How do you get dialed in?

Many of us seek ways to stay focused in a distracted world.

Here’s some research-backed help, which starts with the obvious: put your phone away. Also:

• Make space for mind wandering: Let it go where it wants

• Monitor your mind: Evaluate what distracts you, and when

• Strengthen your curiosity: Follow new interests and projects

Today, we’re chatting with Eric Jorgenson, a prolific writer, early-stage investor, and Scribe Media CEO.

All this, and more, in just 5 minutes to read.

— Matthew

Quote of the Day

"A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned.”

— Naval Ravikant

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What Else We’re Into

📺 WATCH: Value investing in an uncertain world with Bill Ackman

🎧 LISTEN: The inner scorecard with Mohnish Pabrai

📖 READ: Big tech CAPEX and earnings quality

Trivia

Eric Jorgenson: Looking for Obsessive Geniuses

Eric Jorgenson grew up in a family of readers. After dinner, he and his family sat around the living room not to watch TV but to read great books. For Christmas gifts, they didn’t give one another the latest gadget; they exchanged books. No genre was off limits, from fiction to science fiction to (eventually) business and investing.

“I remember getting in trouble for staying up late reading under my covers with a flashlight,” Jorgenson, a bestselling author, early-stage investor, and CEO, said last month.

Reading has shaped countless investors, including Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. They spent hours together reading annual reports, newspapers, and books, looking for new insights and, once in a while, a wonderful investment idea that would reward them handsomely.

Their voracious reading habits expanded their knowledge and honed their critical thinking skills, allowing them to discern valuable information amid the market's noise. Reading fostered clear thinking and helped them make informed decisions.

The effect of reading on Jorgenson is similar. His childhood love of reading helped guide him to what’s essentially a life built around great stories, whether as an author (The Almanack of Naval, The Anthology of Balaji), an executive (CEO of Scribe Media), or an investor (Rolling Fun).

In this conversation, Jorgenson shares his perspective on time management, how he invests, the importance of brevity, the value of stories in investing and business, and the vision behind his publishing company, Scribe.

This interview has been edited lightly for brevity and clarity. 

You do a lot. How do you manage your time?

My standard joke here is that I spend about 50% of my time on Scribe, 50% of my time on the funds, 10% of the time on the books, and 10% of the time on my podcast. It all works together. Writing books makes me a better CEO, and each activity gives me a broader perspective, which benefits everything. It’s a full life. I am getting better at saying “no.”

This magic in being slightly overbooked forces you to focus on the most important thing every time. And a little stress is good for us. I feel guilty when I overfill my plate and can’t be generous with random requests, but it comes with the territory. 

What’s the most influential thing you read recently? 

Probably “Where’s My Flying Car.” I’ve gifted 20 copies to my high-ambition friends. It’s about technology and why really smart people who had called for flying cars by now got it all wrong.

Your books are concise and tight. Is brevity a priority?

It’s about respecting the reader and their time. The standard idea for many business books is like, here’s my idea, here’s me explaining it, and then it’s story after story saying the same thing. What I want to do with my books is give you a valuable idea on every page. I want to see highlights and sticky notes all over. It should be rich with insight. 

Books compete with scrolling Twitter or Instagram, where you constantly get dopamine and new ideas. To make a book that lands with people, you want to match that energy every time you turn a page. With smart readers, you can give them a kernel of an idea, and then they can fit their own stories into it. You don’t have to belabor principles or convince people anything. 

What’s your vision with Scribe?

The publishing industry needs a high-quality path to a published book that’s not through a few publishers in New York. It’s about greater access to writing a book. You can write a book personally or for impact. You can establish your brand or expertise or share some stories from your life. Traditional publishing should exist—it’s a great fit for many people—but it’s not for everyone. 

Fifty years ago, printing a book required huge upfront capital. You also needed a big personal network and a physical distribution network to get your book into bookshops. Now, you don’t need that capital. Anyone can put a book for sale on Amazon, where about 90% of books are sold. There’s no gatekeeper anymore. 

Most people don’t realize publishers typically take 80% or 90% of the money from books, then there’s an agent’s cut, and authors get a very small amount. Publishers take creative control, too. 

Scribe offers people 100% creative freedom. That’s where the industry will go in the next 10 or 20 years. 

What success stories come to mind?

David Goggins published his memoir through us, selling millions of copies and making several times more than he would have with the traditional method. Many authors have made great impact with their books without making much money. 

You don’t need a big audience like his to make a big impact. One person runs a business and manages financial advisory firms from retiring advisers. He didn’t care about copies sold; he just wanted to establish himself as an expert in the field. He’s not a writer; he’s a businessman and entrepreneur. So we helped him write the book, using his ideas and voice, to advance his business and reputation. 

We work with executives, professionals, athletes, bloggers, you name it. They come to us for a flat rate and retain all of their rights and royalties. 

Books seem to have more staying power in the digital age. I also love how it’s a break from the screens.

A book is a Lindy technology. It’s been around for thousands of years and will last another 1,000 years. It’s an incredible format. My Naval book is in 40 languages and has been read by millions. 

There’s something about the book format that adds a different kind of credibility than a podcast, newsletter, or digital course. A book is an entry into the intellectual discourse, and it initiates conversation or establishes credibility in a way that other formats don't.

A great tweet is great for a few hours, but you might never see it again.

It’s always bothered me how fleeting our daily platforms have become. Much value is poured into Twitter and TikTok, Instagram, and podcasts,  but much disappears. Those things are publicly available, but they might reach more people and impact more when printed and bound.

How do you think about the intersection of storytelling and investing?

There’s a line about how capital flows as a function of stories. Humans respond to stories much more than anything else. We need stories to visualize our progress and our place in the world. Seeing the world through stories is useful and important. 

When you’re investing in an early-stage company, what are you looking for?

The high level is one sentence: obsessive geniuses building utopian technologies. It's on the homepage of our fund. Four keywords include obsessive because I want insanely hard-working founders who would continue working on this idea if they only had a rusty spoon and a cardboard box. I want inherently smart, genius founders. There are many forms of genius; it’s not just IQ. 

Utopia is very important because I want to be constructive in society. You could tell me something will have a 100x return, but I won’t do it if it’s not socially beneficial. I stay away from stuff that’s useless or destructive to society. It has to contribute in some way. And for the technology itself, I want companies whose fundamental and structural advantage that other people couldn't copy or couldn't develop or implement.

There's never enough money to go around to all the great founders that deserve capital. So, we do our best to put capital where we think it’ll provide the best future for humanity. Paradoxically, that approach also tends to get the best returns. 

How do you get to know a founder and tell if they’re the right person to trust?

The sample size is your friend. But it’s a tradeoff because I don’t want to take up tons of their time and be a burden; I want to know who they are. Ideally, I’ve known a founder for 10 years and followed their career and how they’ve run companies. Sometimes, my conviction comes from a strong reference and a few great hours with them. When you meet thousands of people, you develop a pretty fast filter. 

What’s your personal investing style?

I’m in the Morgan Housel camp of almost entirely in the indexes. I ask myself, would this approach work if I were dumb? How do I make it hard to mess up? I get way more satisfaction doing other things than managing my money.

Now, I don’t do anything for money. In 2022, when Facebook was down 70% for no good reason, or Coinbase was at $50, I didn’t buy them because I don’t want to think about individual stocks. It’s not a satisfying use of my time. I’d rather write something new or help a founder build a company. 

I’d much rather build something and feel the satisfaction of creating something. I don't want to die with just a beautiful portfolio. I want to die with a full bookshelf of art I've created, felt, and touched.

Your next book is on Elon Musk. What can you tell us about that project?

I’m actively working on it and have made a ton of progress. I don’t yet have a date, but the manuscript is in its final inning. I try to make timeless books about principles. I want them to feel like you’re sitting across from them at dinner. You’re getting a four-hour dinner with Elon Musk, and you’re at your best; he’s at his best. 

This is different from a biography. I want to provide maximum benefit to the reader in a memorable, easy-to-digest, fun way that feels conversational. The source material in my books is millions of words, which I distill down to 50,000 or fewer of the best ideas. It’s constant sanding and polishing.

Any final thoughts?

At Scribe, we're not just optimizing for book sales and our share of the book sales. Our goal is to help you solve whatever your life goal is. If a book can help you achieve it, we can help you design, write, and publish that book to make a difference. 

Dive deeper

For more, read Jorgenson’s book on Naval Ravikant or his book on Balaji. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and check out his website here.

See you next time!

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