I’m a hacker inventing & building new technologies. I like to learn in conversations and talk through ideas with the smartest people I can find. The podcast is a chance for you to listen in on some of that action.
If you’ve seen me speak you know I believe inventing new technologies and bringing them into the world to solve problems is important work.
Almost all my projects for over 30 years have been about doing new things with technology. I was a cypherpunk working on cryptocurrency in the 1990s; I worked on AI for the stock market in 2000; and I worked for Jeff Bezos at the origin of Blue Origin when we were inventing alternatives to rockets for going to space.
I got to help start the Intellectual Ventures Lab for Nathan Myhrvold where my job was to invent a decade into the future. Most famously, we invented a machine that can find mosquitoes and shoot them down with a laser. We’ve also invented a machine to suppress hurricanes; an AI powered microscope that can diagnose malaria; the incredible metamaterials based antenna technology at Kymeta, Pivotal Commware & Echodyne; the Arktek cooler that can keep vaccines cold for months with no external power; and TerraPower, a fission reactor powered by nuclear waste. The epic Modernist Cuisine cookbooks are created at the Lab and I abused that team by getting them to help me invent 3D printers to print food (start at 17:46). For years, we were the most prolific team of inventors in the world – awarded 6000 patents on our own inventions. Many of our projects were for the Global Good Fund we created with Bill Gates, to do impact invention work for the developing world.
I was a faculty member at Singularity University and I used to be an advisor for Glowforge, data.world, Shift Labs & MakerBot. I was a hacker with The Shmoo Group.
I inadvertently became a top public speaker and have been on 500+ stages including Stanford, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Microsoft CEO Summit, The FORTUNE CEO Summit, the CIA, Google Zeitgeist, The Milken Global Conference. My TED Talks have over 30 million views. I love speaking at events when I can, but I’m also trying to get some work done so please send speaking inquires here.