

POD OF JAKE
JAKE
A podcast for potential-pursuing optimists, for doers who want to make a dent in the universe, for those interested in crypto, longevity, city-building, etc., and for anyone who loves learning the stories of extraordinary entrepreneurs.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 14, 2024 • 50min
#162 - JAMES JONES
James Jones is the Head Coach of Yale Men's Basketball. Currently in the middle of his 24th season, James is the 5th longest tenured coach in Division I Men's College Basketball and has the 2nd most wins of any basketball coach in Ivy League history. He has also served as an assistant coach for USA Basketball. Before becoming head coach at Yale in 1999, James was an assistant coach at Ohio, Yale, and Albany, where he played basketball in college. He began his career selling computers before dedicating himself to coaching.
[0:16] - How an early opportunity to coach JV basketball changed James’ career path
[5:12] - Transitioning from being a player to a coach and gaining additional responsibilities
[9:35] - How James’ experience as an assistant coach prepared him for head coaching duties
[11:05] - The evolution of Yale’s basketball program under Coach Jones
[16:09] - Crafting a program around defense, rebounding, and sharing the basketball
[19:20] - How Coach Jones changes his practices over the course of a season
[21:38] - Why Coach Jones prefers to run man defense over zone defense
[23:28] - Daily practice drills and how Coach Jones has built his library of drills
[28:15] - Motivating players and keeping them all vested in the team's success
[33:03] - Balancing recruiting responsibilities with coaching duties during the season
[35:52] - Coach Jones’ “Word of The Day”
[38:03] - How Coach Jones operates in-game
[39:15] - Why Yale has a difficult time scheduling games against big-time opponents
[41:50] - Yale's team this season, perhaps the best Coach Jones has ever had
[44:04] - The unique aspects of coaching at Yale specifically
[45:58] - Reflecting on one of his favorite memories as Yale's coach
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!

Feb 7, 2024 • 51min
#161 - DAVID SCHWARTZ
David is the CTO of Ripple and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger. Prior to Ripple, David spent over a decade as the CTO of WebMaster Incorporated where he developed encrypted cloud storage and enterprise messaging systems. David is also known by his internet pseudonym “JoelKatz”. Follow him on X @JoelKatz.
[0:16] - What sparked David’s interest in distributed systems
[3:28] - How David discovered Bitcoin
[6:34] - The core technical innovations of Bitcoin
[8:56] - Ripple’s opportunity in payments
[12:45] - Misconceptions related to Ripple
[19:03] - Rebuilding SWIFT from a blank slate
[22:37] - Why David believes the future of crypto favors niches
[28:36] - The importance of blockchain interoperability
[31:47] - David’s views on tokenization and real world assets (RWAs)
[35:12] - Preventing centralized actors from co-opting blockchains
[42:26] - Balancing censorship resistance with institutional adoption
[47:50] - What excites David about the future of Ripple
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!

Jan 25, 2024 • 54min
#160 - CAITLIN LONG
Caitlin is the Founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, a Wyoming-based bank which serves as a custodian of digital assets and a compliant bridge to the US Dollar system. Caitlin previously worked on Wall Street for 22 years between Morgan Stanley, Solomon Brothers, and Credit Suisse. She has been involved with Bitcoin since 2012 and more recently has helped her home state of Wyoming enact more than 20 blockchain-enabling laws to better define digital assets within the jurisdiction. Follow Caitlin on X @CaitlinLong_
[0:16] - How Caitlin first discovered Bitcoin and why she was interested
[11:50] - Caitlin’s perspective on the current dichotomy between crypto and traditional finance
[17:37] - Defining money, bitcoin as a medium of exchange
[30:27] - Bitcoin as a continuous settlement system and “hard” monetary asset
[42:02] - Forecasting a gradual, global transition from fiat money
[48:27] - The battle between states’ rights and the Federal Reserve
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!

Jan 18, 2024 • 1h 11min
#159 - NOOR SIDDIQUI
Noor is the Founder and CEO of Orchid, a reproductive technology company measuring genetic predisposition to disease for the purpose of helping people have healthier babies. Prior to creating Orchid, Noor was a Thiel Fellow and an AI researcher at Stanford where she worked on applications of deep learning to genomics. Follow Noor on X @noor_siddiquiz_ and Orchid @OrchidInc.
[0:16] - The personal motivation behind Noor’s interest in genomics
[11:31] - Embracing “weirdness” as a child
[15:42] - The Thiel Fellowship and Stanford experiences
[22:30] - How and why Noor got interested in crypto in college
[24:30] - How Orchid measures risks at the embryo stage
[28:12] - Using Orchid’s data to make informed health decisions
[38:47] - Comparing Orchid to other existing embryo screening tech
[42:52] - How Orchid accomplished a 100x technological improvement
[51:25] - Current costs of embryo screening and paths to lower them
[57:55] - Noor’s thoughts on the future of genomic technologies
[1:03:47] - How reproductive tech relates to human longevity
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!

Jan 11, 2024 • 1h 29min
#158 - SHREYAS DOSHI
Experienced product leader Shreyas Doshi shares insights on time management, online teaching success, writing benefits, brilliance curse, luck vs. talent, stack ranking for prioritization, and using mental simulations for decision-making.

Dec 13, 2023 • 1h 25min
#157 - VITALIK BUTERIN
Vitalik Buterin, inventor and co-founder of Ethereum, discusses AI, techno-optimism, and the role of crypto in countering surveillance. They explore the dangers of rushing technology like AI, the importance of decentralized solutions, and the potential risks AI poses to humanity. They also touch upon crypto's role in privacy, defense, and fighting misinformation.

Dec 6, 2023 • 55min
#156 - JAKE ADLER
Jake is a Thiel Fellow and Founder of Pilgrim Labs where he is working on building biotechnology for warfighters. Previously, he was in high school (Jake is 19). Follow him on X @jakeradler.
[0:16] - How Jake’s got into human-computer interfaces
[7:52] - Transitioning a sleep wearables product into a biological interface for warfighters
[15:16] - The current state of the consumer wearables market for sleep improvement
[20:13] - The neurotech wearables landscape
[24:09] - Pilgrim’s mission to merge wearable data with adaptive solutions for soldiers
[29:55] - Why Jake chose to build products for human soldiers rather than machine warfare
[36:23] - Becoming a Thiel fellow and lessons learned from the program
[43:02] - Jake’s focus and mentality for building Pilgrim Labs
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!

Nov 29, 2023 • 58min
#155 - JIM O'SHAUGHNESSY
Jim is a legendary investor and pioneer in the field of quantitative investing. He is the Founder & CEO of O’Shaughnessy Ventures (OSV). Prior to OSV, Jim was the Founder & CEO of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management (acquired by Franklin Templeton). He also hosts the Infinite Loops podcast and serves as the Executive Chair of the board of directors at Stability AI. Follow Jim on X @jposhaughnessy.
[0:16] - How Jim kickstarted his career with “Invest Like the Best”
[7:11] - Learning from mistakes
[14:36] - Lessons learned from refusing a large acquisition offer
[25:09] - How Jim listens to and learns from young people
[31:28] - How O'Shaughnessy Fellowships empower techno-optimists
[42:31] - Jim’s approach to investing in technological frontiers
[51:17] - The career impact of starting a family at a young age
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!

Nov 22, 2023 • 55min
#154 - JULES URBACH
Jules is the CEO of OTOY, the definitive cloud graphics company, and founder of Render Network (RNDR), which facilitates distributed GPU rendering on the blockchain. He is a pioneer in computer graphics, streaming, and 3D rendering with more than 25 years of industry experience. Follow Jules on X @JulesUrbach.
[0:16] - How Dragon's Lair and Star Trek sparked Jules’ career in computer graphics and rendering
[7:15] - The potential for holograms and AR
[14:43] - Why Jules remains hard at work in the same space he's been obsessed with since his teenage years
[21:51] - Jules’ perspective on how the metaverse will manifest
[33:36] - The importance of digital provenance in a generated future
[40:14] - How the Render Network functions and enables an efficient, decentralized market for GPUs
[49:24] - The future of RNDR
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!

Nov 15, 2023 • 59min
#153 - ANA LORENA FABREGA
Ana Lorena Fabrega, an edupreneur, discusses the flaws in traditional education systems, advocating for personalized learning approaches. She explores the evolution of education, the importance of making mistakes for learning, and the role of technology in improving education. Ana also talks about Synthesis' game-based approach to education and the use of AI tutors to augment kids' learning.


