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The Generalist

The Generalist

By: Mario Gabriele
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 “The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.” The Generalist Podcast brings you weekly conversations with the people who live in these pockets of the future – visionary founders, prescient investors, and original thinkers. Each episode is designed to introduce you to new ideas, technologies, and markets and help you prepare for the world of tomorrow.Mario Gabriele
Episodes
  • Reviving Forgotten Technologies: How Airships, Supersonic Flight, and Geothermal Energy Could Transform Our World | Eli Dourado (Head of Strategic Investments at Astera Institute)

    Reviving Forgotten Technologies: How Airships, Supersonic Flight, and Geothermal Energy Could Transform Our World | Eli Dourado (Head of Strategic Investments at Astera Institute)
    Aug 19 2025

    Eli Dourado is Head of Strategic Investments at Astera Institute, a foundation funding transformative science and technology across energy, aerospace, AI, and other frontier sectors. Before joining Astera, he worked as a "regulatory hacker" at Boom Supersonic, where he helped navigate complex aviation regulations to make supersonic flight viable again.


    In our conversation, we explore:

    • How Eli's refusal to be pigeonholed led to a career reviving forgotten technologies

    • How lifting the 1973 ban on supersonic flight could reshape aviation, after decades of stagnation and regression

    • Why airships need to be massive to be economical, and how they could transform global logistics

    • The untapped potential of geothermal energy and why drilling economics are the key bottleneck

    • Why titanium could be the next material to undergo a manufacturing revolution

    • How reading regulatory fine print can unlock trillion-dollar industries

    • Why AI might not automatically solve our productivity problems

    • The relationship between technological stagnation and potential civilizational collapse

    • The fascinating possibility of harvesting antimatter in space

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    Thank you to our sponsor: Brex—The banking solution for startups: https://www.brex.com/mario

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    Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/reviving-forgotten-technologies-eli-dourado

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    Timestamps

    (00:00) Intro and Eli's background

    (04:11) Eli’s work at Astera Institute

    (07:53) The frontier sectors Astera is betting on

    (08:57) Eli’s path from academia to tech investing

    (13:06) How Eli became involved with supersonic flight

    (15:42) Why the airline industry entered “the great regression”

    (18:38) The origins of the overland supersonic flight ban

    (20:37) Working as a "regulatory hacker" at Boom Supersonic

    (27:30) The current state of supersonic flight technology

    (30:40) Eli’s cargo airship research

    (37:20) What sparked Eli’s interest in airships

    (40:23) Why airships fell out of favor as a way to travel

    (42:53) How Jim Coutre found a path to profitable airships

    (47:00) The pros, cons, and profit potential of airship travel

    (50:08) A case for geothermal energy

    (55:37) Understanding the “idiot index” and scaling titanium production

    (58:36) Thoughts on AI and avoiding complacency

    (01:02:00) The risks fueling a potential societal collapse

    (01:06:10) Final meditations

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    Follow Eli Dourado

    Newsletter: https://www.elidourado.com/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elidourado/

    X: https://x.com/elidourado

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    Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/reviving-forgotten-technologies-eli-dourado⁠

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    Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Inside General Catalyst’s $1B+ Bet on Fixing Healthcare | Hemant Taneja (CEO and Managing Partner)

    Inside General Catalyst’s $1B+ Bet on Fixing Healthcare | Hemant Taneja (CEO and Managing Partner)
    Aug 12 2025
    Hemant Taneja is the CEO and Managing Partner of General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that has evolved into what he describes as a "strategic conglomerate with venture capital at its core." Under his leadership, GC has expanded beyond traditional investing to become an organization focused on transforming entire industries from healthcare to call centers to insurance.In this conversation, Hemant unpacks General Catalyst's unusual structure and ambitious mission. He shares why his firm acquired the hospital system Summa Health in Ohio, why AI roll-ups will create some of the most valuable IPOs in the coming decade, and how servant leadership principles have reshaped his approach to building organizations.We explore:• How General Catalyst evolved from a traditional VC firm into a multi-business "strategic conglomerate"• Why Hemant believes the next decade requires completely rethinking what excellence means in company building• How GC's healthcare transformation company (HATCo) is working to reinvent the American healthcare system• Why GC made the unprecedented move to acquire Summa Health, a hospital system in Ohio• How servant leadership principles learned from Ken Chenault transformed Hemant's approach to building organizations• Why AI is accelerating transformation across industries faster than anyone predicted• How General Catalyst built its global seed practice through unusual acquisitions of La Famiglia, Venture Highway, and Wayfinder• Why Hemant believes AI roll-ups of labor arbitrage businesses will become some of the most valuable IPOs in the next decade• The changing profile of successful founders in an era of rapid technological change• How General Catalyst thinks about balancing profit and purpose across its portfolio—Thank you to our sponsor: Brex—The banking solution for startups.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/inside-general-catalyst-hemant-taneja—Timestamps00:00) Intro(02:16) General Catalyst’s ambition to help shape the future(04:23) How General Catalyst challenges founders to think bigger(06:05) GC's structure as a strategic conglomerate(10:44) Balancing profit and purpose in venture investing(12:19) The unusual role of CEO in a venture firm(15:11) How Hemant approaches decision-making in operations vs. investing(16:43) Lessons from Ken Chenault and the case for servant leadership at GC(20:55) What Hemant has learned from Amazon, McKinsey, and Nvidia’s cultures(23:37) The Berkshire Hathaway model—and how GC’s strategy differs(25:19) Why Hemant felt GC needed a fundamental rethink(28:33) What has changed since Hemant wrote his book on AI in 2018(31:07) Why great founders have shifted from hackers to iterative builders(32:55) The origin of HATCo and GC’s push into healthcare transformation(39:32) Why HATCo acquired Summa Health(43:48) What HATCo is planning next(46:30) Hemant’s thoughts on policy and responsible AI self-governance(48:49) Europe’s AI lag, the cloud wave it missed, and the case for sovereign infrastructure(52:38) Why companies move to the US(54:22) How to transform traditional industries with AI(56:37) Rollout vs. buyout, and why starting small makes more sense now(58:56) How rapid model progress unlocks new opportunities to reinvent businesses(1:01:10) What companies need to be good partners in the creation portfolio incubator(1:05:13) Why General Catalyst made rare acquisitions based on deep conviction in people(1:11:34) Final meditations—Follow Hemant TanejaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemanttanejaX: https://x.com/htaneja—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.generalist.com/p/inside-general-catalyst-hemant-taneja—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • The Future of Crypto: Stablecoins, AI Integration, and the Path to Mass Adoption | Jesse Walden (Founder and Managing Partner at Variant)

    The Future of Crypto: Stablecoins, AI Integration, and the Path to Mass Adoption | Jesse Walden (Founder and Managing Partner at Variant)
    Aug 5 2025
    Jesse Walden is the founder and managing partner of Variant Fund, an early-stage crypto fund backing projects like Uniswap, Phantom, World, Morpho, Flashbots, Farcaster, Blockaid, Blackbird, and many more. Before launching Variant in 2020, he was an investor at a16z crypto, where he supported early-stage builders shaping the future of Web3.In this episode, Jesse offers a wide-ranging view of where crypto stands today, and where it’s headed. He unpacks the rise of stablecoins, the role of meme coins in capturing attention, and why NFTs are evolving rather than disappearing. We explore the challenges of interoperability between blockchains, the shift from invention to productization, and the intersection of crypto and AI, two technologies that may supercharge one another’s progress.In our conversation, we explore:• The fundamental difference between AI (technology of abundance) and crypto (technology of scarcity), and why the two technologies are complementary• How the GENIUS Act is transforming the regulatory landscape for stablecoins and creating unprecedented bipartisan support• How DAOs 2.0 will return to their original vision: automation at the center with humans at the edges• How meme coins generate hype and the value of attention• Why user experience still holds Web3 back and what needs to change• What still needs to be solved to scale crypto, including true cross-chain interoperability—Thank you to our sponsor: Brex—The banking solution for startups.—Transcript: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-future-of-crypto-jesse-walden—Timestamps(00:00) Intro(02:19) An overview of Variant’s work(03:03) Jesse’s vision of a tokenized future and why it makes sense(06:19) The state of crypto since 2022(10:46) The GENIUS Act: what it is and how it could reshape stablecoins(14:28) How stablecoins are both a payment tool and a communication layer(17:07) Why stablecoins are not yet convenient in the US(19:06) Variant’s investment in stablecoins and blockchains(21:33) The policy and regulation crypto still needs to mature(24:15) Speculation vs. stablecoins(27:06) Meme coins and the attention economy(31:53) The shift from invention to productization(33:47) How the user experience is evolving in crypto, and what’s still needed(38:15) Phantom and other companies Jesse is bullish on(42:20) The short-term dip and long-term rise in developer talent(47:48) Jesse’s heuristic for determining a founder’s passion in the crypto space(50:37) Where AI and crypto collide (and what they can do for each other)(56:48) Why there’s still opportunity for NFTs(01:01:57) An explanation of DAOs and DAO 2.0’s opportunity for humans(01:07:04) Final meditations—Follow Jesse WaldenX: https://x.com/jessewldnLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessewalden/Website: https://jessewalden.com/—Resources and episode mentions—Books—• Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events: https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Economics-Stories-Economic-Events/dp/0691182299• The White Paper: https://www.amazon.com/The-White-Paper/dp/1999675924—People—• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Vitalik Buterin on X: https://x.com/vitalikbuterin—Other resources—• Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org• Stablecoin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stablecoin• Beyond Speculation and Stablecoins: Crypto's Next Phase?: https://jessewalden.com/beyond-speculation-and-stablecoins-cryptos-next-phase/• What is DeFi?: https://www.coinbase.com/learn/crypto-basics/plp-what-is-defi• Morpho: https://morpho.org/• Pump.fun: https://pump.fun/• Zora: https://zora.co/• Docker: https://www.docker.com/• Privy: https://www.privy.io/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Kraken: https://www.kraken.com/• Phantom: https://phantom.com/...References continued at: https://www.generalist.com/p/the-future-of-crypto-jesse-walden—Production and marketing by penname.co. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co.
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    1 hr and 13 mins
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