When I hear the words, Renaissance Man, I think back to learning about Leonardo Da Vinci in history class. A man whose countless curiosities led him down the path of countless disciplines.
Lately, I’ve devoured every piece of content – podcasts, articles and tweets – from Balaji. I can’t help but describe him in the same light as Da Vinci. A modern day Renaissance Man.
In case you happen to live under a rock, here’s a quick snapshot of his resume:
Angel investor. Serial tech founder. Former CTO of Coinbase. General Partner at a16z. Futurist. Author of The Network State.
But that’s not why I admire Balaji’s work. If you spend 5 minutes listening to the guy speak, you’ll realize that he’s a well-researched, articulate, independent thinker. And, he’s funny (at least I think so).
I’ve curated 6 of Balaji’s most thought-provoking reads. If you’re fascinated by leveraging technology to sculpt a better future, this post is for you.
Software Is Reorganizing the World (November 22, 2013)
Excerpt: ”the SoundCloud engineer on a laptop in Berlin builds a deeper relationship with the VC in New York than the nearby Bavarian bank.”
Takeaway: For our ancestors, America was the ultimate destination. The promised land of opportunity. Today, those seeking opportunity might not have to shift geographies at all…
Technology is continuing to make location less relevant. Millions of people are finding their people online (shoutout WOP Cohort 9), smartphones are making everything available at our fingertips, and travel is increasingly efficient (just don’t fly TAP Air).
We’re firmly in the remote work era. Balaji takes it a step further and introduces the idea of creating a new nation of emigrants. This piece marks the early days of The Network State.
2020: The Year the Internet Age Truly Began (May 23, 2020)
Excerpt: “It used to be that the physical world was primary, and the internet was the mirror. Now that has flipped.”
Takeaway: This piece is a dialogue between Balaji and an Israeli Politician discussing two blind spots that COVID revealed.
We assumed the Internet changed everything, but never noticed how education, healthcare and government were largely unaffected by it. Then, COVID happened.
Teachers had to adapt to online learning, parents adopted homeschooling
Digital health services skyrocketed, medicines delivered to homes
Outdated government processes became online-first. Fighting a ticket on Zoom, for example, is now the norm.
“Nothing against sports, fashion, or video games, but we've been overallocated on leisure and underallocated on the things that matter, like health.” I argued a similar point in Sober Socializing – how more information is leading us to making more conscious decisions about our health.
The Purpose of Technology (July 19, 2020)
Excerpt: “The point of doing a startup after all is to build something you can't buy.”
Takeaway: YouTube democratized media. Refrigerators made our food last longer. WhatsApp increased communication. Technology is how we describe things that help us do more.
Lifespans are finite. Someday, the music stops. That’s why we’re always looking for ways to do things faster – to not waste time.
But what if we could extend lifespans? Or eliminate death altogether? Would saving time still be as valuable?
Balaji argues that “if the proximate purpose of technology is to reduce scarcity, the ultimate purpose of technology is to eliminate mortality.”
Most of us aren’t aware of the life-changing technologies that exist today, like the procedures proven to reverse aging (yes, really).
Why? Because technologists are so obsessed with building that they forget don’t care about telling the world.
We need to start evangelizing technological progress. By getting people on the hype train, we motivate everything we do with a singular purpose – eliminating mortality.
Balaji hit us with a one-two punch here:
Instead of looking for faster band-aid solutions, attack the root-cause: human mortality. Which begs the question: can it really be solved?
He’s right. Hardcore technologists aren’t the ones on Twitter or TikTok raving about their breakthroughs. We need to find a way to get people aware and on board with tackling big problems.
The Ascending World (March 29, 2021)
Excerpt: “The recent introduction of billions of smartphones to places like India and Nigeria affords a ‘mobile telescope’, a way to evaluate talent worldwide.”
Takeaway: Balaji opens with the story of Ramanujan, a mathematician from India who was almost never discovered due to his poor upbringing. By stroke of luck, a mathematician named GH Hardy received his letter (the OG cold email), and flew him out to London to meet.
The existence of Ramanujan changed the face of mathematical research, showing how we ignored the greatest talent due to a lack of a mechanism for discovery. There are tons of examples of this level of greatness outside the Western world that simply don’t get enough attention. This will change thanks to the accessibility the Internet and smartphones provide.
Therefore, the terms “developed country” and “developing country” are obsolete, because they imply an end state. In other words, is the US is done growing because it’s characterized as a developed country? The new paradigm is about “ascending” and “descending” parts of the world.
I’ll probably raise some eyebrows with this opinion, but two cities come to mind immediately: Miami and San Francisco.
Despite parts of the city that are literally declining with rising sea levels, Miami’s got a lot going for it. It’s quickly becoming the crypto capital of America, attracting top talent to its workforce and sending property values soaring.
San Francisco, once the golden child of the US, is almost unanimously described as a shit-show (no pun intended). The city is plagued by homelessness, crime and a high cost of living.
Bitcoin is Civilization (May 14, 2021)
Excerpt: “If you care about free speech and privacy, if you care about free trade and rule-of-law, if you care about provable fairness and economic stability, then you should care about cryptocurrency.”
Takeaway: In this article, Balaji gives us 10 reasons why Bitcoin (and, more broadly, cryptocurrency) is a tool for Western values.
In places with economic instability and authoritarianism, Bitcoin has been used by activists (Venezuela to fight inflation, Alexei Navalny in Russia).
Prominent investors (Druckenmiller, Paul Tudor Jones) are using Bitcoin as an inflation hedge – similar to gold in the Weimar Republic.
Decentralization guarantees access and fairness. DeFi protocols make the crypto banking system accessible without gatekeepers.
With no central authority to moderate content, crypto’s decentralized social networks protect free speech.
Civil asset forfeiture is a controversial practice in which the police can seize your property without conviction or charging for a crime (WTF). Crypto provides a solution – it’s harder to seize digital property.
Crypto, because of its inherent encryption, protects online privacy.
Crypto is experiencing hypergrowth. “It’s the next Silicon Valley.”
Smart contracts provide surety and commitment. Contract enforcement is part of the protocol.
Crypto can be a force for unity. Regardless of your political views or your geography, everyone in the same crypto network prospers or fails together.
International code-based order. Because the blockchain executes the same way regardless of territory, crypto will facilitate cross-border trade.
I’m not sure numbers 2 and 7 hold up in Q4 2022 (thanks, SBF), but compelling nonetheless.
The Network State (July 4, 2022 – well played)
Excerpt: “In a Nation State, geography is primary, belief is secondary. In a Network State, belief is primary, geography is secondary.”
Takeaway: And finally, Balaji’s magnum opus. The culmination of the ideas he’s shared for years, distilled into v1 of an online book.
Why reform a country when it’s easier to build one from scratch? Something that doesn’t rely on what already exists, because that leads to fighting over resources like land.
There are 3 conventional ways to start a country: election, revolution and war. Unfortunately, they all suck.
There are 3 unconventional ways to start a country: micronations, seasteading and space colonization. Unfortunately, these are largely unproven or flat-out foolish.
Balaji proposes that the best way to do it is through Network States.
A network state starts with One Commandment – a unifying idea that motivates people to build something bigger than themselves.
A vegan society, for example, would outlaw all animal-based goods in favor of awful tasting foods (jk, vegan friends).
The state would begin as an online startup society, developing its own cryptocurrencies and laws enforced through smart contracts. Members would hang out first in VR settings, but migrate to IRL once the society has crowdfunded the purchase of physical land.
It’s important to note that thanks to the hyper-connectivity of the Internet, the physical land does not need to be contiguous.
Once the society has reached a significant size, it may seek diplomatic recognition from the UN to become a full-on Network State.
Welcome to the future.
Renaissance Man