Balaji Srinivasan — How to Start a New Country

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

July 7, 2022

Duration

3h 19m

Channel

Tim Ferriss

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Brought to you by: Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution https://www.eightsleep.com/tim AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement https://www.drinkag1.com/tim Shopify global commerce platform https://www.shopify.com/tim Show Notes: https://tim.blog/2022/07/04/balaji-srinivasan-network-state/ The Network State: How To Start a New Country: https://www.amazon.com/Network-State-How-Start-Country-ebook/dp/B09VPKZR3G/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20 You can also read it for free at http://thenetworkstate.com Balaji S. Srinivasan (@balajis) is an angel investor and entrepreneur. Formerly the CTO of Coinbase and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, he was also the co-founder of Earn.com (acquired by Coinbase), Counsyl (acquired by Myriad), Teleport (acquired by Topia), and Coin Center. He was named to the MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35,” won a Wall Street Journal Innovation Award, and holds a BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering, all from Stanford University. Balaji also teaches the occasional class at Stanford, including an online MOOC in 2013, which reached 250,000+ students worldwide. Please enjoy! 00:00 Start 00:01:37 The current state of crypto and overall markets 00:09:58 Market depth and the Overton window 00:16:29 The challenges of identifying possible trends 00:20:09 Does transhumanism need rebranding? 00:22:55 Augmented reality glasses: the next big thing? 00:32:44 Rethinking Icarus from a transhumanist, pro-innovation perspective 00:54:29 DALL-E 2 as a compact programming language 00:57:12 Peter Turchin and cliodynamics 00:58:48 What is a network state? 01:13:35 Humans like to fight over borders — even when they’re invisible 01:22:17 American anarchy 01:43:58 Bitcoin vs. gold as an inflation hedge 01:50:12 What needs to happen for Bitcoin to behave in the way Bitcoin holders would like it to behave? 02:23:10 Society as a service: how the establishment of a network state could succeed — without devolving into a cult 02:49:30 Chinese control 02:59:03 Missionary over mercenary; innovation over top-down control 03:01:26 India’s upward trends 03:06:50 Establishment disdain for tech interlopers (and the feeling is mutual) 03:12:46 Parting thoughts About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 700 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Tim Ferriss

  host

  Host of The Tim Ferriss Show and author/investor known for interviewing top performers across business, tech, and sports.

• Balaji Srinivasan

  guest

  Entrepreneur and investor, former CTO of Coinbase, and author of “The Network State” (1729.com/thenetworkstate.com).

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Tim Ferriss, featuring Tim Ferriss and Balaji Srinivasan, Balaji Srinivasan — How to Start a New Country explores Balaji on crypto freedom, moral framing, and the network state Balaji Srinivasan argued that the enduring value of cryptocurrency is digital freedom—property rights on the internet that are resistant to freezing and seizure by powerful states—more than day-to-day price action.

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