In this episode of Stuck@Om, I’m talking with an old friend, Maria Konnikova. Maria holds a Ph.D. in Psychology, is the author of multiple best-selling books, and is also a professional poker player. We immediately dive into her book “The Confidence Game” about how con artists convince people of unbelievable things. We dissect how movies and TV glamorize the con artists while placing blame on those who were conned. We even touch on our shared love for Sherlock Holmes.    We enter into a...

In this episode of Stuck@Om, I chat with my friend Ophir Gottlieb, the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Capital Market Laboratories. We talk about the importance of proper perspective. Ophir likens perspective to a superpower — with it, we are the best investors in the world. Yet the increase of access to and influx of information has only served to create more confusion. Ophir emphasizes that we are totally overwhelmed with data and underwhelmed with information.   With that proliferation comes...

In this episode of Stuck@Om, I’m joined by world-renowned economist, professor, and best-selling author Jeffrey Sachs. A central topic in our conversation is Jeff’s newest book The Age of Globalization and the impact of digitalization on our culture and economy.    We dissect how COVID-19 has clearly changed office culture — and how it won’t be the same after this. The Coronavirus has taught us that 80% of our work can be done anywhere. We are recognizing that we can function with a...

In this episode of Stuck@Om my friend Barry Ritholtz joins me to discuss our current existence. Barry is the CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, an avid blogger, and prolific author. His voice is well-recognized in the stock market and investing universe. Barry and I have a conversation about how the pandemic has served to amplify the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. We acknowledge it can be a catalyst for necessary change on a governmental level.   Barry and I also chat about the...

In this episode of Stuck@Om I chat with one of the great human beings on the planet — Nicholas Thompson. He’s the Editor in Chief at WIRED Magazine, an avid marathoner, and has penned one of the best essays I’ve read in recent times. In this conversation, Nick and I talk about how media outlets have to shift how they write stories to generate ‘clicks’ over ‘subscriptions’.    We also converse about the reputation of the media and how it hasn’t improved during the Coronavirus crisis. We...

In this episode of Stuck@Om, Herman Narula joins me in a conversation about our future. Herman is the CEO of Improbable — a company that is obsessed with multiplayer games. They build the underlying technology to support new gaming experiences. He strives to be able to create a “virtual environment that is as representative and complex as the real world.” A virtual world that improves upon the real word — that doesn’t replicate it.    With the uncertainty of the future of travel, the...

In this episode of Stuck@Om my friend Scott Belsky—CPO of Adobe and founder of Behance—joins me to have a conversation about the state of our world. He shares how his family is keeping safe and what they’re doing to keep their children occupied.   We chat about our love/hate relationship with Twitter, and how their engagement-driven algorithm is being overwhelmingly driven by the fear-filled masses. An algorithm that curates topics you’re passionate about would better suit them. We worry...

In this episode of Stuck@Om my good friend Matt Mullenweg joins me. Matt is the CEO of Automattic and a founding member of WordPress. Matt usually travels extensively for work — he logged over 500,000 miles in the air last year — but is enjoying his extended time at home.  Recently, I started embracing a concept Matt popularized called “Away From Keyboard”, shortened to “AFK”. It began as a simple way to relate that you were away from your desk but evolved into a way to encourage vacation...

In today’s episode of Stuck@Om, I have a conversation with my friend Jason Fried — Co-founder and CEO of Basecamp. We talk about the parts of lockdown that we’ve enjoyed as well as the ways it’s made us more thankful. Jason admits that we don’t realize how much we take for granted. Hopefully, when we emerge from this pandemic we can be more appreciative of the teachers, nannies, and cleaning services that help us manage our everyday lives.  Jason and I chat about the reality that there are...

In this episode of Stuck@Om, I chat with my friend Paul Kedrosky, Ph.D.— a general partner in SK Ventures. In our conversation, Paul notes that he’s pretty happy with the way he’s constructed his reality. He jokingly states he’s been in preparation for self-quarantine for the last decade—it’s his time to shine. Aside from missing coffee and sushi, he’s enjoying his time at home with his wife and children.  When our conversation takes a deeper turn, we chat about how the implicit assumptions...

In this episode of Stuck@Om, my dear friend Reilly Brennan — lead partner of Trucks Venture Capital — joins me to talk about the future of the transportation industry. We have a very philosophical conversation about how the Coronavirus pandemic has taken away our basic level of societal trust. Will we think twice before climbing in an Uber ride? What about public transportation? We wonder if rideshare services will start monitoring the health of their drivers and whether or not their vehicles...

In this episode, I’m Stuck@Om with John Markoff—a renowned technology reporter for the New York Times. John currently allocates his time to writing a biography for Stewart Brand—a writer, editor, and entrepreneur—who is famous for saying “We are as God’s and we might as well get good at it”. John and I discuss topics revolving around the biography, such as the Whole Earth Catalogue and Stewart’s organizations “The Long Now Foundation” and “Revive & Restore”.  During our conversation, we...

In this episode of Stuck@Om my friend Matt Buchanan (Executive Editor at Eater.com) joins me for a conversation surrounding the restaurant industry. Matt points out that there are approximately 12 million jobs in the foodservice industry. Of the 10 million people who’ve now filed for unemployment — many were likely from this sector. Dining rooms across the country are forcefully emptied, leaving many restaurants closing their doors.  Matt believes that takeout and delivery aren’t sufficient...

In this episode of Stuck @ Om, my friend Toby Ord — author and Senior Research Fellow of Philosophy at Oxford University — joins me. Our conversation revolves around topics found in his new book, “The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity”. Could we face the downfall of civilization or human extinction? Even better — what could we achieve if we survive?  His book explores what could happen if humanity ignores the potential dangers we face. One nation making a serious mistake...

My good friend Anne Dwane (General Partner at an early-stage venture capital firm, Village Global) joins me in this episode of Stuck@Om to chat about how we are both navigating life at home during a pandemic. Anne and I have both lives through multiple downturns — the dotcom crash, the 2008 meltdown and of course, the present. So it is obvious we talked about how her experiences through those tough times have given her some insights into navigating the current crisis. We question if startups...

In this episode of the Om Show, I have a candid conversation with my friend Bijan Sabet—the co-founder of Spark Capital—about the impact of the Coronavirus on humanity. It seems as a species we are losing the ability to connect. We don’t view humanity as a collective but instead have become individualistic and elitist. With a society that has become narcissistic and self-centered—is this our opportunity to emerge evolved, with a more compassionate approach to the people we encounter?  But...

Steve Tidball—the CEO and co-founder of Vollebak—is passionate about leveraging technology and science to create the clothing of the future. He and his brother co-founded the apparel brand in 2016 and have completely shaken up the industry. They focus on creating clothing from exotic materials such as graphene and algae, each with its own unique purpose.  How did their business come about? What sparked the idea to launch something so revolutionary? Learn more as Steve and I chat about the...

There is no better person to talk with about the evolution and future of communication then Jeff Lawson. We have known each other since 2008 when we met outside a Starbucks—the same year he co-founded Twilio. He was one of the original product managers for Amazon Web Services (AWS), heavily involved in Versity, the founder of NineStar, and CTO of StubHub. He could be described as a serial inventor and early on recognized the need for communication systems.

There was a technical glitch on this episode when first released that prevented the entire conversation from being heard. We've corrected the problem with this re-release. Thank you for understanding. ***************************** My friend Kevin Scott has a unique vantage point from which to speak about the future of software engineering. He is CTO at Microsoft, but his career as a software engineer spans a number of years and a variety of different roles.

If you will take the time to listen in to this conversation you’ll hear his story, of life in a very small town in Virginia, of his first personal computer (from Radio Shack), of his interest in technology and aspirations to become a university professor - and how he started down the path of having his own impact on the realm of software engineering when he applied at a company called Google. Please, take the time to listen.

Kevin is a serial entrepreneur. He’s best known for founding Digg and Revision3. He also serves on the True Ventures team with me and many others, funding startups that capture the imagination. These days, Kevin is no small player - he’s been featured on the cover of Inc. Magazine, Bloomberg, Businessweek, RedHerring, and lots more.