Startups, Investing, and Technology in Health with Kevin Rose

Dec. 27, 2018

Internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and software coder Kevin Rose had his first taste of success in business when he co-founded Digg, a social news website, in 2004. A few years later he was named one of the top 35 innovators under age 35 by the MIT Technology Review. He’s gone on to create other websites and companies, with a current focus on building health-related mobile apps and investing in promising startups.

In this podcast, Dr. Tommy Wood and I interview Kevin about his professional life as an innovator and entrepreneur. We delve into his remarkable ability to predict societal trends and discuss the direction he sees technology heading next. Kevin also shares some of the practices and supplements he uses to enhance his own cognitive performance and quality of life.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Kevin Rose:

[00:01:03] Kevin's background.

[00:04:05] Combining marketing and programming; TechTV; The Screen Savers.

[00:04:25] Digg.

[00:06:11] Fake news: Turning Obama audio clips into realistic lip-synched video.

[00:06:42] Techmeme for tech news.

[00:10:46] Investing in Facebook and Twitter.

[00:12:23] Anonymous decentralized internet.

[00:13:19] Tor; InterPlanetary File System (IPFS); Blockstack.

[00:14:13] Social media making people miserable.

[00:16:06] Oak meditation app.

[00:16:30] Headspace, Calm.

[00:19:23] The Light Phone; Palm.

[00:20:12] Google Pixel 3.

[00:23:31] Zero fasting tracker app.

[00:24:11] Satchin Panda; Podcast: How to Use Time-Restricted Eating to Reverse Disease and Optimize Health, with Satchin Panda, PhD.

[00:24:16] Valter Longo.

[00:24:46] The Kevin Rose Show podcast.

[00:25:59] Paul Graham: Sitcom startup ideas.

[00:27:29] Wearable technology; Oura ring.

[00:28:29] Continuous glucose monitoring; Study: Beck, Roy W., et al. "Effect of continuous glucose monitoring on glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes using insulin injections: the DIAMOND randomized clinical trial." Jama 317.4 (2017): 371-378.

[00:28:53] Dexcom G6.

[00:29:43] Peter Attia; Peter Attia Drive; Podcast: The Critical Factors of Healthspan and Lifespan, with Peter Attia.

[00:30:03] Tim Ferriss.

[00:32:08] Cold and heat; Wim Hof method.

[00:35:34] Peloton: A spin class in your home.

[00:36:30] 23andMe; MTHFR.

[00:37:36] Rapamycin; Ben Greenfield.

[00:38:06] Cognitive benefits: Lion’s mane mushroom; Bacopa.

[00:38:56] Studies: Hericium (lion's mane) and BDNF: Rupcic, Zeljka, et al. "Two New Cyathane Diterpenoids from Mycelial Cultures of the Medicinal Mushroom Hericium erinaceus and the Rare Species, Hericium flagellum." International journal of molecular sciences 19.3 (2018): 740; and Bacopa: Neale, Chris, et al. "Cognitive effects of two nutraceuticals Ginseng and Bacopa benchmarked against modafinil: a review and comparison of effect sizes." British journal of clinical pharmacology 75.3 (2013): 728-737.

[00:39:04] ReCODE protocol; Book: The End of Alzheimer's: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline, by Dale Bredesen.

[00:39:48] Blockchain; Electronic health records.

[00:41:13] WellnessFX.

[00:42:06] Book: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear.

[00:42:19] Reasons people come to meditation apps.

[00:43:14] Book: The Illuminated Mind by June D’Estelle.

[00:44:06] Sam Harris.

[00:46:43] User churn.

[00:52:34] Where to find Kevin: kevinrose.com; Instagram.