Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita

Founder & CEO of @InfinitaCity | Building bio/acc hubs in SEZs and US states | Based in @ProsperaGlobal | Stranded Technologies Podcast

[Infinita City @infinitacity]

Progress doesn't happen automatically 📈

In Ep. 112, @waitbutwhy explains why the Space Race compressed a century of technological progress into just a few years.

The same urgency could transform longevity, AI safety, and startup cities.

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@maxmarchione I like the idea, wdyt @TLukaschewski89?

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

Substack link: https://t.co/f4r4bHMAOh

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

Finally the basically correct perspective on the introspection debate "you are introspecting too much"

by @auren

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@akarlin Yes, the catch-22 in alternative jurisdiction

- higher need: worse stability
- lower need: higher stability

It’s a venture risk in developing countries, and a real estate finance risk in developed countries.

[Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong]

A self regulatory organization (SRO) is a reasonable-ish idea - but it often comes with the government also regulating (classic dual system which is common in financial services). So it often doesn't prevent the government regulation.

So you end up needing approval from both the SRO and the government regulator (in each country) instead of just one.

I think if I was in their shoes (frontier labs), I would argue this is just like the software industry and it doesn't need an SRO or government regulator. It's difficult to point to some massive harm that has been done, where a victim could not be compensated, so why design regulation around a hypothetical problem. The existing laws which prevent fraud, award damages when victims are harmed (tort), UDAP Laws (Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices) etc provide broad protections if one of the frontier labs issues a model that does harm. Not to mention loss of revenue - companies and consumers don't want to use a model that is dangerous.

I'd say they are already very well incentivized to be responsible actors, and have done so.

[Balaji @balajis]

Should the global tech community continue investing in Malaysia?

Given recent events, I raise this question respectfully for the consideration of Prime Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim (@anwaribrahim), for the people of Malaysia, and for our friends in the Malaysian tech community. The answer will be of interest to anyone in global tech that’s considering building, investing, or expanding in Malaysia, including executives at Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, founders of tech unicorns like Coinbase and Solana, and investors at the world’s largest venture capital funds like a16z and Polychain.

As context, I am the former CTO of Coinbase and former General Partner at a16z. In October 2024, I opened a startup society called Network School in Malaysia, because I felt I’d been invited in by the government’s pro-tech policies.

Specifically, the KL20 initiative set out Malaysia’s ambition of becoming a top 20 global tech hub. Their MDEC digital nomad visas and MM2H investor visas were created to facilitate an influx of global talent and capital. And the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone was announced to facilitate the flow of capital and talent between Malaysia and Singapore, where I live. When taken in combination with Malaysia’s datacenter buildout and its policy of welcoming visa-free visits for 98% of the world, it seemed like Malaysia might be a great place to build a global tech hub that was simultaneously inexpensive and easy to visit (especially for non-Westerners).

And that’s what we did, by creating Network School. It’s an international tech community with its first node in Forest City, Malaysia. We picked Forest City because it had millions of square feet of empty space, because it was one hour from Singapore’s capital markets, and because it was within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. Then, within 18 months, without a single penny of government money, we built Network School into a global attraction that brought thousands of engineers, investors, and builders from 70+ countries to learn technology, burn calories, earn online, and have fun, integrating with the local Malaysian economy along the way.

Indeed, in terms of quantifiable contribution to the Malaysian economy, we’ve already invested 100M+ MYR in our campus to make it startup-friendly. For perspective, that’s about 4% of the budget of Johor, the Malaysian state where Forest City is located. We employ dozens of Malaysians directly and indirectly at every level from executive to staff. We’ve backed Malaysian tech startups like Collektr, hosted events for local teams like Superteam Malaysia, and are major customers of many local businesses like barbers, laundromats, and restaurants. We’ve also revitalized the multibillion-dollar Forest City project, causing millions of MYR in real estate appreciation. And, as the video below describes, we were on the cusp of a 500M+ MYR expansion to grow our community, as well as a global merit scholarship with my friend Amjad Masad of Replit.

However, that emerging multi-billion dollar success story — which should rightfully have been hailed as a huge victory for the pro-tech policies of the Malaysian government — is at risk of being derailed by a fake story spread by an anonymous account named MP4P.

In short: on the day before the July 11 Johor elections, MP4P posted an Instagram post falsely accusing Network School of harboring illegal aliens. The sensational accusations caused a tizzy in Malaysia, until Malaysian authorities came to our campus on July 14 to investigate. (I should note that the officers were very polite and professional.) After checking hundreds of physical passports from 40 countries, including dual passport holders, the authorities confirmed to the press on July 15 that all travel documents were in order. During the process, we cooperated fully; in the thread below you can see a photo of the men, women, and children of Network School smiling and holding up their passports in the bright daylight. Our faces are shown and our names are known; we have nothing to hide.

With that said, the process is the punishment. What MP4P did is very similar to the American crime of “swatting”, because MP4P created a hoax report of a serious threat, thereby forcing the Malaysian police to take time away from protecting the Malaysian people towards investigating a nonexistent issue. Moreover, this anonymous MP4P account has also called for Malaysia to boycott Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft…a move that would cost ordinary Malaysians thousands of jobs…even while MP4P’s own Instagram collaborators promote their Apple and Google apps! I mean, we aren’t talking about a credible accuser, but just someone screaming inconsistently at the top of their lungs on social media for traffic, an all-too-common phenomenon these days.

Anyway, at this point, all further investment we were planning to make in Malaysia is on hold until we get sufficient assurance that such issues won’t recur. So are the investment plans of many of our friends, including the execs and investors at global tech firms that we brought to Forest City. Because to put it very plainly: we have invested 100M+ MYR in Malaysia, while creating jobs for dozens of Malaysians, and our faces and names are known. Our Malaysian executives and employees deserve the benefit of the doubt over anonymous internet trolls.

There are two paths forward. In the first case, if Malaysia still wants continued global tech investment, if it wants to be a top 20 tech hub, if it wants us to revitalize Forest City, then we request an audience with the Prime Minister’s office to discuss the terms of a memorandum of understanding between Network School and the Malaysian government, similar to the document recently signed between the Solana Foundation and the Kazakhstan government.

Specifics can of course be discussed, but we would publicly commit to abiding by all Malaysian laws (we already do) and respecting Malaysia’s sovereignty (never in question). In return, they’d get to know our friendly community, and realize that we actually chose Malaysia because we thought it was a great place to build a tech hub where engineers from the global South, investors from the West, and builders from Malaysia itself could meet new people, build cool things, and perhaps create millions of dollars in economic growth in the fullness of time.

That vision of peace and trade, internationalism and entrepreneurialism, is still on the table. We aren’t asking for any money — just a meeting, to help restore confidence in Malaysia as an investable jurisdiction. Alternatively, if you don’t want our investment, or those of our colleagues at billion dollar funds and trillion dollar companies, we will of course respect your wishes, and reallocate our capital to other countries instead.

Either way, we will remain friends and abide by your decision. Please let us know.

[Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong]

When starting a company, most people shy away from truly hard problems and go for base hits thinking it will be easier.

The opposite is true. Fewer people attempt the hard problems so there is less competition, and great people are more likely to join you on an impactful mission. Instead, start with something you feel in your bones must be possible or different in the world, even if it's not a business.

Then work backwards from there toward what steps will be required, and see how you can get your first dollar of revenue on an early step which enables the broader vision.

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@cremieuxrecueil This would amount to “headline wisecrack”

Maybe ..
Headline Einstein
Titletroll
Headline-splainer
Headline hustler

[John Triplette @johntriplette]

@cremieuxrecueil You know just know the Germans have a single word for this like “Überschriftsbesserwisser” or some shit.

English speakers need more single words for nuanced things. Germany stays single-word-mogging the rest of the world.

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@alextoussss Fam we need this on Roatan

[Jean Hansen @peerbase_]

The full second episode of The Network Society is now available on X.

It’s our best production yet.

We visited Puerto Rico’s biotech hub to explore new cancer and blindness treatments, then returned to @Prosperahn to discuss startup-driven regulatory alternatives.

Enjoy it.

[Infinita City @infinitacity]

Science needs reality checks.

- Pure science can drift into bad incentives
- Grant systems can protect existing paradigms
- New ideas can get blocked before being tested
- Technology forces the real question: does it actually work?

That’s the accountability layer. 🧪

[Alex Kesin @alexkesin]

Hey-ho! My napkin math checked out!

[Hemant Mohapatra @MohapatraHemant]

**HELP needed** Anyone knows folks @UTMDAnderson cancer center? A friend's spouse is s4 pancreatic & a strong genetic fit for daraxonrasib trials (KRAS G12D mutation w/ VAF of 20.69%, along with a SMAD4 mutation) run by @DrShubhamPant. 47yo (m), indian army colonel, otherwise healthy. Pls RT / fwd to the right circles - might save a life! 🙏🙏

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@cremieuxrecueil If I close one eye I see one half, none with both eyes open

[Anatoly Karlin 🧲💯 @akarlin]

I don't think I've ever seen Third Worldism summarized so succinctly and sincerely.

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@cremieuxrecueil Swear to Odin

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@anish_koka @MartinShkreli For that you should get a functioning right-to-try - full approval likely triggers insurance coverage and it‘s one thing to try something with little evidence another to ask taxpayers to pay $2m per person for it

[Jackson Steger @JacksonSteger]

@balajis People love college in large part because of the campus product.

Living in walking distance of your peers increases serendipity, maximizes connection, and makes it easy to live a healthy lifestyle.

Creating this for an international audience is a pleasure and a privilege 🚀

[Niklas Anzinger 📍 Infinita @NiklasAnzinger]

@RainConsulting @exosome Let’s change that! @RighttoTryGuy