003 - Ricky Roy
Hi there, and welcome to another edition of Intake, the newsletter that brings you the most trusted media and information sources of your favorite founders, experts, and creators.
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Now, let’s get into this week’s feature, Ricky Roy.
-Zach (@ZachMRosen)
Ricky Roy
Ricky Roy is the founder and CEO of Two Bit da Vinci, a media company focused on creating content that covers the great scientific and technological works happening around the world. Prior to founding Two Bit da Vinci, Ricky served six years as an Aerospace Engineer for the Department of Defense, working on the US Navy F/A-18 Fighter program. He also spent 10+ years as an iOS Developer at Good Technology, Blackberry, and Salesforce, contributing to key enterprise features. In 2021, Ricky took the leap to dedicate himself full-time to his media company, and has since established himself as one of the best YouTube content creators in his space.
Follow Ricky:
Youtube → Two Bit da Vinci
X (Twitter) → @TwoBitDaVinci
Ricky’s Intake
Sustainable and Smart Technologies
- Undecided with Matt Ferrell - Hosted by Matt Ferrell
Tesla / Space X
- Tesla Daily - Hosted by Rob Maurer
- Everyday Astronaut - Hosted by Tim Dodd
Politics
- Real Time with Bill Maher - Hosted by Bill Maher
Current Events / News
- Ground News
- Last Week Tonight - Hosted by John Oliver
Finance / Investing
- Ticker Symbol: You - Hosted by Alex
- Coffeezilla - Hosted by Stephen Findeisen
Science / Nature
- Kyle Hill - Hosted by Kyle Hill
History & Engineering of Airliners / Ships / Trains
- Mustard
Q/A
Of all the creators and media sources you’ve listed above, which one do you depend on, trust, and frequent the most? Why?
”Ground News is a great way to get a feel for where biases come from as I do research on stories.”
You are an outspoken supporter of Tesla. What about this company is so compelling to you? What drew you to it initially, and what about its future makes you most excited?
”A) Tesla will go down as one of the most important companies in history. The oil industry is immensely powerful and has fought our transition to cleaner energy for decades. No other company was likely to pull this off, but what Tesla has done has completely changed the future trajectory of the world, and forced everyone to electrify.
B) They also bring a Silicon Valley approach to innovation, trying new things and being bold. Examples include a unified heat management system (octovalve) or gigacastings. Things that no other company has done in all these years, but now everyone is copying.”
You cover a multitude of different subjects on your youtube channel. Of those subjects, which one do you think will be the most important/transformative 30-50 years from now?
”It’s hard to know, but as an engineer/scientist, I believe in smart people researching a wide variety of technologies. While most people have given up on Hydrogen, I love that there is continued research. The most important thing, is awareness and excitement and funding for the smartest people on Earth, doing what they love and making the great breakthroughs of science, that we all benefit from.”
What was the inspiration behind starting Two Bit da Vinci? Where do you see it 5-10 years from now?
”We started when I was really getting into woodworking, and so “two bit” was to imply you don’t have to be some expert or take yourself too seriously. I have always been curious and willing to try stuff. Da Vinci, because I’ve always admired him, and I’m also super eclectic and love the idea of a “renaissance man”. But we’ve made many shifts over the years, because I would get bored if it was too narrow a niche. I’m happy now because as our new tagline suggests “Engineer’s Guide to the Galaxy” … we’re able to cover all the interesting stories of our time, and bring deeper understanding and insight. I’m really happy as I think I’ve found exactly what I want to do, and it only took 6 years :)”
Can you describe your process for discovering new sources of media, such as podcasts, newsletters, or blogs?
”Nothing exotic, I search using various search engines, and I have a few favorites like Statistia or visual capitalist.”
Thanks for tuning in to another edition of Intake! If you enjoyed this edition, please consider sharing it with a friend.
See you next Friday!
-Zach (@ZachMRosen)