Balaji Srinivasan’s Most Personal, In-Depth Interview on Transhumanism, Investing, and more

 
Balaji Srinivasan photo
 

The moment has come. My longest podcast ever with engineer, entrepreneur, investor, futurist – and focus of my next Almanack–Balaji Srinivasan. 

Balaji has lived an interesting life and overflows with unique ideas. And he’s just getting started. He’s a bestselling author. He was the CTO of Coinbase. He was a general partner at Andreesen Horowitz. 

Currently, he’s focusing on writing and investing to bring about his vision of a techno-utopian future.

This wasn't meant to be a podcast. This was an interview for the book. You haven't heard an interview with Balaji like this before. 

 My goal for our conversation is to pull out new ideas and round out some of his most universal thoughts. 

We talk about how Balaji became Balaji. We explore technology and investing. We discuss transhumanism and his hopes for the future.

We cover an incredible amount in this conversation. I’ve listened to every Balaji interview out there, and I believe this is a very unique and valuable conversation. 

Here’s what I learned from the episode:

  • Technology is what makes us human. Humans co-evolved with technology for thousands of years. 

  • Balaji considers himself to be polytheist, polystatist, and polynumist (coins). He explains his beliefs in god, state, and network.

  • Balaji reflects on the good, bad, and ugly of life before the internet. He considers the main inflection point when Google launched.

  • As a kid, Balaji learned how to fight when he needed to fight.

  • Balaji explains what Kim Kardashian can teach us about referential integrity and authenticity on social media. 

  • He uses a framework from Magic the Gathering to show different people’s methods of thought.

  • Balaji said he was driven to do the hardest things he could. He is motivated by a desire for progress and purpose. 

  • Balaji spends money of being able to work harder. To accomplish more.

I ask Balaji about learning versus doing–when he makes the switch between the two. Balaji answers that the best way to learn is by doing.

Upcoming Book - The Anthology of Balaji

The Anthology of Balaji: A Guide to Technology, Truth, and Building the Future

A new book to collect and curate Balaji’s wisdom from Twitter, Podcasts, and Essays from the past decade.

This book is a guide to thinking for yourself, seeing possible futures, and learning how to build a piece of that future. With these ideas, you might pick the next great investment, start a billion-dollar company, or start an entirely new country.

Expected publication date: Q1 2023.

This episode is sponsored by Athena. 

Athena is a company completely dedicated to providing top-caliber executive assistants from the Philippines. I had a conversation with Athena’s CEO and CCO in episode 38 of this podcast. 

If you’re interested in joining Athena:

Click here: AthenaGo.Com and complete the survey to sign up.

There’s often a waitlist to get matched with EAs, so plan ahead and sign up now, today – no commitment required.

Learn more about Balaji Srinivasan

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