Episodes

  • #102 ​The Next Renaissance, AI Reality vs Hype, and a Movement of Hope with Zack Kass

    #102 ​The Next Renaissance, AI Reality vs Hype, and a Movement of Hope with Zack Kass
    May 5 2026
    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.
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • The Book of Elon - Part 4

    The Book of Elon - Part 4
    Apr 7 2026
    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.
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    1 hr and 35 mins
  • The Book of Elon - Part 3

    The Book of Elon - Part 3
    Apr 7 2026
    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.
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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • The Book of Elon - Part 2

    The Book of Elon - Part 2
    Apr 7 2026
    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.
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • The Book of Elon - Part 1

    The Book of Elon - Part 1
    Apr 7 2026
    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.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • The Book of Elon launches today

    The Book of Elon launches today
    Mar 24 2026
    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
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    9 mins
  • My Conversation with Naval Megasode

    My Conversation with Naval Megasode
    Feb 24 2026
    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
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    3 hrs and 35 mins
  • #101 Tesla War Stories, Self-Driving at Waymo, and Building the Salesforce of BOM (Spencer Penn of LightSource)

    #101 Tesla War Stories, Self-Driving at Waymo, and Building the Salesforce of BOM (Spencer Penn of LightSource)
    Feb 3 2026
    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.”
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    1 hr and 1 min