Top Podcasts of the Week

Below is our “Top Podcast” list with our curator, Colby Donovan!

Today we have Balaji and Tim Ferriss with one of the best episodes of the year, part 2 of Coby Karl’s interview with Phil Jackson, and the story of the $69 million NFT.

Investing

• ***Must Listen*** The Tim Ferriss Show: #506: The Episode of Everything: Balaji on Bitcoin and Ethereum, Media Self-Defense, Drone Warfare, Crypto Oracles, India as Dark Horse, The Pseudonymous Economy, Beautiful Trouble, Ramanujan, Life Extension, and More. Balaji is an angel investor and entrepreneur and was previously the CTO of Coinbase and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. This is a long episode but well worth the listen. He covers what technology will make the future look like, the issues with mainstream media, the impact crypto will have on the world, thoughts on different countries going forward (U.S., China & India), and lots more [March 25, 2021–3 hours, 43 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

• This Week In Startups: Sahil Lavingia on Gumroad’s groundbreaking equity crowdfunding raise, lessons from a decade-long startup journey, insights on rolling funds & more. Lavingia is the founder & CEO of Gumroad, which helps creators sell products or services to their fans. He walks through the history of Gumroad, which included an investment from Kleiner Perkins when Lavinga was 19 years old. Gumroad didn’t meet expectations and he had to wind the company down before it caught fire in 2020 as the creator economy soared with the impact of COVID. He is very open about that entire process. Later, he talks about what is was like to be the first person to use a rolling fund, the benefits of using a rolling fund instead of a syndicate, and what the outlook is for individuals to deploy capital. [March 24, 2021–1 hour, 21 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

• Planet Money: The $69 Million JPEG. NFT’s are one of the hottest topics in 2021. This is the story of how an artist named Beeple joined with Christie’s to auction off one of his pieces, which sold for $69 million. It also dives into how NFT’s work, why they benefit the artists, and why digital art may not be as crazy as it sounds. [3/12/21–22 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

• The Indicator from Planet Money: 15 Million N95s Without A Buyer. This is a great example of the unintended consequences of government involvement in the free market. The government placed regulations on N95 masks after there was a shortage in 2020 and those regulations are now preventing hospitals from buying them from sellers who have millions in stock. [3/30/21–9 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

Meb Faber Show

• The Meb Faber Show: #297 — Tim Ranzetta, Next Gen Personal Finance — Every Student Wants To Learn About Money. Tim Ranzetta is the co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, a non-profit organization working to increase access to financial education by providing its curriculum and professional development at no cost to schools. Tim begins the episode with the current state of K-12 personal finance education in the U.S (only 1/5 high school graduates take a personal finance course). Then we hear how teaching a personal finance class in a school inspired Tim to start Next Gen Personal Finance in 2014. He shares the curriculum they provide to teachers for free, why the 43,000 teachers that are registered on the Next Gen platform are the champions to get personal finance mandated in schools across America, and how he utilizes arcade games to engage kids ranging from K-12. Tim finishes by explaining what he calls Mission 2030, which is to get every student who graduates high school to complete a single semester personal finance course. [March 29, 2021–1 hour, 17 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

• The Meb Faber Show: #298 — Boris Wertz, Version One — I Really Think About The Next Decade As A Golden Decade For Technology. Boris Wertz is the founding partner of Version One, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on backing mission-driven founders. The episode focuses entirely on marketplaces. Boris started one of the original marketplaces and recently released the third edition of A Guide to Marketplaces, a must-read for anyone interested in the business model. It starts by going back to the early days of eBay and then talks about how marketplaces have evolved over time, most recently with crypto and the blockchain. Then Boris dives into one of the hot topics of 2021: non-fungible tokens (NFT’s). He shares some broad thoughts on NFT’s and touches on one of his portfolio companies, Dapper Labs, which is behind NBA Top-Shot. He takes a look at what the future may hold for this concept and how it may reach the physical world. [March 31, 2021–44 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

The Rest

• ***Must Listen*** The Curious Leader with Coby Karl: Phil Jackson — Compassio‪n‬. Part 2 of Coby Karl’s interview with Phil Jackson is as good as the first. Phil dives more into his philosophy, ways he provided non-judgmental feedback to players, and how he learned through coaching Horace Grant the benefits of positivity. In a world where athletes are supposed to be tough as nails, Phil chose to embrace their softer side. [April 1, 2021–55 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | YouTube

RECOMMENDATIONS

Books

Peter Fenton (General Partner, Benchmark):

1. Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marhsall B. Rosenberg

Jason Fried (Founder & CEO, Basecamp):

1. In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki

David Velez (Founder & CEO, Nubank):

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Shirl Penny (Founder and CEO, Dynasty Financial Partners):

1. How I Invest My Money: Finance experts reveal how they save, spend, and invest by Josh Brown

2. Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss

Good investing,Meb Fabertheideafarm.com