Episode

#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
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1:48:40
Published: Tue Aug 24 2021
Description

Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More | Brought to you by You Need A Budget cult favorite budgeting app, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Helix Sleep premium mattresses. More on all three below.Internet and technology entrepreneur Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) is founder of the online nonprofit encyclopedia Wikipedia and cofounder of the privately owned Wikia, Inc., including its entertainment media brand Fandom, powered by Wikia. Jimmy serves on the board of trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit charitable organization he established to operate Wikipedia.In 2019, Jimmy launched WT Social—a news-focused social network. In 2006, Jimmy was named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world for his role in creating Wikipedia.In 2021, inspired by his family quiz nights during COVID-19 lockdown, Jimmy created Quiz Night Beyond—a website where people can create and play quizzes online with family and friends wherever they may be.Please enjoy!This episode is brought to you by You Need A Budget! You Need A Budget is a cult favorite budgeting app for a reason—it works. The app and its simple 4-rule method will change the way you think about your money and help you gain total control so you can plan for the things you need and get the things you want without guilt or stress. You Need A Budget has helped millions of people transform their finances, save their marriages, and live life on their own terms.The You Need A Budget team offers free, live classes every day of the week, including video courses, bootcamps, and challenges, and active fan groups in every corner of the internet. On average, new budgeters save more than $600 by month two and $6,000 in their first year. Try the app free for 34 days (no credit card required) at YouNeedABudget.com/Tim. *This episode is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.*This episode is also brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, to my dear listeners, Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.*If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chapters
The podcast contains two advertisements, one for You Need a Budget and the other for Helix Sleep, promoting their services for financial management and customized mattresses respectively.
00:00 - 05:25 (05:25)
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Advertisement
Summary

The podcast contains two advertisements, one for You Need a Budget and the other for Helix Sleep, promoting their services for financial management and customized mattresses respectively.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The podcast features a conversation about personal background, early education and hobbies like reading encyclopedias.
05:26 - 14:21 (08:54)
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Education
Summary

The podcast features a conversation about personal background, early education and hobbies like reading encyclopedias.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares how Ayn Rand's work, particularly The Fountainhead, influenced his perspective on the importance of intellectual reasoning and objectivity in areas such as trading and everyday thought.
14:21 - 28:36 (14:14)
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Ayn Rand
Summary

The speaker shares how Ayn Rand's work, particularly The Fountainhead, influenced his perspective on the importance of intellectual reasoning and objectivity in areas such as trading and everyday thought.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
This episode explores the principles of designing software and social rules and norms to create something that is healthy and meaningful for users, instead of adding to the toxicity of online spaces.
28:36 - 34:47 (06:11)
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Software design
Summary

This episode explores the principles of designing software and social rules and norms to create something that is healthy and meaningful for users, instead of adding to the toxicity of online spaces.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker comments on the ludicrousness of Netscape 1.0 being worth $4.3 billion, and shares how books like "Your Money or Your Life" offer a new perspective on personal finance.
34:47 - 38:25 (03:38)
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Personal Finance
Summary

The speaker comments on the ludicrousness of Netscape 1.0 being worth $4.3 billion, and shares how books like "Your Money or Your Life" offer a new perspective on personal finance.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The transcript discusses how Yahoo failed to keep up with the search engine competition by not creating a Google-style search engine and instead focusing on web directories, resulting in significant financial losses.
38:25 - 41:33 (03:08)
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Yahoo, Search Engine Market
Summary

The transcript discusses how Yahoo failed to keep up with the search engine competition by not creating a Google-style search engine and instead focusing on web directories, resulting in significant financial losses.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The fear of failure in startups is not exclusive to American entrepreneurs.
41:33 - 50:32 (08:59)
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Entrepreneurship
Summary

The fear of failure in startups is not exclusive to American entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs from various countries struggle with the pressure to succeed and the idea that their careers are doomed if their startups fail.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares their experience of starting a business without a clear business idea, plan, or numbers, and how they carried on by looking for deals and partners after facing a loss.
50:32 - 57:58 (07:26)
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Entrepreneurship
Summary

The speaker shares their experience of starting a business without a clear business idea, plan, or numbers, and how they carried on by looking for deals and partners after facing a loss.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The benefits of open peer review can often reveal errors that traditional academic reviews may miss, including instances of plagiarism, and can ultimately lead to a more extensive and serious body of work.
57:58 - 1:07:27 (09:28)
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Open Peer Review
Summary

The benefits of open peer review can often reveal errors that traditional academic reviews may miss, including instances of plagiarism, and can ultimately lead to a more extensive and serious body of work.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The host speaks about the importance of the entrepreneurial mindset and creating a neutral space online.
1:07:27 - 1:14:21 (06:54)
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Entrepreneurship
Summary

The host speaks about the importance of the entrepreneurial mindset and creating a neutral space online. He shares his experience creating Wikisource and making key decisions that made a significant difference.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A user on Reddit shares the Steak Knives Analogy to describe how confusing the colon formatting system can be for new users.
1:14:21 - 1:19:40 (05:18)
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Reddit
Summary

A user on Reddit shares the Steak Knives Analogy to describe how confusing the colon formatting system can be for new users.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The Universal Code of Conduct is designed to ensure that contributors to Wikipedia are held accountable for their conduct and are encouraged to be respectful towards others while participating in the community.
1:19:40 - 1:25:25 (05:44)
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Wikipedia
Summary

The Universal Code of Conduct is designed to ensure that contributors to Wikipedia are held accountable for their conduct and are encouraged to be respectful towards others while participating in the community.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Overcoming email overload can be tough because the more emails you answer, the more you receive.
1:25:25 - 1:33:13 (07:47)
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Email Overload
Summary

Overcoming email overload can be tough because the more emails you answer, the more you receive. However, it's important to remember that there are more important things in life and to find ways to increase optimism.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker advocates for reimagining how we use computers in a social way, rather than relying on passive actions such as liking photos on Instagram.
1:33:13 - 1:42:07 (08:53)
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Social Computing
Summary

The speaker advocates for reimagining how we use computers in a social way, rather than relying on passive actions such as liking photos on Instagram. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to pursue ideas that resonate with them, rather than just what they believe will make the most money.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The You Need a Budget app offers a simple four-rule method to help users gain control of their finances and plan for their needs and wants, without guilt or stress.
1:42:07 - 1:46:31 (04:23)
listen on Spotify
You Need a Budget
Summary

The You Need a Budget app offers a simple four-rule method to help users gain control of their finances and plan for their needs and wants, without guilt or stress. Try the app for free for 34 days at youneedabudget.com/tim

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Helix Sleep is offering customized mattresses based on a two-minute sleep quiz, and they are rated as the number one best overall mattress by several magazines.
1:46:31 - 1:48:27 (01:56)
listen on Spotify
Helix Sleep
Summary

Helix Sleep is offering customized mattresses based on a two-minute sleep quiz, and they are rated as the number one best overall mattress by several magazines. You can now receive up to $200 off all mattress orders and two free pillows by visiting helixsleep.com/tim.

Episode
#528: Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, on Homeschooling, Atheism, Understanding Financial Markets, Ayn Rand, Favorite Books, and More
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show