Invest Like The Best
Episode 366 The Monastery of Code
Invest Like The Best

Episode 366: The Monastery of Code

Invest Like The Best

Episode 366

The Monastery of Code

Dave Fontenot is the founder of HF0. We cover how Dave's experiences in monasteries across the world inspired the creation of HF0, the right questions to ask for spotting visionary founders, and what participants in the 12-week residency can expect to learn from the program.

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(00:00:00) - Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:04:05) - First Question - Dave’s Journey to Meditation and Monastic Life

(00:07:25) - From Monastery to Coding: Finding Flow in Programming

(00:08:32) - Creating Spaces for Uninterrupted Creativity: The Birth of HF0

(00:20:24) - A Day in the Life at HF0

(00:25:15) - Why 12 Weeks? The Philosophy Behind the Duration

(00:27:14) - Selecting the Brilliant Minds for HF0

(00:31:43) - The Thin Line Between Visionary vs. Crazy

(00:34:39) - Creating Space to Meditate 

(00:37:24) - The Economic Model Behind HF0

(00:41:36) - Building Successful Residencies

(00:44:48) - Expanding the Residency Model to Universities

(00:52:52) - Understanding Engineers and Hackers

(01:02:01) - The Kindest Thing Anyone’s Ever Done For Dave

 

The Monastery of Code

Introduction

Patrick
My guest today is Dave Fontenot, Founder of HF0. Born out of Dave's experiences in monasteries across the world, HF0 is a 12-week residency for repeat founders to supercharge their next venture. For three months, 10 teams of engineers relocate to HF0's house in San Francisco.

During the residency, everything is taken care of, so their sole focus is on building. It's one of the most interesting incubators I've come across, and we discuss the model and its monastic origins in detail. Please enjoy this conversation with Dave Fontenot.

Monastic Life and Removing Distractions

Patrick
What was the pathway to the monastery?

Dave
In retrospect, it's much clearer. It was my first major heartbreak. In the moment, I didn't know that this was the reason why. But looking back, I couldn't handle it. I have a pretty severe ADD. And so I was on ADD medication, and I blamed being on the medication for things not working out.

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