E28: Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana on Liberal Arts Debate, Tech Culture, and Saving San Francisco

Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana join Erik, Dan, and Antonio to discuss whether a liberal arts degree is worth it and how to save San Francisco. Moment of Zen is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.co We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. a16z Podcast: https://future.com/a16z-podcast/ The a16z podcast is a lighthouse for current and future founders, breaking down the most important trends in technology. TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (04:30) Recapping the first Moment of Zen fight (07:00) Is a Liberal Arts degree worth it? (010:30) The siren song of The Social Network (14:00) Finance vs Tech in the 2010s (15:35) Sponsor: Secureframe (16:40) 4 out of the 5 people on this episode got a liberal arts degree (21:00) Are elite schools still worth it? Are middle tier colleges worth it? (29:00) Are CS degrees necessary? (31:00) Zero sum: college vs vocational school (42:00) Mike Solana’s political future in San Francisco (44:45) How tech failed SF (46:40) How to talk about drug dealers, drug addicts, and recreational drug use (51:30) Wealth in SF, geographically (1:01:00) Housing (1:0400) Fentanyl will be a key issue in the upcoming election (1:08:00) Dangerous memes, aspirations, and not accepting market realities LINKS: Season of the Witch by David Talbot: https://www.amazon.com/Season-Witch-Enchantment-Terror-Deliverance/dp/1439108242 Base Reality by Mike Solana: https://www.piratewires.com/p/base-reality-an-interview-with-grimes-6b3 TWITTER: @KTmBoyle (Katherine) @micsolana (Mike) @MOZ_Podcast @eriktorenberg (Erik) @antoniogm (Antonio) @dwr (Dan) SPONSORS: Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝 to https://Beehiiv.com and use code “MOZ” for 20% off your first three months Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the US. And Shopify’s the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy’s, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you’re selling, Shopify’s got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/momentofzen NetSuite (http://netsuite.com/zen) NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than thirty-six thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/zen and defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months. Secureframe (https://secureframe.com/) Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention MOZ during your demo to get 20% off your first year.