The Generalist

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• Own or Be Owned: Why Every Company Needs Its Own AI Model (Yash Patil, Co-Founder & CEO of Applied Compute) 23.06.2026 1ч 8мин

  Yash Patil is the 23-year-old founder and CEO of Applied Compute, a $1.3 billion company helping businesses train custom AI models on their own data: smaller, cheaper, and purpose-built for the work they actually do. Before founding the company, Yash dropped out of Stanford and spent two years at OpenAI working on post-training infrastructure and Codex. He left with one core conviction: every company that runs its critical workflows on someone else’s model is building on shifting sand. Applied Compute is his answer to that problem, already serving customers including DoorDash, Cognition, and Mercor.In our conversation, we explore:Why “own or be owned” is becoming existential for any company that relies on frontier AI modelsWhat it was like inside OpenAI the weekend the board fired, and then reinstated, its CEOWhy post-training is where competitive advantage is now being built, and what reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards actually isWhy evals have become the new production environment, and why companies will never share them with frontier providersHow a specialized model built for DoorDash outperformed frontier models on a narrow, high-value taskWhy cost, not capability, is now the primary driver pushing companies toward custom modelsWhy Yash believes AI’s transformation of the economy will unfold over decades, and why near-term fears about mass job displacement are misplaced—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleBrex: The intelligent finance platform.Guru: The AI source of truth for work.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/own-or-be-owned-why-every-company—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction(03:50) Fable 5 and the case for owning your own models(09:22) Why Applied Compute is betting on custom AI models(12:30) Yash's early influences and first projects(17:42) His brief time building at Stanford (19:29) Leaving Stanford for OpenAI(25:58) Inside OpenAI during Sam Altman's firing(28:18) What Yash admires about Sam Altman(29:43) Teaching models to reason(35:39) The core insight behind Applied Compute(39:40) How Applied Compute works with its customers(45:55) Why model training never ends(48:56) Why not every task needs a frontier model(51:25) The culture and people of Applied Compute(54:50) Applied Compute's training infrastructure(58:43) The coming compute crunch and other predictions (1:03:48) Final meditations—Follow Yash PatilX: https://x.com/ypatil125Website: https://yashpatil.meLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yash-s-patil—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/own-or-be-owned-why-every-company⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• What America Is Missing Between Sanctions and Nuclear War (Bryon Hargis, Co-Founder & CEO of Castelion) 02.06.2026 1ч 16мин

  Bryon Hargis is the co-founder and CEO of Castelion, a defense startup building low-cost hypersonic missiles designed to be manufactured at scale. Before founding Castelion, Bryon spent more than a decade at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and nearly six years at SpaceX, where he worked on national security space programs and saw firsthand how iterative engineering and manufacturing speed could reshape aerospace. Castelion’s first missile, Blackbeard, is slated for integration on the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet in roughly a year.—In our conversation, we explore:Why Bryon believes building missiles is paradoxically essential to maintaining peaceThe game theory behind warfare and why tit-for-tat strategies require credible middle-ground responsesHow China’s 2021 hypersonic test revealed not just a capability gap but a manufacturing and cost advantageWhy traditional aerospace processes—optimized for low risk and high cost—can’t compete with rapid iterationWhat Bryon learned in his first week at SpaceX (after 12 years in traditional aerospace)Why building a carrier-based, air-launched hypersonic missile as a first product was the hard but right choiceHow focusing on manufacturability and cost over maximum capability can produce more effective deterrenceWhy the person who adapts faster in warfare always wins, and how that shapes Castelion’s philosophy—Thank you to the partners who make this possible.tech domains: An identity for builders at their core.Ahrefs Brand Radar: Find your brand in AI results.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:01) Why America needs hypersonic missiles(07:13) China’s edge in hypersonics(12:05) The missing middle ground in deterrence(18:05) Preventing warhead ambiguity(19:40) How hypersonics differ from ballistic missiles(25:05) The economics of defensive vs. offensive systems(28:21) How SpaceX differs from traditional aerospace(37:40) Why Bryon chose to build in defense over space(42:42) Key factors that drove Castelion’s success(48:28) Designing Blackbeard, Castelion’s first hypersonic missile(1:01:06) The importance of lower costs and quicker manufacturing(1:10:04) Book recommendations—Follow Bryon HargisLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hargsbX: https://x.com/hargsb—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/what-america-is-missing-between-sanctions—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• “Our Goal Is to Build an Electrical Engineer.” (Davide Asnaghi, Co-Founder & CEO of Diode) 19.05.2026 1ч 12мин

  Davide Asnaghi is the co-founder and CEO of Diode, a Brooklyn-based startup using AI to design and manufacture circuit boards in the United States.Before Diode, Davide worked on Apple’s Special Projects Group and spent time in Hong Kong and Shenzhen studying Asia’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem. That experience convinced him that PCB design, despite powering everything from smartphones and satellites to medical devices and autonomous systems, remained one of the most overlooked layers of the tech stack.Since its founding just two years ago, Diode has landed Physical Intelligence and Saronic as customers and partnered with Anthropic to help Claude become a better electrical engineer. The company’s ultimate ambition: to make hardware as nimble as software.In our conversation, we explore:Why the West outsourced PCB manufacturing to Asia in the 2000s and why bringing it back matters for American competitivenessWhat Shenzhen’s manufacturing culture does better than Silicon Valley (and what the U.S. can learn from it)How Diode’s models can one-shot much of schematic design and compress hardware timelines from months to weeksThe three-week YC pivot that transformed Diode from a design validation tool into a full-stack manufacturerWhy circuit boards are the “forgotten middle child” between silicon and softwareHow Diode partners with Anthropic to make LLMs better electrical engineersWhat it takes to build a hardware company in 2025—and why the talent bar must stay incredibly highHow Italian, American, and Chinese cultures shaped Davide’s approach to entrepreneurship and manufacturing—Thank you to the partners who make this possible.tech domains: An identity for builders at their core.Guru: The AI source of truth for work.Brex: The intelligent finance platform.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/our-goal-is-to-build-an-electrical-engineer—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:15) Why Davide calls himself a copper merchant(05:53) Diode’s mission to rebuild PCB manufacturing in the U.S.(07:58) What success looks like(09:00) Growing up in northern Italy and spending a year in Minnesota(13:14) Why Italy produces fewer venture-backed founders(15:30) Why Hong Kong accelerated Davide’s learning(19:09) Silicon Valley vs. Shenzhen(22:05) What Davide learned in Apple’s Special Projects Team(24:11) Why Davide left Apple after two years(26:54) Meeting his co-founder, Lenny(29:32) How Davide uncovered the need for better PCB design and manufacturing(33:23) PCB manufacturing in Asia, and Diode’s approach(41:29) The YC pivot that changed Diode’s business(44:39) Inside Diode’s customer journey(48:10) Where the value is in electronics manufacturing, and Davide’s AGI thesis(51:30) What separates a working board from a great one(55:32) Where Diode fits in the electronics stack(59:55) Diode’s early near-death moment and long-term vision(1:02:30) Diode’s exceptionally high bar for hiring(1:04:48) Where Davide gets his best ideas(1:07:00) Final meditations—Follow Davide AsnaghiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-asnaghiX: https://x.com/davideasnaghiGitHub: https://hexdae.github.io—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/our-goal-is-to-build-an-electrical-engineer⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Investing Like A Mystic: How Cyan Banister Finds Outliers (Co-Founder of Long Journey Ventures) 05.05.2026 1ч 13мин

  Cyan Banister has built one of the most distinctive early-stage track records of the last fifteen years, with early bets on companies like Uber, SpaceX, DeepMind, Niantic, and Postmates. Today, she is co-founder and general partner at Long Journey Ventures, where she backs what she calls “magical weirdos.” Banister describes herself as a professional daydreamer, running constant thought experiments and paying close attention to signals others ignore. In this episode, she explains how that mindset translates into investing, and why many of her best opportunities have come from observation, curiosity, and a willingness to look in unlikely places.In our conversation, we explore:Cyan’s philosophy of treating life as a series of experimentsThe strange, profound experiences that led her to question and ultimately move beyond her atheismHow scanning Wi-Fi networks in a Four Seasons café led her to Flock Safety, last valued at $8.4 billionLong Journey Ventures’ “Biz, Tizz, and Rizz” framework for identifying exceptional founders and why the trifecta is rareHow AI will enable the age of the polymathWhy she believes brain-computer interfaces are closer than most people thinkWhy she says Pokémon Go was “the closest we ever came to world peace”Why she lives part-time in a retirement community and her vision for a more connected future—Thank you to the partners who make this possible.tech domains: An identity for builders at their core.Brex: The intelligent finance platform.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/investing-like-a-mystic-cyan-banister—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(03:51) Never playing the game you appear to be playing(07:18) Practicing childlike wonder as a daily discipline(10:08) Questioning belief after her stroke(13:30) Cyan’s metaphysical experiments(23:24) Non-local consciousness and creativity(27:22) Investing with extreme openness to signals(29:05) The importance of timing in investing(32:26) Meeting Travis Kalanick(34:19) Finding Flock Safety through a chance encounter(38:23) The summer of Pokémon Go (what worked and what didn’t)(39:55) Human nature and what makes something "stick"(42:15) Brain-computer interfaces and AI’s accelerating effect(52:53) “Biz, Tiz, Riz:” her framework for evaluating founders(59:20) Why Cyan lives in a retirement community part-time(1:03:50) A unique way of finding books that speak to you(1:08:44) Final meditations—Follow Cyan Banister:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyanbX: https://x.com/cyantistNewsletter: https://uglyduckling.substack.comWebsite: https://cyanbanister.com—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/investing-like-a-mystic-cyan-banister—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• The Future Of Drug Discovery Is 4 Billion Years Old (Viswa Colluru, Founder & CEO at Enveda) 21.04.2026 1ч 22мин

  For decades, drug discovery has shifted away from nature and toward biology-first approaches. Viswa Colluru believes that shift was a catastrophic mistake. His company, Enveda Biosciences, has raised over $500 million to build a “search engine for nature’s chemistry.” The mission is personal: he grew up around his father’s pharmacy in India and later lost his mother to a treatable cancer whose medicine his family couldn’t afford. Many life-changing medicines, including morphine, aspirin, and metformin, originated in nature, but there has never been a reliable, scalable way to systematically explore its chemistry. Colluru founded Enveda in 2019 with $55,000 of his own savings to change that. The company has since identified 18 drug candidates, with three now in clinical trials.In our conversation, we explore:Why the pharmaceutical industry abandoned nature (and why that was a massive mistake)How Enveda built a system to decode unknown molecules in natureThe deeply personal story of his mother’s battle with leukemia and how it shaped his life’s workWhy old ideas, from immunotherapy to natural products, often hold the most latent potentialHow Enveda developed 18 drug candidates for about $1 million each instead of $10-15 millionEnveda’s three leading drug candidates targeting eczema, obesity, and ulcerative colitisWhy first-in-class medicines capture the vast majority of returns in pharmaWhat competitive table tennis taught him about building companies—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleBrex: The intelligent finance platform.Ahrefs Brand Radar: Find your brand in AI results.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Viswa Colluru(03:57) His father’s pharmacy and early exposure to Western and Ayurvedic medicine(07:06) Early pull toward technology(09:29) His mother’s leukemia diagnosis(14:24) Studying Biotechnology(16:07) Graduate school(17:55) Studying immunotherapy when it was unfashionable(24:23) Innovation vs. novelty(27:24) Lessons from table tennis(32:05) Joining Recursion(37:10) Learning urgency and courage(40:42) What launched Enveda(45:40) The limits of reductionist drug discovery(49:53) Chemistry-first approach(52:17) Raising $225K and investing $55K personally(56:04) Initial studies and targets(1:04:30) Three categories of leading drugs: Eczema, obesity, ulcerative colitis(1:13:27) Why GLP-1s are not the whole answer(1:18:27) Enveda’s long-term vision(1:21:31) Book recommendation—Follow Viswa ColluruLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viswacolluruX: https://x.com/viswacolluru—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-future-of-drug-discovery—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• How a 20-Person Startup Won Gold at the Math Olympiad—Tying With OpenAI & DeepMind (Tudor Achim, CEO of Harmonic) 14.04.2026 1ч 4мин

  Tudor Achim is the co-founder and CEO of Harmonic, a startup working to solve one of AI’s hardest problems: mathematical reasoning. In July 2024, Harmonic achieved gold-medal-level performance on International Math Olympiad problems alongside systems from OpenAI and Google DeepMind—but with a key difference: every proof Harmonic submitted was formally verified. Tudor's path to Harmonic wound through competitive piano, computational biology, and autonomous driving. He studied at Carnegie Mellon's music preparatory school, worked on machine learning at Quora, briefly pursued a PhD before dropping out, and then co-founded an autonomous driving company, Helm.ai. Harmonic's core product, Aristotle, uses reinforcement learning and the programming language Lean 4 to solve problems and verify solutions.In our conversation, we explore:Why Tudor believes math is the fundamental toolkit to understand the worldHow Harmonic uses hallucinations as a feature, not a bugHow Aristotle works and the applications beyond pure mathematicsThe reinforcement learning process that lets Harmonic generate synthetic training data and solve problems humans have never attemptedWhy Tudor believes AI could surpass human mathematicians on specific tasks within 2–3 yearsWhy the future of mathematics looks more like GitHub than academic journalsThe alternating pattern between intellect leaps and data leaps throughout scientific historyHow studying piano under an extraordinary teacher taught Tudor discipline and the value of sticking with hard problems—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleBrex: The intelligent finance platform.Guru: The AI source of truth for work.Rippling: Stop wasting time on admin tasks, build your startup faster.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/how-a-20-person-startup-won-gold—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(03:34) From competitive piano to computer science(06:28) The mathematical foundations of music (and why Tudor keeps them separate)(08:24) Can AI ever create art with true intent?(09:51) Early obsessions(12:52) Defining intelligence(14:49) Discovering machine learning’s potential at Quora(17:30) Why Tudor chose computational biology for his PhD(19:19) The decision to drop out and build Helm.ai(22:55) The two breakthroughs that made mathematical AI possible in 2023(25:28) The importance of Lean 4(28:21) How Tudor and Vlad Tenev discovered they shared the same impossible dream(32:35) Why formal verification became the core conviction(34:21) The timeline for AI surpassing human mathematicians(35:25) An overview of Aristotle: the world’s first always-correct mathematical agent(38:12) Why Tudor says hallucinations are the engine of creativity(39:30) The translation challenge from natural language to formal proof(40:40) Reinforcement learning(42:10) Why Aristotle is both faster and cheaper than alternatives(43:34) Tradeoffs and use cases(45:34) Math in AI now and what’s next(47:38) Tying with OpenAI and DeepMind at the International Math Olympiad(49:08) Democratizing AI and correctness(53:13) Tudor’s 2030 thesis(56:02) History’s alternating rhythm of thinking and measuring(57:53) What Tudor has been wrong about(58:52) What Tudor’s best at(1:00:18) Final meditations—Follow Tudor AchimLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tudorachimX: https://x.com/tachim/with_replies—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/how-a-20-person-startup-won-gold⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• 30% Of Network Engineers Are Retiring. What Happens Next? (Anil Varanasi, Co-Founder & CEO of Meter) 07.04.2026 1ч 10мин

  Anil Varanasi, co-founder and CEO of Meter, is building a new kind of networking company for the AI era. Alongside his brother Sunil, he has helped raise more than $250 million to challenge incumbents like Cisco with a vertically integrated approach spanning hardware, software, deployment, and ongoing operations, all delivered through a utility-style model. His view is that networking has remained largely unchanged for decades, even as it has become foundational to everything from AI workloads to real-world infrastructure. Meter’s ambition is not just to improve existing networks, but to make them autonomous over time. Before starting the company, Anil and Sunil were deeply involved in filmmaking, a background that still shapes their philosophy of building with cathedral-level craft across every layer of the stack.Together we explore:The “burden of knowledge” and why progress is getting harder across fieldsWhy most companies over-index on technology and ignore business model innovationThe three ways companies create advantage: technology, delivery, and business modelHow Meter’s trade-in model borrows from the automotive industryWhy networking should function like electricity or water—not hardwareLessons from Japanese vending machine logistics for infrastructure deploymentThe hidden coordination problem behind vertically integrated companiesWhy Anil believes “common knowledge” is often wrongHow COVID forced Meter to abandon geographic constraints and scale nationallyThe case for fully autonomous networks in a world of exploding demand—Thank you to the partners who make this possible.tech domains: An identity for builders at their core.Granola: The app that might actually make you love meetings.Brex: The intelligent finance platform.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-case-for-autonomous-networks—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Anil Varanasi and Meter(03:52) The burden of knowledge and slowing innovation(08:18) Losing creativity vs gaining expertise(10:25) What Meter actually does(13:26) Early life, immigration, and upbringing(15:47) Parental influence(20:03) Film, storytelling, and creative influence(22:55) Why Anil didn’t pursue filmmaking(25:44) Parallels between company building and filmmaking(27:00) Early programming and building(28:05) George Mason and understanding systems(29:59) The dynamic of working with his brother as a co-founder(34:03) His first business and lessons learned (or lack thereof)(35:15) Lessons from successful companies(38:16) Japanese vending machines and logistics insight(41:10) Scrapping 18 months of work(42:40) Conviction and long-term company building(46:02) COVID shock and near-death moment(49:59) Building hardware like a cathedral(52:25) Rethinking the networking business model(57:06) Build vs buy and transaction costs(59:39) Networking as infrastructure and utility(01:01:30) The case for autonomous networks(01:03:25) Hiring, talent, and what actually matters(01:06:15) Big unanswered questions (sleep, science)(01:07:28) Rethinking education(01:09:02) Infinite games and long-term thinking—Follow Anil VaranasiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anilcvX: https://x.com/acvWebsite: https://anilv.com—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-case-for-autonomous-networks⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Why One Superintelligence Is More Dangerous Than a Thousand (Vincent Weisser, CEO & Co-Founder of Prime Intellect) 24.03.2026 1ч 19мин

  Much of the fear around AI centers on misalignment – the idea that powerful systems might act against human interests. Vincent Weisser worries about something different: what happens if advanced AI systems are perfectly aligned with the interests of a small group of institutions? That concern led him to co-found Prime Intellect, a startup building open infrastructure for training and deploying advanced AI models. Before Prime Intellect, Weisser helped organize Vitalik Buterin’s Zuzalu experiment and worked in decentralized science, where he helped unlock roughly $40 million in funding for unconventional research. Today, he’s applying that same open ethos to AI, working to ensure the tools that shape superintelligence remain broadly accessible rather than concentrated in the hands of a few.—In our conversation, we explore:Why Vincent believes multiple superintelligences are safer than oneThe intellectual influences that shaped Vincent’s thinking about intelligence and progress, including David Deutsch and Nick BostromPrime Intellect’s evolution from distributed compute infrastructure to frontier model training and reinforcement learning toolsWhy Vincent believes open and decentralized science could accelerate discoveryThe Zuzalu experiment and what it suggests about the future of scientific communitiesThe role of aesthetics and craft in building technologyWhy Europe might have a cultural advantage in a post-superintelligence worldVincent’s predictions for the next five years of AI—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGranola: The app that might actually make you love meetings.Brex: The intelligent finance platform.Rippling: Stop wasting time on admin tasks, build your startup faster.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/why-one-superintelligence-is-more—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Vincent Weisser(03:28) The book behind Prime Intellect’s name(07:35) The case for suffering(09:35) An overview of Prime Intellect(13:03) Why open source models matter(21:18) Vincent’s intellectual influences(25:17) Early years in the startup scene(31:48) Funding science outside traditional institutions(41:22) The past 6 months of AI progress(43:45) Deciding to build Prime Intellect(46:55) Why GPUs were the right starting point(51:39) Training models on Prime Intellect(59:48) Why beauty matters(1:03:48) The Zuzalu experiment(1:06:27) Prime Intellect’s AGI Easter egg(1:11:13) Predictions for the next five years(1:15:09) Final meditations—Follow Vincent WeisserLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/vincentweisserX: https://x.com/vincentweisserGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/69248416-vincent-weisserWebsite: https://primeintellect.ai—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/why-one-superintelligence-is-more⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Why Robots Still Struggle With Simple Tasks (And What Might Finally Change That) | Karol Hausman, Co-Founder & CEO of Physical Intelligence 17.03.2026 1ч 14мин

  Karol Hausman is the co-founder and CEO of Physical Intelligence, a robotics company building a general-purpose “AI brain for the physical world.” The company has raised more than $1 billion in funding to develop foundation models that allow robots to operate across many machines, environments, and tasks rather than being programmed for a single purpose. The core thesis: the same scaling dynamics that transformed language models may also unlock robotic intelligence. But only if you resist every commercial pressure pushing you toward specialization. The central challenge isn’t mechanical design. It’s intelligence: how robots learn, generalize, and interact with a physical world that is far harder to simulate than it is to describe. Before launching Physical Intelligence, Karol worked at Google Brain and Stanford University, studying robot learning alongside researchers Sergey Levine and Chelsea Finn, who later became his co-founders.In our conversation, we explore:How growing up in a small town in Poland and watching Star Wars sparked Karol’s fascination with robotsThe moment a lecture from Sergey Levine convinced him to abandon his PhD research direction and pivot fully to deep learningWhy robotics has historically lagged behind breakthroughs in language modelsThe case for building a general “AI brain” for the physical world rather than a single specialized robotThe role of real-world data in training robots, the limits of simulation, and how deployment could create a powerful data flywheelThe return of reinforcement learning and the parallels between human learning and robot trainingThe unique challenges of physical intelligence and why robots must operate with far higher reliability than language models—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleBrex: The intelligent finance platform.Granola: The app that might actually make you love meetings.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/karol-hausman-physical-intelligence—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:05) Karol’s early fascination with robots(07:38) How Karol relates to Fei-Fei Li’s biography(08:52) What inspired Karol to build better robots(11:19) Philosophical influences(15:33) Parallels between The Inner Game of Tennis and robotics(18:21) Karol’s entry point to robotics and PhD program(25:49) Combining robotics with LLMs: The Taylor Swift demo(30:48) The 1970s SHRDLU AI experiment(32:33) Founding Physical Intelligence(35:13) How Lachy Groom got involved(39:40) How research shapes what Physical Intelligence builds(45:22) The importance of real-world data(49:07) The return of reinforcement learning in robotics(53:31) The risk of commercializing too early(55:47) Finding the right partners for the business(57:13) Open research questions(1:00:00) NVIDIA’s simulation engines(1:01:57) The surprising speed of progress(1:04:16) Reliability in robotics(1:07:31) Compensating for missing senses(1:12:28) Book recommendation—Follow Karol HausmanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karolhausmanX: https://x.com/hausman_k—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/karol-hausman-physical-intelligence—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• America’s Electric Power Grid Is Broken. This Startup Is Trying to Fix It. (Zach Dell, co-founder & CEO of Base) 10.03.2026 1ч 11мин

  For decades, America’s electrical system has rewarded utilities for building more infrastructure, not for lowering costs. The result is a grid that expanded but rarely improved. Zach Dell, co-founder and CEO of Base, is building a different kind of power company. In under three years, Base has grown into a vertically integrated business valued in the billions. It combines home batteries and software to store electricity when it is cheap and deliver it when demand spikes. Dell’s interest in energy began long before Base. In college, he tried to lease a Hawaiian lava field for a solar project. He also experimented with anaerobic digestion systems in India and worked at Blackstone and Thrive Capital, where he met his co-founder. His bet is simple but ambitious: the next phase of the grid will come from increasing utilization rather than constantly building new infrastructure.In our conversation, we explore:How a failed college solar project and early energy experiments in India pulled Zach into the power industryThe lessons he absorbed from his parents, including truth-seeking, reinvention, and competitive enduranceHow the U.S. grid’s regulatory structure discourages innovation and why Texas’s deregulated market creates space for new power companiesWhy batteries are best understood as a time-shifting technology that increases grid utilization and reduces total system costs, not simply as energy generatorsBase’s “make, move, store, sell” framework for thinking about the full power stackHow Base aims to become the first beloved energy companyHow Zach identified Justin as a world-class operator and built the trust needed to go all-in together on a non-obvious ideaHow aggressive AI adoption is compressing cycle times and why slow adopters risk falling behind—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGranola: The app that might actually make you love meetingsBrex: The intelligent finance platform.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/americas-electric-power-grid-is-broken⁠—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Zach Dell and Base(02:08) The Hawaiian lava field solar project and early energy curiosity(07:03) Investing vs. operating(09:31) Lessons from Phil Jackson on aligning talented teams(14:27) Lessons from his parents(18:20) The loneliness of solo founding and the value of co-founders(23:45) Justin’s strengths as a co-founder and how their partnership formed(29:55) Why Base became the obvious focus(32:08) The original vision and the three reversals(34:58) The US power grid and what makes Texas different(39:19) Why batteries matter and what Base is building(41:12) How Base works in two market types(45:10) Base’s core product(46:50) The software behind Base’s battery network(48:20) Base’s partnerships with battery cell makers(49:51) The Gen 2 hardware mistake and the lesson in risk management(51:08) Dino’s strengths as Head of Hardware(52:36) Base’s positioning as grid infrastructure(53:29) Building a beloved energy brand(58:01) How hiring at Base has evolved(1:01:10) AI workflows at Base(1:03:00) Zach’s dedicated deep work time(1:05:54) Final meditations—Follow Zach DellLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-dell-a631a554X: https://x.com/ZachBDell—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/americas-electric-power-grid-is-broken—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Everyone Is Betting on Bigger LLMs. She's Betting They're Fundamentally Wrong. (Eve Bodnia, Founder & CEO of Logical Intelligence) 24.02.2026 1ч 7мин

  Eve Bodnia is the co-founder and CEO of Logical Intelligence, which is developing energy-based reasoning models (EBMs) as an alternative to large language models. She argues that LLMs, which operate by recognizing and recombining patterns within language space, are structurally incapable of genuine reasoning. Eve's alternative: Kona — an EBM that reasons in abstract latent space, learns rules about the world rather than surface patterns, and can interface with language models as one output channel among many. Eve traces the core ideas behind her architecture to decades of work in symmetry groups, condensed matter physics, and brain science — fields that share, as she explains, the same underlying mathematics. In a public demo, Kona solved a complex reasoning task for roughly $4 in compute, compared to an estimated $15,000 using frontier LLMs. With Yann LeCun serving as founding chair of its technical board, Logical Intelligence sits at the center of a small but growing effort to rethink AI beyond language-based models.In our conversation, we explore:Why Eve believes LLMs can’t truly extrapolate knowledge, even at larger scaleWhat energy-based reasoning models are—and where the “energy” concept comes fromThe $4 vs. $15,000 benchmark, and what it tells us about the cost of guessing vs. knowingHow Logical Intelligence showed spontaneous knowledge transfer at just 16M parametersWhy systems like chip design, surgical robotics, and power grids need more than probabilistic AIWhat formally verified code generation means for the future of programmingWhy the math behind particle physics also explains how the brain filters signal from noiseHow meeting Grigori Perelman as a teenager shaped Eve’s views on ego and ownership in scienceWhy Eve believes humans must remain the constraint-setters in advanced AIHow meditation, piano, and Eastern philosophy support her creative process—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGranola: The app that might actually make you love meetings.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/everyone-is-betting-on-bigger-llms—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction(03:03) Eve’s encounter with Grigori Perelman(05:38) Why bizarre people are Eve’s favorite people(06:56) Her early obsession with math and physics(09:02) The manifold hypothesis and language(11:54) The Kekulé Problem(14:05) Eve’s upbringing and her CERN research in high school(17:40) Eve’s academic path(20:36) Symmetry in nature(22:58) Spirituality and creativity(27:00) Theory vs. experiment(29:03) Uncovering a critical gap in AI models(33:45) What Logical Intelligence is building(35:50) Logical Intelligence’s use cases(42:08) Energy-based models explained(45:06) LLMs vs. EBMs(48:01) AGI defined(51:22) Kona’s knowledge extrapolation(53:20) The team behind Logical Intelligence(58:09) Early investors in Logical Intelligence(58:50) Feynman’s influence on Eve’s work(1:01:15) How Eve sustains her creativity(1:03:42) Final meditations—Follow Eve BodniaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-bodnia-351b41355X: https://x.com/evelovesoliveWebsite: https://logicalintelligence.com—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/everyone-is-betting-on-bigger-llms⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• How Bolt Survived An 85% Revenue Crash And Became Europe's Ride-Hailing Champion (Markus Villig, Founder & CEO) 19.02.2026 1ч 20мин

  In 2013, on an Estonian island of just 10,000 residents, a teenager borrowed €5,000 from his parents and decided to take on Uber. Twelve years later, Markus Villig leads Bolt, a company operating in 50+ countries, generating nearly €3 billion in revenue, and standing as one of the only European tech companies competing at true global scale. Rather than going head-to-head with incumbents in their strongest markets, Bolt expanded through underserved cities, emerging economies, and overlooked segments of urban transport. When COVID erased 85% of its revenue in weeks, the company didn’t retreat; it staged a kind of corporate “eucatastrophe,” pivoting into food delivery across nearly 20 countries in what became a company-wide sprint. That same bias toward action now shapes Markus’s broader agenda: investing in defense tech for Estonia and Ukraine, pushing for capital markets reform, and advancing a contrarian thesis on autonomous vehicles.In this conversation, we discuss:How growing up in Soviet-occupied Estonia shaped Markus’s ambition and moral clarityHow Bolt’s European ethos and long-term focus on driver retention became a structural advantageThe marketplace models and capital discipline that allowed Bolt to outmaneuver better-funded rivalsWhy Bolt found breakout success in African markets after failing in 12 Western countriesThe 85% revenue collapse during COVID and the rapid food delivery pivot that reshaped the companyBolt’s partnerships with Stellantis and Pony.ai and its long-term bet on autonomous vehiclesWhy Ukrainian and Eastern European startups are often outperforming their Western peersMarkus’s blueprint for closing Europe’s tech deficit and building globally competitive companies—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGranola: The app that might actually make you love meetingsBrex: The intelligent finance platform.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/how-bolt-survived-an-85-revenue-crash—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(03:32) How The Lord of the Rings shaped Markus’s worldview(05:52) Bolt’s underdog story and its existential turning point(10:22) Estonia’s startup DNA and its imprint on Bolt(13:38) Europe’s ambition problem(17:23) Europe’s defense tech gap(23:09) The need for capital market reform in Europe(25:13) Bolt’s origin story(36:35) Frugality as strategy(38:24) What running Bolt actually demands(41:27) The hidden costs of being too lean(42:50) Bolt’s shift to experimentation(44:10) Bolt’s micromobility strategy(45:50) How Bolt found the right markets(50:44) The Serbian mob story(54:00) Markus on venture capital and lessons from Klarna’s board(55:40) Why Bolt never sold(57:08) Bolt’s autonomous vehicle (AV) strategy and key partnerships(1:05:50) The concept of culture-market fit(1:07:48) How Bolt operates: writing, hiring, reading, and more(1:13:15) Markus’s personal strengths(1:14:15) What people get wrong about business(1:16:27) Final meditations—Follow Markus VilligX: https://x.com/villigmLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markusvillig—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/how-bolt-survived-an-85-revenue-crash—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• The Private Company Bringing Nuclear Enrichment Back to America (Scott Nolan, CEO of General Matter) 03.02.2026 1ч 16мин

  Roughly 20% of the U.S. power grid runs on nuclear energy. A quarter of the fuel behind it is headed toward a hard stop. In this episode, I sit down with Scott Nolan, founder and CEO of General Matter, to unpack why uranium enrichment has quietly become one of the most consequential industrial bottlenecks of the 21st century. While at Founders Fund, Scott spent over a year searching for an American enrichment company to back. When he couldn’t find one, he decided to build it himself. Less than a year after emerging from stealth, General Matter secured a historic enrichment site in Paducah, Kentucky, and was awarded a $900 million Department of Energy contract—marking one of the first serious efforts to rebuild domestic enrichment capacity ahead of the 2028 ban on Russian supply.In this episode, we discuss:Why enrichment is the missing link in America’s nuclear supply chainHow the U.S. went from controlling 86% of global enrichment capacity to effectively none at commercial scaleThe science behind uranium enrichment and why it matters for next-generation reactorsWhy Scott applied the SpaceX playbook to nuclear after more than a decade in venture capitalHow General Matter is revitalizing the historic Paducah, Kentucky enrichment siteThe significance of General Matter’s $900 million Department of Energy contractThe bipartisan political support for expanding nuclear energyWhy Scott believes nuclear energy could grow 3-4x by 2050The parallels between America’s space and nuclear industries—Thank you to our sponsor, Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-private-company-bringing-nuclear—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Scott Nolan(03:11) General Matter’s mission to rebuild U.S. enrichment(05:06) How the U.S. lost its edge(06:28) The nuclear fuel cycle explained—and where enrichment fits(08:30) Scott’s background: From SpaceX and Founders Fund to General Matter(13:54) Lessons from SpaceX(17:32) How Scott’s focus evolved over 13 years at Founders Fund(20:57) How Scott landed on nuclear enrichment(25:55) Why nuclear energy was off the radar—until recently(30:07) Finding the right partner: Scott and Lee’s collaboration(32:01) What downblending means and why it matters(33:26) How U.S. uranium enrichment quietly came to an end(38:32) The Russian uranium ban and the 2028 supply cliff(40:38) How General Matter plans to compete(43:05) Building a world-class team(46:38) The market for enriched uranium(49:31) Future bottlenecks(50:53) What the U.S. needs to actually scale nuclear energy(52:40) Uranium supply constraints(54:14) LEU vs. HALEU: the fuels powering old and new reactors(57:01) Why 20% enrichment is a critical threshold(59:30) Why General Matter chose Paducah, Kentucky(1:04:34) Legislation and executive orders easing nuclear friction(1:09:42) The $900 million Department of Energy award(1:11:00) Why mission matters most(1:14:12) Final meditations—Follow Scott NolanX: https://x.com/ScottNolan—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-private-company-bringing-nuclear—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Programming Sunlight: How Reflect Orbital Is Building Satellites to Redirect Light From Space (Ben Nowack, Founder & CEO) 20.01.2026 1ч 18мин

  Most energy conversations start with scarcity. This one starts with abundance. Sunlight powers nearly everything on Earth, directly or indirectly. And yet we have almost no control over when or where we get it. Ben Nowack thinks that’s a solvable problem. Ben is the founder and CEO of Reflect Orbital, a company building satellites designed to redirect sunlight from space—not as a thought experiment, but as a product. The company nearly died before it worked. Eight months in, Ben had $300 left and was living in a garage. He made a deliberate decision to go $50,000 into credit card debt to finish critical tests. At one point, he was down to $21 of available credit. A month later, Reflect raised its first round. Today, the company is preparing to launch its first revenue-generating satellites. This is a conversation about building conviction, finding the real market, and what changes when a fundamental resource becomes programmable.In our conversation, we explore:How Reflect’s satellites workThe surprising pivot from energy to lighting applications that made the business immediately viableBen’s remarkable journey from building RC planes and X-ray machines in high school to founding ReflectWhy previous attempts at space mirrors failed and what’s changed to make this possible nowThe near-death moment when Ben went $50,000 into credit card debt to keep his vision aliveHow Reflect plans to scale from moonlight-level brightness to potentially powering solar farmsThe company’s first satellite launches planned for this year, and their path to a full constellationThe wide range of applications, from emergency response to municipal lighting to agriculture—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction to Ben Nowack(02:26) What Reflect Orbital is building(05:07) How the satellite constellation works(08:00) What Reflect is launching this year(10:35) Finding early markets(13:43) Ben’s childhood and early building experiences(22:04) What Ben learned working for startups(28:03) High school projects: X-ray machines, rocket engines, and fusion reactors(33:14) The eureka moment that led to Reflect(35:24) Early validation of the idea(38:35) The Russian space mirror experiments of the 1990s and what’s changed(42:31) Partnering with Tristan Similac as co-founder(45:05) Baiju Bhatt’s involvement(47:04) Why Reflect isn’t pivoting to space-based data centers(50:54) Common misconceptions about Reflect’s technology(55:11) Why programmable light is valuable(1:01:28) Initial target markets(1:03:42) The future markets for Reflect(1:07:33) Reflect’s company culture and operational philosophy(1:12:05) Surprises and struggles in building Reflect(1:14:56) Putting the idea to the test—Follow Ben NowackLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-nowackX: https://x.com/bennbuilds—Resources and episode mentions—People—Vladimir Syromyatnikov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_SyromyatnikovTristan Semmelhack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristan-semmelhack-6a1ba0149Baiju Bhatt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bprafulkumarMarc Andreessen on X: https://x.com/pmarcaJ.P. Morgan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._MorganRic Burton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardjburton—Other resources—Reflect Orbital: https://www.reflectorbital.comZipline: https://www.zipline.comCassegrain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassegrain_reflectorAdvanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3): https://www.nasa.gov/mission/acs3Znamya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite)Aetherflux: https://www.aetherflux.comElon Musk’s post on X about building a sentient sun: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1985048731818094950Denali: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Nothing’s Carl Pei on Building a $1B Smartphone Company, Why He Left OnePlus After 10 Days of Retirement, and Why He Thinks About Death Every Week 13.01.2026 1ч 19мин

  Carl Pei is the founder of Nothing, the consumer electronics company known for its distinctive transparent design language across smartphones and audio products. Before launching Nothing in 2020, Carl co-founded OnePlus, where he spent seven years helping build it into a major smartphone brand. But Carl’s instincts as a builder showed up much earlier. As a teenager, he taught himself to code by building Pokémon fan sites, all while moving between China, the U.S., and Sweden. That combination of early creation and constant change shaped a founder comfortable with uncertainty—and deeply motivated by questions bigger than products. Carl thinks often about time and mortality, is skeptical of early retirement, and believes creativity is humanity’s real advantage. In an industry obsessed with optimization, he’s focused on making technology feel meaningful again.In our conversation, we explore:The origins of Nothing’s transparent design language and how it helps differentiate the brand in a mature, competitive marketCarl’s childhood fascination with mortality and how it continues to drive his ambition todayNothing’s multiple near-death experiences, from 80% defect rates on first products to fundraising strugglesWhy India has become a crucial market for Nothing’s smartphone businessHow Nothing approaches community involvement, including letting users invest alongside VCsThe company’s approach to integrating AI features without overhyping the technologyCarl’s admiration for Genghis Khan’s management style and talent acquisition approachThe future of consumer electronics beyond smartphones—Thank you to our sponsor, Guru — The AI source of truth for work—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/nothings-carl-pei-on-building-a-1b-smartphone-company—Timestamps00:00) Introduction to Carl Pei and Nothing(02:44) Nothing’s long-term vision(06:33) How existential thinking shapes Carl’s motivation(10:12) Why Carl’s planned sabbatical ended after ten days(12:35) Carl’s international upbringing(16:02) Entrepreneurial experiments in China(19:10) Carl’s competitive nature and attitude toward school(25:30) Lessons from seven years at OnePlus(28:07) Taking a break at age 31(30:50) Carl’s fundraising strategy(33:26) Why Carl chose London for Nothing’s HQ(35:12) Lessons from Genghis Khan(38:38) Nothing’s first near-death moment(42:56) Nothing’s product evolution and breakout hits(45:24) Partnering with Teenage Engineering(49:28) Design inspirations(51:36) How Nothing recruits talent(53:42) Nothing’s approach to marketing(56:51) How India became a key market(59:48) Why Nothing created CMF(1:02:12) Why Carl is bullish on India(1:03:32) How Carl thinks about AI(1:07:05) Rethinking ads based on community feedback(1:09:05) How Nothing leverages community(1:11:23) Why AI hardware is struggling(1:13:37) Carl’s thoughts on the future of consumer electronics(1:15:10) Philosophies that shape Carl’s worldview(1:16:45) Final meditations—Follow Carl PeiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/getpeidX: https://x.com/getpeid—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/nothings-carl-pei-on-building-a-1b-smartphone-company—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Why Being a Generalist VC Is a Competitive Advantage (Aydin Senkut, Founder & Managing Partner at Felicis Ventures) 09.12.2025 1ч 16мин

  Two decades ago, Aydin Senkut was a first-time fund manager with a thin track record to show prospective backers. LPs didn’t believe a solo GP, especially one without experience at a legacy firm, could build a lasting franchise. They were wrong. Today, Felicis is a Silicon Valley mainstay on its 10th fund, a $900M vehicle. Across its history, Felicis has backed a slew of winners, including Shopify, Canva, Crusoe, and dozens of other billion-dollar outcomes. Rather than specialize over time, Aydin has remained a true generalist, investing across markets and cycles. In this conversation, we dig into the frameworks, stories, and philosophies that shaped Felicis into what it is — and where Aydin believes the next decade of technology is heading.We explore:How growing up in Turkey with entrepreneur parents shaped Aydin’s approach to risk and investingLessons from working alongside Larry Page and Sergey Brin during Google’s early daysWhy Felicis deliberately chose a generalist strategy when most VCs were specializingHow international experience became a competitive advantage in finding global winnersThe mathematical case for portfolio diversification (50-70 companies per fund)Why valuation concerns are often overblown when revenue growth is exponentialFelicis’s aggressive AI investment strategy and what other investors are missingThe future of robotics and physical AI through companies like Skild AIWhy learning and adapting rapidly is Felicis’s constitutional principle—Thank you to our sponsor, Guru: The AI source of truth for work.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/why-being-a-generalist-vc-is-a-competitive-advantage—Timestamps(00:00) Introduction(03:09) How Aydin made his way to Silicon Valley(06:15) What he learned from his entrepreneurial parents(08:55) Learnings from the early days at Google(15:05) The childhood roots of his investing philosophy(16:31) Why rejection became a catalyst for his venture career(19:28) Strategy behind Felicis's first $41M fund(25:44) How his international background became an investing edge(28:17) How Aydin approaches diversification at scale(32:08) How he sizes investments based on conviction(33:15) Generalist vs. specialist investing(38:23) Why founders are the foundation(42:48) Why success may look different than expected(43:46) The Felicis journey(48:18) Why Felicis is going all in on AI(54:54) Why entry point matters less than potential(57:33) How the AI bubble debate misses the point(59:47) What makes Skild AI a standout company(01:04:58) The AI bets Felicis missed(01:07:55) How missing Airbnb and Uber led to backing Adyen(01:11:20) Final meditations—Follow Aydin SenkutLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aydinsX: https://x.com/asenkut—Resources and episode mentions—Books—Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder: https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto-ebook/dp/B0083DJWGOClear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results: https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Thinking-Turning-Ordinary-Extraordinary/dp/0593086112—People—Larry Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_PageSergey Brin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_BrinEric Schmidt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_SchmidtBrian Chesky on X: https://x.com/bcheskyShane Parrish’s blog: https://fs.blog—Other resources—Felicis: https://www.felicis.comMastering Portfolio Construction: https://www.generalist.com/p/mastering-portfolio-constructionSteve Jobs’s quote on focus: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629613-people-think-focus-means-saying-yes-to-the-thing-you-veAngry Birds: https://www.angrybirds.comRovio: https://www.rovio.comAdyen: https://www.adyen.comCanva: https://www.canva.com...Resources continued at: https://www.generalist.com/p/why-being-a-generalist-vc-is-a-competitive-advantage⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Joey Krug on Prediction Markets, Crypto Treasuries & the Next Era of On-Chain Finance (Partner at Founders Fund) 02.12.2025 1ч 15мин

  Prediction markets are no longer a fringe curiosity. They are becoming one of the most revealing instruments in modern finance. Platforms like Polymarket, once a niche corner of crypto, now regularly clear billions in monthly volume as traders speculate on everything from political outcomes to sports to cultural events. Few people saw this future as early, or as clearly, as Joey Krug.A decade before prediction markets went mainstream, Joey dropped out of college to co-found Augur, the first decentralized prediction market protocol. He later became one of the most influential investors in the category by backing Polymarket at Founders Fund. In this conversation, Joey shares why the moment for prediction markets has finally arrived, what has changed, and how these markets are reshaping information flows across society.We explore:The experimental mindset that led Joey from horse-racing predictions to mining bitcoin in high schoolWhy Augur was the right idea at the wrong moment, and what it taught Joey about timing and infrastructureThe product, liquidity, and founder-market fit signals that persuaded Founders Fund to back PolymarketWhy resolution is the hardest problem in prediction markets, and how Polymarket approaches itHow crypto treasury companies are emerging as a major force and where ETFs fit inWhy mimetic behavior drives entire sectors and how savvy investors read those wavesThe rise and fall of Operation Choke Point and its impact on cryptoHow Founders Fund reframed Joey’s approach to evaluating founders, markets, and structural shifts—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGuru: The AI source of truth for work.Auth0: Secure access for everyone. But not just anyone.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/joey-krug-on-prediction-markets—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:10) How Joey began making predictions with horse racing(08:00) Why Joey began coding with Applesoft BASIC(09:32) How Joey first discovered crypto(11:06) Why Joey dropped out of school to pursue crypto(12:52) The origins of Joey’s interest in medical school(16:15) How Joey spends nights and weekends splitting time between biotech and trading(17:18) The early influences behind Augur’s creation(19:40) Why prediction markets captivated early crypto thinkers(23:26) The unlock crypto created for prediction markets(29:22) How Polymarket began and why Joey decided to back it(32:11) What made Polymarket the right team(35:25) The FBI raid and how Shane responded(38:20) Why Joey expected Polymarket’s volume to hold after the election(40:20) The trend toward duopolies in financial markets(42:37) What sets Polymarket’s product design apart(45:25) How to keep prediction markets clear and unambiguous(48:31) The rise of crypto treasury companies and FF’s work with BitMine(51:26) The value of crypto treasuries and the role of ETFs(54:33) The mimetic rise of crypto treasury companies(57:03) Joey’s take on where the crypto market stands now(1:00:23) Why Founders Fund is bullish on ETH(1:03:03) Operation Choke Point, regulatory whiplash, and the end of the crypto crackdown(1:06:04) Where the Clarity Act falls short(1:08:56) How Joey’s thinking has evolved since joining Founders Fund(1:13:21) Final meditations—Follow Joey KrugLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeykrug—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/joey-krug-on-prediction-markets⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• How a Solo Founder is Reshaping Global Finance (Parth Garg, CEO of Aspora) 18.11.2025 1ч 9мин

  In the summer of 2022, Parth Garg woke up in Bangalore to discover that his co-founder had fled the country and emailed their investors to tell them their company was dead. Just over three years later, Aspora is one of fintech’s fastest-growing startups. The company, which makes it faster and cheaper for India’s diaspora to send money home and access banking services, now processes close to half a billion dollars in volume every month and has earned a $500 million valuation with backing from elite investors like Hummingbird Ventures, Sequoia, and Greylock.In this conversation, Parth shares his journey from physics prodigy to fintech founder, offering insights into what it really takes to build resilience as a founder and how to create a culture where feedback flows freely, even without a co-founder to provide checks and balances.—We explore:• The moment when Parth discovered his co-founder had left the country and told investors the company was shutting down• How Parth’s childhood moving between cities in India and later to the UAE shaped his adaptability and entrepreneurial mindset• His journey from physics prodigy to startup founder, including early ventures before Aspora• The process of discovering product-market fit through structured experimentation after the initial business model failed• Why the Indian diaspora represents a massive, underserved financial opportunity (1% of the population contributing 30% of deposits)• How stablecoins dramatically reduced Aspora’s working capital requirements and transformed their business model• The regulatory landscape for fintech and crypto in India and the impact of the GENIUS Act in the US• Aspora’s vision to become a comprehensive cross-border bank serving multiple diaspora communities globally—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGoFundMe Giving Funds: One Account. Zero Hassle.Guru: The AI source of truth for work.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(03:53) How Parth felt when his co-founder fled the country(07:04) Parth’s early days in India and the UAE(09:37) Parth’s love of physics and competitiveness(12:15) The not-so-straightforward path from studying physics at Stanford to entrepreneurship(14:13) Parth’s physics heroes(16:24) The gap year that sparked Parth’s entrepreneurship journey(18:36) Parth’s first startup: selling near-expired groceries(21:58) Moving back to the United States and founding Vance(28:00) Joining YC and finding early backers(31:14) How Parth realized Vance needed to pivot(35:22) How Parth moved forward after his co-founder fled(37:37) Building psychological safety and open debate at Aspora(40:15) How conversations with immigrants inspired Aspora’s idea(45:13) How stablecoins solved Aspora’s biggest operational challenges(46:57) Aspora’s current scale and why India was the perfect starting point(51:34) How Aspora builds loyalty in a low-switching-cost market(52:42) The GENIUS Act and the real opportunity in stablecoins(55:52) The evolution of crypto and stablecoins in India(56:50) The importance of partnerships for scaling Aspora in India(58:18) The next phases of Aspora’s growth(01:00:04) The role of Aspora’s new bets team(1:01:20) Final meditations—Follow Parth GargLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parth29—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/banking-the-diaspora-parth-garg—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• How Do You Build a New Singapore? Inside Próspera’s Bet on Private Governance (Erick Brimen, Founder & CEO) 11.11.2025 1ч 24мин

  What if you could redesign the rules of society? Not tweak the margins, but start over entirely. That’s the question driving Erick Brimen, founder and CEO of Próspera, a private charter city in Roatán, Honduras. Próspera is a radical experiment in governance: a platform that lets governments and entrepreneurs build cities with new legal systems, regulatory frameworks, and institutions from the ground up. Brimen believes that governance itself can be innovated upon. That cities, like software, can be upgraded. His goal isn’t just to build one new jurisdiction, but to create an operating system for hundreds of prosperous, self-governing communities around the world. In this conversation, Erick and I explore what it really takes to build a modern Singapore from scratch — and why better governance might be humanity’s most powerful lever for progress.Together we explore:• How Brimen’s childhood in Venezuela shaped his understanding of governance and poverty• The historical precedents for charter cities like Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong• Why common law, trusted dispute resolution, and dynamic governance are essential foundations• How Próspera’s Governance-as-a-Service model aligns incentives between governments, operators, and residents• The current state of Próspera in Honduras, including its three hubs and economic impact• The political challenges Próspera has faced and how international arbitration has protected the project• Why regulatory innovation enables industries like biotech, crypto, and advanced manufacturing to flourish• How the model could be applied to “catch-up growth,” industry diversification, and accelerating growth in developed nations• The vision for a modern Hanseatic League of charter cities operating on shared governance principles—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleGoFundMe Giving Funds: One Account. Zero Hassle.Guru: The AI source of truth for workTezi: The AI agent for recruiting high-quality candidates quickly.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-170m-experiment-to-build-a-private-city—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:10) An overview of Próspera and charter cities(06:43) City of Próspera vs. the platform(08:06) How growing up in Venezuela shaped Erick’s entrepreneurial vision(12:36) The limits of seasteading and why Erick took a different path(15:20) The opposing philosophies that shaped Erick’s path(16:16) The moment that reshaped Erick’s understanding of poverty(19:57) The limits of learning from Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong(23:01) Building on the DIFC blueprint(25:12) From Arizona to Honduras: how Próspera built its first city(30:36) Why Honduras won(32:12) Inside the ZEDE framework(36:56) Próspera’s business model(43:45) Conditions on the ground in Honduras(47:14) A quick summary of how it works(48:24) Quick stats on Próspera’s scale and financing(50:47) What years of preparation made possible(52:44) The scale and purpose of Próspera’s three hubs(58:12) Próspera’s 10-year vision(1:01:12) The people Próspera was built to serve(1:04:10) Why less regulation unlocks more innovation(1:05:58) Próspera’s political headwinds(1:12:36) Why Erick remains optimistic that things will work out in Honduras(1:14:44) Addressing criticism of ZEDEs and Próspera(1:18:08) What’s next, and why the U.S. may be the greatest opportunity(1:22:30) Final meditations—Follow Erick BrimenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erickbrimenWebsite: https://www.erickbrimen.com—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-170m-experiment-to-build-a-private-city—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
• Why Psychedelics Might Be the Breakthrough That PTSD Patients Need (Kevin Ryan, The Godfather of NYC Tech) 28.10.2025 1ч 8мин

  Often called the godfather of NYC tech, Kevin Ryan is one of America’s most influential entrepreneurs and investors. He co-founded MongoDB, Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and Transcend Therapeutics, and continues to build and back new companies each year through AlleyCorp. Earlier in his career, he led DoubleClick from a 20-person startup to a global leader, taking it public before its acquisition by Google.In this episode, Kevin shares his insights on two surprising pockets of the future that he’s betting on: psychedelics for mental health and AI-powered materials science. He unpacks how psychedelics are showing remarkable success in treating depression and PTSD, and why AI may discover revolutionary new materials, from helicopter blades to smartphone glass, that humans never imagined possible.We explore:• The promising results of psychedelics in treating depression, PTSD, and addiction• How AI is accelerating materials discovery by exploring combinations humans wouldn’t try• The challenges of building successful incubators and why most attempts fail• How MongoDB lost $1 billion before turning a profit (and why it was worth it)• Why e-commerce businesses like Gilt Groupe often struggle against physical retail• How AlleyCorp plans for the future when shaping its investment strategy• What it really costs society to imprison someone for a year• The hard truth about Europe’s tech ecosystem and why it struggles to compete with the US—Thank you to the partners who make this possibleEnterpret: Transform feedback chaos into actionable customer intelligence.Auth0: Secure access for everyone. But not just anyone.Persona: Trusted identity verification for any use case.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/why-psychedelics-might-be-the-breakthrough—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:30) How Kevin collaborated with Scott Adams(07:11) The origins of AlleyCorp(08:33) The challenge of incubation(10:00) Why intellectual flexibility matters(10:54) What made MongoDB a breakout success(13:49) How shifting market dynamics hurt Gilt’s business(16:22) What Kevin would do differently if he built Gilt again(17:45) Juggling AlleyCorp’s long-term vision with day-to-day demands(20:26) How to make boards more productive(22:25) Why Kevin believes investors should also found companies(24:18) Future spaces Kevin is excited to invest in(25:52) Kevin’s interest in psychedelics and founding Transcend(28:20) Psychedelics for mental health(32:03) How psychedelic therapy is being conducted(34:11) Transcend’s work and the path to approval for methylone(37:47) The challenges of psychedelic research(40:28) How the Trump administration aims to accelerate psychedelic research(41:50) The size and growth of the psychedelic market(44:28) Materials science: What it is, its design tradeoffs, and how AI speeds discovery(49:02) Radical AI’s work creating new compounds(50:34) The industries Radical AI is targeting(52:50) The state of European tech and why it still lags behind(58:26) Final meditations—Follow Kevin RyanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinryan3/X: https://x.com/alley_corp—Resources and episode mentions—Books—• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence: https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225• Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Breakneck-Chinas-Quest-Engineer-Future/dp/1324106034• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324—Episode resources continued at: ⁠https://www.generalist.com/p/why-psychedelics-might-be-the-breakthrough⁠—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.