The guest
Kevin Rose: Tech investor, entrepreneur, and host of his own podcast; co-host of The Random Show with Tim Ferriss. Founder of Digg and a longtime early-stage tech investor and product enthusiast.
What this episode covers
In this Random Show episode recorded during COVID-19, Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose catch up from rural lockdown about the fundamentals that keep them sane: rural hiking with weighted GoRuck rucks, smoking meat on Traeger grills, intermittent fasting, and HRV breathwork. They marvel at the newly released GPT-3 and debate whether AI job displacement makes universal basic income inevitable. Kevin describes diving back into Zen practice through Henry Shukman and his book One Blade of Grass, while Tim explains why traumatic brain injury fears mean no price would get him in a ring with Mike Tyson, who is returning to face Roy Jones Jr. They close with a candid look at their COVID-era investing thinking (Amazon, Shopify, Square, Tesla, TSM, gold) and Kevin's hobby of collecting the world's top-rated beers.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
GoRuck Rucksack
GoRuck
“it's been awesome”
“have you ever seen a GoRuck rucksack? They are backpacks designed by the CEO and founder, who's former special forces, to carry customized weight plates”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
LimitekTic Permethrin Pants
Insect Shield
“super important if you're anywhere certainly on the East Coast”
“I wear a LimitekTic pants. They have permethrin in the fabric, so you avoid ticks, which is super important”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Muck Boots
Muck Boot Company
“muck boots are amazing”
“For people who are looking for some bushwhacking boots, muck boots are amazing. Sort of knee-high boots that you can wear through mud”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Wealthfront
Wealthfront
“go to Wealthfront, get a bunch of index funds, play it safe”
“don't buy any of individual stocks. Buy Wealthfront, go to Wealthfront, get a bunch of index funds, play it safe”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Traeger Timberline 870
Traeger
“has been a fantastic addition this summer”
“I got a Traeger barbecue, which has been a fantastic addition this summer... The Timberline 870? I got the Timberline 870”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Maui Nui Venison
Maui Nui Venison
“the meat is so incredibly good”
“I invested in a venison harvesting operation in Hawaii called the Maui Nui venison... the meat is so incredibly good”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Crowd Cow
Crowd Cow
“some of the best wagyu that I have ever had”
“have you used Crowd Cow at all? they get in some of the best wagyu that I have ever had, A5 certified with all the holograms”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Bel Campo Meat
Bel Campo
“Bel Campo has incredible ribeyes”
“Another one that is close to our long ago home in NorCal is Bel Campo... Bel Campo has incredible ribeyes”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
One Blade of Grass
Henry Shukman
“Fantastic book... I highly recommend it to anyone listening”
“he had a book that he recently published called one blade of grass by Henry Shukman... Fantastic book... I highly recommend it to anyone listening”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
Henry Shukman Zen koan meditations (Waking Up app)
Henry Shukman
“I highly recommend listening to on the Waking Up app. They're fantastic”
“coupled with this koan training which I highly recommend listening to on the Waking Up app. They're fantastic by Henry”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
The Surrender Experiment / Surrender course
Michael Singer
“still interested to know if you recommend the Surrender Course... I do”
“still interested to know if you recommend the Surrender Course by I do. Michael Singer”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
onX Hunt app
onX
“it's an extremely extremely cool app”
“introduced me to something called the onX hunting app... it's an extremely extremely cool app... really really enjoying”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Pique Tea (Puerh)
Pique
“it's fantastic”
“You remember when you gave me some Pique tea... I've actually been having almost every morning for the last while and it's fantastic”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
SR-71 (beer)
Toppling Goliath
“these are so cool. They're like culty little fun beers”
“This is called the SR-71 by the same manufacturer. This one's ranked like I think number 12... these are so cool”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Peloton Bike
Peloton
“I love the bike... it's a fantastic product”
“I do have one bike and I love the bike... it's a fantastic product. The churn is effectively zero”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Square Cash App
Square
“Square Cash is a fantastic app”
“Square, I love how they diversified their product offering. Square Cash is a fantastic app”— Kevin Rose
The guest's own work
BookBy the guestISBN verified
The 4-Hour Body
Tim Ferriss
“This was probably 2008 or 2009 when I was working on the 4-Hour Body, and I thought, I can work with a weight vest”— Tim Ferriss
MediaBy the guest
Trial by Fire (horseback archery TV pilot)
Tim Ferriss
“If you go on YouTube and search Trial by Fire, you might be able to find it. It's wild”— Tim Ferriss
MediaBy the guest
Tim Ferriss Show interview with Hugh Jackman
Tim Ferriss
“really loved doing the Hugh Jackman interview... it was amazing... it was just a dream come true”— Tim Ferriss
MediaBy the guest
Kevin Rose Show interview with Henry Shukman
Kevin Rose
“if people want to check out that Zen interview I did on my podcast with Henry. I thought it was quite good”— Kevin Rose
MediaBy the guest
Five Bullet Friday
Tim Ferriss
“one thing that I am still doing that I'm still really enjoying is Five Bullet Friday, which is the newsletter... It's free”— Tim Ferriss
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Waking Up app
Sam Harris
“Health, I have Waking Up, I have the Strong app, Dexcom, Aura, Less, Zero”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Strong app
Strong
“Health, I have Waking Up, I have the Strong app, Dexcom, Aura, Less, Zero”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Dexcom
Dexcom
“Health, I have Waking Up, I have the Strong app, Dexcom, Aura, Less, Zero”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Oura Ring
Oura
“Health, I have Waking Up, I have the Strong app, Dexcom, Aura, Less, Zero”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Zero (fasting app)
Zero
“Health, I have Waking Up, I have the Strong app, Dexcom, Aura, Less, Zero”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Lumosity
Lumosity
“for learning, all the language learning apps that I want to go back to and Lumosity and Masterclass”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
MasterClass
MasterClass
“for learning, all the language learning apps that I want to go back to and Lumosity and Masterclass”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Personal Capital
Personal Capital
“finance stuff, I have one screen of that, which is personal capital, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Wealthfront”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
ButcherBox
ButcherBox
“I have used ButcherBox, which might be similar... I have pork and beef from them as well”— Tim Ferriss
ProductReferenced
Breathing app
“I'm using one called breath or actually it has a very generic name... It's just called breathing. And it's a circle that opens and contracts”— Tim Ferriss
BookReferencedISBN verified
Spark
John J. Ratey
“There's a book called Spark that gets into this. But, if you want to get out of your monkey mind”— Tim Ferriss
ProductReferenced
Laird Superfood Creamer (Unsweetened)
Laird Superfood
“I don't know if you've ever tried Laird Superfood Creamer, the unsweetened stuff. It's basically powdered MCT oil”— Tim Ferriss
ProductReferenced
Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS / Kentucky Brunch Stout)
Toppling Goliath
“It's called the Kentucky Breakfast Stout and it is from Toppling Goliath... the number one rated beer in the world”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
King Julius (Julius IPA)
Tree House Brewing
“The number one ranked IPA... is called the Julius by a brand called Tree House... the number one or number two ranked IPA in the world”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Pliny the Elder
Russian River Brewing
“you can get Pliny the Elder on there. This one I got on there, too”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
iShares Gold Trust (IAU)
iShares / BlackRock
“I actually buy the iShares Gold Trust, which is IAU. And I like that... their expense ratios are higher”— Kevin Rose
Big reveals from this episode
- Both Tim and Kevin independently deleted all social apps from their phones (Tim four weeks earlier, Kevin a couple months prior) and report dramatically improved energy, lower anxiety, and better signal-to-noise.
- GPT-3's release prompts Kevin to take universal basic income seriously, predicting AI will eliminate vast numbers of technical and creative jobs sooner than people expect.
- Tim says no amount of money, even $200 million, would get him in a ring with Mike Tyson because of his fear of traumatic brain injury from prior concussions.
- Tim reveals he decided around his 43rd birthday to take a 6-to-12-month break from all investing decisions because money thinking makes him anxious rather than happy.
- Tim discloses his highest-conviction COVID stock bets were Amazon (around $2,000) and Shopify (around $380), bought in April 2020.
- Tim clarifies he held roughly 14x more in cash reserves than he put into stocks (about 2% of liquid net worth per position vs ~30% cash).
- Kevin shares he buys and tastes the world's top-10 Beer Advocate-rated beers as an affordable alternative to expensive wine collecting.
Worth remembering
- Tyson's return is an eight-round exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. on September 12th; Tyson is 5'10" 240 lbs vs Jones at 193 lbs.
- Tyson pledged 100% of the fight proceeds to charity, saying that's no longer where his happiness comes from.
- Tim invested about a year earlier in Maui Nui Venison, a Hawaii operation harvesting invasive axis deer; Peter Thiel is also a fan.
- Tim does twice-daily 20-minute HRV breathwork sessions, working with a PhD using a 3.7-second inhale and 6.3-second exhale to activate his parasympathetic nervous system.
- A clinician described Tim as 'cardiac hyperreactive'; small triggers spike his heart rate to 80-90 bpm and keep it elevated for six to seven hours.
- The number-one rated beer in the world is Kentucky Breakfast (Brunch) Stout by Toppling Goliath, hand-numbered and aged like wine.
- The King Julius IPA by Tree House, a top-ranked IPA, sells as a four-pack for about $39.99 on mybeercollectibles.com.
- Kevin highlights TSM (TSMC) as an investment because Apple and AMD both rely on it for next-gen chips, including PlayStation and Xbox processors.
- Kevin buys gold via the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) over GLD due to lower expense ratios and gold stored in Switzerland and the UK.
- Kevin recounts a young Robinhood trader who took his own life after misreading a leveraged options position showing a roughly $100,000 negative balance.
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