What has been eroding is, in my opinion, now past the tipping point. It's like we're on the verge of ecosystem collapse.

From my vantage point, the only thing that I can see which can restore some semblance of confidence in a shared truth, which is the foundation of a healthy society, is a decentralized, permissionless blockchain.

I don't know if Bitcoin is the answer to this or not, but it has to be open, verifiable, immutable, and censorship-resistant.

But just like people who wait to have the heart attack before getting in shape, I wouldn't be surprised if things have to get worse before they can begin to get better.

After my recent visit, it's clear this country is sitting on a goldmine of potential that most investors can't even see through the fog of skepticism.

The Powerhouse Trio: Stability, Momentum, and Spark

Paraguay's narrative needs to be sharpened into three pillars: Stability, Momentum, and Ready to Take Off. The data is there, even if the story is currently as diffuse as a bad radio signal. We're talking about a nation with a solid business environment that's just waiting for the right spark to ignite.

The Energy-to-Bitcoin Arbitrage

Here is the strategic blindspot: Paraguay has an embarrassment of riches in the form of abundant, clean, available energy. It is the nation's most valuable asset, yet it remains criminally undermonetized. Future generations will ask why we didn't convert this juice into a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Other nations would kill for this energy advantage; letting the window close without acting is like having a private waterfall and using it to wash a single spoon.

The "Paraguay Prejudice" & The Avis Maneuver

There is a weight dragging things down—the "Paraguay Prejudice." It is the implied corruption and the side-eye from global markets. But here is the kicker: the companies thriving there now have had to work twice as hard to prove themselves. It has made them leaner, sharper, and more efficient than their pampered global peers.

Remember the old Avis slogan, "We Try Harder"? Paraguay can lean into this. By acknowledging the skepticism upfront and then overdelivering so dramatically it makes investors' heads spin, the country can turn a reputation tax into a competitive advantage.

The Bottom Line

Paraguay is the unmissable country to watch. It's unpolished, sure, but the fundamentals are screaming. If they can flip the script and monetize their energy, the "unpolished gem" won't stay unpolished for long.

But there are two types, it seems to me.

Unnecessary friction.

Necessary friction.

Unnecessary friction dissipates value without transforming.

Necessary friction transforms value.

An acquaintance said to me that one of his life's lessons was "Do Hard Things."

That's the kind of necessary friction that transforms.

The other kind? Remove or seriously reduce.

The Islamists who want to impose Sharia law everywhere.

The Socialists/Communists who want to destroy free market capitalism.

The sad thing is that, by the time most realize it, it'll be too late.

Along the way, we visited the Salmonberry bookstore, the Local Boys fruit stand, the pagoda at Defiance Park, the Washington State History Museum, and the Tacoma Art Museum.

We met a mosaic artist, members of the Pierce County Iris Society, a retired navy sailor from the USS Carl Vinson, and a retired sea captain who had lived in pre-revolutionary Iran.

We also visited the Navy Yard museum in Bremerton.

In a million years, we never would have scripted this day.

But this was the day we had.

Unplanned. Flowing. With an eye for curiosity.

And reminded that, when all is said and done, it's about the people.

We look around and we see, we notice, and we admire intentionality.

Or, at least I do.

Oftentimes, however, it's directed at physical items, space creation, experience design.

And yet, this one, so simple, so elegant. So pure.

Knowledge, credentials, assets, frameworks, stuff.

Now, I see that the essence is obtained by removing much of that.

Clearing out the debris, the clutter, the noise.

Creating the space for the signal to emerge.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in Terre des hommes:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

I still believe parts of it.

But somewhere in the past few years, I've been learning something harder and more useful: that some things don't yield. They just have to be lived.

I'm in my fifties. By most external measures, life is good. I'm healthy. My kids are remarkable human beings. I have flexibility, curiosity, meaningful work, and a community I love.

But, at the same time, one of my children is faced with the highest possible stakes. And the world my community inhabits feels increasingly threatening in ways that are hard to fully articulate and impossible to ignore.

I carry that weight too, alongside the more personal stuff — long-standing challenges that don't resolve cleanly, anxieties that surface most mornings, and a persistent restlessness that no amount of achievement has fully quieted. I'm not in crisis. But I'm also not going to pretend the hard stuff isn't hard.

For a long time, my response to difficulty was sophisticated avoidance. Not the obvious kind — I wasn't numbing out or running away, though I tried both of those and they didn't end well at all. I was doing something subtler and in some ways more insidious: I was thinking my way around feelings rather than through them. Building elegant frameworks. Finding the perfect analogy. Achieving genuine insight and then mistaking that insight for change. Understanding something and calling it integration.

The gap between those two things — understanding and actually embodying — turns out to be where most of the real work lives.

What's helped me close that gap, slowly and imperfectly, has been less about adding things and more about removing them.

Less framework, more breath. Less analysis, more presence.

A daily meditation practice that after years of doing it I'm only now beginning to actually use — not as a productivity tool or a stress management technique, but as a genuine practice of returning. Noticing the mind grab for a thought, a worry, a plan, a story — and choosing, again, to come back to the breath. Not because the thought isn't real. Because the breath is more real.

The physical practices matter too. Not as discipline for its own sake but because the body keeps score honestly in a way the mind doesn't always. A cold shower, a hard yoga class, weights moved through space — these are not metaphors. They're the actual hardware running the software.

What I'm learning about relationships is that the most useful thing I can do is change the quality of what I transmit rather than manage what I receive.

The genuine moments of non-attachment, the times I let something pass without grabbing for it, the small acts of care delivered without agenda — these land differently than words. Presence is a currency that actually transfers. Urgency, even well-intentioned urgency, usually doesn't.

This is slow work.

Slower than I want.

The progress isn't linear and it doesn't announce itself with clarity. It shows up in three-second unrehearsed moments — a conversation navigated without catastrophizing, a feeling felt without immediately converting it into a decision, a walk in the woods where I sat on a log and just existed for a few minutes without optimizing anything.

I don't have a tidy conclusion. The fire is still there. Some days I sit in it with something approaching equanimity. Other days it just burns. What I'm learning is that both are okay — that the goal isn't to extinguish the fire or transcend it, but to develop enough rootedness that it doesn't consume everything around it.

The two greatest warriors, Tolstoy said, are time and patience.

I'm working on both.

How clear that signal is, is a different story, but the intention of the signal is to align my inner state with my outer state.

I am trying to communicate with my soul, my essence to create a resonant harmony between my inner and outer self.

And, at the same time, I am seeking to amplify that signal to others so that they can align to my frequency, like turning the knob on an old school radio, and tune in to my unique frequency.

The challenge, as I see it, is that I struggle to know and hear my own frequency and thus, it's difficult to determine what signal I should choose to send at any given moment, across multiple dimensions.

And, if I struggle to know my own essence, then, invariably, the signal that I send to others will be full of static.

It seems that I have two things to focus on.

First, how do I clarify my own signal?

Second, how do I stay aware and compassionate that others may be struggling to send theirs?

And maybe there's a third, actually.

Maybe there's a way to improve the way that I pick up the message that others may be trying to send, so that, in spite of the noise, I can tune in to their frequency and we can create harmony.

"Based on what you know about me, which artist or musician should I explore that would align with where I am heading right now, but also help me grow along the path?"

It recommended Kandinsky.

Eventually, I found myself at the Philips Museum in Washington, DC staring at, and meditating on 3 of his works.

The one that really grabbed my attention was "Succession," but each was mesmerizing in its own way.

After digging a bit more into the man and his work, I not only developed a newfound appreciation for abstract art, but I started to see a pattern emerging across art, music (the AI also suggested Stravinsky), spirituality (Zen, Tao, Kabbalah), and technology.

Tech may seem weird, but from my perspective, much of what we try to accomplish with technology is remove the friction associated with interacting with the physical world to discover and experience "value" (e.g. the things we value which, for some reason, connect to our essence), and thus are tools for digging to essence.

My yoga teacher once said "yoga is a technology for presence," which is what helped me connect those dots.

Bottom line...and this may be a stretch, I wonder if every meaningful pursuit is really, at its essence, someone's conscious (or unconscious) pursuit of the Essence.

What fazes each of us, however, depends on a tolerance level.

Call it the "No-Faze" Zone. In there, things don't faze you.

Outside its boundaries, and you're fazed.

Things throw you off balance.

You react instead of respond.

But, there's a way to expand the "No-Faze" Zone.

The way to do that is to deliberately and intentionally take on big challenges.

Things that will make you feel uncomfortable, scared, vulnerable.

And then do them anyway.

Do them enough times or for a long enough period and the boundaries get pushed.

Then, you lock it in through grounding exercises. Things that reinforce the borders.

For me, this is meditation, yoga, running, and prayer.

It may be painting, journaling, gardening, or working on your motorcycle for you.

It doesn't matter.

What matters is to continually expand the boundaries of the "No-Faze" Zone and then reinforce those boundaries (after all, as we get older, the things that didn't faze us as kids may start fazing us as adults).

The less you are fazed, the more tranquility, peace, and harmony you experience.

Your call.

Each of the AI companies took a different approach to communicating their value proposition.

But the one that was the most "meta" wasn't Meta.

It was GenSpark.

In an ad doing an homage to Ferris Bueller, Matthew Broderick shows a bunch of white-collar mid-level employees how they can "take the day off" with GenSpark.

But here's the thing they aren't telling you.

Because of GenSpark, those same people are going to be taking a LOT of days off.

Permanently.

And unpaid.

The message from AI companies is really "if AI can do your work for you, you can't take the day off. You need to figure out how to create and add value in a way that AI can't."

An excellent book I just started, called “The Grid,” by Gretchen Bakke which highlights a critical part of the energy delivery system which we all know about, but don’t always think about.

In that book, one of the ideas presented is that of “energy independence.”

And keep in mind, this book was written before the Russia-Ukraine war (as was this very prescient tweet).

It occurred to me that, what we may be seeing now globally, is a new wave of independence movements.

Not in the first sense of nation-states and geographic independence, but in terms of financial (Bitcoin vs. USD, for example) and energy (not so good when Russia or OPEC has you by the balls, eh?)

The countries that can break free from a system where their security, not just physical, but energy and financial, are dependent upon others, would seem to be better positioned than those who can’t or won’t.

Probably explains why defense spending hit a record last year.

Globalization is great and people want the benefits…but not if it comes with golden (or not-so-golden) handcuffs.

I was struck by the incredible range of perspectives and ideas represented. From AI to climate tech, from privacy to psychedelics, there was no shortage of visionary insights and thought-provoking opinions.

One of the most enjoyable elements was the experience of being curious about the diversity of opinions and experiences surrounding technology and its impact on our lives. While some people expressed deep concerns about the negative effects of technology, others highlighted its tremendous potential for positive change. And yet, despite these differences, there were several common themes that emerged.

One of my favorite moments, because it demonstrates the point of the exercise, came from Lawrence Lundy-Bryan and my therapist, who come from completely opposite ends of the tech spectrum. They both noted the looming "fertility crisis" in the Western world. The fact that they both mentioned this validated the idea of this research effort to find emergent patterns even if they come from totally divergent places in one's network.

The Rise and Impact of AI

One of the most frequently mentioned themes, of course, was the rise of AI and its impact on everything from the workplace to personal privacy. Kes Sampanthar and Brian Kotlyar helped me explore the field of "prompt engineering" and the concept of "super prompts." Brian referred me to a radical thinker, Brian Roemmele on Twitter, who further helped expand my understanding of this nascent field. My former boss, Paul Cimino highlighted the "dark path" of AI, such as AI blackmail, and what he considers to be an inevitability that big tech companies will get broken up. He wasn't the only one to mention AI ethics as a huge challenge area.

Meanwhile, David Berkowitz discussed how AI is changing marketing and how, just maybe, AI could solve the age-old question of marketing ROI. Brian Wong wondered if AI and cybersecurity could have synergies to detect threats and breaches faster, which connected with something Hilary Carter mentioned-- "cyber security is the crisis of our times."

I was also introduced to the intriguing concept of a skills marketplace brought up by Kes, particularly as AI gets mainstreamed. Kes raised suggested that we all need to think about "What human skills become more valuable and scarce?," "What human skills become less valuable?" and "Your unique Large Language Model (LLM) is the thing that makes a difference."

His advice: Read the things that other people aren’t reading.

This need for innate curiosity and ongoing self-education dovetailed with something else that Todd Newfield highlighted- that education is finally going to get disrupted as more and more people call into question the value of a 4-year degree.

Climate Tech

Another common thread throughout the conversation was the urgent need for action on climate change. Reid Christian, Joey Coleman, and Brian Wong touched on the massive opportunity and need around climate tech and, in particular, the importance of modernizing carbon credits. Damon Sununtnasuk added to this by discussing the devastating impact of the garment industry (over 92 million tons of garments are destroyed each year in the US alone) and the potential for generative AI to revolutionize the space. Joey thinks that the impact of climate migration is severely underestimated.

The Future of Work

Josh Pines, Ipek Tunca, and Joey Coleman all had interesting insights as well about the changing world/future of work. Josh spoke about how decentralization, remote work, and AI are fundamentally realtering the workplace experience and the hiring process. In many ways, this complemented the views of Joey, a customer and employee experience thought leader, who talked about the importance of creating personalized, meaningful experiences for customers and employees in a world where attention is scarce and the power structure between employees and companies has altered. "40 years ago," he said, "everyone lived within 30 miles of their companies. Today, European companies are poaching American talent with no requirement for relocation. That's a big change."

Meanwhile, Ipek is seeing first-hand how large companies with strong "in-person cultures" are being impacted by how well teams collaborate with the shift to a remote-first world. She and Kevin Lee also pointed out that Gen Z workers are impacting the workplace as much as the press would have you believe...if not more. In short, the social contract between a firm and an employee has been obliterated. Employees care about more than just efficiency and a paycheck.

Other Notable Ideas

Mark thinks that privacy may finally have its moment as "surveillance tech" gets mainstreamed, which could ultimately drive the development of new tech solutions.

In a "zig, while others are zagging" moment, Todd Newfield thinks that one of the biggest opportunities is helping "boring businesses" go digital. One enjoyable moment came when Lawrence Lundy-Bryan mentioned the growth opportunities of geothermal engineering, which he thinks is going to be huge, but is completely underestimated. I had heard about it before but didn't fully understand its potential until he explained some of the developments in that industry. A few days later, I saw an article about it in the Wall Street Journal, which enhanced my understanding of its possibilities since I had a larger frame of reference.

I also appreciated the comments on topics like brain computing interfaces and micronuclear fusion.

Joey Coleman thinks there's an "empathy crisis" and suggested something called "Empathy Foundation Setting" when starting a conversation. The example he shared with me, which proved his point was:

• How many ppl do you know who have tested positive for Covid?

• How many do you know who have been hospitalized b/c of Covid symptoms?

• How many ppl do you know who died b/c of that hospitalization?

• How many ppl do you know who have long Covid?

Once you get the answer to those questions, you have a better sense of where the other person's experience lies...and you can go from there.

Embrace It All

I've probably spent an average of 3 hours per day for each of the past 2 weeks just exploring AI tools (here's a list of 100 of them), using ChatGPT (I bought Plus), and learning how to code with AI APIs.

It's clearly a moment of dramatic change and though I haven't nearly captured all of the elements of the interviews, I am grateful to everyone who took the time to share his/her thoughts with me. Plus, I'm grateful to ChatGPT for taking my notes and spitting out the large bulk of this post (though I needed to make some changes...probably got me 60% of the way there).

Regardless, it's less about finding the "right" thing and more about the process of questioning and developing the right attitude.

As Brian Kotlyar said wisely,

“we each need to "milk the moment” of disruption and prepare for the era of increased stability to come." “Have an eye toward the after.”

AI tools used in creating this report

• ChatGPT

• Writewithlaika

• Lex.page

• WordTune (Chrome plug-in)

• And here’s a (very rudimentary, unedited) video summary of the report (thanks to Lumen5)…just to prove it’s possible.

Also a huge thank you to Rob Rager who helped me design the research questions.

And, as a tribute to the name of the project, here’s a rendering of me as a Renaissance man, thanks to Vana.

The Author as a "Renaissance Man" courtesy of Vana

At one point it said, “$10,000 invested when the Air Jordan shoe came out would be worth $15 million today.”

A similar note was struck at one point in the excellent biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. called “Titan,” by Ron Chernow.

A small investment at the beginning would be worth a fortune a decade or so later.

The basic theme is the same “if only you had the foresight to make the investment when it was a seed, you would have profited from the orchard.”

I get it, but what’s the point of such statements?

The only thing that I can think of, and I doubt it really impacts anyone that way, is to look at today’s investing environment and ask themselves “Ok, what’s the thing that is worth $10k today, but could be worth $15 million in a few years?”

That’s the easy part, of course.

The hard part is to have the discipline to go out and look for these opportunities and then to have the courage to invest when you find them.

In my experience, few of us have this mix of traits.

But, there are a few things out there that, if you put your small amount in today, it will be worth a fortune in a few years.

Good luck if you find it.

Fight it, stick our heads in the sand, and resist.

Accept, embrace, and figure out how to leverage.

The technological genie is not going back into the bottle.

As Tyler Cowen argues (convincingly, imho) in Existential risk, AI, and the inevitable turn in human history, the best thing you can do at a moment like this is dive in.

Dive into the AI.

Dive into the tools and the concepts.

Learn about prompt engineering.

Explore the 100 AI tools (and many more) that are out there.

It’s easier to envision destruction than creation, that is for sure, so it’s easy to imagine all of the jobs that will go away.

And many will.

What’s less easy to envision are the new jobs that have never been needed before that will emerge.

We won’t need CPAs, but what will we need?

We won’t need most copywriters or low-level programmers. What comes next?

These will only become clear when you engage with the tech.

Meanwhile, Web3/crypto is the ugly stepchild. It's on the regulatory ropes and has a ton of brand baggage.

I've spent the last 7 years in crypto, dedicated to the values that lay at its core, enamored by the innovative technologies, and excited by the possibilities.

Since I began by Career Gap and Operation Florence following my tour of duty as CMO at Radix, I have spent days upon days going deep into the AI world. This list of 100 AI tools hasn't made it any easier, that's for sure.

But here's the thing about AI (in its current form) vs. crypto.

AI is an accelerator.

It will help us do the things we have done at exponentially greater speeds. You could argue, fairly, that this in and of itself is a game changer. So maybe the title of this post is entirely wrong, but here's where I see the difference so far (and perhaps it's too myopic) between crypto and AI.

AI accelerates work as we know it and perhaps changes the paradigms surrounding work (where, how, when, and who)...none of which are to be dismissed.

But crypto, as the economic foundational layer, alters the underlying business models that are possible.

This is what Fred Wilson discussed back in 2006 as the difference between technical and business model innovation and it has greatly influenced my thinking.

At the end of the day, ChatGPT is amazing, but it's business model is a freemium one.

Nothing new to see here.

Netflix disrupted Blockbuster because it was a business model innovation (enabled by a technical innovation).

Crypto + AI, yes. That's the sweet spot...even if today it feels separate and far off.

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