Village Global Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Market Failures, Redesigning Metrics, and Human Dignity with Andrew Kortina Sep 17, 2019

Show notes

Andrew Kortina (@kortina) joins Erik on this episode. He is the co-founder of Venmo and Fin.
They talk about:
- How he became interested in the US tax code and what changes he might like to see made to it.
- The insights from his examination of how the US government spends its money.
- Capitalism, inequality, and how to ensure everyone can live a life with dignity.
- Status signalling through consumption and how to fix the inefficiency of conveying information through goods.
- Tribalism as a predictive model.
- What David Foster Wallace predicted about the internet and culture today, and what he might be writing about if he was still alive.
- Capitalism as an artificial intelligence.
Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Education, Globalization, and Becoming “Psychologically Sovereign” with Zachary Stein Sep 15, 2019

Show notes

Zachary Stein (zakstein.org) joins Erik on this episode. He is a writer, educator, and futurist.
They discuss:
- Why he says that all institutions are fundamentally educational institutions.
- The crises that humankind is facing and how to make our way through them.
- The new educational paradigms he foresees.
- What it means to be psychologically sovereign.
- The history of measurement and the fact that prior to a few hundred years ago, no one knew how old they actually were.
- How to resolve the paradox that what matters cannot be measured and yet it is difficult to improve or make progress without measuring.
- Why he says that throughout capitalism there have rarely been true markets.
- His thoughts on globalization and interconnectedness.
Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

What Bryan Caplan Thinks About Basically Everything Sep 12, 2019

Show notes

Erik is joined on this episode by Bryan Caplan (@bryan_caplan), economist and author. They have a wide-ranging discussion on a number of different topics.
They discuss:
- The case for open borders and the underappreciated benefits of immigration.
- His responses to some of the common arguments against increased immigration.
- Why he thinks that universal basic income is a “terrible idea.”
- His thoughts on the charter cities movement.
- His most impactful (and controversial) policy recommendations.
- Why he says that all politicians have been populists, but without the rough edges that Trump has.
- His opinion on the Hobbes vs. Rousseau debate.
- Gene editing, population growth, Austrian economics, education, and much more.
Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Why Markets Will Eat The World with Taylor Pearson Sep 10, 2019

Show notes

Taylor Pearson (@TaylorPearsonMe), joins Erik on this episode. He is an author, entrepreneur, and investor.
On this episode they talk about:
- The basics of the thesis that markets are eating the world and how Taylor became interested in the idea.
- The implications of markets becoming more prevalent in every aspect of life.
- How smart contracts and the blockchain enable markets to eat the world.
- How closely related the idea that software is eating the world is to the idea that markets are.
- Some of the arguments against the idea and Taylor’s responses to them.
- The key questions for the future.
- What an investment firm with this thesis would invest in or what their requests for startups would be.
Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

The Future of Markets, Democracy, and Geopolitics in the 21st Century with Samo Burja Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

Samo Burja (@SamoBurja), founder of Bismarck Analysis, joins Erik for this episode. You can find him on Medium at medium.com/@samo.burja.
They talk about:
- Whether capitalism and democracy are incompatible and what the future holds for democracy.
- Why economists need to look inside companies to learn from their cultures, not just at the relations between companies.
- Why the grey hoody is as much a worker’s uniform as the suit of the 1950s was.
- The coming merger of east and west coast media companies.
- China, the trade war, and the effects of the country expanding its influence in Europe and the Middle East.
- Why the big story of the 21st century that everyone is missing is that the Indian Ocean will become the hub of the world economy.
- Why he’s skeptical about the extent to which crypto will decentralize society.
- What people misunderstand about Henry Kissinger’s approach to geopolitics.
Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Building a Second Brain, Productivity, and Trauma with Tiago Forte Sep 05, 2019

Show notes

Erik is joined by Tiago Forte (@fortelabs), creator of Building a Second Brain, founder of Forte Labs, and writer at Praxis.
They talk about:
- Why productivity is not an end in and of itself.
- Why content creation (not just consumption) is integral to your career.
- How to better deal with the 11 hours of media a day that the average person consumes.
- Why the “average human life is now too complex to be managed by the average human brain.”
- Why hyperfocus and intense productivity are symptoms of trauma, and how to deal with that trauma.
- The theory of constraints and why it’s so powerful.
- Religion and meaning-making for the secular world.
- The future of libraries and why Tiago calls them “digital nomad embassies.”
Remember to apply for the winter vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator! It is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

Live Episode: Jo Varshney and Kiran Bellubi on Village’s Network Catalyst Accelerator [Rebroadcast] Sep 03, 2019

Show notes

This is a special live episode that was recorded at Village HQ in San Francisco on June 14 2018. It originally aired on July 4 2018. The event was put on in partnership with Xoogler, a network of former Googlers who have come together to help each other with their startup ambitions.
Village Global co-founder Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) chatted with Jo Varshney (@jo_getter), founder and CEO of VeriSIM Life and Kiran Bellubbi (@smalldozes), founder of Keyo, about their experience with the Village Network Catalyst program.
Jo and Kiran explain what it was like to be a founder in Network Catalyst, including how the team at Village helped them with their business model, leveraged Village's unique structure as a network to their advantage, and guided them through the fundraising process.
Remember: applications for the winter 2019 vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are due September 20 2019 — make sure to apply before then. Check out more info below.
Village Global’s Network Catalyst accelerator is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply before September 20 at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.

Prediction Markets, AI, and Crypto Governance with Elliot Olds Sep 02, 2019

Show notes

Erik interviews Elliot Olds (@elliot_olds) on this episode. He is a thinker on AI, crypto, economics and prediction markets.
(Remember — applications for the winter vintage of our network catalyst accelerator are due September 20 — make sure to apply before then. Check out more info below.)
They talk about:
- The merits of prediction markets, and why they can be thought of as a “meta solution” akin to a generalized AI
- The technical and political hurdles that prediction markets face
- The most prominent arguments against prediction markets and the responses to them
- The idea that markets are eating the world and its implications
- Whether it would be wise to outsource your personal decisions to the crowd
- Governance in crypto
- What it would take to make prediction markets mainstream
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg.
________
Village Global’s Network Catalyst accelerator is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply before September 20 at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.

A Deep Dive on Founder Flourishing with Dr. Cameron Sepah Aug 31, 2019

Show notes

We apologize for the audio quality of this episode — we had technical difficulties during recording.
Remember: applications for the winter vintage of our network catalyst accelerator are due September 20 — make sure to apply before then. Check out more info below.
Erik is joined on this episode by Dr. Cameron Sepah (@drsepah), founder, investor, entrepreneur, and a clinical psychologist.
They talk about:
- Why founders have to be “chief psychologists” (as popularized by Mark Suster)
- Which frameworks for personality types are helpful and which are not
- Why “to be great you have to be a bit abnormal”
- His recommendations on sleep, physical activity, and nutrition
- What a “dopamine fast” is and why you should commit to one
- Why meditation is not a panacea
- The difference between Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global and is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg.
_______
Village Global’s Network Catalyst accelerator is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply before September 20 at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.

A Primer on Information Marketplaces with Richard Craib and Riva-Melissa Tez Aug 29, 2019

Show notes

Erik is joined on this episode by Richard Craib (@richardcraib), founder of Numerai and Erasure, and Riva-Melissa Tez (@rivatez), part of strategy at Intel.
They discuss:
- What Richard is working on at Numerai, a hedge fund that gives away its (anonymized) data for free.
- The Erasure protocol and the value of information marketplaces.
- Whether prediction markets for stocks can work.
- Whether the Numerai model could work with other types of data, for example, in healthcare.
- Whether the quality of startups in San Francisco is going down or up.
- The future of universities.
- The lack of diversity of political views in San Francisco.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global and is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg.
______
Village Global’s Network Catalyst accelerator is a personalized program that features masterclasses from some of the best in Silicon Valley and a dedicated network leader focused on making the introductions you need to turbocharge your company. You can participate in-person in San Francisco or virtually from anywhere around the world.
Find out more and apply at villageglobal.vc/networkcatalyst.

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