Shit You Don't Learn in School – Details, episodes & analysis

This is the 10th episode back for SYDLIS, so if you want us to continue creating new episodes for the podcast, let us know by leaving a review at ratethispodcast.com/learn. 

In this episode, Steph and Cal bring a medley of half-baked business ideas to the table. They introduce the origin story of each idea, rate it on a scale of A-F, discuss modifications that would make it better, and most importantly, roast each other when the idea is a little too half-baked.

This episode is a part of the broader nudge Steph and Cal push for everyone to see that there are endless ideas to pursue when you learn to see them in the world.

Business ideas covered:

1. Marketplace for premium goods
2. Hot sauce tasting kits 
3. Long-duration gifting platform
4. AI-powered collectible evaluators
5. The upgraded ZYN tin!
6. Unrecordable digital spaces
7. Making friends as an adult workshop
8. Bidirectional poll-based newsletters
9. Hyper-localized surf guides
10. Immersive, animal sensory museums

There is something out there that can make one person more productive and kind, while another inharmonious -- even resentful. That thing is identity.

And while we passively adopt parts of identity, we often forget that much of our identity is left up to us. In this episode, Cal and Steph explore the depths of identity and how being intentional around what parts of your identity you adopt, shed, or embrace can lead to a more fulfilled life.

ChatGPT broke records in adoption, hitting 100m monthly active users in a matter of months... faster than any other web platform prior. Even faster than TikTok!

But with fast adoption comes equally swift resistance, surfacing  questions around how this technology is changing the wider world. Should AI models be allowed in schools? How about the courtroom? Do stock image photographers have a fighting chance?

In this episode, Cal and Steph step into the shoes of many people tackling these difficult questions right now. From the middle school teacher to the college admissions officer, to the owners of a stock image sites, or even the head of the Bar Association... how would you respond? What questions would you be asking? 

Listen in to hear Cal and Steph's takes.

This episode is not affiliated with Steph's work at a16z and is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Have you ever looked around your home and thought, "Where did all this stuff come from?!"

Cal and Steph are currently going through this exercise, as they go through their first move in years.

It turns out they're not alone in this feeling of overwhelm and is shared by many others who used to be nomads. The need for *things* is universal, but so is the slippery slope to acquiring too many.

In this episode, Cal and Steph explore why weight of stuff – both physically and mentally – and how our decisions are often unconsciously driven by phenomena like the Diderot and Endowment effects. They also explore how our digital lives, although seemingly benign, can also turn into weights on your life and what simple frameworks they're using to change behavior.

Each January, Steph and Cal sit down to reflect on the prior year and this one is no different. You'll find out their...

1. Best New Idea
2. Best New Life Hack
3. Best New Experience
4. Best/Worst Purchase
5. Best/Worst Trend
6. Best Personal Win/Accomplishment
7. #1 Goal for Next Year
8. Prediction for the New Year

Jumpstart 2023 by doubling down on the best activities and avoiding the worst. It's going to be an awesome year.

PS: If you liked the sound effects in this episode, we found them here.

PPS: Since Steph now works at a16z, please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

A few weeks ago, Steph and Cal had a locksmith come in. It cost $185 and was shockingly quick... just 10 minutes! Little did they know it would also be the fodder for one of Steph's most popular tweets of all time.

Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising – people love learning about new opportunities. That's why they decided to record this (hopefully) recurring segment where they share various opportunities they've found in everyday things and how they're crafted a curious lens with time.

In this episode, they discuss 6 business ideas:

• niche sports like freediving
• second-hand LEGO markets
• the AI education opportunity
• lupini beans: the next healthy snack?
• the story behind the music
• using the full agave plant

Let us know if you liked this episode on Twitter. If there's enough demand, we'll continue to run it monthly.

There has been a wave of recent cheating scandals, from chess to poker to fishing. But cheating is not new, nor is it a rare occurrence. In fact, some articles sport stats like "75 to 98% of college students have cheated" or "over 46% of respondents in a monogamous relationship said they had affairs."

In this episode, Cal and Steph discuss when – if ever – cheating is okay. They even share their own experiences of being caught in the act and how it's shaped their perspectives since.

For years, people thought that artificial intelligence would wipe out repetitive tasks, but leave the creatives untouched. But recent developments have left many people surprised and taken the creative world by storm. 

Tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion gave anyone with a keyboard and a wifi connection the ability to spin up images from text prompts, far earlier and higher quality than many imagined. 

So what comes next for the artists... the writers... the musicians...? No one knows for sure, but in this episode Cal and Steph discuss the exciting new world of generative AI. They discuss what it is (and isn't), the tools they've played with, how culture and trust are shifting, who "wins" in this new world, and what they think might be on the horizon. 

• Check out Steph's new AI-generated avatar
• Check out Calvin's new AI-generated avatar
• Lexica prompt database
• Nat Eliason's article
• Marie Dolle article
• Profile Pic AI
• AvatarAI

It's human nature to worry about the things that can go wrong.

But often overlooked is the mentality of attraction instead of detraction, or in other words focusing on what you can bring to the table instead of what you can prevent from happening.

While so many companies signal they want entrepreneurial candidates yet don't allow side projects, want out of the box thinkers yet expect them to work in a box (office), and vow they only hire top talent yet pay below market rate... there's power in thinking through whether you're truly focusing on attracting the right people or just trying to prevent wrong behavior.

In this episode, Steph and Cal discuss the mentality of being a magnet instead of a jail, originally inspired by this tweet of Steph's.