One of The Scariest Hackers I’ve Ever Met — Pablos Holman

Tim Ferriss September 16, 2025
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Tim Ferriss

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Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers. The Observer and other media have called Tim “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads. It has now exceeded 900 million downloads. Listen to The Tim Ferriss Show podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast Sign up for Tim's "5-Bullet Friday" free email newsletter with 1.5M+ subscribers: https://tim.blog/friday

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Pablos Holman is a hacker and inventor and the author of Deep Future: Creating Technology that Matters, the indispensable guide to deep tech. Previously, Pablos worked on spaceships at Blue Origin and helped build The Intellectual Ventures Lab to invent a wide variety of breakthroughs. Pablos also hosts the Deep Future Podcast and is managing partner at Deep Future. This episode is brought to you by: Cresset prestigious family office for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs: https://cressetcapital.com/tim Maui Nui Venison​, delicious, nutrient-dense, and responsible red meat: https://mauinuivenison.com/lp/tim AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://drinkag1.com/tim --- Deep Future: Creating Technology That Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Future-Creating-Technology-Matters/dp/B0F23CLXZP/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20 Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running. Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/ Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ [00:00] Start. [00:34] The first time I witnessed Pablos’ digital sleight of hand. [02:57] How did Pablos become what he considers to be a hacker? [06:28] The off-label mindset that makes a good hacker (like Samy Kamkar) great. [11:35] The magic of Rodney Mullen. [14:56] How Eric Johanson and Pablos gave life to adorable password thief Hackerbot. [18:10] Hacker self-defense and the zero-click exploit market. [21:37] International pockets of hacker density. [24:36] Conventions where modern hackers congregate. [25:06] Why, in geopolitics, technology is a game lost by the non-players. [27:30] The case to rally behind new nuclear power. [31:21] Sequencing priorities so the US can remain technologically competitive. [38:00] Evaluating risk and reward in deep tech investment. [43:51] Shoring up the shape of shipping. [49:56] How Pablos gained his name and famous frames. [51:47] Pablos is a possible-ist. [52:42] What makes Pablos an attractive hire for the world’s richest people? [55:13] From Silicon Valley to Seattle: the Blue Origin origin story. [01:02:02] Why Pablos prevails over his M-dash peers. [01:04:51] Zero Effect and WarGames: The only movies that matter? [01:09:07] A major security malfunction exploited by Major Malfunction. [01:11:31] The enigmatic Neal Stephenson. [01:12:36] Long-form lessons gleaned from Jeff Bezos and the Blue Origin mission. [01:19:56] For solving the world’s problems, communities are crucial. [01:23:44] Newlab PSYOPS. [01:28:31] AI and the ripple effects of China’s engineering-minded vs. America’s attorney-heavy leadership. [01:40:43] Unearthing like-minded inventors and innovators. [01:43:05] How Pablos learned salsa dancing via aikido vs. my own tango experience. [02:00:34] Why you should invest or get involved in deep tech. [02:06:38] Clearing up fusion confusion. [02:12:49] Making progress happen is a team effort. [02:15:55] Parting thoughts.

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