The Prof G Pod

What the Founders Feared Most Is Happening Now

You can also argue it's a real excuse to say, "I don't actually have to learn anything. I don't have to go to college. I don't have to learn to be a negotiator. I don't have to work my way up. I can just say that God favors me and therefore I can do it all without putting in any hard work, which is really antithetical to what America has stood for until pretty recently."

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

I think the thing I keep coming back to is that intelligence and energy are the two fundamental inputs to the universe, and if we have basically unlimited intelligence, we can hopefully also get to basically unlimited energy. And then, from those two things, you can just make so much.

TED

Inside Dubai’s Mission to Build the City of the Future | His Excellency Khalfan Belhoul | TED

If rules are an issue, we can change them for you. We can connect you with any relevant decision maker to break those rules. We will not be upset if you make mistakes, and we will support you on every winning bet you make.

Founders

#427 How Raymond Plank Built a $50 Billion Oil Company

Written when he was nearly 90, the memoir reads like a lifelong diary of how to think about opportunity, courage, cost control, resourcefulness, and adaptation.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

I think we're at the beginning of an era where we're going to be able to just have much more. And I think that the thing that I would most want people to understand is that technological progress is the main driver of that, and that we should think about how to accelerate it rather than slow it down, because the compounding effects of even slightly faster scientific progress are enormous.

TED

Inside Dubai’s Mission to Build the City of the Future | His Excellency Khalfan Belhoul | TED

Usually governments are a hurdle or they take time or they're bureaucratic. We are hearing from our leaders that we can actually do this. This is music to our ears.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

The thing that I keep coming back to is that intelligence and energy are the two inputs to wealth creation. And for most of human history, we've had a very fixed amount of each. But if we can take the cap off of intelligence — if we can have, you know, billions of agents running around solving problems — the potential upside here is just staggering.

Freakonomics Radio

683. In the New Space Race, Who Makes the Rules?

Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

I think we're at an inflection point where AI will be doing a lot of the work, and the jobs of the future will be to figure out what we should build, what direction to point the AI, and how to verify that the AI has done the right thing. The people who do that best will capture an enormous amount of value.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

I think we are at the beginning of what may be the most transformative period in human history. The economic growth we've had over the past few centuries—which felt fast—may look very slow compared to what's coming. And I think we have a chance to lift a billion people out of poverty, to cure diseases, to solve mental health problems at scale, in ways that have seemed impossible.

The Business of Tech

Dom Pym’s playbook for building and backing winners

Instead of trying to go around the incumbents, Dom's partnership with one of them was the unlikely secret to getting breakthrough fintech products into market.

The a16z Show

AI Micro Dramas, Generative Media, and the Future of Creativity

the biggest opportunities may lie not in replacing Hollywood—but in expanding who gets to create

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Sam Altman - How to Make an Abundant Future - [Invest Like the Best, EP.484]

I think most people, if they reflect on it, would say, well, of course I want my children and grandchildren to have cures for diseases, cheap energy, and whatever, but somehow the actions that society takes show that we're way more focused on preventing downside than enabling upside. And I think that's a mistake. I think the expected value of the world is so much better if we can figure out how to build a world of radical abundance than if we just prevent bad things from happening.

The Business of Tech

FTN Motion's electric ride

It's hard to imagine this, but back then there was no like e bikes within a thing lit alone electric motorcycles. So we put that thing together and started riding and around Pocacoli. It just turned a lot of hits like it was something new.

The New York Times

How the War in Iran Is Impacting Street Vendors

For Saeed, selling books isn't only about making money. It's an act of quiet resistance.

The a16z Show

Steven Sinofsky: AI Doesn't Need New Rules Yet

governments are rushing to regulate AI before they fully understand the technology, risking innovation in the process

Book of the Day

Colson Whitehead on 'Cool Machine,' the final in his Harlem Trilogy series

There's no pension plan for a safe cracker. He doesn't have like a an IRA or 401k. What's next for him?

The Business of Tech

FTN Motion's electric ride

It's really hard to build and assemble electric motorcycles in New Zealand. Ubco the Tahunger Company, found that out the hard way.

The Week

The Week: China Is Undercutting America’s AI Boom

The best business model in history is IP theft. A close second in terms of a pricing mechanism is 80% of the market leader for half the price. And DeepSeek and these Chinese open-way models claim they're 90% of the market leader for a third of the price.

Throughline

The architect of modern China | Throughline

If I wanted to propose a grand synthesis for Americans to understand Shenzhen, it would be uh Detroit in its heyday of about 100 years ago to Silicon Valley today.

Decoder with Nilay Patel

What Apple’s OpenAI lawsuit is really about

Apple may have redefined patent law around 3G and 4G licensing, but fundamentally, it did not actually succeed in stopping its competitors with intellectual property lawsuits. So, you go from copyright to patent and now trade secrets, which is the third big intellectual property, and Apple's doing it again with OpenAI. My big question is whether OpenAI can just pay the money the way that Microsoft and Samsung were able to just pay the money.

The Business of Tech

FTN Motion's electric ride

It's hard to imagine this, but back then there was no like e bikes within a thing lit alone electric motorcycles. So we put that thing together and started riding around Pocacoli. It just turned a lot of hits like it was something new.

The Business of Tech

FTN Motion's electric ride

Rather than chasing a futuristic look like many EV makers, FTN Motion doubled down on nostalgia and craftsmanship, betting that riders want something that feels like a classic, not a gadget.

Compound Interest

Is Walmart Backing America’s Next Financial Super-App? | Compound Interest

90% of the US lives within 10 miles of Walmart. this incredibly large ecosystem and the idea of creating an independent company that is outside the four walls of Walmart backed by Walmart and backed by Rivet Capital to be able to acquire customers into a openloop financial services platform that can help customers manage their money holistically.

The a16z Show

Hugging Face's CEO on Open Source AI, Model Routing, and the Future of Competition

routing workloads across specialized models could fundamentally reshape where value is created in AI

The Business of Tech

FTN Motion's electric ride

It's really hard to build and assemble electric motorcycles in New Zealand. Ubco the Tahunger Company, found that out the hard way, so we look at exactly how FT and Motion is approaching that and the supply chain side of things, the cost structure of the business, and how they are trying to compete in a global market that is flooded with low cost electric vehicles.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Etched - Building AI Hardware to Make Inference Faster and Cheaper - [Invest Like the Best, EP.480]

The thing about ASICs is that they're much faster and cheaper at doing specific things, but you're locked into that specific thing forever. So the question is, what is specific enough that it'll be around for a long time, but general enough that there's a large market for it? And the answer we came up with is transformers.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

John Kim - How to Raise a Few Billion Dollars - [Invest Like the Best, EP.482]

The best fundraisers I've seen don't pitch — they teach. They walk into a room and they make you smarter about the space they're operating in, and the ask almost becomes secondary because you're so compelled by what you've just learned.

The a16z Show

Amjad Masad on Going Direct, Building Replit, and the Future of Software

for many founders, especially those building ambitious products ahead of the market, telling a compelling story is often necessary to attract talent, capital, and early believers

Office Hours

Is an MBA Still Worth the Debt? Scott Galloway Breaks Down the Numbers | Office Hours

Business school is really for what I call the elite and the aimless. I was in investment banking before business school didn't know what I wanted to do next. Just knew I didn't want to be in investment banking.

The CEO Signal

Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet On Leading The Dreams Business | The CEO Signal

Are we proud of the way we show up? And is it financially attractive? If the answer is no to either, then we should either make the intervention to address the issue or get out.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

John Kim - How to Raise a Few Billion Dollars - [Invest Like the Best, EP.482]

The biggest thing I learned from all of those experiences is that confidence really comes from preparation. Most people that I've seen fail in fundraising try to shortcut the preparation phase and just rely on the charisma and the story. The story's important, but you have to be prepared for anybody to punch holes in that story.

The a16z Show

Amjad Masad on Going Direct, Building Replit, and the Future of Software

for many founders, especially those building ambitious products ahead of the market, telling a compelling story is often necessary to attract talent, capital, and early believers.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

John Kim - How to Raise a Few Billion Dollars - [Invest Like the Best, EP.482]

The number one thing I've learned is that investors invest in people, not ideas. You can have the best idea in the world, but if people don't trust you, don't believe in you, and don't think you can execute, they're not going to give you money.

The Prof G Pod

The AI IPO Wave Is Coming — Here's What It Does to Your Portfolio | Office Hours

Basically, your IPO is a branding event. once in a lifetime branding event. All people care about was that it was up. That gets enormous news. And essentially JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are now really not bankers, they're engineers. And that is they engineer scarcity and manufacturer scarcity such that these things get 20%.

Diet TBPN

Apple Sues OpenAI, Experts Sign Another AI Warning Letter, Paramount Threatens CA Exit

The winner could dominate the future just as Apple's iPhone ruled the consumer market for the last 20 years.

Freakonomics Radio

How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels | Better in Person

Is the oxymoron really "the secret sauce to everything"? That's the case Ingels makes in this debut episode of our new video show Better in Person, filmed in Stephen Dubner's living room.

The Prof G Pod

The AI IPO Wave Is Coming — Here's What It Does to Your Portfolio | Office Hours

You're going to see that open AI uh lacks I wouldn't call it business discipline, but it's just a drunk spender and their numbers will reflect that.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Jeremy Giffon - The Billion Dollar PDF - [Invest Like the Best, EP.481]

The brilliant insight of the PDF was, nobody cares about the operating history of a company, they care about the story of the company. And the story of the company is best told in a document that you control, that you craft, that has beautiful graphics and beautiful fonts and compelling narrative.

EconTalk

From Sawdust to Paw Patrol: The Spin Master Story (with Ronnen Harary)

A nylon stocking filled with sawdust that grows grass for hair launched one of the most successful toy companies in the world.

Freakonomics Radio

681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick Cavett

Stephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master.

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Inside the big business of the creator economy, with Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky

the stars of today are going from making media to making products of their own. Not all of them can do it, so I wanted to know how Raina and Ali help their clients make the jump and what makes them successful at it.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Etched - Building AI Hardware to Make Inference Faster and Cheaper - [Invest Like the Best, EP.480]

The bet that Etched is making is that transformers are so dominant and so unlikely to be displaced that it makes sense to build a chip that does nothing but run transformers — sacrificing all flexibility for maximum efficiency on that one task.

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Inside the big business of the creator economy, with Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky

The bloggers at the time were people who were building these communities directly with their audience. I'd come from fashion and marketing and I was used to the top-down relationship with the consumer, and it was so exciting to see at the time all these street style women who were building this relationship with their audience and who were essentially the next generation of editors and the next generation of media properties and they just didn't know it yet.

The a16z Show

Don’t Follow Your Passion | Ben Horowitz’s Advice for New Graduates

Rather than urging students to 'follow their passion,' Horowitz argues that people should focus on developing their strengths and making meaningful contributions to the world.

Diet TBPN

China Considers AI Export Controls, SK Hynix $28B IPO, Banks Target Payment Business | Diet TBPN

By summer of 2026, it will be as though the digital world is going through some kind of fast evolution with some parts of it emitting a huge amount of heat and light and moving with counterintuitive speed relative to everything else. Great fortunes will be won and lost here and the powerful engines of our silicon creation will be put to work further accelerating this economy and further changing things.

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Etched - Building AI Hardware to Make Inference Faster and Cheaper - [Invest Like the Best, EP.480]

The thing that I find most interesting about Etched is that they're making a bet that transformers are not going away. And the reason that's a interesting bet is that every other chip company has to hedge. Nvidia has to build a chip that runs all possible AI models, because they don't know what's going to win. Etched is saying transformers have won, and we're going to build a chip that only runs transformers, and by doing that, we can be so much faster and cheaper that it doesn't matter if we don't run other things.

The Prof G Pod

Scott Galloway on Why Most AI Stocks Are About to Get Crushed

I think a lot of those predictions are just investor relations saying, 'My technology is so disruptive. It's going to create chaos in labor markets. Please fund my next round at a ridiculous valuation.'

The a16z Show

Don’t Follow Your Passion | Ben Horowitz’s Advice for New Graduates

Rather than urging students to "follow their passion," Horowitz argues that people should focus on developing their strengths and making meaningful contributions to the world.