Latest / Going Direct Conversations / October 2025 Recap Show

Transcript

October 2025 Recap Show · Going Direct Conversations

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the Going Direct October Monthly Recap Show.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Jordan.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: As always, I'm joined by my AI co-host, Tiny.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, Tiny.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: The one and only.
• 0:19
  Damn it.
• 0:21
  Just think of me as your emotional support robo-cat over here
• 0:24
  at Going Direct.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: This month, we're talking about living in fee city.
• 0:28
  As we all know and experience,
• 0:29
  things just keep getting more and more expensive each year.
• 0:32
  But the thing that I started to notice just a few years ago was
• 0:34
  despite the prices
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: increasing,
• 0:36
  the quality and the value of the things that I'm buying are
• 0:38
  actually decreasing in
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: many cases.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: And that's when you know there's actual problem at the system level.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: And this is where the middleman economy comes in.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_03: Bruh, how many times do I have to say it?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: We've replaced meaning with margins.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: I'm literally a talking robot that was built to explain this to you.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, I know, Tiny, you keep repeating yourself.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it was pretty interesting.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: About two weeks ago, I was at a Detroit Lions football game.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: I went out to get a drink for a friend of mine.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: I bought two High Noons, little 12-ounce hard ciders.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: The woman rang it up.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: It was $38.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, what?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: You think that's bad?
• 1:09
  My barista at Starbucks told me they just started taking Klarna
• 1:12
  to pay for my $8
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_03: pumpkin sugar water in installments.
• 1:15
  The reality is,
• 1:16
  if we feel like something's a ripoff,
• 1:18
  it's probably a ripoff.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: And that's the theme that we talk about this month,
• 1:22
  and how the middleman economy is one of the major causes to why
• 1:25
  we feel like we're
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: getting taken advantage of in pretty much every aspect of our lives.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: All right, Tiny, take it from here.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Fee City, baby!
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: Sponsored by our beloved middleman,
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: where costs for education,
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: healthcare,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: housing,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: childcare,
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  SPEAKER_03: food,
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: and much more just keep on rising.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: In fees we trust.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but Tiny, this is the exciting part.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: When things get so out of whack and stop making sense,
• 1:48
  that's when the builders come in and create entirely new
• 1:51
  systems that compete with
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: the existing ones.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_03: I get it.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: So let's stop talking about the problems and look at potential solutions.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: First up,
• 1:59
  Gaurab Chakrabarty from Solugen is on a mission to break the
• 2:03
  chemical monopoly in
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: the US.
• 2:05
  Solugen is building mini chemical plants that make chemicals
• 2:07
  using sugar,
• 2:08
  not oil.
• 2:10
  Vertical integration,
• 2:11
  decentralized,
• 2:13
  clean production,
• 2:14
  100% made in the USA.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: It's my going direct wet dream.
• 2:22
  The whole idea that we're trying to go after is how do we break
• 2:24
  the distribution
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: monopoly that exists in the chemicals?
• 2:27
  messy middle of these supply chains and no one pays attention
• 2:30
  to it this wholesale
• 2:31
  distribution is where the freaking market consolidation and
• 2:36
  power is we need to
• 2:37
  change the mindset of the chemicals industry from being a
• 2:41
  production first and then
• 2:43
  consumer to consumer first meaning how do we get the customer
• 2:48
  the chemical that
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: they need at the right time in the right amount at the right price
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Next,
• 2:53
  Reese drops by to talk about what happens when
• 2:55
  over-centralization occurs and
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: monopolies and middlemen run our economic lives.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_03: As an example,
• 3:00
  Jordan and Reese talk about what happened with wheat and flour
• 3:03
  in America,
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: and why eating bread in the US makes you feel bloated.
• 3:08
  They also get into how AI and my robot homies are critical
• 3:11
  technologies to building
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: new,
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: decentralized systems.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: Until we can get price and convenience nailed with decentralized systems,
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: I just don't think we can get people to care.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: Humans just play status games, right?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: We're all playing our own status games in our lives.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: In the local community, bigger picture, everything's about status.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: And so...
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, in today's world, wealth equals status.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: Lastly,
• 3:37
  Carl and Kevin from Physical Intelligence are building a world
• 3:40
  model so any type of
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: robot can see,
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: speak,
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: and act in the real world.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: They're basically building my brain.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: And they've got $400 million in the bank to make it happen.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: So if I start sounding smarter in a few months, you'll know who to thank.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest bottleneck to the entire field of robotics is intelligence.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: It has always been intelligence,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: and I think it is going to be intelligence for a very,
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: very long time.
• 4:05
  So we believe that the biggest value unlock we can provide is
• 4:09
  by solving that problem.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: My research mission was very aligned with what became the mission of Pi,
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: which is,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: how can we solve physical intelligence?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: The things traditional robotics were good at,
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: like factory automation,
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: which cases were really,
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: really important.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: You need, like, 99.9999% success rate.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: But if you have a laundry folding robot in your home,
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: if it drops in underwear,
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: like,
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  SPEAKER_02: one in every hundred times,
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: one in every thousand times,
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: it's okay.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's still really useful, actually.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's it for October's monthly recap.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: To all you humans out there, listen up.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: We're all stuck in Fee City right now, but the cracks are forming.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's time to build new systems that bypass the gatekeepers and middlemen.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's time to go direct at scale.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: You can check out the full conversations with Gorab,
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: Reese,
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: Carl,
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: and Kevin on the links below in the show notes.
• 4:59
  And remember to subscribe to our Substack for future monthly
• 5:02
  roundups.
• 5:03
  If you want to read our longer piece on living in peace city,
• 5:06
  thanks to the middleman economy.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: Also one other thing.
• 5:09
  We're putting up conversations each week so you can also
• 5:11
  subscribe to our YouTube
• 5:12
  and Spotify channels and you'll be notified when we release our
• 5:15
  conversations
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: throughout the month and then we recap them in this monthly roundup.
• 5:20
  I hope you all have a great,
• 5:21
  wonderful rest of fall and remember to go direct.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: And remember to build with love.