Eric-Jorgenson The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant indd

How did you decide to start your first company?
I was working at this tech company called @Home Network, 
and I told everybody around me—my boss, coworkers, my 
friends, “In Silicon Valley, all of these other people are start-
ing companies. It looks like they can do it. I’m going to start 
a company. I’m just here temporarily. I’m an entrepreneur.”
…I didn’t actually mean to trick myself into it. It wasn’t a delib-
erate, calculated thing.
I was just venting, talking out loud, being overly honest. But 
I didn’t actually start a company. This was in 1996, it was a 
much scarier, more difficult proposition to start a company 
then. Sure enough, everyone started saying “What are you still 
doing here? I thought you were leaving to start a company?” 
and “Wow, you’re still here…” I was literally embarrassed into 
starting my own company. [5]
Yes, I know some people aren’t necessarily ready to be entre-
preneurs, but long-term, where did we come up with this 
idea the correct logical thing to do is for everybody to work 
for somebody else? It is a very hierarchical model. [14]
FIND WORK THAT FEELS LIKE PLAY
Humans evolved as hunters and gatherers where we all 
worked for ourselves. It’s only at the beginning of agriculture 
we became more hierarchical. The Industrial Revolution and 
factories made us extremely hierarchical because one indi-
vidual couldn’t necessarily own or build a factory, but now, 
thanks to the internet, we’re going back to an age where more 
and more people can work for themselves. I would rather be a 

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B U I L D I N G W E A L T H · 77
failed entrepreneur than someone who never tried. Because 
even a failed entrepreneur has the skill set to make it on their 
own. [14]
There are almost 7 billion people on this planet. Someday, I 
hope, there will be almost 7 billion companies.
I learned how to make money because it was a necessity. After 
it stopped being a necessity, I stopped caring about it. At least 
for me, work was a means to an end. Making money was a 
means to an end. I’m much more interested in solving prob-
lems than I am in making money.
Any end goal will just lead to another goal, lead to another goal. 
We just play games in life. When you grow up, you’re playing 
the school game, or you’re playing the social game. Then you’re 
playing the money game, and then you’re playing the status 
game. These games just have longer and longer and longer-
lived horizons. At some point, at least I believe, these are all 
just games. These are games where the outcome really stops 
mattering once you see through the game.
Then you just get tired of games. I would say I’m at the stage 
where I’m just tired of games. I don’t think there is any end 
goal or purpose. I’m just living life as I want to. I’m literally 
just doing it moment to moment.
I want to be off the hedonic treadmill. [1]
What you really want is freedom. You want freedom from your 
money problems, right? I think that’s okay. Once you can solve 

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78 · T H E A L M A N A C K O F N A V A L R A V I K A N T
your money problems, either by lowering your lifestyle or by 
making enough money, you want to retire. Not retirement at 
sixty-five years old, sitting in a nursing home collecting a check 
retirement—it’s a different definition.