Dialectic with Jackson Dahl

Conversational portraits of original people by @jacksondahl.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Ep. 48: Henri Stern - Principled Enough to Be Pragmatic

[Jackson Dahl @jacksondahl]

Dialectic Ep. 48: Henri Stern

Modern technologists--especially in crypto--are often deeply principled or impressively pragmatic.

@sternhenri is both.

I talked to Henri about digital privacy, the moral weight of building technology, the painful reality of realizing the market doesn't want what you're selling, and crypto's 'boring' era.

Henri is co-founder and CEO of @privy_io, which @stripe acquired last year. Privy focuses on enabling developers to let their users hold crypto, and Henri works across a number of Stripe's efforts to bring more of the financial world onchain (in large part thanks to stablecoins).

Timestamps:
0:00 - Opening Highlights
1:40 - Intro to Henri
4:51 - Start: Technical Decisions are Moral Decisions
15:41 - Ambition, Startups, and Crypto
23:39 - Why Digital Privacy Matters: Self-Determination, Security, and Identity
41:52 - Embedded Wallets, the Pivot, and Privy's Core Bet
55:18 - Reinventing Around Stablecoins Without Abandoning Crypto-Natives
1:06:42 - Joining Stripe, Privy Today, and What Stripe Is Becoming
1:22:54 - Crypto's Future, Power Laws, Optimism and Pessimism
1:38:14 - Closing: Asta, Stripe's Leaders, Being French, and Never Compromising

Available on all platforms below.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

From -

Transcript & Links: https://t.co/7GH7olClAq

Spotify: https://t.co/P5300dVWOn

Apple: https://t.co/1EhXWF6ad4

YouTube: https://t.co/JndMJgEFKo

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

.@paulscherer: "Feeling lonely is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day."

"A world that's completely isolated is a world in which humans go extinct."

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇯🇵 Japan is facing a loneliness crisis.

Elderly people are dying alone, younger generations are becoming more socially disconnected, and the country is now treating loneliness as a major national problem.

Writer: Sol

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

"Elon Musk (@elonmusk) is a prophet trying to do a priest’s job."

Celine Nguyen on Henry Farrell, Max Weber, and the thrill of finding an old idea that suddenly explains the present.

[Matt @Matt_Schulman1]

This is excellent but I'm very disappointed to learn @sternhenri isn't in fact heir to the Patek Philippe family fortune

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Everyone says AI is a talent multiplier, but Nicholas Thompson has a simple test:

Show him a mid journalist producing exceptional work using AI.

Not a great journalist moving faster, but someone actually skipping the jump.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

@patrick_oshag 👇

https://t.co/b4vACHQZWc

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

2 essays to help you get smarter today.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Everyone says AI is a talent multiplier, but Nicholas Thompson has a simple test:

Show him a mid journalist producing exceptional work using AI.

Not a great journalist moving faster, but someone actually skipping the jump.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

45: Nicholas Thompson - A Life of Long Form

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

@hardeep_gambhir 🫡

https://t.co/b4vACHQZWc

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

2 essays to help you get smarter today.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

"Elon Musk (@elonmusk) is a prophet trying to do a priest’s job."

Celine Nguyen on Henry Farrell, Max Weber, and the thrill of finding an old idea that suddenly explains the present.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

42: Celine Nguyen - Nurturing Your Mind in Public

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Ep. 48: Henri Stern - Principled Enough to Be Pragmatic

[Gami @gami_vc]

@backseats_eth @w1nt3r_eth @privy_io @reown_ @coinbase +1 for privy

also worth listening to @sternhenri on @dialecticpod with @jacksondahl from yesterday

banger episode
https://t.co/vSJDQPKlvW

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Nicole Seah on not forcing Ikigai:

Monet painted water lilies 250 times. Many founders rarely land on the "thing" immediately.

The work usually converges after a long route of discovery, repetition, and enough grace to not demand an answer too early.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Ep. 26: Cyan Banister - A Fool's Dérive

Cyan Banister (@cyantist) is an investor, artist, and co-founder and General Partner of @LongJourneyVC. Previously, Cyan spent four years at @foundersfund and has a legendary angel investing track record alongside her husband, Scott, including early rounds in SpaceX, Uber, and DeepMind.

Cyan is as original as they come: she grew up on a Navajo reservation and was homeless by 15, with a series of unlikely serendipitous moments combined with optimism, agency, and love of capitalism taking her to a very different life than the one she grew up with. I focused this conversation not on Cyan's work, but her unique approach to living.

We begin with Cyan’s “church”: a weekly visit to see Bobby McFerrin and co. do live, jazz acapella in Berkeley, CA. We discuss how this space ties to presence, openness, and play, and then talk about the tension between novelty and consistency as she continues on her own path toward self-love and mindfulness. She also tells me about her radical approach to accountability and the empowering results of assuming that everything is her fault.

One of Cyan's favorite words is the French dérive, or an intentional drift, and it embodies her approach to the world. She moves with childlike wonder, seeking to see things and people from new perspectives and challenging others to react beyond their default settings. She daydreams about the outcomes she wants and has remarkable conviction and faith even when others do not believe her.

We wrap with a grab bag representative of Cyan's diverse interests, from filmmaking and performance art to the US Constitution to Bill Murray. Cyan manages to combine randomness and intentionality, naiveté and sober-minded awareness, humility and conviction. I hope you are are as inspired as I am to live more playfully, seriously, and courageously.

Timestamps:
3:45 - Cyan's "Church"
16:21 - Stillness, Mindfulness, and Introspection
28:47 - Learning to See in Original Ways
39:38 - People: When the "Light is On," "Collecting Minds," and Conjuring Friends
46:55 - Cultivating Childlike Joy and Refusing to be a Victim
52:30 - Radical Accountability
56:28 - Randomness, Faith, and Experimentation
1:06:22 - Conviction and Peter Thiel
1:12:54 - Returning to Seed Investing and Long Journey Ventures
1:18:23 - Thoughts on Art
1:23:42 - Performance Art
1:26:37 - Cyan's Creative Projects
1:32:51 - Boredom
1:36:06 - Living Around Elderly People
1:42:14 - Pete Buttigieg
1:45:57 - Being a Role Model
1:48:26 - Young People's Future
1:52:46 - Scott Banister and Lessons for Her Kids
1:55:35 - "It Just Doesn't Matter" And Who Pulls the Strings

---
Quick note on video: Yes, it is here! Today’s episode isn’t perfect (a one-off set in a friend’s space, some audio-video sync issues, imperfect camera angles, so on). Alas, I’m ripping the bandaid off and you can expect some future episodes to include video versions. Feedback is welcome.
---

All links and transcript avail below.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

Nicole Seah on not forcing Ikigai:

Monet painted water lilies 250 times. Many founders rarely land on the "thing" immediately.

The work usually converges after a long route of discovery, repetition, and enough grace to not demand an answer too early.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

46: Nicole Seah (Nix) - Loving What is Real

@startingfromnix

[Vinny @OnChainOnlyy]

One of my favorite podcasts chatting with @sternhenri who's quickly becoming one of my favorite people to work with.

Great guest choice @jacksondahl

[Max Segall @segall_max]

Two of my favorite people JAMMING on two of my favorite topics (the crypto market and Privy)

Give it a listen 🤩🤩🤩🤩

[Henri Stern Ꙫ @sternhenri]

Some musings on crypto and morality on the web.

I first met Jackson 4-5 years ago when Privy was embryonic and he was diving into crypto after 100 thieves.

We've had a huge number of conversations since across so many topics -- loved recording one of them!

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

95% of the people on any plane today would have tried to kill the Wright brothers if they’d lived in their time.

Today, they fly without a second thought.

@paulscherer on why "inventor" becoming high-status might be bad for cutting-edge discoveries.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

95% of the people on any plane today would have tried to kill the Wright brothers if they’d lived in their time.

Today, they fly without a second thought.

@paulscherer on why "inventor" becoming high-status might be bad for cutting-edge discoveries.

[Dialectic with Jackson Dahl @DialecticPod]

47: Paul Scherer - A Friend That Brings Us Closer