The guest
Kevin Rose: Tech entrepreneur, founder of Digg, and venture capitalist at True Ventures who co-hosts the recurring 'Random Show' with Tim Ferriss. Here he brings a crypto-investor's perspective on Bitcoin and shares personal habits from a hard pandemic year.
What this episode covers
Recorded January 8, 2021, this Random Show episode opens with an extended discussion of Bitcoin crossing $40,000, comparing the 2017 boom-and-bust to the current run-up, the role of institutional adoption, dollar-cost-averaging strategy, and risks like the Tether stablecoin controversy. The conversation broadens into portfolio philosophy, three-year investment horizons, and thematic bets on e-commerce and audio (Amazon, Shopify, Spotify, Square, PayPal). The hosts then pivot to 2021 resolutions, energy management over time management, deliberate reading rules, and deep dives into nature awareness and lucid dreaming. Kevin shares candidly about pandemic drinking, depression, couples therapy, and non-violent communication, while both close with a long list of documentary, book, and product recommendations.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Tesla vehicles
Tesla
“they're fantastic vehicles they're they're my favorite”
“i have two teslas they're fantastic vehicles they're they're my favorite i i have a truck on order i can't wait to get that thing”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Simplifi (simplifimoney.com)
Quicken
“it is actually a fantastic product”
“it's called simplify so it's simplify money.com s-i-m-p-l-i-f-i ... it is actually a fantastic product”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Personal Capital
Personal Capital
“personal capital though is the best one that's out there”
“personal capital though is the best one that's out there ... in terms of the interface the holistic interface to bring together all the accounts”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Wealthfront
Wealthfront
“i use wealthfront for that”
“i use wealthfront for that but personal capital is in terms of the interface the holistic interface to bring together all the accounts”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Spotify
Spotify
“it's a great product too i love the technology”
“so yeah it's it's i i'm a fan on that front as well ... it's a great product too i love the technology”— Kevin Rose
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Of Wolves and Men
Barry Lopez
“it is probably the best non-fiction book i've read in the last five years ... unbelievably good”
“it is probably the best non-fiction book i've read in the last five years it is so cool unbelievably good”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Onlypult
Onlypult
“i've used only pult and it's it's really kind of a”
“i use an app called only pult ... allows me to post to instagram without having the application on my phone”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
The Tail End (essay by Tim Urban)
Wait But Why
“if you haven't read the tail end ... read it re-read it i reread it regularly”
“everybody listening to this if you haven't read the tail end by tim merbin read it re-read it i reread it regularly”— Kevin Rose
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming
Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold
“it's an awesome book ... an incredibly detailed uh tactical how-to book”
“it's called exploring the world of lucid dreaming by stephen labiersch ... and howard ryangold this is an incredibly detailed uh tactical how-to book”— Tim Ferriss
MediaRecommended
Nonviolent Communication (audio course)
Marshall Rosenberg
“there is an audio course that is quite good”
“there is an audio course that is quite good ... if people wanted to study non-violent communication uh i think marshall”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Wyld CBN Sleep Gummies
Wyld
“they make fantastic ... it really makes you sleep like it is”
“a company called wild wild i they make fantastic ... wild makes a sleeping gummy ... it really makes you sleep”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Hinoki Oil (Hinoki Lab)
Hinoki Lab
“i found a fantastic manufacturer ... high quality like cold pressed hanoki oil”
“i found a fantastic manufacturer in japan of high quality like cold pressed hanoki oil ... these oils they smell so”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
My Octopus Teacher
Netflix
“i thought was great ... fantastic beautifully shot”
“my octopus teacher i thought was great was great yes second that cool fantastic beautifully shot netflix”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
The Last Dance
ESPN
“it was fantastic ... one of the best mini series i've seen in years”
“i liked uh the last dance the michael jordan series ... it was fantastic ... one of the best mini series i've seen in years”— Tim Ferriss
MediaRecommended
Crip Camp
Netflix
“it's really outstanding so that's one i would recommend”
“it's called crip camp ... it's really outstanding so that's one i would recommend ... it just puts a lot in perspective”— Tim Ferriss
MediaRecommended
Hamilton's Pharmacopeia
Vice
“it's a really well done series”
“hamilton's pharmacopoeia just has a season three coming out now ... it's uh it's a really well done series”— Tim Ferriss
MediaRecommended
Dosed
“which does a good uh showcase”
“there's a documentary called dost d-o-s-e-d ... which does a good uh showcase ... provides an exploration of specifically opioid addiction”— Tim Ferriss
MediaRecommended
Soul
Pixar
“i wholeheartedly recommend people check that out ... it's fantastic”
“soul soul yes excellent yes i i wholeheartedly recommend people check that out yeah i mean that's really good it's fantastic”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
The Mandalorian
Disney
“fantastic show ... that's a great show”
“mandalorian john favreau congratulations everybody involved fantastic show yeah that's a great show”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Maui Nui Venison (jerky, bars, leg medallions, bone broth)
Maui Nui Venison
“i highly recommend ... it's fantastic ... the leg medallions are just incredible ... it's the most nutrient dense meat you can possibly imagine”
“i highly recommend uh the uh the jerky it's fantastic ... the leg medallions are just incredible ... bone broth is exceptional”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Magic Spoon cereal
Magic Spoon
“i have an entire pantry full of their stuff ... my favorite is the chocolate i really like the chocolate flavor”
“magic spoon i mean i have an entire pantry full of their stuff ... my favorite is the chocolate i really like the chocolate flavor”— Tim Ferriss
The guest's own work
ProductBy the guest
Blue Bottle Coffee
Blue Bottle Coffee
“well blue bottle did follow there you go both of us that's right blue blue bottle did fantastically well”— Tim Ferriss
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Bitcoin
“anyone who has ever bought bitcoin uh to the unexamined or unexamining eye looks like a complete genius right”— Tim Ferriss
ProductReferenced
GLD (SPDR Gold Shares ETF)
State Street
“gold school's picked up a bit but not not a ton no no not that much and i'm referring to gld specifically for people interested”— Tim Ferriss
ProductReferenced
USDC
Circle
“so if you hold uh usdc is what it's called the coin and you hold one of those coins it is worth one dollar”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Cash App
Square
“there's a lot of people buying on square cash app there's you know it's much easier to purchase bitcoin than it has ever been”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Plaid
Plaid
“plaid is it powers all of this on the back end so plaid is a company you may or may not have heard of it was one that we invested in”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Huperzine A
“hooper's in a is a supplement you can get it anywhere certainly online which acts as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor”— Tim Ferriss
ProductReferenced
Oura Ring
Oura
“i wear the aura ring and i just got the the fitbit to try out the new sleep data on here and um so i'm tracking”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Fitbit
Fitbit
“i just got the the fitbit to try out the new sleep data on here and um so i'm tracking yeah see how it's doing”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Disney+
Disney
“i twisted my friend's arm into signing up for disney plus to watch seoul because it's the only place that i believe you can watch it”— Kevin Rose
BookReferenced
Principles
Ray Dalio
“you know how ray dalio put out his principles book like yeah andy needs his version of that”— Kevin Rose
Big reveals from this episode
- Tim admits he is not a hardcore crypto guy and held his Bitcoin mostly out of 'ignorance and laziness,' having entered crypto right before the 2017 crash as a hedge against his pending IPOs like Uber.
- Kevin flags the Tether stablecoin investigations, explaining allegations that Tether may be issuing coins and buying Bitcoin without sufficient USD reserves, which could trigger a market 'show' and stall ETF approvals.
- Kevin says he allocates up to 5% of his overall portfolio to crypto as super-high-risk money, and Tim endorses dollar-cost-averaging a fixed amount over six months.
- Tim reveals his key 2020 lesson: a three-year time horizon is his comfortable zone for publicly traded equities because he can't predict three-to-six months and five-plus years is too uncertain.
- Tim declares he is tired of thinking about finance and plans to do effectively zero investing in 2021, prioritizing energy management over time management.
- Tim recounts using lucid dreaming in his final high school wrestling season to 'train' with gold medalist John Smith in his dreams, which carried over to real practices.
- Kevin candidly shares that COVID caused him to drink more, feel depressed, and that walking and sauna became his two highest-impact coping practices, along with couples therapy.
- Tim chooses 'mischievous' / 'coyote energy' as his word for the year, wanting to post Rorschach-test content and resist becoming a caricature shaped by social-media feedback.
Worth remembering
- Tim notes that if he had sold his crypto after getting in heavily right before the 2017 crash, he would have taken a massive loss.
- Kevin says he bought early Bitcoin around $10-12 per coin and used to run his own mining rigs before pools existed.
- Kevin describes his old cold-storage method: buying a dedicated Apple laptop, loading wallets, powering it down, and locking it in a safe.
- Kevin explains that Plaid powers financial dashboards by securing credentials and issuing tokens so apps like Personal Capital never see your login info.
- Tim says the average age of death for males in his family is about 85, which frames how he calculates how many great books he has left to read.
- Tim shares a wildlife biologist's tip to start nature identification with trees, since learning 8-12 local trees lets you identify about 90% of what you see.
- Lucid dreaming, defined as realizing you're dreaming while dreaming, can be verified in sleep labs via pre-agreed eye movements detected during REM.
- Kevin's drinking framework: no more than two drinks and never two nights in a row, plus asking 'who is getting nourished right now?'
- Kevin recommends Hinoki wood oil, tied to Japanese forest bathing, which he adds to his sauna; it comes from one of Japan's seven sacred trees.
- Maui Nui Venison is wild-harvested from invasive axis deer in Hawaii, hunted at night with infrared and head shots to minimize animal stress and ecological damage.
More from Tim Ferriss
All 35816 recommended