#827: Pablos Holman — One of The Scariest Hackers I’ve Ever Met

Pablos Holman is a hacker and inventor and the author of Deep Future: Creating Technology that Matters (amazon.com/Deep-Future-Creating-Technology-Mat…), the indispensable guide to deep tech. Previously, Pablos worked on spaceships at Blue Origin and helped build The Intellectual Ventures Lab (intellectualventures.com/what-we-do/iv-lab) to invent a wide variety of breakthroughs. Pablos also hosts the Deep Future Podcast (deepfuture.tech/podcast-index) and is managing partner at Deep Future (deepfuture.tech).
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Timestamps:
• [00:00:00] Start.
• [00:02:12] The first time I witnessed Pablos’ digital sleight of hand.
• [00:04:33] How did Pablos become what he considers to be a hacker?
• [00:08:04] The off-label mindset that makes a good hacker (like Samy Kamkar) great.
• [00:17:07] The magic of Rodney Mullen.
• [00:20:28] How Eric Johanson and Pablos gave life to adorable password thief Hackerbot.
• [00:23:44] Hacker self-defense and the zero-click exploit market.
• [00:27:11] International pockets of hacker density.
• [00:30:13] Conventions where modern hackers congregate.
• [00:30:48] Why, in geopolitics, technology is a game lost by the non-players.
• [00:33:05] The case to rally behind new nuclear power.
• [00:36:54] Sequencing priorities so the US can remain technologically competitive.
• [00:44:49] Evaluating risk and reward in deep tech investment.
• [00:50:40] Shoring up the shape of shipping.
• [00:56:59] How Pablos gained his name and famous frames.
• [00:58:48] Pablos is a possible-ist.
• [00:59:45] What makes Pablos an attractive hire for the world’s richest people?
• [01:02:06] From Silicon Valley to Seattle: the Blue Origin origin story.
• [01:08:55] Why Pablos prevails over his M-dash peers.
• [01:11:41] Zero Effect and WarGames: The only movies that matter?
• [01:15:58] A major security malfunction exploited by Major Malfunction.
• [01:18:30] The enigmatic Neal Stephenson.
• [01:19:38] Long-form lessons gleaned from Jeff Bezos and the Blue Origin mission.
• [01:27:15] For solving the world’s problems, communities are crucial.
• [01:31:03] Newlab PSYOPS.
• [01:34:44] AI and the ripple effects of China’s engineering-minded vs. America’s attorney-heavy leadership.
• [01:48:20] Unearthing like-minded inventors and innovators.
• [01:50:42] How Pablos learned salsa dancing via aikido vs. my own tango experience.
• [02:08:27] Why you should invest or get involved in deep tech.
• [02:14:45] Clearing up fusion confusion.
• [02:21:17] Making progress happen is a team effort.
• [02:24:19] Parting thoughts.
*
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