Things I Believe

A short list of the ideas behind my work, with the essays and projects behind each one.

1. Economic freedom is a basic human right.

   Being able to own, control, and move your own money, without asking permission, is one of the most powerful drivers of human progress. It unlocks innovation, opportunity, and prosperity, especially for people who have been left out of the financial system.

   Controlling your own wealth as a basic human rightHow Digital Currency Will Change The World

2. Crypto can become an open financial system for the whole world.

   An open, global, programmable financial system can do for money what the internet did for information. The work is to make it easy, trusted, and useful for everyone.

   The Coinbase Secret Master PlanWhat will happen to cryptocurrency in the 2020sCrypto startups I would start today

3. Great companies are mission focused.

   Companies do their best work when everyone is aligned on a clear mission and stays focused on it, rather than trying to solve every problem in the world at once.

   Coinbase is a mission focused company50 Lessons From HP’s Company Culture

4. Talent density and clear decisions compound.

   Hiring exceptional people, holding a high bar, and making decisions in a clear, explicit way are what let a company move fast as it grows.

   36 Ways To Hire, Develop, and Retain Great PeopleHow we make decisions at CoinbaseHow to hire executives

5. Science should move much faster.

   Scientific progress is one of the most important things for humanity, and the way we fund, publish, and reward research is slowing it down. Better incentives and open collaboration can speed it up.

   Ideas on how to improve scientific researchResearchHub

6. We should radically extend healthy human lifespan.

   Aging is the root cause of most disease. Advances like epigenetic reprogramming give us a real chance to add healthy years to people's lives, and it's worth working on directly.

   NewLimitThe Pros and Cons of Genetically Engineering Humans

7. Judge policies by their outcomes, not their intentions.

   Many well intended rules end up hurting the people they were meant to help, while some simple changes work far better than anyone expected. Both are worth studying.

   Good IntentionsProgress

8. It's a marathon not a sprint.

   Doing ambitious work over many decades requires you to make it sustainable.

   Rest