POD OF JAKE

Latest Episodes:

#177 - JOSHUA BROWDER Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Joshua is the Founder & CEO of DoNotPay. He is a Thiel Fellow who has been called "Robin Hood of the Internet" for building products to save people time and money. DoNotPay is an automated service that handles over 200 consumer rights challenges such as cancelling subscriptions, obtaining refunds, and appealing tickets. Follow Joshua on X @jbrowder1.

[0:16] - How Joshua turned his penchant for parking tickets into a successful business

[6:31] - Joshua’s early experiences building iPhone apps

[9:11] - Why Joshua took a careful and patient approach to starting DoNotPay while at Stanford

[14:11] - Why Joshua waited so long to start charging for DoNotPay

[15:51] - Alternative business models for DoNotPay

[19:32] - Joshua's approach to building a lean, efficient team

[24:25] - Operating as a global, in-person, nomadic organization

[26:45] - How the advent GPT has transformed DoNotPay’s services

[35:20] - Joshua’s perspective on the current and future states of AI

[39:16] - Why Do Not Pay issues dividends to its employees and investors

[43:16] - Joshua’s approach for growing DoNotPay from here

[45:43] - Technology’s fast pace of change versus society’s slow pace of change

[48:47] - Wisdom gained from The Thiel Fellowship

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/177-joshua-browder

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Previous guests include ⁠⁠Mark Cuban⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Vitalik Buterin⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Brian Armstrong⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Balaji Srinivasan⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Keith⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Rabois⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Ali Spagnola⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Anthony Pompliano⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Raoul Pal⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Julia Galef⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Jack Butcher⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Tim Draper⁠⁠, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like ⁠⁠OpenAI⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Coinbase⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Solana⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Polygon⁠⁠, ⁠⁠AngelList⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Oura⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Replit⁠⁠, and investors from ⁠⁠Founders⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Fund⁠⁠, ⁠⁠a16z⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Union Square Ventures⁠⁠, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#176 - JEREMY ALLAIRE Jun 06, 2024

Show notes

Jeremy is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle, the financial technology company behind the USDC stablecoin. Before Circle, Jeremy co-founded several companies, including Brightcove and Allaire Corporation, which was acquired by Macromedia. Follow Jeremy on X @jerallaire.

0:00 - Jeremy’s career growth in parallel to the internet

10:06 - Comparing the first decade of internet adoption to the first decade of crypto innovation

18:37 - Why infrastructure innovation precedes application innovation

25:44 - What happens when the marginal cost of moving value approaches zero

33:59 - Crypto’s potential impact on existing institutions and society at large

43:19 - Jeremy’s thoughts on internet-native currencies

48:07 - The potential impacts of regulating crypto

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/176-jeremy-allaire

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#175 - LUCA NETZ May 29, 2024

Show notes

Luca is the CEO of the Pudgy Penguins. Pudgy Penguins is one of the two or three most successful PFP NFT collections in the world by floor price and volume. Since dropping out of high school, Luca has become a serial entrepreneur and successful internet marketer who has built multiple e-commerce businesses. Follow Luca on X @LucaNetz.

[0:00] - How an entrepreneurial mindset allowed Luca to experience early success in brand building, e-commerce, and NFTs

[9:35] - Luca’s entrance into crypto and his fundamental beliefs about the industry

[14:13] - The importance of self-awareness and building the right team for Pudgy Penguins

[20:14] - The unique properties of building in Web3

[26:29] - Luca’s experience building alongside the Pudgy Penguins community

[30:56] - The pros and cons of being a Non-Founder CEO

[34:26] - Why Luca believes IP is the most valuable part of NFTs

[39:55] - The current state of NFTs at large

[42:37] - The future of IP, NFTs, and crypto's impact on value

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/175-luca-netz

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#174 - MICHAEL SCHWIMER May 22, 2024

Show notes

Michael is the Founder and CEO of Big League Advantage (BLA), a company that uses deep analytics to forecast future performance of minor league baseball players in which it invests. Prior to creating Big League Advantage, Michael was a Major League Baseball player, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies. Follow Michael on Twitter @mschwimer.

0:00 - Michael's baseball career, and entrepreneurial start

6:21 - Choosing baseball over basketball

10:52 - The challenges of starting Big League Advantage

15:27 - Breaking down BLA’s VC-like model

22:21 - Why players choose to work with or pass on BLA

31:42 - Comparing predictive analytics between sports

36:41 - The key dynamics of BLA deals

41:44 - The progression and development of BLA to date

43:21 - Name, Image, and Likeness deals in college sports

44:40 - How age factors into BLA’s investment decisions

46:40 - Michael’s plans for the future of BLA

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/174-michael-schwimer

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#173 - AUGUSTUS DORICKO May 15, 2024

Show notes

Augustus is the Founder & CEO of Rainmaker, a cloud seeding and weather modification company. The company's objective is to facilitate more precipitation in the American West in the near-term, while terraforming Earth more broadly over time. Augustus previously co-founded another startup and was named a Thiel Fellow in 2024. Follow Augustus on X @ADoricko.

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/173-augustus-doricko

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#172 - JESSE POLLAK May 08, 2024

Show notes

Jesse is the creator of Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 incubated by Coinbase, where Jesse has worked since 2017. Less than one year since its mainnet launch in August 2023, Base has quickly become the leading L2 by many metrics as of the time of this episode's release. Prior to Base, Jesse led all of Coinbase’s consumer-facing engineering from 2017 to 2021. Jesse originally joined Coinbase through the acquisition of Clef, a passwordless identity solutions company he started. Follow Jesse @jessepollak on both X and on Warpcast.

[0:00] - Jesse’s story and path to Coinbase

[7:02] - How a sabbatical led Jesse to build Base

[13:30] - How Coinbase's culture enabled the creation of Base

[16:48] - Taking iterative shots with a talented team

[21:06] - The importance of persistence

[26:27] - How Base's builder-focused culture came to be

[29:05] - Navigating when to move fast and breaking things versus when to make decisions carefully and deliberately

[34:46] - Why Jesse believes many L2s will be successful

[43:19] - Coinbase Smart Wallet & Onchain Summer II

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/172-jesse-pollak

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#171 - EMIN GÜN SIRER May 02, 2024

Show notes

Emin is Co-Founder and CEO of Ava Labs, the organization behind the Avalanche smart contract network. He is a computer scientist, software engineer, and researcher who has focused on distributed systems, network security, and cryptocurrencies for more than 20 years. Before building Ava Labs, Emin was an associate professor of computer science at Cornell University and co-director of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts at the university. In 2003, Emin designed Karma, the first cryptocurrency based on a proof-of-work protocol, years before the creation of Bitcoin. Follow Emin on X ⁠@el33th4xor.

0:00 - Emin’s deep history around cryptocurrencies8:20 - Why Bitcoin took him and his colleagues by surprise11:28 - Emin’s vision for the future of the crypto industry16:34 - Avalanche’s approach to scaling crypto-economic activity23:05 - How Avalanche’s architecture supports multiple sub-nets27:34 - The real importance of decentralization32:40 - Emin’s perspective on technological regulation41:57 - The unique properties of Avalanche’s Snowball consensus49:00 - Why the best technology does not always win in the market

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/171-emin-gun-sirer

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#170 - BRENDAN FOODY Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

Brendan is Co-Founder & CEO of Mercor, a global labor market using AI to find optimal matches between people and work opportunities. He and his co-founders were selected as Thiel Fellows as part of the 2024 class. Brendan previously founded a cloud computing company called Seros and dropped out of Georgetown University. Follow him on X @BrendanFoody.

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at ⁠pods.media/pod-of-jake/170-brendan-foody

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#169 - NICK TOMAINO Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

Nick is the Founder and General Partner at 1confirmation, a cryptocurrency focused investment firm. After raising its first $26M fund in 2017, 1confirmation now has over $1 billion in assets under management. The firm's early-stage investments include OpenSea, Farcaster, Worldcoin, Polkadot, Cosmos, Polymarket, dYdX, Degen, and others alike. Prior to starting 1confirmation, Nick was a Principal at Runa Capital and worked in business development in the early days at Coinbase. Follow Nick on X @NTmoney and on Warpcast @nick.

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/169-nick-tomaino

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

#168 - JACEK Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

Jacek is the creator of ⁠$DEGEN⁠, an innovative cryptocurrency and L3 built on Base on Ethereum and popularized on Farcaster. Follow Jacek on Farcaster ⁠@jacek⁠.

Mint this episode for free onchain on Base at pods.media/pod-of-jake/168-jacek-trocinski

For more episodes, go to ⁠⁠podofjake.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠⁠jake@blogofjake.com⁠⁠. Thank you!

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected