t Understand It
Transcript: http://nav.al/program
Mon, November 08, 2021
The Probability of Human Existence Is Infinitesimally Small
Transcript http://nav.al/existence
Wed, November 03, 2021
Intelligent Species Have Only Risen Once on Planet Earth
Transcript http://nav.al/intelligent
Mon, November 01, 2021
Where Are the Aliens?
Transcript http://nav.al/aliens
Sat, October 30, 2021
It’s Mind Blowing That Our Minds Can’t Be Blown
Transcript: http://nav.al/mind-blowing
Wed, October 27, 2021
More Compute Power Doesn’t Produce AGI
Transcript: http://nav.al/agi
Mon, October 25, 2021
We Are Qualitatively Different From Other Species
Transcript http://nav.al/species
Fri, October 22, 2021
Humans Are Exceptional
Transcript http://nav.al/exceptional
Wed, October 20, 2021
Genetic Evolution Was a Prelude to Memetic Evolution
Transcript http://nav.al/evolution
Mon, October 18, 2021
There Can Be No Final Theory of Gravity
Transcript http://nav.al/gravity
Fri, October 15, 2021
No Truth Can Be Justified
Transcript http://nav.al/justified
Fri, October 08, 2021
With a Good Theory of Knowledge, You Can Decide What Else Is True
Transcript http://nav.al/theory
Fri, July 02, 2021
The Beginning of Infinity, Part 1
Transcript http://nav.al/infinity
Mon, May 24, 2021
Rational Optimism Is the Way Out
Transcript http://nav.al/optimism
Mon, May 17, 2021
Pessimism Seems Like an Intellectually Serious Position
Transcript http://nav.al/pessimism
Fri, May 14, 2021
It’s Easy to Extrapolate How Things Will Get Worse
Transcript http://nav.al/extrapolate
Wed, May 12, 2021
We’re All Equal in Our Infinite Ignorance
Transcript http://nav.al/ignorance
Tue, May 11, 2021
It’s Rare to Have Competing, Viable, Scientific Theories
Transcript http://nav.al/theories
Fri, May 07, 2021
Science Advances One Funeral at a Time
Transcript http://nav.al/advances
Wed, May 05, 2021
Make Bold Guesses and Weed Out the Failures
Transcript http://nav.al/failures
Mon, May 03, 2021
Theories Are Explanations, Not Predictions
Transcript http://nav.al/predictions
Fri, April 30, 2021
Science Is an Error-Correcting Mechanism
Transcript http://nav.al/error
Wed, April 28, 2021
Science Broadens Our Vision of Reality
Transcript http://nav.al/broaden
Mon, April 26, 2021
We Explain the Seen in Terms of the Unseen
Transcript http://nav.al/observed
Wed, April 21, 2021
The Multiverse
Transcript http://nav.al/multiverse
Mon, April 19, 2021
Is Light a Particle or a Wave?
Transcript http://nav.al/light
Fri, April 16, 2021
Probability Is Subjective
Transcript http://nav.al/probability
Wed, April 14, 2021
We Can’t Prove Most Theorems with Known Physics
Transcript http://nav.al/prove
Mon, April 12, 2021
Every Mathematical Theory Is Held Inside a Physical Substrate
Transcript http://nav.al/substrate
Fri, April 09, 2021
Is the Universe Discrete or Continuous?
Transcript http://nav.al/discrete
Wed, April 07, 2021
All Knowledge Is Conjectural
Transcript: http://nav.al/conjectural
Mon, April 05, 2021
The Methods of Mathematics Are Fallible
Transcript: http://nav.al/methods
Fri, April 02, 2021
There Is No Settled Mathematics
Transcript: http://nav.al/settled
Wed, March 31, 2021
There Is No End of Science
Transcript: http://nav.al/end
Fri, March 26, 2021
Good Explanations Are Hard to Vary
Transcript: http://nav.al/vary
Wed, March 24, 2021
Good Explanations Are Acts of Creativity
Transcript: http://nav.al/explanations Sponsor: http://www.eightsleep.com/infinity
Mon, March 22, 2021
Humans Are Unique in Our Ability to Understand Things
Transcript: http://nav.al/understand Sponsor: http://www.eightsleep.com/infinity
Fri, March 19, 2021
It’s Impossible to Predict the Future Growth of Knowledge
Transcript: http://nav.al/predict Sponsor: http://www.eightsleep.com/infinity
Wed, March 17, 2021
People Are a Force of Nature
Transcript: http://nav.al/people Sponsor: http://www.eightsleep.com/infinity
Mon, March 15, 2021
We’re at the Beginning of an Infinity of Knowledge
Transcript: http://nav.al/knowledge Sponsor: http://www.eightsleep.com/infinity
Fri, March 12, 2021
Happiness
Transcript: https://nav.al/happiness
Wed, March 10, 2021
Read the Best 100 Books Over and Over Again
Transcript: https://nav.al/read
Mon, March 08, 2021
We Can Have Explanations That Reach the Entire Universe
Transcript: https://nav.al/reach
Fri, March 05, 2021
Nullius in Verba
Transcript: https://nav.al/nullius-2
Wed, March 03, 2021
This Book Changed the Way I Think
Transcript: http://nav.al/think
Mon, March 01, 2021
Science Is the Engine That Pulls Humanity Forward
Transcript: https://nav.al/science-2
Wed, July 15, 2020
Matt Ridley: How Innovation Works, Part 2
Transcript: http://nav.al/matt-ridley-2
Thu, July 09, 2020
Matt Ridley: How Innovation Works, Part 1
Transcript: http://nav.al/matt-ridley
Fri, June 12, 2020
How to Angel Invest, Part 2
Excerpted from the Spearhead podcast: http://spearhead.co
Thu, March 26, 2020
The Path to Peace Is Truth
Discovering the truth can change you where self-improvement fails. Transcript: http://nav.al/truth
Tue, March 24, 2020
Groups Search for Consensus, Individuals Search for Truth
Even smart people go along with society’s lies. Transcript: http://nav.al/consensus
Tue, March 10, 2020
The Closer You Are to the Truth, the More Silent You Become Inside
Wise people are quiet Transcript: http://nav.al/silent
Thu, March 05, 2020
Happiness Is Peace in Motion
Transcript: http://nav.al/peace-motion
Tue, March 03, 2020
Finding Peace from Mind
The mind should be a servant, not a master. Transcript: http://nav.al/peace
Wed, February 26, 2020
Breaking Addiction is Socially Unacceptable
Addiction holds together artificial relationships and fake activities. Transcript: http://nav.al/unacceptable
Mon, February 24, 2020
The Modern Struggle Is Fighting Weaponized Addiction
Pursuing pleasure for its own sake creates addiction. Transcript: http://nav.al/addiction
Wed, February 19, 2020
Work the Least for It
Happy people don’t have to work as hard . Transcript: http://nav.al/least
Mon, February 17, 2020
Being Unhappy Is Very Inefficient
If you're a driven, unhappy person, your mind will be on 24/7. Transcript: http://nav.al/inefficient
Wed, February 12, 2020
If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy?
You can increase your happiness without losing your drive. Transcript: http://nav.al/smart
Mon, February 10, 2020
Desire Is a Contract You Make to be Unhappy
Happiness is returning to a state where nothing is missing. Transcript: http://nav.al/desire
Mon, February 03, 2020
Happiness Is a Skill You Can Develop
You’re not stuck at your current level of happiness. Transcript: http://nav.al/skill
Tue, January 28, 2020
Happiness Is Not Science or Math
Happiness is more like poetry than algorithms. Transcript: http://nav.al/math
Tue, January 28, 2020
Happiness Without Material Comfort Is Playing on Hard Mode
It's easier to fulfill your material desires than to renounce them. http://nav.al/material
Sat, January 25, 2020
Live Long Enough and You’ll Become a Philosopher
This podcast is a practical philosophy of health, wealth and happiness. Transcript: https://nav.al/philosopher
Tue, December 10, 2019
How to Get Rich: Every Episode
This giant episode collects every interview I’ve done on “How to Get Rich.” It includes 10 minutes of unreleased material—at the end—on “Finding Time to Invest in Yourself.” Transcript: http://nav.al/rich Seek Wealth, Not Money or Status 1:30 Make Abundance for the World 6:40 Free Markets Are Intrinsic to Humans 10:21 Making Money Isn’t About Luck 14:19 Make Luck Your Destiny 19:25 You Won’t Get Rich Renting Out Your Time 24:00 Live Below Your Means for Freedom 28:40 Give Society What It Doesn’t Know How to Get 31:01 The Internet Has Massively Broadened Career Possibilities 33:44 Play Long-term Games With Long-term People 38:23 Pick Partners With Intelligence, Energy and Integrity 44:24 Partner With Rational Optimists 49:09 Arm Yourself With Specific Knowledge 54:34 Specific Knowledge Is Highly Creative or Technical 1:00:53 Learn to Sell, Learn to Build 1:06:24 Read What You Love Until You Love to Read 1:10:59 The Foundations Are Math and Logic 1:12:00 There’s No Actual Skill Called “Business” 1:16:48 Embrace Accountability to Get Leverage 1:20:06 Take Accountability to Earn Equity 1:25:37 Labor and Capital Are Old Leverage 1:30:06 Product and Media are New Leverage 1:35:01 Product Leverage is Egalitarian 1:39:42 Pick a Business Model With Leverage 1:44:56 Example: From Laborer to Entrepreneur 1:50:51 Judgment Is the Decisive Skill 2:01:15 Set an Aspirational Hourly Rate 2:07:41 Work As Hard As You Can 2:11:26 Be Too Busy to “Do Coffee” 2:16:34 Keep Redefining What You Do 2:20:38 Escape Competition Through Authenticity 2:22:41 Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes 2:28:17 Eventually You Will Get What You Deserve 2:30:53 Reject Most Advice 2:35:00 A Calm Mind, a Fit Body, a House Full of Love 2:37:55 There Are No Get Rich Quick Schemes 2:42:02 Productize Yourself 2:46:42 Accountability Means Letting People Criticize You 2:48:55 We Should Eventually Be Working for Ourselves 2:55:33 Being Ethical Is Long-Term Greedy 2:56:58 Envy Can Be Useful, or It Can Eat You Alive 3:00:23 Principal-Agent Problem: Act Like an Owner 3:03:51 Kelly Criterion: Avoid Ruin 3:10:33 Schelling Point: Cooperating Without Communicating 3:12:03 Turn Short-Term Games Into Long-Term Games 3:13:55 Compounding Relationships Make Life Easier 3:16:36 Price Discrimination: Charge Some People More 3:19:04 Consumer Surplus: Getting More Than You Paid For 3:20:14 Net Present Value: What Future Income Is Worth Today 3:21:03 Externalities: Calculating the Hidden Costs of Products 3:22:05 Bonus Material: Finding Time to Invest in Yourself 3:23:47
Sun, November 17, 2019
How to Angel Invest
Excerpted from the Spearhead podcast: http://spearhead.co
Wed, July 31, 2019
Externalities: Calculating the Hidden Costs of Products
Externalities let you account for the true cost of products by including hidden costs like environmental damage. • Pricing externalities properly is more effective than feel-good measures 0:32 • Properly pricing externalities can save resources in a tremendous way 1:10 Transcript: http://nav.al/externalities
Mon, July 29, 2019
Net Present Value: What Future Income Is Worth Today
Calculate what future income is worth today by applying a discount to its future value. • Figure out what future income is worth today by applying a discount rate 0:00 Transcript: http://nav.al/npv
Thu, July 25, 2019
Consumer Surplus: Getting More Than You Paid For
A lot of people are willing to pay more than what companies charge. • Consumer surplus is the extra value you get when you pay less than you were willing 0:00 Transcript: http://nav.al/surplus
Tue, July 23, 2019
Price Discrimination: Charge People More for More
You can charge people for extras based on their propensity to pay. • Price discrimination is a technique for charging certain people more 0:00 • Rich people and large enterprises are willing to pay more 0:51 Transcript: http://nav.al/price-discrimination
Fri, July 19, 2019
Compounding Relationships Make Life Easier
Life gets a lot easier when you know someone’s got your back. • Compounding relationships make life easier 0:00 • It’s better to have a few compounding relationships than many shallow ones 1:11 • It takes just as much effort to create a small business as a large one 1:40 Transcript: http://nav.al/relationships
Mon, July 15, 2019
Turn Short-Term Games Into Long-Term Games
Improve your leverage in negotiations by turning short-term relationships into long-term ones. • Pareto optimal solutions require a trade-off to improve any criterion 0:00 • Negotiations are won by whoever cares less 0:44 • Convert single-move games to multi-move games 1:54 Transcript: http://nav.al/pareto-optimal
Fri, July 12, 2019
Schelling Point: Cooperating Without Communicating
People who can’t communicate can cooperate by anticipating the other person’s actions. • Use social norms to cooperate when you can’t communicate 0:00 • You can find Schelling points in business, art and politics 1:14 Transcript: http://nav.al/schelling-point
Wed, July 10, 2019
Kelly Criterion: Avoid Ruin
Don't ruin your reputation or get wiped to zero. • Don't bet everything on one big gamble 0:00 • Ruining your reputation is the same as getting wiped to zero 0:54 Transcript: http://nav.al/kelly-criterion
Mon, July 08, 2019
Principal-Agent Problem: Act Like an Owner
If you think and act like an owner, it’s only a matter of time until you become an owner. • A principal is an owner; an agent is an employee 0:00 • A principal’s incentives are different than an agent’s incentives 1:08 • If you can work on incentives, don't work on anything else 2:15 • When you do deals, it’s better to have the same incentives 3:15 • If you’re an employee, your most important job is to think like a principal 4:05 • Deal with small firms to avoid the principal-agent problem 5:29 Transcript: http://nav.al/principal-agent
Fri, June 28, 2019
Envy Can Be Useful, or It Can Eat You Alive
Envy can give you a powerful boost, or it can eat you alive if you let it follow you. • Suffering through the wrong thing can motivate you to find the right thing 0:00 • Being a lawyer was not what I was meant to do 1:14 • Envy can be useful or it can eat you alive 2:28 Transcript: http://nav.al/envy
Wed, June 26, 2019
Being Ethical Is Long-term Greedy
If you cut fair deals, you will get paid in the long run. • Ethics isn’t something you study; it’s something you do 0:00 • Trust leads to compounding relationships 0:51 • Being ethical attracts other long-term players 1:19 • Being ethical is long-term greedy 1:58 • If you cut fair deals, you will get paid in the long run 2:40 Transcript: http://nav.al/ethics
Mon, June 24, 2019
We Should Eventually Be Working for Ourselves
The goal is that we are eventually wealthy and working for ourselves. • This advice is for anybody who wants to be entrepreneurial 0:00 • Middle age can be the most fruitful time to apply this advice 0:48 • Look up the value chain to find leverage 1:58 • You will do better in a small organization 2:43 • The goal is that we are all working for ourselves 3:25 Transcript: http://nav.al/target-audience
Fri, June 21, 2019
Accountability Means Letting People Criticize You
Misunderstanding accountability, and other mistakes on the path to creating wealth. • Accountability means letting people criticize you 0:00 • The most interesting parts should be the ones you disagree with 1:06 • Get the free leverage that's available in tech 1:53 • Not doing things because other people can't do them is living in denial 2:21 • Realize your philanthropic vision by running a business 2:54 Transcript: http://nav.al/common-mistakes
Sun, June 02, 2019
How to Get Rich: Every Episode
This giant episode collects every interview I’ve done on “How to Get Rich.” It includes 10 minutes of unreleased material—at the end—on “Finding Time to Invest in Yourself.” Transcript: http://nav.al/rich Seek Wealth, Not Money or Status 1:30 Make Abundance for the World 6:40 Free Markets Are Intrinsic to Humans 10:21 Making Money Isn’t About Luck 14:19 Make Luck Your Destiny 19:25 You Won’t Get Rich Renting Out Your Time 24:00 Live Below Your Means for Freedom 28:40 Give Society What It Doesn’t Know How to Get 31:01 The Internet Has Massively Broadened Career Possibilities 33:44 Play Long-term Games With Long-term People 38:23 Pick Partners With Intelligence, Energy and Integrity 44:24 Partner With Rational Optimists 49:09 Arm Yourself With Specific Knowledge 54:34 Specific Knowledge Is Highly Creative or Technical 1:00:53 Learn to Sell, Learn to Build 1:06:24 Read What You Love Until You Love to Read 1:10:59 The Foundations Are Math and Logic 1:12:00 There’s No Actual Skill Called “Business” 1:16:48 Embrace Accountability to Get Leverage 1:20:06 Take Accountability to Earn Equity 1:25:37 Labor and Capital Are Old Leverage 1:30:06 Product and Media are New Leverage 1:35:01 Product Leverage is Egalitarian 1:39:42 Pick a Business Model With Leverage 1:44:56 Example: From Laborer to Entrepreneur 1:50:51 Judgment Is the Decisive Skill 2:01:15 Set an Aspirational Hourly Rate 2:07:41 Work As Hard As You Can 2:11:26 Be Too Busy to “Do Coffee” 2:16:34 Keep Redefining What You Do 2:20:38 Escape Competition Through Authenticity 2:22:41 Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes 2:28:17 Eventually You Will Get What You Deserve 2:30:53 Reject Most Advice 2:35:00 A Calm Mind, a Fit Body, a House Full of Love 2:37:55 There Are No Get Rich Quick Schemes 2:42:02 Productize Yourself 2:46:42 Accountability Means Letting People Criticize You 2:48:55 We Should Eventually Be Working for Ourselves 2:55:33 Being Ethical Is Long-Term Greedy 2:56:58 Envy Can Be Useful, or It Can Eat You Alive 3:00:23 Principal-Agent Problem: Act Like an Owner 3:03:51 Kelly Criterion: Avoid Ruin 3:10:33 Schelling Point: Cooperating Without Communicating 3:12:03 Turn Short-Term Games Into Long-Term Games 3:13:55 Compounding Relationships Make Life Easier 3:16:36 Price Discrimination: Charge Some People More 3:19:04 Consumer Surplus: Getting More Than You Paid For 3:20:14 Net Present Value: What Future Income Is Worth Today 3:21:03 Externalities: Calculating the Hidden Costs of Products 3:22:05 Bonus Material: Finding Time to Invest
Fri, May 24, 2019
Productize Yourself
Figure out what you're uniquely good at and apply as much leverage as possible. • Figure out what you're uniquely good at and apply as much leverage as possible 0:00 • Find hobbies that make you rich, fit and creative 1:07 Transcript: http://nav.al/productize-yourself
Thu, May 23, 2019
There Are No Get Rich Quick Schemes
Get rich quick schemes are just someone else getting rich off you. • There are no get rich quick schemes 0:00 • We don't have ads because it would ruin our credibility 0:56 • Every founder has to lie to every employee 2:02 • Anyone giving advice on how to get rich should have made their money elsewhere 3:02 Transcript: http://nav.al/rich-quick
Tue, May 21, 2019
A Calm Mind, a Fit Body, a House Full of Love
When you're finally wealthy, you'll realize it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place. • When you're wealthy, you'll realize it wasn't what you were seeking 0:00 • A calm mind, a fit body and a house full of love must be earned 1:00 • Practical advice for a calmer internal state 1:52 • A lot of divorces happen over money, a lot of battles happen over internal anger 3:14 Transcript: http://nav.al/finally-wealthy
Mon, May 20, 2019
Reject Most Advice
Most advice is people giving you their winning lottery ticket numbers. • The best founders listen to everyone but make up their own mind 0:00 • Advice is maxims you can recall later, when you get your own experience 1:29 Transcript: http://nav.al/reject-advice
Sun, May 19, 2019
Eventually You Will Get What You Deserve
Apply specific knowledge with leverage and eventually you will get what you deserve. • On a long enough time scale you will get paid 0:00 • What are you really good at that the market values? 1:59 Transcript: http://nav.al/deserve
Fri, May 17, 2019
Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes
Competition will blind you to greater games. You're one step away from a better market. • Businesses that seem like they're in direct competition really aren't 0:00 • My first company got caught up in the wrong game 1:23 Transcript: http://nav.al/stupid-games
Thu, May 16, 2019
Escape Competition Through Authenticity
Competition can make you play the wrong game. No one can compete with you on being you. • Competition will trap you in a lesser game 0:00 • No one can compete with you on being you 1:27 • In entrepreneurship, the masses are never right 2:40 • Combine your vocation and avocation 3:45 Transcript: http://nav.al/ competition-authenticity
Mon, May 13, 2019
Keep Redefining What You Do
Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true. • Keep redefining what you do until you're the best at what you do 0:00 • Find founder-product-market fit 1:35 Transcript: http://nav.al/redefining
Wed, May 08, 2019
Be Too Busy to “Do Coffee”
You should be too busy to “do coffee”, while still keeping an uncluttered calendar. • Be too busy to “do coffee” while keeping an uncluttered calendar 0:00 • People will meet with you when you have proof of work 2:00 • Networking is overrated even early in your career 2:09 Transcript: http://nav.al/ meetings
Mon, May 06, 2019
Work As Hard As You Can
Work as hard as you can. Even though what you work on and who you work with are more important. • Work as hard as you can 0:00 • But what you work on and who you work with are more important 1:00 • Nobody really works 80 hours a week 2:22 • Inspiration is perishable 3:05 • Impatience with actions, patience with results 3:36 Transcript: http://nav.al/work-hard
Wed, May 01, 2019
Set an Aspirational Hourly Rate
If outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate, outsource it. • Set and enforce an aspirational hourly rate 0:00 • You can't penny pinch your way to wealth 1:27 • My aspirational rate was $5,000/hr 1:56 • If you can outsource something for less than your hourly rate, outsource it 2:57 • Your hourly rate should seem absurdly high 3:39 Transcript: http://nav.al /hourly-rate
Mon, April 29, 2019
Judgment Is the Decisive Skill
Everything we've discussed so far has been setting you up to apply judgment. • In an age of infinite leverage, judgment becomes the most important skill 0:00 • Everything else you do is setting you up to apply judgment 1:21 • Judgment is knowing the long-term consequences of your actions 2:40 • Without experience, judgment is often less than useless 3:15 • The people with the best judgment are among the least emotional 4:05 • A lot of the top investors often sound like philosophers 5:18 • The more outraged someone is, the worse their judgment 6:00 Transcript: http://nav.al/ judgment
Fri, April 26, 2019
Example: From Laborer to Real Estate Tech
The continuum from laborer to real estate tech company goes from low accountability to high specific knowledge, accountability and leverage. • L aborers get paid hourly and have low accountability 0:19 • General contractors get equity, but they're also taking risk 1:20 • Property developers pocket the profit by applying capital leverage 2:14 • Architects, large developers and REITs are even higher in the stack 3:16 • Real estate tech companies apply the maximum leverage 4:05 Transcript: http://nav.al/ laborer-tech
Mon, April 22, 2019
Pick a Business Model With Leverage
Ideally, you should pick a business model with network effects, low marginal costs and scale economies. • Scale economies: the more you produce, the cheaper it gets 0:00 • Zero marginal cost of reproduction: producing more is free 0:51 • Network effects: value grows as the square of the customers 1:34 • Network effect businesses are natural monopolies 2:26 • In a network effect, each new user adds value to the existing users 3:06 • Zero marginal cost businesses can pivot into network effect businesses 5:01 Transcript: http://nav.al/ business-models
Fri, April 19, 2019
Product Leverage Is Egalitarian
Labor and capital are limited to the people who control those resources. But products reach global markets. • Product leverage is a positive-sum game 0:00 • Status goods are limited to a few people 0:57 • The best products tend to be targeted at the middle class 1:25 • Creating wealth with product leads to more ethical wealth 2:06 • You want to use the product that is used by the most people 3:06 • Capital and labor are becoming permissionless 4:24 Transcript: http://nav.al/egalitarian-leverage
Wed, April 17, 2019
Product and Media Are New Leverage
Product and media are the leverage of new wealth. Create software and media that work for you while you sleep. • Product and media are the new leverage 0:00 • Product leverage is where the new fortunes are made 0:55 • Combining all three forms of leverage is a magic combination 1:28 • Product and media leverage are permissionless 2:03 • The robots army is already here—code lets you tell them what to do 2:59 Transcript: http://nav.al/ product-media
Mon, April 15, 2019
Labor and Capital Are Old Leverage
Wealth requires leverage. Labor and capital are older forms of leverage that everyone is fighting over. • Our brains aren't evolved to comprehend new forms of leverage 0:00 • Society overvalues labor leverage 1:08 • You want the minimum amount of labor that allows you to use the other forms of leverage 1:56 • Capital has been the dominant form of leverage in the last century 2:40 • You need specific knowledge and accountability to obtain capital 4:52 Transcript : http://nav.al/labor-capital
Sat, April 13, 2019
Take Accountability to Earn Equity
If you have high accountability, you're less replaceable and you can get a piece of the business. • Accountability is how you're going to get equity 0:00 • Taking accountability is like taking equity in all your work 0:29 • The downside of accountability is not that large 2:11 • Accountability is reputational skin in the game 4:30 Transcript : http://nav.al/ accountability-equity
Thu, April 11, 2019
Embrace Accountability to Get Leverage
Embrace accountability. Society will reward you with leverage. • You have to have accountability to get leverage 0:00 • Take business risks under your own name 0:54 • A well-functioning team has clear accountability for each position 2:09 • People who can fail in public have a lot of power 3:47 Transcript: http://nav.al/accountability-leverage
Mon, April 08, 2019
There's No Actual Skill Called Business
There's no actual skill called business. Avoid business schools and magazines. • There's no actual skill called business 0:00 • Doing is faster than watching 0:55 • The number of “doing” iterations drives the learning curve 2:49 • If you're willing to bleed a little every day, you may win big later 3:53 Transcript: http://nav.al/skill-business
Fri, April 05, 2019
The Foundations Are Math and Logic
If you understand mathematics and logic, you have the basis for understanding everything else. • The ultimate foundations are math and logic: 0:00 • It’s better to read a great book slowly than to fly through a hundred books quickly: 1:22 • Learn persuasion and programming: 2:08 Transcript: http://nav.al/math-logic
Wed, April 03, 2019
Read What You Love Until You Love to Read
You should be able to pick up any book in the library and read it. • Read what you love until you love to read: 0:00 • Read the original scientific books in a field: 1:44 • Don't fear any book: 2:43 • The means of learning are abundant, the desire to learn is scarce: 3:54 Transcript: http://nav.al/love-read
Sun, March 31, 2019
Learn to Sell, Learn to Build
Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable. • Learn to sell, learn to build 0:00 • The Silicon Valley model is a builder and seller 1:07 • If you can do both you will be unstoppable 1:52 • I'd rather teach an engineer marketing than a marketer engineering 2:48 • Building is better when you're starting out, sales scales better over time 4:33 Transcript: http://nav.al/build-sell
Thu, March 28, 2019
Specific Knowledge Is Highly Creative or Technical
Specific knowledge tends to be creative or technical. It's on the bleeding edge of technology, art and communication. • Specific knowledge can be taught through apprenticeships 0:00 • Specific knowledge is often highly creative or technical 0:45 • Specific knowledge is specific to the individual and situation 2:02 • You can't be too deliberate about assembling specific knowledge 3:01 • Build specific knowledge where you are a natural 4:44 Transcript : http://nav.al/creative-technical
Mon, March 25, 2019
Arm Yourself With Specific Knowledge
Arm yourself with specific knowledge. It can't be trained but it can be found by pursuing your genuine curiosity. • Arm yourself with specific knowledge 0:00 • Specific knowledge can't be trained 1:47 • Specific knowledge is found by pursuing your curiosity 2:34 • Building specific knowledge will feel like play to you 3:53 Transcript : http://nav.al/specific-knowledge
Fri, March 22, 2019
Partner With Rational Optimists
Don't partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling. • Don't partner with pessimists 0:00 • Partner with rational optimists 1:20 • We're descended from pessimists 2:28 • BOCTAOE 4:13 Transcript : http://nav.al/rational-optimists
Fri, March 22, 2019
Pick Partners With Intelligence, Energy and Integrity
Picking partners with high intelligence, energy and integrity is the three-part checklist that you can't compromise on. • Pick business partners with high intelligence, energy and integrity 0:00 • Motivation of the people you work with has to come intrinsically 1:18 • Integrity is what someone does, despite what they say they do 2:18 Transcript : http://nav.al/intelligence-energy-integrity
Tue, March 19, 2019
Play Long-term Games With Long-term People
Pick an industry where you can play long-term games with long-term people. All returns in life come from compound interest over many turns of the game. • Play long-term games with long-term people 0:00 • When you switch industries, you're starting over from scratch 2:21 • Long-term players make each other rich 4:02 • Returns come from compound interest in iterated games 4:49 Transcript : http://nav.al/long-term
Tue, March 19, 2019
The Internet Has Massively Broadened Career Possibilities
The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers, by allowing you to scale any niche obsession. • The Internet has massively broadened the possible space of careers 0:00 • The Internet allows you to scale any niche obsession 1:22 • Escape competition through authenticity 3:33 Transcript : http://nav.al/possible-careers
Thu, March 14, 2019
Give Society What It Doesn't Know How to Get
Society will pay you for creating what it wants, but doesn’t know how to get, and delivering it at scale. • Give society what it wants, but doesn't know how to get—at scale 0:00 • Figure out what product you can provide and then figure out how to scale it 0:57 Transcript : http://nav.al/product-scale
Mon, March 11, 2019
Live Below Your Means for Freedom
People living far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles just can't fathom. • People living below their means have freedom 0:00 • The most dangerous things are heroin and a monthly salary 0:38 • Ideally, you'll make your money in discrete lumps 1:17 Transcript : http://nav.al/salary-freedom
Fri, March 08, 2019
You Won't Get Rich Renting Out Your Time
You won't get rich renting out your time, because you can't earn non-linearly. • You won't get rich renting out your time 0:00 • Renting out your time means you're essentially replaceable 1:23 • You must own equity to gain your financial freedom 2:17 • You want a career where your inputs don't match your outputs 2:41 Transcript : http://nav.al/renting-time
Thu, March 07, 2019
Make Luck Your Destiny
Build your character in a way so luck becomes deterministic. • Build your character so luck becomes your destiny 0:00 • Build your character so opportunity finds you 1:12 • You have to be a little eccentric to be out on the frontier by yourself 2:39 Transcript : http://nav.al/luck-destiny
Wed, March 06, 2019
Making Money Isn't about Luck
Making money isn't about luck. It's about becoming the kind of person who makes money. • Making money isn't about luck 0:00 • Blind luck 0:46 • Luck from hustling 0:55 • Luck from preparation 1:35 • Luck from your unique character 1:51 • In 1,000 parallel universes, you want to be wealthy in 999 of them 2:54 • Wealth stacks up one chip at a time, not all at once 4:11 Transcript : http://nav.al/money-luck
Wed, March 06, 2019
Free Markets Are Intrinsic to Humans
We're the only animals who cooperate across genetic boundaries, because we can track credits and debits in voluntary exchanges. • Free markets are intrinsic to the human species 0:00 • Too many takers and not enough makers will plunge a society into ruin 1:48 Transcript : http://nav.al/capitalism-intrinsic
Tue, March 05, 2019
Make Abundance for the World
Wealth isn't about taking something from somebody else—it's about creating abundance for the world. • Ethical wealth creation makes abundance for the world 0:00 • Everyone can be wealthy 1:28 Transcript : http://nav.al/ethical-wealth
Tue, March 05, 2019
Seek Wealth, Not Money or Status
The difference between wealth, money and status. • Wealth is assets that earn while you sleep 0:56 • Money is how we transfer wealth 2:28 • Status is your rank in the social hierarchy 3:08 Transcript: https://nav.al/seek-wealth This is the first interview between Naval and Nivi on How to Get Rich. These interviews are based on Naval's tweetstorm at https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936 .
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