Naval Ravikant: Entrepreneur, Investor, and Philosopher

Early Life and Family Background

Naval was born in 1974 in New Delhi. His father, a pharmacist in India, moved to the United States when Naval was four. When the family joined him in New York, they faced significant challenges, including financial hardship and the eventual separation of his parents. Naval’s mother worked multiple jobs to support him and his brother, Kamal, while also attending night school. 

Growing up in this environment, Naval developed resilience and a deep love for books, spending much of his time in libraries. His strong academic performance led him to Stuyvesant High School, a highly selective public school in New York, where he thrived. Later, he attended Dartmouth College, graduating in Computer Science and Economics, which prepared him for his influential career in Silicon Valley.

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Naval Ravikant’s Early Professional Life

Naval Ravikant’s career in Silicon Valley began shortly after he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1995, where he earned degrees in Computer Science and Economics. Entering the tech scene in the late 1990s, he co-founded Epinions in 1999, a pioneering platform for consumer product reviews. The venture was ambitious, providing a space for users to share opinions about products and inform potential buyers through peer-generated content. Though Epinions faced various challenges, including internal struggles with co-founders, it ultimately merged with Dealtime in 2003, rebranding as Shopping.com. 

Shopping.com went public in 2004, delivering significant returns and marking Naval’s first big success in Silicon Valley. This experience taught him about the complexities of building a company, the importance of aligning interests among stakeholders, and the power of resilience. After Epinions, Naval turned his focus toward investing, channeling his insights from his first venture into identifying high-potential startups. In 2007, he founded Hit Forge, an early-stage venture fund with $20 million in assets. Hit Forge backed some of the biggest tech startups, including Twitter, Uber, Yammer, Stack Overflow, and several others that would later become market leaders. 

Through Hit Forge, Naval took a calculated approach to risk, targeting companies that were innovative and disruptive, a hallmark of his investment philosophy. His role as a “super angel” helped shape his reputation as a keen-eyed investor capable of spotting transformative businesses early. A defining moment in Naval’s career was the founding of AngelList in 2010 with Babak Nivi. AngelList was envisioned as a platform to democratize startup funding, enabling startups to connect directly with angel investors. 

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The idea behind AngelList was to simplify the fundraising process, making it more transparent and accessible, especially for emerging founders who traditionally struggled to access Silicon Valley’s capital. Naval’s role at AngelList expanded beyond funding, as he also co-founded Product Hunt, an AngelList subsidiary, which became a popular platform for discovering new technology products and services.

His early professional journey has shaped his perspectives on entrepreneurship, technology, and financial independence. Known for his distinct approach to investing, Naval emphasizes selecting projects with scalability, long-term impact, and community value. These experiences eventually inspired his broader philosophies on wealth and personal development, which he would later share through his influential talks, writings, and podcasts, making him a sought-after thought leader in both investing and life advice.

Naval Ravikant’s Journey as author

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a compilation of Naval Ravikant's insights on wealth, happiness, and life principles, curated by Eric Jorgenson. It’s not authored by Ravikant himself; instead, it gathers his thoughts from podcasts, tweets, and interviews, creating a cohesive guide for readers interested in holistic wealth and personal growth.

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In the book, Naval emphasizes the concept of “specific knowledge”—skills deeply rooted in personal interests and unique to each individual. According to Naval, achieving wealth is less about working hard and more about leveraging unique skills and building systems that work without constant effort. He suggests moving away from trading time for money and instead investing in assets that can grow independently, such as equity and technology. Ravikant promotes the use of leverage—whether through capital, labor, or technology—to maximize output without proportional input, enabling compounding growth over time​.

Beyond wealth, The Almanack delves into happiness as an internal journey. Naval argues that happiness isn’t tied to external achievements but is a skill that can be cultivated through practices like gratitude, mindfulness, and reducing desires. He suggests that by mastering our thoughts and reactions, individuals can attain peace and satisfaction, regardless of material circumstances​.

The book has resonated widely due to its blend of practical advice and philosophical reflections, covering areas like decision-making, mental models, and continuous learning. Naval’s emphasis on self-awareness, freedom, and lifelong learning makes The Almanack a popular resource for anyone aiming to navigate life with a clearer, purpose-driven approach.

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