“I actually think happiness is the absence of suffering. It comes from peace. That comes from being careful about desire, judgment, and reaction.”
— Naval Ravikant
When a guest is nominated for “Podcast of the Year,” that’s a good reason to bring them back for more. That’s why Naval Ravikant (@naval) is here for round two, and this time, he’s answering your most-requested questions. For those of you who missed his first episode, Naval is the CEO and a co-founder of AngelList. He has invested in more than 100 companies, including many “unicorn” mega-successes. He is the person I call most for start-up advice.
Most important, he has developed a diverse set of skills and rules-of-thumb that can applied nearly everywhere . Even if you have no interest in startups or investing, this is well worth your time. In this episode, Naval answers your top-10 questions from Reddit, including such topics as:
- Artificial intelligence
- Most-recommended books
- Happiness hacks
- Conflict resolution
- Start-up tips
- And much, much more…
Enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Want to hear another podcast from a world-class philosopher/entrepreneur? Listen to my conversation with Derek Sivers, who sold a company for $28 million and gave all of it to music education. In this episode, we discuss developing confidence, finding happiness, and saying “no” to damaging trappings and temptations.
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: In terms of making or saving money, what have been your most valuable lessons learned? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It and Live Your Truth by Kamal Ravikant
- Distress by Greg Egan
- The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson
- Genome, The Red Queen, The Rational Optimist, The Origins Of Virtue and The Evolution Of Everything by Matt Ridley
- The Essential Writings by Mahatma Gandhi and Judith Brown
- The Tao of Philosophy by Alan Watts
- Illusions by Richard Bach
- The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
- Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track by Richard Feynman
- The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
- Falling into Grace by Adyashanti
- God’s Debris and How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
- The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
- Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel M. Ingram
- Total Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
- The Lessons of History by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
- Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart by Gordon Livingston
- The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
- Do you need help with your US visa? Check out Unshackled
Show Notes
- Thoughts on the AI industry [6:41]
- The future of work [9:26]
- An overview of how Naval would change the education system [14:51]
- How Naval Ravikant manages conflict and anger [22:05]
- What insight about life seems obvious to you but not to others [23:47]
- The books on Naval Ravikant’s Kindle [29:46]
- What do you do on a regular basis to make your life more efficient? [38:43]
- More book recommendations [40:55]
- Money making questions and startup success [43:08]
- Advice for ambitious 18-year-olds who want to be successful in startups and investing [46:34]
- Advice for a talented software engineer [48:52]
- Advice for engineers seeking US visas [51:02]
- How do you protect your own time while not offending people or damaging relationships [51:45]
- The best lesson learned from investing [57:25]