PERSONAL. IN MY OWN WORDS.
Freddie Brown
My résumé is a plan.
I chose entrepreneurship, so a job history has never been the best description of my work. The document I kept returning to was a plan: a life business plan I started writing in October 2020 and have kept rewriting as I learn.
This page is my version of a résumé. It shows what I was trying to build, what I got wrong, what stayed constant, and where the questions eventually led.
AT A GLANCE
Three Dates.
2006
OA is founded, as an events and entertainment company.
2020
The pandemic ends that business. A bigger question takes its place.
Today
OA is the home for our work on Persistent Intelligence. Okren is the company built around the authority problem that emerged from consequential AI action.
HOW I GOT HERE
From Live Events to Persistent Intelligence.
OA began in 2006 as an events and entertainment company.
In 2020 the pandemic ended that business.
What I did next was keep following a bigger question: what does intelligence need around the model so it can remember, reason, coordinate, act, observe and continue over time?
Gunner is the operating architecture behind that work. It was architected and built by the technical architect I work with. I did not write the system. My job became understanding what had been built, seeing the larger problem it exposed, and deciding where that work could matter in the real world.
When we began running autonomous intelligence against real money, another question separated itself from the intelligence problem: what if I gave you $1 million? The system could become more capable without gaining the authority to decide what it was allowed to do. That separate responsibility became Okren.
WHAT I GOT WRONG
Decisions I’d Make Differently.
I decided each of these. I’m writing them down because a plan that never records its mistakes isn’t a plan.
ONE
Rushing into new projects.
I wrote this lesson down twice.
“Rushing into new projects, taking more time.”
Lessons learned, Oct 2020
“Don’t rush into new projects, take your time, enjoy the process/quality.”
Lessons for 2021
HOW I THINK
Five Rules I Work By.
01
Think enormously. Execute narrowly. Let reality correct the path.
Dream as large as the problem. Start with the next concrete step. Change when the world says so.
02
Don’t rush into new projects.
Curiosity opens doors. Discipline decides which one deserves years.
03
Partner only with people who live in the pursuit of excellence.
From my plan, 2020 to 2026. I use different minds and different tools to widen what I can see. The decision is still mine.
04
Be unreasonable in all things, as long as it’s for the greater good.
Ambition is only useful when it’s pointed at something worth the cost.
05
Capability does not create authority.
The thing that taught me this was running intelligence with real money. It’s why Okren exists.
VALUES
Nine Values, in My Words.
The nine on my plan, with the line I wrote next to each.
01
Family
The most important thing in life. It brings me the most joy: being, learning, furthering, developing.
02
Curiosity
I get this from my father. I’m curious about what I don’t already know.
03
Honesty
Living with an open heart. No lying, no point. Having the vocabulary to say what’s really on my mind.
04
Discipline
One of the most important traits I learned from my family. It guided me to where I am now.
05
Generosity
Add value to others and it always comes back to you.
06
Productivity
One of my life’s missions: to be a very productive human. I’m most happy when I am.
07
Adventurous
I want to try almost everything once. Life begins at the end of our comfort zone.
08
Positive energy
My guiding force these days. I stay away from negative energy.
09
Respect
Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Simple.
THE PLAN OVER TIME
The Questions Narrowed. The Values Didn’t.
These lines come from my dated planning documents. I’ve left out the personal material and the parts that were never meant for anyone else.
October 2020
THE QUESTION APPEARS
“Tech (efficiency): Want to create an algorithm that makes life more efficient.”
“Focus on 2030–2035 — Develop comprehensive knowledge to prepare for what the world will be.”
“What does 2030 look like, with the confluence of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics…”
2023
AI BECOMES EXPLICIT
“Train an AI to help make people’s lives more productive.”
2026
THE WORK BECOMES SPECIFIC
“AI Native Execution Systems.”
“Teach founders how to think in decades.”
“What 2030–2040 looks like when AI compresses labor value and debt systems strain.”
Today
WHAT SURVIVED
Persistent Intelligence is the larger operating problem. Okren is the authority problem we found when intelligent action became consequential.
These excerpts came from private planning documents I’ve kept over time. The originals contain personal material and aren’t published in full. I am showing four public snapshots here because they carry the clearest evolution; the intervening plans remain private support.
WHAT I’M BUILDING NOW
Three Things, and My Job in Each.
WHAT I’M STILL LEARNING
What’s Unproven.
This site says plainly what is documented, what OA describes, and what it does not claim. The same goes for me.
THE REST OF THE PLAN
The Plan Isn’t Only Work.
My plan has a health section, a list of interests, a reading list, quotes and a playlist. These are those pages.
HEALTH
Discipline You Can See.
Health has its own line in my plan, next to the work. I do CrossFit, I lift, and I know exactly where I stand.
Wim Hof breathing and advanced neurofeedback are how I work on the mental side.
CrossFit
Strength training
Wim Hof breathing
Neurofeedback
READING LIST
What’s on the Shelf.
Fifteen from the reading list in my plan.
MasteryRobert Greene
EssentialismGreg McKeown
EducatedTara Westover
Build the Life You WantArthur C. Brooks & Oprah Winfrey
Never Split the DifferenceChris Voss & Tahl Raz
BE 2.0Jim Collins & William Lazier
The Algebra of WealthScott Galloway
24 AssetsDaniel Priestley
The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to His SonJohn D. Rockefeller
The Culture MapErin Meyer
Prisoners of GeographyTim Marshall
GenerationsWilliam Strauss & Neil Howe
The Fourth TurningWilliam Strauss & Neil Howe
Nonviolent CommunicationMarshall Rosenberg
The Untethered SoulMichael A. Singer
INTERESTS
Nine Things I Keep Thinking About.
From the interests list in my plan. Click any card to open it.
QUOTES
Words I Keep.
“Be unreasonable in all things, as long as it's for the greater good.”
MUSIC
What’s Playing.
The playlist is in my plan. These covers are a few of the records behind it.
THE IDEA
I Think Everyone Should Write One.
A business plan asks what you are building, why it matters, what could go wrong, and what you will do about it. I started asking the same questions of my own life.
I wrote the first plan in October 2020. I’ve kept rewriting it. The values on it haven’t changed. The questions have narrowed.
“Leave a positive legacy on this earth. Help change lives. Help family and friends reach their goals.”
From my plans, 2020 to 2026.
THE TOOL BEHIND THE PAGE
Eight Questions. One Hour. Revisit Every Year.
This is the compressed version of the exercise I keep doing myself. A life business plan does not need to be impressive. It needs to be honest enough to check against reality.
What am I building, and for whom?
What do I value, shown in what I actually do?
What do I believe about the next ten years?
What did I get wrong this year, and what do I do differently now?
Who do I need, and who needs me?
What will I stop doing?
What would make me change course?
What does a good day look like in five years?
WHERE TO FIND ME
Keep in Touch.