From Deep Blue to Bittensor — Why Subnets Are the Next Internet Boom
The James Altucher Show
James Altucher
4.6 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 9 September 2025
⏱️ 88 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A Note from James
I’ve been on and off writing. From 2004 to 2021, I wrote one to two books a year, without fail. Since then, nothing. But I’ve been working on an idea: obsession. When I’m not obsessed, I can’t do much—sometimes not even the basics. But when I am obsessed, I can turn that energy into real outcomes: a business, a book, a skill, sometimes success, sometimes failure.
This episode comes from a recent conversation I had with the Ventura Labs team. We talked about obsession, but also about AI, crypto, and how those obsessions have led to building TAO Synergies ($TAOX), a public company on Nasdaq. I’d love to hear your thoughts: should I write this as a book? Reach out on Twitter or anywhere.
Episode Description
James Altucher joins the Ventura Labs Podcast to explore the link between obsession, creativity, and execution. From contributing to IBM’s Deep Blue in the 90s to co-founding TAO Synergies, James shares how obsessions with chess, AI, and crypto have shaped his life and career.
The conversation covers the philosophy behind decentralized AI, the rise of treasury strategies, and why writing down ten ideas a day can change everything. This episode isn’t about trends—it’s about frameworks: how to spot real opportunities, how to build around them, and how to know when obsession is worth pursuing.
What You’ll Learn
- Why obsession can be both a weakness and a superpower—and how to channel it productively.
- How Bittensor ($TAO) creates decentralized AI opportunities at a fraction of traditional costs.
- The mechanics of treasury companies and how TAO Synergies is building its playbook.
- The risks and rewards of subnet investing, and how tokenomics actually drive value.
- Lessons James learned from failure, from HBO web series experiments to company collapses, and why generating ideas daily can reset your career.
Timestamped Chapters
- 02:15 – Introduction
- 02:58 – What is Bittensor
- 06:24 – AI background and Deep Blue
- 09:34 – Chess interest and journey
- 11:46 – $TAOX inspirations and getting TAO-pilled
- 14:09 – TAO Synergies origin story
- 16:57 – Reaching 100M and playbook
- 19:41 – Treasury strategies and validators
- 22:02 – Launching TAO Daily
- 25:51 – Bitcoin adoption and involvement
- 29:32 – Subnet investing and analysis
- 30:59 – Token warnings and TAO demand
- 35:46 – Subnet proposals and increases
- 37:36 – Successful sectors and examples
- 40:04 – Yanez and Metanova
- 43:17 – Decentralization benefits
- 46:13 – AI jobs and countering fears
- 49:34 – Beneficial sectors: AI and stablecoins
- 53:59 – Bryan Johnson documentary
- 55:17 – Starting podcast and interviews
- 57:14 – Interests and obsessions
- 01:00:56 – Daily writing obsession and origins
- 01:03:47 – Confidence and opinions
- 01:07:33 – Company failures and lessons
- 01:10:42 – HBO series and 3AM show
- 01:14:26 – Hesitancy, regrets, pivotal points
- 01:17:38 – Advice on time and experiments
Additional Resources
- TAO Synergies: @TAOSynergies
- TAO Daily (community news hub): taodaily.io
- Naval Ravikant – AngelList founder and Bitcoin advocate
- Ventura Labs Podcast (YouTube): @VenturaLabsPodcast
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today on the James Altiger show. |
| 0:37.8 | Obsession is similar to addiction. Like if you play a game of chess and you lose, well, I got to play at least one more now to win. And if you win, well, I'm just going to keep playing until I lose. So it becomes like an addiction. And same thing with comedy. Like if you go up and you don't perform well, well, I got to go back tomorrow and prove that I'm better than I was tonight. And when you do well, it feels so good. It's so much dopamine. Oh, I got to do this again tomorrow night. It's not what they should be obsessed about, but how to cultivate an obsession, how to find what you're obsessed about. And there's no direct answer. You just have to expose yourself to a lot of things. |
| 0:42.4 | Like, go to the bookstore, and is there any section where you would be willing to read every single book in that section? That might indicate you're obsessed with that area. |
| 0:46.8 | And then you have to brainstorm, what can I do to further this obsession? |
| 0:51.0 | This isn't your average business podcast, and he's not your average host. This is the James |
| 0:57.0 | Alteger show. So first off, I have to ask all the readers or listeners their opinion. |
| 1:12.9 | This is the longest I've ever gone without writing a book. |
| 1:16.3 | I've written one to two books a year every year from 2004 to 2021 without fail. |
| 1:24.2 | And then since 2021, I have not written a book, but I've been working on one. |
| 1:28.2 | And it's kind of been evolving. And it really revolves around the fact that I've basically |
| 1:34.4 | been a hopeless idiot, except when I've been obsessed with something. Like, if I'm not obsessed, |
| 1:41.3 | I can't do anything. I can't even drive a car if I'm not, like, obsessed with driving. But when I am obsessed, I can't do anything. I can't even drive a car if I'm not like obsessed with driving. |
| 1:45.6 | But when I am obsessed, I could take that obsession and sometimes turn it into huge success. |
| 1:53.1 | Sometimes I've turned it into huge failure. Sometimes I've turned it into developing a skill |
| 1:57.3 | that maybe had no real career value, but ultimately it would. |
| 2:03.5 | I'm writing this book about this. |
| 2:05.1 | And I'm just curious if you think that would be a good idea for a book. |
| 2:08.6 | I would love to hear your comments on Twitter or anywhere. |
| 2:12.5 | So I was on this podcast, Ventura Labs, and we were talking about AI and also how I've taken this recent |
| 2:18.8 | obsession I've had in this convergence of crypto and AI, turned it, literally turned it from |
| 2:24.4 | my mind, from ideas, into a public company that is now on the NASDAQ, Tao X, T-A-O-X, |
| 2:31.8 | and it's all been driven by my obsession about AI since I was younger. |
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