
Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:02:40) - Being the “tech for middle America” translator
(00:06:00) - Who are your heroes?
(00:13:40) - Zack’s unique approach to AI
(00:57:35) - The market for identity transformation
(01:11:08) - Writing the next renaissance
(01:15:31) - Using AI in the writing process
(01:18:25) - Final thoughts
Links:
The Next Renaissance by Zack Kass - https://a.co/d/07VwLrg4
Zack’s website - https://www.zackkass.com/
To support the costs of producing this podcast:
>> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/
>> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/
>> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
>> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun
>> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter
>> Text the podcast to a friend
>> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!
Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship
There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant
You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.
Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.
May 5
1 hr 19 min

Welcome to the free audiobook of The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success.
This is Part 1 of 4.
I’ve made all of my books available for free. This is the third book I’ve published, and like the others, it’s available in all formats—PDF, EPUB, and audio—and in dozens of languages. More than 5 million people have read the free version of The Almanack of Naval, and I wanted to do the same here. You can find the full book and bonus content on my website.
I do this because I believe that if you can’t comfortably afford the Kindle version or an Audible credit, then you should have access to this information even more. I want to personally gift it to you. I believe the ideas in this book can benefit anyone—and the more people who have good ideas in their heads, the better the future will be for all of us.
If you’re enjoying the free version, here are a few no-cost ways to support me and this project:
Leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or Audible—these make a huge difference and help new readers discover the book
Subscribe to my podcast Smart Friends, and follow along on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram
Join the email list at ejorgenson.com
And most importantly, if this resonates with you, share it directly with a friend. A quick text or email recommendation is how most people decide what to read—and it means a lot.
I appreciate you listening, reading, and helping spread the word.
Apr 7
1 hr 35 min

Welcome to the free audiobook of The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success.
This is Part 3 of 4.
I’ve made all of my books available for free. This is the third book I’ve published, and like the others, it’s available in all formats—PDF, EPUB, and audio—and in dozens of languages. More than 5 million people have read the free version of The Almanack of Naval, and I wanted to do the same here. You can find the full book and bonus content on my website.
I do this because I believe that if you can’t comfortably afford the Kindle version or an Audible credit, then you should have access to this information even more. I want to personally gift it to you. I believe the ideas in this book can benefit anyone—and the more people who have good ideas in their heads, the better the future will be for all of us.
If you’re enjoying the free version, here are a few no-cost ways to support me and this project:
Leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or Audible—these make a huge difference and help new readers discover the book
Subscribe to my podcast Smart Friends, and follow along on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram
Join the email list at ejorgenson.com
And most importantly, if this resonates with you, share it directly with a friend. A quick text or email recommendation is how most people decide what to read—and it means a lot.
I appreciate you listening, reading, and helping spread the word.
Apr 7
1 hr 44 min

Welcome to the free audiobook of The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success.
This is Part 2 of 4.
I’ve made all of my books available for free. This is the third book I’ve published, and like the others, it’s available in all formats—PDF, EPUB, and audio—and in dozens of languages. More than 5 million people have read the free version of The Almanack of Naval, and I wanted to do the same here. You can find the full book and bonus content on my website.
I do this because I believe that if you can’t comfortably afford the Kindle version or an Audible credit, then you should have access to this information even more. I want to personally gift it to you. I believe the ideas in this book can benefit anyone—and the more people who have good ideas in their heads, the better the future will be for all of us.
If you’re enjoying the free version, here are a few no-cost ways to support me and this project:
Leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or Audible—these make a huge difference and help new readers discover the book
Subscribe to my podcast Smart Friends, and follow along on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram
Join the email list at ejorgenson.com
And most importantly, if this resonates with you, share it directly with a friend. A quick text or email recommendation is how most people decide what to read—and it means a lot.
I appreciate you listening, reading, and helping spread the word.
Apr 7
1 hr 10 min

Welcome to the free audiobook of The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success.
This is Part 1 of 4.
I’ve made all of my books available for free. This is the third book I’ve published, and like the others, it’s available in all formats—PDF, EPUB, and audio—and in dozens of languages. More than 5 million people have read the free version of The Almanack of Naval, and I wanted to do the same here. You can find the full book and bonus content on my website.
I do this because I believe that if you can’t comfortably afford the Kindle version or an Audible credit, then you should have access to this information even more. I want to personally gift it to you. I believe the ideas in this book can benefit anyone—and the more people who have good ideas in their heads, the better the future will be for all of us.
If you’re enjoying the free version, here are a few no-cost ways to support me and this project:
Leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or Audible—these make a huge difference and help new readers discover the book
Subscribe to my podcast Smart Friends, and follow along on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram
Join the email list at ejorgenson.com
And most importantly, if this resonates with you, share it directly with a friend. A quick text or email recommendation is how most people decide what to read—and it means a lot.
I appreciate you listening, reading, and helping spread the word.
Apr 7
1 hr 6 min

The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success is now available!
“All of Elon Musk’s Most Useful Ideas, In His Own Words.”
I’ve invested five years of effort and tens of thousands of dollars into making this book as useful as possible for you.
Order the book now on Amazon:
Kindle: https://amzn.to/4uEf0pO
Paperback: https://amzn.to/47avSuh
Hardcover: https://amzn.to/4by5VWL
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Book-of-Elon-Audiobook/B0G3B4SJPQ
To support the costs of producing this podcast:
>> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/
>> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/
>> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
>> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun
>> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter
>> Text the podcast to a friend
Mar 24
8 min

It's been five years since the Almanack of Naval Ravikant was published.
I spent the day with Naval expanding on key ideas from the book. We recorded hours of that conversation to share with you.
You can purchase the new expanded edition with nearly 4 hours of new material on Audible here:
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant-Audiobook/B0FBCP1JWJ
Chapters:
00:00 - Building Wealth
37:49 - Building Judgement
01:12:30 - Learning Happiness
02:15:17 - Saving Yourself
02:50:17 - Philosophy
To support the costs of producing this podcast:
>> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/
>> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/
>> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
>> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun
>> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter
>> Text the podcast to a friend
Feb 24
3 hr 35 min

Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:03:43) - Heroes and inspirations
(00:07:14) - The rise of Chinese electric vehicles
(00:12:13) - The Tesla experience
(00:31:04) - Tesla's rapid development and industry impact
(00:32:54) - The culture of speed and frugality at Tesla
(00:34:10) - Elon's leadership and pressure tactics
(00:37:22) - Transitioning from Tesla to Waymo
(00:39:43) - Waymo's organizational structure and challenges
(00:43:35) - The future of autonomous vehicles
(00:54:34) - Founding Light Source and addressing procurement issues
(01:00:23) - Conclusion and final thoughts
Links:
LightSource - https://lightsource.ai/
Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spenpenn/
Preorder the Book of Elon - https://a.co/d/02huhEee
To support the costs of producing this podcast:
>> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/
>> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/
>> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
>> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun
>> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter
>> Text the podcast to a friend
>> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!
Quotes from Spencer:
“It was the most fun I never want to have again.” (Describing his time at Tesla during the Model 3 production ramp)
“The Model 3 seat feel is attuned directly to Elon’s butt.”
“I’m not an Elon fanboy, but I’m also not a critic. I’m an optimist.”
“Speed wins. After seeing both Tesla and Waymo, that’s my belief.”
“We were the underdog. Eventually, it does end up feeling like you’re on the winning team.”
“You couldn’t go into a meeting with Elon and show up empty-handed.”
“This opportunity we’re pursuing at LightSource should have disappeared 20 years ago.”
“ERP is the finance system of record. What’s Salesforce in reverse? That’s LightSource.”
“The thing that surprised me: every company still runs procurement on spreadsheets and email.”
“Tesla built their own ERP system from scratch. That’s not normal.”
“There are things that are just core to the P&L of every business… and yet completely orphaned in the tech stack.”
Feb 3
1 hr 1 min

Title: #100 Interviewing Your Parents, Writing Through Fear, and One's First Book (Kyle Thiermann)
Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:47) - The birth of a book: from idea to reality
(00:04:01) - A pandemic epiphany: interviewing my dad
(00:07:51) - The journey of a professional surfer and journalist
(00:10:48) - Writing a book: challenges and insights
(00:17:04) - The emotional depth of interviewing parents
(00:22:40) - Balancing humor and vulnerability in writing
(00:34:39) - Creating unique value in a book
(00:41:59) - The power of a good title
(00:44:31) - The importance of a book title
(00:49:10) - Balancing writing and marketing
(00:57:56) - Long-term marketing approach
(01:10:16) - Navigating the publishing process
(01:19:45) - Unexpected outcomes and reflections
Links:
One Last Question Before You Go - https://amzn.to/49JVWg2
Scribe Media - https://scribemedia.com/
To support the costs of producing this podcast:
>> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/
>> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/
>> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
>> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun
>> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter
>> Text the podcast to a friend
>> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!
Quotes from Kyle:
“The interview process can be a kind of empathy drug.”
“Write as if you are already dead.”
“The ideas that won't go away are the ones worth chasing.”
“I wanted to write the book that only I could write.”
“Most people live their lives being rewarded for having the right answer, not the right question.”
“Books are like malaria nets—people use them in ways you never expect.”
“If I tell you to interview your parents, I have to show you what happened when I did.”
“Marketing is an act of consideration and generosity.”
“A lot of how-to books could be a one-page PDF. I refused to do that.”
“Live events aren’t about selling books. They’re about making you feel like a winner as an author.”
“The best advertisers I know create a mood shift immediately.”
“Make fun of yourself. That’s how you earn the right to critique others.”
Jan 20
1 hr 25 min

Topics:
(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:03:30) - Who are your heroes?
(00:09:26) - The infancy and evolution of Athena
(00:15:12) - Inflection points
(00:18:14) - Jonathan’s reasoning for going public with interviews
(00:20:08) - How do you pick countries to work in?
(00:22:41) - Who is the core Athena customer?
(00:28:09) - Jonathan’s 6 EAs
(00:32:13) - Surprising things Jonathan’s delegated
(00:35:42) - Broadening your scope of what’s possible with assistants
(00:42:05) - A day in the life with multiple EAs
(00:45:41) - Delegation within EAs
(00:50:31) - Family dynamics with EAs
(00:54:07) - The 2050 version of Athena
Links:
Athena - https://www.athena.com/
Rolling Fun — https://www.rolling.fun
To support the costs of producing this podcast:
>> Buy a copy of the Navalmanack: www.navalmanack.com/
>> Buy a copy of The Anthology of Balaji: https://balajianthology.com/
>> Sign up for my online course and community about building your Personal Leverage: https://www.ejorgenson.com/leverage
>> Invest in early-stage companies alongside Eric and his partners at Rolling Fun: https://angel.co/v/back/rolling-fun
>> Join the free weekly email list at ejorgenson.com/newsletter
>> Text the podcast to a friend
>> Or at least give the podcast a positive review to help us reach new listeners!
We discuss:
How Jonathan developed calm under extreme startup pressure
Athena’s evolution from side hustle to billion-dollar vision
Why great delegation is a skill, not magic
Surprising personal and family delegation use cases
Combining humans and AI for exponential leverage
Quotes from Jonathan:
“My mind is an inner citadel. I’ve got a good mind, a wife that loves me, and everything else is gravy.”
“I started Athena with the sole goal of generating income for my wife and I to live off of.”
“The vision of Athena is the best human assistants powered by the best AI.”
“Humans are good UX. We’ve evolved to like humans.”
“You don’t build the first Tesla without a steering wheel.”
“We're building something that watches assistants work, not to replace them, but to augment them.”
“Delegation is a J-curve. It's slower at first, but compounds.”
“The cardinal sin of delegation is thinking, ‘It’s faster to do it myself.’”
“You can think of an assistant as a cognitive prosthesis.”
“Belief is the first limiter. Most people don’t believe time freedom is possible.”
“Ask yourself: If I had a hundred more hours a week, what would I do?”
Important Quotes from the podcast on Business and Entrepreneurship
There is no skill called “business.” Avoid business magazines and business classes. - Naval Ravikant
You have to work up to the point where you can own equity in a business. You could own equity as a small shareholder where you bought stock. You could also own it as an owner where you started the company. Ownership is really important.
Everybody who really makes money at some point owns a piece of a product, a business, or some IP. That can be through stock options if you work at a tech company. That’s a fine way to start.
Jan 6
56 min
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