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Smart Friends

Smart Friends

By: Eric Jorgenson
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 Casual conversations with founders, technologists, investors, and artists about building a brighter future, together. Welcome to our digital living room.  With science, technology and entrepreneurship we can *continue* to create unfathomable leaps in quality of life. We show you how to find, apply, build, and invest in technologies to change your life and the world.  When we have smart friends, we do smart things. When we do smart things, we save the world.  No matter who, where, or when you are – now you have smart friends, too.  Outside this podcast, I’m the author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant and The Anthology of Balaji. Connect at ejorgenson.com  Laugh and learn with people like Balaji Srinivasan, Naval Ravikant, Andrew Wilkinson, Austen Allred, David Senra, Josh Storrs Hall, Ashley Rindsberg, Zach Pettet, Bret Kugelmass, Omar ElNaggar, Grace Guo, Brett Kopf, Max Olson, Chris Williamson, Shane Mac, Tim Hwang, David Perell, Jason Hitchcock, Natalia Karayaneva, Sebastian Marshall, Taylor Pearson, Mitchell Baldridge and more. Join conversations with my partners in early-stage tech investing, Bo Fishback and Al Doan. Our Rolling Fun Episodes cover our investments and escapades as angel investors and startup helpers. We invest in startups creating the *next* industrial revolution. Learn more at rolling.fun “Surround yourself with people who remind you more of your future than of your past.”Copyright Eric Jorgenson, Magrathea Inc. Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • #099 Jonathan Swanson: Scaling Thumbtack, 10x Delegation, and Designing an Ideal Life

    #099 Jonathan Swanson: Scaling Thumbtack, 10x Delegation, and Designing an Ideal Life
    Jan 6 2026
    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.
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    56 mins
  • #098 Danielle Strachman: What Makes a Thiel Fellow

    #098 Danielle Strachman: What Makes a Thiel Fellow
    Nov 4 2025
    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:46) - Deep dive into the Thiel Fellowship (00:07:04) - Success stories and impact of Thiel Fellows (00:11:04) - Challenges and controversies (00:16:01) - Evolution and future of fellowship programs (00:18:39) - Early days of building the Thiel Fellowship (00:23:36) - Traits of a Thiel Fellow (00:33:24) - Nurturing genius (00:39:57) - Screen time & children (00:40:30) - Big screens vs. small screens (00:43:12) - Quality time and engaging activities (00:45:42) - Emotional depth and resilience in young founders (00:54:02) - The traits of innovators (01:04:08) - The journey of 1517 Fund (01:10:05) - Join the 1517 community Links: 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: The founding story and long-term vision behind the Thiel Fellowship Common traits among exceptional young founders, including curiosity, hyper fluency, and “dog on a leash” energy Lessons from supporting early pioneers like Vitalik Buterin, Dylan Field, and Laura Deming. How 1517 Fund backs young builders and “Wily weirdos” working on sci-fi-level ideas Danielle’s philosophy on education, parenting, and fostering genius in children Quotes from Danielle: “We weren’t looking for startup founders—we were looking for people on a mission.” “Dog-on-a-leash energy—that’s what we look for. We’re here to cut the leash.” “Hyperfluency is the ability to geek out with geeks, and still explain your work to your grandma at Thanksgiving.” “These people are kind of mutants—they don’t fit in typical systems.” “All kids under five are geniuses. The system just squashes it out of them.” “The most shocking thing? People publicly attacked the Fellows. Not just the program—the people. Teenagers.” “Crazy, crazy awesome—we can’t tell if they’re insane or brilliant, and it’ll take years to find out.” “Big screens good, small screens bad.” “In the future, I want to be funding 11-year-olds. The world won’t be ready, but I will be.” “We just want to talk to wily weirdos who want to be around other wily weirdos.”
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • #096 Cal Riley: Special Ops, Grief, and Why Your Business Needs a Heart

    #096 Cal Riley: Special Ops, Grief, and Why Your Business Needs a Heart
    Sep 30 2025
    Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:07) - Cal's military background (00:13:59) - Transitioning into a family business (00:19:35) - Implementing EOS (00:25:08) - The journey to compassionate leadership (00:36:16) - Prioritizing self-care and meditation (00:37:19) - Journaling techniques and prompts (00:39:02) - Mental health stigma and therapy (00:40:16) - Daily intentions and successes (00:42:28) - Leadership (00:47:28) - Coaching and team building (00:58:45) - Writing a book (01:03:10) - Resources Links: Scribe — https://scribemedia.com Entrepreneurial Compassion: An Entrepreneur’s Journey Through Combat, Suicide, and the Discovery of Compassionate Leadership - https://amzn.to/4nqH6AK 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 military battle drills shaped Cal’s approach to business leadership How EOS changed about his company and personal life Why compassion is both a moral imperative and a business advantage Tactical ways Cal builds emotional awareness into his leadership habits How journaling, meditation, and presence help fuel resilience and clarity Quotes from Cal: "The more compassion I showed my team, the more profit we made. It’s not soft—it’s smart." "They’ll never care how much you know until they know how much you care." "Every really good unit has this thing called a tactical SOP—just like your business has processes." "EOS gave me the ability to step back, let the team lead, and focus on building the future." "I went from working 90 hours a week in the business to now doing one meeting a week." "The business stops running you, and you start running it." "When we can be driven and compassionate, the sky’s the limit." "As entrepreneurs, we’re good at putting out fires—and if there isn’t one, we’ll start one just to feel busy." "My brother’s death has to mean something—this book is how I make sure something good comes from it." "I want to create a million compassionate leaders and prevent a hundred thousand suicides." "This isn't about monetizing trauma—every cent from the book goes to suicide prevention." 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.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
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