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Marc Andreessen of a16z sits with Erik Torenberg to go deeper into his intellectual and political journey. TIMESTAMPS: (0:00) Intro (3:25) How much has Marc changed vs the world changed? (6:55) How much do ideas matter? Who drives society — the elite or the masses? (09:56) People respond to interests more than ideas (12:08) Mental models for the left and the right (14:45) Sponsors (Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire) (16:53) The road to hell is paved with good intentions (18:40) Master morality and slave morality (23:20) Unpacking Elon’s quote “Wokeness is the mind-virus” (26:00) Is classical liberalism sustainable and how it leads to wokeness (35:00) James Burnham’s worldview (42:50) How the left captured the institutions (45:20) Elon as the return to entrepreneurial capitalism (48:03) The experiments Elon is running (54:50) The billionaire mindset toward politics (57:30) We live in an oligarchy, not a democracy (1:06:00) Larry Page is the contrarian billionaire (1:07:30) Effective Altruism’s blind spots (1:10:36) Effective altruists think they can play god (1:11:16) SBF’s roll-the-dice philosophy (1:13:23) Aristocratic vs Meritocratic elite (1:21:48) Elites are insulated from the consequences of their policies (1:23:53) Why global governance is a nerd trap (1:27:16) Global governance is anti-diversity (1:30:42) Tech people are politically homeless (1:31:37) Elites can’t be removed, they can only be replaced (1:35:02) Advice for counter-elites (1:47:21) Reasons to be optimistic. Please support our sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire - Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/ Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention Upstream during your demo to get 20% off your first year. - Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Now more than ever, startup founders need a safe place to put their cash. Mercury protects your money and also provides the streamlined user experience that great founders expect through partner banks and their sweep networks. Mercury offers up to $5 million in FDIC insurance, which is 20 times the per bank limit. They also make it easy to invest any cash above the FDIC-insured amount in a money market fund, a hundred thousand startups trust Mercury with their finances. I've been a happy Mercury customer and have found their team incredibly helpful and responsive. They even got an important wire out of purgatory on Christmas Eve. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group and involve bank and trust members FDIC. - MarketerHire: https://marketerhire.com/ MarketerHire is one of my favorite resources for growing startups. Looking to hire marketers. With thousands of pre-vetted marketers across a dozen roles. Marketerhire matches you to your perfect marketer in 48 hours. Whether you need help with growth, marketing, SEO, lifecycle, content, or any other aspect of growth marketing strategy, marketer hire has you covered. So, if you're a founder looking for top-notch marketing talent to grow your startup, head over to marketerhire.com to find your perfect match. Sign up with the referral code “Upstream” and you'll get $1,000 in credit on your first hire.
Marc Andreessen of a16z sits with Erik Torenberg to go deeper into his intellectual and political journey, and his quest to find out how the world works. Upstream with Erik Torenberg is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.co. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/UPSTREAM
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Founding a business is just the tip of the iceberg; the real complexity comes with scaling it. On 1 to 1000, hosts Jack Altman and Erik Torenberg dig deep into the inevitable twists and turns operators encounter along the journey of turning an idea into a business. Hear all about the tactical challenges of scaling from the people that built up the world’s leading companies: https://link.chtbl.com/1to1000
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(04:25) How much has Marc changed vs the world changed?
(07:55) How much do ideas matter? Who drives society — the elite or the masses?
(10:56) People respond to interests more than ideas
(13:08) Mental models for the left and the right
(15:45) Sponsors (Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire)
(17:53) The road to hell is paved with good intentions
(19:40) Master morality and slave morality
(24:20) Unpacking Elon’s quote “Wokeness is the mind-virus”
(27:00) Is classical liberalism sustainable and how it leads to wokeness
(36:00) James Burnham’s worldview
(43:50) How the left captured the institutions
(46:20) Elon as the return to entrepreneurial capitalism
(49:03) The experiments Elon is running
(55:50) The billionaire mindset toward politics
(58:30) We live in an oligarchy, not a democracy
(01:07:00) Larry Page is the contrarian billionaire
(01:08:30) Effective Altruism’s blind spots
(01:11:36) Effective altruists think they can play god
(01:12:16) SBF’s roll-the-dice philosophy
(01:14:23) Aristocratic vs Meritocratic elite
(01:22:48) Elites are insulated from the consequences of their policies
(01:24:53) Why global governance is a nerd trap
(01:28:16) Global governance is anti-diversity
(01:31:42) Tech people are politically homeless
(01:32:37) Elites can’t be removed, they can only be replaced
(01:36:02) Advice for counter-elites
(01:49:21) Reasons to be optimistic
SOCIAL LINKS:
Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg
Marc’s Twitter: @pmarca
Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod
Erik’s Substack: Erik Torenberg
Marc’s Substack: Marc Andreessen
Please support our sponsors: NetSuite | Secureframe | Mercury
-NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/upstream
NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than thirty-six thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you’re looking for an ERP platform -> NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/upstream and defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months.
- Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/
Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention UPSTREAM during your demo to get 20% off your first year.
- Mercury: https://mercury.com/
Now more than ever, startup founders need a safe place to put their cash. Mercury protects your money and also provides the streamlined user experience that great founders expect through partner banks and their sweep networks.Mercury offers up to $5 million in FDIC insurance, which is 20 times the per-bank limit. They also make it easy to invest any cash above the FDIC-insured amount in a money market fund, a hundred thousand startups trust Mercury with their finances. I've been a happy Mercury customer and have found their team incredibly helpful and responsive. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group and involve bank and trust members FDIC.
