John Coogan is the co-founder of Soylent and Lucy, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Founders Fund, and a YouTuber and podcaster. We talk about AI, pioneering vs. wire-heading, identifying problems to solve, the need for more risk takers, satisfying curiosity, techno optimism, YouTube and podcasting, and his next venture.

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(00:53) “Benevolent murdering” AI, wire heads vs. pioneers (06:06) Interest in starting his own “pioneering” company (08:37) Make something people want, solve problems for yourself (12:51) Solve the biggest problem in your area of competency (14:49) Authenticity; know the story you’re telling & believe it (21:39) Ozempic for risk tasking (25:09) Take the easy roads off the table, redirect entrepreneurial energy (31:41) Comfort is uncomfortable (34:33) Must satisfy curiosity (38:12) Techno optimism, painting a more positive future (46:13) Capitalism 2.0 (47:58) YouTube, profiles, & podcasting (57:36) Going from video essay to documentary (59:39) His new venture (01:05:31) What do you actually want?

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John’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/johncoogan

John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnCooganPlus

John’s Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2JcCU31J07hCMxw99RWVRk

Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R

Spencer’s Blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com