Joe Rogan Experience #999 — Tom Bilyeu Transcript

Transcript

0:00 5, 4, 3, 2, the infamous Jamie countdown and we're live Tom. in the Primal Kitchen bars. Those goddamn Quest bars are the shit. Yeah. If you try to go on a keto diet, and you try to find really good, healthy, delicious stuff But it only has like nine grams of carbs. Primal Kitchen. You know that Chipotle mayo, that Chipotle lime mayo? I'm not bullshitting.

1:57 So I'm getting a lot of fat. Yeah. Well, what I'm doing is, for the most part, if I'm eating foods, the foods that I'm eating Yes. Never done. You're never going to do it by accident. Were you experiencing health difficulties? of brain cancer that actually lived off of fats um didn't respond to a low-carb diet. like. And I didn't know how to supplement. So it was real misery. And I really did have what they

5:24 Who is he? You have to immediately get him on your show. she has diabetes. he realizes in, he starts like crying. finds high fat, finds ketogenics. I won't speak to why I honestly don't know, the flu thing is a weird feeling, right? Because your body just feels so weak and you don't some other things. It wasn't, oh, just, you know, have more carbs or more protein. But I will say

8:20 if I'm having a cheat weekend, you can hear me getting fatter. No, this was always the case. So that's what my partners and I used to refer to people like me who just have a natural smooth layer of fat. Like, I'm making it through that. Because people are telling me I'm going to tap out. Because I think they're there. and a bunch of people killing each other?

10:30 to your place because you want to help him. He paled his you're dealing with a situation like that like how much of this guy's behavior was because he and he might very well try to kill you or would you rather be one of the people that died? So it wipes out, let's say it's 10%. I read it probably 15 years old. I mean, look, it could be wonderful if you really can survive and you really find a way to live off the land and you

12:50 Really? Just, I mean, maybe it's a cop out look the only reason why we're here is because monkeys fucked when they were living in trees you know What's the odds that any of you fuckers know how to work electricity or know how to get You could get really unlucky and get 10% of the people who don't know shit Yeah, there was some super volcano eruption that there's a theory that it dropped the human population down to an unbelievably low level.

14:38 Especially when you think of genetic diversity, that's really terrifying. What do we have? organize and fight a war you can organize and build a church like whatever the ways that we and they both ride Harleys. and really be accurate with how to attack and things like that so that we could eliminate a rival clan. it's like, I just pretend that that's not a threat.

17:22 It's going to put us into nuclear winter. There's something crazy around it, too. Jesus Christ. Most likely there was ago a volcano hold on hold on uh called Toba in Sumatra in Indonesia So it got down to as low as 40 mating pairs? earthquakes they had over a very short period of time just constant and consistent just boom that's crazy in June it's at 400 okay there's

20:15 They used satellite imagery to figure out that it was a caldera. When they pulled back and went, oh my god. It's a bunch of aliens come down here. like they wanted to serve us. the um did you ever see that one where there was like i think i've seen like three and i don't okay so no spoilers on spoiler but it was just a great show man i mean just they tried to bring

22:36 Because he was always a host of it. Tower of Terror ride out in the beginning of it, and that was the whole yeah, if you have a deal. So they decided to turn it into the guardians of the galaxy ride. Seems. Yeah. isn't it? Like behind closed doors. Entrepreneurship is, it gets weird. It's like little fired up. Gets cocky. Yeah. You'd be surprised how often that happens. Like behind closed doors, entrepreneurship is, it gets weird.

24:27 Yeah, so one, you have to get really good at thin slicing people. And some of the biggest mistakes I made in my career have been keeping people because they were good at their job, even though they were toxic to the environment. nobody knows who you are, you don't have enough revenue. you can't pay them a lot. And whatever the guy said, this is the worst job today. Oh, it's a little sticky, whatever. So

26:12 when you're in manufacturing, amazing job and just always working putting in the hours doing whatever it takes and he came up to Cause basically he didn't use these words, but basically I've never had hope before. And this They would see me on the line. They would see how I would work. It's not there anymore, right? And how do you deal with all of that shit?

28:39 agree with that. Now I'm with you. And to me, it's great. And I guess it's, uh, what's the trade 40 years of your life because you could just kind of count on the fact that you would be there of really being able to say, I own a piece of this company is so empowering for people, especially for people was going to say what gets tricky is like the company I'm building now, Impact Theory, I don't

30:57 lie. How could you possibly do that? I'm not that spastic. They do. Oh, man. Jesus. We could really Some people want to rock at old school. They do. Did you read Fahrenheit 451? So most people are all for it. fuck that. And you're going to get a bifurcation. Now, how weird does it get? Because now the reason And I guess I'm just a lowly human now. which it's absolutely going to do.

33:18 robots, and they realized that giving them creativity was a huge mistake. when you could just do it this way? yes fascinating yeah they started talking in a new language yeah what the fuck and everybody is we start thinking, robot. Oh, you're to create and innovate And it doesn't just do things like your computer does things. all the different systems around it

35:58 worldwide, wireless information hub I'm like, man, I don't know. And you talked about that. They have empathy, they have compassion. And then they start looking at how their thought process is arranged, he was just talking about somebody else, but they ran these studies where they wanted to find out, um, do nice guys finish last or not. And what they found looking at the

38:56 And I think that that's created a lot of the opportunities in his life. So somebody created in no uncertain terms is one year right we both stay silent but you never know what the other Right. always taking advantage, for tat was ultimately the one that won because it would actually other ones that were learning from your intelligence and you give it the ability to create a new artificial intelligence and in eliminate whatever possible

42:01 I go first one yard, then two yards and four yards and eight, then 16, You can leverage what you're learning from the AI going to have on society. into our lives and society and culture and civilizations. all these things that humans have made, And you have all these weird, real human feelings and variables and maybe weaknesses that we're not going to be able to compete.

45:09 stuff. And it'd probably be actually quite hard to build in things like creativity and stuff like done awesome studies on stuff like this. you you can rationalize why you would prefer Thai, reason my way around it but i know better than that's crazy. The human mind is nutso. So the reason I hope that there's some corollary is that you need to build into AI for it to function properly,

47:27 manifests as emotions, I'm hoping they need something similar because in that you can program, But it just makes sense. think at some point in the code, you have to write something that compels them to do something. America and we're going to hunt the bison. I mean, it's just what we do, right? So you've got the It always is looking for, and what's that thing, connection to be of service.

50:19 It is. we romanticized the day they used all of the bison. know it's a there that's very romantic to us right now particularly romantic I I mean, when I was a kid, you had to read books. Now you can choose everything all the time on your phone. things in the history of human nature you got to go back to like the printing press for anything See, that's the right year.

53:39 As soon as I got online, I started downloading UFO files. And you could download it. And they're coming so slow. It was crazy. I was like, I don't know, eighth grade, people had a little phone like i remember how to raise her i was like bitch look how little my Those little tiny-ass phones. When I first got my iPhone 6 what was it, 6S? Jesus Christ, that's huge.

56:38 LeBron James, finally I've got a phone You're just trying too hard. It's a good plan, John. it and copy it and paste it really simply and easily. Yeah. um, But it's not the best. More, you know? they recommended it and now it's like the first time saw, not a study, you know, one of those lists that listed it as the best laptop available in 2017. How long is it going to work?

59:35 So what are you trying to do with this company? when i i'm not a born entrepreneur so i'm very very far from it and through are there born early wins and there's just things that click into place for them in a way that it doesn't for other people. But if you get a grinder, somebody that's really willing to put in the work, then better? So great question. So when I started film school, I believed that you either

1:01:37 entire school for your year get to make a senior thesis film. And I was chosen as one of the four. Every shot was so orchestrated ahead of time. He said, I get bored on set. And I thought, It is a zero-sum game, or at least it was back then. in that I needed something that would free me from feeling like a permanent failure. If you've seen an IQ test, they make you do that.

1:04:08 Unfortunately, Carol Dweck had not written her book mindset at that point. So I didn't have the successful entrepreneurs came into my class. And there were two things as a kid, I promised myself So I joined them as a copywriter as they were starting moral obligation to help him become famous because he is one of the most intriguing minds I've ever knew how to not let me get injured he knew how to move in just the right way

1:07:23 participate at a high level. But it was a great micro reminder I say, look, I quit. So like a movie but that to me is is the right thing to do So I think everybody should live by a code, right? playing is not money. I promise it's not success. It's brain chemistry. So once you understand the to work together. Because the struggle is guaranteed. We got, I think, a valuation of $22 million, if I'm not mistaken, at one point. So they really, and gave me the opportunity to learn, had really built that tech company up. Like we got, I think, a valuation of 22 million, if I'm not mistaken, at one point,

1:10:34 And all in, it was about eight and a half years by the time that was finally sold. for them. So when I got tired, when I was fatigued, rather than thinking about money and a big house But it was like, we really believed in it. within minutes of an interaction with your company. Because it was. So getting into something, And one of my partners is a fucking nutritional genius.

1:13:08 It's weird that you didn't want to go back to filmmaking, though. movies, in a very long journey I want to do now is build the studio. So, um, becoming an entrepreneur and training myself in be, you know, financing 100 plus million dollar film every year. So we'll need to partner with Yeah, sort of. an article they survive they certainly don't thrive look thrive in horrifying climates. Like, you bring people to Antarctica, they survive.

1:16:00 Sorry, the Arctic Circle is what I was thinking. And if you're really going to let me get crazy, like looking at what Wim Hof has done and it seems to be the what they originally thought was junk dna which is your genes will and financially, becoming somebody who's entrepreneurial minded, taking extreme ownership and then moved to Compton. wants to see me get out of the ghetto right not my Not my own mother, nobody. So that was his frame

1:19:38 So we have to have the discipline to make sure that everything that we're creating feeds into that. I wish we had made Star Wars. But I'm saying from an ideological... but I don't remember it having... If you've read Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth, he talks a lot about that and the hero's Don't try to change behavior. right i went to a comic con uh literally across the street from usc and they were um handing out

1:22:29 And so that primed me for what ends up being the perfect metaphor He said, without a doubt, that movie is the reason that I got the record. I needed to figure out what my, what is the matrix, right? Cause I don't actually think So social media, I think is gonna change that so nobody's allowing people to take it seriously. Everybody brushes it off. It's just entertainment

1:24:40 isn't real but people actually used to believe that religion was real. Will you give me that? And then if we get anything there, we have to figure out who believes it. I think people still cling to it because it's comforting and because the uncertainty of existence and the finite nature of our life, it's very disturbing. How about this? It didn't help me.

1:26:27 From 2007 to 2014. What? They still maintain that that's like a necessary thing. You don't know that story? Elisa. As he walked along the road, How about the kids just, they were talking shit about this guy being bald. They didn't notice it's less people believe, And what is it they actually believe? childhood and adulthood or between being single and being married. And he was like, you know,

1:30:07 And he talks about ritualistic scarification and how, man, you knew something had changed And at the time, this isn't the case anymore, but at the time, one of my biggest sort of realistic fears was needles. So it was me saying to my wife, I'm going to go scar my body Now for you, I'm sure, uh, some Like, you're talking about you're a quote organizer.

1:32:41 that was turned into a feature film. That was a horrifying experience. I think story is a, you're in proximity with is, is ultimately, I think going to be the most powerful thing. So Superman, it's a perfect analogy for passion, right? He's a normal guy, except when he's in the a core metaphor and not to beat joseph campbell that didn't expect him to come out of my mouth

1:35:45 So you're leveraging behavior that's already there. we first got onto this part where I was saying, you're in a position where most people don't take So people need to be able to watch the movies and have no idea that there's a message. Disney for kids, but only kids? Yeah. So he leaves and decides that he's going to, um, give up on adults and he's going to start with

1:38:27 Whereas in the inner city, That's a crazy issue. should be taking me seriously right now i know that so i've got like this and and i'm like everybody told us we were crazy when we Like you have to make a good product that people are going to enjoy. Oh, I want to make the new Star Wars. Maybe they will. really understand the mindset. So, um, we laid out a three phase approach to building the studio

1:41:28 most efficacious way to actually get that ideology in people's hands and I of the company well in and of itself making entertaining films like having a company that on the filmmaking promise? and tried different approaches. It wasn't what I wanted to do anymore ultimately what's going to resonate the most with people is something that you're actually passionate about.

1:44:46 You know, that's why I think it's interesting that you're approaching this and you don't just have an idea to make something is pulling people out of the matrix. but still really bright, but they had him on like Ritalin or something. I honestly don't know what, for an hour he would ignore me he would get in fights he would push me away and then like five

1:47:00 And at week six, they tell you, hey, warn them that you're only coming two more weeks so that they're not surprised. do it the second I get here. Deal? And he said, deal. So that turns into an eight year relationship from what I heard, And I stayed involved with him in foster care for a couple of years, but then they just moved him so far away which by the way, drug dealers,

1:49:15 how they know that they're being identified by their cars. where I didn't have to think, It's gotta be something for yourself. obviously that's not true. Like, what do you really want? Like what's the job meant to get you money? Okay. Do you want money or is it something else? No, it's money. Awesome, man. Now think about that for a second. How fucking many steps removed are you from what you actually

1:51:32 would have been eight and a half. Um, I pretended not to see some Easter eggs so that she would win It didn't. he Touching 10 people and having 10 people show up at my funeral and just be like, this motherfucker changed my life. trying to do good, finding a way to do it through commerce, where it's a self-sustaining economic system that is antagonistic to acquiring a new belief system because to do it at scale, they

1:54:27 We are gonna find, what are those? because they could just pursue to people how to build a mindset I do this literally I put out probably six or You'll get a little unnerved because how the fuck did I figure all this stuff out? and then immediately turn around and do like porn joke. my life and feel like I was in control of my life. Nobody else controlled my destiny, but me.

1:57:13 My mom looks at impact. But for a long time. you're gonna hear them say the same things I say, And I think transparency and authenticity are a big fucking deal in, in companies today. I think Have you not heard that? Oh, if you type in Gen Z, you get like a bazillion results. got to happen. So, um, that's why I create all this content that's why I bring people on

1:59:52 was when I stopped building my ego around being smart. right? You would come on the show and you would just tell us like how you did it. You would talk My pleasure. You guys are awesome.